Redundant links for reliable communication

• US 10,098,023 B2
• Filed: 07/31/2017
• Issued: 10/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: B&W Group Ltd. (Masimo Corporation)
• Original Assignee: EVA Automation, Inc.
• Inventors: Yu, Gaylord
• Primary Examiner(s): Javaid, Jamal
• Application Number:
  US15/663,824
• Publication Number:
  US 20170332262A1
• Time in Patent Office: 435 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/04 Arrangements for maintaining operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0069 in case of dual connectivity, e.g. decoupled uplink/downlink
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/28 involving a plurality of connections, e.g. multi-call or multi-bearer connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/18 Management of setup rejection or failure
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

In order to maintain performance during wireless communication, a transmitting electronic device may concurrently and independently communicate redundant information to a receiving electronic device. In particular, information associated with a data stream may be communicated to the receiving electronic device using one or more channels by two radios using one or more wireless local area network communication protocols. The packets transmitted by the radios may preferentially include the same information. Moreover, the transmitting electronic device may attempt to maintain the redundant communication if a performance metric associated with the one or more channels degrades. For example, the transmitting electronic device may transfer communication to a different channel or may compress the information in the packets in the one or more channels if the throughput drops below a threshold value. Furthermore, the concurrent communication may allow the transmitting electronic device determine link quality without disrupting the communication of the information.

Claims

1. A transmitting electronic device, comprising:

an input port configured to receive information associated with a data stream;

a first interface circuit configured to communicatively couple to a first antenna and to communicate first packets between the transmitting electronic device and a receiving electronic device via a first channel using a wireless-local-area-network (WLAN) communication protocol, wherein the first packets include the information associated with the data stream;

a second interface circuit configured to communicatively couple to a second antenna and to communicate second packets between transmitting electronic device and the receiving electronic device via a second channel using the WLAN communication protocol, wherein the second packets include the information associated with the data stream and the second channel is different than the first channel;

wherein, in a first operating mode, the second packets are communicated concurrently with the first packets;

wherein, in a second operating mode, the transmitting electronic device is configured to perform quality-of-service (QoS) characterization of one of the first channel and the second channel without tearing down an associated connection between the transmitting electronic device and the receiving electronic device by coordinating communication between the transmitting electronic device and the receiving electronic device when the QoS characterization is performed and while the information is communicated using the other of the first channel and the second channel; and

wherein the QoS characterization includes determining, without disrupting the communication of the information, one of;

for a given channel, a distance to the receiving electronic device and an associated phase distortion;

or channel calibration associated with one of the first channel and the second channel.

2. The transmitting electronic device of claim 1, wherein coordinating the communication between the transmitting electronic device and the receiving electronic device when the QoS characterization is performed involves the transmitting electronic device controlling the receiving electronic device.

3. The transmitting electronic device of claim 1, wherein the WLAN communication protocol is compatible with an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard.

4. The transmitting electronic device of claim 1, wherein the communication of the first packets via the first channel is independent of the communication of the second packets via the second channel.

5. The transmitting electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first interface circuit is configured to transfer communication of the first packets to a third channel when one of:

a connection with the receiving electronic device associated with the first channel is lost, a performance metric associated with the communication via the first channel degrades below a threshold value, and a performance metric associated with communication via the third channel exceeds the performance metric associated with communication via the first channel;

wherein the second interface circuit is configured to transfer communication of the second packets to a fourth channel when one of;

a connection with the receiving electronic device associated with the second channel is lost, a performance metric associated with the communication via the second channel degrades below a threshold value, and a performance metric associated with communication via the fourth channel exceeds a performance metric associated with communication via the second channel;

wherein the concurrent communication of the first packets and the second packets ensures the information is communicated to the receiving electronic device without disruption during the transfer to one of the third channel and the fourth channel; and

wherein the transmitting electronic device is configured to instruct the receiving electronic device to perform one of;

transferring the communication of the first packets from the first channel to the third channel; and

transferring the communication of the second packets from the second channel to the fourth channel.

6. The transmitting electronic device of claim 1, wherein, when one of a connection with the receiving electronic device associated with the first channel is lost and a connection with the receiving electronic device associated with the second channel is lost, the communication of one of the first packets and the second packets ensures the information is communicated to the receiving electronic device without disruption and without further action by the transmitting electronic device.

7. The transmitting electronic device of claim 1, wherein the transmitting electronic device is configured to compress at least one of the information included in the first packets and the information included in the second packets when one of:

a performance metric associated with the communication via the first channel degrades below a first threshold value; and

a performance metric associated with the communication via the second channel degrades below a second threshold value; and

wherein the compression maintains approximately a common margin in the performance metric associated with the communication via the first channel and in the performance metric associated with the communication via the second channel.

8. The transmitting electronic device of claim 1, wherein the transmitting electronic device is configured to display a communication warning message and to selectively discontinue the redundant communication of the information via the first packets and the second packets when at least one of:

a performance metric associated with the communication via the first channel is below a first threshold value; and

a performance metric associated with the communication via the second channel is below a second threshold value.

9. The transmitting electronic device of claim 1, wherein the transmitting electronic device is configured to jointly encode the first packets and the second packets to provide one of information gain and error correction based on the concurrent communication.

10. The transmitting electronic device of claim 1, wherein the QoS characterization includes dynamically performing spectral analysis of at least a given channel associated with the WLAN communication protocol using one of the first interface circuit and the second interface circuit without disrupting the communication of the information;

and

wherein the dynamic spectral analysis involves capturing time-domain signals associated with at least the given channel during the communication and performing a Fourier transform or a discrete Fourier transform to determine a spectrum or a power spectrum distribution.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for use in conjunction with a transmitting electronic device, the computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions that, when executed by the transmitting electronic device, cause the transmitting electronic device to perform one or more operations comprising:

receiving information associated with a data stream via an input port in the transmitting electronic device;

in a first operating mode;

communicating, to a first interface circuit in the transmitting electronic device, first packets for a receiving electronic device and associated with a first channel using a wireless-local-area-network (WLAN) communication protocol, wherein the first packets include the information associated with the data stream; and

communicating, to the second interface circuit in the transmitting electronic device, second packets for the receiving electronic device associated with a second channel using the WLAN communication protocol, wherein the second packets include the information associated with the data stream and the second channel is different than the first channel;

wherein, in the first operating mode, the second packets are communicated concurrently with the first packets; and

in a second operating mode;

performing quality-of-service (QoS) characterization of one of the first channel and the second channel without tearing down an associated connection between the transmitting electronic device and the receiving electronic device by coordinating communication between the transmitting electronic device and the receiving electronic device when the QoS characterization is performed and while the information is communicated using the other of the first channel and the second channel,

wherein the QoS characterization includes determining, without disrupting the communication of the information, one of;

for a given channel, a distance to the receiving electronic device and an associated phase distortion;

or channel calibration associated with one of the first channel and the second channel.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein coordinating the communication between the transmitting electronic device and the receiving electronic device when the QoS characterization is performed involves the transmitting electronic device controlling the receiving electronic device.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the WLAN communication protocol is compatible with an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the communication of the first packets via the first channel is independent of the communication of the second packets via the second channel.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the one or more operations comprise:

transferring communication of the first packets to a third channel when one of;

a connection with the receiving electronic device associated with the first channel is lost, a performance metric associated with the communication via the first channel degrades below a first threshold value, and a performance metric associated with communication via the third channel exceeds the performance metric associated with communication via the first channel;

transferring communication of the second packets to a fourth channel when one of;

a connection with the receiving electronic device associated with the second channel is lost, a performance metric associated with the communication via the second channel degrades below a second threshold value, and a performance metric associated with communication via the fourth channel exceeds the performance metric associated with communication via the second channel, wherein the concurrent communication of the first packets and the second packets ensures the information is communicated to the receiving electronic device without disruption during the transfer to one of the third channel and the fourth channel; and

providing, to at least the first interface circuit or the second interface circuit, instructions for the receiving electronic device to perform one of;

transferring the communication of the first packets from the first channel to the third channel; and

transferring the communication of the second packets from the second channel to the fourth channel.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the one or more operations comprise:

compressing at least one of the information included in the first packets and the information included in the second packets when one of;

a performance metric associated with the communication via the first channel degrades below a first threshold value; and

a performance metric associated with the communication via the second channel degrades below a second threshold value; and

wherein the compression maintains approximately a common margin in the performance metric associated with the communication via the first channel and in the performance metric associated with the communication via the second channel.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the QoS characterization includes dynamically performing spectral analysis of at least a given channel associated with the WLAN communication protocol using one of the first interface circuit and the second interface circuit without disrupting the communication of the information;

and

wherein the dynamic spectral analysis involves capturing time-domain signals associated with at least the given channel during the communication and performing a Fourier transform or a discrete Fourier transform to determine a spectrum or a power spectrum distribution.

18. A method for communicating information associated with a data stream from a transmitting electronic device to a receiving electronic device, wherein the method comprises:

by the transmitting electronic device;

receiving information associated with the data stream via an input port in the transmitting electronic device;

in a first operating mode;

communicating, to a first interface circuit in the transmitting electronic device, first packets for the receiving electronic device and associated with a first channel using a wireless-local-area-network (WLAN) communication protocol, wherein the first packets include the information associated with the data stream; and

communicating, to the second interface circuit in the transmitting electronic device, second packets for the receiving electronic device associated with a second channel using the WLAN communication protocol, wherein the second packets include the information associated with the data stream and the second channel is different than the first channel;

wherein, in the first operating mode, the second packets are communicated concurrently with the first packets; and

in a second operating mode;

performing quality-of-service (QoS) characterization of one of the first channel and the second channel without tearing down an associated connection between the transmitting electronic device and the receiving electronic device by coordinating communication between the transmitting electronic device and the receiving electronic device when the QoS characterization is performed and while the information is communicated using the other of the first channel and the second channel,

wherein the QoS characterization includes determining, without disrupting the communication of the information, one of;

for a given channel, a distance to the receiving electronic device and an associated phase distortion;

or channel calibration associated with one of the first channel and the second channel.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the QoS characterization includes dynamically performing spectral analysis of at least a given channel associated with the WLAN communication protocol using one of the first interface circuit and the second interface circuit without disrupting the communication of the information;

and

wherein the dynamic spectral analysis involves capturing time-domain signals associated with at least the given channel during the communication and performing a Fourier transform or a discrete Fourier transform to determine a spectrum or a power spectrum distribution.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the WLAN communication protocol is compatible with an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein, when one of a connection with the receiving electronic device associated with the first channel is lost and a connection with the receiving electronic device associated with the second channel is lost, the communication of one of the first packets and the second packets ensures the information is communicated to the receiving electronic device without disruption and without further action by the transmitting electronic device.