Redundant links for reliable communication

• US 10,200,892 B2
• Filed: 07/31/2017
• Issued: 02/05/2019
• 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:
  US15/663,821
• Publication Number:
  US 20170332261A1
• Time in Patent Office: 554 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/04 Arrangements for maintaining operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/00692 using simultaneous multiple data streams, e.g. cooperative multipoint [CoMP], carrier aggregation [CA] or multiple input multiple output [MIMO] allocation of physical resources in CoMP or in CA H04L5/0035
• 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;

an antenna;

a communication port;

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

a second interface circuit, communicatively coupled to the communication port, configured to communicate, to the communication port, second packets including the information associated with the data stream from the transmitting electronic device and intended for the receiving electronic device via a second channel using a wired communication protocol, wherein the second channel is different than the first channel;

wherein the second packets are communicated concurrently with the first packets; and

wherein the transmitting electronic device is configured to provide, to at least the antenna or the communication port, instructions for the receiving electronic device to use the first channel during the communication of the first packets and to use the second channel during the communication of the second packets.

2. The transmitting electronic device of claim 1, wherein the WLAN communication protocol is compatible with an IEEE 802.11 standard.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. The transmitting electronic device of claim 1, wherein the transmitting electronic device is configured to detect dropouts in at least one of the first packets and the second packets based on the concurrent communication.

10. The transmitting electronic device of claim 1, wherein, during the communication of the information, the transmitting electronic device is configured to determine, without disrupting the communication of the information, one of:

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

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

11. The transmitting electronic device of claim 1, wherein, during the communication of the information, the transmitting electronic device is configured to dynamically perform spectral analysis of channels associated with the WLAN communication protocol using the first interface circuit without disrupting the communication of the information;

and

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

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

providing, to at least an antenna or a communication port in the transmitting electronic device, instructions for a receiving electronic device to use a first channel during communication of first packets and to use a second channel during the communication of second packets;

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

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

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

wherein the second packets are communicated concurrently with the first packets.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the WLAN communication protocol is compatible with an IEEE 802.11 standard.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, 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 12, 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 antenna or the communication port, 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 12, 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 12, 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.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the one or more operations comprise determining, during the communication and without disrupting the communication of the information, one of:

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

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

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the one or more operations comprise dynamically performing, during the communication, spectral analysis of channels associated with the WLAN communication protocol using the first interface circuit without disrupting the communication of the information;

and

wherein the dynamic spectral analysis involves capturing time-domain signals associated with at least a 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. A method for communicating information associated with a data stream from a transmitting electronic device intended for a receiving electronic device, wherein the method comprises:

by the transmitting electronic device;

providing, to at least an antenna or a communication port in the transmitting electronic device, instructions for the receiving electronic device to use a first channel during communication of first packets and to use a second channel during the communication of second packets;

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

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

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

wherein the second packets are communicated concurrently with the first packets.