System and method for RF digitization and collection

• US 10,303,494 B2
• Filed: 04/29/2014
• Issued: 05/28/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Parsons Corporation (New Port Group Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: QRC, LLC (New Port Group Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Callahan, III, Thomas F., Peric, Sinisa
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Tammy E
• Application Number:
  US14/265,211
• Publication Number:
  US 20140325509A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,855 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/482 Application
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/448 Execution paradigms, e.g. implementations of programming paradigms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/455 Emulation; Interpretation; Software simulation, e.g. virtualisation or emulation of application or operating system execution engines
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4843 by program, e.g. task dispatcher, supervisor, operating system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/50 Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU]

Abstract

An RF digitization and collection system (RFDCS) and methods for implementing the RF digitization and collection system to manage an application storage and retrieval space (App Space), wherein the App Space includes apps that may perform various offline and/or real-time transforms of RF signals received, stored, or played back on the RFDCS. Also, in the various embodiments, the RFDCS may govern the system resources available to these apps while ensuring that the RFDCS'"'"'s core system functions are not impacted by the execution of one or more of these apps in the App Space. Thus, the RFDCS may enable users to utilize real-time signal processing by running various specialized apps without compromising the RFDCS'"'"'s core system function, thereby promoting dynamic “on-the-fly” transformation of raw RF signals without compromising the user'"'"'s overall experience.

Claims

1. A method of managing an application (app) on a radiofrequency digitization and collection device having a system controller, the method comprising:

receiving, at the radiofrequency digitization and collection device, a request to launch an app included in an application storage and retrieval space (App Space) of the radiofrequency digitization and collection device;

obtaining, by the system controller, privilege and resource requirement information from the app included in the App Space of the radiofrequency digitization and collection device in response to receiving the request to launch the app included in the App Space of the radiofrequency digitization and collection device;

executing the app in a first operation mode in response to including the app in the App Space;

creating a software execution environment, by the system controller, for the app based on the privilege and resource requirement information obtained by the system controller from the app; and

executing the app in the created software execution environment subsequent to executing the app in the first operation mode, wherein executing the app comprises processing data associated with RF signals received at the radiofrequency digitization and collection device, wherein the app is executed in a second operation mode, different from the first operation mode, in the created software execution environment.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the app is finished running;

stopping the app in response to determining that the app is finished running; and

performing, by the system controller, teardown of the software execution environment in response to determining that the app is finished running.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the app can run on the radio frequency digitization and collection device;

adding the app to the App Space in response to determining that the app can run on the radiofrequency digitization and collection device; and

not adding the app to the App Space in response to determining that the app cannot run on the radiofrequency digitization and collection device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein it is determined that the app cannot run on the radiofrequency digitization and collection device when any combination of at least one of the following is true:

a checksum algorithm run on the app indicates errors;

the app is incompatible with the radiofrequency digitization and collection device;

the app is not licensed; and

the app is not signed.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein creating the software execution environment comprises:

creating a virtual machine for the app in response to determining to grant resources and privileges to the app,

wherein executing the app in the software created execution environment comprises;

executing the app in the virtual machine, and

wherein performing the teardown of the software execution environment comprises;

performing the teardown of the virtual machine in response to determining that the app is finished running.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring a running app on the radiofrequency digitization and collection device;

determining whether a performance indicator associated with the running app is less than a predetermined performance threshold; and

performing actions comprising the following in response to determining that the performance indicator associated with the running app is less than the predetermined performance threshold;

terminating the running app;

forcing the running app into cleanup mode; and

de-allocating and deregistering the running app'"'"'s resources and privileges.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring core system functions;

determining whether the core system functions have sufficient resources to operate above a predetermined performance threshold;

determining whether the app is using system resources in response to determining that the core system functions do not have sufficient resources to operate above the predetermined performance threshold; and

stopping the app in response to determining that the app is using the system resources.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring system resources;

determining whether new resources are available; and

performing actions comprising the following in response to determining that the new resources are available;

selecting a suspended app to receive the new resources; and

allocating the new resources to the suspended app.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adding the app to a user interface; and

displaying an app-specific user interface associated with the app while the app is running.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the request to launch the app is generated locally at the radiofrequency digitization and collection device or at a device remote from the radiofrequency digitization and collection device.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the system controller, whether the app can run on the radiofrequency digitization and collection device and whether to grant resources and access privileges of components of the radiofrequency digitization and collection device to the app included in the App Space in response to obtaining the privilege and resource requirement information from the app,

wherein the software execution environment is created for the app by the system controller in response to determining to grant the resources and access privileges to the app.

12. A radiofrequency digitization and collection device, comprising:

means for receiving a request to launch an application (app) included in an application storage and retrieval space (App Space) of the radiofrequency digitization and collection device;

means for obtaining privilege and resource requirement information from the app included in the App Space of the radiofrequency digitization and collection device in response to receiving the request to launch the app included in the App Space of the radiofrequency digitization and collection device;

means for executing the app in a first operation mode in response to including the app in the App Space;

means for creating a software execution environment for the app based on the privilege and resource requirement information obtained by the system controller from the app; and

means for executing the app in the created software execution environment subsequent to executing the app in the first operation mode, wherein the means for executing the app comprises means for processing data associated with RF signals received at the radiofrequency digitization and collection device, wherein the means for executing the app in the created software execution environment further comprises means for executing the app in a second operation mode, different from the first operation mode, in the created software execution environment.

13. The radiofrequency digitization and collection device of claim 12, further comprising:

means for determining whether the app is finished running;

means for stopping the app in response to determining that the app is finished running; and

means for performing teardown of the software execution environment in response to determining that the app is finished running.

14. The radiofrequency digitization and collection device of claim 12, further comprising:

means for determining whether the app can run on the radiofrequency digitization and collection device;

means for adding the app to the App Space in response to determining that the app can run on the radiofrequency digitization and collection device; and

means for not adding the app to the App Space in response to determining that the app cannot run on the radiofrequency digitization and collection device.

15. The radiofrequency digitization and collection device of claim 14, wherein it is determined that the app cannot run on the radiofrequency digitization and collection device when any combination of at least one of the following is true:

a checksum algorithm run on the app indicates errors;

the app is incompatible with the radiofrequency digitization and collection device;

the app is not licensed; and

the app is not signed.

16. The radiofrequency digitization and collection device of claim 12, wherein the request to launch the app may be generated locally at the radiofrequency digitization and collection device or at a device remote from the radiofrequency digitization and collection device.

17. The radiofrequency digitization and collection device of claim 12, further comprising:

means for determining, by the system controller, whether the app can run on the radiofrequency digitization and collection device and whether to grant resources and access privileges of components of the radiofrequency digitization and collection device to the app included in the App Space in response to obtaining the privilege and resource requirement information from the app,

wherein the software execution environment is created for the app by the system controller in response to determining to grant the resources and access privileges to the app.

18. A radiofrequency digitization and collection device, comprising:

an antenna configured to receive RF signals; and

a processor configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising;

receiving data associated with RF signals received at the antenna;

receiving a request to launch an application (app) included in an application storage and retrieval space (App Space) of the radiofrequency digitization and collection device;

obtaining privilege and resource requirement information from the app included in the App Space of the radiofrequency digitization and collection device in response to receiving the request to launch the app included in the App Space of the radiofrequency digitization and collection device;

executing the app in a first operation mode in response to including the app in the App Space;

creating a software execution environment for the app based on the privilege and resource requirement information obtained by the system controller from the app; and

executing the app in the created software execution environment subsequent to executing the app in the first operation mode, wherein executing the app comprises processing the data associated with the RF signals received at the antenna of the radiofrequency digitization and collection device, wherein the app is executed in a second operation mode, different from the first operation mode, in the created software execution environment.

19. The radiofrequency digitization and collection device of claim 18, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

determining whether the app is finished running;

stopping the app in response to determining that the app is finished running; and

performing teardown of the software execution environment in response to determining that the app is finished running.

20. The radiofrequency digitization and collection device of claim 18, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

determining whether the app can run on the radiofrequency digitization and collection device;

adding the app to the App Space in response to determining that the app can run on the radiofrequency digitization and collection device; and

not adding the app to the App Space in response to determining that the app cannot run on the radiofrequency digitization and collection device.

21. The radiofrequency digitization and collection device of claim 20, wherein the processor determines that the app cannot run on the radiofrequency digitization and collection device when any combination of at least one of the following is true:

a checksum algorithm run on the app indicates errors;

the app is incompatible with the radiofrequency digitization and collection device;

the app is not licensed; and

the app is not signed.

22. The radiofrequency digitization and collection device of claim 19, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that:

creating the software execution environment comprises creating a virtual machine for the app in response to determining to grant resources and privileges to the app;

executing the app in the software execution environment comprises executing the app in the virtual machine; and

performing the teardown of the software execution environment comprises performing teardown of the virtual machine in response to determining that the app is finished running.

23. The radiofrequency digitization and collection device of claim 18, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

monitoring a running app on the radiofrequency digitization and collection device;

determining whether a performance indicator associated with the running app is less than a predetermined performance threshold; and

performing actions comprising the following in response to determining that the performance indicator associated with the running app is less than the predetermined performance threshold;

terminating the running app;

forcing the running app into cleanup mode; and

de-allocating and deregistering the running app'"'"'s resources and privileges.

24. The radiofrequency digitization and collection device of claim 18, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

monitoring core system functions;

determining whether the core system functions have sufficient resources to operate above a predetermined performance threshold;

determining whether the app is using system resources in response to determining that the core system functions do not have sufficient resources to operate above the predetermined performance threshold; and

stopping the app in response to determining that the app is using the system resources.

25. The radiofrequency digitization and collection device of claim 18, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

monitoring system resources;

determining whether new resources are available; and

performing actions comprising the following in response to determining that the new resources are available;

selecting a suspended app to receive the new resources; and

allocating the new resources to the suspended app.

26. The radiofrequency digitization and collection device of claim 18, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

adding the app to a user interface; and

displaying an app-specific user interface associated with the app while the app is running.

27. The radiofrequency digitization and collection device of claim 18, wherein the request to launch the app is generated locally at the radiofrequency digitization and collection device or at a device remote from the radiofrequency digitization and collection device.

28. The radiofrequency digitization and collection device of claim 18, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

determining whether the app can run on the radiofrequency digitization and collection device and whether to grant resources and access privileges of components of the radiofrequency digitization and collection device to the app included in the App Space in response to obtaining the privilege and resource requirement information from the app,

wherein the software execution environment is created for the app by the processor in response to determining to grant the resources and access privileges to the app.