Sharing an antenna for wireless communication

• US 10,447,332 B2
• Filed: 05/26/2017
• Issued: 10/15/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Homchaudhuri, Sandip, Yenganti, Pradeep Kumar, Ranganath, Ashok, Dhamdhere, Deepak, Modi, Viral, Fan, Hong, Subramanian, Pattabiraman, Burra, Gangadhar
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Thanh C
• Application Number:
  US15/606,649
• Publication Number:
  US 20180026670A1
• Time in Patent Office: 872 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/401 for selecting or indicating operating mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/406 with more than one transmission mode, e.g. analog and digital modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0041 Frequency-non-contiguous
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0055 Physical resource allocation for ACK/NACK for physical mapping arrangements in ARQ protocols H04L1/1861
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/04 Wireless resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/38 triggered by timers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

In a particular aspect, a method includes performing a first communication operation associated with a first frequency band using an antenna of a wireless device. The first communication operation is initiated by first communication circuitry of the wireless device. The first communication circuitry is associated with a first communication protocol. The method further includes, based on a duration of a second communication operation, performing the second communication operation associated with a second frequency band using the antenna of the wireless device. The second communication operation is initiated by second communication circuitry of the wireless device. The second communication circuitry is associated with a second communication protocol that is different than the first communication protocol. The first frequency band at least partially overlaps the second frequency band.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication, the method comprising:

performing a first communication operation associated with a first frequency band using an antenna of a wireless device, wherein the first communication operation is initiated by first communication circuitry of the wireless device, and wherein the first communication circuitry is associated with a first communication protocol;

based on a duration of a second communication operation, performing the second communication operation associated with a second frequency band using the antenna of the wireless device, wherein the second communication operation is initiated by second communication circuitry of the wireless device, wherein the second communication circuitry is associated with a second communication protocol that is different than the first communication protocol, and wherein the first frequency band at least partially overlaps the second frequency band; and

performing periodic communication operations associated with the second frequency band using the antenna, wherein the periodic communication operations are performed multiple times, and wherein the periodic communication operations include the second communication operation.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising causing a switch to couple the second communication circuitry to the antenna prior to performing the second communication operation.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising disabling data transmission from the first communication circuitry to the antenna during performance of the second communication operation.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing a third communication operation associated with the first frequency band using the antenna after completion of the second communication operation.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second frequency band comprises a 5 gigahertz (GHz) channel.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein a criticality bit associated with the periodic communication operation indicates whether the periodic communication operation is critical.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing a third communication operation associated with the first frequency band using the antenna after performance of the second communication operation and prior to performance of another of the periodic communication operations.

8. A method of wireless communication, the method comprising:

performing a first communication operation associated with a first frequency band using an antenna of a wireless device, wherein the first communication operation is initiated by first communication circuitry of the wireless device, and wherein the first communication circuitry is associated with a first communication protocol;

based on a duration of a second communication operation, performing the second communication operation associated with a second frequency band using the antenna of the wireless device, wherein the second communication operation is initiated by second communication circuitry of the wireless device, wherein the second communication circuitry is associated with a second communication protocol that is different than the first communication protocol, and wherein the first frequency band at least partially overlaps the second frequency band;

refraining from performing a third communication operation associated with the second frequency band based on a second criticality bit indicating that the third communication operation is not critical;

wherein the second communication operation is performed based on the duration being less than or equal to a time period until a next operation at the first communication circuitry; and

wherein the second communication operation is associated with a criticality bit that indicates whether the second communication operation is critical.

9. A method of wireless communication, the method comprising:

performing a first communication operation associated with a first frequency band using an antenna of a wireless device, wherein the first communication operation is initiated by first communication circuitry of the wireless device, and wherein the first communication circuitry is associated with a first communication protocol;

based on a duration of a second communication operation, performing the second communication operation associated with a second frequency band using the antenna of the wireless device, wherein the second communication operation is initiated by second communication circuitry of the wireless device, wherein the second communication circuitry is associated with a second communication protocol that is different than the first communication protocol, and wherein the first frequency band at least partially overlaps the second frequency band;

performing a third communication operation associated with the first frequency band using the antenna based on a second duration of a fourth communication operation associated with the second frequency band being greater than the time period; and

wherein the second communication operation is performed based on the duration being less than or equal to a time period until a next operation at the first communication circuitry.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising sending a negative acknowledgement (NACK) from the first communication circuitry to the second communication circuitry based on the second duration being greater than the time period.

11. A method of wireless communication, the method comprising:

performing a first communication operation associated with a first frequency band using an antenna of a wireless device, wherein the first communication operation is initiated by first communication circuitry of the wireless device, and wherein the first communication circuitry is associated with a first communication protocol;

based on a duration of a second communication operation, performing the second communication operation associated with a second frequency band using the antenna of the wireless device, wherein the second communication operation is initiated by second communication circuitry of the wireless device, wherein the second communication circuitry is associated with a second communication protocol that is different than the first communication protocol, and wherein the first frequency band at least partially overlaps the second frequency band;

performing a third communication operation associated with the second frequency band using the antenna based on a criticality bit associated with the third communication operation indicating that the third communication operation is critical and a second duration of the third communication operation being greater than the time period; and

wherein the second communication operation is performed based on the duration being less than or equal to a time period until a next operation at the first communication circuitry.

12. A method of wireless communication, the method comprising:

performing a first communication operation associated with a first frequency band using an antenna of a wireless device, wherein the first communication operation is initiated by first communication circuitry of the wireless device, and wherein the first communication circuitry is associated with a first communication protocol;

based on a duration of a second communication operation, performing the second communication operation associated with a second frequency band using the antenna of the wireless device, wherein the second communication operation is initiated by second communication circuitry of the wireless device, wherein the second communication circuitry is associated with a second communication protocol that is different than the first communication protocol, and wherein the first frequency band at least partially overlaps the second frequency band; and

performing periodic communication operations associated with the second frequency band using the antenna, wherein the periodic communication operations comprise the second communication operation and one or more communication operations.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the second communication operation and the one or more communication operations have the same duration.

14. An apparatus comprising:

an antenna;

first communication circuitry configured to initiate performance of a first communication operation associated with a first frequency band using the antenna, wherein the first communication circuitry is associated with a first communication protocol; and

second communication circuitry configured to, based on a duration of a second communication operation, initiate performance of the second communication operation associated with a second frequency band using the antenna, wherein the second communication circuitry is associated with a second communication protocol that is different than the first communication protocol, and wherein the first frequency band at least partially overlaps the second frequency band;

performing periodic communication operations associated with the second frequency band using the antenna, wherein the periodic communication operations are performed multiple times, and wherein the periodic communication operations include the second communication operation.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first communication circuitry comprises wireless local area network (WLAN) circuitry, and wherein the second communication circuitry comprises long term evolution (LTE) circuitry.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising an interface configured to enable communications between the first communication circuitry and the second communication circuitry.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the interface comprises a shared memory interface, a wireless coexistence interface 2 (WCI-2), a general purpose input-output (GPIO) interface, or a bus.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a switch configured to selectively couple the antenna to the first communication circuitry or to the second communication circuitry.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the first communication circuitry is configured to cause the switch to couple the antenna to the second communication circuitry based on the duration being less than or equal to a time period until a next operation at the first communication circuitry.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the second communication circuitry is configured to cause the switch to couple the antenna to the first communication circuitry responsive to completion of the second communication operation.

21. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the antenna, the first communication circuitry, and the second communication circuitry are integrated within a mobile communication device.

22. An apparatus comprising:

means for performing a first communication operation associated with a first frequency band using an antenna, wherein the first communication operation is associated with a first communication protocol;

means for determining whether to perform a second communication operation associated with a second frequency band based on a duration of the second communication operation;

means for performing the second communication operation using the antenna, wherein the second communication operation is associated with a second communication protocol that is different than the first communication protocol, and wherein the first frequency band at least partially overlaps the second frequency band; and

means for performing periodic communication operations associated with the second frequency band using the antenna, wherein the periodic communication operations are performed multiple times, and wherein the periodic communication operations include the second communication operation.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the second frequency band comprises a 5 gigahertz (GHz) channel, wherein the second communication protocol includes a wireless local area network (WLAN) protocol, and wherein the first communication protocol includes a long term evolution (LTE)-Unlicensed (LTE-U) protocol that is associated with at least a portion of the 5 GHz channel.

24. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising means for sharing messages between the means for performing the second communication operation and the means for performing the first communication operation.

25. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

initiate performance of a first communication operation associated with a first frequency band using an antenna of a wireless device, wherein the first communication operation is associated with a first communication protocol;

based on a duration of a second communication operation, initiate performance of the second communication operation associated with a second frequency band using the antenna, wherein the second communication operation is associated with a second communication protocol that is different than the first communication protocol, and wherein the first frequency band at least partially overlaps the second frequency band; and

performing periodic communication operations associated with the second frequency band using the antenna, wherein the periodic communication operations are performed multiple times, and wherein the periodic communication operations include the second communication operation.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the first communication protocol includes a long term evolution (LTE) protocol, and wherein the second communication protocol includes a wireless local area network (WLAN) protocol.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the second communication operation is performed based on the duration being less than or equal to a time period until a next operation associated with the first communication protocol.