Radio system for providing wireless connectivity between digital devices
First Claim
1. A radio system for wirelessly linking digital devices, comprising:
- an RF transceiver embodied on a PC expansion card;
a host controller for detecting and operating said RF transceiver expansion card, wherein said controller includes logic sets for detecting and operating a plurality of expansion card types; and
a digital baseband portion, connectable to said transceiver, for establishing and managing said wireless links, said baseband portion including a plurality of components, wherein at least one of said components is integrated on said host controller.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A wireless radio system for providing short-range wireless links between digital devices includes an RF transceiver and a digital baseband portion for establishing and maintaining links. The RF transceiver is embodied on a PC expansion card received b y a PC card expansion slot. At least a portion of the digital baseband is integrated on a host controller, equipped with logic sets for detecting and operating various types of expansion cards. One such logic set detects and operates the transceiver expansion card, so that a connection between the transceiver and the baseband is maintained. Removing the transceiver card detaches the transceiver, altogether eliminating wireless functionality. By substituting cards having transceivers adapted to local conditions, the radio system may be modified to accommodate regional variations in the LSM radio band.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A radio system for wirelessly linking digital devices, comprising:
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an RF transceiver embodied on a PC expansion card;
a host controller for detecting and operating said RF transceiver expansion card, wherein said controller includes logic sets for detecting and operating a plurality of expansion card types; and
a digital baseband portion, connectable to said transceiver, for establishing and managing said wireless links, said baseband portion including a plurality of components, wherein at least one of said components is integrated on said host controller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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12. A method of detecting the presence of an expansion card using conventional PC card specification signal lines, said method comprising the steps of:
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determining the signal state of first and second card detection signal lines;
determining the signal state of first and second voltage select signal lines;
determining if said first and/or second card detection signal lines, or said first and/or second voltage select signal lines, comprise a signal state that is reserved by a PC Card signal specification; and
determining the signal state of a predetermined unused PC Card signal line, relative to said reserved signal state.
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15. A device to detect the presence of an expansion card using conventional PC Card specification signal lines, said device comprising a state machine including a lookup table and a plurality of logic sets, each of said logic sets operable to interface with a certain predefined expansion card type, said state machine accepting as input signals a plurality of predetermined card detection and voltage selection signals, and an additional signal, and coupling an appropriate one of said logic sets to an appropriate one of said expansion card based on a match between said input signals and said lookup table.
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20. An integrated circuit for detecting and operating a plurality of expansion card types, comprising:
a first logic set for detecting and operating a plurality of expansion card types, said first logic set having predetermined signal lines and a pinout arrangement defined according to PC Card specifications, and a second logic set for detecting and operating a Bluetooth compatible radio unit embodied on a PC expansion card, or a Wireless LAN NIC, said first and second logic set being incorporated into a single controller, and wherein said second logic set is adapted to reassign certain ones of said predetermined signal lines to detect and operate said Bluetooth PC card or Wireless LAN NIC without requiring additional pinouts.
Specification