Client module, multimedia server and methods for use therewith

• US 20070249307A1
• Filed: 04/21/2006
• Published: 10/25/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: VIXS Systems Incorporated (Pixelworks Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: VIXS Systems Incorporated (Pixelworks Incorporated)
• Inventors: Astrachan, Paul, Rybicki, Mathew, Girardeau, James, Chen, Michael, Dong, Suiwu
• Granted Patent: US 8,355,715 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/137
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0602 using antenna switching H04B7/0686 takes precedence; antenna beam directivity switching H01Q3/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0613 using simultaneous transmission H04B7/0686 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0619 using feedback from receiving side feedback signaling for adaptive modulation/coding H04L1/0001
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0802 using antenna selection H04B7/0868 takes precedence; antenna beam directivity switching H01Q3/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0837 using pre-detection combining H04B7/0868 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/12 Frequency diversity

Abstract

An encoded signal is modulated to produce a first radio frequency (RF) signal that is transmitted to a client module over a first transceiver channel when a first transceiver module is in a transceive mode. A channel scan is performed when the first transceiver module is in a scan mode. The encoded signal is modulated to produce a second RF signal and that is transmitted over a second transceiver channel when a second transceiver module is in a transceive mode.

Claims

1. A client module comprising:

a first transceiver module for receiving a first radio frequency (RF) signal from a multimedia server module over a first transceiver channel and for converting the first RF signal into a first baseband signal when the first transceiver module is in a transceive mode, the first transceiver module including a first scan module for performing a channel scan when the first transceiver module is in a scan mode;

a second transceiver module for receiving a second RF signal from a multimedia server module over a second transceiver channel and for converting the second RF signal into a second baseband signal when the second transceiver module is in a transceive mode; and

a recombination module, operably coupled to the first transceiver module and the second transceiver module, for combining the first baseband signal and the second baseband signal into an output signal when the first transceiver and the second transceiver are both in the transceive mode and for generating the output signal from the second baseband signal when the first transceiver is in the scan mode.

2. The client module of claim 1 wherein the second transceiver module further includes a second scan module for performing a channel scan when the second transceiver module is in a scan mode.

3. The client module of claim 2 wherein the first scan module is operably coupled to the second scan module, and wherein the first scan module asserts a first transceiver scan signal when the first transceiver is in the scan mode and wherein the second transceiver module remains in the transceive mode when the first transceiver scan signal is asserted.

4. The client module of claim 1 wherein the channel scan includes a determining at least one performance parameter of an alternative first transceiver channel.

5. The client module of claim 4 wherein the first scan module is further operable to switch the first transceiver module to the transceive mode to receive the first radio frequency (RF) signal from a multimedia server module over the alternative first transceiver channel, when the at least one performance parameter of the alternative first transceiver channel compares favorably to a performance threshold.

6. The client module of claim 5 wherein the first transceiver module is further operable to transmit switch data from the first scan module to the multimedia server module.

7. The client module of claim 6 wherein the first scan module is further operable to arbitrate the switch to the alternative first transceiver channel with the multimedia server module.

8. The client module of claim 1 wherein the channel scan includes determining a plurality of performance parameters for a plurality of alternative first transceiver channels.

9. The client module of claim 1 wherein the first transceiver channel and the second transceiver channel are the same channel of a broadband wireless access network.

10. The client module of claim 1 wherein the first transceiver channel and the second transceiver channel are different channels of a broadband wireless access network.

11. The client module of claim 10 wherein the broadband wireless access network conforms to at least one of the following standards:

802.11x, Ultra Wideband (UWB), and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX).

12. The client module of claim 1 further comprising:

a decoder module, operably coupled to the recombination module, for decoding the output signal into a decoded output signal.

13. The client module of claim 12 wherein the decoded output signal includes a composite video signal.

14. The client module of claim 1 wherein the first transceiver module is operably coupled to a first antenna and the second transceiver module is coupled to a second antenna that is spatially diverse from the first antenna.

15. The client module of claim 1 wherein one of:

the first baseband signal and the second baseband signal, includes a low IF signal.

16. A multimedia server module comprising:

a first transceiver module for modulating an encoded signal to produce a first radio frequency (RF) signal and for transmitting the first RF signal to a client module over a first transceiver channel when the first transceiver module is in a transceive mode, the first transceiver module including a first scan module for performing a channel scan when the first transceiver module is in a scan mode; and

a second transceiver module for modulating the encoded signal to produce a second RF signal and for transmitting the second RF signal over a second transceiver channel when the second transceiver module is in a transceive mode.

17. The multimedia server module of claim 16 wherein the second transceiver module includes a second scan module for performing a channel scan when the second transceiver module is in a scan mode.

18. The multimedia server module of claim 17 wherein the first scan module is operably coupled to the second scan module, and wherein the first scan module asserts a first transceiver scan signal when the first transceiver is in the scan mode and wherein the second transceiver module remains in the transceive mode when the first transceiver scan signal is asserted.

19. The multimedia server module of claim 16 wherein the channel scan includes a determining at least one performance parameter of an alternative first transceiver channel.

20. The multimedia server module of claim 19 wherein the first scan module is further operable to switch the first transceiver module to the transceive mode to transmit the first RF signal to the client module over the alternative first transceiver channel when the at least one performance parameter of the alternative first transceiver channel compares favorably to a performance threshold.

21. The multimedia server module of claim 20 wherein the first transceiver module is further operable to transmit switch data from the first scan module to the client module.

22. The multimedia server module of claim 20 wherein the first scan module is further operable to arbitrate the switch to the alternative first transceiver channel with the client module.

23. The multimedia server module of claim 16 wherein the channel scan includes determining a plurality of performance parameters for a plurality of alternative first transceiver channels.

24. The multimedia server module of claim 16 wherein the first transceiver channel and the second transceiver channel are the same channel of a broadband wireless access network.

25. The multimedia server module of claim 16 wherein the first transceiver channel and the second transceiver channel are different channels of a broadband wireless access network.

26. The multimedia server module of claim 25 wherein the broadband wireless access network conforms to at least one of the following standards:

802.11x, Ultra Wideband (UWB), and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX).

27. The multimedia server module of claim 16 further comprising:

an encoder module for generating an encoded signal from a multimedia input signal.

28. The multimedia server module of claim 27 wherein the encoded signal includes a composite video signal.

29. The multimedia server module of claim 16 wherein the first transceiver module is operably coupled to a first antenna and the second transceiver module is coupled to a second antenna that is spatially diverse from the first antenna.

30. A method comprising:

receiving a first radio frequency (RF) signal from a multimedia server module over a first transceiver channel and converting the first RF signal into a first baseband signal when a first transceiver module is in a transceive mode;

performing a channel scan when the first transceiver module is in a scan mode;

receiving a second RF signal from a multimedia server module over a second transceiver channel and converting the second RF signal into a second baseband signal when a second transceiver is in a transceive mode;

combining the first baseband signal and the second baseband signal into an output signal when the first transceiver and the second transceiver are both in the transceive mode; and

generating the output signal from the second baseband signal when the first transceiver is in the scan mode.

31. The method of claim 30 further comprising:

performing a channel scan when the second transceiver module is in a scan mode.

32. The method of claim 31 further comprising:

asserting a first transceiver scan signal when the first transceiver is in the scan mode;

wherein the second transceiver module remains in the transceive mode when the first transceiver scan signal is asserted.

33. The method of claim 31 wherein the step of performing a channel scan includes a determining at least one performance parameter of an alternative first transceiver channel.

34. The method of claim 33 further comprising:

switching to the transceive mode using the alternative first transceiver channel when the at least one performance parameter of the alternative first transceiver channel compares favorably to a performance threshold.

35. The method of claim 34 further comprising:

transmitting switch data to the multimedia server module.

36. The method of claim 35 further comprising:

arbitrating the switch to the alternative first transceiver channel with the multimedia server module.

37. The method of claim 30 wherein the step of performing a channel scan includes determining a plurality of performance parameters for a plurality of alternative first transceiver channels.

38. The method of claim 30 wherein the first transceiver channel and the second transceiver channel are the same channel of a broadband wireless access network.

39. The method of claim 30 wherein the first transceiver channel and the second transceiver channel are different channels of a broadband wireless access network.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein the broadband wireless access network conforms to at least one of the following standards:

802.11x, Ultra Wideband (UWB), and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX).

41. The method of claim 30 further comprising:

decoding the output signal into a decoded output signal.

42. The method of claim 41 wherein the decoded output signal includes a composite video signal.

43. The method of claim 30 wherein one of:

the first baseband signal and the second baseband signal, includes a low IF signal.

44. A method comprising:

modulating an encoded signal to produce a first radio frequency (RF) signal and transmitting the first RF signal to a client module over a first transceiver channel when a first transceiver module is in a transceive mode;

performing a channel scan when the first transceiver module is in a scan mode; and

modulating the encoded signal to produce a second RF signal and transmitting the second RF signal over a second transceiver channel when a second transceiver module is in a transceive mode.

45. The method of claim 44 further comprising:

performing a channel scan when the second transceiver module is in a scan mode.

46. The method of claim 45 further comprising:

asserting a first transceiver scan signal when the first transceiver is in the scan mode;

wherein the second transceiver module remains in the transceive mode when the first transceiver scan signal is asserted.

47. The method of claim 45 wherein the channel scan includes a determining at least one performance parameter of an alternative first transceiver channel.

48. The method of claim 47 further comprising:

switching the first transceiver module to the transceive mode and transmitting the first RF signal to the client module over the alternative first transceiver channel when the at least one performance parameter of the alternative first transceiver channel compares favorably to a performance threshold.

49. The method of claim 48 further comprising:

transmitting switch data to the client module.

50. The method of claim 49 further comprising:

arbitrating the switch to the alternative first transceiver channel with the client module.

51. The method of claim 50 wherein the step of arbitrating the switch to the alternative first transceiver channel, includes receiving a client module list of possible alternative first transceiver channels from the client module, and comparing the client module list with a multimedia server module list.

52. The method of claim 44 wherein the channel scan includes determining a plurality of performance parameters for a plurality of alternative first transceiver channels.

53. The method of claim 44 wherein the first transceiver channel and the second transceiver channel are the same channel of a broadband wireless access network.

54. The method of claim 44 wherein the first transceiver channel and the second transceiver channel are different channels of a broadband wireless access network.

55. The method of claim 54 wherein the broadband wireless access network conforms to at least one of the following standards:

802.11x, Ultra Wideband (UWB), and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX).

56. The method of claim 44 further comprising:

generating an encoded signal from a multimedia input signal.

57. The method of claim 56 wherein the encoded signal includes a composite video signal.

58. The method of claim 56 wherein the first transceiver module is operably coupled to a first antenna and the second transceiver module is coupled to a second antenna that is spatially diverse from the first antenna.