Collision avoidance for communications within a device

• US 20080160925A1
• Filed: 12/30/2006
• Published: 07/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rofougaran, Ahmadreza (Reza)
• Granted Patent: US 7,995,604 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways

Abstract

A radio transceiver device includes circuitry for radiating electromagnetic signals at a very high radio frequency both through space, as well as through wave guides that are formed within a substrate material. In one embodiment, the substrate comprises a dielectric substrate formed within a board, for example, a printed circuit board. In another embodiment of the invention, the wave guide is formed within a die of an integrated circuit radio transceiver. A plurality of transceivers with different functionality is defined. Substrate transceivers are operable to transmit through the wave guides, while local transceivers are operable to produce very short range wireless transmissions through space. A third and final transceiver is a typical wireless transceiver for communication with remote (non-local to the device) transceivers.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

first and second boards for supporting circuitry including transceiver circuitry;

first and second radio transceiver integrated circuit die supported by the first supporting board;

third and fourth radio transceiver integrated circuit die supported by the second supporting board;

at least one intra-device local transceiver formed upon each of the first, second, third and fourth radio transceiver integrated circuit die, the at least one intra-device local transceiver supporting wireless communications with at least one other of the intra-device local transceivers formed upon the first, second, third and fourth radio transceiver integrated circuit die; and

wherein each of the first and the second intra-device local transceivers is operable to wirelessly communicate with intra-device local transceivers utilizing a specified collision avoidance scheme.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the specified collision avoidance scheme is a carrier sense multiple access scheme.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the specified collision avoidance scheme is a carrier sense multiple access scheme wherein each of the first and second intra-device local transceivers is operable to transmit a request-to-send signal.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the apparatus transmits the request-to-send signal to a target receiver for a communication signal.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the specified collision avoidance scheme is a carrier sense multiple access scheme wherein each of the first and second intra-device local transceivers is operable to transmit a clear-to-send signal in response to receiving a request-to-send signal.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the clear-to-send signal is transmitted to the intra-device local transceiver that generated the request-to-send signal.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the specified collision avoidance scheme is a master/slave scheme wherein the apparatus is operable to engage in communications utilizing a master/slave communication control scheme.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the apparatus is operable to control communications in a personal area network as a master of a master/slave communication link.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the apparatus is operable to engage in communications in a personal area network as a slave of a master/slave communication link.

10. An apparatus, comprising:

a first supporting board for supporting circuitry including transceiver circuitry;

first and second radio transceiver integrated circuit die supported by the first supporting board;

at least one intra-device local transceiver formed upon each of the first and second radio transceiver integrated circuit die, the at least one intra-device local transceiver supporting wireless communications with at least one other of the intra-device local transceivers formed upon the first and second radio transceiver integrated circuit die; and

wherein each of the first and second intra-device local transceivers is operable to communicate utilizing a specified collision avoidance scheme for wireless communications of electromagnetic signals radiated through space.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the specified collision avoidance scheme is a carrier sense multiple access scheme.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the specified collision avoidance scheme is a carrier sense multiple access scheme wherein each of the first and second intra-device local transceivers is operable to transmit a request-to-send signal to a receiver to which a communication is to be sent.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the apparatus only sends the request-to-send signal for communications exceeding a specified packet size.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the specified collision avoidance scheme is a master/slave scheme wherein the apparatus is operable to engage in communications utilizing a master/slave communication control scheme.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the apparatus is operable to control communications in a personal area network as a master of a master/slave communication link and is further operable to engage in communications in a personal area network as a slave of a master/slave communication link.

16. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the first radio transceiver integrated circuit die includes:

a wave guide formed within a dielectric substrate of the first radio transceiver integrated circuit die operable to guide very high radio frequency signals within the defined volume;

a first substrate local transceiver operable to transmit the very high radio frequency (RF) signals through the wave guide;

a second substrate local transceiver operable to receive the very high radio frequency signals from the wave guide; and

wherein the first intra-device local transceiver is communicatively coupled to the first substrate local transceiver and is operable to wirelessly transmit low power RF signals to the second intra-device transceiver.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 operable to utilize a collision avoidance scheme for communications within the substrate wave guide.

18. A method for wireless transmissions in an integrated circuit, comprising:

in a first local transceiver, transmitting to a second local transceiver a request-to-send signal; and

in the first local transceiver, receiving a clear-to-send signal generated by a second local transceiver in response to the request-to-send signal and determining to transmit a data packet to the second local transceiver wherein the second local transceiver is operably disposed either within the integrated circuit or within a device housing the integrated circuit.

19. The method of claim 18 further including transmitting the request-to-send signal only when the data packet to be transmitted exceeds a specified size.

20. The method of claim 18 further including receiving a clear-to-send signal from a third local transceiver and determining to delay any further transmissions for a specified period.

21. A method of communication within a device, comprising:

establishing a first communication link with a remote device by way of a remote communication transceiver;

establishing a second communication link with a specified circuit block by way of one of a pair of intra-device local communication transceivers or a pair of substrate transceivers; and

communicatively coupling the first and second communication links to enable the remote device to gain access to the specified circuit block.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the first communication link is one of a cellular, wireless local area network or personal area network protocol communication link.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein the second communication link is a very high radio frequency communication link of at least 10 GHz.

24. The method of claim 21 wherein the specified circuit block is one of a memory block, a processor block or a sensor block and further wherein the first and second communication links, when coupled, allow the specified circuit block to be used by the remote device.

25. The method of claim 21 wherein the remote device is a tester and wherein the method includes establishing a plurality of second communication links that are each coupled to the first communication link to enable the tester to test a plurality of specified circuit blocks.

26. The method of claim 21 wherein the step of communicatively coupling the first and second communication links includes translating from a first to a second communication protocol.

27. The method of claim 21 wherein the step of communicatively coupling the first and second communication links includes translating from a first to a second frequency.