MULTI-FUNCTION WIRELESS TERMINAL

• US 20090129367A1
• Filed: 11/20/2007
• Published: 05/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Altair Semiconductor Ltd. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Bitran, Yigal
• Granted Patent: US 8,121,144 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/350
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/1215 for collaboration of different radio technologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/535 based on resource usage policies
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

A method for communication includes allocating time intervals for a first communication session over a first connection between a wireless terminal and a base station of a long-range wireless data network, which operates in accordance with a first protocol defining time frames having downlink and uplink sub-frames. Time slots are allocated for a second communication session over a second connection between the terminal and a peripheral wireless device, which operates in accordance with a second, short-range time-slotted protocol, which is different from the first protocol and has a retransmission mechanism. The time slots are synchronized with the downlink and uplink sub-frames defined by the BS. Operation of the second connection is inhibited during some of the time slots that overlap the downlink sub-frames, so as to invoke the retransmission mechanism and cause the terminal to transmit only during the time slots that do not overlap the downlink sub-frames.

Claims

1. A method for communication, comprising:

allocating time intervals for establishing a first communication session over a first connection between a wireless terminal and a base station (BS) of a long-range wireless data network, which operates in accordance with a first communication protocol that defines a sequence of time frames having respective downlink sub-frames for downlink transmission from the BS to the wireless terminal and uplink sub-frames for uplink transmission from the wireless terminal to the BS;

allocating time slots for establishing a second communication session over a second connection between the wireless terminal and a peripheral wireless device, which operates in accordance with a second, short-range time-slotted communication protocol, which is different from the first protocol and has a retransmission mechanism;

synchronizing the time slots with the downlink and uplink sub-frames defined by the BS;

inhibiting operation of the second connection during some of the time slots that overlap the downlink sub-frames of the first communication protocol, so as to invoke the retransmission mechanism of the second communication protocol and cause the wireless terminal to transmit only during the time slots that do not overlap the downlink sub-frames of the first communication protocol; and

concurrently conducting the first and second communication sessions in the allocated time intervals and time slots, respectively.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the long-range wireless data network comprises a WiMAX network that operates in accordance with an IEEE 802.16 standard.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second connection operates in accordance with an Extended Synchronous Connection-Oriented (eSCO) mode of a Bluetooth Version 1.2 Specification.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the wireless terminal includes a baseband unit for communicating over the second connection, and wherein inhibiting the operation of the second connection comprises inhibiting the baseband unit.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the wireless terminal includes a Power Amplifier (PA) for amplifying Radio Frequency (RF) signals transmitted over the second connection, and wherein inhibiting the operation of the second connection comprises inhibiting the PA.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein inhibiting the PA comprises performing at least one action selected from a group of actions consisting of switching off a supply voltage of the PA, modifying a bias voltage of the PA, switching off an RF input of the PA and switching off an RF output of the PA.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein inhibiting the operation of the second connection comprises inhibiting the operation responsively to determining that the BS intends to transmit data addressed to the wireless terminal during the some of the time slots that overlap the downlink sub-frames.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein determining that the BS intends to transmit the data addressed to the wireless terminal comprises decoding a downlink allocation message transmitted by the BS.

9. The method according to claim 1, and comprising establishing a third communication session over a third connection with an access point (AP) of a wireless local area network (WLAN) in accordance with a third protocol different from the first and second protocols, during time periods that do not overlap the time slots of the first connection and the time intervals of the second connection, and conducting the third communication session concurrently with the first and second sessions.

10. A wireless communication terminal, comprising:

a radio frequency (RF) unit; and

a baseband processing circuit, which is coupled to cause the RF unit to transmit and receive signals over the air so as to establish a first communication session over a first connection with a base station (BS) of a long-range wireless data network, which operates in accordance with a first protocol that defines a sequence of time frames having respective downlink sub-frames for downlink transmission from the BS to the wireless terminal and uplink sub-frames for uplink transmission from the wireless terminal to the BS, and to establish a second communication session over a second connection between the wireless terminal and a peripheral wireless device, which operates in accordance with a second, short-range time-slotted communication protocol that is different from the first protocol and has a retransmission mechanism; and

a coexistence processor, which is configured to allocate time slots for the second session, to allocate time intervals within the downlink and uplink sub-frames for the first session, to synchronize the time slots with the downlink and uplink sub-frames defined by the BS and to inhibit operation of the second connection during some of the time slots that overlap the downlink sub-frames of the first communication protocol in order to invoke the retransmission mechanism of the second communication protocol and cause the wireless terminal to transmit only during the time slots that do not overlap the downlink sub-frames of the first communication protocol, so as to concurrently conduct the first and second communication sessions in the allocated time intervals and the assigned time slots, respectively.

11. The terminal according to claim 10, wherein the long-range wireless data network comprises a WiMAX network that operates in accordance with an IEEE 802.16 standard.

12. The terminal according to claim 10, wherein the second connection operates in accordance with an Extended Synchronous Connection-Oriented (eSCO) mode of a Bluetooth Version 1.2 Specification.

13. The terminal according to claim 10, wherein the baseband processing circuit comprises a baseband unit for communicating over the second connection, and wherein the coexistence processor is configured to inhibit the operation of the second connection by inhibiting the baseband unit.

14. The terminal according to claim 10, wherein the RF unit comprises a Power Amplifier (PA) for amplifying RF signals transmitted over the second connection, and wherein the coexistence processor is configured to inhibit the operation of the second connection by inhibiting the PA.

15. The terminal according to claim 14, wherein the coexistence processor is configured to inhibit the PA by performing at least one action selected from a group of actions consisting of switching off a supply voltage of the PA, modifying a bias voltage of the PA, switching off an RF input of the PA and switching off an RF output of the PA.

16. The terminal according to claim 10, wherein the baseband processing circuit and the coexistence processor are configured to inhibit the operation of the second connection responsively to determining that the BS intends to transmit data addressed to the wireless terminal during the some of the time slots that overlap the downlink sub-frames.

17. The terminal according to claim 16, wherein the baseband processing circuit is coupled to determine that the BS intends to transmit the data addressed to the wireless terminal by decoding a downlink allocation message transmitted by the BS.

18. The terminal according to claim 10, wherein the baseband processing circuit is further arranged to establish a third communication session over a third connection with an access point (AP) of a wireless local area network (WLAN) in accordance with a third protocol different from the first and second protocols, and wherein the coexistence processor is arranged to allocate time periods for the third communication session that do not overlap the time slots of the first connection and the time intervals of the second connection, so as to conduct the third communication session concurrently with the first and second sessions.