APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR LOW POWER SENSING OF COMMUNICATION ACCESS TECHNOLOGIES

• US 20100322126A1
• Filed: 10/31/2009
• Published: 12/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Krishnaswamy, Dilip, Subrahmanya, Parvathanathan, Kanade, Parag M.
• Granted Patent: US 9,060,336 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/311
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0229 where the received signal is a wanted signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/028 switching on or off only a part of the equipment circuit blocks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for low power sensing of wireless access technologies are disclosed. In particular, a mobile wireless device, such as an access terminal, may utilize a lower power circuitry portion that operates at a lower power than active circuitry, such as a primary transceiver. The lower power circuitry portion includes a configurable searcher that is capable of sensing if signals of one or more various wireless access technologies are present. When the wireless device utilizes sleep or idle modes for power savings, use of the lower power sensing circuitry to sense the presence of wireless access technologies, rather than using an awoken higher power primary transceiver for sensing, affords increased power savings. An added ability of the lower power circuitry to be put into sleep or idles modes achieves even greater power savings.

Claims

1. An apparatus for use in a mobile device comprising:

a first circuitry portion operable at first power level wherein the first circuitry portion includes at least one configurable searcher that is operable to sense signals of one or more wireless access technologies; and

a second circuitry portion that is configured to operate at a power level higher than the first power level of the first circuitry portion in the mobile device.

2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the first circuitry portion further comprises:

a buffer configured to store received signals of the one or more wireless access technologies; and

a non-real time processor configured to process the received signals stored in the buffer in a time domain independent from a time domain of at least one of the other circuitry in the first circuitry portion and the second circuitry portion.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the first circuitry further comprises:

an adaptive engine configured to adaptively process the signals of the one or more wireless access technologies to at least one of reorder and prioritize a search list of the one or more wireless access technologies based on prior sensed information.

4. The apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein the prior sensed information includes at least one of signal strength and signal correlation.

5. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the first circuitry portion is further configured to wake up from one of an idle or sleep state and periodically sense the one or more wireless access technologies at a predetermined periodicity wherein the periodicity is either fixed or variable.

6. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the second circuitry portion comprises a primary transceiver that is configured to sleep while the first circuitry portion senses signals of the one or more wireless access technologies.

7. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the at least one configurable searcher is configured to sense signals of the one or more wireless access technologies by including measuring energies at different wireless carrier frequencies, for at least one of a carrier in a single wireless technology, or two or more wireless technologies.

8. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein sensing signals of the one or more wireless access technologies includes correlating received signals with at least one reference data.

9. The apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein the reference data comprises at least one scrambling code.

10. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the first circuitry portion includes:

a demodulator configured to demodulate received signals; and

a decoder configured to decode additional information regarding the one or more wireless access technologies.

11. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second circuitry portions is configured to provide lower energy paging support.

12. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, the first circuitry portion further comprising:

a baseband processor used for sensing the one or more wireless access technologies.

13. The apparatus as defined in claim 12, wherein the baseband processor includes one or more of a processor, a memory, and logic hardware.

14. The apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein the logic hardware is configured to process a subset of tasks including sensing a subset of wireless access technologies.

15. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the first circuitry portion is further configured to issue a trigger to wake up the second circuitry portion when a signal from at least one of the wireless access technologies is sensed by the first portion.

16. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the first portion includes at least one real time clock domain timer for use in causing the first portion to periodically perform sensing tasks.

17. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the first and second circuitry portions share one or more components configured to be at least operable at the lower power.

18. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the first circuitry portion is configured with a lower leakage library of design components compared to components in the second circuitry portion.

19. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the first circuitry portion comprises one or more first components having equivalent functionality to one or more second components in the second circuitry portion, where the one or more first components operate slower than the one or more second components.

20. The apparatus as defined in claim 19, where the one or more first components are configured to consume less energy than the one or more second components in performing an equivalent function.

21. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the mobile device comprises an access terminal.

22. A method for use in a mobile device comprising:

searching for one or more wireless access technologies using a first circuitry portion configured to operate at a power level lower than power levels of a second circuitry portion in the mobile device; and

issuing a wakeup trigger configured to wake up the second circuitry portion when at least one predetermined wireless access technology of the one or more wireless access technologies is sensed.

23. The method as defined in claim 22, further comprising:

buffering received signals of the one or more wireless access technologies; and

non-real time processing the buffered received signals in a time domain independent from a time domain of at least one of the other circuitry in the first circuitry portion and the second circuitry portion.

24. The method as defined in claim 22, further comprising:

adaptively processing the signals of the one or more wireless access technologies to at least one of reorder and prioritize a search list of the one or more wireless access technologies based on prior sensed information.

25. The method as defined in claim 24, wherein the prior sensed information includes at least one of signal strength and signal correlation.

26. The method as defined in claim 22, further comprising:

periodically waking up the first circuitry portion from one of a sleep state or idle state and searching the one or more wireless access technologies at a predetermined periodicity wherein the periodicity is either fixed or variable.

27. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein the second circuitry portion comprises a primary transceiver that is configured to sleep while the first circuitry portion senses signals of the one or more wireless access technologies.

28. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein searching for the one or more wireless access technologies includes measuring energies at different wireless carrier frequencies, for at least one of a carrier in a single wireless technology, or two or more wireless technologies.

29. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein searching for the one or more wireless access technologies includes correlating received signals with at least one reference data.

30. The method as defined in claim 29, wherein the reference data comprises at least one scrambling code.

31. The method as defined in claim 22, further comprising:

demodulating received signals of the one or more wireless access technologies; and

decoding the demodulated signals to determine additional information regarding the one or more wireless access technologies.

32. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein at least one of the first and second circuitry portions is configured to provide lower energy paging support.

33. The method as defined in claim 22, the first circuitry portion comprising:

a baseband processor used for sensing the one or more wireless access technologies.

34. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein searching for the one or more wireless access technologies includes processing a subset of tasks including sensing a subset of wireless access technologies.

35. The method as defined in claim 22, further comprising:

searching the one or more wireless access technologies at a predetermined periodicity wherein the periodicity is either fixed or variable.

36. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein the first and second circuitry portions share one or more components configured to be at least operable at the lower power.

37. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein the mobile device comprises an access terminal.

38. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein at least a portion of the first circuitry portion is configured with a lower leakage library of design components compared to components in the second circuitry portion.

39. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein the first circuitry portion comprises one or more first components having equivalent functionality to one or more second components in the second circuitry portion, where the one or more first components operate slower than the one or more second components.

40. The method as defined in claim 39, where the one or more first components are configured to consume less energy than the one or more second components in performing an equivalent function.

41. An apparatus for use in a mobile device comprising:

means for searching for one or more wireless access technologies using a first circuitry portion configured to operate at a power level lower than power levels of a second circuitry portion in the mobile device; and

means for issuing a wakeup trigger configured to wake up the second circuitry portion when at least one predetermined wireless access technology of the one or more wireless access technologies is sensed.

42. The apparatus as defined in claim 41, further comprising:

means for buffering received signals of the one or more wireless access technologies; and

means for non-real time processing the buffered received signals in a time domain independent from a time domain of at least one of the other circuitry in the first circuitry portion and the second circuitry portion.

43. The apparatus as defined in claim 41, further comprising:

means for adaptively processing the signals of the one or more wireless access technologies to at least one of reorder and prioritize a search list of the one or more wireless access technologies based on prior sensed information.

44. The apparatus as defined in claim 43, wherein the prior sensed information includes at least one of signal strength and signal correlation.

45. The apparatus as defined in claim 41, further comprising:

means for periodically waking up the first circuitry portion from one of a sleep state or idle state and searching the one or more wireless access technologies at a predetermined periodicity wherein the periodicity is either fixed or variable.

46. The apparatus as defined in claim 41, wherein the second circuitry portion comprises a primary transceiver that is configured to sleep while the first circuitry portion senses signals of the one or more wireless access technologies.

47. The apparatus as defined in claim 41, wherein the means for searching for the one or more wireless access technologies includes means for measuring energies at different wireless carrier frequencies, for at least one of a carrier in a single wireless technology, or two or more wireless access technologies.

48. The apparatus as defined in claim 41, wherein the means for searching for the one or more wireless access technologies includes means for correlating received signals with at least one reference data.

49. The apparatus as defined in claim 48, wherein the reference data comprises at least one scrambling code.

50. The apparatus as defined in claim 41, further comprising:

means for demodulating received signals of the one or more wireless access technologies; and

means for decoding the demodulated signals to decipher additional information regarding the one or more wireless access technologies.

51. The apparatus as defined in claim 41, wherein at least one of the first and second circuitry portions is configured to provide lower energy paging support.

52. The apparatus as defined in claim 41, the first circuitry portion comprising:

a baseband processor used for sensing the one or more wireless access technologies.

53. The apparatus as defined in claim 41, wherein the means for searching for the one or more wireless access technologies includes means for processing a subset of tasks including sensing a subset of wireless access technologies.

54. The apparatus as defined in claim 41, further comprising:

means for searching the one or more wireless access technologies at a predetermined periodicity wherein the periodicity is either fixed or variable.

55. The apparatus as defined in claim 41, wherein the first and second circuitry portions share one or more components configured to be at least operable at the lower power.

56. The apparatus as defined in claim 41, wherein at least a portion of the first circuitry portion is configured with a lower leakage library of design components compared to components in the second circuitry portion.

57. The apparatus as defined in claim 41, wherein the first circuitry portion comprises one or more first components having equivalent functionality to one or more second components in the second circuitry portion, where the one or more first components operate slower than the one or more second components.

58. The apparatus as defined in claim 57, where the one or more first components are configured to consume less energy than the one or more second components in performing an equivalent function.

59. The apparatus as defined in claim 41, wherein the mobile device comprises an access terminal.

60. A computer program product, comprising:

computer-readable medium comprising;

code for causing a computer to search for one or more wireless access technologies in a mobile device using a first circuitry portion configured to operate at a power level lower than power levels of a second circuitry portion in the mobile device; and

code for causing a computer to issue a wakeup trigger configured to wake up the second circuitry portion when at least one predetermined wireless access technology of the one or more wireless access technologies is sensed.

61. The computer program product as defined in claim 60, the computer-readable medium further comprising:

code for causing a computer to cause buffering of received signals of the one or more wireless access technologies; and

code for causing a computer to non-real time process the buffered received signals in a time domain independent from a time domain of at least one of the other circuitry in the first circuitry portion and the second circuitry portion.

62. The computer program product as defined in claim 60, the computer-readable medium further comprising:

code for causing a computer to adaptively process the signals of the one or more wireless access technologies to at least one of reorder and prioritize a search list of the one or more wireless access technologies based on prior sensed information.

63. The computer program product as defined in claim 62, wherein the prior sensed information includes at least one of signal strength and signal correlation.

64. The computer program product as defined in claim 60, the computer-readable medium further comprising:

code for causing a computer to periodically wake up the first circuitry portion from one of a sleep state or idle state and searching the one or more wireless access technologies at a predetermined periodicity wherein the periodicity is either fixed or variable.

65. The computer program product as defined in claim 60, wherein the second circuitry portion comprises a primary transceiver that is configured to sleep while the first circuitry portion senses signals of the one or more wireless access technologies.

66. The computer program product as defined in claim 60, wherein searching for the one or more wireless access technologies includes measuring energies at different wireless carrier frequencies, for at least one of a carrier in a single wireless technology, or two or more wireless technologies.

67. The computer program product as defined in claim 60, wherein searching for the one or more wireless access technologies includes correlating received signals with at least one reference data.

68. The computer program product as defined in claim 67, wherein the reference data comprises at least one scrambling code.

69. The computer program product as defined in claim 60, the computer-readable medium further comprising:

code for causing a computer to demodulate received signals of the one or more wireless access technologies; and

code for causing a computer to decode the demodulated signals to decipher additional information regarding the one or more wireless access technologies.

70. The computer program product as defined in claim 60, wherein at least one of the first and second circuitry portions is configured to provide lower energy paging support.

71. The computer program product as defined in claim 60, the first circuitry portion comprising a baseband processor used for sensing the one or more wireless access technologies.

72. The computer program product as defined in claim 60, wherein searching for the one or more wireless access technologies includes processing a subset of tasks including sensing a subset of wireless access technologies.

73. The computer program product as defined in claim 60, further comprising:

the computer-readable medium further comprising;

code for causing a computer to search the one or more wireless access technologies at a predetermined periodicity wherein the periodicity is either fixed or variable.

74. The computer program product as defined in claim 60, wherein the first and second circuitry portions share one or more components configured to be at least operable at the lower power.

75. The computer program product as defined in claim 60, wherein the mobile device comprises an access terminal.

76. The computer program product as defined in claim 60, wherein at least a portion of the first circuitry portion is configured with a lower leakage library of design components compared to components in the second circuitry portion.

77. The computer program product as defined in claim 60, wherein the first circuitry portion comprises one or more first components having equivalent functionality to one or more second components in the second circuitry portion, where the one or more first components operate slower than the one or more second components.

78. The computer program product as defined in claim 77, where the one or more first components are configured to consume less energy than the one or more second components in performing an equivalent function.