MULTI-RADIO COMMUNICATION BETWEEN WIRELESS DEVICES

• US 20110110229A1
• Filed: 10/21/2010
• Published: 05/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Talwar, Shilpa, Johnsson, Kerstin, Himayat, Nageen, Sydir, Jaroslaw J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,767,536 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/41 by acting on aggregated flows or links
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/065 using assembly or disassembly of packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/00 Wireless network protocols or protocol adaptations to wireless operation
• 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

In various embodiments, two wireless communication devices may communicate with each other using multiple protocols, by dividing the data to be communicated into multiple portions, and using each protocol to communicate different portions. The different protocols may be used simultaneously or concurrently. This multi-protocol technique may be used in several different ways to provide different types of advantages in wireless communications.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining data to be communicated with a wireless device;

separating the data into multiple parts;

communicating a first part with the wireless device over a first wireless protocol; and

communicating a second part with the wireless device over a second wireless protocol different than the first wireless protocol.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second protocols are selected from a list of wireless protocols consisting of WiFi, WiMax, LTE, and Bluetooth.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said communicating the first part is performed simultaneously with said communicating the second part.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said communicating the first part is performed concurrently with said communicating the second part.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said communicating comprises switching between the first and second protocols.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said switching comprises switching to the protocol that has more available capacity.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein said switching comprises switching to the protocol that has higher quality.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said communicating comprises communicating particular data over the first protocol and communicating the same particular data again over the second protocol.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said communicating comprises transmitting data for a first resolution over the first protocol and transmitting additional data for a higher resolution over the second protocol.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said communicating comprises communicating content over the first protocol and communicating control information for the content over a second protocol.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said communicating comprises:

transmitting a first portion of data over the first protocol and a second portion of the data over the second protocol;

monitoring conditions for both the first and second protocols; and

reallocating the data to the first and second protocols in a different proportion, as a result of said monitoring, before transmitting more data over the first and second protocols.

12. An apparatus, comprising

a first device having a processor, a memory, and a radio, the first device to:

communicate data wirelessly with a second device, the data having first and second parts;

communicate the first part with a first protocol and communicate the second part with a second protocol different than the first protocol;

wherein the first and second parts of the data are associated with a single application.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein:

the first protocol is a contention-based protocol and the second protocol is a scheduled protocol;

the contention-based protocol is to be given a higher priority than the scheduled protocol, and the scheduled communication is to be scheduled around the contention-based communication.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said communicating the first part is to be performed simultaneously with said communicating the second part.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said communicating the first part is to be performed concurrently with said communicating the second part.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said communicating is to comprise switching between the first and second protocols.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein said switching is to comprise switching to the protocol that has more available capacity.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein said switching is to comprise switching to the protocol that has higher quality.

19. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said communicating is to comprise communicating particular data over the first protocol and communicating the same particular data over the second protocol.

20. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said communicating is to comprise transmitting encoded video at a first resolution over the first protocol and transmitting additional resolution bits for the encoded video over the second protocol.

21. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said communicating is to comprise communicating content over the first protocol and communicating control information for the content over a second protocol.

22. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said communicating is to comprise:

transmitting a first portion of data over the first protocol and a second portion of the data over the second protocol;

monitoring conditions for both the first and second protocols; and

reallocating the data to the first and second protocols in a different proportion, in response to results of said monitoring, before transmitting more data over the first and second protocols.

23. An article comprising

a computer-readable storage medium that contains instructions, which when executed by one or more processors result in performing operations comprising:

determining data to be communicated with a wireless device;

separating the data into multiple parts;

communicating a first part with the wireless device over a first wireless protocol; and

communicating a second part with the wireless device over a second wireless protocol different than the first wireless protocol.

24. The article of claim 23, wherein said separating takes place at a MAC layer.

25. The article of claim 23, wherein said separating takes place at a PHY layer.

26. The article of claim 23, wherein the operation of communicating the first part is performed simultaneously with the operation of communicating the second part.

27. The article of claim 23, wherein the operation of communicating comprises switching between the first and second protocols.

28. The article of claim 27, wherein the operation of switching comprises switching to the protocol that has more available capacity.

29. The article of claim 27, wherein the operation of switching comprises switching to the protocol that has higher quality.

30. The article of claim 23, wherein the operation of communicating comprises communicating particular data over the first protocol and communicating the same particular data again over the second protocol.

31. The article of claim 23, wherein the operation of communicating comprises transmitting encoded video at a first resolution over the first protocol and transmitting additional resolution bits for the encoded video over the second protocol.

32. The article of claim 23, wherein the operation of communicating comprises communicating content over the first protocol and communicating control information for the content over a second protocol.

33. The article of claim 23, wherein the operation of communicating comprises:

transmitting a first portion of data over the first protocol and a second portion of the data over the second protocol;

monitoring conditions for both the first and second protocols; and

reallocating the data to the first and second protocols in a different proportion, as a result of said monitoring, before transmitting more data over the first and second protocols.

34. The article of claim 33, wherein the first and second portions of the data are associated with a single application.