SYSTEM CAPABILITY DISCOVERY FOR SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO

• US 20110151770A1
• Filed: 02/28/2011
• Published: 06/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Jones, David, Parikh, Vishesh M., Huitema, Christian, Wu, Deyun, Kuehnel, Thomas W., Baron, Andrew, Hassan, Amer A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,755,739 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/3.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/00 Wireless network protocols or protocol adaptations to wireless operation

Abstract

Capability checking to examine a computing device'"'"'s capabilities to determine if the device supports a software defined radio to communicate according to a specific wireless protocol. Applicants have appreciated that as the reliance on software defined radio increases, numerous potential options may be available to a user for performing wireless communication. Applicants have appreciated the desirability of providing the ability to discover the capabilities of a user'"'"'s computer to determine whether it is capable of supporting one or more wireless protocols.

Claims

1. A computer apparatus comprising:

programmable circuitry;

at least one computer-readable medium having encoded thereon software to program the programmable circuitry to implement a software defined radio; and

a verification module to determine whether the software defined radio is able to communicate according to a specified wireless communication protocol.

2. The computer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the programmable circuitry and the at least one computer-readable medium are components of a first computing device, and the verification module is a component of a second computing device.

3. The computer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the verification module obtains first information comprising requirements for device communication according to a wireless communication protocol and second information about at least one capability of the software defined radio, the second information being sufficient to determine whether the software defined radio can communicate according the wireless communication protocol.

4. The computer apparatus of claim 3, wherein the at least one capability comprises at least one capability selected from a group consisting of total bandwidth, granularity of carrier separation, modulation range, support for error control coding, granularity of filtering, type of filtering, support for encryption and/or decryption, and support for medium access control.

5. The computer apparatus of claim 4, wherein the software defined radio at least attempts to communicate at least one signal complying with at least one requirement of the wireless communication protocol, and wherein the second information comprises a message indicating whether any error messages are generated by components of the programmable circuitry and/or the software in response.

6. The computer apparatus of claim 3, wherein the at least one capability comprises at least one capability of hardware of the computer system.

7. The computer apparatus of claim 3, wherein the at least one capability comprises at least one capability of software of the computer system.

8. The computer apparatus of claim 3, wherein the verification module is adapted to obtain second information about the at least one capability of the software-defined radio by attempting to implement a software-defined radio that communicates at least one signal complying with at least one requirement of the wireless communication protocol, and wherein the second information comprises a message indicating whether any error messages are generated by components of the software-defined radio in response.

9. The computer apparatus of claim 8, wherein the verification module is adapted to attempt to transmit the at least one signal with characteristics of the signal below predetermined thresholds.

10. The computer apparatus of claim 8, wherein the verification module is adapted to attempt to receive at least one signal transmitted according to the wireless communication protocol, and wherein the second information comprises a message indicating whether the at least one signal was received.

11. The computer apparatus of claim 3, wherein the first information comprises information describing a feature of the wireless communication protocol and a desired level of service quality for the feature;

and

wherein the verification module determines, based on the first and second information, if the software defined radio is capable of performing the feature at the desired level of service quality.

12. A computer apparatus comprising:

programmable circuitry;

at least one computer-readable medium having encoded thereon software to program the programmable circuitry to implement a software defined radio; and

a verification module to determine whether the software defined radio is able to communicate according to a specified wireless communication protocol,

wherein the verification module obtains first information comprising requirements for device communication according to a wireless communication protocol and second information about at least one capability of the software defined radio, the second information being sufficient to determine whether the software defined radio can communicate according the wireless communication protocol, the at least one capability comprising at least one capability of hardware of the programmable circuitry.

13. The computer apparatus of claim 12, wherein the programmable circuitry and the at least one computer-readable medium are components of a first computing device, and the verification module is a component of a second computing device.

14. The computer apparatus of claim 12, wherein the at least one capability comprises at least one capability selected from a group consisting of total bandwidth, granularity of carrier separation, modulation range, support for error control coding, granularity of filtering, type of filtering, support for encryption and/or decryption, and support for medium access control.

15. The computer apparatus of claim 12, wherein the verification module is adapted to cause the software defined radio to at least attempt to communicate at least one signal complying with at least one requirement of the wireless communication protocol, and

wherein the second information comprises a message indicating whether any error messages are generated by components of the programmable circuitry and/or the software in response to the verification module causing the software defined radio to at least attempt to communicate the at least one signal.

16. The computer apparatus of claim 12, wherein the verification module is adapted to obtain second information about the at least one capability of the software-defined radio by attempting to implement a software-defined radio that communicates at least one signal complying with at least one requirement of the wireless communication protocol, and wherein the second information comprises a message indicating whether any error messages are generated by components of the software-defined radio in response.

17. The computer apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first information comprises information describing a feature of the wireless communication protocol and a desired level of service quality for the feature;

and

wherein the verification module determines, based on the first and second information, if the software defined radio is capable of performing the feature at the desired level of service quality.

20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein means for determining compares the first information and second information to determine if the at least one capability of the computing device is within a range determined by the requirements for device communication according to the wireless communication protocol.

18. An apparatus comprising:

programmable circuitry;

at least one computer-readable medium having encoded thereon software to implement a software defined radio;

means for obtaining first information comprising requirements for device communication according to a wireless communication protocol and second information about at least one capability of the software defined radio, the second information being sufficient to determine whether the software defined radio can communicate according the wireless communication protocol, the at least one capability comprising at least one capability of hardware of the programmable circuitry; and

means for determining whether the software defined radio is able to communicate according to the wireless communication protocol.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the means for obtaining the first information and the second information obtains, as at least a portion of the second information, information about at least one capability of the software encoded on the at least one computer-readable medium.