WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND RELATED METHOD THEREOF

• US 20120008606A1
• Filed: 07/06/2011
• Published: 01/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
• Original Assignee: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
• Inventors: Wang, Ya-Ying
• Granted Patent: US 8,787,320 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/1215 for collaboration of different radio technologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/54 based on quality criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/10 adapted for operation in multiple networks, e.g. multi-mode access points

Abstract

A wireless communication system includes a first wireless device, a second wireless device, a determining device and an executing unit. The first wireless device is arranged for receiving a first signal, and the second wireless device is arranged for transmitting a second signal, where the first wireless device and the second wireless device conform to different communication standards, respectively. The determining device may determine a signal quality of the first signal received by the first wireless device, and accordingly generates a determining result. The executing unit refers to the determining result to select a target coexistence mechanism, which is shared by the first and second wireless devices, from a plurality of candidate coexistence mechanisms.

Claims

1. A wireless communication system, comprising:

a first wireless device, arranged for receiving a first signal;

a second wireless device, arranged for transmitting a second signal, wherein the first wireless device and the second wireless device conform to different communication standards, respectively;

a determining device, coupled to the first wireless device and the second wireless device, arranged for determining a signal receiving quality of the first signal received by the first wireless device, and accordingly generating a determining result; and

an executing unit, coupled to the determining device, arranged for selecting a target coexistence mechanism, which is shared by the first wireless device and the second wireless device, from a plurality of candidate coexistence mechanisms by referring to the determining result.

2. The wireless communication system of claim 1, wherein when the determining result indicates that the signal receiving quality does not reach a signal quality threshold of the first wireless device, the target coexistence mechanism is a default coexistence mechanism of the wireless communication system.

3. The wireless communication system of claim 2, wherein the default coexistence mechanism comprises one of an adaptive frequency hopping (AFH) coexistence mechanism, a channel skipping coexistence mechanism, a time division multiplexing (TDM) coexistence mechanism, and a hybrid coexistence mechanism.

4. The wireless communication system of claim 2, wherein when the determining result indicates that the signal receiving quality reaches the signal quality threshold of the first wireless device, the target coexistence mechanism is a coexistence mechanism allowing the second wireless device to transmit the second signal and the first wireless device to receive the first signal simultaneously.

5. The wireless communication system of claim 1, wherein the determining device comprises:

a signal power detecting module, coupled to the first wireless device and the second wireless device, arranged for generating a signal power detecting result according to the first signal and the second signal; and

a comparing module, coupled to the signal power detecting module, arranged for comparing the signal power detecting result with a signal quality threshold in order to generate the determining result.

6. The wireless communication system of claim 5, wherein the signal power detecting module comprises:

a first signal power detecting unit, coupled to the first wireless device, arranged for detecting a first signal power of the first signal;

a second signal power detecting unit, coupled to the second wireless device, arranged for detecting a second signal power of the second signal; and

a computing unit, coupled to the first signal power detecting unit and the second signal power detecting unit, arranged for calculating the signal power detecting result according to the first signal power, the second signal power, and an isolation degree between the first wireless device and the second wireless device.

7. The wireless communication system of claim 6, wherein the first wireless device is coupled to a first antenna, the second wireless device is coupled to a second antenna, and a distance between the first antenna and the second antenna determines the isolation degree between the first wireless device and the second wireless device.

8. The wireless communication system of claim 6, further comprising:

a shared antenna, coupled to the first wireless device and the second wireless device, arranged for receiving and transmitting the first signal of the first wireless device and the second signal of the second wireless device; and

a splitter, coupled to the shared antenna, arranged for separating the first signal of the first wireless device from the second signal of the second wireless device;

wherein the splitter determines the isolation degree between the first wireless communication device and the second wireless device.

9. The wireless communication system of claim 5, wherein the determining device further comprises:

a threshold generating module, coupled to the first wireless device and the comparing module, arranged for determining the signal quality threshold according to the first signal.

10. The wireless communication system of claim 9, wherein the threshold generating module comprises a look-up table, and the threshold generating module determines the signal quality threshold by searching the look-up table according to a data receiving rate of the first signal.

11. The wireless communication system of claim 9, wherein the threshold generating module comprises a look-up table, and the threshold generating module determines the signal quality threshold by searching the look-up table according to a service mode of the first signal.

12. The wireless communication system of claim 1, wherein one of the first wireless device and the second wireless device is a blue-tooth device, and the other one of the first wireless device and the second wireless device is a wireless LAN device.

13. A method for sharing a first wireless communication device and a second wireless communication device of a communication system, the first wireless device arranged for receiving a first signal, the second wireless device arranged for transmitting a second signal, the first wireless device and the second wireless device conforming to different communication standards, respectively, and the method comprises the following steps:

determining a signal receiving quality of the first signal received by the first wireless device, and accordingly generating a determining result; and

selecting a target coexistence mechanism, which is shared by the first and second wireless devices, from a plurality of candidate coexistence mechanisms by referring to the determining result.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein when the determining result indicates that the signal receiving quality does not reach a signal quality threshold of the first wireless device, the target coexistence mechanism is a default coexistence mechanism of the wireless communication system.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the default coexistence mechanism comprises one of an adaptive frequency hopping (AFH) coexistence mechanism, a channel skipping coexistence mechanism, a time division multiplexing (TDM) coexistence mechanism, and a hybrid coexistence mechanism.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein when the determining result indicates that the signal receiving quality reaches the signal quality threshold of the first wireless device, the target coexistence mechanism is a coexistence mechanism allowing the second wireless device to transmit the second signal and the first wireless device to receive the first signal simultaneously.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of determining the signal receiving quality of the first signal received by the first wireless device, and accordingly generating the determining result comprises:

generating a signal power detecting result according to the first signal and the second signal; and

comparing the signal power detecting result with a signal quality threshold in order to generate the determining result.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of generating the signal power detecting result according to the first signal and the second signal comprises:

detecting a first signal power of the first signal;

detecting a second signal power of the second signal; and

calculating the signal power detecting result according to the first signal power, the second signal power, and an isolation degree between the first wireless device and the second wireless device.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of comparing the signal power detecting result with the signal quality threshold in order to generate the determining result comprises:

determining the signal quality threshold according to the first signal.