CONNECTIVITY MODULE FOR INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT) DEVICES

• US 20160135241A1
• Filed: 07/21/2015
• Published: 05/12/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: GUJRAL, Sunvir, SWINSON, Kenneth
• Granted Patent: US 10,149,335 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup

Abstract

The disclosure relates to an Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity module that can add connectivity to an otherwise non-connected host and simplify procedures to connect, configure, and enable device-to-device (D2D) communication between the host and various heterogeneous IoT devices. For example, according to various aspects, the connectivity module may comprise a connectivity chip configured to implement a wireless network platform (e.g., a radio-frequency front end and one or more wireless radios), one or more standard peripheral interfaces configured to interconnect the connectivity module to a host having at least one processor, and a D2D application configured to implement a proximal D2D communication framework and expose a command protocol associated with the proximal D2D communication framework via the standard peripheral interfaces. Furthermore, according to various aspects, the connectivity module may comprise a dedicated interrupt line that may be asserted to notify the host when data becomes available to consume.

Claims

1. An Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity module, comprising:

a connectivity chip configured to implement a wireless network platform;

one or more standard peripheral interfaces configured to interconnect the IoT connectivity module to a host having at least one processor; and

a device-to-device (D2D) application configured to;

implement a proximal D2D communication framework; and

expose a command protocol associated with the proximal D2D communication framework via the one or more standard peripheral interfaces.

2. The IoT connectivity module recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a dedicated interrupt line coupling the IoT connectivity module to the host, wherein the D2D application is configured to assert the dedicated interrupt line in response to data becoming available to consume at the at least one processor.

3. The IoT connectivity module recited in claim 2, wherein the one or more standard peripheral interfaces and the dedicated interrupt line comprise a physical interconnect between the IoT connectivity module and the host.

4. The IoT connectivity module recited in claim 2, wherein the standard peripheral interfaces and the dedicated interrupt line comprise an in-chip virtual interconnect between the IoT connectivity module and the host.

5. The IoT connectivity module recited in claim 1, further comprising at least one application program interface configured to:

receive one or more commands associated with the exposed command protocol from the at least one processor over the one or more standard peripheral interfaces; and

invoke one or more services associated with the proximal D2D communication framework to handle the one or more requests.

6. The IoT connectivity module recited in claim 1, further comprising:

embedded firmware configured to implement one or more interfaces bound to the proximal D2D communication framework.

7. The IoT connectivity module recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a memory configured to store a service configuration associated with the host interconnected to the IoT connectivity module.

8. The IoT connectivity module recited in claim 1, wherein the wireless network platform comprises at least a radio-frequency front end and one or more wireless radios.

9. An apparatus, comprising:

a connectivity chip configured to implement a wireless network platform;

one or more standard peripheral interfaces configured to interconnect the apparatus to a host having at least one processor; and

means for implementing a proximal device-to-device (D2D) communication framework and exposing a command protocol associated with the proximal D2D communication framework via the one or more standard peripheral interfaces.

10. The apparatus recited in claim 9, further comprising means for notifying the host in response to data becoming available to consume at the at least one processor.

11. The apparatus recited in claim 10, wherein the one or more standard peripheral interfaces and the means for notifying the host comprise a physical interconnect coupling the apparatus and the host.

12. The apparatus recited in claim 10, wherein the one or more standard peripheral interfaces and the means for notifying the host comprise an in-chip virtual interconnect.

13. The apparatus recited in claim 9, further comprising:

means for receiving one or more commands associated with the exposed command protocol from the at least one processor over the one or more standard peripheral interfaces; and

means for invoking one or more services associated with the proximal D2D communication framework to handle the one or more requests.

14. The apparatus recited in claim 9, further comprising means for implementing one or more interfaces bound to the proximal D2D communication framework.

15. The apparatus recited in claim 9, further comprising means for storing a service configuration associated with the host.

16. The apparatus recited in claim 9, wherein the wireless network platform comprises at least a radio-frequency front end and one or more wireless radios.

17. A method for providing Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity, comprising:

interconnecting a hardware module that implements a wireless network platform to a host having at least one processor via one or more standard peripheral interfaces;

exposing a command protocol associated with a proximal device-to-device (D2D) communication framework implemented on the hardware module to the host via the one or more standard peripheral interfaces; and

communicating data between the host and one or more nodes in an IoT network via the wireless network platform and the one or more standard peripheral interfaces according to the exposed command protocol associated with the proximal D2D communication framework.

18. The method recited in claim 17, further comprising asserting a dedicated interrupt line coupled between the hardware module and the host in response to data becoming available to consume at the at least one processor.

19. The method recited in claim 18, wherein the standard peripheral interfaces and the dedicated interrupt line comprise one or more of a physical interconnect coupling the hardware module to the host or an in-chip virtual interconnect implemented on the hardware module.

20. The method recited in claim 18, further comprising:

receiving, via the one or more standard peripheral interfaces, a message from the host requesting the data available to consume at the at least one processor; and

communicating the data available to consume at the at least one processor to the host via the one or more standard peripheral interfaces in response to the message from the host requesting the available data.

21. The method recited in claim 17, further comprising:

receiving one or more commands associated with the exposed command protocol from the at least one processor over the one or more standard peripheral interfaces; and

invoking one or more services associated with the proximal D2D communication framework to handle the one or more requests.

22. The method recited in claim 21, further comprising:

receiving, via the wireless network platform, data associated with the one or more invoked services from the one or more nodes in the IoT network; and

notifying the host that the received data associated with the one or more invoked services has become available to consume at the at least one processor via a dedicated interrupt line coupled between the hardware module and the host.

23. The method recited in claim 22, further comprising:

receiving, via the one or more standard peripheral interfaces, a message from the host requesting the available data associated with the one or more invoked services; and

communicating the available data associated with the one or more invoked services to the host via the one or more standard peripheral interfaces in response to the message from the host.

24. The method recited in claim 17, further comprising storing a service configuration associated with the host in a memory associated with the hardware module.

25. An Internet of Things (IoT) device, comprising:

a host having at least one processor;

an interconnect coupled to the host, the interconnect comprising a peripheral interconnect and a dedicated interrupt line; and

a hardware module comprising;

a connectivity chip configured to implement a wireless network platform;

one or more standard peripheral interfaces configured to interconnect the hardware module to the host via the peripheral interconnect; and

a device-to-device (D2D) application configured to communicate data between the host and one or more nodes in an IoT network via the wireless network platform and the one or more standard peripheral interfaces according to a command protocol associated with a proximal D2D communication framework implemented on the hardware module and to assert the dedicated interrupt line in response to data becoming available to consume at the host.

26. The IoT device recited in claim 25, further comprising an analog device integrated with the hardware module via one or more general purpose input/output (GPIO) pins.

27. The IoT device recited in claim 25, further comprising a digital device integrated with the hardware module via at least one application program interface (API).

28. The IoT device recited in claim 25, further comprising a multi-functional device having one or more analog components integrated with the hardware module via one or more general purpose input/output (GPIO) pins and one or more digital components integrated with the hardware module via at least one application program interface (API).

29. The IoT device recited in claim 25, comprising a maker board having one or more electronic components integrated with the hardware module via one or more general purpose input/output (GPIO) pins and at least one application program interface (API), wherein the hardware module has a form factor to fit the maker board according to one or more shield requirements.

30. The IoT device recited in claim 25, comprising a lighting controller coupled to a lighting system, wherein the hardware module further comprises:

a power module; and

a pulse-width modulation (PWM) module configured to control a width associated with one or more electrical pulses delivered from the power module to a lighting system coupled to the lighting controller, wherein the D2D application is further configured to implement one or more lighting services to control one or more lighting devices associated with the lighting system.