SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SILENT PERIOD OPERATION DURING WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

• US 20170230908A1
• Filed: 02/08/2016
• Published: 08/10/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/08/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Agarwal, Shivendra, Patel, Saurabh, Ramachandran, Sundaresan
• Granted Patent: US 10,477,470 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0209 in terminal devices terminal devices per se H04W88/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/287 when the channel is in stand-by
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/28 Discontinuous transmission [DTX]; Discontinuous reception [DRX]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method for wireless communication is described. The method includes receiving a silent indication (SID) start message from a modem at a Bluetooth (BT) module when the modem detects a silent period in a voice call. The method also includes sending the SID start message from the BT module to a remote BT device. The method further includes disabling a BT transmitter during the silent period based on the SID start message received from the modem.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

receiving a silent indication (SID) start message from a modem at a Bluetooth (BT) module when the modem detects a silent period in a voice call, wherein the BT module receives the SID start message from the modem as an internal communication over a modem interface;

sending the SID start message from the BT module to a remote BT device; and

disabling a BT transmitter during the silent period based on the SID start message received from the modem.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the SID start message instructs the remote BT device to insert comfort noise during the silent period.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the voice call is a circuit-switched voice call.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the BT module sends the SID start message to the remote BT device in one of a last Synchronous Connection Oriented (SCO) packet as a special packet indicating the SID or an Asynchronous Connection-Less (ACL) packet indicating the SID.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising stopping a Synchronous Connection Oriented (SCO) link transmission to the remote BT device upon receiving the SID start message from the modem.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a SID end message from the modem at the BT module when the modem detects that the silent period ends;

enabling the BT transmitter in response to receiving the SID end message; and

sending the SID end message to the remote BT device, wherein the SID end message instructs the remote BT device to stop inserting comfort noise.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising resuming an SCO link transmission with the remote BT device upon sending the SID end message to the remote BT device.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising reallocating radio frequency (RF) resources used to communicate with the remote BT device to another radio interface for a coexistence operation during the silent period.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote BT device is a BT headset configured to communicate with the BT module over an SCO link.

3. (canceled)

11. A wireless communication device comprising:

a modem; and

a Bluetooth (BT) module configured to;

receive a silent indication (SID) start message from the modem when the modem detects a silent period in a voice call, wherein the BT module is configured to receive the SID start message from the modem as an internal communication over a modem interface;

send the SID start message to a remote BT device; and

disable a BT transmitter during the silent period based on the SID start message received from the modem.

12. The wireless communication device of claim 11, wherein the SID start message instructs the remote BT device to insert comfort noise during the silent period.

14. The wireless communication device of claim 11, wherein the voice call is a circuit-switched voice call.

15. The wireless communication device of claim 11, wherein the BT module is configured to send the SID start message to the remote BT device in one of a last Synchronous Connection Oriented (SCO) packet as a special packet indicating the SID or an Asynchronous Connection-Less (ACL) packet indicating the SID.

16. The wireless communication device of claim 11, wherein the BT module is further configured to stop a Synchronous Connection Oriented (SCO) link transmission to the remote BT device upon receiving the SID start message from the modem.

17. The wireless communication device of claim 11, wherein the BT module is further configured to:

receive a SID end message from the modem when the modem detects that the silent period ends;

enable the BT transmitter in response to receiving the SID end message; and

send the SID end message to the remote BT device, wherein the SID end message instructs the remote BT device to stop inserting comfort noise.

18. The wireless communication device of claim 17, wherein the BT module is further configured to resume an SCO link transmission with the remote BT device upon sending the SID end message to the remote BT device.

13. (canceled)

19. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for receiving a silent indication (SID) start message from a modem at a BT module when the modem detects a silent period in a voice call, wherein the BT module receives the SID start message from the modem as an internal communication over a modem interface;

means for sending the SID start message from the BT module to a remote BT device; and

means for disabling a BT transmitter during the silent period based on the SID start message received from the modem.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the SID start message instructs the remote BT device to insert comfort noise during the silent period.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the BT module sends the SID start message to the remote BT device in one of a last Synchronous Connection Oriented (SCO) packet as a special packet indicating the SID or an Asynchronous Connection-Less (ACL) packet indicating the SID.

23. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising means for stopping a Synchronous Connection Oriented (SCO) link transmission to the remote BT device upon receiving the SID start message from the modem.

24. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising:

means for receiving a SID end message from the modem at the BT module when the modem detects that the silent period ends;

means for enabling the BT transmitter in response to receiving the SID end message; and

means for sending the SID end message to the remote BT device, wherein the SID end message instructs the remote BT device to stop inserting comfort noise.

21. (canceled)

25. A computer-program product for wireless communication, the computer-program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions thereon, the instructions comprising:

code for causing a Bluetooth (BT) module to receive a silent indication (SID) start message from a modem when the modem detects a silent period in a voice call, wherein the BT module receives the SID start message from the modem as an internal communication over a modem interface;

code for causing the BT module to send the SID start message to a remote BT device; and

code for causing the BT module to disable a BT transmitter during the silent period based on the SID start message received from the modem.

26. The computer-program product of claim 25, wherein the SID start message instructs the remote BT device to insert comfort noise during the silent period.

28. The computer-program product of claim 25, wherein the BT module sends the SID start message to the remote BT device in one of a last Synchronous Connection Oriented (SCO) packet as a special packet indicating the SID or an Asynchronous Connection-Less (ACL) packet indicating the SID.

29. The computer-program product of claim 25, further comprising code for causing the BT module to stop a Synchronous Connection Oriented (SCO) link transmission to the remote BT device upon receiving the SID start message from the modem.

30. The computer-program product of claim 25, further comprising:

code for causing the BT module to receive a SID end message from the modem at the BT module when the modem detects that the silent period ends;

code for causing the BT module to enable the BT transmitter in response to receiving the SID end message; and

code for causing the BT module to send the SID end message to the remote BT device, wherein the SID end message instructs the remote BT device to stop inserting comfort noise.

27. (canceled)