Wireless switch for use in wireless communications

• US 7,286,513 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2003
• Issued: 10/23/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Silicon Laboratories Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Sigma Designs Incorporated
• Inventors: Nguyen, Hung
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah; Chirag G.
• Application Number:
  US10/449,630
• Publication Number:
  US 20030227914A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,607 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/00 Interfaces specially adapted for wireless communication networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/04 Interfaces between hierarchically different network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/16 Interfaces between hierarchically similar devices

Abstract

The present invention is related to a switch for use in wireless communication systems. In one embodiment, the switch can concurrently process data from multiple mobile stations and supports full duplex, i.e., allowing receiving and transmitting data at the same time. The switch can concurrently communicate with other switches and/or mobile stations in the basic service set (BSS) of that switch. A switch may be considered an access point commonly used in other approaches. However, systems using the switch do not need to use an Ethernet switch commonly found in WLAN communication systems that use access points. Switches may be set up in a master-slave scheme wherein a master switch communicates with its slave switches, and slave switches communicate with one another through the master switch. If the data is for a mobile station in the same BSS of the switch, then, via a switch controller, the switch passes the data from the receiving path to the transmitting path. As a result, the data does not have to travel out of the switch and then back to the same switch again.

Claims

1. A wireless communication system comprising:

a plurality of switches including a first switch, a second switch, and a third switch wherein

via a first switch-to-switch beam, the first switch wirelessly communicates with the third switch;

via a second switch-to-switch beam, the second switch wirelessly communicates with the third switch;

via switch-to-station beams,

a first set of mobile stations wirelessly communicates with the first switch; and

a second set of mobile stations wireless communicates with the second switch;

wherein the data of each mobile station of K mobile stations that is processed by a switch runs at a first frequency, and the serialized data of the K mobile stations from switch to switch runs a second frequency that is K times faster than the first frequency.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the third switch communicates with a network.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein:

a mobile station in the first set of mobile stations communicates with the network via the first switch and the third switch;

a mobile station in the second set of mobile stations communicates with the network via the second switch and the third switch; and

the first switch and the second switch communicate with the network via the third switch.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein a first mobile station and a second mobile station in the first set of mobile stations concurrently communicate with the first switch.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the first mobile station is associated with a first signature distinguishable from a second signature associated with the second mobile station.

6. The system in claim 1 wherein a first mobile station in the first set of mobile station transmits data to the first switch and a second mobile station in the first set of mobile station receives data from the first switch, transmitting data to the first switch uses a first beam distinguishable from a second beam used in receiving data from the first switch;

transmitting and receiving are concurrently performed.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the third switch is configured as a master switch while the first switch and the second switch are configured as slave switches to the master switch;

the first switch and the second switch communicate with one another via the third switch.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein a mobile station in the first set of mobile stations communicates with the first switch;

a mobile station in the second set of mobile stations communicates with the second switch; and

the first switch and the second switch communicate via the third switch.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein a switch of the plurality of switches includes a lookup table that stores a signature associated with a mobile station communicating with the switch of the plurality of switches.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein a switch of the plurality of switches includes a lookup table that stores an identification of a set of weights associated with a signature;

the weight is for use by a beam;

the signature is associated with a mobile station communicating with the switch of the plurality of switches.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein a switch of the plurality of switches schedules transferring of a data packet based on a priority of the data packet.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein when scheduling to concurrently transfer a first data packet and a second data packet, the second data packet is selected from a second signature group distinguishable from a first signature group associated with the first data packet.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein:

a switch of the plurality of switches includes a queue having a plurality of sub-queues each of which stores data of the same priority, and when a first data packet and a second data packet are taken out of the queue for a transmitting transaction, the first data packet is associated with a first signature distinguishable from a second signature associated with the second data packet.