Wireless communications system using both licensed and unlicensed frequency bands

• US 7,400,903 B2
• Filed: 04/15/2003
• Issued: 07/15/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Inventors: Shoemake, Matthew B., Liang, Jie, Panasik, Carl M.
• Primary Examiner(s): SMITH, CREIGHTON H
• Application Number:
  US10/413,648
• Publication Number:
  US 20040203815A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,918 Days
• Field of Search: 455/452.1, 455/452.2, 455/453
• US Class Current: 455/552.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/02 Selection of wireless resources by user or terminal

Abstract

A communications system including devices (10, 20) for transmitting and receiving wireless communications over licensed and unlicensed bands is disclosed. On the transmit side, a device (10) includes a plurality of message sources (8A, 8B, 8C) and a smart router (12) function executed by a processor (30) within the device. The smart router (12) function allocates each wireless transmission, or components of a multicomponent wireless transmission, over a licensed wireless link (LLTX) or an unlicensed wireless link (ULTX), by optimizing various factors. The allocation factors include the availability of the unlicensed and licensed channels within range of the transmitting device (10); quality of service parameters such as time delay limits, jitter limits, bandwidth requirements, and the like; cost tolerance and cost per minute factors; power consumption expectations; and a combination of these and other factors. Transmission of the wireless message over the selected wireless links is then carried out. A receiving device (20) may include a smart receiver (22) that resequences the components of a multicomponent transmission for forwarding to output functions (24A, 24B, 24C) of the receiving device (20).

Claims

1. A method of operating a wireless communications device to allocate wireless communications from that device among licensed and unlicensed frequency bands, comprising the steps of:

receiving user inputs from at least one input function of the wireless communications device, the user inputs comprising at least a portion of a message to be transmitted;

determining, in the wireless communications device, a plurality of channel requirements of the message to be transmitted;

receiving, at the wireless communications device, a plurality of channel attributes regarding a plurality of available wireless channels in licensed and unlicensed frequency bands;

comparing, in the wireless communications device, at least on of the plurality of channel requirements of the message to at least on of the plurality of received channel attributes;

selecting, by the wireless communications device, at least one of the available wireless channels for transmission of the message; and

transmitting, from the wireless communications device, the message over the selected at least one wireless channel.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the message to be transmitted includes a plurality of message components;

wherein the determining step determines the channel requirements for each of the plurality of message components;

and wherein the comparing step compares the channel requirements for each of the plurality of message components to the received channel attributes.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the selecting step selects one of the available wireless channels corresponding to a licensed frequency band for at least one of the plurality of message components;

and wherein the selecting step selects one of the available wireless channels corresponding to an unlicensed frequency band for at least another one of the plurality of message components.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein of the channel requirements comprise quality of service requirements;

and wherein the channel attributes comprise quality of service attributes.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the channel requirements further comprise bandwidth parameters.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the message to be transmitted includes a plurality of message components;

wherein the determining step determines channel requirements for each of the plurality of message components; and

wherein the comparing step compares the channel requirements for each of the plurality of message components to the received channel attributes.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the selecting step selects one of the available wireless channels corresponding to a licensed frequency band for at least one of the plurality of message components;

and wherein the selecting step selects one of the available wireless channels corresponding to an unlicensed frequency band for at least another one of the plurality of message components.

4. A method of allocating wireless communications from a wireless device among licensed and unlicensed frequency bands, comprising the steps of:

determining channel requirements of each of a plurality of message components comprising a message to be transmitted;

receiving channel attributes regarding available wireless channels in licensed and unlicensed frequency bands;

comparing the channel requirements, for each of the plurality of message components of the message, to the received channel attributes;

selecting at least one of the available wireless channels corresponding to a licensed frequency band for transmission of at least one of the message components, and selecting—

one of the available wireless channels corresponding—

to an unlicensed frequency band for at least another one of the plurality of message components; and

transmitting the message over the selected at least one wireless channel;

receiving a first message component over a licensed frequency band at a receiving device;

receiving a second message component over an unlicensed frequency band at the receiving device; and

forwarding the received message components to corresponding output functions of the receiving device.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

synchronizing the first and second message components with one another at the receiving device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first message component corresponds to voice data;

and wherein the second message component corresponds to video data.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the first and second message components correspond to first and second components of a web page.

9. A method of allocating wireless communications from a wireless device among licensed and unlicensed frequency bands, comprising the steps of:

determining channel requirements of a message to be transmitted, the channel requirements comprising quality of service requirements that comprise time delay and jitter specifications;

receiving channel attributes, comprising quality of service attributes, regarding available wireless channels in licensed and unlicensed frequency bands;

comparing the channel requirements of the message to the received channel attributes;

selecting at least one of the available wireless channels for transmission of the message; and

transmitting the message over the selected at least one wireless channel.

13. A method of allocating wireless communications from a wireless device among licensed and unlicensed frequency bands, comprising the steps of:

determining, at the wireless communications device, a plurality of channel requirements of a message to be transmitted, the channel requirements comprising a cost tolerance parameter;

receiving, at the wireless communications device, a plurality of channel attributes regarding available wireless channels in licensed and unlicensed frequency bands, wherein at least one of the channel attributes comprise cost attributes of the channels;

comparing, at the wireless communications device, at least one of the plurality of the channel requirements of the message to the at least one of the received channel attributes;

selecting, by the wireless communications device, at least one of the available wireless channels for transmission of the message; and

transmitting, from the wireless communications device, the message over the selected at least one wireless channel.

14. A method of allocating—

wireless communications from a wireless device among licensed and unlicensed frequency bands, comprising the steps of;

determining channel requirements of a message to be transmitted, wherein the channel requirements comprising a power-related parameter;

receiving the channel attributes comprising power consumption parameters regarding available wireless channels in licensed and unlicensed frequency bands;

comparing the channel requirements of the message to the received channel attributes;

selecting at least one of the available wireless channels for transmission of the message; and

transmitting the message over the selected at least one wireless channel.

15. A method of allocating wireless communications from a wireless device among licensed and unlicensed frequency bands, comprising the steps of:

determining channel requirements of a message to be transmitted;

receiving channel attributes regarding available wireless channels in licensed and unlicensed frequency bands;

comparing the channel requirements of the message to the received channel attributes;

selecting at least one of the available wireless channels for transmission of the message;

transmitting the message over the selected at least one wireless channel;

after the transmitting step has been initiated, receiving updated channel attributes regarding available wireless channels in licensed and unlicensed frequency bands; and

repeating the comparing, selecting, and transmitting steps using the updated channel attributes.

16. A method of allocating wireless communications from a wireless device among licensed and unlicensed frequency bands, comprising the steps of:

determining channel requirements of a message to be transmitted;

receiving channel attributes regarding available wireless channels in licensed and unlicensed frequency bands;

comparing the channel requirements of the message to the received channel attributes;

selecting a first wireless channel in a licensed band and selecting a second wireless channel in an unlicensed band for transmission of the message; and

simultaneously transmitting a first portion of the message over the first wireless channel and transmitting a second portion of the message over the second wireless channel.

17. A method of allocating wireless communications from a wireless device among licensed and unlicensed frequency bands, comprising the steps of:

determining channel requirements of a message to be transmitted;

receiving channel attributes regarding available wireless channels in licensed and unlicensed frequency bands;

comparing the channel requirements of the message to the received channel attributes;

selecting a first wireless channel in a licensed band and selecting a second wireless channel in an unlicensed band for transmission of the message; and

transmitting a first portion of the message over the first wireless channel during a first time period and transmitting a second portion of the message over the second wireless channel during a second time period.

18. A wireless electronic communications device, comprising:

a display;

an audio output function for outputting audible output to a user;

a plurality of message sources, comprising at least one input function for receiving message inputs from a user, each of the plurality of message sources for producing a message type for transmission over a wireless link;

radio frequency circuitry, for transmitting radio frequency signals in at least one licensed frequency band and in at least one unlicensed frequency band;

a smart router, coupled to each of the plurality of message sources and to the radio frequency circuitry, for allocating message signals corresponding to the message, by executing a sequence of operations comprising;

receiving, from one of the message sources, channel requirements of a message to be transmitted from the message source;

receiving channel attributes regarding available wireless channels in the licensed and unlicensed frequency bands;

comparing the channel requirements of the message to the received channel attributes;

selecting at least one of the available wireless channels for transmission of the message; and

controlling the radio frequency circuitry to transmit the message over the selected wireless channel.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein channel attributes from two or more of the plurality of message sources, each corresponding to one of a plurality of message components, are received in the receiving operation;

wherein the determining operation determines channel requirements for each of the plurality of message components;

wherein the comparing operation compares the channel requirements for each of the plurality of message components to the received channel attributes;

and wherein the selecting operation selects one of the available wireless channels corresponding to a licensed frequency band for at least one of the plurality of message components, and selects one of the available wireless channels corresponding to an unlicensed frequency band for at least another one of the plurality of message components.

20. The device of claim 18, wherein the channel requirements comprise quality of service requirements;

and wherein the channel attributes comprise quality of service attributes.

22. The device of claim 20, wherein the channel requirements further comprise bandwidth parameters.

23. The device of claim 20, wherein the message sources correspond to application programs;

and wherein the operation of receiving channel requirements is performed by way of an application program interface command.

24. The device of claim 23, wherein the operation of receiving channel attributes is performed by way of an application program interface command.

21. A wireless electronic communications device, comprising:

a plurality of message sources, each for producing a message type for transmission over a wireless link;

radio frequency circuitry, for transmitting radio frequency signals in at least one licensed frequency band and in at least one unlicensed frequency band;

a smart router, coupled to each of the plurality of message sources and to the radio frequency circuitry, for allocating message signals corresponding to the message, by executing a sequence of operations comprising;

receiving, from one of the message sources, channel requirements comprising quality of service requirements that comprise time delay and jitter specifications of a message to be transmitted from the message source;

receiving channel attributes, comprising quality of service attributes, regarding available wireless channels in the licensed and unlicensed frequency bands;

comparing the channel requirements of the message to the received channel attributes;

selecting at least one of the available wireless channels for transmission of the message; and

controlling the radio frequency circuitry to transmit the message over the selected wireless channel.

25. A wireless electronic device, comprising:

at least one input function for receiving message inputs from a user;

a display;

an audio output function for outputting audible output to the user;

a plurality of radio frequency transceiver functions, coupled to at least one antenna, for transmitting and receiving wireless communications over a plurality of frequency bands, including at least one licensed frequency band and at least one unlicensed frequency band;

baseband circuitry, coupled to the plurality of radio frequency transceiver functions, for processing information to be transmitted and information received over the plurality of frequency bands corresponding to a plurality of message sources;

programmable processing circuitry, for executing a sequence of operations to allocate messages to be transmitted by the transceiver functions over the licensed and unlicensed frequency bands, the sequence of operations comprising;

determining channel requirements of a message to be transmitted;

receiving channel attributes regarding available wireless channels in the licensed and unlicensed frequency bands;

comparing the channel requirements of the message to the received channel attributes;

selecting at least one of the available wireless channels for transmission of the message; and

controlling one of the transceiver functions corresponding to the selected wireless channel to transmit the message over its corresponding wireless channel.

26. The device of claim 25, wherein channel attributes corresponding to a plurality of message components are received in the receiving operation;

wherein the determining operation determines channel requirements for each of the plurality of message components;

wherein the comparing operation compares the channel requirements for each of the plurality of message components to the received channel attributes;

wherein the selecting operation selects one of the available wireless channels corresponding to a licensed frequency band and one of the available wireless channels corresponding to an unlicensed frequency band for transmitting message components;

and wherein the controlling operation controls one of the transceiver functions corresponding to the licensed frequency band to transmit at least one of the plurality of message components, and controls another one of the transceiver functions corresponding to the unlicensed frequency band to transmit another one of the plurality of message components.

27. The device of claim 25, wherein the channel requirements comprise quality of service requirements;

and wherein the channel attributes comprise quality of service attributes.

29. The device of claim 25, wherein the channel requirements further comprise bandwidth parameters.

30. The device of claim 25, wherein the sequence of operations further comprises:

receiving channel requirements by way of an application program interface command.

31. The device of claim 30, wherein the operation of receiving channel attributes comprises:

executing a corresponding application program interface command.

28. A wireless electronic device, comprising:

a plurality of radio frequency transceiver functions, coupled to at least one antenna, for transmitting and receiving wireless communications over a plurality of frequency bands, including at least one licensed frequency band and at least one unlicensed frequency band;

baseband circuitry, coupled to the plurality of radio frequency transceiver functions, for processing information to be transmitted and information received over the plurality of frequency bands corresponding—

to a plurality of message sources;

programmable processing circuitry, for executing a sequence of operations to allocate messages to be transmitted by the transceiver functions over the licensed and unlicensed frequency bands, the sequence of operations comprising;

determining channel requirements comprising wherein the quality of service requirements comprise time delay and jitter specifications of a message to be transmitted;

receiving channel attributes regarding available wireless channels in the licensed and unlicensed frequency bands;

comparing the channel requirements of the message to the received channel attributes;

selecting at least one of the available wireless channels for transmission of the message; and

controlling one of the transceiver functions corresponding—

to the selected wireless channel to transmit the message over its corresponding—

wireless channel.