Apparatus for allocation of wireless resources

• US 8,200,156 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2009
• Issued: 06/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rofougaran, Ahmadreza (Reza)
• Primary Examiner(s): HSIEH, PING Y
• Application Number:
  US12/475,501
• Publication Number:
  US 20090239483A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,109 Days
• Field of Search: 455/450, 455/451, 455/452.1, 455/452.2, 455/455, 455/41.1, 455/41.2, 455/41.3, 455/509, 455/511, 455/512, 455/513, 455/515, 455/516, 455/517, 455/526, 455/62, 455/63.1, 455/63.3, 455/67.11, 455/67.13, 257/25
• US Class Current: 455/41.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40013 Details regarding a bus controller
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/403 with centralised control, e.g. polling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/413 with random access, e.g. carrier-sense multiple-access with collision detection [CSMA-CD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/417 with deterministic access, e.g. token passing

Abstract

An integrated circuit (IC) includes a plurality of circuit modules, a millimeter wave (MMW) transceiver, a controller. The controller is further operably coupled to: obtain potential inter-chip millimeter wave (MMW) communication links within a device; identify at least one of the inter-chip potential inter-chip MMW communication links as being a dedicated point-to-point MMW link; determine requirements to establish the dedicated point-to-point MMW link; and, when inter-chip MMW resources are available to support the requirements, allocate the inter-chip MMW resources to support the dedicated point-to-point MMW link.

Claims

1. An integrated circuit (IC) comprises:

a plurality of circuit modules;

a millimeter wave (MMW) transceiver; and

a controller operably coupled to the plurality of circuit modules and to the MMW transceiver, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to;

identify potential inter-chip millimeter wave (MMW) communication links within a device, each of the potential inter-chip MMW communication links enabling communication between two or more of a plurality of MMW transceivers resident on the IC and other ICs within the device;

determine that at least one of the potential inter-chip MMW communication links should be a dedicated point-to-point MMW link between two of the plurality of MMW transceivers;

determine requirements to establish the dedicated point-to-point MMW link; and

when inter-chip MMW resources are available to support the requirements, allocate the inter-chip MMW resources to support the dedicated point-to-point MMW link.

2. The IC of claim 1, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to determine the requirements of the MMW communication link by at least one of:

determining available frequency spectrum from frequency spectrum reserved for dedicated point-to-point MMW links;

determining available MMW communication medium;

obtaining capabilities of the MMW transceiver;

determining a type of the MMW communication link as a controlled radiation pattern path when a first set of criteria is met; and

determining the type of the MMW communication link as a non-controlled radiation patter when a second set of the criteria is met, wherein the criteria includes parameters for the available frequency spectrum, the available MMW communication medium, and the capabilities of the MMW transceiver.

3. The IC of claim 2, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to determine the requirements of the MMW communication link by:

determining interferers from other MMW communication links, wherein the criteria further includes parameters for the interferers.

4. The IC of claim 1, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to establish when the inter-chip MMW resources are available by at least one of:

determining whether the inter-chip MMW resources are available to support the type of MMW communication link; and

accessing a table of pre-assigned inter-chip MMW resources for the type of MMW communication link.

5. The IC of claim 1, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to determine the requirements of the MMW communication link to establish the dedicated point-to-point MMW link by:

accessing a look up table;

or

obtaining the requirements for the dedicated point-to-point MMW link and determining an optimal link configuration to support the dedicated point-to-point MMW link based on the requirements.

6. The IC of claim 1, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to obtain the potential inter-chip MMW communication links within a device by at least one of:

accessing a lookup table; and

determining ICs active in the device, determining MMW resources of the ICs and the IC, determining frequency spectrum of the device, and determining the potential inter-chip MMW communication links based on the MMW resources and the frequency spectrum.

7. The IC of claim 1, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to:

identify at least one other of the inter-chip potential inter-chip MMW communication links as being a shared dedicated MMW link;

determine requirements of the shared dedicated MMW link; and

when other inter-chip MMW resources are available to support the shared dedicated MMW link in accordance with the requirements of the shared dedicated MMW link, allocating the other inter-chip MMW resources to support the shared dedicated MMW link.

8. The IC of claim 1, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to:

receive a request for a temporary MMW communication link;

determine requirements for the temporary MMW communication link; and

when other inter-chip MMW resources are available to support the temporary MMW communication link in accordance with the requirements of the temporary MMW communication link, allocate the other inter-chip MMW resources to support the temporary MMW communication link.

9. An integrated circuit (IC) method comprises:

a plurality of circuit modules;

a millimeter wave (MMW) transceiver; and

a controller operably coupled to the plurality of circuit modules and to the MMW transceiver, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to;

identify potential inter-chip MMW communication links within a device, each of the potential inter-chip MMW communication links enabling communication between two or more of a plurality of MMW transceivers resident on the IC and other ICs within the device;

determine for each of the potential inter-chip MMW communication links whether it is a dedicated point-to-point MMW link, a shared dedicated MMW link, or a temporary MMW link, at least one of the potential inter-chip MMW communication links being a dedicated point-to-point MMW link between two of the plurality of MMW transceivers;

obtain a listing of inter-chip MMW resources within the device; and

allocate at least some of the inter-chip MMW resources to support at least one of the potential inter-chip MMW communication links.

10. The IC of claim 9, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to allocate the at least some of the inter-chip MMW resources to support the at least one of the potential inter-chip MMW communication links by sequential steps of:

allocating a first set of the inter-chip MMW resources to one or more first priority MMW communication links;

allocating a second set of the inter-chip MMW resources to one or more second priority MMW communication links; and

allocating a third set of the inter-chip MMW resources to one or more third priority MMW communication links.

11. The IC of claim 9, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to allocate the at least some of the inter-chip MMW resources to support the at least one of the potential inter-chip MMW communication links by:

accessing a pre-determined mapping of the inter-chip MMW resources to dedicated point-to-point MMW links, shared dedicated MMW links, or temporary MMW links; and

allocating the inter-chip MMW resources m accordance with the pre-determined mapping.

12. The IC of claim 9, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to obtain the potential inter-chip MMW communication links within a device by at least one of:

accessing a lookup table; and

determining ICs active in the device, determining MMW resources of the ICs and the IC, determining frequency spectrum of the device, and determining the potential inter-chip MMW communication links based on the MMW resources and the frequency spectrum.

13. The IC of claim 9, wherein, prior to allocating the at least some of the inter-chip MMW resources to support the at least one of the potential inter-chip MMW communication links, the controller is further operably coupled to:

determine potential interferers between the potential inter-chip MMW communication links, wherein the controller allocates the inter-chip MMW resources to support the potential inter-chip MMW communication links to substantially avoid the potential interferers.

14. A device comprises:

a plurality of integrated circuits (ICs), wherein an IC of the plurality of IC includes;

a plurality of circuit modules;

a millimeter wave (MMW) transceiver; and

a controller operably coupled to the plurality of circuit modules and to the MMW transceiver, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to;

identify potential inter-chip millimeter wave (MMW) communication links within a device, each of the potential inter-chip MMW communication links enabling communication between two or more of a plurality of MMW transceivers resident on the IC and other ICs within the device;

determine that at least one of the inter-chip potential inter-chip MMW communication links should be a dedicated point-to-point MMW link between two of the plurality of MMW transceivers;

determine requirements to establish the dedicated point-to-point MMW link;

when inter-chip MMW resources are available to support the requirements, allocate the inter-chip MMW resources to support the dedicated point-to-point MMW link; and

communicate, via the MMW transceiver, the allocation of the inter-chip MMW resources to at least one of the plurality of ICs.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to determine the requirements by at least one of:

determining available frequency spectrum from frequency spectrum reserved for dedicated point-to-point MMW links;

determining available MMW communication medium;

obtaining capabilities of the MMW transceiver;

determining the requirements to include a controlled radiation pattern path when a first set of criteria is met; and

determining the requirements to include a non-controlled radiation pattern when a second set of the criteria is met, wherein the criteria includes parameters for the available frequency spectrum, the available MMW communication medium, and the capabilities of the MMW transceiver.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to determine the requirements by:

determining interferers from other MMW communication links, wherein the criteria further includes parameters for the interferers.

17. The device of claim 15, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to determine the requirements by:

accessing a look up table;

or

obtaining requirements for the dedicated point-to-point MMW link and determining an optimal link configuration to support the dedicated point-to-point MMW link based on the requirements.

18. The device of claim 15, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to obtain the potential inter-chip MMW communication links within a device by at least one of:

accessing a lookup table; and

determining active ICs of the plurality of ICs, determining MMW resources of the active ICs and the IC, determining frequency spectrum of the device, and determining the potential inter-chip MMW communication links based on the MMW resources and the frequency spectrum.

19. The device of claim 15, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to:

identify at least one other of the inter-chip potential inter-chip MMW communication links as being a shared dedicated MMW link;

determine requirements of the shared dedicated MMW link; and

when other inter-chip MMW resources are available to support the shared dedicated MMW link in accordance with the requirements of the shared dedicated MMW link, allocating the other inter-chip MMW resources to support the shared dedicated MMW link.

20. The device of claim 15, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to:

receive a request for a temporary MMW communication link;

determine requirements of the temporary MMW communication link; and

when other inter-chip MMW resources are available to support the temporary MMW communication link in accordance with the requirements of the temporary MMW communication link, allocate the other inter-chip MMW resources to support the temporary MMW communication link.

21. A device comprises:

a plurality of integrated circuits (ICs), wherein an IC of the plurality of ICs includes;

a plurality of circuit modules;

a millimeter wave (MMW) transceiver; and

a controller operably coupled to the plurality of circuit modules and to the MMW transceiver, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to;

identify potential inter-chip MMW communication links within a device, each of the potential inter-chip MMW communication links enabling communication between two or more of a plurality of MMW transceivers resident on the IC and other ICs within the device;

determine for each of the potential inter-chip MMW communication links whether it is a dedicated point-to-point MMW link, a shared dedicated MMW link, or a temporary MMW link, at least one of the potential inter-chip MMW communication links being a dedicated point-to-point MMW link between two of the plurality of MMW transceivers;

obtain a listing of inter-chip MMW resources within the device;

allocate at least some of the inter-chip MMW resources to support at least one of the potential inter-chip MMW communication links; and

communicate, via the MMW transceiver, the allocation of the inter-chip MMW resources to at least one of the ICs of the plurality of ICs.

22. The device of claim 21, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to allocate the at least some of the inter-chip MMW resources to support the at least one of the potential inter-chip MMW communication links by sequential steps of:

allocating a first set of the inter-chip MMW resources to one or more first priority MMW communication links;

allocating a second set of the inter-chip MMW resources to one or more second priority MMW communication links; and

allocating a third set of the inter-chip MMW resources to one or more third priority MMW communication links.

23. The device of claim 21, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to allocate the at least some of the inter-chip MMW resources to support the at least one of the potential inter-chip MMW communication links by:

accessing a pre-determined mapping of the inter-chip MMW resources to dedicated point-to-point MMW links, shared dedicated MMW links, or temporary MMW links; and

allocating the inter-chip MMW resources m accordance with the pre-determined mapping.

24. The device of claim 21, wherein the controller is further operably coupled to obtain the potential inter-chip MMW communication links within a device by at least one of:

accessing a lookup table; and

determining active ICs of the plurality of ICs, determining MMW resources of the active ICs and the IC, determining frequency spectrum of the device, and determining the potential inter-chip MMW communication links based on the MMW resources and the frequency spectrum.

25. The device of claim 21, wherein, prior to allocating the at least some of the inter-chip MMW resources to support at least one of the potential inter-chip MMW communication links, the controller is further operably coupled to:

determine potential interferers between the potential inter-chip MMW communication links, wherein the controller allocates the inter-chip MMW resources to support the potential inter-chip MMW communication links to substantially avoid the potential interferers.