Local broadcast of data using available channels of a spectrum

• US 8,374,134 B2
• Filed: 08/26/2009
• Issued: 02/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Wang, Yu Albert, Raveendran, Vijayalakshmi R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Andrew
• Application Number:
  US12/547,834
• Publication Number:
  US 20100195667A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,266 Days
• Field of Search: 370/328, 370/329, 370/252, 370/466
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/61 for local area broadcast, e.g. instore broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/63 to plural spots in a confined site, e.g. MATV [Master Antenna Television]
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/41 for identifying broadcast space, i.e. broadcast channels, broadcast stations or broadcast areas
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/51 of receiving stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/80 characterised by transmission among terminal devices

Abstract

In general, this disclosure relates to techniques for transmitting data for applications using one or more available channels of a spectrum. One example method comprises transforming data into a digital broadcast format, identifying at least one available channel of a spectrum, and transmitting the transformed data in the at least one identified available channel.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting data, comprising:

transforming data into a digital broadcast format;

identifying at least one available channel of a spectrum;

transmitting the transformed data in the at least one identified available channel;

wherein identifying the at least one available channel comprises using a spectrum sensor to identify the at least one available channel;

wherein identifying the at least one available channel further comprises accessing a digital television (TV) bands database to identify the at least one available channel; and

further comprising determining geographic coordinates of a communication device, and wherein accessing the digital TV bands database comprises providing the geographic coordinates as input to the digital TV bands database.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the at least one available channel comprises identifying the at least one available channel in an unused portion of a broadcast television spectrum.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the at least one available channel comprises identifying television band white space.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital broadcast format comprises an ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) format, a T-DMB (Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) format, a DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) format, an Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting Terrestrial (ISDB-T) format, or a Moving Picture Experts Group Transport Stream (MPEG-TS) format.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the at least one available channel is initiated by a communication device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein:

the communication device comprises a multimedia communication device having multimedia capabilities; and

the data comprises multimedia data including at least one of audio data, video data, text data, speech data, and graphics data.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein:

transforming the multimedia data comprises encoding the multimedia data to comply with the digital broadcast format, and modulating the encoded multimedia data; and

transmitting the transformed data comprises transmitting the transformed data in the at least one identified available channel from the multimedia communication device to one or more external devices.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein when the multimedia data comprises video or graphics data, the method further comprises displaying the video or graphics data on a display of the multimedia communication device.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein when the multimedia data comprises audio data, the method further comprises providing the audio data to one or more speakers.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the at least one available channel comprises using a spectrum sensor to identify the at least one available channel.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising assigning one or more quality values associated with one or more channels that are sensed by the spectrum sensor.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein identifying the at least one available channel comprises correlating the one or more quality values with available channel information provided by the digital TV bands database in order to identify the at least one available channel.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein correlating comprises determining that a channel is available when the channel information provided by the digital TV bands database indicates that the channel is available and when one of the quality values associated with the channel exceeds a quality threshold.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying at least one other available channel if the at least one available channel becomes occupied by another user.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising periodically determining whether the at least one available channel is still available or has become occupied by another user.

16. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for causing one or more processors to:

transform data into a digital broadcast format;

identify at least one available channel of a spectrum; and

transmit the transformed data in the at least one identified available channel;

wherein the instructions to identify the at least one available channel comprise instructions to use a spectrum sensor to identify the at least one available channel;

wherein the instructions to identify the at least one available channel further comprise instructions to access a digital television (TV) bands database to identify the at least one available channel;

further comprising instructions to determine geographic coordinates of a communication device, and wherein the instructions to access the digital TV bands database comprise instructions to provide the geographic coordinates as input to the digital TV bands database.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions to identify the at least one available channel comprise instructions to identify the at least one available channel in an unused portion of a broadcast television spectrum.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions to identify the at least one available channel comprise instructions to identify television band white space.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the identification of the at least one available channel is initiated by a communication device.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions to identify the at least one available channel comprise instructions to use a spectrum sensor to identify the at least one available channel.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, further comprising instruction to identify at least one other available channel if the at least one available channel becomes occupied by another user.

22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, further comprising instructions to periodically determine whether the at least one available channel is still available or has become occupied by another user.

23. A communication device, comprising:

a transformation unit configured to transform data into a digital broadcast format;

a channel identifier configured to identify at least one available channel of a spectrum; and

a digital transmitter configured to transmit the transformed data in the at least one identified available channel;

further comprising a spectrum sensor, wherein the channel identifier is configured to use the spectrum sensor to identify the at least one available channel;

wherein the channel identifier is configured to identify the at least one available channel at least by accessing a digital television (TV) bands database to identify the at least one available channel;

further comprising a geo-location sensor configured to determine geographic coordinates of the communication device, and wherein the channel identifier is configured to access the digital TV bands database at least by providing the geographic coordinates as input to the digital TV bands database.

24. The communication device of claim 23, wherein the channel identifier is configured to identify the at least one available channel in an unused portion of a broadcast television spectrum.

25. The communication device of claim 23, wherein the channel identifier is configured to identify the at least one available channel by identifying television band white space.

26. The communication device of claim 23, wherein the digital broadcast format comprises an ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) format, a T-DMB (Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) format, a DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) format, an Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting Terrestrial (ISDB-T) format, or a Moving Picture Experts Group Transport Stream (MPEG-TS) format.

27. The communication device of claim 23, wherein the channel identifier is configured to identify the at least one available channel upon initiation by the communication device.

28. The communication device of claim 23, wherein:

the communication device comprises a multimedia communication device having multimedia capabilities; and

the data comprises multimedia data including at least one of audio data, video data, text data, speech data, and graphics data.

29. The communication device of claim 28, wherein:

the transformation unit comprises a digital multimedia encoder configured to encode the multimedia data to comply with the digital broadcast format, and the transformation unit further comprising a digital multimedia modulator configured to modulate the encoded multimedia data; and

the digital transmitter is configured to transmit the transformed data at least by transmitting the transformed data in the at least one identified available channel from the multimedia communication device to one or more external devices.

30. The communication device of claim 28, wherein when the multimedia data comprises video or graphics data, the multimedia communication device further comprises a display device to display the video or graphics data.

31. The communication device of claim 28, wherein when the multimedia data comprises audio data, the multimedia communication device further comprises one or more speakers to output the audio data.

32. The communication device of claim 23, further comprising a spectrum sensor, wherein the channel identifier is configured to use the spectrum sensor to identify the at least one available channel.

33. The communication device of claim 23, wherein the channel identifier is further configured to assign one or more quality values associated with one or more channels that are sensed by the spectrum sensor.

34. The communication device of claim 33, wherein the channel identifier is configured to correlate the one or more quality values with available channel information provided by the digital TV bands database in order to identify the at least one available channel.

35. The communication device of claim 34, wherein the channel identifier is configured to determine that a channel is available when the channel information provided by the digital TV bands database indicates that the channel is available and when one of the quality values associated with the channel exceeds a quality threshold.

36. The communication device of claim 23, wherein the channel identifier is further configured to identify at least one other available channel if the at least one available channel becomes occupied by another user.

37. The communication device of claim 36, wherein the channel identifier is further configured to periodically determine whether the at least one available channel is still available or has become occupied by another user.

38. The communication device of claim 23, wherein the communication device comprises a master device, and wherein the digital transmitter is further configured to send information identifying the at least one available channel to a device other than the master device.

39. The communication device of claim 23, wherein the communication device comprises a wireless communication device handset.

40. The communication device of claim 23, wherein the communication device comprises one or more integrated circuit devices.

41. A communication device, comprising:

means for transforming data into a digital broadcast format;

means for identifying at least one available channel of a spectrum; and

means for transmitting the transformed data in the at least one identified available channel;

wherein the means for identifying the at least one available channel comprises means for using a spectrum sensor to identify the at least one available channel;

wherein the means for identifying the at least one available channel further comprises means for accessing a digital television (TV) bands database to identify the at least one available channel;

further comprising means for determining geographic coordinates of the multimedia communication device, and wherein the means for accessing the digital TV bands database comprises means for providing the geographic coordinates as input to the digital TV bands database.

42. The communication device of claim 41, wherein the means for identifying the at least one available channel comprises means for identifying the at least one available channel in an unused portion of a broadcast television spectrum.

43. The communication device of claim 41, wherein the means for identifying the at least one available channel comprises means for identifying television band white space.

44. The communication device of claim 41, wherein the means for identifying the at least one available channel comprises means for identifying the at least one available channel upon initiation by the communication device.

45. The communication device of claim 41, wherein the means for identifying the at least one available channel comprises means for using a spectrum sensor to identify the at least one available channel.

46. The communication device of claim 41, further comprising means for identifying at least one other available channel if the at least one available channel becomes occupied by another user.

47. The communication device of claim 46, further comprising means for periodically determining whether the at least one available channel is still available or has become occupied by another user.