Radio selection in a multi-radio device

• US 8,379,551 B2
• Filed: 06/23/2010
• Issued: 02/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Wietfeldt, Richard Dominic, Zhang, Dong-an, Chrisikos, George
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Brenda H
• Application Number:
  US12/822,026
• Publication Number:
  US 20110149764A1
• Time in Patent Office: 972 Days
• Field of Search: 370/252, 370/270, 370/310, 370/332, 370/333, 370/349, 455/525, 455/445, 455/561
• US Class Current: 370/310
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

Techniques for supporting communication by a wireless device having a set of radios and supporting a set of applications are described. In an aspect, radio selection may be performed based on interference information and additional information to obtain good performance. In one design, a plurality of radios available for use on the wireless device may be identified. Interference information indicative of interference between the plurality of radios may be obtained, e.g., from an interference database or a converted interference database. Additional information used for radio selection may also be obtained and may include information for communication profiles, communication preferences, application requirements, radio capabilities, etc. At least one radio may be selected for use for communication from among the plurality of radios based on the interference information and the additional information.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

identifying a plurality of radios defined within a mobile device that are available for use;

obtaining interference information indicative of interference between the plurality of radios;

obtaining additional information used for radio selection; and

selecting at least one radio of the plurality of radios for communicating based at least in part on the interference information and the additional information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the additional information comprises information for at least one communication profile, at least one communication preference, requirements of at least one application, capabilities of the plurality of radios, cost, available battery power, or a combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining additional information comprises determining at least one requirement of at least one active application, and wherein selecting the at least one radio comprises selecting the at least one radio based further on the at least one requirement of the at least one active application.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one requirement of the at least one active application comprises at least one quality-of-service (QoS) requirement, and/or at least one throughput requirement.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting at least one radio comprises

determining priorities of the plurality of radios based on quality-of-service (QoS) capabilities of each of the plurality of radios, and

selecting the at least one radio based further on the priorities of the plurality of radios.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining interference information comprises obtaining the interference information based on an interference database storing information on interference conditions for a set of radios.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the information on interference conditions for the set of radios is determined empirically, measured by a wireless device, downloaded from an external source, or a combination thereof.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the interference database is updated at a rate of every second or less.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the interference database includes numeric form indicators, and/or coded form indicators.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

converting the interference database to a converted interference database, wherein the interference information is obtained based on the convened interference database.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the interference database stores information in a first form, and wherein the converted interference database stores information in a second form different from the first form.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the second form comprises color coded indicators, and/or throughput values.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the converting comprises converting the interference database to the converted interference database based on a moving average filter.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the converting comprises converting the interference database to the converted interference database when an interference condition for at least one radio is within a threshold.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the interference information is obtained by a first entity from a second entity, and wherein the at least one radio is selected by the first entity.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the obtaining interference information comprises

transmitting a request for interference information from the first entity to the second entity, and

receiving the interference information transmitted by the second entity in response to the request.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the obtaining interference information comprises receiving the interference information transmitted by the second entity when changes in interference conditions are within a threshold.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein, the selecting at least one radio comprises

selecting a radio for which the interference information indicates acceptable interference between the radio and remaining ones of the plurality of radios.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting at least one radio comprises

avoiding selection of a radio for which the interference information indicates unacceptable interference between the radio and at least one other radio among the plurality of radios.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

communicating between the first entity and the second entity via an application programming interface (API) to obtain the interference information.

21. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

communicating between the first entity and the second entity via an application programming interface (API) to control parameters of an interference database maintained by the second entity.

22. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

communicating between the first entity and at least one entity above the first entity via an application programming interface (API) to obtain at least some of the additional information used for radio selection.

23. The method of claim 1, Wherein the identifying the plurality of radios, the obtaining interference information, the obtaining additional information, and the selecting at least one radio are performed by an embedded dedicated processor on a wireless device.

24. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for identifying a plurality of radios defined within a mobile device that are available for use;

means for obtaining interference information indicative of interference between the plurality of radios;

means for obtaining additional information used for radio selection; and

means for selecting at least one radio of the plurality of radios for communicating based at least in part on the interference information and the additional information.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the means for obtaining additional information comprises means for determining at least one requirement of at least one active application, and wherein the the means for selecting the at least one radio is based further on the at least one requirement of the at least one active application.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the means for selecting at least one radio comprises means for determining priorities of the plurality of radios based on quality-of-service (QoS) capabilities of each of the plurality of radios, and

the means for selecting the at least one radio is based further on the priorities of the plurality of radios.

27. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the means for obtaining interference information comprises means for obtaining the interference information based on an interference database storing information on interference conditions for a set of radios.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising:

means for converting the interference database to a converted interference database, wherein the interference information is obtained based on the converted interference database.

29. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the interference information is obtained by a first entity from a second entity, wherein the at least one radio is selected by the first entity, and wherein the means for obtaining interference information comprises

means for transmitting a request for interference information from the first entity to the second entity, and

means for receiving the interference information transmitted by the second entity in response to the request.

30. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one processor configured;

to identify a plurality of radios defined within a mobile device are available for use,

to obtain interference information indicative of interference between the plurality of radios, to obtain additional information used for radio selection, and

to select at least one radio of the plurality of radios for communicating based at least in part on the interference information and the additional information; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the at least one processor is further configured:

to determine at least one requirement of at least one active application, and

to select the at least one radio based further on the at least one requirement of the at least one active application.

32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the at least one processor is further configured:

to determine priorities of the plurality of radios based on quality-of-service (QoS) capabilities of the plurality of radios, and

to select the at least one radio based further on the priorities of the plurality of radios.

33. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to obtain the interference information based on an interference database storing information on interference conditions for a set of radios.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the at least one processor is further configured:

to convert the interference database to a converted interference database, and

to obtain the interference information based on the converted interference database.

35. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the interference information is obtained by a first entity from a second entity, wherein the at least one radio is selected by the first entity, and wherein the at least one processor is further configured:

to send a request for interference information from the first entity to the second entity, and

to receive the interference information sent by the second entity in response to the request.

36. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium having non-transitory program code recorded thereon, the program code comprising;

program code to identify a plurality of radios defined within a mobile device that are available for use,

program code to obtain interference information indicative of interference between the plurality of radios,

program code to obtain additional information used for radio selection, and

program code to select at least one radio of the plurality of radios for communicating based at least in part on the interference information and the additional information.