Apparatus, module, and method for implementing communications functions

• US 8,406,281 B2
• Filed: 10/28/2009
• Issued: 03/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: QST Holdings LLC
• Original Assignee: QST Holdings LLC
• Inventors: Heidari, Ghobad, Chang, Kuor-Hsin, Master, Paul L., Hogenauer, Eugene B., Scheuermann, Walter James
• Primary Examiner(s): Vo, Don N
• Application Number:
  US12/607,916
• Publication Number:
  US 20100220706A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,245 Days
• Field of Search: 375141-145, 375/260, 375/343, 375/367, 370/209, 370/320, 370/335, 370/342, 370/441
• US Class Current: 375/150
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/7867 with reconfigurable architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/708 Parallel implementation
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2201/70711 with modular structure

Abstract

A system acquisition module and corresponding method for facilitating PN code searching which has a PN sequence generator configurable to generate a plurality of PN sequences. The module and method also includes computational units configurable to correlate each received signal sample of a plurality of received signal samples with a corresponding PN sequence of the plurality of PN sequences, and further configurable to provide other hardware resources. A number of computational units from the plurality of computational units are selectively configured to correlate the received signal samples with the PN sequences—the number depending upon availability of the plurality of computational units from providing the other hardware resources. In another embodiment, a communication device having a system acquisition function is provided which includes the system acquisition module and a receiver configured to receive signals, where a plurality of configurable computational units are selectively configurable to implement the PN sequence generator.

Claims

1. A communications device comprising:

a plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources configurable to provide a first communications function, the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources further configurable or reconfigurable to provide at least a second communications function;

an interconnection network having interconnections coupled to each of the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources; and

control logic adapted to selectively configure a first number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources by changing the interconnections of the interconnection network between the first number of reconfigurable hardware resources to provide the first communications function at one point in time, the control logic further adapted to selectively configure a second number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources to provide at least the second communications function at another point in time by changing the interconnections of the interconnection network between the second number of reconfigurable hardware resources including reconfiguring at least some of the first number of reconfigurable hardware resources by changing the interconnections between the at least some of the first number of reconfigurable hardware resources,

wherein the first communications function comprises at least a portion of a system acquisition function, wherein the system acquisition function includes;

a receiver function portion to receive a plurality of signals;

a PN sequence generator function portion to generate a plurality of PN sequences; and

a correlator function portion to correlate the plurality of signals with the plurality of PN sequences,

wherein at least one of the plurality of hardware resources implements the receiver function, at least one of plurality of hardware resources implements the PN sequence generator function, and wherein at least one of the plurality of hardware resources implements the correlation function, and wherein the at least one of the plurality of hardware resources perform two or more correlations per time period.

2. The communications device of claim 1, wherein the communications device comprises a mobile phone for use in a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) communication system.

3. The communications device of claim 1, wherein the communications device is a base station.

4. The communications device of claim 1, wherein at least some of the reconfigurable hardware resources comprise a plurality of configurable and reconfigurable digital signal processing (DSP) computational units, the control logic further adapted to selectively configure and reconfigure a third number of digital signal processing computational units depending on for which communications standard the digital signal processing computational units are to be selectively configured or reconfigured.

5. The communications device of claim 1, wherein the first communications function is one of a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), or a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) communications function, and the second communications function is one of a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), or a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) communications function.

6. The communications device of claim 1, wherein the first and second number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources depend on availability of the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources from providing other functions.

7. The communications device of claim 1, wherein the first and second number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources depend on the available clock rate driving the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources.

8. The communications device of claim 7, wherein the first number of reconfigurable hardware resources selectively configured by the control logic to provide the first communications function at one point in time is capable of being reduced when the available clock rate driving the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources is increased.

9. The communications device of claim 1, wherein the first and second number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources depend on the incoming signal rate of signals for the first and second communications functions.

10. The communications device of claim 1, wherein the first and second number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources depend on the incoming signal period of signals operated on by the first and second communications functions.

11. The communications device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources are further configurable or reconfigurable to provide at least one other function.

12. The communications device of claim 11, wherein the first and second number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources depend on how many of the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources are needed to provide the at least one other function.

13. The communications device of claim 11, wherein the at least one other function is a non-communications function.

14. The communications device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources comprise a plurality of reconfigurable computational units.

15. The communications device of claim 14, wherein the plurality of configurable computational units comprise a plurality of configurable heterogeneous computational elements units.

16. The communications device of claim 1, wherein the first communications function comprises at least a portion of a system acquisition function.

17. The communications device of claim 16, further comprising dedicated hardware to provide another portion of the system acquisition function.

18. The communications device of claim 1, further comprising:

a PN sequence generator to provide the PN sequence generator function portion of the system acquisition function; and

dedicated hardware to provide the PN sequence generator.

19. The communications device of claim 1, further comprising:

dedicated hardware to provide another portion of the system acquisition function; and

wherein the other portion comprises one of the receiver function portion, the PN sequence generator function portion, or the correlator function portion.

20. The communications device of claim 19, wherein the other portion of the system acquisition function is the receiver function portion.

21. The communications device of claim 1, wherein the control logic selectively configures the first number of reconfigurable hardware resources to provide the at least a portion of the system acquisition function;

and

wherein the at least a portion of the system acquisition function comprises at least one of the receiver function portion, the PN sequence generator function portion, or the correlator function portion.

22. The communications device of claim 1, wherein the at least a portion of the system acquisition function comprises the receiver function portion, the PN sequence generator function portion, and the correlator function portion;

and

wherein the control logic selectively configures the first number of reconfigurable hardware resources to provide the receiver function portion, the PN sequence generator function portion, and the correlator function portion.

23. The communications device of claim 22, wherein the control logic selectively configures or reconfigures one or more of the first number of configurable hardware resources to provide at least one other function when not needed to provide the receiver function portion, the PN sequence generator function portion, and the correlator function portion.

24. The communications device of claim 1, further comprising a receiver and a correlator.

25. A communications module in a communications device, the communications module comprising:

a plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources configurable to provide a first communications function, the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources further configurable or reconfigurable to provide at least a second communications function;

an interconnection network having interconnections coupled to each of the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources; and

control logic adapted to selectively configure a first number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources by changing the interconnections of the interconnection network between the first number of reconfigurable hardware resources to provide the first communications function at one point in time, the control logic further adapted to selectively configure a second number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources to provide at least the second communications function at another point in time by changing the interconnections of the interconnection network between the second number of reconfigurable hardware resources including reconfiguring at least some of the first number of reconfigurable hardware resources by changing the interconnections between the at least some of the first number of reconfigurable hardware resources,

wherein the first communications function comprises at least a portion of a system acquisition function, wherein the system acquisition function includes;

a receiver function portion to receive a plurality of signals;

a PN sequence generator function portion to generate a plurality of PN sequences; and

a correlator function portion to correlate the plurality of signals with the plurality of PN sequences,

wherein at least one of the plurality of hardware resources implements the receiver function, at least one of plurality of hardware resources implements the PN sequence generator function, and wherein at least one of the plurality of hardware resources implements the correlation function, and wherein the at least one of the plurality of hardware resources perform two or more correlations per time period.

26. The communications module of claim 25, wherein the communications device is a mobile phone for use in a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) communication system.

27. The communications module of claim 25, wherein the communications device is a base station.

28. The communications module of claim 25, wherein at least some of the reconfigurable hardware resources comprise a plurality of configurable and reconfigurable digital signal processing (DSP) computational units, the control logic further adapted to selectively configure and reconfigure a third number of digital signal processing computational units depending on for which communications standard the digital signal processing computational units are to be selectively configured or reconfigured.

29. The communications module of claim 25, wherein the first communications function is one of a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), or a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) communications function, and the second communications function is one of a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), or a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) communications function.

30. The communication module of claim 25, wherein the first and second number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources depend on availability of the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources from providing other functions.

31. The communication module of claim 25, wherein the first and second number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources depend on the available clock rate driving the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources.

32. The communication module of claim 31, wherein the first number of reconfigurable hardware resources selectively configured by the control logic to provide the first communications function at one point in time is capable of being reduced when the available clock rate driving the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources is increased.

33. The communication module of claim 25, wherein the first and second number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources depend on the incoming signal rate of signals for the first and second communications functions.

34. The communication module of claim 25, wherein the first and second number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources depend on the incoming signal period of signals operated on by the first and second communications functions.

35. The communication module of claim 25, wherein the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources are further configurable or reconfigurable to provide at least one other function.

36. The communication module of claim 35, wherein the first and second number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources depend on how many of the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources are needed to provide the at least one other function.

37. The communication module of claim 35, wherein the at least one other function is a non-communications function.

38. The communication module of claim 25, wherein the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources comprise a plurality of reconfigurable computational units.

39. The communication module of claim 38, wherein the plurality of configurable computational units comprise a plurality of configurable heterogeneous computational elements.

40. The communication module of claim 25, wherein the first communications function comprises at least a portion of a system acquisition function.

41. The communication module of claim 40, further comprising dedicated hardware to provide another portion of the system acquisition function.

42. The communications module of claim 25, further comprising:

a PN sequence generator to provide the PN sequence generator function portion of the system acquisition function; and

dedicated hardware to provide the PN sequence generator.

43. The communication module of claim 25, further comprising:

dedicated hardware to provide another portion of the system acquisition function; and

wherein the other portion comprises one of the receiver function portion, the PN sequence generator function portion, or the correlator function portion.

44. The communication module of claim 43, wherein the other portion of the system acquisition function is the receiver function portion.

45. The communication module of claim 25, wherein the control logic selectively configures the first number of reconfigurable hardware resources to provide the at least a portion of the system acquisition function;

and

wherein the at least a portion of the system acquisition function comprises at least one of the receiver function portion, the PN sequence generator function portion, or the correlator function portion.

46. The communication module of claim 25, wherein the at least a portion of the system acquisition function comprises the receiver function portion, the PN sequence generator function portion, and the correlator function portion;

and

wherein the control logic selectively configures the first number of reconfigurable hardware resources to provide the receiver function portion, the PN sequence generator function portion, and the correlator function portion.

47. The communication module of claim 46, wherein the control logic selectively configures or reconfigures one or more of the first number of configurable hardware resources to provide at least one other function when not needed to provide the receiver function portion, the PN sequence generator function portion, and the correlator function portion.

48. The communication module of claim 25, further comprising a receiver and a correlator.

49. A method for implementing communications functions in a communications device comprising:

providing a plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources configurable to provide a first communications function, the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources further configurable or reconfigurable to provide at least a second communications function;

providing an interconnection network having interconnections coupled to each of the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources;

providing control logic for selectively configuring a first number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources by changing the interconnections of the interconnection network between the first number of reconfigurable hardware resources to provide the first communications function at one point in time, the control logic further for selectively configuring a second number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources to provide at least the second communications function at another point in time by changing the interconnections of the interconnection network between the second number of reconfigurable hardware resources including, the selectively configuring a second number of reconfigurable hardware resources including reconfiguring at least some of the first number of reconfigurable hardware resources by changing the interconnections between the at least some of the first number of reconfigurable hardware resources,

wherein the first communications function comprises at least a portion of a system acquisition function, wherein the system acquisition function includes;

a receiver function portion to receive a plurality of signals;

a PN sequence generator function portion to generate a plurality of PN sequences; and

a correlator function portion to correlate the plurality of signals with the plurality of PN sequences,

wherein at least one of the plurality of hardware resources implements the receiver function, at least one of plurality of hardware resources implements the PN sequence generator function, and wherein at least one of the plurality of hardware resources implements the correlation function, and wherein the at least one of the plurality of hardware resources perform two or more correlations per time period.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the communications device comprises a mobile phone for use in a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) communication system.

51. The method of claim 49, wherein the communications device is a base station.

52. The method of claim 49, wherein at least some of the reconfigurable hardware resources comprise a plurality of configurable and reconfigurable digital signal processing (DSP) computational units, the control logic further for selectively configuring and reconfiguring a third number of digital signal processing computational units depending on for which communications standard the digital signal processing computational units are to be selectively configured or reconfigured.

53. The method of claim 49, wherein the first communications function is one of a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), or a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) communications function, and the second communications function is one of a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), or a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) communications function.

54. The method of claim 49, wherein the first and second number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources depend on availability of the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources from providing other functions.

55. The method of claim 49, wherein the first and second number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources depend on the available clock rate driving the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein the first number of reconfigurable hardware resources selectively configured by the control logic to provide the first communications function at one point in time is capable of being reduced when the available clock rate driving the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources is increased.

57. The method of claim 49, wherein the first and second number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources depend on the incoming signal rate of signals for the first and second communications functions.

58. The method of claim 49, wherein the first and second number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources depend on the incoming signal period of signals operated on by the first and second communications functions.

59. The method of claim 49, wherein the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources are further configurable or reconfigurable to provide at least one other function, the method further comprising configuring or reconfiguring the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources to provide the at least one other function.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein the first and second number of reconfigurable hardware resources from the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources depend on how many of the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources are needed to provide the at least one other function.

61. The method of claim 59, wherein the at least one other function is a non-communications function.

62. The method of claim 49, wherein the plurality of reconfigurable hardware resources comprise a plurality of reconfigurable computational units.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein the plurality of configurable computational units comprise a plurality of configurable heterogeneous computational elements units.

64. The method of claim 49, wherein the first communications function comprises at least a portion of a system acquisition function.

65. The method of claim 64, further comprising providing dedicated hardware to provide another portion of the system acquisition function.

66. The method of claim 49, further comprising:

providing a PN sequence generator to provide the PN sequence generator function portion of the system acquisition function; and

providing dedicated hardware to provide the PN sequence generator.

67. The method of claim 49, further comprising:

providing dedicated hardware to provide another portion of the system acquisition function; and

wherein the other portion comprises one of the receiver function portion, the PN sequence generator function portion, or the correlator function portion.

68. The method of claim 67, wherein the other portion of the system acquisition function is the receiver function portion.

69. The method of claim 49, wherein the control logic is further for selectively configuring the first number of reconfigurable hardware resources to provide the at least a portion of the system acquisition function;

and

wherein the at least a portion of the system acquisition function comprises at least one of the receiver function portion, the PN sequence generator function portion, or the correlator function portion.

70. The method of claim 49, wherein the at least a portion of the system acquisition function comprises the receiver function portion, the PN sequence generator function portion, and the correlator function portion;

and

wherein the control logic is further for selectively configuring the first number of reconfigurable hardware resources to provide the receiver function portion, the PN sequence generator function portion, and the correlator function portion.

71. The method of claim 70, wherein the control logic is further for selectively configuring or reconfiguring one or more of the first number of configurable hardware resources to provide at least one other function when not needed to provide the receiver function portion, the PN sequence generator function portion, and the correlator function portion.

72. The method of claim 49, further comprising providing a receiver and a correlator.