Methods and apparatus related to multi-mode wireless communications device supporting both wide area network signaling and peer to peer signaling
First Claim
1. A multi-mode communications device comprising:
- a first antenna;
a duplexer;
a second antenna;
a transmitter chain for generating transmission signals having a first RF frequency;
a first receiver chain corresponding to a second RF frequency, coupled to the first antenna via the duplexer, for processing signals, received via the first antenna, having a second RF frequency;
a second receiver chain corresponding to the first RF frequency, coupled to the second antenna, for processing signals, received via the second antenna, having the first RF frequency; and
a switching module used to switch between the second receiver chain corresponding to the first RF frequency and the first receiver chain corresponding to the second RF frequency, said multi-mode communications device using an output of only one receiver chain at any given time, said switching module outputting a signal from the one of the first and second receiver chains being used at a point in time.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus related to the sharing of wide area network (WAN) uplink bandwidth with peer to peer communication signaling usage are described. A multi-mode wireless communications device supporting both WAN communications and peer to peer communications includes: a transmitter chain for generating signals having a first RF frequency, a first receiver chain for processing received signals having a second RF frequency, and a second receiver chain for processing signals having the first RF frequency. This design is particularly advantageous in a communications system where a WAN frequency division duplex uplink band is shared with time division duplex (TDD) peer to peer communications signaling. The wireless terminal sets the transmitter chain and the second receiver chain to the FDD uplink band and sets the first receiver chain to the FDD downlink band. This design accommodates rapid mode switching between the two modes of operation and reuses hardware where possible.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1. A multi-mode communications device comprising:
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a first antenna; a duplexer; a second antenna; a transmitter chain for generating transmission signals having a first RF frequency; a first receiver chain corresponding to a second RF frequency, coupled to the first antenna via the duplexer, for processing signals, received via the first antenna, having a second RF frequency; a second receiver chain corresponding to the first RF frequency, coupled to the second antenna, for processing signals, received via the second antenna, having the first RF frequency; and a switching module used to switch between the second receiver chain corresponding to the first RF frequency and the first receiver chain corresponding to the second RF frequency, said multi-mode communications device using an output of only one receiver chain at any given time, said switching module outputting a signal from the one of the first and second receiver chains being used at a point in time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of operating a multi-mode communications device, the method comprising:
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tuning a transmitter chain to generate transmission signals having a first RF frequency; tuning a first receiver chain corresponding to a second RF frequency, coupled to a first antenna via a duplexer, to process signals, received via the first antenna, having a second RF frequency; tuning a second receiver chain corresponding to the first RF frequency, coupled to a second antenna, to process signals, received via the second antenna, having the first RF frequency; and controlling a switching module to switch between the second receiver chain corresponding to the first RF frequency and the first receiver chain corresponding to the second RF frequency, said multi-mode communications device being operated to use an output of only one receiver chain at any given time, said switching module being controlled to output a signal from the one of the first and second receiver chains being used at a point in time. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A multi-mode communications device comprising:
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transmitter means for generating transmission signals having a first RF frequency; first receiver means for processing signals, received via a first antenna, having a second RF frequency; second receiver means for processing signals, received via a second antenna, having the first RF frequency; duplexer means for coupling said first antenna to said transmitter means and said first receiver means; and means for switching between said first receiver means for processing received signals having the second RF frequency and said second receiver means for processing received signals having the first RF frequency, said multi-mode communications device using an output of only one of i) said first receiver means for processing signals and ii) said second receiver means for processing signals, at any given time, said means for switching outputting a signal from the one of the first and second receiver means for processing signals being used at a point in time. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A non-transitory computer readable medium embodying machine executable instructions for controlling a multi-mode communications device to implement a method, the method comprising:
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tuning a transmitter chain to generate transmission signals having a first RF frequency; tuning a first receiver chain corresponding to a second RF frequency, coupled to a first antenna via a duplexer, to process signals, received via the first antenna, having a second RF frequency; tuning a second receiver chain corresponding to the first RF frequency, coupled to a second antenna, to process signals, received via the second antenna, having the first RF frequency; and controlling a switching module to switch between the second receiver chain corresponding to the first RF frequency and the first receiver chain corresponding to the second RF frequency, said multi-mode communications device using an output of only one receiver chain at any given time, said switching module outputting a signal from the one of the first and second receiver chains being used at a point in time. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. An apparatus comprising:
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a processor configured to; tune a transmitter chain to generate transmission signals having a first RF frequency; tune a first receiver chain corresponding to a second RF frequency, coupled to a first antenna via a duplexer, to process signals, received via the first antenna, having a second RF frequency; tune a receiver chain corresponding to the first RF frequency, coupled to a second antenna, to process signals, received via the second antenna, having the first RF frequency; and control a switch to perform switching between the receiver chain corresponding to the first RF frequency and the receiver chain corresponding to the second RF frequency, said multi-mode communications device using an output of only one receiver chain at any given time, said switching module being controlled to output a signal from the one of the first and second receiver chains being used at a point in time; and a memory coupled to said processor. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41)
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Specification