System having co-located functional resources and applications thereof

• US 9,031,506 B2
• Filed: 09/08/2010
• Issued: 05/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Castaneda, Jesus Alfonso, Behzad, Arya Reza, Boers, Michael, Rofougaran, Ahmadreza (Reza), Zhao, Sam Ziqun
• Primary Examiner(s): Bilodeau, David
• Application Number:
  US12/877,698
• Publication Number:
  US 20110183615A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,707 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41.2
• US Class Current: 455/41.2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/50 Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU]
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/10 Polarisation diversity; Directional diversity
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/26 at least one of which is mobile
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

Disclosed herein are systems, apparatuses, and methods for wirelessly coupling functional resources. Such a system includes a plurality of co-located, wireless-enabled functional units of a first type and a plurality of co-located, wireless-enabled functional units of a second type. At least one of the wireless-enabled functional units of the first type is wirelessly coupled with one or more of the wireless-enabled functional units of the second type. The wireless-enabled functional units of the first type may be wireless-enabled processing units, and the wireless-enabled functional units of the second type may be wireless-enabled memory units. In an example, the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the first type are co-located on a first chip, and the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the second type are co-located on a second chip. The first chip and the second chip may be located in a single device or in separate devices.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

co-locating a plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of a first type;

co-locating a plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of a second type;

dynamically allocating a functional resource of one or more of the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the second type to one or more of the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the first type such that at least one of the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the first type becomes wirelessly coupled with one or more of the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the second type, wherein the functional resource of one or more of the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the second type comprises a first processing module or a first memory module; and

sharing resource information about one or more of the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the first or second type with another one of the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the first or second type, to identify resources that the another one of the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units can borrow to perform one or more required tasks, wherein the resource information includes an allotted usage time for using the identified resources, and wherein the identified resources comprise a second processing module or a second memory module included within the one or more of the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the first or second type.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the first type comprise wireless-enabled processing units.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the second type comprise wireless-enabled memory units.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the co-locating a plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of a first type comprises:

co-locating the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the first type on a first chip.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the co-locating a plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of a second type comprises:

co-locating the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the second type on a second chip.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first chip and the second chip are located in a single device.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the first chip and the second chip are located in separate devices.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the first type becomes wirelessly coupled with one or more of the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the second type via a wireless link that includes at least one of a radio frequency (RF) link, an optical link, and a link enabled by proximity coupling.

24. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

simultaneously communicating between one or more of the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the first type and one or more of the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the second type using a plurality of different wireless links.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamically allocating a functional resource of one or more of the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the second type to one or more of the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the first type is performed using an antenna diversity scheme.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein the sharing resource information is performed according to a cost-based function.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the first type and the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the second type are located within a single chip.

36. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more of the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the first or second type is configured to share resource information with the another one of the one or more of the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the first or second type using a server.

39. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the first type and the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the second type are further configured to communicate within a wireless data center/serve context.

8. A wireless-enabled component (WEC), comprising:

a functional unit of a first type; and

a wireless communication module configured to wirelessly couple the functional unit of the first type with a functional unit of a second type included in another WEC, wherein the wireless communication module is further configured;

to dynamically allocate a functional resource of the functional unit of the first type to the functional unit of the second type, wherein the functional resource comprises a first processing module or a first memory module; and

share resource information about the functional unit of the first type with at least one of the functional unit of the second type and another functional unit of the first type, to identify resources that at least one of the functional unit of the second type and the another functional unit of the first type can borrow to perform one or more required tasks, wherein the resource information includes an allotted usage time for using the identified resources, and wherein the identified resources comprise a second processing module or a second memory module included within the functional unit of the first type.

9. The WEC of claim 8, wherein the functional unit of the first type comprises a processing unit.

10. The WEC of claim 9, wherein the functional unit of the second type comprises a memory unit.

11. The WEC of claim 8, wherein the WEC is located on a first chip.

12. The WEC of claim 11, wherein another WEC is located on a second chip.

13. The WEC of claim 12, wherein the first chip and the second chip are located in a single device.

14. The WEC of claim 12, wherein the first chip and the second chip are located in separate devices.

22. The WEC of claim 8, wherein the functional unit of the first type is wirelessly coupled with the functional unit of the second type via a wireless link that includes at least one of a radio frequency (RF) link, an optical link, and a link enabled by proximity coupling.

25. The WEC of claim 22, wherein the functional unit of the first type is further configured to simultaneously communicate with the functional unit of the second type using a plurality of different wireless links.

28. The WEC of claim 8, wherein a communication between the functional unit of the first type and the functional unit of a second type is performed using an antenna diversity scheme.

31. The WEC of claim 8, wherein the wireless communication module is further configured to share resource information according to a cost-based function.

34. The WEC of claim 8, wherein the WEC and the another WEC are located within a single chip.

37. The WEC of claim 8, wherein the wireless communication module is further configured to share resource information about the functional unit of the first type with at least one of the functional unit of the second type and another functional unit of the first type using a server.

40. The WEC of claim 8, wherein the WEC and the another WEC are further configured to communicate within a wireless data center/serve context.

15. A system, comprising:

a plurality of co-located, wireless-enabled functional units of a first type; and

a plurality of co-located, wireless-enabled functional units of a second type;

wherein at least one of the wireless-enabled functional units of the first type is wirelessly coupled with one or more of the wireless-enabled functional units of the second type,

wherein one or more of the wireless-enabled functional units of the second type is configured to dynamically allocate a functional resource of the one or more wireless-enabled functional units of the second type to one or more of the wireless-enabled functional units of the first type,

wherein the functional resource of the one or more wireless-enabled functional units of the second type comprises a first processing module or a first memory module, and

wherein one or more of the wireless-enabled functional units of the first or second type is configured to share resource information with another one of the one or more of the wireless-enabled functional units of the first or second type, to identify resources that the another one of the one or more of the wireless-enabled functional units can borrow to perform one or more required tasks, wherein the resource information includes an allotted usage time for using the identified resources, and wherein the identified resources comprise a second processing module or a second memory module included within the one or more wireless-enabled functional units of the first or second type.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the wireless-enabled functional units of the first type comprise wireless-enabled processing units.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the wireless-enabled functional units of the second type comprise wireless-enabled memory units.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein:

the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the first type are co-located on a first chip; and

the plurality of wireless-enabled functional units of the second type are co-located on a second chip.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the first chip and the second chip are located in a single device.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the first chip and the second chip are located in separate devices.

23. The system of claim 15, wherein at least one of the wireless-enabled functional units of the first type is wirelessly coupled with one or more of the wireless-enabled functional units of the second type via a wireless link that includes at least one of a radio frequency (RF) link, an optical link, and a link enabled by proximity coupling.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein at least one of the wireless-enabled functional units of the first type is configured to simultaneously communicate with one or more of the wireless-enabled functional units of the second type using a plurality of different wireless links.

29. The system of claim 15, wherein a communication between the wireless-enabled functional units of the first type and the wireless-enabled functional units of the second type is performed using an antenna diversity scheme.

32. The system of claim 15, wherein the wireless-enabled functional units of the first or second type are configured to share resource information according to a cost-based function.

35. The system of claim 15, wherein the wireless-enabled functional units of the first type and the wireless-enabled functional units of the second type are located within a single chip.

38. The system of claim 15, wherein the one or more of the wireless-enabled functional units of the first or second type is configured to share resource information with the another one of the one or more of the wireless-enabled functional units of the first or second type using a server.

41. The system of claim 15, wherein the wireless-enabled functional units of the first type and the wireless-enabled functional units of the second type are further configured to communicate within a wireless data center/serve context.