Conduit-sharing apparatus, systems, and methods

• US 9,154,439 B1
• Filed: 01/07/2014
• Issued: 10/06/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Marvell Asia Pte Limited (Marvell Technology Group Limited)
• Original Assignee: Marvell International Limited (Marvell Technology Group Limited)
• Inventors: Fleming, Kristoffer D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Duong, Frank
• Application Number:
  US14/149,546
• Time in Patent Office: 637 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/6215 Individual queue per QOS, rate or priority
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/03 Protocol definition or specification protocol conformance testing H04L1/244
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/1215 for collaboration of different radio technologies
• 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

An apparatus and a system, as well as a method and article, may operate to share an energy conduit, such as an antenna, between first data communicated according to a first formatting mechanism and second data communicated according to a second formatting mechanism according to a first priority assigned to the first data and a second priority assigned to the second data. The first formatting mechanism may be different from the second formatting mechanism.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting data packets, the method comprising:

formatting a plurality of data packets by a plurality of corresponding formatting mechanisms in accordance with corresponding communication protocols, at least two of the communication protocols being different from each other;

assigning a priority to each of the data packets formatted;

attaching a priority tag to each of the data packets, the priority tag including at least data priority level and management priority level that are shared and compared between the formatting mechanisms;

determining one of priorities of the data packets as having a higher priority than those of the other data packets; and

transmitting by a transmitter one of the data packets having the higher priority over a single energy conduit prior to transmitting the other data packets over the single energy conduit.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the assigning the priority to each of the data packets comprises attaching a priority tag to each of the data packets.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the attaching the priority tag comprises attaching the priority tag including an IEEE 802.1Q priority tag.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the formatting the plurality of data packets comprises formatting a first data packet in accordance with a first communication protocol that is an IEEE 802.11 protocol and formatting a second data packet in accordance with a second communication protocol that is a Bluetooth protocol.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting over the single energy conduit comprises transmitting over the single energy conduit that is one of an antenna, an infrared transmitter, a photo emitter, and a charge coupled device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

activating an arbitration mechanism to select one of the data packets having substantially equal priorities; and

transmitting the selected data packet over the single energy conduit.

7. An apparatus comprising:

a plurality of formatting mechanisms configured to format a plurality of data packets in accordance with corresponding communication protocols, at least two of the communication protocols being different from each other;

an assignment module configured to assign a priority to each of the data packets formatted and attach a priority tag to each of the data packets, the priority tag including at least data priority level and management priority level that are shared and compared between the formatting mechanisms;

a determination module configured to determine one of priorities of the data packets as having a higher priority than those of the other data packets; and

a transmitter configured to transmit one of the data packets having the higher priority over a single energy conduit prior to transmitting the other data packets over the single energy conduit.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein one of the communication protocols is an IEEE 802.11 protocol and another of the communication protocols is a Bluetooth protocol.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising:

a steering mechanism configured to steer one of the data packets or another of the data packets to the single energy conduit for transmission.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the steering mechanism comprises a switch.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the single energy conduit is one of an antenna, an infrared transmitter, a photo emitter, and a charge coupled device.

12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the apparatus comprises one of a television, a cellular phone, a personal computer, a personal digital assistant, a workstation, a radio, a video player, and a vehicle.

13. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the determination module is further configured to determine that two or more priorities of the data packets are substantially equal, activate an arbitration mechanism to select one of the data packets having substantially equal priorities, and the transmitter is further configured to transmit the selected data packet over the single energy conduit.

14. A computer program stored on a non-transitory medium of a computer, the computer program being executable by a processor and comprising instructions for:

formatting a plurality of data packets by a plurality of corresponding formatting mechanisms in accordance with corresponding communication protocols, at least two of the communication protocols being different from each other;

assigning a priority to each of the data packets formatted;

attaching a priority tag to each of the data packets, the priority tag including at least data priority level and management priority level that are shared and compared between the formatting mechanisms;

determining one of priorities of the data packets as having a higher priority than those of the other data packets; and

transmitting one of the data packets having the higher priority over a single energy conduit prior to transmitting the other data packets over the single energy conduit.

15. The computer program of claim 14, wherein the instructions for assigning the priority to each of the data packets comprise instructions for attaching a priority tag to each of the data packets.

16. The computer program of claim 15, wherein the priority tag comprises an IEEE 802.1Q priority tag.

17. The computer program of claim 14, wherein one of the communication protocols is an IEEE 802.11 protocol and another of the communication protocols is a Bluetooth protocol.

18. The computer program of claim 14, wherein the single energy conduit is one of an antenna, an infrared transmitter, a photo emitter, and a charge coupled device.

19. The computer program of claim 14, further comprises instructions for:

determining that two or more priorities of the data packets are substantially equal.

20. The computer program of claim 19, further comprises instructions for:

activating an arbitration mechanism to select one of the data packets having substantially equal priorities; and

transmitting the selected data packet over the single energy conduit.