ASYNCHRONOUS INTERFACE FOR MULTI-RADIO COEXISTENCE MANAGER

• US 20110026458A1
• Filed: 03/29/2010
• Published: 02/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Chrisikos, George, Gruber, Hans Georg, Wietteldt, Richard Dominic
• Granted Patent: US 9,135,197 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/385 for adaptation of a particular data processing system to different peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2213/3814 Wireless link with a computer system port
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/10 adapted for operation in multiple networks, e.g. multi-mode access points

Abstract

Systems and methodologies are described herein that facilitate an asynchronous bus architecture for multi-radio coexistence associated with a wireless device. As described herein, a system of buses operating in an asynchronous manner, combined with optional on-chip and/or other supplemental buses, can be utilized to couple respective radios and/or other related endpoints to a coexistence management platform, thereby facilitating management of coexistence between multiple radios in a unified and scalable manner. As further described herein, communication between a coexistence manager and its respective managed endpoints can be facilitated through the use of a single bus or multiple buses that can be switched and/or otherwise operate in a concurrent manner to facilitate expedited conveyance of radio event notifications and their corresponding responses.

Claims

1. A method used in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

identifying respective managed endpoints associated with respective potentially conflicting radio technologies and a multi-radio coexistence platform associated with the respective managed endpoints; and

maintaining a bus system that communicatively connects the respective managed endpoints to the multi-radio coexistence platform, wherein the bus system comprises one or more buses operating in an asynchronous manner.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more buses operating in an asynchronous manner are coupled to at least one supplemental bus.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one supplemental bus is reprogrammable for operation according to a plurality of operating modes, the plurality of operating modes comprising at least one of a synchronous mode or an asynchronous mode.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the respective managed endpoints comprise at least one of a radio, an antenna, a power amplifier, a filter, a mixer, or a modem.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying comprises identifying an integrated circuit having implemented thereon one or more internal buses and at least one of the respective managed endpoints.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the maintaining comprises maintaining a bus system that communicatively connects the integrated circuit and the multi-radio coexistence platform such that respective managed endpoints implemented on the integrated circuit are coupled to the bus system via the one or more internal buses implemented on the integrated circuit.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the maintaining comprises:

maintaining at least a first bus operating in an asynchronous manner that communicatively connects at least one managed endpoint to the multi-radio coexistence platform and collects notifications for the multi-radio coexistence platform from the at least one managed endpoint; and

maintaining at least a second bus operating in an asynchronous manner that communicatively connects at least one managed endpoint to the multi-radio coexistence platform and facilitates conveyance of coexistence commands from the multi-radio coexistence platform to the at least one managed endpoint.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the maintaining further comprises:

joining a first bus operating in an asynchronous manner and a second bus operating in an asynchronous manner such that the multi-radio coexistence platform is coupled to the first bus and the second bus and the at least one managed endpoint is coupled to a common bus that implements functionality of the first bus and the second bus; and

switching the common bus between functionality of the first bus and the second bus in response to a desired mode of communication between the at least one managed endpoint and the multi-radio coexistence platform.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the maintaining comprises maintaining at least one bus operating in an asynchronous manner that communicatively connects at least one managed endpoint to the multi-radio coexistence platform, collects notifications for the multi-radio coexistence platform from the at least one managed endpoint, and facilitates conveyance of coexistence commands from the multi-radio coexistence platform to the at least one managed endpoint.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the maintaining comprises reprogramming one or more buses that operating in an asynchronous manner and that communicatively connect at least one managed endpoint to the multi-radio coexistence platform for operation according to a non-asynchronous bus protocol for at least one decision unit in time.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more buses operating in an asynchronous manner comprise at least one bus implemented according to a SLIMbus architecture.

12. An apparatus operable in a wireless communication system, comprising:

respective managed endpoints associated with a set of potentially conflicting radio technologies;

a coexistence manager (CxM) that facilitates coexistence between the respective managed endpoints; and

a bus system that communicatively connects the respective managed endpoints to the CxM, wherein the bus system comprises one or more buses operating in an asynchronous manner.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the bus system further comprises at least one supplemental bus coupled to the one or more buses operating in an asynchronous manner.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least one supplemental bus is reprogrammable for operation according to a plurality of operating modes, the plurality of operating modes comprising at least one of a synchronous mode or an asynchronous mode.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the respective managed endpoints comprise at least one of a radio, an antenna, a power amplifier, a filter, a mixer, or a modem.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the apparatus further comprises at least one integrated circuit having implemented thereon one or more internal buses and at least one of the respective managed endpoints, and wherein the bus system communicatively connects the at least one integrated circuit and the CxM such that respective managed endpoints implemented on the at least one integrated circuit are coupled to the bus system via the one or more internal buses implemented on the at least one integrated circuit.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the bus system comprises:

at least a first bus operating in an asynchronous manner that communicatively connects at least one managed endpoint to the CxM and collects notifications for the CxM from the at least one managed endpoint; and

at least a second bus operating in an asynchronous manner that communicatively connects at least one managed endpoint to the CxM and facilitates conveyance of coexistence commands from the CxM to the at least one managed endpoint.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein:

a first bus operating in an asynchronous manner and a second bus operating in an asynchronous manner are joined such that the CxM is coupled to the first bus and the second bus and the at least one managed endpoint is coupled to a common bus that implements functionality of the first bus and the second bus; and

the apparatus further comprises a bus selector that switches the common bus between functionality of the first bus and the second bus in response to a desired mode of communication between the at least one managed endpoint and the CxM.

19. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the bus system comprises at least one bus operating in an asynchronous manner that communicatively connects at least one managed endpoint to the CxM, collects notifications for the CxM from the at least one managed endpoint, and facilitates conveyance of coexistence commands from the CxM to the at least one managed endpoint.

20. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one or more buses operating in an asynchronous manner comprise at least one bus implemented according to a SLIMbus architecture.

21. An apparatus, comprising:

means for identifying respective endpoints corresponding to a set of radio technologies and an application platform that manages coexistence between the set of radio technologies and their corresponding endpoints; and

means for maintaining a system of one or more buses operating in an asynchronous manner that facilitate communication between the respective endpoints and the application platform.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the system of one or more buses operating in an asynchronous manner is coupled to at least one supplemental bus.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the at least one supplemental bus is reprogrammable for operation according to a plurality of operating modes, the plurality of operating modes comprising at least one of a synchronous mode or an asynchronous mode.

24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the respective endpoints corresponding to the set of radio technologies comprise at least one of a radio, an antenna, a power amplifier, a filter, a mixer, or a modem.

25. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the means for identifying comprises means for identifying an integrated circuit having implemented thereon one or more internal buses and at least one of the respective endpoints corresponding to the set of radio technologies.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the means for maintaining comprises means for a system of one or more buses operating in an asynchronous manner that communicatively connects the integrated circuit and the application platform such that respective endpoints implemented on the integrated circuit are coupled to the system of one or more buses operating in an asynchronous manner via the one or more internal buses implemented on the integrated circuit.

27. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the means for maintaining comprises:

means for maintaining at least a first bus operating in an asynchronous manner that communicatively connects at least one endpoint to the application platform and collects notifications for the application platform from the at least one endpoint; and

means for maintaining at least a second bus operating in an asynchronous manner that communicatively connects at least one endpoint to the application platform and facilitates conveyance of coexistence commands from the application platform to the at least one endpoint.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the means for maintaining further comprises:

means for joining a first bus operating in an asynchronous manner and a second bus operating in an asynchronous manner such that the application platform is coupled to the first bus and the second bus and the at least one endpoint is coupled to a common bus that implements functionality of the first bus and the second bus; and

means for switching the common bus between functionality of the first bus and the second bus in response to a desired mode of communication between the at least one endpoint and the application platform.

29. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the means for maintaining comprises means for maintaining at least one bus operating in an asynchronous manner that communicatively connects at least one endpoint to the application platform, collects notifications for the application platform from the at least one endpoint, and facilitates conveyance of coexistence commands from the application platform to the at least one endpoint.

30. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium, comprising;

code for causing a computer to identify respective endpoints corresponding to a set of radio technologies and an application platform that manages coexistence between the set of radio technologies and their corresponding endpoints; and

code for causing a computer to maintain a system of one or more buses operating in an asynchronous manner that facilitate communication between the respective endpoints and the application platform.

31. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the system of one or more buses operating in an asynchronous manner is coupled to at least one supplemental bus.

32. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the at least one supplemental bus is reprogrammable for operation according to a plurality of operating modes, the plurality of operating modes comprising at least one of a synchronous mode or an asynchronous mode.

33. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the respective endpoints corresponding to the set of radio technologies comprise at least one of a radio, an antenna, a power amplifier, a filter, a mixer, or a modem.

34. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein:

the code for causing a computer to identify comprises code for causing a computer to identify an integrated circuit having implemented thereon one or more internal buses and at least one of the respective endpoints corresponding to the set of radio technologies; and

the code for causing a computer to maintain comprises code for causing a computer to maintain a system of one or more buses operating in an asynchronous manner that communicatively connects the integrated circuit and the application platform such that respective endpoints implemented on the integrated circuit are coupled to the system of one or more buses operating in an asynchronous manner via the one or more internal buses implemented on the integrated circuit.

35. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the code for causing a computer to maintain comprises:

code for causing a computer to maintain at least a first bus operating in an asynchronous manner that communicatively connects at least one endpoint to the application platform and collects notifications for the application platform from the at least one endpoint; and

code for causing a computer to maintain at least a second bus operating in an asynchronous manner that communicatively connects at least one endpoint to the application platform and facilitates conveyance of coexistence commands from the application platform to the at least one endpoint.

36. The computer program product of claim 35, wherein the code for causing a computer to maintain comprises:

code for causing a computer to identify a first bus operating in an asynchronous manner joined to a second bus operating in an asynchronous manner such that the application platform is coupled to the first bus and the second bus and the at least one endpoint is coupled to a common bus that implements functionality of the first bus and the second bus; and

code for causing a computer to switch the common bus between functionality of the first bus and the second bus in response to a desired mode of communication between the at least one endpoint and the application platform.

37. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the code for causing a computer to maintain comprises code for causing a computer to maintain at least one bus operating in an asynchronous manner that communicatively connects at least one endpoint to the application platform, collects notifications for the application platform from the at least one endpoint, and facilitates conveyance of coexistence commands from the application platform to the at least one endpoint.