Contents:
This integration of multiple radios, e. If such module is deployed, for example, in a laptop computer, the Wi-Fi radio is used to wirelessly network with other computers, whereas the Bluetooth radio is used to connect wirelessly with peripherals such as keyboard and mouse. Another example consists of dual radios used in a mobile phone to support different air interface standards, in order to provide compatibility with different wireless service providers.
In these examples, the communication device selects and uses a single radio for the duration of the connection or service. These systems contain no concept of combining multiple radios with complementary properties to establish and maintain a single communication link between two or more points. In contrast, the present invention provides a system involving multiple radios with complementary characteristics for selecting amongst and choosing between those multiple radios in order to achieve, for example, one or more of the following performance objectives:.
Moreover, switching from one radio to another can occur—possibly multiple times—while a connection or session is in progress. This radio switching differs from typical channel assignment. Channel assignment is the process of selecting one out of multiple channels for communication, where the channels share a common structure.
For example, in frequency division multiple access, all channels are frequency bands; and in time division multiple access, channels consist of timeslots. By contrast, in the present invention, radio switching needs to take into account the structures of the radios, which are considerably more complex than the structure of a radio channel. Moreover, the structure of one radio may have little in common with the structure of another. For example, the receiver sensitivity, spectrum usage, permissible radiated power and inherent interference mitigation generally differ between the radios.
The differences in radio structures, together with the set of performance objectives and the radio propagation environment, can be used to determine the initial radio selection and subsequent radio switching. In one embodiment, a system in accordance with the present invention deploys multiple radios to realize an optimized asymmetric wireless OAW system, as shown in FIG.
As shown, the P-Nodes a - n comprise multiple radios a 1 - an. There are corresponding multiple radios b 1 - bn on the A-Node to facilitate wireless communication between the P-Nodes and the A-Node. Each of these radios a 1 - an and corresponding radios b 1 - bn can be optimized for different factors, thereby complementing each other. In some embodiments, one of the radios, for example radio a 1 and b 1 , can be the dominant radio that is used most commonly.
In an OAW system, one can, e.
In one example, the P-Nodes a - n remain within 10 meters of the A-Node most of the time, e. For this application, the dominant radio radio a 1 can be a radio that operates at ultra low power within 10 meters of the range. In some embodiments, a third or more radios a 1 - a n can be used to cover different operating conditions if necessary. In other embodiments, two radios serve the targeted applications.
Other radios can be used only as needed and for short durations when possible. In aggregate, these embodiments can achieve low power for the P-Nodes, high reliability with minimal outages, and work within a given range of 25 meters. The above embodiments illustrate the complementary radios a 1 - a n and corresponding set b 1 - b n and combinations thereof to serve a given requirement. The radios a 1 - a n can be complementary in other ways. Some example complementary properties follow.
One radio can use a wide bandwidth signal but a narrow time signal. The other radio can use a narrow bandwidth having a wide time signal many cycles of a carrier and occupy a narrow range of frequencies. Both radios will have different resulting characteristics. One radio may transmit more power in one band to attain larger range but the implementation of a transmitter in this band may be less power efficient.
The other radio can work in a different band where transmission is more power efficient. One radio may be more sensitive in one band but may not be power efficient. The other radio in a different band may be power efficient but less sensitive. One radio can act as an interferer to other radios in a given radio environment whereas the other radio can be quiet. Fading of the transmitted signal can result from multi path effects resulting in signal loss or total outage at the receiver.
Different frequencies suffer different fading.
Two radios can be designed to have somewhat complementary fading characteristics to reduce the probability of both having severe fading under the same conditions. The complementary radios can be all narrowband NB radios with different optimizations or they all can be Ultra-wide band UWB radios with different optimizations, or they can be a mixture of NB and UWB radios.
Embodiments of the present invention disclosed above illustrate how low power and high reliability can be achieved for a given range in a multi-radio optimized asymmetric wireless OAW system. As stated before, OAW systems also need to optimize the cost and physical footprint, particularly for the P-Nodes a - n.
This can be achieved using various concepts as discussed below. Firstly, complementary multiple radio schemes can be chosen in such a way that semiconductor implementation complexity of the P-Nodes a - n remains much lower than the complexity of A-Node Radios for the P-Nodes a - n predominantly need a reliable transmitter for continuous transmission and a receiver only for less frequent reception. Radios for the P-Nodes a - n can be chosen that are optimized to achieve these two functions at a low complexity. The controller continuously assesses the communication link quality and runs algorithms to determine which radio to use at a given time.
Such switching constantly may maintain the communication link without any data loss. Furthermore, in some embodiments, one or more radios out of b 1 - b n on the A-Nodes can use multiple smart antenna schemes to increase the link reliability and range. This involves replicating one or more antennas b 1 - b n for the radio or radios chosen for the multiple-antenna scheme.
Multiple antennas add complexity to the chosen radio or radios since multiple radio frequency RF transceivers must be built for the multiple antennas and a signal processor is needed for antenna combining algorithms. The corresponding radios of P-Nodes a - n can still have single antenna schemes a 1 - a n. This embodiment provides the advantages of multiple antennas to increase the range and reliability of the wireless link, but only adds the circuit and processing complexity to the A-Node to reduce the complexity and cost of the P-Nodes a - n. The above mentioned embodiments help to keep the P-Nodes a - n relatively simple and low cost by pushing the complexity to the A-Nodes The deployment of multiple radios, in general, can escalate the cost if precautions are not taken.
To minimize costs, the multiple radios can be implemented effectively by sharing resources between them when possible. The different elements of a typical radio, shown as in FIG.
The MAC section implements a protocol that allows data to flow through the radio to and from multiple sources. The RF section converts the baseband analog signal to radio frequency that is fed to antenna for transmission. Signal received from antenna can be converted back to the baseband signal. To reduce costs, it is desirable to use complementary radios where resources of the above mentioned sections are shared or configured to realize multiple radios, thereby reducing overall semiconductor implementation costs.
For example:. The combination of various concepts discussed in this section can result in cost effective and physically small chipsets for the P-Nodes a - n and A-Node Certain specific embodiments of these concepts are discussed below. As disclosed herein, multiple complementary radios in an OAW system can comprise:.
Dominant use of the UWB radio results in overall lower power dissipation and causes minimal interference to other radios. The availability of both UWB and NB radios can greatly increase the system reliability due to radio diversity.
Low-Power CMOS Wireless Communications: A Wideband CDMA System Design focuses on the issues behind the development of a high-bandwidth, silicon. Low-Power Cmos Wireless Communications: A Wideband Cdma System Design Low Power Design on Algorithmic and Architectural Level: A Case Study of.
The UWB and NB radios normally suffer outages due to different types of circumstances different interferences, different multi-patch fading effects, different wall penetration properties, etc. Therefore, this embodiment increases the probability that one of the radios is available for communication. In some embodiments, custom NB radios can be deployed as dictated by the system requirements.
The multi-radio system embodied in FIG.
Otherwise, pulse shaping can be applied on the transmitter side to reduce the ACLR, but at the cost of increased complexity. Instead of driving the VCO using a single sub-carrier signal, a sum of multiple sub-carrier signals could be used Figure Conclusions and Future Directions. Furthermore, some applications require that a large number of devices coexist in a small area. The spectrum of the demodulated signal with and without separation is shown in Figure He, R.
The UWB transmitter a and receiver b can be asymmetrical. Typically, the UWB transmitter a section can be built in a small silicon area and dissipates low power. The UWB receiver b has a more complex silicon implementation and dissipates higher power than the corresponding transmitter a.