U.S. patent application number 14/023585 was filed with the patent office on 2014-07-31 for method of robust transmit (tx) processing for radio frequency coexistence management in dual-sim-dual-active communication devices.
This patent application is currently assigned to QUALCOMM Incorporated. The applicant listed for this patent is QUALCOMM Incorporated. Invention is credited to Prashanth AKULA, Rashid ATTAR, Nate CHIZGI, Erdogan DEDE, Mungal DHANDA, Narendra Varma GOTTIMUKKALA, Jun HU, Peter HUANG, Jittra JOOTAR, Wenjun LI, Yingbo LI, Huang LOU, Amit MAHAJAN, Vansh MAKH, Michael L. MCCLOUD, Francis M. NGAI, Girishkumar PANCHAL, Divaydeep SIKRI.
Application Number | 20140213235 14/023585 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 51223468 |
Filed Date | 2014-07-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140213235 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
LOU; Huang ; et al. |
July 31, 2014 |
Method of Robust Transmit (Tx) Processing for Radio Frequency
Coexistence Management in Dual-SIM-Dual-Active communication
Devices
Abstract
The various embodiments include a dual-SIM-dual-active (DSDA)
device and methods for implementing robust transmit (Tx) processing
to resolve radio frequency coexistence interference between two
subscriptions operating on the DSDA device. The DSDA device may
detect when one subscription (the "aggressor") de-senses the other
subscription (the "victim") as a result of the aggressor's
transmissions, and in response, implement robust Tx processing to
mitigate the effects of de-sense on the victim.
Inventors: |
LOU; Huang; (San Diego,
CA) ; NGAI; Francis M.; (Louisville, CO) ; LI;
Wenjun; (San Diego, CA) ; MCCLOUD; Michael L.;
(San Diego, CA) ; MAHAJAN; Amit; (San Diego,
CA) ; CHIZGI; Nate; (San Diego, CA) ; ATTAR;
Rashid; (San Diego, CA) ; PANCHAL; Girishkumar;
(San Diego, CA) ; HU; Jun; (San Diego, CA)
; AKULA; Prashanth; (San Diego, CA) ; MAKH;
Vansh; (Santa Clara, CA) ; JOOTAR; Jittra; (La
Jolla, CA) ; SIKRI; Divaydeep; (Farnborough, GB)
; DHANDA; Mungal; (Slough, GB) ; DEDE;
Erdogan; (San Diego, CA) ; GOTTIMUKKALA; Narendra
Varma; (San Diego, CA) ; LI; Yingbo; (San
Diego, CA) ; HUANG; Peter; (San Diego, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
QUALCOMM Incorporated |
San Diego |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
QUALCOMM Incorporated
San Diego
CA
|
Family ID: |
51223468 |
Appl. No.: |
14/023585 |
Filed: |
September 11, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61759373 |
Jan 31, 2013 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
455/418 ;
455/552.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04B 1/525 20130101;
H04B 15/04 20130101; H04B 1/12 20130101; H04W 88/06 20130101; H04W
16/14 20130101; H04B 1/1027 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/418 ;
455/552.1 |
International
Class: |
H04W 88/06 20060101
H04W088/06 |
Claims
1. A method for implementing a radio frequency (RF) co-existence
management strategy on a dual-SIM dual active (DSDA) device between
an aggressor communication activity (an aggressor) and a victim
communication activity (a victim), comprising: determining whether
an RF interference event is detected; creating an RF co-existence
management strategy in response to determining that an RF
interference event is detected; determining whether to implement
robust transmit (Tx) processing as part of the RF co-existence
management strategy; and implementing the robust Tx processing on
the aggressor in response to determining to implement robust Tx
processing as part of the RF co-existence management strategy.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining whether
the RF interference event is persisting; returning the victim and
the aggressor to normal operations in response to determining that
the RF interference event is not persisting; and continuing to
implement the RF co-existence management strategy in response to
determining that the RF interference event is persisting.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether an RF
interference event is detected comprises: monitoring one or more
sources of interference; calculating a total amount of interference
power based on one or more sources of interference; determining
whether the total amount of interference power exceeds a de-sense
threshold; and determining that an RF interference event is
detected when the total amount of interference power exceeds the
de-sense threshold.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether to implement
the robust Tx processing as part of the RF co-existence management
strategy comprises: determining a priority of the victim and a
priority of the aggressor; determining a cost of implementing the
robust Tx processing on a transmission power of the aggressor;
determining whether the cost of implementing the robust Tx
processing on the transmission power of the aggressor exceeds a
cost threshold; determining whether the priority of the aggressor
is higher than the priority of the victim; determining to implement
the robust Tx processing unless it is determined that the cost of
implementing the robust Tx processing on the transmission power of
the aggressor exceeds the cost threshold and it is determined that
the priority of the aggressor is higher than the priority of the
victim; and configuring at least one of the victim and the
aggressor for implementation of the robust Tx processing in
response to determining to implement the robust Tx processing.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein configuring at least one of the
victim and the aggressor for implementation of the robust Tx
processing comprises: notifying the aggressor of a start time of
the victim for at least one of RF warm-up and automatic gain
control (AGC) warm-up, serving cell acquisition, paging decode, and
neighbor searches; determining whether the victim is performing one
or more reception activities; configuring the aggressor to perform
the robust Tx processing in response to determining that the victim
is performing one or more reception activities, such that the
aggressor proactively performs one of stopping, suspending, or
delaying uplink transmission for a certain time; and scheduling the
victim to perform searches between uplink slots of the aggressor in
response to determining that the victim is not performing one or
more reception activities.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more reception
activities comprise: performing RF and AGC warm-up and serving cell
acquisition upon coming out of discontinuous reception sleep;
performing AGC acquisition and a search on a neighbor cell; and
performing AGC acquisition and compressed mode gaps.
7. The method of claim 4, wherein configuring at least one of the
victim and the aggressor for implementation of the robust Tx
processing comprises: configuring the victim to have one of a
restriction and no restriction on its multi-slot capability on
downlink; configuring the aggressor to perform the robust Tx
processing on no more than two or three consecutive downlink slots;
selecting a number of consecutive victim downlink slots to be
protected by the robust Tx processing; choosing on the victim which
the two or three consecutive downlink slots are protected by the
robust Tx processing when the victim has more than two or three
downlink slots assigned; and determining whether to configure the
victim to implement throttling during the robust Tx processing that
occurs during an idle frame of the victim for frequency correction
channels and synchronization channels.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein selecting the number of
consecutive victim downlink slots to be protected by the robust Tx
processing comprises: determining whether the priority of the
victim is higher than the priority of the aggressor; determining a
type of switching technology that the victim is using; and
selecting the number of consecutive victim downlink slots based on
the priority of the victim and the type of switching technology
that the victim is using.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein determining whether to configure
the victim to implement throttling during the robust Tx processing
comprises: determining whether the priority of the victim is higher
than the priority of the aggressor; determining a number of
subscriptions that are currently active; and implementing
throttling based on the priority of the victim and the number of
subscriptions that are currently active.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein implementing the robust Tx
processing comprises reducing a gain of the aggressor's transmitter
during downlink slots of the victim.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: determining whether
a robust Tx processing period has started; determining a duration
of the robust Tx processing period in response to determining that
the robust Tx processing period has started; determining whether
the robust Tx processing period is over; reducing gain of the
aggressor's transmitter during the downlink slots of the victim in
response to determining that the robust Tx processing period is not
over; and configuring the aggressor to operate normally in response
to determining that the robust Tx processing period is over.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein reducing the gain of the
aggressor's transmitter during the downlink slots of the victim
comprises: preparing a transmission for the aggressor; determining
whether the transmission is critical; transmitting the transmission
when the transmission is critical; and reducing the gain of the
aggressor's transmitter during the downlink slots of the victim
when the transmission is not critical.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein reducing the gain of the
aggressor's transmitter during the downlink slots of the victim
comprises zeroing out the gain of the aggressor's transmitter
during the downlink slots of the victim.
14. The method of claim 10, further comprising ignoring
uplink/reverse-link transmit power control commands.
15. The method of claim 10, further comprising: determining whether
a radio access network of the aggressor is 1x/EV-DO; and boosting a
traffic-to-pilot ratio when the radio access network of the
aggressor is 1x/EV-DO.
16. A dual-SIM-dual-active device, comprising: a memory; a
plurality of SIMs; a plurality of radio frequency (RF) resources;
and a processor coupled to the memory, the plurality of SIMs, and
the plurality of RF resources, wherein the processor is configured
with processor-executable instructions to perform operations
comprising: determining whether an RF interference event between an
aggressor communication activity (an aggressor) and a victim
communication activity (a victim) is detected; creating an RF
co-existence management strategy in response to determining that an
RF interference event is detected; determining whether to implement
robust transmit (Tx) processing as part of the RF co-existence
management strategy; and implementing the robust Tx processing on
the aggressor in response to determining to implement robust Tx
processing as part of the RF co-existence management strategy.
17. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 16, wherein the
processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to
perform operations further comprising: determining whether the RF
interference event is persisting; returning the victim and the
aggressor to normal operations in response to determining that the
RF interference event is not persisting; and continuing to
implement the RF co-existence management strategy in response to
determining that the RF interference event is persisting.
18. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 16, wherein the
processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to
perform operations such that determining whether an RF interference
event is detected comprises: monitoring one or more sources of
interference; calculating a total amount of interference power
based on one or more sources of interference; determining whether
the total amount of interference power exceeds a de-sense
threshold; and determining that an RF interference event is
detected when the total amount of interference power exceeds the
de-sense threshold.
19. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 16, wherein the
processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to
perform operations such that determining whether to implement the
robust Tx processing as part of the RF co-existence management
strategy comprises: determining a priority of the victim and a
priority of the aggressor; determining a cost of implementing the
robust Tx processing on a transmission power of the aggressor;
determining whether the cost of implementing the robust Tx
processing on the transmission power of the aggressor exceeds a
cost threshold; determining whether the priority of the aggressor
is higher than the priority of the victim; determining to implement
the robust Tx processing unless it is determined that the cost of
implementing the robust Tx processing on the transmission power of
the aggressor exceeds the cost threshold and it is determined that
the priority of the aggressor is higher than the priority of the
victim; and configuring at least one of the victim and the
aggressor for implementation of the robust Tx processing in
response to determining to implement the robust Tx processing.
20. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 19, wherein the
processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to
perform operations such that configuring at least one of the victim
and the aggressor for implementation of the robust Tx processing
comprises: notifying the aggressor of a start time of the victim
for at least one of RF warm-up and automatic gain control (AGC)
warm-up, serving cell acquisition, paging decode, and neighbor
searches; determining whether the victim is performing one or more
reception activities; configuring the aggressor to perform the
robust Tx processing in response to determining that the victim is
performing one or more reception activities, such that the
aggressor proactively performs one of stopping, suspending, or
delaying uplink transmission for a certain time; and scheduling the
victim to perform searches between uplink slots of the aggressor in
response to determining that the victim is not performing one or
more reception activities.
21. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 20, wherein the
processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to
perform operations such that the one or more reception activities
comprise: performing RF and AGC warm-up and serving cell
acquisition upon coming out of discontinuous reception sleep;
performing AGC acquisition and a search on a neighbor cell; and
performing AGC acquisition and compressed mode gaps.
22. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 19, wherein the
processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to
perform operations such that configuring at least one of the victim
and the aggressor for implementation of the robust Tx processing
comprises: configuring the victim to have one of a restriction and
no restriction on its multi-slot capability on downlink;
configuring the aggressor to perform the robust Tx processing on no
more than two or three consecutive downlink slots; selecting a
number of consecutive victim downlink slots to be protected by the
robust Tx processing; choosing on the victim which the two or three
consecutive downlink slots are protected by the robust Tx
processing when the victim has more than two or three downlink
slots assigned; and determining whether to configure the victim to
implement throttling during the robust Tx processing that occurs
during an idle frame of the victim for frequency correction
channels and synchronization channels.
23. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 22, wherein the
processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to
perform operations such that selecting the number of consecutive
victim downlink slots to be protected by the robust Tx processing
comprises: determining whether the priority of the victim is higher
than the priority of the aggressor; determining a type of switching
technology that the victim is using; and selecting the number of
consecutive victim downlink slots based on the priority of the
victim and the type of switching technology that the victim is
using.
24. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 22, wherein the
processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to
perform operations such that determining whether to configure the
victim to implement throttling during the robust Tx processing
comprises: determining whether the priority of the victim is higher
than the priority of the aggressor; determining a number of
subscriptions that are currently active; and implementing
throttling based on the priority of the victim and the number of
subscriptions that are currently active.
25. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 16, wherein the
processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to
perform operations such that implementing the robust Tx processing
comprises reducing a gain of the aggressor's transmitter during
downlink slots of the victim.
26. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 25, wherein the
processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to
perform operations further comprising: determining whether a robust
Tx processing period has started; determining a duration of the
robust Tx processing period in response to determining that the
robust Tx processing period has started; determining whether the
robust Tx processing period is over; reducing gain of the
aggressor's transmitter during the downlink slots of the victim in
response to determining that the robust Tx processing period is not
over; and configuring the aggressor to operate normally in response
to determining that the robust Tx processing period is over.
27. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 25, wherein the
processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to
perform operations such that reducing the gain of the aggressor's
transmitter during the downlink slots of the victim comprises:
preparing a transmission for the aggressor; determining whether the
transmission is critical; transmitting the transmission when the
transmission is critical; and reducing the gain of the aggressor's
transmitter during the downlink slots of the victim when the
transmission is not critical.
28. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 25, wherein the
processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to
perform operations such that reducing the gain of the aggressor's
transmitter during the downlink slots of the victim comprises
zeroing out the gain of the aggressor's transmitter during the
downlink slots of the victim.
29. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 25, wherein the
processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to
perform operations further comprising ignoring uplink/reverse-link
transmit power control commands.
30. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 25, wherein the
processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to
perform operations further comprising: determining whether a radio
access network of the aggressor is 1x/EV-DO; and boosting a
traffic-to-pilot ratio when the radio access network of the
aggressor is 1x/EV-DO.
31. A dual-SIM-dual-active device, comprising: means for
determining whether a radio frequency (RF) interference event
between an aggressor communication activity (an aggressor) and a
victim communication activity (a victim) is detected; means for
creating an RF co-existence management strategy in response to
determining that an RF interference event is detected; means for
determining whether to implement robust transmit (Tx) processing as
part of the RF co-existence management strategy; and means for
implementing the robust Tx processing on the aggressor in response
to determining to implement robust Tx processing as part of the RF
co-existence management strategy.
32. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 31, further
comprising: means for determining whether the RF interference event
is persisting; means for returning the victim and the aggressor to
normal operations in response to determining that the RF
interference event is not persisting; and means for continuing to
implement the RF co-existence management strategy in response to
determining that the RF interference event is persisting.
33. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 31, wherein means for
determining whether an RF interference event is detected comprises:
means for monitoring one or more sources of interference; means for
calculating a total amount of interference power based on one or
more sources of interference; means for determining whether the
total amount of interference power exceeds a de-sense threshold;
and means for determining that an RF interference event is detected
when the total amount of interference power exceeds the de-sense
threshold.
34. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 31, wherein means for
determining whether to implement the robust Tx processing as part
of the RF co-existence management strategy comprises: means for
determining a priority of the victim and a priority of the
aggressor; means for determining a cost of implementing the robust
Tx processing on a transmission power of the aggressor; means for
determining whether the cost of implementing the robust Tx
processing on the transmission power of the aggressor exceeds a
cost threshold; means for determining whether the priority of the
aggressor is higher than the priority of the victim; means for
determining to implement the robust Tx processing unless it is
determined that the cost of implementing the robust Tx processing
on the transmission power of the aggressor exceeds the cost
threshold and it is determined that the priority of the aggressor
is higher than the priority of the victim; and means for
configuring at least one of the victim and the aggressor for
implementation of the robust Tx processing in response to
determining to implement the robust Tx processing.
35. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 34, wherein means for
configuring at least one of the victim and the aggressor for
implementation of the robust Tx processing comprises: means for
notifying the aggressor of a start time of the victim for at least
one of RF warm-up and automatic gain control (AGC) warm-up, serving
cell acquisition, paging decode, and neighbor searches; means for
determining whether the victim is performing one or more reception
activities; means for configuring the aggressor to perform the
robust Tx processing in response to determining that the victim is
performing one or more reception activities, such that the
aggressor proactively performs one of stopping, suspending, or
delaying uplink transmission for a certain time; and means for
scheduling the victim to perform searches between uplink slots of
the aggressor in response to determining that the victim is not
performing one or more reception activities.
36. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 35, wherein the one or
more reception activities comprise: performing RF and AGC warm-up
and serving cell acquisition upon coming out of discontinuous
reception sleep; performing AGC acquisition and a search on a
neighbor cell; and performing AGC acquisition and compressed mode
gaps.
37. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 34, wherein means for
configuring at least one of the victim and the aggressor for
implementation of the robust Tx processing comprises: means for
configuring the victim to have one of a restriction and no
restriction on its multi-slot capability on downlink; means for
configuring the aggressor to perform the robust Tx processing on no
more than two or three consecutive downlink slots; means for
selecting a number of consecutive victim downlink slots to be
protected by the robust Tx processing; means for choosing on the
victim which the two or three consecutive downlink slots are
protected by the robust Tx processing when the victim has more than
two or three downlink slots assigned; and means for determining
whether to configure the victim to implement throttling during the
robust Tx processing that occurs during an idle frame of the victim
for frequency correction channels and synchronization channels.
38. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 37, wherein means for
selecting the number of consecutive victim downlink slots to be
protected by the robust Tx processing comprises: means for
determining whether the priority of the victim is higher than the
priority of the aggressor; means for determining a type of
switching technology that the victim is using; and means for
selecting the number of consecutive victim downlink slots based on
the priority of the victim and the type of switching technology
that the victim is using.
39. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 37, wherein means for
determining whether to configure the victim to implement throttling
during the robust Tx processing comprises: means for determining
whether the priority of the victim is higher than the priority of
the aggressor; means for determining a number of subscriptions that
are currently active; and means for implementing throttling based
on the priority of the victim and the number of subscriptions that
are currently active.
40. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 31, wherein means for
implementing the robust Tx processing comprises means for reducing
a gain of the aggressor's transmitter during downlink slots of the
victim.
41. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 40, further
comprising: means for determining whether a robust Tx processing
period has started; means for determining a duration of the robust
Tx processing period in response to determining that the robust Tx
processing period has started; means for determining whether the
robust Tx processing period is over; means for reducing gain of the
aggressor's transmitter during the downlink slots of the victim in
response to determining that the robust Tx processing period is not
over; and means for configuring the aggressor to operate normally
in response to determining that the robust Tx processing period is
over.
42. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 40, wherein means for
reducing the gain of the aggressor's transmitter during the
downlink slots of the victim comprises: means for preparing a
transmission for the aggressor; means for determining whether the
transmission is critical; means for transmitting the transmission
when the transmission is critical; and means for reducing the gain
of the aggressor's transmitter during the downlink slots of the
victim when the transmission is not critical.
43. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 40, wherein means for
reducing the gain of the aggressor's transmitter during the
downlink slots of the victim comprises means for zeroing out the
gain of the aggressor's transmitter during the downlink slots of
the victim.
44. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 40, further comprising
means for ignoring uplink/reverse-link transmit power control
commands.
45. The dual-SIM-dual-active device of claim 40, further
comprising: means for determining whether a radio access network of
the aggressor is 1x/EV-DO; and means for boosting a
traffic-to-pilot ratio when the radio access network of the
aggressor is 1x/EV-DO.
46. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having
stored thereon processor-executable software instructions
configured to cause a processor of a dual-SIM-dual-active device to
perform operations comprising: determining whether a radio
frequency (RF) interference event between an aggressor
communication activity (an aggressor) and a victim communication
activity (a victim) is detected; creating an RF co-existence
management strategy in response to determining that an RF
interference event is detected; determining whether to implement
robust transmit (Tx) processing as part of the RF co-existence
management strategy; and implementing the robust Tx processing on
the aggressor in response to determining to implement robust Tx
processing as part of the RF co-existence management strategy.
47. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim
46, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions
are configured to cause a processor of a dual-SIM-dual-active
device to perform operations further comprising: determining
whether the RF interference event is persisting; returning the
victim and the aggressor to normal operations in response to
determining that the RF interference event is not persisting; and
continuing to implement the RF co-existence management strategy in
response to determining that the RF interference event is
persisting.
48. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim
46, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions
are configured to cause a processor of a dual-SIM-dual-active
device to perform operations such that determining whether an RF
interference event is detected comprises: monitoring one or more
sources of interference; calculating a total amount of interference
power based on one or more sources of interference; determining
whether the total amount of interference power exceeds a de-sense
threshold; and determining that an RF interference event is
detected when the total amount of interference power exceeds the
de-sense threshold.
49. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim
46, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions
are configured to cause a processor of a dual-SIM-dual-active
device to perform operations such that determining whether to
implement the robust Tx processing as part of the RF co-existence
management strategy comprises: determining a priority of the victim
and a priority of the aggressor; determining a cost of implementing
the robust Tx processing on a transmission power of the aggressor;
determining whether the cost of implementing the robust Tx
processing on the transmission power of the aggressor exceeds a
cost threshold; determining whether the priority of the aggressor
is higher than the priority of the victim; determining to implement
the robust Tx processing unless it is determined that the cost of
implementing the robust Tx processing on the transmission power of
the aggressor exceeds the cost threshold and it is determined that
the priority of the aggressor is higher than the priority of the
victim; and configuring at least one of the victim and the
aggressor for implementation of the robust Tx processing in
response to determining to implement the robust Tx processing.
50. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim
49, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions
are configured to cause a processor of a dual-SIM-dual-active
device to perform operations such that configuring at least one of
the victim and the aggressor for implementation of the robust Tx
processing comprises: notifying the aggressor of a start time of
the victim for at least one of RF warm-up and automatic gain
control (AGC) warm-up, serving cell acquisition, paging decode, and
neighbor searches; determining whether the victim is performing one
or more reception activities; configuring the aggressor to perform
the robust Tx processing in response to determining that the victim
is performing one or more reception activities, such that the
aggressor proactively performs one of stopping, suspending, or
delaying uplink transmission for a certain time; and scheduling the
victim to perform searches between uplink slots of the aggressor in
response to determining that the victim is not performing one or
more reception activities.
51. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim
50, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions
are configured to cause a processor of a dual-SIM-dual-active
device to perform operations such that the one or more reception
activities comprise: performing RF and AGC warm-up and serving cell
acquisition upon coming out of discontinuous reception sleep;
performing AGC acquisition and a search on a neighbor cell; and
performing AGC acquisition and compressed mode gaps.
52. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim
49, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions
are configured to cause a processor of a dual-SIM-dual-active
device to perform operations such that configuring at least one of
the victim and the aggressor for implementation of the robust Tx
processing comprises: configuring the victim to have one of a
restriction and no restriction on its multi-slot capability on
downlink; configuring the aggressor to perform the robust Tx
processing on no more than two or three consecutive downlink slots;
selecting a number of consecutive victim downlink slots to be
protected by the robust Tx processing; choosing on the victim which
the two or three consecutive downlink slots are protected by the
robust Tx processing when the victim has more than two or three
downlink slots assigned; and determining whether to configure the
victim to implement throttling during the robust Tx processing that
occurs during an idle frame of the victim for frequency correction
channels and synchronization channels.
53. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim
52, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions
are configured to cause a processor of a dual-SIM-dual-active
device to perform operations such that selecting the number of
consecutive victim downlink slots to be protected by the robust Tx
processing comprises: determining whether the priority of the
victim is higher than the priority of the aggressor; determining a
type of switching technology that the victim is using; and
selecting the number of consecutive victim downlink slots based on
the priority of the victim and the type of switching technology
that the victim is using.
54. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim
52, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions
are configured to cause a processor of a dual-SIM-dual-active
device to perform operations such that determining whether to
configure the victim to implement throttling during the robust Tx
processing comprises: determining whether the priority of the
victim is higher than the priority of the aggressor; determining a
number of subscriptions that are currently active; and implementing
throttling based on the priority of the victim and the number of
subscriptions that are currently active.
55. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim
46, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions
are configured to cause a processor of a dual-SIM-dual-active
device to perform operations such that implementing the robust Tx
processing comprises reducing a gain of the aggressor's transmitter
during downlink slots of the victim.
56. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim
55, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions
are configured to cause a processor of a dual-SIM-dual-active
device to perform operations further comprising: determining
whether a robust Tx processing period has started; determining a
duration of the robust Tx processing period in response to
determining that the robust Tx processing period has started;
determining whether the robust Tx processing period is over;
reducing gain of the aggressor's transmitter during the downlink
slots of the victim in response to determining that the robust Tx
processing period is not over; and configuring the aggressor to
operate normally in response to determining that the robust Tx
processing period is over.
57. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim
55, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions
are configured to cause a processor of a dual-SIM-dual-active
device to perform operations such that reducing the gain of the
aggressor's transmitter during the downlink slots of the victim
comprises: preparing a transmission for the aggressor; determining
whether the transmission is critical; transmitting the transmission
when the transmission is critical; and reducing the gain of the
aggressor's transmitter during the downlink slots of the victim
when the transmission is not critical.
58. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim
55, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions
are configured to cause a processor of a dual-SIM-dual-active
device to perform operations such that reducing the gain of the
aggressor's transmitter during the downlink slots of the victim
comprises zeroing out the gain of the aggressor's transmitter
during the downlink slots of the victim.
59. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim
55, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions
are configured to cause a processor of a dual-SIM-dual-active
device to perform operations further comprising ignoring
uplink/reverse-link transmit power control commands.
60. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim
55, wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions
are configured to cause a processor of a dual-SIM-dual-active
device to perform operations further comprising: determining
whether a radio access network of the aggressor is 1x/EV-DO; and
boosting a traffic-to-pilot ratio when the radio access network of
the aggressor is 1x/EV-DO.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S.
Provisional Application No. 61/759,373 entitled "Method of Robust
Rx/Tx Processing for RF Coexistence Management in
Dual-SIM-Dual-Active" filed Jan. 31, 2013, the entire contents of
which are hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Some new designs of mobile communication devices-such as
smart phones, tablet computers, and laptop computers-support two
Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards that provide users with
access to two separate mobile telephony networks. Examples of
mobile telephony networks include GSM, TDSCDMA, CDMA2000, and
WCDMA. Example multi-SIM mobile communication devices include
mobile phones, laptop computers, smart phones, and other mobile
communication devices that are enable to connect to multiple mobile
telephony networks. A mobile communication device that includes two
SIM cards and connects to two separate mobile telephony networks
using two separate radio frequency (RF) communication circuits is
termed a "dual-SIM-dual-active" (DSDA) device.
[0003] Because a DSDA device has two separate RF communication
circuits or "RF chains," each subscription on the DSDA device may
use its associated RF chain to communicate with its mobile network
at any time. However, because of the proximity of the antennas of
the two RF chains included in a DSDA communication device, the
simultaneous use of the two RF chains may cause one RF chain to
desensitize and thus interfere with the ability of the other RF
chain to receive transmission.
[0004] Receiver desensitization ("de-sense"), or degradation of
receiver sensitivity, may result from noise interference from a
nearby transmitter. In particular, when two radios are close
together with one transmitting on the uplink and the other
receiving on the downlink, the feedback from the transmitter may be
picked by the receiver. As a result, the received signals may
become corrupted and difficult or impossible to decode. Further,
feedback from the transmitter can be detected by a power monitor
that measures the receive signal, which would cause the mobile
device to falsely determine the presence of a cell site. In
particular, receiver de-sense may present a challenge in
multi-radio devices, such as devices configured with multiple SIMs,
due to the necessary proximity of transmitter and receiver.
[0005] In general, mobile device radio receivers may have filters
to reduce interference from a simultaneous transmit signal. In
order to be effective, a transmit filter needs to be positioned in
the radio circuitry after the signal is amplified, but that
requires a filter that can handle high power levels, and such
filters are expensive. As such, previous communication system
designs are inadequate to mitigate the effects of de-sense in DSDA
devices. Thus, there is a need for a method for managing the
de-sense received on one of the RF chains in a DSDA device.
SUMMARY
[0006] The various embodiments include a dual-SIM-dual-active
device (i.e., a "DSDA" device) and methods for implementing robust
Tx processing to resolve RF co-existence interference between two
subscriptions operating on the DSDA device. In the various
embodiments, one subscription (i.e., the aggressor communication
activity or the "aggressor") may de-sense the other subscription
(the victim communication activity or the "victim") as a result of
the aggressor's transmissions, thereby negatively impacting the
ability of the victim to perform reception. The DSDA device may
detect this de-sensing and implement robust Tx processing to
mitigate the effects of de-sense on the victim while causing
minimal impact to the aggressor, thereby dramatically improving the
victim's overall performance.
[0007] In an embodiment, the DSDA device may determine whether the
aggressor is de-sensing the victim. The DSDA device may monitor
various potential sources of interference and measure the total
interference power affecting the victim. In a further embodiment,
the DSDA device may determine whether the total interference power
is above a certain de-sense threshold before performing further
operations.
[0008] In another embodiment, the DSDA device may create an RF
co-existence management strategy based on, for example, the radio
access technologies of the aggressor and victim. In an embodiment,
the RF co-existence management strategy may include configuring the
aggressor to perform robust Tx processing such that the aggressor
proactively stops, suspends, or delays uplink transmissions for a
certain amount of time. The DSDA device may make such a
configuration when the DSDA device determines that the victim is
performing various reception activities of the victim, including,
for example, RF and automatic gain control (AGC) warm-up and
serving cell acquisition when coming out of discontinuous reception
sleep.
[0009] In further embodiments, when creating an RF co-existence
management strategy, the DSDA device may configure the aggressor to
perform robust Tx processing on a certain number of the victim's
downlink slots. The DSDA device may also configure the victim so as
to limit the number of consecutive downlink slots that are
protected by robust Tx processing and/or configure the victim to
implement throttling during robust Tx processing during the
victim's idle frame.
[0010] In an embodiment, the DSDA device may determine whether to
implement robust Tx processing. For example, the DSDA device may
determine whether implementing robust Tx processing is too costly.
The DSDA device's assessment may be based on the extent to which
the aggressor's Tx power and/or data throughput would be affected
by robust Tx processing and/or the relative priorities of the
victim and aggressor.
[0011] In further embodiments, the DSDA device may implement robust
Tx processing on the aggressor. In an embodiment, the DSDA device
may configure the aggressor to reduce its transmitter's gain during
the victim's downlink slots. In another embodiment, the DSDA may
configure the aggressor perform operations such as ignoring
uplink/reverse-link transmit power control (TPC) commands. The DSDA
may continue to implement robust Tx processing for a determined
duration (i.e., until a detected RF interference event is over) and
may configure the victim and aggressor to operate normally when the
DSDA device is not implementing robust Tx processing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and
constitute part of this specification, illustrate exemplary
embodiments of the invention, and together with the general
description given above and the detailed description given below,
serve to explain the features of the invention.
[0013] FIG. 1 is a communication system block diagram of a network
suitable for use with the various embodiments.
[0014] FIG. 2 is a component block diagram of an embodiment
dual-SIM dual active wireless communications device.
[0015] FIG. 3 is a component block diagram illustrating the
interaction between components of different transmit/receive chains
in an embodiment dual-SIM dual active wireless communications
device.
[0016] FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment
method for implementing an RF co-existence strategy on a DSDA
device.
[0017] FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment
method for determining whether a victim is de-sensed above a
de-sense threshold.
[0018] FIG. 6 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment
method for creating an RF co-existence management strategy.
[0019] FIGS. 7A-7B are process flow diagrams illustrating
embodiment methods for configuring implementations of robust Tx
processing.
[0020] FIGS. 8A-8B are embodiment look-up tables used when
configuring implementations of robust Tx processing.
[0021] FIG. 9 is a component diagram illustrating an RF
interference event.
[0022] FIG. 10 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment
method for implementing robust Tx processing.
[0023] FIG. 11 is a component diagram of an example DSDA device
suitable for use with the various embodiments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0024] The various embodiments will be described in detail with
reference to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same
reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to
the same or like parts. References made to particular examples and
implementations are for illustrative purposes, and are not intended
to limit the scope of the invention or the claims.
[0025] As used herein, the term "DSDA device" refers to any one or
all of cellular telephones, smart phones, personal or mobile
multi-media players, personal data assistants, laptop computers,
personal computers, tablet computers, smart books, palm-top
computers, wireless electronic mail receivers, multimedia Internet
enabled cellular telephones, wireless gaming controllers, and
similar personal electronic devices which include a programmable
processor and memory and circuitry for connecting to at least two
mobile communication networks. The various aspects may be useful in
mobile communication devices, such as smart phones, and so such
devices are referred to in the descriptions of the various
embodiments. However, the embodiments may be useful in any
electronic devices that may individually maintain a plurality of
subscriptions to a plurality of mobile networks through multiple
radio communication circuits.
[0026] DSDA devices include two SIM cards that enable a user to
connect to two different mobile networks (or different accounts on
the same network) while using the same DSDA device. Each SIM card
serves to identify and authenticate a subscriber using a particular
DSDA device, and each SIM card is associated with only one
subscription. For example, a SIM card may be associated with a
subscription to one of GSM, TDSCDMA, CDMA2000, and WCDMA. In the
various embodiments, DSDA devices may also include a plurality of
RF resources (e.g., two RF chains) so that each network
communications supported by both SIMs can be accomplished
simultaneously if interference problems are managed.
[0027] DSDA devices can suffer from interference between two
communications being accomplished simultaneously, such as when one
communication session is transmitting ("Tx") at the same time as
another RF chain is attempting to receive ("Rx"). As used herein,
the term "RF interference event" refers to an occasion in which one
subscription in a DSDA device is attempting to transmit while the
other subscription in the DSDA is attempt to receive transmission
simultaneously. As used herein, the term "victim" refers to the
subscription attempting to receive during a RF interference event.
Additionally, the term "aggressor" refers to the subscription in
the DSDA device attempting to transmit. In various embodiments, an
aggressor's transmissions may de-sense the victim's reception. In
other words, the victim may receive the aggressor's transmissions,
which act as noise and may interfere with the victim's ability to
receive wanted signals.
[0028] In DSDA devices, an aggressor's transmissions may cause
severe impairment to the victim's ability to receive transmission.
This interference may be in the form of blocking interference,
harmonics, intermodulation, and other noises and distortion. Such
interference may significantly degrade the victim's receiver
sensitivity, voice call quality and data throughput. The
interference may also cause higher rates for call drops and radio
link failures, and cause the victim to lose a data connection.
These effects may result in a reduced network capacity.
[0029] The various embodiments address this interference problem by
providing methods for implementing robust Tx processing, thereby
mitigating the effects of de-sense on the victim and allowing
simultaneous calls on dual-SIMS without new hardware. In the
various embodiments, robust Tx processing may improve the
performance of the victim, thereby allowing similar performance on
the victim as in a single-SIM scenario, which may be especially
desirable when the victim's call has priority. Robust Tx processing
may also improve the victim's performance in terms of receiver
sensitivity, call setup success rate, retention rate, voice quality
and data throughput, and the victim's network capacity may also be
improved.
[0030] The various embodiments may be implemented within a variety
of communication systems 100, such as at least two mobile telephony
networks, an example of which is illustrated in FIG. 1. A first
mobile network 102 and a second mobile network 104 are typical
mobile networks that include a plurality of cellular base stations
130 and 140. A first DSDA device 110 may be in communication with
the first mobile network 102 through a cellular connection 132 to a
first base station 130. The first DSDA device 110 may also be in
communication with the second mobile network 104 through a cellular
connection 142 to a second base station 140. The first base station
130 may be in communication with the first mobile network 102 over
a connection 134. The second base station 140 may be in
communication with the second mobile network 104 over a connection
144.
[0031] A second DSDA device 120 may similarly communicate with the
first mobile network 102 through a cellular connection 132 to a
first base station 130. The second DSDA device 120 may communicate
with the second mobile network 104 through a cellular connection
142 to the second base station 140. Cellular connections 132 and
142 may be made through two-way wireless communication links, such
as 4G, 3G, CDMA, TDMA, WCDMA, GSM, and other mobile telephony
communication technologies.
[0032] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a DSDA device 200
that is suitable for implementing the various embodiments. The DSDA
device 200 may include a first SIM interface 202a, which may
receive a first identity module SIM-1 204a that is associated with
the first subscription. The DSDA device 200 may also include a
second SIM interface 202b, which may receive a second identity
module SIM-2 204b that is associated with the second
subscription.
[0033] A SIM in the various embodiments may be a Universal
Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) that is configured with SIM and/or
USIM applications, enabling access to, for example, GSM and/or UMTS
networks. The UICC may also provide storage for a phone book and
other applications. Alternatively, in a CDMA network, a SIM may be
a UICC removable user identity module (R-UIM) or a CDMA subscriber
identity module (CSIM) on a card.
[0034] Each SIM card may have a CPU, ROM, RAM, EEPROM and I/O
circuits. A SIM used in the various embodiments may contain user
account information, an international mobile subscriber identity
(IMSI), a set of SIM application toolkit (SAT) commands and storage
space for phone book contacts. A SIM card may further store a Home
Public-Land-Mobile-Network (HPLMN) code to indicate the SIM card
network operator provider. An Integrated Circuit Card Identity
(ICCID) SIM serial number is printed on the SIM card for
identification.
[0035] Each DSDA device 200 may include at least one controller,
such as a general processor 206, which may be coupled to a
coder/decoder (CODEC) 208. The CODEC 208 may in turn be coupled to
a speaker 210 and a microphone 212. The general processor 206 may
also be coupled to at least one memory 214. Memory 214 may be a
non-transitory tangible computer readable storage medium that
stores processor-executable instructions. For example, the
instructions may include routing communication data relating to the
first or second subscription though a corresponding baseband -RF
resource chain.
[0036] The memory 214 may store operating system (OS), as well as
user application software and executable instructions. The memory
214 may also store application data, such as an array data
structure.
[0037] The general processor 206 and memory 214 may each be coupled
to at least one baseband modem processor 216. Each SIM in the DSDA
device 200 (e.g., SIM-1 202a and SIM-2 202b) may be associated with
a baseband-RF resource chain. Each baseband-RF resource chain may
include baseband modem processor 216 to perform baseband/modem
functions for communications on a SIM, and one or more amplifiers
and radios, referred to generally herein as RF resources 218. In
one embodiment, baseband-RF resource chains may share a common
baseband modem processor 216 (i.e., a single device that performs
baseband/modem functions for all SIMs on the wireless device).
Alternatively, each baseband-RF resource chain may include
physically or logically separate baseband processors (e.g., BB1,
BB2).
[0038] RF resources 218a, 218b may each be communication circuits
or transceivers that perform transmit/receive functions for the
associated SIM of the wireless device. RF resources 218a, 218b may
be communication circuits that include separate transmit and
receive circuitry, or may include a transceiver that combines
transmitter and receiver functions. The RF resources 218a, 218b may
be coupled to a wireless antenna (e.g., a first wireless antenna
220a and a second wireless antenna 220b). The RF resources 218a,
218b may also be coupled to the baseband modem processor 216.
[0039] In a particular embodiment, the general processor 206,
memory 214, baseband processor(s) 216, and RF resources 218a, 218b
may be included in the DSDA device 200 as a system-on-chip. In
another embodiment, the first and second SIMs 202a, 202b and their
corresponding interfaces 204a, 204b may be external to the
system-on-chip. Further, various input and output devices may be
coupled to components on the system-on-chip, such as interfaces or
controllers. Example user input components suitable for use in the
DSDA device 200 may include, but are not limited to, a keypad 224
and a touchscreen display 226.
[0040] In an embodiment, the keypad 224, touchscreen display 226,
microphone 212, or a combination thereof, may perform the function
of receiving the request to initiate an outgoing call. For example,
the touchscreen display 226 may receive a selection of a contact
from a contact list or receive a telephone number. In another
example, either or both of the touchscreen display 226 and
microphone 212 may perform the function of receiving a request to
initiate an outgoing call. For example, the touchscreen display 226
may receive selection of a contact from a contact list or to
receive a telephone number. As another example, the request to
initiate the outgoing call may be in the form of a voice command
received via the microphone 212. Interfaces may be provided between
the various software modules and functions in DSDA device 200 to
enable communication between them, as is known in the art.
[0041] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram 300 of transmit and
receive components in separate RF resources. For example, a
transmitter 302 may be part of one RF resource 218a, and a receiver
304 may be part of another RF resource 218b, as described above
with reference to FIG. 2. In a particular embodiment, the
transmitter 302 may include a data processor 306 that may format,
encode, and interleave data to be transmitted. The transmitter 302
may include a modulator 308 that modulates a carrier signal with
encoded data, for example, by performing Gaussian minimum shift
keying (GMSK). One or more transmit circuits 310 may condition the
modulated signal (e.g., by filtering, amplifying, and upconverting)
to generate a RF modulated signal for transmission. The RF
modulated signal may be transmitted, for example, to a base station
130 via an antenna, such as antenna 220a as shown in FIG. 2.
[0042] At the receiver 304, an antenna 220b may receive RF
modulated signals from a base station 140 for example. However, the
antenna 220b may also receive some RF signaling from the
transmitter 302, which ultimately competes with the desired signal
from the base station 140. One or more receive circuits 316 may
condition (e.g., filter, amplify, and downconvert) the received RF
modulated signal, digitize the conditioned signal, and provide
samples to a demodulator 318. The demodulator 318 may extract the
original information-bearing signal from the modulated carrier
wave, and may provide the demodulated signal to a data processor
320. The data processor 320 may de-interleave and decode the signal
to obtain the original, decoded data, and may provide decoded data
to other components in the wireless device. Operations of the
transmitter and the receiver may be controlled by a processor, such
as a baseband processor(s) 216 as illustrated in FIG. 2. In the
various embodiments, each of the transmitter 302 and receiver 304
may be implemented as circuitry that may be separated from their
corresponding receive and transmit circuitries (not shown).
Alternatively, the transmitter 302 and the receiver 304 may be
respectively combined with corresponding receive circuitry and
transmit circuitry (i.e., as transceivers associated with SIM-1 and
SIM-2).
[0043] As discussed above, receiver de-sense may occur when data
associated with a first SIM transmitted on the uplink interferes
with receive activity on a different transmit/receive chain that
may be associated with a second SIM. The desired signals may become
corrupted and difficult or impossible to decode. Further, noise
from the transmitter may be detected by a power monitor that
measures the signal strength of surrounding cells, which may cause
the DSDA device to falsely determine the presence of a nearby cell
site.
[0044] In an embodiment, upon detecting that receiver de-sense may
occur due to interference from transmit signals associated with
another SIM in a DSDA device, the DSDA device may implement an
algorithm to select an optimal de-sense mitigating action, such as
robust Tx processing. In an embodiment, and as further discussed in
reference to FIG. 10 below, implementing robust Tx processing may
include reducing the aggressor's transmitter's gain.
[0045] By tailoring the mitigating action to various properties of
the transmitter and receiver, the DSDA device may maximize
reduction in de-sense on the victim while minimizing possible
degradation of service. The mitigating actions may be taken as soon
as de-sense is detected without waiting for a response from the
affected network.
[0046] FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment DSDA device method 400 for
using robust Tx processing to mitigate the effects of de-sense on a
victim. In block 402, the DSDA device may determine the radio
access technology identities of the victim and the aggressor. For
example, the DSDA device may determine that the victim is a
subscription using an frequency-division duplexing technology
("FDD"), such as WCDMA or CDMA, and that the aggressor is a
subscription using time-divisional duplexing technology ("TDD"),
such as a GSM radio technology.
[0047] In block 404, the DSDA device may monitor for an RF
interference event affecting the victim. In various embodiments, an
RF interference event may include a situation in which the
aggressor's transmitter de-senses the victim's receiver. For
example, the aggressor may attempt to transmit while the victim is
attempting to receive.
[0048] In determination block 406, the DSDA device may determine
whether an RF interference event is detected. For example, the DSDA
device may determine whether the aggressor is de-sensing the victim
in excess of an acceptable threshold level of de-sense. In various
embodiments, the DSDA device may also assess whether the magnitude
of the victim's de-sense is sufficient to merit implementing an RF
co-existence management strategy. In other words, the DSDA device
may determine whether the degree of de-sense exceeds a cost
threshold (i.e. is "worth" the costs) associated with implementing
an RF co-existence management strategy.
[0049] If the DSDA device determines that an RF interference event
is not detected (i.e., determination block 406="No"), this process
may continue in a loop as the DSDA device may continue monitoring
for an RF interference event in block 404.
[0050] Otherwise, if the DSDA device determines that an RF
interference event is detected (i.e., determination block
406="Yes"), the DSDA device may create an RF co-existence
management strategy based on various factors in block 408. In
various embodiments, the DSDA device may utilize a RF co-existence
management strategy to mitigate the effects of the aggressor's
de-sensing the victim. For example, the RF co-existence management
strategy may call for the change of characteristics or
configurations of one or both of the victim and the aggressor
during the aggressor's transmissions, such as by implementing
robust Tx processing.
[0051] In an embodiment, the DSDA device may consider various
factors when creating an RF co-existence management strategy,
including: the identities and priorities of the victim and
aggressor, the priorities of the signals the victim receives versus
the signals the aggressor transmits, and the relative costs of
implementing robust Tx processing on the aggressor or implementing
robust Rx processing on the victim. For example, the DSDA device
may consider how implementing robust Tx processing may affect the
aggressor's transmission power. Several embodiments of creating an
RF co-existence management strategy based on various factors are
discussed in further detail below with reference to FIGS. 6, 7A,
and 7B.
[0052] In an embodiment, the DSDA device may ultimately determine
whether to implement robust Tx processing at the aggressor as part
of the DSDA device's RF co-existence management strategy. For
example, the DSDA device may determine to implement robust Tx
processing at the aggressor rather than doing nothing or
implementing robust Rx processing at the victim (e.g., configuring
the victim to ignore certain transmissions during the aggressor's
transmissions). If the DSDA device determines not to implement
robust Tx processing as part of the RF co-existence management
strategy (i.e., determination block 414="No"), the process may
continue in a loop as the DSDA device may continue monitoring for
an RF interference event in block 404. In an embodiment, the DSDA
device may not implement robust Tx processing, for example, in a
situation in which the aggressor needs to transmit a critical
message and the victim is of lower priority and could tolerate the
de-sense for a short period of time.
[0053] If the DSDA device determines to implement robust Tx
processing as part of the RF co-existence management strategy
(i.e., determination block 414="Yes"), the DSDA device may
optionally determine in optional determination block 416 whether
the de-sense is intermodulation de-sense. If the DSDA determines
that the de-sense is intermodulation de-sense (i.e., optional
determination block 416="Yes"), the DSDA device may implement
robust Tx processing on the victim based on the determined RF
co-existence management strategy in optional block 420. The DSDA
device may also continue performing by determining whether the RF
interference event is persisting in determination block 422.
[0054] If the DSDA device determines that the de-sense is not
intermodulation de-sense (i.e., optional determination block
416="No"), the DSDA device may implement robust Tx processing on
the aggressor based on the determined RF co-existence management
strategy in block 418. In various embodiments, robust Tx processing
may include configuring the aggressor to reduce its transmitter
gain. In another embodiment, the aggressor may reduce its
transmitter's gain so that the gain is "zeroed out" (i.e., the
aggressor's transmitter does not transmit at all). Operations
involved in robust Tx processing are discussed below in detail in
regards to FIG. 10.
[0055] In determination block 422, the DSDA device may determine
whether the RF interference event is persisting. In other words,
the DSDA device may determine whether the circumstances that
created the RF interference event are ongoing. For example, the
DSDA device may determine whether the aggressor is continuing to
de-sense the victim during an ongoing schedule of Tx bursts.
[0056] If the DSDA device determines that the RF interference event
is persisting (i.e., determination block 422="Yes"), the DSDA
device may continue implementing the RF co-existence management
strategy in block 424. For example, the DSDA device may continue to
implement robust Tx processing until the RF interference event has
concluded. This process may continue in a loop as the DSDA device
may continue performing in determination block 422 until the DSDA
device determines that the RF interference event is not
persisting.
[0057] If the DSDA device determines that the RF interference event
is not persisting (i.e., determination block 422="No"), the DSDA
device may return the victim and aggressor to normal operations. In
other words, once the RF interference event has concluded (i.e.,
when the de-sensing situation has ended), the DSDA device may
revert the victim and aggressor to normal operations. In an
embodiment, in block 426, the DSDA device may discontinue
implementing robust Tx processing on the aggressor. In another
embodiment, the DSDA device may reinitialize one or more aspects of
the victim and/or aggressor after implementing robust Tx
processing. In an example, the DSDA device may configure the
aggressor to cease zeroing out its transmitter's gain when robust
Tx processing is terminated. This process may continue in a loop as
the DSDA device may continue monitoring for another RF interference
event in block 404.
[0058] FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment DSDA device method 500 for
determining whether an RF interference event has occurred. The
operations of method 500 implement an embodiment of the operations
of blocks 404 and 406 of method 400 described above with reference
to FIG. 4.
[0059] In various embodiments, the DSDA device may monitor various
RF aspects associated with each of the two subscriptions included
in the DSDA device to determine whether an RF interference event is
occurring. In an embodiment, the DSDA device may determine whether
an RF interference event is occurring based on various RF
measurements and threshold checks, for example, by monitoring one
or more sources of interference.
[0060] In an embodiment, the DSDA device may monitor the
combination of the antenna, band, channel, and transmitter power
for the aggressor in block 502. In further embodiments, the DSDA
device may monitor various gains and other electrical features
regarding the two subscriptions.
[0061] In block 508, the DSDA device may monitor the receiver power
for the victim. The DSDA device may additionally determine the
number of interference mechanisms that exist at a given time in
block 512.
[0062] In block 514, the DSDA device may calculate (or estimate)
the total amount of interference power based on direction and the
number of de-sense mechanisms in each direction. In an embodiment,
the DSDA device's calculation may produce a value that signifies
the total interference that may be affecting the receiver. In block
516, the DSDA device may compare that total interference power to
the receiver power of the victim. The DSDA device may also
determine in determination block 518 whether the total interference
power is over a de-sense threshold value. In an embodiment, the
de-sense threshold value may indicate the point at which the total
interference power affecting the victim is "non-negligible." In
other words, total interference powers that exceed the de-sense
threshold value may substantially affect the performance of the
victim such that implementing an RF co-existence management
strategy would benefit the performance of at least one of the
victim and the aggressor. On the other hand, a total interference
power that does not exceed the de-sense threshold value may not
affect the victim enough to warrant implementation of an RF
co-existence management strategy because of the costs of
implementing such a strategy.
[0063] In an embodiment, an RF interference event may be indicated
when the total interference power exceeds a de-sense threshold.
Thus, if the DSDA device determines the total interference power
exceed a de-sense threshold (i.e., determination block 518="Yes"),
the DSDA device may continue operating by creating an RF
co-existence management strategy in block 408 of method 400
described above with reference to FIG. 4. Otherwise, the DSDA
device may continue operating by monitoring for an RF interference
event in block 404 of method 400 described above with reference to
FIG. 4. In other words, when determination block 518="No," the
total power interference may not be sufficient to cause the DSDA
device to create or implement an RF co-existence management
strategy because the costs of implementing such a strategy would
outweigh any benefits of implementation.
[0064] FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment DSDA device method 600 for
creating an RF co-existence management strategy. The operations of
method 600 implement an embodiment of the operations of blocks 408
and 414 of method 400 described above with reference to FIG. 4. In
an embodiment, the DSDA device may begin performing method 600
after determining that an RF interference event is detected (i.e.,
determination block 406="Yes"). In another embodiment, the DSDA
device may perform method 600 when the aggressor utilizes a WCDMA
or CDMA radio technology.
[0065] In block 632, the DSDA device may determine the aggressor's
transmission power increase cost that is required to implement
robust Tx processing. In the various embodiments, robust Tx
processing may incur a cost on the link-level performance of the
technology being blanked (e.g., WCDMA/CDMA), and, therefore, the
DSDA device may assess whether the costs of robust Tx processing
are greater than the benefit of invoking robust Tx processing. In
an embodiment, robust Tx processing may increase the power needed
for the aggressor to close the uplink/reverse link. For example,
the aggressor may have to increase its transmitter power in direct
proportion to the amount of robust Tx processing that the DSDA
device implements. Thus, the amount of degradation for the
aggressor's transmitter goes up as the duration of robust Tx
processing increases.
[0066] In block 634, the DSDA device may also determine a priority
for each of the aggressor and the victim. The aggressor and
victim's respective priorities may be established in various ways.
In an embodiment, the DSDA device may base priority on the type of
data that the victim and the aggressor are respectively handling.
For example, the victim may have a higher priority when receiving
voice than the aggressor does when transmitting data.
[0067] In determination block 636, the DSDA device may determine
whether the required increase in the aggressor's transmission power
is too high and whether the aggressor has a higher priority than
the victim. In other words, the DSDA device may determine whether
the cost of implementing robust Tx processing are too high and
whether the aggressor has a high enough priority to avoid robust Tx
processing. If the DSDA device determines that the aggressor's
priority is higher than the victim and that the cost of increasing
the aggressor's transmission power is too high (i.e., determination
block 636="Yes"), the DSDA device may not implement robust Tx
processing as part of the RF co-existence strategy in block 638. In
an embodiment, if the DSDA device determines not to implement
robust Tx processing, there may be no de-sense mitigation
implemented as part of the RF co-existence management strategy, and
the victim may be subject to de-sensing. In that event, this
process may continue in a loop as the DSDA device may continue
monitoring for an RF interference event affecting a victim in block
404 of method 400 described above with reference to FIG. 4.
[0068] On the other hand, if the DSDA device determines that the
aggressor's transmission power is not too high or that the
aggressor does not have a higher priority than the victim (i.e.,
determination block 636="No"), the DSDA device may configure the
victim and aggressor for implementation of robust Tx processing as
part of the RF co-existence strategy in block 640. In an
embodiment, the DSDA device may configure various aspects of the
victim and/or the aggressor before implementing robust Tx
processing. Embodiment methods of configuring the victim and/or the
aggressor are discussed in detail below with reference to FIGS. 7A
and 7B.
[0069] The DSDA may continue performing by implementing the robust
Tx processing on the aggressor in block 418 of method 400 described
above with reference to FIG. 4.
[0070] FIG. 7A illustrates an embodiment DSDA device method 640a
for configuring the victim and the aggressor for implementation of
robust Tx blanking. The operations of method 640a implement an
embodiment of the operations of block 640 of method 600 described
above with reference to FIG. 6. In an embodiment, the DSDA device
may perform method 640a when the victim uses an FDD radio
technology and the aggressor uses a TDD radio technology. For
example, the victim may be WCDMA/CDMA and the aggressor may be GSM
or TDMA. In another embodiment, the DSDA device may perform method
640a when the victim is in traffic, accessing, or idle. The DSDA
device may begin performing method 640a after determining that
implementing robust Tx blanking would not increase in the
aggressor's transmission power too much or that the aggressor's
priority is higher than the victim's priority (i.e., determination
block 636="No").
[0071] In block 704, the DSDA device may notify the aggressor of
the victim's start time for RF and automatic gain control (AGC)
warm-up, serving cell acquisition, paging decode, and neighbor
searches. In an embodiment, the victim may have a higher priority
than the aggressor during certain critical times in which the
victim's need to receive outweighs the aggressor's need to
transmit. The timings for the various items indicated in block 704
may indicate such critical times.
[0072] The DSDA device may also determine whether the victim is
performing one or more reception activities that are sensitive to
RF interference. For example, in determination block 706, the DSDA
device may determine whether the victim is performing RF and AGC
warm-up and serving cell acquisition coming out of discontinuous
reception sleep. In an embodiment, the victim may idle and
periodically "wake-up" to receive paging messages from a network
(i.e., perform discontinuous reception). If the victim is
performing RF and AGC warm-up and serving cell acquisition coming
out of discontinuous reception sleep (i.e., determination block
706="Yes"), in block 714, the DSDA device may configure the
aggressor to perform robust Tx processing such that the aggressor
proactively stops, suspends, or delays uplink transmissions for a
certain amount of time. In an embodiment, the DSDA device may
configure the aggressor to stop transmitting for a certain time to
allow the victim to receive paging messages from the victim's
network.
[0073] If the victim is not performing RF and AGC warm-up and
serving cell acquisition coming out of discontinuous reception
sleep (i.e., determination block 706="No"), the DSDA device may
determine in determination block 708 whether the victim is
performing AGC acquisition and a search on a neighbor cell. In an
embodiment, the DSDA device may perform various searches depending
on the victim's radio technology, such as another frequency search
and a candidate frequency search when the victim's radio technology
is 1x/EV-DO. If the victim is performing AGC acquisition and a
search on a neighbor cell (i.e., determination block 708="Yes"), in
block 714, the DSDA device may configure the aggressor to perform
robust Tx processing such that the aggressor proactively stops,
suspends, or delays uplink transmission for a certain amount of
time. In an embodiment, the aggressor may stop, suspend, or delay
uplink transmission for a certain amount of time to enable the
victim to complete the entire search. In another embodiment, the
aggressor may stop, suspend, or delay uplink transmission only
during the victim's AGC acquisition and RF tuning, and the victim
may schedule its searches around the aggressor's Tx bursts.
Otherwise, if the victim is not performing AGC acquisition and a
search on a neighbor cell (i.e., determination block 708="No"), the
DSDA device may determine in determination block 710 whether the
victim is performing AGC acquisition and compressed mode gaps.
[0074] If the victim is performing AGC acquisition in compressed
mode gaps (i.e., determination block 710="Yes"), the DSDA device
may configure the aggressor to perform robust Tx processing such
that the aggressor proactively stops, suspends, or delays uplink
transmission for a certain time in block 714. In an embodiment, the
victim may perform searches around the aggressor's Tx bursts when
the aggressor uses WCDMA radio technology. Otherwise (i.e.,
determination block 710="No"), the DSDA device may schedule the
victim to perform searches between the aggressor's uplink slots in
block 712. The DSDA device may also continue performing by
implementing robust Tx processing on the aggressor in block 418 as
described above with reference to FIG. 4.
[0075] FIG. 7B illustrates another embodiment DSDA device method
640b for configuring the victim and the aggressor for
implementation of robust Tx blanking. The operations of method 640b
implement an embodiment of the operations of block 640 of method
600 described above with reference to FIG. 6. In an embodiment, the
DSDA device may have determined in block 402 in method 400
described with reference to FIG. 4 that the aggressor uses FDD
technology (e.g., WCDMA/CDMA) and that the victim uses TDD
technology (e.g., GSM).
[0076] In block 738, the DSDA device may configure the victim to
have a restriction or no restriction on its multi-slot capability
on the downlink. The DSDA device may also configure the aggressor
to perform robust Tx processing on no more than two or three
consecutive victim downlink slots (e.g., GSM downlink slots) in
block 739. In a further embodiment, the remaining downlink slots
may be de-sensed by the aggressor's transmission, and the DSDA
device may configure the victim to respond to that transmission
through protocol or signaling.
[0077] In block 740, the DSDA device may select the number of
consecutive victim downlink slots to be protected by robust Tx
processing as illustrated in table 800 in FIG. 8A. In an
embodiment, the DSDA device may make a determination of how many
slots for which type of switching technology will be protected by
robust Tx processing based on the victim's priority.
[0078] For example, when the victim has a higher priority than the
aggressor and is receiving via circuit switching (i.e., "CS" or
voice), the DSDA device may configure the aggressor to perform
robust Tx processing for two consecutive downlink slots of the
victim, one for voice and another for power monitoring. In another
example, when the victim has a lower priority than the aggressor
and is receiving voice, the DSDA device may configure the aggressor
to perform robust Tx processing on two consecutive downlink slots
of the victim, one for voice and another for power monitoring. In
yet another example in which the victim has a higher priority than
the aggressor and is receiving via packet switching (i.e., "PS" or
data), the DSDA device may configure the aggressor to perform
robust Tx processing on two consecutive downlink slots of the
victim, one for data and another for either data or power
monitoring. In another example in which the victim has a lower
priority than the aggressor and is receiving data, the DSDA device
may configure the aggressor to perform robust Tx processing on two
consecutive downlink slots of the victim: one for data and a GSM
uplink state flag (collectively, "PS+USF"), and another for power
monitoring or PS+USF. In an example in which the victim has a
higher priority than the aggressor based on the priority of voice
and is receiving via dual-transfer mode, the DSDA device may
configure the aggressor to perform robust Tx processing on three
consecutive downlink slots of the victim: one for voice, one for
PS+USF, and a one for power monitoring. In yet another example in
which the victim has a lower priority than the aggressor based on
the priority of voice and is receiving via dual-transfer mode, the
DSDA device may configure the aggressor to perform robust Tx
processing on two consecutive downlink slots of the victim. In this
example, one slot may be reserved for voice while the other slot is
utilized by PS+USF or power monitoring, or a slot may be reserved
for PS+USF while the other slot is shared between voice and power
monitoring.
[0079] Returning to FIG. 7B, in block 742, the DSDA device may
configure the victim to choose which two or three consecutive
downlink slots are protected by robust Tx processing when the
victim has more than two or three downlink slots assigned to it. In
an embodiment, if the victim is in Dual-Transfer Mode (i.e., voice
and data), one of the "protected" downlink slot may be for
voice.
[0080] In block 744, the DSDA device may determine whether to
configure the victim to implement throttling during robust Tx
processing that occurs during the victim's idle frame for FCCH and
SCH acquisitions. In an embodiment, the DSDA device may make this
determination by performing a table lookup of table 850 in FIG. 8B.
The DSDA device may throttle the victim to increase or preserve the
performance of the aggressor. In a further example, the DSDA device
may take into account the victim's priority relative to the
aggressor's and the number of subscriptions that are active, such
as whether both the aggressor and victim are both active (i.e.,
dual active) or if only one of the victim and the aggressor is
active (i.e., single-active). In another embodiment, the DSDA
device may opportunistically throttle the victim.
[0081] For example, as illustrated in table 850 in FIG. 8B, the
DSDA device may not throttle the victim when the victim has a
higher priority than the aggressor and only the victim is active.
In another example, the DSDA device may not throttle the victim
when the victim has a higher priority than the aggressor and when
both the victim and aggressor are active (i.e., dual active). In an
embodiment, rather than not throttling the victim in this example,
the DSDA device may instead throttle the victim slightly. In yet
another example in which the victim and aggressor are dual active
and the victim's priority is lower than the aggressor's priority,
the DSDA device may perform more than slight throttling, or
significant throttling up to 1/2 or 1/3.
[0082] Returning to FIG. 7B, the DSDA device may also continue
performing by implementing robust Tx processing on the aggressor in
block 418 of method 400 described above with reference to FIG.
4.
[0083] FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment component diagram 960
describing an example of robust Tx processing. In various
embodiments, robust Tx processing may be implemented to enable a
victim 964 to receive when an aggressor 962 would otherwise be
transmitting and thereby de-sensing the victim 964. In an
embodiment, during an RF interference event 994 in which an
aggressor 962 and a victim are attempting to transmit and receive,
respectively, simultaneous, the DSDA device may implement robust Tx
processing to ensure that the victim 964 is able to receive without
being de-sensed, thereby improving performance.
[0084] In an example robust Tx processing scenario, during a period
of time in which the victim 964 is receiving (e.g., receiver
periods 980a and 980b), the DSDA device may configure the aggressor
962 to institute robust Tx processing (i.e., robust Tx processing
periods 970a and 970b) during these receiver periods 980a and 980b.
Similarly, during periods in which the victim 964 is not receiving
(e.g., non-receiver periods 982a and 982b), the aggressor 962 may
transmit normally during corresponding periods of normal
transmission 972a and 972b.
[0085] FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment DSDA device method 418a of
implementing robust Tx processing. In various embodiments, the DSDA
device may implement robust Tx processing without performing
channel avoidance. The DSDA device may begin method 418a by
transitioning from determination block 414 when the DSDA device
determines to implement robust Tx processing.
[0086] In determination block 1004, the DSDA device may determine
whether the robust Tx processing period has started. If the period
has not started (i.e., determination block 1004="No"), the DSDA
device may continue operating in determination block 1004. If the
period has started (i.e., determination block 1004="Yes"), the DSDA
device may determine the duration of the robust Tx processing in
block 1006.
[0087] The DSDA device may also prepare a transmission in block
1008. In an embodiment, the aggressor may have various
transmissions ready for transmission. The DSDA device may determine
in determination block 1010 whether the aggressor's transmission is
critical. If the transmission is critical (i.e., determination
block 1010=Yes"), the DSDA device may transmit the aggressor's
transmission in block 1012. In other words, the DSDA device may
transmit the aggressor's transmission without reducing the
aggressor's transmitter's gain during the victim's DL slots. The
DSDA device may continue operating in determination block 1022.
[0088] Otherwise, (i.e., determination block 1010="No"), the DSDA
device may reduce the aggressor's transmitter's gain during the
victim's downlink slots in block 1014. Reducing the aggressor's
transmitter's gain during the downlink slots of the victim may
include zeroing out the aggressor's transmitter's gain (i.e.,
reducing the transmitter's gain to zero). In one example, the
aggressor's transmissions may be "punctured" during the victim's
downlink slots. In other words, the aggressor may transmit the
prepared transmission but may dynamically reduce (or zero) its gain
during the victim's downlink slots, thereby accommodating both the
aggressor's transmissions and reducing the de-sense affecting the
victim's reception.
[0089] In another embodiment, the DSDA device may implement various
aspects of RF co-existence management strategies as discussed with
relation to block 408 in FIG. 4 and FIGS. 7A-7B to affect the
manner in which the aggressor's transmitter's gain is reduced
during the victim's downlink slots. For example, as discussed in
relation to block 739 in FIG. 7B, the DSDA device may reduce the
aggressor's transmitter's gain for no more than two or three
consecutive downlink slots.
[0090] The DSDA device may also determine in determination block
1016 whether the aggressor's radio access network is 1x/EV-DO. If
the radio access network is 1x/EV-DO (i.e., determination block
1016="Yes"), the DSDA device may boost the traffic-to-pilot ratio
in block 1018. Otherwise (i.e., determination block 1016="No"), the
DSDA device may ignore the uplink/reverse-link TPC commands
corresponding to the Tx blanked slots in block 1020. The DSDA
device may continue operating in determination block 1022.
[0091] In determination block 1022, the DSDA device may determine
whether the robust Tx processing duration is over. If the robust Tx
processing duration is not over (i.e., determination block
1022="No"), the process may continue as the DSDA device may
continue preparing a transmission in block 1008 as described above.
Otherwise, if the robust Tx processing duration is over (i.e.,
determination block 1022="Yes"), the DSDA device may continue the
aggressor's normal operations in block 1024. In an embodiment,
continuing the aggressor's normal operations may include ceasing to
reduce or zero out the aggressor's transmitter gain, thereby
allowing the aggressor to transmit prepared transmission without
"puncturing" the transmissions.
[0092] The DSDA device may also determine in determination block
422 whether the RF interference event is persisting. In an
embodiment, the RF interference event may be persisting because the
aggressor is continuing to attempt to transmit while the victim is
attempting to receive. In that event, the DSDA device may continue
to implement robust Tx processing. Thus, if the RF interference
event is persisting (i.e., determination block 422="Yes"), the
process may continue in a loop as the DSDA device may continue
determining whether a robust Tx processing period has started in
determination block 1004. Otherwise, if the RF interference event
is not persisting (i.e., determination block 422="No"), the DSDA
device may return the victim and aggressor to normal operations in
block 426. For instance, the aggressor may stop performing robust
Tx processing. In that event, the DSDA device may continue
operating by monitoring for another RF interference event in block
404 of method 400 described above with reference to FIG. 4.
[0093] The various embodiments may be implemented in any of a
variety of DSDA devices, an example of which is illustrated in FIG.
11. For example, the DSDA device 1100 may include a processor 1102
coupled to internal memory 1104. Internal memory 1104 may be
volatile or non-volatile memory, and may also be secure and/or
encrypted memory, or unsecure and/or unencrypted memory, or any
combination thereof. The processor 1102 may also be coupled to a
touch screen display 1106, such as a resistive-sensing touch
screen, capacitive-sensing touch screen infrared sensing touch
screen, or the like. Additionally, the display of the DSDA device
1100 need not have touch screen capability. Additionally, the DSDA
device 1100 may have one or more antenna 1108 for sending and
receiving electromagnetic radiation that may be connected to a
wireless data link and/or cellular telephone transceiver 1116
coupled to the processor 1102. The DSDA device 1100 may also
include physical buttons 1112a and 1112b for receiving user inputs.
The DSDA device 1100 may also include a power button 1118 for
turning the DSDA device 1100 on and off. The DSDA device 1100 may
have a first SIM card 1120 that utilize a cellular telephone
transceiver 1116 and one or more antennae 1108 to connect to a
first mobile network. The DSDA device may also have a second SIM
card 1122 that utilizes a second cellular telephone transceiver
1124 and one or more antennae 1126 to connect to a second mobile
network
[0094] The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow
diagrams are provided merely as illustrative examples and are not
intended to require or imply that the steps of the various
embodiments must be performed in the order presented. As will be
appreciated by one of skill in the art the order of steps in the
foregoing embodiments may be performed in any order. Words such as
"thereafter," "then," "next," etc. are not intended to limit the
order of the steps; these words are simply used to guide the reader
through the description of the methods. Further, any reference to
claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles
"a," "an" or "the" is not to be construed as limiting the element
to the singular.
[0095] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits,
and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments
disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware,
computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate
this interchangeability of hardware and software, various
illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have
been described above generally in terms of their functionality.
Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software
depends upon the particular application and design constraints
imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the
described functionality in varying ways for each particular
application, but such implementation decisions should not be
interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present
invention.
[0096] The hardware used to implement the various illustrative
logics, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in
connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or
performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal
processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC),
a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic
device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware
components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the
functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a
microprocessor, but, in the alternative, the processor may be any
conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state
machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of
computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a
microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more
microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such
configuration. Alternatively, some steps or methods may be
performed by circuitry that is specific to a given function.
[0097] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described
may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any
combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may
be stored as one or more instructions or code on a non-transitory
computer-readable storage medium or non-transitory
processor-readable storage medium. The steps of a method or
algorithm disclosed herein may be embodied in a
processor-executable software module which may reside on a
non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage
medium. Non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable
storage media may be any storage media that may be accessed by a
computer or a processor. By way of example but not limitation, such
non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage
media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, FLASH memory, CD-ROM or other
optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic
storage devices, or any other medium that may be used to store
desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures
and that may be accessed by a computer. Disk and disc, as used
herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc,
digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and blu-ray disc where
disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce
data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also
included within the scope of non-transitory computer-readable and
processor-readable media. Additionally, the operations of a method
or algorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes
and/or instructions on a non-transitory processor-readable storage
medium and/or computer-readable storage medium, which may be
incorporated into a computer program product.
[0098] The preceding description of the disclosed embodiments is
provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the
present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will
be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic
principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments
without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus,
the present invention is not intended to be limited to the
embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope
consistent with the following claims and the principles and novel
features disclosed herein.
* * * * *