Controlling coexisting radio systems in wireless devices

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to controlling coexisting radio systems in a wireless device. The various aspects disclosed relate to methods and apparatus for coexisting radio frequency (RF) systems in a wireless device. Control of the wireless device includes detecting when a switch-on signal is sent to a first radio system, and then controlling a second radio system to modify the operation of a receiver circuit system in the second radio system to protect components within the system, or to modify a transmit circuit system to stop transmission to protect components within one radio system that are potentially affected by transmissions from another radio system in the wireless device. Monitoring the transmission status of the radio systems based on reading messages between the first and second radio systems, and issuing a notification message based thereon so that one radio system can suspend monitoring of a transmit channel in order to obtain a transmit grant, to reduce power consumption caused by such monitoring of the channel, is also disclosed.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of a patent application with an international application date of June 15, 2018, an international application number of PCT / US2018 / 037767, a Chinese application number of 201880039271.4, and an invention name of “Controlling Coexisting Radio Systems in Wireless Devices”.

[0002] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0003] This application claims priority to and the benefit of Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 521,358 filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on June 16, 2017, Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 522,064 filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on June 19, 2017, Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 650,095 filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on March 29, 2018, and Non-Provisional Patent Application No. 16 / 009,015 filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on June 14, 2018, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth below and for all applicable purposes. background Technical Field

[0005] The subject matter disclosed herein relates to control of wireless devices, and more particularly to methods for controlling and improving radio frequency (RF) system concurrency or coexistence of two or more different radio systems in a wireless device. Background Art

[0007] More and more wireless devices enable various wireless technologies to coexist in the same wireless device, where multiple radios coexist in the device and can operate concurrently in the same or similar radio frequency (RF) bands. As an example of a coexistence technology, the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as part of Long Term Evolution (LTE) has adopted Licensed Assisted Access or Licensed Anchor Assisted (LAA) technology, which utilizes carrier aggregation in the downlink to combine LTE (e.g., LAA or LTE-U) in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz band) with LTE in a licensed band as a persistent anchor channel.

[0008] In more recent developments, wireless devices may have the ability to also concurrently support wireless local area networks (WLANs) such as WiFi and wireless wide area networks (WWANs), including concurrently active LAA or LTE-U in the same RF band, such as the unlicensed 5 GHz band. When transmission is supported, LAA is referred to as enhanced LAA (eLAA). Note, however, that in such systems, the 5 GHz WiFi and eLAA radios may be asynchronous, so that interference between the two systems may occur and damage receiver path components, such as low noise amplifiers (LNAs) in concurrent radios of the device, particularly when a specific antenna port isolation level cannot be guaranteed (e.g., ≥20 dB antenna separation). In this case, WLAN transmissions in the 5 GHz RF band may, for example, saturate LNA and RF receive path components that may be concurrently active for other receive activities, such as for reception in LTE-U / LAA radios. Similar problems exist when other technologies transmit in certain bands, such as in E-UTRA Band 47 (Band 47), and WLAN is actively receiving or transmitting. In this scenario, the WLAN infrastructure may be impaired because the WWAN transmit Tx channels used for shared spectrum (e.g., LAA / C-V2X in bands 46 / 47) may saturate the WLAN LNA if the WWAN is operated in receive Rx mode during transmit Tx activity. More recently, new issues may also be seen in 5G and LTE due to impairments caused by coexisting radio systems similar to the coexistence of WLAN and LAA. This impairment can be mitigated with switching, but such switching introduces front-end losses and is only useful on those ports with transmit (Tx) support. In addition, filters may also be used for protection, but the filters may prevent both technologies from fully using the relevant RF bands. Therefore, there is a need to control RF concurrency in wireless devices to provide further protection for concurrent radios in wireless devices.

[0009] In addition, it is noted that the coexistence between WLAN and WWAN (e.g., LAA) may cause the two radio systems to concurrently monitor and analyze the wireless link or channel to determine whether the wireless link or channel is free for transmission. Such persistent monitoring of the wireless link by the two radio transmission (Tx) systems may cause higher power consumption.

[0010] Overview

[0011] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for controlling a wireless device including coexisting radio frequency (RF) first and second radio systems is disclosed. The method includes: detecting within a control logic circuit system when a switch-on signal is sent to the first radio system to transmit a signal using a transmit circuit system in the first radio system. In addition, the method includes: modifying, changing or adjusting the operation of the second radio system using the control logic circuit system, wherein the modification includes modifying the operation of the receiver circuit system in the second radio system or modifying at least one of the operation of the transmit circuit system in the second radio system. In this way, control of the coexisting systems can be achieved, for example, to avoid concurrent harmful transmissions.

[0012] According to another aspect, a wireless device capable of operating with coexisting radio frequency (RF) first and second radio systems is disclosed. The device includes control logic circuitry configured to: receive at least one switch-on signal issued by a transceiver in the device to switch on at least the transmit circuitry of the first radio system. In addition, the control logic circuitry is configured to: control at least one of the receiver circuitry or the transmit circuitry in the second radio system when the at least one switch-on signal is issued to switch on at least the transmit circuitry of the first radio system.

[0013] In another aspect, a wireless device operable with coexisting radio frequency (RF) first and second radio systems is disclosed. The device includes: means for receiving at least one switch-on signal issued by a transceiver in the device to switch on at least transmit circuitry of the first radio system. Additionally, the wireless device includes: means for controlling at least one of a receiver circuitry or a transmit circuitry in the second radio system when the at least one switch-on signal is issued to switch on at least the transmit circuitry of the first radio system.

[0014] According to a further aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code is disclosed, including code that causes the computer to trigger control logic circuitry configured to: control at least one of receive circuitry or transmit circuitry in a first radio system within a wireless device having multiple coexisting RF radio systems, wherein the triggering includes issuing at least one switch-on signal to the control logic circuitry to switch on at least transmit circuitry of a second radio system.

[0015] According to yet another aspect, a method for controlling a wireless device including a coexisting first and second radio systems is disclosed. The method includes: controlling the first and second radio systems to avoid damage from each other during transmission between the first and second radio systems on at least one channel of a shared spectrum. In addition, controlling the first or second radio system includes: determining whether at least one of the first or second radio systems is transmitting on at least one channel by reading a control message or an information message sent between the first and second radio systems within the wireless device. In addition, based on determining that one of the first or second radio systems is transmitting or is about to transmit, a notification message is sent to at least one radio system in the first radio system or the second radio system that is monitoring the at least one channel to request transmission on the at least one channel, the notification message being configured to: indicate that another radio system is currently transmitting on the at least one channel.

[0016] In another aspect, a wireless device capable of operating with coexisting radio frequency (RF) first and second radio systems is disclosed. The device includes: a processing circuit system configured to: determine whether at least one of the first or second radio systems is transmitting on at least one channel by reading a control message or an information message sent between the first and second radio systems within the wireless device. Further, the processing circuit system is configured to: based on determining that one of the first or second radio systems is transmitting or is about to transmit, send a notification message to at least one radio system in the first radio system or the second radio system that is monitoring the at least one channel to request a transmission on the at least one channel, the notification message being configured to: indicate that another radio system is currently transmitting on the at least one channel.

[0017] In yet a further aspect, an apparatus for controlling a wireless device including coexisting first and second radio systems is disclosed. The apparatus includes: means for determining whether at least one of the first or second radio systems is transmitting on at least one channel by reading a control message or an information message sent between the first and second radio systems within the wireless device. In addition, the apparatus includes: means for sending a notification message to at least one radio system in the first radio system or the second radio system that is monitoring the at least one channel to request transmission on the at least one channel based on determining that one of the first or second radio systems is transmitting or is about to transmit, the notification message being configured to indicate that another radio system is currently transmitting on the at least one channel.

[0018] In yet a further aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer executable code is disclosed, the code being used to cause a computer to: control first and second coexisting radio systems to avoid damage from each other during transmission between the first and second radio systems on at least one channel of a shared spectrum. The control includes: determining whether at least one of the first or second radio systems is transmitting on at least one channel by reading a control message or an information message sent between the first and second radio systems within a wireless device. In addition, based on determining that one of the first or second radio systems is transmitting or is about to transmit, a notification message is sent to at least one radio system in the first radio system or the second radio system that is monitoring the at least one channel to request transmission on the at least one channel, the notification message being configured to: indicate that another radio system is currently transmitting on the at least one channel. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary wireless environment in which embodiments of the present invention may be practiced.

[0020] Figure 2 Exemplary apparatus that may be employed in a wireless device for protecting components in a coexisting radio system are illustrated.

[0021] Figure 3 Explained Figure 2 An exemplary block diagram of an implementation of the apparatus in .

[0022] Figure 4 Explains the use of Figure 3 An exemplary signal timeline of various signals in a device.

[0023] Figure 5 Explained Figure 2 An exemplary block diagram of another implementation of the device in.

[0024] Figure 6 Explained Figure 2 An exemplary block diagram of another implementation of the device in.

[0025] Figure 7 An exemplary block diagram illustrating yet another implementation.

[0026] Figure 8 An exemplary block diagram illustrating yet another implementation.

[0027] Fig. 9 A flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for controlling radio frequency concurrency in a wireless device.

[0028] Fig.10A flow chart illustrating another exemplary method for controlling radio system coexistence in a wireless device.

[0029] Fig.11 is a block diagram illustrating a simplified example of a hardware implementation for a wireless device or an apparatus within a wireless device that provides control of a concurrent radio system.

[0030] Fig.12 A block diagram illustrating an example of an apparatus including two subsystems that control one or more front ends of a radio system is illustrated.

[0031] Fig.13 A block diagram illustrating an example of an apparatus including a unified subsystem that controls one or more front ends of a radio system is illustrated.

[0032] Fig.14 A block diagram illustrating an example device for controlling coexistence between different radio systems in a wireless device using external signaling.

[0033] Fig.15 A flow chart illustrating another exemplary method for controlling radio frequency concurrency in a wireless device.

[0034] Fig.16 is a block diagram illustrating another simplified example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus for providing control of concurrent radio systems within a wireless device.

[0035] Fig.17 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a device employing processing circuitry that may be adapted according to certain aspects disclosed herein. Detailed Description

[0036] Various aspects of the present invention are disclosed in the following description of specific embodiments of the present invention and the related drawings. Alternative embodiments may be designed without departing from the scope of the present invention. In addition, well-known elements of the present invention may not be described in detail or may be omitted to avoid obscuring the relevant details of the present invention.

[0037] The terms used herein are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit embodiments of the present invention. As used herein, the singular forms of "a", "a", and "the" are intended to also include plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "include", "have", "include" and / or "contain" are used herein to indicate the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and / or groups thereof.

[0038] In addition, many embodiments are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by elements of, for example, a computing device (e.g., a server or device). It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein can be performed by a dedicated circuit (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of the two. In addition, the sequences of actions described herein may be considered to be fully embodied in any form of computer-readable storage medium, which has stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that, upon execution, will cause an associated processor to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, various aspects of the present invention may be embodied in several different forms, all of which have been contemplated to fall within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each embodiment described herein, the corresponding form of any such embodiment may be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to perform the described actions."

[0039] The present disclosure discusses methods and apparatus for controlling a radio in a wireless device that provide protection for radio components that use concurrent RF bands. In certain aspects, the disclosed methods and apparatus allow WLANs and WWANs operating in the same or similar RF spectrum to be effectively concurrent while preventing any damage to their receive chains that may occur when the WLAN becomes transmitting or the WWAN becomes transmitting. In one example, such protection is accomplished using a logic circuit system that is used to disable at least one of a WLAN transmit circuit system (e.g., a WiFi WLAN power amplifier PA) or a WLAN receive circuit system (e.g., a WiFi WLAN low noise amplifier LNA) or a WWAN transmit circuit system (e.g., an eLAA power amplifier PA) or a WWAN receiver circuit system (e.g., an LNA of LAA) when there may be or is determined to be a potential for causing damage. The logic circuit system is utilized because the concurrency between 5GHz WiFi and eLAA, for example, requires a fast and reliable mechanism to quickly protect the radio, particularly because the technologies are time division duplexed (TDD). Processors and software are not fast enough to handle the short time frames or low latency (typically on the order of microseconds) to turn on both WiFi and LAA radios. For example, there are no known simple RF front end (RFFE) / software coexistence mechanisms that actually protect the low latency timeline of the LNA in the WiFi or LAA radio. Note also that similar issues arise between 5G NR systems and WLAN systems that share spectrum, and the concepts in this article are applicable to such configurations as well.

[0040] Advantages of the methods and apparatus disclosed herein include low cost and greater cost effectiveness compared to designing the LNA to provide excessive dynamic range (which increases insertion loss, noise figure degradation, and the cost of the LNA). Other advantages include eliminating the need to increase the size of electrostatic discharge (ESD) diodes to absorb stronger interference and avoiding expensive filtering to allow only limited sub-band concurrency between LAA and WLAN. Another advantage of the disclosed methods and apparatus is the ability to tolerate poor antenna separation that may be caused by the configuration or placement of concurrent radio systems and antennas within the wireless device or the use of antenna switching diversity (AsDiv) (which further exacerbates antenna isolation). This advantage may be significant in situations where form factor reduction is important and ensuring good antenna isolation (e.g., ≥20dB antenna separation) is not always practical.

[0041] The various concepts presented throughout this disclosure may be implemented across a wide variety of telecommunication systems, network architectures, and communication standards. By way of illustrative example and not limitation, Figure 1 An exemplary radio access network 100 is illustrated in which the methods and apparatus herein may be implemented. The network 100 includes a WWAN base station, such as a LAA base station, access point (AP), or node 102, transmitting or receiving on a shared spectrum, such as a 5 GHz band shared with other technologies, such as WiFi 5 GHz. Although the base station 102 is Figure 1 , illustrated as an LAA base station, but note that the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to this, but rather may include other technologies that can operate concurrently with another technology using shared spectrum for transmission and reception.

[0042] In addition, the network 100 includes a WWAN base station, such as an LTE base station or an evolved Node B 104, that provides an anchor frequency or bandwidth (e.g., from 400 MHz to 3.8 GHz) using which transmissions to and from the LAA cells 102 are aggregated, as shown with carrier aggregation 106. These combined carriers are used for communication with wireless devices 108, such as mobile stations or user equipment (UE). As previously mentioned, for an LAA system, the wireless device 108 can receive and transmit simultaneously using an LAA radio within the device 108 that utilizes a shared spectrum. It is further noted that the base station 102 can communicate with the base station 104 via both traffic and control channels, as illustrated by the channel 110.

[0043] The network 100 further includes a WLAN access point (AP) 112 that utilizes the shared spectrum used by the base station 102. Figure 1In the example of , AP 112 is a WiFi AP or node using 5 GHz spectrum, but is not limited thereto. In various implementations, the air interface in the radio access network 100 can utilize various combinations of licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or shared spectrum. Further, in one aspect, the network 100 may include a 5G new radio (NR) base station or gNB 114 that communicates with the wireless device 108 using a spectrum shared with the WLAN base station 112.

[0044] In general, it is noted that for the purposes of this application, a base station (BS) serves a cell. Broadly speaking, a base station is a network element in a radio access network that is responsible for radio transmission and reception to or from a wireless device or user equipment (UE) (such as UE 108) in one or more cells. A BS may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), an access point (AP), a Node B (NB), an evolved Node B (eNB), or some other suitable term.

[0045] The radio access network 100 is illustrated as supporting wireless communications for wireless devices or UEs 108. In this application, the term wireless device or UE may be referred to as a mobile device, mobile station (MS), subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal (AT), mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, terminal, user agent, mobile client, client, or some other suitable term. A UE may be a device that provides access to network services to a user.

[0046] In this document, a "mobile" device does not necessarily need to have mobile capabilities and can be stationary. The term mobile device or mobile device refers to a wide variety of devices and technologies. For example, some non-limiting examples of mobile devices include mobile devices, cellular (cell) phones, smart phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, laptops, personal computers (PCs), notebooks, netbooks, smart books, tablet devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and a wide variety of embedded systems, for example, corresponding to the "Internet of Things" (IoT). The mobile device can also be a self-driving or other transportation vehicle, a remote sensor or actuator, a robot or robotic device, a satellite radio, a global positioning system (GPS) device, an object tracking device, a drone, a remote control device, a consumer and / or a wearable device, such as glasses, a wearable camera, a virtual reality device, a smart watch, a health or fitness tracker, a digital audio player (e.g., an MP3 player), a camera, a game console, etc. The mobile device can also be a digital home or smart home device, such as a home audio, video and / or multimedia device, an appliance, a vending machine, smart lighting, a home security system, a smart meter, etc. The mobile device may additionally be a smart energy device, a security device, a solar panel or solar array, an urban infrastructure device that controls electrical power (e.g., a smart grid), lighting, water, etc.; industrial automation and enterprise devices; logistics controllers; agricultural equipment; military defense equipment, vehicles (e.g., eLAA / C-V2X in bands 46 / 47), aircraft, ships, and weapons, etc. Further, the mobile device may provide networked medical or telemedicine support, i.e., health care at a distance. Telehealth devices may include telehealth monitoring devices and telehealth supervision devices, whose communications may be given priority treatment or prioritized access over other types of information, for example, in the form of prioritized access to critical service data transmission and / or associated QoS for critical service data transmission.

[0047] In addition, the air interface in the radio access network 100 may utilize one or more duplex algorithms. Duplex refers to a point-to-point communication link in which both endpoints can communicate with each other in both directions. Full-duplex means that both endpoints can communicate with each other at the same time. Half-duplex means that only one endpoint can send information to the other endpoint at a time. In a wireless link, a full-duplex channel generally relies on the physical isolation of the transmitter and the receiver, and suitable interference cancellation techniques. Full-duplex simulation is usually achieved for a wireless link by utilizing frequency division duplex (FDD) or time division duplex (TDD). In FDD, transmissions in different directions operate at different carrier frequencies. In TDD, transmissions in different directions on a given channel are separated from each other using time division multiplexing. That is, at some times, the channel is dedicated to transmissions in one direction, and at other times, the channel is dedicated to transmissions in another direction, where the direction can change very quickly, for example, several times per time slot.

[0048] UE 108 may also include one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) and wireless wide area network (WLAN) transceivers that may be connected to one or more antennas. The wide area network transceiver(s) include suitable devices, hardware, and / or software for communicating with other wireless devices within the network and / or detecting signals to / from other wireless devices within the network. In one aspect, for example, the wide area network transceiver is configured to communicate with other wireless devices within the network and / or detect signals to / from other wireless devices within the network. TM , WCDMA, UMTS, 4G, or GSM. In addition, any other type of wireless networking technology can be used, such as WiMax (802.16), ultra-wideband, ZigBee, wireless USB, etc. The mobile device can use RF signals (e.g., 2.4GHz, 3.6GHz, and 4.9 / 5.0GHz bands) and standardized protocols for modulating RF signals and exchanging information packets to wirelessly communicate with multiple wireless APs. In addition, the WLAN transceiver(s) can operate under any of several wireless technologies including WiFi (e.g., various specifications under IEEE 802.11) and Bluetooth.

[0049] Figure 2 Explains how wireless devices (such as Figure 1An exemplary apparatus 200 for protecting at least a receiving component in a concurrent radio system employed in a device 108 in a wireless communication system (e.g., a wireless communication system 108 in a wireless communication system 108). The apparatus 200 includes a wireless device 202, which includes at least a first radio 204 and a second radio 206. In one aspect, each radio 204 or 206 may include a chipset, a wireless modem, a system on a chip (SoC), or a similar configuration. In one example, the first radio system 204 may be a WLAN system operable in an RF spectrum shared by the second radio system 206 (which may be a WWAN system). In another example, the first radio system 204 may be a WiFi system and the second radio system 206 may be a LAA system, both of which may operate in a 5 GHz band. In yet another example, the first radio system 204 may be a WiFi system or an LTE system, and the second radio system 206 may be a 5G NR system, which operates in, for example, a sub-6 GHz band or a band in which its RF transmission may be harmful to a receiving path in another radio system.

[0050] The first radio system 204 includes: at least one transmit circuit system 208 for transmitting signals, such as a power amplifier (PA) circuit system; at least a receiver circuit system 210 for receiving signals, such as a low noise amplifier (LNA) circuit system, which may also include an LNA bypass circuit system to selectively bypass the LNA or reduce gain; and a transmit / receive (T / R) switch 212, which switches between the PA circuit system 208 and the LNA circuit system 210 to selectively couple the circuits 208 and 210 to at least one or more antennas 214 for transmission or reception of signals by the first radio system 204.

[0051] Similar to the first radio system 204, the second radio system 206 includes: at least one transmit circuit system 216 for transmitting signals, such as a power amplifier (PA) circuit system; at least one receiver circuit system 218 for receiving signals, such as a low noise amplifier (LNA) circuit system, which may also include an LNA bypass circuit system to selectively bypass the LNA (or short the input to ground or bypass, reduce gain in other examples); and a transmit / receive (T / R) switch 220, which switches between the PA circuit system 216 and the LNA circuit system 218 to selectively couple the circuits 216 and 218 to at least one or more antennas 222 for transmission or reception of signals by the second radio system 206.

[0052] The device 202 further includes control logic 224, which in one example may include a number of logic gates, such as AND gates and OR gates. The logic 224 is configured to receive internal signals from the first radio system 204 or the second radio system 206 or be triggered by these internal signals to generate various switching, modification, blanking, or disabling of the transmit circuit system 208 (PA circuit system), the transmit circuit system 216 (PA circuit system), the receiver circuit system 210 (LNA circuit system), the receiver circuit system 218 (LNA circuit system), the T / R switch 212, or the T / R switch 220 that are communicatively coupled to the logic 224, and these operations will be described in more detail below. The signals input to the control logic 224 may include a first radio PA ON signal 226 and a second radio PA ON signal 228, which may be issued by a transceiver or modem of the system, such as the first modem 230 and the second modem 232.

[0053] In operation, the system 200 and in particular the control logic 224 provide the ability to quickly shut down, blank or disable the PA transmit circuitry of one radio system to protect the LNA of another radio system if the LNA of the other radio system is connected to the antenna through its T / R switch, or to avoid interference if the other radio system begins to transmit. On the other hand, the control logic 224 also provides the ability to quickly disable or modify the LNA receive circuitry of one radio system after the PA of the other radio system is turned on to protect the LNA receive circuitry.

[0054] It is noted that although the control logic 224 is shown as being separate or distinct from the first radio system 204 or the second radio system 206, in certain aspects, portions of the control logic 224 may reside within one or both of the first radio system 204 or the second radio system 206. It is also noted here that for purposes of this document, reference will be made later in this document to the embodiments of the present invention. Figure 3 and Figure 5-8 In addition to the specific examples illustrated in FIG. 1 , the control logic circuitry may also be located or fully integrated within one radio system, distributed or integrated among two or more radio systems, partially reside outside one or more radio systems and other portions reside within one or more radio systems, or completely external to a radio system within a wireless device.

[0055] In other examples, an external processor, microprocessor, system on chip (SOC), one or more mobile station modems (MSM), or similar devices may be used to control and variably configure control logic circuitry 224, such as by Figure 2In various aspects, the control logic circuitry 224 may be reconfigurable, such as with a field programmable gate array (FPGA), wherein an external processor, microprocessor, system on chip (SOC), mobile station modem (MSM), or similar device(s) may programmably reconfigure the control logic circuitry / protection circuitry 224 based on the specific type or operation of each radio system.

[0056] In yet another example, the control circuit system 225 may be distributed among multiple SMS, baseband processors, and / or front-end modules. Note also that the control logic circuit system 224 may be configurable so that one radio system may be a priority system (e.g., a master radio system) compared to another radio system (e.g., a slave radio system), wherein the transmission of one radio system will take precedence over or have priority over the other radio system. For example, the control logic circuit system 224 may be configured so that whenever an on signal 228 is detected or received from the second radio system, the transmit circuit system 216 is allowed to turn on, and the transmit circuit 208 is turned off or the RX circuit system 210 is modified or disabled, or both. Alternatively, the control logic 224 may be configured / reconfigured to give transmission priority to the first radio system whenever an on signal 226 is detected.

[0057] It is noted here that the methods and apparatus herein can further utilize various disclosed T / R switches, such as 211 and 220 (and Figure 3 and Figure 5-8 ) to disable the path to the LNA or PA under the control or signaling of the control logic circuitry / protection circuitry as yet another means for disabling the LNA or PA circuitry. It is further noted that the T / R switch connects the LNA or PA to the antenna (e.g., antenna 214, 222), but it is also understood that the chain between the T / R switch and the antenna may also include various components, such as antenna switching diversity (e.g., AsDiv switch) and bandpass filtering (BPF). These additional components are illustrated herein with optional component 250 labeled "Ant.Div." (to represent antenna diversity), but are to be understood to include other components, such as BPF and other antenna switching / controls. It should also be understood that the illustration of the "AntDiv" box shown in other figures herein is intended to convey one or more of the same components.

[0058] In another example, the output of the LNA circuit system 210 is output to one or more additional first transceiver or modem circuit systems 230 associated with the first radio system front end 204, which include additional LNAs and additional processing circuit systems (e.g., DSPs, etc.). In addition, the circuit system 230 can provide the input transmission data to the PA circuit system 208 for transmission. Similarly, the output of the LNA circuit system 218 is output to an additional transceiver or modem circuit system 232 associated with the second radio system front end 206, which includes additional LNAs and additional processing circuit systems (e.g., DSPs, etc.). In addition, the second system modem circuit system 232 can provide the input transmission data to the PA circuit system 216 for transmission by the second radio system.

[0059] According to yet another aspect, by way of example only, the output of LNA circuitry 210 in first radio system 204 may be output via splitter 240 or similar device, whereby the output of LNA circuitry 210 is split and sent to transceiver 230, and LNA circuitry 218 or transceiver 232 in the second radio system, as indicated by dashed line 242. This may be useful where one or more front-end streams, paths, or channels are used in first radio system 204 and also operate independently such that received signals are diverted for use in another technology, such as that of the second radio system.

[0060] Figure 3 Explained Figure 2 300 . As illustrated, a wireless device 302 includes a WiFi system 304 that includes at least two transmit / receive sections 306, 308 (e.g., front end modules (FEMs)), each providing a respective WiFi channel (i.e., channels CH0 and CH1). Although illustrated for only one transmit / receive section, each transmit / receive section 306, 308 includes a T / R switch 310 that selectively couples with a receive LNA 312 and a power amplifier PA 314. The T / R switch 310 connects the LNA 312 or the PA 314 to an antenna (not shown), and the chain between the T / R switch 310 and the antenna may also include antenna switching diversity (e.g., an AsDiv switch) and a bandpass filter (BPF). It is noted here that when antenna switching diversity is used, antenna separation (e.g., a certain level of antenna separation, such as greater than 20 dB antenna separation) becomes even more challenging. Thus, a further benefit of the apparatus and methods herein when using antenna separation, such as an AsDiv (or "Ant. Div." or "AD") switch, is increased protection against impairments to the LNA that may arise when antenna separation may be exacerbated by using antenna switching diversity.

[0061] Included in communication with each transmit / receive section 306, 308 are gates that comprise a portion of control logic 316. Specifically, an AND gate 318 and an OR gate 320 are coupled to PA 314 and LNA 312, respectively. Additionally, control logic 316 includes a second OR gate 321 that is configured to receive 5 GHz WiFi PA ON signals for channels CH 0 and CH 1 indicating that the PA in section 306 or 308 (e.g., PA 314) is being turned on. Similar to Figure 2 , the control logic 316 is part of a protection mechanism or scheme for protecting the LNA 312 and avoiding interference with the LAA portion 322 of the device 302 (which will be discussed below).

[0062] The LAA portion 322 (e.g., the second radio system) includes a T / R switch 324 that is selectively coupled to at least one receive LNA group 326 and a power amplifier 328. The LNA group 326 includes an LNA 330 for receiving a signal from the T / R switch 324, and an LNA 332 configured to receive a signal from another antenna different from the antenna connected to the T / R switch 324. The T / R switch 324 connects the LNA 330 or the PA 328 to an antenna (not shown), and the chain between the T / R switch 324 and the antenna may also include an AsDiv switch and a bandpass filter (BPF). The control signal 334 (which is Figure 3 321) is generated from within the eLAA transceiver and asserted to turn on the PA 328. This signal 334 is also sent to the logic circuit system 316, which is labeled as eLAA 5GHZ PA ON. Specifically, the eLAA 5GHZ PA_ON is input to the negative logic input of the AND gate 318 so that when the eLAA 5GHz PA is off or low and the 5GHz WiFi signal at the input of the OR gate 321 is on or high, or alternatively the eLAA 5GHz PA signal is on or high and the 5GHz WiFi signal at the input of the OR gate 321 is off or low, the output of the AND gate 318 will be asserted high.

[0063] It is further noted that when at least one of the channel 0 or channel 1 WiFi PAs is on (e.g., 5 GHz WiFi PA_ON is asserted high), the output signal 336 of the OR gate 321 (labeled as Ch 0 or Ch 1 WiFi PA_ON) will be asserted high. Signal 336 is input to an LNA input bypass control pin (or similar input) in the LNA group 326, which causes at least one LNA (e.g., LNA 330) to be bypassed by shorting to ground, as illustrated. In another aspect, the bypass control can attenuate the LNA gain through a plurality of selectable reduced LNA gains, thereby facilitating modification of the LNA circuitry, thereby also providing protection for the LNA in this manner. As an example, the various selectable gains are illustrated by a number of blocks (labeled in the figure as "g1," "g2," etc.) that are switchable or coupleable between the input and output of the LNAs 330 and 332, which is merely one example of how a reduced or attenuated gain may be selected for the LNAs. These blocks may include networks of resistors or various passive components, or even active components that implement selection or attenuation of LNA gain. Further, it is contemplated that output signal 336 may be used not only to bypass the front-end LNAs shown in LNA group 326, but may also be used to control LNAs deeper in the LAA transceiver, as illustrated by input 337 of signal 336 to transceiver block 338. Note that even though signal 336 does not control an LNA within transceiver circuitry 338, the protection provided by gain modification or shorting of the LNAs in group 326 also provides a measure of protection for the LNAs in transceiver 338.

[0064] Still further note that LNA bank 326 may be configured such that any number of LNAs may be used in the bank, such as where a greater number of antennas are connected to LNA bank 326. Additionally, the protection selected for each LNA may be different, such as, for example, LNA 330 being shorted to ground while LNA 332 being switched to reduced gain.

[0065] On the other hand, in some cases, the LNA may be placed in bypass for various power saving modes. Nevertheless, the methods and apparatus herein may be configured so that the protection mechanism will be operable to protect the radio LNA regardless of the gain mode of the LNA, even for power saving modes. In one example, the methods and apparatus herein may disable the LNA and route the high power signal to ground through the LNA bypass switch instead of to the LNA output. This disabling is also used to reduce the voltage swing at the LNA input and maximize the protection at the LNA input. It is further noted here that the larger the size of the ground bypass switch, the more suitable the protection is for handling higher power signals. In the example of bypassing the input of the LNA to ground, this switch also protects other stages of the transceiver (e.g., transceiver 338) and the LNA within these other stages. The protection mechanism disclosed herein also does not introduce current or LNA noise figure penalties, and the area cost is also very small.

[0066] for Figure 3 In a specific example of , the logic circuit system 316 is configured to give priority or priority to the LAA transmitter (and signal eLAA PA_ON) which is the primary transmitter in this case. As a result, the WiFi transmitted by each PA 314 in each front-end module (e.g., portions 306, 308) is disabled by the eLAA PA_ON signal. In addition, on the other hand, the LNA 312 is also disabled (e.g., via OR gate 320). In a further aspect, the LAA portion 322 may be configured to send a software coexistence message to notify the WLAN system that the LAA transmission is active. In yet another alternative aspect, the software coexistence message may be used by the WLAN system to ensure that the WLAN receiver path is modified or disabled (e.g., the LNA is gain attenuated or bypassed).

[0067] Figure 4 Explained Figure 3 300 to better understand the operation of the device. Top timeline 402 illustrates the transmit and receive operation of the LAA transceiver or radio system. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, LAA is a time division duplex system, so the eLAA transceiver transmits a signal at a first time separate from a second time for receiving a signal, as can be seen in timeline 402.

[0068] Corresponding to the transmission time shown in timeline 402, eLAA PA ON signal timeline 404 (e.g., Figure 3 The signal 334 in indicates that when the signal is asserted high, the eLAA PA is turned on and the eLAA transceiver transmits a signal. In other cases, the LAA transceiver may receive a signal via an LNA receiver.

[0069] WiFi transmission and reception, which is also TDD, is shown at timeline 406, and the corresponding timeline 408 shows that the WiFi transceiver generally transmits when the output signal 336 of the OR gate 321 (ie, WiFi 5GHz PA_ON) is asserted high. Figure 4 As further seen in FIG, LAA and WiFi systems are illustrated as using specific antennas for transmission. It is noted here that the protection mechanisms disclosed herein generally apply when the antenna used by the WiFi transceiver is different from the antenna used by the LAA transceiver, or when the number of antennas used in the antenna array is different between the two transceivers.

[0070] Figure 4 The illustrated timeline also illustrates various use cases where a protection mechanism (eg, logic circuitry 316 ) provides protection for an LNA in a WiFi or eLAA receiver and also avoids interference between WiFi and eLAA transmitters.

[0071] In the first scenario (Scenario 1, indicated by reference numeral 420), note that if the eLAA PA ON signal goes high, the eLAA PA will begin transmitting, as shown at time t1, while the WiFi radio is currently receiving (which potentially makes the WiFi LNA susceptible to concurrent transmissions on the same frequency band, such as the transmitted eLAA signal). However, at the time the eLAA PA ON signal goes high, Figure 3 The logic circuitry 316 will very quickly disable the WiFi receiver to prevent possible damage to the LNA (e.g., LNA 312) also substantially at time t1. This is accomplished in part by AND logic gate 318 going high, which in turn triggers logic OR gate 320 to bypass LNA 312. As a result, WiFi reception is truncated, as illustrated by the shaded area 410 after time t1.

[0072] According to the second scenario (Scenario 2, indicated by reference numeral 422), when the WiFi transmitter transmits from time t5 onwards, and the eLAA PA_ON goes high and the eLAA begins transmitting during that time (as shown at time t6), the eLAA PA_ON signal also causes the WiFi transmit PA to become disabled. This is accomplished in part by the output of the logic AND gate 318 going low, which disables the PA 314, as shown in FIG. Figure 3. In this way, interference between the eLAA transmitter and the WiFi transmitter is avoided. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, for this particular example, the configured logic gives preference or priority to the eLAA transmitter, which is the primary transmitter in this situation. This may be done because the eLAA radio generally does not recover as quickly as WiFi, and thus prefers an interruption of WiFi over an interruption or delay of eLAA. However, this preference is merely exemplary, and other systems and techniques employing the protection mechanisms disclosed herein may be configured to prefer another technology, or alternatively implement some competing system or methodology to determine which radio will be disabled.

[0073] In the third case (Case 3, indicated by reference numeral 424), when the eLAA receiver is enabled and the WiFi PA_ON_OR signal 408 output from the OR gate 321 goes high to turn on the WiFi PA, the signal triggers the LAA LNA (e.g., LNA 330) to gain bypass, or alternatively reduces the LNA gain to protect the LAA receiver LNA from WiFi transmissions. This causes attenuation or even cessation of the received signal, as indicated by the shaded area 412 between times t8 and t9.

[0074] Figure 5 Explained Figure 2 . As illustrated, the wireless device 500 includes a WLAN system 502 (such as a WiFi system) that includes at least two transmit / receive sections, each providing a respective WiFi channel (i.e., channels CH 0 and CH 1), although Figure 5 Only one channel CH 0 is shown in the figure. System 502 includes a T / R switch 504, which is selectively coupled to a receive LNA 506 and a power amplifier PA 508. The T / R switch 504 connects the LNA 506 or the PA 508 to an antenna (not shown), and the chain between the T / R switch 504 and the antenna may also include an AsDiv switch and a bandpass filter (BPF). System 502 may include several control logic circuits or gates 510, 512, 514 externally or internally as shown, which include a portion of a control logic circuit system 509 for protecting the receive circuits of the WLAN (and eLAA) or for avoiding interference between radios that share spectrum or have close or overlapping frequency bands.

[0075] Specifically, the first AND gate 510, the OR gate 512, and the second AND gate 514 may include logic circuitry for mitigating LNA impairments and interference. As shown, the first AND gate 510 has a first input coupled to the WiFi CH 0PA_ON signal, which is asserted high when the signaling PA 508 should be turned on. The logic negative input of the first AND gate 510 is also coupled to the logic negative input of the second AND gate 514, and the eLAA PA_ON signal 516 is also input to the logic negative input of the second AND gate 514. Similar to Figure 2 , the control logic of gates 510, 512, and 514 is part of a protection mechanism or scheme for protecting LNA 506 and avoiding interference with the LAA portion of device 500 (which will be discussed below).

[0076] The wireless device 500 also includes a WWAN radio, such as an LAA receiver in this example, but the example is not limited thereto. The WWAN radio includes a T / R switch 518, which is selectively coupled to at least one receive LNA group 519 and a power amplifier PA 522. The LNA group 519 includes an LNA 520 for receiving a signal from the T / R switch 518, and an LNA 521 configured to receive a signal from another antenna (not shown) different from the antenna connected to the T / R switch 518. The T / R switch 518 connects the LNA 520 or the PA 522 to the antenna (not shown), and the chain between the T / R switch 518 and the antenna may also include an AsDiv switch and a bandpass filter (BPF).

[0077] Control signal 516 (which is Figure 5 514) is generated from within the LAA transceiver and asserted to turn on PA 522, but is further controlled by AND gate 514. Thus, the output of AND gate 514 is designed to be "New_eLAA_PA_ON" because AND gate 514 selectively applies this signal to PA 522 and T / R switch 518 based on the state of AND gate 514.

[0078] Note that for AND gate 510, if the 5GHz PA_ON signal input to OR gate 512 is low or zero, and the eLAAPA_ON signal 516 is also zero, then the New WiFi PA_ON signal output by AND gate 510 will also be low or zero. In this case, both transmitters (i.e., the WiFi and eLAA transmitters) will be off and reception by the LNA is possible. If the eLAA_PA_ON signal 516 is high or one, and the 5GHz PA_ON signal is low, then the New WiFi PA_ON signal output by AND gate 510 will again be low or zero. In the case where the 5GHz PA_ON signal is high or one, and the eLAA PA_ON signal is low or zero, then the New WiFi PA_ON will be high or one, and the 5GHz PA 508 will be active, and the receivers (506 and 520) will be off. Finally focusing on AND gate 510, if both the eLAA PA_ON signal 516 and the 5GHz PA_ON are high or one, the new WiFi PA_ON signal output by AND gate 510 will again be low or zero. In this case, both transmitters can be turned on, and the WiFi 5GHZ PA will then be disabled.

[0079] Note that for AND gate 514, if the 5 GHz PA_ON signal to OR gate 512 is low or zero, and the eLAA PA_ON signal 516 is also zero, the new eLAA PA_ON signal output by AND gate 514 will also be low or zero. In this case, both transmitters (i.e., the WiFi and eLAA transmitters) will be turned off and reception with the LNA is possible. If the 5 GHz PA_ON signal is low or zero, but the eLAA_PA_ON signal 516 is high or one, the new eLAA PA_ON signal output by AND gate 514 will be high or one. In this case, the eLAA PA (e.g., 522) will be turned on and reception will not be enabled on either radio system. In the case where the 5 GHz PA_ON signal is high or one and the eLAA PA_ON signal is low or zero, the eLAA LNA signal 520 will be in bypass mode. Finally focusing on AND gate 514, if both the eLAA PA_ON signal 516 and the 5GHz PA_ON are high or one, the new WiFi PA_ON signal output by AND gate 510 will again be low or zero. In this case, both transmitters can be turned on and the eLAA PA will then be disabled.

[0080] Given that Figure 5 Example, return to Figure 4Note that according to the fourth scenario (Scenario 4, indicated by reference numeral 426), when a WiFi transmitter (such as PA 508) is transmitting after time t5, and the WiFi PA_ON signal 408 from the OR gate 512 is high or asserted, the subsequent change of the eLAA PA_ON signal from low to high at the AND gate 514 will cause the new eLAA PA_ON signal to go low, which will cause the eLAA PA 522 to shut down to avoid interference. This disabling of the eLAA PA 522 is shown in the shaded time period 414 between times t6 and t7. Once the WiFi 5GHz PA_ON_OR signal 408 goes low at time t7, the eLAAPA 522 can then turn on to transmit.

[0081] Figure 6 Explained Figure 2 6. As illustrated, the wireless device 600 includes a WLAN system (such as a WiFi system) that includes n transmit / receive sections or modules 602a, 602b, ... 602n, each providing a corresponding channel (i.e., WiFi channels CH 0, CH 1, ... CH n). Although only section 602a for channel CH 0 is shown in detail, the illustration should be considered representative of each section 602. Each section or module 602 includes a T / R switch 604 that is selectively coupled to a receive LNA 606 and a power amplifier PA 608. The T / R switch 604 connects the LNA 606 or PA 608 to an antenna, and the chain between the T / R switch 604 and the antenna may also include an AsDiv switch and a bandpass filter (BPF) (not shown). Within systems 602a…602n, these systems may include, as shown, internally or externally, a control logic circuit system 609 including a number of logic gates, which include a portion of the control logic for protecting the receiving circuitry of the WLAN (and WWAN, such as LAA radios) or for avoiding interference between radios that share spectrum or use spectrum that is close in frequency so that interference and impairment of transmissions through one radio system may occur in another radio system.

[0082] Specifically, a first AND gate 610 (which is within each portion 602), an OR gate 612 (which may be single and used among n portions 602), and a second AND gate 614 may include logic circuitry for mitigating LNA impairments and PA interference. As shown, the first AND gate 610 has a first input coupled to a WiFi CH 0PA_ON signal, which is asserted high when the signaling PA 608 should be turned on. The logic negative input of the first AND gate 610 is also coupled to the logic negative input of the second AND gate 614, to which the eLAA PA_ON signal 616 is also input. Similar to Figure 2 , the control logic of gates 610 , 612 , and 614 is part of a protection mechanism or scheme for protecting LNA group 619 (and LNA 606 ) and avoiding interference with the LAA portion of device 600 .

[0083] The wireless device 600 also includes a WWAN radio, such as an LAA radio in this example, but the example is not limited thereto. The WWAN radio includes a T / R switch 618, which is selectively coupled to at least one receive LNA group 619 and a power amplifier PA 622. The LNA group 619 includes an LNA 620 for receiving a signal from the T / R switch 618, and an LNA 621 configured to receive a signal from another antenna different from the antenna connected to the T / R switch 618. The T / R switch 618 connects the LNA 620 or the PA 622 to an antenna (not shown), and the chain between the T / R switch 618 and the antenna may also include an AsDiv switch and a bandpass filter (BPF).

[0084] Although the LNA group 619 is illustrated with two LNAs 620, 621 for example, it is noted that the group 619 may include more than two LNAs, any or all of which may be protected by the methods and apparatus disclosed herein. It is further noted that the circuit 600 may be configured to provide selective bypassing or operational modification of a subset of the LNAs in the LNA group 619. As an example of such an implementation, the circuit 600 may include an LNA selection circuit system 624 that is configured to select individual LNAs in the LNA group 619 for various operational modifications. For example, the LNA selection circuit system 624 may direct an LNA to be shorted to ground (i.e., disabled) while another LNA is modified to have a reduced gain. Although the circuit 600 illustrates the LNA selection circuit system within the control logic circuit system 609, this is merely exemplary and the circuit system or logic may be implemented as separate circuit systems. Circuit system 624 may further receive input from other logic circuit systems or software so that the selection may include selecting the processing of the various LNAs depending on which specific radio access technology is currently being transmitted and / or received. For example, if portion 602 is transmitting according to WiFi and LNA group 619 may operate according to LAA radio technology, circuit system 624 will select certain LNAs to modify or disable them based on these specific technologies, as appropriate. During another time frame, if the portions are configured to transmit and / or receive according to 5G NR, and the LNA group is configured to transmit and / or receive LTE, circuit system 624 will select different processing for the LNAs in group 619 for these specific technologies, as appropriate or appropriate. In addition, the selection made by circuit system 624 may also be based on specific operating parameters of the radio system within wireless device 600.

[0085] Figure 7 Explained Figure 3 Another example 700 of an implementation of a circuit system of FIG. 700, wherein the LNA selection circuit system 624 is configured to control "m" LNA groups 619a-619m, where the same reference numerals are labeled as Figure 6 . For example, LNA selection circuitry 624 may select various operations and disabling / gain reduction for one or more of LNA groups 619-619m. Control signal 702 may be generated by external logic or hardware, a processor, microprocessor, system on chip (SOC), mobile station modem (MSM), or similar device, as well as from various transceiver circuitry or other processors in the wireless device, or any combination of hardware and software based on radio system and operating characteristics.

[0086] Figure 8Another example 800 is illustrated in which the control logic circuitry 609 is disposed or located external to the radio system (e.g., radio system 1 and radio system 2 in the illustrated example). Additionally, the LNA selection circuitry 624 may be external to the radio system and / or the control logic circuitry 609 and configured to select various LNA disables / attenuations for the LNA groups 619a-619m in radio system 2 and select LNA disables / attenuations for the LNAs in radio system 1 for each of the respective channels 602a-602n.

[0087] Fig. 9 A method for controlling wireless devices such as Figure 2 , 3 5-8). Method 900 is a method for controlling concurrent and coexisting radio frequency (RF) first and second radio systems in a single wireless device. As illustrated, method 900 includes: when at least one turn-on signal is issued to turn on at least the transmit circuitry of the second radio system, controlling the receiver and / or transmit circuitry in the first radio system, as shown in block 902. That is, method 900 may provide control of the activity and settings of concurrent radios in the wireless device, when a signal is issued to turn on one radio (e.g., the second radio in this example) (such as in conjunction with Figure 2 , 3 8), the wireless device is operable to cause another radio circuit to be controlled when the on signal is issued. The control of the other radio circuit includes: modifying the operation of the transmit or receive portion or disabling the transmit or receive portion, as illustrated in block 904.

[0088] According to further aspects of method 900, controlling the at least one of the receiver circuitry or the transmit circuitry may include modifying the operation of at least one of the receiver circuitry or the transmit circuitry in the first radio system to achieve at least one of: protecting the receiver circuitry, or reducing interference from at least the transmit circuitry of the second radio system. As described herein, such modification of the operation of the receiver circuitry in the first radio system may include disabling at least one low noise amplifier (LNA) in the first radio system by selectively bypassing the at least one LNA to protect the LNA from transmissions from at least one of the first radio system or the second radio system. Additionally, it is noted that selectively bypassing the at least one LNA includes coupling an input of the at least one LNA to ground.

[0089] In another aspect, modifying the operation of the receiver circuitry in the second radio system may include selectively reducing the gain of at least one low noise amplifier (LNA) in the first radio system. Selectively reducing the gain of the at least one LNA may further include selectively switching between a plurality of gains, such as by selecting a gain attenuation from a plurality of attenuations that can be coupled between an input of the LNA and an output of the LNA or at least coupled to an input of the LNA.

[0090] Method 900 may further include modifying the operation of a transmitting circuit system or a receiving circuit system by triggering a modification of the operation of the transmitting or receiving circuit system using a control logic circuit system, wherein the control logic circuit system is configured to receive the at least one turn-on signal issued to turn on the transmitting circuit system of the radio system, and then send or issue a control signal to the transmitting or receiving circuit system of one radio system in response to the received at least one turn-on signal to trigger a modification of the operation of the transmitting or receiving circuit system in another radio system.

[0091] According to further aspects, method 900 may also include a system (such as Figure 6 The method 900 includes an operation in a device 600 in which one of the first or second radio systems includes a plurality of front-end transmit / receive modules, wherein each of the plurality of front-end transmit / receive modules is configured to be able to operate independently of other front-end transmit / receive modules in the plurality of modules. Thus, when at least one of the plurality of front-end transmit / receive modules is operable to transmit, the operation of one or more of the remaining front-end transmit / receive modules in the plurality of front-end transmit / receive modules can be controlled to provide protection from the transmitting front-end transmit / receive module or reduce interference with the transmitting front-end transmit / receive module. In addition, controlling the one or more of the remaining front-end transmit / receive modules in the plurality of modules may include: disabling or modifying the operation of one of the transmitting or receiving circuits in the one or more of the remaining front-end transmit / receive modules. In yet another aspect, the method 900 may include controlling a receiver circuit system including an LNA in a power saving gain bypass mode in one of the first or second radio systems by modifying or disabling the operation of the LNA in the power saving gain bypass mode.

[0092] According to yet another aspect, method 900 may include controlling a receiver circuit system in one of a first or second radio system, wherein at least one of the first or second radio systems includes a plurality of low noise amplifiers (LNAs), and then selectively modifying the operation of one or more of the plurality of LNAs. Selective modification of the operation of one or more of the plurality of LNAs may include a combination of selectively reducing the gain of one or more of the plurality of LNAs and selectively changing the gain of one or more of the plurality of LNAs; i.e., some LNAs may be disabled while the gain of other LNAs in the LNA group is attenuated. Selective modification in this manner may be determined based on operating parameters of the first or second radio system, and one or more of the technologies of the first or second radio system. As an example, Figure 6 The LNA selection circuit 624 in can be used to implement the method system, but is not limited thereto.

[0093] The method 900 may further include: when at least one turn-on signal is issued to turn on at least a transmit circuit of another radio system, controlling at least one of the receive circuit or the transmit circuit in the radio system is performed by a logic circuit system, wherein the logic circuit system is configured to: when the other radio system issues a command to turn on a power amplifier (PA) in the transmit circuit, issue a signal to disable an LNA in the receive circuit of one radio system, such as Figure 3 and 4 can be seen in the example.

[0094] It is noted that in method 900, at least one radio system may operate under a wireless wide area network (WWAN) according to one of LTE-U technology, LTE, licensed assisted access (LAA) technology, enhanced LAA (eLAA) technology, or 5G new radio (NR) technology. In addition, another radio system may operate under a wireless local area network (WLAN) according to WiFi technology. It is further noted that method 900 is applicable to two or more radio systems that can operate concurrently in a wireless device, where the radio systems are asynchronous, and the logic circuit system or similar mechanism provided thereby provides the benefit of protection of components, even though the radios may not be synchronized or even aware of the transmission / reception of the other radio(s).

[0095] In partly combined Figure 4In a further aspect discussed, the method may include the logic circuit system being configured to: when the second radio system issues a command to turn on a power amplifier (PA) in a transmit circuit of the second radio system, issue a signal to disable an LNA in a receive circuit of the first radio system. In another aspect, the logic circuit system may be further configured to: when the first radio system issues a command to turn on a power amplifier (PA) in a transmit circuit of the first radio system, issue a signal to disable an LNA in a receive circuit of the second radio system. In yet other aspects of providing interference reduction between first and second concurrent radio systems, the logic circuit system is configured to: when the second radio system issues a command to turn on a power amplifier (PA) in a transmit circuit of the second radio system, issue a signal to disable the power amplifier (PA) in the transmit circuit of the first radio system, or further configured to: when the first radio system issues a command to turn on a power amplifier (PA) in a transmit circuit of the first radio system, issue a signal to disable the power amplifier (PA) in the transmit circuit of the second radio system.

[0096] According to a further aspect, the method 900 may include the logic circuitry being configured to: disable the transmit circuitry in the first and second radio systems when both the first radio system and the second radio system send a signal indicating that the power amplifier of the transmit circuitry is turned off, such as in conjunction with e.g. Figure 4 and 5 According to yet another aspect of the methodology disclosed herein, the logic circuitry may be configured to: when at least the transmit circuitry of the first radio system is turned on, turn off the receiver circuitry in both the first and second radio systems.

[0097] Depending on the specific application, the methodologies described herein may be implemented in different ways and with different configurations. For example, such methodologies may be implemented in hardware, firmware, and / or a combination thereof, as well as software. In a hardware implementation, for example, the processing unit may be implemented within one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, and / or a combination thereof. It is particularly noted that although Figure 2 , 3 Specific logic configurations are shown in 5-8, but those skilled in the art will appreciate that the logic control circuit system may be implemented using a PLD or FPGA so that the logic (e.g., control logic 224) may be reconfigured based on the specific radio technology being concurrently used within the wireless device.

[0098] Fig.10A method for controlling wireless devices such as Figure 2 , 3 5-8). As illustrated, the method 1000 includes: detecting in the control logic circuit system or using the control logic circuit system to detect when an on signal is issued to the first radio system, such as a PA on (PA_ON) signal is issued from a modem or transceiver, as shown in block 1002. Next, the method 1000 includes: modifying, changing or interrupting the operation of the second radio system with the control logic circuit system, wherein the modification includes at least one of: modifying the operation of the receiver circuit system in the second radio system, or modifying the operation of the transmit circuit system in the second radio system, as shown in block 1004.

[0099] Fig.11 A diagram illustrating a simplified example of a hardware implementation of an apparatus for providing control of concurrent radio systems within a wireless device 1102 or wireless device is illustrated. Device 1102 typically has a controller or processor 1116, which may include one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, sequencers, and / or state machines. Device 1102 may be implemented with a bus architecture generally represented by bus 1120. Depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of processing circuit 1116, bus 1120 may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges. Bus 1120 links together various circuits including one or more processors and / or hardware modules (represented by modules or circuits 1104, 1106, and 1110 and computer-readable storage media 1118).

[0100] The processor 1116 is responsible for general processing, including executing software, code, and / or instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium 1118. The computer-readable storage medium may include a non-transitory storage medium. The software, when executed by the processor 1116, causes the device 1102, and in particular the processing circuit 1116, to perform the various functions described above for any particular device. The computer-readable storage medium 1118 may be used to store data manipulated by the processor 1116 when executing the software.

[0101] Device 1102 further includes at least one of modules 1104 and 1106. Modules 1104 and 1106 may be software modules running in processor 1116, software modules residing / stored in computer-readable storage medium 1118, one or more hardware modules coupled to processor 1116, or some combination thereof. Modules 1104 and 1106 may include microcontroller instructions, state machine configuration parameters, or some combination thereof. As illustrated, module 1104 may be configured to implement radio control, such as controlling the logic disclosed herein, and aspects of the radio system and the docking and communication between the radio systems. In addition, module 1106 may be configured to control and / or configure control logic circuitry 1110 (e.g., see FIG. 1104 ) that may operate according to various different examples disclosed herein. Figure 2 , 3 , 5-8). In another example, if the control logic circuit system 1110 utilizes an FPGA, the module 1106 can be used to implement various logic configurations.

[0102] Fig.12 Another example of a system 1200 in a wireless device is illustrated in which there are two or more subsystems (e.g., systems on a chip (SOC)) that control independent radio system front ends with at least some overlapping portions. Specifically, the overlapping portions allow for a first radio system (such as LAA) and a second radio system (such as WLAN) to share portions of a data path but not at the same time; for example, an LNA of a WLAN system may be reused or repurposed for the LAA system. The system 1200 includes a subsystem 11 1202a and a subsystem 2 1202b. In one aspect, the two subsystems 1202a and 1204 may be communicatively coupled with a communication link 1204 to signal coordination between the two subsystems 1202a, 1202b.

[0103] As further illustrated, subsystems 1202a and 1202b may include respective control logic or protection logic 1206 and 1208 configured for coordination between the two subsystems 1202a, 1202b. In subsystem 1 1202a, control logic 1006 is configured to receive various transmit on and receive on signals, which may originate from a WLAN / WWAN transceiver (e.g., 1210) in the wireless device, or other logic, processor, subsystem, etc. Fig.12In the example of FIG. 1 , the signals to the control logic 1206 may include CH 0 to CH n PA ON (i.e., transmit on signals of the WLAN system), and LAA transmit Tx request and LAA receive Rx active signals (i.e., WWAN transmit on and receive on signals). The control logic 1206 may be configured to utilize the input signals to control the respective PAs and LNAs in the front-end modules 1212a to 1212n that are reused or re-used in at least the two subsystems 1202a, 1202b.

[0104] As further illustrated, the control logic 1206 may be configured to send various signals to the front-end modules 1212a-1212n, including PA control signals (i.e., turning the PA on or off to control, for example, the multimode PA 1224), and LNA control signals to control at least one LNA in the front-end module 1212 (e.g., controlling the LNA 1220 to become disabled or attenuating the gain of the LNA). In addition, the control logic 1206 may be configured to further control the transmit / receive (T / R) switch 1222 with the switch control signal to disable or disconnect the path or coupling between the antenna (and antenna diversity / filtering) to the PA or LNA.

[0105] Subsystem 2 (1202b) may also include control / protection logic 1208 that issues control signals, such as front-end module control signals, to WLAN / WWAN transceiver 1210. In one example, these signals may be configured to protect circuitry in front-end module 1212 by controlling the operation of WLAN / WWAN transceiver 1210. As an example, Fig.12 It is illustrated that LNA control and PA control signals are issued from the WLAN / WWAN transceiver 1210 to the front end module 1212 in response to the control signals to control the PA and LNA components. The control signals from the logic 1208 may also enable the reuse or repurposing of the front end module 1212 among different subsystems and / or radio systems in the wireless device 1200. According to a further example, the control logic 1206, as an example, may issue a further LNA protection signal 1226 to the WLAN / WWAN transceiver 1210 to protect downstream LNAs within the transceiver 1210, such as by disabling such LNAs or attenuating the gain of such LNAs.

[0106] Fig.13 Another example of a wireless device system 1300 is illustrated in which there is a unified subsystem 1302 that controls independent radio system front ends having at least one overlapping portion. In this example, the subsystem includes control or protection logic or circuitry 1304 within a single subsystem or system on a chip (SOC) that is configured to control various control operations of the various radio systems in the wireless device 1300. Similar to Fig. 9 In the system, the control logic circuit system 1304 receives input signals about the PA and LNA transmission or reception request, and then sends various command signals to the front-end modules 1305a-1305n to control the PA and LNA therein, as well as the T / R switch (1320) control signal. Fig.12 In contrast to systems of , system 1300 having a unified or integrated subsystem includes direct control of the front end module using control signals 1306 from logic 1304 to the WLAN / WWAN transceiver 1310.

[0107] In a further aspect, the system 1300 includes direct control or protection of the LNA in other systems (illustrated by block 1308 ) from the logic 1304 to the WLAN / WWAN transceiver 1310 .

[0108] A problem that may arise when utilizing the various methods and apparatus disclosed herein, such as real-time blanking of signals, is that of power consumption. While the methods and apparatus presented above provide the benefit of real-time blanking of signals to prevent either party from transmitting and thereby avoid damage to circuitry (such as LNA), such real-time protection mechanisms may require a power consumption penalty for both radio systems because the two radio systems are constantly searching for transmissions. Thus, in a further embodiment, methods and apparatus may be provided to inform a WWAN radio, such as a WLAN radio, whether it is transmitting (or vice versa) by reading messages sent between the two systems (e.g., WWAN and WLAN systems), and then immediately propagate this information using external signaling to the radio system that is monitoring the channel for a transmission permit and suspend channel monitoring to avoid a persistent power consumption impact. The WWAN radio may use the same mechanism to handshake with the WLAN radio so that the WWAN radio knows that the WLAN radio is about to transmit and avoids conflicts between the two radio systems.

[0109] Fig.14An exemplary block diagram 1400 of a wireless device 1402 with coexisting first and second radio systems 1404 and 1406 that employs external signaling (i.e., signaling external to the first and second radio systems but internal to the wireless device) to control each radio system to avoid the persistent power consumption discussed above is illustrated. Specifically, the device 1402 may include an external processing circuit system or logic 1408 that is configured to: read messages sent between the first and second radio systems 1404 and 1406 to determine the transmission status of the radio, and then control the radio system based on the read messages. The determined information derived from reading the messages between the radio systems may be propagated to at least those radio systems that are monitoring a particular channel for a transmit grant, wherein the channel has a spectrum shared by the radio systems 1404, 1406.

[0110] exist Fig.14 In a specific example of, the first radio system 1404 may include a first system modem or processor 1410 that controls the transmit and receive operations of the first radio system 1404. In one aspect, the first system modem 1410 includes functionality to monitor a channel or wireless link to request permission to transmit on a shared spectrum channel. Similarly, the second radio system 1406 may also include a second system modem or processor 1412 that controls the transmit and receive operations of the second radio system 1406, including monitoring a channel or wireless link for requesting permission to transmit on a shared channel. According to further aspects, the modems 1410 and 1412 may be implemented with a general purpose processor, a dedicated processor, a DSP, or an equivalent device that can implement control of the radio system 1404 or 1406 and receive input from external signaling (such as from the processing circuit system or logic 1408).

[0111] The device 1402 may further include an interface or coupling 1414 that allows at least the radio systems 1404 and 1406 to communicate messages and information therebetween. In a further aspect, the processing circuitry or logic 1408 may be communicatively coupled to the interface 1414, as shown for illustrative purposes by coupling 1416. Although the processing circuitry or logic 1408 is illustrated with coupling 1416, it will be appreciated that the processing circuitry or logic 1408 may alternatively be coupled directly to both the first system modem 1410 and the second system modem 1412 to derive information regarding messaging between the first and second radio systems.

[0112] As mentioned above, the processing circuit system or logic 1408 can be configured to propagate the read information derived by reading the information, messages, commands, etc. communicated between the two radio systems 1404 and 1406. In particular, the processing circuit system or logic 1408 is configured to propagate information about the current transmission state of the radio system using the wireless link or channel for transmission. In a particular aspect, the radio system(s) that are at least monitoring the channel for transmission permission on the channel can receive the read information about the transmission state of the respective radio system in the wireless device 1402.

[0113] Furthermore, the receiving radio system may be configured to suspend its monitoring of the shared channel for a predetermined period of time to avoid power consumption caused by continuous or persistent monitoring of the channel for transmission thereon. In one example with a WLAN and a WWAN radio system, if the WLAN system (e.g., the first radio system 1404) is transmitting, information about the WLAN transmit state (which is derived by reading messages between the WLAN and WWAN radios) is then immediately propagated to the WWAN radio (e.g., the second radio system 1406) that is monitoring the channel for a transmit grant. The monitoring operation of the WWAN radio system will then be suspended for a predetermined period of time to avoid or reduce power consumption caused by persistent monitoring of the channel.

[0114] On the other hand, Fig.14 The disclosed methods and mechanisms presented in can also be applied to handshakes between WWAN and WLAN radio systems to avoid simultaneous transmission conflicts. For example, the WWAN radio can utilize the same mechanism that receives the propagated read information to perform coordination or handshakes with the WLAN radio so that the WWAN radio knows that the WLAN radio is about to transmit and thereby prevent conflicts between the two radio systems.

[0115] Fig.15 A method for controlling wireless devices such as Fig.14 Flowchart of an exemplary method 1500 for radio frequency concurrency in the device and system described in . The method 1500 is configured to control a wireless device including concurrent first and second radio systems to avoid interference from each other during transmissions between the first and second radio systems on at least one channel of a shared spectrum, similar to the methods discussed above. The method 1500 further includes: determining whether at least one of the first or second radio systems is transmitting on at least one channel by reading a control message or information message sent between the first and second radio systems within the wireless device, thereby controlling the first or second radio system, as shown in block 1502. Note that the process in block 1502 may be performed by Fig.14The processing circuit system or logic 1408 illustrated in FIG. 1404 or its equivalent may be performed.

[0116] Next, the method 1500 includes sending a notification message based on determining that one of the first or second radio systems is transmitting or is about to transmit, as shown in block 1504. The message is propagated or sent to at least one radio system in the first radio system or the second radio system that is monitoring the at least one channel to request transmission on the channel, and the notification message is configured to indicate that the other radio system is currently transmitting on the channel. The process may also be performed by Fig.14 The processing circuitry or logic 1408 illustrated in, or by its equivalent, is accomplished in conjunction with the first and second system modem / processors 1410, 1412, or their equivalents.

[0117] In addition, the method 1500 may include: suspending monitoring of the at least one channel in at least one of the first or second radio systems for requesting transmission on the at least one channel based on the notification message, as shown in block 1506. The process in block 1506 may be implemented by the first and second system modems / processors 1410, 1412 or their equivalents. In another aspect of the method 1500, the process may include: resuming monitoring of the at least one channel after a predetermined time period. In another alternative, the processing circuit system or logic 1408 may be configured to: issue another notification message, the notification message is configured to indicate that the other radio system (i.e., the radio system that was previously transmitting, as indicated in the first notification message) is no longer transmitting on the at least one channel, and may initiate resuming monitoring in the other radio system based on the another notification message. In other aspects, the notification message may be configured as a continuous status indication of the transmission status of the radio system, and suspending and / or resuming monitoring may be determined based on the status of monitoring the notification message from the processing circuit system 1108.

[0118] In a further aspect, the method 1500 alternatively includes: receiving a notification message in the first radio system, the notification message allowing the first radio system to know that the second radio system is about to transmit on the at least one channel. Subsequently, a handshake synchronization may be initiated between the first radio system and the second radio system to avoid a conflict between the first and second radio systems.

[0119] Consistent with the previously discussed systems, it is noted that the method 1500 may be configured such that the first radio system may operate under a wireless wide area network (WWAN) in accordance with one of LTE-U technology, LTE, licensed assisted access (LAA) technology, enhanced LAA (eLAA) technology, E-UTRA Band 47, or 5G New Radio (NR) technology. In addition, the second radio system may operate under a wireless local area network (WLAN) in accordance with WiFi technology.

[0120] Please note, Fig.14 and 15 The methods and apparatus may provide better coexistence management between two systems that share similar spectrum or are affected by each other's transmissions. The methods and apparatus may also save power by avoiding persistent searches when it is known that a channel is in use. This information may be supplemented by knowing or sensing the channel of interest that is being sent or transmitted.

[0121] Fig.16 A diagram illustrating a simplified example of a hardware implementation of an apparatus for providing control of concurrent radio systems in a wireless device 1602 or wireless device is illustrated. Device 1602 typically has a controller or processing circuit 1616, which may include one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, sequencers, and / or state machines. Device 1602 may be implemented with a bus architecture generally represented by bus 1620. Depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of processing circuit 1616, bus 1620 may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges. Bus 1620 links together various circuits including one or more processors and / or hardware modules (represented by modules or circuits 1604, 1606, 1608, and 1610 and computer-readable storage media 1618).

[0122] Processing circuit 1616 is responsible for general processing, including executing software, code, and / or instructions stored on computer-readable storage medium 1618. The computer-readable storage medium may include non-transitory storage media. The software, when executed by processing circuit 1616, causes device 1602, and in particular processing circuit 1616, to perform the various functions described above for any particular device. Computer-readable storage medium 1618 may be used to store data manipulated by processing circuit 1616 when executing the software.

[0123] The device 1602 further includes at least one of modules 1604, 1606, 1608, and 1610. Each module 1604, 1606, 1608, and 1610 may be a software module running in the processing circuit 1616, a software module resident / stored in the computer-readable storage medium 1618, one or more hardware modules coupled to the processing circuit 1616, or some combination thereof. The modules 1604, 1606, 1608, and 1610 may include microcontroller instructions, state machine configuration parameters, or some combination thereof. As illustrated, the module 1604 may be configured to perform a determination of whether one of the two radio systems in the device is transmitting on at least one channel by reading a control message or information message sent between the radio systems. In addition, the module 1606 may be configured for notification message transmission between the radio systems, such as sending a notification message to a radio system in the first radio system or the second radio system that is monitoring a channel to request a transmission on the channel to indicate that the other radio system is currently transmitting on the channel.

[0124] In addition, module 1608 may be configured to suspend monitoring of the at least one channel in at least one of the first or second radio systems based on the notification message. In addition, module 1608 may be configured to resume monitoring of the at least one channel after receiving another notification message in one of the first or second radio systems that is configured to indicate that the other radio system is no longer transmitting on the at least one channel. Medium 1618 may be configured with various codes for controlling and / or configuring control logic circuit systems / modules 1604, 1606, 1608, and 1610 that can operate according to various different examples disclosed herein (e.g., see Fig.14 and 15 ).

[0125] Fig.171700 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of a device 1700 using a processing circuit 1702 that can be configured to perform one or more functions disclosed herein. According to various aspects of the present disclosure, an element, or any part of an element, or any combination of elements as disclosed herein can be implemented using a processing circuit 1702. The processing circuit 1702 may include one or more processors 1704, which are controlled by a certain combination of hardware and software modules. Examples of processors 1704 include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), SoCs, ASICs, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, sequencers, gating logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform various functionalities described throughout the present disclosure. One or more processors 1704 may include a dedicated processor that performs a specific function and can be configured, enhanced, or controlled by one of the software modules 1716. One or more processors 1704 may be configured by a combination of software modules 1716 loaded during initialization, and further configured by loading or unloading one or more software modules 1716 during operation. In various examples, the processing circuit 1702 may be implemented using a state machine, a sequencer, a signal processor, and / or a general purpose processor, or a combination of such devices and circuits.

[0126] In the illustrated example, the processing circuit 1702 may be implemented with a bus architecture generally represented by a bus 1710. Depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of the processing circuit 1702, the bus 1710 may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges. The bus 1710 links together various circuits including one or more processors 1704 and storage 1706. The storage 1706 may include memory devices and mass storage devices, and may be referred to as computer-readable media and / or processor-readable media in this article. The bus 1710 may also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, timers, peripherals, regulators, and power management circuits. The bus interface 1708 may provide an interface between the bus 1710 and one or more line interface circuits or line interface circuits 1712. Line interface circuits 1712 may be provided for each networking technology supported by the processing circuit. In some instances, multiple networking technologies may share some or all of the circuit systems or processing modules present in the line interface circuit 1712. Each line interface circuit 1712 provides a means for communicating with various other devices through a transmission medium. Depending on the nature of the device 1700 , a user interface 1718 (eg, keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick) may also be provided and may be communicatively coupled to the bus 1710 either directly or through the bus interface 1708 .

[0127] The processor 1704 may be responsible for managing the bus 1710 and for general processing, which may include the execution of software stored in a computer-readable medium (which may include storage 1706). In this regard, the processing circuit 1702 (including the processor 1704) may be used to implement any of the methods, functions, and techniques disclosed herein. The storage 1706 may be used to store data that the processor 1704 manipulates when executing the software, and the software may be configured to implement any of the methods disclosed herein.

[0128] One or more processors 1704 in the processing circuit 1702 can execute software. Software should be broadly interpreted to mean instructions, instruction sets, codes, code segments, program codes, programs, subroutines, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, algorithms, etc., whether described in software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or other terms. The software may reside in the storage 1706 or in an external computer-readable medium in a computer-readable form. The external computer-readable medium and / or the storage 1706 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium. As examples, non-transitory computer-readable media include magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic strips), optical disks (e.g., compact disks (CDs) or digital versatile disks (DVDs)), smart cards, flash memory devices (e.g., "flash drives," cards, sticks, or key drives), RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM) (including EEPROM), registers, removable disks, and any other suitable medium for storing software and / or instructions that can be accessed and read by a computer. As examples, computer-readable media and / or storage 1706 may also include carrier waves, transmission lines, and any other suitable medium for transmitting software and / or instructions that can be accessed and read by a computer. Computer-readable media and / or storage 1706 may reside in processing circuit 1702, in processor 1704, external to processing circuit 1702, or distributed across multiple entities including processing circuit 1702. Computer-readable media and / or storage 1706 may be implemented in a computer program product. As examples, a computer program product may include a computer-readable medium in packaging materials. Those skilled in the art will recognize how to best implement the described functionality presented throughout this disclosure depending on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0129] The storage 1706 may maintain software maintained and / or organized in loadable code segments, modules, applications, programs, etc., which may be referred to herein as software modules 1716. Each software module 1716 may include instructions and data that, when installed or loaded onto the processing circuit 1702 and executed by the one or more processors 1704, contributes to a runtime image 1714 that controls the operation of the one or more processors 1704. When executed, certain instructions may cause the processing circuit 1702 to perform functions in accordance with certain methods, algorithms, and processes described herein.

[0130] Some software modules 1716 may be loaded during initialization of the processing circuit 1702, and these software modules 1716 may configure the processing circuit 1702 to enable the various functions disclosed herein to be performed. For example, some software modules 1716 may configure the internal devices and / or logic circuits 1722 of the processor 1704, and may manage access to external devices such as line interface circuits 1712, bus interfaces 1708, user interfaces 1718, timers, math coprocessors, etc. The software modules 1716 may include a control program and / or an operating system that interacts with interrupt handlers and device drivers and controls access to various resources provided by the processing circuit 1702. These resources may include memory, processing time, access to the line interface circuit 1712, user interfaces 1718, and the like.

[0131] The one or more processors 1704 of the processing circuit 1702 may be multifunctional, whereby some software modules 1716 are loaded and configured to perform different functions or different instances of the same function. The one or more processors 1704 may be additionally adapted to manage background tasks initiated in response to inputs from, for example, a user interface 1718, a line interface circuit 1712, and a device driver. In order to support the execution of multiple functions, the one or more processors 1704 may be configured to provide a multitasking environment, whereby each of the multiple functions is implemented as a set of tasks served by the one or more processors 1704 as needed or desired. In one example, the multitasking environment may be implemented using a time-sharing program 1720, which transfers control of the processor 1704 between different tasks, whereby each task returns control of the one or more processors 1704 to the time-sharing program 1720 upon completion of any unfinished operations and / or in response to inputs (such as interrupts). When a task has control of the one or more processors 1704, the processing circuit is effectively dedicated to the purpose targeted by the function associated with the controlling task. The time-sharing program 1720 may include an operating system, a main loop that transfers control on a cyclic basis, a function that allocates control of one or more processors 1704 based on the priority of each function, and / or an interrupt-driven main loop that responds to external events by providing control of one or more processors 1704 to a handling function.

[0132] In the above detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods and devices known to those of ordinary skill in the art are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the claimed subject matter.

[0133] Some parts of the above detailed description are presented in the form of algorithms or symbolic representations of operations on binary digital electronic signals stored in the memory of a specific device or a dedicated computing device or platform. In the context of this particular specification, the term specific device, etc., once programmed to perform specific functions according to instructions from program software, includes a general-purpose computer. Algorithmic descriptions or symbolic representations are examples of techniques used by ordinary technicians in signal processing or related fields to convey the essence of their work to other technicians in the field. The algorithm here is generally considered to be a self-consistent sequence of operations or similar signal processing that leads to a desired result. In this context, operations or processing involve physical manipulation of physical quantities. Typically, but not necessarily, such quantities can take the form of electronic signals that can be stored, transmitted, combined, compared or otherwise manipulated to represent information. Mainly for reasons of common use, it has proven to be convenient sometimes to refer to such signals as bits, data, values, elements, code elements, characters, items, quantities, numbers, information, etc. However, it should be understood that all of these and similar terms are associated with appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels.

[0134] Some parts of the above detailed description are presented in the form of algorithms or symbolic representations of operations on binary digital electronic signals stored in the memory of a specific device or a dedicated computing device or platform. In the context of this particular specification, the term specific device, etc., once programmed to perform specific functions according to instructions from program software, includes a general-purpose computer. Algorithmic descriptions or symbolic representations are examples of techniques used by ordinary technicians in signal processing or related fields to convey the essence of their work to other technicians in the field. The algorithm here is generally considered to be a self-consistent sequence of operations or similar signal processing that leads to a desired result. In this context, operations or processing involve physical manipulation of physical quantities. Typically, but not necessarily, such quantities can take the form of electronic signals that can be stored, transmitted, combined, compared or otherwise manipulated to represent information. Mainly for reasons of common use, it has proven to be convenient sometimes to refer to such signals as bits, data, values, elements, code elements, characters, items, quantities, numbers, information, etc. However, it should be understood that all of these and similar terms are associated with appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels.

[0135] Unless otherwise specifically stated, as will be apparent from the discussion below, it should be appreciated that throughout this specification, discussions utilizing terms such as "processing," "computing," "calculating," "identifying," "determining," "establishing," "obtaining," etc. refer to actions or processes of a specific apparatus, such as a special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device. In the context of this specification, therefore, a special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals that are typically representative of physical electronic or magnetic quantities within a memory, register, or other information storage device, transmission device, or display device of the special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device. In the context of this particular patent application, the term "specific apparatus" may include a general purpose computer once it is programmed to perform specific functions according to instructions from program software.

[0136] References throughout this specification to "one example," "an example," "some examples," or "exemplary implementations" mean that the particular features, structures, or characteristics described in conjunction with the features and / or examples may be included in at least one feature and / or example of the claimed subject matter. Thus, the phrases "in one example," "an example," "some examples," or "in some implementations" appearing in various places in the specification do not necessarily all refer to the same features, examples, and / or limitations. Furthermore, these particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in one or more examples and / or features.

[0137] Several aspects of wireless communication networks (such as WLAN and WWAN networks) and wireless devices operable therein have been given with reference to exemplary implementations. As will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, the various aspects described throughout this disclosure may be extended to other telecommunication systems, network architectures, and communication standards. As an example, various aspects may be implemented in other systems defined by 3GPP, such as 5G NR, Long Term Evolution (LTE), Evolved Packet System (EPS), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and / or Global System for Mobile (GSM). Various aspects may also be extended to systems defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), such as CDMA2000 and / or Evolution Data Optimization (EV-DO). Other examples may be implemented in systems employing IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Ultra Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth, and / or other suitable systems. The actual telecommunication standards, network architectures, and / or communication standards employed will depend on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

[0138] Within the present disclosure, the wording "exemplary" is used to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration". Any implementation or aspect described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as superior or superior to other aspects of the present disclosure. Likewise, the term "aspect" does not require that all aspects of the present disclosure include the features, advantages, or modes of operation discussed. The term "coupled" is used herein to refer to a direct or indirect coupling between two objects. For example, if object A physically contacts object B, and object B contacts object C, objects A and C may still be considered to be coupled to each other - even if they are not in direct physical contact with each other. For example, a first object may be coupled to a second object, even if the first object never directly contacts the second object physically. The terms "circuit" and "circuitry" are used broadly and are intended to include both hardware implementations of electronic devices and conductors and software implementations of information and instructions, which, when connected and configured, enable the functions described in the present disclosure to be performed without limitation on the type of electronic circuits, which, when executed by a processor, enable the functions described in the present disclosure to be performed.

[0139] Figure 1-17 One or more of the components, steps, features, and / or functions described herein may be rearranged and / or combined into a single component, step, feature, or function, or may be implemented in several components, steps, or functions. Additional elements, components, steps, and / or functions may also be added without departing from the novel features disclosed herein. Figure 1-17 The devices, apparatuses and / or components illustrated in the description may be configured to perform one or more methods, features, or steps described herein.

[0140] This description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the universal principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Therefore, the claims are not intended to be limited to the various aspects shown herein, but should be granted the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein the singular reference to the element is not intended to mean "there is and only one" - unless specifically stated, but intended to mean "one or more". Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term "some" refers to one or more. The phrase "at least one of" a list of items refers to any combination of these items, including a single member. As an example, "at least one of a, b or c" is intended to cover: a; b; c; a and b; a and c; b and c; and a, b and c. The elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure are all structurally and functionally equivalent schemes currently or hereafter known to those of ordinary skill in the art, and are expressly incorporated herein by reference, and are intended to be covered by the claims. In addition, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be contributed to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly described in the claims. No element of a claim is to be construed under 35 U.S.C. §112(f) unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase "means for" or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase "step for."

Claims

1. A method for controlling a wireless device comprising a coexisting first radio system and a second radio system, the first radio system and the second radio system being each configured to transmit on at least one channel sharing a frequency spectrum between the first radio system and the second radio system, the method comprising: Monitor the at least one channel using the second radio system to request transmission on the at least one channel reading, using processing circuitry external to the first radio system and the second radio system, control messages sent between the first radio system and the second radio system; determining, based on reading the control message, that the first radio system is transmitting or is about to transmit on the at least one channel; In response to determining that the first radio system is currently transmitting or is about to transmit on the at least one channel, sending a notification message from the processing circuitry to the second radio system, wherein the notification message is configured to: indicate that the first radio system is currently transmitting or is about to transmit on the at least one channel; as well as In response to receiving the notification message, monitoring of the at least one channel using the second radio system is suspended.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: Monitoring of the at least one channel using the second radio system is resumed after a predetermined period of time.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: Monitoring of the at least one channel using the second radio system is resumed after receiving a further notification message from the processing circuitry in the second radio system, the further notification message being configured to indicate that the first radio system is no longer transmitting on the at least one channel.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending the notification message to the first radio system; as well as Initiate handshake synchronization signaling between the first radio system and the second radio system based on the notification message to avoid conflict between the first radio system and the second radio system.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: Operation of receive circuitry in the first radio system is modified based on receipt of the notification message.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein: The first radio system is capable of operating in a wireless wide area network (WWAN) that is operable according to one of the following: LTE-U technology, LTE, licensed assisted access (LAA) technology, enhanced LAA (eLAA) technology, E-UTRA Band 47 technology, or 5G New Radio (NR) technology, and the second radio system operates in a wireless local area network (WLAN).

7. The method of claim 1, wherein: The second radio system is capable of operating in a wireless wide area network (WWAN) that is operable according to one of the following: LTE-U technology, LTE, licensed assisted access (LAA) technology, enhanced LAA (eLAA) technology, E-UTRA Band 47 technology, or 5G New Radio (NR) technology, and the first radio system operates in a wireless local area network (WLAN).

8. A wireless device, comprising: First Radio System; a second radio system co-existing with the first radio system and configured to transmit on at least one channel sharing a spectrum between the first radio system and the second radio system and to monitor the at least one channel for a request to transmit on the at least one channel; at least one processing circuit system configured to: reading control messages sent between the first radio system and the second radio system within the wireless device; determining, based on reading the control message, that the first radio system is transmitting or is about to transmit on the at least one channel; as well as In response to determining that the first radio system is currently transmitting or is about to transmit on the at least one channel, sending a notification message to the second radio system, wherein the notification message is configured to: indicate that the first radio system is currently transmitting or is about to transmit on the at least one channel; as well as In response to receiving the notification message, monitoring of the at least one channel using the second radio system is suspended.

9. The wireless device of claim 8, wherein: The at least one processing circuit system is further configured to cause the second radio system to resume monitoring of the at least one channel after receiving another notification message in the second radio system, the other notification message configured to indicate that the first radio system is no longer transmitting on the at least one channel.

10. The wireless device of claim 9, wherein the at least one processing circuit system is further configured to: sending the notification message to the first radio system; and Initiate handshake synchronization signaling between the first radio system and the second radio system based on the notification message to avoid conflict between the first radio system and the second radio system.

11. The wireless device of claim 10, wherein the at least one processing circuitry is further configured to modify operation of receive circuitry in the first radio system based on receiving the notification message.

12. The wireless device of claim 9, wherein: The first radio system is capable of operating in a wireless wide area network (WWAN) that is operable according to one of the following: LTE-U technology, LTE, licensed assisted access (LAA) technology, enhanced LAA (eLAA) technology, E-UTRA Band 47 technology, or 5G New Radio (NR) technology, and the second radio system operates in a wireless local area network (WLAN).

13. The wireless device of claim 9, wherein: The second radio system is capable of operating in a wireless wide area network (WWAN) that is operable according to one of the following: LTE-U technology, LTE, licensed assisted access (LAA) technology, enhanced LAA (eLAA) technology, E-UTRA Band 47 technology, or 5G New Radio (NR) technology, and the first radio system operates in a wireless local area network (WLAN).

14. The wireless device of claim 9, wherein: The at least one processing circuitry is external to the first radio system and the second radio system.

15. An apparatus for controlling a wireless device comprising a coexisting first radio system and a second radio system, the first radio system and the second radio system being each configured to transmit on at least one channel sharing a frequency spectrum between the first radio system and the second radio system, the apparatus comprising: means for monitoring the at least one channel using the second radio system to request transmission on the at least one channel; means for reading control messages sent between the first radio system and the second radio system, wherein the means for reading is external to the first radio system and the second radio system; means for determining, based on reading the control message, that the first radio system is transmitting or is about to transmit on the at least one channel; means for sending a notification message to the second radio system in response to determining that the first radio system is currently transmitting or is about to transmit on the at least one channel, the notification message being configured to: indicate that the first radio system is currently transmitting or is about to transmit on the at least one channel; as well as means for suspending monitoring of the at least one channel using the second radio system in response to receiving the notification message.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising: Means for resuming monitoring of the at least one channel using the second radio system after a predetermined period of time.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising: Means for resuming monitoring of the at least one channel using the second radio system after receiving in the second radio system another notification message from the means for sending the notification message to the second radio system in response to determining that the first radio system is or will transmit on the at least one channel, wherein the another notification message is configured to indicate that the first radio system is no longer transmitting on the at least one channel.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising: means for sending the notification message to the first radio system; as well as means for initiating handshake synchronization signaling between the first radio system and the second radio system based on the notification message to avoid a conflict between the first radio system and the second radio system.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising: Means for modifying operation of receive circuitry in the first radio system based on receiving the notification message.

20. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein: The first radio system is capable of operating in a wireless wide area network (WWAN) that is operable according to one of the following: LTE-U technology, LTE, licensed assisted access (LAA) technology, enhanced LAA (eLAA) technology, E-UTRA Band 47 technology, or 5G New Radio (NR) technology, and the second radio system operates in a wireless local area network (WLAN).

21. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein: The second radio system is capable of operating in a wireless wide area network (WWAN) that is operable according to one of the following: LTE-U technology, LTE, licensed assisted access (LAA) technology, enhanced LAA (eLAA) technology, E-UTRA Band 47 technology, or 5G New Radio (NR) technology, and the first radio system operates in a wireless local area network (WLAN).

22. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein: The means for sending the notification message to the second radio system in response to determining that the first radio system is or will be transmitting on the at least one channel comprises processing circuitry external to the first radio system and the second radio system.

23. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable code, comprising code for causing a computer to: monitoring at least one channel to request transmission on the at least one channel using a second radio system in the wireless device; reading a control message sent between a first radio system and the second radio system, wherein the first radio system and the second radio system are coexisting radio systems each configured to transmit on the at least one channel sharing a frequency spectrum between the first radio system and the second radio system; determining that the first radio system is transmitting or is about to transmit on the at least one channel based on reading the control message sent between the first radio system and the second radio system within the wireless device; In response to determining that the first radio system is currently transmitting or is about to transmit on the at least one channel, sending a notification message to the second radio system, wherein the notification message is configured to: indicate that the first radio system is currently transmitting or is about to transmit on the at least one channel; as well as In response to receiving the notification message, monitoring of the at least one channel using the second radio system is suspended.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23, further comprising code for causing the computer to: Monitoring of the at least one channel using the second radio system is resumed after a predetermined period of time.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23, further comprising code for causing the computer to: Monitoring of the at least one channel using the second radio system is resumed after receiving a further notification message in the second radio system, the further notification message being configured to indicate that the first radio system is no longer transmitting on the at least one channel.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23, further comprising code for causing the computer to: sending the notification message to the first radio system; and Initiate handshake synchronization signaling between the first radio system and the second radio system based on the notification message to avoid conflict between the first radio system and the second radio system.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26, further comprising code for causing the computer to: Operation of receive circuitry in the first radio system is modified based on receipt of the notification message.

28. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein: One of the first radio system or the second radio system is capable of operating in a wireless wide area network (WWAN) that is operable according to one of the following: LTE-U technology, LTE, licensed assisted access (LAA) technology, enhanced LAA (eLAA) technology, E-UTRA Band 47 technology, or 5G New Radio (NR) technology, and the second radio system operates in a wireless local area network (WLAN).

29. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein: The code further causes the computer to send the notification message to at least one of the first radio system and the second radio system using processing circuitry external to the first radio system and the second radio system.

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