Conductive RF communication for high reliability applications

Abstract

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a system for processing data, comprising: a plurality of processing nodes, each processing node comprising at least one processor and at least one radio frequency (RF) chain; and at least one link for conducting RF communication between or among the processing nodes using a wireless communication protocol.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. patent application No. 17 / 944,134, filed on September 13, 2022, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application, and the entire contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth below for all applicable purposes. Technical Field

[0003] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to communications, and more particularly, to techniques for performing radio frequency (RF) communications via conductive media. Background Art

[0004] Communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. These networks may be multiple-access networks capable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available network resources. Examples of such multiple-access networks include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) networks, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, and Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks.

[0005] To address the problem of increasing bandwidth requirements required by wireless communication systems, different schemes are being developed to allow multiple user terminals to communicate with a single access point by sharing channel resources while achieving high data throughput. Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology represents such an approach that has become a popular technology for communication systems. MIMO technology has been adopted in several wireless communication standards such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard. IEEE 802.11 represents a collection of wireless local area network (WLAN) air interface standards developed by the IEEE 802.11 committee for short-range communications such as tens of meters to hundreds of meters. Summary of the invention

[0006] One aspect provides a system for processing data, including: a plurality of processing nodes, each processing node including at least one processor and at least one radio frequency (RF) chain; and at least a first link for conducting RF communication between or among the processing nodes using a wireless communication protocol.

[0007] Other aspects provide: an apparatus operable, configured, or otherwise adapted to perform any one or more of the foregoing methods and / or methods described elsewhere herein; a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions (e.g., processor-executable instructions) that, when executed by a processor of the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the foregoing methods and methods described elsewhere herein; a computer program product embodied on a computer-readable storage medium, comprising code for performing the foregoing methods and methods described elsewhere herein; and / or an apparatus comprising components for performing the foregoing methods and methods described elsewhere herein. For example, an apparatus may include a processing system, a device having a processing system, or a processing system cooperating on one or more networks.

[0008] For purposes of illustration, the following description and drawings set forth certain features. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] The accompanying drawings depict certain features of the various aspects described herein and should not be considered as limiting the scope of the disclosure.

[0010] Figure 1 A diagram illustrating an example processing system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is depicted.

[0011] Figure 2 Depicted are example components of a device in a wireless communication system.

[0012] Figure 3 Depicted are example components of a device in a communication system capable of radio frequency (RF) communication via a conductive medium in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0013] Figure 4 Example conductive RF architectures according to aspects of the present disclosure are depicted.

[0014] Figure 5 A timing diagram showing an example guard interval is depicted.

[0015] Figure 6 Depicted is a circuit diagram showing a power supply providing power to a processing node in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 7 Depicted is a diagram showing how link disruption between processing nodes can be detected in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 8 A method for communicating is depicted.

[0018] Fig. 9 Aspects of an example communications device are depicted. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer-readable media for performing radio frequency (RF) communications via a conductive medium.

[0020] Communication systems configured for certain use cases require high reliability (HA) characteristics. Examples of such use cases include communication systems deployed for medical, public safety, industrial robotics, and unattended infrastructure applications. As another example use case, Figure 1 As shown, space navigation and avionics may require high reliability to ensure performance and safety for applications such as entry descent and landing functions.

[0021] In such applications, redundancy is often desired to address various failures that may occur. For example, in a multi-processor deployment, it may be desirable to provide redundancy so that if one processor fails for some reason, another processor can take over. This is particularly important in certain applications, such as during entry descent and landing maneuvers where large amounts of video data may be processed. In general, the more important the application or task (e.g., measured in terms of total cost, life, or safety), the more features need to be incorporated to ensure that the application or task can continue after and / or during a failure.

[0022] Some methods of providing communication between processors utilize network-based protocols and interfaces, such as high-speed peripheral component interconnect (PCIe) or Ethernet. Unfortunately, in such systems, all communications are usually routed through an interface device called a hub chip. Thus, the hub chip represents a single point of failure, meaning that if the device fails, all communications between processors may fail. In other systems, point-to-point links between nodes can be used to bypass failures. Such systems suffer from scalability issues because the number of links increases nonlinearly relative to the number of nodes (e.g., there are 3 links for 3 nodes, but 6 links for 4 nodes).

[0023] In some cases, redundant buses can be used to accommodate certain types of failures. Such failures can include a bus shorting to ground or power or a chip failing for some reason. If redundant buses are used, in the event of a failure on one bus, the system can switch to another bus. Some types of buses may tolerate certain types of shorts, but such buses are typically low bandwidth and may not be suitable for applications that require high bandwidth, such as sharing of video feeds.

[0024] While wireless RF communication systems can address some of the above issues (e.g., without short circuits and greater scalability), intra-aircraft communication systems tend to use only wired connections. In addition, in some use cases, there may be concerns about RF emissions interfering with sensitive instruments (e.g., radio astronomy equipment). In some cases, there may also be security concerns due to the potential detectability of the RF signature (e.g., a device or aircraft may be detected or identified by the RF signature).

[0025] Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques that can provide high reliability for a variety of use cases, such as those described above. Figure 1 As shown, these techniques can provide reliable links between processing nodes using radio frequency (RF) communications via a conductive medium. These techniques can allow the use of wireless communication protocols, but with the added reliability and advantages of "wired" communications via a conductive medium. The conductive RF communications proposed herein can accommodate heterogeneous nodes (e.g., cameras, sensors, actuators, remote controls (such as Figure 1 as shown), a user interface terminal or a communication link for interfacing with the outside of the system).

[0026] Using wired (conducted) RF communications instead of wireless (radiated) RF communications can solve problems associated with undesirable radiated signals (e.g., problems particularly with metallic aircraft). In some cases, redundant links (buses) for conductive RF communications may have the benefit that the number of links does not need to be proportional to the number of nodes. Additionally, conductive RF communications may have the property of multipath reduction, which may allow for a reduction in guard intervals and a corresponding increase in throughput. Conducted RF communications may also allow for tightening of transmit spectrum masks, receive channel selectivity, and more aggressive modulation and coding schemes (MCS) for increased transmit power to improve efficiency with comparable reliability.

[0027] Introduction to Wireless Communication Networks

[0028] The various aspects of the present disclosure will be described more completely below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure can be implemented in many different forms and should not be interpreted as being limited to any specific structure or function presented throughout the present disclosure. On the contrary, these aspects are provided to make the present disclosure thorough and complete, and to fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. Based on the teachings herein, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover any aspect of the present disclosure disclosed herein, whether implemented independently of any other aspect of the present disclosure or implemented in combination with any other aspect of the present disclosure. For example, any number of aspects set forth herein can be used to implement a device or practice method. In addition, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover such devices or methods that are practiced using other structures, functions, or structures and functions in addition to or different from the various aspects of the present disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the present disclosure disclosed herein can be implemented by one or more elements of the claims.

[0029] The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects.

[0030] Although specific aspects are described herein, many variations and permutations of these aspects fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Although some benefits and advantages of preferred aspects are mentioned, the scope of the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to specific benefits, uses or objectives. On the contrary, various aspects of the present disclosure are intended to be widely applicable to different wired and wireless technologies, system configurations, networks and transmission protocols, some of which are shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings and the following description of preferred aspects. The detailed description and drawings are merely illustrative of the present disclosure and are not limiting, and the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0031] The techniques described herein can be used in various broadband wireless communication systems, including communication systems based on orthogonal multiplexing schemes. Examples of such communication systems include space division multiple access (SDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and the like. SDMA systems can use sufficiently different directions to simultaneously transmit data belonging to multiple user terminals. TDMA systems can allow multiple user terminals to share the same frequency channel by dividing the transmission signal into different time slots, each of which is assigned to a different user terminal. OFDMA systems use orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), which is a modulation technique that divides the total system bandwidth into multiple orthogonal subcarriers. These subcarriers may also be referred to as tones, frequency bands, and the like. Using OFDM, each subcarrier can be independently modulated with data. SC-FDMA systems can use interleaved FDMA (IFDMA) to transmit on subcarriers distributed over the system bandwidth, localized FDMA (LFDMA) to transmit on adjacent subcarrier blocks, or enhanced FDMA (EFDMA) to transmit on multiple adjacent subcarrier blocks. In general, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDM, and modulation symbols are sent in the time domain with SC-FDMA.

[0032] The teachings herein may be incorporated into (such as implemented in or performed by) various wired or wireless apparatuses (such as nodes). In some aspects, a wireless node implemented in accordance with the teachings herein may comprise an access point or an access terminal.

[0033] An access point ("AP") may include, be implemented as, or be referred to as a Node B, a radio network controller ("RNC"), an evolved Node B (eNB), a base station controller ("BSC"), a base transceiver station ("BTS"), a base station ("BS"), a transceiver function ("TF"), a radio router, a radio transceiver, a basic service set ("BSS"), an extended service set ("ESS"), a radio base station ("RBS"), or some other terminology.

[0034] An access terminal ("AT") may include, be implemented as, or be referred to as a subscriber station, a subscriber unit, a mobile station (MS), a remote station, a remote terminal, a user terminal (UT), a user agent, a user device, a user equipment (UE), a user station, or some other terms. In some embodiments, the access terminal may include a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol ("SIP") phone, a wireless local loop ("WLL") station, a personal digital assistant ("PDA"), a handheld device with wireless connection capability, a station ("STA"), or some other suitable processing device connected to a wireless modem. Accordingly, one or more aspects of the teachings herein may be incorporated into a phone (such as a cellular phone or a smart phone), a computer (such as a laptop), a tablet computer, a portable communication device, a portable computing device (such as a personal data assistant), an entertainment device (such as a music or video device or a satellite radio), a global positioning system (GPS) device, or any other suitable device configured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium. In some aspects, a node is a wireless node. For example, such a wireless node may provide connectivity for a network (eg, a wide area network such as the Internet or a cellular network) via a wired or wireless communication link.

[0035] Example Wireless Communication System

[0036] Figure 2 A block diagram of an AP 110 and two wireless STAs 120m and 120x in a MIMO / MLO system (such as system 100) according to certain aspects of the present disclosure is shown. In certain aspects, the AP 110 and / or the wireless STAs 120m and 120x may perform various techniques to ensure that non-AP MLDs are able to receive group-addressed frames. For example, the AP 110 and / or the wireless STAs 120m and 120x may include a plurality of wireless STAs 120m and 120x as described herein. Figure 1 The corresponding association manager.

[0037] AP 110 is equipped with N ap The wireless STA 120m is equipped with N antennas 224a to 224t. sta,m antennas 252ma to 252mu, and the wireless STA 120x is equipped with N sta,xThe AP 110 is a transmitting entity for DL ​​and a receiving entity for UL. Each wireless STA 120 is a transmitting entity for UL and a receiving entity for DL. As used herein, a "transmitting entity" is an independently operated device or equipment capable of transmitting data via a wireless channel, and a "receiving entity" is an independently operated device or equipment capable of receiving data via a wireless channel. The term "communication" generally refers to transmission, reception, or both. In the following description, the subscript "DL" indicates downlink, the subscript "UL" indicates uplink, and N is selected. UL wireless STAs for simultaneous transmission on the uplink, select N DL wireless STAs for simultaneous transmission on the downlink, N UL Can be equal to or not equal to N DL , and N UL and N DL It may be a static value or may vary for each scheduling interval.Beam steering or some other spatial processing technique may be used at the access point and wireless stations.

[0038] On the UL, at each wireless STA 120 selected for UL transmission, a transmit (TX) data processor 288 receives traffic data from a data source 286 and control data from a controller 280. The TX data processor 288 processes (e.g., encodes, interleaves, and modulates) the traffic data for the wireless station based on a coding and modulation scheme associated with the rate selected for the wireless STA and provides a data symbol stream. The TX spatial processor 290 performs spatial processing on the data symbol stream and generates a TX symbol stream for N sta,m The antennas provide N sta,m Each transceiver (TMTR) 254 receives a corresponding transmit symbol stream and processes it (eg, performs analog conversion, amplification, filtering, and frequency up-conversion) to generate an uplink signal. sta,m The transceivers 254 provide N sta,m UL signal for N sta,m transmission from antenna 252 to AP 110.

[0039] N UL Wireless STAs may be scheduled for simultaneous transmission on the uplink. Each of these wireless STAs performs spatial processing on its data symbol stream and sends its set of transmit symbol streams to AP 110 on the UL.

[0040] At AP 110, N ap The antennas 224a to 224ap receive the UL signals from all N ULEach antenna 224 provides a received signal to a corresponding transceiver (RCVR) 222. Each transceiver 222 performs processing complementary to that performed by transceiver 254 and provides a received symbol stream. The receive (RX) spatial processor 240 processes the signals from N ap N of transceivers 222 ap The receiver performs spatial processing on the received symbol streams and provides N UL Receiver spatial processing is performed based on channel correlation matrix inversion (CCMI), minimum mean square error (MMSE), soft interference cancellation (SIC), or some other techniques. Each recovered UL data symbol stream is an estimate of the data symbol stream sent by the corresponding wireless station. RX data processor 242 processes (e.g., demodulates, deinterleaves, and decodes) the stream according to the rate used for each recovered uplink data symbol stream to obtain decoded data. The decoded data for each wireless STA can be provided to data sink 244 for storage and / or to controller 230 for further processing.

[0041] On the DL, at AP 110, TX data processor 210 receives data from N DL The TX data processor 210 processes (e.g., encodes, interleaves, and modulates) the traffic data of the wireless station based on the rate selected for the wireless station. The TX data processor 210 processes (e.g., encodes, interleaves, and modulates) the traffic data of the wireless station based on the rate selected for the wireless station. DL The wireless stations provide N DL TX spatial processor 220 performs N DL The DL data symbol streams perform spatial processing (such as precoding or beamforming, as described in the present disclosure) and are N ap The antennas provide N ap Each transceiver 222 receives and processes a corresponding transmit symbol stream to generate a DL signal. ap The transceiver 222 provides N ap DL signals for use from N ap The antenna 224 transmits to the wireless STA.

[0042] At each wireless STA 120, N sta,m The antenna 252 receives N signals from the access point 110. ap Each transceiver 254 processes the received signal from an associated antenna 252 and provides a received symbol stream. The RX spatial processor 260 processes the received signal from the N sta,mThe N transceivers 254 receive sta,m The receiver performs spatial processing on the symbol streams and provides a recovered DL data symbol stream for the wireless station. The receiver spatial processing is performed according to CCMI, MMSE, or some other techniques. The RX data processor 270 processes (e.g., demodulates, deinterleaves, and decodes) the recovered DL data symbol stream to obtain decoded data for the wireless station.

[0043] At each wireless STA 120, the channel estimator 278 estimates the DL channel response and provides a DL channel estimate, which may include a channel gain estimate, an SNR estimate, a noise variance, etc. Similarly, the channel estimator 228 estimates the UL channel response and provides a UL channel estimate. The controller 280 of each wireless STA is generally based on the downlink channel response matrix H of the wireless station. dn,m The controller 230 derives the spatial filter matrix of the wireless station based on the effective UL channel response matrix H up,eff The controller 280 of each wireless STA may send feedback information (e.g., downlink and / or uplink eigenvectors, eigenvalues, SNR estimates, etc.) to the AP. The controllers 230 and 280 also control the operation of various processing units at the AP 110 and the wireless STA 120, respectively.

[0044] Example Wired RF Communications System

[0045] like Figure 3 As shown, aspects of the present disclosure may provide a reliable link between processing nodes 302 using radio frequency (RF) communications via conductive paths 324. These techniques may allow wireless communication protocols to be utilized, but with the added reliability and advantages of "wired" communications via conductive media.

[0046] like Figure 3 As shown, these techniques can also allow the use of Figure 2 The same or similar components described above but with some changes. For example, in Figure 3 In the embodiment of the present invention, the conductive path 324 may replace the antenna, and the conductive RF communication may not require the channel estimator and the spatial (Tx and Rx) processor.

[0047] Processing node 302 may be Figure 1 The examples of processing nodes (1, 2, ... N) shown in FIG. Figure 3 Three processing nodes (302a, 302b, and 302c) are shown in FIG, but any number of processing nodes (including redundant nodes) may communicate using conducted RF communications, depending on the use case and / or specific implementation.

[0048] Aspects related to conducted RF communications

[0049] Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques that can provide high reliability for various use cases, such as processing for launch and / or landing maneuvers for an aircraft. These techniques can provide a reliable link between processing nodes using conductive RF communications. As described above, conductive RF communications can allow the use of wireless communication protocols, but with the added reliability and advantages of "wired" communications via conductive media.

[0050] Processing nodes can provide redundancy, for example, allowing one processing node to take over if another processing node fails or goes offline for some reason (e.g., fails due to a bus short, thermal issues, or performs a reboot). Conductive RF paths can also be designed to tolerate various types of shorts, and multiple buses can provide redundant paths (and some RF signal energy can "jump" small breaks in the wires / conductive paths). Conductive RF communications as proposed herein can accommodate heterogeneous nodes while providing conflict management via various mechanisms.

[0051] Using conducted RF communications instead of radiated RF communications can solve problems associated with undesirable radiated signals. In some cases, conducted RF communications may have reduced multipath properties, which may allow guard interval reduction and a corresponding increase in throughput. Conducted RF communications may also allow for tightening of transmit spectrum masks, receive channel selectivity, and rate adaptation for increased transmit power to improve reliability and efficiency.

[0052] Figure 4 An example of a system utilizing conductive RF communication between processing nodes 402 is shown. Each processing node may include at least one processor and at least one radio frequency (RF) chain. Each processing node may be implemented as a system on a chip (sSoC). Each processing node may essentially act as a processing subsystem and may perform independent processing (different processing from other nodes) and / or may perform redundant processing (e.g., the same or similar processing as other nodes). In some cases, a central controller 408 may be included that acts as a host (e.g., it may configure and / or manage communications between processing nodes).

[0053] As shown, in some cases, a direct current (DC) blocking circuit 404 can be coupled to one or more links. The DC blocking circuit can help resolve shorted wires (or damaged chips) and can prevent failures (e.g., failures in silicon / devices). In some cases, a balanced-unbalanced (balun) circuit 406 can be coupled to one or more links. A balun circuit generally refers to a (two-port) element that can be placed between a source and a load when a differential, balanced RF functional block is connected to a single-ended, ground-referenced functional block.

[0054] In the example shown, there are two links (e.g., buses) for conducting RF communications between or among processing nodes. In some cases, the RF communications can be performed using a wireless communication protocol. In some cases, the RF chain includes a device having components that transmit and receive on two channels, such as an 802.11 (WiFi) compatible device. In some cases, each link can be implemented as a coaxial cable and / or twisted pair, which can reduce wiring between processing nodes.

[0055] In some cases, a link can support different frequency bands. For example, a link can support two frequencies, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz (and / or 6 GHz for some devices), which can provide some flexibility. For example, if a device (e.g., one of the processing nodes or an external device) were to start transmitting on 2.4 GHz, which would cause noise on the bus, one or more of the processing nodes could recognize this and switch to 5 GHz to avoid the noise. Additionally, if one of the links is interrupted, the device can switch to another link.

[0056] In some cases, at least one of the processing nodes may be configured to send redundant packets over multiple links. In this case, the redundant packets may include a mark identifying them as redundant. In this way, the processing nodes can automatically introduce redundancy and reliability in the transmission by sending the same data stream. For example, if a processing node is exchanging video content with another processing node or a central controller, some of the video content may be sent on the 2.4 GHz band, while the same duplicate packets may be sent on the 5 GHz band, and the redundant packets may be aggregated. In some cases, the processing node may mark the redundant packets with a network tracking file (cookie). Based on the network tracking file, the receiver may discard one of the redundant packets (e.g., the later or first arriving redundant packet) and adopt another redundant packet.

[0057] As mentioned above, non-radiating RF channels may benefit from the lack of multipath and scattering. In practice, this can translate into a channel impulse response (CIR) with fewer taps and a very static and deterministic channel response. As a result, the time-varying CIR exhibited by a typical non-line-of-sight (NLOS) channel in a radiated RF transmission may not be present, resulting in a very dense CIR that barely varies over time, with perhaps only a few taps representing any crosstalk in the coax / twisted pair.

[0058] This knowledge of multipath reduction can allow for a guard interval (GI) reduction (e.g., less than the GI associated with radiative RF communications) and a corresponding increase in throughput. Figure 5As shown, while typical radiated RF communications may result in a relatively long GI (e.g., GI 2), multipath reduction for conducted RF communications may allow for a reduced (or no GI) GI 502. It is not necessary to consider that a long GI in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol may effectively increase performance throughput (e.g., by 10% or more) by operating with a short GI, which increases the information content for each OFDM symbol.

[0059] Multipath reduction can also allow the transmission spectrum mask for improving transmission power to be tightened, which can lead to higher reliability. In other words, by having less multipath and thus slowly having less inter-interference (ISI) per OFDM symbol, the transmit (Tx) finite impulse response (FIR) taps can be adjusted to tighten the spectrum mask of the outgoing transmission, thereby increasing the allowable Tx power on (one or more) links. Multipath reduction can also lead to better Rx channel selectivity. In other words, the receive (Rx) FIR taps on the receiver can be adjusted to improve the filter response of the incoming signal without having to worry about the group delay of the added taps intruding into adjacent symbols to cause ISI because the channel itself is multipath-free. This increases the signal reliability on the Rx side. In some cases, the number of taps of the FIR filter at transmit and receive is adapted to have more taps based on the channel dispersion length calculated based on the guard interval of the OFDM symbol.

[0060] Conductive RF communications may also allow for improved and more aggressive rate adaptation schemes without sacrificing reliability. For example, knowing that the channel is virtually free of over-the-air (OTA) collisions and free of multipath may allow processing nodes to operate with aggressive modulation and coding schemes MCS to achieve higher rates without having to quickly reduce rates due to any unforeseen packet loss (or non-acknowledgement) events. As opposed to the default MCS0-MCS15 window, the receiver may operate in a narrow window with rapid recovery to the peak MCS rate. In other words, conductive RF communications between processing nodes may involve a smaller subset of (upper / higher) MCS rates to improve throughput and latency in conductive channel environments.

[0061] like Figure 6 As shown, in some cases, at least one of the processing nodes may be configured with a circuit to obtain operating power from one of the conductive links 600. In this case, the processing node may include at least one element, such as an inductor 602 or a ferrite bead, to prevent RF energy from being shunted into the power supply circuit.

[0062] In some cases, one or more of the processing nodes may be configured to detect a fault that indicates a break in the network graph of connected processing nodes. For example, if one processing node has a break (or balun is broken or conductive link is broken), the processing node may continue to transmit the break, and the break will eventually radiate in the environment because the conductive link (coaxial cable / twisted pair) can act as an antenna. One method of detecting such a fault would be based on an RF energy measurement standpoint.

[0063] Another method of detecting such a failure may be based on the change in the metric value between one processing node and other processing nodes. This metric may be called a cross metric because each processing node may maintain a set of metric values ​​between the processing node and other processing nodes.

[0064] For example, refer to Figure 7 , each processing node can (create and) maintain a metric value from the perspective of the processing node representing a row in the matrix 700. In the example shown, processing node 1 maintains N-1 metric values ​​(M12, M13, ..., M1N) for the metric between the processing node and each other processing node in a directional sense. Each entry can be a unique value measured from the perspective of a specific node. For example, M12 represents the metric value seen (measured / observed) from processing node 1 to processing node 2, while M21 is the same metric seen from processing node 2 to processing node 1. Each processing node can measure the metric and derive the row element (Mi1, Mi2, ..., MiN) of the processing node for processing node i

[0065] Examples of metrics include, but are not limited to, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), packet error rate (PER), and round trip time (RTT) based distance measurements.

[0066] If a given processing node i determines that all of its M_i_j (for j=1, N, j != i) are compromised (e.g., changed by a threshold amount or fall outside an expected range), then node i may determine that it has a fault and may take action to take itself offline (shut itself down) to avoid potentially disrupting other processing nodes.

[0067] As an example, if the metric is RSSI, then if all metrics RSSI_i_j < threshold for all j, this may indicate that processing node i only hears some highly attenuated signals indicating a broken connection. Similarly, if the metric is distance, then if all distance metrics i_j for all j exceed a threshold (e.g., based on previous link characterization), this may indicate that a broken connection caused a change in the RTT measurement.

[0068] Example Operation of the Second Multilink Device

[0069] Figure 8 An example of a method 800 for processing data at a system is shown. In some examples, the system is Figure 1 processing system.

[0070] Method 800 begins at step 805 by establishing at least one link for conductive RF communication with one or more processing nodes using a wireless communication protocol. In some cases, the operation of this step refers to reference Fig. 9 Circuits for establishing and / or codes for establishing are described, or can be performed by the circuits and / or codes.

[0071] In some aspects, method 800 further includes: communicating with one or more processing nodes via at least one link using a wireless communication protocol. In some cases, the operation of this step refers to reference Fig. 9 Circuits for communication and / or codes for communication described herein, or may be executed by such circuits and / or codes.

[0072] In one aspect, method 800 or any aspect related thereto may be performed by, for example, Fig. 9 The method 800 may be performed by an apparatus such as a communication device 900 including various components operable, configured or adapted to perform the method 800. The communication device 800 will be described in more detail below.

[0073] Notice, Figure 8 This is merely one example of a method, and other methods including fewer, additional, or alternative steps are also possible consistent with the present disclosure.

[0074] Example Communication Device

[0075] Fig. 9 Depicted are aspects of an example communication device 900. In some aspects, the communication device 900 is a system, such as the one described above with reference to Figure 1 Describe the processing system.

[0076] The communication device 900 includes a processing system 960 coupled to a transceiver 965 (eg, a transmitter and / or a receiver). The transceiver 965 is configured to send and receive signals for the communication device 900, such as the various signals described herein. The transceiver 965 may be a reference Figure 2 Examples of aspects of the transceiver 222 and / or the transceiver 254 are described. The processing system 960 may be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 900, including processing signals received by the communication device 900 and / or signals to be transmitted by the communication device 900.

[0077] The processing system 960 includes one or more processors 910. In various aspects, the one or more processors 910 may represent Figure 2 The RX data processor 270, TX data processor 288, TX spatial processor 290, or controller 280 of the processing node 202b are shown. In various aspects, one or more processors 910 may represent Figure 2 One or more of the RX data processor 242, TX data processor 210, TX spatial processor 220, or controller 230 of the processing node 202a shown. The one or more processors 910 are coupled to the computer readable medium / memory 935 via the bus 960. In some aspects, the computer readable medium / memory 935 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer executable code) that, when executed by the one or more processors 910, cause the one or more processors 910 to perform the reference Figure 8 The method 800 described herein or any aspect related thereto. Note that references to a processor performing a function of the communication device 900 may include one or more processors 910 performing that function of the communication device 900.

[0078] In the depicted example, the computer readable medium / memory 935 stores code (e.g., executable instructions) such as code for establishing 940, code for communicating 945, code for obtaining 950, code for selecting 955, and code for detecting 956. The processing of the code for establishing 940, the code for communicating 945, the code for obtaining 950, and the code for selecting 955 may cause the communication device 900 to perform a reference Figure 8 The described method 800 or any aspect related thereto.

[0079] The one or more processors 910 include circuits configured to implement (e.g., execute) code stored in a computer-readable medium / memory 935, including circuits such as circuits for establishing 915, circuits for communicating 920, circuits for obtaining 925, circuits for selecting 930, and circuits for detecting 932. Processing performed by the circuits for establishing 915, circuits for communicating 920, circuits for obtaining 925, and circuits for selecting 930 may cause the communication device 900 to perform a reference Figure 8 The described method 800 or any aspect related thereto.

[0080] The various components of the communication device 900 may provide for performing reference Figure 8 Components of the described method 800 or any aspect thereof. For example, in some cases, components for transmitting, sending, or outputting for transmission may include Figure 2The transmitter unit 254 and / or Fig. 9 The transceiver 965 of the communication device 900 in FIG. In some cases, components for transmitting, sending, or outputting for transmission may include Figure 2 The transmitter unit 222 and / or Fig. 9 The transceiver 965 of the communication device 900 in FIG. In some aspects, the means for receiving or obtaining may include Figure 2 The receiver unit 254 and / or Fig. 9 The transceiver 965 of the communication device 900 in FIG. In some aspects, the means for receiving or obtaining may include Figure 2 The receiver unit 222 and / or Fig. 9 The transceiver 965 of the communication device 900 in FIG.

[0081] Sample Clauses

[0082] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0083] Clause 1: A system for processing data, comprising: a plurality of processing nodes, each processing node comprising at least one processor and at least one radio frequency (RF) chain; and at least one link for conducting RF communication between or among the processing nodes using a wireless communication protocol.

[0084] Clause 2: The system of clause 1, further comprising: a direct current (DC) blocking circuit coupled to at least one link.

[0085] Clause 3: The system of any of clauses 1-2, further comprising: a balanced-unbalanced (balun) circuit coupled to at least one link.

[0086] Clause 4: The system of any of clauses 1-3, wherein at least one link consists of a coaxial cable or a twisted pair.

[0087] Clause 5: The system of any of clauses 1-4, wherein one or more of the processing nodes comprises a subsystem comprising at least one processor and at least one RF chain.

[0088] Clause 6: A system according to any of clauses 1-5, wherein: at least one RF chain includes a first RF chain and a second RF chain; and at least one link includes a first link for conducting RF communication between processing nodes via the first RF chain and a second link for conducting RF communication between processing nodes via the second RF chain.

[0089] Clause 7: The system of clause 6, wherein: the first RF chain is configured for conducted RF communication between processing nodes at a first frequency band; and the second RF chain is configured for conducted RF communication between processing nodes at the first frequency band or the second frequency band.

[0090] Clause 8: The system of any of clauses 1-7, wherein: at least one RF chain comprises one or more RF communication devices having an RF link capable of operating over multiple frequency bands.

[0091] Clause 9: The system of clause 8, wherein: the processing node is reconfigurable to switch from operating on one of the plurality of frequency bands to operating on another of the plurality of frequency bands.

[0092] Clause 10: The system of any of clauses 6-9, wherein at least one of the processing nodes is configured to send redundant packets on the first link and the second link.

[0093] Clause 11: The system of clause 10, wherein the redundant packet includes a flag identifying it as redundant.

[0094] Clause 12: The system of any of clauses 1-11, wherein the plurality of processing nodes comprises heterogeneous processing nodes.

[0095] Clause 13: The system of clause 12, wherein at least one of the heterogeneous processing nodes comprises: an actuator; a remote control; a sensor; a user interface terminal; or a communication link for interfacing with an external part of the system.

[0096] Clause 14: The system of any of clauses 1-13, wherein at least one of the plurality of processing nodes is configured to obtain operating power from at least one link.

[0097] Clause 15: The system of any of clauses 1-14, wherein at least one of the plurality of processing nodes comprises at least one element to prevent RF energy from reaching the power supply circuit.

[0098] Clause 16: The system of clause 15, wherein the at least one component comprises at least one of an inductor or a ferrite bead.

[0099] Clause 17: The system of any of clauses 1-16, wherein the plurality of processing nodes are configured to communicate using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols having a guard interval (GI), the GI of the OFDM symbols being smaller than a GI used for wireless RF communications.

[0100] Clause 18: The system of any of clauses 1-17, wherein the plurality of processing nodes are configured to communicate using OFDM symbols having a GI, the GI of the OFDM symbols being less than or equal to a minimum GI defined by a wireless communication protocol.

[0101] Clause 19: The system of any of clauses 1-18, further comprising a finite impulse response (FIR) filter, wherein the number of taps of the FIR filter is greater than the number of taps associated with wireless RF communications between or among processing nodes.

[0102] Clause 20: The system of any of clauses 1-19, wherein the conducted RF communications between the processing nodes involve a subset of one or more modulation and coding scheme (MCS) rates defined by the wireless communication protocol.

[0103] Additional considerations

[0104] The foregoing description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. The examples discussed herein do not limit the scope, applicability or aspects set forth in the claims. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. For example, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, the functions and arrangements of the elements discussed may be changed. Various examples may appropriately omit, replace or add various processes or components. For example, the described methods may be performed in an order different from that described, and various actions may be added, omitted or combined. In addition, the features described with reference to some examples may be combined in some other examples. For example, any number of aspects set forth herein may be used to implement a device or practice a method. In addition, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover such a device or method that is practiced using other structures, functions, or structures and functions in addition to or different from the various aspects of the present disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of a claim.

[0105] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the present disclosure may be implemented or executed using a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a DSP core, a system on a chip (SoC), or any other such configuration.

[0106] As used herein, a phrase referring to "at least one of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to cover a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, and abc, as well as any combination with multiples of the same elements (e.g., aa, aaa, aab, aac, abb, acc, bb, bbb, bbc, cc, and ccc, or any other ordering of a, b, and c).

[0107] As used herein, the term "determining" encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, "determining" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, searching (e.g., searching in a table, a database, or another data structure), ascertaining, etc. In addition, "determining" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), etc. In addition, "determining" may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, etc.

[0108] As used herein, the term "communication" broadly encompasses various signaling between devices. Communication may include one or both of receiving (or obtaining) or sending (outputting for sending).

[0109] The method disclosed herein includes one or more actions for implementing the method. These method actions can be interchanged with each other without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of actions is specified, the order and / or use of specific actions can be modified without departing from the scope of the claims. In addition, the various operations of the above methods can be performed by any suitable components that can perform the corresponding functions. The components may include various hardware and / or (multiple) software components and / or (multiple) modules, including but not limited to circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or processors.

[0110] The following claims are not intended to be limited to the various aspects shown herein, but to conform to the full scope consistent with the language of the claims. In the claims, unless specifically stated otherwise, elements cited in the singular are not intended to mean "one and only one", but "one or more". Unless otherwise specifically stated, the term "some" refers to one or more. Unless the claim elements are explicitly stated using the phrase "parts for...", the claim elements should not be interpreted according to the provisions of 35 USC §112 (f). All structural and functional equivalents of the elements throughout the various aspects described in this disclosure that are known or will be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be covered by the claims. In addition, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly stated in the claims.

Claims

1. A system for processing data, comprising: A plurality of processing nodes, each processing node comprising at least one processor and at least one radio frequency (RF) chain; as well as At least one link for conducting RF communications between or among the processing nodes using a wireless communications protocol.

2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising: A direct current (DC) blocking circuit is coupled to the at least one link.

3. The system according to claim 1, further comprising: A balanced-unbalanced balun circuit is coupled to the at least one link.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein: The at least one link is composed of a coaxial cable or a twisted pair.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein: One or more of the processing nodes include a subsystem including the at least one processor and at least one RF chain.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein: The at least one RF chain includes a first RF chain and a second RF chain; and The at least one link includes a first link for conducting RF communication between the processing nodes via the first RF chain and a second link for conducting RF communication between the processing nodes via the second RF chain.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein: The first RF chain is configured for conducted RF communication between the processing nodes at a first frequency band; and The second RF chain is configured for conducted RF communication between the processing nodes at a first frequency band or a second frequency band.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein: At least one RF chain includes one or more RF communication devices having an RF link capable of operating over multiple frequency bands.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein: The processing node is reconfigurable to switch from operating on one of the plurality of frequency bands to operating on another of the plurality of frequency bands.

10. The system according to claim 6, wherein: At least one of the processing nodes is configured to send redundant packets on the first link and the second link.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein: The redundant packet includes a flag identifying it as redundant.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein: The plurality of processing nodes include heterogeneous processing nodes.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein: At least one of the heterogeneous processing nodes comprises: Actuator; Remote control; sensor; A user interface terminal; or A communication link is used to connect to the outside of the system.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein: At least one of the plurality of processing nodes is configured to obtain operating power from the at least one link.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein: At least one of the plurality of processing nodes includes at least one element to prevent RF energy from reaching a power supply circuit.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein: The at least one element includes at least one of an inductor or a ferrite bead.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein: The plurality of processing nodes are configured to communicate using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols having a guard interval (GI), the GI of the OFDM symbols being smaller than a GI used for wireless RF communication.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein: The plurality of processing nodes are configured to communicate using OFDM symbols having a GI, the GI of the OFDM symbols being less than or equal to a minimum GI defined by the wireless communication protocol.

19. The system of claim 1, further comprising a finite impulse response (FIR) filter, wherein: The FIR filter has a greater number of taps than a number of taps associated with the wireless communication protocol.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein: Conducted RF communications between the processing nodes involve a subset of one or more modulation and coding scheme (MCS) rates defined by the wireless communication protocol.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein: At least one of the plurality of processing nodes is configured to: measuring one or more metrics between at least one of the plurality of processing nodes and one or more other of the plurality of processing nodes; as well as A fault is detected based on a change in the metric.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein: The one or more metrics include at least one of the following: Received signal strength indicator RSSI; Signal-to-noise ratio SNR; Packet Error Rate PER; or Distance measurement based on packet round trip time (RTT).

23. A method for processing data, comprising: establishing at least one link for conducted RF communication with one or more processing nodes using a wireless communication protocol; as well as Communicating with the one or more processing nodes via the at least one link using the wireless communication protocol.

24. An apparatus comprising: means for establishing at least one link for conducted RF communication with one or more processing nodes using a wireless communication protocol; as well as Means for communicating with the one or more processing nodes via the at least one link using the wireless communication protocol.

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