Radio frequency exposure management for multi-radio component wireless circuits

Abstract

The wireless circuit may include a Radio Frequency Exposure (RFE) manager, a first radio component, a second radio component, and a storage device. The storage device may store a CellON bit and a TxSuspend bit indicating the state of the first radio component. The RFE manager may update the RFE budget of these radio components, and / or the second radio component may update its RFE consumption based on the CellON bit and / or the TxSuspend bit. The PHY of the first radio component may set the CellON bit and TxSuspend bit in the storage device. When the first radio component performs an operation that may cause a rapid switching of the CellON bit, the MAC of the first radio component may cause the PHY to maintain the value of the CellON bit in the storage device during the operation. The PHY may also toggle the TxSuspend bit for the duration of the operation to notify the RFE manager that the first radio component is not transmitting actively, even though the CellON bit is consistent with signal transmission.

Description

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 19 / 054,204, filed February 14, 2025, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0002] This disclosure relates in general to electronic devices, including electronic devices having wireless circuitry. Background Technology

[0003] Electronic devices often possess wireless capabilities. Wireless electronic devices have wireless circuitry that includes one or more antennas. The antennas transmit radio frequency (RF) signals. During transmission, the RF signals may sometimes strike nearby external objects, such as the user or another person's body.

[0004] Wireless circuits typically operate in geographic areas that impose regulatory restrictions on the amount of radio frequency exposure generated when the circuit transmits radio frequency signals. Designing wireless circuits that meet these regulatory restrictions while still exhibiting sufficient performance levels can be challenging. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Electronic devices may include wireless circuitry. Wireless circuitry may include a Radio Frequency Exposure (RFE) manager, a set of radio components, and an always-accessible memory area (AAMR). The RFE manager may periodically send an RFE budget to the radio components. The radio components may perform signal transmissions in accordance with the RFE budget. The radio components may periodically send RFE reports to the RFE manager indicating the RFE consumption of the radio components during signal transmission. The RFE manager may update the RFE budget based on the RFE reports to ensure that the wireless circuitry complies with regulatory requirements regarding RFE.

[0006] The AAMR can store the CellON and TxSuspend bits, indicating the status of cellular radio components. The RFE manager can update the RFE budget, and / or non-cellular radio components can update their own RFE consumption based on the CellON and / or TxSuspend bits. During signal transmission by the cellular radio component, the CellON bit has a first value. During signal transmission by the cellular radio component, the TxSuspend bit has a second value. The physical layer (PHY) of the cellular radio component can set and update the CellON and TxSuspend bits in the AAMR. The media access control (MAC) layer of the cellular radio component performs radio resource control (RRC) operations for the cellular radio component. The cellular radio component can perform operations involving RRC releases that would otherwise result in an overly rapid handover of the CellON bit. As examples, these types of operations can include inter-RAT redirection, mobility, or reconstruction operations. When this occurs, the MAC can send an indication to the PHY that causes the PHY to maintain the first value of the CellON bit in the AAMR, even though the cellular radio component performs an RRC release during the operation. In this way, cellular radio components can prevent rapid switching of CellON bits in a manner that improves the wireless performance of non-cellular radio components without using hysteresis-based timers.

[0007] During operation, the cellular radio component ceases periodically sending RFE reports to the RFE manager. The PHY may switch the TxSuspend bit to a third value different from the second value for the duration of the operation. This can be used to notify the RFE manager that the lack of periodic RFE reports from the cellular radio component is due to operation rather than a reporting error. In response to the CellON bit having a first value and the TxSuspend bit having a third value, the RFE manager may cease periodically sending RFE budgets to the cellular radio component for a predetermined period of time, and / or may increase the RFE budget for the non-cellular radio component for a predetermined period of time. This can help improve the wireless performance of the non-cellular radio component when the cellular radio component performs operations.

[0008] One aspect of this disclosure provides a method of operating a wireless circuit. The method may include: transmitting a first radio frequency signal using the first radio frequency component based on a first radio frequency exposure (RFE) budget when a first status flag associated with a first radio frequency component has a first value in the storage device circuitry. The method may include: using the first radio frequency component to perform an operation including a radio resource control (RRC) connection release. The method may include: using a media access control (MAC) block of the first radio frequency component to cause a physical layer (PHY) block of the first radio frequency component to maintain the first value of the status flag in the storage device circuitry for the duration of the operation. The method may include: transmitting a second radio frequency signal using a second radio frequency component based on a second RFE budget and the first status flag in the storage device circuitry.

[0009] One aspect of this disclosure provides a wireless circuit. The wireless circuit may include a first radio component configured to transmit a first radio frequency (RF) signal according to a first radio frequency exposure (RFE) budget. The wireless circuit may include a second radio component configured to transmit a second RFE signal according to a second RFE budget. The wireless circuit may include storage device circuitry storing a status flag indicating whether the first radio component has suspended radio frequency transmission. The wireless circuit may include one or more processors communicatively coupled to the first radio component, the second radio component, and the storage device circuitry, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: periodically transmit the first RFE budget to the first radio component and transmit the second RFE budget to the second radio component, and update the second RFE budget in response to a status flag having a first value indicating that the first radio component has suspended radio frequency transmission.

[0010] One aspect of this disclosure provides a wireless circuit. The wireless circuit may include one or more processors configured to generate a radio frequency exposure (RFE) budget. The wireless circuit may include a radio component communicatively coupled to the one or more processors and configured to transmit radio frequency signals according to the RFE budget. The wireless circuit may include an always-accessible memory region (AAMR) storing a first and a second bit associated with the state of the radio component, wherein the radio component is configured to set the first bit to a first value and the second bit to a second value when transmitting radio frequency signals, the radio component is configured to switch the first value of the first bit in response to receiving a connection release command from a wireless network, and the radio component is configured to switch the second value of the second bit in response to performing an operation involving pausing signal transmission when the first bit has the first value. Attached Figure Description

[0011] Figure 1 These are illustrations of exemplary electronic devices with wireless circuitry according to some implementation schemes.

[0012] Figure 2 It is a diagram illustrating an exemplary wireless circuit based on some implementation schemes.

[0013] Figure 3 This is a diagram of an exemplary wireless circuit according to some implementation schemes, which includes an RF exposure manager for managing the RF exposure of a group of radio components during signal transmission.

[0014] Figure 4 It is a table of exemplary cellular radio component states that can be represented by flag bits according to some implementation schemes.

[0015] Figure 5 It is based on the use of some implementation schemes Figure 3 A flowchart illustrating the exemplary operations involved in performing radio frequency signal transmission using a wireless circuit of the type shown.

[0016] Figure 6 This is a graph illustrating an example of how different radio components, depending on some implementation schemes, can produce different amounts of radio frequency exposure during signal transmission.

[0017] Figure 7 It is a flowchart of an exemplary operation that can be performed by a cellular radio component to notify other radio components of its transmission status using a first flag bit, according to some implementation schemes.

[0018] Figure 8 It is a flowchart of an exemplary operation, according to some implementation schemes, that can be performed by a wireless circuit to notify the radio frequency exposure manager of the transmission status of a cellular radio component using a first flag bit and a second flag bit.

[0019] Figure 9 This is a timing diagram illustrating how a cellular radio component, according to some implementation schemes, can use a first flag bit and a second flag bit to notify the radio frequency exposure manager of the transmission status of the cellular radio component. Detailed Implementation

[0020] Figure 1The electronic device 10 may be: a computing device, such as a laptop computer, desktop computer, computer monitor containing an embedded computer, tablet computer, cellular phone, media player, or other handheld or portable electronic device; a smaller device, such as a wristwatch, a hanging device, a headset or handset, a device embedded in glasses, goggles, a helmet; or other equipment worn on the user's head (e.g., an augmented, virtual, or mixed reality head-mounted display device); or another wearable or micro device, a television, a computer monitor (e.g., which does not contain an embedded computer), a gaming device, a navigation device, an embedded system (such as a system in which electronic equipment with a display is installed in an information kiosk or a car), a voice-controlled speaker connected to the wireless Internet, a home entertainment device, a remote control device, a game controller, a peripheral user input device, a wireless base station or access point, equipment that enables the functionality of two or more of these devices; or other electronic equipment.

[0021] like Figure 1 As shown in the functional block diagram, device 10 may include components located on or within an electronic device housing, such as housing 12. Housing 12 (sometimes referred to as a shell) may be formed of plastic, glass, ceramic, fiber composite material, metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, metal alloys, etc.), other suitable materials, or combinations of these materials. In some embodiments, housing 12 may be partially or entirely formed of dielectric or other low-conductivity materials (e.g., glass, ceramic, plastic, sapphire, etc.). In other embodiments, housing 12, or at least some of the structures constituting housing 12, may be formed of metallic elements.

[0022] Device 10 may include control circuitry 14. Control circuitry 14 may include storage devices, such as storage device circuitry 16. Storage device circuitry 16 may include hard disk drive storage devices, non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory configured to form a solid-state drive or other electrically programmable read-only memory), volatile memory (e.g., static random access memory or dynamic random access memory), etc. Storage device circuitry 16 may include storage devices integrated within device 10, and / or removable storage media.

[0023] Control circuitry 14 may include processing circuitry, such as processing circuitry 18. Processing circuitry 18 may be used to control the operation of device 10. Processing circuitry 18 may include one or more processors, such as a microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor, host processor, baseband processor integrated circuit, application-specific integrated circuit, central processing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit (GPU), etc. Control circuitry 14 may be configured to perform operations in device 10 using hardware (e.g., dedicated hardware or circuitry), firmware, and / or software. Software code for performing operations in device 10 may be stored on storage device circuitry 16 (e.g., storage device circuitry 16 may include a non-transitory (tangible) computer-readable storage medium storing software code). This software code may sometimes be referred to as program instructions, software, data, commands, or code. The software code stored on storage device circuitry 16 may be executed by processing circuitry 18.

[0024] Control circuitry 14 can be used to run software on device 10, such as satellite navigation applications, internet browsing applications, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone calling applications, email applications, media playback applications, operating system functions, etc. To support interaction with external equipment, control circuitry 14 can be used to implement wireless communication protocols (sometimes referred to as communication protocols or communication standards). Communication protocols (standards) that can be implemented using control circuitry 14 include Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11 protocol—sometimes referred to as Wi-Fi). ® (such as Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 7, or other Wi-Fi protocols), such as Bluetooth ® Protocols such as other wireless personal area network (WPAN) protocols used for other short-range wireless communication links, IEEE 802.11ad protocols (e.g., ultra-wideband protocols), cellular phone protocols (e.g., 3G protocols, 4G (LTE) protocols, 3GPP fifth-generation (5G) new radio (NR) protocols, sixth-generation (6G) protocols, sub-THz protocols, THz protocols, etc.), satellite navigation system protocols (e.g., Global Positioning System (GPS) protocols, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) protocols, etc.), satellite communication (SATCOM) protocols, antenna-based spatial ranging protocols, optical communication protocols, or any other desired communication protocols. Each communication protocol may be associated with a corresponding radio access technology (RAT) that specifies the physical connection method used to implement the protocol (e.g., for transmitting and / or receiving radio frequency signals according to or in accordance with the protocol).

[0025] Device 10 may include input-output circuitry 20. Input-output circuitry 20 may include input-output devices 22. Input-output devices 22 may be used to allow data to be supplied to device 10 and to allow data to be provided from device 10 to external devices. Input-output devices 22 may include user interface devices, data port devices, and other input-output components. For example, input-output devices 22 may include touch sensors, displays (e.g., touch-sensitive displays and / or force-sensitive displays), light-emitting components such as displays without touch sensor capability, buttons (mechanical, capacitive, optical, etc.), scroll wheels, touchpads, keypads, keyboards, microphones, cameras, buttons, speakers, status indicators, audio jacks and other audio port components, digital data port devices, motion sensors (accelerometers, gyroscopes, and / or compasses for detecting motion), capacitive sensors, proximity sensors, magnetic sensors, force sensors (e.g., force sensors coupled to a display to detect pressure applied to the display), etc. In some configurations, keyboards, headphones, displays, pointing devices such as touchpads, mice and joysticks, and other input-output devices may be coupled to device 10 via wired or wireless connections (e.g., some of the input-output devices 22 may be peripherals coupled to the main processing unit or other parts of device 10 via wired or wireless links).

[0026] Input-output circuitry 20 may include wireless circuitry 24 to support or perform radio frequency (RF) signal transmission and / or reception of device 10. Wireless circuitry 24 may be used for wireless communication. Wireless communication performed by wireless circuitry 24 may include or involve wireless data communication (e.g., where wireless data is carried by RF signals transmitted bidirectionally or unidirectionally between wireless circuitry 24 and other communication equipment), RF signal transmission, RF signal reception, and / or radio-based spatial ranging / sensing (e.g., radio detection and ranging (radar) operation, short-range object detection such as object detection based on near-field RF signals, etc.). RF signals transmitted by wireless circuitry 24 may include or carry wireless data (e.g., organized into frames, packets, symbols, datagrams, etc.), radar or other spatial ranging waveforms, continuous wave signals, chirped signals, control signals, management signals, reference signals, beacon signals, tones, pulses / pulses, waveforms associated with one or more communication protocols, and / or any other RF waveforms or signals. Wireless circuit 24 is sometimes referred to herein as wireless communications circuitry 24, wireless communication circuitry 24, communication circuit 24, or simply circuit 24. Wireless circuit 24 may include one or more antennas. Wireless circuit 24 may also include baseband processor circuitry, transceiver circuitry, amplifier circuitry, filter circuitry, switching circuitry, radio frequency transmission lines, and / or any other circuitry for transmitting and / or receiving radio frequency signals using antennas. Some or all components of wireless circuit 24 may be disposed on, mounted to, communicatively coupled to, and / or integrated within the same substrate (e.g., printed circuit board, semiconductor substrate, chip, integrated circuit (IC), IC package, etc.), or distributed between two or more substrates (e.g., printed circuit board, semiconductor substrate, chip, IC, IC package, etc.).

[0027] Wireless circuit 24 can transmit and / or receive radio frequency signals within the corresponding frequency band of a radio frequency (sometimes referred to herein as a communication band or simply a "band"). The frequency band processed by wireless circuit 24 may include wireless local area network (WLAN) bands (e.g., Wi-Fi). ® (IEEE 802.11) or other WLAN communication bands such as the 2.4 GHz WLAN band (e.g., 2400 MHz to 2480 MHz), the 5 GHz WLAN band (e.g., 5180 MHz to 5825 MHz), Wi-Fi ® 6E band (e.g., 5925MHz to 7125MHz), Wi-Fi ® 7-band and / or other Wi-Fi ®Frequency bands (e.g., 1875MHz to 5160MHz); Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) bands such as 2.4GHz Bluetooth. ® Frequency bands or other WPAN communication bands; cellular phone bands (e.g., bands from approximately 600 MHz to approximately 5 GHz, 3G bands, 4G LTE bands, 5G New Radio Frequency Range 1 (FR1) band below 10 GHz, 5G New Radio Frequency Range 2 (FR2) band between 20 GHz and 60 GHz, etc.); other centimeter or millimeter wave bands between 10 GHz and 100 GHz; sub-THz bands between approximately 100 GHz and 10 THz (e.g., 6G bands); near field communication (NFC) bands (e.g., 13.56 MHz); satellite navigation bands (e.g., GPS bands from 1565 MHz to 1610 MHz, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) bands, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) bands, etc.); ultra-wideband (UWB) bands operating under the IEEE 802.15.4 protocol and / or other ultra-wideband communication protocols; satellite communication (satcom) bands (e.g., IEEE...). C-band (4-8GHz), S-band (2-4GHz), L-band (1-2GHz), X-band (8-12GHz), W-band (75-110GHz), V-band (40-75GHz), K-band (18-27GHz), K a Frequency band (26.5-40GHz), K u Frequency bands (12-18 GHz, etc.); unlicensed frequency bands; communication frequency bands under the 3GPP wireless communication standard family; communication frequency bands under the IEEE 802.XX standard family; and / or any other desired frequency bands of interest. Different communication protocols can utilize different frequency bands to transmit radio frequency signals. In some cases, two or more communication protocols can utilize one or more frequency bands within the same frequency band to transmit radio frequency signals.

[0028] Figure 1 The examples are illustrative and not restrictive. Although for clarity, in Figure 1In the example, control circuitry 14 is shown separate from wireless circuitry 24, but wireless circuitry 24 may include processing circuitry (e.g., one or more processors) and / or storage circuitry, the processing circuitry forming part of processing circuitry 18, and the storage circuitry forming part of storage circuitry 16 of control circuitry 14 (e.g., portions of control circuitry 14 may be implemented on wireless circuitry 24). As an example, control circuitry 14 may include baseband circuitry (e.g., one or more baseband processors) or other control circuitry forming part of one or more radio components in wireless circuitry 24. Baseband circuitry may, for example, access the communication protocol stack on control circuitry 14 (e.g., storage circuitry 20) to: perform user plane functions at the PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer, SDAP layer, and / or PDU layer; and / or perform control plane functions at the PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer, RRC layer, and / or non-access layer. If desired, PHY layer operation may be additionally or alternatively performed by radio frequency (RF) interface circuitry in wireless circuitry 24.

[0029] Figure 2 This is a diagram showing exemplary components within wireless circuit 24. For example... Figure 2 As shown, wireless circuitry 24 may include processors such as processor 26, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry such as RF transceiver 28, RF front-end circuitry such as RF front-end (RFFE) module (FEM) 40, and antenna 42. Processor 26 may be a baseband processor, application processor, general-purpose processor, microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor, host processor, dedicated signal processing hardware, or other type of processor. Processor 26 may be coupled to transceiver 28 via path 34. Transceiver 28 may be coupled to antenna 42 via RF transmission line path 36. RF front-end module 40 may be disposed on RF transmission line path 36 between transceiver 28 and antenna 42.

[0030] exist Figure 2In the example, for clarity, wireless circuit 24 is illustrated as including only a single processor 26, a single transceiver 28, a single front-end module 40, and a single antenna 42. Generally, wireless circuit 24 may include any desired number of processors 26, any desired number of transceivers 28, any desired number of front-end modules 40, and any desired number of antennas 42. Each processor 26 may be coupled to one or more transceivers 28 via a corresponding path 34. Each transceiver 28 may include transmitter circuitry 30 configured to output uplink signals to antenna 42, may include receiver circuitry 32 configured to receive downlink signals from antenna 42, and may be coupled to one or more antennas 42 via a corresponding RF transmit line path 36. Each RF transmit line path 36 may have a corresponding front-end module 40 disposed thereon. If desired, two or more front-end modules 40 may be disposed on the same RF transmit line path 36. If desired, one or more RF transmit line paths 36 in wireless circuit 24 may be implemented without any front-end modules disposed thereon.

[0031] The RF transmit line path 36 may be coupled to an antenna feed section on the antenna 42. The antenna feed section may, for example, include a positive antenna feed terminal and a ground antenna feed terminal. The RF transmit line path 36 may have a positive transmit line signal path coupled to the positive antenna feed terminal on the antenna 42. The RF transmit line path 36 may have a ground transmit line signal path coupled to the ground antenna feed terminal on the antenna 42. This example is illustrative, and in general, the antenna 42 may be fed using any desired antenna feeding scheme. If desired, the antenna 42 may have multiple antenna feed sections coupled to one or more RF transmit line paths 36.

[0032] RF transmission path 36 may include a means for communication with device 10 ( Figure 1 The transmitting lines in device 10 route the radio frequency antenna signals within the device. The transmitting lines in device 10 may include coaxial cables, microstrip transmitting lines, stripline transmitting lines, edge-coupled microstrip transmitting lines, edge-coupled stripline transmitting lines, and transmitting lines formed by combinations of these types of transmitting lines. The transmitting lines in device 10 (such as the transmitting lines in radio frequency transmitting line path 36) may be integrated into rigid and / or flexible printed circuit boards.

[0033] During wireless transmission, processor 26 can provide a transmit signal (e.g., a digital or baseband signal) to transceiver 28 via path 34. Transceiver 28 may also include circuitry for converting the transmit (baseband) signal received from processor 26. For example, transceiver circuitry 28 may include mixer circuitry for up-converting (or modulating) the transmit (baseband) signal to radio frequency before transmission via antenna 42. The processor 26 communicates with transceiver 28 in this manner. Figure 2 The examples are illustrative. Generally, transceiver 28 can communicate with a baseband processor, application processor, general-purpose processor, microcontroller, microprocessor, or one or more processors within circuit 18. Transceiver circuit 28 may also include digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and / or analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuitry for converting signals between the digital and analog domains. Transceiver 28 can transmit radio frequency (RF) signals via transmitter (TX) 30 through RF transmission line path 36 and front-end module 40 via antenna 42. Antenna 42 can transmit the RF signal to external wireless equipment by radiating the RF signal into free space.

[0034] During wireless reception, antenna 42 can receive radio frequency (RF) signals from external wireless equipment. The received RF signals can be transmitted to transceiver 28 via RF transmission path 36 and front-end module 40. Transceiver 28 may include circuitry, such as receiver (RX) 32, for receiving signals from front-end module 40 and for converting the received RF signals into corresponding baseband signals. For example, transceiver 28 may include mixer circuitry for down-converting (or demodulating) the received RF signals to baseband frequencies before transmitting the received signals via path 34 to processor 26.

[0035] Front-end module (FEM) 40 may include radio frequency front-end circuitry that operates on radio frequency signals transmitted (transmitted and / or received) via radio frequency transmission line path 36. For example, FEM 40 may include front-end module (FEM) components such as radio frequency filter circuitry 44 (e.g., low-pass filter, high-pass filter, notch filter, band-pass filter, multiplexing circuitry, duplexer circuitry, dual-signal circuitry, triplexer circuitry, etc.), switching circuitry 46 (e.g., one or more radio frequency switches), radio frequency amplifier circuitry 48 (e.g., one or more power amplifiers 50 and / or one or more low-noise amplifier circuitry 52), signal attenuators, impedance matching circuitry (e.g., circuitry that helps match the impedance of antenna 42 with the impedance of radio frequency transmission line 36), antenna tuning circuitry (e.g., a network of capacitors, resistors, inductors, and / or switches that adjust the frequency response of antenna 42), radio frequency coupler circuitry, charge pump circuitry, power management circuitry, digital control and interface circuitry, and / or any other desired circuitry that operates on the radio frequency signals transmitted and / or received by antenna 42. Each of the front-end module components can be mounted on a common (shared) substrate, such as a rigid printed circuit board substrate or a flexible printed circuit board substrate. If desired, the various front-end module components can also be integrated into a single integrated circuit chip. If desired, amplifier circuit 48 and / or other components in FEM 40 (such as filter circuit 44) can also be implemented as part of transceiver circuit 28.

[0036] Filter circuit 44, switching circuit 46, amplifier circuit 48, and other circuits may be disposed along RF transmission line path 36, may be incorporated into FEM 40, and / or may be incorporated into antenna 42 (e.g., to support antenna tuning, to support operation in a desired frequency band, etc.). These components (sometimes referred to herein as antenna tuning components) may be adjusted (e.g., using control circuit 14) to tune the frequency response and wireless performance of antenna 42 over time.

[0037] Transceiver 28 may be separate from front-end module 40. For example, transceiver 28 may be formed on another substrate such as the main logic board of device 10, a rigid printed circuit board, or a flexible printed circuit that is not part of front-end module 40. As an example, a portion of processor 26 and / or transceiver 28 (e.g., the host processor on transceiver 28) may be formed Figure 1 A portion of the control circuit 14. The control circuit 14 (e.g., a portion of the control circuit 14 formed on the processor 26, a portion of the control circuit 14 formed on the transceiver 28, and / or a portion of the control circuit 14 separate from the wireless circuit 24) can provide control signals (e.g., via one or more control paths in the device 10) to control the operation of the front-end module 40.

[0038] Transceiver 28 may include a frequency band for processing WLAN communication (e.g., Wi-Fi). ® (IEEE 802.11) or other WLAN communication bands) such as the 2.4 GHz WLAN band (e.g., 2400MHz to 2480MHz), the 5 GHz WLAN band (e.g., 5180MHz to 5825MHz), Wi-Fi ® 6E band (e.g., 5925MHz to 7125MHz) and / or other Wi-Fi ® Wireless LAN transceiver circuitry covering a frequency band (e.g., 1875MHz to 5160MHz); handling 2.4 GHz Bluetooth. ® Wireless personal area network transceiver circuits for frequency bands or other WPAN communication bands; cellular phone transceiver circuits that process cellular phone frequency bands (e.g., bands from approximately 600 MHz to approximately 5 GHz, 3G bands, 4G LTE bands, 5G New Radio Frequency Range 1 (FR1) band below 10 GHz, 5G New Radio Frequency Range 2 (FR2) band between 20 GHz and 60 GHz, 6G bands above 100 GHz, etc.); near field communication (NFC) transceiver circuits that process near field communication frequency bands (e.g., 13.56 MHz); satellite navigation receiver circuits that process satellite navigation frequency bands (e.g., GPS band from 1565 MHz to 1610 MHz, GLONASS band, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) band, etc.); and circuits that use IEEE... Ultra-wideband (UWB) transceiver circuitry for handling communications using the 802.15.4 protocol and / or other ultra-wideband or pulse-based communication protocols; and / or any other desired radio frequency transceiver circuitry for covering any other desired communication frequency band of interest.

[0039] Wireless circuit 24 may include one or more antennas, such as antenna 42. Antenna 42 can be formed using any desired antenna structure. For example, antenna 42 may be an antenna with a resonant element, formed from a loop antenna structure, patch antenna structure, inverted F-shaped antenna structure, slot antenna structure, planar inverted F-shaped antenna structure, helical antenna structure, monopole antenna, dipole, a combination of these designs, etc. Two or more antennas 42 may be arranged in one or more phased antenna arrays (e.g., for transmitting radio frequency signals at millimeter-wave frequencies). Parasitic elements may be included in antenna 42 to adjust antenna performance. Antenna 42 may be provided with a conductive cavity that supports the antenna resonant element of antenna 42 (e.g., antenna 42 may be a cavity-backed antenna, such as a cavity-backed slot antenna).

[0040] As used herein, the term "transmitting radio frequency signals" means the transmission and / or reception of radio frequency signals (e.g., for performing one-way and / or two-way wireless communication with external wireless communication equipment). Antenna 42 can transmit radio frequency signals by radiating them into free space (or through an intermediary device structure such as a dielectric overlay). Additionally or alternatively, antenna 42 can receive radio frequency signals from free space (e.g., through an intermediary device structure such as a dielectric overlay). The transmission and reception of radio frequency signals by antenna 42 each involve the current excitation or resonance of the antenna on the antenna resonant element in the antenna by the radio frequency signals within the antenna's operating frequency band.

[0041] In some implementations, wireless circuit 24 may transmit radio frequency (RF) signals 56 with external equipment such as external communication equipment 54. External communication equipment 54 may include one or more other devices, such as device 10 (e.g., user equipment equipment), one or more wireless access points (APs), one or more wireless base stations (e.g., gNBs), and / or any other desired equipment for wirelessly transmitting and / or receiving RF signals 56. If desired, RF signals 56 may carry wireless communication data (e.g., packets, symbols, frames, datagrams, data encoded in a series of pulses, etc.) between wireless circuit 24 and external communication equipment 54. Wireless communication data (sometimes simply referred to as wireless data or data) may be transmitted bidirectionally or unidirectionally (e.g., in the uplink (UL) direction from wireless circuit 42 to external communication equipment 54 and / or in the downlink (DL) direction from external communication equipment 54 to wireless circuit 42). Wireless communication data may include, for example, wireless data associated with telephone calls, streaming media content, internet browsing, wireless data associated with software applications running on device 10, email messages, etc.

[0042] In addition to or instead of transmitting wireless communication data with external communication equipment 54, wireless circuit 24 may use antenna 42 to perform radio frequency sensing operations (sometimes referred to herein as radio-based sensing, spatial ranging, radio detection and ranging (radar), object detection, or simply sensing). Sensing operations allow device 10 to detect (e.g., sense or identify) the presence, location, orientation, and / or velocity (motion) of external objects (such as external object 58). Detecting, sensing, or identifying the presence, location, orientation, and / or velocity (motion) of external object 58 at any given time or within a given time period is sometimes referred to herein as object detection operation, detecting external objects, or performing spatial ranging operation, ranging operation, radio-based sensing operation, or range detection. Wireless circuit 24 may perform sensing operations within a relatively short range (such as a few centimeters from antenna 42) or a longer range (such as tens of centimeters, meters, tens of meters, etc.). External objects such as external object 58 may still exist around, near, adjacent to, overlap with, on top of, within contact range and / or line of sight of device 10, and may affect the operation of wireless circuit 24 even when wireless circuit 24 is not using antenna 42 to perform radio frequency sensing operations on external object 58 or other objects.

[0043] External object 58 can be, for example, the ground, a building, part of a building, a wall, furniture, a ceiling, a person, a body part (e.g., the head, hand, finger, or other body part of the user of device 10 or another person near device 10), an animal, a vehicle, a landscape or geographical feature, an obstacle, external communication equipment, another device of the same type as device 10, or a peripheral / accessory device such as a game controller, a stylus (e.g., for providing input to a touch-sensitive and / or force-sensitive display on device 10), or a remote control, or any other physical object or entity outside device 10. External object 58 can be an active (moving or living) object or an inactive (stationary or inanimate) object.

[0044] During radio frequency (RF) signal transmission, some RF signals transmitted by antenna 42 may be incident on an external object, such as external object 58. In these scenarios, the amount of RF energy exposure at external object 58 can be characterized by one or more RF energy exposure measures. RF exposure (RFE) measures may include a specific absorption rate (SAR) (in W / kg) for RF signals at frequencies below 6 GHz, and a maximum permissible exposure (MPE) (in mW / cm²) for RF signals at frequencies above 6 GHz. 2 (in units) and the total exposure ratio (TER) combining SAR and MPE. As used herein, the RFE of radio circuit 24 can be defined as the SAR, MPE, TER and / or any other radio frequency energy exposure measure of radio circuit 24.

[0045] Regulatory requirements typically impose limits on the amount of RFE (Remote Function Exclusion) allowed for external objects 8 within the vicinity of antenna 42 over a specified time period (e.g., SAR and MPE limits within a corresponding average time period). Regulatory agencies managing the geographic area where device 10 is located may impose a SAR limit, for example, 1.6 W / kg, within the corresponding average time period. Each SAR-restricted radio component in radio circuit 24 may need to share the overall RFE budget of radio circuit 24 so that the radio components collectively meet the SAR limit within the average time period. Each radio component may transmit signals according to a different corresponding RFE budget, and all corresponding RFE budgets may collectively form the overall RFE budget of radio circuit 24. Radio circuit 24 may include an RFE manager to ensure that the radio components in radio circuit 24 comply with these regulatory requirements. Figure 3 This is a circuit diagram of a specific implementation of wireless circuit 24, including an RFE manager 60 for managing RFE requirements for a group of two or more radio components 62.

[0046] like Figure 3 As shown, the RFE manager 60 can be implemented and / or included within the host 65 of the device 10. The host 65 can be implemented and / or may include one or more processors (e.g., a host processor) that execute software (code) stored on the storage device circuitry within the device 10. The wireless circuitry 24 may include a set of two or more radio components 62, such as at least a first radio component 62-1 and a second radio component 62-2. The radio components 62 can implement any desired RAT and communication protocol. In specific implementations sometimes described herein as examples, radio component 62-1 may implement one or more cellular RATs and one or more cellular protocols, and radio component 62-2 may implement non-cellular RATs and non-cellular protocols. Therefore, radio component 62-1 is sometimes referred to herein as cellular radio component 62-1, and radio component 62-2 is sometimes referred to herein as non-cellular radio component 62-2. The non-cellular radio component 62-2 may, for example, be a WLAN and / or WPAN radio component implementing one or more WLAN and / or WPAN RATs / protocols. This example is illustrative and not limiting. Generally, radio component 62-1 can implement any desired set of one or more communication protocols and / or RATs (e.g., noncellular RAT, cellular RAT, etc.), and radio component 62-2 can implement any desired communication protocol and / or RAT (e.g., cellular RAT, noncellular RAT, etc.). The operation of radio components 62-1 and 62-2 as described herein can be extended to any desired number of radio components 62 in the radio circuit 24.

[0047] Each radio component 62 in the wireless circuit 24 may include a corresponding transmitter 30 and / or a corresponding receiver 32. Figure 2 ), and can form Figure 2 This is part of the transceiver circuitry 28. If necessary, each radio component 62 may also include components forming... Figure 2 The baseband circuitry is a part of the processor 26. Each radio component 62 in the wireless circuit 24 is communicatively coupled to one or more antennas 42 via a corresponding RF transmission line path 36 (e.g., cellular radio component 62-1 may be coupled to antenna 42 via RF transmission line path 36-1, non-cellular radio component 62-2 may be coupled to antenna 42 via RF transmission line path 36-2, etc.). Components of each radio component 62 may be implemented and / or disposed on a corresponding chipset in the wireless circuit 24. For example, components of cellular radio component 62-1 may be disposed on a first chipset, a first integrated circuit (IC), a first substrate (e.g., a printed circuit board), a first system-on-a-chip (SOC), and / or a first IC package in the wireless circuit 24. On the other hand, components of non-cellular radio component 62-2 may be disposed on a second chipset, a second integrated circuit (IC), a second substrate (e.g., a printed circuit board), a second SOC, and / or a second IC package in the wireless circuit 24. Radio component 62 is sometimes also referred to herein as a modulator-demodulator (modem) 62.

[0048] The RFE manager 60 can be communicatively coupled to each radio component 62 in the radio circuit 24 via a corresponding control path 64 (e.g., the RFE manager 60 can be coupled to cellular radio component 62-1 via control path 64-1, to non-cellular radio component 62-2 via control path 64-2, etc.). As an example, control path 64 can be a digital control path. The RFE manager 60 can also be coupled to the communication bus 66 of the radio circuit 24. The communication bus 66 can include, for example, an inter-chip communication bus, one or more signal, data, power, and / or control paths within one or more radio components 62, one or more signal, data, power, and / or control paths within the RFE manager 60 and / or the host 65, and / or one or more signal, data, power, and / or control paths outside the radio components 62 and the RFE manager 60. The control path 64 can be part of the communication bus 66 or can be separate from the communication bus 66.

[0049] Wireless circuit 24 may include storage device circuitry, such as always-accessible memory region (AAMR) 68 (e.g., forming...). Figure 1(As part of the storage device circuitry 16). Even when one or more other components in the wireless circuitry 24 are otherwise disabled, inactive, asleep, idle, or powered off, the AAMR 68 remains powered over time and is accessible and / or readable by other components in the wireless circuitry 24. The AAMR 68 may be external to the cellular radio component 62-1 and the RFE manager 60, or, if desired, may be implemented as part of the cellular radio component 62-1 (e.g., it may be integrated into the same chipset, IC, SOC, or IC package as other components of the cellular radio component 62-1, may be mounted on the same substrate or printed circuit board as the cellular radio component 62-1, etc.). The RFE manager 60 and each radio component 62 may be communicatively coupled to the AAMR 68 via a communication bus 66. The RFE manager 60 and the radio components 62 may read, receive, retrieve, acquire, and / or otherwise identify information and / or data stored on the AAMR 68 via the communication bus 66. If necessary, at least the cellular radio component 62-1 can transmit information to the AAMR 68 via the communication bus 66 for storage at the AAMR 68.

[0050] The RFE manager 60 is sometimes referred to herein as the SAR manager 60 (e.g., in specific implementations of radio components 62-1 and 62-2 that are subject to SAR requirements only and not MPE requirements), the MPE manager 60 (e.g., in specific implementations of radio components 62-1 and 62-2 that are subject to MPE requirements only and not SAR requirements), or the TER manager 60. Components of the RFE manager 60 may be implemented in hardware (e.g., one or more processors, circuit components, logic gates, diodes, transistors, switching devices, arithmetic logic units (ALUs), registers, application-specific integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays, etc.) and / or software on the device 10 (e.g., as part of the host 65). The RFE manager 60 is also sometimes referred to herein as the RFE management circuit 60, the RFE management engine 60, the RFE management block 60, the RFE processor 60, or the RFE controller 60.

[0051] RFE manager 60 can generate corresponding RFE budgets (BGTs) for each radio component 62 to use when transmitting radio frequency signals using antenna 42. For example, RFE manager 60 can generate a first RFE budget BGT1 for radio component 62-1, a second RFE budget BGT2 for radio component 62-2, and so on. RFE budgets (BGTs) are sometimes referred to herein as SAR / MPE budgets (BGTs) or TER budgets (BGTs). RFE manager 60 can provide RFE budgets (BGTs) to radio components 62 via control path 64. For example, RFE manager 60 can send RFE budget BGT1 to cellular radio component 62-1 via control path 64-1, and RFE budget BGT2 to non-cellular radio component 62-2 via control path 64-2, and so on. Each RFE budget (BGT) may include a corresponding SAR budget and / or a corresponding MPE budget (e.g., depending on whether the radio affected by the budget is subject to SAR and / or MPE limitations). Each RFE budget BGT specifies the amount of RFE (e.g., SAR and / or MPE) that may be generated when the corresponding radio component 62 transmits radio frequency signals during the corresponding regulatory average period, while still meeting RFE regulatory restrictions. Circuitry in each radio component 62 can adjust one or more radio frequency transmission characteristics based on its received RFE budget BGT (e.g., to prevent the radio component from consuming more RFE than specified in its received RFE budget BGT during the regulatory average period). For example, the radio component 62 can adjust the maximum transmit power level of its transmitted radio frequency signal (e.g., perform a corresponding maximum power reduction (MPR)), adjust the transmit power level of its transmitted radio frequency signal (e.g., between two different transmit (TX) power levels less than or equal to the radio component's maximum transmit power level), adjust the uplink duty cycle of the transmitted radio frequency signal, switch the frequency of the transmitted radio frequency signal, and / or perform other actions to ensure that the radio component does not consume more RFE than specified in its RFE budget BGT during the average period (e.g., ensure that its RFE budget BGT remains met during the average period).

[0052] In some scenarios, each radio component 62 in device 10 is allocated a fixed SAR / MPE budget, such that the distribution of the total available RF exposure budget across the RAT remains static over time to meet overall RFE regulatory constraints on the operation of device 10 (e.g., over an average period). In these scenarios, each radio component can use a lookup table to derive the maximum transmit power level allowed by its fixed RFE budget and then keep its transmit power level below that maximum transmit power level to meet RFE constraints. However, allocating a static RFE budget to radio components in this way, without considering the radio requirements of the current operating state / environment of device 10, may result in a suboptimal budget distribution among the radio components. For example, a portion of the overall RFE budget not used by one radio component cannot be reallocated to another radio component that may urgently need to transmit at higher power levels or increased duty cycles.

[0053] To mitigate these issues, the RFE manager 60 can dynamically update or adjust the RFE budget allocated to the radio component 62 over time. The RFE manager 60 can dynamically allocate the RFE budget to the radio component 62 based on feedback from the radio component 62. For example, as... Figure 3 As shown, each radio component 62 can generate an RFE report RPT, which identifies the amount of allocated RFE budget actually consumed by the radio component during different sub-periods of the average time period (sometimes referred to herein as the consumption period, reporting period, or instantaneous period). Each radio component 62 can send its generated RFE report RPT to the RFE manager 60 via control path 64 (e.g., cellular radio component 62-1 can generate RFE report RPT1 and send it to the RFE manager 60 via control path 64-1, non-cellular radio component 62-2 can generate RFE report RPT2 and send it to the RFE manager 60 via control path 64-2, and so on). The RFE report RPT is also sometimes referred to herein as the RFE feedback report RPT, the RFE feedback signal RPT, or the RFE feedback message RPT.

[0054] RFE Manager 60 can receive each RFE report RPT by the active transmission of reports by radio component 62 (e.g., as control signals, control messages, or other control data) or by querying or retrieving reports from radio component 62 (e.g., by instructing the radio component to send a corresponding report to RFE Manager 60 by sending control signals or commands to the radio component). RFE Manager 60 can generate an updated RFE budget BGT for radio component 62 based on the received RFE report RPT and the current or anticipated communication needs of device 10. Radio component 62 can adjust signal transmission to ensure compliance with the updated RFE budget BGT received from RFE Manager 60. Each radio component 62 can transmit its report RPT, and RFE Manager 60 can periodically (e.g., after a predetermined reporting period has elapsed) transmit the RFE budget BGT. In this way, RFE Manager 60 can help ensure that radio component 28 can continue to transmit radio frequency signals that meet the active and dynamic needs of device 10, while still meeting the RFE limits imposed on device 10 over the average time period.

[0055] In some specific implementations described herein as examples, cellular radio component 62-1 includes circuitry (e.g., transmitter, receiver, chip, etc.) implementing at least a first cellular RAT (e.g., RAT1) and a second cellular RAT (e.g., RAT2). Generally, cellular radio component 62 can implement any desired number of one or more cellular RATs. Cellular RATs implemented by cellular radio component 62-1 may include, for example, 5G NR RATs, 4G LTE RATs, 3G Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) RATs, 2G Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) RATs, 2G General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) RATs, and / or other cellular RATs. A first portion of cellular radio component 62-1 implementing a 5G NR RAT may, for example, use antenna 42 to transmit 5G signals; a second portion of cellular radio component 62-1 implementing a 4G LTE RAT may, for example, use antenna 42 to transmit 4G signals; a third portion of cellular radio component 62-3 implementing a 3G RAT may use antenna 42 to transmit 3G signals, and so on.

[0056] Cellular radio component 62-1 may include a physical layer (PHY) block 76 and a media access control (MAC) block 74. PHY block 76 may include PHY (e.g., layer 1 (L1)) hardware (e.g., circuitry, one or more processors, etc.) and / or software (e.g., radio control software executed by one or more processors on cellular radio component 62-1) that performs physical layer (L1) operations on signals and / or data. PHY block 76 is sometimes also referred to herein as PHY circuitry 76, PHY software 76, radio control software 76, physical layer 76 of cellular radio component 62-1, PHY portion 76 of cellular radio component 62-1, or simply PHY 76 of cellular radio component 62-1. MAC block 74 may include MAC (e.g., RRC / upper MAC layer, etc.) hardware (e.g., circuitry, one or more processors, etc.) and / or software (e.g., executed by one or more processors on cellular radio component 62-1) that performs RRC / upper MAC layer operations on signals and / or data. MAC block 74 is sometimes referred to herein as MAC circuit 74, MAC layer 74, MAC software 74, RRC / upper-layer MAC section 74 of cellular radio component 62-1, MAC section 74 of cellular radio component 62-1, or simply MAC 74 of cellular radio component 62-1.

[0057] AAMR 68 may store information used by one or more radio components 62 and / or RFE 60 during signal transmission. AAMR 68 may, for example, store information identifying the current state or mode of cellular radio component 62-1 (e.g., the current transmission state of cellular radio component 62-1). In a specific implementation described herein as an example, AAMR 68 may store at least a first tag 70 and / or a second tag 72 associated with the operating state of cellular radio component 62-1. The first tag 70 and / or the second tag 72 may be used to notify other components of radio circuit 24 of the current operating state of cellular radio component 62-1. Cellular radio component 62-1 may generate the first tag 70 and / or the second tag 72 based on its current operating (e.g., signal transmission) state. The PHY block 76 of cellular radio component 62-1 may transmit the first tag 70 and / or the second tag 72 to AAMR 68 via communication bus 66 for storage on AAMR 68. RFE manager 60 and / or other radio components such as non-cellular radio component 62-2 can read, retrieve, receive, and / or otherwise identify the first tag 70 and the second tag 72 from AAMR 68 via communication bus 66 during operation. The PHY block 76 of cellular radio component 62-1 can update / change the first tag 70 and / or the second tag 72 stored on AAMR 68 over time (e.g., as the transmission state of cellular radio component 62-1 changes over time). In this way, all radio components 62 in radio circuit 24 and RFE manager 60 can know the current transmission state of cellular radio component 62-1 over time. RFE manager 60 and / or noncellular radio component 62-2 can use information about the current transmission status of cellular radio component 62-1 (e.g., as identified by tags 70 and 72 stored on AAMR 68) to update the RFE budget provided to and / or consumed by noncellular radio component 62-2, and / or otherwise adjust the signal transmissions performed by noncellular radio component 62-2.

[0058] The first mark 70 may be, for example, a cell ON mark, indicator, or identifier that identifies or indicates whether the cellular radio component 62-1 is ON or active. The first mark 70 is also sometimes referred to herein as a cellular radio component activation mark 70, a CellON mark 70, a CellON indicator 70, a CellON identifier 70, an indicator 70, or an identifier 70. The CellON mark 70 may include any desired number of one or more bits that can be used to indicate the state of the cellular radio component 62-1. In some specific implementations described herein as examples, the CellON mark 70 includes a single bit, which is also sometimes referred to herein as a CellON mark bit, a CellON status bit, a CellON indicator bit, a CellON identifier bit, a mark bit, an indicator bit, or an identifier bit (e.g., having a first value equal to binary "0" or a second value equal to binary "1"). This can be used to identify the active state of the cellular radio component 62-1 while consuming as little memory as possible in the AAMR. On the other hand, when the cellular radio component 62-1 is inactive, off, disconnected (e.g., in an RRC disconnected state), asleep, idle, etc., the CellON mark 70 may, for example, have a first value (binary "0", sometimes referred to herein as CellON=0). On the other hand, when the cellular radio component 62-1 is active, on, connected (e.g., in an RRC connected state) and / or actively transmitting signals, the CellON mark 70 may, for example, have a second value (binary "1", sometimes referred to herein as CellON=1). If necessary, the communication protocol implemented by the cellular radio component 62-1 may specify which operating conditions of the cellular radio component 62-1 generate the CellON mark 70 with the first or second value. The value of the CellON mark 70 is sometimes referred to herein as the state of the CellON mark 70, the CellON value of the cellular radio component 62-1, the CellON state of the cellular radio component 62-1, or the CellON status of the cellular radio component 62-1.

[0059] When CellON mark 70 otherwise indicates that cellular radio component 62-1 is active or on (e.g., when CellON mark 70 has a second value of binary "1" but the radio component is otherwise in an RRC disconnected state), the second mark 72 may be, for example, a transmit (TX) pause (TxSuspend) mark, indicator, or identifier that identifies or indicates whether cellular radio component 62-1 has paused signal transmission. This may occur, for example, when cellular radio component 62-1 is performing an inter-RAT redirection or reconnection procedure, mobility operation, or rebuild procedure. The second mark 72 is also sometimes referred to herein as TX pause mark 72, TX pause mark 72, TxSuspend mark 72, TxSuspend identifier 72, TxSuspend indicator 72, identifier 72, or indicator 72. The TxSuspend mark 72 may include any desired number or more bits that can be used to indicate the transmit pause state of cellular radio component 62-1. In some specific implementations described herein as examples, the TxSuspend flag 72 comprises a single bit, sometimes referred to herein as the TxSuspend flag bit, TxSuspend indicator bit, TxSuspend identifier bit, or TxSuspend status bit (e.g., having a first value equal to binary "0" or a second value equal to binary "1"). This can be used to identify the transmit pause state of the cellular radio component 62-1 while consuming as little memory as possible in the AAMR. The TxSuspend flag 72 may have a second value (binary "1", sometimes referred to herein as TxSuspend=1) for example when the CellON flag 70 has its second value (binary "1") and when the cellular radio component 62-1 is performing an inter-RAT redirection process, mobility process, or rebuild process, and may have a first value (binary "0", sometimes referred to herein as TxSuspend=0) at other times (e.g., during active signal transmission).

[0060] Figure 4 This is a table showing how the CellON mark 70 can have different values ​​to indicate different transmission or communication states of the cellular radio component 62-1. Generally speaking, a specific value of the CellON mark 70 can have different meanings depending on the activity RAT of the cellular radio component 62-1. Figure 4 The first column lists the different cellular RATs that can be implemented by different corresponding parts of the cellular radio component 62-1. Figure 4 The second column lists the different radio component states of the cellular radio component 62-1, which can be represented by the CellON mark 70 with a second value (binary "1"). Figure 4The third column lists the different radio component states of the cellular radio component 62-1, which can be represented by the CellON mark 70 with a first value (binary "0").

[0061] For example, such as Figure 4 As shown, when the 5G NR portion of the cellular radio component 62-1 is performing 5G NR communication, the PHY block 76 of the cellular radio component 62-1 can communicate with the external communication equipment 54. Figure 2 When in Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection mode (e.g., in the RRC_CONNECTED state or mode of cellular radio component 62-1) in AAMR 68 ( Figure 3 In AAMR 68, CellON flag 70 is set to binary "1" when Cell Radio 62-1 is in an RRC idle or inactive state / mode (e.g., in the RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state or mode of Cell Radio 62-1). As another example, when the 4G LTE portion of Cell Radio 62-1 is performing 4G LTE communication, PHY block 76 of Cell Radio 62-1 may set CellON flag 70 to binary "1" in AAMR 68 when Cell Radio 62-1 is in a connected, connected, off, or IRAT_TO_LTE_STARTED state, and may set CellON flag 70 to binary "0" in AAMR 68 when Cell Radio 62-1 is in an inactive or idle state (e.g., IDLE_NOT_CAMPED or IDLE_CAMPED state). When the UMTS portion of the cellular radio component 62-1 is performing UMTS communication, the PHY block 76 of the cellular radio component 62-1 can set the CellON flag 70 to binary "1" in AAMR 68 when the cellular radio component 62-1 is in connected, CELL_FACH, or CELL_DCH state, and can set the CellON flag 70 to binary "0" in AAMR 68 when the cellular radio component 62-1 is in disconnected, idle, CELL_PCH, or URA_PCH mode / state. Figure 4 The examples are illustrative and not limiting, and in general, the Cell Radio Component 62-1 may store different values ​​of the CellON mark 70 in AAMR 68 to indicate any desired operating / transmission status / mode of the Cell Radio Component 62-1 for any desired Cell Radio RAT.

[0062] As indicated by arrow 78, cellular radio component 62-1 can switch from a connected state (e.g., RRC connected state) to a disconnected state (e.g., RRC disconnected state). This switch is sometimes also referred to as connection release, connection disconnection, RRC disconnection, RRC connection disconnection, RRC connection release, RRC release, RRC disconnection, disconnection, release, or disconnection. When this occurs, if necessary, the PHY block 76 of cellular radio component 62-1 can update the CellON flag 70 stored in AAMR 68 (e.g., from binary "1" to binary "0"). Conversely, as indicated by arrow 80, cellular radio component 62-1 can switch from a disconnected state (e.g., RRC disconnected state) to a connected state (e.g., RRC connected state). This switch is sometimes also referred to as connection attachment, connection, attachment, RRC connection attachment, RRC connection, or RRC attachment. When this occurs, if necessary, the PHY block 76 of the cellular radio component 62-1 can update the CellON tag 70 stored in the AAMR 68 (e.g., from binary "0" to binary "1").

[0063] Figure 5 Is using Figure 3 The flowchart illustrates the exemplary operations involved in transmitting radio frequency signals using the wireless circuit 24. At operation 82, the RFE manager 60 can generate an RFE budget (BGT) for the radio component 62 in the wireless circuit 24. RFE manager 60 can generate each RFE budget based on the RAT implemented by each radio component, sensor data indicating external objects near one or more antennas 42 and / or around device 10, transmission characteristics of each radio component, one or more characteristics (e.g., content) of the wireless data to be transmitted by each radio component, channel conditions and / or propagation conditions of each radio component, communication scheduling of device 10 (e.g., generated and / or maintained by the network communicating with device 10), applicable regulatory RFE limits imposed on device 10 (e.g., given the current geographic location of device 10 as identified from external communication equipment, sensing circuitry on device 10 and / or satellite navigation receiver on device 10), regulatory average period, statistical and / or historical information (e.g., crowdsourced statistics and / or historical RFE information) associated with previous transmissions and / or RFE consumption of radio components 62 and / or other devices, one or more RFE reports RPT previously received from one or more radio components in radio components 62, and / or any other desired factors.

[0064] At operation 84, the RFE manager 60 can send the RFE budget BGT to its corresponding radio component 62 via control path 64. Each radio component 62 can store the received RFE budget BGT for use during subsequent signal transmissions.

[0065] At operation 86, radio component 62 can transmit radio frequency signals based on (e.g., obeying, complying with, and / or according to) its corresponding RFE budget BGT received from RFE manager 60. For example, each radio component 62 can transmit radio frequency signals at one or more different transmit power levels and / or using one or more different uplink duty cycles, causing the radio component 62 to exhibit or consume a specific amount of RFE constrained, prescribed, and / or limited by its RFE budget BGT over an average period. RFE manager 60 can allocate different amounts of consumable RFE in the distributed RFE budget BGT across all radio components 62 in the radio circuit 24 in a manner that maximizes the wireless performance of the radio component 62 given its current transmit requirements while also ensuring that all radio components 62 in the radio circuit 24 collectively meet the regulatory constraints on RFE imposed on device 10. Operation 86 can continue with Figure 5 Operations 92 and 94 are executed concurrently.

[0066] If needed, the PHY block 76 of cellular radio component 62-1 can generate CellON tag 70 and TxSuspend tag 72 based on its current operating state and store CellON tag 70 and TxSuspend tag 72 in AAMR 68 (at operation 88). As the operating state of cellular radio component 62-1 changes over time, cellular radio component 62-1 can update one or both tags. If needed, non-cellular radio components such as non-cellular radio component 62-2 and / or RFE manager 60 can identify the current operating state of cellular radio component 62-1 by reading or recognizing the values ​​of CellON tag 70 and / or TxSuspend tag 72 stored in AAMR 68 (at operation 90). If needed, non-cellular radio components can update / adjust their own signal transmission based on the current operating state of cellular radio component 62-1. For example, if CellON tag 70 has a binary "1" value, then under the assumption that cellular communication will be relatively high and will consume a relatively high amount of RFE, non-cellular radio component 62-2 can reduce its RFE consumption during the current average period. On the other hand, if CellON tag 70 has a binary "0" value, then under the assumption that the cellular radio component will not consume any of its RFE budget, non-cellular radio component 62-2 can increase its RFE consumption during the current average period. In other words, cellular radio component 62-1 can use CellON tag 70 stored in AAMR 68 to notify other radio components of radio circuit 24 when it is in a transmitting state (e.g., RRC connected state). Each radio component 62 can be responsible for self-managing its own RFE consumption during signal transmission. Each non-cellular radio component can utilize the on / off state of cellular radio component 62-1 (e.g., as identified by CellON tag 70) to adjust its own RFE budget in a performance-optimized manner.

[0067] At operation 92, each radio component 62 in wireless circuit 24 can periodically generate an RFE report RPT, which indicates the amount of RFE consumed by that radio component 62 during signal transmission within a previously predetermined report (e.g., each RFE report RPT can identify the time-domain average of SAR and / or MPE consumed by the corresponding radio component). For example, a radio component 62 performing more signal transmissions at a higher signal power level and / or duty cycle will consume more RFE in a given time period compared to a radio component 62 performing fewer signal transmissions at a lower signal power level and / or duty cycle. The presence of an external object near the antenna 42 used by each radio component 62 can also affect the amount of RFE consumed by each radio component (e.g., a radio component transmitting using an antenna relatively close to the external object consumes more RFE than a radio component transmitting using an antenna relatively far from the external object). The RFE manager 60 and / or the radio component 62 can receive sensor data indicating the presence of external objects near the antenna 42 and can use this information when calculating RFE consumption. Each radio component 62 can send its generated RFE report RPT to the RFE manager 60 (e.g., periodically after each predetermined reporting period).

[0068] At operation 94, RFE manager 60 can update one or more RFE budgets BGT of radio component 62 based on the Report RPT received from radio component 62. For example, RFE manager 60 can reallocate the unused portion of one radio component's RFE budget to another radio component's RFE budget that exceeds or nearly exceeds its own. If needed, RFE manager 60 can also update one or more RFE budgets BGT of radio component 62 based on the values ​​of CellON flag 70 and / or TxSuspend flag 72 in AAMR 68. Processing can loop back to operation 84 via path 96, and RFE manager 60 can send the updated RFE budget BGT to radio component 62 for use during subsequent signal transmissions.

[0069] Figure 6 This is a graph illustrating an example of the SAR consumption over time for both cellular radio component 62-1 and non-cellular radio component 62-2 during signal transmission. Figure 6As shown, curve 100 plots the instantaneous SAR of non-cellular radio component 62-2 transmitting signals according to its RFE budget BGT2. Curve 98 plots the instantaneous SAR of cellular radio component 62-1 transmitting signals according to its RFE budget BGT1. Curve 102 plots the total instantaneous SAR consumed by cellular radio component 62-1 and non-cellular radio component 62-2. Curve 104 plots the time-averaged total SAR consumed by cellular radio component 62-1 and non-cellular radio component 62-2 (e.g., within a rolling average window over a period of time equal to the average RFE limit applied to radio circuit 24).

[0070] In this example, between times t0 and t1, non-cellular radio component 62-2 transmits radio frequency signals, while cellular radio component 62-1 is inactive. This causes non-cellular radio component 62-2 to consume transient SAR, while cellular radio component 62-1 does not consume SAR. Non-cellular radio component 62-2 sends one or more RFE reports RPT2 to RFE manager 60, which identify the consumed SAR associated with curve 100 between times t0 and t1. Cellular radio component 62-1 may also send one or more RFE reports RPT1 to RFE manager 60, which identify that cellular radio component 62-1 did not consume SAR between times t0 and t1. Before time t1, the time-averaged total SAR (curve 104) is entirely generated by the SAR consumed by non-cellular radio component 62-2 and remains below the regulatory SAR limit TH applied to radio circuit 24. At time t1, cellular radio component 62-1 begins transmitting radio frequency signals, causing the peak of the total transient SAR (curve 102) to temporarily exceed the regulatory SAR limit TH. Cellular radio component 62-1 sends an RFE report RPT1 to RFE manager 60, which identifies that cellular radio component 62-1 has consumed the SAR amount given by curve 98. However, this peak does not cause radio circuit 24 to violate the RFE requirements imposed on radio circuit 24, because the time-averaged total SAR (curve 104) remains below the specified SAR limit TH over the previous (rolling) averaging period.

[0071] In response to RFE reports received from radio components 62-1 and 62-2, RFE manager 60 may reduce the RFE budget BGT2 supplied to non-cellular radio component 62-2 at time t2 and / or may increase the RFE budget BGTT1 supplied to cellular radio component 62-1 at time t2. Additionally or alternatively, non-cellular radio component 62-2 may detect that cellular radio component 62-1 has started transmitting by reading CellON flag 70 from AAMR68, and may reduce its instantaneously consumed SAR in response to detecting that CellON flag 70 is equal to binary "1" at and after time t1. The reduction in instantaneous SAR consumed by non-cellular radio component 62-2 after time t2 offsets the increase in instantaneous SAR consumed by cellular radio component 62-1 after time t2, such that the time-averaged SAR consumed by radio components 62-1 and 62-2 during the rolling average period remains below the regulatory SAR limit TH. In this way, even if the cellular radio component 62-1 generates an instantaneous total SAR loss exceeding the regulatory SAR limit TH from time t1 to time t2, the radio circuit 24 can continue to comply with the regulatory SAR limit TH.

[0072] In practice, certain situations may arise that cause the cellular radio component 62-1 to rapidly switch its CellON flag between binary "1" and binary "0". This may occur, for example, when the cellular radio component 62-1 performs an operation that causes an RRC disconnection, followed shortly by an RRC reattachment attempt, such as during an inter-RAT redirection process, a mobility process, or a rebuilding process. A mobility process may involve a handover between communicating with a first external device and communicating with a second external device, wherein an RRC disconnection occurs between communicating with the first external device and communicating with the second device. A rebuilding process may involve reconnecting to an external device after an RRC disconnection has occurred. As an example, inter-RAT redirection is sometimes described herein to illustrate the operation of radio circuit 24.

[0073] For example, when performing an inter-RAT redirection, the cellular radio component 62-1 switches from performing wireless communication using a first cellular RAT to performing wireless communication using a second cellular RAT. In these cases, the cellular radio component 62-1 operates in a connected mode (e.g., RRC connected state) using the first (source) cellular RAT, disconnects communication with an external communication device under the first cellular RAT (e.g., performs an RRC release for the first cellular RAT), and then connects to the external communication device using the second (target) cellular RAT (e.g., attaches to the external communication device and enters an RRC connected state for the second cellular RAT). This differs from a handover process, which maintains the first RRC connection until the second RRC connection has been established before releasing the first RRC connection. If not careful, when performing this type of inter-RAT redirection, the cellular radio component 62-1 may rapidly switch the value of the CellON flag 70 in AAMR 68 from binary "1" to binary "0" and then back to binary "1" within a relatively short time interval (e.g., less than 1 second).

[0074] Because the noncellular radio component 62-2 updates its own signal transmission and / or RFE consumption based on the state of the CellON flag 70 in AAMR 68 (see, for example) Figure 5 Because of the rapid switching of the CellON flag 70 value (operation 90), this rapid switching can undesirably and unnecessarily degrade the radio performance of the noncellular radio component 62-2. For example, rapid switching of the CellON flag 70 can lead to a decrease in signal quality and / or an increase in the block error rate (BLER) of the noncellular radio component 62-2. As another example, rapid switching of the CellON flag 70 can reduce the effective range of the noncellular radio component 62-2, which can reduce the uplink throughput of the noncellular radio component 62-2. Furthermore, due to the rapid switching during certain critical signaling scenarios (e.g., high-speed mobility scenarios), there is a risk of intermittent performance problems in the noncellular radio component 62-2. When there are frequent changes between CellON flag values, RFE control can also become challenging in terms of instantaneous RFE consumption because there may be a delay between the already active radio components adjusting their transmit power.

[0075] In some implementations, radio circuit 24 utilizes a timer to avoid rapid handover of CellON tag 70 during inter-RAT redirection, mobility operation, or rebuilding processes of cellular radio component 62-1. In these implementations, the transition between values ​​of CellON tag 70 is intentionally delayed based on a corresponding timer (sometimes referred to as a sticky timer) adjustable by the host. The timer may, for example, have a duration of 5 seconds. These implementations utilize a hysteresis-based approach to mitigate rapid handover in CellON tag 70. For example, when cellular radio component 62-1 switches from an RRC connected state to a disconnected state in a first cellular RAT, the cellular radio component may delay updating the value of CellON tag 70 until the timer has elapsed, rather than updating the value of CellON tag 70 immediately. The timer may be long enough that the radio component can complete its inter-RAT redirection, mobility, or rebuilding process to re-enter the RRC connected state before the timer has elapsed. By the time the timer has elapsed, the cellular radio component has returned to the connected state, thus allowing the value of CellON tag 70 to remain unchanged.

[0076] Although this type of hysteresis-based method is implemented directly in radio circuit 24, updating the value of CellON tag 70 is not allowed if the radio control coexistence manager in cellular radio component 62-1 is in sleep mode, and may potentially lead to excessively long durations where CellON tag 70 is incorrectly stored as a binary "1" when it should be stored as a binary "0" (e.g., during network-initiated separation or service termination scenarios). Therefore, it is desirable for cellular radio component 62-1 to prevent rapid switching of CellON tag 70 without using a hysteresis-based sticky timer.

[0077] Figure 7 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary operation that can be performed by cellular radio component 62-1 to mitigate rapid handover in CellON marker 70 without using a sticky timer (e.g., during inter-RAT redirection, mobility operations, and / or rebuild operations). In this example, cellular radio component 62-1 is introduced ( Figure 3 The interface between the PHY block 76 and the MAC block 74 is configured to avoid rapid switching of the CellON state by maintaining the state of the CellON flag 70 during mobility, redirection, and / or reconstruction. Figure 7 The operation can be, for example, in processing Figure 5 The operation 86 is executed simultaneously.

[0078] At operation 110, cellular radio component 62-1 is activated. Because cellular radio component 62-1 is not immediately in a connected state after activation, the PHY block 76 of cellular radio component 62-1 can set the value of CellON flag 70 in AAMR 68 to equal binary "0" (e.g., indicating that cellular radio component 62-1 is not operating in a connected mode or state). If necessary, PHY block 76 can be accessed via communication bus 66 (…). Figure 3 The signal that identifies or includes CellON=0 is sent to AAMR 68 and / or to the coexistence platform within the device.

[0079] At operation 112, cellular radio component 62-1 can connect to a cellular network using a first cellular RAT. This connection can put cellular radio component 62-1 into a connected mode (e.g., RRC connected state). If needed, MAC block 74 of cellular radio component 62-1 can send a connection request to PHY block 76 of cellular radio component 62-1. In response to receiving a connection request from MAC block 74, PHY block 76 can communicate via communication bus 66 (… Figure 3 The signal identifying or including CellON=1 is sent to AAMR68 and / or to the coexistence platform within the device, thereby updating the value of CellON flag 70 to binary "1" in AAMR 68 (e.g., instructing cellular radio component 62-1 to operate in a connected mode or state). Cellular radio component 62-1 can initiate communication with external devices (e.g., when in a connected state, using the first cellular RAT). Figure 2 The external communication equipment 54) can wirelessly transmit data (e.g., wireless data can be started).

[0080] At operation 114, an RRC connection release can occur, thereby disconnecting or separating the cellular radio component 62-1 from external devices. Generally, the MAC block 74 of the cellular radio component 62-1 ( Figure 3The MAC block 76 knows both the RRC state of cellular radio component 62-1 and the reason for the RRC connection release (e.g., because MAC block 74 performs RRC functions for cellular radio component 62-1). However, the PHY block 76 itself is generally unaware of the RRC procedure performed by cellular radio component 62-1 and is unaware of the RRC connection state of cellular radio component 62-1. If / when the RRC connection release is caused by an event that can result in a rapid handover of the state of CellON mark 70, the process can proceed from operation 114 to operation 122 via path 115. As an example, this may occur if / when the RRC connection release is caused by the start of an inter-RAT redirection procedure performed by cellular radio component 62-1, a mobility procedure performed by cellular radio component 62-1, or a reconstruction procedure performed by cellular radio component 62-1. If / when the RRC connection release is caused by an event that does not otherwise result in a rapid handover of the state of CellON mark 70 (e.g., a network-initiated RRC connection release), the process can proceed to operation 118 via path 116. At operation 118, the PHY block 76 of cellular radio component 62-1 can switch the value of CellON flag 70 in AAMR 68 back to binary "0", thereby notifying other radio components and the RFE manager that cellular radio component 62-1 is not powered on / active. When subsequent communication is performed, the process can then loop back to operation 112 via path 120.

[0081] At operation 122 (e.g., in response to an event that could generate CellON mark 70 due to an RRC connection release), MAC block 74 may send a signal to PHY block 76 informing PHY block 76 that cellular radio component 62-1 is currently performing a process that could generate CellON mark 70 (e.g., inter-RAT redirection process, mobility process, or rebuild process), and / or may send a signal instructing PHY block 76 to maintain the value of CellON mark 70 in AAMR 68 as binary "1", regardless of RRC connection release.

[0082] At operation 124, in response to receiving a signal from MAC block 74, PHY block 76 may maintain CellON=1 in AAMR 68 without changing the value of the CellON flag in AAMR 68 (e.g., PHY block 76 may forgo updating CellON flag 70 to the value corresponding to the disconnected state of cellular radio component 62-1). In other words, because cellular radio component 62-1 performs RRC connection release, the interface between MAC block 74 and PHY block 76 prevents PHY block 76 from changing CellON flag 70 back to binary "0". Processing can proceed to operation 126 when cellular radio component 62-1 has completed a fast handover process that could generate CellON flag 70 (e.g., inter-RAT redirection process, mobility process, or rebuild process). This may occur, for example, after cellular radio component 62 has returned to the RRC connected state. For example, this may occur once cellular radio component 62-1 has entered the RRC connected state for a second cellular RAT different from the first cellular RAT when the process is an inter-RAT redirection process.

[0083] At operation 126, MAC block 74 may send a signal to PHY block 76 notifying it that a process that generates a rapid handover of CellON mark 70 (e.g., an inter-RAT redirection process, a mobility process, or a rebuild process) has been completed. If necessary, this signal may include an indication of whether the process was successful. PHY block 76 may use this information to determine how to update CellON mark 70 during subsequent transmissions.

[0084] At operation 128, cellular radio component 62-1 can perform communication in RRC connected state. In a specific implementation of inter-RAT redirection, cellular radio component 62-1 may use a second cellular RAT instead of the first cellular RAT to perform these communications. Communication may continue in this manner until cellular radio component 62-1 disconnects again (e.g., processing may loop back to operation 114 via path 129). While processing operations 124 through 128, the value of CellON flag 70 in AAMR 68 remains binary "1". In this way, PHY block 76 can maintain CellON=1 in AAMR 68 from operation 112 to operation 128, thereby preventing rapid switching of CellON flag 70, which could otherwise degrade the performance of non-cellular radio component 62-2.

[0085] The first value of CellON mark 70 (e.g., binary "1") is sometimes referred to herein as CellON mark 70 being true or having a first logical / binary value. The second value of CellON mark 70 (e.g., binary "0") is sometimes referred to herein as CellON mark 70 being false or having a second logical / binary value. The binary values ​​of CellON mark 70 may be interchanged if needed (e.g., binary value "0" may indicate that CellON mark 70 is true, corresponding to cellular radio component 62-1 being on or connected, and binary value "1" may indicate that CellON mark 70 is false, corresponding to cellular radio component 62-1 being off or disconnected).

[0086] During operations 122 to 126, cellular radio component 62-1 announces its CellON state as binary "1" (true). However, because cellular radio component 62-1 is actually disconnected during operations 122 to 126, it does not periodically generate and send RFE reports RPT1 to the RFE manager 60 during this period. This can result in time gaps in the RFE averaging performed by the RFE manager 60, potentially affecting RFE functionality and leading to inefficient use of the RFE budget on radio component 62 in radio circuit 24. In the worst case, the RFE manager 60 may assume that cellular radio component 62 consumes the maximum amount of its allocated RFE budget BGT1 during the period when the RFE manager 60 does not receive RFE reports RPT1. However, this could cause the RFE manager 60 to unnecessarily allocate low RFE budgets to other radio components 62 in radio circuit 24, thereby limiting the wireless performance of those other radio components. A 3 dB reduction in transmit power in the non-cellular radio component 62-2 caused by the reduced RFE budget BGT2 can, for example, result in a reduction of uplink throughput of the non-cellular radio component 62-2 by up to 50%. Furthermore, the RFE manager 60 may allocate the RFE budget to the cellular radio component 62-1 while the RRC connection rebuild timer (e.g., the 3GPP-specified T311 timer) is running. In some regions, this timer can be as long as 30 seconds, which can represent a considerable amount of time during which the cellular radio component does not actually consume RFE. This can lead to inefficient RFE budget allocation, which degrades the performance of the non-cellular radio component 62-2. Additionally, a momentary RFE budget boost may not be available to the non-cellular radio component 62-2 during this period, potentially limiting its momentary transmit power. In summary, if not careful, the RFE manager 60 may not be able to determine whether the lack of RFE report RPT1 received from the cellular radio component 62-1 during operations 122 to 126 is due to a reporting failure in the cellular radio component 62-1 or due to the cellular radio component 62-1 performing a real cellular process (such as an inter-RAT redirection process, a mobility process, or a rebuild process).

[0087] To help mitigate these issues, cellular radio component 62-1 can use the TxSuspend tag 72 to notify or indicate to the RFE manager 60 that the lack of RFE reports RPT1 received from cellular radio component 62-1 is caused by a genuine cellular process (such as an inter-RAT redirection process, mobility process, or rebuild process) rather than a reporting failure. In this way, the RFE manager 60 can use the value of the TxSuspend tag 72 to determine the current state of cellular radio component 62-1 (e.g., without needing to assume a worst-case scenario where cellular radio component 62-1 is consuming all its RFE budget BGT1 and has stopped transmitting RFE reports RPT1). This allows the RFE manager 60 to increase the RFE budget allocated to other (e.g., non-cellular) radio components 62 in radio circuit 24, which can improve the radio performance of those radio components when cellular radio component 62-1 performs an inter-RAT redirection process, mobility process, or rebuild process.

[0088] Figure 8 This is an example operational flowchart illustrating how the cellular radio component 62-1 and the RFE manager 60 can utilize the TxSuspend tag 72 during radio frequency signal transmission. The TxSuspend tag 72 can, for example, be used to transmit the real-time transmission status of the cellular radio component 62-1 to the RFE manager 60. For example, Figure 8 Some or all of the operations can be with Figure 7 Operations 122 to 126 are executed in parallel.

[0089] At operation 130, the cellular radio component 62-1 can perform RRC connection release (e.g., in...). Figure 7 (Operation 114). In this example, the RRC connection release could be caused by an event that would otherwise have resulted in a rapid switch between CellON=1 and CellON=0 (e.g., an inter-RAT redirection operation, a mobility operation, or a rebuild operation).

[0090] At operation 132, the PHY block 76 of the cellular radio component 62-1 can set the CellON mark 70 in AAMR 68 to be equal to binary "1" (e.g., in response to...). Figure 7(The instruction or signal received from MAC block 74 at operation 122). In the absence of more information, RFE manager 60 may assume that cellular radio component 62 is still in RRC connected state and is still actively transmitting signals because CellON flag 70 is set to "1". However, because cellular radio component 62-1 has paused transmission when disconnected, PHY block 76 may also set TxSuspend flag 72 to binary "1" in AAMR 68. This can be used to notify RFE manager 60 and other radio components 62 in radio circuit 24 that cellular radio component 62-1 has stopped or paused transmission, even though CellON flag 70 is set to "1" in AAMR 68 (e.g., as maintained by PHY block 76 to prevent rapid switching between CellON states when performing RAT redirection operations, mobility operations, or rebuild operations). RFE manager 60 may detect the current operation / transmission status of cellular radio component 62-1 based on the value of CellON flag 70 and TxSuspend flag 72 in AAMR 68. More specifically, the RFE manager 60 can know from CellON=1 and TxSuspend=1 stored in AAMR 68 that the cellular radio component 62-1 is not in a transmitting state, even though the CellON flag 70 is set to "1". This can be used to notify the RFE manager 60 that the lack of RFE report RPT1 from the cellular radio component 62-1 is not caused by a reporting failure, but by a genuine cellular process.

[0091] At operation 134, in response to detecting or identifying that cellular radio component 62-1 has CellON=1 and TxSuspend=1 (e.g., as stored in AAMR 68), RFE manager 60 may suspend or stop periodically sending RFE budget BGT1 to cellular radio component 62-1. If necessary, RFE manager 60 may suspend or stop allocating RFE budget to cellular radio component 62-1, and / or may allocate some or all of the RFE budget originally intended for cellular radio component 62-1 to non-cellular radio component 62-2 and / or other radio components in radio circuit 24 (e.g., RFE manager 60 may use unused RFE budget from cellular radio component 62-1 to improve the RFE budget of radio components other than cellular radio component 62-1 while still complying with regulatory RFE restrictions). This can be used to improve the wireless performance of non-cellular radio components in radio circuit 24 without violating regulatory RFE restrictions when cellular radio component 62-1 is disconnected but CellON=1.

[0092] After a predetermined time period (e.g., timer T311) has elapsed, processing can proceed to operation 136. At operation 136, wireless circuit 24 can determine whether cellular radio component 62-1 has entered a transmitting state. If / when the cellular radio component has not entered a transmitting state (e.g., not entered RRC connection mode) after the predetermined time period has elapsed, processing can proceed to operation 142 via path 140.

[0093] At operation 142, the PHY block 76 of the cellular radio component 62-1 can be set to CellON=0 (e.g., because the cellular radio component 62-1 is inactive), and TxSuspend=0 can be set in AAMR 68 (e.g., TxSuspend mark 72 can be cleared).

[0094] At operation 144, the RFE manager 60 can allocate a regulatory-compliant total RFE budget among the non-cellular radio components 62 in the wireless circuit 24. If necessary, the RFE manager 60 can allocate a relatively small RFE budget to the cellular radio component 62-1 or not allocate an RFE budget at all, since the cellular radio component 62-1 is inactive. For example, this can be used to improve the wireless performance of the non-cellular radio components. On the other hand, if / when a cellular radio component enters a transmitting state (e.g., re-enters RRC connection mode) after a predetermined time period has elapsed, processing can proceed from operation 136 to operation 146 via path 138.

[0095] At operation 146, the PHY block 76 of cellular radio component 62-1 can be set to CellON=1 (e.g., because cellular radio component 62-1 is active), and TxSuspend=0 can be set in AAMR 68 (e.g., the TxSuspend flag can be cleared because cellular radio component 62-1 is performing signal transmission and has not yet paused signal transmission). Setting TxSuspend=0 can be used to instruct RFE manager 60 to continue periodically allocating RFE budget BGT1 to cellular radio component 62-1 (e.g., because cellular radio component 62-1 is actively transmitting signals).

[0096] At operation 148, the RFE manager 60 can allocate a regulatory-compliant total RFE budget between the cellular radio component 62-1 and the non-cellular radio component 62 in the wireless circuit 24. The first value of the TxSuspend flag 72 (e.g., binary "1") is sometimes referred to herein as TxSuspend flag 72 being true or having a first logical / binary value. The second value of the TxSuspend flag 72 (e.g., binary "0") is sometimes referred to herein as TxSuspend flag 72 being false or having a second logical / binary value. The values ​​of the TxSuspend flag 72 can be interchanged if needed (e.g., a binary "0" value can indicate that TxSuspend flag 72 is true, corresponding to cellular radio component 62-1 having suspended transmission, and a binary "1" value can indicate that TxSuspend flag 72 is false, corresponding to cellular radio component 62-1 not having suspended transmission).

[0097] Figure 9 This is an example Figure 8 The timing diagram of the operation. For example... Figure 9 As shown, at time TA, the PHY block 76 of cellular radio component 62-1 can send an RFE report RPT1 to the RFE manager 60. The RFE report RPT1 can identify the amount of RFE consumed by cellular radio component 62-1 during the previous reporting period. The RFE manager 60 can update the RFE budget BGT1 of cellular radio component 62-1 based on the RFE report RPT1 and can send the updated RFE budget BGT1 to cellular radio component 62-1. Cellular radio component 62-1 can transmit radio frequency signals according to, conform to, and / or according to the updated RFE budget BGT1 within predetermined intervals (such as during the next reporting period X) until time TB.

[0098] At time TB, the PHY block 76 of cellular radio component 62-1 can send another RFE report RPT1 to RFE manager 60. This RFE report identifies the amount of RFE consumed by cellular radio component 62-1 between time TA and TB (e.g., during a previous reporting period X). RFE manager 60 can update the RFE budget BGT1 of cellular radio component 62-1 again based on the RFE report RPT1 sent at time TB, and can send the updated RFE budget BGT1 to cellular radio component 62-1. Cellular radio component 62-1 can then transmit radio frequency signals in accordance with, conform to, and / or according to the updated RFE budget BGT1 during the next reporting period X until time TC.

[0099] From time TA to time TC, cellular radio component 62-1 is active in the connected state and performs signal transmission. Therefore, from time TA to time TC, PHY block 76 sets CellON=1 and TxSuspend=0 in AAMR 68. At time TC, cellular radio component 62-1 performs RRC connection release (e.g., at...). Figure 8 (Operation 130). In response to instructions from MAC block 74 (e.g., in...). Figure 7 At operation 122), even though the RRC connection is released, PHY block 76 can still maintain CellON=1 in AAMR 68 (e.g., to prevent rapid switching between CellON states). On the other hand, PHY block 76 can activate TxSuspend flag 72, thereby switching the flag in AAMR 68 from binary "0" to binary "1" (e.g., indicating that L1 of RAT of cellular radio component 62-1 is in sleep mode, even though the RRC state of CellON of cellular radio component 62-1 is true).

[0100] RFE manager 60 can detect, determine, or identify (e.g., read) that the TxSuspend tag 72 from AAMR 68 has a value equal to binary "1". In response to this detection, RFE manager 60 can stop sending RFE budget BGT1 to cellular radio component 62-1 for the duration of network timer Y (e.g., timer T311). Furthermore, RFE manager 60 can allocate unused RFE budget that was originally allocated to cellular radio component 62-1 during network timer Y to non-cellular radio components in radio circuit 24 (e.g., during processing). Figure 8 (Operation 134).

[0101] exist Figure 9 In the example, cellular radio component 62-1 enters the transmit state after network timer Y has elapsed (at time TE). At time TE, PHY block 76 clears TxSuspend flag 72 (e.g., sets TxSuspend flag 72 to binary "0" in AAMR 68) and keeps CellON flag 70 equal to binary "1", thus instructing cellular radio component 62-1 to perform transmit after time TE. Cellular radio component 62-1 can resume periodically sending its RFE report RPT1 to RFE manager 60. RFE manager 60 can resume generating RFE budget BGT1 for cellular radio component 62-1 and can periodically send RFE budget BGT1 to cellular radio component 62-1. RFE manager 60 can also resume after time TE (e.g., during processing) Figure 8During operation 148, the overall RFE budget of radio circuit 24 is allocated between cellular radio component 62-1 and non-cellular radio component. The TxSuspend flag 72, reset to zero, can also be used to trigger adjustments to the RFE budget reservation for non-cellular radio component 62-2.

[0102] In this way, the PHY block 76 of cellular radio component 62-1 can dynamically update the TxSuspend flag 72 to reflect the real-time transmission status of cellular radio component 62-1. This real-time transmission status can be transmitted to all other radio components in radio circuit 24, which rely on or are based on the CellON status of cellular radio component 62-1 (e.g., non-cellular radio component 62-2) to update signal transmission and / or RFE consumption. When cellular transmission activity is aborted or suspended, the PHY block 76 sets the TxSuspend flag 72 to signal to other radio components and the RFE manager 60 that the ongoing transmission has been aborted by cellular radio component 62-1, thereby freeing up additional RFE budget for use by other radio components in radio circuit 24. Furthermore, the TxSuspend flag 72 can act as a low-overhead signaling mechanism that ensures that non-cellular radio components in radio circuit 24 have up-to-date information about the transmission conditions of radio circuit 24 (e.g., to establish seamless interaction between cellular radio component 62-1 and other radio components in radio circuit 24). The TxSuspend flag 72 can also be used to notify other radio components in the radio circuit 24 of the end of the TxSuspend event with a non-zero lead time, thereby allowing those radio components to immediately apply transmit corrections to account for the resumption of transmission by the cellular radio component. Utilizing the TxSuspend flag in this way can also enhance equipment performance while ensuring compliance with RFE requirements. For example, the TxSuspend flag can effectively prevent the conservative allocation of the RFE budget to the non-cellular radio component 62-2, and / or provide some immunity to the error detection of the RFE manager 60. The RFE manager 60 can also control the non-cellular radio component 62-2 to perform a momentary transmit power boost when TxSuspend=1 without violating RFE requirements, which can improve system performance and user experience.

[0103] PHY block 76 may set TxSuspend=1 when performing inter-RAT redirection, mobility operation, or reconstruction operation (as three examples only). This is not limiting. As other examples, PHY block 76 may activate or trigger TxSuspend flag 72 (e.g., TxSuspend=1 may be set) when CellON=1 during Evolved Packet System Backoff (EPSFB) procedures (e.g., successful or failed inter-RAT redirection from 5G to 4G), Radio Link Failure (RLF) procedures (e.g., reconstruction and / or cell search procedures utilizing T311 timer), Circuit Switched Backoff (CSFB) procedures (e.g., successful or failed inter-RAT redirection from 4G to 4G), Out of Service (OOS) procedures, successful or failed inter-RAT redirection from 4G to 5G, network separation events (e.g., caused by NAS separation timer), etc.

[0104] The above text combined Figures 1 to 8 The described methods and operations can be performed by components of device 10 using software, firmware, and / or hardware (e.g., dedicated circuitry or hardware). Software code for performing these operations may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a tangible computer-readable storage medium) stored on one or more components of device 10 (e.g., ...). Figure 1 The storage device circuitry 16 and / or wireless communication circuitry 24). This software code may sometimes be referred to as software, data, instructions, program instructions, or code. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media may include drives, non-volatile memory such as non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), removable flash drives or other removable media, other types of random access memory, etc. The software stored on the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be processed by processing circuitry on one or more components of device 10 (e.g., processing circuitry in wireless circuitry 24, ...). Figure 1 The processing circuitry (e.g., 18) executes the operation. This processing circuitry may include a microprocessor, application processor, digital signal processor, central processing unit (CPU), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) with processing circuitry, or other processing circuitry.

[0105] As used herein, the term "concurrent" means at least partially overlapping in time. In other words, the first and second events are referred to herein as "concurrent" if at least some of the first events occur simultaneously with at least some of the second events (e.g., if at least some of the first events occur during, concurrently with, or when at least some of the second events occur). The first and second events can be concurrent if they are synchronized (e.g., if the entire duration of the first event overlaps with the entire duration of the second event in time), but they can also be concurrent if they are asynchronous (e.g., if the first event begins before or after the second event, ends before or after the second event, or does not partially overlap in time). As used herein, the term "at the time of" is synonymous with "concurrent".

[0106] As is widely recognized, the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and measures that are generally accepted to meet or exceed industry or governmental requirements for protecting user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

[0107] According to one embodiment, a method of operating a wireless circuit includes: using the first radio component to transmit a first radio frequency signal based on a first radio frequency exposure (RFE) budget when a first status flag associated with a first radio component has a first value in a storage device circuit; using the first radio component to perform an operation including a radio resource control (RRC) connection release; using a media access control (MAC) block of the first radio component to cause a physical layer (PHY) block of the first radio component to maintain the first value of the status flag in the storage device circuit for the duration of the operation; and using a second radio component to transmit a second radio frequency signal based on a second RFE budget and the first status flag in the storage device circuit.

[0108] According to another embodiment, transmitting the first radio frequency signal optionally includes transmitting the first radio frequency signal using a first cellular radio access technology (RAT), and transmitting the second radio frequency signal includes transmitting the second radio frequency signal using a non-cellular RAT.

[0109] According to another embodiment, the method optionally further includes: after the operation is completed, using the first radio component to transmit a third radio frequency signal in a second cellular phone RAT different from the first cellular phone RAT, wherein the operation includes inter-RAT redirection.

[0110] According to another implementation, the operation may optionally include a mobility operation, a rebuild operation, or a stop service (OOS) operation.

[0111] According to another embodiment, the first status flag optionally includes a unit identifier indicating whether the first radio component is turned on.

[0112] According to another embodiment, when the first radio component transmits the first radio frequency signal and during operation, the unit identifier optionally has a first logical value, the method further includes, in response to an instruction from a network communicating with the first radio component, using the first radio component to perform an additional RRC release; and in response to the additional RRC release, using the MAC block of the first radio component to instruct the PHY block of the first radio component to set the unit identifier to a second logical value.

[0113] According to another embodiment, the method optionally further includes: upon completion of the operation, providing an indication to the PHY block of the first radio component using the MAC block of the first radio component; in response to the indication indicating that the first radio component has established a new RRC connection after the operation is completed, maintaining the first value of the first tag in the storage device circuit using the PHY block of the first radio component; and in response to the indication indicating that the radio component has not established the new RRC connection after the operation is completed, switching the first tag in the storage device circuit to a second value using the PHY block of the first radio component.

[0114] According to another embodiment, the method optionally further includes: after the RRC release, using the PHY block of the first radio component to change a second status flag in the storage device circuit, the second status flag being associated with a pause in signal transmission of the first radio component.

[0115] According to another embodiment, the method optionally further includes: using one or more processors to adjust the first RFE budget or the second RFE budget based on the first state flag and the second state flag.

[0116] According to another embodiment, the first status flag optionally includes a first unit identifier, the second status flag includes a second unit identifier, the first unit identifier has a first value when the first radio component transmits the first radio frequency signal and during the operation, the first unit identifier has a second value when the first radio component is off, the second unit identifier has a third value when the first radio component transmits the first radio frequency signal, and during the operation, the second unit identifier has a fourth value different from the third value.

[0117] According to another embodiment, the method optionally further includes: in response to the first unit identifier having the first value and the second unit identifier having the fourth value, using the one or more processors to stop transmitting the first RFE budget to the first radio component for a predetermined time period.

[0118] According to another embodiment, the storage device circuitry optionally includes an always-active memory region (AAMR), the first marker includes a CellON marker, the second marker includes a TxSuspend marker, and the predetermined time period includes an RRC connection rebuild timer.

[0119] According to another embodiment, the method optionally further includes: in response to the first unit identifier having the first value and the second unit identifier having the fourth value, using the one or more processors to increase the second RFE budget.

[0120] According to one embodiment, the wireless circuit includes: a first radio component configured to transmit a first radio frequency signal according to a first radio frequency exposure (RFE) budget; a second radio component configured to transmit a second radio frequency signal according to a second RFE budget; a storage device circuit storing a status flag indicating whether the first radio component has suspended radio frequency transmission; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the first radio component, the second radio component, and the storage device circuit, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: periodically transmit the first RFE budget to the first radio component and transmit the second RFE budget to the second radio component, and update the second RFE budget in response to the status flag having a first value indicating that the first radio component has suspended radio frequency transmission.

[0121] According to another embodiment, the one or more processors are optionally further configured to: stop transmitting the second RFE budget to the first radio component for a predetermined period of time in response to the status flag having the first value.

[0122] According to another embodiment, the storage device circuitry optionally includes an always-accessible memory region (AAMR).

[0123] According to another embodiment, the physical layer (PHY) of the first radio component is optionally configured to change the status flag from a second value to the first value in response to an indication from the media access control (MAC) layer of the first radio component that the first radio component has performed an operation involving radio resource control (RRC) release, the operation including inter-radio access technology redirection, mobility operation, reconstruction operation, or service termination operation.

[0124] According to one embodiment, the wireless circuit includes one or more processors configured to generate a radio frequency exposure (RFE) budget; a radio component communicatively coupled to the one or more processors and configured to transmit radio frequency signals according to the RFE budget; and an always-accessible memory region (AAMR) storing a first bit and a second bit associated with the state of the radio component, wherein the radio component is configured to set the first bit to a first value and the second bit to a second value when the radio component transmits the radio frequency signal, the radio component is configured to switch the first value of the first bit in response to receiving a connection release command from a wireless network, and the radio component is configured to switch the second value of the second bit in response to performing an operation involving pausing signal transmission when the first bit has the first value.

[0125] According to another embodiment, the wireless circuit optionally further includes an additional radio component communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, the one or more processors being further configured to adjust the transmission of the RFE budget to the radio component and the transmission of radio frequency signals by the additional radio component based on the first bit and the second bit.

[0126] According to another embodiment, the first bit optionally includes a CellON identifier, and the second bit includes a TxSuspend identifier.

[0127] The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made to the described implementation scheme. The foregoing implementation scheme can be implemented individually or in any combination.

Claims

1. A method for operating a wireless circuit, the method comprising: When the first status flag associated with the first radio component has a first value in the storage device circuit, the first radio component is used to transmit a first radio frequency signal based on a first radio frequency exposure (RFE) budget; The first radio component is used to perform operations including Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection release; Using the media access control (MAC) block of the first radio component, the physical layer (PHY) block of the first radio component maintains the first value of the status flag in the storage device circuitry during the duration of the operation; and The second radio component is used to transmit the second radio frequency signal based on the second RFE budget and the first status flag in the storage device circuit.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, Sending the first radio frequency signal includes using a first cellular radio access technology (RAT) to send the first radio frequency signal, and sending the second radio frequency signal includes using a non-cellular RAT to send the second radio frequency signal.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: After the operation is completed, the first radio component is used to transmit a third radio frequency signal in a second cellular phone RAT that is different from the first cellular phone RAT, wherein the operation includes inter-RAT redirection.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The operations include mobility operations, rebuild operations, or stop service (OOS) operations.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The first status flag includes a unit identifier that indicates whether the first radio component is turned on.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein, When the first radio component transmits the first radio frequency signal and during the operation, the unit identifier has a first logical value, the method further includes: In response to an instruction from a network communicating with the first radio component, the first radio component is used to perform an additional RRC release; and In response to the additional RRC release, the MAC block of the first radio component is used to instruct the PHY block of the first radio component to set the unit identifier to a second logical value.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: When the operation is completed, the MAC block of the first radio component provides an instruction to the PHY block of the first radio component. In response to the indication that a new RRC connection has been established by the first radio component after the operation is completed, the first value of the first tag is maintained in the storage device circuit using the PHY block of the first radio component; and In response to the indication that the radio component has not yet established the new RRC connection after the operation is completed, the first flag in the storage device circuit is switched to a second value using the PHY block of the first radio component.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: After the RRC is released, the PHY block of the first radio component is used to change a second status flag in the storage device circuit, the second status flag being associated with the pause of signal transmission by the first radio component.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: One or more processors are used to adjust the first RFE budget or the second RFE budget based on the first status flag and the second status flag.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein, The first status flag includes a first unit identifier, and the second status flag includes a second unit identifier. When the first radio component transmits the first radio frequency signal and during the operation, the first unit identifier has a first value. When the first radio component is turned off, the first unit identifier has a second value. When the first radio component transmits the first radio frequency signal, the second unit identifier has a third value, and during the operation, the second unit identifier has a fourth value different from the third value.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: In response to the first unit identifier having the first value and the second unit identifier having the fourth value, the one or more processors stop transmitting the first RFE budget to the first radio component for a predetermined time period.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein, The storage device circuitry includes an always-active memory region (AAMR), the first marker includes a CellON marker, the second marker includes a TxSuspend marker, and the predetermined time period includes an RRC connection rebuild timer.

13. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: In response to the first unit identifier having the first value and the second unit identifier having the fourth value, the one or more processors are used to increase the second RFE budget.

14. A wireless circuit, the wireless circuit comprising: A first radio component, configured to transmit a first radio frequency signal according to a first radio frequency exposure (RFE) budget; A second radio component, configured to transmit a second radio frequency signal according to a second RFE budget; A storage device circuit that stores a status flag indicating whether the first radio component has suspended radio frequency transmission; and One or more processors, communicatively coupled to the first radio component, the second radio component, and the storage device circuitry, wherein the one or more processors are configured to The first RFE budget is periodically sent to the first radio component and the second RFE budget is sent to the second radio component. In response to the status flag having a first value indicating that the first radio component has suspended radio frequency transmission, the second RFE budget is updated.

15. The wireless circuit of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: in response to the status flag having the first value, stop transmitting the second RFE budget to the first radio component for a predetermined time period.

16. The wireless circuit according to claim 14, wherein, The storage device circuitry includes an always-accessible memory region (AAMR).

17. The wireless circuit according to claim 14, wherein, The physical layer (PHY) of the first radio component is configured to change the status flag from the second value to the first value in response to an indication from the media access control (MAC) layer of the first radio component that the first radio component has performed an operation involving radio resource control (RRC) release, the operation including radio access technology redirection, mobility operation, reconstruction operation, or service termination operation.

18. A wireless circuit, the wireless circuit comprising: One or more processors configured to generate a radio frequency exposure (RFE) budget; A radio component, communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, and configured to transmit radio frequency signals according to the RFE budget; and An always-accessible memory region (AAMR) stores a first and second bit associated with the state of the radio component, wherein... The radio component is configured to set the first bit to a first value and the second bit to a second value when the radio component transmits the radio frequency signal. The radio component is configured to switch the first value of the first bit in response to receiving a connection release command from the wireless network, and The radio component is configured to switch the second value of the second bit in response to performing an operation involving pausing signal transmission when the first bit has the first value.

19. The wireless circuit of claim 18, further comprising: An additional radio component is communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, the one or more processors being further configured to adjust the transmission of the RFE budget to the radio component and the transmission of radio frequency signals by the additional radio component based on the first bit and the second bit.

20. The wireless circuit according to claim 19, wherein, The first bit includes the CellON identifier, and the second bit includes the TxSuspend identifier.

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