Clearing radio spectrum for an impending wireless communication

Abstract

The subject matter described in this disclosure can be embodied in methods, systems, and other technologies for clearing radio spectrum for impending wireless communication. A computing device that includes a first radio and a second radio identifies that the first radio is to engage in a first wireless communication, and prepares for the first wireless communication by interacting with the second radio to cause the second radio to transmit a second wireless communication using the second wireless communication that is configured to cause a receiving device temporarily suspend transmissions. The first radio engages in the first wireless communication, after the second radio of the computing device transmitted the second wireless communication.

Description

Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01Clearing Radio Spectrum for an Impending Wireless CommunicationTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] This document relates to technologies that clear radio spectrum for an impending wireless communication.BACKGROUND

[0002] Electronic devices can communicate with each other via wireless communications that are transmitted and received by radios of the respective devices. Wireless communications between different pairs of electronic devices can interfere with each other when the communications occur at the same time and the pairs of electronic devices communicate using the same or overlapping portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Such interference can result in a receiving device experiencing desensitization, which is a reduction in the ability of the receiving device to receive a wireless communication due to various types of interference.SUMMARY

[0003] This document describes techniques, methods, systems, and other mechanisms for clearing radio spectrum for an impending wireless communication. As an example, narrowband wireless communications exchanged between a first pair of devices can interfere with wideband wireless communications exchanged between a second pair of devices, at least when the bandwidth of the narrowband communications overlaps the bandwidth of the wideband communications. The narrowband communications may interfere with the wideband communications despite the wideband communications not interfering with the narrowband communications, due to the low transmit power of the wideband communications.Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01

[0004] A user device that includes a wideband radio and that is scheduled to engage in a wideband communication can prepare for the wideband communication by using a different, narrowband radio of the user device, to clear radio spectrum for the scheduled wideband communication. For example, the user device may transmit a narrowband communication over Wi-Fi, instructing other devices communicating via Wi-Fi to temporarily suspend Wi-Fi communications. The user device may then use its ultra-wideband (UWB) radio to engage in a ranging communication with a location tag, with the ranging communication being used by the user device to determine a location of the location tag. This communication between the UWB radio of the user device and the location tag may occur while nearby Wi-Fi communications remain suspended, increasing the likelihood of a successful UWB communication. The devices communicating via Wi-Fi may resume their Wi-Fi communications after the UWB communication is complete.

[0005] Particular implementations can, in certain instances, realize one or more of the following advantages. A user device receiving an indication to participate in a wideband communication may be able to successfully complete the wideband communication, despite the presence of other devices generating strong narrowband signals that could otherwise interfere with the wideband communication. The user device may communicate with the interfering devices to request a pause in narrowband communications by the interfering devices, despite the interfering devices not engaging in wideband communication with the user device.

[0006] As such, the user device is able to coordinate the use of shared radio spectrum among devices that use different radios and different wireless communication protocols, despite the different wireless communication protocolsAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 lacking a mechanism to coordinate transmissions amongst such different wireless communication protocols. Moreover, even if the user device would be able to engage in wideband communications in the presence of interfering narrowband signals, the user device may be able to communicate using its wideband radio with fewer re-transmissions and / or a higher data throughput than if the user device did not coordinate communications as described throughout this disclosure.

[0007] Embodiment 1 is directed to a method to clear radio spectrum for impending wireless communication. The method comprises identifying, by a computing device that includes a first radio configured to communicate using a first wireless communication technology and a second radio configured to communicate using a second wireless communication technology, that the first radio is to engage in a first wireless communication. The method comprises preparing, by the computing device, for the first wireless communication by interacting with the second radio to cause the second radio to transmit a second wireless communication using the second wireless communication technology, the second wireless communication being configured to cause a receiving device that receives the second wireless communication to temporarily suspend transmissions using the second wireless communication technology. The method comprises engaging, by the first radio of the computing device, in the first wireless communication using the first wireless communication technology, after the second radio of the computing device transmitted the second wireless communication that is configured to cause the receiving device to temporarily suspend transmissions using the second wireless communication technology.Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01

[0008] Embodiment 2 is directed to the method of embodiment 1 , wherein: the first wireless communication technology involves transmitting over a first bandwidth at a first transmit power level; the second wireless communication technology involves transmitting over a second bandwidth at a second transmit power level; the first bandwidth is wider than the second bandwidth and overlaps the second bandwidth; and the second transmit power level is greater than the first transmit power level.

[0009] Embodiment 3 is directed to the method of embodiment 2, wherein: the first bandwidth is greater than 300 MHz; and a received power level of the first wireless communication as detected by the receiving device is below a noise level of the first bandwidth.

[0010] Embodiment 4 is directed to the method of embodiment 2, wherein: wireless transmissions by the receiving device that use the second wireless communication technology are capable of interfering with the first wireless communication in which first radio engages using the first wireless communication technology; and the receiving device is configured to automatically resume transmissions using the second wireless communication technology after a duration of time.

[0011] Embodiment 5 is directed to the method of embodiment 1 , wherein: the first wireless communication technology comprises ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless communication technology; and the second wireless communication technology comprises Wi-Fi wireless communication technology.

[0012] Embodiment 6 is directed to the method of embodiment 1 , wherein identifying that the first radio is to engage in the first wireless communicationAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 comprises identifying that a timer configured to periodically trigger wireless transmission by the first radio has completed counting.

[0013] Embodiment 7 is directed to the method of embodiment 1 , wherein identifying that the first radio is to engage in the first wireless communication comprises receiving an indication from an application program executing on the computing device that the computing device is to perform a ranging process to identify a distance to a remote device.

[0014] Embodiment 8 is directed to the method of embodiment 1 , wherein: the first wireless communication comprises multiple impulse radio ranging transmissions; and the second wireless communication comprises a Wi-Fi CTS-to- Self communication.

[0015] Embodiment 9 is directed to the method of embodiment 1 , wherein the second wireless communication encodes a duration value, and is configured cause the receiving device to temporarily suspend transmissions using the second wireless communication technology for a time period specified by the duration value.

[0016] Embodiment 10 is directed to the method of embodiment 9, wherein: the first communication comprises multiple impulse radio ranging transmissions; and the method comprises determining, by the computing device, the duration value based on: (i) a number of other devices with which the computing device is to performing ranging; and (ii) a quantity of ranging transmissions to perform with another device, determined based on number of previously-failed ranging transmissions between the computing device and the another device.

[0017] Embodiment 11 is directed to the method of embodiment 1 , wherein the first radio of the computing device engages in the first wireless communicationAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 responsive to receiving an indication that the second radio transmitted the second wireless communication.

[0018] Embodiment 12 is directed to the method of embodiment 1 , wherein the second radio, after receiving an indication to transmit the second wireless communication, completes a current wireless communication that uses the second wireless communication technology before transmitting the second wireless communication.

[0019] Embodiment 13 is directed to the method of embodiment 1 , wherein: the computing device prepares for the first wireless communication by interacting with the second radio to cause the second radio to transmit the second wireless communication, as a result of a criteria being satisfied; and the computing device is configured to engage in the first wireless communication without interacting with the second radio to cause the second radio to transmit the second wireless communication, as a result of the criteria not being satisfied.

[0020] Embodiment 14 is directed to the method of embodiment 13, wherein the criteria includes identifying that a previous wireless communication by the first radio using the first wireless communication technology experienced a failure.

[0021] Embodiment 15 is directed to the method of embodiment 1 , wherein the engaging by the first radio in the first wireless communication using the first wireless communication technology occurs while the computing device: (i) suspends transmissions by the second radio using the second wireless communication technology for a first channel that overlaps with a bandwidth of the first radio, and (ii)Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 continues to transmit using the second wireless communication technology for a second channel that does not overlap with the bandwidth of the first radio.

[0022] Embodiment 16 is directed to one or more computer-readable devices having instructions stored thereon, that when executed by one or more processors, cause the performance of actions according to the method of any one of embodiments 1 through 15.

[0023] The details of one or more implementations are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0024] FIG. 1 shows pairs of devices communicating using different wireless communication technologies.

[0025] FIG. 2 illustrates technology for clearing narrowband communications from radio spectrum before a wideband communication.

[0026] FIGS. 3A-D show a swim-lane diagram of a process for clearing narrowband communications from radio spectrum before a wideband communication.

[0027] FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of a system that may be used to implement the systems and methods described in this document.

[0028] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of computing devices that may be used to implement the systems and methods described in this document, as either a client or as a server or plurality of servers.

[0029] Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] This document generally describes clearing radio spectrum for an impending wireless communication.

[0031] FIG. 1 shows pairs of devices communicating using different wireless communication technologies. An example first pair of devices includes an access point 110 and a laptop computer 120 wirelessly communicating over a medium 130 (e.g., through the air or a vacuum). The devices 110 and 120 may communicate using a narrowband wireless communication technology (e.g., a Wi-Fi wireless communication technology such as the IEEE 802.11 protocol), sending messages back and forth to each other.

[0032] The wireless communication technology may involve sending and receiving devices employing carrier-sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA / CA), in which a device preparing for a wireless transmission may listen to a portion of wireless spectrum (e.g., a channel) to ensure that the portion of wireless spectrum is clear before transmitting one or more packets. Should a device preparing for transmission detect an ongoing transmission over the portion of wireless spectrum, the device may wait a period of time (e.g., a random period of time) before listening again to determine whether the portion of wireless spectrum is clear.

[0033] The wireless communication technology may additionally or alternatively include carrier-sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA / CD), in which a device can detect a collision in which the device transmits at the same time as another device. When such a collision is detected, the deviceAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 stops transmitting and waits a period of time (e.g., a random period of time) before attempting another transmission.

[0034] An example second pair of devices includes a mobile device 140 and a location tag 150 wirelessly communicating over the same medium 130. The mobile device 140 and the location tag 150 may communicate using a wideband technology, such as ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless communication technology, sending messages back and forth to each other.

[0035] The wideband wireless communication technology may involve the sending and receiving devices engaging in a ranging process, in which a “time of flight” that it takes for one or more communications to travel between the mobile device 140 and the location tag 150 is determined and used to identify a distance between the mobile device 140 and the location tag 150. In some examples, the mobile device 140 determines an orientation of the location tag 150 with respect to the mobile device 140, using angle of arrival techniques.

[0036] Illustration 160 shows an example technique for determining a time of flight, in which the mobile device 140 sends a Poll communication to the location tag 150, the location tag 150 responds with a Response communication, and the mobile device 140 determines a time of flight by subtracting from a round trip time of transmission a time between the location tag 150 receiving the Poll and sending the Response (e.g., T_Reply). Various one-sided and two-sided ranging technologies may be used as the ranging process.

[0037] Wi-Fi communications between devices 110 and 120 may occur within one or more of the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands. The Wi-Fi communication technology protocols define various quantities of non-overlapping 20 MHz, 40 MHz,Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W0180 MHz, and 160 MHz channels within the 2.4 Ghz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands.Bandwidth of such communications may be defined by the lower and upper frequencies in which signal amplitude declines 3 dB. A pair of devices communicating over Wi-Fi may transmit and receive data over a single such channel, or multiple such channels.

[0038] UWB communications between devices 140 and 150 may occur within a band from 3.1 Ghz to 10.6 Ghz. The UWB communication technology protocols define various channels, each with a bandwidth of, for example, 499 MHz, and can involve transmission of short pulses of 2 ns each. UWB communication technology is adapted to transmit pulse-based radio waves to track transmission delays between devices and enable precise distance determinations between such devices (e.g., possibly used with angle of arrival technology to determine a precise location of a device).

[0039] As illustrated by the radio frequency graph 135 shown in the center of FIG. 1 , the bandwidth of Wi-Fi communications between devices 110 and 120 may overlap the bandwidth of UWB communications between devices 140 and 150. For example, the Wi-Fi bandwidth may entirely fall within the UWB bandwidth. An example of such overlapping bandwidths is between UWB Channel 5 (e.g., central frequency of 6.49 GHz with a bandwidth of 499 Mhz), and various Wi-Fi channels in the 6.0 GHz band (e.g., one or more channels between 5.925 Ghz and 7.125 GHz).

[0040] UWB communication technology may specify a low transmit power for communications, even below a noise level in some environments. For example, a maximum transmit power of UWB communications may be 41 .3 dBm / MHz, which is about 0.5 mW of average power when using the entire 3.1 -10.6 GHz band. When ioAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 transmitting over UWB Channel 5, the maximum transmit power may therefore be limited to less than 0.5 mW of average power, such as less than 0.2 mW or 0.1 mW.

[0041] On the other hand, Wi-Fi communication technology may specify a relatively-high transmit power for communications, such as transmit powers in excess of 20 dBm per channel. While the low transmit power of UWB communications may not interfere with Wi-Fi communications on overlapping spectrum, the relatively-high transmit power of Wi-Fi communications can interfere with UWB communications, causing a receiving device to be unable to detect and / or decode at least some UWB communications.

[0042] FIG. 2 illustrates technology for clearing narrowband communications from radio spectrum before a wideband communication. With this technology, the mobile device 140 prepares for a UWB transmission by transmitting a message for receipt by the Wi-Fi-communication devices 110 and 120, to cause the devices 110 and 120 to temporarily suspend Wi-Fi communications.

[0043] The mobile device 140 may include various coordinating processes 180 that are used to coordinate interactions between a Wi-Fi radio 190 and an UWB radio 170, so that the UWB radio 170 is able to transmit without or with fewer interfering narrowband signals. Such coordinating processes 180 may be fully or partially incorporated into and / or performed by either of the UWB radio 170 and the Wi-Fi radio 190, or may operate by a processor that is separate from circuitry of the Wi-Fi radio 190 and the circuitry of the UWB radio 170.

[0044] The coordinating processes 180 includes a timer 184 that counts a threshold time until the UWB is to activate. Upon the timer 184 completing its counting process, it can instruct (at Arrow #1 ) the UWB Preparer 182 to prepare for nAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 a UWB transmission. In response the UWB Preparer 182 can send a signal to the Wi-Fi radio 190 (at Arrow #2), to cause the Wi-Fi Radio 190 to wirelessly transmit a message (at Arrow #3) instructing other devices 110 and 120 to temporarily suspend Wi-Fi transmissions.

[0045] Upon transmission of the message, the Wi-Fi radio 190 can send an indication (at Arrow #4) to UWB radio 170 to cause the UWB radio to begin its UWB communication (at Arrow #5). The devices 110 and 120 that were communicating over Wi-Fi may not transmit during the UWB communication, as a result of the devices 110 and 120 receiving the message from Wi-Fi radio 190 instructing receiving devices to suspend transmissions. As such, the UWB radio 170 may not experience narrowband interference from the devices 110 and 120 during the UWB communication. The devices 110 and 120 may automatically resume Wi-Fi transmissions after a determined period of time (e.g., an amount of time that exceeds a length of a UWB ranging process).

[0046] FIGS. 3A-D show a swim-lane diagram of a process for clearing narrowband communications from radio spectrum before a wideband communication. The diagram illustrates operations by a first radio (e.g., a wideband radio such as the UWB radio 170), a second radio (e.g., a narrowband radio such as the Wi-Fi radio 190), coordinating processes (e.g., the coordinating processes 180), and one or more receiving devices (e.g., the Wi-Fi communicating devices 110 and 120). As shown in FIG. 2, the first radio, second radio, and coordinating processes may be part of a single device, such as all being included in and executed by components of the mobile device 140. As described above, the coordinating processes may be performed by various different components of the single device,Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 including one or more of the UWB radio 170, the Wi-Fi radio 190, and other device circuitry. On the other hand, the receiving device(s) represented in the swim lane diagram of FIGS. 3A-D may be separate from the single device.

[0047] At box 310, the coordinating processes identify that the first radio is to engage in a first wireless communication. The first wireless communication may be a wideband communication, such as a set of UWB transmissions between the mobile device 140 and the location tag 150.

[0048] At box 312, the identification that the first radio is to engage in the first wireless communication results from (e.g., is in response to or is a consequence of) identifying that a timer has completed counting. The timer may be configured to periodically trigger wireless transmission by the first radio. For example, upon a UWB transmission completing, the mobile device 140 may activate the timer to count down (or count up) to a particular value. As such, the counter may result in repeated activations of the UWB radio 170 (e.g., resulting in a set of UWB communications every 20 mS). The mobile device 140 may use an interrupt as an alternative to or in conjunction with the timer.

[0049] At box 314, the identification that the first radio is to engage in the first wireless communication results from the coordinating processes 310 receiving an indication from an application program to perform a ranging process. For example, a user of the mobile device 140 may provide user input to launch a “Find my location tag” application program, which upon activation sends an indication to the coordinating processes 310 to begin a ranging process that is usable to determine a distance to and / or location of the location tag 150.Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01

[0050] At box 320, the coordinating processes of the computing device determine whether to clear radio spectrum in preparation for the wideband communication. This determination may be performed due to the computing device only clearing radio spectrum under certain criteria. Should the criteria not be satisfied (the “No” branch), the computing device may jump to the operations of box 382 (see FIG. 4) and engage in the first wireless communication without performing operations involved with sending a narrowband communication to any potentially- interfering devices (e.g., the operations associated with the “Yes” branch). Should the criteria be satisfied, the computing device may perform the operations of box 330 by interacting with the narrowband radio of the computing device, as discussed in additional detail below.

[0051] At box 322, the criteria for determining whether to clear the radio spectrum involves determining whether previous wireless communication by the first radio failed. For example, the mobile device 140 may monitor UWB transmissions for interference and the criteria may be satisfied if interference has been detected in recent transmission(s). For example, the mobile device 140 may determine whether a number of missed packets or an error rate exceeds a threshold.

[0052] At box 324, the criteria for determining whether to clear the radio spectrum involves determining whether other devices are communicating over the spectrum. For example, the Wi-Fi radio 190 may monitor various Wi-Fi channels and indicate in a channel map those channels over which third-party communications have been detected. The channel map may be accessible to the coordinating processes 180 and / or the UWB radio 170, and such processes may access the channel map to determine whether third-party communications are activeAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 on a channel that is likely to interfere with a communication by the UWB radio 170 (e.g., based on a selected channel over which the UWB is to transmit). Should the mobile device 140 determine that the third-party communications are occurring on one or more narrowband channels that are likely to interfere with UWB communications, the computing device 140 may then perform the operations of box 330 by interacting with the narrowband radio 190, as discussed in additional detail below.

[0053] At box 302, one or more receiving devices wirelessly communicates with other devices. For example, the access point 110 and the laptop 120 may communicate with each other using Wi-Fi technology, without regard for operation of the UWB radio 170 of the mobile device 140. Indeed, the devices 110 and 120 may not be in communication with the mobile device 140 at all, such that neither of the devices 110 and 120 have exchanged messages with the mobile device 140 using UWB technology or Wi-Fi technology. For example, the mobile device 140 may have no data queued for transmission to either of the devices 110 and 120, and the devices 110 and 120 may have no data queued for transmission to the mobile device 140. The exchange of data between the devices 110 and 120 may occur without regard for operation of the mobile device 140. The devices 110 and 120 may not include a wideband radio.

[0054] At box 330, the computing device prepares for the first wireless communication by interacting with the second radio. For example, the UWB preparer 182 executing on the computing device 140 may send a signal to the Wi-Fi radio 190 to cause the Wi-Fi radio 190 to send a wireless communication to clear radio spectrum.Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01

[0055] At box 332, the computing device determines a duration for which to clear radio spectrum 332. For example, the mobile device 140 may select a period of time from among multiple possible periods of time for which to engage UWB communication(s) based on: (i) a quantity of remote devices with which to perform UWB ranging, (ii) a length of ranging communication with which to engage each of the remote devices, (iii) an amount of data to communicate with one or more remote devices, and / or (iv) a throughout of data to communicate with one or more remote devices. The computing device may send an indication of the selected duration as part of or with the interaction with the second radio.

[0056] At box 334, the computing device determines a portion of radio spectrum to clear. For example, the mobile device 140 may identify an UWB channel over which the UWB communication will take place among multiple possible UWB channels, identify potentially-interfering Wi-Fi channels that overlap the identified UWB channel, determine which zero or more actually-interfering Wi-Fi channels other devices are communicating on from among the potentially-interfering channels, and send an indication of the actually-interfering Wi-Fi channels to the second radio as part of or with the interaction with the second radio.

[0057] The computing device may determine which zero or more actually- interfering Wi-Fi channels the others devices are communicating on by accessing a channel map that is generated by listening for activity on Wi-Fi channels using the Wi-Fi radio 190. The channel map be shared among multiple components of the mobile device 140, such as between the Wi-Fi radio 190 and the UWB radio 170 (which may incorporate a relevant portion of the UWB Preparer 182).Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01

[0058] At box 340, the second radio of the computing device receives the interaction. For example, the Wi-Fi radio 190 may receive data specifying that the Wi-Fi radio 190 is to clear radio spectrum. The received data may specify a duration of time to clear radio spectrum, and / or may specify Wi-Fi channels to clear.

[0059] At box 342, the second radio completes a current wireless communication that uses the second wireless technology before transmitting the second communication to clear radio spectrum. For example, the mobile device 140 may continue to exchange data over Wi-Fi until a queue of data for transmit has emptied.

[0060] At box 344, the second radio suspends wireless transmissions by the second radio that use the second wireless communication technology. For example, the Wi-Fi radio 190 may stop transmitting over a particular Wi-Fi channel or set of Wi-Fi channels, to clear radio spectrum for the upcoming UWB communication. In some examples, the Wi-Fi radio 190 may stop all transmissions over all Wi-Fi channels.

[0061] At box 346, the second radio may continue to communicate on other channels. For example, the Wi-Fi radio 190 may suspend transmissions on a first Wi-Fi channel with a bandwidth that overlaps a bandwidth of the upcoming UWB communication, while continuing to transmit and receive communications on a second Wi-Fi channel that does not overlap bandwidth of the upcoming UWB communication.

[0062] At box 350, the second radio of the computing device transmits the second wireless communication. The second wireless communication is configured to cause any receiving devices to temporarily suspend their communications (boxAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01352). For example, the second wireless communication may be a Wi-Fi CTS-to-Self communication (box 354) transmitted by the Wi-Fi radio 190, where CTS stands for “Clear to Send”.

[0063] At box 356, the second wireless communication encodes a duration value and / or a spectrum identifier. An example duration value is a duration value determined by performing the operations of box 332. An example spectrum identifier may be data that specifies one or more Wi-Fi channels, from among a greater collection of Wi-Fi channels over which the Wi-Fi radio 190 is adapted to communicate. An example spectrum identifier is determined by performing the operations of boxes 324.

[0064] At box 358, the computing device transmits the second wireless communication over a second bandwidth with a second power. For example, the second bandwidth may be a narrowband of a single Wi-Fi channel, with the communication transmitted at the relatively-high transmit power of Wi-Fi.

[0065] At box 360, one or more receiving devices receive the second wireless communication. For example, the access point 110 and laptop 120 may each receive the CTS-to-Self communication transmitted by the Wi-Fi radio 190 of the mobile device 140. Any device in communication range of the mobile device 140 and including a Wi-Fi radio that is listening to the relevant Wi-Fi channel(s) on which the CTS-to-Self communication was transmitted may receive the communication.

[0066] At box 362, each receiving device that receives the second wireless communication temporarily suspends communications. For example, each of the access point 110 and laptop 120 may stop transmitting on each Wi-Fi channel over which they received a CTS-to-Self communication.Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01

[0067] At box 364, the each receiving device may set a Network Allocation Vector (“NAV”), based on the duration value included in the received CTS-to-Self communication. The NAV functions as an internal backoff timer. In some examples, each receiving device activates a timer for a default period of non-transmission (e.g., in implementations in which the received second wireless communication does not specify a duration value).

[0068] At box 366, each receiving device may continue communicating on other channels. For example, each receiving device may temporarily suspend communicating over only a subset of Wi-Fi channels (i.e. , those channels over which a CTS-to-Self communication was received), while continuing to transmit over remaining Wi-Fi channels.

[0069] At box 370, the second radio of the computing device may send an indication that it has transmitted the second wireless communication. For example, after the Wi-Fi radio 190 completes sending the second wireless communication, the Wi-Fi radio 190 may send a signal setting a flag that is readable by the coordinating processes 180 or the UWB radio 170.

[0070] At box 380, the first radio receives an indication that the second radio sent the second wireless communication. For example, the UWB radio 170 may directly receive a communication from the Wi-Fi radio 190 indicating transmission of the second wireless communication, or may receive a signal that causes the Wi-Fi radio 190 to engage in UWB communication, with the signal being triggered by a signal sent by the Wi-Fi Radio 190.

[0071] In some examples, the first radio engages in the first wireless communication (box 382) automatically after interacting with the second radio (boxAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01330). For example, the first radio may interact with the second radio (box 330), set a timer, and engage in the first wireless communication (box 382) after the timer completes, which may be after the second radio has had time to send its second communication to clear radio spectrum.

[0072] At box 382, the first radio engages in the first wireless communication. The first wireless communication may involve multiple back-and-forth transmissions with another device, as part of a ranging process. The ranging process may involve multiple impulse transmissions (box 384) transmitted according to specifications of wideband technology (e.g., the UWB protocol).

[0073] At box 386, the first wireless communication may involve one or more transmissions over a first bandwidth at a first transmit power. The first bandwidth may be a wideband that is wider than the narrowband of the second communication. The narrowband may overlap the wideband. For example, the narrowband of the second communication may fall entirely within an interior of the wideband of the first communication. The first bandwidth may be greater than 300 MHz, greater than 400 MHz, greater than 450 MHz, or greater than 499 MHz.

[0074] The first transmit power may be a relatively-low transmit power that is lower than the second transmit power of the second communication. In some examples, the first transmit power is an order of magnitude lower than the second transmit power. In some examples, the first transmit power is below a level of noise (e.g., thermal noise). In some examples, the first transmit power is below a noise level at a distance of at least one meter from the transmitting device, such that a power level of the first wireless communication is below the noise level upon receiptAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 by other devices located a distance from the transmitting device (e.g., at least one meter, two meters, three meters, or five meters).

[0075] At box 388, the computing device sets a timer for a next communication by the first radio. For example, the UWB radio 170 may set a timer that specifies a period during which the UWB radio 170 is to sleep until preparations for a next UWB communication are to occur. The amount of time may be an amount of time until a next-scheduled ranging communication is to occur. Accordingly, the operations of FIGS. 3A-D may periodically repeat for each periodic UWB communication.

[0076] At box 368, the one or more receiving devices that temporarily suspended communications continue to monitor a timer. The timer may be the Network Allocation Vector.

[0077] At box 390, upon completion of the timer counting, the one or more receiving devices resume wireless communications. For example, the access point 110 and laptop 120 may resume wireless communications on the suspended Wi-Fi channels. The resumed wireless communications may access channels according to the protocols of CSMA / CD technology, as before the communications were suspended.

[0078] Referring now to FIG. 4, a conceptual diagram of a system that may be used to implement the systems and methods described in this document is illustrated. In the system, mobile computing device 410 can wirelessly communicate with base station 440, which can provide the mobile computing device wireless access to numerous hosted services 460 through a network 450.

[0079] In this illustration, the mobile computing device 410 is depicted as a handheld mobile telephone (e.g., a smartphone, or an application telephone) thatAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 includes a touchscreen display device 412 for presenting content to a user of the mobile computing device 410 and receiving touch-based user inputs and / or presence-sensitive user input (e.g., as detected over a surface of the computing device using radar detectors mounted in the mobile computing device 510). Other visual, tactile, and auditory output components may also be provided (e.g., LED lights, a vibrating mechanism for tactile output, or a speaker for providing tonal, voice-generated, or recorded output), as may various different input components (e.g., keyboard 414, physical buttons, trackballs, accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers).

[0080] Example visual output mechanism in the form of display device 412 may take the form of a display with resistive or capacitive touch capabilities. The display device may be for displaying video, graphics, images, and text, and for coordinating user touch input locations with the location of displayed information so that the device 410 can associate user contact at a location of a displayed item with the item. The mobile computing device 410 may also take alternative forms, including as a laptop computer, a tablet or slate computer, a personal digital assistant, an embedded system (e.g., a car navigation system), a desktop personal computer, or a computerized workstation.

[0081] An example mechanism for receiving user-input includes keyboard 414, which may be a full qwerty keyboard or a traditional keypad that includes keys for the digits ‘0-9’, and '#.’ The keyboard 414 receives input when a user physically contacts or depresses a keyboard key. User manipulation of a trackball 416 or interaction with a track pad enables the user to supply directional and rate ofAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 movement information to the mobile computing device 410 (e.g., to manipulate a position of a cursor on the display device 412).

[0082] The mobile computing device 410 may be able to determine a position of physical contact with the touchscreen display device 412 (e.g., a position of contact by a finger or a stylus). Using the touchscreen 412, various “virtual” input mechanisms may be produced, where a user interacts with a graphical user interface element depicted on the touchscreen 412 by contacting the graphical user interface element. An example of a “virtual” input mechanism is a “software keyboard,” where a keyboard is displayed on the touchscreen and a user selects keys by pressing a region of the touchscreen 412 that corresponds to each key.

[0083] The mobile computing device 410 may include mechanical or touch sensitive buttons 418a-d. Additionally, the mobile computing device may include buttons for adjusting volume output by the one or more speakers 420, and a button for turning the mobile computing device on or off. A microphone 422 allows the mobile computing device 410 to convert audible sounds into an electrical signal that may be digitally encoded and stored in computer-readable memory, or transmitted to another computing device. The mobile computing device 410 may also include a digital compass, an accelerometer, proximity sensors, and ambient light sensors.

[0084] An operating system may provide an interface between the mobile computing device’s hardware (e.g., the input / output mechanisms and a processor executing instructions retrieved from computer-readable medium) and software. Example operating systems include ANDROID, CHROME, IOS, MAC OS X, WINDOWS 7, WINDOWS PHONE 7, SYMBIAN, BLACKBERRY, WEBOS,, a variety of UNIX operating systems; or a proprietary operating system for computerizedAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 devices. The operating system may provide a platform for the execution of application programs that facilitate interaction between the computing device and a user.

[0085] The mobile computing device 410 may present a graphical user interface with the touchscreen 412. A graphical user interface is a collection of one or more graphical interface elements and may be static (e.g., the display appears to remain the same over a period of time), or may be dynamic (e.g., the graphical user interface includes graphical interface elements that animate without user input).

[0086] A graphical interface element may be text, lines, shapes, images, or combinations thereof. For example, a graphical interface element may be an icon that is displayed on the desktop and the icon’s associated text. In some examples, a graphical interface element is selectable with user-input. For example, a user may select a graphical interface element by pressing a region of the touchscreen that corresponds to a display of the graphical interface element. In some examples, the user may manipulate a trackball to highlight a single graphical interface element as having focus. User-selection of a graphical interface element may invoke a predefined action by the mobile computing device. In some examples, selectable graphical interface elements further or alternatively correspond to a button on the keyboard 414. User-selection of the button may invoke the pre-defined action.

[0087] In some examples, the operating system provides a “desktop” graphical user interface that is displayed after turning on the mobile computing device 410, after activating the mobile computing device 410 from a sleep state, after “unlocking” the mobile computing device 410, or after receiving user-selection of the “home” button 418c. The desktop graphical user interface may display several graphicalAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 interface elements that, when selected, invoke corresponding application programs. An invoked application program may present a graphical interface that replaces the desktop graphical user interface until the application program terminates or is hidden from view.

[0088] User-input may influence an executing sequence of mobile computing device 410 operations. For example, a single-action user input (e.g., a single tap of the touchscreen, swipe across the touchscreen, contact with a button, or combination of these occurring at a same time) may invoke an operation that changes a display of the user interface. Without the user-input, the user interface may not have changed at a particular time. For example, a multi-touch user input with the touchscreen 412 may invoke a mapping application to “zoom-in” on a location, even though the mapping application may have by default zoomed-in after several seconds.

[0089] The desktop graphical interface can also display “widgets.” A widget is one or more graphical interface elements that are associated with an application program that is executing, and that display on the desktop content controlled by the executing application program. A widget’s application program may launch as the mobile device turns on. Further, a widget may not take focus of the full display. Instead, a widget may only “own” a small portion of the desktop, displaying content and receiving touchscreen user-input within the portion of the desktop.

[0090] The mobile computing device 410 may include one or more locationidentification mechanisms. A location-identification mechanism may include a collection of hardware and software that provides the operating system and application programs an estimate of the mobile device’s geographical position. AAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 location-identification mechanism may employ satellite-based positioning techniques, base station transmitting antenna identification, multiple base station triangulation, internet access point IP location determinations, inferential identification of a user’s position based on search engine queries, and user-supplied identification of location (e.g., by receiving user a “check in” to a location).

[0091] The mobile computing device 410 may include other applications, computing sub-systems, and hardware. A call handling unit may receive an indication of an incoming telephone call and provide a user the capability to answer the incoming telephone call. A media player may allow a user to listen to music or play movies that are stored in local memory of the mobile computing device 410. The mobile computing device 410 may include a digital camera sensor, and corresponding image and video capture and editing software. An internet browser may enable the user to view content from a web page by typing in an addresses corresponding to the web page or selecting a link to the web page.

[0092] The mobile computing device 410 may include an antenna to wirelessly communicate information with the base station 440. The base station 440 may be one of many base stations in a collection of base stations (e.g., a mobile telephone cellular network) that enables the mobile computing device 410 to maintain communication with a network 450 as the mobile computing device is geographically moved. The computing device 410 may alternatively or additionally communicate with the network 450 through a Wi-Fi router or a wired connection (e.g., ETHERNET, USB, or FIREWIRE). The computing device 410 may also wirelessly communicate with other computing devices using BLUETOOTH protocols, or may employ an ad- hoc wireless network.Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01

[0093] A service provider that operates the network of base stations may connect the mobile computing device 410 to the network 450 to enable communication between the mobile computing device 410 and other computing systems that provide services 460. Although the services 460 may be provided over different networks (e.g., the service provider’s internal network, the Public Switched Telephone Network, and the Internet), network 450 is illustrated as a single network. The service provider may operate a server system 452 that routes information packets and voice data between the mobile computing device 410 and computing systems associated with the services 460.

[0094] The network 450 may connect the mobile computing device 410 to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 462 in order to establish voice or fax communication between the mobile computing device 410 and another computing device. For example, the service provider server system 452 may receive an indication from the PSTN 462 of an incoming call for the mobile computing device 410. Conversely, the mobile computing device 410 may send a communication to the service provider server system 452 initiating a telephone call using a telephone number that is associated with a device accessible through the PSTN 462.

[0095] The network 450 may connect the mobile computing device 410 with a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service 464 that routes voice communications over an IP network, as opposed to the PSTN. For example, a user of the mobile computing device 410 may invoke a VoIP application and initiate a call using the program. The service provider server system 452 may forward voice data from the call to a VoIP service, which may route the call over the internet to a corresponding computing device, potentially using the PSTN for a final leg of the connection.Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01

[0096] An application store 466 may provide a user of the mobile computing device 410 the ability to browse a list of remotely stored application programs that the user may download over the network 450 and install on the mobile computing device 410. The application store 466 may serve as a repository of applications developed by third-party application developers. An application program that is installed on the mobile computing device 410 may be able to communicate over the network 450 with server systems that are designated for the application program. For example, a VoIP application program may be downloaded from the Application Store 466, enabling the user to communicate with the VoIP service 464.

[0097] The mobile computing device 410 may access content on the internet 468 through network 450. For example, a user of the mobile computing device 410 may invoke a web browser application that requests data from remote computing devices that are accessible at designated universal resource locations. In various examples, some of the services 460 are accessible over the internet.

[0098] The mobile computing device may communicate with a personal computer 470. For example, the personal computer 470 may be the home computer for a user of the mobile computing device 410. Thus, the user may be able to stream media from his personal computer 470. The user may also view the file structure of his personal computer 470, and transmit selected documents between the computerized devices.

[0099] A voice recognition service 472 may receive voice communication data recorded with the mobile computing device’s microphone 422, and translate the voice communication into corresponding textual data. In some examples, theAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 translated text is provided to a search engine as a web query, and responsive search engine search results are transmitted to the mobile computing device 410.

[0100] The mobile computing device 410 may communicate with a social network 474. The social network may include numerous members, some of which have agreed to be related as acquaintances. Application programs on the mobile computing device 410 may access the social network 474 to retrieve information based on the acquaintances of the user of the mobile computing device. For example, an “address book” application program may retrieve telephone numbers for the user’s acquaintances. In various examples, content may be delivered to the mobile computing device 410 based on social network distances from the user to other members in a social network graph of members and connecting relationships. For example, advertisement and news article content may be selected for the user based on a level of interaction with such content by members that are “close” to the user (e.g., members that are “friends” or “friends of friends”).

[0101] The mobile computing device 410 may access a personal set of contacts 476 through network 450. Each contact may identify an individual and include information about that individual (e.g., a phone number, an email address, and a birthday). Because the set of contacts is hosted remotely to the mobile computing device 410, the user may access and maintain the contacts 476 across several devices as a common set of contacts.

[0102] The mobile computing device 410 may access cloud-based application programs 478. Cloud-computing provides application programs (e.g., a word processor or an email program) that are hosted remotely from the mobile computing device 410, and may be accessed by the device 410 using a web browser or aAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 dedicated program. Example cloud-based application programs include GOOGLE DOCS word processor and spreadsheet service, GOOGLE GMAIL webmail service, and PICASA picture manager.

[0103] Mapping service 480 can provide the mobile computing device 410 with street maps, route planning information, and satellite images. An example mapping service is GOOGLE MAPS. The mapping service 480 may also receive queries and return location-specific results. For example, the mobile computing device 410 may send an estimated location of the mobile computing device and a user-entered query for “pizza places” to the mapping service 480. The mapping service 480 may return a street map with “markers” superimposed on the map that identify geographical locations of nearby “pizza places.”

[0104] Turn-by-turn service 482 may provide the mobile computing device 410 with turn-by-turn directions to a user-supplied destination. For example, the tum-by- turn service 482 may stream to device 410 a street-level view of an estimated location of the device, along with data for providing audio commands and superimposing arrows that direct a user of the device 410 to the destination.

[0105] Various forms of streaming media 484 may be requested by the mobile computing device 410. For example, computing device 410 may request a stream for a pre-recorded video file, a live television program, or a live radio program.Example services that provide streaming media include YOUTUBE and PANDORA.

[0106] A micro-blogging service 486 may receive from the mobile computing device 410 a user-input post that does not identify recipients of the post. The microblogging service 486 may disseminate the post to other members of the microblogging service 486 that agreed to subscribe to the user.Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01

[0107] A search engine 488 may receive user-entered textual or verbal queries from the mobile computing device 410, determine a set of internet-accessible documents that are responsive to the query, and provide to the device 410 information to display a list of search results for the responsive documents. In examples where a verbal query is received, the voice recognition service 472 may translate the received audio into a textual query that is sent to the search engine.

[0108] These and other services may be implemented in a server system 490. A server system may be a combination of hardware and software that provides a service or a set of services. For example, a set of physically separate and networked computerized devices may operate together as a logical server system unit to handle the operations necessary to offer a service to hundreds of computing devices. A server system is also referred to herein as a computing system.

[0109] In various implementations, operations that are performed “in response to” or “as a consequence of” another operation (e.g., a determination or an identification) are not performed if the prior operation is unsuccessful (e.g., if the determination was not performed). Operations that are performed “automatically” are operations that are performed without user intervention (e.g., intervening user input). Features in this document that are described with conditional language may describe implementations that are optional. In some examples, “transmitting” from a first device to a second device includes the first device placing data into a network for receipt by the second device, but may not include the second device receiving the data. Conversely, “receiving” from a first device may include receiving the data from a network, but may not include the first device transmitting the data.Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01

[0110] “Determining” by a computing system can include the computing system requesting that another device perform the determination and supply the results to the computing system. Moreover, “displaying” or “presenting” by a computing system can include the computing system sending data for causing another device to display or present the referenced information.

[0111] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of computing devices 500, 550 that may be used to implement the systems and methods described in this document, as either a client or as a server or plurality of servers. Computing device 500 is intended to represent various forms of digital computers, such as laptops, desktops, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframes, and other appropriate computers. Computing device 550 is intended to represent various forms of mobile devices, such as personal digital assistants, cellular telephones, smartphones, and other similar computing devices. The components shown here, their connections and relationships, and their functions, are meant to be examples only, and are not meant to limit implementations described and / or claimed in this document.

[0112] Computing device 500 includes a processor 502, memory 504, a storage device 506, a high-speed controller 508 connecting to memory 504 and high-speed expansion ports 510, and a low speed controller 512 connecting to low speed expansion port 514 and storage device 506. Each of the components 502, 504, 506, 508, 510, and 512, are interconnected using various busses, and may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners as appropriate. The processor 502 can process instructions for execution within the computing device 500, including instructions stored in the memory 504 or on the storage device 506 toAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 display graphical information for a GUI on an external input / output device, such as display 516 coupled to high-speed controller 508. In other implementations, multiple processors and / or multiple buses may be used, as appropriate, along with multiple memories and types of memory. Also, multiple computing devices 500 may be connected, with each device providing portions of the necessary operations (e.g., as a server bank, a group of blade servers, or a multi-processor system).

[0113] The memory 504 stores information within the computing device 500. In one implementation, the memory 504 is a volatile memory unit or units. In another implementation, the memory 504 is a non-volatile memory unit or units. The memory 504 may also be another form of computer-readable medium, such as a magnetic or optical disk.

[0114] The storage device 506 is capable of providing mass storage for the computing device 500. In one implementation, the storage device 506 may be or contain a computer-readable medium, such as a floppy disk device, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, or a tape device, a flash memory or other similar solid state memory device, or an array of devices, including devices in a storage area network or other configurations. A computer program product can be tangibly embodied in an information carrier. The computer program product may also contain instructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as those described above. The information carrier is a computer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory 504, the storage device 506, or memory on processor 502.

[0115] The high-speed controller 508 manages bandwidth-intensive operations for the computing device 500, while the low speed controller 512 manages lowerAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 bandwidth-intensive operations. Such allocation of functions is an example only. In one implementation, the high-speed controller 508 is coupled to memory 504, display 516 (e.g., through a graphics processor or accelerator), and to high-speed expansion ports 510, which may accept various expansion cards (not shown). In the implementation, low-speed controller 512 is coupled to storage device 506 and low- speed expansion port 514. The low-speed expansion port, which may include various communication ports (e.g., USB, Bluetooth, Ethernet, wireless Ethernet) may be coupled to one or more input / output devices, such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a scanner, or a networking device such as a switch or router, e.g., through a network adapter.

[0116] The computing device 500 may be implemented in a number of different forms, as shown in the figure. For example, it may be implemented as a standard server 520, or multiple times in a group of such servers. It may also be implemented as part of a rack server system 524. In addition, it may be implemented in a personal computer such as a laptop computer 522. Alternatively, components from computing device 500 may be combined with other components in a mobile device (not shown), such as device 550. Each of such devices may contain one or more of computing device 500, 550, and an entire system may be made up of multiple computing devices 500, 550 communicating with each other.

[0117] Computing device 550 includes a processor 552, memory 564, an input / output device such as a display 554, a communication interface 566, and a transceiver 568, among other components. The device 550 may also be provided with a storage device, such as a microdrive or other device, to provide additional storage. Each of the components 550, 552, 564, 554, 566, and 568, areAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 interconnected using various buses, and several of the components may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners as appropriate.

[0118] The processor 552 can execute instructions within the computing device 550, including instructions stored in the memory 564. The processor may be implemented as a chipset of chips that include separate and multiple analog and digital processors. Additionally, the processor may be implemented using any of a number of architectures. For example, the processor may be a CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computers) processor, a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) processor, or a MISC (Minimal Instruction Set Computer) processor. The processor may provide, for example, for coordination of the other components of the device 550, such as control of user interfaces, applications run by device 550, and wireless communication by device 550.

[0119] Processor 552 may communicate with a user through control interface 558 and display interface 556 coupled to a display 554. The display 554 may be, for example, a TFT (Thin-Film-Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) display or an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display, or other appropriate display technology. The display interface 556 may comprise appropriate circuitry for driving the display 554 to present graphical and other information to a user. The control interface 558 may receive commands from a user and convert them for submission to the processor 552. In addition, an external interface 562 may be provide in communication with processor 552, so as to enable near area communication of device 550 with other devices. External interface 562 may provided, for example, for wired communication in some implementations, or for wireless communication in other implementations, and multiple interfaces may also be used.Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01

[0120] The memory 564 stores information within the computing device 550. The memory 564 can be implemented as one or more of a computer-readable medium or media, a volatile memory unit or units, or a non-volatile memory unit or units. Expansion memory 574 may also be provided and connected to device 550 through expansion interface 572, which may include, for example, a SIMM (Single In Line Memory Module) card interface. Such expansion memory 574 may provide extra storage space for device 550, or may also store applications or other information for device 550. Specifically, expansion memory 574 may include instructions to carry out or supplement the processes described above, and may include secure information also. Thus, for example, expansion memory 574 may be provide as a security module for device 550, and may be programmed with instructions that permit secure use of device 550. In addition, secure applications may be provided via the SIMM cards, along with additional information, such as placing identifying information on the SIMM card in a non-hackable manner.

[0121] The memory may include, for example, flash memory and / or NVRAM memory, as discussed below. In one implementation, a computer program product is tangibly embodied in an information carrier. The computer program product contains instructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as those described above. The information carrier is a computer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory 564, expansion memory 574, or memory on processor 552 that may be received, for example, over transceiver 568 or external interface 562.

[0122] Device 550 may communicate wirelessly through communication interface 566, which may include digital signal processing circuitry where necessary.Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01Communication interface 566 may provide for communications under various modes or protocols, such as GSM voice calls, SMS, EMS, or MMS messaging, CDMA, TDMA, PDC, WCDMA, CDMA2000, or GPRS, among others. Such communication may occur, for example, through radio-frequency transceiver 568. In addition, short- range communication may occur, such as using a Bluetooth, WiFi, or other such transceiver (not shown). In addition, GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver module 570 may provide additional navigation- and location-related wireless data to device 550, which may be used as appropriate by applications running on device 550.

[0123] Device 550 may also communicate audibly using audio codec 560, which may receive spoken information from a user and convert it to usable digital information. Audio codec 560 may likewise generate audible sound for a user, such as through a speaker, e.g., in a handset of device 550. Such sound may include sound from voice telephone calls, may include recorded sound (e.g., voice messages, music files, etc.) and may also include sound generated by applications operating on device 550.

[0124] The computing device 550 may be implemented in a number of different forms, as shown in the figure. For example, it may be implemented as a cellular telephone 580. It may also be implemented as part of a smartphone 582, personal digital assistant, or other similar mobile device.

[0125] Additionally computing device 500 or 550 can include Universal Serial Bus (USB) flash drives. The USB flash drives may store operating systems and other applications. The USB flash drives can include input / output components, suchAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 as a wireless transmitter or USB connector that may be inserted into a USB port of another computing device.

[0126] Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here can be realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and / or combinations thereof. These various implementations can include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and / or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device.

[0127] These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications or code) include machine instructions for a programmable processor, and can be implemented in a high-level procedural and / or object-oriented programming language, and / or in assembly / machine language. As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium” “computer-readable medium” refers to any computer program product, apparatus and / or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and / or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal. The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and / or data to a programmable processor.

[0128] To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniques described here can be implemented on a computer having a display device (e.g., aAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor) for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

[0129] The systems and techniques described here can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back end component (e.g., as a data server), or that includes a middleware component (e.g., an application server), or that includes a front end component (e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the systems and techniques described here), or any combination of such back end, middleware, or front end components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communication network). Examples of communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), peer-to-peer networks (having ad- hoc or static members), grid computing infrastructures, and the Internet.

[0130] The computing system can include clients and servers. A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other.Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01

[0131] Although a few implementations have been described in detail above, other modifications are possible. Moreover, other mechanisms for performing the systems and methods described in this document may be used. In addition, the logic flows depicted in the figures do not require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. Other steps may be provided, or steps may be eliminated, from the described flows, and other components may be added to, or removed from, the described systems. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:1 . A method to clear radio spectrum for impending wireless communication, the method comprising: identifying, by a computing device that includes a first radio configured to communicate using a first wireless communication technology and a second radio configured to communicate using a second wireless communication technology, that the first radio is to engage in a first wireless communication; preparing, by the computing device, for the first wireless communication by interacting with the second radio to cause the second radio to transmit a second wireless communication using the second wireless communication technology, the second wireless communication being configured to cause a receiving device that receives the second wireless communication to temporarily suspend transmissions using the second wireless communication technology; and engaging, by the first radio of the computing device, in the first wireless communication using the first wireless communication technology, after the second radio of the computing device transmitted the second wireless communication that is configured to cause the receiving device to temporarily suspend transmissions using the second wireless communication technology.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein: the first wireless communication technology involves transmitting over a first bandwidth at a first transmit power level; the second wireless communication technology involves transmitting over a second bandwidth at a second transmit power level; the first bandwidth is wider than the second bandwidth and overlaps the second bandwidth; and the second transmit power level is greater than the first transmit power level.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein: the first bandwidth is greater than 300 MHz; andAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 a received power level of the first wireless communication as detected by the receiving device is below a noise level of the first bandwidth.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein: wireless transmissions by the receiving device that use the second wireless communication technology are capable of interfering with the first wireless communication in which first radio engages using the first wireless communication technology; and the receiving device is configured to automatically resume transmissions using the second wireless communication technology after a duration of time.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein: the first wireless communication technology comprises ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless communication technology; and the second wireless communication technology comprises Wi-Fi wireless communication technology.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying that the first radio is to engage in the first wireless communication comprises identifying that a timer configured to periodically trigger wireless transmission by the first radio has completed counting.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying that the first radio is to engage in the first wireless communication comprises receiving an indication from an application program executing on the computing device that the computing device is to perform a ranging process to identify a distance to a remote device.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein: the first wireless communication comprises multiple impulse radio ranging transmissions; and the second wireless communication comprises a Wi-Fi CTS-to-Self communication.Attorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W019. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second wireless communication encodes a duration value, and is configured cause the receiving device to temporarily suspend transmissions using the second wireless communication technology for a time period specified by the duration value.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein: the first communication comprises multiple impulse radio ranging transmissions; and the method comprises determining, by the computing device, the duration value based on:(i) a number of other devices with which the computing device is to performing ranging; and(ii) a quantity of ranging transmissions to perform with another device, determined based on number of previously-failed ranging transmissions between the computing device and the another device.11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first radio of the computing device engages in the first wireless communication responsive to receiving an indication that the second radio transmitted the second wireless communication.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second radio, after receiving an indication to transmit the second wireless communication, completes a current wireless communication that uses the second wireless communication technology before transmitting the second wireless communication.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein: the computing device prepares for the first wireless communication by interacting with the second radio to cause the second radio to transmit the second wireless communication, as a result of a criteria being satisfied; andAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 the computing device is configured to engage in the first wireless communication without interacting with the second radio to cause the second radio to transmit the second wireless communication, as a result of the criteria not being satisfied.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the criteria includes identifying that a previous wireless communication by the first radio using the first wireless communication technology experienced a failure.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the engaging by the first radio in the first wireless communication using the first wireless communication technology occurs while the computing device:(i) suspends transmissions by the second radio using the second wireless communication technology for a first channel that overlaps with a bandwidth of the first radio, and(ii) continues to transmit using the second wireless communication technology for a second channel that does not overlap with the bandwidth of the first radio.

16. A computing device, comprising: a first radio configured to communicate using a first wireless communication technology; a second radio configured to communicate using a second wireless communication technology; one or more processors; and one or more computer-readable devices including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing device to perform operations that include: identifying, by the computing device, that the first radio is to engage in a first wireless communication; preparing, by the computing device, for the first wireless communication by interacting with the second radio to cause the second radio to transmit a secondAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 wireless communication using the second wireless communication technology, the second wireless communication being configured to cause a receiving device that receives the second wireless communication to temporarily suspend transmissions using the second wireless communication technology; and engaging, by the first radio of the computing device, in the first wireless communication using the first wireless communication technology, after the second radio of the computing device transmitted the second wireless communication that is configured to cause the receiving device to temporarily suspend transmissions using the second wireless communication technology.

17. A method to clear radio spectrum for impending wireless communication, the method comprising: identifying, by a computing device that includes a wideband radio configured to communicate using a wideband wireless communication technology that transmits over a first bandwidth and a narrowband radio configured to communicate using a narrowband wireless communication technology that transmits over a second bandwidth, that the wideband radio is to engage in a wideband wireless communication, wherein the first bandwidth of the wideband wireless communication technology overlaps the second bandwidth of the narrowband communication technology; preparing, by the computing device, for the wideband wireless communication by interacting with the narrowband radio to cause the narrowband radio to transmit a narrowband wireless communication using the narrowband wireless communication technology, the narrowband wireless communication being configured to cause a receiving device that receives the narrowband wireless communication to temporarily suspend transmissions using the narrowband wireless communication technology; and engaging, by the wideband radio of the computing device, in the wideband wireless communication using the wideband wireless communication technology, after the narrowband radio of the computing device transmitted the narrowband wireless communication that is configured to cause the receiving deviceAttorney Docket No.: 56113-0806W01 to temporarily suspend transmissions using the narrowband wireless communication technology.

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