Asymmetric Wireless Transceiver Chains for Hardware Complexity Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wireless communication devices with symmetric transmit and receive chains face challenges in reducing hardware complexity, cost, and power consumption while achieving desired performance characteristics, particularly in applications requiring asymmetric capabilities.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of wireless communication systems using asymmetric numbers of transmit and receive chains, where the number of chains can be selectively configured to provide desired performance characteristics, including the use of a first WLAN module with m receive chains and n transmit chains, where m and n are non-negative integers and m does not equal n, allowing for efficient data transmission and reception operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If symmetric transmit and receive chains are provided, then reliable bidirectional communication is achieved, but hardware complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by providing different numbers of transmit chains and receive chains (e.g., 2 transmit chains and 4 receive chains) rather than symmetric equal numbers. This allows the device to optimize for specific communication scenarios where downlink performance is more critical than uplink, thereby reducing overall hardware complexity while maintaining acceptable communication reliability through asymmetric configuration.
2Productivity
If multiple chains are provided, then bandwidth and throughput are increased, but hardware cost and area increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements asymmetry by configuring different numbers of transmit and receive chains based on actual communication needs. For example, providing 4 receive chains for high downlink throughput while using only 2 transmit chains reduces the total hardware footprint and cost compared to providing 4 of each, while still achieving the desired productivity through the asymmetric configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by providing different numbers of chains for different directions (transmit vs receive) based on the specific performance requirements of each direction. This allows optimization of resources allocated to each function - for instance, allocating more receive chains if downlink performance is critical, while using fewer transmit chains, thereby reducing overall hardware cost while maintaining necessary productivity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If all chains are configured for both transmitting and receiving, then operational flexibility is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by configuring chains with different capabilities - for example, making some chains transmit-only and others receive-only, or providing different numbers of transmit-capable and receive-capable chains. This asymmetric configuration reduces the complexity of managing fully bidirectional chains for all functions, while still providing sufficient operational flexibility for the intended communication scenarios.
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure includes systems and methods for wireless communication using asymmetric transmit and receive chains. A device having a greater number of receive chains may be optimized for data reception and a device having a greater number of transmit chains may be optimized for data transmission. The relative ratio in performance between desired uplink and downlink performance may be adjusted accordingly. In one aspect, one wireless protocol may be used for communications to maintain a unidirectional link on another.