Software Defined Radio Multiradio Controller for Protocol Coexistence
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional radio access protocol stacks are limited to a single entity with dedicated hardware resources, making it impractical to have multiple instances of the same radio system in a device, and existing solutions only allow sharing of resources between different radio standards for accessing wireless cellular networks one technology at a time.
Innovation Solution
The method involves instantiating multiple radio protocols that operate with an underlying physical layer, using a multiradio controller to schedule access to shared hardware resources, allowing multiple radio standards to coexist and share hardware accelerators in a time-sliced manner, enabling simultaneous operation of multiple radio instances with separate connections and access rights.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple instances of the same radio system are implemented in a device, then the ability to operate multiple radio protocols simultaneously is improved, but the hardware resources and device complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal physical layer hardware unit that can serve multiple radio protocol instances through software configuration. The hardware unit is designed to be reconfigurable, allowing the same physical resources to be dynamically allocated to different radio protocols (GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc.) based on operational needs, thereby achieving multi-functionality without duplicating hardware for each protocol
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates software copies of radio protocol stacks rather than hardware copies. Multiple instances of radio protocols are implemented as software entities that can be instantiated and configured to operate with the shared physical layer, allowing virtual multiplication of radio capabilities without physical duplication of hardware resources
2Reliability
If dedicated hardware resources are allocated to each radio protocol instance, then the reliability and performance of each protocol is improved, but the device complexity and resource requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple radio protocol instances into a single shared hardware platform. The physical layer hardware unit is designed to handle multiple protocols concurrently through time-division and resource scheduling mechanisms, combining what would traditionally be separate dedicated hardware resources into a unified system that maintains protocol-specific performance requirements
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic resource allocation where the hardware resources are not statically assigned to specific protocols but are dynamically configured and allocated based on operational demands. The system can adaptively switch and reconfigure hardware resources between different radio protocol instances, providing dedicated-like performance through dynamic sharing rather than static allocation
3Device complexity
If resource sharing between different radio standards is implemented, then the device complexity is reduced, but the ability to access multiple wireless networks simultaneously is limited to one technology at a time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic time-division multiplexing where different radio protocol instances are allocated specific time slots for accessing the shared hardware resources. This periodic scheduling allows multiple radio standards to effectively access the network simultaneously by dividing time into discrete intervals, with each protocol instance activated in its designated time window, thereby achieving simultaneous network access through temporal separation
Data Source
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AI summary
In a first aspect an exemplary embodiment of the invention provides a method that includes instantiating a plurality of radio protocols, operating the plurality of radio protocols with an underlying physical layer, where each instantiation of a same radio protocol is embodied in a same code module and where each instantiation has associated data stored in a memory. The operating of the plurality of radio protocols comprises executing each instantiation of the radio protocols so that a portion of resources are shared between different instantiations of the radio protocols and different instantiations of radio protocols do not interfere with each other.