Wireless Device Signal Path Bypassing General-Purpose Processors
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional encryption radios experience significant transmission delays due to the processing requirements for both encrypted and unencrypted data, particularly because of the involvement of general-purpose processors and encryption/decryption processes.
Innovation Solution
A radio device with a reconfigurable architecture featuring a non-encrypting signal path that bypasses general-purpose processors and includes only passive components, digital signal processors, and a field-programmable gate circuit, allowing for low-latency transmission by omitting encryption and decryption processes, and instead using monitoring to ensure transmission security.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If encryption and decryption processes are used in the signal path, then transmission security is improved, but transmission delay increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the signal path into two separate segments: an encrypting signal path for secure communication and a non-encrypting signal path for low-latency communication. This segmentation allows the system to handle different communication requirements through dedicated paths, resolving the contradiction between security and speed by providing both options simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a monitoring device as an intermediary component that can observe signals in the non-encrypting signal path without adding processing delay. This intermediary enables security monitoring and unwanted communication prevention while maintaining the low-latency characteristic of the non-encrypting path.
2Adaptability or versatility
If general-purpose processors are used for signal processing, then processing flexibility is improved, but processing delay increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the processing architecture by placing general-purpose processors only in the encrypting signal path where flexibility is needed for encryption operations, while the non-encrypting signal path uses dedicated hardware components. This segmentation allows flexible processing where required while achieving low-latency processing where encryption is not needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts general-purpose processors from the non-encrypting signal path, removing the source of processing delay from that path. By taking out these processors from the low-latency path and retaining them only in the encrypting path, the system achieves both flexibility and speed in appropriate contexts.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
The radio has general purpose processors (13,30), a cryptographic unit (24), digital signal processors (17,35), and field-programmable gate circuit (40). A coding signal path (42) comprises general purpose processors, and a non-coding signal path (43) does not comprise general purpose processors. The cryptographic unit does not perform the encryption and decryption of transmitted signals over non-coding signal path.