Patent Application
20080259804
Various embodiments described herein relate to wireless communications generally, including apparatus, systems and methods for increasing wireless connection speeds.
More and more consumers are using wireless devices to remain connected to the world around them. Cell phone users can retrieve movie listings while driving down the road to the theater. Computer users can sit in a coffee shop and retrieve their email any time of the day. As users become more and more familiar with the myriad ways that wireless connectivity improves their life, they begin to demand faster and more reliable connections.
In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numerals describe substantially similar components throughout the several views. Like numerals having different letter suffixes represent different instances of substantially similar components. The drawings illustrate generally, by way of example, but not by way of limitation, various embodiments discussed in the present document.
In the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced.
Reference is made in the detailed description to communications layers. It is to be understood that such layers refer to the layers of the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model.
The “physical layer” or layer 1 refers to any system for the transmission and reception of bits from one device to another which regulates the transmission over a physical medium, such as a wireless communications link.
The “data link layer” or layer 2 packages raw bits from the physical layer into logical, structured data packets.
The “network layer” or layer 3 determines the route from the source to the destination device and manages operations such as switching, routing and controlling packet congestion.
The “transport layer” or layer 4 receives packets from and sends packets to the network layer as well as sending receipt acknowledgments.
Typically, information travels down the layer model, e.g. from the transport to the network, the data link, and to the physical and is then transmitted over the medium to some device which receives at the “physical layer”, and then sends the information up the layer model to the data link, the network, and to the transport layers, in that order. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that there are additional layers to the OSI model, but for the purposes of this description, these layers will be sufficient to understand and carry out embodiments of the present invention.
In an embodiment, the access point 105 is any device that is capable of transmitting and receiving wireless signals from at least one wireless client device 110 and providing a connection to a suitable network 115. In an embodiment the access point 105 comprises a radio-frequency (RF) transmitter and receiver and a network interface. Though reference is made to RF, it is to be appreciated that other types of wireless signals may be communicated between the access point 105 and the wireless client device 110, such as, infrared signals, microwave signals and the like. The access point 105 may be connected to any suitable network 115, such as the Internet or a private network.
In a further embodiment, the access point 105 may alternatively be called a base station. In another embodiment, there may be more then one access point 105 providing a wireless network to any number of wireless client devices 110, and that the suitable network 115 in such a case may be a connection with a further access point 105, which is either connected to a suitable network 115 or further connected to other access points 105.
In an embodiment, the wireless client device 110 provides a user the ability to wirelessly connect to a suitable network 115, such as the Internet or a private network. The wireless client device 110 may include, without limitation, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop computer, a desktop computer, an internet appliance or any device capable of receiving and/or transmitting wireless data signals to another device. Though the transmission between the wireless client device 110 and the access point 105 in
In an embodiment, the communication subsystem 222 comprises a PHY device 226 and a media access control (MAC) device 228. In a further embodiment, the communication subsystem 222 further comprises one or more processors that are capable of receiving and transmitting network data signals, including, but not limited to, wireless signals. The processors may include, without limitation, digital signal processors (DSP's) or general-purpose microprocessors. In a further embodiment, the communication subsystem 222 is capable of executing a real-time operating system and associated functions.
In
In an embodiment, the application subsystem 220 comprises a processor 230 and a storage device 232. In an embodiment, the application subsystem 220 consists of one or more processors 230 capable of running user applications and an operating system. Processors 230 on the application subsystem 220 may include, without limitation, Intel XScale processors, Intel Pentium processors, graphics processors, and the like. It will be understood that the application subsystem 220 may also be called the central processing unit (CPU) of a computing device. The application subsystem 220 receives a data signal 234 from the communication subsystem 222 at the transport layer, or layer 4, for further processing as network data information. In an embodiment of the present invention, the processor 230 processes a wireless signal 236 and then passes the processed signal 238 to the PHY device 226 of the communication subsystem 222 at the physical layer. In an alternate embodiment, the PHY device 226 first pre-processes the received signal before passing the wireless signal 236 to the processor 230 of the application subsystem 220. The PHY device 226 receives the processed signal 238 from the processor and passes the signal the MAC device 228 for further processing and from which a data signal 234 is passed to the application subsystem 220. In another embodiment, the PHY device 226 passes the received signal from the antenna 224 without any pre-processing to the processor 230 of the application subsystem 220 and upon receiving the processed signal 238, post-processes the processed signal 238 before passing it to the MAC device 228 for further processing from which a data signal 234 is passed to the application subsystem 220.
In one embodiment of the wireless client device 110 the antenna 224 is operably coupled to the PHY device 226 of the communication subsystem 222 and receives wireless signals and passes those signals to the PHY device 226. The antenna 224 may include one or more of a patch, omni-directional, beam, monopole, dipole, and rhombic antenna, among others.
If the determination is made that at least one aspect of wireless performance can be improved at block 325, the processor 230 of the application subsystem 220 is activated at block 335. In an embodiment, at block 340 the communication subsystem 222 selects a DSP algorithm that is optimally configured to address the conditions that the wireless client device 110 is currently experiencing. In an embodiment, the communication subsystem 222 instructs the application subsystem 220 to access the optimal algorithm at block 345. In one embodiment, the algorithm is stored on and accessed from the storage device 230 of the application subsystem 220. In another embodiment, the algorithm is stored on and accessed from a storage device operably coupled to the application subsystem 220 but not contained therein. In a further embodiment, the communication subsystem 222 accesses the algorithm from the storage device that is operably coupled to the communication subsystem 222 and transmits the algorithm with the wireless signal 236 to be processed. Using the algorithm accessed at block 345, the wireless signal 236 is processed by the processor 230 of the application subsystem at block 350 and passed back to the PHY device 226 of the communication subsystem 222 as a processed signal 238 which is further processed by the MAC device 228 and passed to the application subsystem 220 as a data signal 234. In an alternate embodiment, the processed signal 238 is further processed by the PHY device 226 before being passed to the MAC device 228 for processing.
It is to be appreciated that the method embodied in
The accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, show by way of illustration, and not of limitation, specific embodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced. The embodiments illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of various embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
Thus, although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments of the invention. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description.
The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments of the invention require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate preferred embodiment. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and “wherein,” respectively. Moreover, the terms “first,” “second,” and “third,” etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/945,797, filed on Sep. 21, 2004, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10945797 | Sep 2004 | US |
| Child | 12145723 | US |
