This invention relates to radio frequency interference. In particular it relates to preventing radio frequencies produced by one or more devices in a system from interfering with an operation of a wireless communications interface forming part of the system.
Today, many computer systems have wireless communications interfaces which enable such systems to communicate with other device wirelessly. A challenge of integrating a wireless communications interface with a computer system is to avoid radio interference between the wireless communication interface and other components in the system which produce radio interference waves. Usually, the components which produce interfering radio waves are elctromagnetically shielded. While this approach can be effective, it is not always technically feasible, particularly in cases where a wireless communications interface is added to an existing computer system in which there is an existing component which has not been electromagnetically shielded such as a bus interface which may generate radio interference.
In one embodiment, processor 102 is a processor in the Pentium® family of processors including the Pentium® 4 family and mobile Pentium® processors available from Intel Corporation in Santa Clara, Calif. Alternatively, other processors may be used.
Processor 102 is coupled to a processor bus 104. Processor bus 104 transmits data signals between processor 102 and other components in system 100. System 100 also includes a memory device 106. In one embodiment, memory 106 is a Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) device. However, in other embodiments, memory 106 may be a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) device, or other memory device.
Memory 106 may store instructions or code represented by data signals that may be executed by processor 102. According to one embodiment, a cache memory (not shown) within processor 102 stores data signals that are also stored in memory 106. The cache memory speeds up memory access by processor 102 by virtue of its proximity to a CPU located within processor 102. In another embodiment, the cache memory may reside external to processor 102.
System 100 further includes a bridge memory controller 108 coupled to processor bus 104 and memory 106. Bridge/memory controller 108 directs data signal between processor 102, memory 106, and other components in system 100 and bridges the data signal between processor bus 104, memory 106, and a first input/output (I/O) bus 110. In one embodiment, I/O bus 110 may be a single bus or a combination of multiple buses.
In a further embodiment, I/O bus 110 may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect adhering to a Specification Revision 2.1 bus defined by PCI Special Interest Group of Portland, Oreg. In another embodiment, I/O bus 110 may be a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) bus defined by PCMCIA of San Jose, Calif. Alternatively, other buses may be used to implement I/O bus 110. I/O bus 110 provides communications link between components in system 10. A frequency controller 112 is coupled to I/O bus 110. Frequency controller 112 allows coupling of various devices to system 100 and acts as an interface between the various devices and system 100. In the embodiment shown, a communications interface 114 and a device 116 are coupled to frequency controller 112. Although only two devices are shown coupled to frequency controller 112 it will be appreciated that in other embodiments more than two devices may be coupled to frequency controller 112. The communications interface 114 provides wireless connectivity to system 100 and may include interfaces which support wireless communications in accordance with the standards known as Blue Tooth and IEEE 802.11. Other wireless communication standards or protocols may also be supported.
The various components of system 100 described above operate at different operating frequencies. These frequencies are tabulated in Table 400 shown in
The components of frequency controller 112 are shown in greater detail in
As noted above, dynamically controlling the operating frequencies of the various components of system 100 to reduce radio interference with communications interface 114 involves the use of a table, for example, Table 400 in
A flow chart of operations performed in dynamically controlling the operating frequencies of the various devices/components of system 100 in order to avoid radio interference with communication interface 114 is shown in
If a conflict has been detected at block 504 then block 506 is executed wherein the current priority level is set to the lowest priority level. For example, according to the data in Table 400 the current priority level will be set to four which is the priority level of device 116 in system 100. Block 508 is next executed wherein frequency controller 112 finds those devices at the current priority level whose operating frequency can be changed so as to avoid radio interference with communications interface 114. Block 504 also includes changing the operating frequencies of those devices.
At block 510 a check is performed to determine if the conflict has been resolved. If the conflict has been resolved then block 526 is executed. If the conflict has not been resolved then block 512 is executed wherein a check is performed to determine if the current priority level has been set to the highest priority level. If the current priority level is at the highest priority level then block 516 is executed. Otherwise, block 514 is executed wherein the priority level is incremented to the next highest priority level. In the case of Table 400 the priority level would be set to three which would be the priority level of communications interface 114. Available operating frequencies for a device that are stored in the Table 400 may be ordered in “performance” or “preference” order. This enables the conflict resolution algorithm to pick the most optimal frequencies for device conflicts. Thereafter, block 508 is executed. Thus, blocks 508, 510, 512 and 514 form a loop.
Execution of block 516 causes system 100 to determine which highest priority device's operating frequency can be changed to resolve the conflict. At block 512 a report or notification is sent to a user notifying said user of the highest priority devices whose operating frequencies can be changed to resolve the conflict. At 520 system 100 receives the user's input on whether to change the operating frequency of any highest priority device. At block 522 a check is performed to determine if a user's input requires a change to any of the highest priority devices. If a change is required then block 524 is executed wherein the operating frequency of the highest priority device the user wishes to be changed is changed. Block 524 is then performed wherein system 100 monitors for any new devices which may be plugged in.
At 528 a check is determined if a new device has been detected. If a new device has been detected then block 502 is executed. At block 530 the system 100 determines if input has been received to shut down. If such input has been received then the system 100 shuts down otherwise block 526 is repeated. By performing the operation in
For the purposes of this specification, a machine-readable medium includes any mechanism that provides (i.e. stores and/or transmits) information in a form readable by a machine (e.g. computer) for example, a machine-readable medium includes read-only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices; electrical, optical, acoustical or other form of propagated signals (e.g. carrier waves, infra red signals, digital signals, etc.); etc.
It will be apparent from this description the aspects of the present invention may be embodied, at least partly, in software. In other embodiments, hardware circuitry may be used in combination with software instructions to implement the present invention. Thus, the embodiments of the invention are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments, it will be evident that the various modification and changes can be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit of the invention as set forth in the claims. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than in a restrictive sense.
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