Patent Application
20130178172
Consumer electronic devices, such as laptop computers and smartphones, may employ multiple frequency ranges for wireless communication. Exemplary frequency ranges include the Wi-Fi (2.4, 3.6, and 4.9/5.0 GHz), WWAN (870-890, 925-960, and 1800-1880 MHz), WPAN (2.4 GHz), WiMAX (2.3, 3.4-3.6, and 5.7-5.8 GHz), third generation (3G) (1.8-2.5 GHz), fourth generation (4G) (2-8 GHz), and Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) (850 MHz-1.8 GHz) frequency bands. Wireless communication may be facilitated through one or more antennas and wireless communication modules disposed within the device. An example of a wireless communication module is an integral or expansion wireless communication card, such as a 3G Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) card.
There is increasing demand to provide computing devices that support multiple frequency bands. However, there are many challenges associated with integrating multiple communication modules and antennas within the restricted space and layout of a consumer electronic device, especially without prohibitively increasing manufacturing costs.
In summary, one aspect provides an information handling device comprising: one or more processors; a memory in operative connection with the one or more processors one or more memories storing program instructions accessible by the one or more processors; one or more wireless antennas; and a system bus slot comprising one or more antenna tuning pins configured to tune the one or more wireless antennas to operate within a frequency band based on one or more connections with one or more wireless communication pins of a device interface module; wherein, responsive to execution of program instructions accessible to the one or more processors, the one or more processors are configured to execute wireless communications for the information handling device utilizing the one or more wireless antennas operating within the frequency band.
Another aspect provides a hybrid information handling device comprising: a first processor configured to operate within a primary environment; a second processor arranged within a device interface module and configured to operate within a secondary environment; one or more memories storing program instructions accessible by the first and second processors; one or more wireless antennas; a system bus slot comprising one or more antenna tuning pins configured to tune the one or more wireless antennas based on one or more connections with one or more wireless communication pins of the device interface module; wherein the hybrid information device is configured to switch between the primary environment and the secondary environment; wherein, responsive to execution of program instructions accessible to the first processor, the first processor is configured to execute wireless communications for the information handling device utilizing the one or more wireless antennas operating within a primary environment wireless communication frequency band; wherein, responsive to execution of program instructions accessible to the second processor, the second processor is configured to execute wireless communications for the information handling device utilizing the one or more wireless antennas operating within a SE wireless communication frequency band.
A further aspect provides a method comprising: tuning one or more wireless antennas connected to an information handling device via one or more antenna tuning pins arranged within a system bus slot; wherein the one or more antenna tuning pins are configured to tune the one or more wireless antennas to operate within a frequency band based on one or more connections with one or more wireless communication pins of a device interface module arranged to interface with the system bus slot.
The foregoing is a summary and thus may contain simplifications, generalizations, and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting.
For a better understanding of the embodiments, together with other and further features and advantages thereof, reference is made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.
It will be readily understood that the components of the embodiments, as generally described and illustrated in the figures herein, may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations in addition to the described example embodiments. Thus, the following more detailed description of the example embodiments, as represented in the figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments, as claimed, but is merely representative of example embodiments.
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” (or the like) means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” or the like in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.
Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided to give a thorough understanding of embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the various embodiments can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obfuscation. The following description is intended only by way of example, and simply illustrates certain example embodiments.
Information handling devices may be configured to communicate through wireless communication technology operating within one or more frequency ranges. Illustrative and non-restrictive wireless communication technologies include Wi-Fi (2.4, 3.6, and 4.9/5.0 GHz), WWAN (870-890, 925-960, and 1800-1880 MHz), WPAN (2.4 GHz), WiMAX (2.3, 3.4-3.6, and 5.7-5.8 GHz), third generation (3G) (1.8-2.5 GHz), fourth generation (4G) (2-8 GHz), and Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) (850 MHz-1.8 GHz). There is an increasing demand to provide information handling devices that support multiple wireless communication technologies. However, there are many challenges associated with integrating multiple wireless communication technologies into a single device.
For example, multiple antennas may be required to handle the frequency ranges of each supported wireless communication technology. However, there are space and layout restrictions that may prohibit or severely limit the number and type of antennas that may be embedded within a particular information handling device. In addition, inadequate spacing between antennas and large antenna size may introduce radio wave interference within the device.
Multiple wireless communication technologies may be supported through one or more multi-band antennas (e.g., dual-band, penta-band, etc.) configured to handle more than one frequency band. For example, a multi-band antenna may operate at the 3G and 4G frequency bands. However, configuring the system board and/or antenna of an information handling device to operate with multiple wireless communication modules according to existing technology may prohibitively increase the costs of manufacturing the device. For example, significant costs may be incurred because the information handling device may have to incorporate multiple system bus connections or one or more high cost gain switches. In addition, a multi-band antenna capable of operating multiple frequency bands according to present methods may be too large, such that interference may be introduced back into the system, severely affecting performance.
Embodiments provide for utilizing a standard bus slot disposed within an information handling device configured to support a multiplicity of device interface modules and wireless communication technologies associated therewith. According to embodiments, a multi-band wireless antenna located within the information handling device may be tuned to operate according to the wireless communication technology associated with a device interface module connected to the standard bus slot. The standard bus slot may be comprised of one or more wireless communication pins arranged to tune a multi-band antenna to one or more frequency bands. According to embodiments, a device interface module may be configured with a set of pins that interface, inter alia, with the wireless communication pins of the standard system bus slot. Embodiments provide that the multi-band antenna may be tuned to the frequency band designated by the wireless communication pins connected to the pins of the device interface module.
Referring to
Wireless communication may be facilitated in the information handling device 101 through one or more antennas 104, 105 and one or more device interface modules 106, 107 that, inter alia, support wireless communication. The one or more antennas 104, 105 may be embedded within the information handling device 101, for example, in a side (e.g., 104) or top (e.g., 105) region of the display portion 103. As a non-limiting example, the one or more antennas may be multi-band (e.g., pentaband) antennas that support 3G and 4G frequency bands, but which may be tuned to support other wireless communication technologies (e.g., Wi-Fi).
The one or more device interface modules 106, 107 may be configured as an interface card or adapter, for example, as an integral 106 or an expansion 107 module, located within the base portion 102. According to embodiments, the device interface card may be arranged as a “system on a chip” (SOC), comprising a processor (e.g., an ARM series processor, such as the SNAPDRAGON BY QUALCOMM CPU) and related hardware, firmware, and may additionally support one or more wireless communication technologies (e.g., Wi-Fi, 3G). SNAPDRAGON BY QUALCOMM is a registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
Each of the one or more device interface modules 106, 107 may interact with the information handling device 101 through a bus standard, including, but not limited to, Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), PCI Express (PCIe), or Mini PCIe. Non-limiting examples of device interface modules 106, 107 include modules configured to support Wi-Fi, wireless wide area network (WWAN), wireless personal area network (WPAN), WiMAX, 3G, 4G, Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), SOC systems, and combinations thereof.
In
As shown in
One or more wireless antennas 210 may be arranged within the information handling device 201. As an illustrative and non-restrictive example, an antenna 210 may be a multi-band antenna configured to support multiple frequency bands, such as the 3G and 4G frequency bands. The device interface module 207 may connect with an antenna 210 through an antenna connector element 211 coupled with an antenna feed line 212 (e.g., a coaxial cable).
According to embodiments, the system bus slot pins 209 may be comprised of one or more tuning pins (not shown) that may operate to tune the antenna 210 to operate in one or more particular wireless communication frequency bands. The antenna 210 may be configured to operate at a frequency band based on the configuration of pins 208 of the device interface module 207 that connect with the system bus slot pins 209 and the tuning pins in particular. As a non-limiting example, the pins 208 of the device interface module 207 may be configured to tune the antenna to operate at the Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G, or some combination thereof, frequency bands. According to embodiments, the antenna 210 supplied with the information handling device may be a 3G/4G antenna that may be tuned to operate in the Wi-Fi frequency range responsive to connecting an interface device module 207 with a set of pins 208 that connect to one or more tuning pins configured to tune the antenna 210 to operate in the Wi-Fi frequency range.
The PCIe definition pin-out 301 comprises a standard pin assignment for a standard system bus slot arranged within an information handling device configured according to embodiments.
The configuration of the pin-outs 302-306 depicted in the example of
As shown in
In addition to handling wireless communications, device interface modules may support certain audio and video signals, such as universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART), general purpose input/output (GPIO), audio signals, and combinations thereof. According to embodiments, a 20-pin connection may be provided to support certain audio and video signals in combination with the aforementioned signals for tuning an antenna. Referring to
Embodiments provide for a hybrid computing system comprising a primary environment (PE) (for example, a Win-Tel platform) and a secondary environment (SE) (for example, a light weight/ANDROID platform) in a single computing system. ANDROID is a registered trademark of Google Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. The hybrid computer system includes various features, as described further herein. In and among other features, an embodiment supports the tuning of a multi-band antenna through a standard system bus slot as provided according to embodiments described herein.
While various other circuits, circuitry or components may be utilized,
The example of
In
In
The system, upon power on, may be configured to execute boot code 590 for the BIOS 568, as stored within the SPI Flash 567, and thereafter processes data under the control of one or more operating systems and application software (for example, stored in system memory 540). An operating system may be stored in any of a variety of locations and accessed, for example, according to instructions of the BIOS 568. As described herein, a device may include fewer or more features than shown in the system of
Referring to
ARM based systems 600 typically include one or more wireless transceivers, including, but not limited to, WWAN 660 and WLAN 650 transceivers for connecting to various networks, such as telecommunications networks and wireless base stations. Commonly, an ARM based system 600 will include a touchscreen 670 for data input and display. ARM based systems 600 also typically include various memory devices, for example flash memory 680 and SDRAM 690.
As described herein, embodiments combine components of
An embodiment provides a PE in which a user experiences a WINDOWS operating environment or state, and a SE in which a user experiences an ANDROID operating environment or state. In a PE, the information handling device may thus operate according to a WINDOWS operating system. In a SE, the information handling device may operate according to an ANDROID operating system. According to an embodiment, a user may switch between these two states.
The device 700 may include a display and input interfaces (for example, keyboard, mouse, touch interface, et cetera). Switching electronics (switches in
According to embodiments, the SE platform 720 may be incorporated into the device as a device interface module, for example, a SOC module comprising an ARM processor and associated hardware, firmware, and wireless communication elements. Accordingly, embodiments provide that the SE device platform 720 may be operably connected to the device through a system bus slot 730, for example, a Mini PCIe slot. The SOC module may be configured for wireless communication using one or more wireless communication technologies, including, but not limited to Wi-Fi. Accordingly, embodiments provide that the device system bus pin-outs (not shown) may be configured to tune the antenna 750, for example, a multi-band 3G/4G antenna, to operate in the frequency band associated with the SOC module, such as the Wi-Fi frequency band.
When the device 700 is in the SE mode or state, the device 700 operates as an independent tablet computer. As such, the SE platform 720 and the lightweight/tablet operating system executed therewith, such as an ANDROID operating system, control the operation of the device 700, including the display, peripherals such as a camera, microphone, speaker, shared wireless antenna, accelerometer, SD card, other similar peripheral devices, and software applications.
The device 700 utilizes the PE platform 710 when the user selects such an operational state, and this operational state may be set as a default or an initial state. When in the PE state, the device 700 is controlled by a PE platform 710, including for example a WINDOWS operating system. Essentially, the device 700 becomes a conventional laptop computer when PE platform 710 controls operation. As such, the SE platform 720 does not control device 700, peripherals, et cetera, when the device 700 is in the PE state, though an ANDROID operating system of SE platform 720 may be running in the PE state, as further described herein.
In such a hybrid environment, there are thus essentially two computing systems within one device 700, that is a primary system (running in the PE), and a secondary system (running in the SE). These systems may share access to various hardware, software, peripheral devices, internal components, et cetera, depending on the state (PE or SE). Each system is capable of operating independently.
According to an embodiment, a user may switch between the PE and SE environments, for example, through one or more hardware switches that switch hardware from being controlled or physically attached to one environment to being controlled or physically attached to a second environment. Switched hardware may include, but is not limited to, a display, microphone, mouse, keyboard, touchpad, microphone, storage devices, and USB devices. Embodiments provide that when an environment (e.g., SE) is in control of the hybrid device, the other environment (e.g., PE) may be placed in a standby mode. As such, each environment may operate independently of the power state of the other environment.
Additional embodiments provide for switching responsive to one or more user actions, such as opening one or more applications, accessing a certain file type, connecting or disconnecting a device (e.g., camera), or responsive to one or more device states, such as a low battery state. A non-limiting example provides that the hybrid device may switch from the PE state to the SE state responsive to a user opening certain media files (e.g., a movie file), such that the user may execute the file in a lower-power environment.
Embodiments may be implemented in one or more information handling devices configured appropriately to execute program instructions consistent with the functionality of the embodiments as described herein. In this regard,
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, various aspects may be embodied as a system, method or computer (device) program product. Accordingly, aspects may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment or an embodiment including software that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects may take the form of a computer (device) program product embodied in one or more computer (device) readable medium(s) having computer (device) readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more non-signal computer (device) readable medium(s) may be utilized. The non-signal medium may be a storage medium. A storage medium may be, for example, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of a storage medium would include the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Program code embodied on a storage medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, et cetera, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Program code for carrying out operations may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on a single device, partly on a single device, as a stand-alone software package, partly on single device and partly on another device, or entirely on the other device. In some cases, the devices may be connected through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made through other devices (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider) or through a hard wire connection, such as over a USB connection.
Aspects are described herein with reference to the figures, which illustrate example methods, devices and program products according to various example embodiments. It will be understood that the actions and functionality illustrated may be implemented at least in part by program instructions. These program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device or information handling device to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via a processor of the device implement the functions/acts specified.
The program instructions may also be stored in a device readable medium that can direct a device to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the device readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified.
The program instructions may also be loaded onto a device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the device to produce a device implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the device provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified.
This disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description but is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The example embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain principles and practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosure for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
Thus, although illustrative example embodiments have been described herein with reference to the accompanying figures, it is to be understood that this description is not limiting and that various other changes and modifications may be affected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure.
