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US 10,897,274 B2Granted
Shared radio arbitration
AssigneeMicrochip Technology Incorporated
InventorVishal Sharma
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A radio arbiter circuit is disclosed comprising a digital connection to a radio circuit, which comprises a transmitter, a receiver, and a radio frequency antenna; a first connection to a first network link controller, which comprises a first baseband processor and a first interface to a processor bus; a second connection to a second network link controller, which comprises a second baseband processor and a second interface to a processor bus; a multiplexer for coupling either the first network link controller or the second network link controller to the radio circuit via the digital connection; and a control input to the multiplexer for selecting which network link controller has control of the radio circuit.
Claims20
A radio arbiter circuit comprising:
- a digital connection to a radio circuit, which comprises a transmitter, a receiver, and a radio frequency antenna;
- a first connection to a first network link controller, which comprises a first baseband processor and a first interface to a processor bus;
- a second connection to a second network link controller, which comprises a second baseband processor and a second interface to a processor bus;
- a multiplexer for coupling either the first network link controller or the second network link controller to the radio circuit via the digital connection;
- and
- a control input to the multiplexer for selecting which network link controller has control of the radio circuit,
- wherein
- the control input is set to select the first network link controller;
- a first radio request from the first network link controller is active and associated with a first priority value;
- and
- the radio arbiter circuit is configured to:
- accept a second radio access request from the second network link controller comprising a second priority value;
- and
- based at least in part on a comparison between the first priority value and the second priority value:
- send a power down signal to the radio circuit;
- and
- set the control input to select the second network link controller;
- wherein the first radio request is further associated with a time-sensitive attribute, and
- the radio arbiter circuit is further configured to, based at least in at least in part on a comparison between the first priority value and the second priority value, send an aborted request signal to the first network link controller.
16 more elements
A radio arbiter circuit comprising:
- a digital connection to a radio circuit, which comprises a transmitter, a receiver, and a radio frequency antenna;
- a first connection to a first network link controller, which comprises a first baseband processor and a first interface to a processor bus;
- a second connection to a second network link controller, which comprises a second baseband processor and a second interface to a processor bus;
- a multiplexer for coupling either the first network link controller or the second network link controller to the radio circuit via the digital connection;
- and
- a control input to the multiplexer for selecting which network link controller has control of the radio circuit,
- wherein
- the control input is set to select the first network link controller;
- a first radio request from the first network link controller is active and associated with a first priority value;
- and
- the radio arbiter circuit is configured to:
- accept a second radio access request from the second network link controller comprising a second priority value, and
- based at least in part on a comparison between the first priority value and the second priority value:
- send a power down signal to the radio circuit;
- and
- set the control input to select the second network link controller;
- Wherein the first radio request is not associated with a time-sensitive attribute, and the radio arbiter circuit is further configured to:
- based at least in part on a comparison between the first priority value and the second priority value, send a delayed request signal to the first network link controller, and
- upon completion of the second radio access request, set the control input to select the first network link controller.
16 more elements
An integrated circuit comprising:
- a CPU,
- a memory,
- a first network link controller configured to communicate with a Zigbee network,
- a second network link controller configured to communicate with a Bluetooth network,
- a bus coupling the CPU to the memory, the first network link controller, and the second network link controller, and
- a radio arbiter circuit comprising:
- a digital connection to a radio circuit, which comprises a transmitter, a receiver, and a radio frequency antenna;
- a first connection to the first network link controller comprising a first baseband processor;
- a second connection to the second network link controller comprising a second baseband processor;
- a multiplexer for coupling either the first network link controller or the second network link controller to the radio circuit via the digital connection;
- and
- a control input to the multiplexer for selecting which network link controller has control of the radio circuit,
- wherein
- the control input is set to select the first network link controller;
- a first radio request from the first network link controller is active and associated with a first priority value;
- and
- the radio arbiter circuit is configured to;
- accept a second radio access request from the second network link controller comprising a second priority value;
- and
- based at least in part on a comparison between the first priority value and the second priority value:
- send a power down signal to the radio circuit;
- and
- set the control input to select the second network link controller, wherein the first radio request is further associated with a time-sensitive attribute, and
- the radio arbiter circuit is further configured to, based at least in part on a comparison between the first priority value and the second priority value, send an aborted request signal to the first network link controller.
21 more elements
An integrated circuit comprising:
- a CPU,
- a memory,
- a first network link controller configured to communicate with a Zigbee network,
- a second network link controller configured to communicate with a Bluetooth network,
- a bus coupling the CPU to the memory, the first network link controller, and the second network link controller, and
- a radio arbiter circuit comprising:
- a digital connection to a radio circuit, which comprises a transmitter, a receiver, and a radio frequency antenna;
- a first connection to the first network link controller comprising baseband processor;
- a second connection to the second network link controller comprising a second baseband processor;
- a multiplexer for coupling either the first network link controller or the second network link controller to the radio circuit via the digital connection;
- and
- a control input to the multiplexer for selecting which network link controller has control of the radio circuit,
- wherein
- the control input is set to select the first network link controller,
- a first radio request from the first network link controller is active and associated with a first priority value;
- and
- the radio arbiter circuit is configured to:
- accept a second radio access request from the second network link controller comprising a second priority value;
- and
- based at least in part on a comparison between the first priority value and the second priority value:
- send a power down signal to the radio circuit;
- and
- set the control input to select the second network link controller,
- wherein the first radio request is not associated with a time-sensitive attribute, and the radio arbiter circuit is further configured to:
- based at least in part on a comparison between the first priority value and the second priority value, send a delayed request signal to the first network link controller, and
- upon completion of the second radio access request, set the control input to select the first network link controller.
23 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.