Back to results
US 11,050,450 B2Granted
System, apparatus and method for hardware and software support of radio functionality
AssigneeSilicon Laboratories Inc.
InventorsShawn Michael Davis, Jan Schnepp, Aaron Scott Blank
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In one example, a system includes: a circuit board; at least one tuner adapted on the circuit board to receive and process a radio frequency (RF) signal to output a downconverted modulated signal; a processor adapted on the circuit board to demodulate the downconverted modulated signal, process the demodulated downconverted signal and output an audio signal; a location on the circuit board to receive a demodulator circuit; and a shunt element adapted on the circuit board to direct the downconverted modulated signal from the at least one tuner to the processor when the system does not include the demodulator circuit.
Claims20
A circuit board comprising:
- a first physical layout location on the circuit board to receive at least one tuner, wherein the at least one tuner is to receive and process a radio frequency (RF) signal to output a downconverted modulated signal;
- a second physical layout location on the circuit board to receive a demodulator circuit;
- a third physical layout location on the circuit board to receive a processor;
- and
- a fourth physical layout location on the circuit board to receive a shunt element comprising a zero ohm resistor, wherein:
- when the circuit board is implemented in a first system that includes the shunt element and does not include the demodulator circuit, the shunt element is to direct the downconverted modulated signal from the at least one tuner to a first processor adapted to the third physical layout location, the first processor to demodulate the downconverted modulated signal, process the demodulated downconverted signal and output an audio signal;
- and
- when the circuit board is implemented in a second system that does not include the shunt element and includes the demodulator circuit, the circuit board is to route the downconverted modulated signal from the at least one tuner to the demodulator circuit, the demodulator circuit to demodulate the downconverted modulated signal and provide the demodulated downconverted signal to a second processor adapted to the third physical layout location, the second processor to process the demodulated downconverted signal and output the audio signal.
5 more elements
At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed enable a system to:
- receive, in a radio stack in execution on a processor, a request for a selected radio station from a radio application;
- determine one or more control parameters for a demodulator to demodulate content of the selected radio station;
- and
- determine whether demodulation is to be performed internally to the processor and in response to a determination that the demodulation is to be performed internally to the processor, send the one or more control parameters to an internal processing engine of the processor to execute a software defined demodulator, wherein the processor is incorporated on a circuit board that is designed to accommodate a hardware demodulation circuit coupled to the processor and usable in a first system that includes the hardware demodulation circuit to demodulate the content and usable in a second system that includes the processor to demodulate the content and does not include the hardware demodulation circuit.
1 more element
A system comprising:
- at least one antenna to receive at least one radio frequency (RF) signal;
- at least one tuner coupled to the at least one antenna to receive and process the at least one RF signal to output a downconverted modulated signal;
- a processor coupled to the at least one tuner to demodulate the downconverted modulated signal and to process the demodulated downconverted signal and output an audio signal;
- an audio processor coupled to the processor to process the audio signal and output a processed audio signal;
- a circuit board, wherein the at least one tuner is adapted on a first layout portion of the circuit board, the processor is adapted on a second layout portion of the circuit board, and the audio processor is adapted on a third layout portion of the circuit board, the circuit board further including a fourth layout portion to which a hardware demodulator circuit may be adapted, the circuit board further including:
- first interconnect circuitry to direct the downconverted modulated signal from the first layout portion to the second layout portion;
- and
- second interconnect circuitry to direct the downconverted modulated signal from the first layout portion to the fourth layout portion;
- and
- an interconnection member to cause the downconverted modulated signal to be provided from the at least one tuner to the processor via the first interconnect circuitry.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.