# US 2021/0243286 A1 · Module Identification Method for Expandable Gateway Applications > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2021/0243286 A1 - Document ID: US20210243286A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 17/158,266 - Filed: 2021-01-26 - Published: 2021-08-05 - Earliest claimed: 2020-01-31 - Assignees: Veea Inc. - Applicants: Veea Inc. - Inventors: Bob Migliorino; Michael Liccone; Shaun Greaney; Dave Doyle; Michael Mirabella; Perry Wintner; Theodore Lubbe; Clint Smith - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210243286A1 ## CPC - G06F 15/177: Initialisation or configuration control {(processor initialisation G06F9/4405)} - H04M 1/0254: {comprising one or a plurality of mechanically detachable modules} - G06F 1/20: Cooling means - G06F 1/206: {comprising thermal management} - G06F 1/3203: Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode - G06F 1/3287: by switching off individual functional units in the computer system - H05K 7/023: {Stackable modules} - G06F 9/5094: {where the allocation takes into account power or heat criteria (power management in computers in general G06F1/3203; thermal management in computers in general G06F1/206)} - G06F 15/161: {Computing infrastructure, e.g. computer clusters, blade chassis or hardware partitioning (casings, cabinets, racks or drawers for data centers H05K5/00)} - G06F 2200/1635: Stackable modules - H04W 88/08: Access point devices - Y02D 10/00: Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - H04M: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (circuits for controlling other apparatus via a telephone cable and not involving telephone switching apparatus G08) - H05K: PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) - Y02D: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES [ICT], I.E. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AIMING AT THE REDUCTION OF THEIR OWN ENERGY USE ## Abstract A modular wireless communications system (edge device, etc.) that includes a base unit having a base unit processor and one or more additional units that each include a processor, in which the base unit processor is configured with processor-executable software instructions to determine whether the base unit has been combined with the one or more additional units to create a combined unit and/or whether one or more of the additional units have been detached from the combined unit. The processor may automatically perform an edge reconfiguration interrogation and enumeration (ERIE) operation in response to determining that the base unit has been combined with the one or more additional units to create the combined unit or in response to determining that one or more of the additional units have been detached from the combined unit. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A modular wireless communications system, comprising: a base unit comprising a base unit processor; and one or more additional units that each comprise a processor, wherein the base unit processor is configured with processor-executable software instructions to: determine whether the base unit has been combined with the one or more additional units to create a combined unit; determine whether one or more of the additional units have been detached from the combined unit; and perform an edge reconfiguration interrogation and enumeration (ERIE) operation in response to determining that the base unit has been combined with the one or more additional units to create the combined unit or in response to determining that one or more of the additional units have been detached from the combined unit. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The modular wireless communications system of claim 1, wherein in response to determining that the base unit has been combined with the one or more additional units to create the combined unit, or in response to determining that one or more of the additional units have been detached from the combined unit, the base unit processor: identifies all of the additional units within the combined unit; verifies the compatibility of all the identified additional units with one another; determines a purpose for each of the identified additional units; determines one or more functional capabilities for each of the identified additional units; and identifies redundancies in the combined unit based on the determined purposes and determined functional capabilities of the identified additional units. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The modular wireless communications system of claim 2, wherein the base unit processor is further configured to eliminate identified redundancies in the combined unit. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The modular wireless communications system of claim 1, wherein in response to determining that the base unit has been combined with the one or more additional units to create the combined unit, or in response to determining that one or more of the additional units have been detached from the combined unit, the base unit processor: determines a physical stacking order in which the additional units within the combined unit are combined; determines alternative stacking orders available with the additional units within the combined unit; compares an efficiency of the physical stacking order to an efficiency of each alternative stacking order; and sets a logical stacking order based on a result of the comparison of the efficiency of the physical stacking order and efficiencies of each alternative stacking order. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The modular wireless communications system of claim 1, wherein in response to determining that the base unit has been combined with the one or more additional units to create the combined unit, or in response to determining that one or more of the additional units have been detached from the combined unit, the base unit processor: determines whether the maximum number of units has been exceeded; determines power requirements for each unit in the combined unit; determines an overall power budget for the combined unit; determines whether the power requirements of the units exceed the overall power budget of the combined unit; and performs a responsive action in response to determine that the power requirements of the units exceed the overall power budget of the combined unit. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The modular wireless communications system of claim 5, wherein the base unit processor is configured to perform the responsive action in response to determine that the power requirements of the units exceed the overall power budget of the combined unit by enabling, disabling, powering up, powering down or throttling one or more of the additional units in the combined unit. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The modular wireless communications system of claim 1, wherein the base unit processor automatically determines the resources, buses, network on chips (NoCs), and communication protocols for communicating information between the base unit and each additional unit in the combined unit in response to determining that the base unit has been combined with the one or more additional units to create the combined unit, or in response to determining that one or more of the additional units have been detached from the combined unit. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The modular wireless communications system of claim 1, wherein the base unit processor automatically determines an addressing scheme or address structure for the communications between the base unit and each additional unit in the combined unit in response to determining that the base unit has been combined with the one or more additional units to create the combined unit, or in response to determining that one or more of the additional units have been detached from the combined unit. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The modular wireless communications system of claim 1, wherein the base unit processor shares resources in a distributed fashion based on functional capabilities of each unit within the combined unit. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The modular wireless communications system of claim 9, wherein sharing the resources in the distributed fashion comprises: performing CPU sharing operations; performing memory sharing operations; performing distributed processing operations; performing communication system slicing operations; or performing application process distribution operations. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The modular wireless communications system of claim 1, wherein in response to determining that the base unit has been combined with the one or more additional units to create the combined unit, or in response to determining that one or more of the additional units have been detached from the combined unit, the base unit processor performs operations that include: sequentially traversing units in the combined unit to identify each unit in the combined unit; determining the order in which the units are stacked in the combined unit; determining the relative positions of each additional unit with respect to the base unit; and determining the resources, buses, network on chips (NoCs), and communication protocols that are used to communicate information between the unit in the combined unit based on the determined order or relative positions of the units. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The modular wireless communications system of claim 11, wherein determining the resources, buses, NoCs, and communication protocols that are used to communicate information between the unit in the combined unit based on the determined order or relative positions of the units comprises: assigning higher speed modules to be used by units that are closer to the base unit; and assigning lower speed modules to those that are further from the base unit. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The modular wireless communications system of claim 11, wherein determining the resources, buses, network NoCs, and communication protocols that are used to communicate information between the unit in the combined unit based on the determined order or relative positions of the units comprises: assigning available PCIe modules to be used by units that are closer to the base unit; and assigning a serial gigabit media-independent interface (SGMII) to units further from the base unit after assigning all the available PCIe modules. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The modular wireless communications system of claim 1, wherein in response to determining that the base unit has been combined with the one or more additional units to create the combined unit, or in response to determining that one or more of the additional units have been detached from the combined unit, the base unit processor performs operations that include dynamically switching one or more busses in the combined unit so that two or more additional unit may use the same addresses or the same range of addresses to communicate information. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The modular wireless communications system of claim 1, wherein in response to determining that the base unit has been combined with the one or more additional units to create the combined unit, or in response to determining that one or more of the additional units have been detached from the combined unit, the base unit processor performs operations that include: sequentially traversing each unit in the combined unit; reading an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) on a first traversed unit to determine its module type; setting the general-purpose input/output (GPIO) its respective address based on a position of the first traversed unit in the combined unit so its addresses is function of that unit's position within the stack; using the addresses to establish a link form the first traversed unit to the next unit in the combined unit; disconnecting a portion of the GPIO; and repeating the operations above to set the GPIOs or addresses for each subsequently traversed unit until addresses and communication links are established between all units in the combined unit. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The modular wireless communications system of claim 1, wherein in response to determining that the base unit has been combined with the one or more additional units to create the combined unit, or in response to determining that one or more of the additional units have been detached from the combined unit, the base unit processor performs operations that include determining or setting a power budget for each unit in the combined unit based on the available power resources, an estimate of the leakage power levels, a relative importance or influence of workloads and components in the unit, a thermal power envelope, or information included in a look up table. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The modular wireless communications system of claim 1, wherein in response to determining that the base unit has been combined with the one or more additional units to create the combined unit, or in response to determining that one or more of the additional units have been detached from the combined unit, the base unit processor performs operations that include balancing tradeoffs between performance and power consumption on the combined unit so as to ensure that each unit in the combined unit accomplish its intended functionality without the combined unit exceeding its power budget. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The modular wireless communications system of claim 1, wherein in response to determining that the base unit has been combined with the one or more additional units to create the combined unit, or in response to determining that one or more of the additional units have been detached from the combined unit, the base unit processor performs operations that include preventing the combined unit form exceeding its power budget by selectively enabling units in the combined unit based on their positions with respect to the base unit, the relative importance of their functional capabilities to the operation of the combined unit, and its purpose for inclusion in the combined unit. ### Claim 19 A method of operating an edge device with an expandable architecture, comprising: determining, by a processor in the edge device, whether a base unit in the edge device has been combined with the one or more additional units to create a combined unit; determining, by the processor, whether one or more of the additional units have been detached from the combined unit; and performing, by the processor, an edge reconfiguration interrogation and enumeration (ERIE) operation in response to determining that the base unit in the edge device has been combined with the one or more additional units to create the combined unit or in response to determining that one or more of the additional units have been detached from the combined unit. ### Claim 20 An edge device, comprising: a processor configured with processor-executable instructions to: determine whether a base unit in the edge device has been combined with the one or more additional units to create a combined unit; determine whether one or more of the additional units have been detached from the combined unit; and perform an edge reconfiguration interrogation and enumeration (ERIE) operation in response to determining that the base unit in the edge device has been combined with the one or more additional units to create the combined unit or in response to determining that one or more of the additional units have been detached from the combined unit.