WO2019190537A1

WO2019190537A1 - Methods and apparatus to facilitate configurable multi-channel communications in intelligent transportation systems for vehicular communications

Info

Publication number: WO2019190537A1
Application number: PCT/US2018/025293
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bahareh Sadeghi; Assaf Gurevitz; Ehud Reshef; Ofer Hareuveni; Noam GINSBURG
Original assignee: Intel IP Corporation
Priority date: 2018-03-29
Filing date: 2018-03-29
Publication date: 2019-10-03

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to facilitate configurable multi-channel communications in intelligent transportation systems for vehicular communications are disclosed. An example apparatus includes an interface to receive instructions to transmit a wideband transmission on two or more frequency channels of a frequency band; a digital processor to reserve a time slot for the wideband transmission; and a multi-channel communication determiner to configure the digital processor to transmit the wideband transmission using the two or more frequency channels; and ensure that the wideband transmission occurs concurrently on the two or more frequency channels by performing a wideband transmission synchronization.

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUS TO FACILITATE CONFIGURABLE MULTI-CHANNEL COMMUNICATIONS IN INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS FOR

VEHICULAR COMMUNICATIONS FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to wireless communications and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus to facilitate configurable multi-channel communications in intelligent transportation systems for vehicular communications. BACKGROUND

Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) connectivity radios are a major part of autonomous driving solutions. Advanced solutions that enable more efficient operations are needed to meet the strict requirements for safety applications. The spectrum that is assigned to V2X and driving safety is in the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (UNII)-4 sub-band. In some locations, the UNII-4 sub-band is allocated 75 Megahertz (MHz) of bandwidth which is divided into seven 10 MHz frequency channels, with 5 MHz reserved. Out of the seven channels, one channel, channel 178 (centered on 5.89 gigahertz (GHz)), is a Control Channel (CCH) and the rest are Service Channels (SCH). In some examples, a standard design may allow single-radio V2X operation with asynchronous CCH and SCH operation. In some examples, two adjacent consecutive 10 MHz channels may be combined to operate as a single 20MHz channel, so long as at least one of the channels is a control channel and the other channels are service channels.

In other locations, 70 MHz bandwidth is divided into five 10 MHz channels, with 20 MHz reserved for future use. Of the five channels, a channel centered on 5.9 GHz is CCH and the rest of the channels are SCH. Additionally, other locations may correspond to different frequency bands and/or frequency band divisions (e.g., 700 MHz in Japan).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates an example radio architecture to facilitate configurable multi-channel communications in intelligent transportation systems for vehicular communications. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example multi-channel communication determiner of

FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3-6 are flowcharts representative of example machine readable instructions that may be executed to implement the example multi-channel communication determiner of FIGS. 1 and/or 2.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example wideband transmission synchronization.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a processor platform structured to execute the example machine readable instructions of FIGS. 3-6 to implement the example multi-channel

communication determiner of FIGS. 1 and/or 2.

The figures are not to scale. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Regulatory authorities have defined various allocations of the available channels for V2X use. Some allocations correspond to time-division multiplexing (TDM) based schemes (e.g., alternating between channels). Other allocations correspond to listening to a safety channel (e.g., a control channel (CCH)) in addition to alternating between service channels (SCH). To utilize different frequency channels, some techniques include utilizing multiple radios (e.g.,

corresponding to each of the different frequency channels). Single radio solutions may be used to maintain synchronization and would experience lower channel efficiency and communication reliability (higher packet drop and latency) due to channel switching and observation of guard times and a CCH interval.

As different technologies advance, more devices operate within different wireless frequency bands. Accordingly, allocations of a frequency band that were dedicated to one technology may be reallocated to be shared by two or more technologies. For example, a V2X communication system may be required to change its configuration according to its current region and regulatory domain based on future enhancements.

Conventional V2X techniques only support static configuration. For example, conventional devices either support a TDM-based alternating channel mode (e.g., a single 10 MHz channel physical layer (PHY) radio, and/or configurable 10/20 MHz channel PHY), or, if the conventional device has two physical layer (PHY) radios, support any combination of dual mode/channel concurrency, at the cost of having two separate transceivers and basebands.

However, such conventional techniques lack of the ability for active management of multi- channel carrier-sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA-CA) access required for lower cross channel interference. Additionally, conventional two PHY radios require additional hardware for the two separate transceivers and basebands (e.g., one for each frequency channel).

Examples disclosed herein provide and implement radio architecture corresponding to a single radio frequency (RF) transceiver used to receive data concurrently from the whole UNII-4 75 MHz sub-band using smart multiplexing of baseband components (e.g. carrier sense acquisition, frequency domain signal processing units, etc.). Examples disclosed herein include a wideband transceiver combined with an enhanced multi-channel operation protocol to optimize multi-channel media access, thereby enabling simultaneous access of multiple channels, handling arbitration per quality of service (QoS) parameters of each frame, allowing duplication of critical safety messages for robustness, allowing protection of critical messages by multi-channel transmit opportunity (TXOP) control and protection, and allowing flexible bandwidth (BW) allocation per frame based on resource unit allocation in packet header (e.g., SIG-A modification in a backward compatible manner). As used herein, a wideband transceiver is a single RF lineup/transceiver that is capable of concurrent transmission and/or reception over multiple channels. The wideband transceiver may be configured to operate using any of the multiple channels in a single frequency band (e.g., a 70 MHz spectrum around the 5.9 GHz frequency band). Accordingly, examples disclosed herein provide adaptive technology to ensure efficiency for everchanging wireless environments for both legacy and non-legacy devices.

Examples disclosed herein provide a wideband transceiver capable of

receiving/transmitting data packets on multiple frequency channels of a frequency band (e.g., corresponding to wideband transmission) and/or a single frequency channel of the frequency band (e.g., corresponding to narrowband transmission), thereby supporting legacy and non legacy (e.g., future develop) devices. In this manner, as technology of frequency band allocation changes, examples disclosed herein provide an adaptable receiver/transmitter that can be configure to receive/transmit on any channel(s) within a frequency band.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example radio architecture 100 to facilitate configurable multi - channel communications in intelligent transportation systems for vehicular communications.

FIG. 1 includes an example wideband receiver (Rx) antenna 102, and example wideband receiver (Rx) 104, an example amplifiers 106, 144, example mixers 108, 142, example local oscillators (LOs) 110, 140, example filters 112, example analog-to-digital converters 114, an example Rx digital processor 116, example frequency shift circuitry 118A-N, example lowpass filters 120A-N, example demodulators 122A-N, example modems 124A-124N, an example application processor 125, an example multi-channel communication determiner 126, an example transmitter (Tx) digital processor 128, example modulators 130A-N, example lowpass filters 132A-132N, example frequency shift circuitry 134A-134N, an example wideband Tx 136, example digital-to-analog converters 138, and an example Tx antenna 146. Although the example radio architecture 100 is described in conjunction with the frequency spectrum assigned to the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) for V2X communications (e.g., 5.9 GHz), the example radio architecture 100 may be used in conjunction with any frequency band.

The example wideband Rx 104 of FIG. 1 receives a signal, via the example Rx antenna 102, corresponding to data that is transmitted on one or more frequency channels of a frequency spectrum/band. For example, if the radio architecture 100 operates on the frequency band corresponding to the UNII-4, the Rx antenna 102 may receive data on one or more of the frequency channels of the UNII-4 frequency band (e.g., 10 or 20 MHz bandwidth channels in the 5.9 GHz band). Additionally, the example wideband Rx 104 converts the received signal (e.g., an analog signal) to a digital signal for further processing (e.g., via the example Rx digital processor 116). For example, the wideband Rx 104 may include the example low-noise amplifier (LNA) 106 to amply a low-powered signal (e.g., received using the example Rx antenna 102) without significantly degrading the signal-to-noise radio of the received signal.

The LNA 106 may provide the amplified signal to a down conversion module to convert the received signal into a low intermediate frequency (IF) signal (e.g., by using a local oscillator). In some examples, the down conversion module may convert the received signal into a zero IF signal for direct conversion. The low IF signal may be filtered by the example low pass filter 112 to adjust the gain of the signal before being converter to a digital signal using the analog to digital converter (ADC) 114. In some examples, a LO signal is created using the example LO 110 for good phase noise performance. In some examples, down conversion to the baseband requires both in phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components of the signal. According the example mixers 108 may down convert the IF signal into the I and Q components for digital signal processing. The outputs of the ADC 114 are passed to the example Rx digital processor 116. The example Rx digital processor 116 of FIG. 1 processes the digitally converted received signal to separate the received signal based on the frequency channel used to transmit the signal (e.g., the frequency channel that the data was received in). The example frequency shift circuitry 118A-N shifts the frequency of the filtered signal (e.g., to baseband and/or zero IF equivalent). Once frequency shifted, the example lowpass filters 120A-N filter and downsample the output of the example frequency shift circuitry 118A-N into the respective frequency channels based on a bandwidth corresponding to the requested channel bandwidth. For example, in the example V2X frequency band, the example lowpass filter 120A-N filter the received signal into the frequency channels 172, 174, 176, 178, 180, 182, and 184. In this manner, if a received signal is transmitted on one or more frequency channels, the example Rx digital processor 116 is able to determine the data received on each frequency channel. The example demodulators 122A-N demodulate the output of the example lowpass filters 120A-N. The filtered, shifted, and demodulated signal is passed to the corresponding modem (e.g., the example modems 124A-N) for further processing. The example modems 124A-N are Tx/Rx machines (e.g., modulators/demodulators) that process received data corresponding to each frequency channel and transmits data corresponding to the received data to the example multi- channel communication determiner 126. For example, the modems 124A-N transmit (TA) timing advertisement data, initial negotiation information (e.g., between a device implementing the example radio architecture 100 and a device in communication with the example radio architecture 100), clear channel assessment information to the example multi-channel communication determiner 126. Although the example Rx digital processor 116 is illustrated as shown in FIG. 1 (e.g., an analog implementation of a baseband processor), more, less, or different components may be utilized to achieve the same output(s).

The example application processor 125 of FIG. 1 processes received data packets to execute a functionality. For example, the application processor 125 may represent the next layer (e.g., a medium access controller (MAC)) of processing. The example application processor 125 receives data packets from at least one of the modems 124A-124N and/or the example multi- channel communication determiner 126. In some examples, when the application processor 125 determines that it wants to transmit data packets, the example application processor 125 transmits the transmission instructions (E.g., corresponding to a wideband or narrowband transmission) to the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 based on a communication protocol determined with a connected device.

The example multi-channel communication determiner 126 of FIG. 1 controls operation of the example Rx digital processor 116 and the example Tx digital processor 128 to facilitate multi-channel communications. For example, the multi-channel communications determiner 126 may control the example Rx digital processor 116 to receive independent narrow band transmission(s) and/or wideband transmission(s). In some examples, the multi-channel communications determiner 126 controls the example Rx digital processor 116 to receive independent narrowband transmission(s) and/or wideband transmission(s) that are overlapping in frequency to increase efficiency. In such examples, the multi-channel communication determiner 126 may use a spatial separation (e.g., for multiple user multiple input multiple output (MU MIMO) transmissions) or a code separation (e.g., code-division multiple access (CDMA)) technique to super impose the wideband and/or narrowband transmissions.

Additionally, the multi-channel communication determiner 126 may control the example Tx digital processor 128 to transmit narrowband and/or wideband transmissions via the example Tx antenna 146. The example multi-channel communication determiner 126 may select a subgroup of frequency channels of a wideband transmission to transmit wideband data on based on which of the frequency channels are idle (e.g., based on a clear channel assessment (CCA) of the frequency channels). In some examples, the multi-channel communication determiner 126 may adjust transmission power levels of frequency channels that are near frequency channels used for reception to reduce interference. Additionally, the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 performs a wideband transmission synchronization protocol to ensure that wideband transmissions on the two or more frequency channels are synchronized. Additionally, because accurate synchronization over multiple channels is necessary for concurrent Tx and Rx on multiple channels, the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 may perform (e.g., periodically, aperiodically, and/or based on a trigger) a clock synchronization for all connected devices based on a Timing Advertisement (TA) message. The example multi-channel communication determiner 126 is further described below in conjunction with FIG. 2.

The example Tx digital processor 128 of FIG. 1 processes receives data from the multi- channel communication determiner 126 to be transmitted by the example Tx antenna 146. The example Tx digital processor 128 includes the example modulators 130A-130N to modulate the received data to be transmitted (e.g., using Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK), multiple level (M-ary) frequency shift keyeing (FSK), M-ary phase shift keying (PSK), QAM, etc.). The example modulators 130A-130N pass the modulated signal to the example lowpass filters 132A-132N to filter and upsample the modulated signals into the respective frequency channels. In this manner, if the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 may select different frequency channels for transmission of data and pass the data through the example lowpass filters 132A-132N to ensure that only the selected frequency channels are used for transmission. There may be any number of frequency channels depending on the frequency spectrum being used. For example, in a V2X communication in the United States, there are seven 10 MHz channels corresponding to the 5.89 GHz frequency band.

Accordingly, the example Tx digital processor 128 may include seven 10 MHz lowpass filters 132A-N. Once the received data is filtered to the corresponding frequency channel, the example frequency shift circuitry 134A-N shifts the frequency of the filtered signal to the equivalent channel position and passes the filtered signals to the example wideband Tx 136. Although the example Tx digital processor 128 is illustrated as shown in FIG. 1 (e.g., an analog

implementation of a baseband processor), more, less, or different components may be utilized to perform channel combining and/or separation in different or similar manners to achieve the same results.

The example wideband Tx 136 of FIG. 1 receives data from the example Tx digital processor 128 corresponding to different frequency channels and converts the digital signals into an analog signal to be transmitted via the example Tx antenna 146. The example wideband Tx 136 may include the example digital to analog converters (DACs) 138 to convert the digital transmission formatted data from the digital domain to the analog domain corresponding to in phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components of the analog signal. Additionally, the example wideband Tx 136 may include the example mixers 142 to convert the analog baseband or low IF signal into a radio frequency (RF) signal based on a transmitter local oscillator signal provided by the example LO 140. The example wideband Tx 136 may further include the example power amplifier (PA) 144 to amplify the RF signal (e.g., a combination of the Q and I mixed into the RF signals) before transmitting the example Tx antenna 146. In some examples, the Tx antenna 146 and the Rx antenna 102 are combined into one antenna via a single pole double throw

(SPDT) relay. In such examples, the communication may be half duplexed to avoid the interference on the Rx side from the Tx side. In some examples, the Tx antenna 146 and the Rx antenna 102 are combined into one antenna via a circulator, thereby allowing full-duplex operation. As described above, the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 may adjust the transmission power of one or more frequency channels by controlling the LNA.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 of FIG. 1. The example multi-channel communication determiner 126 includes an example interface 200, an example TA ranker 202, and example data processor 204, an example wideband communication determiner 206, and an example timer 208.

The example interface 200 of FIG. 2 receives data from the example modems 124A-N of FIG. 1 and/or transmits data to the example Tx digital processor 128 of FIG. 1. For example, the interface 200 may receive timing advertisement data, communication protocols based on initial negotiations with connected devices, and/or CCA data from the example modems 124A-N and receives instructions from the example application processor 125. Additionally, when the multi- channel communication determiner 126 receives instructions to transmits data on one or more frequency bands (e.g., via the example application processor 125), the example interface 200 transmits the data corresponding to one or more frequency channels to the example Tx digital processor 128 for transmission (e.g., wideband or narrowband). In some examples, the interface 200 transmits instructions to the example Rx digital processor 116 to configure parameters of the example filters 120A-N to received data packets on particular frequency channels.

The example TA ranker 202 of FIG. 2 performs a multi-channel clock synchronization between connected devices using received TAs from the connected devices. For example, during the multi-channel clock synchronization, the example TA ranker 202 processes all received TA received via the example wideband Rx antenna 102 by ranking the received TAs based on various ranking parameters. Once ranked, the example TA ranker 202 sets the clock and standard deviation of an error estimate for the global time based information corresponding to the highest ranked TA. The clock is a network wall clock that is shared by all connected devices. All devices have internal clock drift. According, periodic time correction may be required to maintain clock synchronization between all connected devices. For example, the TA ranker 202 may rank received TAs based on the type of channel (e.g., a CCH channel or a non- CCH channel) that received the TA, the number of channels that received the TA, if the wireless device (e.g., station (STA)) that transmitted the TA has an enabled coordinated universal time (UTC), and/or other timing capabilities (e.g., PHY indications, received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of TA, signal noise ratio (SNR) of TA, channel fading assessments, etc.). Once the example TA ranker 202 selects the highest rank TA, the example TA ranker 202 sets the clock based on the estimate of the global time from the highest ranked TA (e.g., corresponding to the clock and standard deviation of error of the device that transmitted the highest ranked TA). Additionally, the example TA ranker 202 instructs the example interface 200 to transmit the selected global time estimate on all frequency channels corresponding to the example Tx digital processor 128. In this manner, other connected devices can set their clock based on the selected TA.

The example data processor 204 of FIG. 2 processes received data from the example modems 124A-N. For example, the data processor 204 may process the information

corresponding to each TA, so that the example TA ranker 202 can rank the TAs based on the processed information. Additionally, the example data processor 204 determines the

communication protocol that is currently being implemented based on the initial negotiations with connected devices. For example, the data processor 204 determines which connected devices are communicating using wideband communications and which devices are

communicating using narrowband communications. Additionally, the example data processor 204 may determine which frequency channels are currently being used for transmission and which frequency channels are used for reception based on the communication protocol.

The example wideband communication determiner 206 of FIG. 2 determines which frequency channels to use for data transmission/reception based on the communication protocol (e.g., determined by the example data processor 204) for each connected device. For example, the wideband communication determiner 206 may configure the example Tx digital processor 128 to transmit data using one or more frequency channels (e.g., frequency channels not used for reception) by transmitting signals corresponding to the one or more frequency channels that will be filtered by the example lowpass filters 132A-N of the example Tx digital processor 128. Additionally, the wideband communication determiner 206 may determine how to configure the example filters 120A-N for wideband and/or narrowband reception. In some examples, the wideband communication determiner 206 may enable concurrent narrowband and wideband transmission overlapping in frequency to increase efficiency. In such examples, the wideband communication determiner 206 may super impose a wideband transmission with a narrowband transmission using spatial separation or code speciation techniques. In some examples, the wideband communication determiner 206 adjusts the maximum transmission power of one or more frequency channels to avoid interference on data packet reception. Additionally, the example wideband communication determiner 206 may perform a wideband transmission synchronization to ensure that the wideband transmission is synchronized between the corresponding frequency channels of the transmission.

The example timer 208 of FIG. 2 tracks timing protocols for communication including when packets can be transmitted. In some examples, the timer 208 tracks a contention window duration to determine when a contention window is no longer active (e.g., during a wideband transmission synchronization protocol). Additionally, the timer 208 tracks time to be able to determine when different time intervals have passed and/or when to execute a transmission based on the amount of time until the next time interval begins.

While an example manner of implementing the multi-channel communication determiner 126 of FIG. 1 is illustrated in FIG. 2, one or more of the elements, processes and/or devices illustrated in FIG. 2 may be combined, divided, re-arranged, omitted, eliminated and/or implemented in any other way. Further, the example interface 200, the example timing advertisement ranker 202, the example data processor 204, the example wideband

communication determiner 206, the example timer 208, and/or, more generally, the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 of FIG. 2 may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware and/or any combination of hardware, software and/or firmware. Thus, for example, any of the example interface 200, the example timing advertisement ranker 202, the example data processor 204, the example wideband communication determiner 206, the example timer 208, and/or, more generally, the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 of FIG. 2 could be implemented by one or more analog or digital circuit(s), logic circuits, programmable processor(s), programmable controlled s), graphics processing unit(s) (GPU(s)), digital signal processor(s) (DSP(s)), application specific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)) and/or field programmable logic device(s)

(FPLD(s)). When reading any of the apparatus or system claims of this patent to cover a purely software and/or firmware implementation, at least one of the example interface 200, the example timing advertisement ranker 202, the example data processor 204, the example wideband communication determiner 206, the example timer 208, and/or, more generally, the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 of FIG. 2 is/are hereby expressly defined to include a non-transitory computer readable storage device or storage disk such as a memory, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk (CD), a Blu-ray disk, etc. including the software and/or firmware. Further still, the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 of FIG. 1 may include one or more elements, processes and/or devices in addition to, or instead of, those illustrated in FIG. 2, and/or may include more than one of any or all of the illustrated elements, processes and devices. As used herein, the phrase“in communication,” including variations thereof, encompasses direct communication and/or indirect communication through one or more intermediary components, and does not require direct physical (e.g., wired) communication and/or constant communication, but rather additionally includes selective communication at periodic intervals, scheduled intervals, aperiodic intervals, and/or one-time events.

Flowcharts representative of example hardware logic or machine readable instructions for implementing the multi-channel communication determiner 126 of FIG. 1 are shown in FIGS. 3- 6. The machine readable instructions may be a program or portion of a program for execution by a processor such as the processor 812 shown in the example processor platform 800 discussed below in connection with FIG. 8. The program may be embodied in software stored on a non- transitory computer readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a hard drive, a DVD, a Blu-ray disk, or a memory associated with the processor 812, but the entire program and/or parts thereof could alternatively be executed by a device other than the processor 812 and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware. Further, although the example program is described with reference to the flowchart illustrated in FIGS. 3-6, many other methods of implementing the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 may alternatively be used. For example, the order of execution of the blocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated, or combined. Additionally or alternatively, any or all of the blocks may be implemented by one or more hardware circuits (e.g., discrete and/or integrated analog and/or digital circuitry, an FPGA, an ASIC, a comparator, an operational- amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit, etc.) structured to perform the corresponding operation without executing software or firmware.

As mentioned above, the example processes of FIGS. 3-6 may be implemented using executable instructions (e.g., computer and/or machine readable instructions) stored on a non- transitory computer and/or machine readable medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a cache, a random-access memory and/or any other storage device or storage disk in which information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extended time periods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarily buffering, and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, the term non-transitory computer readable medium is expressly defined to include any type of computer readable storage device and/or storage disk and to exclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media.

“Including” and“comprising” (and all forms and tenses thereof) are used herein to be open ended terms. Thus, whenever a claim employs any form of“include” or“comprise” (e.g., comprises, includes, comprising, including, having, etc.) as a preamble or within a claim recitation of any kind, it is to be understood that additional elements, terms, etc. may be present without falling outside the scope of the corresponding claim or recitation. As used herein, when the phrase "at least" is used as the transition term in, for example, a preamble of a claim, it is open-ended in the same manner as the term "comprising" and“including” are open ended. The term“and/or” when used, for example, in a form such as A, B, and/or C refers to any

combination or subset of A, B, C such as (1) A alone, (2) B alone, (3) C alone, (4) A with B, (5) A with C, and (6) B with C.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example flowchart 300 representative of example machine readable instructions that may be executed by the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 of FIG. 1 to facilitate a global clock synchronization. Although the flowchart 300 of FIG. 3 is described in conjunction with the V2X frequency band and/or the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 of the example radio architecture of FIG. 1, the instructions may be executed by any frequency band and/or multi-channel communication determiner in any type of radio architecture.

At block 302, the example interface 200 receives TAs from connected STAs on any channel. For example, if a legacy device is transmitting a TA, the TA may be received on one frequency channel (e.g., 10 MHz transmission) or two neighboring frequency channels (e.g., 20 MHz transmission), the example modems 124A-N corresponding to the frequency channels will send the TAs to the example interface 200. Additionally, a non-legacy device may transmit TAs on two or more frequency channels that may be sent to the example interface 200 from the corresponding modems 124A-N. For each of the received TAs (block 304 - block 324), the example TA ranker 202 initiates a TA ranking (e.g., a base value) (block 306). At block 308, the example data processor 204 processes the TA to determine data corresponding to the TA. For example, the data processor 204 may process the TA to determine which frequency channels were used to receive the TA, how many frequency channels the TA corresponds to, does TA correspond to an enabled UTC, and/or other timing capabilities (e.g., PHY indications, RSSI of TA, SNR of TA, channel fading assessments, etc.).

At block 310, the example timing advertisement ranker 202 determines if the TA was transmitted on a control channel. For example, in the V2X frequency band, the control channel may be channel 180. Accordingly, if a TA is received using the example frequency channel 180 (e.g., received at a modem corresponding to frequency channel 180), the example timing advertisement ranker 202 determines that the TA corresponds to a control channel. If the example timing advertisement ranker 202 determines that the TA was not transmitted on a control channel (block 310: NO), the process continues to block 314. If the example timing advertisement ranker 202 determines that the TA was transmitted on a control channel (block 310: YES), the example timing advertisement ranker 202 increases the TA ranking for the received TA (block 312). The amount of increase may be based on user and/or manufacturer preferences.

At block 314, the example timing advertisement ranker 202 determines if the TA was received on two or more frequency channels. If the example timing advertisement ranker 202 determines that the TA was not transmitted on two or more frequency channels (block 314: NO), the process continues to block 318. If the example timing advertisement ranker 202 determines that the TA was transmitted two or more frequency channels (block 314: YES), the example timing advertisement ranker 202 increases the TA ranking for the received TA (block 316). The amount of increase may be based on user and/or manufacturer preferences. In some examples, the more frequency channels that the TA is received on the higher the timing advertisement ranker 202 increases the TA ranking.

At block 318, the example timing advertisement ranker 202 determines if the TA corresponds to an enabled ETTC. In some examples, the TA includes information corresponding to whether the device transmitting the TA includes a ETTC and/or if the ETTC is enabled.

Accordingly, the example data processor 204 determines if the TA corresponds to an enabled ETTC based on the received TA. If the example timing advertisement ranker 202 determines that the TA does not correspond to an enabled UTC (block 318: NO), the process continues to block 322. If the example timing advertisement ranker 202 determines that the TA corresponds to an enabled UTC (block 318: YES), the example timing advertisement ranker 202 increases the TA ranking for the received TA (block 320). The amount of increase may be based on user and/or manufacturer preferences.

At block 322, the example timing advertisement ranker 202 adjusts the TA ranking based on other timing capabilities (e.g., based on user and/or manufacture preferences). For example, the timing advertisement ranker 202 may adjust the TA ranking based on the SNR of the received TA, RSSI value of the received TA, and/or any other assessment of channel fading. The amount of increase for any of the additional categories may be based on user and/or

manufacturer preferences. When each of the TAs have been ranked (block 304 - block 324), the example timing advertisement ranker 202 selects a timing advertisement based on the TA ranking (e.g., select the highest ranked TA) and sets a clock corresponding to a global time estimate of the selected timing advertisement (block 326). For example, each TA includes an estimate of the global time and a standard deviation of error for the estimate based on the global time of the corresponding device that transmitted the TA. Accordingly, the example timing advertisement ranker 202 sets a clock based on the global time estimate of the highest ranked TA. At block 328, the example interface 200 instructs the example Tx digital processor 128 to transmit a TA corresponding to the selected timing advertisement on any available frequency channel. In this manner, other devices may set their clock based on the global time estimate of the transmitted TA.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example flowchart 400 representative of example machine readable instructions that may be executed by the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 of FIG. 1 to facilitate the transmission of wideband/narrowband communications. Although the flowchart 400 of FIG. 4 is described in conjunction with the V2X frequency band and/or the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 of the example radio architecture of FIG. 1, the instructions may be executed by any frequency band and/or multi-channel communication determiner in any type of radio architecture.

At block 402, the interface 200 receives instructions from the example application processor 125 of FIG. 1 to transmit data. At block 404, the example wideband communication determiner 206 determines the communication protocol that is currently being utilized between the radio architecture 100 and the connected device based on the initial negotiations with the connected device. For example, if the connected device is capable of receiving wideband transmissions, then the connected device may negotiate a wideband communication for the communication protocol with the example radio architecture 100 during initial negotiations.

At block 406, the example data processor 204 determines if the communication protocol corresponds to a wideband transmission. If the example protocol does not correspond to a wideband transmission (block 406: NO), the wideband communication determiner 206 instructs the interface 200 to configure the example Tx digital processor 128 to transmit data on a single frequency channel based on the communication protocol by transmitting the data to the example Tx digital processor 128 that can be filtered by only one of the example lowpass filters 132A-N of FIG. 1 (block 408). If the example protocol corresponds to a wideband transmission (block 406: YES), the example interface 200 instructs the example Tx digital processor 128 to perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) on the frequency channels corresponding to the wideband transmission (block 410). In this manner, if any of the channels are busy, the example multi - channel communication determiner 126 may transmit the wideband transmission on idle channels corresponding to the wideband transmission without including the busy channel(s).

At block 412, the example data processor 204 determines if all the frequency channels corresponding to the desired wideband channel are idle (e.g., based on the results of the CCA received at the example interface 200). If the example data processor 204 determines that all of the frequency channels corresponding to the desired wideband transmission are not idle (block 412: NO), the wideband communication determiner 206 selects the frequency channels corresponding to the desired wideband transmission that are idle (block 414). If the example data processor 204 determines that all of the frequency channels corresponding to the desired wideband transmission are idle (block 412: YES), the wideband communication determiner 206 selects all the frequency channels corresponding to the desired wideband transmission (block 416).

At block 418, the example wideband communication determiner 206 determines if there are selected frequency channel(s) for transmission (e.g., transmission channels) that are near (e.g., neighboring) a frequency channel used for data packet reception (e.g., a reception channel). For example, if the current communication protocol corresponds to receiving data packets on a first frequency channel (e.g., frequency channel 174) and one or more of the selected frequency channels for wideband transmission is a neighboring frequency channel to the first frequency channel (e.g., frequency channel 176), then the example wideband communication determiner 206 determines that transmission on the neighboring frequency channel may cause interface on the first receiving channel. Accordingly, if the example wideband communication determiner 206 determines that one or more of the selected frequency channels are near frequency channels used for reception of packet (block 418: YES), the example wideband communication determiner 206 adjusts the maximum transmission power for the selected frequency channels near the reception channels (block 420). For example, the wideband communication determiner 206 may instruct the interface 200 to transmit instructions to an amplifier of the example wideband Tx 136 to decrease the maximum transmission power for the corresponding frequency channel. At block 422, the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 performs a wideband transmission synchronization based on the selected frequency channels, as further described below in conjunction with FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example flowchart 422 representative of example machine readable instructions that may be executed by the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 of FIG. 1 to perform wideband transmission synchronization based on selected frequency channels, as described above in conjunction with block 422 of FIG. 4. Although the flowchart 422 of FIG. 5 is described in conjunction with the V2X frequency band and/or the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 of the example radio architecture of FIG. 1, the instructions may be executed by any frequency band and/or multi-channel communication determiner in any type of radio architecture.

At block 502, the example interface 200 instructs the example Tx digital processor 128 to reserve (e.g., contend for) a time slot for wideband transmission of data packets. For each selected frequency channel corresponding to the wideband transmission (block 504 - block 516), the example wideband communication determiner 206 determines if the network allocation vector (NAV) on the selected frequency channel is set. A NAV is a virtual carrier-sensing mechanism used to prevent a device from accessing the frequency channel. For example, the interface 200 may interface with the example modems 124A-N corresponding to the selected frequency channel so that the example wideband communication determiner 206 may determine if the NAV is set for the selected frequency channel. If the example wideband communication determiner 206 determines that the NAV is set for the selected frequency channel (block 506: YES), the process returns to block 504 until the NAV is no longer set. If the example wideband communication determiner 206 determines that the NAV is not set for the selected frequency channel (block 506: NO), the example wideband communication determiner 206 determines if the contention window for the selected frequency channel is still active (block 508). After a NAV expires for a frequency channel, the corresponding modem 124A-N may set a contention window (CW) according to the traffic expected in the frequency channel (e.g., a wider window for heavier traffic). The example interface 200 may interface with the example modems 124A-N corresponding to the selected frequency channel so that the example wideband communication determiner 206 may determine if a CW is set.

If the example wideband communication determiner 206 determines that the convention window is not still active (block 508: NO), the process continues to block 512, as further described below. If the example wideband communication determiner 206 determines that the convention window is still active (block 508: YES), the example timer 208 determines if the time corresponding to the reserved time slot has occurred (block 510). If the example timer 208 determines that the time corresponding to the reserved time slot has occurred (block 510: YES), the process returns to block 508 until the CW is no longer active or the time corresponds to the reserved time slot. If the example timer 208 determines that the time corresponding to the reserved time slot has not occurred (block 510: NO), the process continues to block 516.

At block 512, the example wideband communication determiner 206 instructs the example Tx digital processor 128 (e.g., via the example interface 200) to reserve the selected frequency channel based on a duration of time till the reserved time slot. For example, the wideband communicator determiner 206 may instruct the Tx digital processor 128 to transmit a clear-to-send (CTS) or a CTS-to-self to reserve the corresponding frequency channel until the reserved time slot. In this manner, the selected frequency channels for the wideband

transmission are reserved until the reserved time slot occurs. At block 514, the example timer 208 determines if the time corresponding to the reserved time slot has occurred. If the example timer 208 determines that the time corresponding to the reserved time slot has not occurred (block 514: NO), the process returns to block 514 until the time corresponding to the reserved time slot occurs. If the example timer 208 determines that the time corresponding to the reserved time slot has occurred (block 514: YES), the process continues to block 518. At block 518, the example interface 200 transmits instructions to the example Tx digital processor 128 to transmit data using the selected frequency channels by transmitting data in the selected frequency bands to be filtered by the example Tx digital processor 128 for transmission.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example flowchart 600 representative of example machine readable instructions that may be executed by the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 of FIG. 1 to facilitate the reception of wideband communications. Although the flowchart 600 of

FIG. 4 is described in conjunction with the V2X frequency band and/or the example multi- channel communication determiner 126 of the example radio architecture of FIG. 1, the instructions may be executed by any frequency band and/or multi-channel communication determiner in any type of radio architecture.

At block 602, the example wideband communication determiner 206 determines the communication protocol based on the initial negotiations with the connected devices. For example, if the connected device is capable of receiving wideband transmissions, then the connected device may negotiate a wideband communication for the communication protocol with the example radio architecture 100 during initial negotiations. At block 604, the example wideband communication determiner 206 determines if the communication protocol corresponds to reception of independent narrowband and wideband transmissions overlapping in frequency.

If the example wideband communication determiner 206 determines that the

communication protocol corresponds to reception of independent narrowband and wideband transmissions overlapping in frequency (block 604: YES), the example wideband

communication determiner 206 configures the Rx digital processor 116 (e.g., via instructions from the example interface 200) to receive data concurrently based on the communication protocol (block 606). For example, the wideband communication determiner 206 configures the Tx digital processor 128 to receive concurrent narrowband and wideband transmission by super imposing a wideband transmission and a narrowband transmission using spatial separation or code separation techniques.

If the example wideband communication determiner 206 determines that the

communication protocol does not correspond to reception of independent narrowband and wideband transmissions overlapping in frequency (block 604: NO), the example wideband communication determiner 206 determines if the communication protocol corresponds to a wideband reception (block 608). If the example wideband communication determiner 206 determines that the communication protocol does not correspond to a wideband reception (block 608: NO), the example wideband communication determiner 206 configures the Tx digital processor 128 to receive data on a single frequency channel based on the communication protocol (block 610). For example, the wideband communication determiner 206 transmits instructions to the example Tx digital processor 128 (e.g., via the example interface 200) to configure the receiver BW configurations as well as allocated resource units using SIG-A modifications. If the example wideband communication determiner 206 determines that the communication protocol corresponds to a wideband reception (block 608: YES), the example wideband communication determiner 206 configures the Tx digital processor 128 to receive data on multiple frequency channels channel corresponding to the wideband receptions based on the communication protocol (block 612). For example, the wideband communication determiner

206 may configure the BW configuration depending on the number of channels corresponding to the wideband transmission. For example, the wideband communication determiner 206 may modify the SIG-A filed in a packet header to configure the BW and/or configure parameters of the example filters 120A-N.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example wideband transmission synchronization 700. The example of FIG. 7 includes example wideband spectrum 702. The example wideband spectrum 702 corresponds to an example frequency channel X 704, an example frequency channel Y 706, an example frequency channel Q 708, and an example frequency channel Z 710. FIG. 7 further includes the example wideband data 712. Although the example wideband logic 702 of FIG. 7 corresponds to four frequency channels, any number of frequency channels may be used for such wideband transmissions.

As described above, when the example application processor 125 sends instructions to transmit a wideband transmission, the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 selects the frequency bands to transmit the wideband transmission. Additionally, the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 reserves a time slot (e.g., beginning at time t3) to transmit the example data 712. At time tO, the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 determines that the NAV is set for frequency channel X 704, frequency channel Y 706, and frequency channel Q 708, and that the contention window is active for frequency channel Z 710. At time tl, the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 determines that the NAV is complete for the example channel X 704 and that a CW is set for the frequency channel X 704. Additionally, the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 determines that the CW of the example channel Z 710 is complete. Accordingly, the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 reserves the frequency channel Z 710 by transmitting a CTS on the frequency channel Z 710. The example multi-channel communication determiner 126 generates the CTS to reserve the frequency channel Z 710 for a duration corresponding to a duration of time before the reserved time (e.g., t3) occurs. At time t2, the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 determines that the CW for the example frequency channel X 702 is active, and the CWs have ended for the example frequency channels Y and Q 706, 708. Accordingly, the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 reserves the frequency channel Y 706 and the frequency channel Q 708 using a CTS on the respective frequency channels. The CTS corresponds to a duration of time before the reserved time (e.g., t3) occurs. At time 3, the example multi-channel communication determiner 126 transmits the example data 712 using the example wideband 702 (e.g., corresponding to sending the data 712 on the example frequency channels 704, 706, 708, 710).

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 800 structured to execute the instructions of FIGS. 3-6 to implement the multi-channel communication determiner 126 of FIG. 3. The processor platform 800 can be, for example, a server, a personal computer, a workstation, a self-learning machine (e.g., a neural network), a mobile device (e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone, a tablet such as an iPad™), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an Internet appliance, a DVD player, a CD player, a digital video recorder, a Blu-ray player, a gaming console, a personal video recorder, a set top box, a headset or other wearable device, or any other type of computing device.

The processor platform 800 of the illustrated example includes a processor 812. The processor 812 of the illustrated example is hardware. For example, the processor 812 can be implemented by one or more integrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors, GPUs, DSPs, or controllers from any desired family or manufacturer. The hardware processor may be a semiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device. In this example, the example processor 812 implements the example interface 200, the example timing advertisement ranker 202, the example data processor 204, the example wideband communication determiner 206, and/or the example timer 208.

The processor 812 of the illustrated example includes a local memory 813 (e.g., a cache).

The processor 812 of the illustrated example is in communication with a main memory including a volatile memory 814 and a non-volatile memory 816 via a bus 818. The volatile memory 814 may be implemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS® Dynamic Random Access Memory

(RDRAM®) and/or any other type of random access memory device. The non-volatile memory 816 may be implemented by flash memory and/or any other desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 814, 816 is controlled by a memory controller.

The processor platform 800 of the illustrated example also includes an interface circuit 820. The interface circuit 820 may be implemented by any type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, a universal serial bus (USB), a Bluetooth® interface, a near field

communication (NFC) interface, and/or a PCI express interface.

In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 822 are connected to the interface circuit 820. The input device(s) 822 permit(s) a user to enter data and/or commands into the processor 812. The input device(s) can be implemented by, for example, a keyboard, a button, a mouse, a touchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball, and/or isopoint.

One or more output devices 824 are also connected to the interface circuit 820 of the illustrated example. The output devices 824 can be implemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emitting diode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a cathode ray tube display (CRT), an in-place switching (IPS) display, a touchscreen, etc.), a tactile output device, a printer and/or speaker. The interface circuit 820 of the illustrated example, thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chip and/or a graphics driver processor.

The interface circuit 820 of the illustrated example also includes a communication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, a modem, a residential gateway, a wireless access point, and/or a network interface to facilitate exchange of data with external machines (e.g., computing devices of any kind) via a network 826. The communication can be via, for example, an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line (DSL) connection, a telephone line connection, a coaxial cable system, a satellite system, a line-of-site wireless system, a cellular telephone system, etc.

The processor platform 800 of the illustrated example also includes one or more mass storage devices 828 for storing software and/or data. Examples of such mass storage devices 828 include floppy disk drives, hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, redundant array of independent disks (RAID) systems, and digital versatile disk (DVD) drives.

The machine executable instructions 832 of FIGS 3-6 may be stored in the mass storage device 828, in the volatile memory 814, in the non-volatile memory 816, and/or on a removable non-transitory computer readable storage medium such as a CD or DVD.

Example 1 includes an apparatus to facilitate configurable multi-channel

communications, the apparatus comprising an interface to receive instructions to transmit a wideband transmission on two or more frequency channels of a frequency band, a digital processor to reserve a time slot for the wideband transmission, and a multi-channel

communication determiner to configure the digital processor to transmit the wideband transmission using the two or more frequency channels based on a wideband transmission synchronization ensuring that the wideband transmission occurs concurrently on the two or more frequency channels.

Example 2 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the multi-channel

communication determiner is to perform the wideband transmission synchronization by, when one or more contention windows of one or more of the frequency channels ceases prior to the reserved time slot, reserving the one or more frequency channels corresponding to the ceased contention windows by instructing a receiver to transmit a clear-to-send on the one or more frequency channels corresponding to the ceased contention window.

Example 3 includes the apparatus of example 2, wherein multi-channel communication determiner is to instruct the receiver to transmit the clear-to-send to reserve the one or more frequency channels for a duration of time corresponding to a difference between when the contention window ended and when the reserve time slot begins.

Example 4 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the multi-channel

communication determiner is to determine if the two or more frequency channels are idle.

Example 5 includes the apparatus of example 4, wherein the multi-channel

communication determiner is to select the two or more frequency channels that are idle to transmit the wideband transmission.

Example 6 includes the apparatus of examples 1-5, wherein the multi-channel communication determiner is to, when a first frequency channel corresponding to the wideband transmission is neighboring a second frequency channel corresponding to a reception, reduce a maximum transmission power for the first frequency channel.

Example 7 includes the apparatus of examples 1-5, wherein the multi-channel communication determiner is to set a clock based on timing advertisements from connected devices.

Example 8 includes the apparatus of example 7, wherein the multi-channel

communication determiner is to set the clock based on a global time estimate of a highest ranked timing advertisement from the connected devices, the multi-channel communication determiner to rank each timing advertisement based on at least one of a type of frequency channel used to transmit the timing advertisement, a number of frequency channels used to transmit the timing advertisement, whether the timing advertisement corresponds to an enabled coordinated universal time, or channel fading characteristics.

Example 9 includes an apparatus to facilitate configurable multi-channel communications in intelligent transportation systems for vehicular communications, the apparatus comprising a wideband receiver to receive a wideband wireless transmission across a frequency band, the wireless transmission being transmitted on a first frequency channel and a second frequency channel of the frequency band, a digital processor to filter the wideband wireless transmission into the first and second frequency channels, a first modem to process the filtered wideband wireless transmission in the first frequency channel, and a second modem to process the filtered wideband wireless transmission in the second frequency channel.

Example 10 includes the apparatus of example 9, further including a multi-channel communication determiner to configure the digital processor to filter the wireless wideband transmission into the first and second frequency channels.

Example 11 includes the apparatus of examples 9 and 10, wherein the wideband receiver is to receive a narrowband wireless transmission on the first frequency channel, the digital processor is to filter the narrowband wireless transmission into the first frequency channel, and the first modem to process the filtered narrowband wireless transmission in the first frequency channel.

Example 12 includes the apparatus of example 11, further including a communication determiner to configure the digital processor to superimpose the wideband wireless transmission and the narrowband wireless transmission using at least one of spatial separation or code separation.

Example 13 includes a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least transmit a wireless wideband transmission on two or more frequency channels of a frequency band, reserve a time slot for the wireless wideband transmission, and transmit the wireless wideband transmission using the two or more frequency channels based on a wireless wideband transmission synchronization, the wireless wideband transmission occurring concurrently on the two or more frequency channels.

Example 14 includes the computer readable storage medium of example 13, wherein the instructions cause the machine to perform the wireless wideband transmission synchronization by, when one or more contention windows of one or more of the frequency channels ends prior to the reserved time slot, reserving the one or more frequency channels corresponding to the terminated one or more contention windows by transmitting a clear-to-send on the one or more frequency channels corresponding to the one or more terminated contention windows.

Example 15 includes the computer readable storage medium of example 14, wherein the instructions cause the machine to transmit the clear-to-send to reserve the one or more frequency channels for a duration of time corresponding to a difference between when the contention window ended and when the reserve time slot begins.

Example 16 includes the computer readable storage medium of example 13, wherein the instructions cause the machine to determine if the two or more frequency channels are idle.

Example 17 includes the computer readable storage medium of example 16, wherein the instructions cause the machine to select the two or more frequency channels that are idle to transmit the wireless wideband transmission.

Example 18 includes the computer readable storage medium of examples 13-17, wherein the instructions cause the machine to, when a first frequency channel corresponding to the wireless wideband transmission is next to a second frequency channel corresponding to a reception, reduce a maximum transmission power for the first frequency channel.

Example 19 includes the computer readable storage medium of examples 13-17, wherein the instructions cause the machine to set a clock based on timing advertisements from connected devices. Example 20 includes the computer readable storage medium of example 19, w wherein the instructions cause the machine to set the clock based on a global time estimate of a highest ranked timing advertisement from the connected devices, wherein the instructions cause the machine to rank each timing advertisement based on at least one of a type of frequency channel used to transmit the timing advertisement, a number of frequency channels used to transmit the timing advertisement, whether the timing advertisement corresponds to an enabled coordinated universal time, or channel fading characteristics.

Example 21 includes a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least filter a received wideband transmission across a frequency band into a first frequency channel and a second frequency channel, the wideband transmission being transmitted on the first frequency channel and a second frequency channel of the frequency band, process the filtered wideband transmission in the first frequency channel, and process the filtered wideband transmission in the second frequency channel.

Example 22 includes the computer readable storage medium of example 21, wherein the instructions cause a machine to filter the wideband transmission into the first and second frequency channels.

Example 23 includes the computer readable storage medium of examples 21 and 22, wherein the instructions cause a machine to receive a narrowband transmission on the first frequency channel, filter the narrowband transmission into the first frequency channel, and process the filtered narrowband transmission in the first frequency channel.

Example 24 includes a method to facilitate configurable multi-channel communications, the method comprising receiving, by executing an instruction using a processor, instructions to transmit a wideband transmission on two or more frequency channels of a frequency band, reserving, by executing an instruction using a processor, a time slot for the wideband

transmission, and transmitting, by executing an instruction using the processor, the wideband transmission using the two or more frequency channels based on a wideband transmission synchronization ensuring that the wideband transmission occurs concurrently on the two or more frequency channels.

Example 25 includes the method of example 24, further including performing the wideband transmission synchronization by, when one or more contention windows of one or more of the frequency channels ceases prior to the reserved time slot, reserving the one or more frequency channels corresponding to the ceased contention windows by instructing a receiver to transmit a clear-to-send on the one or more frequency channels corresponding to the ceased contention window.

From the foregoing, it would be appreciated that the above disclosed method, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to facilitate configurable multi-channel communications in intelligent transportation systems for vehicular communication. Examples disclosed herein provide and implement radio architecture corresponding to a single wideband radio frequency (RF) transceiver used to receive data concurrently to the whole UNII-4 75 MHz sub-band using smart multiplexing of baseband components (e.g. carrier sense acquisition, Frequency domain signal processing units, etc.). Examples disclosed herein provide radio architecture with a lower component count and silicon count than techniques that require multiple narrow band PHY radios. Additionally, examples disclosed here are adaptive to the evolution of standard changes in various locations.

Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture have been described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the claims of this patent.

Claims

What Is Claimed Is:

1. An apparatus to facilitate configurable multi-channel communications, the apparatus comprising:

an interface to receive instructions to transmit a wideband transmission on two or more frequency channels of a frequency band;

a digital processor to reserve a time slot for the wideband transmission; and

a multi-channel communication determiner to configure the digital processor to transmit the wideband transmission using the two or more frequency channels based on a wideband transmission synchronization ensuring that the wideband transmission occurs concurrently on the two or more frequency channels.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the multi-channel communication determiner is to perform the wideband transmission synchronization by, when one or more contention windows of one or more of the frequency channels ceases prior to the reserved time slot, reserving the one or more frequency channels corresponding to the ceased contention windows by instructing a receiver to transmit a clear-to-send on the one or more frequency channels corresponding to the ceased contention window.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein multi-channel communication determiner is to instruct the receiver to transmit the clear-to-send to reserve the one or more frequency channels for a duration of time corresponding to a difference between when the contention window ended and when the reserve time slot begins.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the multi-channel communication determiner is to determine if the two or more frequency channels are idle.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the multi-channel communication determiner is to select the two or more frequency channels that are idle to transmit the wideband transmission.

6. The apparatus of claims 1-5, wherein the multi-channel communication determiner is to, when a first frequency channel corresponding to the wideband transmission is neighboring a second frequency channel corresponding to a reception, reduce a maximum transmission power for the first frequency channel.

7. The apparatus of claims 1-5, wherein the multi-channel communication determiner is to set a clock based on timing advertisements from connected devices.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the multi-channel communication determiner is to set the clock based on a global time estimate of a highest ranked timing advertisement from the connected devices, the multi-channel communication determiner to rank each timing advertisement based on at least one of a type of frequency channel used to transmit the timing advertisement, a number of frequency channels used to transmit the timing advertisement, whether the timing advertisement corresponds to an enabled coordinated universal time, or channel fading characteristics.

9. An apparatus to facilitate configurable multi-channel communications in intelligent transportation systems for vehicular communications, the apparatus comprising: a wideband receiver to receive a wideband wireless transmission across a frequency band, the wireless transmission being transmitted on a first frequency channel and a second frequency channel of the frequency band;

a digital processor to filter the wideband wireless transmission into the first and second frequency channels;

a first modem to process the filtered wideband wireless transmission in the first frequency channel; and

a second modem to process the filtered wideband wireless transmission in the second frequency channel.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, further including a multi-channel communication determiner to configure the digital processor to filter the wireless wideband transmission into the first and second frequency channels.

11. The apparatus of claims 9 and 10, wherein:

the wideband receiver is to receive a narrowband wireless transmission on the first frequency channel;

the digital processor is to filter the narrowband wireless transmission into the first frequency channel; and

the first modem to process the filtered narrowband wireless transmission in the first frequency channel.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further including a communication determiner to configure the digital processor to superimpose the wideband wireless transmission and the narrowband wireless transmission using at least one of spatial separation or code separation.

13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

transmit a wireless wideband transmission on two or more frequency channels of a frequency band;

reserve a time slot for the wireless wideband transmission; and

transmit the wireless wideband transmission using the two or more frequency channels based on a wireless wideband transmission synchronization, the wireless wideband transmission occurring concurrently on the two or more frequency channels.

14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions cause the machine to perform the wireless wideband transmission synchronization by, when one or more contention windows of one or more of the frequency channels ends prior to the reserved time slot, reserving the one or more frequency channels corresponding to the terminated one or more contention windows by transmitting a clear-to-send on the one or more frequency channels corresponding to the one or more terminated contention windows.

15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions cause the machine to transmit the clear-to-send to reserve the one or more frequency channels for a duration of time corresponding to a difference between when the contention window ended and when the reserve time slot begins.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions cause the machine to determine if the two or more frequency channels are idle.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions cause the machine to select the two or more frequency channels that are idle to transmit the wireless wideband transmission.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claims 13-17, wherein the instructions cause the machine to, when a first frequency channel corresponding to the wireless wideband transmission is next to a second frequency channel corresponding to a reception, reduce a maximum transmission power for the first frequency channel.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claims 13-17, wherein the instructions cause the machine to set a clock based on timing advertisements from connected devices.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, w wherein the instructions cause the machine to set the clock based on a global time estimate of a highest ranked timing advertisement from the connected devices, wherein the instructions cause the machine to rank each timing advertisement based on at least one of a type of frequency channel used to transmit the timing advertisement, a number of frequency channels used to transmit the timing

advertisement, whether the timing advertisement corresponds to an enabled coordinated universal time, or channel fading characteristics.

21. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

filter a received wideband transmission across a frequency band into a first frequency channel and a second frequency channel, the wideband transmission being transmitted on the first frequency channel and a second frequency channel of the frequency band;

process the filtered wideband transmission in the first frequency channel; and

process the filtered wideband transmission in the second frequency channel.

22. The computer readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein the instructions cause a machine to filter the wideband transmission into the first and second frequency channels.

23. The computer readable storage medium of claims 21 and 22, wherein the instructions cause a machine to:

receive a narrowband transmission on the first frequency channel;

filter the narrowband transmission into the first frequency channel; and

process the filtered narrowband transmission in the first frequency channel.

24. A method to facilitate configurable multi-channel communications, the method comprising:

receiving, by executing an instruction using a processor, instructions to transmit a wideband transmission on two or more frequency channels of a frequency band;

reserving, by executing an instruction using a processor, a time slot for the wideband transmission; and

transmitting, by executing an instruction using the processor, the wideband transmission using the two or more frequency channels based on a wideband transmission synchronization ensuring that the wideband transmission occurs concurrently on the two or more frequency channels.

25. The method of claim 24, further including performing the wideband transmission synchronization by, when one or more contention windows of one or more of the frequency channels ceases prior to the reserved time slot, reserving the one or more frequency channels corresponding to the ceased contention windows by instructing a receiver to transmit a clear-to- send on the one or more frequency channels corresponding to the ceased contention window.