CN113055109A

CN113055109A - Method and apparatus for coexistence operation improvement

Info

Publication number: CN113055109A
Application number: CN202011559600.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 蔡易成; 许财源
Original assignee: MediaTek Inc
Current assignee: MediaTek Inc
Priority date: 2019-12-26
Filing date: 2020-12-25
Publication date: 2021-06-29
Anticipated expiration: 2040-12-25
Also published as: CN113055109B

Abstract

A method of coexistence operation improvement, comprising: identifying, by a processor of a first apparatus, an occurrence of a coexistence scenario, wherein the coexistence scenario comprises simultaneous transmission and reception using a first wireless technology and a second wireless technology, respectively, in wireless communication with a second apparatus in a frequency division duplex mode, wherein the first wireless technology is different from the second wireless technology; determining, by the processor, an upper limit for a transmission rate in response to identifying the occurrence of the coexistence scenario; and transmitting, by the processor, at or without exceeding the upper limit until the coexistence scene ends. By utilizing the invention, the coexistence operation can be better carried out.

Description

Method and apparatus for coexistence operation improvement

Technical Field

The present invention relates to wireless communications, and more particularly, to coexistence operation (coexistence operation) improvement in Frequency-Division Duplexing (FDD) mode.

Background

Unless otherwise indicated, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

As the demand for networking and connections between devices continues to grow, more and more devices are capable of wireless communication via more than one technology, standard or protocol. For example, current smart phones are generally capable of wireless communication in accordance with Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards, 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP) specifications for Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and/or New Radio (NR), Bluetooth (r), and the like. In other words, In modern communication devices, there are often different wireless systems, which may cause In-Device Coexistence (IDC) interference. In view of IDC and performance requirements, a communication device with a coexisting wireless system typically limits its transmit power in one wireless system, especially when transmitting in FDD mode, in order to reduce or mitigate interference to other wireless systems.

On the other hand, a high-rate Physical layer (PHY) modulated packet (packet) requires a sufficient Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) to be received by a receiving side device (receiving peer device). That is, the SNR is proportional to the power level of the transmitted power, and thus, a power limitation may be associated with a lower SNR. Unfortunately, a lower SNR may negatively impact the reception of high-speed packets. Therefore, there is a need for a method to improve coexistence operation in FDD mode for coexisting wireless systems.

Disclosure of Invention

The following summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. That is, this summary is provided to introduce concepts, points, benefits and advantages of the novel and non-obvious technology described herein. Preferred embodiments will be further described in the detailed description section. Thus, the following summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter.

In one aspect, a method may comprise: identifying, by a processor of a first apparatus, an occurrence of a coexistence scenario, wherein the coexistence scenario comprises simultaneous transmission and reception using a first wireless technology and a second wireless technology, respectively, in wireless communication with a second apparatus in a frequency division duplex mode, wherein the first wireless technology is different from the second wireless technology; determining, by the processor, an upper limit for a transmission rate in response to identifying the occurrence of the coexistence scenario; and transmitting, by the processor, at or without exceeding the upper limit until the coexistence scene ends.

In one aspect, an apparatus may include a first transceiver configured to wirelessly transmit and receive using a first wireless technology; a second transceiver configured to wirelessly transmit and receive using a second wireless technology, wherein the first wireless technology is different from the second wireless technology; and a processor coupled to and controlling the first transceiver and the second transceiver. The processor is configured to perform the following operations: identifying an occurrence of a coexistence scenario, wherein the coexistence scenario comprises simultaneous transmission and reception using the first and second wireless technologies, respectively, in wireless communication with a second apparatus in a frequency division duplex mode; in response to identifying the occurrence of the coexistence scenario, determining an upper limit of a transmission rate; and transmitting via the first transceiver and the second transceiver at or without exceeding the upper limit until the coexistence scene ends.

It is noted that although the description of the present invention may be provided in the context of particular radio access technologies, networks and network topologies, such as Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) and bluetooth, the concepts, schemes and any variants or derivations thereof proposed by the present invention may be implemented in, used in or by other types of Radio access technologies, networks and network topologies, such as including but not limited to ZigBee, 5th Generation (5G)/New Radio (NR), Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-Advanced), LTE-Advanced (LTE-Advanced Pro), Internet of Things (Internet of Things, IoT), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and narrowband Internet of Things (Narrow Band-IoT, NB-IoT) as well as any future developed networks and technologies. The scope of the invention is therefore not limited to the examples described.

By utilizing the invention, the coexistence operation can be better carried out.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. It is to be understood that the figures are not necessarily to scale, since some components may be shown out of scale with dimensions in an actual implementation in order to clearly illustrate the concepts of the present invention.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary communication environment in which various solutions and aspects of the present invention may be implemented.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary process according to the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of another exemplary process according to the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary process according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a graphical illustration of exemplary simulation results according to the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram of an exemplary communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of an exemplary process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Detailed embodiments and implementations of the claimed subject matter are disclosed. It is to be understood, however, that the disclosed examples and embodiments of the invention are merely illustrative of the claimed subject matter, which can be embodied in various forms. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments and implementations set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments and implementations are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the following description, well-known features and technical details may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the embodiments and the implementation of the present invention.

SUMMARY

Embodiments according to the present invention relate to various techniques, methods, schemes and/or solutions relating to coexistence operation improvement in FDD mode. The various possible solutions according to the invention can be implemented individually or jointly. That is, although these possible solutions may be described separately below, two or more of these solutions may be implemented in one combination or in another combination.

Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary communication environment 100 in which various solutions and aspects of the present invention may be implemented. Fig. 2-5 illustrate exemplary embodiments of various proposed schemes according to the present invention. The following description of the various proposed schemes may be provided with reference to fig. 1-5.

Referring to fig. 1, a communication environment 100 may include (invoke) a first apparatus or communication device 110 and a second apparatus or communication device 120 in wireless communication with each other using one or more technologies. In particular, each of the first device 110 and the second device 120 may be equipped with multiple wireless systems (such as WiFi and bluetooth, and optionally one or more other wireless systems, such as LTE and/or NR), and thus the first device 110 and the second device 120 may encounter a coexistence scenario (coderio) in which at least two wireless systems Transmit (TX) and Receive (RX) simultaneously. In the example shown in fig. 1, first device 110 and second device 120 are shown with at least a first wireless system using a first technology (which may be denoted as "technology 1") and a second wireless system using a second technology (which may be denoted as "technology 2"). When the first wireless system of the first device 110 transmits using the first technology, the first wireless system of the second device 120 may accordingly receive using the first technology. Further, when the first wireless system of the second device 120 transmits using the first technology, the first wireless system of the first device 110 may accordingly receive using the first technology. Similarly, when the second wireless system of the first device 110 transmits using the second technology, the second wireless system of the second device 120 may accordingly receive using the second technology. Similarly, when the second wireless system of the second device 120 transmits using the second technology, the second wireless system of the first device 110 may accordingly receive using the second technology.

By way of example, the first and second technologies may include bluetooth and WiFi. Accordingly, a coexistence scenario may occur when the bluetooth wireless system of the first device 110 receives in FDD mode (which may be referred to as "BT _ RX") and the WiFi wireless system of the first device 110 transmits in FDD mode (which may be referred to as "WiFi _ TX"), or when the bluetooth wireless system of the first device 110 transmits in FDD mode (which may be referred to as "BT _ TX") and the WiFi wireless system of the first device 110 receives in FDD mode (which may be referred to as "WiFi _ RX"). The second device 120 may be as above.

In general, in a coexistence scenario in FDD mode or in a coexistence scenario involving special reuse (reuse), the first device 110 and the second device 120 may automatically adjust (adapt) the transmission rate by the number of errors per packet (per-packet error count) or the number of retries per packet (retry count). However, by doing so, the problem of power limitation may reduce the overall throughput (throughput) because in case of insufficient SNR margin (margin), packet transmission retries or retries may be performed each time at a different or lower transmission rate, which may negatively impact throughput.

Fig. 2 illustrates an exemplary process 200 according to the present invention. Under the proposed scheme according to the present invention, when the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120 wirelessly communicate with each other in FDD mode, each of the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120 may implement the process 200 to improve coexistence operation in FDD mode. With the process 200, the first device 110 and the second device 120 can directly limit the transfer rate to a given value (e.g., a lower rate than the "normal" rate in the non-coexistence scenario) instead of performing multiple transfer retries to find a suitable transfer rate, thereby avoiding wasting time and power consumption.

Process 200 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions represented by one or more of

blocks

210, 220, 230, 240, 250, and 260. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, the various blocks of the process 200 may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. For the sake of brevity, the following description of the process 200 may be provided in the context of the first device 110, but similar descriptions may also apply to the second device 120. Process 200 may begin at 210.

At 210, process 200 may include: a second device 120, which is a peer apparatus (DUT) of the first device 110, may communicate one or more test signals to the first device 110 via one or more wireless systems, such as WiFi and bluetooth. Process 200 may proceed from 210 to 220.

At 220, process 200 may include: the first device 110 may estimate the path loss from the perspective of the second device 120. Process 200 may proceed from 220 to 230. For example, the first device 110 may estimate the path loss based on the estimated transmit power of the second device 120, a Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) of the test Signal Received from the second device 120 (which may be referred to as "RX RSSI"), and a range of error (delta margin). The estimate can be mathematically expressed as:

estimated transmission power-RX RSSI-error range of peer devices

At 230, process 200 may include: when the second device 120 transmits to the first device 110 (as a DUT), the first device 110 calculates an upper bound for the transmission rate or a limit on the transmission rate based on the transmission power limit in FDD mode. For example, process 200 may include: the first device 110 determines an upper bound for or limit on the transmission power (which may be noted as "FDD _ Tx _ power _ limit") based on the estimated path loss (which may be noted as "path _ loss") and the reception sensitivity (sensitivity) of the second device 120 (which may be noted as "Rx _ spec _ sensitivity"). Exemplary logic for determining whether a given upper bound of transmission power or a limit on transmission power would result in a successful transmission is as follows, but this is merely exemplary and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention:

in an embodiment, the first device 110 may determine whether a power level corresponding to the initial transmission rate is greater than a receive sensitivity requirement based on the path loss.

For example, the first device 110 may initially transmit at a higher rate according to a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) 7, but due to the coexistence scenario in FDD mode, the first device 110 may determine to reduce its transmission rate to a lower rate according to MCS 4 that may meet the determined upper limit of the transmission power. In the event that the first device 110 determines that the appropriate transmit rate needed to meet the upper limit of the transmit power is its lowest rate (e.g., a low rate according to MCS 2) or requires a lower rate, the process 200 may proceed from 230 to 240.

At 240, process 200 may include: the first device 110 handles a case where the determined transfer rate is the lowest rate or a lower rate is required among the plurality of transfer rates of the first device 110. In particular, process 200 may include: the first device 110 executes one or more sub-processes as shown in fig. 3. Process 200 may proceed from 240 to 250.

At 250, process 200 may include: the first device 110 determines its initial transmission Rate in the coexistence scenario (which may be denoted as "TX _ Rate _ FDD _ initial") as a Rate corresponding to the upper limit of transmission power determined as described above, or as a normal Rate in the non-coexistence scenario (which may be denoted as "Rate 1(normal Rate)"), whichever is lower. It can also be said that the first device 110 can set its transmission Rate to Min (TX _ Rate _ FDD _ initial, Rate1(normal Rate)), where Min represents taking the minimum value. Process 200 may proceed from 250 to 260.

At 260, process 200 may include: when in the coexistence scenario in the FDD mode, the first device 110 transmits at the determined transmission rate described above.

FIG. 3 illustrates

exemplary processes

300A, 300B, and 300C according to the present invention. Each

process

300A, 300B, and 300C may be an error handling process employed in situations where a given upper bound or upper limit is determined or searched for that may result in a failed transfer. Process 300A may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as represented by one or more of

blocks

310 and 320. Process 300B may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as represented by one or more of

blocks

330 and 340. Process 300C may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as represented by one or more of

blocks

350 and 360. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, the various blocks of 300A, 300B, and 300C may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. For the sake of brevity, the following descriptions of 300A, 300B, and 300C may be provided in terms of the first device 110, but similar descriptions may also apply to the second device 120.

At 310, process 300A may include: the first device 110 determines TX _ Rate _ FDD _ initial as the lowest transmission Rate, or even lower, of the plurality of transmission rates at which the first device 110 may transmit. Process 300A may proceed from 310 to 320.

At 320, process 300A may include: the first device 110 controls its bluetooth wireless system to disable (recover), stop or otherwise avoid bluetooth reception (BT _ RX) and WiFi transmission (WiFi _ TX) from being concurrent in FDD mode (concurrence). For example, the first device 110 may control its bluetooth wireless system to stop receiving when the WiFi wireless system is transmitting to the second device 120.

At 330, process 300B may include: the first device 110 determines TX _ Rate _ FDD _ initial as the lowest transmission Rate, or even lower, of the plurality of transmission rates at which the first device 110 may transmit. Process 300B may proceed from 330 to 340.

At 340, process 300B may include: the first device 110 stops operating in FDD mode. For example, the first device 110 may switch from FDD mode to Time-Division duplex (TDD) mode for transmitting or receiving operation.

At 350, process 300C may include: the first device 110 determines TX _ Rate _ FDD _ initial as the lowest transmission Rate, or even lower, of the plurality of transmission rates at which the first device 110 may transmit. Process 300C may proceed from 350 to 360.

At 360, process 300C may include: the first device 110 sets and maintains its transmission rate to the lowest transmission rate for at least the duration of the coexistence scenario in FDD mode.

Fig. 4 illustrates an exemplary process 400 according to the present invention. Under the proposed scheme according to the present invention, when the first device 110 and the second device 120 wirelessly communicate with each other in FDD mode, the first device 110 and the second device 120 may implement the process 400 to improve coexistence operation in FDD mode. With the process 400, the first device 110 and the second device 120 can directly limit their transfer rates to given values (e.g., lower than the "normal" rate in a non-coexistence scenario) instead of performing multiple transfer retries to find a suitable transfer rate, thereby avoiding wasted time and wasted power consumption.

Process 400 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions represented by one or more of

blocks

410, 420, 430, 440, and 450. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, the various blocks of process 400 may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. For the sake of brevity, the following description of the process 400 may be provided in terms of the first device 110, but similar descriptions may also apply to the second device 120. Process 400 may begin at 410.

At 410, process 400 may include: a second device 120, which is a peer device (which may be labeled as a "device under test" or "DUT") of the first device 110, may transmit one or more test signals to the first device 110 via one or more wireless systems, such as WiFi and bluetooth. Process 400 may proceed from 410 to 420.

At 420, process 400 may include: the first device 110 may examine, identify, or otherwise determine a number of packet successes (counts) and/or a number of packet failures in a histogram (histogram) associated with past communications (past communications) of the second device 120 to estimate pathloss. For example, the first device 110 may examine a histogram of packet error rates associated with past transmissions of the second device 120 to estimate path loss. Process 400 may proceed from 420 to 430.

At 430, process 400 may include: the first device 110 may modify or fine-tune (fine-tune) the initial transmission Rate (TX _ Rate _ FDD _ initial) for its current transmission Rate. For example, if the success rate according to the histogram is greater than a first threshold (e.g., X%), the first device 110 may increase the initial transmission rate. Further, the first device 110 may reduce the initial transmission rate if the success rate according to the histogram is less than a second threshold (e.g., Y%), wherein the first threshold and the second threshold are the same or different. The first threshold may be greater than the second threshold if the first threshold and the second threshold are different. Process 400 may proceed from 430 to 440.

At 440, process 400 may include: the first device 110 determines its transmission Rate as the initial transmission power (TX _ Rate _ FDD _ initial) determined as described above, or as the normal Rate (Rate1(normal Rate)) in the case of a non-coexistence scenario, whichever is lower. It can also be said that the first device 110 can set its transmission Rate to Min (TX _ Rate _ FDD _ initial, Rate1(normal Rate)), where Min represents taking the minimum value. Process 400 may proceed from 440 to 450.

At 450, process 400 may include: when in the coexistence scenario in the FDD mode, the first device 110 transmits at the determined transmission rate described above.

FIG. 5 illustrates exemplary simulation results 500 according to the present invention. In the graph shown in fig. 5, the vertical axis represents packet RSSI, and the horizontal axis represents distance (distance). Simulation results 500 show results for different output powers for the same path loss model. For reception, different sensitivity levels (sensitivity levels) may be defined for different modulation schemes when receiving packets at a given distance. For example, for Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK), the sensitivity level may be-82 dbm and the output power at 15 meters may be 0.5 db. For Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), the sensitivity level may be-79 dbm and the output power at 15 meters may be 0.5 db. For 16-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (16 QAM), the sensitivity level may be-74 dbm and the output power at 15 meters may be 0.5 db. For 64-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (64 QAM), the sensitivity level may be-66 dbm and the output power at 15 meters may be 0.5 db. Thus, in a 15m scenario and with an output power of 0.5db, the rate may be limited by the BPSK modulation scheme.

Therefore, under the proposed scheme according to the present invention, the first device 110 and the second device 120 can limit their transmission rates to meet the power limitation, and thus can obtain more link budget (budget) in the FDD coexistence. Under the proposed scheme, the limitation of the transmission rate may be determined based on the RSSI. In this case, when the rate determination fails (e.g., the determined initial transmission rate is the lowest transmission rate or lower than the lowest transmission rate), the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120 may disable or stop the concurrence of bluetooth reception and WiFi transmission, or may switch out of FDD mode (e.g., to TDD mode), or may maintain the lowest rate. Under the proposed scheme, the first device 110 and the second device 120 may fine-tune the limit of the transmission rate based on the success rate in the histogram. Advantageously, by limiting the transmission rate in the coexistence scenario in FDD mode, better performance (such as higher throughput) can be achieved. Furthermore, by avoiding multiple retries for determining the transfer rate as in the conventional method, waste of space resources (air resources) can be avoided, and power consumption can be reduced.

Illustrative embodiments

Fig. 6 illustrates an exemplary system 600 having an exemplary device 610 and an exemplary device 620 according to an embodiment of the invention. The means 610 and 620 may perform various functions to implement the schemes, techniques, processes and methods described herein related to coexistence operation in FDD mode, including the various schemes described above and the process 700 described below. For example, the apparatus 610 may be implemented in or as the first apparatus 110, and the apparatus 620 may be implemented in or as the second apparatus 120.

Each of the devices 610 and 620 may be part of an electronic device, where the electronic device may be a UE, such as a portable or mobile device, a wearable device, a wireless communication device, or a computing device. For example, each of the apparatus 610 and the apparatus 620 may be implemented in a smart phone, a smart watch, a personal digital assistant, a digital camera or a computing device (such as a tablet, a laptop or a notebook), a Station (STA), or an Access Point (AP). The devices 610 and 620 may also be part of a machine-type device, where the machine-type device may be an IoT or NB-IoT device, such as a fixed or stationary device, a home device, a wired communication device, or a computing device. For example, each of the devices 610 and 620 may be implemented in a smart thermostat (thermostat), a smart refrigerator, a smart door lock, a wireless speaker, or a home control center.

In some embodiments, each of the devices 610 and 620 may be implemented in the form of one or more Integrated-Circuit (IC) chips, such as including, but not limited to, one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more Reduced-Instruction-Set-Computing (RISC) processors, or one or more Complex-Instruction-Set-Computing (CISC) processors. Each of the devices 610 and 620 may include at least some of the components shown in fig. 6, such as a processor 612 and a processor 622, respectively. Each of the apparatus 610 and the apparatus 620 may also contain one or more other components not relevant to the proposed solution of the invention, such as an external power supply, a display device and/or a user interface device, and therefore such components of each of the apparatus 610 and the apparatus 620 are neither shown in fig. 6 nor described below for the sake of brevity.

In one aspect, each of the

processors

612 and 622 may be implemented in the form of one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more RISC processors, or one or more CISC processors. That is, although the present invention uses the singular term "processor" to refer to both the processor 612 and the processor 622, each of the processor 612 and the processor 622 may include multiple processors in some embodiments and a single processor in other embodiments in accordance with the present invention. On the other hand, each of the processor 612 and the processor 622 may be implemented in hardware (and firmware, optional) with electronic components including, but not limited to, one or more transistors, one or more diodes, one or more capacitors, one or more resistors, one or more inductors, one or more memristors (memrisors), and/or one or more varactors (varactors) that may be configured and arranged to achieve certain objectives according to the present disclosure. In other words, in at least some embodiments, each of the

processors

612 and 622 may be a dedicated machine specifically designed, arranged, and configured to perform specific tasks that include coexistence operation improvements in FDD mode according to various embodiments of the present invention.

In some embodiments, the device 610 may also include a first transceiver 616 and a second transceiver 618, and the

transceivers

616 and 618 may be coupled to the processor 612. The transceiver 616 may include a transmitter and a receiver capable of wireless transmission and wireless reception using a first wireless technology. The transceiver 618 may include a transmitter and receiver capable of wireless transmission and wireless reception using the second wireless technology. Similarly, the device 620 may also include a first transceiver 626 and a second transceiver 628, the transceiver 626 and the transceiver 628 may be coupled with the processor 622. The transceiver 626 may include a transmitter and a receiver capable of wireless transmission and wireless reception using a first wireless technology. The transceiver 628 may include a transmitter and a receiver capable of wireless transmission and wireless reception using the second wireless technology. Accordingly, the devices 610 and 620 may each wirelessly communicate with each other via the transceivers described above. By way of example, the first wireless technology and the second wireless technology may include WiFi and bluetooth.

In some embodiments, the device 610 may also include a memory 614, the memory 614 being coupled to the processor 612 and capable of being accessed by and storing data in the processor 612. In some embodiments, the device 620 may also include a memory 624, the memory 624 being coupled to the processor 622 and capable of being accessed by the processor 622 and storing data therein. Each of the memories 614 and 624 may include various types of Random-Access Memory (RAM), such as Dynamic RAM (DRAM), Static RAM (SRAM), and/or Zero-capacitance RAM (Z-RAM). Alternatively, each of the memories 614 and 624 may include various types of Read-Only memories (ROMs), such as Programmable ROMs (PROMs), Erasable Programmable ROMs (EPROMs), and/or Electrically Erasable Programmable ROMs (EEPROMs). Alternatively, each of the memories 614 and 624 may include various types of Non-Volatile RAM (NVRAM), such as flash Memory (flash), solid-state Memory (solid-state Memory), Ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM), and/or phase change Memory.

Each of the devices 610 and 620 may be a communication entity capable of communicating with each other using the various schemes presented in this disclosure. For illustrative purposes and not limitation, the following may provide a description of the functionality of the device 610 as the first device 110 and the device 620 as the second device 120. It is noted that although the examples described below are provided in the context of particular wireless technologies (e.g., Wi-Fi and bluetooth), they are also applicable to other wireless technologies.

Under the proposed scheme according to the present invention, the processor 612 of the apparatus 610 identifies an occurrence of a coexistence scenario, wherein the coexistence scenario comprises simultaneous transmission and reception using a first radio technology and a second radio technology, respectively, in wireless communication with the apparatus 620 in a frequency division duplex mode. In some embodiments, the first wireless technology may include bluetooth and the second wireless technology may include WiFi, or vice versa. Further, in response to identifying the occurrence of the coexistence scenario, the processor 612 determines an upper limit for the transmission rate. The processor 612 transmits via the first transceiver 616 and the second transceiver 618 with the upper limit or without exceeding the upper limit until the coexistence scene ends.

In some implementations, in determining the upper limit for the transmission rate, the processor 612 determines the upper limit for the transmission rate based on a received signal strength indication of a transmission from the device 620 to the device 610.

In some implementations, the processor 612 may perform some operations in determining the upper limit of the transmission rate based on the received signal strength indication of the transmission from the device 620 to the device 610. For example, the processor 612 receives a signal from the device 620, determines a path loss by subtracting the received signal strength indication and the error range from the estimated transmit power of the device 620, and determines whether a power level corresponding to the initial transmit rate is greater than the receive sensitivity requirement.

In some embodiments, in response to the power level corresponding to the initial transmission rate being less than the receive sensitivity requirement or the upper limit being the lowest transmission rate of a plurality of possible transmission rates for the first apparatus, the processor 612 controls the first transceiver 616 of the first apparatus to stop or avoid concurrent reception using the first radio technology when the second transceiver 618 of the first apparatus transmits using the second radio technology. For example, if the first wireless technology comprises bluetooth and the second wireless technology comprises WiFi, the processor 612 may cease concurrent bluetooth reception and WiFi transmission.

In some embodiments, processor 612 switches the wireless communication with apparatus 620 out of frequency division duplex mode in response to the power level corresponding to the initial transmission rate being less than the receive sensitivity requirement or the upper limit being a lowest transmission rate of a plurality of possible transmission rates of the first apparatus. For example, the processor 612 switches the wireless communication with the device 620 to a time division duplex mode.

In some embodiments, in response to the power level corresponding to the initial transmission rate being less than the receive sensitivity requirement or the upper limit being the lowest transmission rate of a plurality of possible transmission rates of the first device, the processor 612 continues to transmit at the initial transmission rate in the coexistence scenario.

In some embodiments, in response to the power level corresponding to the initial transmission rate being greater than the receive sensitivity requirement, the processor 612 sets the transmission rate for transmission in the coexistence scenario to the lower of the initial transmission rate or a normal rate for a non-coexistence scenario.

In some embodiments, in determining the upper limit of the transmission rate, the processor 612 determines the upper limit of the transmission rate based on a histogram of the number of packet successes or the number of packet failures associated with past communications of the second device.

In some implementations, the processor 612 may perform some operations in determining the upper limit of the transfer rate based on the histogram. For example, the processor 612 modifies an initial transmission rate based on the histogram and sets the transmission rate for transmission in the coexistence scenario to the lower of the initial transmission rate or the normal rate for non-coexistence scenarios.

In some embodiments, in modifying the initial transmission rate based on the histogram, the processor 612 increases the initial transmission rate if the success rate according to the histogram is greater than a first threshold; or if the success rate according to the histogram is less than a second threshold, which is different from the first threshold, the processor 612 decreases the initial transmission rate.

Exemplary processing

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary process 700 according to an embodiment of the invention. Process 700 may be an exemplary implementation of the designs, concepts, schemes, systems and methods presented above in accordance with the present invention. In particular, process 700 may represent an aspect of concepts and schemes presented in accordance with the present invention relating to coexistence operation improvements in FDD mode. Process 700 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions illustrated by one or more of blocks 710, 720, and 730. Although illustrated as separate blocks, the various blocks of the process 700 may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. Further, the blocks of process 700 may be performed in the order shown in FIG. 7, or may be performed in a different order. The blocks of process 700 may also be performed repeatedly or iteratively. Process 700 may be implemented by means 610, means 620, and/or any suitable device. The process 700 is described below in the context of the device 610 as the first device 110 and the device 620 as the second device 120, but this is merely exemplary and not limiting. Process 700 may begin at block 710.

At 710, process 700 may include: the processor 612 of the apparatus 610 identifies an occurrence of a coexistence scenario, wherein the coexistence scenario includes simultaneous transmission and reception using a first wireless technology and a second wireless technology, respectively, in wireless communication with the apparatus 620 in a frequency division duplex mode, wherein the second wireless technology is different from the first wireless technology. In some embodiments, the first wireless technology may include bluetooth and the second wireless technology may include WiFi, or vice versa. Process 700 may proceed from 710 to 720.

At 720, process 700 may include: in response to identifying the occurrence of the coexistence scenario, the processor 612 determines an upper limit for the transfer rate. From 720, processor 700 may proceed to 730.

At 730, process 700 may include: the processor 612 transmits via the first transceiver 616 and the second transceiver 618 with the upper limit or without exceeding the upper limit until the coexistence scene ends.

In some embodiments, in determining the upper limit of the transfer rate, process 700 may include: the processor 612 determines the upper limit for the transmission rate based on a received signal strength indication of a transmission from the device 620 to the device 610.

In some embodiments, in determining the upper limit of the transmission rate based on the received signal strength indication of the transmission from the apparatus 620 to the apparatus 610, the process 700 may include: the processor 612 may perform some operations. By way of example, process 700 may include: the processor 612 receives a signal from the device 620, determines a path loss by subtracting the received signal strength indication and the error range from the estimated transmit power of the device 620, and determines whether a power level corresponding to the initial transmit rate is greater than a receive sensitivity requirement.

In some embodiments, in response to the power level corresponding to the initial transmission rate being less than the receive sensitivity requirement or the upper limit being a lowest transmission rate of a plurality of possible transmission rates for the first apparatus, process 700 may comprise: when the second transceiver 618 of the first device transmits using the second wireless technology, the processor 612 controls the first transceiver 616 of the first device to stop or avoid concurrent reception using the first wireless technology. For example, if the first wireless technology comprises bluetooth and the second wireless technology comprises WiFi, process 700 may comprise: the processor 612 may cease concurrent bluetooth reception and WiFi transmission.

In some embodiments, in response to the power level corresponding to the initial transmission rate being less than the receive sensitivity requirement or the upper limit being a lowest transmission rate of a plurality of possible transmission rates for the first apparatus, process 700 may include: the processor 612 switches the wireless communication with the device 620 out of the frequency division duplex mode. By way of example, process 700 may include: the processor 612 switches the wireless communication with the device 620 to a time division duplex mode.

In some embodiments, in response to the power level corresponding to the initial transmission rate being less than the receive sensitivity requirement or the upper limit being a lowest transmission rate of a plurality of possible transmission rates for the first apparatus, process 700 may comprise: in the coexistence scenario, the processor 612 continues to transmit at the initial transmission rate.

In some embodiments, in response to the power level corresponding to the initial transmission rate being greater than the receive sensitivity requirement, process 700 may include: the processor 612 sets the transmission rate for transmission in the coexistence scenario to the lower of the initial transmission rate or the normal rate for the non-coexistence scenario.

In some embodiments, in determining the upper limit of the transfer rate, process 700 may include: the processor 612 determines the upper limit of the transmission rate based on a histogram of the number of packet successes or packet failures associated with past communications of the second device.

In some implementations, in determining the upper limit of the transfer rate based on the histogram, process 700 may include: the processor 612 may perform some operations. By way of example, process 700 may include: the processor 612 modifies an initial transmission rate based on the histogram and sets a transmission rate for transmission in the coexistence scenario to a lower one of the initial transmission rate or a normal rate for a non-coexistence scenario.

In some implementations, in modifying the initial transfer rate based on the histogram, process 700 may include: if the success rate according to the histogram is greater than a first threshold, the processor 612 increases the initial transmission rate; or if the success rate according to the histogram is less than a second threshold, which is different from the first threshold, the processor 612 decreases the initial transmission rate.

Additional description

The presently described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components contained within, or connected to, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, and that in fact other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. Conceptually, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively "associated" such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as "associated with" each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being "operably connected," or "operably coupled," to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being "operably couplable," to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components.

Furthermore, with respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The invention may be explicitly described in various singular/plural permutations for the sake of clarity.

Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that, in general, terms used in the present disclosure, and especially in the claims (e.g., bodies of the claims), are generally intended as "open" terms, such as the term "comprising" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but is not limited to," etc. It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to embodiments containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and/or "an" should be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one or more"); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to direct claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations," without other modifiers, means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Further, in instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B and C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended to convey the meaning of the convention understood by those skilled in the art, such as "a system having at least one of A, B and C" would include, but not be limited to, systems having a alone, B alone, C alone, a and B together, a and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B and C together, and the like. In instances where a convention usage analogous to "A, B or at least one of C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended to convey the meaning of that convention usage understood by those skilled in the art, such as "a system having at least one of A, B or C" would include but not be limited to systems having only a, only B, only C, both a and B, both a and C, both B and C, and/or A, B and C, and so forth. It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative items, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to include the possibility of one, either, or both items. For example, the term "a or B" should be understood to include the possibility of "a" or "B" or "a and B".

It should be understood from the foregoing description that various embodiments of the present invention have been described for purposes of illustration, and various modifications may be made without deviating from the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the various embodiments disclosed are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

Claims

1. A method of coexistence operation improvement, comprising:

identifying, by a processor of a first apparatus, an occurrence of a coexistence scenario, wherein the coexistence scenario comprises simultaneous transmission and reception using a first wireless technology and a second wireless technology, respectively, in wireless communication with a second apparatus in a frequency division duplex mode, wherein the first wireless technology is different from the second wireless technology;

determining, by the processor, an upper limit for a transmission rate in response to identifying the occurrence of the coexistence scenario; and

transmitting, by the processor, at or without exceeding the upper limit until the coexistence scene ends.

2. The method of coexistence operation improvement according to claim 1, wherein said determining said upper limit of said transmission rate comprises:

determining the upper limit of the transmission rate based on a received signal strength indication of a transmission from the second apparatus to the first apparatus.

3. The method of coexistence operation improvement according to claim 2, wherein said determining said upper limit of said transmission rate based on said received signal strength indication of said transmission from said second apparatus to said first apparatus comprises:

receiving a signal from the second device;

determining a path loss by subtracting the received signal strength indication and an error range from the estimated transmit power of the second apparatus; and

determining whether a power level corresponding to an initial transmission rate is greater than a receive sensitivity requirement based on the path loss.

4. The method of coexistence operation improvement according to claim 3, wherein in response to either the power level corresponding to the initial transmission rate being less than the receive sensitivity requirement or the upper limit being the lowest transmission rate of a plurality of possible transmission rates for the first apparatus, the method further comprises:

controlling a first transceiver of the first apparatus to stop or avoid concurrent reception using the first radio technology when a second transceiver of the first apparatus transmits using the second radio technology.

5. The method of coexistence operation improvement according to claim 4, wherein said first wireless technology and said second wireless technology comprise Bluetooth and wireless fidelity.

6. The method of coexistence operation improvement according to claim 3, wherein in response to either the power level corresponding to the initial transmission rate being less than the receive sensitivity requirement or the upper limit being the lowest transmission rate of a plurality of possible transmission rates for the first apparatus, the method further comprises:

switching the wireless communication with the second device out of the frequency division duplex mode.

7. The method of coexistence operation improvement according to claim 6, wherein said switching said wireless communication with said second apparatus out of said frequency division duplex mode comprises:

switching the wireless communication with the second device to a time division duplex mode.

8. The method of coexistence operation improvement according to claim 3, wherein in response to either the power level corresponding to the initial transmission rate being less than the receive sensitivity requirement or the upper limit being the lowest transmission rate of a plurality of possible transmission rates for the first apparatus, the method further comprises:

continuing to transmit at the initial transmission rate in the coexistence scenario.

9. The method of coexistence operation improvement according to claim 3, wherein in response to said power level corresponding to said initial transmission rate being greater than said receive sensitivity requirement, said method further comprises:

setting a transmission rate for transmission in the coexistence scene to a lower one of the initial transmission rate or a normal rate for a non-coexistence scene.

10. The method of coexistence operation improvement according to claim 1, wherein said determining said upper limit of said transmission rate comprises:

determining the upper limit of the transmission rate based on a histogram of a number of packet successes or a number of packet failures associated with past communications of the second device.

11. The method of coexistence operation improvement according to claim 10, wherein said determining said upper limit for said transmission rate based on said histogram comprises:

modifying an initial transfer rate based on the histogram; and

12. The method of coexistence operation improvement according to claim 11, wherein said modifying said initial transmission rate based on said histogram comprises:

increasing the initial transmission rate if a success rate according to the histogram is greater than a first threshold; or

Reducing the initial transmission rate if the success rate according to the histogram is less than a second threshold, wherein the second threshold is different from the first threshold.

13. The method of coexistence operation improvement according to claim 1, wherein said first wireless technology and second wireless technology comprise bluetooth and wireless fidelity.

14. An apparatus for coexistence operation improvement, comprising:

a first transceiver configured to wirelessly transmit and receive using a first wireless technology;

a second transceiver configured to wirelessly transmit and receive using a second wireless technology, wherein the first wireless technology is different from the second wireless technology; and

a processor coupled to and controlling the first transceiver and the second transceiver, the processor configured to:

identifying an occurrence of a coexistence scenario, wherein the coexistence scenario comprises simultaneous transmission and reception using the first and second wireless technologies, respectively, in wireless communication with a second apparatus in a frequency division duplex mode;

in response to identifying the occurrence of the coexistence scenario, determining an upper limit of a transmission rate; and

transmitting, via the first transceiver and the second transceiver, at or without exceeding the upper limit until the coexistence scene ends.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein in determining the upper limit of the transmission rate, the processor is configured to determine the upper limit of the transmission rate based on a received signal strength indication of a transmission from the second apparatus to the first apparatus, comprising:

receiving a signal from the second device;

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein, in response to the power level corresponding to the initial transmission rate being less than the receive sensitivity requirement or the upper limit being a lowest transmission rate of a plurality of possible transmission rates for the first apparatus, the processor is further configured to perform a first operation, a second operation, or a third operation,

wherein the first operation comprises: control the first transceiver of the first apparatus to stop or avoid concurrent reception using the first radio technology when the second transceiver of the first apparatus transmits using the second radio technology,

the second operation includes: switching the wireless communication with the second apparatus out of the frequency division duplex mode, an

The third operation includes: continuing to transmit at the initial transmission rate in the coexistence scenario.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the first wireless technology and the second wireless technology comprise bluetooth and wireless fidelity, wherein the switching the wireless communication with the second apparatus out of the frequency division duplex mode comprises:

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein in response to the power level corresponding to the initial transmission rate being greater than the receive sensitivity requirement, the processor is further configured to:

19. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein in determining the upper limit of the transmission rate, the processor is configured to determine the upper limit of the transmission rate based on a histogram of a number of packet successes or a number of packet failures associated with past communications of the second apparatus, comprising:

modifying an initial transfer rate based on the histogram; and

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein in modifying the initial transmission rate based on the histogram, the processor is configured to perform:

21. A computer readable storage medium storing program instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the steps of the method of coexistence operation improvement according to any one of claims 1-13.