JP2006195839A - Radio communication module and radio communication apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small radio communication module for incorporation into a radio communication apparatus, and a small radio communication apparatus with the module. <P>SOLUTION: The radio communication module includes radio communication circuits 6A, 6B, 7A, 7B, 8A and 7B that are in radio communication with a radio apparatus; a connector 1 for establishing connection with a communication control circuit or the other external circuit; a base band IC 3 that makes a base band communicate to the communication control circuit or the other external circuit through a plurality of different interfaces; and a multiplexer 2 that selectively connects the signal lines of a plurality of interface circuits to the connector 1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless communication module incorporated in a device such as a wireless communication device and a wireless communication device including the same.

  For example, in order to access a local area network including a personal computer, a printer, a router, and the like by wireless communication, a so-called wireless LAN access point is provided.

  When configuring such a wireless communication device, a wireless communication circuit that performs wireless communication between a communication control circuit that performs communication control with other nodes in the local area network and a wireless device that is incorporated as a local area network It will consist of Since the communication control circuit and the wireless communication circuit are circuits that realize functions independent of each other, they can be individually designed in circuit design, and by configuring them on different circuit boards, the communication control circuit and the wireless communication circuit having different functions can be designed. A plurality of types of wireless communication devices can be configured in combination with a communication circuit.

  The connection part of such two circuits (communication control circuit and wireless communication circuit) is physically connected by a connector having a plurality of pin signal lines, and logically connected by a predetermined interface.

Conventionally, Patent Documents 1 and 2 are shown as switching interfaces between two circuits.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-259605 JP 2003-5874 A

  However, in the systems disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, a card can be provided with a plurality of functions by switching signals using a multiplexer, but the configuration is applied to a card of CF standard or PCMCIA standard. Therefore, it has not been applicable as a wireless communication module incorporated in a device of a wireless communication device. In addition, since the card size and interface standards are also defined, there is a problem that even if the card is incorporated in some device, the entire apparatus cannot be reduced in size.

  The objective of this invention is providing the small radio | wireless communication module built in in a radio | wireless communication apparatus, and a small radio | wireless communication apparatus provided with the same.

  (1) A wireless communication module according to the present invention is incorporated in a wireless communication device together with a communication control circuit that performs communication control with other nodes of the network, and performs wireless communication with the wireless device. A wireless communication circuit that performs connection, a connector that connects the communication control circuit or other external circuit, and a base that is connected to the wireless communication circuit and is connected to the communication control circuit or other external circuit through a plurality of different interfaces A baseband signal processing circuit for performing band communication; and a multiplexer for selectively connecting each signal line of the plurality of interface circuits to the connector.

  (2) The baseband signal processing circuit includes means for switching the multiplexer in response to a command from the communication control circuit or other external circuit.

  (3) The baseband signal processing circuit includes means for receiving firmware data from the communication control circuit or other external circuit and rewriting the firmware of the baseband signal processing circuit in accordance with the firmware data. .

  (4) The baseband signal processing circuit receives a debug command or data from the communication control circuit or other external circuit, and performs execution control of the baseband signal processing circuit according to the debug command or data. Means shall be provided.

  (5) In the wireless communication device according to the present invention, a connector on which the connector of the wireless communication module is mounted is provided on the first circuit board, the wireless communication module is configured by the second circuit board, and the wireless communication module With the connector mounted on the connector of the first circuit board, the second circuit board overlaps the first circuit board, and the first and second circuit boards are housed in the housing. It is a feature.

According to this invention,
(1) When a wireless communication module is incorporated into a wireless communication device, for example, it can be connected using a connector having the number of signal lines necessary for the interface, and a connector having the number of pins corresponding to the number of signal lines can be used. This makes it possible to reduce the size of the wireless communication module. Furthermore, by using a small wireless communication module, the entire wireless communication device can be reduced in size.

  (2) When the baseband signal processing circuit included in the wireless communication module switches the multiplexer by a command from the communication control circuit or other external circuit, the function of the wireless communication module can be switched and used from the outside.

  (3) When the baseband signal processing circuit receives firmware data from the communication control circuit or other external circuit and rewrites the firmware of the baseband signal processing circuit accordingly, it differs from the normal use The firmware can be rewritten at high speed with this interface.

  (4) The baseband signal processing circuit is provided with means for receiving a debug command or data from a communication control circuit or other external circuit and performing execution control of the baseband signal processing circuit in response thereto. Specifically, debugging can be performed while the wireless communication module is connected to the debugging device via the connector in a state where it can be incorporated into a device as it is. Therefore, it is not necessary to design a debugging board separately, and the development cost can be reduced.

  (5) The communication control circuit is configured by the first circuit board, the wireless communication module is configured by the second circuit board, and the connector of the wireless communication module is attached to the connector provided on the first circuit board. Since the first and second circuit boards overlap each other and the first and second boards are housed in the housing to form the wireless communication apparatus, the whole can be effectively downsized.

A wireless communication module and a wireless communication apparatus including the wireless communication module according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the wireless communication module. The wireless communication module 100 includes a connector 1 for connecting to a communication control circuit or other external circuit described later. The wireless communication module 100 also includes coaxial connectors 9A and 9B for connecting the two antennas 10A and 10B. The wireless communication module 100 is configured on a single circuit board. The electronic components mounted on the substrate include a multiplexer 2, a baseband IC 3, a RAM 4, a flash ROM 5, high frequency ICs (RFIC) 6A and 6B, high frequency switches (RF-SW) 7A and 7B, and diplexers 8A and 8B. Yes.

  The baseband IC 3 is a circuit that performs baseband communication with a communication control circuit or other external circuit, which will be described later, MII (Medium Independent Interface), JTAG (Joint European Test Action Group), UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter). , GPIO (General Purpose Input / Output) and other interfaces can be used for communication.

  Here, an interface such as JTAG or UART is used when the wireless communication module 100 is developed or when the firmware is upgraded. The MII interface is used when performing communication using a normal Ethernet (registered trademark) with the communication control circuit. Furthermore, GPIO is used for control other than communication control.

  The multiplexer 2 is switched to and connected to a plurality of signal lines of the connector 1 for any one of the JTAG, UART, and GPIO interfaces. The signal of the MII interface is directly connected to a predetermined plurality of pins of the connector 1 as it is. The multiplexer 2 is switched by a part of GPIO signals.

  Firmware executed by the baseband IC 3 is written into the flash ROM 5. The RAM 4 is used as a working area when executing the firmware.

  The high frequency IC 6A processes a radio signal using the 5 GHz band of the 802.11a standard. Another high frequency IC 6B processes a radio signal using the 2.4 GHz band of the 802.11b, g standard. The diplexers 8A and 8B separate the two frequency bands 2.4 GHz band and 5 GHz band. Further, the high frequency switches 7A and 7B switch transmission / reception signals in accordance with switching signals from the baseband IC 3, and also select (switch) the antennas 10A and 10B as necessary. This constitutes antenna diversity.

  Among the configurations shown above, the high-frequency ICs 6A and 6B, the high-frequency switches 7A and 7B, and the diplexers 8A and 8B constitute the “wireless communication circuit” according to the present invention.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication control circuit that is used together with the wireless communication module shown in FIG. The communication control circuit 200 includes a connector 20 that connects the connector 1 of the wireless communication module shown in FIG. The communication control circuit 200 is configured on a single circuit board, and an Ethernet (registered trademark) physical layer control circuit (PHY: physical layer) circuit 25 and an RJ into which a LAN cable plug is inserted. A -45 type connector 21, various operation display LEDs 22, 23, and various operation setting switches 24 are provided.

  The connector 20 is provided on a predetermined surface of the circuit board, and the circuit board constituting the communication control circuit 200 with the connector 1 of the wireless communication module shown in FIG. 1 attached to the connector 20 of the communication control circuit 200. The connectors 1 and 20 are arranged so that the circuit board constituting the wireless communication module 100 overlaps.

  The Ethernet (registered trademark) physical layer control circuit 25 communicates with the baseband IC 3 via the connector 20 and the connector 1 shown in FIG. Signals are input and output between the LEDs 22 and 23 and the switch 24 and the baseband IC 3 shown in FIG. 1 through a GPIO interface.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration when debugging the baseband IC 3 of the wireless communication module 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 and rewriting the firmware. Here, the debugging circuit 300 includes a connector 30 to which the connector 1 of the wireless communication module 100 shown in FIG. 1 is attached. The debugging circuit 300 is configured on a circuit board, and on the circuit board, an RJ-45 type connector 31 to which a plug of a LAN cable is attached, connectors 32 and 33 for performing communication using a JTAG or UART interface, and An Ethernet (registered trademark) physical layer control circuit 34 is provided. The Ethernet (registered trademark) physical layer control circuit 34 communicates with the baseband IC 3 shown in FIG. 1 according to the MII interface.

  The connector 32 is connected to a debugger 400 that performs communication using a JTAG interface. The connector 33 is connected to a personal computer 500 that performs communication using a serial interface such as RS-232C. When debugging the baseband IC 3 of the wireless communication module shown in FIG. 1 using the debugger 400, communication with the baseband IC 3 is performed according to the JTAG interface. When the firmware of the baseband IC 3 written in the flash ROM 5 shown in FIG. 1 is rewritten using the personal computer 500, it communicates with the baseband IC 3 through the UART interface.

  The connector 1 shown in FIG. 1 and the connectors 20 and 30 to which the connector 1 is connected need only have the number of signal lines used in the selectable communication interface, and the signal lines can be arbitrarily assigned. The size of the wireless communication module 100 and the wireless communication device (wireless communication module 100 + communication control circuit 200 + antennas 10A and 10B) including the wireless communication module 100 can be reduced.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure of the baseband IC 3 provided in the wireless communication module 100 shown in FIG. When the power is turned on, first, each part of the wireless communication module 100 is initialized (S1). The command executed by the baseband IC 3 includes a switch command for the multiplexer 2 and determines a command given via the Ethernet (registered trademark) physical layer control circuit 34 through the MII interface (S2). If it is a multiplexer switching command, the multiplexer 2 is switched to JTAG, UART, or GPIO according to the command. For example, when debugging with the debugger 400 shown in FIG. 3, the multiplexer 2 is switched to JTAG (S3). When a debug command is received through this JTAG interface, debug processing is performed (S4). If a communication command is received through various interfaces, communication processing is performed accordingly (S5).

  For example, in the mass production stage, an inspection program is written in a part of the firmware, the connection is switched to the UART interface at the time of inspection, and the inspection program is executed. If this inspection is passed, for example, the personal computer 500 shown in FIG. 3 rewrites the firmware with the product version. At that time, by switching the multiplexer to GPIO, the various LEDs 22 and 23 and the switch 24 shown in FIG. 2 can be input and output as products.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a radio | wireless communication module. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a communication control circuit. It is a block diagram which shows the structure at the time of debugging and firmware rewriting. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the baseband IC in a radio | wireless communication module.

Explanation of symbols

1-Connector 2-Multiplexer 3-Baseband IC
20-connector 25-Ethernet (registered trademark) physical layer control circuit 100-wireless communication module 200-communication control circuit 300-debugging circuit (6A, 6B, 7A, 7B, 8A, 8B) -wireless communication circuit

Claims (5)

A wireless communication module incorporated in a wireless communication device together with a communication control circuit for controlling communication with other nodes of the network,
A wireless communication circuit for performing wireless communication with a wireless device;
A connector for connection with the communication control circuit or other external circuit;
A baseband signal processing circuit that is connected to the wireless communication circuit and performs baseband communication with the communication control circuit or other external circuits through a plurality of different interfaces;
A multiplexer that selectively connects each signal line of the plurality of interface circuits to the connector;
A wireless communication module comprising:   The wireless communication module according to claim 1, wherein the baseband signal processing circuit includes means for switching the multiplexer in response to a command from the communication control circuit or another external circuit.   The baseband signal processing circuit includes means for receiving firmware data from the communication control circuit or other external circuit and rewriting the firmware of the baseband signal processing circuit in accordance with the firmware data. The wireless communication module according to 1.   The baseband signal processing circuit includes means for receiving a debug command or data from the communication control circuit or other external circuit and performing execution control of the baseband signal processing circuit according to the debug command or data. The wireless communication module according to claim 1, 2, or 3.   The communication control circuit is configured on a first circuit board, a connector to which a connector of the wireless communication module is mounted is provided on the first circuit board, and the wireless communication module is configured by a second circuit board, With the connector of the wireless communication module attached to the connector of the first circuit board, the second circuit board is overlapped with the first circuit board, and the first and second circuit boards are housed in the housing. A wireless communication device.

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