IP Library Granted Patent US 7,142,882
Granted Patent B2
US 7,142,882 · App. 09/802,411 · Granted Nov 28, 2006

Single chip wireless communication integrated circuit

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,142,882
App. No.
09/802,411
Granted
Nov 28, 2006
Kind
B2
Abstract

A multi-mode wireless device on a single substrate includes an analog portion and a digital portion integrated on the single substrate. The analog portion includes a cellular radio core; and a short-range wireless transceiver core. The digital portion integrated on the substrate includes a reconfigurable processor core coupled to the cellular radio core and the short-range wireless transceiver core, the reconfigurable processor adapted to handle a plurality of wireless communication protocols. The digital portion also includes a high-density memory array core coupled to the reconfigurable multi-processor core.

Claims (40)

1. A multi-mode wireless device on a single substrate, comprising:

an integrated circuit having an analog portion integrated on the substrate, comprising:

a cellular radio core;

a radio sniffer coupled to the cellular radio core; and

a short-range wireless transceiver core coupled to the cellular radio core; and

the integrated circuit having a digital portion integrated on the substrate, comprising:

a reconfigurable processor core coupled to the cellular radio core and the short-range wireless transceiver core, the reconfigurable processor core configured to handle a plurality of wireless communication protocols; and

a router coupled to the reconfigurable processor core, the cellular radio core, and the short-range wireless transceiver core, the router configured to transmit data packets in parallel simultaneously via the cellular radio core and the short-range wireless transceiver core.

2. The wireless device on a single substrate of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the wireless communication protocols conforms to a Bluetooth™ or IEEE802.11 protocol.

3. The wireless device on a single substrate of claim 1 , wherein the reconfigurable processor core includes one or more reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processors.

4. The wireless device on a single substrate of claim 1 , wherein the router further comprises an engine configured to track the destinations of the data packets.

5. The wireless device on a single substrate of claim 1 , wherein the router is configured to send the data packets in parallel through a primary and a secondary communication channel, wherein the primary communication channel comprises a short-range channel and the secondary communication channel comprises a cellular channel.

6. A portable computer system, comprising:

a processor;

a multi-mode wireless integrated circuit formed on a single substrate coupled to the processor, the integrated circuit comprising:

an analog portion integrated on the substrate, including:

a cellular radio core; and

a short-range wireless transceiver core; and

a digital portion integrated on the single substrate, including:

a reconfigurable processor core coupled to the cellular radio core and the short-range wireless transceiver core, the reconfigurable processor core including multiple programmable processors and multiple dedicated processors configured to handle a plurality of wireless communication protocols;

a router coupled to the reconfigurable processor core, the cellular radio core, and the short-range wireless transceiver core, the router configured to transmit data packets in parallel simultaneously via the cellular radio core and the short-range wireless transceiver core; and

a memory array coupled to the reconfigurable processor core;

a program storage device coupled to said processor; and

an input recognizer embodied in said program storage device, said input recognizer configured to receive input from a user.

7. The portable computer system of claim 6 , wherein one of the wireless communication protocols conforms to a Bluetooth™ protocol.

8. The portable computer system of claim 6 , wherein the multiple programmable processors include one or more digital signal processors (DSPs).

9. The portable computer system of claim 8 , wherein the multiple programmable processors include one or more reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processors.

10. The portable computer system of claim 6 , wherein the router further comprises an engine configured to track the destinations of the data packets.

11. The portable computer system of claim 6 , wherein the router is configured to send the data packets in parallel through a primary and a secondary communication channel.

12. A method comprising:

communicating data packets via a cellular radio medium using a multi-mode wireless integrated circuit having a substrate including a cellular radio core, a short-range wireless transceiver core, and a processor core; and

communicating at least some of the data packets in parallel simultaneously via a short-range wireless medium and a cellular radio medium using the multi-mode wireless integrated circuit.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising primarily communicating the data packets via a primary communication channel and periodically communicating the data packets via a secondary communication channel.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising communicating the data packets via the short-range wireless medium while in a local area network and communicating the data packets via the cellular radio medium while outside the local area network.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising powering down the short-range wireless transceiver core while communicating the data packets via the cellular radio medium.

16. The method of claim 12 , further comprising searching for a short-range wireless medium signal during an idle time of the cellular radio core.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising transmitting a deregistration message to a cellular system if the short-range wireless medium signal is found.

18. The wireless device on a single substrate of claim 1 , wherein the router is configured to determine an optimal transmission medium based on information from the radio sniffer.

19. The wireless device on a single substrate of claim 1 , wherein the router is configured to reuse a filter and a decoder for the plurality of wireless communication protocols.

20. The portable computer system of claim 6 , further comprising a radio sniffer coupled to the cellular radio core and the short-range wireless transceiver core to determine an optimal transmission medium based on information from the radio sniffer.