Using wake-up receivers for soft hand-off in wireless communications
Multiple standards based radio (“SBR”) devices, each having a high-gain directional antenna, are utilized in a remote sensor interface (“RSI”) unit to optimize detection and reception by the RSI of radio signals from gateway controllers, hopping radios, and other wireless devices.
1. An apparatus configured to facilitate a soft hand-off in wireless communications, comprising:
(a) a plurality of low power radio systems, each including:
(i) a two-way wireless communication device, and
(ii) a wake-up receiver; and
(b) a controller, physically connected to each wake-up receiver to receive signals therefrom and further connected to each two-way wireless communications device to effect two-way communication therethrough, wherein the controller is adapted to select one of the plurality of two-way wireless communication devices for external two-way wireless communications, the selection being made on the basis of an electronic signal received from at least one of the plurality of wake-up receivers, and the selection being made based on a determination, informed by monitoring, that one of the low power radio systems is more reliable than another of the low power radio systems;
(c) wherein the controller is adapted to wirelessly transmit data via the selected two-way wireless communications device;
(d) wherein one of the wake-up receivers is adapted to transmit an electronic signal only upon receiving a wake-up signal that includes a class designation corresponding to the apparatus.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the two-way wireless communication device is a standards based radio.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the standards based radio is a Bluetooth radio.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each low power radio system further includes a directional antenna, the directional antennas being arranged in an array to provide disparate, overlapping coverage zones.
5. A method of facilitating a soft hand-off in wireless communications at a wireless component, the wireless component including a controller and first and second low power radio systems, each low power radio system including a wake-up receiver, and the controller being physically connected to each wake-up receiver to receive signals therefrom, the method comprising:
(a) electronically communicating, via a two-way wireless communication device of the first low power radio system, data;
(b) receiving, at the wake-up receiver of the second low power radio system, a wake-up signal that includes a class designation corresponding to the wireless component;
(c) in response to receiving a wake-up signal that includes the class designation, monitoring parameters associated with the second low power-radio system;
(d) determining, based on said monitoring, that the second low power radio system is more reliable than the first low power radio system; and
(e) activating, based on said determining step, a two-way wireless communication device of the second low power radio system and deactivating the two-way wireless communication device of the first low power radio system;
(f) thereafter, electronically communicating, via the two-way wireless communication device of the second low power radio system, data.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the parameters include a signal strength.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the parameters include a bit error rate.
8. The method of claim 5 , wherein said step of monitoring comprises continuously monitoring.
9. The method of claim 5 , wherein said step of monitoring comprises intermittently monitoring.
10. A method of facilitating a soft hand-off in wireless communications at a wireless component, the wireless component including a controller and first and second low power radio systems, the method comprising:
(a) receiving, at a wake-up receiver of the first low power radio system, a wake-up signal that includes a class designation corresponding to the wireless component;
(b) in response to receiving a wake-up signal that includes the class designation at the wake-up receiver of the first low power radio system, monitoring parameters associated with the first low power radio system;
(c) receiving, at a wake-up receiver of the second low power radio system, a wake-up signal;
(d) in response to said step of receiving a wake-up signal at the wake-up receiver of the second low power radio system, monitoring parameters associated with the second low power radio system;
(e) determining, based on said monitoring, that the first and second low power radio systems are equivalently reliable; and
(f) arbitrarily selecting either the first low power radio system or the second low power radio system;
(g) based on said selecting step, activating a two-way wireless communication device of the arbitrarily selected low power radio system;
(h) thereafter, electronically communicating, via the activated two-way wireless communication device of the arbitrarily selected low power radio system, data;
(i) wherein the controller is physically connected to each wake-up receiver to receive signals therefrom.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the parameters include a signal strength.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the parameters include a bit error rate.
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein said step of monitoring comprises continuously monitoring.
14. The method of claim 10 , wherein said step of monitoring comprises intermittently monitoring.