Wireless communication device capable of utilizing multiple radio access technologies
View Patent ↗A wireless communication device is disclosed that is capable of utilizing multiple radio access technologies (RATs) in various coordinated ways so as to optimize, and enhance the versatility, of the device's communication capabilities. One or more RATs may be selected for use, either alone or in cooperation with each other, based on various conditions, such as channel conditions, traffic, data type, and priority. When conditions change, the originally-selected communication scheme may no longer be preferred. Consequently, the device can initiate a handover to another communication scheme. Transmitters corresponding to RATs that are not currently selected are controlled to enter a low-power state in order to conserve power. However, in some circumstances, the device may utilize both RATs simultaneously. For example, redundant communications can be made over both RATs for error-reduction or other purposes, and partial communications can be made over multiple RATs for increased speed and bandwidth, among other reasons.
1. A wireless communication device supported by a communication architecture, the communication architecture having a first radio access technology network infrastructure, a second radio access technology network infrastructure and a common backhaul pathway between the first radio access technology network infrastructure and the second radio access technology network infrastructure, the wireless communication device comprising:
a first transmitter module configured to communicate upstream via the first radio access technology network infrastructure;
a second transmitter module configured to communicate upstream via the second radio access technology network infrastructure;
a first receiver module configured to communicate downstream via the first radio access technology network infrastructure;
a second receiver module configured to communicate downstream via the second radio access technology network infrastructure; and
a controller module coupled to each of the first transmitter module, the second transmitter module, the first receiver module and the second receiver module,
the controller module configured to enable upstream communication with the first radio access technology network infrastructure via the first transmitter module while both disabling the downstream communication with the first radio access technology network infrastructure by disabling the first receiver module and enabling downstream communication with the first radio access technology network infrastructure via the second radio access technology network infrastructure by enabling the second receiver module, such downstream communication via the second receiver module being supported via backhaul interchanges between the first radio access technology network infrastructure and the second radio access technology network infrastructure.
2. The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the downstream communication via the second receiver module is further supported by an intermediate node.
3. The wireless communication device of claim 1 , further comprising a power control module configured to set the first receiver module and the second transmitter module to a low power state.
4. The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the controller module is configured to generate acknowledgement signals for signals received from the downstream communication via the second receiver module, and cause the acknowledgement signals to be transmitted into the upstream communication via the first transmitter module.
5. A wireless communication device supported by a wireless communication environment, the wireless communication device comprising:
a first transmitter module configured to transmit signals to the wireless communication environment using a first radio access technology;
a first receiver module configured to receive signals from the wireless communication environment using the first radio access technology;
a second transmitter module configured to transmit signals to the wireless communication environment using a second radio access technology; and
a multi-RAT coordination module configured to set, as a communication scheme for communicating with another wireless communication device, one of a single radio access technology communication scheme, a half-duplex multiple radio access technology communication scheme, or a full-duplex multiple radio access technology communication scheme,
wherein, in the half-duplex multiple radio access technology communication scheme, the wireless communication device transmits signals with only the second transmitter module using the second radio access technology and receives signals with the first receiver module using the first radio access technology.
6. The wireless communication device of claim 5 , wherein the multi-RAT coordination module is configured to set the communication scheme based on at least one parameter, including channel conditions, traffic, data type, data priority, power consumption, and cost.
7. The wireless communication device of claim 6 , wherein the multi-RAT coordination module is configured to, after selecting the full-duplex multiple radio access technology communication scheme, set one of standard communication, redundant communication, or cross-RAT channel bonding communication for communicating with another wireless communication device based on the at least one parameter.
8. The wireless communication device of claim 6 , wherein the multi-RAT coordination module is configured to switch from a. current communication scheme to a new communication scheme based on the at least one parameter, and
wherein the multi-RAT coordination module is configured to generate a notification signal for notifying the other wireless communication device of the communication scheme switch and transmit the notification signal using the new communication scheme.
9. The wireless communication device of claim 5 , further comprising a second receiver module configured to receive signals from the wireless communication environment using the second radio access technology; and
a power control module configured to set inactive transmitter modules of the first transmitter module and the second transmitter module to a low power state based on the set communication scheme, and configured to maintain the first receiver module and the second receiver module in a high-power state regardless of the set communication scheme.
10. The wireless communication device of claim 5 , wherein the multi-RAT coordination module sets the communication scheme based at least in part on information received from a server.
11. The wireless communication device of claim 10 , wherein the multi-RAT coordination module sets the communication scheme based on an instruction received from the server.
12. The wireless communication device of claim 5 , further comprising a hardwire communication terminal,
wherein the multi-RAT coordination module is capable of also setting, as the communication scheme, a half-duplex wired communication scheme that uses the hardwire communication terminal fir either uplink or downlink communication or a full-duplex wired communication scheme that uses the hardwire communication terminal for both uplink and downlink communication.
13. The wireless communication device of claim 5 , wherein, in the full-duplex multiple radio access technology communication scheme, the wireless communication device transmits signals with the first transmitter module using the first radio access technology and with the second transmitter module using the second radio access technology, and receives signals with the first receiver module using the first radio access technology.
14. A wireless communication device supported by a wireless communication environment, the wireless communication device comprising:
a first receiver module configured to receive signals from the wireless communication environment using a first radio access technology;
a first transmitter module configured to transmit signals to the wireless communication environment using the first radio access technology;
a second receiver module configured to receive signals from the wireless communication environment using the second radio access technology;
a second transmitter module configured to transmit signals to the wireless communication environment using a second radio access technology; and
a multi-RAT coordination module that includes:
a selection module configured to select a communication scheme based on at least one parameter; and
a controller module configured to forward information to both the first transmitter module and the second transmitter module for cooperative transmission, or receive information from both the first receiver module and the second receiver module in cooperative reception,
wherein the selection module is configured to set a redundant communication scheme as the communication scheme, and
wherein, based on the redundant communication scheme, the controller module causes a signal to be transmitted by both the first transmitter module and the second transmitter module.
15. A wireless communication device supported by a wireless communication environment, the wireless communication device comprising:
a first receiver module configured to receive signals from the wireless communication environment using a first radio access technology;
a first transmitter module configured to transmit signals to the wireless communication environment using the first radio access technology;
a second receiver module configured to receive signals from the wireless communication environment using the second radio access technology;
a second transmitter module configured to transmit signals to the wireless communication environment using a second radio access technology;
a reconstruction module; and
a multi-RAT coordination module that includes:
a selection module configured to select a communication scheme based on at least one parameter; and
a controller module configured to forward information to both the first transmitter module and the second transmitter module for cooperative transmission, or receive information from both the first receiver module and the second receiver module in cooperative reception,
wherein the selection module is configured to set a redundant communication scheme as the communication scheme,
wherein, based on the redundant communication scheme, the controller module is configured to receive a first signal from the first receiver module and receives a second signal from the second receiver module, and to forward the first signal and the second signal to the reconstruction module, and
wherein the reconstruction module is configured to correlate the first signal with the second signal and to generate a reconstructed signal by performing bit error correction on the first signal based on the second signal and the correlation.
16. The wireless communication device of claim 15 , wherein the reconstruction module is configured to check an accuracy of the reconstructed signal and report success or failure of the reconstruction to the controller module, and
wherein, if the reconstruction module reports reconstruction failure to the controller module, the controller module is configured to generate a repeat request signal for requesting that the received first signal and second signal be retransmitted to the wireless communication device.
17. A wireless communication device supported by a wireless communication environment, the wireless communication device comprising:
a first receiver module configured to receive signals from the wireless communication environment using a first radio access technology;
a first transmitter module configured to transmit signals to the wireless communication environment using the first radio access technology;
a second receiver module configured to receive signals from the wireless communication environment using the second radio access technology;
a second transmitter module configured to transmit signals to the wireless communication environment using a second radio access technology; and
a multi-RAT coordination module that includes:
a selection module configured to select a communication scheme based on at least one parameter; and
a controller module configured to forward information to both the first transmitter module and the second transmitter module for cooperative transmission, or receive information from both the first receiver module and the second receiver module in cooperative reception,
wherein the selection module is configured to set a cross-RAT channel bonding communication scheme as the communication scheme and sets a reconstruction scheme associated with the set communication scheme, and
wherein the reconstruction scheme defines how a signal is to be destructed and reconstructed.
18. The wireless communication device of claim 17 , wherein the controller module is configured to, based on the cross-RAT channel bonding communication scheme, divide the signal into a plurality of first portions and a plurality of second portions based on the reconstruction scheme, and to forward the first portions to the first transmitter module for transmission using the first radio access technology and to forward the second portions to the second transmitter module for transmission using the second radio access technology.
19. The wireless communication device of claim 17 , further comprising a reconstruction module,
wherein the controller module is configured to, based on the cross-RAT channel bonding communication scheme, receive a plurality of first signal portions from the first receiver module and receive a plurality of second signal portions from the second receiver module, and forward die received first signal portions and second signal portions to the reconstructions module, and
wherein the reconstruction module is configured to reconstruct the signal from the first signal portions and the second signal portions based on the reconstruction scheme.
20. The wireless communication device of claim 19 , wherein the reconstruction scheme indicates that a position of each signal portion within the reconstructed signal is identified by an identification number associated with each signal portion, and
wherein the reconstruction module is configured to, based on the reconstruction scheme, reconstruct the signal by determining identification numbers associated with each received signal portion, and organizing the received signal portions in order of their corresponding identification numbers.