Methods and apparatuses for processing multiple communications signals with a single integrated circuit chip
An apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a plurality of antennas and an integrated circuit chip coupled to the plurality of antennas, and is configured to process cellular signals received from the plurality of antennas in accordance with a cellular communication protocol and to process radio frequency identification (RFID) signals received from the plurality of antennas in accordance with an RFID protocol.
1. An apparatus comprising:
a plurality of antennas;
an integrated circuit coupled to the plurality of antennas, the integrated circuit including first and second clusters of processing elements; and
a plurality of switches configured to route processed data from the first cluster of processing elements to the second cluster of processing elements when one or more processing elements from the first cluster of processing elements are dynamically added to the second cluster of processing elements as processing elements of the second cluster of processing elements, wherein a portion of the second cluster is dynamically configurable to include the one or more processing elements of the first cluster based at least in part on a processing load of the first cluster.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first cluster of processing elements is configured to process cellular signals received by the plurality of antennas and provide the data to the second cluster of processing elements based on the processed cellular signals.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the integrated circuit is configured to process cellular signals and radio frequency identification (RFID) signals received by the plurality of antennas.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of antennas include one or more first antennas configured to receive cellular signals and one or more second antennas configured to receive radio frequency identification (RFID) signals.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a cellular interface in the integrated circuit;
a radio frequency identification (RFID) interface in the integrated circuit;
a dispatch unit in the integrated circuit; and
a plurality of processing elements including the first and second clusters of processing elements, the plurality of processing elements coupled to the cellular interface, the RFID interface, and the dispatch unit.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first and second clusters of processing elements are part of a plurality of processing elements configured to receive instructions from a dispatch unit via a network on chip (NOC).
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a dispatch unit in the integrated circuit;
wherein each processing element of the first and second clusters of processing elements includes:
a data memory,
a processor; and
a switch, and
wherein the processor in each processing element of the first cluster of processing elements is configured to load instructions received from the dispatch unit for processing a signal, generate a set of data based on the received load instructions, and control the switch to transfer the set of data to the second cluster of processing elements.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a cellular interface in the integrated circuit, the cellular interface configured to couple one or more first antennas of the plurality of antennas to the first cluster of processing elements; and
a radio frequency identification (RFID) interface in the integrated circuit, the RFID interface configured to couple one or more second antennas of the plurality of antennas to the second cluster of processing elements.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the integrated circuit further includes a radio frequency identification (RFID) interface and a cellular interface.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a dispatch unit in the integrated circuit, the dispatch unit coupled to the first and second clusters of processing elements,
wherein the dispatch unit is configured to receive instructions from one or more memories for at least one cluster of the first and second clusters of processing elements.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processing elements of the first cluster of processing elements are dynamically removed from the first cluster of processing elements based at least in part on the processing load of the first cluster.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processing elements dynamically removed from the first cluster of processing elements are dynamically added to the second cluster of processing elements based at least in part on the processing load of the second cluster.
13. An apparatus comprising:
a plurality of antennas;
an integrated circuit coupled to the plurality of antennas, the integrated circuit including first and second clusters of processing elements; and
a plurality of switches configured to route processed data from the first cluster of processing elements to the second cluster of processing elements when one or more processing elements from the first cluster of processing elements are dynamically added to the second cluster of processing elements as processing elements of the second cluster of processing elements, wherein a portion of the second cluster is dynamically configurable to include the one or more processing elements of the first cluster based at least in part on a processing load of the first cluster, wherein the first cluster of processing elements is configured to process cellular signals received by the plurality of antennas and provide the data to the second cluster of processing elements based on the processed cellular signals, wherein the integrated circuit is configured to process cellular signals and radio frequency identification (RFID) signals received by the plurality of antennas, and wherein the plurality of antennas include one or more first antennas configured to receive cellular signals and one or more second antennas configured to receive radio frequency identification (RFID) signals.
14. A method comprising:
receiving a first signal of a first type via a plurality of antennas;
processing, by a first group of processing elements among a plurality of processing elements of an integrated circuit, the first signal to generate a set of data;
dynamically adding a portion of the first group of processing elements to a second group of processing elements of the plurality of processing elements as processing elements of the second group of processing elements based partly on the set of data indicative of a processing load increase to an amount of data processed by the second group of processing elements; and
transmitting, by the plurality of antennas, a second signal of a second type generated based on the set of data.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the first signal of the first type is a radio frequency identification (RFID) signal.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the second signal of the second type is a cellular signal.
17. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
receiving, by the plurality of processing elements, instructions from a dispatch unit via a network on chip (NOC).
18. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
transferring the set of data from the first group of processing elements to the second group of processing elements.
19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
generating a data packet based on the set of data transferred to the second group of processing elements.
20. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
dynamically removing the portion of the first group of processing elements.
21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the portion of the first group of processing elements dynamically removed from the first group of processing elements is dynamically added to the second group of processing elements based at least in part on the processing load of the second cluster.