Coordinating operations of multiple communication chips via local hub device
Embodiments relate to coordinating the operations of subsystems in a communication system of an electronic device where a coexistence hub device monitors the state information transmitted as coexistence messages over one or more multi-drop buses, processes the monitored coexistence messages and sends out control messages as coexistence messages to other systems on chips (SOCs). The coexistence hub device can also update the operations of the communication system. The coexistence hub device may receive an operation policy from a central processor and may execute the operation policy without further coordination of the central processor. The coexistence hub device broadcasts the control messages as coexistence messages according to the executed operation policy.
1. A coexistence hub device, comprising:
a first interface circuit configured to communicate over a multi-drop bus that is connected to communication chips in an electronic device;
a second interface circuit configured to communicate with a central processor in the electronic device over a point-to-point connection; and
a processor circuit configured to:
receive an operation policy representing problematic scenarios of operating combinations in the communication chips and rules for resolving the scenarios from the central processor,
deploy the received operation policy,
receive a first coexistence message from at least one communication chip via the first interface and the multi-drop bus,
determine whether one or more of the problematic scenarios has occurred by at least processing the received coexistence message, and
generating a second coexistence message representing a command to update an operation of at least one of the communication chips by applying the operation policy, responsive to determining that the one or more of the problematic scenarios has occurred.
2. The coexistence hub device of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one communication subsystem configured to implement a communication protocol, wherein an operation of the at least one communication subsystem is updated by the processor circuit, responsive to determining that the one or more of the problematic scenarios has occurred.
3. The coexistence hub device of claim 2 , further comprising a coexistence control circuit configured to:
coordinate operations of the at least one communication subsystem according to the operation policy.
4. The coexistence hub device of claim 3 , wherein the coexistence control circuit is further configured to:
filter inbound coexistence messages from the communication chips for forwarding to memory associated with the at least one communication subsystem; and
send the stored inbound coexistence messages to the at least one communication subsystem.
5. The coexistence hub device of claim 4 , wherein the at least one communication subsystem, the processor circuit and the coexistence control circuits are connected to an internal fabric.
6. The coexistence hub device of claim 2 , wherein the processor is further configured to program the at least one communication subsystem according to the operation policy responsive to turning on of the at least one communication subsystem.
7. The coexistence hub device of claim 1 , wherein the first coexistence message or the second coexistence message includes an interrupt.
8. The coexistence hub device of claim 7 , wherein the interrupt causes turning on or turning off of a component in the coexistence hub device.
9. The coexistence hub device of claim 1 , further comprising a third interface configured to communicate with at least one sensor device over another multi-drop bus, wherein the processor circuit determines whether the one or more of the problematic scenarios has occurred by further processing a sensor message received from the at least one sensor device.
10. The coexistence hub device of claim 1 , wherein the central processor switches from a first power mode to a second power mode consuming less power than the first power mode after sending the operation policy to the coexistence hub device.
11. The coexistence hub device of claim 1 , further comprising a billboard circuit configured to buffer a signal over the multi-drop bus between the communication chips.
12. A method of coordinating operations of communication chips in an electronic device, comprising:
receiving, by a coexistence hub device, an operation policy representing problematic scenarios of operating combinations in the communication chips and rules for resolving the scenarios from a central processor;
deploying the received operation policy in the coexistence hub device;
receiving, by the coexistence hub device, a first coexistence message from at least one communication chip via a multi-drop bus;
determining, by the coexistence hub device, whether one or more of the problematic scenarios has occurred by at least processing the received coexistence message;
generating, by the coexistence hub device, a second coexistence message representing a command to update an operation of at least one of the communication chips by applying the operation policy, responsive to determining that the one or more of the problematic scenarios has occurred; and
sending, by the coexistence hub device, the second coexistence message to the communication chips via the multi-drop bus.
13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
implementing a communication protocol by at least one communication subsystem in the coexistence hub device; and
updating an operation of the at least one communication subsystem responsive to determining that the one or more of the problematic scenarios has occurred.
14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising coordinate operations of the at least one communication subsystem according to the operation policy.
15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
filtering inbound coexistence messages from the communication chips for forwarding to memory associated with the at least one communication subsystem; and
sending the stored inbound coexistence messages to the at least one communication subsystem.
16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first coexistence message or the second coexistence message includes an interrupt.
17. The method of claim 12 , further comprising communicating with at least one sensor device over another multi-drop bus, wherein whether the one or more of the problematic scenarios has occurred is determined by further processing a sensor message received from the at least one sensor device.
18. The method of claim 12 , wherein the central processor switches from a first power mode to a second power mode consuming less power than the first power mode after sending the operation policy to the coexistence hub device.
19. The method of claim 12 , further comprising buffering a signal over the multi-drop bus between the communication chips.
20. An electronic device comprising:
a central processor;
a plurality of communication chips;
a multi-drop bus that is connected to the communication chips; and
a coexistence hub device, comprising:
a first interface circuit configured to communicate over the multi-drop bus;
a second interface circuit configured to communicate with the central processor i over a point-to-point connection; and
a processor circuit configured to:
receive an operation policy representing problematic scenarios of operating combinations in the communication chips and rules for resolving the scenarios from the central processor via the point-to-point connection,
deploy the received operation policy,
receive a first coexistence message from at least one communication chip via the first interface and the multi-drop bus,
determine whether one or more of the problematic scenarios has occurred by at least processing the received coexistence message, and
generating a second coexistence message representing a command to update an operation of at least one of the communication chips by applying the operation policy, responsive to determining that the one or more of the problematic scenarios has occurred.