Method and system for a time domain approach to 4G/LTE-WiFi/BT coexistence
A method and system are provided in which a device that is operable to handle WiFi communication and WiMAX communication may receive downlink medium access protocol (MAP) information in a downlink sub-frame of a WiMAX frame and disable WiFi transmission during a portion of the downlink sub-frame based on the downlink MAP information. The disabled WiFi transmission may be enabled after data within the downlink sub-frame is decoded. The device may also receive uplink MAP information in the downlink sub-frame and may control a clear channel assessment associated with the WiFi transmission based on the uplink MAP information. The MAP information may comprise data or burst profile information and/or one or more physical control messages. A similar time domain approach may be utilized for coexistence between Win and long term evolution (LTE) coexistence, Bluetooth and WiMAX, and Bluetooth and LTE. Frame aggregation may be enabled to alleviate pending WiFi traffic.
1. A method comprising:
receiving downlink medium access protocol (MAP) information in a downlink sub-frame of a first wireless protocol;
disabling a transmission of a second wireless protocol during a portion of the downlink sub-frame based on the received downlink MAP information;
enabling the disabled transmission of the second wireless protocol upon conclusion of decoding of available data within the downlink sub-frame;
receiving uplink MAP information in the downlink sub-frame of the first wireless protocol;
generating a signal during an uplink sub-frame of the first wireless protocol based on the received uplink MAP information; and
controlling a clear channel assessment operation associated with the transmission of the second wireless protocol based on the generated signal,
wherein the receiving, disabling and enabling are performed by a communications device to thereby reduce interference between the first wireless protocol and the second wireless protocol,
wherein the first wireless protocol is a fourth generation (4G) protocol and the second wireless protocol is one of WiFi and Bluetooth.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the uplink MAP information comprises an uplink burst profile and one or more physical layer control messages.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless protocol is a fourth generation (4G) protocol and the second wireless protocol is WiFi.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless protocol is further one of Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) and Wireless MAN-Advanced, and the second wireless protocol is one of WiFi and Bluetooth.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the downlink MAP information comprises a downlink burst profile and one or more physical layer control messages.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the disabling transmission of the second wireless protocol includes asserting, by a first device associated with the first wireless protocol, an active receiver signal to a second device associated with the second wireless protocol to thereby disable the second wireless protocol, the active receiver signal indicating the receiving downlink MAP information in the downlink sub-frame of the first wireless protocol, wherein the first device and the second device form portions of the communications device.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating an indication of pending uplink transmission traffic of the second wireless protocol;
requesting, to a base station by a first device associated with the first wireless protocol, a bandwidth allocation modification of the first wireless protocol in response to the generated indication, wherein the first device forms a portion of the communications device; and
if an indication is received that the requested bandwidth allocation modification is granted, aggregating uplink transmission traffic of the first wireless protocol in accordance with a schedule associated with the granted requested bandwidth allocation modification so that transmission in the first wireless protocol occurs every N frames.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving the downlink MAP information in the downlink sub-frame of a next frame of the first wireless protocol; and
disabling transmission of the second wireless protocol during a portion of the downlink sub-frame of the next frame of the first wireless protocol based on the received downlink MAP information in the downlink sub-frame of the next frame of the first wireless protocol.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the disabling of the transmission of the second wireless protocol includes:
disabling a baseband operation associated with the transmission of the second wireless protocol and a radio frequency front end power amplifier associated with the transmission of the second wireless protocol.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless protocol is further one of Long Term Evolution (LTE) or LTE Advanced, and the second wireless protocol is one of WiFi or Bluetooth.
11. A communications device comprising:
a first transceiver configured to receive downlink medium access protocol (MAP) information in a downlink sub-frame of a first wireless protocol; and
a second transceiver configured to disable a transmission of a second wireless protocol during a portion of the downlink sub-frame based on the received downlink MAP information from the first transceiver, and to enable the disabled transmission of the second wireless protocol upon conclusion of decoding of available data within the downlink sub-frame,
wherein the first transceiver is further configured to:
receive uplink MAP information in the downlink sub-frame of the first wireless protocol, and
generate a signal during an uplink sub-frame of the first wireless protocol based on the received uplink MAP information; and
wherein the second transceiver is further configured to:
control a clear channel assessment operation associated with the transmission of the second wireless protocol based on the generated signal from the first transceiver.
12. The communications device of claim 11 , wherein the first wireless protocol is one of Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) and Wireless MAN-Advanced, and the second wireless protocol is one of WiFi and Bluetooth.
13. The communications device of claim 11 , wherein the first wireless protocol is a fourth generation (4G) protocol and the second wireless protocol is one of WiFi and Bluetooth.
14. The communications device of claim 11 , wherein the downlink MAP information comprises a downlink burst profile and one or more physical layer control messages.
15. The communications device of claim 11 , wherein the uplink MAP information comprises an uplink burst profile and one or more physical layer control messages.
16. The communications device of claim 11 , wherein the first transceiver is further configured to assert an active receiver signal at the second transceiver to thereby disable transmission of the second wireless protocol, the active receiver signal indicating the receiving of the downlink MAP information in the downlink sub-frame of the first wireless protocol.
17. The communications device of claim 11 , wherein the second transceiver is further configured to:
generate an indication of pending uplink transmission traffic of the second wireless protocol; and
wherein the first transceiver is further configured to:
request, to a base station, a bandwidth allocation modification of the first wireless protocol in response to the generated indication from the second transceiver; and
if an indication is received from the base station that the requested bandwidth allocation modification is granted, aggregate uplink transmission traffic of the first wireless protocol in accordance with a schedule associated with the granted requested bandwidth allocation modification so that transmission in the first wireless protocol occurs every N frames.
18. The communications device of claim 11 , wherein the first transceiver is further configured to:
receive the downlink MAP information in the downlink sub-frame of a next frame of the first wireless protocol; and
wherein the second transceiver is further configured to:
disable transmission of the second wireless protocol during a portion of the downlink sub-frame of the next frame of the first wireless protocol based on received downlink MAP information in the downlink sub-frame of the next frame of the first wireless protocol from the first transceiver.
19. The communications device of claim 11 , wherein the second transceiver is further configured to:
disable a baseband operation associated with the transmission of the second wireless protocol and disable a radio frequency front end power amplifier associated with the transmission of the second wireless protocol.
20. The communications device of claim 11 , wherein the first wireless protocol is one of Long Term Evolution (LTE) or LTE Advanced, and the second wireless protocol is one of WiFi or Bluetooth.