Efficient concurrent multichannel discovery and reception

This disclosure describes systems, methods, and devices related to efficient concurrent multichannel discovery and reception. A device may determine high performance communications circuitry and low performance communications circuitry within a first component of the device. The device may determine one or more high power radio frequency (RF) chains associated with at least one of a high frequency band or a low frequency band. The device may determine one or more low power RF chains associated with at least one of the high frequency band or the low frequency band. The device may perform a first operation with the high performance communications circuitry using a dynamically selected one of the one or more high power RF chains or the one or more low power RF chains and a second operation with the low performance communications circuitry using a dynamically selected one of the one or more low power RF chains or the one or more high power RF chains, wherein the dynamic selection is based at least in part on a use case, and wherein the first operation and the second operation are performed concurrently.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a U.S. National Stage Application under 35 U.S.C. 371 and claims the priority benefit of International Application No. PCT/US2018/039920, filed Jun. 28, 2018, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in full.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for wireless communications and, more particularly, to efficient concurrent multichannel discovery and reception.

BACKGROUND

Wireless devices are becoming widely prevalent and are increasingly requesting access to wireless channels. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is developing one or more standards that utilize Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) in channel allocation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example embodiments described herein provide certain systems, methods, and devices for efficient concurrent multichannel discovery and reception.

As concurrent usages for Wi-Fi increases, there is a need for the provision of good user experiences for these concurrent usages. For example, there is an increasing requirement for a user to be able to engage in both intra-band concurrency (e.g., a plurality of concurrent communication sessions in the same frequency band, such as a 2.4 gigahertz (GHz) frequency band or a 5 GHz frequency band) and in inter-band concurrency (e.g., a plurality of concurrent communication sessions in different frequency bands, such as a first communication session in a 2.4 GHz frequency band and a second communication session in a 5 GHz frequency band). In addition, the market requires a solution that has the characteristics of low power consumption (e.g., for longer battery life usage) and of a small Silicon solution form factor.

Existing solutions for concurrent usages have typically employed one of two alternatives. A first of these alternatives is traditional dual band concurrency. Traditional dual band concurrency uses two devices within a device (e.g., two physical layer (PHY) entities and two associated media access control layer (MAC) entities) in order to provide the required concurrency at different band. A second of these alternatives is use of a time division multiplexing (TDM) operation. A TDM operation uses a single device (e.g., a single PHY entity and associated MAC entity, collectively called a PHY/MAC, a PHY/MAC engine, a PHY/MAC device, and/or communications circuitry) that serves both a primary Wi-Fi connection and allows concurrent usage using TDM.

However, each of these existing solutions includes limitations. Traditional dual band concurrency is limiting in that this existing solution 1) requires an added Silicon footprint and 2) includes limited concurrency capabilities. For example, traditional dual band concurrency enables only inter-band concurrency and cannot allow intra-band concurrency (in either the 2.4 GHz band or in the 5 GHz band). Employing a TDM operation is limiting in that this existing solution results in a degraded user experience, for example with respect to lower throughput, a higher latency burden upon leaving a channel and/or communication session, and/or one or more interoperability issues. The existing concurrent dual band solution enables concurrency only between different bands, thus not eliminating the need for the TDM solution (e.g., in a situation wherein same band concurrency is required). Furthermore, the existing dual band solution is expensive in terms of requiring a duplication of the various hardware components (e.g., components associated with PHY/MAC entities and/or radio frequency (RF) chains) in order to support full independent concurrency. In the existing concurrent dual band solution, there is a limitation on intra-band concurrency operations, such as dynamic frequency selection (DFS) master, which requires long radar detection in a DFS channel in parallel to a 5 GHz basic service set (BSS) connection. Because of these limitations, the existing TDM solution only enables limited and/or rare concurrency operations, such as infrequent scans or limited peer to peer activity (e.g., mainly due to the interoperability issues that occur when frequently leaving the operating channel and indicating to the AP/peers of power save).

Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to systems, methods, and devices for efficient concurrent multichannel discovery and reception.

In one embodiment, the solutions described herein allow low power discovery concurrent to regular operation within the same band and/or within a different band using two MAC/PHY devices and a minimal RF Silicon footprint. The solution allows two MAC/PHY devices to dynamically connect to four RF lineups: two high performance RF lineups, including a two by two (2×2) low band (LB) RF chain and a 2×2 high band (HB) RF chain) and two low power single chain receive-only RF lineups, including a low power LB chain and a low power HB chain. The solution allows both inter-band dual concurrency and intra-band dual concurrency with a small Silicon footprint and low power consumption in the required use case while maintaining a good user experience.

In one embodiment, the present solution allows for greater flexibility compared to prior dual concurrency systems. The present solution allows any dual concurrency, including both intra-band (e.g., two communication sessions in same band) or inter-band (one communication session in a 2.4 GHz frequency band and one communication session in a 5 GHz frequency band). The present solution allows continuous and/or continual concurrency with a minimal burden on battery power consumption and a good user experience. The present solution enables better battery life compared to prior dual concurrency systems. For example, the present system leverages the additional low power RF chains and flexible architecture to allow the system to always select the lowest power RF chain required by the specific usage scenario, even in non-concurrent use cases (e.g., use cases that require only a single PHY/MAC device, such as unassociated discovery). The present solution allows for a smaller Si footprint for the supported multi-concurrency modes.

In one embodiment, the present solution provides flexible hardware (HW) to enable a cost efficient, low power solution that enhances common use cases by supporting intra-band and inter-band concurrency without compromising user experience and performance (such as throughput, latency) and also while avoiding known interoperability issues (such as leaving a main connection channel).

In one embodiment, the present solution enables a dynamic selection between several RF chains in combination with two MAC/PHY devices. The present solution includes the following RF chains: 2×2 2.4 GHz RF high performance chains, 2×2 5 GHz RF high performance chains, a 2.4 GHz RF low power single receive-only chain, and a 5 GHz RF low power single receive-only chain. The present solution includes the following PHY/MAC devices: one wide bandwidth (BW) (e.g., up to 80 megahertz (MHz)) PHY/MAC device and one narrow BW (e.g., up to 20 MHz) PHY/MAC device.

In one embodiment, the present solution leverages that most of the required concurrency use cases include a device in an unassociated state (e.g., the device performs a concurrent operation that does not entail association with an AP), thus are less time critical by nature. The present solution also leverages that most required concurrency use cases need to support only legacy data receive rates (e.g., using a low modulation and coding scheme (MCS)) or only radar detection, thereby allowing a signal to noise ratio (SNR) trade-off. The present solution enables very low power operation for the discovery uses cases by reducing the requirements from the receive-only RF chains and by enabling the ability to transition from a low power state to an active state in the digital portion of the device (e.g., in the PHY/MAC devices).

In one embodiment, the 2.4 GHz RF low power single receive-only chain and the 5 GHz RF low power single receive-only chain differ from the high performance RF chains (e.g., from the 2×2 2.4 GHz RF high performance chains and the 2×2 5 GHz RF high performance chains) in the physical circuitry design.

In one embodiment, a device is optimized for dual concurrency by reducing phase noise and limiting the BW requirements of the concurrent use cases. This optimization allows for the limiting of RF capabilities of the device. For example, the RF capabilities of the device may be limited by including: a low power phase-locked loop (PLL), which allows phase noise to meet low legacy rates only; a low power crystal radio (XTAL) mode, which allows phase noise required for legacy rates only; and a reduced power analog to digital converter (ADC) mode, which is allowed in narrow BW operations and operations that require a low SNR for discovery.

In one embodiment, the present solution includes system level optimizations. For example, using a RF low power single receive-only chain allows a device to leverage a longer response time to allow deeper clock and power management, including clock gating, voltage adjustments, and power domain shut down. Additionally, the present solution allows a fast transition from a listen mode to an active mode, for example by using capabilities such as PLL fast lock and fast power domains recover. Due to the flexibility of design, the same mechanism may also be applied in non-concurrent use cases (e.g., in use cases that require a single PHY/MAC device) that require a long use period for low power discoverability, thus optimizing battery life in a single function (e.g., a scan).

FIG. 1depicts a network diagram illustrating an example network environment of an efficient concurrent multichannel discovery and reception system, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Wireless network100may include one or more user devices120and one or more access points(s) (AP)102, which may communicate in accordance with IEEE 802.11 communication standards. The user device(s)120may be mobile devices that are non-stationary (e.g., not having fixed locations) or may be stationary devices.

In some embodiments, the user devices120and the AP102may include one or more computer systems similar to that of the functional diagram ofFIG. 6and/or the example machine/system ofFIG. 7.

The user device(s)120and/or AP(s)102may also include mesh stations in, for example, a mesh network, in accordance with one or more IEEE 802.11 standards and/or 3GPP standards.

Any of the user device(s)120(e.g., user devices124,126,128) and AP(s)102may include one or more communications antennas. The one or more communications antennas may be any suitable type of antennas corresponding to the communications protocols used by the user device(s)120(e.g., user devices124,126and128), and AP(s)102. Some non-limiting examples of suitable communications antennas include Wi-Fi antennas, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards compatible antennas, directional antennas, non-directional antennas, dipole antennas, folded dipole antennas, patch antennas, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, omnidirectional antennas, quasi-omnidirectional antennas, or the like. The one or more communications antennas may be communicatively coupled to a radio component to transmit and/or receive signals, such as communications signals to and/or from the user devices120and/or AP(s)102.

Any of the user device(s)120(e.g., user devices124,126,128), and AP(s)102may be configured to perform directional transmission and/or directional reception in conjunction with wirelessly communicating in a wireless network. Any of the user device(s)120(e.g., user devices124,126,128), and AP(s)102may be configured to perform such directional transmission and/or reception using a set of multiple antenna arrays (e.g., DMG antenna arrays or the like). Each of the multiple antenna arrays may be used for transmission and/or reception in a particular respective direction or range of directions. Any of the user device(s)120(e.g., user devices124,126,128), and AP(s)102may be configured to perform any given directional transmission towards one or more defined transmit sectors. Any of the user device(s)120(e.g., user devices124,126,128), and AP(s)102may be configured to perform any given directional reception from one or more defined receive sectors.

MIMO beamforming in a wireless network may be accomplished using RF beamforming and/or digital beamforming. In some embodiments, in performing a given MIMO transmission, user devices120and/or AP(s)102may be configured to use all or a subset of its one or more communications antennas to perform MIMO beamforming.

In one embodiment, an AP102and/or user device(s)120may send a session 1 frame142during a first communication session and a session 2 frame144during a second communication session. It is understood that the above descriptions are for purposes of illustration and are not meant to be limiting.

FIG. 2depicts an illustrative schematic diagram for an efficient concurrent multichannel discovery and reception system, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

User device220may communicate in accordance with IEEE 802.11 communication standards. User device220may be a mobile device that is non-stationary (e.g., not having a fixed location) or may be a stationary device. Note that user device220may also be referred to herein as a STA.

In one embodiment, user device220may communicate with one or more neighbor devices (e.g., one or more APs and/or one or more other STAs). User device220may include a plurality of devices that facilitate communication via one or more communication sessions. User device220may include high performance PHY/MAC device204and reduced performance PHY/MAC device206. A PHY/MAC device may include circuity required to implement physical layer and media access control layer functions. High performance PHY/MAC device204may be capable of wide BW communication (e.g., up to 80 MHz, such as one 80 MHz channel, two 40 MHz channels, four 20 MHz channels, and so on). Reduced performance PHY/MAC device206may be capable of narrow BW communication (e.g., up to 20 MHz, such as one 20 MHz channel).

In one embodiment, each PHY/MAC device (e.g., each of high performance PHY/MAC device204and reduced performance PHY/MAC device206) may be capable of supporting a communication session on one or more channels. A communication session is an interactive information interchange between two or more communicating devices. For example, user device220may establish a first communication session using a first device (e.g., using high performance PHY/MAC device204) and may establish a second communication session using a second device (e.g., using reduced performance PHY/MAC device206). The first communication session and the second communication session may be established concurrently (e.g., at the same time and/or at overlapping times).

In one embodiment, user device220may include a plurality of radio chains (e.g., transceivers), such as High Power HB Radio210(which may include 2×2 5 GHz RF high performance chains), High Power LB Radio212(which may include 2×2 2.4 GHz RF high performance chains), and Low Power LB/HB Radio214(which may include a 2.4 GHz RF low power single receive-only chain and a 5 GHz RF low power single receive-only chain). High Power HB Radio210and High Power LB Radio212may each include two transmit (Tx) antennas and two receive (Rx) antennas (e.g., user device220includes two Tx antennas and two Rx antennas in each frequency band), which allows each high performance radio to establish two spatial streams with an AP. Low Power LB/HB Radio214may include a single Rx antenna for each frequency band. Each radio (e.g., each of High Power HB Radio210, High Power LB Radio212, and Low Power LB/HB Radio214) may include one or more analog to digital converters (ADCs), such as ADC222. ADC222allows an analog signal to be converted to a digital signal. User device220may also include one or more multiplexers (MUX), such as LB MUX224. Each multiplexer may allow multiple analog and/or digital signals to be combined into one signal.

FIG. 3depicts an illustrative schematic diagram for concurrent multichannel operations, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring toFIG. 3, there is shown a user device that comprises a first device (e.g., High Performance PHY/MAC Device304, which may be similar to High Performance PHY/MAC Device204ofFIG. 2) and a second device (e.g., Low Performance PHY/MAC Device306, which may be similar to Reduced Performance PHY/MAC Device206of FIG.2). The user device may be communicating using one or more multichannel operations (e.g., operations320,322,324, and326). These operations are illustrated over the time domain. For example, the user device may perform operation320, which includes communicating during a first communication session using High Performance PHY/MAC Device304. In the illustrated embodiment, operation320is a communication session that is a BSS Connection in the 2.4 GHz frequency band. The user device may communicate during operation320using a high power radio, such as High Power LB Radio312, which may be similar to High Power LB Radio212ofFIG. 2.

In one embodiment, concurrently with operation320, the user device may determine to perform a concurrent operation using a second PHY/MAC device, such as Reduced Performance PHY/MAC Device306, which may be similar to Reduced Performance PHY/MAC Device206ofFIG. 2. The concurrent operation may include one or more of a scan operation, a discovery operation, a radar detection operation, an automotive operation, and/or a soft AP operation. The scan operation includes the ability to find one or more neighboring APs and/or peers, for example to provide location information, to find candidates for roaming, and/or to find candidates for peer-to-peer interactions. The discovery operation includes making the concurrent device available for a certain time, for example to allow other Wi-Fi devices to discover the user device. The radar detection operation includes finding an alternative channel for operation, for example by performing a DFS master CAC operation. An automotive operation includes an ability to ensure minimal latency on a security channel in dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) while listen on lower time critical message on infra messages. A soft AP operation includes performing a best channel selection, for example by searching for an alternative channel that can provide better performance to associated devices.

In one embodiment, the user device may determine to perform operation322concurrently with operation320. In the illustrated embodiment ofFIG. 3, operation322includes performing a discovery operation in the 2.4 GHz frequency band. Operation322may be performed by Reduced Performance PHY/MAC306. Operation322may be performed using a low power radio, such as Low Power LB/HB Radio314, which may be similar to Low Power LB/HB Radio214ofFIG. 2. The user device may determine to perform operation324concurrently with operation320(e.g., subsequent to operation322). In the illustrated embodiment, operation324includes performing a discovery operation in the 5 GHz frequency band. Operation324may be performed by Reduced Performance PHY/MAC306. Operation324may be performed using a low power radio, such as Low Power LB/HB Radio314. The user device may determine to perform operation326concurrently with operation320(e.g., subsequent to operations322and324). In the illustrated embodiment, operation326includes communicating in a communication session that is a BSS Connection in the 5 GHz frequency band. Operation326may be performed by Reduced Performance PHY/MAC306. Operation326may be performed using a high power radio, such as High Power HB Radio310, which may be similar to High Power HB Radio210ofFIG. 2. Note that each of operations322,324, and326may be performed using Reduced Performance PHY/MAC306concurrently with operation320performed using High Performance PHY/MAC304. The user device may determine which radio chain to use for each of operations320,322,324, and326dynamically, depending on the determined operation (e.g., depending on the use case). For example, the user device (or a component of the user device, such as the communications circuity and/or the one or more PHY/MAC devices) may determine which RF chain(s) to use for each of operations320,322,324, and326, thereby taking advantage of the low power requirements of certain low power operations (e.g., one or more of the concurrent operations discussed above, including a scan operation, a discovery and/or discoverability operation, a radar detection operation, and/or an automotive operation).

FIG. 4depicts an illustrative schematic diagram for concurrent multichannel operations, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring toFIG. 4, there is shown a user device that comprises a first device (e.g., a High Performance PHY/MAC Device404, which may be similar to High Performance PHY/MAC Device204ofFIG. 2) and a second device (e.g., a Low Performance PHY/MAC Device406, which may be similar to Reduced Performance PHY/MAC Device204ofFIG. 2). The user device may be communicating using one or more multichannel operations (e.g., operations420,422and424). These operations are illustrated over the time domain. For example, the user device may perform operation420, which includes communicating during a first communication session using High Performance PHY/MAC Device404. In the illustrated embodiment, operation420is a communication session that is a BSS Connection in the 5 GHz frequency band. The user device may communicate during operation420using a high power radio, such as High Power HB Radio412, which may be similar to High Power HB Radio212ofFIG. 2.

In one embodiment, concurrently with operation420, the user device may determine to perform a concurrent operation using a second PHY/MAC device, such as Reduced Performance PHY/MAC Device406, which may be similar to Reduced Performance PHY/MAC Device206ofFIG. 2. The concurrent operation may include one or more of a scan operation, a discoverability operation, a radar detection operation, an automotive operation, and/or a soft AP operation.

In one embodiment, the user device may determine to perform operation422concurrently with operation420. In the illustrated embodiment, operation422includes performing a discovery operation in the 5 GHz frequency band. Operation422may be performed by Reduced Performance PHY/MAC406. Operation422may be performed using a low power radio, such as Low Power LB/HB Radio414, which may be similar to Low Power LB/HB Radio214ofFIG. 2. The user device may determine to perform operation424concurrently with operation420(e.g., subsequent to operation422). In the illustrated embodiment, operation424includes performing a discovery operation in the 5 GHz frequency band. Operation424may be performed by Low Performance PHY/MAC Device406. Operation424may be performed using a low power radio, such as Low Power LB/HB Radio414. Note that each of operations422and424may be performed using Low Performance PHY/MAC Device406concurrently with operation422performed using High Performance PHY/MAC Device404. The user device may determine which radio chain to use for each of operations420,422, and424dynamically, depending on the determined operation. For example, the user device (or a component of the user device, such as the communications circuity and/or the one or more PHY/MAC devices) may determine which RF chain(s) to use for each of operations420,422, and424, thereby taking advantage of the low power requirements of certain low power operations (e.g., one or more of the concurrent operations discussed above, including a scan operation, a discovery and/or discoverability operation, a radar detection operation, and/or an automotive operation).

FIG. 5illustrates flow diagrams of illustrative processes for an illustrative efficient concurrent multichannel discovery and reception system, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

At block502, a device (e.g., the user device(s)120and/or the AP102ofFIG. 1) may determine high performance communications circuitry and low performance communications circuitry within a first component of the device. The high performance communications circuitry may operate at up to 160 megahertz (MHz). The low performance communications circuitry may operate at up to 40 MHz. The device may further comprise a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals. The device may further comprise one or more antennas coupled to the transceiver.

At block504, the device may determine one or more high power radio frequency (RF) chains associated with at least one of a high frequency band or a low frequency band. The high frequency band may be a 5 gigahertz (GHz) frequency band and the low frequency band may be a 2.4 GHz frequency band. The one or more high power RF chains may comprise a first high power RF chain associated with the high frequency band, a second high power RF chain associated with the high frequency band; a third high power RF chain associated with the low frequency band; and a fourth high power RF chain associated with the low frequency band.

At block506, the device may determine one or more low power RF chains associated with at least one of the high frequency band or the low frequency band. The one or more low power RF chains may comprise a first lower power RF chain associated with the high frequency band and a second low power RF chain associated with the low frequency band. The first low power RF chain may be a 5 GHz low power single receive-only RF chain, and the second low power RF chain may be a 2.4 GHz low power single receive-only RF chain.

At block508, the device may perform a first operation with the high performance communications circuitry using a dynamically selected one of the one or more high power RF chains or the one or more low power RF chains and a second operation with the low performance communications circuitry using a dynamically selected one of the one or more low power RF chains or the one or more high power RF chains, wherein the dynamic selection is based at least in part on a use case, and wherein the first operation and the second operation are performed concurrently. The first operation may include establishing a first communication session on one of the low frequency band or the high frequency band. The second operation may comprise performing a discovery operation on one of the low frequency band or the high frequency band. The second operation may include one or more of: scanning for a neighboring access point (AP), performing a discovery operation, performing a discoverability operation, performing radar detection, performing a dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) operation, or searching for an alternative channel. The use case may be indicative of one of inter-band concurrency or intra-band concurrency. The second operation may be a low power operation, wherein based at least in part on the performing the second operation, the device may enter a low power state. Entering the low power state may include performing one or more of: setting a low power phase-locked loop (PLL) mode; switching to a dedicated low power PLL; setting a low power analog to digital converter (ADC) mode; setting a low power crystal radio (XTAL) mode; shutting down a medium access control (MAC) PLL; entering a MAC power gate mode; or clock gating at least a portion of a physical layer (PHY) modem.

FIG. 6shows a functional diagram of an exemplary communication station600in accordance with some embodiments. In one embodiment,FIG. 6illustrates a functional block diagram of a communication station that may be suitable for use as an AP102(FIG. 1) or user device120(FIG. 1) in accordance with some embodiments. The communication station600may also be suitable for use as a handheld device, a mobile device, a cellular telephone, a smartphone, a tablet, a netbook, a wireless terminal, a laptop computer, a wearable computer device, a femtocell, a high data rate (HDR) subscriber station, an access point, an access terminal, or other personal communication system (PCS) device.

The communication station600may include communications circuitry602and a transceiver610for transmitting and receiving signals to and from other communication stations using one or more antennas601. The transceiver610may be a device comprising both a transmitter and a receiver that are combined and share common circuitry (e.g., communication circuitry602). The communication circuitry602may include amplifiers, filters, mixers, analog to digital and/or digital to analog converters. The transceiver610may transmit and receive analog or digital signals. The transceiver610may allow reception of signals during transmission periods. This mode is known as full-duplex, and may require the transmitter and receiver to operate on different frequencies to minimize interference between the transmitted signal and the received signal. The transceiver610may operate in a half-duplex mode, where the transceiver610may transmit or receive signals in one direction at a time.

The communications circuitry602may include circuitry that can operate the physical layer (PHY) communications and/or media access control (MAC) communications for controlling access to the wireless medium, and/or any other communications layers for transmitting and receiving signals. The communication station600may also include processing circuitry606and memory608arranged to perform the operations described herein. In some embodiments, the communications circuitry602and the processing circuitry606may be configured to perform operations detailed inFIGS. 2-5.

In accordance with some embodiments, the communications circuitry602may be arranged to contend for a wireless medium and configure frames or packets for communicating over the wireless medium. The communications circuitry602may be arranged to transmit and receive signals. The communications circuitry602may also include circuitry for modulation/demodulation, upconversion/downconversion, filtering, amplification, etc. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry606of the communication station600may include one or more processors. In other embodiments, two or more antennas601may be coupled to the communications circuitry602arranged for sending and receiving signals. The memory608may store information for configuring the processing circuitry606to perform operations for configuring and transmitting message frames and performing the various operations described herein. The memory608may include any type of memory, including non-transitory memory, for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, the memory608may include a computer-readable storage device, read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memory devices and other storage devices and media.

The machine (e.g., computer system)700may include a hardware processor702(e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory704and a static memory706, some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interlink (e.g., bus)708. The machine700may further include a power management device732, a graphics display device710, an alphanumeric input device712(e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device714(e.g., a mouse). In an example, the graphics display device710, alphanumeric input device712, and UI navigation device714may be a touch screen display. The machine700may additionally include a storage device (i.e., drive unit)716, a signal generation device718(e.g., a speaker), a multichannel discovery device719, a network interface device/transceiver720coupled to antenna(s)730, and one or more sensors728, such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, a compass, an accelerometer, or other sensor. The machine700may include an output controller734, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate with or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, a card reader, etc.)).

The storage device716may include a machine-readable medium722on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions724(e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. The instructions724may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory704, within the static memory706, or within the hardware processor702during execution thereof by the machine700. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor702, the main memory704, the static memory706, or the storage device716may constitute machine-readable media.

The multichannel discovery device719may carry out or perform any of the operations and processes (e.g., process500, etc.) described and shown above.

Multichannel discovery device719may allow low power discovery concurrent to regular operation within the same band and/or within a different band using two MAC/PHY devices and a minimal RF Silicon footprint. Multichannel discovery device719may allow two MAC/PHY devices to dynamically connect to four RF lineups: two high performance RF lineups, including a 2×2 low band (LB) RF chain and a 2×2 high band (HB) RF chain) and two low power single chain receive-only RF lineups, including a low power LB chain and a low power HB chain. Multichannel discovery device719may allow both inter-band dual concurrency and intra-band dual concurrency with a small Si footprint and low power consumption in the required use case while maintaining a good user experience.

Multichannel discovery device719may allow for greater flexibility compared to prior dual concurrency systems. Multichannel discovery device719may allow any dual concurrency, including both intra-band (e.g., two communication sessions in same band) or inter-band (one communication session in a 2.4 GHz frequency band and one communication session in a 5 GHz frequency band). Multichannel discovery device719may allow continuous and/or continual concurrency with a minimal burden on battery power consumption and a good user experience. Multichannel discovery device719may enable better battery life compared to prior dual concurrency systems. For example, multichannel discovery device719may leverage the additional low power RF chains and flexible architecture to allow the system to always select the lowest power RF chain required by the specific usage scenario, even in non-concurrent use cases (e.g., use cases that require only a single PHY/MAC device, such as unassociated discovery). Multichannel discovery device719may allow for a smaller Si footprint for the supported multi-concurrency modes.

Multichannel discovery device719may use flexible hardware (HW) to enable a cost efficient, low power solution that enhances common use cases by supporting intra-band and inter-band concurrency without compromising user experience and performance (such as throughput, latency) and also while avoiding known interoperability issues (such as leaving a main connection channel).

Multichannel discovery device719may enable a dynamic selection between several RF chains in combination with two MAC/PHY devices. Multichannel discovery device719may use the following RF chains: 2×2 2.4 GHz RF high performance chains, 2×2 5 GHz RF high performance chains, a 2.4 GHz RF low power single receive-only chain, and a 5 GHz RF low power single receive-only chain. Multichannel discovery device719may use the following PHY/MAC devices: one wide bandwidth (BW) (e.g., up to 80 megahertz (MHz)) PHY/MAC device and one narrow BW (e.g., up to 20 MHz) PHY/MAC device.

Multichannel discovery device719may leverage that most of the required concurrency use cases include a device in an unassociated state (e.g., the device performs a concurrent operation that does not entail association with an AP), thus are less time critical by nature. Multichannel discovery device719may also leverage that most required concurrency use cases need to support only legacy data receive rates (e.g., using a low modulation and coding scheme (MCS)) or only radar detection, thereby allowing a signal to noise ratio (SNR) trade-off. Multichannel discovery device719may enable very low power operation for the discovery uses cases by reducing the requirements from the receive-only RF chains and by enabling the ability to transition from a low power state to an active state in the digital portion of the device (e.g., in the PHY/MAC devices).

Multichannel discovery device719may be optimized for dual concurrency by reducing phase noise and liming the BW requirements of the concurrent use cases. This optimization allows for the limiting of RF capabilities of the device. For example, the RF capabilities of the device may be limited by including: a low power phase-locked loop (PLL), which allows phase noise to meet low legacy rates only; a low power crystal radio (XTAL) mode, which allows phase noise required for legacy rates only; and a reduced power analog to digital converter (ADC) mode, which is allowed in narrow BW operations and operations that require a low SNR for discovery.

Multichannel discovery device719may enable system level optimizations. For example, using a RF low power single receive-only chain allows a device to leverage a longer response time to allow deeper clock and power management, including clock gating, voltage adjustments, and power domain shut down. Additionally, multichannel discovery device719may enable a fast transition from a listen mode to an active mode, for example by using capabilities such as PLL fast lock and fast power domains recover. Due to the flexibility of design, the same mechanism may also be applied in non-concurrent use cases (e.g., in use cases that require a single PHY/MAC device) that require a long use period for low power discoverability, thus optimizing battery life in a single function (e.g., a scan).

It is understood that the above are only a subset of what the multichannel discovery device719may be configured to perform and that other functions included throughout this disclosure may also be performed by the multichannel discovery device719.

The term “access point” (AP) as used herein may be a fixed station. An access point may also be referred to as an access node, a base station, an evolved node B (eNodeB), an evolved node B (eNodeB), or some other similar terminology known in the art. An access terminal may also be called a mobile station, user equipment (UE), a wireless communication device, or some other similar terminology known in the art. Embodiments disclosed herein generally pertain to wireless networks. Some embodiments may relate to wireless networks that operate in accordance with one of the IEEE 802.11 standards.

Example 1 may include a device comprising memory and processing circuitry configured to: determine high performance communications circuitry and low performance communications circuitry within a first component of the device; determine one or more high power radio frequency (RF) chains associated with at least one of a high frequency band or a low frequency band; determine one or more low power RF chains associated with at least one of the high frequency band or the low frequency band; and perform a first operation with the high performance communications circuitry using a dynamically selected one of the one or more high power RF chains or the one or more low power RF chains and a second operation with the low performance communications circuitry using a dynamically selected one of the one or more low power RF chains or the one or more high power RF chains, wherein the dynamic selection is based at least in part on a use case, and wherein the first operation and the second operation are performed concurrently.

Example 2 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other example herein, wherein the high frequency band is a 5 gigahertz (GHz) frequency band and wherein the low frequency band is a 2.4 GHz frequency band.

Example 3 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other example herein, wherein the one or more high power RF chains comprise a first high power RF chain associated with the high frequency band, a second high power RF chain associated with the high frequency band; a third high power RF chain associated with the low frequency band;

and a fourth high power RF chain associated with the low frequency band.

Example 4 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other example herein, wherein the one or more low power RF chains comprise a first lower power RF chain associated with the high frequency band and a second low power RF chain associated with the low frequency band.

Example 5 may include the device of example 4 and/or some other example herein, wherein the first low power RF chain is a 5 GHz low power single receive-only RF chain, and wherein the second low power RF chain is a 2.4 GHz low power single receive-only RF chain.

Example 6 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other example herein, wherein the first operation includes establishing a first communication session on one of the low frequency band or the high frequency band, and wherein the second operation comprises performing a discovery operation or a discoverability operation on one of the low frequency band or the high frequency band.

Example 7 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other example herein, wherein the second operation includes one or more of: scanning for a neighboring access point (AP), performing a discovery operation, performing radar detection, performing a dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) operation, or searching for an alternative channel.

Example 8 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other example herein, wherein the use case is indicative of one of inter-band concurrency or intra-band concurrency.

Example 9 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other example herein, wherein the second operation is a low power operation, and wherein the memory and processing circuitry are further configured to: based at least in part on the performing the second operation, cause the device to enter a low power state.

Example 10 may include the device of example 9 and/or some other example herein, wherein the causing the device to enter the low power state includes performing one or more of: setting a low power phase-locked loop (PLL) mode; switching to a dedicated low power PLL; setting a low power analog to digital converter (ADC) mode; setting a low power crystal radio (XTAL) mode; shutting down a medium access control (MAC) PLL; entering a MAC power gate mode; or clock gating at least a portion of a physical layer (PHY) modem.

Example 11 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other example herein, wherein the high performance communications circuitry operates at up to 160 megahertz (MHz) and wherein the low performance communications circuitry operates at up to 40 MHz.

Example 12 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other example herein, wherein the operations further comprise performing a third operation using at least one of the one or more low power RF chains with the low performance communications circuitry, wherein the third operation is performed concurrently with the first operation and subsequent to the second operation.

Example 13 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other example herein, further comprising a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals.

Example 14 may include the device of example 13 and/or some other example herein, further comprising one or more antennas coupled to the transceiver.

Example 15 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions which when executed by one or more processors result in performing operations comprising: determining high performance communications circuitry and low performance communications circuitry within a first component of the device; determining one or more high power radio frequency (RF) chains associated with at least one of a high frequency band or a low frequency band; determining one or more low power RF chains associated with at least one of the high frequency band or the low frequency band; and performing a first operation with the high performance communications circuitry using a dynamically selected one of the one or more high power RF chains or the one or more low power RF chains and a second operation with the low performance communications circuitry using a dynamically selected one of the one or more low power RF chains or the one or more high power RF chains, wherein the dynamic selection is based at least in part on a use case, and wherein the first operation and the second operation are performed concurrently.

Example 16 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 15 and/or some other example herein, wherein the high frequency band is a 5 gigahertz (GHz) frequency band and wherein the low frequency band is a 2.4 GHz frequency band.

Example 17 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 15 and/or some other example herein, wherein the one or more high power RF chains comprise a first high power RF chain associated with the high frequency band, a second high power RF chain associated with the high frequency band; a third high power RF chain associated with the low frequency band; and a fourth high power RF chain associated with the low frequency band.

Example 18 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 15 and/or some other example herein, wherein the one or more low power RF chains comprise a first lower power RF chain associated with the high frequency band and a second low power RF chain associated with the low frequency band.

Example 19 may include a method comprising: determining, by a device, high performance communications circuitry and low performance communications circuitry within a first component of the device; determining, by the device, one or more high power radio frequency (RF) chains associated with at least one of a high frequency band or a low frequency band; determining, by the device, one or more low power RF chains associated with at least one of the high frequency band or the low frequency band; and performing, by the device, a first operation with the high performance communications circuitry using a dynamically selected one of the one or more high power RF chains or the one or more low power RF chains and a second operation with the low performance communications circuitry using a dynamically selected one of the one or more low power RF chains or the one or more high power RF chains, wherein the dynamic selection is based at least in part on a use case, and wherein the first operation and the second operation are performed concurrently.

Example 20 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 19 and/or some other example herein, wherein the high frequency band is a 5 gigahertz (GHz) frequency band and wherein the low frequency band is a 2.4 GHz frequency band.

Example 21 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 19 and/or some other example herein, wherein the one or more high power RF chains comprise a first high power RF chain associated with the high frequency band, a second high power RF chain associated with the high frequency band; a third high power RF chain associated with the low frequency band; and a fourth high power RF chain associated with the low frequency band.

Example 22 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 19 and/or some other example herein, wherein the one or more low power RF chains comprise a first lower power RF chain associated with the high frequency band and a second low power RF chain associated with the low frequency band.

Example 23 may include an apparatus comprising: means for determining high performance communications circuitry and low performance communications circuitry within a first component of the device; means for determining one or more high power radio frequency (RF) chains associated with at least one of a high frequency band or a low frequency band; means for determining one or more low power RF chains associated with at least one of the high frequency band or the low frequency band; and means for performing a first operation with the high performance communications circuitry using a dynamically selected one of the one or more high power RF chains or the one or more low power RF chains and a second operation with the low performance communications circuitry using a dynamically selected one of the one or more low power RF chains or the one or more high power RF chains, wherein the dynamic selection is based at least in part on a use case, and wherein the first operation and the second operation are performed concurrently.

Example 24 may include the apparatus of example 23 and/or some other example herein, wherein the high frequency band is a 5 gigahertz (GHz) frequency band and wherein the low frequency band is a 2.4 GHz frequency band.

Example 25 may include the apparatus of example 23 and/or some other example herein, wherein the one or more high power RF chains comprise a first high power RF chain associated with the high frequency band, a second high power RF chain associated with the high frequency band; a third high power RF chain associated with the low frequency band; and a fourth high power RF chain associated with the low frequency band.