Abstract:
A method for receiving high data rate wireless communication transmissions begins by receiving a plurality of radio frequency (RF) signals in accordance with a wireless communication standardized data rate on a plurality of RF channels. The method continues by converting each of the plurality of RF signals into a plurality of signals. The method continues by processing the plurality of signals at baseband or near baseband into media access control (MAC) data, wherein a number of the plurality of signals corresponds to an integer multiple. The method continues by processing the MAC data at a combination of wireless communication standardized data rates to produce recovered data.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates generally to wireless communication systems and more particularly to increased data rates in such systems. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Wireless communication systems are known to include a plurality of wireless communication devices that communicate over wireless communication channels, which are supported by wireless communication infrastructure equipment (e.g., base stations, access points, system controllers, wide area network interfaces, local area network interfaces, et cetera). Each wireless communication device, which may be a radio, cellular telephone, station coupled to a personal digital assistant, personal computer, laptop, et cetera, includes a radio transmitter and a radio receiver. The radio transmitter includes a baseband processor, one or more intermediate frequency stages, filters, and a power amplifier coupled to an antenna. The baseband processor encodes and/or modulates, in accordance with a wireless communication standard such as IEEE 802.11a, IEEE802.11b, Bluetooth, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS), et cetera, to produce baseband signals. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix the baseband signals with one or more local oscillations to produce a radio frequency signal. The filter filters the radio frequency signal to remove unwanted frequency components and the power amplifier amplifies the filtered radio frequency signal prior to transmission via the antenna. 
     A radio receiver is known to include a low noise amplifier, one or more intermediate frequency stages, filters and a receiver baseband processor. The low noise amplifier amplifies radio frequency (RF) signals received via an antenna and provides the amplified RF signals to the one or more intermediate frequency stages. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mixes the amplified RF signal with one or more local oscillations to produce a receive baseband signal. The receiver baseband processor, in accordance with a particular wireless communication standard, decodes and/or demodulates the baseband signals to recapture data therefrom. 
     One advantage of standardized wireless communications is that wireless communication devices can be manufactured by different manufacturers and still provide reliable service. However, a disadvantage of the standardized wireless communications is that channel usage, data rate, modulation schemes, etc. are dictated by the standard. Thus, a design choice is made to be standard compliant and operate within the parameters of the standard or operate at desired parameters and not be standard compliant. An issue with non-standard compliant operations is that if the frequency spectrum for the wireless communication is shared with a standard compliant communication system, interference will occur, resulting in degraded performance for both the standard compliant and non-compliant systems. 
     One approach to achieve data rates greater than standardized data rates for IEEE 802.11a is a Turbo mode developed by Atheros, as disclosed in an Atheros white paper, entitled Super G, Maximizing Wireless Performance, 3/2004. However, this method may create interference with standardized IEEE 802.11a communications. 
     Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus of achieving non-standard features while maintaining standard compatibility. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram of transceivers in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic block diagram of a transceiver in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic block diagram of an outbound baseband processing module in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic block diagram of an interleaving module in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic block diagram of an outbound baseband processing module in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic block diagram of a radio frequency transmit module in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic block diagram of an inbound baseband processing module in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic block diagram of a deinterleaving module in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 9  is a schematic block diagram of an inbound baseband processing module in accordance with the present invention; and 
         FIG. 10  is a schematic block diagram of a radio frequency receiver module in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram of transceivers  10  and  12  communicating via one or more of a plurality of wireless communication channels (CH. A-CH. n), which may be in a frequency spectrum allocated for standardized wireless communications such as IEEE 802.11a, b, g, Bluetooth, etc. For example, the transceivers  10  and  12  may be communicating via one channel (e.g., CH. A) in accordance with one or more wireless communication standards. As an alternate example, the transceivers may be communicating via two channels (e.g., CH. A &amp; CH. B), or more. In this example, since the channels are in the frequency spectrum of standardized wireless communications, the transceivers  10  and  12  process the multiple channel wireless communication such that standard compliant transceivers within range of transceivers  10  and  12  can recognize the wireless communication and avoid an interfering transmission by waiting for the wireless communication to end. 
     To facilitate the one or more channel communications, each of the transceivers  10  and  12  includes a MAC (Medium Access Control) module  22 ,  24 , a BB (baseband) module  18 ,  20 , and an RF (radio frequency) module  14 ,  16  operably coupled to multiple antennas. For a single channel communication, the MAC module  22 ,  24 , the BB module  18 ,  20 , and the RF module  14 ,  16  function in accordance with a standardized wireless communication protocol (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, b, g, Bluetooth, etc.). 
     For two or more channel communications, the MAC modules  22  and  24  function in accordance with a standardized wireless communication protocol, but may operate at a higher clock rate and/or at a higher utilization rate (e.g., less wait periods) to produce a combined data rate, which is greater than one of the standardized data rates. For example, assume that the data rate for a standardized wireless communication is D and the number of channels is N. From these assumptions, the data rate for the MAC modules  20  and  24  equals D*N. Accordingly, for a single channel communication, N equals one, thus the data rate for the MAC modules  22  and  24  equals 1*D. Similarly, for a two channel communication, N equals 2, thus the data rate for the MAC modules  22  and  24  equals 2*D. As a further example, assume that the data rate for a standardized wireless communication is D 1 , D 2 , D 3 , etc. and the number of channels is 2. In this example, the first channel may operate at a data rate corresponding to D 1  (e.g., 6 Mbps) and the second channel may operate at a data rate corresponding to D 2  (e.g., 18 Mbps). Accordingly, MAC modules  20  and/or  24  operate at the aggregate of the two channels (D 1 +D 2 ) (e.g., 6+12=18 Mbps). 
     As shown, the MAC module  22 ,  24  receives outbound data (data out)  26 ,  42  at a data rate corresponding to the number of channels being used (i.e., the data rate equals N*D, where D is a standardized data rate, or the aggregate of the data rates of the channels, when the data rate of the channels are not equal). The MAC module  22 ,  24  processes the outbound data  26  in accordance with a standardized wireless communication protocol to produce outbound MAC processed data  28 ,  44 . The outbound MAC processed data  28 ,  44  will be at a data rate corresponding to N*D, or D i +D i+l , + . . . (where D i  is the data rate of one channel and D i+1  is the data rate of another channel). 
     The BB module  18 ,  20 , which will be described in greater detail with reference to  FIGS. 3-5 , receives the outbound MAC processed data  28 ,  44  at the data rate of N*D, or the aggregate data rate, and produces therefrom outbound signals  30 ,  46 . In one embodiment, the BB module  18 ,  20  includes a 1-to-N data stream divider to produce N streams of data from the outbound MAC processed data  28 ,  44 . In addition, the BB module  18 ,  20  includes N number of standardized baseband processing modules to perform at least one of scrambling, convolutional encoding, interleaving, bit mapping, inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT), symbol shaping, and modulation (e.g., Quadrature Phase Shift Keying, Quadrature Amplitude Modulation, etc.). 
     The RF module  14 ,  16 , which will be described in greater detail with reference to  FIG. 6 , receives the outbound signals  30 ,  46  and produces, therefrom, outbound RF signals  32 ,  46 . For a single channel communication, the RF module  14 ,  16  transmits the RF signals  32 ,  46  on a single channel via an antenna structure (e.g., a single antenna, a diversity antenna structure). For a multiple channel communication, the RF module  14 ,  16  transmits the RF signals  32 ,  46  via multiple channels using multiple antennas. Accordingly, in an embodiment, the RF modules  14  and  16  include N standardized RF transmitters. 
     For inbound RF signals  32 ,  46  the RF modules  14 ,  16 , which will be described in greater detail with reference to  FIG. 10 , receives the inbound RF signals  32 ,  46  and produces, therefrom, inbound signals  36 ,  50 . For a single channel communication, the RF module  14 ,  16  receives the RF signals  32 ,  46  on a single channel via an antenna structure (e.g., a single antenna, a diversity antenna structure). For a multiple channel communication, the RF module  14 ,  16  receives the RF signals  32 ,  46  via multiple channels using multiple antennas. Accordingly, in an embodiment, the RF modules  14  and  16  include N standardized RF receivers. 
     The BB module  18 ,  20 , which will be described in greater detail with reference to  FIGS. 7-9 , receives the inbound signals  36 ,  50  and produces, therefrom inbound MAC processed data  38 ,  52  at the data rate of N*D, or the aggregate data rate. In one embodiment, the BB module  18 ,  20  includes N number of standardized baseband processing modules to perform at least one of descrambling, decoding, de-interleaving, bit mapping, fast Fourier transform (FFT), and demodulation. In addition, the BB module  18 ,  20  includes an N-to-1 data stream combining module to produce the inbound MAC processed data  38 ,  52  from the N streams of data from the N standardized baseband processing modules. 
     The MAC module  22 ,  24  receives the inbound MAC processed data  38 ,  52  and produces therefrom inbound data (data in)  40 ,  54  at a data rate corresponding to the number of channels being used (i.e., the data rate equals the aggregate data rate or N*D, where D is a standardized data rate and N is the number of channels). The MAC module  22 ,  24  processes the inbound MAC processed data  38 ,  52  in accordance with a standardized wireless communication protocol to produce inbound data  40 ,  54 , but at a rate corresponding to N*D. 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic block diagram of a transceiver  10  or  12  that includes the MAC module  22  or  24 , the BB module  18  or  20 , and the RF module  14  or  16 . The transceiver  10  or  12  is also shown to include a transmit/receive (T/R) switch  60 , which will be included when the transmit and receive paths share an antenna structure, but would be omitted if the transmit and receive paths include separate antenna structures. The MAC module  22  or  24  includes an inbound MAC module  70  and an outbound MAC module  72 . The BB module  18  or  20  includes an inbound BB processing module  66  and an outbound BB processing module  68 . The RF module  14  or  16  includes an RF receiver module  62 , and an RF transmit module  64 . 
     In operation, the outbound MAC module  72  converts outbound data  26 ,  42  into outbound MAC processed data  28 ,  44  in accordance with a standardized wireless communication protocol, but at an increased data rate (e.g., N*D or an aggregate data rate). The outbound BB processing module  68  converts the outbound MAC processed data  28 ,  44  include outbound signals  30 ,  46 . In one embodiment, the outbound BB processing module  68  includes a 1-to-N data stream divider to produce N streams of data from the outbound MAC processed data  28 ,  44 . In addition, the outbound BB processing module  68  includes N number of standardized baseband processing modules to perform at least one of scrambling, convolutional encoding, interleaving, bit mapping, inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT), symbol shaping, and modulation (e.g., Quadrature Phase Shift Keying, Quadrature Amplitude Modulation, etc.). 
     The RF transmit module  64  converts the outbound signals  30 ,  46  into outbound RF signals  32 - 2 ,  48 - 2 . The outbound RF signals  32 - 2 ,  48 - 2  will include one or more RF signals depending on the number of channels in the wireless communication. For example, for a single channel communication, the outbound RF signals  32 - 2 ,  48 - 2  include a single RF signal stream and for a two channel communication, the outbound RF signals include two RF signal streams. If included, the T/R switch  60  provides the outbound RF signals  32 - 2 ,  48 - 2  to the antennas for transmission. 
     In a receive mode, if included, the T/R switch  60  provides inbound RF signals  32 - 1 ,  48 - 1  from the antennas to the RF receiver module  62 . The inbound RF signals  32 - 1 ,  48 - 1  will include one or more RF signals depending on the number of channels in the wireless communication. For example, for a single channel communication, the inbound RF signals  32 - 1 ,  48 - 1  include a single RF signal stream and for a two channel communication, the inbound RF signals include two RF signal streams. 
     The RF receiver module  62  converts the inbound RF signals  32 - 1 ,  48 - 1  into inbound signals  36 ,  50 . The inbound signals  36 ,  50  will include N streams of signals, where N corresponds to the number of channels of the wireless communication. The inbound BB processing module  66  converts the inbound signals  36 ,  50  into an inbound MAC processed data  38 ,  52 . In one embodiment, the inbound BB processing module  66  includes N number of standardized baseband processing modules to perform at least one of descrambling, decoding, de-interleaving, bit mapping, fast Fourier transform (FFT), and demodulation. In addition, the inbound BB processing module  66  includes an N-to-1 data stream combining module to produce the inbound MAC processed data  38 ,  52  from the N streams of data from the N standardized baseband processing modules. 
     The inbound MAC module  70  receives the inbound MAC processed data  38 ,  52  and produces therefrom inbound data (data in)  40 ,  54  at a data rate corresponding to the number of channels being used (i.e., the data rate equals the aggregate data rata or N*D, where D is a standardized data rate for each channel and N is the number of channels). The inbound MAC module  70  processes the inbound MAC processed data  38 ,  52  in accordance with a standardized wireless communication protocol to produce inbound data  40 ,  54 , but at a rate corresponding to N*D, or the aggregate data rate. 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the outbound baseband processing module  68  that includes an encoding module  80 , an interleaving module  82 , and a plurality of baseband processing streams. Each of the plurality of baseband processing streams includes a symbol mapping module  84 ,  86 , an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) module  88 ,  90 , and a guard interval (GI) module  92 ,  94 . 
     In operation, the encoding module  80  receives the outbound MAC processed data  28  at a N*D data rate, or aggregate data rate, and produces therefrom encoded data  96  at the N*D, or the aggregate, data rate. In one embodiment, the encoding module  80  functions in accordance with a standardized wireless communication protocol, but at a higher data rate (e.g., a higher clock rate and/or higher utilization rate), to produce the encoded data  96 . For example, the encoding module  80  may be performing a convolutional encoding function in accordance with IEEE 802.11 a, b, or g. 
     The interleaving module  80 , which will be described in greater detail with reference to  FIG. 4 , converts the encoded data  96  at the N*D, or aggregate, data rate into N streams of interleaved data  98  at a standardized data rate (D) of each of the channels. Each of the streams of interleaved data is processed by a symbol mapping module  84 ,  86 , an IFFT module  88 ,  90 , and a GI module  92 ,  94  to produce symbols  100 , time domain symbols  102 , and outbound signals  30 , respectively. In one embodiment, the symbol mapping module  84 ,  86 , the IFFT module  88 ,  90 , and the GI module  92 ,  94  function in accordance with a standardized wireless communication protocol. Since each stream of data is processed in accordance with a standardized wireless communication protocol, standard compliant wireless communication devices will recognize these signals and thus wait for the RF channels to become available before transmitting, thereby avoiding interference. 
       FIG. 4  is a schematic block diagram of an interleaving module  82  that includes a dividing module  110  and a plurality of interleavers  112 ,  114 . The dividing module  110 , which may be a multiplexer, receives the encoded data  96  at the N*D, or aggregate, data rate and produces therefrom M-bit sections  116 ,  118 , where M may be  4  or multiples thereof. The interleavers  112 ,  114 , which operate at the standardized data rate (D) of the corresponding channel, interleaves the corresponding M-bits sections  116 ,  118  to produce the N-streams of interleaved data  98 . In one embodiment, the interleavers  112 ,  114  function in accordance with a standardized wireless communication protocol. 
       FIG. 5  is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the outbound baseband processing module  68  configurable for a standardized data rate transmission or a 2× standardized data rate transmission. In this embodiment, the outbound BB processing module  68  includes scrambling modules  120 ,  122 , encoding modules  80 ,  124 , switches  126 ,  128 , the dividing module  110 , interleavers  112 ,  114 , the symbol mapping modules  84 ,  86 , multiplexers  130 ,  132 ,  142 ,  144 , signal field modules  134 ,  136 , pilot tone modules  138 ,  140 , IFFT modules  88 ,  90 , training sequence modules  146 ,  148 , and GI modules  92 ,  94 . 
     For a single channel transmission on channel A and/or channel B, the dividing module  110  is inactive and the switches  126  and  128  are configured to provide the output of the encoding modules  80  and  124  to the corresponding interleavers  112  and  114 . As configured, the outbound BB processing module  68  will function in accordance with a standardized wireless communication to produce the outbound signals  30 - 1  and/or  30 - 2 . As is known, wireless communication standards prescribe that data is to be transmitted in frames that include a preamble section and a data section. To produce the preamble section of the frame, the multiplexers  130 ,  132 ,  142 , and  144  are controlled to produce a signal field, a pilot tone, and a training sequence for the preamble of the frame. The signal field, while in accordance with a standardized format, will include a frame length, and/or data size, corresponding to the frame on a particular channel as opposed to the entire transmission of data. For the data section of the frame, multiplexers  130  and  132  are controlled to couple the symbol mapping module to the IFFT module and multiplexers  142  and  144  are controlled to couple the IFFT module to the GI module. 
     For a two channel transmission on both channels A and B, the dividing module is enabled, switch  126  is configured to provide the encoded data from the encoding module to the dividing module and to provide an M-bit section from the dividing module  110  to the interleaver  112 , and switch  128  is configured to provide an M-bit section from the dividing module  110  to the interleaving  114 . In this mode, scrambling module  122  and encoding module  124  are inactive and scrambling module  120  and encoding module  80  are operating at 2× the standardized data rate (D). To produce frames on each of channels A and B, the multiplexers are enabled to produce the preamble section and the data section as previously described. 
       FIG. 6  is a schematic block diagram of a radio frequency transmit module  64  that includes a plurality of RF transmission paths. Each RF transmission path includes a frequency conversion module  150 ,  152 , a filter  154 ,  156 , and a power amplifier (PA)  158 ,  160 . In operation, each of the frequency conversion modules  150 ,  152  receives outbound signals  30 - 1 ,  30 - 2  and mixes them with a local oscillation corresponding to the carrier frequency of one of the channels. For instance, frequency conversion module  150  mixes the outbound signals  30 - 1  with a local oscillation corresponding to channel A. As one of average skill in the art will appreciate, the frequency conversion modules  150 ,  152  may include a direct conversion configuration or a super heterodyne configuration. 
     The filters  154 ,  156  are bandpass filters having a bandpass region corresponding to the respective channel that filter the outputs of the frequency conversion modules  150 ,  152 . The power amplifiers  158 ,  160  amplify the filtered signals to produce the outbound RF signals for both channel A and B. 
       FIG. 7  is a schematic block diagram of an inbound baseband processing module  66  that includes GI (guard interval) removal modules  170 ,  172 , FFT (fast Fourier transform) modules  174 , symbol demapping modules  178 ,  180 , deinterleaving module  182 , and a decoding module  184 . The GI removal modules, FFT modules, and symbol demapping modules function in accordance with a standardized wireless communication protocol to produce time domain symbols  186 , frequency domain symbols  188 , and interleaved data  190 , respectively, from the inbound signals  36 - 1 ,  36 - 2 . The inbound signals  36 - 1  and  36 - 2  are at a standardized data rate (D), which may be the same standardized data rate or different standardized data rates. 
     The deinterleaving module  182 , which will be described in greater detail with reference to  FIG. 8 , receives the streams of interleaved data  190  and produces therefrom high rate encoded data  192 . The high rate encoded data  192  is at a data rate of N*D, or the aggregate data rate. The decoding module  184  decodes the high rate encoded data  192  to produce the inbound MAC processed data  30 . In an embodiment, the decoding module functions in accordance with a wireless communication protocol, but at a faster rate. As one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, the standardized data rate D may be one of many specified data rates ranging from 6 Mbps to 54 Mbps (Mega-bits per second) and may differ from one channel to the next. 
       FIG. 8  is a schematic block diagram of a deinterleaving module  182  that includes a plurality of deinterleavers  200 ,  202  and a combining module  204 . Each of the deinterleavers  200 ,  202 , which functions in accordance with a standardized wireless communication protocol, receives a stream of the interleaved data  190 - 1 ,  190 - 2  at a standardized data rate (D) and produces therefrom, M-bit sections. The combining module  204 , which may be an N-to-1 multiplexer, combines the M-bit sections into the high rate encoded data  192 . 
       FIG. 9  is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the inbound baseband processing module  66  that includes the GI modules  170 ,  172 , the FFT modules,  174 ,  176 , the symbol demapping modules  178 ,  180 , the deinterleavers  200 ,  202 , a combining module  204 , switches  210 ,  212 , and decoders  214 ,  216 . In this embodiment, the inbound baseband processing module  66  may process a single channel communication on channel A and/or B or a dual channel communication on both channels A and B. 
     For a single channel communication, the switches  210  and  212  are configured to couple deinterleaver  200  to decoder  214  and to couple deinterleaving  202  to decoder  216 , respectively. In this instance, the inbound BB processing module  66  may process a single channel communication on channel A and/or B in accordance with a standardized wireless communication protocol. 
     For a dual channel communication, the switch  212  is configured to provide the output of deinterleaver  202  to the combining module  204  and switch  210  is configured to provide the output of deinterleaver  200  to the combining module  204  and to provide the output of the combing module  204  to decoder  214 . In this instance, decoder  216  is inactive. With this configuration, the modules function as previously described with reference to  FIG. 8 . 
       FIG. 10  is a schematic block diagram of a radio frequency receiver module  62  that includes the T/R switch  60 , low noise amplifiers (LNA)  220 ,  222 , gain/filter modules  224 ,  226 , and frequency conversion modules  228 ,  230 . Regardless of whether the transceiver is configured for single or multiple channel communications, the T/R switch  60  provides the inbound RF signals of channel A to LNA  220  and inbound RF signals on channel B to LNA  222 . Each of the LNAs  220  and  222  amplify the inbound RF signals, which are subsequently filtered and further amplified by the gain/filter modules  224 ,  226 . 
     The frequency conversion modules  228 ,  230  mix the outputs of the gain/filter modules  224 ,  226  with a local oscillation for channel A and for channel B, respectively, to produce the inbound signals  36 - 1  and  36 - 2 . As one of average skill in the art will appreciate, the frequency conversion modules  150 ,  152  may include a direct conversion configuration or a super heterodyne configuration. 
     As one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, the term “substantially” or “approximately”, as may be used herein, provides an industry-accepted tolerance to its corresponding term and/or relativity between items. Such an industry-accepted tolerance ranges from less than one percent to twenty percent and corresponds to, but is not limited to, component values, integrated circuit process variations, temperature variations, rise and fall times, and/or thermal noise. Such relativity between items ranges from a difference of a few percent to magnitude differences. As one of ordinary skill in the art will further appreciate, the term “operably coupled”, as may be used herein, includes direct coupling and indirect coupling via another component, element, circuit, or module where, for indirect coupling, the intervening component, element, circuit, or module does not modify the information of a signal but may adjust its current level, voltage level, and/or power level. As one of ordinary skill in the art will also appreciate, inferred coupling (i.e., where one element is coupled to another element by inference) includes direct and indirect coupling between two elements in the same manner as “operably coupled”. As one of ordinary skill in the art will further appreciate, the term “compares favorably”, as may be used herein, indicates that a comparison between two or more elements, items, signals, etc., provides a desired relationship. For example, when the desired relationship is that signal  1  has a greater magnitude than signal  2 , a favorable comparison may be achieved when the magnitude of signal I is greater than that of signal  2  or when the magnitude of signal  2  is less than that of signal  1 . 
     The preceding discussion has presented a method and apparatus for increased data rate transmission of a wireless communication while substantially eliminating interference with standardized wireless communications. As one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, other embodiments may be derived from the teachings of the present invention without deviating from the scope of the claims.