WO2019078823A1

WO2019078823A1 - Wireless band selection based on wired bus operation

Info

Publication number: WO2019078823A1
Application number: PCT/US2017/056953
Authority: WO
Inventors: I-Chen Lin; Han-Kuang Chang; Yi-Ching Lin; Cheng-Fang Lin; Huai-Yung YEN
Original assignee: Hewlett Packard Development Co LP
Current assignee: Hewlett Packard Development Co LP
Priority date: 2017-10-17
Filing date: 2017-10-17
Publication date: 2019-04-25
Anticipated expiration: 2020-04-17

Abstract

A device includes a wireless network interface to wirelessly communicate data with a wireless network via a plurality of frequency bands and a wired bus to communicate data over a conductor. The device further includes a processor connected to the wireless network interface and to the wired bus. The processor is to execute instructions to detect a mode of operation of the wired bus and to select a frequency band from the plurality of frequency bands of the wireless network interface based on the mode of operation of the wired bus.

Description

WIRELESS BAND SELECTION BASED ON WIRED BUS OPERATION

BACKGROUND

[0001] Computers and communications devices are often capable of simultaneous wireless and wired connections to external networks and devices. A device may connect to a wireless network to communicate data with other devices and servers on such network. At the same time, the device may have a wired connection to another device to exchange data with such device. For example, a notebook computer may be connected to a wireless network so that a user may watch an online video, while at the same time the user may connect a Universal Serial Bus (USB™) storage device to the notebook computer to copy a file present on the USB storage device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0002] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example device.

[0003] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example method of selecting a wireless network band.

[0004] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example computer device.

[0005] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of another example method of selecting a wireless network band.

[0008] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of another example method of selecting a wireless network band.

[0007] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an example data structure to associate wired modes and wireless bands. [0008] FIG. 7 is a flowchart of another example method of selecting a wireless network band.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0009] A wireless frequency band for wireless communications may be selected based on operation of a wired bus, so as to reduce or avoid electromagnetic interference between a wireless network interface and the wired bus. The wireless frequency band may be selected in response to connection of a device to the wired bus. if a selected wireless frequency band is not available, the operation of the wired bus may be changed. Simultaneous use of the wireless network interface and the wired bus may be realized with the elimination or reduction of electromagnetic interference.

[0010] FIG. 1 shows an example device 10. The device 10 may be a computer device, such as a notebook computer, laptop computer, desktop computer, tablet computer, smartphone, and the like.

[001 1] The device 10 includes a wireless network interface 12, a wired bus 14, and a processor 16 connected to the wireless network interface 12 and the wired bus 14. instructions 18, which may be termed band selection instructions, are provided for execution by the processor 18 to select a frequency band for the wireless network interface 12 based on operation of the wired bus 14.

[0012] The wireless network interface 12 is to wirelessiy communicate data with a wireless network 20 via a frequency band. There may be any number of wireless networks 20 operating a plurality of frequency bands. The wireless network interface 12 may be termed a dual-band or multi-band interface. The wireless network interface 12 may include any card, adaptor, chipset, antenna, and similar device to communicate electromagnetic signals with a wireless network 20. The wireless network interface 12 may operate according to a media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) specification, such an institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE™) 802.1 1 specification. For example, the wireless network interface 12 may operate according to IEEE 802.11 ac, which provides frequency bands nominally at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, and which may be referred to as WI-FI. The operating band of the wireless network interface 12 may be selectable. This may include the wireless network interface 12 switching between separate wireless networks 20 operated at different nominal frequency bands with, for example, the same Service Set identifier (SSID).

[0013] A wireless network 20 may be a wireless local area network (WLAN), wireless wide area network (WWAN), or similar network compatible with the wireless network interface 12. The wireless network 20 may include an access point, wireless router, radio tower, microwave tower, and similar. The wireless network 20 may employ band steering to direct the wireless network interface 12 to a particular band.

[0014] The wired bus 14 is to communicate data over a conductor. Any number of conductors, such as nine, may be used. The wired bus 14 may accord to a USB specification, such as USB 3.0/3.1 specification, hereinafter referred to as USB 3, The wired bus 14 may have multiple selectable modes of operation, which may include a spread-spectrum and scrambled mode of operation with a nominal bitrate of 5 gigabits per second. In the example of USB 3, the wired bus 14 may operate in a USB 2,0 (USB 2) mode of operation and in a USB 3 mode of operation, with the latter often having higher data throughput. A USB 3 mode of operation may include a SuperSpeed™ mode.

[0015] The wired bus 14 may have a dual-bus architecture to facilitate mode switching functionality. For example, in the example of USB 3, the wired bus 14 may include a set of conductors for a USB 3 mode of operation and may include a different set of conductors for a USB 2 mode of operation.

[0016] The wired bus 14 may include a physical receptacle or plug for receiving connection of an external device. Examples of such devices include storage devices, such as a solid-state drive, a hard drive, an optical drive, and the like. Other examples of such devices include printers, scanners, and similar. [0017] The wired bus 14 and the wireless network interface 12 define independent data paths with the processor 16. That is, data communicated between the wired bus 14 and the processor 16 is not automatically

communicated with the wireless network interface 12. Likewise, data

communicated between the wireless network interface 12 and the processor 16 is not automatically communicated with the wired bus 14.

[0018] The processor 16 may include a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, a microprocessor, a processing core, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or similar device capable of executing instructions. The processor 16 may cooperate with memory to execute instructions. Memory may include a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium that may be any electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical storage device that stores executable instructions. The machine-readable storage medium may include, for example, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically-erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, a storage drive, an optical disc, and the like. The machine-readable storage medium may be encoded with executable instructions.

[0019] The processor 16 is to execute instructions 18 that are to detect a mode of operation of the wired bus 14 and select a frequency band from a plurality of frequency bands supported by the wireless network interface 12 based on the detected mode of operation of the wired bus 14. For example, the instructions 18 may detect that the wired bus 4 is establishing a connection in a USB 3 mode when the wireless network interface 12 is operating in a 2.4 GHz band. The instructions 18 may accordingly cause the wireless network interface 12 to initiate a change from the 2.4 GHz band to a 5 GHz band, which may include the wireless network interface 2 breaking a connection with a current wireless network 20 and making a new connection to a different wireless network 20. This may reduce or eliminate electromagnetic interference between the wireless network interface 12 and the wired bus 14. [0020] In other examples, association of a device with the wired bus 14 triggers the selection of a frequency band for the wireless network interface 2. That is, a mode of operation need not be detected or used to trigger selection of a frequency band. Instructions 18 may be provided accordingly.

[0021] In further examples, if the wireless network interface 12 supports only one frequency band or if the selected frequency band is unavailable, the instructions 18 may change the mode of operation of the wired bus 14 to reduce or eliminate electromagnetic interference.

[0022] FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of an example method. The method may be performed by any of the devices discussed herein and may be performed continually during operation of the device. The method may be implemented by processor executable instructions. The method starts at block 30.

[0023] At block 32, a connection of a device to a wired bus is detected. This may include detection of the insertion of a plug into a receptacle, detection of an enumeration process for a connected device, or similar.

[0024] After connection of the device, at block 34, a mode of operation of the wired bus may be determined. The mode of operation may be determined by a signal on a conductor that connects the device to the wired bus. For example, a detection of termination of a particular conductor may indicate a particular mode of operation. In USB examples, detection of a USB 3 mode may include detecting a terminating signal in response to a periodic common-mode pulse transmitted on a SuperSpeed™ line.

[0025] In response to determining the mode of operation of the wired bus, at block 36, a frequency band of a wireless network interface is selected based on the detected mode of operation of the wired bus, and the method ends, at block 38. To facilitate the band selection at block 36, a particular selected wireless frequency band may be associated with a particular detected mode of operation of the wired bus, as shown in FIG. 6. [0026] FIG. 3 shows an example computer device 50. The computer device 50 may be a notebook computer, laptop computer, desktop computer, tablet computer, smartphone, and the like. The computer device 50 includes a wireless network interface 12, a wired bus 14, and a processor 18 connected to the wireless network interface 12 and the wired bus 14. The other examples discussed herein may be referenced for further description of these

components. In this example, the wired bus 14 has a dual-bus architecture, such as a USB 3 architecture that implements USB 2.

[0027] The computer device 50 may further include an input/output (I/O) chipset 52, high-capacity storage 54, a user interface 56, and memory 58.

[0028] The I/O chipset 52 may be connected to the processor 16 for managing data flow to and from the processor 16. The chipset 52 may include a northbridge, southbridge, or similar. The high-capacity storage 54, user interface 56, wireless network interface 12, and wired bus 14 may be connected to the processor 16 through the I/O chipset 52.

[0029] The high-capacity storage 54 may include a non-transitory machine- readable storage medium that may be any electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical storage device that stores executable instructions. The high-capacity storage 54 may include, for example, a hard disk drive, an optical disc drive, a solid-state drive, flash memory, or similar.

[0030] The high-capacity storage 54 may store an operating system 60 that is executable by the processor 16 to provide general functionality to the computer device 50, including functionality to support applications. Examples of operating systems include Windows™, macOS™, iOS™, Android™, Linux™, and Unix™. The high-capacity storage 54 may further store applications 62 that are executable by the processor 16 to provide user functionality to the computer device 50.

[0031] The user interface 56 may include a display device, such as a graphics controller, graphics processor, graphics memory, a monitor, a touchscreen, or similar, and may include an input device, such as a physical keyboard, touchscreen, or similar.

[0032] The memory 58 may include a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, such as RAM, ROM, EEPROIVI, flash memory, and the like. The memory 58 may be encoded with executable instructions, which may originate from high-capacity storage 54, and may cooperate with the processor 16 to execute the instructions.

[0033] Instructions 70 may be stored in high capacity storage 54 for execution by the processor 18 and memory 58. The instructions 70 may be to select a frequency band for the wireless network interface 12 in response to detection of an association with a device 80 connected to the wired bus 14.

[0034] Association of a device 80 may include detection of a physical connection of the device 80 to the wired bus 14. Detecting association may include detection of a signal on a conductor of the wired bus 14. Detecting association may be realized by an enumeration process triggered by the physical connection of the device 80 to the wired bus 14, In a USB example, detection of the association of the device 80 may include a USB controller's driver scanning for and detecting any connected device 80 and passing information about the device 80 to the operating system 60 during or after enumeration of the device 80. As such, the instructions 70 may include an application programming interface (API) call to the operating system 60 to determine if a device 80 has been connected. The API call may be executed regularly, so that the instructions 70 may respond to any new device 80 connected to the wired bus 14 in a suitable time to select a frequency band for the wireless network interface 12 to avoid interference.

[0035] In some use cases, detection of association of a device 80 may provide sufficient information to trigger selection of a wireless frequency band for the wireless network interface 2. For example, a user setting may be taken as an indication that only USB 3 devices will be connected to the wired bus 14. As such, association of a USB device is sufficient information to determine whether a wireless band change should be made.

[0036] The instructions 70 may be to select a frequency band of the wireless network interface 12 with respect to a mode of operation of the wired bus 14 that is selected for an associated device 80. That is, the instructions 70 may include instructions to detect a mode of operation selected for the wired bus 14 to serve the device 80 and to select the frequency band of the wireless network interface 12 based on the mode of operation. The instructions 70 may be to select a frequency band in response to enumeration of the connected device 80. The instructions 70 may include a API call to the operating system 60 to determine a mode of operation of the wired bus 14 for any new device 80 connected. Such an API call may be executed regularly.

[0037] An operation mode returned by the API call may be an explicit indication of mode, an indication of connection speed, or similar. Mode and connection speed may be related and determining one may indicate the other. An example API call under a Windows operating system for a USB interface is the "IOCTL_USB_GET_NODE_CONNECTION_INFORMATION_t≡X_V2" user- mode control request, which may return a flag, such as

"DevicelsOperatingAtSuperSpeedOrHigher", indicative of a USB device operating in a USB 3 mode as compared to a USB 2 mode.

[0038] The instructions 70 may employ an API call to disconnect the wireless network interface 12 from a network and connect the wireless network interface 12 to a network having the selected a frequency band. In a Windows operating system, API functions such as "WlanDisconnecf and "WlanConnecf with parameters such as defined by "WLAN__CONNECTION__PARAIV1ETERS" may be used to connect the wireless network interface 12 to a network offering the selected frequency band.

[0039] The instructions 70 may further be to select a mode of operation of the wired bus if the desired frequency band for the wireless network interface 12 is unavailable. That is, if the instructions 70 determine that a connection to the wired bus 14 is to trigger the wireless network interface 12 to connect to a network offering the selected frequency band, but the wireless network interface 12 or the network is incapable or unavailable, then the instructions 70 may instead change the mode of operation of the wired bus 14. In a USB example, changing the mode of operation may be achieved by setting an appropriate register in an extensible Host Controller Interface (xHCI), for example.

[0040] The wired bus 14 may be capable of detecting whether a connected device is switchable between host and peripheral roles. In a USB example, the wired bus 14 and a connected device 80 may establish a USB On~The-Go™ (OTG) connection. The instructions 70 may further be to determine the mode of operation of the wired bus 14 based on the detection of the connected device 80 as switchable between host and peripheral. In a USB example, the instructions 70 may detect that a device 80 has a USB OTG connection with the wired bus 14. Determination of such may be used as a condition for selecting a frequency band for the wireless network interface 12. That is, for example, the frequency band for the wireless network interface 12 may be selected based detection of a USB OTG connection.

[0041] FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of an example method. The method may be performed by any of the devices discussed herein and may be performed continually during operation of the device. The method may be implemented by processor executable instructions. The method starts at block 90.

[0042] At block 92, a connection of a device to a wired bus is detected and an enumeration process begins. The enumeration process may be to identify the connected device and its capabilities, such as mode of operation, which may be explicitly defined or discernable from a defined data transfer rate or other information. USB enumeration is an example of an enumeration process.

[0043] During the enumeration process, at block 94, a mode of operation for the connected device is established. This may include setting up a connection between the wired bus and the device using a particular mode or data rate, in a USB example, this may include establishing a USB 3 or USB 2 connection, establishing a SuperSpeed connection, establishing an OTG connection, or similar.

[0044] At block 96, the enumeration process is completed. The mode of operation of the device connected to the wired bus may be available for determination by an operating system, at block 98. For example, an operating system API call may return information indicative of the mode of operation of the connected device. Such information may include an explicit indication of the mode, a data transfer rate indicative of mode, or similar.

[0045] Next, at block 100, a frequency band for a wireless network interface is selected based on the mode of operation of the device connected to the wired bus. Selecting the frequency band may include making a selection from a plurality of frequency bands supported by the wireless network interface. A predetermined association or mapping of frequency band to mode of operation may be referenced.

[0048] If the selected frequency band is available, at block 101 , then the wireless network interface is controlled to connect to a wireless network using the selected frequency band, at block 102, and the method ends at block 08. Controlling the wireless network interface may include disconnecting from a current wireless network and connecting to a different wireless network operating at the selected frequency band. Such networks may be, for example, IEEE 802.11 ac networks operating with the same SS!D on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, in one example, when the mode of operation of a connected USB device is determined to be a USB 3 mode such as a SuperSpeed mode, which may have a 5 gigabit data rate, the selected frequency band is a 5 GHz band, which reduces or avoids interface with the USB 3 connection.

[0047] If the selected frequency band is not available, at block 101 , then an override mode of operation for the wired bus may be selected, at block 104. The selected frequency band may be unavailable if, for example, the wireless network interface does not support the selected band or a network operating at the selected band is unavailable. The enumeration process is started again with reference to the override mode of operation, at block 92, and the override mode of operation is selected at block 94. This may be realized by setting a register of a controller of the wired bus. Subsequently, at biock 100, a frequency band for the wireless network interface is selected based on the override mode of operation for the wired bus. In a USB example, if a USB 3 mode is initially detected while the wireless network interface is connected using a 2.4 GHz band, if may be determined that a 5 GHz band connection is not available. As such, the USB 3 mode may be downgraded to a USB 2 mode, which causes less or no interference in the 2.4 GHz wireless band.

[0048] FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of an example method. The method may be performed by any of the devices discussed herein and may be performed continually during operation of the device. The method may be implemented by processor executable instructions. The method starts at biock 120.

[0049] At block 122 it is determined whether a user has enabled automatic wireless frequency band selection based on wired bus operation. Such a user option may be provided in, for example, a control panel of an operating system, a network manager, or an application. If this functionality is not enabled, the method ends at biock 132.

[0050] If automatic wireless frequency band selection is enabled, then it is determined whether a USB 3 connection has been detected, at block 124. This may include detecting a SuperSpeed connection or a USB 3 OTG connection, if no such connection is detected, the method ends at block 132.

[0051] If a USB 3 connection is detected, then it is determined whether a wireless connection at a 2.4 GHz frequency band is active, at block 128. This may include detecting a connection to a IEEE 802.11 wireless network using a 2.4 GHz band, if no such connection is detected, the method ends at biock 132.

[0052] If there is an active connection to a wireless network using a 2.4 GHz frequency band, then it is determined whether a connection via a 5 GHz frequency band is available, at block 128. This may include determining whether the device's network interface supports a 5 GHz band and whether the device is within range of a wireless network that operates a 5 GHz band. This may further include determining whether the device has credentials for connection to a wireless network operating the 5 GHz band.

[0053] If a 5 GHz wireless connection is available, then the wireless network interface of the device switches from the 2,4 GHz connection to the 5 GHz connection, at block 130, to reduce or eliminate interference with the USB 3 connection. This may include disconnecting from a current network and connecting to a different network, which operate under the same SSID. A user prompt may be presented for a user to confirm that the 5 GHz connection is to be established. Such a prompt may include a request for credentials to make the 5 GHz connection, if not stored at the device.

[0054] If a 5 GHz wireless connection is not available, then the USB connection is switched from USB 3 to USB 2, at block 134, to reduce or eliminate interference with the active 2.4 GHz wireless connection. For example, the device may not support a 5 GHz connection, a 5 GHz wireless network may not be available, a 5 GHz wireless network may have too low a signal strength, or a similar circumstance may exist. Switching from a USB 3 to USB 2 may include re-enumerating the USB device. The method then ends at block 132.

[0055] FIG. 8 shows a data structure to associate wired bus operation modes and wireless network frequency bands. The association or mapping may be stored in memory for reference by instructions to change wireless network frequency band or wired bus operation mode based on detected combinations of such.

[0056] The association may store unique combinations of detected wired bus operation mode 150 and detected wireless network frequency band 152. Any number of such associations may be defined and stored. For example, the association may store USB 3 and 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi as a unique combination of respective wired bus operation mode 150 and wireless network frequency band 152. [0057] The association may further store a selected wireless network frequency band 154 to be selected upon detection of the unique combination defined by the detected wired bus operation mode 150 and detected wireless network frequency band 152, Continuing the example above, the association may store 5 GHz Wi-Fi as a selected wireless network frequency band 154.

[0058] The association may further store a fallback wired bus operation mode 156 for use as an override to the detected wired bus operation mode 150 should the selected wireless network frequency band 154 be unavailable.

Continuing the example above, the association may store USB 2 as a fallback wired bus operation mode 156.

[0059] FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of an example method. The method may be performed by any of the devices discussed herein and may be performed continually during operation of the device. The method may be implemented by processor executable instructions. The method starts at block 160.

[0060] Blocks 92-102 may be as discussed elsewhere herein.

[0061] If the selected frequency band is available, at block 101 , then the wireless network interface is controlled to connect to a wireless network using the selected frequency band, at block 102. Communications performance under the newly selected frequency band may then be evaluated at block 162. if performance is detrimentally affected under the newly selected frequency band, then the method may return to block 100 to select a different frequency band, if communications performance is not detrimentally affected under the newly selected frequency band, then the method ends at block 164. Communications performance may be evaluated using any suitable indicator, such as an indication of a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS), a Channel Quality indicator (CQi), a Quality of Service (QoS) indicator, or the like. For example, block 162 may compare an MCS of the newly selected frequency band to an MCS of a frequency band that was being used prior to execution of block 100. If the new MCS provides significantly lower throughput than the previous MCS, then the method may return to block 100 to reselect the previous frequency band or to select another frequency band to try.

[0062] The USB 3 and Wi-Fi coexistence examples given above are non- limiting examples. The techniques described herein may be used for other wired and wireless communications schemes that are susceptible to interference.

[0083] It should be apparent from the above detailed description that selecting a frequency band for a wireless network interface based on a detected mode of operation of a wired bus may reduce or eliminate electromagnetic interference between the wireless network interface and the wired bus. The wired bus may remain in a high-performance mode with little or no disruption to wireless data throughput. Downgrading the wired bus connection may be avoided or performed as a fallback option. Further, it may be the case that the selected frequency band offers a similar, equivalent, or better connection than a frequency band in use. In addition, electromagnetic interference need not be measured or quantified. Rather, a potential for electromagnetic interference may be determined and addressed before substantial interference is experienced. Total data rate through the wireless network interface and the wired bus may be maintained or increased with little or no disruption to the user.

[0064] It should be recognized that features and aspects of the various examples provided above can be combined into further examples that also fall within the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, the figures are not to scale and may have size and shape exaggerated for illustrative purposes.

Claims

1. A device comprising: a wireless network interface to wirelessly communicate data with a wireless network via a plurality of frequency bands; a wired bus to communicate data over a conductor; and a processor connected to the wireless network interface and to the wired bus, the processor to execute instructions to detect a mode of operation of the wired bus and to select a frequency band from the plurality of frequency bands of the wireless network interface based on the mode of operation of the wired bus.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are to detect the mode of operation of the wired bus during an enumeration of another device that is connected to the wired bus.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the instructions are to select the frequency band in response to the enumeration of the other device.

4. The device of claim 2, wherein the wired bus is to detect the other device as switchabie between host and peripheral.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the instructions to detect the mode of operation include instructions to detect the other device as switchabie between host and peripheral.

8. The device of claim 1 , wherein the mode of operation of the wired bus has a spread-spectrum and scrambled operation with a nominal bitrate of 5 gigabits per second, and wherein the frequency band of the wireless network interface is nominally 5 GHz.

7. The device of claim 1 , wherein the wired bus and the wireless network interface define independent data paths to the processor.

8. A device comprising: a wireless network interface to wirelessly communicate data; a wired bus to communicate data over a conductor; and a processor connected to the wireless network interface and to the wired bus, the processor to detect an association of another device connected to the wired bus and to select a frequency band of the wireless network interface in response to the association.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the processor is to detect a mode of operation of the other device and to select the frequency band of the wireless network interface based on the mode of operation of the other device. 0. The device of claim 8, wherein the wired bus has a dual-bus architecture, and wherein the processor is to select a mode of operation of the wired bus if the frequency band is unavailable.

11. A method comprising: detecting a connection of a device to a wired bus; determining a mode of operation of the wired bus after connection of the device; and in response to determining the mode of operation of the wired bus, selecting a frequency band of a wireless network interface based on the mode of operation of the wired bus.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein selecting the frequency band comprises selecting the frequency band from a plurality of frequency bands supported by the wireless network interface.

13. The method of claim 1 1 , further comprising performing enumeration of the device with the wired bus and setting the mode of operation during the enumeration.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising selecting the mode of operation of the wired bus if the frequency band is unavailable.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein determining the mode of operation includes determining the device as switchable between host and peripheral.