Abstract: A third party device location estimation mechanism can be implemented in a wireless communication network. In one embodiment, a distance between an observing communication device and a reference communication device and a distance between the observing communication device and a target communication device are determined. An exchange of messages between the target communication device and the reference communication device is detected at the observing communication device. Timing information associated with the exchanged messages is determined at the observing communication device.

Abstract: A wireless communication device can determine its position in accordance with a hybrid positioning mechanism to minimize bandwidth and power consumption at the wireless communication device. The wireless communication device can detect one or more request messages and one or more corresponding response messages exchanged between a master access point and one or more target access points, and can accordingly determine TDOA information associated with the one or more target access points. The wireless communication device can receive, from the master access point, RTT measurement information determined by the master access point based, at least in part, on the one or more request messages and the one or more corresponding response messages exchanged between the master access point and the one or more target access points. The wireless communication device can calculate its position information based, at least in part, on the TDOA information and the RTT measurement information.

Abstract: A mechanism for context awareness proximity-based establishment of wireless communication connections can be implemented in Bluetooth-compatible devices for simplifying procedures for device discovery, connection, service discovery, and content exchange. In response to determining to execute a context task associated with an application associated with a first communication device, the first communication device can determine whether a second communication device is within a threshold detection distance from the first communication device. If the second communication device is within the threshold detection distance from the first communication device, the first communication device can establish a communication link with the second communication device based, at least in part, on one or more connection parameters associated with the second communication device.

Abstract: A method and apparatus to selectively disregard co-channel transmissions on a medium uses an automatic gain control/clear channel assessment (AGC/CCA) circuit to gather signal power information, which is used to establish receiver sensitivity thresholds. Raw and cyclical power measurements of a received signal are processed by the AGC/CCA circuit to determine whether a current received signal process should be halted, and a new signal acquisition sequence begun.

Abstract: Predistortion may be employed to avoid distortion in the output of a power amplifier (PA) in a transmitter, while maintaining transmit power. An active transmission signal, instead of test tones, may be used for training a predistorter for the PA, and for the entire analog transmit path of the transmitter, via a loopback path from the output of the PA to the input of a receiver path. The transmitter may include an upconverter, and the receive path may include a downconverter, which may therefore both be included in the loopback path, helping eliminate phase noise. The predistortion training may incorporate fractional timing correction, to properly align the amplified version of the original TX signal received via the loopback path with the original TX signal. The transfer function of the PA may be estimated as a polynomial function, obtaining the coefficients of the polynomial function using adaptation techniques according to one of a number of possible different methods, e.g.

Abstract: To efficiently transmit data on a wireless network, small packets that might otherwise be sent individually are aggregated into a “superframe”. This superframe can then be transmitted as a single, larger packet. To form this superframe, a plurality of tagged data packets can be aggregated into a packed aggregation block (PAB). Encapsulation data, e.g. protocol information, can be appended to the PAB. Wireless transmission information can bound the PAB and encapsulation data. Forming the superframe can be performed using an efficient combination of hardware and software. In one embodiment, aggregation of the tagged data packets can be performed by hardware without regard to the underlying protocol(s). Software can then provide protocol-handling support.

Abstract: A mechanism for processing beamforming steering matrices in a transceiver system. A plurality of beamforming steering matrices associated with a plurality of subcarriers of an RF signal received at the transceiver system are generated. The beamforming steering matrices are compressed and stored. The beamforming steering matrices may also be grouped or sub-sampled prior to being stored. The beamforming steering matrices are decompressed and ungrouped before being applied to data to be transmitted. Prior to ungrouping the beamforming steering matrices, a phase difference between corresponding beamforming steering vectors of consecutive beamforming steering matrices is determined. Phase rotation is performed on the corresponding beamforming steering vectors based on the determined phase difference associated with the corresponding beamforming steering vectors to improve phase continuity between consecutive beamforming steering matrices.

Abstract: Various devices and techniques for testing an analog portion of communication devices are disclosed. Such devices may include a communication unit and an analog test unit. The analog test unit may be configured to test analog portions of the communication unit and communicate information regarding testing to an external test unit. The analog test unit may also be configured to perform an analysis of a test signal that is output by a transmitter portion, looped back to a receiver portion, and subsequently received by the analog test unit. The analog test unit may also be configured to calibrate a DC offset of a receiver chain of the communication unit. The analog test unit may also be configured to perform a nonlinearity test on one or more ADCs and/or DACs of the communication unit.

Abstract: A method for establishing shared information is described. The method includes estimating characteristics of a communication channel between two nodes based on signals transmitted between the nodes. The method also includes transmitting a signal from the first node to the second node, the signal being modulated with a first data sequence according to a first estimated characteristic, and transmitting a signal from the second node to the first node, the signal being modulated with a second data sequence according to a second estimated characteristic. Shared information is formed at each of the first and second nodes based on at least a portion of the first data sequence and at least a portion of the second data sequence.

Abstract: A high sensitivity GPS receiver includes an acquisition engine and a tracking engine. The acquisition engine processes GPS satellite data at data rate that is substantially equal to twice the coarse acquisition (CA) code chip rate. This data rate advantageously enables the acquisition engine to process GPS satellite data with relatively less hardware area than traditional GPS acquisition approaches. In one embodiment, the high efficiency acquisition engine may be over-clocked, thereby allowing different phases of a CA code to be correlated quickly. The tracking engine can advantageously process GPS satellite data at a data rate that does not have an integer relationship to the CA code chip rate.

Abstract: A method of providing synchronization-free station locating in a wireless network is provided. In this method, an AP having a known location sends a unicast packet to the station and notes its time of departure TOD(D). The station receives the unicast packet, notes its time of arrival TOA(D), sends an acknowledgement packet to the AP, and notes its time of departure TOD(D_ACK). The AP receives the acknowledgment packet and notes its time of arrival TOA(D_ACK). Notably, a distance between the AP and the station can be accurately determined using a first difference between the TOA(D_ACK) and the TOD(D) and a second difference between the TOD(D_ACK) and the TOA(D). A plurality of such computed distances between a plurality of APs and the station can be used to determine an accurate location of the station.

Abstract: Communication systems that use different physical layer (PHY) protocols can coexist on a communication medium (e.g., a powerline medium) by using an Inter-PHY Protocol (IPP). The different protocols may use different signal modulation schemes but still may have some features in common. The IPP includes a resource sharing mechanism that regulates access to the communication medium by devices functioning as communication devices (for example, devices communicating over a power line). A subset of devices that communicate among each other form a logical network that shares the medium with other logical networks that use either the same PHY protocol or a different PHY protocol.

Abstract: A process for determining when sounding packets are to be triggered and transmitted in a wireless beamforming system is disclosed. In one embodiment, a timer is programmably set to adapt to the operating environment. Whenever the timer elapses, a sounding packet is triggered and the timer resets. In another embodiment, the sounding packet is triggered by comparing measured correlations of channel characteristics against a programmable correlation threshold. If a measured correlation falls below the correlation threshold, this indicates that the channel has undergone a relatively large change. In response, a new sounding packet is triggered to update the beam steering matrix. Otherwise, the previous beam steering matrix is still used. Thereby, sounding packets are expeditiously triggered to keep the beam steering matrix updated with minimal impact to the over-the-air bandwidth.

Abstract: One embodiment of a DPSK receiver includes an ADC, a down-sampler, and a timing tracker. The ADC samples a received DPSK signal providing sub-samples of a digital signal. The timing tracker examines differences between amplitudes of currently selected sub-samples and sub-samples before and after the currently selected sub-samples. The differences may indicate a timing adjustment may be made to the digital signal. The timing tracker may change the timing of the digital signal by modifying the configuration of the down-sampler. Additionally, the timing tracker may also correct phase errors introduced by configuration changes of the down-sampler.

Abstract: A calibration mechanism is disclosed for performing I/Q mismatch calibration operations in a wireless communication device comprising a receiver unit and a transmitter unit. During an I/Q mismatch calibration mode, a first signal and a second signal are provided from the transmitter unit to the receiver unit via a loopback path coupled between the transmitter and receiver units. A phase shift is added to the second signal that is provided to the receiver unit. A first set of I/Q measurements is determined from the first signal and a second set of I/Q measurements is determined from the second signal with the added phase shift. Transmitter and receiver I/Q mismatch parameters are calculated based on the first and second sets of I/Q measurements. The receiver and transceiver I/Q mismatch parameters are used to compensate for I/Q mismatch at the receiver and transmitter units, respectively.

Abstract: A communication device supporting multiple wireless protocols may share a common gain element in a coordinated manner. A first wireless protocol circuitry of the communication device may enter an active state, and in response to entering the active state, may determine whether a second wireless protocol circuitry of the communication device is active and whether the common gain element is currently shared. The gain element may be adjustable to amplify signals by an adjustable amount. The first wireless protocol circuitry may take control of the gain element from the second wireless protocol circuitry in response to determining that the second wireless protocol circuitry is active and the gain element is currently shared.

Abstract: A message routing method includes receiving a plurality of messages at a routing node. The routing node is configured to receive instructions indicating an offset, criteria associated with the offset, and a group of interested nodes. The routing node examines a portion of a data payload of a received message based on the offset. If the information at the offset matches the criteria, the routing node routes the message to each of the group of interested nodes. Thus, the routing node can route messages to different groups of destination nodes depending on information in the data payload of received messages, thereby providing a flexible way to route messages over a network.

Abstract: A digital fractional PLL introduces an accumulated phase offset before the digital VCO using a digital accumulator to achieve the fractional part of the division ratio. To provide this phase offset, the digital accumulator can integrate a fractional component ?n. By forcing ?n to zero, the PLL becomes an integer-N PLL. A de-skew timing configuration can be used to remove any time mismatch between integer and fractional counters of the PLL. A digital PLL can merge the function of frequency generation (DVCO) and that of fractional frequency counting into the same circuit block by reusing various phases of the frequency output to generate a fractional frequency count. A digital integer PLL can include a single bit comparator, wherein the feedback loop of this PLL forces the phase difference between the reference clock signal and the feedback signal to approach zero. By changing the duty cycle of feedback signal, the frequency tracking behavior of the loop can be varied.

Abstract: A method for decoding an LDPC (low-density parity check) code word. The method includes receiving a plurality of LLR (log likelihood ratio) terms from a demodulation unit of a receiver and generating a scaling factor in accordance with at least one parameter descriptive of communication channel conditions for the receiver. The scaling factor is applied to each of the plurality of LLR terms to compute a corresponding plurality of scaled LLR terms. An iterative layered belief propagation algorithm is then executed by using the plurality of scaled LLR terms to generate decoded information.

Abstract: System and method for operating a wireless narrowband receiver. A signal may be received on a channel of the wireless narrowband receiver. At least a portion of the signal may be received from a first wireless narrowband transmitter. The wireless narrowband receiver may implement an adaptive frequency hopping algorithm. It may be determined if interference is present on the channel and one or more errors are detected in receiving the signal. In response to determining that interference is present on the channel and one or more errors are detected in receiving the signal, received signal strength of one or more neighboring frequencies of the channel may be measured, and the resulting measurements may be stored in a memory. The measurements may be used to determine interference sources interference on the channel.