Electrical computers and digital processing systems: memory – Storage accessing and control – Control technique
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-28
2002-08-06
Thai, Tuan V. (Department: 2186)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: memory
Storage accessing and control
Control technique
C711S170000, C711S171000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06430661
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to accessing data, and, more particularly, to accessing variable sized blocks of data with prioritization.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern day electronic products, such as computers and telecommunications devices, are generally faster and more efficient than their predecessors. Two important factors that have contributed to the improved performance of today's electronic products is the efficiency and laster rate at which these products transmit and receive signals. However, given the customer demand for faster and more responsive products, designers are constantly seeking ways to achieve a higher bandwidth while controlling the costs.
The overall performance of applications, particularly real-time telecommunication applications, can be improved by increasing the bandwidth available for transmitting signals. One example of a real-time telecommunication application where an increased bandwidth is desirable is a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) network.
Wireless Local Loop is quickly emerging as the technology that promises to deliver telephone service in geographical areas where using conventional copper telephone lines is cost prohibitive, or in a case where a telephone line exists, radio access technologies such as WLL provide other companies an opportunity to provide competitive services. Installing the last quarter of a mile of the telephone wire to a subscriber station is usually one of the most costly portions of the traditional telephone network, primarily because of the expenses associated with labor and maintenance. The telephone companies, which are usually responsible for maintaining the telephone wire, are frequently plagued with the daunting task of repairing the damage to the telephone lines caused by inclement weather, falling trees, digging, and by the recurring problem of copper wire theft. Accordingly, to circumvent the problems that are typically associated with the “traditional” telephone network, system designers turned to WLL technology, which is proving to be a promising and viable alternative.
FIG. 1
illustrates a block diagram of a WLL network
100
. The WLL network
100
includes a Wireless Subscriber Unit (WSU) at a subscriber station
115
that communicates with a remote Basestation Transceiver System (BTS)
120
. The data flow from the WSU
110
to the BTS
120
is referred to as an uplink connection, and the data flow from the BTS
120
to the WSU
110
is referred to as a downlink connection. The BTS
120
links the WSU
110
to a central office
130
, thus allowing a user at the subscriber station
115
to communicate with other subscriber stations (not shown) through the central office
130
. A connection
132
between the BTS
120
and the central office
130
may be made via a wire-line, fiber or microwave link, depending on the bandwidth, distance, and the terrain.
The heart of the WLL network
100
is the “wireless” interface between the BTS
120
and the WSU
110
, where the need for the copper loop is eliminated. The WSU
110
, located in the home or office, provides a radio frequency (RF) interface to an existing phone
135
or modem
140
, usually through an RJ-11 type plug (not shown). The connection between the subscriber station
115
and the central office
130
is typically as reliable and clear as the copper wire version.
The counterpart to the WSU
110
is the BTS
120
, which is generally located in the field. As is common in most wireless systems, the BTS
120
serves as a control station for the WSU
110
by providing, over a designated pilot channel, synchronization and control information necessary to initiate and maintain two-way communication. In communication systems employing time division multiple access (TDMA), a process well known in the art, the WSU
110
selects the channel frequency and the specific time slot based upon the availability and quality of the channels in the coverage area.
Most wireless communication systems, including the WLL network
100
, operate in accordance with industry defined standards. For example, two popular standards for the WLL network
100
are Personal Handyphone System (PHS) and Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT). The PHS and DECT standards, as well as other WLL standards, define the format for transmitting and receiving data, error checking algorithm, retransmission scheme, and other such parameters that are relevant to wireless communications systems.
The DECT standard for the WLL network
100
, for example, defines a 10-millisecond TDMA frame that comprises twenty-four time slots, where generally twelve slots are reserved for transmitting and twelve for receiving. DECT supports voice, analog data, and packet data communications. Voice and analog data communications are full duplex, whereas packet data communications are simplex in nature. Packet data communications can take advantage of directing all slots in one direction, uplink or downlink, with the exception of one slot for the reverse acknowledgement channel. Depending upon the bandwidth allocated by the system, an uplink or downlink channel can utilize between one and twenty-three lots for transferring packet data. When no data is waiting to be sent, the bandwidth is deallocated and assigned to other users. Thus, in an uplink connection, the BTS
120
of the WLL network
100
can transmit data on up to twenty-three slots that are allocated for transmitting data per each frame to the WSU
110
. Assuming all of the data is successfully transmitted over the twenty-three time slots, then new data may be transmitted on the twenty-three transmit time slots of the next frame. On the other hand, if not all of the data is successfully transmitted to the BTS
120
because of transmission errors, then that data is retransmitted over the twenty-three transmit time slots in accordance with the DECT retransmission scheme.
The retransmission scheme of a DECT WLL network requires an acknowledgement to be generated by the peer station on a slot-by-slot basis for duplex bearers. Double simplex bearers' acknowledgements are on a logical bearer number (LBN) basis contained in a MAC-MOD-2ACK message in a reverse bearer. The BTS
120
or the WSU
110
may be the peer station, depending on whether the connection is an uplink or downlink connection. That is, in an uplink connection, the BTS
120
is the peer station, and in a downlink connection, the WSU
110
is the peer station. A “good” acknowledgement, a request to advance, from the peer device indicates a good transmission and new data should be transmitted in the next frame. On the other hand, a “bad” acknowledgement, a request to retransmit, indicates a bad transmission, and thus requires retransmission of data that was not received correctly by the peer station.
Generally, in the WSU
110
or the BTS
120
of the WLL network
100
, data is retrieved from an external source (not shown), such as a processor or memory, before the data is transferred to the peer station. Because the data is transmitted and received at a fast rate between the BTS
120
and the WSU
110
, it is desirable to quickly access the data for transmission from the external source (not shown). However, because the data carried by some slots may not successfully reach the BTS
120
during the first attempt, it may be necessary to retransmit unacknowledged slots until the data successfully reaches the BTS
120
. Accordingly, some retransmission schemes may require different sized blocks of data to be retrieved from the external source for each frame transmission. Thus, the amount of data that is retrieved for transmission of the next frame may depend on the successful transmission rate of the previous frame since new data is generally retrieved for only those slots for which the transmission successfully completes.
The conventional method of retrieving data entails having a microprocessor or a microcontroller (not shown) program or instruct a direct memory access controller (not shown) to fetch the desired data.
Larson David N.
Shumaker Dennis A.
Legerity Inc.
Thai Tuan V.
Williams Morgan & Amerson
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