Method and System for a Time Domain Approach to 4G WiMAX/LTE-WiFi/BT Coexistence

Abstract

A method and system are provided in which a device that is operable to handle WiFi communication and WiMAX communication may receive downlink medium access protocol (MAP) information in a downlink sub-frame of a WiMAX frame and disable WiFi transmission during a portion of the downlink sub-frame based on the downlink MAP information. The disabled WiFi transmission may be enabled after data within the downlink sub-frame is decoded. The device may also receive uplink MAP information in the downlink sub-frame and may control a clear channel assessment associated with the WiFi transmission based on the uplink MAP information. The MAP information may comprise data or burst profile information and/or one or more physical control messages. A similar time domain approach may be utilized for coexistence between WiFi and long term evolution (LTE) coexistence, Bluetooth and WiMAX, and Bluetooth and LTE. Frame aggregation may be enabled to alleviate pending WiFi traffic.

1 . A method, comprising:
 in a device operable to handle WiFi communication and WiMAX communication:
 receiving downlink medium access protocol (MAP) information in a downlink sub-frame of a WiMAX frame; and 
 disabling WiFi transmission during a portion of the downlink sub-frame based on the received downlink MAP information. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the downlink MAP information comprises a downlink burst profile and one or more physical layer control messages. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 decoding data within the downlink sub-frame; and   enabling the disabled WiFi transmission after the data is decoded.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 receiving uplink MAP information in the downlink sub-frame of the WiMAX frame;   generating a signal during an uplink sub-frame of the WiMAX frame based on the received uplink MAP information; and   controlling a clear channel assessment operation associated with the WiFi transmission based on the generated signal.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the uplink MAP information comprises an uplink burst profile and one or more physical layer control messages. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 generating an indication of pending WiFi transmission traffic;   requesting bandwidth allocation modification to a base station based on the generated indication; and   when an indication is received that the request is granted, aggregating WiMAX transmission traffic in accordance with a schedule associated with the granted request.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein WiMAX downlink traffic is correlated to WiFi downlink traffic. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein WiMAX uplink traffic is correlated to WiFi uplink traffic. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 receiving downlink MAP information in a downlink sub-frame of a next WiMAX frame; and   disabling WiFi transmission during a portion of the downlink sub-frame of the next WiMAX frame based on the received downlink MAP information in the downlink sub-frame of the next WiMAX frame.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the disabling of the WiFi transmission comprises disabling a baseband operation associated with the WiFi transmission and a radio frequency front end power amplifier associated with the WiFi transmission. 
     
     
         11 . A system, comprising:
 one or more processors and/or circuits for use in a device that handles WiFi communication and WiMAX communication, the one or more processors and/or circuits being operable to:
 receive downlink medium access protocol (MAP) information in a downlink sub-frame of a WiMAX frame; and 
 disable WiFi transmission during a portion of the downlink sub-frame based on the received downlink MAP information. 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the downlink MAP information comprises a downlink burst profile and one or more physical layer control messages. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors and/or circuits are operable to:
 decode data within the downlink sub-frame; and   enable the disabled WiFi transmission after the data is decoded.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors and/or circuits are operable to:
 receive uplink MAP information in the downlink sub-frame of the WiMAX frame;   generate a signal during an uplink sub-frame of the WiMAX frame based on the received uplink MAP information; and   control a clear channel assessment operation associated with the WiFi transmission based on the generated signal.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the uplink MAP information comprises an uplink burst profile and one or more physical layer control messages. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors and/or circuits are operable to:
 generate an indication of pending WiFi transmission traffic;   request bandwidth allocation modification to a base station based on the generated indication; and   when an indication is received that the request is granted, aggregate WiMAX transmission traffic in accordance with a schedule associated with the granted request.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein WiMAX traffic is correlated to WiFi traffic. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors and/or circuits are operable to:
 receive downlink MAP information in a downlink sub-frame of a next WiMAX frame; and   disable WiFi transmission during a portion of the downlink sub-frame of the next WiMAX frame based on the received downlink MAP information in the downlink sub-frame of the next WiMAX frame.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors and/or circuits are operable to:
 disable a baseband operation associated with the WiFi transmission and a radio frequency front end power amplifier associated with the WiFi transmission.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors and/or circuits are disposed in a single package on a single substrate. 
     
     
         21 . A method, comprising:
 in a device operable to handle a first communication type and a second communication type, wherein the first communication type is one of WiFi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee and the second communication type is one of WiMAX and LTE:
 receiving downlink medium access protocol (MAP) information in a downlink sub-frame of a frame associated with the second communication type; and 
 disabling transmission of the first communication type during a portion of the downlink sub-frame based on the received downlink MAP information. 
   
     
     
         22 . A system, comprising:
 one or more processors and/or circuits for use in a device that handles a first communication type and a second communication type, wherein the first communication type is one of WiFi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee and the second communication type is one of WiMAX and LTE, the one or more processors and/or circuits being operable to:
 receive downlink medium access protocol (MAP) information in a downlink sub-frame of a frame associated with the second communication type; and 
 disable transmission of the first communication type during a portion of the downlink sub-frame based on the received downlink MAP information.