System and Method for Providing a Wireless Access Point (WAP) Having Multiple Integrated Transceivers for Use in a Hybrid Wired/Wireless Network

Abstract

The method may include determining a protocol associated with a communication signal for an access point. A compatible processor may be allocated and selected from a pool of available processors and subsequently utilized to process the communication signal. In one aspect of the invention, a processor may be made compatible by updating it with compatible protocol code that may be used for processing the communication signal. The compatible protocol code may be downloaded to the processor from a memory. The processor may associate a particular protocol code with a particular portion of the memory. Accordingly, the protocol code may be retrieved from the memory based on the association. The processor may be a digital signal processor (DSP), which may be adapted to process 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g and Bluetooth protocols, for example.

1 . A method, comprising:
 receiving, in a wireless access point, a communication signal;   determining, in the wireless access point, a wireless communication protocol used by the communication signal;   configuring one of a plurality of processors in the wireless access point for processing the wireless communication protocol in response to determining the wireless communication protocol; and   processing the communication signal using the configured one of the processors in the wireless access point.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining further comprises determining the wireless communication protocol used by the communication signal based at least in part on at least one field in at least one physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) frame decoded from the communication signal. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein another one of the processors is configured to process a different wireless communication protocol. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the other one of the processors is unconfigured for processing the wireless communication protocol, and the one of the processors is unconfigured for processing the different wireless communication protocol. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the wireless communication protocol uses a first communications band, and the different wireless communication protocol uses a second communications band. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the configuring further comprises updating the one of the processors to be capable of processing the wireless communication protocol. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the updating further comprises downloading protocol code compatible with the wireless communication protocol to the one of the processors. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one of the processors is also configured for processing at least one other wireless communication protocol. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one of the processors is configured for processing another wireless communication protocol before the configuring, and the one of the processors is unconfigured for processing the other wireless communication protocol in response to the configuring. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising tuning a transceiver device to at least one of a transmit frequency or a receive frequency associated with the communication signal. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the processors correspond to digital signal processors (DSPs). 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication protocol is a wireless personal area network protocol or a wireless local area network protocol. 
     
     
         13 . A system, comprising:
 a wireless access point including a first processor and a plurality of second processors, the first processor being configured to:
 receive a communication signal; 
 determine a wireless communication protocol used by the communication signal; 
 configure one of the second processors for processing the wireless communication protocol in response to determining the wireless communication protocol; and 
 process the communication signal using the configured one of the second processors. 
   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the first processor is further configured to determine the wireless communication protocol used by the communication signal based at least in part on at least one field in at least one physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) frame decoded from the communication signal. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein another one of the second processors is configured to process a different wireless communication protocol. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the other one of the second processors is unconfigured for processing the wireless communication protocol, and the one of the second processors is unconfigured for processing the different wireless communication protocol. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the first processor is further configured to update the one of the second processors to be capable of processing the wireless communication protocol. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the one of the second processors is also configured for processing at least one other wireless communication protocol. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the one of the second processors is configured for processing another wireless communication protocol before being configured to process the wireless communication protocol, and the one of the second processors is unconfigured for processing the other wireless communication protocol in response to being configured to process the wireless communication protocol. 
     
     
         20 . A system, comprising:
 means for receiving a communication signal;   means for determining a wireless communication protocol used by the communication signal;   means for configuring one of a plurality of processors in a wireless access point for processing the wireless communication protocol in response to determining the wireless communication protocol; and   means for processing the communication signal using the configured one of the processors.