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A wireless communication system hosts a plurality of processes in accordance with a communication protocol. The system includes application specific instruction set processors (ASISPs) that provided computation support for the process. Each ASISP is capable of executing a subset of the functions of

A wireless communication system hosts a plurality of processes in accordance with a communication protocol. The system includes application specific instruction set processors (ASISPs) that provided computation support for the process. Each ASISP is capable of executing a subset of the functions of a communication protocol. A scheduler is used to schedule the ASISPs in a time-sliced algorithm so that each ASISP supports several processes. In this architecture, the ASISP actively performs computations for one of the supported processes (active process) at any given time. The state information of each process supported by a particular ASISP is stored in a memory bank that is uniquely associated with the ASISP. When a scheduler instructs an ASISP to change which process is the active process, the state information for the inactivated process is stored in the memory bank and the state information for the newly activated process is retrieved from the memory bank.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A mobile wireless communication apparatus comprising: a plurality of application specific instruction set processors (ASISPs) configured to support one or more processes of a mobile wireless communication protocol, and to track process state information associated with each of the processes; anda

1. A mobile wireless communication apparatus comprising: a plurality of application specific instruction set processors (ASISPs) configured to support one or more processes of a mobile wireless communication protocol, and to track process state information associated with each of the processes; anda unit configured to provide, when an ASISP of the plurality of ASISPs is reallocated from a first process to a second process, the respective ASISP with tracked process state information for the second process. 2. The mobile wireless communication apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a controller configured to control a processing schedule for the ASISPs. 3. The mobile wireless communication apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processing schedule is a time-sliced processing schedule. 4. The mobile wireless communication apparatus of claim 2, wherein the controller and the ASISPs are configured to operate in accordance with a master/slave relationship. 5. The mobile wireless communication apparatus of claim 4, wherein the controller is configured to send a “wait” instruction to at least one of the ASISPs, and the ASISP is configured to respond to the “wait” instruction by entering an idle state. 6. The mobile wireless communication apparatus of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to allocate ASISPs to the communication processes on a dynamic basis. 7. The mobile wireless communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein each ASISP is configured to be limited to performing a subset of functions associated with the mobile wireless communication protocol. 8. The mobile wireless communication apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of memory modules, each memory module in the plurality of memory modules being associated with a different ASISP of the plurality of ASISPs. 9. The mobile wireless communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mobile wireless communication apparatus is a mobile wireless communication microchip. 10. The mobile wireless communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mobile wireless communication apparatus is a mobile station. 11. A mobile wireless communication apparatus comprising: at least one application specific instruction set processor (ASISP) configured to support at least one process of a mobile wireless communication protocol and to track process state information associated with the at least one process; anda provision unit configured to provide, when the ASISP is reallocated from a first process to a second process, the ASISP with tracked process state information for the second process. 12. The mobile wireless communication apparatus of claim 11, wherein the mobile wireless communication apparatus is a mobile wireless communication microchip. 13. The mobile wireless communication apparatus of claim 11, wherein the mobile wireless communication apparatus is a mobile station. 14. A mobile wireless communication method comprising: processing, by a plurality of application specific instruction set processors (ASISPs), one or more processes of a mobile wireless communication protocol;tracking, by the plurality of ASISPs, process state information associated with each of the processes; andproviding tracked process state information for a second process when an ASISP of the plurality of ASISPs is reallocated from a first process to the second process. 15. The mobile wireless communication method of claim 14, further comprising: controlling, by a controller, a processing schedule for the ASISPs. 16. The mobile wireless communication method of claim 15, wherein the processing schedule is a time-sliced processing schedule. 17. The mobile wireless communication method of claim 15, wherein the controller and the ASISPs are configured to operate in accordance with a master/slave relationship. 18. The mobile wireless communication method of claim 17, further comprising: the controller sending a “wait” instruction to at least one of the ASISPs; andthe ASISP responding to the “wait” instruction by entering an idle state. 19. The mobile wireless communication method of claim 14, further comprising each ASISP performing at most a subset of functions associated with the wireless communication protocol. 20. The mobile wireless communication method of claim 15, further comprising: allocating, by the controller, ASISPs to the processes on a dynamic basis. 21. The mobile wireless communication method of claim 14, further comprising: associating each memory module of a plurality of memory modules with a different ASISP of the plurality of ASISPs. 22. The mobile wireless communication method of claim 14, wherein the method is performed by a mobile wireless communication apparatus, which comprises a virtual machine interface (VMI) having software objects associated with respective hardware components of the mobile wireless communication apparatus, andthe method further comprising reconfiguring the mobile wireless communication apparatus by changing at least one of the software objects resulting in a corresponding change in its associated hardware component. 23. The mobile wireless communication method of claim 14, wherein the method is performed by a mobile wireless communication microchip. 24. The mobile wireless communication method of claim 14, wherein the method is performed by a mobile station.