Method and apparatus for operating a wireless PAN network using an overlay protocol that enhances co-existence with a wireless LAN network

• US 10,045,290 B2
• Filed: 04/16/2015
• Issued: 08/07/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Atmel Corporation (Microchip Technology Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Atmel Corporation (Microchip Technology Incorporated)
• Inventors: Vleugels, Katelijn, Peeters, Roel
• Primary Examiner(s): Manoharan, Muthuswamy
• Application Number:
  US14/688,556
• Publication Number:
  US 20150223164A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,209 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/26 Resource reservation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0209 in terminal devices terminal devices per se H04W88/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/12 Wireless traffic scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/06 using polling
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/10 Small scale networks; Flat hierarchical networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/20 Master-slave selection or change arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/22 with access to wired networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/10 adapted for operation in multiple networks, e.g. multi-mode access points
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 Inter-networking arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A computing device is interfaced with other devices in a wireless personal area network (PAN) to enhance co-existence with a wireless local area network (WLAN). The computing device coordinates activity of the wireless PAN as a coordinator for the wireless PAN, including communicating with the wireless PAN devices using an overlay protocol that is only partially compliant with the protocol used over the WLAN but enables co-existence. WLAN devices can, upon hearing an overlay protocol frame, understand at least enough of the overlay protocol frame to defer use of a common wireless networking medium. If the PAN coordinator is capable of associating with the WLAN, it can be a dual-network device capable of associating with the WLAN and PAN simultaneously. The dual-network device can use a common network module to handle both WLAN and PAN traffic, communicate with a WLAN device in ad hoc mode and enable power saving.

Claims

1. A method performed by a wireless network interface circuit interfacing a computing device with one or more wireless personal area network (PAN) devices via a wireless PAN, the method comprising:

communicating timing information between the computing device and at least one of the wireless PAN devices via the wireless PAN, wherein the computing device is operable to coordinate activity of the wireless PAN as a coordinator for the wireless PAN and communicate with one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) devices via a WLAN that is different from the wireless PAN;

determining an inactivity period for the computing device based on the timing information;

communicating between the computing device and the at least one of the wireless PAN devices to agree on the inactivity period;

determining the inactivity period being mutually agreed on by the computing device and the at least one of the wireless PAN devices;

at a first time, determining a start of the inactivity period, and in response, powering off all or a portion of circuitry of the computing device to reduce power consumption of the computing device;

at a second time following the first time, determining an end of the inactivity period, and in response, powering on all or a portion of the powered-off circuitry of the computing device to enable communication with the one or more wireless PAN devices via the wireless PAN; and

adapting the computing device to communicate with the one or more wireless PAN devices by using a PAN protocol that is an overlay protocol partially compliant with a WLAN protocol used by the WLAN sharing a common wireless medium with the wireless PAN, the overlay protocol using WLAN frame formats, or modifications thereof, such that a WLAN device distinct from the computing device and in the WLAN can understand communications transmitted by the computing device to the one or more wireless PAN devices over the common wireless medium;

determining end of an inactivity time agreed to by a wireless PAN device sharing the common wireless medium with the computing device;

enabling a coordination function following the end of the inactivity time;

transmitting, using the coordination function, frames detectable by an access point of the WLAN, the frames modified for PAN traffic and configured to signal a request for the WLAN to defer access by one or more WLAN devices to the common wireless medium for a reservation period; and

during the reservation period and after the end of the inactivity time, communicating, by way of the wireless interface, with the wireless PAN device over the common wireless medium.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the overlay protocol is configured such that the WLAN device, upon hearing an overlay protocol frame of the overlay protocol, can understand at least enough of the overlay protocol frame to defer use of the common wireless medium.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adapting the network circuit, comprising logic and at least one antenna, for interfacing the computing device to the WLAN, including logic to set up a LAN association between the computing device and an access point of the WLAN prior to data transfer therebetween;

adapting the network circuit for interfacing the computing device to a wireless PAN device via the wireless PAN, including logic to communicate with the wireless PAN device using the overlay protocol; and

using the logic to communicate with the wireless PAN device to coordinate, from the computing device, usage of the common wireless medium such that the wireless PAN device and the computing device can communicate without incurring interference from or causing interference to the WLAN.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

storing a first MAC address for the network circuit, wherein the first MAC address identifies the network circuit to the WLAN;

storing a second MAC address for the network circuit, wherein the second MAC address identifies the network circuit to the wireless PAN; and

transmitting frames of data over the wireless PAN using the second MAC address while the computing device is associated with the WLAN with the first MAC address.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein:

adapting the network circuit including logic to set up a LAN association comprises generating program code for programming a programmable device to implement LAN association logic as instructions to be executed by a processor having other tasks;

adapting the network circuit including logic to communicate with the wireless PAN device using the overlay protocol comprises generating program code for programming the programmable device to implement overlay protocol logic as instructions to be executed by the processor; and

using the logic to communicate with the wireless PAN device to coordinate usage comprises generating program code for programming the programmable device to implement the logic as instructions to be executed by the processor.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein adapting the computing device including logic to communicate with the wireless PAN devices comprises generating program code for programming a programmable device to implement the logic as instructions to be executed by a processor having other tasks.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an inactivity time agreed to by a wireless PAN device sharing the common wireless medium with the computing device;

communicating between the wireless PAN device and the computing device as needed to agree on the value of the inactivity time; and

disabling at least a part of a coordination function of the computing device following a start of the inactivity time such that less power per unit time is consumed relative to power consumed when not disabled.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

acting as a convergence layer between an IEEE 802.11x stack and different drivers to enable multi-protocol support, expose and coordinate access to specific Media Access Control (MAC) service primitives and coordinate priority handling in Quality-of-Service (QoS) sensitive application.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the WLAN is characterized by a plurality of access points intercommunicating for various devices, and the wireless PAN is characterized by lower power transmissions relative to transmissions over the WLAN.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the WLAN devices communicate with each other in an ad hoc mode without an access point of the WLAN being present.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adapting the computing device for interfacing the computing device to one or more WLAN devices in an ad hoc mode without an access point of the WLAN being present.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the WLAN is an IEEE 802.11 network and the wireless PAN is an IEEE 802.15 network.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

at the start of the inactivity period, powering off all or a portion of circuitry of the one or more wireless PAN devices to reduce power consumption of the one or more wireless PAN devices;

at the end of the inactivity period, powering on all or a portion of the powered-off circuitry of the one or more wireless PAN devices to enable the communication with the computing device via the wireless PAN.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising reserving, by the computing device, the common wireless medium for a wireless PAN device with low power consumption,

wherein the overlay protocol is configured such that the WLAN device in the WLAN can hear the reservation of the common wireless medium and defer use of the common wireless medium, and

wherein the wireless PAN device is incapable of reaching the WLAN.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

communicating with a particular wireless PAN device to coordinate, from the computing device, usage of the common wireless medium such that the particular wireless PAN device and the computing device can communicate without incurring interference from or causing interference to the WLAN.

16. A wireless network interface circuit far interfacing a computing device with other devices in a wireless personal area network (PAN), comprising:

a processor;

a wireless interface; and

storage configured to store;

logic for communicating with an access point of a WLAN that is different from the wireless PAN, such that the computer device is configured to communicate with one or more WLAN devices via the WLAN;

logic for communicating with a node of the wireless PAN such that the computer device is configured as a coordinator for the wireless PAN;

logic for communicating timing information between the computing device and one or more wireless PAN devices via the wireless PAN;

logic for determining an inactivity period for the computing device based on the timing information;

logic for communicating between the computing device and at least one of the wireless PAN devices to agree on the inactivity period and determining the inactivity period being mutually agreed on by the computing device and the at least one of the wireless PAN devices;

logic for powering off all or a portion of circuitry of the computing device to reduce power consumption of the computing device at a start of the inactivity period and powering on all or a portion of the powered-off circuitry of the computing device to enable communication with the one or more wireless PAN devices via the wireless PAN at an end of the inactivity period;

logic for adapting the computing device to communicate with the one or more wireless PAN devices;

logic for communicating with wireless PAN devices using a PAN protocol that is an overlay protocol partially compliant with a WLAN protocol used over the WLAN but that enables co-existence of communications of devices using the WLAN and devices using the wireless PAN over a the common wireless medium, wherein the overlay protocol comprises a protocol having WLAN frame formats, or modifications thereof, such that a WLAN device distinct from the computing device and in the WLAN can partially understand communications over the common wireless medium between the computing device and the wireless PAN devices to enable the co-existence of communication over the WLAN and the wireless PAN; and

logic for;

determining end of an inactivity time agreed to by a wireless PAN device sharing the common wireless medium with the computing device,

enabling a coordination function following the end of the inactivity time,

transmitting, using the coordination function, frames detectable by an access point of the WLAN, the frames modified for PAN traffic and configured to signal a request for the WLAN to defer access by one or more WLAN devices to the common wireless medium for a reservation period, and

during the reservation period and after the end of the inactivity time, communicating, by way of the wireless interface, with the wireless PAN device over the common wireless medium.

17. The wireless network interface circuit of claim 16, wherein the overlay protocol is configured such that the WLAN device, upon hearing an overlay protocol frame of the overlay protocol, can understand at least enough of the overlay protocol frame to defer use of the common wireless medium.

18. The wireless network interface circuit of claim 16, wherein the storage is configured to store logic for setting up a LAN association between the computing device and an access point of the WLAN prior to data transfer therebetween.

19. The wireless network interface circuit of claim 16, wherein the logic is used to communicate with a wireless PAN device to coordinate, from the computing device, usage of the common wireless medium such that the wireless PAN device and the computing device can communicate without incurring interference from or causing interference to the WLAN.

20. The wireless network interface circuit of claim 16, wherein the storage is configured to store logic for:

storing a first MAC address for the wireless network interface circuit, wherein the first MAC address identifies the wireless network interface circuit to the WLAN;

storing a second MAC address for the wireless network interface circuit, wherein the second MAC address identifies the wireless network interface circuit to the wireless PAN; and

transmitting frames of data over the wireless PAN using the second MAC address while the computing device is associated with the WLAN with the first MAC address.

21. The wireless network interface circuit of claim 16, wherein the storage is configured to store logic for:

determining an inactivity time agreed to by a wireless PAN device sharing the common wireless medium with the computing device;

communicating between the wireless PAN device and the computing device as needed to agree on the value of the inactivity time; and

disabling at least a part of a coordination function of the computing device following a start of the inactivity time such that less power per unit time is consumed by the wireless network interface circuit relative to power consumed when not disabled.

22. The wireless network interface circuit of claim 16, wherein the logic and storage are in a dedicated network circuit, wherein the logic is implemented as instructions executed by the processor having other tasks and the storage is memory that is usable for the other tasks, or wherein the wireless network interface circuit is implemented in part by a dedicated network circuit and in part by instructions executed by the processor.

23. The wireless network interface circuit of claim 16, wherein the logic is implemented by a software driver and the storage is manipulated, at least in part, by the software driver.

24. The wireless network interface circuit of claim 16, wherein the WLAN is characterized by a plurality of access points intercommunicating for various devices, and the wireless PAN is characterized by lower power transmissions relative to transmissions over the WLAN.

25. The wireless network interface circuit of claim 16, wherein the WLAN devices communicate with each other in an ad hoc mode without an access point of the WLAN being present.

26. The wireless network interface circuit of claim 16, wherein the storage is configured to store logic for interfacing the computing device to one or more WLAN devices in an ad hoc mode without an access point of the WLAN being present.

27. The wireless network interface circuit of claim 16, wherein the WLAN is an IEEE 802.11 network and the wireless PAN is an IEEE 802.15 network.

28. The wireless network interface circuit of claim 16, wherein the storage is configured to store logic for acting as a convergence layer between an IEEE 802.11x stack and different drivers to enable multi-protocol support, expose and coordinate access to specific Media Access Control (MAC) service primitives and coordinate priority handling in Quality-of-Service (QoS) sensitive application.

29. A wireless network interface circuit for interfacing a computing device with other devices in a wireless personal area network (PAN) to enhance co-existence with a wireless local area network (WLAN), wherein the WLAN is characterized by a plurality of access points intercommunicating for various devices, and the wireless PAN is characterized by lower power transmissions relative to transmissions over the WLAN, the circuit comprising:

a processor;

a wireless interface; and

storage configured to store;

logic for communicating, wirelessly over a specified frequency range with an access point of the WLAN;

logic for communicating with a node of the wireless PAN as a coordinator for the wireless PAN;

logic for communicating timing information between the computing device and one or more wireless PAN devices via the wireless PAN;

logic for determining an inactivity period for the computing device based on the timing information;

logic for communicating between the computing device and at least one of the wireless PAN devices to agree on the inactivity period and determining the inactivity period being agreed on by the computing device and the at least one of the wireless PAN devices;

logic for powering off all or a portion of circuitry of the computing device to reduce power consumption of the computing device at a start of the inactivity period and powering on all or a portion of the powered-off circuitry of the computing device to enable communication with the one or more wireless PAN devices via the wireless PAN at an end of the inactivity period;

logic for communicating with the wireless PAN devices using a PAN protocol that is an overlay protocol partially compliant with a WLAN protocol used over the WLAN but that enables co-existence of communications of devices using the WLAN and devices using the wireless PAN over a common wireless medium, wherein the overlay protocol comprises a protocol having WLAN frame formats, or modifications thereof, such that a WLAN device distinct from the computing device and in the WLAN can partially understand communications over the common wireless medium between the computing device and the wireless PAN devices to enable the co-existence of communication over the WLAN and the wireless PAN; and

logic for;

determining end of an inactivity time agreed to by a wireless PAN device sharing the common wireless medium with the computing device,

enabling a coordination function following the end of the inactivity time,

transmitting, using the coordination function, frames detectable by an access point of the WLAN, the frames modified for PAN traffic and configured to signal a request for the WLAN to defer access by one or more WLAN devices to the common wireless medium for a reservation period, and

during the reservation period and after the end of the inactivity time, communicating, by way of the wireless interface, with the wireless PAN device over the common wireless medium.