Peer discovery in neighbor awareness networking (NAN) aided data link networks

• US 10,455,400 B2
• Filed: 02/24/2015
• Issued: 10/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Patil, Abhishek Pramod, Abraham, Santosh Paul, Cherian, George
• Primary Examiner(s): Yao, Kwang B
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ngo, Nguyen H
• Application Number:
  US14/629,892
• Publication Number:
  US 20150350866A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,701 Days
• Field of Search: 370229, 370230, 370236, 370252, 370310, 370324, 370350, 370503
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/244 using a network of reference devices, e.g. beaconing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/02 Data link layer protocols
• 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

Abstract

A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for wireless communication are provided. In one aspect, a first station discovers a second station capable of providing a service of interest to the first station. The second station is one of a plurality of stations participating in a NAN data link network that provides the service of interest and supports communication over a NAN data link channel without beaconing. The second station is discovered through communication over a NAN channel supported by a plurality of neighborhood stations forming a NAN network. The NAN channel has a beaconing operation that provides synchronization. After discovery of the second station, the first station communicates with the second station over the NAN data link channel, to obtain data corresponding to the service of interest.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication of a first station, comprising:

sending a service discovery message over a first neighborhood awareness network (NAN) channel of a NAN network to discover whether one or more stations support an application of interest to the first station, wherein the service discovery message includes information that identifies the application of interest to the first station;

receiving, in response to the service discovery message, a service response message over the first NAN channel from a second station that supports the application of interest to the first station, wherein the service response message includes information that identifies a NAN data link network that supports the application of interest to the first station;

discovering that the second station supports the application of interest to the first station based on the service response message; and

exchanging data related to the application of interest over a second NAN channel of the NAN data link network at a plurality of periodic windows with the second station, wherein synchronization of stations participating in the NAN data link network is unsupported by the second NAN channel, and the second NAN channel relies on the first NAN channel to provide the synchronization of all of the stations participating in the NAN data link network.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending an association message over the second NAN channel to the second station within the NAN data link network identified in the service response message.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a peer discovery message over the second NAN channel;

receiving, from each station of one or more stations that received the peer discovery message, a respective peer discovery response message; and

updating, based on each respective peer discovery response message received from the one or more stations that received the peer discovery message, a neighbor list that identifies one or more stations participating in the NAN data link network.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein updating comprises adding one or more new stations to the neighbor list, wherein the one or more new stations include the one or more stations from which the first station received each respective peer discovery response message, and wherein the method further comprises:

sending an association message over the second NAN channel to at least one of the one or more new stations.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from a third station, a service advertisement broadcast message over the first NAN channel, the service advertisement broadcast message including information that identifies the application of interest to the first station and a NAN data link network that supports the application of interest to the first station; and

sending a peer discovery message over the first NAN channel, the peer discovery message including information corresponding to the application of interest to the first station and the NAN data link network that supports the application of interest to the first station.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein sending the peer discovery message over the first NAN channel comprises sending the peer discovery message during a discovery window of the first NAN channel during which a plurality of neighborhood stations participating in the NAN data link network are awake.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving an association message over the second NAN channel from one or more stations that received the peer discovery message.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein receiving the association message comprises receiving the association message during a paging window of the second NAN channel during which the first station is awake.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from a third station, a service advertisement message over the first NAN channel, the service advertisement message including information that identifies;

the application of interest to the first station, a NAN data link network that supports the application of interest to the first station, and a list of neighboring stations.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

sending an association message over the second NAN channel to the third station within the NAN data link network identified in the service advertisement message.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the second station is a proxy for the application of interest to the first station.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

initiating an association with the second station during an assigned time period.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein synchronization provided via the first NAN channel supports a plurality of transmission windows in the second NAN channel during which the first station is expected to be awake for at least a portion of a transmission window, wherein the assigned time period is the transmission window of the second NAN channel, wherein the second NAN channel is a NAN data link channel.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the assigned time period is a paging window during which a plurality of stations are expected to be in an awake mode, wherein the paging window is within the transmission window, and wherein the plurality of stations includes the first station and the second station.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting traffic indications associated with the application of interest during a paging window that is an initial portion of a transmission window of the second NAN channel, wherein the second NAN channel is a NAN data link channel.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the first station stops communicating over the second NAN channel for a remainder of the transmission window if no traffic is indicated for the first station during the paging window and the first station has no traffic for transmission during the remainder of the transmission window.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the first station enters a power save mode for the remainder of the transmission window if no traffic is indicated for the first station during the paging window and the first station has no traffic for transmission during the remainder of the transmission window.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

communicating with the second station over the second NAN channel to obtain data corresponding to the application of interest to the first station.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first NAN channel supports a beaconing operation that provides synchronization for the second NAN channel, and wherein the second NAN channel does not support a beaconing operation.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the second NAN channel is a NAN data link channel.

21. A first station, comprising:

means for sending a service discovery message over a first neighborhood awareness network (NAN) channel of a NAN network to discover whether one or more stations support an application of interest to the first station, wherein the service discovery message includes information that identifies the application of interest to the first station;

means for receiving, in response to the service discovery message, a service response message over the first NAN channel from a second station that supports the application of interest to the first station, wherein the service response message includes information that identifies a NAN data link network that supports the application of interest to the first station;

means for discovering that the second station supports the application of interest to the first station based on the service response message; and

means for exchanging data related to the application of interest over a second NAN channel of the NAN data link network at a plurality of periodic windows with the second station, wherein synchronization of stations participating in the NAN data link network is unsupported by the second NAN channel, and the second NAN channel relies on the first NAN channel to provide the synchronization of all of the stations participating in the NAN data link network.

22. The first station of claim 21, further comprising:

means for sending an association message over the second NAN channel to the second station within the NAN data link network identified in the service response message.

23. The first station of claim 21, further comprising:

means for sending a peer discovery message over the second NAN channel;

means for receiving, from each station of one or more stations that received the peer discovery message, a respective peer discovery response message; and

means for updating, based on each respective peer discovery response message received from the one or more stations that received the peer discovery message, a neighbor list that identifies one or more stations participating in the NAN data link network.

24. The first station of claim 23, wherein the means for updating is configured to add one or more new stations to the neighbor list, wherein the one or more new stations include the one or more stations from which the first station received each respective peer discovery response message, and wherein the first station further comprises:

means for sending an association message over the second NAN channel to at least one of the one or more new stations.

25. The first station of claim 21, further comprising:

means for receiving, from a third station, a service advertisement broadcast message over the first NAN channel, the service advertisement broadcast message including information that identifies the application of interest to the first station and a NAN data link network that supports the application of interest to the first station; and

means for sending a peer discovery message over the first NAN channel, the peer discovery message including information corresponding to the application of interest to the first station and the NAN data link network that supports the application of interest to the first station.

26. The first station of claim 25, wherein the means for sending the peer discovery message is configured to send the peer discovery message during a discovery window of the first NAN channel during which a plurality of neighborhood stations participating in the NAN data link network are awake.

27. The first station of claim 25, further comprising:

means for receiving an association message over the second NAN channel from one or more stations that received the peer discovery message.

28. The first station of claim 27, wherein the means for receiving the association message is configured to receive the association message during a paging window of the second NAN channel during which the first station is awake.

29. The first station of claim 21, further comprising:

means for receiving, from a third station, a service advertisement message over the first NAN channel, the service advertisement message including information that identifies;

the application of interest to the first station, a NAN data link network that supports the application of interest to the first station, and a list of neighboring stations.

30. The first station of claim 29, further comprising:

means for sending an association message over the second NAN channel to the third station within the NAN data link network identified in the service advertisement message.

31. A first station, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to;

send a service discovery message over a first neighborhood awareness network (NAN) channel of a NAN network to discover whether one or more stations support an application of interest to the first station, wherein the service discovery message includes information that identifies the application of interest to the first station;

receive, in response to the service discovery message, a service response message over the first NAN channel from a second station that supports the application of interest to the first station, wherein the service response message includes information that identifies a NAN data link network that supports the application of interest to the first station;

discover that the second station supports the application of interest to the first station based on the service response message; and

exchange data related to the application of interest over a second NAN channel of the NAN data link network at a plurality of periodic windows with the second station, wherein synchronization of stations participating in the NAN data link network is unsupported by the second NAN channel, and the second NAN channel relies on the first NAN channel to provide the synchronization of all of the stations participating in the NAN data link network.

32. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having code stored thereon that, when executed, causes at least one processor of a first station to:

send a service discovery message over a first neighborhood awareness network (NAN) channel of a NAN network to discover whether one or more stations support an application of interest to the first station, wherein the service discovery message includes information that identifies the application of interest to the first station;

receive, in response to the service discovery message, a service response message over the first NAN channel from a second station that supports the application of interest to the first station, wherein the service response message includes information that identifies a NAN data link network that supports the application of interest to the first station;

discover that the second station supports the application of interest to the first station based on the service response message; and

exchange data related to the application of interest over a second NAN channel of the NAN data link network at a plurality of periodic windows with the second station, wherein synchronization of stations participating in the NAN data link network is unsupported by the second NAN channel, and the second NAN channel relies on the first NAN channel to provide the synchronization of all of the stations participating in the NAN data link network.