Method and apparatus for dynamic neighbor discovery within wireless networks using time division multiple access (TDMA)
First Claim
1. A communication unit to transmit and receive information within a communications network and to discover neighboring communication units comprising:
- a transmitter to transmit outgoing information to at least one other communication unit within said network;
a receiver to receive incoming information from at least one other communication unit within said network; and
a processor to control said transmission and reception of said outgoing and incoming information, wherein said processor includes;
a neighbor discovery module to transmit neighbor discovery messages to neighboring communication units within an assigned time slot of a time division multiplexing communication scheme to indicate the presence of said communication unit within said network.
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Abstract
An Ad-Hoc wireless network according to the present invention employs a TDMA based neighbor discovery protocol, where each network node is assigned a unique time slot to broadcast neighbor discovery packets or messages. A primary controller node is dynamically designated to perform the time slot assignments. A dynamic selection of a secondary or backup controller node is further provided in case of failure of the primary controller node. The present invention further includes flooding techniques based upon TDMA. A TDMA HELLO flood is used to distribute a small number of common parameters to network nodes by placing or piggybacking the information within the neighbor discovery messages. A CNR flood is based on the principles of a RAKE type receiver and used to distribute time slot assignments to the entire network.
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Citations
55 Claims
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1. A communication unit to transmit and receive information within a communications network and to discover neighboring communication units comprising:
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a transmitter to transmit outgoing information to at least one other communication unit within said network;
a receiver to receive incoming information from at least one other communication unit within said network; and
a processor to control said transmission and reception of said outgoing and incoming information, wherein said processor includes;
a neighbor discovery module to transmit neighbor discovery messages to neighboring communication units within an assigned time slot of a time division multiplexing communication scheme to indicate the presence of said communication unit within said network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of transferring information between a communication unit and other units within a communications network and discovering neighboring communication units comprising:
(a) transmitting neighbor discovery messages from said communication unit to neighboring communication units within an assigned time slot of a time division multiplexing communication scheme to indicate the presence of said communication unit within said network. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A communications network comprising:
a plurality of communication units for transferring information therebetween, wherein neighbor discovery messages are transmitted from said communication units to neighboring communication units within assigned time slots of a time division multiplexing communication scheme to indicate the presence of said communication units within said network. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A method of transferring information between communication units within a communications network and discovering neighboring communication units comprising:
(a) transmitting neighbor discovery messages from said communication units to neighboring communication units within assigned time slots of a time division multiplexing communication scheme to indicate the presence of said communication units within said network. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
Specification