Method and system for establishing wireless peer-to-peer communications

• US 20060229092A1
• Filed: 03/01/2004
• Published: 10/12/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Atreus Labs LLC
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Jia, Qunli, Sun, Li, Ma, Ni, Zhang, Xuejun
• Granted Patent: US 7,283,832 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/517
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/24 Transfer of terminal data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/18 between terminal devices

Abstract

The present invention provides a wireless network system for establishing peer-to-peer communication between mobile terminals. Upon determining that peer-to-peer communication can be established between two mobile terminal, the wireless network system transmits to each of the mobile terminals information about radio resources used by the other one of the mobile terminals. Each mobile terminal then uses the radio resources information to test the characteristics of a dedicated uplink channel between the other one of the mobile terminals and the network system. Thus, no separate radio channel needs to be allocated for the channel testing. Furthermore, each mobile terminal uses the same radio resources to establish a dedicated radio channel in the peer-to-peer communication with the other one of the mobile terminals, which were previously used by itself for communication with the network system on the dedicated uplink channel. In this way, the network system does not need to allocate additional radio resources for establishing the peer-to-peer communication, thus simplifying the radio resources re-allocation scheme, while ensuring that the quality of the channels is the same as tested.

Claims

1. A method performed by a wireless network system for establishing peer-to-peer communication, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving a request from a mobile terminal for establishing peer-to-peer communication with another mobile terminal;

(b) determining whether peer-to-peer communication can be established between the two mobile terminals;

(c) if the peer-to-peer communication can be established, transmitting a first group of information including control commands to each of the mobile terminals to start testing characteristics of a dedicated uplink channel between the other one of the mobile terminals and the network system;

(d) receiving status reports on the channel characteristics from the mobile terminals;

(e) determining whether the channel characteristics tested by each of the mobile terminals meet a pre-set requirement; and

(f) if the channel characteristics tested by both of the mobile terminals meet the pre-set requirement, transmitting a second group of information including control commands to the mobile terminals to initiate peer-to-peer communication.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) includes the steps of:

(i) estimating a distance between the two mobile terminals; and

(ii) determining whether the distance is within an acceptable range for peer-to-peer communication.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first group of information further includes information about radio resources currently being used by the other one of the mobile terminals for communicating with the network system on the dedicated uplink control.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the information about the radio resources includes a time slot and a spreading code.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second group of information further includes control commands for enabling each of the mobile terminals to use the same radio resources to establish a dedicated radio channel in the peer-to-peer communication with the other one of the mobile terminals, as those that were previously used by itself for communication with the network system on the dedicated uplink channel.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the second group of information further includes clock information.

7. A method performed by a mobile terminal for establishing peer-to-peer with another mobile terminal, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) transmitting a request to a wireless network system for establishing peer-to-peer communication with the other mobile terminal;

(b) receiving a first group of information including control commands from the network system to start testing characteristics of a dedicated uplink channel between the other mobile terminal and the network system;

(c) listening to signals transmitted by the other mobile terminal through the dedicated uplink channel;

(d) determining whether the channel characteristics meet a pre-set requirement for a pre-determined duration;

(e) transmitting a status report to the network system if the channel characteristics meet the pre-set requirement for the pre-determined duration; and

(f) receiving a second group of information including control commands from the network system to establish peer-to-peer communication with the other mobile terminal.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising a step of disconnecting all dedicated channels with the network system after peer-to-peer communication with the other mobile terminal is established.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the first group of information further includes information about radio resources currently being used by the other mobile terminal for communicating with the network system on the dedicated uplink channel.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the information about the radio resources includes a time slot and a spreading code.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising a step of establishing a dedicated channel in peer-to-peer communication with the other mobile terminal, using the same radio resources as those that were previously used by itself for communicating with the network system on the dedicated uplink channel.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein step (d) includes:

(i) calculating a signal-to-interference (SIR) ratio with respect to the dedicated uplink channel between the other mobile terminal and the network system; and

(ii) determining whether the SIR meets the pre-set requirement.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein step (d) further includes:

(iii) setting a timer; and

(iv) initiating the timer to continuously count down for as long as the SIR meets the requirement, until the timer has counted to zero.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein step (d) further includes:

(v) adjusting transmission power of the mobile terminal; and

(vi) re-setting the timer when the SIR fails to meet the requirement.

15. A wireless network system for establishing peer-to-peer communication between mobile terminals, comprising:

means for receiving a request from a mobile terminal for establishing peer-to-peer communication with another mobile terminal;

means for determining whether the peer-to-peer communication can be established;

means for transmitting a first group of information including control commands to each of the mobile terminals to start testing characteristics of a dedicated uplink channel between the other one of the mobile terminals and the network system, the transmitting means transmitting the information if the peer-to-peer communication can be established; and

means for determining whether the channel characteristics tested by each of the mobile terminals meet a pre-set requirement, the channel characteristics being received by the receiving means;

wherein the transmitting means transmits a second group of information including control commands to the mobile terminals to initiate peer-to-peer communication, if the channel characteristics tested by both of the mobile terminals meet the pre-set requirement.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the determining means further includes:

means for estimating a distance between the mobile terminals; and

means for determining whether the distance is within an acceptable range.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the first group of information further includes information about radio resources currently being used by the other one of the mobile terminals for communicating with the network system on the dedicated uplink control.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the information about the radio resources includes a time slot and a spreading code.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the second group of Information further includes control commands for enabling each of the mobile terminals to use the same radio resources to establish a dedicated radio channel in the peer-to-peer communication with the other one of the mobile terminals, as those that were previously used by itself for communication with the network system on the dedicated uplink channel.

20. A mobile terminal, comprising:

means for transmitting a request to a wireless network system for establishing peer-to-peer communication with another mobile terminal;

means for receiving a first group of information including control commands from the network system to start testing characteristics of a dedicated uplink channel between the other mobile terminal and the network system;

means for listening to signals transmitted by the other mobile terminal through the dedicated uplink channel; and

means for determining whether the channel characteristics meet a pre-set requirement for a pre-determined duration;

wherein the transmitting means transmits a status report to the network system if the channel characteristics meet the pre-set requirement for the predetermined duration.

21. The terminal of claim 20, further comprising means for initiating peer-to-peer communication with the other mobile terminal if the receiving means receives a second group of information including control commands from the network system.

22. The terminal of claim 21, further comprising means for disconnecting all dedicated channels with the network system after peer-to-peer communication with the other mobile terminal is established.

23. The terminal of claim 21, wherein the first group of information further includes information about radio resources currently being used by the other mobile terminal for communicating with the network system on the dedicated uplink channel.

24. The terminal of claim 23, wherein the information about the radio resources includes a time slot and a spreading code.

25. The terminal of claim 23, wherein the transmitting means transmits information to the other mobile terminal in peer-to-peer communication via a dedicated radio channel established by using the same radio resources as those that were previously used by itself for communicating with the network system on the dedicated uplink channel.

26. The terminal of claim 20, wherein determining means calculates a signal-to-interference (SIR) ratio with respect to the dedicated uplink channel between the other mobile terminal and the network system, and determines whether the SIR meets the pre-set requirement.