Flexible scheduling of resources in a noisy environment

• US 20070058732A1
• Filed: 07/24/2006
• Published: 03/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Corporation (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.), Sigma Designs Israel S.D.I Ltd. (Uphill Investment Co.)
• Original Assignee: Sigma Designs Israel S.D.I Ltd. (Uphill Investment Co.)
• Inventors: Ayyagari, Deepak, Chan, Wai, Katar, Srinivas, Riedel, Neal, Peponides, Yiorgos, Gavette, Sherman, Petranovich, James, Yonge, Lawrence
• Granted Patent: US 8,553,706 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/257
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5445 Local network
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/545 Audio/video application, e.g. interphone
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/542 the information being in digital form

Abstract

There is provided a powerline network that includes a number of stations including a central coordinator for coordinating transmissions of each of the stations. The central coordinator is configurable to transmit a beacon at an interval based on a phase of a powerline cycle. The interval of the beacon can be substantially equal to two periods of the powerline cycle. The interval of the beacon includes a reserved region including a persistent allocation region and a non-persistent allocation region. The beacon also includes a broadcast message including a persistent schedule and a non-persistent schedule. The persistent schedule is valid for a current beacon period and a number of subsequent beacon periods as indicated by the beacon, while the non-persistent schedule is valid for a single beacon period. The persistent allocation region and the non-persistent allocation region are determined based on the persistent schedule and the non-persistent schedule, respectively.

Claims

1. A powerline network comprising:

a plurality of stations including a central coordinator for coordinating transmissions of each of said plurality of stations;

wherein said central coordinator is configurable to transmit a beacon; and

wherein said central coordinator is further configurable to transmit said beacon at an interval based on a phase of a powerline cycle.

2. The powerline network of claim 1, wherein said interval of said beacon includes a reserved region including a persistent allocation region and a non-persistent allocation region.

3. The powerline network of claim 2, wherein said non-persistent allocation region is used for one of an extra capacity for a connection, an additional CSMA period, or a discover beacon.

4. The powerline network of claim 2, wherein said persistent allocation region and said non-persistent allocation region are determined based on a persistent schedule and a non-persistent schedule, respectively.

5. The powerline network of claim 1, wherein said beacon further includes a broadcast message including a persistent schedule and a non-persistent schedule.

6. The powerline network of claim 5, wherein said persistent schedule is valid for a current beacon period and a number of subsequent beacon periods as indicated by said beacon.

7. The powerline network of claim 5, wherein said beacon further includes a preview schedule.

8. The powerline network of claim 5, wherein said non-persistent schedule is valid for a single beacon period.

9. The powerline network of claim 1, wherein said beacon includes a network identification, a network mode, a number of neighbor networks and a current schedule.

10. The powerline network of claim 1, wherein said interval is substantially equal to two periods of said powerline cycle.

11. A method for coordinating transmissions of a plurality of stations being in communication via a powerline, said method comprising:

designating one of said plurality of stations as a central coordinator; and

transmitting a beacon by said central coordinator to others of said plurality of stations at an interval based on a phase of a cycle of said powerline for scheduling transmissions of said others of said plurality of stations.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said interval of said beacon includes a reserved region including a persistent allocation region and a non-persistent allocation region.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said non-persistent allocation region is used for one of an extra capacity for a connection, an additional CSMA period, or a discover beacon.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein said persistent allocation region and said non-persistent allocation region are determined based on a persistent schedule and a non-persistent schedule, respectively.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein said beacon further includes a broadcast message including a persistent schedule and a non-persistent schedule.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein said persistent schedule is valid for a current beacon period and a number of subsequent beacon periods as indicated by said beacon.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein said beacon further includes a preview schedule.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein said non-persistent schedule is valid for a single beacon period.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein said beacon includes a network identification, a network mode, a number of neighbor networks and a current schedule.

20. The method of claim 11, wherein said interval is substantially equal to two periods of said cycle of said powerline.

21. A device for coordinating transmissions by one or more other devices in a powerline network, said device comprising:

wherein said device is configurable to be a central coordinator and to transmit a beacon; and

wherein said device is further configurable to transmit said beacon to said one or more other devices at an interval based on a phase of a cycle of a powerline for scheduling transmissions of said one or more other devices.

22. The device of claim 21, wherein said interval of said beacon includes a reserved region including a persistent allocation region and a non-persistent allocation region.

23. The device of claim 22, wherein said non-persistent allocation region is used for one of an extra capacity for a connection, an additional CSMA period, or a discover beacon.

24. The device of claim 22, wherein said persistent allocation region and said non-persistent allocation region are determined based on a persistent schedule and a non-persistent schedule, respectively.

25. The device of claim 21, wherein said beacon further includes a broadcast message including a persistent schedule and a non-persistent schedule.