Method and apparatus for sharing slot allocation schedule information amongst nodes of a wireless mesh network

• US 20070070943A1
• Filed: 06/30/2006
• Published: 03/29/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Interdigital Technology Corporation (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Interdigital Technology Corporation (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Inventors: Livet, Catherine, Rahman, Shamim, Zuniga, Juan, Tomici, John
• Granted Patent: US 7,869,378 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 Control channels or signalling for resource management
• 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 92/16 Interfaces between hierarchically similar devices

Abstract

A method and apparatus for communicating slot allocations of nodes in a wireless mesh network that has data exchanges between the nodes occurring during slots. Each node maintains internal tracking of its slot allocation. A node may request a slot allocation of another node, and each node is enabled to report its slot allocation to other nodes. An information element (IE) and management type messages are introduced for tracking and reporting slot allocations among mesh network nodes.

Claims

1. In a wireless mesh network including a plurality of nodes which transfer data during slots, a method of reporting slot allocation information, comprising:

each of the nodes storing slot allocation information associated with the node;

a first one of the nodes generating and transmitting a list of allocated slots request message; and

a second one of the nodes generating and transmitting a list of allocated slots response message in response to receiving the request message, the list of allocated slots response message including an information element (IE) that represents the slot allocations of the first node.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the IE comprises:

an element identification (ID) field;

an element-specific information field of variable length containing the list of slot allocations; and

a length field which specifies a number of octets in the information field.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the element ID field and the length field are each one octet in length.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the information field comprises:

a list size field; and

a plurality of slot information fields.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein each slot information field comprises:

a timing information field that indicates a starting time and duration of a data exchanged during a respective slot.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein each slot information field comprises:

a radio frequency (RF) information field that indicates the radio channel and the number of channels used by the second node to exchange data during a respective slot.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein each slot information field comprises:

a quality of service (QoS) information field that indicates the QoS required by the data to be exchanged during a respective slot.

8. The method of claim 4 wherein each slot information field comprises:

a peer nodes information field that indicates node identifiers for each node involved in data transmission during a respective slot.

9. The method of claim 4 wherein each slot information field comprises:

a direction field that indicates whether data exchanges by the second node is uni-directional from one transmitter to one receiver, or bidirectional to and from all nodes involved during a respective slot.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

including a slot report in an action frame used by a medium access control (MAC) entity located in the first node, the slot report conveying slot allocation schedule information associated with the first node to at least the second node of the wireless mesh network.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the wireless mesh network is a wireless local area network (WLAN).

12. A wireless mesh network comprising:

a first node; and

a plurality of other nodes, wherein the first node and the other nodes transfer data during slots and store slot allocation information, the first node generates and transmits a list of allocated slots request message, and at least one of the other nodes generates and transmits a list of allocated slots response message in response to receiving the request message, the list of allocated slots response message including an information element (IE) that represents the slot allocations of the first node.

13. The wireless mesh network of claim 12 wherein the IE comprises:

an element identification (ID) field;

an element-specific information field of variable length containing the list of slot allocations; and

a length field which specifies a number of octets in the information field.

14. The wireless mesh network of claim 13 wherein the element ID field and the length field are each one octet in length.

15. The wireless mesh network of claim 13 wherein the information field comprises:

a list size field; and

a plurality of slot information fields.

16. The wireless mesh network of claim 15 wherein each slot information field comprises:

a timing information field that indicates a starting time and duration of a data exchanged during a respective slot.

17. The wireless mesh network of claim 15 wherein each slot information field comprises:

a radio frequency (RF) information field that indicates the radio channel and the number of channels used by the second node to exchange data during a respective slot.

18. The wireless mesh network of claim 15 wherein each slot information field comprises:

a quality of service (QoS) information field that indicates the QoS required by the data to be exchanged during a respective slot.

19. The wireless mesh network of claim 15 wherein each slot information field comprises:

a peer nodes information field that indicates node identifiers for each node involved in data transmission during a respective slot.

20. The wireless mesh network of claim 15 wherein each slot information field comprises:

a direction field that indicates whether data exchanges by the second node is uni-directional from one transmitter to one receiver, or bidirectional to and from all nodes involved during a respective slot.

21. The wireless mesh network of claim 12 wherein a slot report is included in an action frame used by a medium access control (MAC) entity located in the first node, the slot report conveying slot allocation schedule information associated with the first node to at least the second node of the wireless mesh network.

22. The wireless mesh network of claim 12 wherein the wireless mesh network is a wireless local area network (WLAN).

23. In a wireless mesh network including a plurality of nodes which transfer data during slots, a mesh node comprising:

a memory configured to store slot allocation information associated with the mesh node;

a processor electrically coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to generate a list of allocated slots request message based on the stored slot allocation information; and

a transmitter electrically coupled to the processor, the transmitter being configured to transmit the list of allocated slots request message to another mesh node in the wireless mesh network.

24. In a wireless mesh network including a plurality of nodes which transfer data during slots, a first mesh node comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a list of allocated slots request message from a second mesh node in the wireless mesh network;

a memory configured to store an information element (IE);

a processor electrically coupled to the receiver and the memory, the processor being configured to retrieve the IE from the memory and generate a list of allocated slots response message which includes the IE in response to the receiver receiving the list of allocated slots request message; and

a transmitter electrically coupled to the processor, the transmitter being configured to transmit the list of allocated slots response message to the second mesh node.

25. The first mesh node of claim 24 wherein the IE comprises:

an element identification (ID) field;

an element-specific information field of variable length containing the list of slot allocations; and

a length field which specifies a number of octets in the information field.

26. The first mesh node of claim 25 wherein the element ID field and the length field are each one octet in length.

27. The first mesh node of claim 25 wherein the information field comprises:

a list size field; and

a plurality of slot information fields.

28. The first mesh node of claim 27 wherein each slot information field comprises:

a timing information field that indicates a starting time and duration of a data exchanged during a respective slot.

29. The first mesh node of claim 27 wherein each slot information field comprises:

a radio frequency (RF) information field that indicates the radio channel and the number of channels used by the second mesh node to exchange data during a respective slot.

30. The first mesh node of claim 27 wherein each slot information field comprises:

a quality of service (QoS) information field that indicates the QoS required by the data to be exchanged during a respective slot.

31. The first mesh node of claim 27 wherein each slot information field comprises:

a peer nodes information field that indicates node identifiers for each node involved in data transmission during a respective slot.

32. The first mesh node of claim 27 wherein each slot information field comprises:

a direction field that indicates whether data exchanges by the second mesh node is unidirectional from one transmitter to one receiver, or bidirectional to and from all nodes involved during a respective slot.

33. The first mesh node of claim 24 wherein the wireless mesh network is a wireless local area network (WLAN).