METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR A NODE TO DETERMINE A PROPER DUTY CYCLE WITHIN AN ADHOC NETWORK

• US 20070174465A1
• Filed: 01/24/2006
• Published: 07/26/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ARRIS Enterprises LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Huang, Jian, Shi, Qicai, Chiou, Wayne
• Granted Patent: US 7,715,352 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0261 managing power supply demand, e.g. depending on battery level
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method and apparatus for determining a node'"'"'s proper duty cycle is provided herein. All nodes (500) within a network (100) will interactively switch duty-cycles based on a number of hops a device is from a personal area network coordinator PNC. Changing duty cycles based on a number of hops from a PNC assures that spatial patterns of duty-cycles form in a network to maximize data throughput and minimize network wide power consumptions.

Claims

1. A method for a node to determine a proper duty cycle (DC) within an ad-hoc network, the method comprising the steps of:

determining a number of hops the node is from a coordinating node; and

adjusting the duty cycle based on the number of hops the node is from the coordinating node.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the steps of determining the number of hops the node is from the coordinating node comprises the step of determining the number of hops the node is from a personal area network coordinator (PNC).

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of adjusting the duty cycle comprises the step of adjusting the duty cycle by modifying a superframe order (SO).

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the duty cycle is set to DC=SD/BI=2ˆ

(SO)/2ˆ

(BO), where BI is a beacon interval and SD is a superframe length and wherein BO=0, 1, 2, . . . 14 and SD=2ˆ

(SO) where SO=1, 2, . . . BO.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of adjusting the duty cycle further comprises the step of adjusting the duty cycle based on a required data throughput (R).

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the duty cycle is set to a maximum value when R is larger than a first threshold R1.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the duty cycle is set to a minimum value when R is less than a second threshold R2.

8. An apparatus comprising:

logic circuitry determining a number of hops the node is from a coordinating node and adjusting the duty cycle based on the number of hops the node is from the coordinating node.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the coordinating node comprises a personal area network coordinator (PNC).

10. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the logic circuitry modifies a superframe order (SO) to adjust the duty cycle.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the duty cycle is set to DC=SD/BI=2ˆ

(SO)/2ˆ

(BO), where BI is a beacon interval and SD is a superframe length and wherein BO=0, 1, 2, . . . 14 and SD=2ˆ

(SO) where SO=1, 2, . . . BO.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the logic circuitry further adjusts the duty cycle based on a required data throughput (R).

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the duty cycle is set to a maximum value when R is larger than a first threshold R1.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the duty cycle is set to a minimum value when R is less than a second threshold R2.

15. A method for a node to determine a proper duty cycle (DC) within an ad-hoc network, the method comprising the steps of:

determining a duty cycle for an upstream node; and

adjusting the duty cycle based on the duty cycle for the upstream node.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the step of determining the duty cycle for the upstream node comprises the step of determining a superframe order for the upstream node (SO_neighbor).

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of adjusting the duty cycle based on the duty cycle for the upstream node comprises the step of setting a superframe order (SO) based on SO_neighbor.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein S0=SO_neighbor−

1.