Wireless communication apparatus and wireless communication control method for wireless communication system

• US 20070263582A1
• Filed: 04/30/2007
• Published: 11/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Yuasa, Tomokazu
• Granted Patent: US 7,720,033 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 Control channels or signalling for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/04 Scheduled access hybrid access H04W74/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

According to one embodiment, a wireless communication apparatus includes a reserved period ensuring unit which ensures a reserved period to be occupied for communication in a communicable period time-shared in a group by adjustment in a periodic beacon period, a wireless communication unit which performs wireless communication using the reserved period, a group generating unit which generates a new group in which a periodic beacon period is formed not to temporally overlap the beacon period and causes the apparatus to belong to the new group, when the reserved period ensuring unit fails to ensure the reserved period, and a controlling unit which controls the reserved period ensuring unit to ensure the reserved period not to temporally overlap the beacon period of the original group in the communicable period of the new group to which the apparatus is caused to belong by the group generating unit.

Claims

1. A wireless communication apparatus comprising:

a reserved period ensuring unit configured to ensure a reserved period to be occupied for communication of the wireless communication apparatus in a communicable period time-shared in a group by adjustment in a periodic beacon period;

a wireless communication unit configured to perform wireless communication using the reserved period ensured by the reserved period ensuring unit;

a group generating unit configured to generate a new group in which a periodic beacon period is formed not to temporally overlap the beacon period and to cause the wireless communication apparatus to belong to the new group, when the reserved period ensuring unit fails to ensure the reserved period; and

a controlling unit configured to control the reserved period ensuring unit to ensure the reserved period not to temporally overlap the beacon period of the original group in the communicable period of the new group to which the wireless communication apparatus is caused to belong by the group generating unit.

2. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the group generating unit generates the new group in which the periodic beacon period is formed not to temporally overlap the reserved period ensured for communication of the wireless communication apparatus and the reserved period ensured for communication of a communication partner in the communicable period of the original group, and

the controlling unit ensures the reserved period in the communicable period of the new group not to temporally overlap the reserved period ensured for communication of the wireless communication apparatus and the reserved period ensured for communication of the communication partner in the communicable period of the original group.

3. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the group generating unit switches the group to which the wireless communication apparatus belongs such that the reserved period ensured for communication of the wireless communication apparatus in the beacon period and the communicable period of the original group belongs to the original group, and the reserved period ensured for communication of the wireless communication apparatus in the beacon period and the communicable period of the new group belongs to the new group.

4. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the wireless communication unit performs wireless communication while performing hopping in a predetermined pattern in each unit time among a plurality of frequency bands allocated to the group to which the wireless communication apparatus belongs, and

the group generating unit generates a group, as the new group, in which hopping is performed in a pattern different from a pattern of the original group among the plurality of frequency bands allocated to the original group.

5. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the group generating unit generates a group, as the new group, to which a frequency band different from a frequency band allocated to the original group is allocated.

6. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the group generating unit ensures a minimum reserved period from a communicable period of the original group in the beacon period of the original group, and transmits a signal for requesting a communication partner to participate in the new group in the reserved period.

7. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the group generating unit broadcasts a signal for requesting a communication partner to participate in the new group in the beacon period of the original group.

8. A wireless communication control method for a wireless communication system which includes a group having a plurality of wireless communication apparatuses, and time-shares a communicable period in a group by adjustment in a periodic beacon period, the method comprising:

generating a new group in which a periodic beacon period is formed not to temporally overlap the beacon period, when the communicable period has no free period; and

ensuring the reserved period not to temporally overlap the beacon period of the original group from the communicable period of the new group.

9. The wireless communication control method according to claim 8, further comprising generating the new group in which the periodic beacon period is formed not to temporally overlap the reserved period ensured in the communicable period of the original group, and ensuring the reserved period in the communicable period of the new group not to temporally overlap the reserved period ensured in the communicable period of the original group.

10. The wireless communication control method according to claim 8, further comprising generating a group, as the new group, in which hopping is performed in a pattern different from a pattern of the original group among the plurality of frequency bands allocated to the original group.

11. The wireless communication control method according to claim 8, further comprising generating a group, as the new group, to which a frequency band different from a frequency band allocated to the original group is allocated.

12. The wireless communication control method according to claim 8, further comprising ensuring a minimum reserved period from a communicable period of the original group in the beacon period of the original group, and transmitting a signal for requesting a communication partner to participate in the new group in the reserved period.

13. The wireless communication control method according to claim 8, further comprising broadcasting a signal for requesting a communication partner to participate in the new group in the beacon period of the original group.

14. A program which causes an information processing apparatus to perform a wireless communication using a communicable period time-shared in a group by adjustment in a periodic beacon period, the program comprising:

causing the apparatus to execute a reserved period ensuring process for ensuring a reserved period to be occupied for communication of the wireless communication apparatus in a communicable period time-shared in a group by adjustment in a periodic beacon period;

causing the apparatus to execute a wireless communication process for performing wireless communication using the reserved period ensured by the reserved period ensuring process;

causing the apparatus to execute a group generating process for generating a new group in which a periodic beacon period is formed not to temporally overlap the beacon period and causing the wireless communication apparatus to belong to the new group, when the reserved period ensuring process fails to ensure the reserved period; and

causing the apparatus to execute a controlling process for controlling the reserved period ensuring process to ensure the reserved period not to temporally overlap the beacon period of the original group in the communicable period of the new group to which the wireless communication apparatus is caused to belong by the group generating process.