SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMMUNICATING USING A PLURALITY OF TDMA MESH NETWORKS HAVING EFFICIENT BANDWIDTH USE

• US 20080019298A1
• Filed: 07/24/2006
• Published: 01/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Stingray IP Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Harris Corporation (L3Harris Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: RUDNICK, William M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,773,575 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/321
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 4/00 Combined time-division and frequency-division multiplex systems H04J13/00 takes precedence ; data transmission H04L5/26; telemetry G08C15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks

Abstract

In accordance with a non-limiting example of the present invention, a communications system includes a plurality of Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) mesh networks, each comprising a plurality of wireless nodes, each having a transmitter and receiver that communicate on a primary and at least one secondary frequency, and communicate using a TDMA epoch that is divided into at least a beacon interval using the primary frequency and a digital data interval using both the primary and secondary frequencies. The wireless nodes are operative for allocating a secondary frequency usage of a digital data interval for a TDMA mesh network to fall into an unused portion of the secondary frequency usage of another TDMA mesh network.

Claims

1. A communications system, comprising:

a plurality of Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) mesh networks, each comprising a plurality of wireless nodes;

each plurality of wireless nodes within a respective TDMA mesh network comprising a transmitter and receiver that communicate on a primary and at least one secondary frequency and using a TDMA epoch that is divided into at least a beacon interval using the primary frequency and a digital data interval using both the primary and secondary frequencies, wherein said wireless nodes are operative for allocating a secondary frequency usage of a digital data interval for a TDMA mesh network to fall into an unused portion of the secondary frequency usage map of another TDMA mesh network.

2. The communications system according to claim 1, wherein a TDMA epoch for one of the TDMA mesh networks is offset from the start of a TDMA epoch for another TDMA mesh networks such that TDMA secondary frequency usage of the digital data interval for a TDMA mesh network falls into an unused portion of the secondary frequency usage in the other TDMA mesh network.

3. The communications system according to claim 1, wherein the start of a TDMA epoch is maintained for at least two TDMA mesh networks in an overlapped condition.

4. The communications system according to claim 1, wherein said wireless nodes within a TDMA mesh network are operative for creating a phantom wireless node that hears wireless nodes within another TDMA mesh network, whose start of a TDMA epoch is at a desired offset based upon an inferred start of a TDMA epoch.

5. The communications system according to claim 4, wherein said phantom wireless node is synchronized with other wireless nodes within the same respective TDMA mesh network.

6. The communications system according to claim 1, wherein said TDMA epoch is divided into a beacon interval, a digital voice interval and a digital data interval.

7. A method of communicating in a wireless mesh network, which comprises:

allocating a primary frequency and at least one secondary frequency within a TDMA mesh network having a plurality of wireless nodes and communicating with each other using a TDMA epoch that is divided into at least a beacon interval using the primary frequency and digital data interval using both the primary and secondary frequencies; and

allocating a primary frequency and at least one secondary frequency within a another TDMA mesh network, wherein the secondary frequency usage of the digital data interval for a TDMA mesh network falls in an unused portion of the secondary frequency usage of the other TDMA mesh network.

8. The method according to claim 7, which further comprises starting a TDMA epoch for one of the TDMA mesh networks offset from the start of the TDMA epoch for the other TDMA mesh network, wherein the secondary frequency usage of the digital data interval for a TDMA mesh network falls in an unused portion of secondary frequency usage in the other TDMA mesh network.

9. The method according to claim 7, which further comprises allocating a new, unused frequency for the primary frequency of a TDMA mesh network.

10. The method according to claim 7, which further comprises maintaining the start of TDMA epochs for the TDMA mesh networks in an overlapped condition.

11. The method according to claim 7, which further comprises allocating a primary frequency and at least one secondary frequency within a third TDMA mesh network having a digital data interval on the at least one secondary frequency, wherein the TDMA secondary frequency usage of the digital data interval falls in an unused portion of the secondary frequency usage in at least one of the other TDMA mesh networks.

12. The method according to claim 7, which further comprises creating a phantom wireless node from wireless nodes within a TDMA mesh network that hear wireless nodes within the other TDMA mesh network, whose start of a TDMA epoch is at a desired offset based upon an inferred TDMA mesh network start of a TDMA epoch.

13. The method according to claim 12, which further comprises creating the phantom wireless node when synchronizing a TDMA mesh network.

14. The method according to claim 13, which further comprises establishing a plurality of phantom wireless nodes when synchronizing a TDMA mesh network.

15. The method according to claim 7, which further comprises encountering another TDMA mesh network such that TDMA secondary frequency usage for the TDMA mesh networks falls in an unused portion of the respective other TDMA mesh network that has been encountered.

16. The method according to claim 7, which further comprises dividing the TDMA epoch into a beacon interval, and optional digital voice interval and a digital data interval.

17. A method of communicating in a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) wireless mesh network, which comprises:

allocating a primary frequency and at least one secondary frequency within each of a plurality of TDMA mesh networks, each having a plurality of wireless nodes and communicating with each other using a TDMA epoch that is divided into at least a beacon interval using the primary frequency and a digital data interval using both the primary and secondary frequencies; and

allocating at least one of the secondary frequency usage of the digital data interval for at least one of TDMA mesh networks to fall in an unused portion of the secondary frequency usage of another TDMA mesh network.

18. The method according to claim 17, which further comprises starting a TDMA epoch for a TDMA mesh network offset from the start of the TDMA epoch for another TDMA mesh network, wherein the secondary frequency usage of the digital data interval falls in an unused portion of secondary frequency usage in another TDMA mesh network.

19. The method according to claim 17, which further comprises allocating a new, unused frequency for the primary frequency of respective TDMA mesh networks.

20. The method according to claim 17, which further comprises maintaining the start of TDMA epochs for TDMA mesh networks in an overlapped condition.

21. The method according to claim 17, which further comprises creating a phantom wireless node from wireless nodes within a TDMA mesh network that hear wireless nodes within another TDMA mesh network, whose start of a TDMA epoch is at a desired offset based upon an inferred TDMA start of a TDMA epoch of the first TDMA mesh network.

22. The method according to claim 17, which further comprises creating the phantom wireless node when synchronizing a TDMA mesh network.

23. The method according to claim 22, which further comprises establishing a plurality of phantom wireless nodes that are created when synchronizing a TDMA mesh network.

24. The method according to claim 17, which further comprises dividing the TDMA epoch into a beacon interval, and optional digital voice interval and a digital data interval.