FORMATION OF WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORKS BASED ON MOVEMENT DIRECTION OF NODES

• US 20080049688A1
• Filed: 08/23/2006
• Published: 02/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: SHEYNMAN, ARNOLD, NAKFOUR, JUANA E., CHARLIER, MICHAEL L.
• Granted Patent: US 8,958,743 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/20 Manipulation of established connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/22 with access to wired networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

Abstract

Mobile nodes without connectivity to a wireless network form mobile ad hoc networks with mobile nodes with connectivity to the wireless network. The moving directions for the mobile nodes are determined. If the mobile nodes are traveling in substantially the same direction the ad hoc network is formed. The mobile nodes then exchange capabilities. If a mobile node without connectivity to a particular network determines that another mobile node in the ad hoc network is connected to the network, the mobile node without connectivity can tunnel data to the network through the other mobile node.

Claims

1. A method, in a mobile node, of initiating formation of a wireless network, comprising:

determining a moving direction for the mobile node in response to a predetermined trigger;

creating a network identifier that includes the moving direction; and

broadcasting the network identifier.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining comprises:

employing a compass, internal to the mobile node, to determine the direction of travel.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining comprises:

employing a compass, external to the mobile node, to determine the direction of travel.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining comprises:

employing a global positioning system (GPS) receiver to determine the direction of travel.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

connecting to another wireless network.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of determining the moving direction comprises:

determining the moving direction in response to connecting to the other wireless network.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving data from at least one other mobile node and sending the data over the other wireless network, and

receiving data from the other wireless network and sending the data to the at least one other mobile node.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

transmitting a notification indicating that the mobile node will no longer exchange data with the other wireless network on behalf of the mobile node.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of creating the network identifier comprises:

generating a name for the wireless network; and

forming a message that includes a wireless network name and the moving direction.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of broadcasting comprises:

sending the network identifier as part of a wireless local area IEEE 802.11 beacon signal.

13. The mobile device of claim 11 of claim 1, further comprising:

a second wireless network interface.

14. The mobile device of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to request the moving direction from the direction finding apparatus in response to the mobile device connecting to a second wireless network through the second wireless network interface.

11. A mobile device, comprising:

a first wireless network interface;

a direction finding apparatus to determine a moving direction of the mobile device; and

a processor configured to request the moving direction from the direction finding apparatus in response to a predetermined trigger, to create a network identifier for a first wireless network, wherein the network identifier includes the moving direction, and to broadcast the network identifier over the first wireless network interface.

12. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the direction finding apparatus comprises at least one of a compass internal to the mobile device, a compass external to the mobile device, a GPS receiver internal to the mobile device, and a GPS receiver external to the mobile device.

15. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to generate a name for the first wireless network and to form the network identifier such that it includes the first wireless network name and the moving direction.

16. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to:

broadcast the network identifier as part of an IEEE 802.11 beacon signal.

17. A method for determining, in a mobile node, whether to join a wireless network, comprising:

receiving a network identifier from at least one other mobile node, wherein the network identifier includes a moving direction for the at least on other mobile node;

determining whether or not the moving direction for the at least one other mobile node meets at least one predetermined criteria; and

connecting to the wireless network if the moving direction meets the at least one predetermined criteria.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of receiving the network identifier comprises:

receiving a message that includes a network name and the moving direction for the at least one other mobile node.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of determining comprises:

determining the moving direction of the mobile node; and

comparing the moving direction of the mobile node to the moving direction of the at least one other mobile node.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of determining the moving direction of the mobile node comprises:

employing at least one of an internal compass, an external compass, an internal GPS receiver, and an external GPS receiver to determine the moving direction.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of connecting comprises:

connecting to the wireless network in response to a determination that the moving direction of the mobile node is substantially the same as the moving direction of the at least one other mobile node.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

receiving an indication that the moving direction of the at least one other mobile node has changed; and

disconnecting from the wireless network in response to receipt of the indication.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of receiving the indication comprises:

measuring signal strength between the mobile node and the at least one other mobile node;

determining that the at least one other mobile node has changed direction if the signal strength falls below a predetermined level.

24. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

determining that the mobile node is unable to connect to another wireless network;

sending a message to the at least one other mobile node requesting network types to which it is connected; and

employing the at least one other mobile node to exchange data with the other wireless network in response to a determination that the at least one other mobile node is connected to the other wireless network.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

connecting to the other wireless network; and

stopping the employment of the at least one other mobile node to exchange data with the other wireless network.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

broadcasting a message indicating that the mobile node is available for employment to exchange data with the other wireless network.

27. A mobile device, comprising:

a first wireless network interface configured to receive a network identifier from at least one other mobile device, wherein the network identifier includes a moving direction for the at least one other mobile device;

a processor configured to determine whether or not the moving direction for the at least one other mobile device meets at least one predetermined criteria and to connect with the wireless network if the moving direction meets the at least one predetermined criteria.

28. The mobile device of claim 27, wherein the processor is further configured to extract a network name and the moving direction of the at least one other mobile node from the network identifier.

29. The mobile device of claim 27, further comprising:

a direction finding apparatus to determine the moving direction of the mobile device;

wherein the processor is further configured to receive the moving direction of the mobile device from the direction finding apparatus and to compare the moving direction of the mobile device to the moving direction of the at least one other mobile device.

30. The mobile device of claim 29, wherein the direction finding apparatus comprises at least one of an external compass, an internal compass, an external GPS receiver, and an internal GPS receiver.

31. The mobile device of claim 27, wherein the processor is further configured to join the wireless network in response to a determination that the moving direction the mobile device is substantially the same as the moving direction of the at least one other mobile device.

32. The mobile device of claim 27, wherein the processor is further configured to receive an indication that the moving direction of the at least one other mobile device has changed and to disconnect from the wireless network in response to receipt of the indication.

33. The mobile device of claim 28, wherein the processor is further configured to measure signal strength between the mobile device and the at least one other mobile device and to determine that the at least one other mobile device has changed direction if the signal strength falls below a predetermined level.

34. The mobile device of claim 27, wherein the processor is further configured to ascertain that the mobile device is unable to connect to another wireless network and to send a message to the at least one other mobile device to determine networks to which the least one other mobile device is connected and to employ the at least one other mobile device to exchange data with the other wireless network in response to a determination that the at least one other mobile device is connected to the other wireless network.

35. The mobile device of claim 34, wherein the processor is further configured to stop employment of the at least one other mobile device when the mobile device connects to the other wireless network.

36. The mobile device of claim 35, wherein the processor is further configured to broadcast a message indicating that the mobile device is available for employment to exchange data with the other wireless network.

37-54. -54. (canceled)