Method and apparatus for power line communication

• US 20080084923A1
• Filed: 11/19/2007
• Published: 04/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Shigeo Yoshida, Shinichiro Ohmi, Tohru Yasukawa, Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi
• Original Assignee: Shigeo Yoshida, Shinichiro Ohmi, Tohru Yasukawa, Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi
• Inventors: Yoshida, Shigeo, Yasukawa, Tohru, Ohmi, Shinichiro, Yamaguchi, Tsuyoshi
• Application Number:
  US11/984,526
• Publication Number:
  US 20080084923A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5495 having measurements and testing channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/542 the information being in digital form

Abstract

The variation cycle L of the characteristics of a transmission line is divided into a plurality of sections (n sections), a procedure is repeated in which transmission line estimation is performed for only one section among n sections in one beacon period, and thus transmission line estimation is performed for all of the n sections. The beacon period T is set based on (T=L×m/n), where n is an integer that is 2 or larger, and m is an integer that is n or larger and whose greatest common measure with n is 1.

Claims

1. A communication apparatus performing periodical communications with another communication apparatus via a transmission line, the communication apparatus comprising:

a communication control portion operable to set a communication period to a plurality of sections to perform communications,

a transmission line estimation portion operable to estimate the characteristics of the transmission line in a predetermined section after an offset time has passed since the communication period started, and

a communication parameter determination portion operable to determine a communication parameter to be used by the communication control portion, based on a result of estimation by the transmission line estimation portion.

2. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein when receiving a beacon, to which information on time allocation for estimating the transmission line is added, the transmission line estimation portion estimates the characteristics of the transmission line based on the information.

3. The communication apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the information also includes to prohibiting other apparatuses from transferring data.

4. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the transmission line estimation portion estimates the characteristics of the transmission line based on a PHY rate of a tonemap in the predetermined section.

5. A computer-readable recording medium having a program recorded thereon, the program for being executed by a communication apparatus which performs periodical communications with another communication apparatus via a transmission line, the program comprising the steps of:

setting a communication period to (L×

m/n) (L is a variation cycle of characteristics of a transmission line, n is an integer that is 2 or larger, and m is an integer that is n or larger and whose greatest common measure with n is

     1) to perform communications,

estimating the characteristics of the transmission line within a time (L/n) after a certain offset time has passed since the communication period started, and

determining a communication parameter to be used in the communicating step, based on a result of estimation in the estimating step.