COMMUNICATIONS METHODS AND APPARATUS RELATED TO SYNCHRONIZATION WITH RESPECT TO A PEER TO PEER TIMING STRUCTURE
First Claim
1. A method of operating a first wireless communications device, comprising:
- determining a time reference point; and
accessing stored timing structure information used to determine recurring peer discovery intervals and traffic intervals.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus related to peer to peer communication networks are described. A peer to peer timing structure is implemented which includes recurring peer discovery intervals and traffic intervals. Some embodiments further include recurring paging intervals for peer to peer pages. A wireless communications device, supporting peer to peer communications and storing information defining the timing structure, determines a time reference point, facilitating a coarse level of synchronization with respect to the timing structure. The time reference point is determined based on a broadcast signal received from a communications device, e.g., a satellite, base station, or beacon signal transmitter. Multiple peer to peer wireless communications devices in a local vicinity thus obtain the same basic understanding as to the current relative point in time with respect to a common recurring peer to peer timing structure. Peer to peer timing synchronization is further refined based on received signals communicated between peers.
110 Citations
47 Claims
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1. A method of operating a first wireless communications device, comprising:
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determining a time reference point; and accessing stored timing structure information used to determine recurring peer discovery intervals and traffic intervals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A first wireless communications device, comprising:
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a timing reference point determination module for determining a time reference point; stored timing structure information used to determine recurring peer discovery intervals and traffic intervals; and an interval determination module for accessing stored timing structure information and determining a type of interval corresponding to a point in time. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A first wireless communications device, comprising:
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timing reference point determination means for determining a time reference point; means for determining recurring peer discovery intervals and traffic intervals; and means for accessing stored timing structure information and determining a type of interval corresponding to a point in time. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A computer readable medium embodying machine executable instructions for operating a first wireless communications device, the method comprising:
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determining a time reference point; and accessing stored timing structure information used to determine recurring peer discovery intervals and traffic intervals. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. An apparatus comprising:
a processor configured to; determine a time reference point; and access stored timing structure information used to determine recurring peer discovery intervals and traffic intervals. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
Specification