PEER TO PEER MULTIPLE IDENTIFIERS

• US 20090016255A1
• Filed: 06/27/2008
• Published: 01/15/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Park, Vincent D.
• Granted Patent: US 9,301,121 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/312
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

In an ad hoc peer-to-peer type network during peer discovery, information relating to an identifier associated with users of various devices is broadcast to other devices in an efficient manner. Two or more identifiers can be processed to produce a single value (e.g., bit vector) that is transmitted for the purpose of peer discovery, thus mitigating the need to broadcast the two or more identifiers separately. A public identifier can be converted to a private temporary identifier and the private temporary identifier can be used as one of the inputs to the operation producing the single value to be transmitted. The aspects are not limited to peer discovery and can include broadcasting by inanimate objects or broadcasting of services, functions or interests.

Claims

1. A method for creating a sequence of bits that represent two or more identifiers for broadcast during peer discovery, comprising:

selecting two or more identifiers to be broadcast, the two or more identifiers are associated with a transmitting device;

processing the selected identifiers to produce a sequence of marked bits included in a bit vector; and

broadcasting the bit vector for peer discovery purposes.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the two or more identifiers relate to a user, a service, a function, an interest, or combinations thereof.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the two or more identifiers are automatically selected, manually selected, or combinations thereof.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the two or more identifiers are automatically selected based on a usage frequency, a primary indication, a current use, or combinations thereof.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the two or more identifiers is a private temporary identifier.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the selected identifiers includes performing a hash operation or multiple hash operations on the selected identifiers.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the selected identifiers to produce a sequence of marked bits results in at least one bit being marked by two of the selected identifiers.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprises setting an upper bound on the number of bits that can be marked within the bit vector.

9. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

a memory that retains instructions related to choosing two or more identifiers to broadcast, processing the two or more identifiers through a filtering mechanism to produce a bit vector corresponding to the two or more identifiers, and transmitting the bit vector to nodes within a vicinity; and

a processor, coupled to the memory, configured to execute the instructions retained in the memory.

10. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 9, wherein the memory further retains instructions related to converting a public identifier into a temporary private identifier.

11. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 9, wherein the bit vector is transmitted as part of a peer discovery process.

12. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 9, wherein the two or more identifiers relate to a user identification, a service, a function, an interest, or combinations thereof.

13. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 9, wherein the filtering mechanism is a hash operation or multiple hash operations.

14. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 9, wherein the memory further retains instructions related to setting an upper threshold on the number of marked bits that can be included within the bit vector and removing at least one identifier from the bit vector if the number of marked bits meets or exceeds the upper threshold.

15. A wireless communications apparatus that broadcasts at least two identifiers using a bit vector to facilitate peer discovery while mitigating the amount of overhead in a communication environment, comprising:

means for selecting at least a subset of identifiers associated with a device;

means for processing the at least a subset of identifiers to produce an output bit sequence that comprises marked bits; and

means for transmitting the output bit sequence to a plurality of receiver devices.

16. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 15, further comprising means for limiting the number of marked bits within the bit sequence.

17. A computer program product, comprising

a computer-readable medium, comprising

a first set of codes for causing a computer to choose two or more identifiers to broadcast periodically for peer discovery;

a second set of codes for causing the computer to perform an operation on the chosen identifiers to produce a plurality of set bits within a bit vector, the plurality of set bits correspond to the two or more identifiers; and

a third set of codes for causing the computer to convey the bit vector with the set bits for peer discovery by devices within a communication environment.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the operation is a hash operation or multiple hash operations.

19. The computer program product of claim 17, the computer-readable medium further comprises:

a fourth set of codes for causing the computer to selectively limit a number of bits that can be set within the bit vector.

20. The computer program product of claim 17, the computer-readable medium further comprising:

a fourth set of codes for causing the computer to change a publicly known identifier to a temporary private identifier; and

a fifth set of codes for causing the computer to use the temporary private identifier as at least one of the two or more chosen identifiers.

21. At least one processor configured to create a sequence of bits that represent two or more identifiers for broadcast during a peer discovery process, comprising:

a first module for selecting two or more identifiers to be transmitted during peer discovery;

a second module for converting at least one of the two or more identifiers to a private temporary identifier;

a third module for setting an upper bound on a number of marked bits that can be included in a bit vector;

a fourth module for processing the selected identifiers and the private temporary identifier though a hash algorithm to produce a sequence of marked bits within the bit vector, the sequence of marked bits complies with the set upper bound; and

a fifth module for broadcasting the bit vector for peer discovery purposes.

22. A method for receiving and decoding marked bits included in a bit vector for peer discovery purposes, comprising:

determining bits in a bit vector that should be marked if a peer node is broadcasting a known identifier;

receiving at least a subset of the bit vector from a node in a communication network;

evaluating the received at least a subset of a bit vector for bits marked within the bit vector;

ascertaining if the received at least a subset of the bit vector could be from the peer node based on the bits that should be marked if the peer node transmitted the bit vector; and

selectively initiating communication if the bit vector could be from the peer node.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein receiving at least a subset of a bit vector from a node in a communication network comprises receiving a sufficient amount of bits to indicate a confidence level that a sender of the bits could be the peer node wherein the bit vector could be from the peer node if the confidence level meets or exceeds a predetermined threshold.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein determining bits in a bit vector that should be marked if a peer node is broadcasting a known identifier comprises processing the known identifier of the peer node though a filtering mechanism similar to a filtering mechanism used by the peer node.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the filtering mechanism is a hash operation or multiple hash operations.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein selectively initiating communication if the bit vector is from the peer node comprises sending a request for verification whether the node is the peer node.

27. The method of claim 22, further comprises ignoring the bit vector if a number of marked bits exceeds an upper limit.

28. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

a memory that retains instructions related to receiving a bit vector from a transmitting node, decoding the bit vector, determining which bits should be set if the bit vector is from a related peer, and verifying whether the transmitting node could be the related peer; and

a processor, coupled to the memory, configured to execute the instructions retained in the memory.

29. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 28, the memory further retains instructions related to ignoring a bit vector if a number of bits set in the bit vector exceeds an upper bound.

30. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 28, the memory further retains instructions related to retaining information associated with the related peer and using the retained information while verifying whether the transmitting node could be the related peer.

31. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 28, the memory further retains instructions related to retaining information for converting a public known identifier of the related peer to a temporary private identifier based on a received temporary key.

32. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 28, the memory further retains instructions related to processing a known identifier of the related peer though a filtering mechanism similar to a filtering mechanism used by the related peer to determine which bits should be set if the bit vector is from the related peer, the filtering mechanism is a hash operation or multiple hash operations.

33. A wireless communications apparatus that receives and interprets a sub-portion of a bit vector to facilitate peer discovery in an ad hoc environment, comprising:

means for receiving at least a portion of a bit vector from a transmitting node;

means for determining which bits in the received portion of the bit vector are marked;

means for deciding which bits a peer node would mark in the bit vector; and

means for ascertaining if the portion of the bit vector might be from the peer node based on the determination of the bits marked in the received portion of the bit vector.

34. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 33, wherein the means for deciding which bits a peer node would mark in the bit vector uses at least one known identifier associated with the peer node to make the decision.

35. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 33, further comprising means for ignoring the received portion of the bit vector if a number of bits marked exceeds an upper limit.

36. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 33, further comprising means for selectively initiating communication with the transmitting node if the portion of the bit vector might have been from the peer node.

37. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 33, wherein the means for receiving at least a portion of a bit vector from a transmitting node receives a sufficient amount of bits to indicate a confidence level that a sender of the bits could be the peer node, wherein the bit vector could be from the peer node if the confidence level meets or exceeds a predetermined threshold.

38. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising;

a first set of codes for causing a computer to decide a sequence of bits that should be set to “

1”

if a peer node is transmitting a bit vector;

a second set of codes for causing the computer to receive at least a subset of a bit vector from a node in an ad hoc network;

a third set of codes for causing the computer to determine if the at least a subset of the received bit vector might be from the peer node based on the bits set to “

1”

in the received bit vector; and

a fourth set of codes for causing the computer to selectively request confirmation if the peer node is the node from which the subset of the bit vector was received.

39. The computer program product of claim 38, wherein receiving at least a subset of a bit vector from a node in an ad hoc network comprises receiving a sufficient amount of bits to indicate a confidence level that a sender of the bits could be the peer node, the bit vector could be from the peer node if the confidence level meets or exceeds a predetermined threshold.

40. At least one processor configured to receive and decode marked bits included in a bit vector for peer discovery purposes, comprising

a first module for receiving from a transmitting node a bit vector that includes a plurality of bits;

a second module for disregarding the bit vector if a number of set bits exceeds an upper limit;

a third module for determining which bits in the plurality of bits should be set if the bit vector is from a related peer;

a fourth module for comparing the set bits in the received bit vector with the bits that should be set if from the related peer; and

a fifth module for sending a communication to the transmitting node to determine whether the transmitting node is the related peer if the comparison indicates the received bit vector could have been received from the related peer.