Wireless communication methods and apparatus using beacon signals

• US 20090059841A1
• Filed: 01/10/2007
• Published: 03/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Laroia, Rajiv, Li, Junyi, Richardson, Tom, Lane, Frank A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,885,572 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/0602 Systems characterised by the synchronising information used
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2601 Multicarrier modulation systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/261 Details of reference signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0016 Time-frequency-code
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0035 Resource allocation in a cooperative multipoint environment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0048 Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/04 Error control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/16 Performing reselection for specific purposes
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/24 Reselection being triggered by specific parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/24 Connectivity information management, e.g. connectivity discovery or connectivity update
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/244 using a network of reference devices, e.g. beaconing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0229 where the received signal is a wanted signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/04 TPC
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/02 Selection of wireless resources by user or terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 : Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/042 : Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 : Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 : Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 : adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 : adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/10 : adapted for operation in multiple networks, e.g. multi-mode access points
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Methods and apparatus supporting peer to peer communications are discussed. A base station, serving as an access node for wireless terminals also communicates information supporting peer to peer communications. A base station transmits a beacon signal conveying information about a peer to peer frequency band and also receives user data from a plurality of wireless terminals, using the base station as a current point of network attachment. In some embodiments, the beacon signal is transmitted into the same frequency band being used for access node based communications and identifies a different frequency band which is to be used as a peer to peer frequency band. Alternatively, or in addition, in support of peer to peer communications, a beacon signal transmission apparatus, a free standing device which doesn'"'"'t transmit user data, transmits a sequence of beacon signal bursts, each beacon signal burst including at least one high power beacon symbol.

Claims

1. A method of operating a base station, comprising:

transmitting a beacon signal, said beacon signal including at least one beacon signal burst, said beacon signal conveying information about a peer to peer frequency band, and

receiving data from a plurality of wireless terminals using said base station as an access node for communication through said access node.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting a beacon signal includes transmitting said beacon signal into a first communications band, said beacon signal conveyed information indicating a second frequency band which is used as said peer to peer frequency band, said second frequency band being different from said first frequency band.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising transmitting user data to said plurality of wireless terminals using said first frequency band.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said receiving data includes receiving data in said first frequency band during a first time period and wherein said transmitting user data into said first frequency band is performed during a second time period which is different from said first time period, said first frequency band being used in a time division multiplexed manner.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein said base station does not receive or transmit user data in the second frequency band.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the average transmitted power into said second frequency band over a 1 minute time period is less than 1/1000 the average transmitted power transmitted by said base station into the first frequency band.

7. The method of claim 3, further comprising transmitting a second beacon signal into the first communications band, said second beacon signal providing timing synchronization information to the plurality of wireless terminals using said base station as an access node.

8. A base station, comprising:

a beacon signal generation module for generating a beacon signal, said beacon signal including at least one beacon signal burst, said beacon signal burst conveying information about a peer to peer frequency band;

a transmitter for transmitting the generated beacon signal, and

a receiver for receiving signals including user data signals from a plurality of wireless terminals using said base station as an access node for communication through said access node.

9. The base station of claim 8, further comprising:

a frequency band control module for controlling transmission of said beacon signal into a first communications band, said beacon signal conveying information indicating a second frequency band which is used as said peer to peer frequency band, said second frequency band being different from said first frequency band.

10. The base station of claim 9, further comprising:

a user data transmission control module for controlling transmission of user data to multiple ones of said plurality of wireless terminals using said first frequency band.

11. The base station of claim 10, wherein said receiving data includes receiving data in said first frequency band during a first time period and wherein said transmitting user data into said first frequency band is performed during a second time period which is different from said first time period, said first frequency band being used in a time division multiplexed manner.

12. The base station of claim 10, wherein said base station does not receive or transmit user data in the second frequency band.

13. The base station of claim 11, further comprising:

a transmission power control module for controlling transmission power into the second frequency band to keep the average transmitted power into said second frequency band over a 1 minute time period less than 1/1000 the average transmitted power transmitted by said base station into the first frequency band.

14. The base station of claim 11, wherein the base station transmits into the first frequency band but does not transmit into the second frequency band.

15. The base station of claim 10, further comprising:

an access node beacon signal generation module for generating a second beacon signal, said second beacon signal providing timing synchronization information to the plurality of wireless terminals using said base station as an access node; and

wherein the transmitter is also for transmitting the second beacon signal into the first frequency band.

16. The base station of claim 15, wherein said transmitter is an OFDM transmitter.

17. A base station, comprising:

beacon signal generation means for generating a beacon signal, said beacon signal including at least one beacon signal burst, said beacon signal burst conveying information about a peer to peer frequency band;

transmission means for transmitting the generated beacon signal, and

receiver means for receiving signals including user data signals from a plurality of wireless terminals using said base station as an access node for communication through said access node.

18. The base station of claim 17, further comprising:

frequency band control means for controlling transmission of said beacon signal into a first communications band, said beacon signal conveying information indicating a second frequency band which is used as said peer to peer frequency band, said second frequency band being different from said first frequency band.

19. The base station of claim 18, further comprising:

user data transmission control means for controlling transmission of user data to multiple ones of said plurality of wireless terminals using said first frequency band.

20. The base station of claim 19, wherein said receiving data includes receiving data in said first frequency band during a first time period and wherein said transmitting user data into said first frequency band is performed during a second time period which is different from said first time period, said first frequency band being used in a time division multiplexed manner.

21. The base station of claim 19, wherein said base station does not receive or transmit user data in the second frequency band.

22. The base station of claim 20, further comprising:

transmission power control means for controlling transmission power into the second frequency band to keep the average transmitted power into said second frequency band over a 1 minute time period less than 1/1000 the average transmitted power transmitted by said base station into the first frequency band.

23. A computer readable medium embodying machine executable instructions for controlling a base station to implement a method of communicating with another communications device, the method comprising:

transmitting a beacon signal, said beacon signal including at least one beacon signal burst, said beacon signal conveying information about a peer to peer frequency band, and

receiving data from a plurality of wireless terminals using said base station as an access node for communication through said access node.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein transmitting a beacon signal includes transmitting said beacon signal into a first communications band, said beacon signal conveyed information indicating a second frequency band which is used as said peer to peer frequency band, said second frequency band being different from said first frequency band.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 24, further embodying machine executable instructions for:

transmitting user data to said plurality of wireless terminals using said first frequency band.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein said receiving data includes receiving data in said first frequency band during a first time period and wherein said transmitting user data into said first frequency band is performed during a second time period which is different from said first time period, said first frequency band being used in a time division multiplexed manner.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein said base station does not receive or transmit user data in the second frequency band.

28. The computer readable medium of claim 25, further embodying machine executable instructions for transmitting a second beacon signal into the first communications band, said second beacon signal providing timing synchronization information to the plurality of wireless terminals using said base station as an access node.

29. An apparatus comprising:

a base station processor configured to;

generate a beacon signal, said beacon signal including at least one beacon signal burst, said beacon signal burst conveying information about a peer to peer frequency band;

transmit the generated beacon signal, and

receive signals including user data signals from a plurality of wireless terminals using said apparatus as an access node for communication through said access node.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein said base station processor is further configured to:

control transmission of said beacon signal into a first communications band, said beacon signal conveying information indicating a second frequency band which is used as said peer to peer frequency band, said second frequency band being different from said first frequency band.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said base station processor is further configured to:

control transmission of user data to multiple ones of said plurality of wireless terminals using said first frequency band.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein said receiving data includes receiving data in said first frequency band during a first time period and wherein said transmitting user data into said first frequency band is performed during a second time period which is different from said first time period, said first frequency band being used in a time division multiplexed manner.

33. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein said apparatus does not receive or transmit user data in the second frequency band.

34. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein said base station processor is further configured to:

control transmission power into the second frequency band to keep the average transmitted power into said second frequency band over a 1 minute time period less than 1/1000 the average transmitted power transmitted by said apparatus into the first frequency band.

35. A beacon signal transmission apparatus, comprising:

a beacon signal transmitter for transmitting a sequence of beacon signal bursts each beacon signal burst including at least one beacon symbol, said beacon transmission signal apparatus being a free standing device not including any transmitter used to transmit data to an individual user device.

36. The beacon signal transmission apparatus of claim 35, further comprising:

a beacon signal transmission control module for controlling transmission of beacon signal bursts.

37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein said control module includes stored control information used to control said beacon signal transmitter to transmit beacon signal bursts into different frequency bands at different times.

38. The apparatus of claim 36, further comprising:

a multi-sector antenna; and

wherein the control module controls the transmitter to transmit beacon signal bursts into different sectors at different times.

39. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the beacon signal transmitter is controlled to transmit into at most one sector at a time.

40. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the apparatus is battery powered.

41. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the apparatus is solar powered.

42. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the apparatus is independently powered.

43. The apparatus of claim 36, further comprising:

a receiver for receiving a broadcast signal; and

wherein said control module controls beacons signal burst transmission timing as a function of the received broadcast signal.

44. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein said receiver is one of a GPS, GSM and CDMA receiver.

45. A method of transmitting beacon signals, comprising:

operating a beacon signal transmission apparatus comprising a beacon signal transmitter, to transmit a sequence of beacon signal bursts, each beacon signal burst including at least one beacon symbol,

wherein said beacon transmission signal apparatus is a free standing device; and

wherein said beacon signal transmission apparatus does not include any transmitter used to transmit data to an individual user device.

46. The method of claim 45, further comprising:

controlling transmission of beacon signal bursts to occur according to a predetermined transmission schedule.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein controlling transmission of beacon signal bursts includes using stored control information to determine a plurality of frequency bands into which beacon signal bursts are to be transmitted and the time at which said transmissions are to occur.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein controlling transmission includes controlling the transmitter to transmit beacon signal bursts into different frequency bands at different times.

49. The method of claim 46,

wherein controlling the transmitter to transmit beacon signal bursts includes controlling the transmitter to use a multi-sector antenna to transmit into different sectors at different times.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein controlling the beacon signal transmitter includes controlling the transmitter to transmit into at most one sector at a time.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein controlling the beacon signal transmitter includes controlling the transmitter to transmit into at most one frequency band at a time.

52. The method of claim 46, wherein controlling the beacon signal transmitter includes controlling the transmitter to control transmission into multiple frequency bands in each of multiple sectors of a cell.

53. The method of claim 52 wherein controlling the beacon signal transmitter to transmit into multiple frequency bands includes controlling the transmitter to transmit into at most one frequency band of one sector at any given time at which a beacon signal burst is transmitted.

54. The method of claim 49, further comprising:

powering said beacon signal transmitter solely from a battery power source during at least a portion of a time period during which beacon signal bursts are transmitted.

55. The method of claim 49, further comprising:

providing at least some power used to transmit beacon signal burst from a solar power source.

56. The method of claim 49, further comprising:

powering said transmitter from a power source which is independent of a commercial power grid.

57. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

receiving a broadcast signal; and

determining signal burst transmission timing as a function of the received broadcast signal.

58. The method of claim 57, wherein said receiver is one of a GPS, GSM and CDMA receiver.

59. The method of claim 57, further comprising:

scanning for different types of broadcast signals which can be used as timing reference signals.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein said scanning is performed based on a predetermined sequence based on at least some geographic location information.

61. A beacon signal transmission apparatus, comprising:

beacon signal transmitter means for transmitting a sequence of beacon signal bursts, each beacon signal burst including at least one beacon symbol, said beacon transmission signal apparatus being a free standing device not including any transmitter used to transmit data to an individual user device.

62. The beacon signal transmission apparatus of claim 61, further comprising:

beacon signal transmission control means for controlling transmission of beacon signal bursts.

63. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein said control means includes stored control information used to control said beacon signal transmitter means to transmit beacon signal bursts into different frequency bands at different times.

64. The apparatus of claim 62, further comprising:

multi-sector antenna means; and

wherein the control means controls the transmitter means to transmit beacon signal bursts into different sectors at different times.

65. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein the beacon signal transmitter means is controlled to transmit into at most one sector at a time.

66. The apparatus of claim 62, further comprising:

receiver means for receiving a broadcast signal; and

wherein said control means controls beacons signal burst transmission timing as a function of the received broadcast signal.

67. A computer readable medium embodying machine executable instructions for transmitting beacon signals, the method comprising:

operating a beacon signal transmission apparatus comprising a beacon signal transmitter, to transmit a sequence of beacon signal bursts, each beacon signal burst including at least one beacon symbol,

wherein said beacon transmission signal apparatus is a free standing device; and

wherein said beacon signal transmission apparatus does not include any transmitter used to transmit data to an individual user device.

68. The computer readable medium of claim 67, further embodying machine executable instructions for:

controlling transmission of beacon signal bursts to occur according to a predetermined transmission schedule.

69. The computer readable medium of claim 68, wherein controlling transmission of beacon signal bursts includes using stored control information to determine a plurality of frequency bands into which beacon signal bursts are to be transmitted and the time at which said transmission is to occur.

70. The computer readable medium of claim 68,

wherein controlling the transmitter to transmit beacon signal bursts includes controlling the transmitter to use a multi-sector antenna to transmit into different sectors at different times.

71. The computer readable medium of claim 70, wherein controlling the beacon signal transmitter includes controlling the transmitter to transmit into at most one sector at a time.

72. The computer readable medium of claim 71, wherein controlling the beacon signal transmitter includes controlling the transmitter to transmit into at most one frequency band at a time.

73. An apparatus comprising:

a beacon signal transmitter processor configured to;

transmit a sequence of beacon signal bursts, each beacon signal burst including at least one beacon symbol, said apparatus being a free standing device not including any transmitter used to transmit data to an individual user device.

74. The apparatus of claim 73, wherein said beacon signal transmitter processor is further configured to:

control transmission of beacon signal bursts.

75. The apparatus of claim 74, wherein said beacon signal transmitter processor is further configured to utilize stored control information to control said apparatus to transmit beacon signal bursts into different frequency bands at different times.

76. The apparatus of claim 74, further comprising a multi-sector antenna, wherein said beacon signal transmitter processor is further configured to:

control the apparatus to transmit beacon signal bursts into different sectors at different times.

77. The apparatus of claim 76, wherein the beacon signal transmitter processor is further configured to transmit into at most one sector at a time.

78. The apparatus of claim 74, wherein said beacon signal transmitter processor is further configured to:

receive a broadcast signal; and

control beacon signal burst transmission timing as a function of the received broadcast signal.

79. A communications system comprising:

a plurality of base stations coupled to a communications network, said base stations being wireless access nodes coupled to a communications network by at least one of a fiber optic connection and a wired connection, at least some said plurality of base stations for transmitting beacon signals including beacon signal bursts; and

at least one non-access beacon signal transmitter node for transmitting a beacon signal including at least one beacon signal burst, said non-access beacon signal transmitter node not relaying user data.

80. The communications system of claim 79, wherein at least some of the plurality of base stations support both peer to peer communications in the base stations transmission region and also operate as a network access node.

81. The communications system of claim 80, wherein at least one of said plurality of base stations includes:

a peer to peer beacon signal generation module for generating beacon signals used to support peer to peer communications; and

a access node beacon signal generation module for generating beacon signals used to support cellular network communications.

82. The communications system of claim 80, wherein at least one of said plurality of base stations supports switching between peer to peer and cellular modes of operation using the same frequency band for peer to peer and cellular modes of operation at different times.

83. The communications system of claim 82, wherein said at least one of said plurality of base stations transmit different beacon signals during said peer to peer and said cellular modes of operation.

84. The communications system of claim 79, wherein said at least one non-access beacon signal transmitter node is a stand alone device.

85. The communications system of claim 84, wherein said at least one non-access beacon signal transmitter node includes at least one of a battery power source and a solar power source for powering said node.

86. The communications system of claim 85, wherein said at least one non-access beacon signal transmitter node includes a receiver for receiving a broadcast signal used for timing synchronization purposes.

87. The communications system of claim 86, wherein said receiver for receiving a broadcast signal used for timing synchronization purposes is one of a GSM receiver, a satellite receiver and a cellular network receiver.

88. The communications system of claim 79, wherein at least some of said base stations which transmit beacon signals, including beacon signal transmitters which are not synchronized with respect to one another.