METHOD OF RESERVING RESOURCES WITH A MAXIMUM DELAY GUARANTEE FOR MULTI-HOP TRANSMISSION IN A DISTRIBUTED ACCESS WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

• US 20090092105A1
• Filed: 04/30/2007
• Published: 04/09/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/01/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Chou, Chun-Ting
• Granted Patent: US 8,045,502 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/337
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/724 at intermediate nodes, e.g. resource reservation protocol [RSVP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/824 Applicable to portable or mobile terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/826 Involving periods of time
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/26 Resource reservation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/04 Scheduled access hybrid access H04W74/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

Abstract

In a communication network (100), a method (400) of reserving X slots (610) for transmitting data from a source device (110A) to a destination device (110D) via multi-hop relay includes sending a first hop reservation request from the source device (110A) to a second device (110), for transmitting data from the source device to the destination device. The first hop reservation request identifies the source device, the destination device, and X proposed slots (610) to be reserved for the first hop. The source device then receives a first message, addressed to the source device from the second device, indicating that the first hop reservation request is pending and that the X slots proposed by the source device have been reserved by the second device. Later, the source device receives a subsequent message indicating whether a final hop reservation request has been accepted by the destination device.

Claims

1. In a communication network (100) comprising a plurality of devices (110) communicating using a reservation-based data transfer protocol having a superframe (600) comprising a plurality of slots (610), a method (400) of reserving X slots (610) for transmitting data from a source device (110A) to a destination device (110D) via multi-hop relay, the method comprising:

sending (410) a first hop reservation request from the source device (110A), addressed to a second device (110) different from the destination device (110D), for transmitting data from the source device (110A) to the destination device (110D), the first hop reservation request identifying the source device (110A), the destination device (110D), and X proposed slots (610) to be reserved for a first hop between the source device (110A) and the second device (110);

at the source device (110A) receiving (425) a first message, addressed to the source device (110A) from the second device (110), indicating that the first hop reservation request is pending and that the X slots (610) proposed by the source device (110A) have been reserved by the second device (110); and

at the source device (110A) receiving (455) a subsequent message, addressed to the source device (110A) from the second device (110), indicating that a final hop reservation request has been accepted by the destination device (110D), corresponding to the first hop reservation request of the source device (110A).

2. The method (400) of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving (415) the first hop reservation request at the second device (110); and

sending (430) a second hop reservation request from the second device (110), addressed to a third device (110), for transmitting the data from the source device (110A) to the destination device (110D), the second hop reservation request identifying the source device (110A), the destination device (110D), and X proposed slots (610) to be reserved for a second hop between the second device (110) and the third device (110), wherein the X slots (610) proposed by the second device (110) for the second hop are different from the X slots (610) proposed by the source device (110A) for the first hop.

3. The method (400) of claim 2, further comprising:

at the second device (110) receiving a second message, addressed to the second device (110) from the third device (110), indicating that the second hop reservation request is pending and that the X slots (610) proposed by the second device (110) have been reserved by the third device (110); and

at the second device (110) receiving (445) a subsequent message, addressed to the second device (110) from the third device (110), indicating that the final hop reservation request has been accepted by the destination device (110D).

4. The method (400) of claim 3, where the third device (110) is the destination device (110D).

5. The method (400) of claim 3, wherein the source device (110A) chooses the first X slots (610) in the superframe (600) that are available to the source device (110A) as the X slots (610) proposed by the source device (110A) to be reserved for the first hop between the source device (110A) and the second device (110).

6. The method (400) of claim 5, wherein the second device (110) chooses the first X slots (610) in the superframe (600) that are available to the second device (110), but which are located in the superframe (600) after the X slots (610) proposed by the source device (110A), as the X slots (610) proposed by the second device (110) to be reserved for the second hop between the second device (110) and the third device (110).

7. The method (400) of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving at an Nth device (110) an (N−

1)th hop reservation request for transmitting the data from the source device (110A) to the destination device (110D), the (N−

1)th hop reservation request identifying the source device (110A), the destination device (110D), and X proposed slots (610) to be reserved for an (N−

1)th hop between the (N−

1)th device (110) and the Nth device ( 110);

sending the final hop reservation request from the Nth device (110), addressed to the destination device (110D), for transmitting the data from the source device (110A) to the destination device (110D), the final hop reservation request identifying the source device (110A), the destination device (110D), and X proposed slots (610) to be reserved for a final hop between the Nth device (110) and the destination device (110D), wherein the X slots (610) proposed by the Nth device (110) to be reserved for the final hop are different from the X slots (610) proposed by the (N−

1)th device (110) to be reserved for the (N−

1)th hop; and

at the Nth device (110) receiving an Nth message, addressed to the Nth device (110) from the destination device (110D), indicating that the reservation request has been accepted by the destination device (110D).

8. The method (400) of claim 7, wherein the Nth device (110) chooses the first X slots (610) in the superframe (600) that are available to the Nth device (110), but which are located in the superframe (600) after the X slots (610) proposed by the (N−

1)th device (110), as the X slots (610) proposed by the Nth device (110) to be reserved for the final hop between the Nth device (110) and the destination device (110D).

9. The method (400) of claim 1, further comprising:

(1) receiving at an Nth device (110) an (N−

1)th hop reservation request for transmitting the data from the source device (110A) to the destination device (110D), the (N−

1)th hop reservation request identifying the source device (110A), the destination device (110D), and X proposed slots (610) to be reserved for an (N−

1)th hop between an (N−

1)th device (110) and the Nth device (110)

(2) sending an Nth hop reservation request from the Nth device (110), addressed to an (N+1)th device (110), for transmitting the data from the source device (110A) to the destination device (110D), the Nth hop reservation request identifying the source device (110A), the destination device (110D), and X proposed slots (610) to be reserved for an Nth hop between the Nth device (110) and the (N+1)th device (110), wherein the X slots (610) proposed by the Nth device (110) to be reserved for the Nth hop are different from the X slots (610) proposed by an (N−

1)th device (110) to be reserved for the (N−

1)th hop; and

(3) at the Nth device (110) receiving an Nth message, addressed to the Nth device (110) from the (N+1)th device (110), indicating that the reservation is pending and that the X slots (610) proposed by the Nth device (110) have been reserved by the (N+1)th device (110).

10. The method (400) of claim 9, wherein the Nth device (110) chooses the first X slots (610) in the superframe (600) that are available to the Nth device (110), but which are located in the superframe (600) after the X slots (610) proposed by the (N−

1)th device (110), to be reserved for the Nth hop between the Nth device (110) and the (N+1)th device (110).

11. The method (400) of claim 9, wherein there are M devices (110) between the source device (110A) and the destination device (110D) in the multi-hop relay, and wherein steps (1)-(3) are repeated for each N device (110), where 2≦

N≦

M.

12. The method (400) of claim 11, wherein, for all N devices (110) where 2≦

N≦

M−

1, the Nth device (110) chooses the first X slots (610) in the superframe (600) that are available to the Nth device (110), but which are located in the superframe (600) after the X slots (610) proposed by the (N−

1)th device (110), as the X slots (610) proposed by the Nth device (110) to be reserved for the Nth hop between the Nth device (110) and the (N+1)th device (110).

13. The method (400) of claim 1, wherein the source device (110A) chooses the first X slots (610) in the superframe (600) that are available to the source device (110A) as the X slots (610) proposed by the source device (110A) to be reserved for the first hop between the source device (110A) and the second device (110).

14. In a communication network (100) comprising a plurality of devices (110) communicating using a reservation-based data transfer protocol having a superframe (600) comprising a plurality of slots (610), a method (500) of reserving slots (610) for transmitting data from a source device (110A) to a destination device (110D) via multi-hop relay, the method (500) comprising:

(1) receiving (515) at an Nth device (110) an (N−

1)th hop reservation request for transmitting data from a source device (110A) to a destination device (110D) via multi-hop relay, the reservation request identifying the source device (110A), the destination device (110D), and X proposed slots (610) to be reserved for an (N−

1)th hop between an (N−

1)th device (110) and the Nth device (110);

(2) when the X proposed slots (610) to be reserved for the (N−

1)th hop are available at the Nth device (110);

(2a) transmitting (520) an (N−

1)th message from the Nth device (110), addressed to the (N−

1)th device (110), indicating that the reservation request is pending and that the X slots (610) proposed by the (N−

1)th device (110) have been reserved by the Nth device (110), and

(2b) sending (530) an Nth hop reservation request from the Nth device (110), addressed to an (N+1)th device (110), for transmitting the data from the source device (110A) to the destination device (110D), the Nth hop reservation request identifying the source device (110A), the destination device (110D), and X proposed slots (610) to be reserved for an Nth hop between the Nth device (110) and the (N+1)th device (110), wherein the X slots (610) proposed by the Nth device (110) to be reserved for the Nth hop are different from the X slots (610) proposed by an (N−

1)th device (110) to be reserved for the (N−

1)th hop; and

(3) when the X proposed slots (610) to be reserved for the (N−

1)th hop are not available at the Nth device (110), transmitting (518) an (N−

1)th message from the Nth device (110), addressed to the (N−

1)th device (110), indicating that the reservation request is denied.

15. The method (500) of claim 14, where there are M devices (110) between the source device (110A) and the destination device (110D) in the multi-hop relay, and wherein steps (1)-(3) are repeated for each N device (110), where 2≦

N≦

M.

16. The method (500) of claim 15, wherein, for all N devices (110) where 2≦

N≦

M−

1, the Nth device (110) chooses the first X slots (610) in the superframe (600) that are available to the Nth device (110), but which are located in the superframe (600) after the X slots (610) proposed by the (N−

1)th device (110), to be reserved for the Nth hop between the Nth device (110) and the (N+1)th device (110).

17. The method (500) of claim 14, wherein the Nth device (110) chooses the first X slots (610) in the superframe (600) that are available to the Nth device (110), but which are located in the superframe (600) after the X slots (610) proposed by the (N−

1)th device (110), to be reserved for the Nth hop between the Nth device (110) and the (N+1)th device (110).

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising, after step (2b):

(2c) receiving (545) an Nth message at the Nth device (110), addressed to the Nth device (110) from the (N+1)th device (110), indicating that the reservation request is pending and that the X slots (610) proposed by the Nth device (110) have been reserved by the (N+1)th device (110).

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising, after step (2d):

(2d) receiving (550) an Nth message at the Nth device (110), addressed to the Nth device (110) from the (N+1)th device (110), indicating that the reservation request has been accepted by the destination device (110D).