Ultra wideband communications protocols
First Claim
1. A distributed reservation protocol (DRP) for medium access control (MAC) in a multi-band (MB) orthogonal frequency division modulation (OFDM) ultra wideband (UWB) communications network, said multi-band orthogonal frequency division modulation ultra wideband communications system having a communications band group comprising:
- a plurality of transmission bands;
a group of devices in data communications range of one another within said communications network having a communications mode in which the device uses a selected one of said bands to communicate and a band hopping communications mode in which the device hops amongst said plurality of bands whilst communicating; and
wherein the protocol comprises allowing a said device in said group to make a combined time-frequency reservation, said time-frequency reservation comprising a reservation of a combination of a subset of said bands in a said band group and one or more data communications timeslots in which the device is allowed to use said reserved band for data communications such that multiple said devices in said group are able simultaneously to use one or more of the same or overlapping said reserved timeslots in different reserved frequency bands of said band group.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A distributed reservation protocol for medium access control in a multiband OFDM ultrawideband communications network having a band group comprising a plurality of transmission bands, a device in said network having a mode in which it uses a selected one of said bands to communicate, and a band hopping mode, and wherein the protocol comprises allowing a device in a group of devices to make a combined time-frequency reservation, said time-frequency reservation comprising a reservation of a combination of a subset of said bands in a said band group and one or more data communications timeslots in which the device is allowed to use said reserved band for data communications such that multiple said devices in said group are able simultaneously to use one or more of the same or overlapping said reserved timeslots in different reserved frequency bands of said band group.
34 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A distributed reservation protocol (DRP) for medium access control (MAC) in a multi-band (MB) orthogonal frequency division modulation (OFDM) ultra wideband (UWB) communications network, said multi-band orthogonal frequency division modulation ultra wideband communications system having a communications band group comprising:
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a plurality of transmission bands; a group of devices in data communications range of one another within said communications network having a communications mode in which the device uses a selected one of said bands to communicate and a band hopping communications mode in which the device hops amongst said plurality of bands whilst communicating; and wherein the protocol comprises allowing a said device in said group to make a combined time-frequency reservation, said time-frequency reservation comprising a reservation of a combination of a subset of said bands in a said band group and one or more data communications timeslots in which the device is allowed to use said reserved band for data communications such that multiple said devices in said group are able simultaneously to use one or more of the same or overlapping said reserved timeslots in different reserved frequency bands of said band group. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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5. A distributed reservation protocol as claimed in claim, wherein said selection is made responsive to a received signal strength of a beacon signal of said protocol.
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11. A multi-band orthogonal frequency division modulation ultra wideband communications device having a medium access control (MAC) system configured to implement a distributed reservation protocol (DRP) for medium access control in a multi-band orthogonal frequency division modulation ultra wideband communications network, said multi-band orthogonal frequency division modulation ultra wideband communications network having a communications band group comprising:
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a plurality of transmission bands, said device having a communications mode in which the device uses a selected one of said bands to communicate and a band hopping communications mode in which the device hops amongst said plurality of bands whilst communicating; and wherein said medium access control system further comprises a system to allow the device to make a combined time-frequency reservation, said time-frequency reservation comprising a reservation of a combination of a subset of said bands in a said band group and one or more data communications timeslots in which the device is allowed to use said reserved band for data communications such that multiple said devices in a group of said devices in data communications range of one another are able simultaneously to use one or more of the same said reserved timeslots in different reserved frequency bands of said band group. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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13. A multi-band orthogonal frequency division modulation ultra wideband communications network, said multi-band orthogonal frequency division modulation ultra wideband communications network having a communications band group comprising:
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a plurality of transmission bands, said multi-band orthogonal frequency division modulation ultra wideband communications network comprising a group of multi-band orthogonal frequency division modulation ultra wideband communications devices in data communications range of one another, each said device having a medium access control (MAC) system configured to implement a distributed reservation protocol (DRP) allowing a said device in said group to make a combined time-frequency reservation, said time-frequency reservation comprising a reservation of a combination of a subset of said bands in a said band group; and a data communications timeslot in which the device is allowed to use said reserved band for data communications, and wherein said distributed reservation protocol is further configured to enable simultaneously a first of said transmissions bands to be allocated to data communications between a first pair of devices in said group and a second of said transmission bands to be allocated to data communications between a second pair of devices in said group different to said first pair of devices. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification