FORWARDING IN DISTRIBUTED WIRELESS NETWORKS
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method, comprising:
- receiving information from a wireless device including an indication of said wireless device'"'"'s capability to forward data within a network, said information further including descriptive information regarding at least one other wireless device in the network accessible through the wireless device; and
determining whether to wirelessly transmit data to said wireless device, for forwarding said data to the at least one other wireless device based on said received information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method, system, and computer program product are disclosed for providing a forwarding feature in the WiMedia MAC communication protocol or in other suitable communication protocols. The method enables a forwarder device to indicate its capability to operate as a forwarder device in its beacon transmissions and to enable an initiating device to utilize the forwarder device for communicating data and/or network control information to destination devices that can be accessed through the forwarder device over two or more hops.
77 Citations
41 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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receiving information from a wireless device including an indication of said wireless device'"'"'s capability to forward data within a network, said information further including descriptive information regarding at least one other wireless device in the network accessible through the wireless device; and determining whether to wirelessly transmit data to said wireless device, for forwarding said data to the at least one other wireless device based on said received information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An apparatus, comprising:
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a memory configured to receive information from a wireless device including an indication of said wireless device'"'"'s capability as a forwarder device to forward data within a network, said information further including descriptive information regarding at least one other wireless device in the network accessible through the wireless device; and a processor coupled to the memory, configured to determine whether to wirelessly transmit data to said wireless device, for wirelessly forwarding said data to the at least one other wireless device based on said received information. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A method, comprising:
transmitting, by a wireless device, a beacon message during a dedicated portion of a repeating time period allocated for beacon transmissions for maintaining coordination with one or more other wireless devices within a network, wherein the beacon message includes an indication of said wireless device'"'"'s capability to forward data within the network. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. An apparatus, comprising:
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a transmitter in a wireless device, configured to transmit a beacon message during a dedicated portion of a repeating time period allocated for beacon transmissions in a network; a processor coupled to said transmitter, configured to maintain coordination with one or more other wireless devices within the network; wherein the beacon message includes an indication of said wireless device'"'"'s capability to forward said information within the network. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A computer program product, comprising:
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a computer readable medium having computer program code therein; program code in said computer readable medium, for receiving information from a wireless device including an indication of said wireless device'"'"'s capability to forward data within a network, said information further including descriptive information regarding at least one other wireless device in the network accessible through the wireless device; and program code in said computer readable medium, for determining whether to wirelessly transmit data to said wireless device, for forwarding said data to the at least one other wireless device based on said received information.
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28. A computer program product, comprising:
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a computer readable medium having computer program code therein; program code in said computer readable medium, for transmitting, by a wireless device, a beacon message during a dedicated portion of a repeating time period allocated for beacon transmissions for maintaining coordination with one or more other wireless devices within a network, wherein the beacon message includes an indication of said wireless device'"'"'s capability to forward data within the network.
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29. An apparatus, comprising:
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means for receiving information from a wireless device including an indication of said wireless device'"'"'s capability to forward data within a network, said information further including descriptive information regarding at least one other wireless device in the network accessible through the wireless device; and means for determining whether to wirelessly transmit data to said wireless device, for forwarding said data to the at least one other wireless device based on said received information.
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30. An apparatus, comprising:
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means for transmitting a beacon message during a dedicated portion of a repeating time period allocated for beacon transmissions in a network; and means for maintaining coordination with one or more other wireless devices within the network; wherein the beacon message includes an indication of said wireless device'"'"'s capability to forward said information within the network.
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31. A system, comprising:
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a forwarder wireless device, configured to transmit a beacon message during a dedicated portion of a repeating time period allocated for beacon transmissions in a network to maintain coordination with one or more other wireless devices within the network; an initiating wireless device configured to receive from said forwarder device, capability information describing the capability of said forwarder device to wirelessly communicate with a destination wireless device of the one or more other wireless devices in the network; said initiating device configured to transmit data to said forwarder device, for forwarding said data to said destination wireless device, based on said capability information.
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32. An apparatus, comprising:
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a processor in an initiating device configured to prepare a request to a forwarder wireless device in the network, requesting the forwarder device to build delegated beacon information based on a beacon received from said initiating device and forward the delegated beacon information to a destination wireless device; and a transmitter coupled to said processor, configured to transmit to said forwarder device said request.
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33. A computer program product, comprising:
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a computer readable medium having computer program code therein; program code in said computer readable medium, for preparing a request in an initiating wireless device to send to a forwarder wireless device in the network, requesting the forwarder device to build delegated beacon information based on a beacon received from said initiating device and forward the delegated beacon information to a destination wireless device; and program code in said computer readable medium, for transmitting to said forwarder device said request. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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35. A method, comprising:
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collecting in a forwarder wireless device, hibernation information of a plurality of neighbor wireless device in a network; receiving in the forwarder device from an initiating wireless device, a request for capability information describing the capability of said forwarder device to wirelessly communicate with a destination wireless device of the plurality of neighbor wireless devices in the network; transmitting to said initiating device said capability information based on said hibernation information; receiving in the forwarder device an original beacon from said initiating device intended to be received by said destination device; receiving in the forwarder device a request from said initiating device to forward a delegated beacon based on said original beacon to said destination device; building in the forwarder device delegated beacon information based on said original beacon; and forwarding said delegated beacon information to said destination device. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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Specification