RADIO COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, RADIO COMMUNICATION APPARATUS, AND RADIO COMMUNICATION METHOD

• US 20100103916A1
• Filed: 01/04/2010
• Published: 04/29/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Sugava, Shigeru
• Granted Patent: US 7,957,290 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/7163 using impulse radio
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/541 using the level of interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/04 Scheduled access hybrid access H04W74/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A radio communication system, a radio communication apparatus, and a radio communication method allow networks to operate without interference between contending networks. When plural piconets collide on the same frequency channel, a control station of one of the piconets temporarily sets a buffer super frame period to coexist between the piconets. When an apparatus other than a control station receives a beacon signal of the buffer super frame period, a shorter super frame period based on that super frame period is temporarily set to make fine adjustment of the next beacon signal transmission timing. An apparatus that has not received a beacon signal looks for a beacon signal of its own piconet for a redundant time to find a start time of a new super frame period.

Claims

1. A radio communication apparatus operating as a control station in a radio communication environment wherein a plurality of coexisting wireless networks operate under control of corresponding control stations, the apparatus comprising:

beacon transmitting means for setting a transmission frame period of a local network and for transmitting beacon information regarding resource allocation at a predetermined position within the transmission frame period;

interference detecting means for detecting whether the local network interferes with another network; and

buffer frame period setting means for temporarily setting a buffer frame period having a length different than that of the transmission frame period upon detection of interference with the another network and adjusting a position of a new transmission frame period mutually used by the local network and the another network and setting a contention free period to not overlap in each transmission frame period.

2. A radio communication system, comprising:

a plurality of wireless networks, each of the wireless networks including an associated plurality of radio communication apparatuses and an associated control station for allocating a resource to each of the radio communication apparatuses of that wireless network,

each of the control stations transmitting respective beacon information regarding resource allocation within its wireless network at a predetermined position within a transmission frame period of that wireless network, and upon detection of interference with another of the wireless networks, temporarily setting a buffer frame period different than the transmission frame period and adjusting a position of a new transmission frame period mutually used by the interfered with networks and setting a contention free period to not overlap in each transmission frame period.

3. A radio communication method for a control station that operates in a radio communication environment wherein a plurality of coexisting wireless networks operate under control of corresponding control stations, the method comprising:

a beacon transmitting step of setting a transmission frame period of a local network and transmitting beacon information regarding resource allocation at a predetermined position within the transmission frame period;

an interference detecting step of detecting whether the local network interferes with another network; and

a buffer frame period setting step of temporarily setting a buffer frame period having a length different than that of the transmission frame period upon detection of interference with the another network and adjusting a position of a new transmission frame period mutually used by the local network and the another network and setting a contention free period to not overlap in each transmission frame period.