WIRELESS STATION CLUSTERING IN COOPERATIVE COMMUNICATIONS

• US 20100309842A1
• Filed: 12/19/2007
• Published: 12/09/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2006
• 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: Das, Sushanta
• Granted Patent: US 9,173,157 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0625 Transmitter arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/0092 Error control systems characterised by the topology of the transmission link
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/46 Cluster building
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/22 using selective relaying for reaching a BTS [Base Transceiver Station] or an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/24 Connectivity information management, e.g. connectivity discovery or connectivity update
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/32 for defining a routing cluster membership

Abstract

A wireless system includes a cluster (100) of wireless stations (STAs) (102, 103) with one or more STA functioning as a cluster lead (103). Methods of wireless communication are also described.

Claims

1. A wireless system, comprising:

a cluster (100) of wireless stations (STAs) (102,103);

at least one cluster lead (103) adapted to receive data from the STAs and to provide the data to other cluster leads, or to an access point (AP) (101), or both.

2. A wireless system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cluster (100) is formed by inviting one or more STAs of a network to join the cluster based on a predefined criterion.

3. A wireless system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the AP (101) is adapted to assign sub-carriers to each STA of the cluster.

4. A wireless system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a solitary STA (104) adapted to operate within a wireless network of the system without joining the cluster (100).

5. A wireless system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one cluster lead (103) is adapted to transmit data using a space-time block code.

6. A wireless system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of cluster leads (103), wherein each STA transmits the data and the cluster leads exchange the data.

7. A wireless system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the cluster leads (103) transmit the data to the AP (101).

8. A wireless system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of cluster leads (103), wherein all but one cluster lead transmits the data to one cluster lead.

9. A wireless system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the STAs (102, 103) of the cluster comprises a single antenna.

10. A method of wireless communication, the method comprising:

forming a cluster of STAs (201) from among STAs (102, 103) of a wireless network;

designating (203) at least one of the STAs of the cluster to be a cluster lead (103);

exchanging data (202) between the STAs and the cluster lead; and

re-transmitting the data from the cluster lead to an access point (AP) (101) of the network.

11. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the forming further comprises transmitting an invitation signal to STAs (102, 103) of the network to join the cluster, wherein the invitation signal includes a predefined criterion to join the cluster.

12. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the designating further comprises:

transmitting data from each of the STAs of the cluster to the AP;

based on the data, selecting the at least one cluster lead.

13. A method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the data comprises a minimum data rate requirement and a minimum quality of service (QoS), and the method further comprises, based on the data re-assigning sub-carriers to the nodes as needed.

14. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the at least one cluster lead further comprises a plurality of cluster leads.

15. A method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the exchanging further comprises:

receiving at least a portion of the data at each of the cluster leads; and

re-transmitting the portion of the data received to other cluster leads until all cluster leads have the data.

16. A method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the exchanging further comprises:

transmitting a portion of the data from one cluster lead to another cluster lead;

adding another portion of the data to the portion and re-transmitting the portion and the another portion;

continuing the adding and the re-transmitting until a last cluster lead of the plurality of cluster leads receives the data.

17. A method of wireless communication, the method comprising:

transmitting an instruction (301) to a wireless station (STA) of a wireless network to form a cluster and to function as a cluster lead;

forming the cluster of STAs (302) by transmitting an invitation from the cluster lead to other STAs of the wireless network to join the cluster; and

assigning respective sets of sub-carriers by the cluster lead to each of the STAs of the cluster.

18. A method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising, after the transmitting:

exchanging data between the STAs and the cluster lead; and

re-transmitting the data from the cluster lead to an access point (AP) of the network.