METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SENDING AN AGGREGATED BEACON

• US 20120026941A1
• Filed: 02/24/2011
• Published: 02/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ahmad, Saad, Gauvreau, Jean-Louis, DiGirolamo, Rocco, Lin, Zinan, Murray, Joseph, Reznik, Alexander, Demir, Alpaslan, Cuffaro, Angelo A., Al-Khatib, Zaid
• Granted Patent: US 10,237,812 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/12 using downlink control channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information

Abstract

Techniques for sending an aggregated beacon in a cognitive wireless network are disclosed. A beacon device may segment beacon information and send beacon segments via a plurality of channels simultaneously. A certain information elements of the beacon information may be included in each beacon segment. Each beacon segment may include channel information for other beacon segments that are transmitted simultaneously. Alternatively, a discovery beacon may be transmitted in addition to a regular beacon. The discovery beacon may include information indicating an operating channel on which the regular beacon is transmitted. The discovery beacon may be transmitted using a predetermined channel bandwidth, with a smaller beacon interval than the regular beacon, or in a frequency hopping fashion. The discovery beacon may be sent on a channel selected based on a regulatory class and corresponding channel information. The discovery beacon may be transmitted on a side channel.

Claims

1. A method for use in a wireless communications network, the method comprising:

segmenting beacon information into a plurality of beacon segments; and

transmitting the plurality of beacon segments via a plurality of channels simultaneously.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the beacon information includes at least one of timing information, network identification, supported data rates, regulatory class, beacon interval, or capability information.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein each beacon segment is transmitted via a different channel.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein a subset of the beacon information is repeated in more than one beacon segment.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the beacon information includes channel information indicating a frequency of a channel on which an additional beacon segment is transmitted.

6. A method for use in a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), the method comprising:

scanning channels to detect beacon information;

receiving a first beacon segment of the beacon information via one channel;

receiving any remaining beacon segments of the beacon information via at least one other channel based on channel information included in the first beacon segment; and

initiating an association procedure based on the received beacon information.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein multiple channels are scanned simultaneously.

8. A base station comprising:

a processor configured to segment beacon information into a plurality of beacon segments; and

a transceiver configured to transmit the plurality of beacon segments via a plurality of channels simultaneously.

9. The base station of claim 8 wherein the beacon information includes at least one of timing information, network identification, supported data rates, regulatory class, beacon interval, or capability information.

10. The base station of claim 8 wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit each beacon segment via a different channel.

11. The base station of claim 8 wherein the processor is configured to include a subset of the beacon information in more than one beacon segment.

12. The base station of claim 8 wherein the beacon information includes channel information indicating a frequency of a channel on which an additional beacon segment is transmitted.

13. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) for network association using a beacon signal, the WTRU comprising:

a transceiver configured to scan channels for detecting beacon information, receive a first beacon segment of the beacon information via one channel, receive remaining beacon segments of the beacon information via at least one other channel based on channel information included in the first beacon segment; and

a processor configured to initiate an association procedure based on the beacon information.

14. The WTRU of claim 13 wherein the transceiver is configured to scan multiple channels simultaneously.