METHOD AND SIGNALING TO ENHANCE ASSOCIATION IN MESH SYSTEMS

• US 20120099457A1
• Filed: 11/01/2011
• Published: 04/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Interdigital Technology Corporation (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Interdigital Technology Corporation (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Inventors: ROY, Vincent
• Granted Patent: US 8,750,321 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/12 based on transmission quality or channel quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/10 Small scale networks; Flat hierarchical networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method and system for conveying backhaul link information for intelligent selection of a mesh access point (MAP) in a mesh network are disclosed. The mesh network includes a plurality of MAPs. The MAPs send backhaul link information regarding backhaul connections between each MAP and any interconnections in the mesh network to a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU). The WTRU then determines a performance value with respect to the MAPs based on the backhaul link information and selects one of the MAPs to associate with based on the performance value. The WTRU may send information about interconnection needs of the WTRU to the MAPs, and the MAPs may generate the backhaul link information based on the interconnection needs of the WTRU.

Claims

1. A method for use in a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) for selectively associating with a base station associated with a mesh network, the method comprising:

transmitting an address of a node with which the WTRU desires to connect;

receiving backhaul link information including an estimated throughput related to the base station and to the transmitted address;

determining an end-to-end performance value based on the received backhaul link information; and

associating with the base station based on the end-to-end performance value.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitted address comprises any of an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a node with which the WTRU desires to connect, a medium access control (MAC) address of a node with which the WTRU desires to connect, a subnet address with which the WTRU desires to connect, and an address for identifying a gateway from other gateways associated with the mesh network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitted address is an address of any of (i) another WTRU and (ii) a node accessible via the internet.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the base station comprises a node-B.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a throughput as the end-to-end performance value.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting an address of a node with which the WTRU desires to connect comprises:

transmitting the address via at least one of a probe request frame, a special control frame, a data frame, or a broadcast frame.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein backhaul link information further includes an estimated throughput related to the base station and a communication path between the base station and the node having the transmitted address.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the backhaul link information further comprises any or any combination of (i) a number of hops separating the base station and a gateway associated with the mesh network, (ii) a number of nodes or base stations intervening between the base station and a gateway associated with the mesh network;

(iii) a number of nodes and base stations intervening between the base station and a gateway associated with the mesh network;

(iv) a number of routes separating the base station and a gateway associated with the mesh network;

(v) an average transmission rate of each link between the base station and a gateway associated with the mesh network;

(vi) an estimated throughput of each link between the base station and a gateway associated with the mesh network;

(vii) channel occupancy perceived on each link between the base station and a gateway associated with the mesh network;

(viii) radio resources allocated on each link between the base station and a gateway associated with the mesh network; and

(ix) quality experienced on each link between the base station and a gateway associated with the mesh network.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the backhaul link information further comprises any or any combination of (i) a number of hops separating the base station and the node having the transmitted address, (ii) a number of nodes, base stations or gateways associated with the mesh network intervening between the base station and the node having the transmitted address;

(iii) a number of nodes, base stations and gateways associated with the mesh network intervening between the base station and the node having the transmitted address;

(iv) a number of routes separating the base station and the node having the transmitted address;

(v) an average transmission rate of each link between the base station and the node having the transmitted address;

(vi) an estimated throughput of each link between the base station and the node having the transmitted address;

(vii) channel occupancy perceived on each link between the base station and the node having the transmitted address;

(viii) radio resources allocated on each link between the base station and the node having the transmitted address; and

(ix) quality experienced on each link between the base station and the node having the transmitted address.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining radio link characteristics of a radio link between the WTRU and the base station, wherein determining an end-to-end performance value comprises;

determining an end-to-end performance value based on the received backhaul link information and the radio link characteristics.

11. A method for use in a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) for selectively associating with one of a plurality of base stations associated with a mesh network, the method comprising:

transmitting an address of a node with which the WTRU desires to connect;

receiving, from the plurality of base stations, a respective plurality of backhaul link information including estimated throughputs related to the plurality base stations and to the transmitted address;

determining end-to-end performance values based on the received plurality of backhaul link information; and

associating with one of the base stations based on the end-to-end performance values.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein:

the plurality of base stations comprises first and second base stations,

the backhaul link information comprises first and second backhaul link information,

the first backhaul link information is related to the first base station and to the transmitted address,

the second backhaul link information is related to the second base station and to the transmitted address,

the first backhaul link information comprises any or any combination of a first number of nodes, base stations and gateways associated with a mesh network intervening between the first base station and the node having the transmitted address, and

the second backhaul link information comprises any or any combination of a second number of nodes, base stations and gateways associated with a mesh network intervening between the second base station and the node having the transmitted address.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein transmitting an address of a node with which the WTRU desires to connect comprises:

transmitting the address via at least one of a probe request frame, a special control frame, a data frame, or a broadcast frame.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of backhaul link information further includes estimated throughputs related to the respective base stations and a communication path between the respective base stations and the node having the transmitted address.

15. A method for use in a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) for selectively associating with a base station associated with a mesh network, the method comprising:

transmitting an address of a node with which the WTRU desires to connect;

receiving backhaul link information for a plurality of backhaul communication paths to the node having the transmitted address, the backhaul information including estimated throughputs related to the base station and the plurality of backhaul communication paths;

determining end-to-end performance values for the plurality of backhaul communication paths based on the received backhaul link information;

selecting a backhaul communication path from the plurality of backhaul communication paths based on the end-to-end performance values; and

requesting use of the selected backhaul communication path.

16. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) comprising:

a transmitter configured to transmit an address of a node with which the WTRU desires to connect;

a receiver configured to receive backhaul link information including an estimated throughput related to the base station and to the transmitted address;

a processor configured to determine an end-to-end performance value based on the received backhaul link information, and to associate the WTRU with the base station based on the end-to-end performance value.

17. The WTRU of claim 16, wherein the transmitted address comprises any of an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a node with which the WTRU desires to connect, a medium access control (MAC) address of a node with which the WTRU desires to connect, a subnet address with which the WTRU desires to connect, and an address for identifying a gateway from other gateways associated with the mesh network.

18. The WTRU of claim 16, wherein the transmitted address is an address of any of another WTRU and an address of a node accessible via the internet.

19. The WTRU of claim 16, wherein the base station comprises a node-B.

20. The WTRU of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine a throughput as the end-to-end performance value.

21. The WTRU of claim 16, wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit the address of the node via at least one of a probe request frame, a special control frame, a data frame or a broadcast frame.

22. The WTRU of claim 16, wherein backhaul link information further includes an estimated throughput related to the base station and a communication path between the base station and the node having the transmitted address.

23. The WTRU of claim 16, wherein the backhaul link information further comprises any or any combination of (i) a number of hops separating the base station and the node having the transmitted address, (ii) a number of nodes, base stations or gateways associated with the mesh network intervening between the base station and the node having the transmitted address;

(iii) a number of nodes, base stations and gateways associated with the mesh network intervening between the base station and the node having the transmitted address;

(iv) a number of routes separating the base station and the node having the transmitted address;

(v) an average transmission rate of each link between the base station and the node having the transmitted address;

(vi) an estimated throughput of each link between the base station and the node having the transmitted address;

(vii) channel occupancy perceived on each link between the base station and the node having the transmitted address;

(viii) radio resources allocated on each link between the base station and the node having the transmitted address; and

(ix) quality experienced on each link between the base station and the node having the transmitted address.

24. The WTRU of claim 16, wherein the receiver is further configured to:

determine radio link characteristics of a radio link between the WTRU and the base station, and wherein the processor is further configured to;

determining the end-to-end performance value based on the received backhaul link information and the radio link characteristics.

25. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) comprising:

a transmitter configured to transmit an address of a node with which the WTRU desires to connect;

a receiver configured to receive, from a plurality of base stations, a respective plurality of backhaul link information including estimated throughputs related to the plurality base stations and to the transmitted address;

a processor configured to determine end-to-end performance values based on the received plurality of backhaul link information, and to associate with one of the base stations based on the end-to-end performance values.

26. The WTRU of claim 25, wherein:

the plurality of base stations comprises first and second base stations,

the backhaul link information comprises first and second backhaul link information,

the first backhaul link information is related to the first base station and to the transmitted address,

the second backhaul link information is related to the second base station and to the transmitted address,

the first backhaul link information comprises any or any combination of a first number of nodes, base stations and gateways associated with a mesh network intervening between the first base station and the node having the transmitted address, and

the second backhaul link information comprises any or any combination of a second number of nodes, base stations and gateways associated with a mesh network intervening between the second base station and the node having the transmitted address.

27. The WTRU of claim 25, wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit the address via at least one of a probe request frame, a special control frame, a data frame, or a broadcast frame.

28. The WTRU of claim 25, wherein the plurality of backhaul link information further includes estimated throughputs related to the respective base stations and a communication path between the respective base stations and the node having the transmitted address.

29. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) comprising:

a transmitter configured to transmit an address of a node with which the WTRU desires to connect;

a receiver configured to receive backhaul link information for a plurality of backhaul communication paths to the node having the transmitted address, the backhaul information including estimated throughputs related to the base station and the plurality of backhaul communication paths;

a processor configured to determine end-to-end performance values for the plurality of backhaul communication paths based on the received backhaul link information, to select a backhaul communication path from the plurality of backhaul communication paths based on the end-to-end performance values, and to request use of the selected backhaul communication path.

30. A base station associated with a mesh network, the base station comprising:

a receiver configured to receive an address of a node with which a WTRU desires to connect;

a transmitter configured to send backhaul link information including an estimated throughput related to the base station and to the transmitted address; and

a processor configured to generate the backhaul link including the information an estimated throughput based on the transmitted address and at least one of (i) a number of hops separating the base station and the node having the transmitted address, (ii) a number of nodes, base stations or gateways associated with the mesh network intervening between the base station and the node having the transmitted address;

(iii) a number of nodes, base stations and gateways associated with the mesh network intervening between the base station and the node having the transmitted address;

(iv) a number of routes separating the base station and the node having the transmitted address;

(v) an average transmission rate of each link between the base station and the node having the transmitted address;

(vi) an estimated throughput of each link between the base station and the node having the transmitted address;

(vii) channel occupancy perceived on each link between the base station and the node having the transmitted address;

(viii) radio resources allocated on each link between the base station and the node having the transmitted address; and

(ix) quality experienced on each link between the base station and the node having the transmitted address.

31. The base station of claim 30, wherein the base station comprises a node-B.

32. The base station of claim 30, wherein the transmitted address is an address of any of another WTRU and a node accessible via the internet.