WIRELESS NETWORK CHANNEL ALLOCATION METHOD FOR INTERFERENCE AVOIDANCE

• US 20120230263A1
• Filed: 12/21/2011
• Published: 09/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: KIM, Hoon, NAM, Tae Sik
• Granted Patent: US 9,603,152 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/06 Reselecting a communication resource in the serving access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/541 using the level of interference

Abstract

A wireless network channel allocation method for interference avoidance in a wireless network includes determining whether some or all of the one or more channels are used by other sources, if some or all of the one or more channels are used by other sources, determining whether one of channels used by other sources is currently used by the wireless network, if one of the channels used by other sources is currently used by the wireless network, switching the channel currently used by the wireless network to any one of the one or more channels except for the channel currently used by the wireless network, and if one of the channels used by other sources is not currently used by the wireless network, storing information about the channels used by the other sources, wherein the switched channel is a channel which is not most recently used by other sources according to the stored information.

Claims

1. A wireless network channel allocation method for interference avoidance in a wireless network which performs communication between devices in a predetermined frequency band including one or more channels, the method comprising:

determining, by at least one of the devices, whether some or all of the one or more channels is used by other sources;

if some or all of the one or more channels are is used by other sources, determining whether one of the one or more channels used by other sources is currently used by the wireless network;

if one of the one or more channels used by other sources is currently used by the wireless network, switching the channel which is currently used by the wireless network to any one of the one or more channels except for the channel which is currently used by the wireless network; and

if one of the one or more channels used by other sources is not currently used by the wireless network, storing information about the channels used by the other sources,

wherein the switched channel is a channel which is not most recently used by other sources according to the stored information.

2. The wireless network channel allocation method of claim 1, wherein the determining of whether some or all of the one or more channels are used by other sources includes:

sensing an energy value variation of each of the one or more channels at a prescribed period;

if a channel, energy value variation of which is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, is sensed, determining that the channel, energy value variation of which is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, is used by other sources; and

if a channel, energy value variation of which is less than the predetermined value, is sensed, determining that the channel, energy value variation of which is less than the predetermined value, is not used by other sources.

3. The wireless network channel allocation method of claim 1, wherein the determining of whether one of the one or more channels used by other sources is currently used by the wireless is performed through determination as to whether a response to a communication frame between devices communicating in the wireless network is present.

4. The wireless network channel allocation method of claim 2, wherein the prescribed period is determined according to characteristics of devices communicating in the wireless network.

5. The wireless network channel allocation method of claim 4, wherein the prescribed period varies according to variation in the number of channels having the energy value variation equal to or greater than the predetermined value.

6. The wireless network channel allocation method of claim 4, wherein the storing of information about the channels used by the other sources includes:

storing an order of occurrence of one or more channels used by the other sources.

7. The wireless network channel allocation method of claim 3, wherein the determination as to whether a response to a communication frame between devices communicating in the wireless network is present includes:

determining whether an Acknowledgement (ACK) signal which is generated in response to a transmission frame of the communication frame between the devices is transmitted.

8. The wireless network channel allocation method of claim 7, wherein the determining of whether an Acknowledgement (ACK) signal is transmitted includes:

if the number of non-transmissions of the ACK signal is equal to or greater than a predetermined number, determining that one of channels used by other sources is currently used by the wireless network; and

if the number of non-transmissions of the ACK signal is less than the predetermined number, determining that channels used by other sources are not currently used by the wireless network.

9. The wireless network channel allocation method of claim 2, wherein the stored information about the channels used by the other sources is times when the one or more channels are used by frequency bands used by other sources, and wherein the switched channel is a channel which is not most recently used by other sources based on the stored information about the channels.

10. The wireless network channel allocation method of claim 2, wherein the stored information about the channels is channel numbers of channels used by other sources.

11. The wireless network channel allocation method of claim 10, wherein the channel numbers are stored in a stack form while being added to a top of a stack in an order of use time of each channel.

12. The wireless network channel allocation method of claim 11, wherein the channel numbers are stacked such that channels which are most recently used by other sources are stacked to a top side of the stack and channels which have least recently been used by other sources are stacked to a bottom side of the stack.

13. The wireless network channel allocation method of claim 12, wherein the switched channel is a channel which is located at the bottommost among channel numbers stored in the stack.

14. The wireless network channel allocation method of claim 1, wherein the wireless network performs communication through a ZIGBEE communication protocol.

15. A computer system, comprising:

a wireless network;

devices coupled to the wireless network, the device communicating with each other via the wireless network in a predetermined frequency band including channels, at least one of the devices determining a first channel being used by a source external to the wireless network, storing information about the first channel being used by the source, and switching a second channel being used by the wireless network to a switched channel if the second channel is the same channel as the first channel,

wherein the switched channel is a channel which is not most recently used by other sources according to the stored information.

16. The computer system of claim 15, further comprising determining whether the first channel is the same channel as the second channel based on an energy value variation of each of the one or more channels at a prescribed period.

17. The computer system of claim 15, further comprising determining whether the first channel is the same channel as the second channel based on whether a response to a communication frame between the devices communicating in the wireless network is present.

18. The computer system of claim 16, wherein the prescribed period is determined according to characteristics of the devices communicating in the wireless network.

19. The computer system of claim 18, wherein the prescribed period varies according to variation in the number of channels having the energy value variation equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

20. The computer system of claim 18, further comprising storing an order of occurrence of one or more channels used by other sources.