Transmission of Segmented Frames in Power Line Communication

• US 20130215885A1
• Filed: 03/08/2012
• Published: 08/22/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Inventors: Vijayasankar, Kumaran, Vedantham, Ramanuja
• Granted Patent: US 8,995,437 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/389
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5408 using protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5454 Adapter and plugs
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/542 the information being in digital form
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/544 Setting up communications; Call and signalling arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0041 Arrangements at the transmitter end
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0065 Serial concatenated codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0067 Rate matching H04L1/0013 and H04L1/08 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/08 by repeating transmission, e.g. Verdan system H04L1/1858 and H04L1/189 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1671 the supervisory signal being transmitted together with control information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/18 Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/413 with random access, e.g. carrier-sense multiple-access with collision detection [CSMA-CD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2601 Multicarrier modulation systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2646 using feedback from receiver for adjusting OFDM transmission parameters, e.g. transmission timing or guard interval length
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0044 allocation of payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0094 Indication of how sub-channels of the path are allocated

Abstract

Segmented frames of data may be transmitted from a transmitting device using conflict free slots (CFS) within a carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) protocol on a noisy media. At a receiver, a segmented frame of data is received. The data is represented by a plurality of tones. If requested by the transmitter, a tone map response command is prepared that specifies a set of optimized tone map parameters by analyzing the received frame of data. Any previously determined tone map response commands to the transmitting device are deleted. A sequence of frame segments may be received in conflict free slots, but only one tone map response is transmitted to the transmitting device after receiving the entire sequence of frame segments.

Claims

1. A method for transferring frames of data using carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) on a noisy media, the method comprising:

receiving a frame of data via the noisy media from a transmitting device, wherein the data is represented by a plurality of tones;

receiving a tone map request with the frame of data;

preparing a tone map response command that specifies a set of optimized tone map parameters by analyzing the received frame of data; and

deleting all previously determined tone map response commands to the transmitting device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a sequence of segmented frames in conflict free slots; and

transmitting only one tone map response to the transmitting device after receiving the entire sequence of segmented frames.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a tone map request is included only in a last frame of the sequence of segmented frame.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

assembling the sequence of segmented frames to form a complete frame of data; and

decrypting the complete frame of data.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

decrypting each frame of the sequence of segmented frames to form a sequence of decrypted frame segments; and

assembling the sequence of decrypted frame segments to form a complete frame of data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the noisy media is a high voltage power line.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising queuing the tone map response for transmission to the transmitting device after winning a CSMA/CA conflict contest.

8. A method for transferring frames of data using carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) on a noisy media, the method comprising:

transmitting a sequence of segmented data frames from a transmitter a via the noisy media to a receiving device using a plurality of conflict free slots, wherein the data is represented by a plurality of tones;

receiving an acknowledgment from the receiving device for each correctly received data frame;

retransmitting a segmented data frame when an acknowledgement is not received; and

including a tone map request with only one of the segmented frames of data when a segmented data frame is retransmitted by the transmitter on an immediately subsequent conflict free slot in a first mode of operation.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the tone map request is included with only a last one of the segmented data frames.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

dynamically configuring the transmitter to a second mode of operation to retransmit one or more of the sequence of segmented data frames only after another CSMA/CA contest; and

including a tone map request with each of the plurality of segmented data frames while the transmitter is configured in the second mode.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

encrypting a complete frame of data to form an encrypted frame of data; and

segmenting the encrypted frame of data to form the sequence of segmented data frames.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

segmenting a frame of data to form a sequence of segmented data frames; and

encrypting each segmented data frame in the sequence of segmented data frames.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the noisy media is a high voltage power line.

14. A power line communication (PLC) device comprising:

a receiver, wherein the receiver comprises;

an analog front end configured to receive orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols from a power line; and

an OFDM demodulator, wherein the receiver is configured to;

receive a frame of data via the power line from a transmitting device, wherein the data is represented by a plurality of tones;

receive a tone map request with the frame of data;

prepare a tone map response command that specifies a set of optimized tone map parameters by analyzing the received frame of data; and

delete all previously determined tone map response commands to the transmitting device.

15. The PLC device of claim 14, wherein the receiver is further configured to:

receive a sequence of segmented frames in conflict free slots of a carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) protocol; and

transmit only one tone map response to the transmitting device after receiving the entire sequence of segmented frames.

16. The PLC device of claim 14, wherein a tone map request is included only in one frame of the sequence of segmented frame.

17. The PLC device of claim 15, wherein a tone map request is included only in a last frame of the sequence of segmented frames.

18. The PLC device of claim 14, further comprising:

a transmitter, wherein the transmitter comprises;

an analog front end configured to couple OFDM symbols to the power line;

a modulator configured to produce the OFDM symbols representative of data, wherein the transmitter is configured to;

transmit a sequence of segmented data frames via the power line to another receiver using a plurality of conflict free slots in the CSMA/CA protocol, wherein the data is represented by a plurality of tones;

receive an acknowledgment from the receiving device for each correctly received segmented data frame;

retransmit a segmented data frame when an acknowledgement is not received; and

include a tone map request with only a last one of the frame of data if a segmented data frame is retransmitted on an immediately subsequent conflict free slot in a first mode of operation.

19. The PLC device of claim 18, wherein the transmitter is further configured to:

dynamically configure the transmitter to a second mode of operation to retransmit one or more of the sequence of segmented data frames only after another CSMA/CA contest; and

include a tone map request with each of the plurality of segmented data frames while the transmitter is configured in the second mode.

20. The PLC device of claim 18, wherein the analog front ends are configured to interface with a power line that carries up to approximately 13 kV.