RELAY ASSISTED PEER DISCOVERY

• US 20140010108A1
• Filed: 07/09/2012
• Published: 01/09/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Patil, Shailesh, Wang, Hua, Jovicic, Aleksandar, Li, Junyi, Tavildar, Saurabha Rangrao
• Granted Patent: US 9,258,692 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/254
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0478 applying multiple layers of encryption, e.g. nested tunnels or encrypting the content with a first key and then with at least a second key cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements using a plurality of keys or algorithms H04L9/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/033 of the user plane, e.g. user's traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/10 Integrity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/047 using dedicated repeater stations

Abstract

Techniques for enabling relay assisted peer discovery in a wireless communication network are disclosed. A relay may receive, from at least one user equipment (UE), at least one hashed expression to transmit. Further, a relay may compute a time dependent hash of the at least one hashed expression to transmit. The relay may broadcast, and the second UEs may receive, the time dependent hash of the at least one hashed expression. The UE may be, for example, an eNodeB. The hashed expression may be a time varied hashed expression.

Claims

1. A method of enabling relay assisted peer discovery in a wireless communication network, comprising:

a relay receiving from at least one user equipment (UE) at least one hashed expression;

the relay computing a time dependent hash of the at least one hashed expression to transmit; and

the relay broadcasting the time dependent hash of the at least one hashed expression.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the relay is an eNodeB.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said broadcasting comprises enabling discovery of the at least one UE by a second UE.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said computing is incapable of decoding the hashed expression of the UE.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said computing varies with time.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the relay monitoring for subsequent hashed expressions from the at least one UE.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said monitoring comprises:

the relay comparing the time dependent hash with the subsequent hashed expressions from the at least one UE; and

the relay informing at least one second UE of a match between subsequent hashed expressions from the at least one UE and the time dependent hash.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising the relay informing at least one second UE of a presence of the monitored-for others of the at least one hashed expression.

9. A method of improving peer-to-peer communication in a wireless communication network, comprising:

in response to generating a plurality of expressions to be transmitted during a future time period, aggregating in at least one packet, the plurality of expressions; and

prior to the commencement of the future time period, transmitting the aggregated expressions to a relay configured to broadcast the expressions during the future time period.

10. A method of operating a user equipment (UE) in a relay assisted peer discovery, comprising:

the UE transmitting its hashed expression, at a first time, at least to at least one relay associated with the UE for time varied hashing of, and broadcast of, the hashed expression by the at least one relay;

the UE receiving, at least from the at least one relay, of a plurality of second time varied hashed peer discovery expressions received from a plurality of second UEs; and

the UE decrypting the received second time varied hashed expressions to discern identities of ones of the plurality of second UEs.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein said decrypting is in accordance with the identities of the ones of the plurality of second UEs known to the UE.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein said decrypting comprises the UE applying a hash public key.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising the UE initiating peer-to-peer communication with ones of the plurality of second UEs having known identities.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising the UE electing a list of the identities of ones of the plurality of second UEs with which the UE wishes to communicate.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising the UE receiving an indication, at least from the at least one relay, of a match of one of the plurality of second UEs to the list.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the hashed expression is a time varied hashed expression

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the hashed expression comprises at least one of a request for services, an offering of services, and a desire for peer-to-peer communication.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein said transmitting is via an uplink channel.

19. The method of claim 10, further comprising the UE aggregating its hashed expression at the first time and at at least one second time for said transmitting.

20. The method of claim 10, further comprising the UE messaging the at least one relay to not broadcast its expression.

21. A method of operating a user equipment (UE) in a relay assisted peer discovery, comprising:

the UE transmitting its hashed expression, at a first time, at least to at least one relay associated with the UE for time varied hashing of, and broadcast of, the hashed expression by the relay;

the UE receiving and decrypting, at least from the at least one relay, of a plurality of time varied hashed peer discovery expressions received from a plurality of second UEs.

22. A relay for assisting in peer discovery in a wireless communication network, comprising:

means for receiving from at least one user equipment (UE) at least one hashed expression to transmit;

means for computing a time dependent hash of the at least one hashed expression to transmit; and

means for broadcasting the time dependent hash of the at least one hashed expression.

23. The relay of claim 22, wherein the relay is an eNodeB.

24. The relay of claim 22, wherein said broadcasting comprises means for enabling discovery of the at least one UE by a second UE.

25. The relay of claim 22, further comprising means for monitoring subsequent hashed expressions from the at least one UE.

26. The relay of claim 25, wherein said means for monitoring comprises:

comparing the time dependent hash with the subsequent hashed expressions from the at least one UE; and

informing at least one second UE of a match between the subsequent hashed expressions from the at least one UE and the time dependent hash.

27. A user equipment (UE) configured to improve peer-to-peer communication in a wireless communication network, comprising:

in response to generating a plurality of expressions to be transmitted during a future time period, means for aggregating in at least one packet, the plurality of expressions; and

prior to commencement of the future time period, means for transmitting the at least one packet to at least one of a plurality of relays configured to broadcast the expressions during the future time period.

28. A user equipment (UE) for operation in a relay assisted peer discovery, comprising:

means for transmitting a hashed expression at least to at least one relay associated with the UE for time varied hashing of, and broadcast of, the hashed expression by the at least one relay;

means for receiving, at least from the at least one relay, of a plurality of time varied hashed peer discovery expressions received from a plurality of second UEs; and

means for decrypting the received time varied hashed expressions to discern identities of ones of the plurality of second UEs.

29. The UE of claim 28, wherein the decrypting is in accordance with the identities of the ones of the plurality of second UEs known to the UE.

30. The UE of claim 28, wherein said means for decrypting comprises means for applying a hash public key.

31. The UE of claim 28, further comprising means for initiating peer-to-peer communication with ones of the plurality of second UEs having known identities.

32. The UE of claim 28, wherein the hashed expression is a first time varied hashed expression.

33. The UE of claim 28, further comprising means for aggregating the hashed expression at the first time and at at least one second time for transmitting.

34. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium associated with a relay in a wireless network, comprising;

code for causing at least one processor associated with the relay to receive from at least one user equipment (UE) at least one hashed expression to transmit;

code for causing the at least one processor to compute a time dependent hash of the at least one hashed expression to transmit; and

code for causing the at least one processor to direct a broadcasting of the time dependent hash of the at least one hashed expression.

35. The computer program product of claim 34, wherein the relay is an eNodeB.

36. The computer program product of claim 34, wherein said code to direct a broadcasting comprises code for enabling discovery of the at least one UE by a second UE.

37. The computer program product of claim 34, wherein said code to compute is incapable of decoding the hashed expression of the at least one UE.

38. The computer program product of claim 34, further comprising code for causing the at least one processor to monitor for subsequent hashed expressions of the at least one UE.

39. The computer program product of claim 38, further comprising code for causing the at least one processor to inform at least one second UE of a presence of the subsequent hashed expressions of the at least one UE.

40. A computer program product for improving peer-to-peer communication in a wireless communication network, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium associated with a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network, comprising;

code for causing at least one computer processor associated with the UE to aggregate in at least one packet at the UE, its plurality of expressions into a single packet suitable for transmission in response to the generating of the plurality of expressions over a predetermined time period; and

code for causing the at least one computer processor to direct transmission of the at least one packet to at least one of a plurality of relays, wherein the transmission of the single packet occurs after the expiration of the predetermined time period.

41. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium associated with a user equipment (UE) for operation in a relay assisted peer discovery, comprising;

code for causing at least one computer processor associated with the UE to direct transmission of a hashed expression at least to at least one relay associated with the UE for time varied hashing of, and broadcast of, the hashed expression by the at least one relay;

code for causing the at least one computer processor to receive, at least from the at least one relay, a plurality of time varied hashed peer discovery expressions received from a plurality of second UEs; and

code for causing the at least one processor to decrypt the received time varied hashed expressions to discern identities of ones of the plurality of second UEs.

42. The computer program product of claim 41, wherein the decryption is in accordance with the identities of the ones of the plurality of second UEs known to the UE.

43. The computer program product of claim 41, wherein said code for decrypting comprises code for causing the at least one processor to apply a hash public key.

44. The computer program product of claim 41, further comprising code for causing the at least one processor to initiate peer-to-peer communication with ones of the plurality of second UEs having known identities.

45. The computer program product of claim 41, wherein the hashed expression is a first time varied hashed expression

46. The computer program product of claim 41, further comprising code for causing the at least one processor to direct an aggregating of the hashed expression in at least one packet at the first time and at at least one second time for transmitting.

47. A relay suitable for assisting in peer discovery in a wireless communication network, comprising:

a receiver configured to receive, from at least one user equipment (UE), at least one hashed expression;

a peer discovery expression computing module configured to compute a time dependent hash of the at least one hashed expression to transmit; and

a transmitter configured to broadcast the time dependent hash of the at least one hashed expression.

48. The relay of claim 47, wherein the relay is an eNodeB.

49. The relay of claim 47, wherein the peer discovery expression computing module is incapable of decoding the hashed expression of the at least one UE.

50. The relay of claim 47, wherein the peer discovery expression computing module is configured to compute differently with time.

51. The relay of claim 47, further comprising a neighbor set determination module configured to monitor for subsequent hashed expressions of the at least one UE.

52. The relay of claim 51, further comprising further comprising a neighbor set determination module configured to inform at least one second UE of a presence of subsequent hashed expressions of the at least one UE of the monitored at least one hashed expression.

53. A user equipment (UE) suitable for operating in relay assisted peer discovery, comprising:

a transmitter configured to transmit a hashed expression of the UE, at a first time, at least to at least one relay communicatively associated with the UE for time varied hashing of, and broadcast of, the hashed expression by the at least one relay;

a receiver configured to receive, at least from the at least one relay, of a plurality of second time varied hashed peer discovery expressions received from a plurality of second UEs; and

an encrypting/decrypting module configured to decrypt the received second time varied hashed expressions to discern identities of ones of the plurality of second UEs.

54. The UE of claim 53, wherein said encrypting/decrypting module is configured to decrypt in accordance with the identities of the ones of the plurality of second UEs known to the UE.

55. The UE of claim 53, further comprising a peer-to-peer communication module configured to initiate peer-to-peer communication with ones of the plurality of second UEs having known identities.

56. The UE of claim 53, further comprising an active set determination module configured to elect a list of the identities of ones of the plurality of second UEs with which the UE wishes to communicate for transmission by said transmitter.

57. The UE of claim 53, wherein the hashed expression is a time varied hashed expression

58. The UE of claim 53, wherein the hashed expression comprises at least one of a request for services, an offering of services, and a desire for peer-to-peer communication.

59. The UE of claim 53, wherein said encrypting/decrypting module is further configured to aggregate the hashed expression in at least one packet at the first time and at at least one second time for transmitting.