METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTONOMOUS CLUSTER HEAD SELECTION FOR MACHINE-TYPE-COMMUNICATIONS (MTC)

• US 20140092833A1
• Filed: 08/28/2013
• Published: 04/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Vannithamby, Rath, Gupta, Maruti, Shih, Mei-Ju
• Granted Patent: US 9,578,635 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 11/00 Orthogonal multiplex systems, e.g. using WALSH codesH04J13/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 11/0086 Search parameters, e.g. search strategy, accumulation length, range of search, thresholds code acquisition in DSSS H04B1/7075
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/1694 Allocation of channels in TDM/TDMA networks, e.g. distributed multiplexers Passive Optical Networks H04Q11/0062
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1812 Hybrid protocols; Hybrid automatic repeat request [HARQ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1861 Physical mapping arrangements for ACK signaling see also H04L5/0053
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1864 ARQ related signaling H04L1/1607 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1893 Physical mapping arrangements physical resource mapping in general H04L5/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/069 using logs of notifications; Post-processing of notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5032 Generating service level reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/001 the frequencies being arranged in component carriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0035 Resource allocation in a cooperative multipoint environment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0055 Physical resource allocation for ACK/NACK for physical mapping arrangements in ARQ protocols H04L1/1861
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0057 Physical resource allocation for CQI
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0073 Allocation arrangements that take into account other cell interferences for intercell interference mitigation or co-ordination in orthogonal multiplex systems H04J11/005
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0091 Signaling for the administration of the divided path
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/14 Two-way operation using the same type of signal, i.e. duplex
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/60 Network streaming of media packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/65 : Network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 : at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 : in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 : Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 : Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 : Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0205 : at the air interface dynamic wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0215 : based on user or device properties, e.g. MTC-capable devices services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] H04W4/70; wireless resource selection or allocation plan definition based on terminal or device properties H04W72/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0221 : power availability or consumption
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0252 : per individual bearer or channel dynamic wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0268 : using specific QoS parameters for wireless networks, e.g. QoS class identifier [QCI] or guaranteed bit rate [GBR] negotiating SLA or negotiating QoS H04W28/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/16 : Central resource management; Negotiation of resources or communication parameters, e.g. negotiating bandwidth or QoS [Quality of Service]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0061 : of neighbour cell information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0066 : of control information between different types of networks in order to establish a new radio link in the target network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0083 : Determination of parameters used for hand-off, e.g. generation or modification of neighbour cell lists
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0085 : Hand-off measurements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0088 : Scheduling hand-off measurements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/22 : for handling the traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 : Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/005 : Routing actions in the presence of nodes in sleep or doze mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/246 : Connectivity information discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/14 : using user query or user detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 : Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 : Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 : Selecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0209 : in terminal devices terminal devices per se H04W88/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0212 : managed by the network, e.g. network or access point is master and terminal is slave
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0225 : using monitoring of external events, e.g. the presence of a signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0235 : where the received signal is a power saving command
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0258 : controlling an operation mode according to history or models of usage information, e.g. activity schedule or time of day
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0261 : managing power supply demand, e.g. depending on battery level
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/04 : TPC
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/14 : Separate analysis of uplink or downlink
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/02 : Selection of wireless resources by user or terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/044 : based on the type of the allocated resource
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 : Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 : Control channels or signalling for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/21 : in the uplink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 : in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/30 : Resource management for broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/52 : based on load
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/541 : using the level of interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/002 : Transmission of channel access control information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/004 : in the uplink, i.e. towards network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/12 : Setup of transport tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 : Setup of multiple wireless link connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/16 : Involving different core network technologies, e.g. a packet-switched [PS] bearer in combination with a circuit-switched [CS] bearer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/23 : Manipulation of direct-mode connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/27 : Transitions between radio resource control [RRC] states
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/28 : Discontinuous transmission [DTX]; Discontinuous reception [DRX]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/30 : Connection release
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/08 : Mobility data transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/10 : adapted for application session management, e.g. SIP [Session Initiation Protocol] connection management H04W76/00; arrangements for session management H04L67/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/042 : Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 : WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 : Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 : adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 : Access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/12 : Access point controller devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/14 : Backbone network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 : Gateway arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/18 : Service support devices; Network management devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks

Abstract

The present disclosure presents embodiments of a system and method for improved uplink transmission management in a network that includes one or more machine-type communication (MTC) devices. For example, in an aspect, the present disclosure presents a method of cluster head selection for a MTC device cluster, the method comprising transmitting a polling message from an eNodeB to one or more MTC devices of the MTC cluster, receiving one or more polling responses at the eNodeB from the one or more MTC devices, and determining the set of cluster heads based on the one or more polling responses; and transmitting cluster head information associated with each cluster head of the set of cluster heads to the one or more MTC devices.

Claims

1. A method performed by an enhanced node B (eNodeB) comprising:

transmitting a polling message from the eNodeB to a plurality of machine-type communications (MTC) devices;

receiving one or more polling responses from the MTC devices, the polling responses including an indication as to whether an associated MTC device is willing to serve as a cluster head for a cluster of MTC devices, and one or more of a signal-to-noise ratio of one or more beacons, a number of MTC devices previously supported, and a collision probability;

selecting one or more of the MTC devices to serve as a cluster head based on the polling responses; and

transmitting cluster head information to the MTC devices to indicate which of the MTC devices are selected to serve as a cluster head.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the polling message including a query requesting which of the MTC devices are willing to serve as a cluster head for a cluster of MTC devices.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the polling message further includes incentive information offering an incentive for an MTC device to serve as the cluster head.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the beacon is received from a potential cluster head.

5. The method of claim 4 the polling message is transmitted upon the occurrence of a polling message triggering event, and

wherein the polling message triggering event comprises one or more of:

a traffic load associated with an existing cluster head reaching a traffic load threshold;

a number of served MTC devices associated with an existing cluster head reaching a served MTC device threshold; and

a polling interval expiration.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving an end service message from one of the cluster heads, the end service message indicating that the cluster head is no longer serving as a cluster head; and

transmitting an end service indication to the one or more MTC devices of the MTC cluster, wherein the end service indication indicates that the cluster head is no longer serving as a cluster head.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the end service message includes a time field indicating a time at which the cluster head will no longer serve as a cluster head, and

wherein the end service indication includes the time field.

8. An enhanced Node B (eNodeB) arranged for servicing a machine-type communications (MTC) device cluster, the eNodeB arranged to:

transmit a polling message to a plurality of machine-type communications (MTC) devices;

receive one or more polling responses from the MTC devices, the polling responses including an indication as to whether an associated MTC device is willing to serve as a cluster head for a cluster of MTC devices, and one or more of a signal-to-noise ratio of one or more beacons, a number of MTC devices previously supported, and a collision probability;

select one or more of the MTC devices to serve as a cluster head based on the polling responses; and

transmit cluster head information associated with each selected cluster head to the MTC devices to indicate which of the MTC devices are selected to serve as a cluster head.

9. The eNodeB of claim 8 wherein the polling message includes a query requesting which of the MTC devices are willing to serve as a cluster head for a cluster of MTC devices.

wherein the polling message is transmitted upon the occurrence of a polling message triggering event, and

wherein the polling message triggering event comprises one or more of:

a traffic load associated with an existing cluster head reaching a traffic load threshold;

a number of served MTC devices associated with an existing cluster head reaching a served MTC device threshold; and

a polling interval expiration.

10. The eNodeB of claim 9 wherein the polling message further includes incentive information offering an incentive for an MTC device to serve as the cluster head.

11. The eNodeB of claim 9 wherein the. beacon is received from an MTC device which is a potential cluster head, and

wherein e eNodeB is arranged to receive relayed uplink communications from the selected cluster heads originating from MTC devices not selected to serve as a cluster head.

12. A method performed by an enhanced Node B (eNodeB) for broadcasting machine-type communications (MTC) device cluster head information, comprising:

determining a set of cluster heads associated with an MTC device cluster, wherein the set of cluster heads comprises one or more MTC devices;

ascertaining a service set identifier (SSID) associated with each cluster head;

identifying a WiFi Protected Access (WPA) protocol type and a determined share key (PSK) associated with each cluster head; and

transmitting the SSID, WPA protocol type, and PSK associated with each cluster head in a System information Block (SIB) message.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the SIB message is an SIB Type 2 message of a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication protocol and includes radio resource configuration information.

14. The method of claim wherein each cluster head is an MTC device.

15. A machine-type communications (MTC) device, comprising:

a transceiver to receive beacons from a plurality of potential cluster heads during a receiving period; and

processing circuitry to;

determine a signal-to-noise ratio (SINR) associated with the beacons;

set a primary cluster head as a cluster head with a highest determined SINR; and

set a secondary cluster head as a cluster head with a second-highest determined SINR.

16. The MTC device of claim 15 wherein the MTC device is further arranged to transmit uplink communications to one of the set cluster heads instead of directly to an enhanced Node B (eNodeB).

17. The MTC device of claim 16 wherein the MTC device is arranged to respond to polling responses from the eNodeB by transmitting a polling response that includes an indication as to whether the MTC device is willing to serve as a cluster head, and one or more of a signal-to-noise ratio of one or more beacons, a number of MTC devices previously supported, and a collision probability.

18. The MTC device of claim 16 wherein the MTC device is a user equipment (UE) and includes a transmitter to transmit the uplink communications in accordance with a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication protocol based on radio resource configuration information received from the eNodeB.