SERVER-ASSISTED DEVICE-TO-DEVICE DISCOVERY AND CONNECTION

• US 20140357269A1
• Filed: 04/16/2014
• Published: 12/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Zhou, Yan, Cherian, George, Abraham, Santosh Paul
• Granted Patent: US 9,654,960 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/434
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

A method includes receiving, at a network node, a device-to-device D2D discovery request from a first device and sending a D2D discovery response from the network node to the first device. The D2D discovery response includes information associated with a second device that is available to establish a D2D connection with the first device. The network node may perform inquiries regarding D2D connection permission from both devices. If D2D connection is permitted by both devices, the network node may facilitate the D2D scanning by sending each device'"'"'s scanning information to the other device via a non-D2D link. In parallel to D2D scanning, the network node may speed up D2D link setup by distributing, via non-D2D links, link setup information to each device, where the link setup information may include device credential(s), IP address allocation(s), and/or group owner assignment.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a network node, a device-to-device (D2D) discovery request from a first device; and

sending a D2D discovery response from the network node to the first device, wherein the D2D discovery response includes information associated with a second device that is available to establish a D2D connection with the first device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the network node comprises a server, a network controller, an access point, or a mobile station that is distinct from the first device and the second device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the D2D discovery request and the D2D discovery response are communicated via a non-D2D link.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the non-D2D link comprises a cellular link.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the D2D discovery request identifies a location of the first device, a threshold proximity of candidate neighbor devices to the first device, one or more services, a transmit power of the first device, a receiver sensitivity of the first device, or any combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the D2D connection comprises a Wi-Fi Direct connection.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the information associated with the second device at the network node; and

identifying the second device based on the stored information.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the information associated with the second device identifies a location of the second device, a capability of the second device, a channel number of the second device, a wake-up schedule of the second device, a beacon transmission schedule of the second device, a whitelist of the second device, a service provided by the second device, a group owner preference of the second device, or any combination thereof.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising receiving, at the network node, the information associated with the second device from the second device.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising receiving, at the network node, the information associated with the second device from an access point (AP) in communication with the second device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the access point sends a second D2D discovery request to the second device and receives at least a portion of the information associated with the second device from the second device in response to the second D2D discovery request, wherein the portion of the information associated with the second device identifies a location of the second device, a capability of the second device, a channel number of the second device, a wake-up schedule of the second device, a beacon transmission schedule of the second device, a whitelist of the second device, a service provided by the second device, a group owner preference of the second device, or any combination thereof.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the access point sends the second D2D discovery request in response to determining that the second device satisfies at least one criterion.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one criterion is satisfied when the second device can provide at least one service requested by the first device.

14. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing instructions executable by the processor to perform operations comprising;

sending information associated with a second device from the second device to a network node,

wherein the information associated with the second device is useable by the network node to respond to a device-to-device (D2D) discovery request associated with a first device that is available to establish a D2D connection with the second device.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise sending an unavailability indicator from the second device to the network node to indicate that the second device is unavailable for D2D communication, wherein the unavailability indicator is sent when a traveling speed of the second device is greater than a speed threshold, a battery power of the second device is less than a battery threshold, or a combination thereof.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise sending an availability indicator from the second device to the network node to indicate that the second device is available for D2D communication, wherein the availability indicator is sent when a traveling speed of the second device is less than a speed threshold and a battery power of the second device is greater than a battery threshold.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the second device sends the information to the network node when the second device is available for D2D communication.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the second device is not considered by the network node for D2D communication while the second device is unavailable for D2D communication.

19. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, at the second device, data associated with the first device;

generating a permission request at the second device; and

selectively sending the information associated with the second device from the second device to the network node based on a response to the permission request.

20. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, at the second device, data associated with the first device; and

selectively sending the information associated with the second device from the second device to the network node based on a determination that the first device is included in a whitelist of the second device.

21. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, at the second device, data associated with the first device; and

selectively sending the information associated with the second device from the second device to the network node based on a determination that the first device is within a threshold distance of the second device and that the second device is within a threshold distance of the first device.

22. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, at the second device, data associated with the first device; and

selectively sending the information associated with the second device from the second device to the network node based on a determination that the second device can provide at least one service requested by the first device.

23. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, at the second device, data associated with the first device; and

selectively sending the information associated with the second device from the second device to the network node when a battery power of the second device is greater than a battery threshold and a traveling speed of the second device is less than a speed threshold.

24. A computer-readable storage device storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

performing, at a network node, first permission verification with respect to a first device prior to establishment of a device-to-device (D2D) connection between the first device and a second device, wherein performing the first permission verification comprises;

determining whether the second device is included in a first whitelist of the first device; and

in response to determining that the second device is not included in the first whitelist, sending a first permission request to the first device.

25. The computer-readable storage device of claim 24, wherein the operations further comprise performing second permission verification with respect to the second device, wherein performing the second permission verification comprises:

determining whether the first device is included in a second whitelist of the second device; and

in response to determining that the first device is not included in the second whitelist, sending a second permission request to the second device.

26. The computer-readable storage device of claim 24, wherein the operations further comprise:

sending a list of candidate neighbor devices from the network node to the first device for permission verification;

receiving from the first device a list of permitted neighbor devices and a connection prioritization indication for each of the permitted neighbor devices; and

initiating D2D link setup between the first device and one or more of the permitted neighbor devices based on the connection prioritization indications.

27. An apparatus comprising:

means for sending first scanning information from a network node to a first device, wherein the first scanning information is to be used by the first device to establish a device-to-device (D2D) connection with a second device; and

means for sending second scanning information from the network node to the second device, wherein the second scanning information is to be used by the second device to establish the D2D connection with the first device.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising:

means for sending link setup information including a first credential from the network node to the first device,

wherein the first scanning information comprises an identifier of the second device, a channel number of the second device, a wake-up schedule of the second device, a beacon transmission schedule of the second device, a location of the second device, or any combination thereof, and

wherein the first credential comprises a public/private key pair, a shared secret, a pre-shared key (PSK), a certificate, or any combination thereof.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the second device is a group owner (GO) and wherein the network node stores the first credential from the second device prior to receiving a D2D discovery request from the first device and prior to receiving a D2D discovery request from the second device.

30. The apparatus of claim 28, further comprising:

means for generating the first credential and a second credential at the network node, wherein the first credential and the second credential represent a common credential, and wherein the network node sends the common credential to each of a plurality of managed devices prior to receiving a D2D discovery request from the first device and prior to receiving a D2D discovery request from the second device; and

means for periodically sending an updated common credential to each of the plurality of managed devices.