WIRELESS COMMUNICATION METHODS AND APPARATUS USING BEACON SIGNALS
First Claim
1. A beacon signal transmission apparatus, comprising:
- a beacon signal transmitter for transmitting a sequence of beacon signal bursts each beacon signal burst including at least one beacon symbol, said beacon transmission signal apparatus being a free standing device not including any transmitter used to transmit data to an individual user device.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus supporting peer to peer communications are discussed. A base station, serving as an access node for wireless terminals also communicates information supporting peer to peer communications. A base station transmits a beacon signal conveying information about a peer to peer frequency band and also receives user data from a plurality of wireless terminals, using the base station as a current point of network attachment. In some embodiments, the beacon signal is transmitted into the same frequency band being used for access node based communications and identifies a different frequency band which is to be used as a peer to peer frequency band. Alternatively, or in addition, in support of peer to peer communications, a beacon signal transmission apparatus, a free standing device which doesn'"'"'t transmit user data, transmits a sequence of beacon signal bursts, each beacon signal burst including at least one high power beacon symbol.
25 Citations
30 Claims
-
1. A beacon signal transmission apparatus, comprising:
a beacon signal transmitter for transmitting a sequence of beacon signal bursts each beacon signal burst including at least one beacon symbol, said beacon transmission signal apparatus being a free standing device not including any transmitter used to transmit data to an individual user device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
11. A method of transmitting beacon signals, comprising:
operating a beacon signal transmission apparatus comprising a beacon signal transmitter, to transmit a sequence of beacon signal bursts, each beacon signal burst including at least one beacon symbol, wherein said beacon transmission signal apparatus is a free standing device; and
wherein said beacon signal transmission apparatus does not include any transmitter used to transmit data to an individual user device.- View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
-
27. A beacon signal transmission apparatus, comprising:
beacon signal transmitter means for transmitting a sequence of beacon signal bursts, each beacon signal burst including at least one beacon symbol, said beacon transmission signal apparatus being a free standing device not including any transmitter used to transmit data to an individual user device. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
Specification