METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COORDINATING MULTIPLE PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS

• US 20150319235A1
• Filed: 05/04/2015
• Published: 11/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Liu, Yong, Hartman, Christiaan A., Yong, Su Khiong, Wong, Chiu Ngok E.
• Granted Patent: US 9,998,535 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/28 using route fault recovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/64 using an overlay routing layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1063 Discovery through centralising entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1074 for supporting data block transmission mechanisms file transfer H04L67/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1093 Some peer nodes performing special functions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/24 Connectivity information management, e.g. connectivity discovery or connectivity update
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/244 using a network of reference devices, e.g. beaconing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

An apparatus and methods are provided for coordinating multiple peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. A device operates a first P2P communications protocol to participate in a first P2P network. The device also operates a second P2P communications protocol to participate in a second P2P network. The device can modify at least one of the first P2P network'"'"'s parameters and at least one of the second P2P network'"'"'s parameters to minimize conflicts between operations of the P2P networks. To enable it to modify these parameters, the device may configure or reconfigure its operating parameters to cause it to take on a supervisory role (e.g., master, group owner).

Claims

1. A device comprising:

a wireless interface for conducting wireless communications;

wherein the device is configured to;

participate in a first peer-to-peer (P2P) network through the wireless interface using a first communications protocol;

participate in a second P2P network using a second P2P communications protocol; and

modify at least one first P2P network parameter and at least one second P2P network parameter to reduce an occurrence of conflicts between the first P2P network and the second P2P network.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the device is further configured to assume an owner role in the second P2P network.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the device is further configured to set a master preference value in the first P2P communication protocol to indicate a strong preference for acting as a master in the first P2P network.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein:

the device operates as a master device in the first P2P network; and

the device operates as a group owner in the second P2P network.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein modifying at least one first P2P network parameter and at least one second P2P network parameter comprises one or more of:

staggering operations of the first P2P network and the second P2P network in alternating time intervals;

causing the first P2P network and the second P2P network to operate over the same wireless channel; and

setting a beacon interval longer than a default interval in the first P2P network.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein staggering operations of the first P2P network and the second P2P network in alternating time intervals comprises at least one of:

modifying the second P2P network'"'"'s beacon interval to align with the first P2P network; and

scheduling a period of absence for the second P2P network, thereby allowing operation of the first P2P network during the period of absence.

7. The device of claim 5, wherein having the first P2P network and the second P2P network operate over the same wireless channel comprises at least one of:

if a social channel of the first P2P network is sufficiently uncongested, setting the second P2P network'"'"'s operating channel to the first P2P network'"'"'s social channel; and

performing post-discovery operations of the first P2P network on the second P2P network'"'"'s operating channel.

8. The device of claim 5, wherein after setting a beacon interval longer than a default interval in the first P2P network:

all time intervals between discovery beacon transmissions of the first P2P network are less than or equal to 256 time units (TU); and

an average of one discovery beacon transmission occurs every 128 TU on the first P2P network.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein modifying at least one first P2P network parameter and at least one second P2P network parameter comprises at least one of:

canceling a discovery operation that is to be performed in a 5 gigahertz (GHz) channel of the first P2P network;

scheduling a passive scan of the second P2P network in a time interval where no post-discovery operations of the first P2P network are scheduled; and

scheduling an active scan of the second P2P network in a time interval where post-discovery operations of the first P2P network are scheduled.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein modifying at least one first P2P network parameter and at least one second P2P network parameter comprises at least one of:

if a listen period of the second P2P network is scheduled to overlap with a discovery operation that is to be performed in a 5 GHz channel of the first P2P network;

cancelling the discovery operation;

or

deferring the listen period until after the discovery operation is performed;

if a listen period of the second P2P network is scheduled to overlap with a post-discovery operation of the first P2P network, which is to be performed on a different channel than where the listen period is to take place;

modifying the post-discovery operation to be performed on the listen period'"'"'s channel;

or

deferring the listen period until after the post-discovery operation is performed; and

if a search period of the second P2P network, which comprises a plurality of active scans across multiple channels, is scheduled to overlap with an operation of the first P2P network, interleaving the operation of the first P2P network with the active scans.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein:

operations of the first P2P network comprise first P2P discovery operations and first P2P post-discovery operations;

first P2P discovery operations comprise transmitting a P2P discovery beacon and attending a P2P discovery window; and

first P2P post-discovery operations comprise service discovery and data-path operations.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein the first P2P communications protocol is Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN).

13. The device of claim 1, wherein the second P2P communications protocol is either Wi-Fi Direct (WFD) or wireless local area networking (WLAN).

14. The device of claim 6, wherein the device is further configured to schedule multiple differently sized periods of absence in the second P2P network during a sequence of discovery windows in the first P2P network, thereby allowing operation of the first P2P network during the periods of absence.

15. A computer-implemented method, the method comprising, at a first device:

participating in a first peer-to-peer (P2P) network using a first communications protocol;

participating in a second P2P network using a second P2P communications protocol; and

modifying at least one first P2P network parameter and at least one second P2P network parameter to reduce an occurrence of conflicts between the first P2P network and the second P2P network.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein modifying at least one first P2P network parameter and at least one second P2P network parameter comprises one or more of:

staggering operations of the first P2P network and the second P2P network in alternating time intervals;

causing the first P2P network and the second P2P network to operate over the same wireless channel; and

setting a beacon interval longer than a default interval in the first P2P network.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein staggering operations of the first P2P network and the second P2P network in alternating time intervals comprises at least one of:

modifying the second P2P network'"'"'s beacon interval to align with the first P2P network; and

scheduling a period of absence for the second P2P network, thereby allowing operation of the first P2P network during the period of absence.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein having the first P2P network and the second P2P network operate over the same wireless channel comprises at least one of:

if a social channel of the first P2P network is sufficiently uncongested, setting the second P2P network'"'"'s operating channel to the first P2P network'"'"'s social channel; and

performing post-discovery operations of the first P2P network on the second P2P network'"'"'s operating channel.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein modifying at least one first P2P network parameter and at least one second P2P network parameter comprises at least one of:

if a listen period of the second P2P network is scheduled to overlap with a discovery operation that is to be performed in a 5 GHz channel of the first P2P network;

cancelling the discovery operation;

or

deferring the listen period until after the discovery operation is performed;

if a listen period of the second P2P network is scheduled to overlap with a post-discovery operation of the first P2P network, which is to be performed on a different channel than where the listen period is to take place;

modifying the post-discovery operation to be performed on the listen period'"'"'s channel;

or

deferring the listen period until after the post-discovery operation is performed; and

if a search period of the second P2P network, which comprises a plurality of active scans across multiple channels, is scheduled to overlap with an operation of the first P2P network, interleaving the operation of the first P2P network with the active scans.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method, the method comprising, at a first device:

participating in a first peer-to-peer (P2P) network using a first communications protocol;

participating in a second P2P network using a second P2P communications protocol; and

modifying at least one first P2P network parameter and at least one second P2P network parameter to reduce an occurrence of conflicts between the first P2P network and the second P2P network.