PEER DISCOVERY IN NEIGHBOR AWARENESS NETWORKING (NAN) AIDED DATA LINK NETWORKS

• US 20150350866A1
• Filed: 02/24/2015
• Published: 12/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: PATIL, Abhishek Pramod, ABRAHAM, Santosh Paul, CHERIAN, George
• Granted Patent: US 10,455,400 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/244 using a network of reference devices, e.g. beaconing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/02 Data link layer protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for wireless communication are provided. In one aspect, a first station discovers a second station capable of providing a service of interest to the first station. The second station is one of a plurality of stations participating in a NAN data link network that provides the service of interest and supports communication over a NAN data link channel without beaconing. The second station is discovered through communication over a NAN channel supported by a plurality of neighborhood stations forming a NAN network. The NAN channel has a beaconing operation that provides synchronization. After discovery of the second station, the first station communicates with the second station over the NAN data link channel, to obtain data corresponding to the service of interest.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication of a first station, comprising:

discovering a second station capable of providing a service of interest to the first station, the second station being one of a plurality of stations participating in a neighborhood awareness networking (NAN) data link network that provides the service of interest and supports communication over a NAN data link channel without beaconing, wherein the discovering occurs through communication over a NAN channel supported by a plurality of neighborhood stations forming a NAN network having a beaconing operation that provides synchronization; and

communicating with the second station over the NAN data link channel.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein discovering comprises:

sending a service discovery message over the NAN channel, the service discovery message including information corresponding to the service of interest; and

receiving a service response message over the NAN channel from at least one of the plurality of neighborhood stations, the service response message including information identifying a NAN data link network that provides the service of interest over the NAN data link channel.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein communicating comprises:

sending an association message over the NAN data link channel to one or more of the plurality of stations within the NAN data link network identified in the service response message, wherein the one or more of the plurality of stations includes the second station.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

sending a peer discovery message over the NAN data link channel; and

updating, in response to messages received from one or more stations, a neighbor list corresponding to the plurality of neighborhood stations currently within the NAN network and participating in the NAN data link network.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein:

updating comprises adding one or more new neighborhood stations to the neighbor list; and

communicating further comprises sending an association message over the NAN data link channel to at least one of the new neighborhood stations.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein discovering comprises:

receiving a service advertisement broadcast message over the NAN channel, the service advertisement broadcast message including information identifying a service of interest and a NAN data link network providing the service of interest; and

sending a peer discovery message over the NAN channel to the plurality of neighborhood stations, wherein the plurality of neighborhood stations includes a plurality of stations that participate in the NAN data link network providing the service of interest, the peer discovery message including information corresponding to the service of interest and a NAN data link network that provides the service of interest.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the peer discovery message is sent during a discovery window of the NAN channel during which the plurality of neighborhood stations are awake.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein communicating comprises:

receiving an association message over the NAN data link channel from one or more of the plurality of stations that received the peer discovery message, wherein the one or more of the plurality of stations includes the second station.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the association message is sent during a paging window of the NAN data link channel during which the plurality of stations are awake.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein discovering comprises:

receiving a service advertisement message over the NAN channel, the service advertisement message including information identifying a service of interest, a NAN data link network providing the service of interest, and a list of neighboring stations, the service advertisement message being sent by a station of the NAN data link network identified in the service advertisement message.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein communicating comprises:

sending an association message over the NAN data link channel to one or more of the plurality of stations within the NAN data link network identified in the service advertisement message, wherein the one or more of the plurality of stations includes the second station.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the second station is one hop from the first station.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the second station provides the service of interest.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the second station is a proxy for the service of interest.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the NAN channel is configured to support synchronization and the NAN data link channel relies on synchronization supported by the NAN channel.

16. A first station for wireless communication, comprising:

means for discovering a second station capable of providing a service of interest to the first station, the second station being one of a plurality of stations participating in a neighborhood awareness networking (NAN) data link network that provides the service of interest and supports communication over a NAN data link channel without beaconing, wherein the discovering occurs through communication over a NAN channel supported by a plurality of neighborhood stations forming a NAN network having a beaconing operation that provides synchronization; and

means for communicating with the second station over the NAN data link channel.

17. The first station of claim 16, wherein the means for discovering is configured to:

send a service discovery message over the NAN channel, the service discovery message including information corresponding to the service of interest; and

receive a service response message over the NAN channel from at least one of the plurality of neighborhood stations, the service response message including information identifying a NAN data link network that provides the service of interest over the NAN channel.

18. The first station of claim 17, wherein the means for communicating is configured to:

send an association message over the NAN data link channel to one or more of the plurality of stations within the NAN data link network identified in the service response message, wherein the one or more of the plurality of stations includes the second station.

19. The first station of claim 17, further comprising:

means for sending a peer discovery message over the NAN data link channel; and

means for updating, in response to messages received from one or more stations, a neighbor list corresponding to the plurality of neighborhood stations currently within the NAN network and participating in the NAN data link network.

20. The first station of claim 19, wherein:

the means for updating is configured to add one or more new neighborhood stations to the neighbor list; and

the means for communicating is configured to send an association message over the NAN data link channel to at least one of the one or more new neighborhood stations.

21. The first station of claim 16, wherein the means for discovering is configured to:

receive a service advertisement broadcast message over the NAN channel, the service advertisement broadcast message including information identifying a service of interest and a NAN data link network providing the service of interest; and

send a peer discovery message over the NAN channel to the plurality of neighborhood stations, wherein the plurality of neighborhood stations includes a plurality of stations that participate in the NAN data link network providing the service of interest, the peer discovery message including information corresponding to the service of interest and a NAN data link network that provides the service of interest.

22. The first station of claim 21, wherein the peer discovery message is sent during a discovery window of the NAN channel during which the plurality of neighborhood stations are awake.

23. The first station of claim 21, wherein the means for communicating is configured to:

receive an association message over the NAN data link channel from one or more of the plurality of stations that received the peer discovery message, wherein the one or more of the plurality of stations includes the second station.

24. The first station of claim 23, wherein the association message is sent during a paging window of the NAN data link channel during which the plurality of stations are awake.

25. The first station of claim 16, wherein the means for discovering is configured to:

receive a service advertisement message over the NAN channel, the service advertisement message including information identifying a service of interest, a NAN data link network providing the service of interest, and a list of neighboring stations, the service advertisement message being sent by a station of the NAN data link network identified in the service advertisement message.

26. The first station of claim 25, wherein the means for communicating is configured to:

send an association message over the NAN data link channel to one or more of the plurality of stations within the NAN data link network identified in the service advertisement message, wherein the one or more of the plurality of stations includes the second station.

27. The first station of claim 16, wherein the NAN channel is configured to support synchronization and the NAN data link channel relies on synchronization supported by the NAN channel.

28. A first station for wireless communication, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to;

discover a second station capable of providing a service of interest to the first station, the second station being one of a plurality of stations participating in a neighborhood awareness networking (NAN) data link network that provides the service of interest and supports communication over a NAN data link channel without beaconing, wherein the discovering occurs through communication over a NAN channel supported by a plurality of neighborhood stations forming a NAN network having a beaconing operation that provides synchronization; and

communicate with the second station over the NAN data link channel.

29. A computer-readable medium of a first station and comprising code that when executed on at least one processor causes the at least one processor to:

discover a second station capable of providing a service of interest to the first station, the second station being one of a plurality of stations participating in a neighborhood awareness networking (NAN) data link network that provides the service of interest and supports communication over a NAN data link channel without beaconing, wherein the discovering occurs through communication over a NAN channel supported by a plurality of neighborhood stations forming a NAN network having a beaconing operation that provides synchronization; and

communicate with the second station over the NAN data link channel.