PERFORMING A RELIABLE BROADCAST TO A PLURALITY OF NODES

• US 20190098673A1
• Filed: 09/22/2017
• Published: 03/28/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: GOYAL, Giriraj, SHEKHAR, Ravi, AGARWAL, Vishal, SRIDHARA, Srivathsa
• Granted Patent: US 10,912,146 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1863 comprising mechanisms for improved reliability, e.g. status reports arrangements for detecting or preventing errors by carrying supervisory signal the return channel H04L1/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1877 Measures taken prior to transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/828 Allocation of resources per group of connections, e.g. per group of users
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/611 for multicast or broadcast systems for broadcast or conference H04L12/18; arrangements for broadcast or distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/00; arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time H04H60/00; selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS], H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/40 for selective distribution or broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

The disclosure relates to performing a reliable broadcast from a source device to a plurality of nodes. In an aspect, a representative node establishes a first wireless communication link with each of one or more non-representative nodes, receives, from each of the one or more non-representative nodes, information indicating an ability of the one or more non-representative nodes to sniff wireless communications, establishes a second wireless communication link with the source device, configures the second wireless link based on the information received from the one or more non-representative nodes, sends control information for the second wireless communication link to each of the one or more non-representative nodes, and receives communications from the source device over the second wireless communication link, wherein the one or more non-representative nodes sniff the communications on the second wireless communication link based on the control information for that link.

Claims

1. A method of performing a reliable broadcast from a source device to a plurality of nodes, comprising:

establishing, by a representative node of the plurality of nodes, a first wireless communication link with each of one or more non-representative nodes of the plurality of nodes;

receiving, at the representative node from each of the one or more non-representative nodes over the corresponding first wireless communication link, information indicating an ability of the one or more non-representative nodes to sniff wireless communications;

establishing, by the representative node, a second wireless communication link with the source device;

configuring, by the representative node, the second wireless link based on the information received from the one or more non-representative nodes;

sending, by the representative node, control information for the second wireless communication link to each of the one or more non-representative nodes over the corresponding first wireless communication link; and

receiving, at the representative node, communications from the source device over the second wireless communication link, wherein the one or more non-representative nodes receive the communications from the source device by sniffing the second wireless communication link based on the control information for the second wireless communication link.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring the second wireless link comprises:

configuring, by the representative node, a receiver of the representative node to be representative of the plurality of nodes based on the information received from the one or more non-representative nodes; and

requesting, by the representative node, a transmitter configuration of the source device based on the information received from the one or more non-representative nodes.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein configuring the receiver to be representative of the plurality of nodes comprises adjusting a receiver sensitivity of the receiver to be representative of receiver sensitivities of the plurality of nodes.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein configuring the receiver to be representative of the plurality of nodes comprises configuring the receiver so that the representative node is the most likely node of the plurality of nodes to miss a packet of the communications from the source device over the second wireless communication link.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the information received from the one or more non-representative nodes comprises a receiver sensitivity of each of the one or more non-representative nodes, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) level of each of the one or more non-representative nodes, a channel map of each of the one or more non-representative nodes, or any combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the representative node receives the information from the one or more non-representative nodes periodically.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the representative node receives the information from the one or more non-representative nodes before configuring the receiver of the representative node to be representative of the plurality of nodes and establishing the second wireless communication link.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the representative node receives the information from the one or more non-representative nodes after the source device begins transmitting the communications over the second wireless communication link.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the representative node receives the information from the one or more non-representative nodes based on a change in the information at the one or more non-representative nodes that effects the ability of the one or more non-representative nodes to sniff wireless communications.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the control information for the second wireless communication link comprises transport information and security information for the second wireless communication link.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the transport information comprises a frequency hopping spread (FHS) for the second wireless communication link, a modulation scheme for the second wireless communication link, a channel map for the second wireless communication link, a packet type, or any combination thereof, and the security information comprises an encryption key for the second wireless communication link.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the first wireless communication link comprises an encrypted low-energy point-to-point wireless communication link.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the second wireless communication link comprises an encrypted low-energy point-to-point wireless communication link.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein, based on a change in the control information for the second wireless communication link, the representative node sends the changed control information for the second wireless communication link to each of the one or more non-representative nodes over the corresponding first wireless communication link before communicating with the source device using the changed control information for the second wireless communication link.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the representative node, a first notification from at least one of the one or more non-representative nodes indicating that the at least one of the one or more non-representative nodes will not be sniffing the second wireless communication link; and

in response to reception of the first notification, ceasing to listen to the second wireless communication link based on the first notification.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving, at the representative node, a second notification from the at least one of the one or more non-representative nodes indicating that the at least one of the one or more non-representative nodes has resumed sniffing the second wireless communication link; and

in response to reception of the second notification, resuming listening to the second wireless communication link.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein:

the first notification comprises a schedule of time periods during which the at least one of the one or more non-representative nodes will not be sniffing the second wireless communication link, and

the representative node ceases to listen to the second wireless communication link for the time periods during which the at least one of the one or more non-representative nodes will not be sniffing the second wireless communication link.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein:

the first notification indicates that the at least one of the one or more non-representative nodes has stopped sniffing the second wireless communication link, and

the representative node ceases to listen to the second wireless communication link immediately upon reception of the first notification.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of nodes are located within a threshold distance of each other.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the threshold is based on the plurality of nodes having sufficiently similar wireless environment conditions that a single node of the plurality of nodes can act as the representative node.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the wireless environment conditions comprise a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) and/or a Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) of each of the plurality of nodes.

22. An apparatus for performing a reliable broadcast from a source device to a plurality of nodes, comprising:

a transceiver of a representative node of the plurality of nodes; and

at least one processor of the representative node coupled to the transceiver, the at least one processor configured to;

establish a first wireless communication link with each of one or more non-representative nodes of the plurality of nodes;

receive, from each of the one or more non-representative nodes over the corresponding first wireless communication link, information indicating an ability of the one or more non-representative nodes to sniff wireless communications;

establish a second wireless communication link with the source device;

configure the second wireless link based on the information received from the one or more non-representative nodes;

send control information for the second wireless communication link to each of the one or more non-representative nodes over the corresponding first wireless communication link; and

receive communications from the source device over the second wireless communication link, wherein the one or more non-representative nodes receive the communications from the source device by sniffing the second wireless communication link based on the control information for the second wireless communication link.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the at least one processor being configured to configure the second wireless link comprises the at least one processor being configured to:

configure a receiver of the representative node to be representative of the plurality of nodes based on the information received from the one or more non-representative nodes; and

request a transmitter configuration of the source device based on the information received from the one or more non-representative nodes.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the at least one processor being configured to configure the receiver to be representative of the plurality of nodes comprises the at least one processor being configured to adjust a receiver sensitivity of the receiver to be representative of receiver sensitivities of the plurality of nodes.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the at least one processor being configured to configure the receiver to be representative of the plurality of nodes comprises the at least one processor being configured to configure the receiver so that the representative node is the most likely node of the plurality of nodes to miss a packet of the communications from the source device over the second wireless communication link.

26. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the information received from the one or more non-representative nodes comprises a receiver sensitivity of each of the one or more non-representative nodes, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) level of each of the one or more non-representative nodes, a channel map of each of the one or more non-representative nodes, or any combination thereof.

27. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the representative node receives the information from the one or more non-representative nodes periodically.

28. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the representative node receives the information from the one or more non-representative nodes before configuring the receiver of the representative node to be representative of the plurality of nodes and establishing the second wireless communication link.

29. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the representative node receives the information from the one or more non-representative nodes after the source device begins transmitting the communications over the second wireless communication link.

30. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the representative node receives the information from the one or more non-representative nodes based on a change in the information at the one or more non-representative nodes that effects the ability of the one or more non-representative nodes to sniff wireless communications.

31. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the control information for the second wireless communication link comprises transport information and security information for the second wireless communication link.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the transport information comprises a frequency hopping spread (FHS) for the second wireless communication link, a modulation scheme for the second wireless communication link, a channel map for the second wireless communication link, a packet type, or any combination thereof, and the security information comprises an encryption key for the second wireless communication link.

33. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the first wireless communication link comprises an encrypted low-energy point-to-point wireless communication link.

34. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the second wireless communication link comprises an encrypted low-energy point-to-point wireless communication link.

35. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein, based on a change in the control information for the second wireless communication link, the representative node sends the changed control information for the second wireless communication link to each of the one or more non-representative nodes over the corresponding first wireless communication link before communicating with the source device using the changed control information for the second wireless communication link.

36. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein:

the transceiver is further configured to receive a first notification from at least one of the one or more non-representative nodes indicating that the at least one of the one or more non-representative nodes will not be sniffing the second wireless communication link, and

the at least one processor is further configured to cease, in response to reception of the first notification, to listen to the second wireless communication link based on the first notification.

37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein:

the transceiver is further configured to receive a second notification from the at least one of the one or more non-representative nodes indicating that the at least one of the one or more non-representative nodes has resumed sniffing the second wireless communication link; and

the at least one processor is further configured to resume, in response to reception of the second notification, listening to the second wireless communication link.

38. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein:

the first notification comprises a schedule of time periods during which the at least one of the one or more non-representative nodes will not be sniffing the second wireless communication link, and

the representative node ceases to listen to the second wireless communication link for the time periods during which the at least one of the one or more non-representative nodes will not be sniffing the second wireless communication link.

39. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein:

the first notification indicates that the at least one of the one or more non-representative nodes has stopped sniffing the second wireless communication link, and

the representative node ceases to listen to the second wireless communication link immediately upon reception of the first notification.

40. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the plurality of nodes are located within a threshold distance of each other.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the threshold is based on the plurality of nodes having sufficiently similar wireless environment conditions that a single node of the plurality of nodes can act as the representative node.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the wireless environment conditions comprise a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) and/or a Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) of each of the plurality of nodes.

43. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for performing a reliable broadcast from a source device to a plurality of nodes, the computer-executable instructions comprising:

at least one instruction instructing a representative node of the plurality of nodes to establish a first wireless communication link with each of one or more non-representative nodes of the plurality of nodes;

at least one instruction instructing the representative node to receive, from each of the one or more non-representative nodes over the corresponding first wireless communication link, information indicating an ability of the one or more non-representative nodes to sniff wireless communications;

at least one instruction instructing the representative node to establish a second wireless communication link with the source device;

at least one instruction instructing the representative node to configure the second wireless link based on the information received from the one or more non-representative nodes;

at least one instruction instructing the representative node to send control information for the second wireless communication link to each of the one or more non-representative nodes over the corresponding first wireless communication link; and

at least one instruction instructing the representative node to receive communications from the source device over the second wireless communication link, wherein the one or more non-representative nodes receive the communications from the source device by sniffing the second wireless communication link based on the control information for the second wireless communication link.

44. An apparatus for performing a reliable broadcast from a source device to a plurality of nodes, comprising:

a means for communicating of a representative node of the plurality of nodes; and

a means for processing of the representative node coupled to the means for communicating, the means for processing configured to;

establish a first wireless communication link with each of one or more non-representative nodes of the plurality of nodes;

receive, from each of the one or more non-representative nodes over the corresponding first wireless communication link, information indicating an ability of the one or more non-representative nodes to sniff wireless communications;

establish a second wireless communication link with the source device;

configure the second wireless link based on the information received from the one or more non-representative nodes;

send control information for the second wireless communication link to each of the one or more non-representative nodes over the corresponding first wireless communication link; and

receive communications from the source device over the second wireless communication link, wherein the one or more non-representative nodes receive the communications from the source device by sniffing the second wireless communication link based on the control information for the second wireless communication link.