COMMUNICATION APPARATUS AND COMMUNICATION METHOD

• US 20190327763A1
• Filed: 11/01/2017
• Published: 10/24/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: SUGAI, REN, TANAKA, YUSUKE, SUGAYA, SHIGERU
• Granted Patent: US 11,470,637 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1607 Details of the supervisory signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0055 Physical resource allocation for ACK/NACK for physical mapping arrangements in ARQ protocols H04L1/1861
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/28 using beam steering
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/037 by reducing handover delay, e.g. latency
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/02 Hybrid access
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/06 using polling
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/23 Manipulation of direct-mode connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/22 with access to wired networks

Abstract

The present technology aims to achieve flexible transition of a communication apparatus from a centralized communication mode to another mode. A communication apparatus includes: a transition information generation unit that generates a plurality of pieces of different transition information related to transition from a first mode in which centralized communication is performed by an access point to a second mode in which no centralized communication by an access point is performed; and a frame generation unit that generates a frame containing the transition information.

Claims

1. A communication apparatus comprising:

a transition information generation unit that generates a plurality of pieces of different transition information related to transition from a first mode in which centralized communication is performed by an access point to a second mode in which no centralized communication by an access point is performed; and

a frame generation unit that generates a frame containing the transition information.

2. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the transition information generation unit generates the transition information regarding a duration of the first mode.

3. The communication apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the transition information generation unit generates the transition information regarding the duration of the first mode having different durations to be set.

4. The communication apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the transition information generation unit generates the transition information indicating immediate shift from the first mode to the second mode.

5. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the transition information is information applied to all of a plurality of reception terminals configured to receive the frame.

6. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the transition information is information individually applied to each of a plurality of reception terminals configured to receive the frame.

7. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the frame generation unit arranges the transition information in a frame that instructs the reception terminal that communication is to be performed in the first mode.

8. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the frame generation unit arranges the transition information in a frame indicating an acknowledgment of reception of the data to a transmission terminal that has transmitted data in the first mode.

9. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the frame generation unit arranges the transition information in a frame that provides notification of transition from the first mode to the second mode.

10. The communication apparatus according to claim 7,

wherein the transition information is information indicating that a further frame instructing the reception terminal that communication is to be performed in the first mode is not going to be transmitted within the duration set by information regarding the duration of the first mode contained in a frame instructing the reception terminal that communication is to be performed in the first mode.

11. The communication apparatus according to claim 7,

wherein the transition information is information regarding a remaining number of times of transmission of the frame instructing the reception terminal that communication is to be performed in the first mode.

12. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the second mode is a power saving mode, a mode of performing autonomous decentralized communication, or a mode of scanning radio waves from another access point.

13. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the transition information generation unit generates the transition information on a basis of a buffer state reported from a communication terminal under the access point or on a basis of the number of the communication terminals under the access point.

14. A communication method comprising causing a processor to:

generate a plurality of pieces of different transition information related to transition from a first mode in which centralized communication is performed by an access point to a second mode in which no centralized communication by an access point is performed; and

generate a frame containing the transition information.

15. A communication apparatus comprising:

a reception unit that receives, from an access point, a plurality of pieces of different transition information related to transition from a first mode in which centralized communication is performed by the access point to a second mode in which no centralized communication by the access point is performed; and

a mode determination unit that determines transition from the first mode to the second mode on a basis of the received transition information.

16. The communication apparatus according to claim 15,

wherein the transition information is information regarding a duration of the first mode, and

the mode determination unit does not update the duration of the first mode in a case where the communication in the first mode is not performed, on a basis of the received information regarding the duration of the first mode.

17. The communication apparatus according to claim 16,

further comprising a transmission unit that transmits information indicating that the first mode has transitioned to the second mode to the access point in a case where updating of the duration of the first mode has not been performed.

18. A communication method comprising:

receiving, from an access point, a plurality of pieces of different transition information related to transition from a first mode in which centralized communication is performed by the access point to a second mode in which no centralized communication by the access point is performed; and

causing a processor to determine transition from the first mode to the second mode on a basis of the received transition information.