Packet radio

• US 4,864,564 A
• Filed: 05/29/1987
• Issued: 09/05/1989
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/1986
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: US Philips Corporation (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: US Philips Corporation (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Parker, John P., Stein, Paul J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Griffin, Robert L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chin, Wellington
• Application Number:
  US07/055,486
• Time in Patent Office: 830 Days
• Field of Search: 370/95, 370/97, 370/104, 370/94, 370/69.1, 370/76, 455/33, 455/34, 455/54, 455/56, 455/57
• US Class Current: 370/349
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 370/913 Wireless or radio

Abstract

A transceiver for a packet radio network comprises a plurality of independently tunable receivers (RX1-RX4) and a single transmitter (TX) tunable to the frequencies of the receivers. Messages on different frequencies of the network can thus be simultaneously received by respective receivers, increasing message handling capacity; additionally or alternatively, one or more of the receivers can be used as an auxiliary channel for one or more functions other than standard reception of data packets. Three auxiliary channel modes are described: Voice Net mode for direct voice communication, Time Division Multiplex Repeater mode for a long-range voice link or bulk data transfer to a single destination, and inter-network gateway mode for transmitting messages to an adjacent network.

Claims

1. A transceiver for a packet radio network which comprises a plurality of other transceivers, said transceiver including means for transmitting, storing and receiving packets of data, wherein said transceiver comprises a plurality of local receivers which are independently automatically tunable during operation, and a single transmitter which in operation is tunable to the frequencies of the local receivers,

further comprising means for receiving a control signal via one of said local receivers, and means responsive to said control signal for controlling a tuning frequency of at least one of said local receivers to be the same as the respective tuning frequencies of respective other receivers in an other transceiver operating as part of the packet radio network.

2. A transceiver as claimed in claim 1 comprising demodulating and data extraction means operable to handle data messages simultaneously local received on at least two said receivers and storage means for storing packets of data extracted from the messages.

3. A transceiver as claimed in claim 2 further comprising control means for causing stored packets to be transmitted in operation on a frequency to which one of said at least two local receivers was tuned.

4. A transceiver as claimed in claim 3 comprising means for operating in a voice net mode, said means comprising demodulating means for demodulating a voice message received on at least one said local receiver simultaneously with the reception and demodulation of messages on the remaining receiver(s).

5. A transceiver as claimed in claim 1 comprising means for operating in a voice net mode, said means for operating comprising demodulating means for demodulating a voice message received on at least one said local receiver simultaneously with the reception and demodulation of messages on the remaining receiver(s), wherein the voice net mode means further comprises means for enabling a voice message to be transmitted continuously in operation.

6. A transceiver as claimed in claim 5 wherein in operation the voice message is transmitted on the same frequency as that to which said at least one receiver is tuned.

7. A transceiver as claimed in claim 6 wherein the transceiver is operable, except when a voice message is being transmitted, to transmit messages on one or more frequencies other than the frequency of transmission of the voice message.

8. A transceiver as claimed in claim 7 comprising voice encoding and decoding means for converting an analog voice signal to a digital voice signal and vice-versa.

9. A transceiver for a packet radio network which comprises a plurality of other transceivers, said transceiver including means for transmitting, storing and receiving packets of data, wherein said transceiver comprises a plurality of local receivers which are independently automatically tunable during operation, and a single transmitter which in operation is tunable to the frequencies of the local receivers,

comprising demodulating and data extraction means operable to handle data messages simultaneously received on at least two said local receivers and storage means for storing packets of data extracted from the messages.

10. A transceiver for a packet radio network which comprises a plurality of transceivers, the transceiver being operable to transmit, store and receive packets of data, wherein the transceiver comprises

a plurality of local receivers which are independently tunable in operation,

a single transmitter which in operation is tunable to the frequencies of the receivers,

control means, co-operable in operation with corresponding means in other transceivers of the network, for causing one or more of the local receivers to be tuned in operation to the same frequency or the same respective frequencies as one or more receivers, respectively, in the other transceivers,

the transceivers forming a succession from source to destination for transmission of a message to cause a respective receiver and a transmitter of each transceiver of the succession to operate on a common radio frequency in a time division multiplex repeater (TDMR) mode with a common time frame having a characteristic period P and the period P comprising n successive time segments of equal length p where np≦

P, successive transceivers being assigned successive respective segments for transmission and every nth transceiver being assigned the same segment,

storage and transmission control means operable when the transceiver is the source of the message to cause the message to be divided into successive message sections of fixed length, and to cause one section to be transmitted during each periodic re-occurrence of the respective transmission segment, and

relay control means operable when the transceiver is intermediate the source and the destination of the message to cause a message section received from the preceding transceiver of the succession during the time segment immediately preceding its respective transmission segment to be stored and then to be transmitted in its respective transmission segment,

the transceiver being operable, when receiving a message section in TDMR mode on a respective receiver, simultaneously to receive messages on the remaining local receiver(s), and being operable while in TDMR mode to transmit messages on frequencies other than said common frequency only in the intervals between periodic re-occurrences of its respective transmission segment.

11. A transceiver as claimed in claim 10, comprising means for operating in a voice net mode, said means comprising demodulating means for demodulating a voice message received on at least one said receiver simultaneously with the reception and demodulation of messages on the remaining local receiver(s).

12. A transceiver as claimed in claim 10, comprising demodulating and data extraction means operable to handle data messages simultaneously received on at least two said receivers and storage means for storing packets of data extracted from the messages.

13. A transceiver as claimed in claim 10 operable to transmit and receive voice messages in TDMR mode, wherein the transceiver comprises voice encoding and decoding means operable to convert an analog voice signal to a digital signal with a bit rate p/P times the bit transmission rate and vice-versa.

14. A transceiver as claimed in claim 13, comprising means for operating in an inter-network gateway mode, said means for operating comprising means for identifying a signal received on one of said local receivers as being a signal transmitted from an adjacent packet radio network,

means responsive to said means for identifying, for causing one of the local receivers to be tuned to a same frequency f₁ as an other receiver in said adjacent network,

means for causing a packet which has been received on a different local receiver, from a different transceiver in said transceivers own network, to be stored and then to be transmitted to a transceiver in said adjacent network on said frequency f₁ together with an identification of said packet as an inter-network message, and

means responsive to a local receiver receiving a packet associated with an identification of the packet as an inter-network message to cause an acknowledgement of receipt of the packet associated with the inter-network message to be transmitted on the same frequency as that on which the packet and associated identification were received.

15. A transceiver as claimed in claim 14 comprising means for substantially inhibiting the passage of RF energy from the transmitter to the receivers at frequencies other than the desired instantaneous transmitter frequency so that reception is prevented solely in the receiver tuned to said desired transmitter frequency.

16. A transceiver for a packet radio network which comprises a plurality of other transceivers, said transceiver including means for transmitting, storing and receiving packets of data, wherein said transceiver comprises a plurality of local receivers which are independently automatically tunable during operation, and a single transmitter which in operation is tunable to the frequencies of the local receivers,

further comprising means for receiving a control signal via one of said local receivers, and means responsive to said control signal for controlling a tuning frequency of at least one of said local receivers to be the same as the respective tuning frequencies of respective other receivers in an other transceiver operating as part of the packet radio network,

demodulating and data extraction means operable to handle data messages simultaneously received on at least two said local receivers and storage means for storing packets of data extracted from the messages,

means for operating in an inter-network gateway mode, said means for operating comprising means for identifying a signal received on one of said local receivers as being a signal transmitted from an adjacent packet radio network,

means responsive to said means for identifying, for causing one of the local receivers to be tuned to a same frequency f₁ as another receiver in said adjacent network,

means for causing a packet which has been received on a different local receiver, from a different transceiver in said transceivers own network, to be stored and then to be transmitted to a transceiver in said adjacent network on said frequency f₁ together with an identification of said packet as an inter-network message, and

means responsive to a local receiver receiving a packet associated with an identification of the packet as an inter-network message to cause an acknowledgement of receipt of the packet associated with the inter-network message to be transmitted on the same frequency as that on which the packet and associated identification were received.

17. A transceiver as claimed in claim 16, comprising means for substantially inhibiting the passage of RF energy from said single transmitter to the local receivers at frequencies other than the desired instantaneous single transmitter frequency so that reception is prevented solely in the local receiver tuned to said desired transmitter frequency.

18. A transceiver for a packet radio network which comprises a plurality of other transceivers, said transceiver including means for transmitting, storing and receiving packets of data, wherein said transceiver comprises a plurality of local receivers which are independently automatically tunable during operation, and a single transmitter which in operation is tunable to the frequencies of the local receivers,

further comprising means for receiving a control signal via one of said local receivers, and means responsive to said control signal for controlling a tuning frequency of at least one of said local receivers to be the same as the respective tuning frequencies of respective other receivers in an other transceiver operating as part of the packet radio network,

means for operating in a voice net mode, said means comprising demodulating means for demodulating a voice message received on at least one local receiver simultaneously with the reception and demodulation of messages on the remaining local receiver(s),

gateway means for operating in an inter-network gateway mode, said gateway means comprising means for identifying a signal received on one of said local receivers as being a signal transmitted from an adjacent packet radio network,

means responsive to said means for identifying, for causing one of the local receivers to be tuned to a same frequency f₁ as an other receiver in said adjacent network,

means for causing a packet which has been received on a different local receiver, from a different transceiver in said transceivers own network, to be stored and then to be transmitted to a transceiver in said adjacent network on said frequency f₁ together with an identification of said packet as an inter-network message, and

means responsive to a local receiver receiving a packet associated with an identification of the packet as an inter-network message to cause an acknowledgement of receipt of the packet associated with the inter-network message to be transmitted on the same frequency as that on which the packet and associated identification were received.

19. A transceiver as claimed in claim 18, comprising means for substantially inhibiting the passage of RF energy from said single transmitter to the local receivers at frequencies other than the desired instantaneous single transmitter frequency so that reception is prevented solely in the local receiver tuned to said desired transmitter frequency.