Radio data communication apparatus having a relay function and radio data communication method and system using the same
First Claim
1. In a radio data communication network for communicating data through frames carried by radio waves, including a plurality of radio data communication apparatus, each having a relay function, located within said radio data communication network, at least part of said radio data communication apparatuses comprising:
- transmitter means for transmitting a frame to be carried by a radio wave to at least one other radio data communication apparatus, said frame having a destination address of a radio data communication apparatus which is specified to be a destination;
receiver means for receiving a frame transmitted from any other radio data communication apparatus;
first determination means for determining whether a frame received by said receiver means has an address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the frame;
reception processing means for processing the received frame for reception when said first determination means determines that the received frame has the address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the frame;
relay means for transmitting the received frame to at least one other radio data communication apparatus by a radio wave when said first determination means determines that the received frame does not have the address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the frame;
said transmitter means transmits either one of a search frame for searching for relay route information from a sending end radio data communication apparatus to a destination radio data communication apparatus, said search frame having a relay station address field in which addresses of relay radio data communication apparatuses are registered in order, and a data frame including data to be transmitted;
said receiver means includes third determination means for determining whether said received frame is a search frame or a data frame; and
said relay means includes means for registering the address of said radio data communication apparatus in the highest rank unregistered field within said relay station address field and transmitting said search frame when said first determination means determines that the received frame does not have the address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the frame and when said third determination means determines that said received frame is a search frame.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a radio data communication network where a plurality of radio data communication apparatuses mutually communicate information through frames carried by radio waves, a communication method using radio data communication apparatuses having a relay function is provided. When two radio data communication apparatuses cannot directly communicate with each other due to the limit of the radio wave range, another radio data communication apparatus serves as a relay station to relay frames between the two apparatuses, thus extending a communicable range.
154 Citations
24 Claims
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1. In a radio data communication network for communicating data through frames carried by radio waves, including a plurality of radio data communication apparatus, each having a relay function, located within said radio data communication network, at least part of said radio data communication apparatuses comprising:
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transmitter means for transmitting a frame to be carried by a radio wave to at least one other radio data communication apparatus, said frame having a destination address of a radio data communication apparatus which is specified to be a destination; receiver means for receiving a frame transmitted from any other radio data communication apparatus; first determination means for determining whether a frame received by said receiver means has an address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the frame; reception processing means for processing the received frame for reception when said first determination means determines that the received frame has the address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the frame; relay means for transmitting the received frame to at least one other radio data communication apparatus by a radio wave when said first determination means determines that the received frame does not have the address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the frame; said transmitter means transmits either one of a search frame for searching for relay route information from a sending end radio data communication apparatus to a destination radio data communication apparatus, said search frame having a relay station address field in which addresses of relay radio data communication apparatuses are registered in order, and a data frame including data to be transmitted; said receiver means includes third determination means for determining whether said received frame is a search frame or a data frame; and said relay means includes means for registering the address of said radio data communication apparatus in the highest rank unregistered field within said relay station address field and transmitting said search frame when said first determination means determines that the received frame does not have the address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the frame and when said third determination means determines that said received frame is a search frame.
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2. In a radio data communication network for communicating data through frames carried by radio waves, including a plurality of radio data communication apparatus, each having a relay function, located within said radio data communication network, at least part of said radio data communication apparatuses comprising:
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transmitter means for transmitting a frame to be carried by a radio wave to at least one other radio data communication apparatus, said frame having a destination address of a radio data communication apparatus which is specified to be a destination; receiver means for receiving a frame transmitted from any other radio data communication apparatus; first determination means for determining whether a frame received by said receiver means has an address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the frame; reception processing means for processing the received frame for reception when said first determination means determines that the received frame has the address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the frame; relay means for transmitting the received frame to at least one other radio data communication apparatus by a radio wave when said first determination means determines that the received frame does not have the address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the frame; said transmitter means transmits either one of a search frame for searching for relay route information from a sending end radio data communication apparatus to a destination radio data communication apparatus, said search frame having a relay station address field in which addresses of relay radio data communication apparatuses are registered in order, and a data frame including data to be transmitted; and said search frame has an identification flag indicative of the contents of said frame, said identification flag recording a code representative of a search request for a search request frame which is transmitted by a sending end radio data communication apparatus for the purpose of acquiring relay route information, and a code representative of a search response for a search response frame which is returned from a destination radio data communication apparatus to the sending end radio data communication apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. In a radio data communication network for communicating data through frames carried by radio waves, including a plurality of radio data communication apparatus, each having a relay function, located within said radio data communication network, at least part of said radio data communication apparatuses comprising:
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transmitter means for transmitting a frame to be carried by a radio wave to at least one other radio data communication apparatus, said frame having a destination address of a radio data communication apparatus which is specified to be a destination; receiver means for receiving a frame transmitted from any other radio data communication apparatus; first determination means for determining whether a frame received by said receiver means has an address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the frame; reception processing means for processing the received frame for reception when said first determination means determines that the received frame has the address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the frame; relay means for transmitting the received frame to at least one other radio data communication apparatus by a radio wave when said first determination means determines that the received frame does not have the address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the frame; means for transmitting a data frame containing data to be transmitted and an address of a destination radio data communication apparatus; first sensing means for sensing reception of a reception response frame indicating that said destination radio data communication apparatus received the transmitted data frame within a predetermined time period after said data frame transmitting means had transmitted the data frame; and means for transmitting a search frame for searching for relay route information from said sending end radio data communication apparatus to said destination radio data communication apparatus when said first sensing means does not sense reception of said reception response frame. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. In a radio data communication network for communicating data through frames carried by radio waves, including a plurality of radio data communication apparatus, each having a relay function, located within said radio data communication network, said each radio data communication apparatus comprising:
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transmitter means for transmitting a search frame for searching for relay route information from a sending end radio data communication apparatus to a destination radio data communication apparatus to at least one other radio data communication apparatus through a radio wave, said search frame containing a sending end address of said sending end radio data communication apparatus, a destination address of said destination radio data communication apparatus, identification information unique to the frame, and a relay station address field for registering addresses of relay radio data communication apparatuses in order; receiver means for receiving a frame transmitted from another radio data communication apparatus; first determination means for determining whether a search frame received by said receiver means has an address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the frame; second determination means for determining whether or not the received search frame has been received by any other radio data communication apparatus based on the identification information in the search frame received by said receiver means; means for registering the identification information in said radio data communication apparatus when said second determination means determines that the received search frame has not been so far received, and for deleting the received search frame when second determination means determines that the received search frame has already been received; means for recording its own address into the highest rank field of all empty fields in said relay station address field and transmitting the received search frame, when said first determination means determines that the search frame does not have the address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the search frame; means for registering relay route information recorded in the relay station address field of the search frame in said radio data communication apparatus and for registering said sending end address in the search frame as the destination address, when said first determination means determines that the search frame has the address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the search frame; and means for transmitting a data frame containing an address of a destination radio data communication apparatus to which data is transmitted, said registered relay route information corresponding to said registered address which is coincident with the address of the destination radio data communication apparatus, and data to be transmitted, to the destination radio data communication apparatus in accordance with said relay route information.
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18. In a radio data communication network for communicating data through frames carried by radio waves, including a plurality of radio data communication apparatus, each having a relay function, located within said radio data communication network, said each radio data communication apparatus comprising:
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transmitter means for broadcasting a data frame containing data to be transmitted, a sending end address of a sending end radio data communication apparatus, a destination address of a destination radio data communication apparatus, and identification information unique to the frame to at least one other radio data communication apparatus through a radio wave; receiver means for receiving a frame transmitted from another radio data communication apparatus; first determination means for determining whether or not a data frame received by said receiver means has an address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the data frame; second determination means for determining whether or not the data frame received by said receiver means has been received by any other radio data communication apparatus based on the identification information in the data frame; means for registering the identification information in said radio data communication apparatus when said second determination means determines that the data frame has not been so far received and for deleting the received data frame when said second determination means determines that the data frame has already been received; means for broadcasting the data frame through a radio wave to other radio data communication apparatuses when said first determination means determines that the data frame does not have the address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the data frame; and means for processing received data when said first determination means determines that the data frame has the address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the data frame.
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19. A radio data communication method using a plurality of radio data communication apparatuses having a relay function, located in a radio data communication network for communicating data through frames carried by radio waves, said method comprising the steps of:
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transmitting a search frame containing a sending end address of a sending end radio data communication apparatus, a destination address of a destination radio data communication apparatus, identification information unique to the frame, and a relay station address field for registering in order addresses of relay radio data communication apparatuses, said search frame transmitted from a first radio data communication apparatus to at least one other radio data communication apparatus through a radio wave; receiving a search frame, transmitted from another radio data communication apparatus, by a second radio data communication apparatus, said receiving step including a first determination step for determining whether or not the search frame has an address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the search frame, and a second determination step for determining whether or not the received search frame has been received by any other radio data communication apparatus based on said identification information in the received search frame; deleting the received search frame when determining at said second determination step that the received search frame has already been received; registering the identification information in the received search frame in said radio data communication apparatus, and recording its own address into the highest rank field of all empty fields in said relay station address field of the received search frame and transmitting the search frame, when determining at said second determination step that the search frame has not been so far received and when determining at said first determination step that said destination address is not equal to its own address; setting a search response flag to the received search frame to create a search response frame, and transmitting the search response frame to said sending end radio data communication apparatus through relay radio data communication apparatuses having their relay addresses recorded in said relay station address field, orderly from the one having the lowest rank relay address to others having higher rank relay addresses, when determining at said first determination step that the search frame has the address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the search frame; and transmitting a data frame containing data to be transmitted, said destination address, and relay route information recorded in the relay station address field in the search frame to said destination radio data transmission apparatus in accordance with said relay route information, when said search response frame is received by said sending end radio data communication apparatus.
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20. A radio data communication method using a plurality of radio data communication apparatuses having a relay function, located in a radio data communication network for communicating data through frames carried by radio waves, said radio data communication method comprising the steps of:
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transmitting a search frame for searching for relay route information from a sending end radio data communication apparatus to each radio data communication apparatus, from a first radio data communication apparatus to at least one other radio data communication apparatus through a radio wave, said search frame containing a sending end address of said sending end radio data communication apparatus, identification information unique to the frame, and a relay station address field for registering in order addresses of relay radio data communication apparatuses; receiving a search frame transmitted from another radio data communication apparatus, said receiving step including a determination step for determining whether or not the received search frame has been received by any other radio data communication apparatus based on the identification information in the received search frame; registering the identification information of the received search frame in said radio data communication apparatus when determining at said determination step that the search frame has not been so far received, and deleting the received search frame when determining at said determination step that the search frame has already been received; recording its own address in the highest rank field of all empty fields in said relay station address field, registering the relay route information recorded in the relay station address field of the received search frame in said radio data communication apparatus, and registering said sending end address in the received search frame as a destination address; executing said respective steps for all radio data communication apparatuses; and transmitting a data frame containing an address of a destination radio data communication apparatus to which data is to be transmitted, said registered relay route information corresponding to said registered address which is coincident with the address of the destination radio data communication apparatus, and data to be transmitted, to the destination radio data communication apparatus in accordance with said relay route information.
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21. A radio data communication method using a plurality of radio data communication apparatuses having a relay function, located in a radio data communication network for communicating data through frames carried by radio waves, said radio data communication method comprising the steps of:
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broadcasting a data frame containing data to be transmitted, a sending end address of a sending end radio data communication apparatus, a destination address of a destination radio data communication apparatus, and identification information unique to the frame to at least one other radio data communication apparatus through a radio wave; receiving a data frame transmitted from another radio data communication apparatus, said receiving step including a first determination step for determining whether or not the received data frame has an address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the data frame, and a second determination step for determining whether or not the received data frame has been received by any other radio data communication apparatus based on the identification information in the received data frame; registering the identification information of the data frame in said radio data communication apparatus when determining at said second determination step that the data frame has not been so far received, and deleting the received data frame when determining at said second determination step that the data frame has already been received; broadcasting the data frame through a radio wave to other radio data communication apparatuses when determining at said first determination step that the data frame does not have the address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the data frame; and processing received data when determining at said first determination step that the data frame has the address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the data frame.
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22. A radio data communication system using a plurality of radio data communication apparatus having a relay function, located in a radio data communication network for communicating data through frames carried by radio waves, said radio data communication system comprising:
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first transmitter means for transmitting a data frame containing data to be transmitted from a sending end radio data communication apparatus to a destination radio data communication apparatus and for waiting for a reception response from the destination radio data communication apparatus for a predetermined time period; means for transmitting a search frame for searching for relay route information from the sending end radio data communication apparatus to the destination radio data communication apparatus when said first transmitter means fails to detect said reception response within said predetermined time period; means for recording addresses of radio data communication apparatuses passed by the search frame until the search frame reaches said destination radio data communication apparatus from said sending end radio data communication apparatus; means for returning a search response frame to said sending end radio data communication frame, when said destination radio data communication apparatus receives the search frame, said search response frame being converted from the search frame; and means for transmitting a data frame containing data to be transmitted and relay route information obtained from the search frame to said destination radio data communication apparatus in accordance with said relay route information, when said search response frame is received by said sending end radio data communication apparatus.
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23. A radio data communication system using a plurality of radio data communication apparatus having a relay function, located in a radio data communication network for communicating data through frames carried by radio waves, said radio data communication system comprising:
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transmitter means for transmitting a search frame for searching relay route information, said search frame containing a sending end address of a sending end radio data communication apparatus, a destination address of a destination radio data communication apparatus, identification information unique to the frame, and a relay station address field for registering in order addresses of relay radio data communication apparatuses; receiver means for receiving a search frame transmitted from another radio data communication apparatus, said receiving means including first determination means for determining whether or not the received search frame has been received by any other radio data communication apparatus based on the identification information in the received search frame; means responsive to said first determination means determining that the received search frame has not been so far received, for registering the identification information of the received search frame in said radio data communication apparatus, registering relay route information recorded in the relay station address field of the search frame in said radio data communication apparatus, registering said sending end address in the search frame as a destination address, and recording its own address in the highest rank field of all empty fields in said relay station address field of the search frame and for transmitting the search frame; means for deleting the received search frame when said first determination means determines that the received search frame has already been received; and means for transmitting a data frame containing an address of a destination radio data communication apparatus to which data is to be transmitted, said registered relay route information corresponding to said registered address which is coincident with the address of the destination radio data communication apparatus, and data to be transmitted, to the destination radio data communication apparatus in accordance with said relay route information.
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24. A radio data communication system using a plurality of radio data communication apparatus having a relay function, located in a radio data communication network for communicating data through frames carried by radio waves, said radio data communication system comprising:
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transmitter means for broadcasting a data frame containing data to be transmitted, a sending end address of a sending end radio data communication apparatus, a destination address of a destination radio data communication apparatus, and identification information unique to the frame; receiver means for receiving a data frame transmitted from another radio data communication apparatus, said receiver means including first determination means for determining whether or not the data frame received by said receiver means has an address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the data frame, and second determination means for determining whether or not the received data frame has been received by any other radio data communication apparatus based on the identification information in the received data frame; means for registering the identification information in said radio data communication apparatus when said second determination means determines that the received data frame has not been so far received and for deleting the received data frame when said second determination means determines that the data frame has already been received; means for broadcasting the data frame through a radio wave to other radio data communication apparatuses when said first determination means determines that the data frame does not have the address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the data frame; and means for processing received data when said first determination means determines that the data frame has the address directed to the radio data communication apparatus which has received the data frame.
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Specification