System, device, and method for contention-based reservation in a shared medium network
First Claim
1. A method for allocating a number of contention mini-slots for a current contention cycle as part of a Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol, said MAC protocol having a MAC protocol state equal to one of a normal state and a collision resolution state, the method comprising the steps of:
- determining an aggregate feedback state for a previous contention cycle based on individual feedback states for a number of contention mini-slots allocated in the previous contention cycle, wherein the individual feedback state for each of the number of contention mini-slots represents the result of contention for the contention mini-slot, and wherein the aggregate feedback state is equal to one of IDLE, COLLISION, and SUCCESS;
updating a collision resolution interval; and
determining an allocation of contention mini-slots for the current contention cycle based on the aggregate feedback state and the updated collision resolution interval.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system, device, and method for contention-based reservation in a shared medium network resolves collisions resulting from contention access using a combination of probabilistic tree splitting and first-come-first-served splitting techniques. The collision resolution procedure utilizes the first-come-first-served splitting technique to select a collision resolution interval, and provides two contention mini-slots to improve the likelihood of successful reservations. Each contending user transmits a reservation request in a randomly selected contention mini-slot. Two contention mini-slots are provided for a predetermined maximum number of collision resolution iterations, after which only one contention mini-slot is provided.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method for allocating a number of contention mini-slots for a current contention cycle as part of a Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol, said MAC protocol having a MAC protocol state equal to one of a normal state and a collision resolution state, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining an aggregate feedback state for a previous contention cycle based on individual feedback states for a number of contention mini-slots allocated in the previous contention cycle, wherein the individual feedback state for each of the number of contention mini-slots represents the result of contention for the contention mini-slot, and wherein the aggregate feedback state is equal to one of IDLE, COLLISION, and SUCCESS; updating a collision resolution interval; and determining an allocation of contention mini-slots for the current contention cycle based on the aggregate feedback state and the updated collision resolution interval. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for processing an entry poll message received by an Access Interface Unit (AIU) as part of a Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol, said MAC protocol having a MAC protocol state equal to one of a normal state and a collision resolution state, said AIU supporting a number of MAC Users, each of said MAC Users having a MAC User state equal to one of INACTIVE, CONTENTION, and ACTIVE, and wherein the entry poll message contains individual feedback states for a number of contention mini-slots in a previous contention cycle and an allocation of contention mini-slots for a current contention cycle, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining an aggregate feedback state from the individual feedback states contained in the entry poll message, wherein the aggregate feedback state is a function of the individual feedback states and is equal to one of IDLE, COLLISION, and SUCCESS; updating a collision resolution interval; and executing a contention access procedure for each MAC User. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A device for allocating contention mini-slots for a current contention cycle as part of a Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol, said MAC protocol having a MAC protocol state equal to one of a normal state and a collision resolution state, the device comprising:
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logic for determining an aggregate feedback state for a previous contention cycle based on individual feedback states for a number of contention mini-slots allocated in the previous contention cycle, wherein the individual feedback state for each of the number of contention mini-slots represents the result of contention for the contention mini-slot, and wherein the aggregate feedback state is equal to one of IDLE, COLLISION, and SUCCESS; logic for updating a collision resolution interval; and logic for determining the allocation of contention mini-slots for the current contention cycle based on the aggregate feedback state and the updated collision resolution interval. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A device for processing an entry poll message received by an Access Interface Unit (AIU) as part of a Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol, said MAC protocol having a MAC protocol state equal to one of a normal state and a collision resolution state, said AIU supporting a number of MAC Users, each of said MAC Users having a MAC User state equal to one of INACTIVE, CONTENTION, and ACTIVE, and wherein the entry poll message contains individual feedback states for a number of contention mini-slots in a previous contention cycle and an allocation of contention mini-slots for a current contention cycle, the device comprising:
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logic for determining an aggregate feedback state from the individual feedback states contained in the entry poll message, wherein the aggregate feedback state is a function of the individual feedback states and is equal to one of IDLE, COLLISION, and SUCCESS; logic for updating a collision resolution interval; and logic for executing a contention access procedure for each MAC User. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A system having a single headend unit in communication with a plurality of Access Interface Units (AIUs) by means of a shared medium, each AIU supporting at least one MAC User, the system utilizing a method for coordinating access by the MAC Users to the shared medium comprising the steps of:
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by the headend unit; determining an aggregate feedback state for a previous contention cycle based on individual feedback states for a number of contention mini-slots allocated in the previous contention cycle, wherein the individual feedback state for each of the number of contention mini-slots represents the result of contention for the contention mini-slot, and wherein the aggregate feedback state is equal to one of IDLE, COLLISION, and SUCCESS; updating a collision resolution interval maintained by the headend unit; determining an allocation of contention mini-slots for a current contention cycle based on the aggregate feedback state and the updated collision resolution interval maintained by the headend unit; and transmitting an entry poll message containing the individual feedback states for the number of contention mini-slots in the previous contention cycle and the allocation of contention mini-slots for the current contention cycle; and by the AIU; receiving the entry poll message; determining an aggregate feedback state from the individual feedback states contained in the entry poll message; updating a collision resolution interval maintained by the AIU; and executing a contention access procedure for each MAC User supported by the AIU.
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Specification