Channel hopping protocol
First Claim
1. A method of information transmission over a medium for a wireless communication system comprising a network of stations capable of sending and receiving data transmissions over a number of communication channels of said medium, comprising:
- assembling a data packet comprising a header and a data portion, said header comprising identification (ID) of said network, identification of the next channel to be used in communications, an address, a channel busy count field, a network command, and said data portion comprising data; and
sending said data packet.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and means for information transmission over a medium for a wireless communication system comprising a network of stations capable of sending and receiving data transmissions over a number of communication channels. The method includes sending a data transmission in a packet including a header and a data portion, the header includes identification (ID) of the network; identification of the next channel to be used in communications; an address; a channel busy count field; and a network command.
83 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of information transmission over a medium for a wireless communication system comprising a network of stations capable of sending and receiving data transmissions over a number of communication channels of said medium, comprising:
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assembling a data packet comprising a header and a data portion, said header comprising identification (ID) of said network, identification of the next channel to be used in communications, an address, a channel busy count field, a network command, and said data portion comprising data; and
sending said data packet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16)
listening for activity on a current channel;
sending a synchronization request transmission if no activity is detected within a preset time;
waiting for an acknowledgement to said synchronization request transmission;
choosing the next channel on said channel hopping table if no acknowledgement is received;
repeating said sending, waiting and choosing until an acknowledgement is received on a chosen channel; and
synchronizing on said chosen channel once an acknowledgment has been received.
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10. The method of claim 9 further comprising, upon detection of activity on a channel, said station attempting to decipher the header of a detected transmission packet.
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11. The method of claim 10 further comprising said station marking said channel as inoperative if said attempting to decipher fails.
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12. The method of claim 11 in which said station maintains a bad channel counter and wherein said marking comprises incrementing said bad channel counter each time a problem with the detection of a suitable signal is encountered;
- and marking said channel inoperative if said bad channel counter reaches a predetermined counter limit.
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13. The method of claim 12 further comprising resetting said bad channel counter to zero if said channel is subsequently used successfully.
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16. The method of claim 7 wherein said channels in said channel hopping table are contiguous but ordered using a pseudo-random generator which makes use of the ID of the network as a seed to generate the order of channels in said channel hopping table.
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14. A method for a station having a first domain ID to join a network comprising the steps of:
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monitoring channel activity for at least one transmissions including at least one transmission domain ID;
upon detection of a transmission, determining if said transmission domain ID matches said first domain ID;
joining the network communicating on said channel if said transmission domain ID matches said first domain ID;
sending a synchronization request of the network medium if said transmission domain ID does not match said first domain ID;
waiting for an acknowledgement having an acknowledgement domain ID upon said sending;
comparing said acknowledgement domain ID to said first domain ID; and
joining the network communicating on said channel if said acknowledgement domain ID matches said first domain ID. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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17. A communication network in which at least one data transmission is conveyed over a number of wireless channels to a plurality of stations in said network comprising:
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means for establishing a channel hopping table in each station, said table including a plurality of channels including a first and a plurality of successive channels;
means for selecting the next successive channel for communication in said table in response to receipt of instructions from one of said plurality of stations;
means for selecting the next successive channel in the table in response to a lapse of a predetermined time period between detection of decipherable signals along one of said plurality of channels;
means for indicating that specific channels in the table are inoperative; and
means for accessing previously indicated inoperative channels when the number of inoperative channels falls below a predetermined threshold. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A program product comprising:
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a data processing machine-useable medium having machine readable program code means embodied therein for enabling data transmission of a network station over a number of wireless channels in a medium, the program code means in said computer program product comprising;
program code means for establishing a channel hopping table in each station;
program code means for selecting the next operative channel for communication in said table in response to receipt of instructions from another station;
program code means for selecting the next channel in the table in response to a lapse of a predetermined time period between detection of decipherable signals;
program code means for indicating that specific channels in the table are inoperative;
program code means for accessing previously indicated inoperative channels when the number of inoperative channels falls below a predetermined threshold. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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Specification