System and method for transmitting information from terminals to a central node using TDMA
First Claim
1. A Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) communication system comprising:
- one or more terminal stations each comprising buffering means and communicating with a respective user station, each terminal station transmitting information in bursts of varying lengths, said burst located within transmitted frames;
a central node comprising node buffering means that receives the bursts from the one or more terminal stations using a first frequency and that transmits information to the one or more terminal stations using a second, different frequency; and
scheduling means provided in the central node for controlling the transmission of the bursts from the one or more terminal stations, the scheduling means comprising;
means for maintaining information about an actual transmission demand from each terminal station and about a connection or disconnection status of the one or more terminal stations, and control means for controlling the location of the bursts within each transmitted frame such that the node buffering means of the central node and the buffering means in the terminal stations do not exceed a buffer size required for steady state transmission so that the transmission delay in the system is minimized.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and a method relating to TDMA communication. A number of terminal stations communicate with user stations and a central node. Separate frequencies are used for communication to and from the central node. Information to the central node is transmitted as bursts in frames and the bursts from the different terminals may be of different lengths. Scheduling means are provided in the central node for controlling the transmission of data in bursts from the terminal stations towards the central node and for maintaining information about the actual transmission demand from each terminal station. The scheduling means control the use of the frame structure for each terminal in agreement with said information through changing the sending of bursts within the frame structure without requiring buffering means of the central node and of the terminal stations to exceed a given size corresponding to the size required for steady state transmission. A transitional frame FTR is introduced during which at least a transitional burst BTR is sent, during which frame the change in transmission of bursts is handled.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) communication system comprising:
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one or more terminal stations each comprising buffering means and communicating with a respective user station, each terminal station transmitting information in bursts of varying lengths, said burst located within transmitted frames;
a central node comprising node buffering means that receives the bursts from the one or more terminal stations using a first frequency and that transmits information to the one or more terminal stations using a second, different frequency; and
scheduling means provided in the central node for controlling the transmission of the bursts from the one or more terminal stations, the scheduling means comprising;
means for maintaining information about an actual transmission demand from each terminal station and about a connection or disconnection status of the one or more terminal stations, and control means for controlling the location of the bursts within each transmitted frame such that the node buffering means of the central node and the buffering means in the terminal stations do not exceed a buffer size required for steady state transmission so that the transmission delay in the system is minimized. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 31)
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20. A method of communicating information on a transmission channel divided into frames, using TDMA, the information communicated from one or more terminal stations to a central node that continuously delivers information to a transmission network, wherein the terminal stations send information in bursts at given positions within the frames, the method comprising the steps of:
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collecting information in the central node about transmission demands of the terminal stations and about a connection and disconnection of terminal stations;
determining in the node, using said information, whether the transmission position within transmission frames of bursts received from a terminal station needs to be displaced to an earlier or to a later position within the transmission frames to meet the transmission demands and to optimize the usage of the transmission channel'"'"'s capacity;
providing the terminal station with information about a new transmission position based on the determination in the node;
introducing a transitional frame during which a change in transmission position occurs that includes sending a transitional burst without requiring enhanced buffering capacity neither in the node, nor in the terminal station; and
sending in a subsequent frame at least a burst at the new position within the frame. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
sending a first burst at the old position;
collecting received information bits in buffering means in the terminal station; and
sending a transitional burst at the new position comprising the information bits collected in the buffering means of the terminal station since the sending of a preceding burst from the same terminal station within the transitional frame.
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24. The method of claim 22, wherein the sending step comprises:
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sending a transitional burst at the old position within the frame, which burst comprises part of the information bits collected in buffering means in the terminal station; and
sending an additional burst at the new position within the transitional frame containing the information bits collected in the terminal station buffering means.
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25. The method of claim 22, wherein the sending step comprises changing the transmission position of the burst from a terminal station to an earlier position within the frames and sending a transitional burst in the transitional frame only.
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26. The method of claim 25, wherein the sending step further comprises sending a transitional burst at the new position, which burst ends at the end position of the new position.
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27. The method of claim 25, wherein the sending step further comprises sending a transitional burst at the old position within the frame, which burst comprises only part of the information collected in the terminal buffering means since the preceding transmission of a burst from the same terminal station in the preceding frame.
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28. A method of rearranging the transmission positions for bursts of information sent from a number of terminal stations in a point-to-multipoint system using TDMA depending on the transmission demand of the terminal stations, the method comprising the steps of:
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collecting information in a central node, said information regarding the transmission demands of the terminal stations;
establishing, with the use of said information, whether a burst of a particular station needs to be sent at an earlier or later position within a frame; and
introducing a transitional frame during which information is sent in at least a transitional burst and in that in a subsequent frame the terminal station sends a burst at the new position without requiring any additional buffering capacity neither in the terminal station nor in the central node for performing the change of transmission position. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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Specification