Method and apparatus for managing communication resources using neighbor segregation

• US 6,628,636 B1
• Filed: 06/28/1999
• Issued: 09/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc. (Rtx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc. (Rtx Corporation)
• Inventors: Young, C. David
• Primary Examiner(s): Trost, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mehrpour, Naghmeh
• Application Number:
  US09/344,920
• Time in Patent Office: 1,555 Days
• Field of Search: 370/337, 370/350, 370/436, 370/442, 370/310, 370/321, 370/347, 370/437, 370/443, 370/458, 370/468, 370/329, 370/341, 370/328, 370/254, 370/351, 370/431
• US Class Current: 370/337
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0002 by adapting the transmission rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1614 using bitmaps
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/18 Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/04 Scheduled access hybrid access H04W74/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/18 between terminal devices

Abstract

A method and system for managing communication resources between nodes in a network, and more particularly to a dynamic distributed multi-channel time division multiple access (TDMA) slot assignment method is presented. The method and apparatus include a set of higher level heuristics that enable the wireless channel access scheme to address predetermined characteristics of the wireless channel access system. These predetermined heuristics include using bootstrap slots, adaptive broadcast cycles, channelized neighborhoods, standby slots, speculation slots, neighbor segregation, hard circuits, and soft circuits.

Claims

1. A method for automatically managing communications channel resources between nodes in a network, wherein each node has neighboring nodes and each node communicates during specific time slots on a time multiplex basis, the method comprising:

communicating between nodes in the network using a time division multiple access structure, the time division multiple access structure including time divisions, each time division having frames, each frame having time slots, the time slots induding broadcast slots and standby slots;

monitoring, at a particular node, a transmission characteristic of each of the neighboring nodes of the particular node;

segregating at least a portion of the neighboring nodes of the particular node into at least a first group and a second group based in the monitored transmission characteristic;

adjusting a transmission parameter to the first group based on the monitored transmission characteristic; and

adjusting a transmission parameter to the second group based on the monitored transmission characteristic.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the monitored transmission characteristic is the rate at which each neighboring node can receive a reliable communication.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the first group can receive a reliable communication at a first transmission rate and the second group can receive a reliable communication at a second transmission rate.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the transmission parameter to the first group is a first transmission rate and the transmission parameter to the second group is a transmission rate.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting a communication to a node of the first group during at least one broadcast slot; and

transmitting a communication to a node of the second group during at least one standby slot.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the communication during the at least one standby slot is at a higher transmission rate than the communication during the at least one broadcast slot.

7. A method for automatically managing communication channel resources between nodes in a network, each node having neighboring nodes, wherein each node is configured to communicate during specific time slots on a time multiplex basis, the method comprising:

communicating between nodes using a time division multiple access structure, the time division multiple access structure including time divisions having time frames, each time frame having time slots, the time slots including bootstrap slots, broadcast slots, and standby slots;

storing, at each node, an assignment of possible time slots to communicate between nodes in the network;

determining a communication transmission characteristic of each of the neighboring nodes of a particular node in the network;

segregating at least a portion of the neighboring nodes of the particular node into a first group and a second group based in the determined communication transmission characteristic;

adjusting, at the particular node, a transmission parameter for communications to the first group based on the determined communication transmission characteristic; and

adjusting, at the particular node, a transmission parameter for communications to the second group based on the determined communication transmission characteristic.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising:

transmitting a communication from the particular node to the first group of neighboring nodes of the particular node at a first transmission rate; and

transmitting a communication from the particular node to the second group of neighboring nodes of the particular node at a second transmission rate.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein transmitting to the first group occurs during at least one broadcast slot and transmitting to the second group occurs during at least one standby slot.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the second transmission rate is higher than the first transmission rate.

11. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the transmission parameter for communications to each of the first and second groups is transmission rate.

12. The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising:

maintaining substantially contention free access to the communication channel resources by implementing a unifying slot assignment protocol.