Wireless base station neighbor discovery in a communication system, such as a system employing a short-range frequency hopping scheme

• US 7,546,126 B2
• Filed: 02/13/2007
• Issued: 06/09/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aurix Pte., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Strix Systems Incorporated (AHA Holdings Pvt Ltd.)
• Inventors: Stephens, Spencer, Kuiken, Matthew, Mergenthal, Wade, Dombrowski, Dennis, Beasley, James
• Primary Examiner(s): WASHINGTON, ERIKA ALISE
• Application Number:
  US11/674,298
• Publication Number:
  US 20070191016A1
• Time in Patent Office: 847 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 455/436
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 7/0008 Synchronisation information channels, e.g. clock distribution lines
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0061 of neighbour cell information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/00835 Determination of neighbour cell lists
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/08 Reselecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/12 Reselecting a serving backbone network switching or routing node
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/22 with access to wired networks

Abstract

Disclosed embodiments include a method performed by a network access point, such as a short-range wireless communications switch or Bluetooth base station unit, to provide a neighbor list for neighboring short-range wireless communications switches or network access points in a communications network. The method includes, at the short-range wireless switch, sending at least one signal to neighboring wireless devices, wherein sending the signal is done without assistance of a mobile unit or a system controller for the communications network. The method further includes receiving a response signal from at least one neighboring short-range wireless switch, and identifying the one neighboring short-range wireless switch based on the received response signal. Additionally, the method includes providing a neighbor list that identifies the one neighboring short-range wireless switch. Numerous alternative embodiments are also described.

Claims

1. A method of creating a list of neighboring base station units in a wireless communications network, wherein at least one mobile unit communicates with at least a portion of the network, the method of creating the list of neighboring base station units comprising:

at a stationary base station unit in the communications network, wirelessly sending a first inquiry signal to neighboring wireless devices at a first power level to inquire whether a device is within a first range;

at a stationary base station unit in the communications network, wirelessly sending a second inquiry signal to neighboring wireless devices at a second power level different from the first power level to inquire whether a device is within a second range;

at the stationary base station unit in the communications network, wirelessly receiving at least one response signal from at least one neighboring base station unit in the communications network, wherein the one neighboring base station unit is stationary;

at the stationary base station unit in the communications network, identifying based on the at least one response signal whether the at least one neighboring base station unit is within the first range or the second range;

at the stationary base station unit in the communications network, identifying the one neighboring base station unit based in part on the received response signal, wherein identifying the at least one neighboring base station unit is done without involvement of the mobile unit system controller and without involvement of a system controller for the communications network; and

at the stationary base station unit in the communications network, providing a stored neighbor list that identifies the one neighboring base station unit in the communications network.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the base station unit and the neighboring base station unit are both Bluetooth enabled base station units,

wherein sending a first inquiry signal includes wirelessly sending a Bluetooth inquiry signal,

wherein identifying the one neighboring base station unit includes employing a Bluetooth service discovery protocol to identify two or more neighboring base station units, and

wherein providing a stored neighbor list includes locally storing a list categorizing the identified neighboring base station units into at least two different categories based on the two different power classes.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein sending the first inquiry signal and receiving a response signal includes wirelessly exchanging signals under a Bluetooth protocol.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the one neighboring base station unit includes employing a Bluetooth service discovery protocol.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein providing a stored neighbor list includes locally storing a list categorizing identified neighboring base station units into at least two different categories.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically updating the stored neighbor list to reflect changes in neighboring base station units, and wherein sending the first inquiry signal and receiving a response signal is performed wirelessly between the base station unit and the neighboring base station unit.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the stored neighbor list to reflect changes in neighboring base station units by again sending first inquiry signal and receiving a response signal, and updating the stored neighbor list, when a predetermined time period has expired.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving periodic signals from the one neighboring base station unit, and updating the stored neighbor list if a periodic signal is not received from the one neighboring base station.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether a certain time period associated with at least a portion of the stored neighbor list has expired, and if so, then again sending first inquiry signal, receiving a response signal, and updating the stored neighbor list.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing periodic signals to a system controller, and updating the stored neighbor list based on a command signal received from the system controller.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether a certain time period has expired, and if so, then again sending first inquiry signal, receiving a response signal, and updating the stored neighbor list.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a command signal from a system controller coupled to the base station unit, and in response thereto, again sending first inquiry signal, receiving a response signal, and updating the stored neighbor list.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the stationary base station unit is stationary relative to a moving vehicle.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein providing a stored neighbor list includes locally storing a list categorizing the identified neighboring base station units into at least one category.

8. The method of 1, further comprising updating the stored neighbor list to reflect changes in the one neighboring base station unit, wherein updating the stored neighbor list comprises:

wirelessly sending periodic signals to neighboring base station units, wherein the periodic signals include information identifying the base station unit;

wirelessly receiving periodic signals from the one neighboring base station unit and another neighboring base station unit;

determining an identity of the another neighboring base station unit based on the received periodic signals; and

updating the stored neighbor list based on the received signal from the another neighboring base station.

16. In a picocellular communications network, wherein at least one mobile unit communicates with at least a portion of the network, an apparatus comprising:

a stationary wireless network access point coupled to the picocellular communications network, wherein the base station unit includes a memory and is configured to;

wirelessly send a first inquiry signal to neighboring wireless devices at a first power level to inquire whether a device is within a first range;

wirelessly send a second inquiry signal to neighboring wireless devices at a second power level different from the first power level to inquire whether a device is within a second range;

wirelessly receive at least one response signal from at least one neighboring network access point in the picocellular communications network;

identify based on the at least one response signal whether the at least one neighboring base station unit is within the first range or the second range;

identify the one neighboring network access point based in part on the received response signal, wherein identifying the at least one neighboring network access point is done without involvement of the mobile unit and without involvement of a system controller for the picocellular communications network, and wherein the at least one neighboring network access point is stationary; and

provide a neighbor list stored in the memory, wherein the neighbor list identifies the one neighboring network access point in the picocellular communications network.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising:

a system controller coupled to the network access point;

a gateway router coupled to the system controller and the network access point, wherein the network access point forms at least a part of a first subnet;

a backbone router coupled to the gateway router and to the neighboring network access point, wherein the neighboring network access point forms at least a part of a second subnet; and

a point of presence coupled to the backbone router, wherein the point of presence and the mobile unit form at least part of a mobile unit virtual subnet.

18. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the neighbor list identifies a plurality of neighboring network access points, wherein the plurality of network access points are segregated into at least two quantized levels.

19. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the network access point is further configured to automatically update the stored neighbor list to reflect changes in neighboring network access points.

20. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the network access point is further configured to wirelessly send the first inquiry signal and wirelessly receive the response signal.

21. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the neighbor list includes a predetermined time period associated with the stored neighbor list, and wherein the network access point is further configured to determine when the time period has expired, and if so, then again send the first inquiry signal, receive a response signal, and update the stored neighbor list.

22. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the neighbor list includes a predetermined time period associated with the one neighboring network access point, and wherein the network access point is further configured to determine when the time period has expired, and if so, then again send the first inquiry signal, receive a response signal, and update the stored neighbor list.

23. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the network access point is further configured to send the first inquiry signal and receive the response signal via a wired connection between the network access point and the neighboring network access point.

24. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the network access point is further configured to periodically send the first inquiry signal, receive response signals, and update the stored neighbor list.

25. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the network access point is further configured to receive a command signal from a system controller coupled to the network access point, and in response thereto, send the first inquiry signal, receive response signals, and update the stored neighbor list.

26. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the network access point has a fixed relative position.

27. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the network access point is stationary relative to a movable vehicle.

28. In a short-range wireless communications network, wherein at least one mobile unit communicates with at least a portion of the network, an apparatus comprising:

fixed means for providing short-range wireless communications within the communications network, wherein the means for providing short-range wireless communications comprises;

means for wirelessly sending a first inquiry signal to neighboring wireless devices at a first power level to inquire whether a device is within a first range, wherein sending the signal is done without assistance of the mobile unit and without the assistance of a system controller for the communications network;

means for wirelessly sending a second inquiry signal to neighboring wireless devices at a second power level to inquire whether a device is within a second range;

means for wirelessly receiving a response signal from at least one neighboring short-range wireless network node;

means for identifying based on the response signal whether the at least one neighboring base station unit is within the first range or the second range;

means, coupled to the means for receiving, for identifying the one neighboring short-range wireless network node based on the received response signal, wherein identifying the one neighboring short-range network node is done without assistance of the mobile unit or system controller, and wherein the neighboring short-range network node is fixed; and

means for providing a neighbor list that identifies the one neighboring short-range network node.

29. The apparatus of claim 28 wherein the means for sending a first inquiry signal and the means for receiving a response signal include wirelessly exchanging signals under a Bluetooth protocol.

30. The apparatus of claim 28 wherein the means for providing further comprises means for locally storing a list categorizing identified neighboring short-range network nodes into at least two different categories.

31. The apparatus of claim 28 wherein the fixed means for providing short-range wireless communications provides wireless communications under a standard protocol for a range up to about 500 meters.

32. The apparatus of claim 28 wherein the means for wirelessly sending sends the signal without assistance of the mobile unit and without the assistance of a system controller for the communications network.