Enhanced channel access mechanisms for an HPNA network

• US 7,610,399 B1
• Filed: 10/21/2005
• Issued: 10/27/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sherman, Matthew J., Lin, Wei
• Primary Examiner(s): Pwu; Jeffrey
• Assistant Examiner(s): Baturay; Alicia
• Application Number:
  US11/256,598
• Time in Patent Office: 1,467 Days
• Field of Search: 370/376, 370/458, 370/459, 709/230, 709/236
• US Class Current: 709/236
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/00 Data switching networks interconnection of, or transfer of information or other signals between, memories, input/output devices or central processing units G06F13/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2838 Distribution of signals within a home automation network, e.g. involving splitting/multiplexing signals to/from different paths adaptations of television systems for transmission by electric cable for domestic distribution H04N7/106; hybrid transport H04L12/6418; home network arrangements specially adapted for distribution of digital video signals H04N7/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40156 by using dedicated slots associated with a priority level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/403 with centralised control, e.g. polling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4625 Single bridge functionality, e.g. connection of two networks over a single bridge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2845 Telephone line
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5603 Access techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A method and a system is disclosed for providing access to a communications medium that is suitable for allowing use of a plurality of Home Phoneline Network Association (HPNA) v2 frames. A sequence of blocking frames is transmitted on the communications medium, such that each blocking frame has timing to allow an Inter-Frame Gap (IFG) having a duration that is not recognized by an HPNA v2 station (STA) as a duration defined by an HPNA v2 specification for an HPNA IFG. A message is transmitted from a Media Control Station (MC STA) to at least one selected non-Media Control Station when the blocking frames are transmitted. A reply message to the transmitted message is received at the MC STA from a selected non-MC STA when the blocking frames are transmitted.

Claims

1. A Media Controller station (MC STA) for a communications network having a telephone-wire-based communications medium, the communications medium being suitable for allowing use of a plurality of Home Phoneline Network Association (HPNA) v2 frames, the MC STA comprising:

a QoS (Quality of Service) management entity (QME) receiving at least one end-to-end QoS message characterizing a user application, the at least one end-to-end QoS message including at least one QoS parameter set that is expressed at a layer that is higher than a Media Access Control (MAC) sublayer of an HPNA v2 network and is to be passed down to the MAC sublayer of the MC STA for enabling QoS traffic transport of the application;

an admission control entity (ACE) performing a centralized admission control decision relating to the application based on the at least one end-to-end QoS message characterizing the application; and

the MC STA transmitting a communications signal in the communications medium having a sequence of blocking frames, each blocking frame having timing to allow an Inter-Frame Gap (IFG) having a duration that is not recognized by an HPNA v2 station (STA) as a duration defined by an HPNA v2 specification for an HPNA IFG, the MC STA further transmitting a message to at least one selected non-MC STA using the communications medium, the transmitted message being transmitted during the blocking frames, and the MC STA receiving a reply message in response to the transmitted message from the non-MC STA during the blocking frames, the non-MC STA adapted to always choose a Backoff signal slot 0 of an HPNA v2 frame during contention resolution with the HPNA v2 STA, the Backoff signal slot 0 is one of only three Backoff Signal Slots comprised by the HPNA v2 frame, each of the three Backoff Signal slots adapted for use only regarding contention resolution after a collision.

2. The MC STA according to claim 1, wherein the duration of each IFG between blocking frames is less than about 17 μ

sec.

3. The MC STA according to claim 1, wherein each blocking frame includes a Blocking Frame Type field, the MC STA adapted to introduce a Chaff packet having no destination on the communications medium, the Chaff packet adapted to reserve the communications medium for the MC STA.

4. The MC STA according to claim 1, wherein information contained in a Blocking Frame Type field identifies a frame type that is known to a v2 STA, each of a plurality of Home Phoneline Network frames comprising a different End of Frame sequence than the plurality of HPNA v2 frames.

5. The MC STA according to claim 1, wherein information contained in a Blocking Frame Type field identifies a frame type that is unknown to a v2 STA.

6. The MC STA according to claim 1, wherein each blocking frame is assigned a highest HPNA priority that is available for HPNA v2 frames, the MC STA adapted to remap priorities of frames from the HPNA v2 STA at a sublayer level so that no data packets from an upper layer in the HPNA v2 STA are mapped to physical priority level 7 of a Media Access Control sublayer.

7. The MC STA according to claim 1, wherein each blocking frame includes a scrambler initialization field having a fixed length, each of the MC STA and the non-MC STA having different pre-assigned Contention Resolution Protocol slots that have access priority over the HPNA v2 STA.

8. The MC STA according to claim 1, wherein each blocking frame includes a scrambler initialization field having a variable length.

9. The MC STA according to claim 1, wherein each blocking frame includes a payload encoding frame.

10. The MC STA according to claim 9, wherein each payload encoding frame includes information that is known to a v2 STA.

11. The MC STA according to claim 9, wherein each payload encoding frame includes information that is unknown to a v2 STA and each of a plurality of Home Phoneline Network frames comprises a Transmission Duration field in a frame header/preamble.

12. The MC STA according to claim 1, wherein each HPNA v2 frame is timed to allow a plurality of physical layer priority level slots, and

wherein the transmitted message is transmitted with a highest physical layer priority level available in the HPNA v2 frame and during the blocking frames.