Heterogeneous MAC protocol for forwarding VoIP traffic on wireless networks

• US 8,111,648 B2
• Filed: 02/07/2008
• Issued: 02/07/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vislink Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: xG Technology, Inc.
• Inventors: Gandham, Shashidhar R.
• Primary Examiner(s): CHRISS, ANDREW W
• Application Number:
  US12/069,057
• Publication Number:
  US 20080192708A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,461 Days
• Field of Search: 370/345
• US Class Current: 370/326
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0083 Formatting with frames or packets; Protocol or part of protocol for error control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/32 by discarding or delaying data units, e.g. packets or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0205 at the air interface dynamic wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/02 Hybrid access
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/085 collision avoidance

Abstract

This disclosure describes a new Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol that combines contention-free and contention-based MAC protocols into a heterogeneous MAC protocol used for forwarding VoIP traffic in VoIP systems on wireless networks which addresses the need to transport high bit-rate data to multiple users over wired and wireless means.

Claims

1. A method of signaling protocol between transceivers that eliminates latency in sending voice packets over RF signals and greatly improves the voice quality of service using a medium access control protocol that combines contention-free and contention-based medium access control protocols into a heterogeneous medium access control protocol used for forwarding Internet Protocol packets containing voice traffic, signaling traffic, and application data traffic between a base station and mobile nodes in a voice over internet protocol system on a wireless network comprising:

a base station in electrical communication with the Internet;

one or more mobile nodes in wireless electrical communication with said base station;

said base station and said one or more mobile nodes each having a medium access control protocol;

said medium access control protocol having super-frames of equal intervals of time;

each of said super-frames made up of an initial time for contention-free timeslot based access voice traffic and a remainder time for contention-based access signaling traffic and application data traffic;

said base station dynamically determining a time duration of said super-frames and said initial time for contention-free timeslot based access based on a packetization interval determined by the duration of the voice traffic in said Internet Protocol packets for each of said super-frames such that each of said super-frames is long enough to transmit exactly one voice traffic packet and then said mobile node forwarding said voice traffic packet after each said voice traffic packet is generated;

said initial time for contention-free timeslot based access then being divided into a control data timeslot, a downlink timeslot, and an uplink timeslot wherein the control data timeslot contains information regarding a current super-frame of said super-frames and said one or more mobile nodes are all capable of receiving said information during said control data timeslot in each of said super-frames;

said contention-based access then containing control messages transmitted between said base station and said one or more mobile nodes when said one or more mobile nodes join or leave the wireless network or initiate a voice session;

said one or more mobile nodes then using carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance with binary exponential back off contention-based access; and

,

wherein said control messages are then assigned a highest priority, said signaling traffic are then assigned a lower priority, and said data application messages are then assigned a lowest priority.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein a limit is set on the number of said Internet Protocol packets for each of said one or more mobile nodes such that if the number of said Internet Protocol packets to be sent by said base station to said one or more mobile nodes exceeds the limit said base station will drop one or more of said Internet Protocol packets.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said Internet Protocol packets contain a time stamp and are sorted by said base station according to said time stamp and then send to said one or more mobile nodes in accordance with said time stamp such that said Internet Protocol packet with the earliest time stamp is send before later time stamped Internet Protocol packets.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising one or more additional base stations in said wireless network and wherein said control data timeslot is used to transmit messages between said base station and said one or more additional base stations.