Method and apparatus for routing packets

• US 8,139,587 B2
• Filed: 11/11/2004
• Issued: 03/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/11/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Unwired Planet LLC (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Larsson, Peter, Prytz, Mikael, Sunell, Kai-Erik, Johansson, Niklas, Lundsjo, Johan
• Primary Examiner(s): Moe, Aung S
• Assistant Examiner(s): Elliott, IV, Benjamin H
• Application Number:
  US11/667,187
• Publication Number:
  US 20090010269A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,686 Days
• Field of Search: 370/255, 370/256, 370/310, 370/310.2, 370/311, 370/314, 370/320, 370/321, 370/329, 370/332, 370/352, 370/353, 370/355, 370/356, 370/360, 370/386, 370/395.21, 370/395.5, 370/395.52, 455/445, 455/451, 455/452.1, 455/452.2, 455/456.2, 709/220, 709/221, 709/224, 709/238, 709/239, 709/240, 709/243
• US Class Current: 370/395.5
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/22 Alternate routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/24 Multipath
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/00 Communication routing or communication path finding
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/12 based on transmission quality or channel quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/02 Selection of wireless resources by user or terminal

Abstract

Packets may be routed in a heterogeneous communications network as follows: for a set of packets comprising at least one packet to be transmitted from a sending node, said sending node being able to handle communication according to at least two access technologies,—selecting in a selection unit in the sending node an access technology for use when transmitting the set of packets,—selecting a receiving node in the network to which to transmit the set of packets among nodes in the network that are able to handle said selected access technology—transmitting the set of packets to the selected receiving node using the selected access technology. Alternatively, a set of packets may be transmitted to one or more nodes using at least two different access technologies. Depending on the transmission quality, one node may be selected to forward the set of packets.

Claims

1. A method for routing packets between a source and a destination in a heterogeneous communications network for a set of packets including at least one packet to be transmitted from a sending node, said sending node being able to handle communication according to at least two wireless access technologies, the method comprising:

for each packet in the set of packets, the sending node selecting a first wireless access technology among said at least two wireless access technologies for use when transmitting the packet, wherein said first wireless access technology selected for each packet is independent of said first wireless access technology selected for any other packet in the set of packets;

for each packet in the set of packets, the sending node selecting a first receiving node in the network to which to transmit the packet among nodes in the network that are able to handle said first wireless access technology selected for the packet;

for each packet in the set of packets, the sending node transmitting the packet to the selected first receiving node using the first wireless access technology; and

when the first receiving node is a relay node, the relay node selecting a second wireless access technology independent of the first wireless access technology, selecting a second receiving node that is able to handle the second wireless access technology, and transmitting the received packet to the second receiving node using the second wireless access technology,

wherein for each packet, said first receiving node is selected based on said selected first wireless access technology.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the sending node selecting the first wireless access technology in dependence of a channel quality for the first wireless access technology.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the channel quality for the first wireless access technology is an instantaneous channel quality, wherein instantaneous channel quality is such that a coherence time of the channel is long enough that the channel quality can be considered to be constant until the time when the quality is used for scheduling.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the channel quality is determined by transmitting a probe signal to at least one receiving node using at least one wireless access technology, and evaluating the quality on the basis of a response from the receiving node.

5. The method according to claim 2, wherein the channel quality for a particular link is determined by statistical data collected during communication and stored in a database in the sending node.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the sending node selecting the first receiving node in dependence of a channel quality of a connection to said first receiving node.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the sending node selecting the first receiving node in dependence of a cost from the sending node to the destination and a cost from the first receiving node to the destination.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising selecting the set of packets to send from packets stored in at least one buffer in the sending node.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the set of packets is selected in dependence on an instantaneous quality of a link on which said set of packets is to be sent, wherein instantaneous link quality is such that a coherence time of the link is long enough that the lin quality can be considered to be constant until the time when the quality is used for scheduling.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the sending node selecting a transmission rate for the set of packets.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the sending node selecting at least one link property for the transmission, wherein said link properties include one or more of modulation, encoding, and antenna parameters.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein each wireless access technology is defined by a protocol stack comprising layers L1 and L2.

13. A method for routing packets between a source and a destination in a heterogeneous communications network for a set of packets including at least one packet to be transmitted from a sending node, said sending node being able to handle communication according to at least two wireless access technologies, the method comprising:

for each packet in the set of packets, concurrently transmitting the packet from said sending node to at least two receiving nodes using said at least two wireless access technologies;

for each packet, the sending node receiving acknowledgements for a successful reception of the packet that applies to the transmission to the at least two receiving nodes from the at least two receiving nodes; and

for each packet, the sending node selecting one of the at least two receiving nodes that is to forward the packet to a next receiving node, based on the acknowledgement information indicative of the successful reception.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein each wireless access technology is defined by a protocol stack comprising layers L1 and L2.

15. A sending node for use in a heterogeneous communications network in which packets are routed between a source and a destination, said sending node being arranged to receive packets according to at least a first wireless access technology and forward the packets to at least two receiving nodes in the network and said sending node arranged to handle communication according to at least the first wireless access technology, said sending node comprising:

a communication unit for receiving a set of packets including at least one packet using the first wireless access technology;

a selection unit for selecting for each packet in the set of packets a second wireless access technology for use when transmitting the packet, said second wireless access technology being selected independent of said first wireless access technology;

the selection unit also for selecting for each packet a receiving node in the network to which to transmit the packet among nodes in the network that are able to handle said second wireless access technology selected for the packet; and

the communication unit also for transmitting each packet of the set of packets to the receiving node selected for the packet using the second wireless access technology selected for the packet,

wherein for each packet, said selection unit selects said receiving node based on said selected second wireless access technology.

16. The sending node according to claim 15, wherein the selecting unit is arranged to select the first wireless access technology in dependence of the channel quality for the first wireless access technology.

17. The sending node according to claim 15, wherein the selecting unit is arranged to select the receiving node in dependence of a channel quality of a connection to said receiving node.

18. The sending node according to claim 15, wherein the selecting unit is arranged to select the receiving node in dependence of a cost from the sending node to the destination and a cost from the receiving node to the destination.

19. The sending node according to claim 15, wherein

the communication unit is arranged to transmit a probe signal to at least one receiving node using at least one wireless access technology;

and

the selection unit is arranged to evaluate the channel quality on the basis of a response from the receiving node.

20. The sending node according to claim 15, wherein a channel quality for a particular link is determined by statistical data collected during communication and stored in a database in the sending node.

21. The sending node according to claim 15, the selection unit is arranged to select a set of packets to send from packets stored in at least one buffer in the sending node.

22. The sending node according to claim 21, wherein the selection unit is arranged to select the set of packets in dependence on an instantaneous quality of a link on which said set of packets is to be sent, wherein instantaneous link quality is such that a coherence time of the link is long enough that the link quality can be considered to be constant until the time when the quality is used for scheduling.

23. The sending node according to claim 15, further comprising a rate selector for selecting a transmission rate for the set of packets.

24. The sending node according to claim 15, wherein the selection unit is arranged to select at least one link property for the transmission, wherein said link properties include one or more of modulation, encoding, and antenna parameters.

25. The sending node according to claim 15, wherein each wireless access technology is defined by a protocol stack comprising layers L1 and L2.

26. A sending node for use in a heterogeneous communications network in which packets are routed between a source and a destination, said sending node being arranged to forward a set of packets including at least one packet to at least two receiving nodes in the network and said node being arranged to handle communication according to at least two wireless access technologies, said node comprising;

a communication unit for performing, for each packet in the set of packets, concurrently transmitting the packet to at least two receiving nodes using said at least two wireless access technologies;

the communication unit also for receiving for each packet an acknowledgement information from each of the at least two receiving nodes regarding the transmission of the packet; and

a selection unit for selecting for each packet one of the at least two receiving nodes from which the packet is to be forwarded to a next receiving node, based on the acknowledgement information.

27. The sending node according to claim 26, wherein each wireless access technology is defined by a protocol stack comprising layers L1 and L2.

28. A node in a heterogeneous communications network in which packets are routed between a source and a destination, the node comprising:

a communication unit arranged to receive from a sending node a packet using a first wireless access technology, and arranged to transmit to a receiving node the packet using a second wireless access technology; and

a selection unit arranged to select the second wireless access technology among plural wireless access technologies, and arranged to select the receiving node among plural other nodes in the network,

wherein the communication unit is capable of communication with other nodes in the network using each of the plural wireless access technologies,

wherein the plural wireless access technologies include the first and second wireless access technologies, and

wherein for each packet received by the communication unit, the selection unit is arranged to select the second wireless access technology for the packet independent of the second wireless access technology selected for any other packet,

wherein for each packet received by the communication unit, the selection unit is arranged to select the receiving node based on the selected second wireless access technology.

29. The node according to claim 28, wherein the first and second wireless access technologies are different.

30. The node according to claim 28, wherein the selection unit is arranged to select a particular combination of the second wireless access technology and the receiving node based on any one or more of a quality of a communication link of the particular combination, a cost of transmission from the receiving node to the destination, and a cost of transmission from the node to the destination.

31. The node according to claim 28, wherein

the communication unit is arranged to transmit the packet substantially concurrently to plural other nodes of the network using at least two of the plural wireless access technologies, and arranged to receive responses from the plural other nodes,

the selection unit is arranged to select the second wireless access technology and the receiving node based on the responses received from the plural other nodes, and

the communication unit is arranged to transmit a forwarding order message to the receiving node so as to cause the receiving node to forward the packet.

32. The node according to claim 28, wherein each wireless access technology is defined by a protocol stack comprising layers L1 and L2.