Method for accessing hybrid network, and gateway apparatus, wireless terminal and communication system thereof

• US 8,311,022 B2
• Filed: 09/21/2009
• Issued: 11/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Du, Lei, Bai, Yong, Chen, Lan, Kayama, Hidetoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Moore, Ian N
• Assistant Examiner(s): Le, Brian T
• Application Number:
  US12/563,865
• Publication Number:
  US 20100074117A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,149 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/12 using downlink control channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/14 using user query or user detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/042 Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method for accessing a hybrid network including a wide area network and a distributed network, a gateway apparatus, a wireless terminal and a gateway communication system are disclosed for reducing the power consumption of the wireless terminal which is an access gateway. The method comprises: sensing by a gateway apparatus a relay request slot on a downlink common control channel of the wide area network; transmitting by a wireless terminal a relay request signal requesting to relay a data packet to be transmitted, in the relay request slot on the downlink common control channel; and if the relay request signal from the wireless terminal is sensed in the relay request slot, establishing by the gateway apparatus a connection with the wireless terminal in a distributed network environment. As such, the gateway apparatus accesses the wireless distributed network only when the surrounding wireless terminals require data relay, without sensing signals on both networks simultaneously, in order to reduce the power consumption.

Claims

1. A method for accessing a hybrid network including a wireless wide area network and a wireless distributed network, comprising the steps of:

regularly transmitting by a base station of the wireless wide area network a synchronization signaling for synchronizing with a downlink common control channel, on a transmission frequency band of the wireless distributed network;

transmitting by a wireless terminal a relay request signal requesting to relay a data packet to be transmitted, after receiving the synchronization signaling;

sensing by a gateway apparatus the downlink common control channel, and starting to access the wireless distributed network to receive the relay request signal from the wireless terminal at a time instant corresponding to the synchronization signaling; and

establishing by the gateway apparatus a connection with the wireless terminal in the wireless distributed network environment, wherein establishing the connection with the wireless terminal comprises

transmitting by the gateway apparatus a reply signal to the wireless terminal after receiving the relay request signal,

determining by the wireless terminal a gateway apparatus through which a relay operation is to be made by measuring channel conditions, and transmitting a selection signal containing an address of the gateway apparatus through which the relay operation is to be made, and

after receiving the selection signal, transmitting a permit signal by the gateway apparatus corresponding to the address included in the selection signal, and

further wherein the wireless terminal compares conditions of channels indicated in the reply signal, and selects the gateway apparatus with the best condition of channel and which needs the lowest transmission power for directly communicating therewith as the gateway apparatus through which the relay operation is to be made.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

transmitting by the wireless terminal a data packet to the gateway apparatus through the connection; and

relaying by the gateway apparatus the data packet received from the wireless terminal to the wireless wide area network.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the gateway apparatus performs data packet transmissions with multiple wireless terminals around in a polling manner.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein if the wireless terminal receives no reply signal in a predetermined time, then a contention window is enlarged and a random period is backed-off;

and the relay request signal is retransmitted on a relay request slot detected after the back-off time period.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the wireless terminal selects a gateway apparatus with the highest signal to interference and noise ratio as the gateway apparatus through which the relay operation is to be made.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the wireless terminal selects the nearest gateway apparatus as the gateway apparatus through which the relay is to be made.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein once the gateway apparatus detects that a power level in a sensed time interval is larger than a noise power, it transmits the reply signal in the distributed network environment.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein once the gateway apparatus detects a high level in a sensed time interval, it transmits the reply signal to the wireless terminal.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein after successfully receiving the data packet to be relayed, the gateway apparatus transmits an acknowledgement signal to the wireless terminal.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the downlink common control channel is a broadcast channel.

11. A gateway apparatus for accessing a hybrid network including a wireless wide area network and a wireless distributed network, comprising:

a wide area network transceiving unit configured to transmit and receive signals in the wireless wide area network;

a distributed network transceiving unit configured to transmit and receive signals in the wireless distributed network;

a timer unit configured to detect whether current time is an integer multiple of a periodic time for a downlink common control channel of the wireless wide area network, and periodically generate an enabling instruction if the current time is an integer multiple of the periodic time; and

a sensing unit configured to sense the downlink common control channel wherein the sensing unit is further configured to sense the channel of the wireless distributed network at the enabling time instant in response to the enabling instruction generated by the timer unit;

wherein the distributed network unit is further configured to establish a connection with the wireless terminal in the wireless distributed network environment, wherein the distributed network unit establishes the connection with the wireless terminal by transmitting a reply signal to the wireless terminal after receiving the relay request signal, receiving, from the wireless terminal after determining based on measured channel conditions to use the gateway apparatus for the relay operation, a selection signal containing an address of the gateway apparatus through which the relay operation is to be made, and after receiving the selection signal, the distributed network transceiving unit transmits a permit signal corresponding to the address included in the selection signal, and

further wherein the selection signal is received from the wireless terminal after the wireless terminal compares conditions of channels indicated in the reply signal and selects the gateway apparatus based on the gateway apparatus having the best channel condition and which needs the lowest transmission power for directly communicating therewith.

12. The gateway apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising:

a transmission control unit configured to control transmission and reception in the wireless distributed network according to information received from the sensing unit; and

a delay unit configured to receive an instruction from the transmission control unit and delay.

13. The gateway apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising:

a transmission storage unit configured to store packets to be transmitted.

14. The gateway apparatus according to claim 12, wherein when the sensing unit detects that there is a data transmission in the wireless distributed network in a sensed time interval, the transmission control unit is instructed to communicate with surrounding wireless terminals in the wireless distributed network.

15. The gateway apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the gateway apparatus performs data packet transmissions with multiple wireless terminals around in a polling manner.

16. The gateway apparatus according to claim 14, wherein if the sensing unit detects a power level larger than a noise level at a time instant corresponding to the synchronization signaling on the downlink common control channel within the sensed time interval, the delay unit is instructed to delay a random period for performing a back-off operation, and after backing-off the period, a reply signal is transmitted in the distributed network environment.

17. The gateway apparatus according to claim 16, wherein once the sensing unit detects a high level in the sensed time interval, it transmits the reply signal to the wireless terminal.

18. The gateway apparatus according to claim 14, wherein when the signals received by the distributed network transceiving unit indicate that a data packet is received, the transmission control unit instructs the distributed network transceiving unit to transmit an acknowledgement signal.

19. The gateway apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the downlink common control channel is a broadcast channel.

20. The gateway apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the wide area network transceiving unit comprises:

a wide area network transmission unit configured to transmit signals in the wireless wide area network; and

a wide area network reception unit configured to receive signals from the wireless wide area network.

21. The gateway apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the distributed network transceiving unit comprises:

a distributed network transmission unit configured to transmit signals in the wireless distributed network; and

a distributed network reception unit configured to receive signals from the wireless distributed network.

22. A communication system including the gateway apparatus according to claim claim 11.