Communication terminal device and communication relay method

• US 8,447,244 B2
• Filed: 12/29/2008
• Issued: 05/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Miyoshi, Kenichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Hai V
• Application Number:
  US12/345,455
• Publication Number:
  US 20090135933A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,604 Days
• Field of Search: 455/100
• US Class Current: 455/100
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/713 using frequency hopping
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/15542 Selecting at relay station its transmit and receive resources selection of wireless resources by user or terminal H04W72/02; arrangements affording multiple use of the transmission path by two-dimensional division of the resources H04L5/0003, or by allocating sub-channels H04L5/003
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/20 Repeater circuits; Relay circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0032 Distributed allocation, i.e. involving a plurality of allocating devices, each making partial allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0094 Indication of how sub-channels of the path are allocated
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

There is provided a mobile station device in a multi-hop system capable of realizing relay of communication of another station while suppressing increase of power consumption of the local station. In this device, at timing t1, a mobile station MS2 transmits data S2 destined to a base station BS1, to a mobile station MS1. The mobile station MS1 receives the data S2 and temporarily stores it in a buffer. The mobile station MS1 waits until timing t4 when the data S1 of the mobile station MS1 is to be transmitted. When this timing has come, the data S2 stored in the buffer is multiplexed with the data S1 of the mobile station MS1 and transmitted to the base station BS1.

Claims

1. A relay station apparatus comprising:

a reception section that receives first communication data between a first communication apparatus and a second communication apparatus; and

a transmission section that operates to multiplex the first communication data upon with second communication data originating from the relay station and to be transmitted from the relay station apparatus to the second communication apparatus as multiplexed data and transmit the multiplexed data, only when the relay station apparatus has the second communication data to be transmitted from the relay station apparatus to the second communication apparatus and a timing to transmit the second communication data arrives.

2. The relay station apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a multiplexing section that performs frequency division multiplexing by mapping the first communication data between the first communication apparatus and the second communication apparatus to an available subcarrier to which the second communication data to be transmitted from the relay station apparatus is not mapped.

3. The relay station apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when a number of transmission subcarriers to map the second communication data to be transmitted from the relay station apparatus is one or more, the multiplexing section performs the multiplexing of the first communication data upon the second communication data to be transmitted from the relay station apparatus.

4. The relay station apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when a capacity of the available subcarrier is smaller than a size of the first communication data, the multiplexing section does not map the first communication data to the available subcarrier.

5. The relay station apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when a capacity of the available subcarrier is smaller than a size of the first communication data, the multiplexing section maps a part of the first communication data to the available subcarrier in a descending order of priority.

6. The relay station apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting section comprises a reporting section that reports, to the first communication apparatus or the second communication apparatus that requests a relay of the first communication data, information indicating that the first communication data is transmitted between the first communication apparatus and the second communication apparatus.

7. The relay station apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a buffer that stores the first communication data, wherein;

when a waiting time of the first communication data exceeds a predetermined time, the buffer discards the first communication data and the transmission section does not transmit the first communication data.

8. A relay station apparatus comprising:

a reception section that receives first communication data to transmit from a first communication apparatus to a second communication apparatus; and

a transmission section that, (i) when the relay station apparatus has second communication data originating from the relay station and to be transmitted from the relay station apparatus to the second communication apparatus and a timing to transmit the second communication data arrives, operates to multiplex the first communication data upon the second communication data to be transmitted from the relay station apparatus and to transmit the multiplexed data, and (ii) when the relay station apparatus does not have the second communication data to be transmitted from the relay station apparatus to the second communication apparatus within the timing to transmit the second communication data to the second communication apparatus, the relay station apparatus temporarily stores first communication data until a first timing to transmit the first communication data and the second communication data to the second communication apparatus.

9. The relay station apparatus according to claim 8, wherein upon the expiration of a predetermined timing, the transmission section discards the first communication data.

10. A relay method performed by a relay station apparatus, comprising:

receiving first communication data between a first communication apparatus and a second communication apparatus; and

only when the relay station apparatus has second communication data originating from the relay station and to be transmitted from the relay station apparatus to the second communication apparatus and a timing to transmit the second communication data arrives, multiplexing the first communication data upon the second communication data of the relay station apparatus and transmitting the multiplexed data.