Wireless subscriber station for short range ad-hoc data communication

• US 8,571,473 B2
• Filed: 05/29/2007
• Issued: 10/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Lee, Chun Woo
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Nay A
• Assistant Examiner(s): PEREZ, ANGELICA
• Application Number:
  US11/807,638
• Publication Number:
  US 20070281720A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,345 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41.2, 455/41.1, 455/41.3, 455/448, 455/552.1, 370/338, 370/401, 370/406, 370/395.5
• US Class Current: 455/41.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

An embodiment of the present invention is a technique for short-range ad-hoc mode communication. An ad-hoc mode is configured for a first mobile station (MS) operating in an ad-hoc network under a broadband wireless standard. An ad-hoc mode communication is acquired having a simplified communication protocol of the broadband wireless standard. A second MS is communicated with using the ad-hoc mode communication.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

configuring an ad-hoc mode for a first mobile station (MS) operating in an ad-hoc network under a broadband wireless standard, wherein configuring comprises configuring ad-hoc parameters including an operational mode, the operational mode being one of a MS mode, a serving MS (SMS) mode, and an automatic mode;

acquiring an ad-hoc mode communication having a simplified communication protocol of the broadband wireless standard, wherein acquiring comprises;

if the operational mode is the automatic mode,

automatically searching for a serving MS,

if no serving MS is found during a search period, setting the first MS to be the serving MS,

if at least one serving MS is found during the search period, allowing a user to select the serving MS; and

communicating with a second MS using the ad-hoc mode communication.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein configuring comprises:

configuring ad-hoc mode parameters including at least one of a MS name, an encryption key, and a frequency channel.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein communicating with the second MS comprises at least one of:

simplifying initial ranging and periodic ranging;

simplifying broadcast management messages;

simplifying network entry; and

simplifying bandwidth allocation and scheduling.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein simplifying broadcast management messages comprises at least one of:

omitting downlink (DL) medium access protocol (MAP) messages by packing DL medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (PDU) messages into a single DL burst;

omitting uplink (UL) MAP messages by calculating time offset of an UL burst using number of MSes in the ad-hoc network and a basic connection identification (CID);

omitting an uplink channel descriptor (UCD) message by including modulation information in a frame control header (FCH); and

simplifying a downlink channel descriptor (DCD) message by excluding DL burst profile, frame duration code, transmit/receive transition gap (TTG), and receive/transmit transition gap (RTG).

7. The method of claim 4 wherein simplifying network entry comprises at least one of:

using fixed default values of frame duration and cyclic prefix (CP) index;

excluding power, timing, and frequency offset information in an initial ranging response message;

including basic connection identification (CID) to identify a MS in the ad-hoc network;

skipping basic capability negotiation by using fixed default values of automatic repeat request (ARQ) mode, fragmentation mode, and packing mode;

skipping SS authorization and registration;

skipping an optional process as defined in the broadband wireless standard, the optional process including at least one of establishing Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, establishing time of day, and transferring operational parameters; and

establishing a single connection numbered by basic CID.

8. The method of claim 4 wherein simplifying bandwidth allocation and scheduling comprises at least one of:

setting scheduling type of connection to unsolicited grant service (UGS) by default.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the broadband wireless standard is an Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard.

3. A method comprising:

configuring an ad-hoc mode for a first mobile station (MS) operating in an ad-hoc network under a broadband wireless standard;

acquiring an ad-hoc mode communication having a simplified communication protocol of the broadband wireless standard; and

communicating with a second MS using the ad-hoc mode communication;

wherein configuring comprises configuring ad-hoc mode parameters including at least one of a MS name, an operational mode, an encryption key, and a frequency channel, the operational mode being one of a MS mode, a serving MS (SMS) mode, and an automatic mode; and

wherein acquiring comprises;

if the operational mode is the automatic mode or the MS mode,

searching for SMS during a search period,

if at least an SMS is found,

displaying the at least found SMS,

allowing user to select an SMS to connect to, and

starting the ad-hoc mode communication with the selected SMS;

else if the operational mode is the automatic mode,

setting the operational mode as the SMS mode

searching for an available frequency channel, and

starting the ad-hoc mode communication as an ad-hoc SMS; and

if the operational mode is the SMS mode,

searching for an available frequency channel, and

starting the ad-hoc mode communication as an ad-hoc SMS.

5. A method comprising:

configuring an ad-hoc mode for a first mobile station (MS) operating in an ad-hoc network under a broadband wireless standard;

acquiring an ad-hoc mode communication having a simplified communication protocol of the broadband wireless standard; and

communicating with a second MS using the ad-hoc mode communication;

wherein configuring comprises configuring ad-hoc mode parameters including at least one of a MS name, an operational mode, an encryption key, and a frequency channel, the operational mode being one of a MS mode, a serving MS (SMS) mode, and an automatic mode;

wherein communicating with the second MS comprises at least one of;

simplifying initial ranging and periodic ranging;

simplifying broadcast management messages;

simplifying network entry; and

simplifying bandwidth allocation and scheduling; and

wherein simplifying initial ranging and periodic ranging comprises at least one of;

allocating uplink (UL) burst interval sufficiently long to prevent collision between UL physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PDU) messages; and

pre-pending a long preamble on an UL PHY PDU message to facilitate detecting and decoding the UL PHY PDU by an SMS.

10. An apparatus comprising:

a configuration module to configure an ad-hoc mode for a first mobile station (MS) operating in an ad-hoc network under a broadband wireless standard, wherein the configuration module configures ad-hoc parameters including an operational mode, the operational mode being one of a MS mode, a serving MS (SMS) mode, and an automatic mode;

an acquisition module coupled to the configuration module to acquire an ad-hoc mode communication having a simplified communication protocol of the broadband wireless standard, wherein the acquisition module performs operations comprising;

if the operational mode is the automatic mode, automatically searching for a serving MS,

if no serving MS is found during a search period, setting the first MS to be the serving MS,

if at least one serving MS is found during the search period, allowing a user to select the serving MS; and

a communication module coupled to the acquisition module to communicate with a second MS using the ad-hoc mode communication.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the configuration module configures ad-hoc mode parameters including at least one of a MS name, an encryption key, and a frequency channel.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the communication module communicates with the second MS by performing at least one of:

simplifying initial ranging and periodic ranging;

simplifying broadcast management messages;

simplifying network entry; and

simplifying bandwidth allocation and scheduling.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the communication module performs simplifying broadcast management messages by performing at least one of:

omitting downlink (DL) medium access protocol (MAP) messages by packing DL medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (PDU) messages into a single DL burst;

omitting uplink (UL) MAP messages by calculating time offset of an UL burst using number of MSes in the ad-hoc network and a basic connection identification (CID);

omitting an uplink channel descriptor (UCD) message by including modulation information in a frame control header (FCH); and

simplifying a downlink channel descriptor (DCD) message by excluding DL burst profile, frame duration code, transmit/receive transition gap (TTG), and receive/transmit transition gap (RTG).

16. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the communication module performs simplifying network retry by performing at least one of:

using fixed default values of frame duration and cyclic prefix (CP) index;

excluding power, timing, and frequency offset information in an initial ranging response message;

including basic connection identification (CID) to identify a MS in the ad-hoc network;

skipping basic capability negotiation by using fixed default values of automatic repeat request (ARQ) mode, fragmentation mode, and packing mode;

skipping SS authorization and registration;

skipping an optional process as defined in the broadband wireless standard, the optional process including at least one of establishing Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, establishing time of day, and transferring operational parameters; and

establishing a single connection numbered by basic CID.

17. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the communication module performs simplifying bandwidth allocation and scheduling by performing at least one of:

setting scheduling type of connection to unsolicited grant service (UGS) by default.

18. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the broadband wireless standard is an Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard.

12. An apparatus comprising:

a configuration module to configure an ad-hoc mode for a first mobile station (MS) operating in an ad-hoc network under a broadband wireless standard;

an acquisition module coupled to the configuration module to acquire an ad-hoc mode communication having a simplified communication protocol of the broadband wireless standard; and

a communication module coupled to the acquisition module to communicate with a second MS using the ad-hoc mode communication;

wherein the configuration module configures ad-hoc mode parameters including at least one of a MS name, an operational mode, an encryption key, and a frequency channel, the operational mode being one of a MS mode, a serving MS (SMS) mode, and an automatic mode; and

wherein the acquisition module performs operations comprising;

if the operational mode is the automatic mode or the MS mode,

searching for SMS during a search period,

if at least an SMS is found,

displaying the at least found SMS,

allowing user to select an SMS to connect to, and

starting the ad-hoc mode communication with the selected SMS;

else if the operational mode is the automatic mode,

setting the operational mode as the SMS mode

searching for an available frequency channel, and

starting the ad-hoc mode communication as an ad-hoc SMS; and

if the operational mode is the SMS mode,

searching for an available frequency channel, and

starting the ad-hoc mode communication as an ad-hoc SMS.

14. An apparatus comprising:

a configuration module to configure an ad-hoc mode for a first mobile station (MS) operating in an ad-hoc network under a broadband wireless standard;

an acquisition module coupled to the configuration module to acquire an ad-hoc mode communication having a simplified communication protocol of the broadband wireless standard; and

a communication module coupled to the acquisition module to communicate with a second MS using the ad-hoc mode communication;

wherein the configuration module configures ad-hoc mode parameters including at least one of a MS name, an operational mode, an encryption key, and a frequency channel, the operational mode being one of a MS mode, a serving MS (SMS) mode, and an automatic mode;

wherein the communication module communicates with the second MS by performing at least one of;

simplifying initial ranging and periodic ranging;

simplifying broadcast management messages;

simplifying network entry; and

simplifying bandwidth allocation and scheduling; and

wherein the communication module performs simplifying initial ranging and periodic ranging by performing at least one of;

allocating uplink (UL) burst interval sufficiently long to prevent collision between UL physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PDU) messages; and

pre-pending a long preamble on an UL PHY PDU message to facilitate detecting and decoding the UL PHY PDU by an SMS.

19. A system comprising:

an antenna;

an radio frequency (RF) transceiver coupled to the antenna to transmit and receive RF signals in an ad-hoc network;

a physical layer processor (PHY) coupled to the RF transceiver to process the RF signals; and

an ad-hoc communication processing unit coupled to the PHY to perform ad-hoc mode communication with another mobile station (MS) the ad-hoc communication processing unit comprising;

a configuration module to configure an ad-hoc mode for a first mobile station (MS) operating in an ad-hoc network under a broadband wireless standard, wherein the configuration module configures ad-hoc parameters including an operational mode, the operational mode being one of a MS mode, a serving MS (SMS) mode, and an automatic mode;

an acquisition module coupled to the configuration module to acquire an ad-hoc mode communication having a simplified communication protocol of the broadband wireless standard, wherein the acquisition module performs operations comprising;

if the operational mode is the automatic mode, automatically searching for a serving MS,

if no serving MS is found during a search period, setting the first MS to be the serving MS,

if at least one serving MS is found during the search period, allowing a user to select the serving MS; and

a communication module coupled to the acquisition module to communicate with the other MS using the ad-hoc mode communication.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the configuration module configures ad-hoc mode parameters including at least one of a MS name, an encryption key, and a frequency channel.

22. The system of claim 20 wherein the communication module communicates with the other MS by performing at least one of:

simplifying initial ranging and periodic ranging;

simplifying broadcast management messages;

simplifying network entry; and

simplifying bandwidth allocation and scheduling.

23. The system of claim 19 wherein the broadband wireless standard is an Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard.

21. A system comprising:

an antenna;

an radio frequency (RF) transceiver coupled to the antenna to transmit and receive RF signals in an ad-hoc network;

a physical layer processor (PHY) coupled to the RF transceiver to process the RF signals; and

an ad-hoc communication processing unit coupled to the PHY to perform ad-hoc mode communication with another mobile station (MS), the ad-hoc communication processing unit comprising;

a configuration module to configure an ad-hoc mode for a first mobile station (MS) operating in an ad-hoc network under a broadband wireless standard,

an acquisition module coupled to the configuration module to acquire an ad-hoc mode communication having a simplified communication protocol of the broadband wireless standard, and

a communication module coupled to the acquisition module to communicate with the other MS using the ad-hoc mode communication;

wherein the configuration module configures ad-hoc mode parameters including at least one of a MS name, an operational mode, an encryption key, and a frequency channel, the operational mode being one of a MS mode, a serving MS (SMS) mode, and an automatic mode; and

wherein the acquisition module performs operations comprising;

if the operational mode is the automatic mode or the MS mode,

searching for SMS during a search period,

if at least an SMS is found,

displaying the at least found SMS,

allowing user to select an SMS to connect to, and

starting the ad-hoc mode communication with the selected SMS;

else if the operational mode is the automatic mode,

setting the operational mode as the SMS mode

searching for an available frequency channel, and

starting the ad-hoc mode communication as an ad-hoc SMS; and

if the operational mode is the SMS mode,

searching for an available frequency channel, and

starting the ad-hoc mode communication as an ad-hoc SMS.

24. An article of manufacture comprising:

a non-transitory machine-accessible storage medium including information that, when accessed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising;

configuring an ad-hoc mode for a first mobile station (MS) operating in an ad-hoc network under a broadband wireless standard, wherein configuring comprises configuring ad-hoc parameters including an operational mode, the operational mode being one of a MS mode, a serving MS (SMS) mode, and an automatic mode;

acquiring an ad-hoc mode communication having a simplified communication protocol of the broadband wireless standard, wherein acquiring comprises;

if the operational mode is the automatic mode,

automatically searching for a serving MS,

if no serving MS is found during a search period, setting the first MS to be the serving MS,

if at least one serving MS is found during the search period, allowing a user to select the serving MS; and

communicating with a second MS using the ad-hoc mode communication.

25. The article of manufacture of claim 24 wherein the information causing the machine to perform configuring comprises information that, when accessed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

configuring ad-hoc mode parameters including at least one of a MS name, an encryption key, and a frequency channel.

27. The article of manufacture of claim 25 wherein the information causing the machine to perform communicating with the second MS comprises information that, when accessed by a machine, cause the machine to perform at least one of operations comprising:

simplifying initial ranging and periodic ranging;

simplifying broadcast management messages;

simplifying network entry; and

simplifying bandwidth allocation and scheduling.

26. An article of manufacture comprising:

a non-transitory machine-accessible storage medium including information that, when accessed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising;

configuring an ad-hoc mode for a first mobile station (MS) operating in an ad-hoc network under a broadband wireless standard;

acquiring an ad-hoc mode communication having a simplified communication protocol of the broadband wireless standard; and

communicating with a second MS using the ad-hoc mode communication;

wherein the information causing the machine to perform configuring comprises information that, when accessed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising;

configuring ad-hoc mode parameters including at least one of a MS name, an operational mode, an encryption key, and a frequency channel, the operational mode being one of a MS mode, a serving MS (SMS) mode, and an automatic mode; and

wherein the information causing the machine to perform acquiring comprises information that, when accessed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising;

if the operational mode is the automatic mode or the MS mode,

searching for SMS during a search period,

if at least an SMS is found,

displaying the at least found SMS,

allowing user to select an SMS to connect to, and

starting the ad-hoc mode communication with the selected SMS;

else if the operational mode is the automatic mode,

setting the operational mode as the SMS mode

searching for an available frequency channel, and

starting the ad-hoc mode communication as an ad-hoc SMS; and

if the operational mode is the SMS mode,

searching for an available frequency channel, and

starting the ad-hoc mode communication as an ad-hoc SMS.