Communications methods and apparatus related to synchronization with respect to a peer to peer timing structure
First Claim
1. A method of operating a first wireless communications device, comprising:
- determining a time reference point; and
accessing stored timing structure information used to determine recurring peer discovery intervals, paging intervals, and traffic intervals,wherein said stored timing structure information indicates that multiple paging time intervals occur between peer discovery time intervals during at least one period of time for which timing structure information is stored,wherein the method further comprises;
storing first timing structure information determined based on a first signal received from a second wireless communications device and second timing structure information determined based on a second signal received from a third wireless communications device; and
processing an additional signal based on the first timing structure information or the second timing structure information upon receiving the additional signal from the second wireless communications device or the third wireless communications device, respectively.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus related to peer to peer communication networks are described. A peer to peer timing structure is implemented which includes recurring peer discovery intervals and traffic intervals. Some embodiments further include recurring paging intervals for peer to peer pages. A wireless communications device, supporting peer to peer communications and storing information defining the timing structure, determines a time reference point, facilitating a coarse level of synchronization with respect to the timing structure. The time reference point is determined based on a broadcast signal received from a communications device, e.g., a satellite, base station, or beacon signal transmitter. Multiple peer to peer wireless communications devices in a local vicinity thus obtain the same basic understanding as to the current relative point in time with respect to a common recurring peer to peer timing structure. Peer to peer timing synchronization is further refined based on received signals communicated between peers.
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Citations
42 Claims
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1. A method of operating a first wireless communications device, comprising:
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determining a time reference point; and accessing stored timing structure information used to determine recurring peer discovery intervals, paging intervals, and traffic intervals, wherein said stored timing structure information indicates that multiple paging time intervals occur between peer discovery time intervals during at least one period of time for which timing structure information is stored, wherein the method further comprises; storing first timing structure information determined based on a first signal received from a second wireless communications device and second timing structure information determined based on a second signal received from a third wireless communications device; and processing an additional signal based on the first timing structure information or the second timing structure information upon receiving the additional signal from the second wireless communications device or the third wireless communications device, respectively. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A first wireless communications device, comprising:
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a timing reference point determination module for determining a time reference point; a memory for storing timing structure information used to determine recurring peer discovery intervals, paging intervals, and traffic intervals; and an interval determination module for accessing stored timing structure information and determining a type of interval corresponding to a point in time, wherein said stored timing structure information indicates that multiple paging time intervals occur between peer discovery time intervals during at least one period of time for which timing structure information is stored, wherein the memory is for storing first timing structure information determined based on a first signal received from a second wireless communications device and second timing structure information determined based on a second signal received from a third wireless communications device, and wherein the device further comprises a receive and processing module for processing an additional signal based on the first timing structure information or the second timing structure information upon receiving the additional signal from the second wireless communications device or the third wireless communications device, respectively. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A first wireless communications device, comprising:
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timing reference point determination means for determining a time reference point; means for determining recurring peer discovery intervals, paging intervals, and traffic intervals; and means for accessing stored timing structure information and determining a type of interval corresponding to a point in time, wherein said stored timing structure information indicates that multiple paging time intervals occur between peer discovery time intervals during at least one period of time for which timing structure information is stored, wherein said device further comprises; means for storing first timing structure information determined based on a first signal received from a second wireless communications device and second timing structure information determined based on a second signal received from a third wireless communications device; and means for processing an additional signal based on the first timing structure information or the second timing structure information upon receiving the additional signal from the second wireless communications device or the third wireless communications device, respectively. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A non-transitory computer readable medium embodying machine executable instructions for operating a first wireless communications device, the method comprising:
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determining a time reference point; and accessing stored timing structure information used to determine recurring peer discovery intervals, paging intervals, and traffic intervals, wherein said stored timing structure information indicates that multiple paging time intervals occur between peer discovery time intervals during at least one period of time for which timing structure information is stored, wherein the computer readable medium further embodies machine instructions for; storing first timing structure information determined based on a first signal received from a second wireless communications device and second timing structure information determined based on a second signal received from a third wireless communications device; and processing an additional signal based on the first timing structure information or the second timing structure information upon receiving the additional signal from the second wireless communications device or the third wireless communications device, respectively. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. An apparatus comprising:
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a processor configured to; determine a time reference point; and access stored timing structure information used to determine recurring peer discovery intervals, paging intervals, and traffic intervals, wherein said stored timing structure information indicates that multiple paging time intervals occur between peer discovery time intervals during at least one period of time for which timing structure information is stored, wherein said processor is further configured to; store first timing structure information determined based on a first signal received from a second wireless communications device and second timing structure information determined based on a second signal received from a third wireless communications device; and process an additional signal based on the first timing structure information or the second timing structure information upon receiving the additional signal from the second wireless communications device or the third wireless communications device, respectively. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification