Methods and apparatus for controlling peer to peer communications
First Claim
1. A method of operating a wireless communications device, the method comprising:
- receiving, at a first wireless device, a first control signal from a base station on a first spectrum;
determining, by the first wireless device, whether or not to send a peer to peer communications signal to a second wireless device in a second spectrum based on said first control signal and information received in one or more traffic scheduling signals received from other communications devices participating in peer to peer communications, said second spectrum being different from said first spectrum; and
sending a second control signal to the base station on a third spectrum, said third spectrum being different than first and second spectrums.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A wireless communications system supports both cellular communications and direct peer to peer communications. The cellular communications use FDD downlink and uplink bands for control and traffic signaling. An access point employs control over direct peer to peer communications. Peer to peer mode control signals from the access point are transmitted to wireless terminals using the FDD cellular downlink band. Peer to peer mode control signals from wireless terminals are transmitted to an access point using the FDD cellular uplink band. Peer to peer traffic signals between wireless terminals are communicated using a TDD band. In one embodiment, the access point communicates priority information to peer to peer network wireless terminals, and the wireless terminals make peer to peer traffic transmission decisions in a decentralized manner using the received priority information. In another embodiment, the access point directly schedules peer to peer traffic in the peer to peer network.
15 Citations
30 Claims
-
1. A method of operating a wireless communications device, the method comprising:
-
receiving, at a first wireless device, a first control signal from a base station on a first spectrum; determining, by the first wireless device, whether or not to send a peer to peer communications signal to a second wireless device in a second spectrum based on said first control signal and information received in one or more traffic scheduling signals received from other communications devices participating in peer to peer communications, said second spectrum being different from said first spectrum; and sending a second control signal to the base station on a third spectrum, said third spectrum being different than first and second spectrums. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A wireless communications device comprising:
-
means for receiving, at the wireless communications device, a first control signal from a base station on a first spectrum; means for determining, by the wireless communications device, whether or not to send a peer to peer communications signal to a second wireless device in a second spectrum based on said first control signal and information received in one or more traffic scheduling signals received from other communications devices participating in peer to peer communications, said second spectrum being different from said first spectrum; and means for sending a second control signal to the base station on a third spectrum, said third spectrum being different than first and second spectrums. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A computer program product for use in a wireless communications device, the computer program product comprising:
a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising; code for causing at least one computer to receive a first control signal from a base station on a first spectrum; code for causing said at least one computer to determine whether or not to send a peer to peer communications signal to a second wireless device in a second spectrum based on said first control signal and information received in one or more traffic scheduling signals received from other communications devices participating in peer to peer communications, said second spectrum being different from said first spectrum; and code for causing said at least one computer to send a second control signal to the base station on a third spectrum, said third spectrum being different than first and second spectrums.
-
12. A wireless communications device comprising:
-
at least one processor configured to; receive, at the wireless communications device, a first control signal from a base station on a first spectrum; determine, by the wireless communications device, whether or not to send a peer to peer communications signal to a second wireless device in a second spectrum based on said first control signal and information received in one or more traffic scheduling signals received from other communications devices participating in peer to peer communications, said second spectrum being different from said first spectrum; and send a second control signal to the base station on a third spectrum, said third spectrum being different than first and second spectrums; and memory coupled to said at least one processor. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A method of operating an access point, the method comprising:
-
transmitting a first infrastructure mode control signal in a first frequency band to a first wireless terminal; transmitting a first peer to peer mode control signal in said first frequency band to a second wireless terminal; receiving a second infrastructure mode control signal in a second frequency band from said first wireless terminal while said first wireless terminal is operating in an infrastructure mode of operation; and receiving a second peer to peer mode control signal in said second frequency band from said second wireless terminal while said second wireless terminal is operating in a peer to peer mode of operation, the second wireless terminal determining to operate in the peer to peer mode of operations based on the first peer to peer mode control signal and information received in one or more traffic scheduling signals received from other wireless terminals participating in peer to peer communications. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. An access point, comprising:
-
means for transmitting a first infrastructure mode control signal in a first frequency band to a first wireless terminal; means for transmitting a first peer to peer mode control signal in said first frequency band to a second wireless terminal; means for receiving a second infrastructure mode control signal in a second frequency band from said first wireless terminal while said first wireless terminal is operating in an infrastructure mode of operation; and means for receiving a second peer to peer mode control signal in said second frequency band from said second wireless terminal while said second wireless terminal is operating in a peer to peer mode of operation, the second wireless terminal determining to operate in the peer to peer mode of operations based on the first peer to peer mode control signal and information received in one or more traffic scheduling signals received from other wireless terminals participating in peer to peer communications. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. A computer program product for use in an access point, the computer program product comprising:
a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising; code for causing at least one computer to transmit a first infrastructure mode control signal in a first frequency band to a first wireless terminal; code for causing said at least one computer to transmit a first peer to peer mode control signal in said first frequency band to a second wireless terminal; code for causing said at least one computer to receive a second infrastructure mode control signal in a second frequency band from said first wireless terminal while said first wireless terminal is operating in an infrastructure mode of operation; and code for causing said at least one computer to receive a second peer to peer mode control signal in said second frequency band from said second wireless terminal while said second wireless terminal is operating in a peer to peer mode of operation, the second wireless terminal determining to operate in the peer to peer mode of operations based on the first peer to peer mode control signal and information received in one or more traffic scheduling signals received from other wireless terminals participating in peer to peer communications.
-
27. An access point comprising:
-
at least one processor configured to; transmit a first infrastructure mode control signal in a first frequency band to a first wireless terminal; transmit a first peer to peer mode control signal in said first frequency band to a second wireless terminal; receive a second infrastructure mode control signal in a second frequency band from said first wireless terminal while said first wireless terminal is operating in an infrastructure mode of operation; and receive a second peer to peer mode control signal in said second frequency band from said second wireless terminal while said second wireless terminal is operating in a peer to peer mode of operation, the second wireless terminal determining to operate in the peer to peer mode of operations based on the first peer to peer mode control signal and information received in one or more traffic scheduling signals received from other wireless terminals participating in peer to peer communications; and memory coupled to said at least one processor. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
-
Specification