Communications methods and apparatus related to beacon signals some of which may communicate priority information

• US 8,750,262 B2
• Filed: 01/10/2007
• Issued: 06/10/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Laroia, Rajiv, Lane, Frank A., Li, Junyi, Richardson, Tom
• Primary Examiner(s): Bost, Dwayne
• Assistant Examiner(s): Johnson, Gerald
• Application Number:
  US11/621,984
• Publication Number:
  US 20070211679A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,708 Days
• Field of Search: 370/338
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/0602 Systems characterised by the synchronising information used
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2601 Multicarrier modulation systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/261 Details of reference signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0016 Time-frequency-code
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0035 Resource allocation in a cooperative multipoint environment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0048 Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/04 Error control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/16 Performing reselection for specific purposes
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/24 Reselection being triggered by specific parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/24 Connectivity information management, e.g. connectivity discovery or connectivity update
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/244 using a network of reference devices, e.g. beaconing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0229 where the received signal is a wanted signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/04 TPC
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/02 Selection of wireless resources by user or terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 : Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/042 : Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 : Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 : Terminal devices
• 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: H04W 88/10 : adapted for operation in multiple networks, e.g. multi-mode access points
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Wireless terminals receive beacon signals from other communication devices and make transmission decisions based on priority information communicated by the beacon signals. Priority information communicated in a beacon signal includes, e.g., one of device priority, user priority and session priority. A wireless terminal compares priority information recovered from received beacon signals with its own current level of priority. A transmission decision based on received priority information includes deciding not to transmit user data when received priority information indicates a higher priority than its own priority level. Another transmission decision based on received priority information includes deciding to transmit user data when the received priority information indicates a lower priority than its own priority level. Other exemplary transmission decisions, performed as a function of priority information from beacon signals, include deciding to perform a transmission power level adjustment and deciding to terminate an ongoing communications session.

Claims

1. A method of operating a mobile wireless communications device, comprising:

receiving at least a portion of a beacon signal including at least one beacon symbol from another communications device;

making a signal transmission decision based on priority information communicated by said received beacon signal portion, said priority information including a session priority level, said session priority level being the higher priority level of two devices in a communications session to which the session priority level corresponds; and

wherein making a signal transmission decision includes deciding to transmit user data at a transmission power level which is determined by the mobile wireless communications device as a function of at least one of a user priority level or the session priority level.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said beacon signal is from another wireless communications device and wherein said session priority indicates the session priority of a communications session in which said another wireless communications device is a participant, said another wireless communications device being a mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein making a signal transmission decision includes deciding not to transmit user data when said priority information indicates a higher priority than a priority associated with said wireless communications device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein making a signal transmission decision includes deciding to transmit user data when said priority information indicates a lower priority than a priority associated with said wireless communications device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein making a signal transmission decision includes deciding to transmit user data at a transmission power level which is determined by the mobile wireless communications device as a function of the session priority level.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein making a signal transmission decision includes deciding to transmit user data at a transmission power level which is determined as a function of both the priority information communicated by said received beacon signal portion and a received power level of the received beacon signal portion.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the transmission power level is reduced when the received beacon signal portion indicates a higher priority level than a priority level indicated by a previously received beacon signal portion that was used to control transmission power.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the transmission power level is reduced when the received beacon signal portion indicates a lower priority level than a priority level indicated by a previously received beacon signal portion that was used to control transmission power.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein said priority information is coded using a plurality of beacon symbols included in said beacon signal portion.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said priority information is coded at least partially by positions of beacon symbols in a set of beacon symbol transmission units used to transmit said beacon signal portion.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein said priority information is coded at least partially based on changes in beacon symbol positions in a set of beacon symbol transmission units used to transmit said beacon signal portion over a time period including multiple beacon symbol transmission time periods.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the beacon symbol positions in said set of beacon symbol transmission units corresponds to a predetermined tone hoping pattern corresponding to the priority level to be communicated.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein a unique beacon symbol pattern is used to communicate a top priority beacon indicating a higher priority than all other beacons used to communicate priority information.

18. The method of claim 1,

wherein said mobile wireless communications device is a wireless peer to peer communications terminal;

and

wherein said communications session is a peer-to-peer communications session.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein said priority information indicates a session priority level.

20. The method of claim 1,

wherein said mobile wireless communications device is a wireless peer to peer communications terminal;

and

wherein said priority information indicates more than one of;

the user priority level, the session priority level, and a device priority level.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein said priority level information is indicated by positions of beacon symbols in a set of beacon symbol transmission units included in said received beacon signal portion of a beacon signal.

5. The method of 4, further comprising transmitting user data when said signal transmission decision indicates that user data is to be transmitted;

and

transmitting in addition to said user data at least a portion of a beacon signal.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the transmitted portion of a beacon signal identifies at least one of said wireless communications device and a user that is using said wireless communications device to transmit said user data.

7. The method of 3, further comprising:

subsequent to said signal transmission decision,

monitoring for an additional signal portion including at least one beacon symbol; and

if said additional beacon signal portion is not received in a predetermined period of time, transmitting a signal.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said additional signal portion is a portion of a beacon signal that communicates a higher priority than said priority associated with said wireless communications device.

22. A mobile wireless communications device, comprising:

a receiver for receiving from another communications device at least a portion of a beacon signal including at least one beacon symbol;

a transmission decision module for making a signal transmission decision based on priority information communicated by said received beacon signal portion, said priority information including a session priority level, said session priority level being the higher priority level of two devices in a communications session to which the session priority level corresponds; and

wherein said transmission decision module is configured to decide to transmit user data at a transmission power level which is determined by the mobile wireless communications device as a function of at least one of a user priority level or the session priority level.

23. The device of claim 22, wherein said beacon signal is from another wireless communications device and wherein said session priority indicates the priority of a communications session in which said another wireless communications device is a participant.

24. The device of claim 22, wherein said transmission decision module includes a priority based control module for preventing transmission of user data when said priority information indicates a higher priority than a priority associated with said wireless communications device.

25. The device of claim 24, wherein said priority based control module enables user data transmissions when said priority information indicates a lower priority than a priority associated with said wireless communications device.

30. The device of claim 22, further comprising:

a transmission power control module for controlling a user data transmission power level determined by the mobile wireless communications device as a function of the session priority level.

31. The device of claim 22, further comprising:

a transmission power control module for controlling a user data transmission power level as a function of both the priority information communicated by said received beacon signal portion and a received power level of the received beacon signal portion.

32. The device of claim 31, wherein said transmission control module includes a transmission power reduction module for reducing the transmission power level when the received beacon signal portion indicates a higher priority level than a priority level indicated by a previously received beacon signal portion that was used to control transmission power.

33. The device of claim 22, further comprising:

a beacon signal information detection module for determining said priority information from a set of beacon symbols included in said beacon signal portion, said priority signal information being encoded over a plurality of beacon symbols.

34. The device of claim 33, wherein said priority information is coded at least partially by positions of beacon symbols in a set of beacon symbol transmission units used to transmit said beacon signal portion.

35. The device of claim 33, wherein said priority information is coded at least partially based on changes in beacon symbol positions in a set of beacon symbol transmission units used to transmit said beacon signal portion over a time period including multiple beacon symbol transmission time periods.

36. The device of claim 35, wherein the beacon symbol positions in said set of beacon symbol transmission units corresponds to a predetermined tone hoping pattern corresponding to the priority level to be communicated.

37. The device of claim 36, wherein a unique beacon symbol pattern is used to communicate a top priority beacon indicating a higher priority than all other beacons used to communicate priority information.

26. The device of 25, further comprising:

a beacon signal generation module for generating at least a portion of a beacon signal including a beacon symbol; and

a transmitter for transmitting user data in addition said portion of a beacon signal when said signal transmission decision module indicates that user data is to be transmitted.

27. The device of claim 26 wherein the transmitted portion of a beacon signal identifies at least one of:

i) said wireless communications device and ii) a user that is using said wireless communications device to transmit said user data.

28. The device of 24, further comprising:

a control module for controlling a monitoring module to monitor for an additional beacon signal portion including at least one beacon symbol following said transmission decision module making a signal transmission decision; and

wherein if said additional beacon signal portion is not received in a predetermined period of time, said transmission decision module making a decision to transmit a signal.

29. The device of claim 28, wherein said additional beacon signal portion is a portion of a beacon signal that communicates a higher priority than said priority associated with said wireless communications device.

38. A mobile wireless communications device, comprising:

means for receiving for receiving from another communications device at least a portion of a beacon signal including at least one beacon symbol;

means for making a transmission decision for making a signal transmission decision based on priority information communicated by said received beacon signal portion, said priority information including a session priority level, said session priority level being the higher priority level of two devices in a communications session to which the session priority level corresponds; and

wherein said means for making a transmission decision include means for deciding to transmit user data at a transmission power level which is determined by the mobile wireless communications device as a function of at least one of a user priority level or the session priority level.

39. The device of claim 38, wherein said beacon signal is from another wireless communications device and wherein said session priority indicates the priority of a communications session in which said another wireless communications device is a participant.

40. The device of claim 38, wherein said means for making a transmission decision includes means for controlling transmission as a function of priority information for preventing transmission of user data when said priority information indicates a higher priority than a priority associated with said wireless communications device.

41. The device of claim 40, wherein said means for controlling transmission as a function of priority information enables user data transmissions when said priority information indicates a lower priority than a priority associated with said wireless communications device.

42. The device of 41, further comprising:

means for generating beacon signals for generating at least a portion of a beacon signal including a beacon symbol; and

means for transmitting for transmitting user data in addition said portion of a beacon signal when said signal transmission decision module indicates that user data is to be transmitted.

43. The device of claim 42 wherein the transmitted portion of a beacon signal identifies at least one of:

i) said wireless communications device and ii) a user that is using said wireless communications device to transmit said user data.

44. The device of 40, further comprising:

means for monitoring for beacon signals;

means for controlling said means for monitoring for beacon signals to monitor for an additional beacon signal portion including at least one beacon symbol following said means for making a transmission decision making a signal transmission decision; and

wherein if said additional beacon signal portion is not received in a predetermined period of time, said means for making a transmission decision makes a decision to transmit a signal.

45. A non-transitory computer readable medium embodying machine executable instructions for controlling a mobile wireless communications device, the computer readable medium comprising:

instructions for controlling said device to receive at least a portion of a beacon signal including at least one beacon symbol from another communications device;

instructions for controlling said device to make a signal transmission decision based on priority information communicated by said received beacon signal portion, said priority information including a session priority level, said session priority level being the higher priority level of two devices in a communications session to which the session priority level corresponds; and

wherein instructions for controlling said device to make transmission decision include instructions for deciding to transmit user data at a transmission power level which is determined by the mobile wireless communications device as a function of at least one of a user priority level or the session priority level.

46. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 45, wherein said beacon signal is from another wireless communications device and wherein said session priority indicates priority of a communications session in which said another wireless communications device is a participant.

47. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 45, further embodying machine executable instructions for:

controlling said device to decide not to transmit user data when said priority information indicates a higher priority than a priority associated with said wireless communications device, as part of said controlling said device to make a signal transmission decision.

48. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 47, further embodying machine executable instructions for:

controlling said device to decide to transmit user data when said priority information indicates a lower priority than a priority associated with said wireless communications device, as part of said controlling said device to make a signal transmission decision.

49. The non-transitory computer readable medium of 48, further comprising embodying machine executable instructions for:

controlling the transmission of user data when said signal transmission decision indicates that user data is to be transmitted; and

controlling the transmission of at least a portion of a beacon signal in addition to said user data.

50. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 49 further embodying machine executable instructions for:

controlling said device to code identification information which identifies at least one of said wireless communications device and a user that is using said wireless communications device to transmit said user data into said at least a portion of a beacon signal which is being transmitted.

51. A mobile apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive at least a portion of a beacon signal including at least one beacon symbol from another communications device;

make a signal transmission decision based on priority information communicated by said received beacon signal portion, said priority information including a session priority level, said session priority level being the higher priority level of two devices in a communications session to which the session priority level corresponds; and

wherein in making transmission decision said processor is further configured to decide to transmit user data at a transmission power level which is determined by the mobile apparatus as a function of at least one of a user priority level or the session priority level.

52. The mobile apparatus of claim 51, wherein said beacon signal is from another wireless communications device and wherein said session priority indicates the priority of a communications session in which said another wireless communications device is a participant.

53. The mobile apparatus of claim 52, wherein said processor is further configured to:

decide not to transmit user data when said priority information indicates a higher priority than a priority associated with said wireless communications device, as part of said step of making a signal transmission decision.

54. The mobile apparatus of claim 53, wherein said processor is further configured to:

decide to transmit user data when said priority information indicates a lower priority than a priority associated with said wireless communications device as part of said step of making a signal transmission decision.

55. The mobile apparatus of claim 54, further wherein said processor is further configured to:

control the transmission of user data when said signal transmission decision indicates that user data is to be transmitted; and

control the transmission of at least a portion of a beacon signal in addition to said user data.

56. The mobile apparatus device of claim 55, wherein said processor is further configured to:

code identification information which identifies at least one of said wireless communications device and a user that is using said wireless communications device to transmit said user data into said at least a portion of a beacon signal which is being transmitted.