Wireless communication methods and apparatus using beacon signals

• US 8,902,860 B2
• Filed: 01/10/2007
• Issued: 12/02/2014
• 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): Ajibade Akonai, Olumide T
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zhang, Edward
• Application Number:
  US11/621,991
• Publication Number:
  US 20080002648A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,883 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41.2, 455/41.3, 455/552.1, 455/553.1, 370/338, 370/328, 370/341
• US Class Current: 370/336
• 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

Methods and apparatus supporting peer to peer communications are discussed. A base station serving as an access node for wireless terminals also communicates information supporting peer to peer communications. A base station transmits a beacon signal conveying information about a peer to peer frequency band and also receives user data from a plurality of wireless terminals, using the base station as a current point of network attachment. In some embodiments, the beacon signal is transmitted into the same frequency band being used for access node based communications and identifies a different frequency band which is to be used as a peer to peer frequency band. Alternatively, or in addition, in support of peer to peer communications, a beacon signal transmission apparatus, a free standing device which doesn'"'"'t transmit user data, transmits a sequence of beacon signal bursts, each beacon signal burst including at least one high power beacon symbol.

Claims

1. A method of operating a base station, comprising:

transmitting a beacon signal, said beacon signal including at least one beacon signal burst, said beacon signal conveying information about a peer to peer frequency band;

receiving data, from a plurality of wireless terminals using said base station as an access node, for communication through said access node;

wherein transmitting a beacon signal includes transmitting said beacon signal into a first communications band, said beacon signal conveyed information indicating a second frequency band which is used as said peer to peer frequency band, said second frequency band being different from said first frequency band; and

wherein said base station does not receive or transmit user data in the second frequency band.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting user data to said plurality of wireless terminals using said first frequency band.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said receiving data includes receiving data in said first frequency band during a first time period and wherein said transmitting user data into said first frequency band is performed during a second time period which is different from said first time period, said first frequency band being used in a time division multiplexed manner.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the average transmitted power into said second frequency band over a 1 minute time period is less than 1/1000 the average transmitted power transmitted by said base station into the first frequency band.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising transmitting a second beacon signal into the first communications band, said second beacon signal providing timing synchronization information to the plurality of wireless terminals using said base station as an access node.

64. The method of claim 1,

wherein said beacon signal indicates a carrier frequency of said second frequency band.

65. The method of claim 64, wherein said beacon signal further indicates if said second frequency band is to be used in a time division duplex manner.

6. A base station, comprising:

a beacon signal generation module for generating a beacon signal, said beacon signal including at least one beacon signal burst, said beacon signal burst conveying information about a peer to peer frequency band;

a frequency band control module for controlling transmission of said beacon signal into a first communications band, said beacon signal conveying information indicating a second frequency band which is used as said peer to peer frequency band, said second frequency band being different from said first frequency band, said second frequency band being a frequency band in which said base station does not receive or transmit user data;

a transmitter for transmitting the generated beacon signal, and

a receiver for receiving signals including user data signals from a plurality of wireless terminals using said base station as an access node for communication through said access node.

7. The base station of claim 6, further comprising:

wherein said beacon signal indicates a carrier frequency of said second frequency band and if said second frequency band is to be used in a time division duplex manner.

8. The base station of claim 7, further comprising:

a user data transmission control module for controlling transmission of user data to multiple ones of said plurality of wireless terminals using said first frequency band.

9. The base station of claim 8, wherein said receiving data includes receiving data in said first frequency band during a first time period and wherein said transmitting user data into said first frequency band is performed during a second time period which is different from said first time period, said first frequency band being used in a time division multiplexed manner.

10. The base station of claim 9, further comprising:

a transmission power control module for controlling transmission power into the second frequency band to keep the average transmitted power into said second frequency band over a 1 minute time period less than 1/1000 the average transmitted power transmitted by said base station into the first frequency band.

11. The base station of claim 9, wherein the base station transmits into the first frequency band but does not transmit into the second frequency band.

12. The base station of claim 9, further comprising:

an access node beacon signal generation module for generating a second beacon signal, said second beacon signal providing timing synchronization information to the plurality of wireless terminals using said base station as an access node; and

wherein the transmitter is also for transmitting the second beacon signal into the first frequency band.

13. The base station of claim 12, wherein said transmitter is an OFDM transmitter.

14. A base station, comprising:

beacon signal generation means for generating a beacon signal, said beacon signal including at least one beacon signal burst, said beacon signal burst conveying information about a peer to peer frequency band;

frequency band control means for controlling transmission of said beacon signal into a first communications band, said beacon signal conveying information indicating a second frequency band which is used as said peer to peer frequency band, said second frequency band being different from said first frequency band, said second frequency band being a frequency band in which said base station does not receive or transmit user data;

transmission means for transmitting the generated beacon signal, and

receiver means for receiving signals including user data signals from a plurality of wireless terminals using said base station as an access node for communication through said access node.

15. The base station of claim 14,

wherein said beacon signal indicates a carrier frequency of said second frequency band and if said second frequency band is to be used in a time division duplex manner.

16. The base station of claim 15, further comprising:

user data transmission control means for controlling transmission of user data to multiple ones of said plurality of wireless terminals using said first frequency band.

17. The base station of claim 16, wherein said receiving data includes receiving data in said first frequency band during a first time period and wherein said transmitting user data into said first frequency band is performed during a second time period which is different from said first time period, said first frequency band being used in a time division multiplexed manner.

18. The base station of claim 17, further comprising:

transmission power control means for controlling transmission power into the second frequency band to keep the average transmitted power into said second frequency band over a 1 minute time period less than 1/1000 the average transmitted power transmitted by said base station into the first frequency band.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium embodying machine executable instructions for controlling a base station to implement a method of communicating with another communications device, the method comprising:

transmitting a beacon signal, said beacon signal including at least one beacon signal burst, said beacon signal conveying information about a peer to peer frequency band;

receiving data from a plurality of wireless terminals using said base station as an access node for communication through said access node;

wherein transmitting a beacon signal includes transmitting said beacon signal into a first communications band, said beacon signal conveyed information indicating a second frequency band which is used as said peer to peer frequency band, said second frequency band being different from said first frequency band; and

wherein said base station does not receive or transmit user data in the second frequency band.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein said beacon signal indicates a carrier frequency of said second frequency band and if said second frequency band is to be used in a time division duplex manner.

21. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20, further embodying machine executable instructions for:

transmitting user data to said plurality of wireless terminals using said first frequency band.

22. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21, wherein said receiving data includes receiving data in said first frequency band during a first time period and wherein said transmitting user data into said first frequency band is performed during a second time period which is different from said first time period, said first frequency band being used in a time division multiplexed manner.

23. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21, wherein said base station does not receive or transmit user data in the second frequency band.

24. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21, further embodying machine executable instructions for transmitting a second beacon signal into the first communications band, said second beacon signal providing timing synchronization information to the plurality of wireless terminals using said base station as an access node.

25. An apparatus comprising:

a base station processor configured to;

generate a beacon signal, said beacon signal including at least one beacon signal burst, said beacon signal burst conveying information about a peer to peer frequency band;

control transmission of said beacon signal into a first communications band, said beacon signal conveying information indicating a second frequency band which is used as said peer to peer frequency band, said second frequency band being different from said first frequency band, said second frequency band being a frequency band in which said base station does not receive or transmit user data;

transmit the generated beacon signal, and

receive signals including user data signals from a plurality of wireless terminals using said apparatus as an access node for communication through said access node.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein said beacon signal indicates a carrier frequency of said second frequency band and if said second frequency band is to be used in a time division duplex manner.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein said base station processor is further configured to:

control transmission of user data to multiple ones of said plurality of wireless terminals using said first frequency band.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein said receiving data includes receiving data in said first frequency band during a first time period and wherein said transmitting user data into said first frequency band is performed during a second time period which is different from said first time period, said first frequency band being used in a time division multiplexed manner.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said base station processor is further configured to:

control transmission power into the second frequency band to keep the average transmitted power into said second frequency band over a 1 minute time period less than 1/1000 the average transmitted power transmitted by said apparatus into the first frequency band.

30. A beacon signal transmission apparatus, comprising:

a beacon signal transmitter for transmitting a sequence of beacon signal bursts each beacon signal burst including at least one beacon symbol, said beacon transmission signal apparatus being a free standing device not including any transmitter used to transmit data to an individual user device;

a beacon signal transmission control module for controlling transmission of beacon signal bursts; and

wherein said control module includes stored control information used to control said beacon signal transmitter to transmit beacon signal bursts into different frequency bands at different times.

66. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said apparatus is battery powered.

67. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said apparatus does not include a receiver.

31. A beacon signal transmission apparatus, comprising:

a beacon signal transmitter for transmitting a sequence of beacon signal bursts each beacon signal burst including at least one beacon symbol, said beacon transmission signal apparatus being a free standing device not including any transmitter used to transmit data to an individual user device;

a beacon signal transmission control module for controlling transmission of beacon signal bursts;

a multi-sector antenna; and

wherein the control module controls the transmitter to transmit beacon signal bursts into different sectors at different times.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the beacon signal transmitter is controlled to transmit into at most one sector at a time.

33. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the apparatus is battery powered.

34. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the apparatus is solar powered.

35. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the apparatus is independently powered.

68. The beacon signal transmission apparatus of claim 31, wherein said beacon signal transmission apparatus does not include a receiver.

36. A beacon signal transmission apparatus, comprising:

a beacon signal transmitter for transmitting a sequence of beacon signal bursts each beacon signal burst including at least one beacon symbol, said beacon transmission signal apparatus being a free standing device not including any transmitter used to transmit data to an individual user device;

a beacon signal transmission control module for controlling transmission of beacon signal bursts;

a receiver for receiving a broadcast signal; and

wherein said control module controls beacon signal burst transmission timing as a function of the received broadcast signal.

37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein said receiver is one of a GPS, GSM and CDMA receiver.

38. A method of transmitting beacon signals, comprising:

operating a beacon signal transmission apparatus comprising a beacon signal transmitter, to transmit a sequence of beacon signal bursts, each beacon signal burst including at least one beacon symbol, said beacon transmission signal apparatus being a free standing device;

controlling transmission of beacon signal bursts to occur according to a predetermined transmission schedule;

wherein said beacon signal transmission apparatus does not include any transmitter used to transmit data to an individual user device; and

wherein controlling transmission of beacon signal bursts includes using stored control information to determine a plurality of frequency bands into which beacon signal bursts are to be transmitted and the time at which said transmissions are to occur.

39. A method of transmitting beacon signals, comprising:

operating a beacon signal transmission apparatus comprising a beacon signal transmitter, to transmit a sequence of beacon signal bursts, each beacon signal burst including at least one beacon symbol;

controlling the beacon signal transmitter to transmit beacon signal bursts into different frequency bands at different times;

wherein said beacon transmission signal apparatus is a free standing device; and

wherein said beacon signal transmission apparatus does not include any transmitter used to transmit data to an individual user device.

43. The method of claim 39, wherein controlling the beacon signal transmitter includes controlling the transmitter to control transmission into multiple frequency bands in each of multiple sectors of a cell.

44. The method of claim 43 wherein controlling the beacon signal transmitter to transmit into multiple frequency bands includes controlling the transmitter to transmit into at most one frequency band of one sector at any given time at which a beacon signal burst is transmitted.

48. The method of claim 39, further comprising:

receiving a broadcast signal; and

determining beacon signal burst transmission timing as a function of the received broadcast signal.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein said receiver is one of a GPS, GSM and CDMA receiver.

50. The method of claim 48, further comprising:

scanning for different types of broadcast signals which can be used as timing reference signals.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein said scanning is performed based on a predetermined sequence based on at least some geographic location information.

40. A method of transmitting beacon signals, comprising:

operating a beacon signal transmission apparatus comprising a beacon signal transmitter, to transmit a sequence of beacon signal bursts, each beacon signal burst including at least one beacon symbol,

wherein said beacon transmission signal apparatus is a free standing device;

wherein said beacon signal transmission apparatus does not include any transmitter used to transmit data to an individual user device;

controlling transmission of beacon signal bursts to occur according to a predetermined transmission schedule; and

wherein controlling transmission of beacon signal bursts includes controlling the beacon signal transmitter to use a multi-sector antenna to transmit into different sectors at different times.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein controlling the beacon signal transmitter includes controlling the transmitter to transmit into at most one sector at a time.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein controlling the beacon signal transmitter includes controlling the transmitter to transmit into at most one frequency band at a time.

45. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

powering said beacon signal transmitter solely from a battery power source during at least a portion of a time period during which beacon signal bursts are transmitted.

46. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

providing at least some power used to transmit beacon signal burst from a solar power source.

47. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

powering said transmitter from a power source which is independent of a commercial power grid.

52. A beacon signal transmission apparatus, comprising:

beacon signal transmitter means for transmitting a sequence of beacon signal bursts, each beacon signal burst including at least one beacon symbol, said beacon transmission signal apparatus being a free standing device not including any transmitter used to transmit data to an individual user device;

beacon signal transmission control means for controlling transmission of beacon signal bursts; and

wherein said control means include stored control information used to control said beacon signal transmitter means to transmit beacon signal bursts into different frequency bands at different times.

53. The apparatus of claim 52, further comprising:

multi-sector antenna means; and

wherein the control means controls the transmitter means to transmit beacon signal bursts into different sectors at different times.

54. The apparatus of claim 53, wherein the beacon signal transmitter means is controlled to transmit into at most one sector at a time.

55. The apparatus of claim 52, further comprising:

receiver means for receiving a broadcast signal; and

wherein said control means controls beacons signal burst transmission timing as a function of the received broadcast signal.

56. A non-transitory computer readable medium embodying machine executable instructions for controlling a beacon signal transmission apparatus, the non-transitory computer readable medium comprising:

instructions for controlling a beacon signal transmitter included in said beacon signal transmission apparatus to transmit a sequence of beacon signal bursts, each beacon signal burst including at least one beacon symbol;

instructions for controlling transmission of beacon signal bursts to occur according to a predetermined transmission schedule;

wherein controlling transmission of beacon signal bursts includes using stored control information to determine a plurality of frequency bands into which beacon signal bursts are to be transmitted and the time at which said transmission is to occur;

wherein said beacon transmission signal apparatus is a free standing device; and

wherein said beacon signal transmission apparatus does not include any transmitter used to transmit data to an individual user device.

57. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 56,

wherein instructions for controlling the transmitter to transmit beacon signal bursts includes instructions for controlling the transmitter to use a multi-sector antenna to transmit into different sectors at different times.

58. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 57, wherein instructions for controlling the beacon signal transmitter includes instructions for controlling the transmitter to transmit into at most one sector at a time.

59. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 58, wherein instructions for controlling the beacon signal transmitter includes instructions for controlling the transmitter to transmit into at most one frequency band at a time.

60. An apparatus comprising:

a beacon signal transmitter processor configured to;

transmit a sequence of beacon signal bursts, each beacon signal burst including at least one beacon symbol, said apparatus being a free standing device not including any transmitter used to transmit data to an individual user device;

control transmission of beacon signal bursts; and

utilize stored control information to control said apparatus to transmit beacon signal bursts into different frequency bands at different times.

61. The apparatus of claim 60, further comprising a multi-sector antenna, wherein said beacon signal transmitter processor is further configured to:

control the apparatus to transmit beacon signal bursts into different sectors at different times.

62. The apparatus of claim 61, wherein the beacon signal transmitter processor is further configured to transmit into at most one sector at a time.

63. The apparatus of claim 60, wherein said beacon signal transmitter processor is further configured to:

receive a broadcast signal; and

control beacon signal burst transmission timing as a function of the received broadcast signal.