Autonomous adaptation of discovery packet transmission frequency

• US 9,094,778 B2
• Filed: 03/01/2013
• Issued: 07/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/2013
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Zhou, Yan, Abraham, Santosh Paul, Sampath, Hemanth
• Primary Examiner(s): SHIVERS, ASHLEY L
• Application Number:
  US13/782,220
• Publication Number:
  US 20140247819A1
• Time in Patent Office: 879 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1061 using node-based peer discovery mechanisms static access to replicated servers H04L67/1006; service discovery H04L67/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for autonomously adapting a discovery packet (DP) transmission frequency comprises: calculating, by an electronic processor of a device of a plurality of devices in a system, a DP transmission cycle “N”, wherein the calculating further comprises: broadcasting, by the device, its own observed device number in a DP; decoding, by the electronic processor of the device, an observed device number from DPs of each detectable device of the plurality of devices in the system; computing, by the electronic processor of the device, a final observed device number for the system wherein the final observed device number is a maximum (“M”) of its own observed device number and all decoded observed device numbers from DPs of the detectable devices; and based on the computed maximum (“M”), determining, by the electronic processor of the device, the DP transmission cycle “N”.

Claims

1. A method for autonomously adapting a discovery packet (DP) transmission frequency, the method comprising:

calculating a DP transmission cycle “

N”

, wherein the calculating further comprises;

broadcasting, by a device, its own observed device number in a DP;

decoding, by an electronic processor of the device, an observed device number from DPs of each detectable device of a plurality of devices in a system;

computing, by the electronic processor of the device, a final observed device number for the system wherein the final observed device number is a maximum (“

M”

) of its own observed device number and all decoded observed device numbers from DPs of the detectable devices; and

based on the computed maximum (“

M”

), determining, by the electronic processor of the device, the DP transmission cycle “

N”

; and

after the determining of the DP transmission cycle “

N”

, selectively transmitting in a Discovery Interval (DI) based on a random value and a value of 1/N.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after the determining of the DP transmission cycle “

N”

, selecting one DI in every “

N”

DIs for DP transmission.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the selecting further comprises:

randomly selecting one DI and using the same DI in every “

N”

DIs.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining if the device'"'"'s own observed device number is greater than a predetermined threshold in a selected DI; and

if the device'"'"'s own observed device number is greater than the predetermined threshold in the selected DI, randomly reselecting the DI.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the selecting further comprises completely randomly selecting one DI in every “

N”

DIs.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining further comprises calculating the DP transmission cycle “

N”

at the beginning of every X DIs, wherein X is predetermined and is larger than “

N”

.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a social WiFi network.

8. A user device comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memories adapted to store a plurality of machine-readable instructions which when executed by the one or more processors are adapted to cause the user device to;

transmit a Discovery Packet (DP) in one of every “

N”

Discovery Intervals (“

DI”

), wherein the user device is configured to calculate “

N”

, wherein calculating “

N”

further comprises;

broadcasting the user device'"'"'s own observed device number in a DP;

receiving broadcasts from one or more detectable devices in a vicinity of the user device, wherein the broadcasts comprise each detectable device'"'"'s own observed device number in its DP;

computing a final observed device number in the vicinity of the user device, wherein the final observed device number is a maximum (“

M”

) of the user device'"'"'s own observed device number and all the observed device numbers from DPs of the detectable user devices; and

based on the computed maximum (“

M”

), determining “

N”

; and

after the determining of “

N”

, selectively transmit in a DI based on a random value and a value of 1/N.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the plurality of machine-readable instructions which when executed by the one or more processors are adapted to cause the user device to:

after the determining of “

N”

, select one DI in every “

N”

DIs for DP transmission.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the plurality of machine-readable instructions which when executed by the one or more processors are adapted to cause the user device to randomly select one DI and using the same DI in every “

N”

DIs.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the plurality of machine-readable instructions which when executed by the one or more processors are adapted to cause the user device to:

determine if the user device'"'"'s own observed device number is greater than a predetermined threshold in a selected DI; and

if the user device'"'"'s own observed device number is greater than the predetermined threshold in the selected DI, randomly reselect the DI.

12. The device of claim 9, wherein the plurality of machine-readable instructions which when executed by the one or more processors are adapted to cause the user device to completely randomly select one DI in every “

N”

DIs.

13. The device of claim 8, wherein the determining “

N”

further comprises calculating “

N”

at the beginning of every X DI, wherein X is predetermined and is larger than “

N”

.

14. The device of claim 8, wherein the one or more detectable devices in the vicinity of the user device further comprise one or more devices whose DPs are decoded.

15. The device of claim 8, wherein the one or more detectable devices in the vicinity of the user device further comprise one or more devices within a certain distance, a WiFi hotspot or a Bluetooth™

range.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium on which are stored computer readable instructions and, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

decode one or more observed device numbers received, respectively, from one or more detectable devices in a network;

determine a Discovery Packet (DP) transmission cycle “

N”

based on a maximum of an observed device number and all of the one or more observed device numbers received from the one or more detectable devices in the network; and

after the determining of the DP transmission cycle “

N”

, selectively transmitting in a Discovery Interval (DI) based on a random value and a value of 1/N.

17. The medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to increase the determined DP transmission cycle “

N”

when an observed device number received from a detectable device increases.

18. The medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to randomize a DP transmission timing in each cycle of “

N”

DIs.

19. The medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to transmit a DP in one of every “

N”

DIs.

20. The medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to determine “

N”

as a ceiling function of the maximum of the observed device number and all of the one or more observed device numbers received from the one or more detectable devices (“

M”

) over a maximum allowed device number per Discovery Interval (“

Q”

).

21. A wireless communications system comprising:

a plurality of user devices operable in the wireless communications system, wherein at least one of the plurality of user devices is adapted to transmit a Discovery Packet (DP) in one of every “

N”

Discovery Intervals (“

DI”

), wherein the at least one user device is configured to calculate “

N”

, wherein calculating “

N”

further comprises;

broadcasting the at least one user device'"'"'s own observed device number in a DP;

receiving broadcasts from one or more detectable devices in a vicinity of the at least one user device, wherein the broadcasts comprise each detectable device'"'"'s own observed device number in its DP;

computing, by the electronic processor of the at least one user device, a final observed device number for the system wherein the final observed device number is a maximum (“

M”

) of its own observed device number and all decoded observed device numbers from DPs of the detectable devices; and

based on the computed maximum (“

M”

), determining “

N”

; and

after the determining of “

N”

, selectively transmit in a DI based on a random value and a value of 1/N.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the plurality of user devices are detectable by each other such that their DPs are adapted to be decoded by each other.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein after the calculating of “

N”

, the at least one user device is further configured to select one DI in every “

N”

DIs for DP transmission.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the at least one user device is further configured to randomly select one DI and using the same DI in every “

N”

DIs.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least one user device is further configured to:

determine if the at least one user device'"'"'s own observed device number is greater than a predetermined threshold in a selected DI; and

if the at least one user device'"'"'s own observed device number is greater than the predetermined threshold in the selected DI, randomly reselect the DI.

26. The system of claim 21, wherein the at least one user device is further configured to:

calculate “

N”

at a beginning of every X DIs, wherein X is predetermined and is larger than “

N”

.

27. The system of claim 21, wherein the system further comprises a social WiFi network.

28. A method comprising:

decoding, electronically by a processor of a first device, one or more observed device numbers received, respectively, from one or more detectable devices in a network;

determining, electronically by the processor of the first device, a Discovery Packet (DP) transmission cycle “

N”

based on a maximum of an observed device number by the first device compared to all the one or more observed device numbers received from the one or more detectable devices in the network; and

after determining the DP transmission cycle “

N”

, selectively transmitting in a Discovery Interval (DI) based on a random value and a value of 1/N.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising increasing the determined DP transmission cycle “

N”

when an observed device number received from a detectable device increases.

30. The method of claim 28, further comprising randomizing a DP transmission in each cycle of “

N”

DIs.

31. The method of claim 28, further comprising transmitting a DP in one of every “

N”

DIs.

32. The method of claim 28, further comprising determining “

N”

as a ceiling function of the maximum of the observed device number by the first device and all the one or more observed device numbers received from the one or more detectable devices (“

M”

) over a maximum allowed device number per Discovery Interval (“

Q”

).

33. An apparatus operable in a social wireless network, comprising:

means for decoding one or more observed device numbers received, respectively, from one or more detectable devices in the social wireless network;

means for determining a Discovery Packet (DP) transmission cycle “

N”

based on a maximum of an observed device number compared to all the one or more observed device numbers received from the one or more detectable devices in the social wireless network; and

means for selectively transmitting in a Discovery Interval (DI) based on a random value and a value of 1/N after the determining of the DP transmission cycle “

N”

.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, further comprising means for increasing the determined DP transmission cycle “

N”

when an observed device number received from a detectable device increases.

35. The apparatus of claim 33, further comprising means for randomizing a DP transmission in each cycle of “

N”

DIs.

36. The apparatus of claim 33, further comprising means for transmitting a DP in one of every “

N”

DIs.

37. The apparatus of claim 33, further comprising means for determining “

N”

as a ceiling function of the maximum of the observed device number and all the one or more observed device numbers received from the one or more detectable devices (“

M”

) over a maximum allowed device number per Discovery Interval (“

Q”

).