TDMA-based communication method and system with enhanced clock drift resilience
First Claim
1. A TDMA-based communication method for enabling communication between a base station and a client, the base station and the client each comprising a clock for synchronising communications, the method comprising:
- allocating a TDMA channel to said client, the TDMA channel being defined by a sequence of frames, each frame comprising one or more client time slots and one or more respective base time slots, each base time slot beginning in advance of and/or continuing after the respective client time slot;
causing a transceiver of the client to operate in a communication mode during the one or more client time slot making up each frame of said allocated channel and to operate in a sleep mode at other times; and
causing a transceiver of said base station to begin operating in a communication mode with said client during the one or more base time slot(s) making up each frame of said allocated channel, such that when the base station transceiver begins operating in a communication mode said client is expected to be in a sleep mode or when the base station transceiver stops operating in a communication mode said client is expected to be in a sleep mode, wherein a determination that said client is expected to be in a sleep mode comprises taking into account an expected drift of the client clock and/or the base station clock.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A TDMA-based communication method for enabling communication between a base station and a client, the base station and the client each comprising a clock for synchronizing communications, the method comprising: allocating a TDMA channel to said client; causing a transceiver of the client to operate in a communication mode during client timeslots making up said allocated channel and to operate in a sleep mode at other times; causing a transceiver of said base station to begin operating in a communication mode with said client on said channel in advance of each said client timeslot and/or to continue operating in a communication mode with said client after each said client timeslot.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A TDMA-based communication method for enabling communication between a base station and a client, the base station and the client each comprising a clock for synchronising communications, the method comprising:
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allocating a TDMA channel to said client, the TDMA channel being defined by a sequence of frames, each frame comprising one or more client time slots and one or more respective base time slots, each base time slot beginning in advance of and/or continuing after the respective client time slot; causing a transceiver of the client to operate in a communication mode during the one or more client time slot making up each frame of said allocated channel and to operate in a sleep mode at other times; and causing a transceiver of said base station to begin operating in a communication mode with said client during the one or more base time slot(s) making up each frame of said allocated channel, such that when the base station transceiver begins operating in a communication mode said client is expected to be in a sleep mode or when the base station transceiver stops operating in a communication mode said client is expected to be in a sleep mode, wherein a determination that said client is expected to be in a sleep mode comprises taking into account an expected drift of the client clock and/or the base station clock. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A TDMA communications system comprising:
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a base station and a client each comprising a clock for synchronising TDMA communications therebetween, the client comprising a transceiver configured to operate in a communication mode during one or more client time slots making up each frame of an allocated TDMA channel and to operate in a sleep mode at other times; the base station comprising a transceiver configured to operate in a communication mode with said client during one or more base time slots making up each frame of said allocated TDMA channel, wherein a TDMA channel is defined by a sequence of frames, each frame comprising the one or more client time slots and the one or more respective base time slots, the one or more base time slot beginning in advance of and/or continuing after the one or more respective client time slot(s), such that when the transceiver begins operating in a communication mode said client is expected to be in a sleep mode or when the base station transceiver stops operating in a communication mode said client is expected to be in a sleep mode, wherein a determination that said client is expected to be in a sleep mode comprises taking into account an expected drift of the client clock and/or the base station clock.
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20. A base station for a TDMA communications system comprising:
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a base station clock for synchronising TDMA communication with a client; and a transceiver configured to operate in a communication mode with said client during one or more base time slots making up a TDMA channel, the TDMA channel being defined by a sequence of frames, each frame comprising one or more client time slots and the one or more respective base time slots where the one or more base time slot is arranged to begin in advance of the one or more respective client time slot(s) making up said TDMA channel and/or to expire after the one or more respective client time slots, such that when the transceiver begins operating in a communication mode said client is expected to be in a sleep mode and/or when the base station transceiver stops operating in a communication mode said client is expected to be in a sleep mode, wherein a determination that said client is expected to be in a sleep mode comprises taking into account an expected drift of the client clock and/or the base station clock.
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21. A client for a TDMA communications system comprising:
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a client clock for synchronising TDMA communication with a base station; and a transceiver configured to operate in a communication mode during one or more client time slots making up a TDMA channel and to operate in a sleep mode at other times; wherein the TDMA channel is defined by a sequence of frames, each frame comprising the one or more client time slots and one or more a respective base time slots and the one or more client time slot(s) is arranged to begin after the one or more respective base time slot(s) making up said TDMA channel begins and/or to expire before the one or more respective base time slot(s) expires, such that when a transceiver of the base station begins operating in a communication mode said client is expected to be in a sleep mode and/or when the transceiver of the base station transceiver stops operating in a communication mode said client is expected to be in a sleep mode, wherein a determination that said client is expected to be in a sleep mode comprises taking into account an expected drift of the client clock and/or a base station clock.
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Specification