Short packet communication in a powerline communication network
First Claim
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1. A method for transmitting packets, comprising:
- determining to transmit application data from a first network device to a second network device of a powerline communication network;
comparing a length of the application data with a threshold length;
in response to determining that the length of the application data does not exceed the threshold length, selecting a short packet transmission technique to transmit an application data portion of a frame control field of a short packet and a known packet transmission technique to transmit a control information portion of the frame control field of the short packet, wherein the short packet transmission technique includes inserting the application data into the application data portion of the frame control field of the short packet, wherein the known packet transmission technique is supported by a legacy network device on the powerline communication network and the short packet transmission technique is not supported by the legacy network device; and
transmitting the short packet on the powerline communication network.
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Abstract
A network device may transmit a short packet when the length of application data that will be transmitted does not exceed a threshold length. In some embodiments, the network device may transmit the application data in a frame control field of the short packet. The short packet may not include a payload field. In other embodiments, the network device may support multiple short payload field lengths and may transmit the application data in a short payload field with an appropriate short payload field length. The network device may also support communication techniques to transmit the application data in the short packet.
15 Citations
44 Claims
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1. A method for transmitting packets, comprising:
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determining to transmit application data from a first network device to a second network device of a powerline communication network; comparing a length of the application data with a threshold length; in response to determining that the length of the application data does not exceed the threshold length, selecting a short packet transmission technique to transmit an application data portion of a frame control field of a short packet and a known packet transmission technique to transmit a control information portion of the frame control field of the short packet, wherein the short packet transmission technique includes inserting the application data into the application data portion of the frame control field of the short packet, wherein the known packet transmission technique is supported by a legacy network device on the powerline communication network and the short packet transmission technique is not supported by the legacy network device; and transmitting the short packet on the powerline communication network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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8. A first network device comprising:
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a processor; and a memory to store machine executable instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the first network device to; determine to transmit application data to a second network device of a powerline communication network; compare a length of the application data with a threshold length; in response to a determination that the length of the application data does not exceed the threshold length, selecting a short packet transmission technique to transmit an application data portion of a frame control field of a short packet and a known packet transmission technique to transmit a control information portion of the frame control field of the short packet, wherein the short packet transmission technique includes insertion of the application data into the application data portion of the frame control field of the short packet, wherein the known packet transmission technique is supported by a legacy network device on the powerline communication network and the short packet transmission technique is not supported by the legacy network device; and transmit the short packet on the powerline communication network. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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12. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having machine executable instructions stored therein, the machine executable instructions comprising instructions to:
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determine to transmit application data to a second network device of a powerline communication network; compare a length of the application data with a threshold length; in response to a determination that the length of the application data does not exceed the threshold length, selecting a short packet transmission technique to transmit an application data portion of a frame control field of a short packet and a known packet transmission technique to transmit a control information portion of the frame control field of the short packet, wherein the short packet transmission technique includes insertion of the application data into the application data portion of the frame control field of the short packet, wherein the known packet transmission technique is supported by a legacy network device on the powerline communication network and the short packet transmission technique is not supported by the legacy network device; and transmit the short packet on the powerline communication network. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification