Traffic advertisement and scheduling in a neighbor aware network data link

• US 9,936,479 B2
• Filed: 07/08/2015
• Issued: 04/03/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Patil, Abhishek Pramod, Abraham, Santosh Paul, Raissinia, Alireza, Cherian, George
• Primary Examiner(s): Pancholi, Rina
• Application Number:
  US14/794,785
• Publication Number:
  US 20160014715A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,000 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1607 Details of the supervisory signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0216 using a pre-established activity schedule, e.g. traffic indication frame
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0219 where the power saving management affects multiple terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/005 Transmission of information for alerting of incoming communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/06 using polling
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method includes monitoring, at a first electronic device of a data link, a first wireless network during a first paging window corresponding to an active operating mode of electronic devices of the data link. The method also includes receiving, at the first electronic device, a traffic announcement message from a second electronic device of the data link during the first paging window.

Claims

1. A method of communicating between electronic devices, the method comprising:

synchronizing a clock at a first electronic device of a data link based on a synchronization operation associated with a first wireless network, the first wireless network associated with service discovery and synchronization within a neighbor aware network (NAN), wherein the NAN includes a first group of electronic devices associated with common discovery windows;

monitoring, at the first electronic device, a second wireless network during a first paging window determined based on the synchronized clock, the second wireless network associated with data sharing by at least one service corresponding to the data link, wherein the data link includes a second group of electronic devices associated with common paging windows, and wherein the first group of electronic devices includes the second group of electronic devices; and

receiving, via the second wireless network at the first electronic device, a traffic announcement message from a second electronic device of the data link during the first paging window, wherein a first portion of a first transmission window includes the first paging window, and wherein the traffic announcement message indicates that one or more electronic devices of the data link are scheduled to receive data via the second wireless network during a second portion of the first transmission window.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the traffic announcement message includes a broadcast message.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, at the first electronic device, whether the traffic announcement message identifies the first electronic device as being included in the one or more electronic devices that are scheduled to receive the data.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

maintaining the first electronic device in an active operating mode during the second portion of the first transmission window in response to determining the traffic announcement message identifies the first electronic device as being included in the one or more electronic devices; and

receiving, at the first electronic device, at least a portion of the data from the second electronic device during the second portion of the first transmission window.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

transitioning the first electronic device from an active operating mode to a low-power operating mode during the second portion of the first transmission window in response to determining the traffic announcement message does not identify the first electronic device as being included in the one or more electronic devices; and

transitioning the first electronic device from the low-power operating mode to the active operating mode at a second start time of a second paging window.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising, if the traffic announcement message identifies the first electronic device as as being included in the one or more electronic devices, receiving at least a portion of the data from the second electronic device at the first electronic device via the second wireless network.

7. The method of claim 3, further comprising determining whether a value of a particular bit of a traffic indication map identifies the first electronic device as being included in the one or more electronic devices, the particular bit corresponding to the first electronic device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein a location of the particular bit in the traffic indication map is determined based on an association identification assigned by the second electronic device during an association process between the first electronic device and the second electronic device.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising determining a particular data link via which to receive the data based on an association identification space corresponding to the particular bit.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting an acknowledgement from the first electronic device to the second electronic device in response to receiving the traffic announcement message, wherein the acknowledgement serves as a power save poll (PS-POLL) message.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the acknowledgement is transmitted during an acknowledgement window, wherein a third portion of the first transmission window includes the acknowledgement window, and wherein the acknowledgement window occurs subsequent to the first paging window and prior to the second portion of the first transmission window.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining a duration of a first time period that the second wireless network is idle, the first time period occurring subsequent to transmitting the acknowledgement; and

transitioning the first electronic device from an active operating mode to a low-power operating mode in response to determining the duration of the first time period exceeds a first threshold value.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining a duration of a second time period that the second wireless network is busy, the second time period occurring subsequent to transmitting the acknowledgement; and

transitioning the first electronic device from an active operating mode to a low-power operating mode in response to determining the duration of the second time period exceeds a second threshold value.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

after transmitting the acknowledgement, receiving at least one data frame at the first electronic device from the second electronic device; and

after expiration of a threshold time period, transitioning the first electronic device from an active operating mode to a low-power operating mode in response to determining the second wireless network is idle.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

after transmitting the acknowledgement, receiving at least one data frame at the first electronic device from the second electronic device; and

maintaining the first electronic device in an active operating mode in response to determining one or more bits included in the at least one data frame indicates an additional upcoming data transmission.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting a quality of service null (QoS_NULL) frame from the first electronic device to the second electronic device in response to receiving the traffic announcement message.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the QoS_NULL frame includes a reverse direction grant (RDG) authorizing the second electronic device to transmit a response to the first electronic device within a short interframe space (SIFS) period.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving a data frame from the second electronic device responsive to the QoS_NULL frame; and

maintaining the first electronic device in an active operating mode in response to determining one or more bits included in the data frame indicates an additional upcoming data transmission.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the traffic announcement message identifies the second electronic device as a sender, identifies the first electronic device as being included in the one or more electronic devices, and identifies the second wireless network as a delivery path for first data.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether the first electronic device is included in the one or more electronic devices based on a traffic indication map indicated by the traffic announcement message, wherein a recipient type indicator included in the traffic announcement message has a first value.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether the first electronic device is included in the one or more electronic devices based on a Bloom filter indicated by the traffic announcement message, wherein a recipient type indicator included in the traffic announcement message has a second value.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein determining whether the first electronic device is included in the one or more electronic devices comprises:

determining a set of bit positions in the Bloom filter based on a set of hash functions corresponding to the Bloom filter and based on a media access control (MAC) address of the first electronic device; and

determining whether a bit located at each bit position of the set of bit positions in the Bloom filter has a particular value.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

transmitting an acknowledgement to the second electronic device in response to determining the first electronic device is included in the one or more electronic devices;

maintaining the first electronic device in an active operating mode during the second portion of the first transmission window; and

receiving at least a portion of the data from the second electronic device.

24. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

transmitting an acknowledgement to the second electronic device in response to determining the first electronic device is included in the one or more electronic devices;

maintaining the first electronic device in an active operating mode at a start time of the second portion of the first transmission window;

receiving a negative-acknowledgement (NACK) from the second electronic device; and

transitioning the first electronic device from the active operating mode to a low-power operating mode for a remainder of the second portion of the first transmission window in response to receiving the NACK.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the synchronization operation comprises receiving a synchronization beacon from an electronic device of the NAN via the first wireless network, and wherein the clock is synchronized based on the synchronization beacon.

26. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to synchronizing the clock, performing one or more association operations at the first electronic device with respect to an electronic device of the NAN to cause the first electronic device to join the NAN.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the first wireless network comprises a first wireless channel corresponding to the NAN, and wherein the second wireless network comprises a second wireless channel corresponding to the data link.

28. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the processor to perform operations comprising;

synchronizing a clock at a first electronic device of a data link based on a synchronization operation associated with a first wireless network, the first wireless network associated with service discovery and synchronization within a neighbor aware network (NAN), wherein the NAN includes a first group of electronic devices associated with common discovery windows;

monitoring, at the first electronic device, a second wireless network during a first paging window determined based on the synchronized clock, the second wireless network associated with data sharing by at least one service corresponding to the data link, wherein the data link includes a second group of electronic devices associated with common paging windows, and wherein the first group of electronic devices includes the second group of electronic devices; and

receiving, via the second wireless network at the first electronic device, a traffic announcement message from a second electronic device of the data link during the first paging window, wherein a first portion of a first transmission window includes the first paging window, and wherein the traffic announcement message indicates that one or more electronic devices of the data link are scheduled to receive data via the second wireless network during a second portion of the first transmission window.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the traffic announcement message includes a broadcast message.

30. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the operations further comprise determining, at the first electronic device, whether the traffic announcement message identifies the first electronic device as a recipient of at least a portion of the data.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the operations further comprise:

maintaining the first electronic device in an active operating mode during the second portion of the first transmission window in response to determining the traffic announcement message identifies the first electronic device as the recipient; and

receiving, at the first electronic device, the at least a portion of the data from the second electronic device during the second portion of the first transmission window.

32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the operations further comprise:

transitioning the first electronic device from an active operating mode to a low-power operating mode during the second portion of the first transmission window in response to determining the traffic announcement message does not identify the first electronic device as the recipient; and

transitioning the first electronic device from the low-power operating mode to the active operating mode at a second start time of a second paging window.

33. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the operations further comprise receiving the at least a portion of the data from the second electronic device at the first electronic device via the second wireless network.

34. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the operations further comprise determining whether a value of a particular bit of a traffic indication map identifies the first electronic device as the recipient, the particular bit corresponding to the first electronic device.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein a location of the particular bit in the traffic indication map is determined based on an association identification assigned by the second electronic device during an association process between the first electronic device and the second electronic device.

36. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the operations further comprise determining a particular data link via which to receive the data based on an association identification space corresponding to the particular bit.

37. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the operations further comprise transmitting an acknowledgement from the first electronic device to the second electronic device in response to receiving the traffic announcement message, wherein the acknowledgement serves as a power save poll (PS-POLL) message.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the acknowledgement is transmitted during an acknowledgement window, wherein a third portion of the first transmission window includes the acknowledgement window, and wherein the acknowledgement window occurs subsequent to the first paging window and prior to the second portion of the first transmission window.

39. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a duration of a first time period that the second wireless network is idle, the first time period occurring subsequent to transmitting the acknowledgement; and

transitioning the first electronic device from an active operating mode to a low-power operating mode in response to determining the duration of the first time period exceeds a first threshold value.

40. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a duration of a second time period that the second wireless network is busy, the second time period occurring subsequent to transmitting the acknowledgement; and

transitioning the first electronic device from an active operating mode to a low-power operating mode in response to determining the duration of the second time period exceeds a second threshold value.

41. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the operations further comprise:

after transmitting the acknowledgement, receiving at least one data frame at the first electronic device from the second electronic device; and

after expiration of a threshold time period, transitioning the first electronic device from an active operating mode to a low-power operating mode in response to determining the second wireless network is idle.

42. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the operations further comprise:

after transmitting the acknowledgement, receiving at least one data frame at the first electronic device from the second electronic device; and

maintaining the first electronic device in an active operating mode in response to determining one or more bits included in the at least one data frame indicates an additional upcoming data transmission.

43. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the operations further comprise transmitting a quality of service null (QoS_NULL) frame from the first electronic device to the second electronic device in response to receiving the traffic announcement message.

44. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the QoS_NULL frame includes a reverse direction grant (RDG) authorizing the second electronic device to transmit a response to the first electronic device within a short interframe space (SIFS) period.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a data frame from the second electronic device responsive to the QoS_NULL frame; and

maintaining the first electronic device in an active operating mode in response to determining one or more bits included in the data frame indicates an additional upcoming data transmission.

46. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the traffic announcement message identifies the second electronic device as a sender, identifies the first electronic device as being included in the one or more electronic devices, and identifies the second wireless network as a delivery path for first data.

47. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the operations further comprise determining whether the first electronic device is included in the one or more electronic devices based on a traffic indication map indicated by the traffic announcement message, and wherein a recipient type indicator included in the traffic announcement message has a first value.

48. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the operations further comprise determining whether the first electronic device is included in the one or electronic devices based on a Bloom filter indicated by the traffic announcement message, and wherein a recipient type indicator included in the traffic announcement message has a second value.

49. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein determining whether the first electronic device is included in the one or more electronic devices comprises:

determining a set of bit positions in the Bloom filter based on a set of hash functions corresponding to the Bloom filter and based on a media access control (MAC) address of the first electronic device; and

determining whether a bit located at each bit position of the set of bit positions in the Bloom filter has a particular value.

50. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein the operations further comprise:

transmitting an acknowledgement to the second electronic device in response to determining the first electronic device is included in the one or more electronic devices;

maintaining the first electronic device in an active operating mode during the second portion of the first transmission window; and

receiving a portion of the data from the second electronic device.

51. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein the operations further comprise:

transmitting an acknowledgement to the second electronic device in response to determining the first electronic device is included in the one or more electronic devices;

maintaining the first electronic device in an active operating mode at a start time of the second portion of the first transmission window;

receiving a negative-acknowledgement (NACK) from the second electronic device; and

transitioning the first electronic device from the active operating mode to a low-power operating mode for a remainder of the second portion of the first transmission window in response to receiving the NACK.

52. The apparatus of claim 28, further comprising:

a receiver configured to receive the traffic announcement message via the first wireless network; and

a transmitter configured to transmit an acknowledgement frame to the second electronic device via the second wireless network responsive to receipt of the traffic announcement message at the receiver.

53. An apparatus comprising:

means for synchronizing a clock at a first electronic device of a data link based on a synchronization operation associated with a first wireless network, the first wireless network associated with service discovery and synchronization within a neighbor aware network (NAN), wherein the NAN includes a first group of electronic devices associated with common discovery windows;

means for monitoring, at the first electronic device, a second wireless network during a paging window determined based on the synchronized clock, the second wireless network associated with data sharing by at least one service corresponding to the data link, wherein the data link includes a second group of electronic devices associated with common paging windows, and wherein the first group of electronic devices includes the second group of electronic devices; and

means for receiving, via the second wireless network at the first electronic device, a traffic announcement message from a second electronic device of the data link during the paging window, wherein a first portion of a transmission window includes the paging window, and wherein the traffic announcement message indicates that one or more electronic devices of the data link are scheduled to receive data via the second wireless network during a second portion of the transmission window.

54. The apparatus of claim 53, further comprising means for transmitting an acknowledgement message to the second electronic device via the second wireless network in response to determining the first electronic device is included in the one or more electronic devices.

55. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

synchronize a clock at a first electronic device of a data link based on a synchronization operation associated with a first wireless network, the first wireless network associated with service discovery and synchronization within a neighbor aware network (NAN), wherein the NAN includes a first group of electronic devices associated with common discovery windows

monitor, at the first electronic device, a second wireless network during a paging window determined based on the synchronized clock, the second wireless network associated with data sharing by at least one service corresponding to the data link, wherein the data link includes a second group of electronic devices associated with common paging windows, and wherein the first group of electronic devices includes the second group of electronic devices; and

receive, via the second wireless network at the first electronic device, a traffic announcement message from a second electronic device of the data link during the paging window, wherein a first portion of a transmission window includes the paging window, and wherein the traffic announcement message indicates that one or more electronic devices of the data link are scheduled to receive data via the second wireless network during a second portion of the transmission window.

56. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 55, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to receive at least a portion of the data from the second electronic device during the second portion of the transmission window.