Methods and apparatus for reduced energy communication in an ad hoc network

• US 20060229083A1
• Filed: 05/22/2006
• Published: 10/12/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Raytheon BBN Technlogies Corp. (Rtx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: BBN Technologies (Rtx Corporation)
• Inventors: Redi, Jason Keith
• Granted Patent: US 8,145,201 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/453
• 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 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

The invention relates to communications devices for reduced energy communications in an ad hoc network. The communication device includes a first low-powered transceiver for initiating communications with other communications devices and a second transceiver for transmitting data messages to the other communications devices once communication is initiated. The communication device also includes a communications control processor for determining times at which the other communications devices will be available to receive communications based on scheduling data received from those communication devices. The communications control processor can also take into account requests for reserved bandwidth.

Claims

1. A method of reserving wireless communication bandwidth comprising:

transmitting, by a first node, scheduling data sufficient for a receiving node to predict times at which the first node will be available to receive wireless communications;

transmitting, by the first node, second scheduling data sufficient for the receiving node to predict times at which the first node will be available to receive wireless communications only from an identified set of nodes.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first node is in the set of nodes.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of nodes includes only one node.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of nodes includes a plurality of nodes.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the set of nodes is defined by a network address mask.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first node, the receiving node, and the nodes in the set of nodes share a common pseudorandom number generator for predicting the times based on the first and second scheduling data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first scheduling data comprises a first value corresponding to the percentage of time that the first node will be available for receiving wireless communications.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein second scheduling data includes a second value corresponding to a percentage of time which is less than the first value.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first node, the receiving node, and the nodes in the set of nodes share a common pseudorandom number generator for predicting the times based on the first and second scheduling data.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first node is available to receive wireless communications from only the set of nodes if the output of the pseudorandom number generator, using at least a portion of the scheduling data as an input, is less than the second value.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the first node is available to receive wireless communications from any node the output of the pseudorandom number generator, using at least a portion of the scheduling data as an input, is greater than the second value but less than the first value.

12. The method of claim 1, comprising:

transmitting by the first node a wireless communication to a third node requesting the third node to reserve bandwidth for receiving wireless communication from the first node.

13. The method of claim 1, comprising:

determining, by the first node, the second scheduling data based on a request to reserve a specified bandwidth for wireless transmission from nodes in the set of nodes.

14. A method of communication over an ad hoc network, comprising:

receiving at a first node scheduling data from a second node sufficient to predict when the first node will be available to receive wireless communications;

receiving at the first node second scheduling data sufficient to determine times at which the first node is to refrain from transmitting wireless communications capable of interfering with wireless communications from a set of nodes to the second node, thereby reserving bandwidth of the second node to receive wireless communication from the set of nodes.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the scheduling data comprises a seed value for a pseudorandom number generator.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the scheduling data comprises a cycle state for generating an output from a pseudorandom number generator.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the second scheduling data comprises a reservation threshold.

18. The method of claim 17, comprising comparing an output from a pseudorandom number generator, based at least in part on the scheduling data, with the reservation threshold.

19. The method of claim 18, comprising, in response to determining that the output of the pseudorandom number generator is less than the reservation threshold, transmitting a data packet.

20. The method of claim 18, comprising, in response to determining that the output of the pseudorandom number generator is greater than the reservation threshold, refraining from transmitting a data packet.

21. The method of claim 14, comprising transmitting a message at a reduced power level to avoid interfering with the second node receiving communications from a node in the set of nodes.

22. The method of claim 14, comprising transmitting via a directional antenna to avoid interfering with the second node receiving communications from a node in the set of nodes.

23. The method of claim 14, wherein the second scheduling data includes an identifier corresponding to a set of nodes allowed to transmit data packets during reserved time slots.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the identifier comprises a network address mask.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the identifier comprises one of a MAC address and an IP address.