COMMUNICATION APPARATUS AND COMMUNICATION METHOD, COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM

• US 20090238133A1
• Filed: 03/17/2009
• Published: 09/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: SAKODA, Kazuyuki
• Granted Patent: US 8,254,414 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/12 using downlink control channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 56/002 Mutual synchronization
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 Control channels or signalling for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/569 of the traffic information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/085 collision avoidance
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A communication system includes a plurality of communication stations arranged to respectively transmit a beacon on which beacon time information related to a beacon received from a peripheral communication station is placed at a predetermined transmission interval and control a beacon transmission timing of its own station while a collision with the beacon transmitted from the peripheral communication station is avoided on the basis of beacon information placed on the received beacon, in which at least a part of the communication stations includes means configured to decide a priority with respect to beacons received from at least one peripheral communication station and means configured to place beacon time information of a beacon having a high priority among the received beacons on a beacon of its own station, and transmits the beacon at a predetermined transmission interval.

Claims

1. A communication apparatus comprising:

reception means configured to receive a frame including a beacon from a peripheral communication station;

beacon analysis means configured to analyze the beacon received by the reception means;

priority decision means configured to decide a priority with respect to the respective beacons received from the peripheral communication station by the reception means;

beacon generation means configured to generate a beacon on which beacon timing information related to a reception time of a beacon having a high priority among the beacons received from the peripheral communication station is placed;

transmission means configured to transmit a frame including the beacon generated by the beacon generation means;

control means configured to control frame transmission and reception operations performed by the transmission means and the reception means; and

timing control means configured to control frame transmission and reception timings including a beacon transmission timing of its own station while a collision with the beacon transmitted from the peripheral communication station is avoided on the basis of beacon timing information of the peripheral communication station obtained from a result of the beacon analysis performed by the beacon analysis means.

2. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the priority decision means set a high priority, among the beacons received from at least one peripheral communication station, to a beacon whose reception state is changed.

3. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the priority decision means set a high priority, among the beacons received from at least one peripheral communication station, to a beacon whose reception interval is close to the beacon received from another communication station.

4. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the beacon generation means places information on the beacon, indicating whether or not all the reception beacons placed on the current beacon timing information are all the beacons.

5. The communication apparatus according to claim 4,

wherein the control means detects that another reception beacon exists on the basis of the analysis result performed by the beacon analysis means received from the peripheral communication station, and further it is determined that that more pieces of beacon timing information than the information placed on the reception beacon should be obtained, controls a hand shake operation for obtaining all the beacon timing information from a transmission source of the beacon.

6. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the beacon generation means places information on the beacon, indicating whether or not a reception state of the beacon is changed.

7. The communication apparatus according to claim 6,

wherein the control means also detect that the reception state is changed in a transmission source of the beacon on the basis of the analysis result performed by the beacon analysis means received from the peripheral communication station, and further it is determined that that more pieces of beacon timing information than the information placed on the reception beacon should be obtained, controls a hand shake operation for obtaining all the beacon timing information from a transmission source of the beacon.

8. The communication apparatus according to claim 6,

wherein the change in the reception state of the beacon at least includes disappearance of the beacon which has been periodically received thus far, starting of reception of a beacon which has not been observed thus far, change in the transmission interval of the beacon which has been received thus far, and proximity in reception intervals of beacons received from different peripheral communication stations.

9. A communication apparatus comprising:

reception means configured to receive a frame including a beacon from a peripheral communication station;

beacon analysis means configured to analyze the beacon received by the reception means;

beacon generation means configured to generate a beacon on which beacon time information related to the respective beacons received from the peripheral communication station and beacon timing information including a beacon transmission cycle are placed;

transmission means configured to transmit a frame including the beacon generated by the beacon generation means;

control means configured to control frame transmission and reception operations performed by the transmission means and the reception means; and

timing control means configured to control frame transmission and reception timings including a beacon transmission timing of its own station while a collision with the beacon transmitted from the peripheral communication station is avoided on the basis of beacon timing information of the peripheral communication station obtained from a result of the beacon analysis performed by the beacon analysis means,

wherein the control means calculates a frequency of potentially generated beacon collisions on the basis of beacon time information and a beacon transmission cycle of the peripheral communication station which has received the beacon by itself and beacon time information and a beacon transmission cycle related to the peripheral communication station described in the received beacon and performs a processing for avoiding the beacon collisions in its own station and the peripheral communication station in accordance with the frequency of the collisions.

10. The communication apparatus according to claim 9,

wherein the control means calculates the frequency of the potentially generated beacon collisions on the basis of beacon time information and a beacon transmission cycle of the respective peripheral communication stations obtained from the analysis result of the beacon timing information placed on the received beacon, determines a seriousness of the collisions by using the frequency of the collisions as a reference, and performs a processing for requesting a change in the beacon transmission timing to a peripheral communication station determined to have the serious collisions.

11. A communication method comprising the steps of:

receiving a frame including a beacon from a peripheral communication station;

analyzing the beacon received in the reception step;

deciding a priority with respect to the respective beacons received from the peripheral communication station in the reception step;

generating a beacon on which beacon timing information related to a reception time of a beacon having a high priority among the beacons received from the peripheral communication station is placed;

transmitting a frame including the beacon generated in the beacon generation step;

controlling frame transmission and reception operations performed in the transmission step and the reception step; and

controlling frame transmission and reception timings including a beacon transmission timing of its own station while a collision with the beacon transmitted from the peripheral communication station is avoided on the basis of beacon timing information of the peripheral communication station obtained from a result of the beacon analysis performed in the beacon analysis step.

12. A communication method comprising the steps of:

receiving a frame including a beacon from a peripheral communication station;

analyzing the beacon received in the reception step;

generating a beacon on which beacon time information related to the respective beacons received from the peripheral communication station and beacon timing information including a beacon transmission cycle are placed;

transmitting a frame including the beacon generated in the beacon generation step;

controlling frame transmission and reception operations performed in the transmission step and the reception step;

controlling frame transmission and reception timings including a beacon transmission timing of its own station while a collision with the beacon transmitted from the peripheral communication station is avoided on the basis of beacon timing information of the peripheral communication station obtained from a result of the beacon analysis performed in the beacon analysis step; and

calculating a frequency of potentially generated beacon collisions on the basis of beacon time information and a beacon transmission cycle of the peripheral communication station which has received the beacon by itself and beacon time information and a beacon transmission cycle related to the peripheral communication station described in the received beacon and performing a processing for avoiding the beacon collisions in its own station and the peripheral communication station in accordance with the frequency of the collisions.

13. A computer-readable computer program for executing a processing on a computer to operate as a communication station under a communication environment where the respective communication stations operating in an autonomous distributed manner establish a Peer to Peer connection, the program allowing the computer to function as:

reception means configured to receive a frame including a beacon from a peripheral communication station;

beacon analysis means configured to analyze the beacon received by the reception means;

priority decision means configured to decide a priority with respect to the respective beacons received from the peripheral communication station by the reception means;

beacon generation means configured to generate a beacon on which beacon timing information related to a reception time of a beacon having a high priority among the beacons received from the peripheral communication station is placed;

transmission means configured to transmit a frame including the beacon generated by the beacon generation means;

control means configured to control frame transmission and reception operations performed by the transmission means and the reception means; and

timing control means configured to control frame transmission and reception timings including a beacon transmission timing of its own station while a collision with the beacon transmitted from the peripheral communication station is avoided on the basis of beacon timing information of the peripheral communication station obtained from a result of the beacon analysis performed by the beacon analysis means.

14. A computer-readable computer program for executing a processing on a computer to operate as a communication station under a communication environment where the respective communication stations operating in an autonomous distributed manner establish a Peer to Peer connection, the program allowing the computer to function as:

reception means configured to receive a frame including a beacon from a peripheral communication station;

beacon analysis means configured to analyze the beacon received by the reception means;

beacon generation means configured to generate a beacon on which beacon time information related to the respective beacons received from the peripheral communication station and beacon timing information including a beacon transmission cycle are placed;

transmission means configured to transmit a frame including the beacon generated by the beacon generation means;

control means configured to control frame transmission and reception operations performed by the transmission means and the reception means; and

timing control means configured to control frame transmission and reception timings including a beacon transmission timing of its own station while a collision with the beacon transmitted from the peripheral communication station is avoided on the basis of beacon timing information of the peripheral communication station obtained from a result of the beacon analysis performed by the beacon analysis means,

wherein the control means calculates a frequency of potentially generated beacon collisions on the basis of beacon time information and a beacon transmission cycle of the peripheral communication station which has received the beacon by itself and beacon time information and a beacon transmission cycle related to the peripheral communication station described in the received beacon and performs a processing for avoiding the beacon collisions in its own station and the peripheral communication station in accordance with the frequency of the collisions.

15. A communication system comprising a plurality of communication stations arranged to respectively transmit a beacon on which beacon time information related to a beacon received from a peripheral communication station is placed at a predetermined transmission interval and control a beacon transmission timing of its own station while a collision with the beacon transmitted from the peripheral communication station is avoided on the basis of beacon information placed on the received beacon,

wherein at least a part of the communication stations includes means configured to decide a priority with respect to beacons received from at least one peripheral communication station and means configured to place beacon time information of a beacon having a high priority among the received beacons on a beacon of its own station, and transmits the beacon at a predetermined transmission interval.

16. A communication system comprising a plurality of communication stations arranged to respectively transmit a beacon on which beacon time information and a beacon transmission cycle related to a beacon received from a peripheral communication station are placed at a predetermined transmission interval and transmit the beacon in each beacon transmission cycle of its own station while a collision with the beacon transmitted from the peripheral communication station is avoided on the basis of beacon information placed on the received beacon,

wherein at least a part of the communication stations calculates a frequency of potentially generated beacon collisions on the basis of beacon time information and a beacon transmission cycle of the peripheral communication station which has received the beacon by itself and beacon time information and a beacon transmission cycle related to the peripheral communication station described in the received beacon and performs a processing for avoiding the beacon collisions in its own station and the peripheral communication station in accordance with the frequency of the collisions.

17. A communication apparatus comprising:

a reception unit configured to receive a frame including a beacon from a peripheral communication station;

a beacon analysis unit configured to analyze the beacon received by the reception unit;

a priority decision means configured to decide a priority with respect to the respective beacons received from the peripheral communication station by the reception unit;

a beacon generation unit configured to generate a beacon on which beacon timing information related to a reception time of a beacon having a high priority among the beacons received from the peripheral communication station is placed;

a transmission unit configured to transmit a frame including the beacon generated by the beacon generation unit;

a control unit configured to control frame transmission and reception operations performed by the transmission unit and the reception unit; and

a timing control unit configured to control frame transmission and reception timings including a beacon transmission timing of its own station while a collision with the beacon transmitted from the peripheral communication station is avoided on the basis of beacon timing information of the peripheral communication station obtained from a result of the beacon analysis performed by the beacon analysis unit.

18. A communication apparatus comprising:

a reception unit configured to receive a frame including a beacon from a peripheral communication station;

a beacon analysis unit configured to analyze the beacon received by the reception unit;

a beacon generation unit configured to generate a beacon on which beacon time information related to the respective beacons received from the peripheral communication station and beacon timing information including a beacon transmission cycle are placed;

a transmission unit configured to transmit a frame including the beacon generated by the beacon generation unit;

a control unit configured to control frame transmission and reception operations performed by the transmission unit and the reception unit; and

a timing control unit configured to control frame transmission and reception timings including a beacon transmission timing of its own station while a collision with the beacon transmitted from the peripheral communication station is avoided on the basis of beacon timing information of the peripheral communication station obtained from a result of the beacon analysis performed by the beacon analysis means,

wherein the control unit calculates a frequency of potentially generated beacon collisions on the basis of beacon time information and a beacon transmission cycle of the peripheral communication station which has received the beacon by itself and beacon time information and a beacon transmission cycle related to the peripheral communication station described in the received beacon and performs a processing for avoiding the beacon collisions in its own station and the peripheral communication station in accordance with the frequency of the collisions.

19. A communication system comprising a plurality of communication stations arranged to respectively transmit a beacon on which beacon time information related to a beacon received from a peripheral communication station is placed at a predetermined transmission interval and control a beacon transmission timing of its own station while a collision with the beacon transmitted from the peripheral communication station is avoided on the basis of beacon information placed on the received beacon,

wherein at least a part of the communication stations includes a unit configured to decide a priority with respect to beacons received from at least one peripheral communication station and a unit configured to place beacon time information of a beacon having a high priority among the received beacons on a beacon of its own station, and transmits the beacon at a predetermined transmission interval.

20. A communication system comprising a plurality of communication stations arranged to respectively transmit a beacon on which beacon time information and a beacon transmission cycle related to a beacon received from a peripheral communication station are placed at a predetermined transmission interval and transmit the beacon in each beacon transmission cycle of its own station while a collision with the beacon transmitted from the peripheral communication station is avoided on the basis of beacon information placed on the received beacon,

wherein at least a part of the communication stations calculates a frequency of potentially generated beacon collisions on the basis of beacon time information and a beacon transmission cycle of the peripheral communication station which has received the beacon by itself and beacon time information and a beacon transmission cycle related to the peripheral communication station described in the received beacon and performs a processing for avoiding the beacon collisions in its own station and the peripheral communication station in accordance with the frequency of the collisions.