METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR A MOBILE, BROADBAND, ROUTABLE INTERNET

• US 20090252134A1
• Filed: 04/03/2009
• Published: 10/08/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: POWERWAVE COGNITION, INC.
• Original Assignee: POWERWAVE COGNITION, INC.
• Inventors: Atwal, Peter, Copeland, Gregory Clark, Mishra, Rajesh K., Seidel, Scott Y., Schlicht, Ludger, Smith, Jeffrey E., Pataca, Victor M. T.
• Granted Patent: US 8,060,017 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0002 by adapting the transmission rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0003 by switching between different modulation schemes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0009 by adapting the channel coding H04L1/1812 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0015 characterised by the adaptation strategy
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/0097 Relays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/123 Evaluation of link metrics techniques for monitoring network metrics H04L43/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/308 Route determination based on user's profile, e.g. premium users
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/18 Network planning tools
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/08 based on transmission power
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/20 based on geographic position or location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/22 with access to wired networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for a mobile broadband routable internet (MBRI) providing for carrier-grade, networked, broadband, IP-routable communication among a plurality of mobile devices, where the mobile devices may represent a plurality of nodes that are linked together through a mobile ad-hoc network (MANET). Mobile devices may operate as peers in a peer-to-peer network, with full IP routing capabilities enabled within each mobile device, thereby allowing routing of IP-based traffic, including deployment of applications, to the mobile device without need for infrastructure conventionally required for mobile ad hoc networks, such as cellular telephony infrastructure. Full IP-routing to mobile devices may allow seamless integration to the fixed Internet, such as through fixed or mobile access points, such as for backhaul purposes. Thus, the MBRI may function as a standalone mobile Internet, without connection to the fixed Internet, or as an IP-routable extension of another network, whether it be the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network, a cellular network, a personal area network, or some other type of network that is capable of integration with an IP-based network.

Claims

1-401. -401. (canceled)

402. A computer program product embodied in a computer readable medium that, when executing on one or more computers, operates a mobile ad hoc network (MANET) by performing the steps of:

providing a mobile, broadband, routable internet (MBRI), in which a plurality of mobile devices interact as nodes in the MANET and in which packets are IP routable to the individual device independent of fixed infrastructure elements, wherein the nodes provide functional interaction with other nodes within the MANET to enhance MBRI operability.

403. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is the use of dynamic adaptation of the operating spectrum and disseminating spectrum access decisions through use of a logical control channel.

404. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is by adjusting transmit power levels.

405. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is adapting link data rate.

406. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is to transport multimedia, multi-session application data by providing a hybrid TDMA slot structure that contains a plurality of slot lengths and slot widths forming logical sub-channels.

407. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is peer-to-peer communications support.

408. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is support for multiple transmission channel access structure types.

409. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is a facility to allow the nodes to gracefully enter and exit the MANET and to retrieve their IP addresses upon first time entry into the MANET.

410. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is providing logical layer to physical layer segmentation and reassembly functions to pack control and data payload efficiently in the air interface payload time slots and frequency segments or sub-channels.

411. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is providing MAC level algorithms that warrant statistical fairness amongst all cooperating nodes within a particular access point domain for access to payload transmission time slots and frequency segments or sub-channels within the access point domain.

412. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is providing facilities to simultaneously support unicast and multicast data streams peer-to-peer, peer-to-network, and network-to-peer in the MANET.

413. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is providing remote download capabilities for seamless upgrade of node and access point software during MANET operations.

414. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is providing logical layer and data link layer control functions and algorithms that set a node transmit power level for at least one payload characteristic.

415. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is providing load level peer-to-network traffic amongst the available backhaul access points through traffic based link scheduling within access point domains and across domains that subtend a backhaul access point.

416. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is providing node level metrics that use neighbor RF information and link level routing information to allow nodes to asynchronously optimize for the maximum throughput and transmit opportunities within an access point domain on a per slot schedule basis.

417. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is providing at least one of signaling, network routing, link scheduling, and slot scheduling intelligence to allow the node to self-route and self-manage air interface resources.

418. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is providing differentiated quality of service in the MBRI through prioritization.

419. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is dividing application data into smaller fragments for transmission over the MBRI, including a timer to eliminate partial fragments when one of the fragments is lost or delayed beyond a tolerable amount.

420. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is using a waveform definition in association with the MBRI physical layer, wherein each piece of configuration information is defined independently on pairs of consecutive slots such that there is complete independence, and specifying the waveform parameters in a manner that allows implementation of an adaptive modulation capability.

421. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is exchanging data-link control messages to develop and maintain neighborhood and RF environmental information for all one-hop and two-hop lists of nodes within direct communication range of the first node, and making routing, adaptive data rate, and modulation decisions based on the information in at least one of the one-hop list and two-hop list.

422. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is computing a TDMA schedule in a distributed manner in a plurality of nodes that avoids collisions between transmissions and provides statistically fair channel access, providing a capability to reallocate channel access to a subset of the plurality of nodes within the network topology, and commanding a modem to communicate according to the computed schedule.

423. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is providing enhanced support for simultaneous transport of various multimedia, multi-session applications, using dynamic spectrum awareness to manage traffic based on channel conditions, enabling co-sharing between non-cooperative spectrum users, and coordinating between cooperative systems.

424. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is dynamically adjusting operating frequency to match temporal and spatial spectrum availability.

425. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is to improve quality of service by providing flexible transport capabilities.

426. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is coordinating node transmissions across multiple channels.

427. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is providing at least two layers of forward error correction on long data packets to improve data transmission.

428. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is adapting selected routes based on anticipated future position of mobile network nodes.

429. The computer program product of claim 428, wherein the adapting is based on interpretation of the rate of change of certain link state variables.

430. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is providing degrees of freedom in pre-selecting real estate locations and allowing MBRI'"'"'s self forming, self healing properties to provide coverage solutions.

431. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is providing distributed data services.

432. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is storing data segments across a plurality of nodes as a distributed data store.

433. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is providing hash maps for data stores, where the hash maps permit the real-time creation of database schemas.

434. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is providing low latency data delivery.

435. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is providing incremental scaling of distributed data capacity as additional nodes join the network, where additional nodes provide a net increase in available processing power to deliver data services across the network.

436. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is delivering local node-by-node intelligence, where intelligence is implemented in association with at least one application.

437. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is providing cooperative processing.

438. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is providing a native-IP context, where the native-IP context is indistinguishable from fixed IP networks.

439. The computer program product of claim 402, wherein the functional interaction is using nodes to serve Internet web applications directly to other nodes in a peer-to-peer fashion.

440. A computer program product embodied in a computer readable medium that, when executing on one or more computers, operates a mobile ad hoc network (MANET) by performing the steps of:

providing a mobile, broadband, routable internet, in which a plurality of mobile devices interact as nodes in the MANET and in which packets are IP routable to the individual device independent of fixed infrastructure elements; and

providing an adaptive transmit power control facility for a device within the network, the adaptive transmit power control facility adapted to adjust transmission power of the device based on at least one of the density of proximate devices in the network, the condition of a neighboring device on the network, a channel condition of the network, a service level condition, a network performance condition, an environmental condition of the device and an application requirement of the device.

441. A computer program product embodied in a computer readable medium that, when executing on one or more computers, operates a mobile ad hoc network (MANET) by performing the steps of:

providing a mobile, broadband, routable internet, in which a plurality of mobile devices interact as nodes in the MANET and in which packets are IP routable to each of the devices independent of fixed infrastructure elements; and

applying swarm intelligence to determine at least some parts of at least some routes through the mobile, broadband, routable internet.