METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR REDUCING HEADER INFORMATION IN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

• US 20100246600A1
• Filed: 03/24/2010
• Published: 09/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Rajamani, Krishnan, Das, Soumya
• Granted Patent: US 8,498,280 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/465
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/06 Optimizing the usage of the radio link, e.g. header compression, information sizing , discarding information system modifying transmission characteristic according to link quality by modifying frame length H04L1/0007; dynamic adaptation of the packet size for flow control or congestion control H04L47/365

Abstract

Systems and methods for reducing overhead in a communication system are disclosed. Different frame types are aggregated into an enhanced aggregated frame in response to a determination that the different frames are suitable for transmission within a single reservation period.

Claims

1. A method of communicating information in a communication system, the information comprising a plurality of frames configured for transmission by a transceiver, the method comprising:

identifying at least two frames of different types, each of the at least two frames of different types configured for transmission by a transceiver;

determining the suitability of a first aggregated frame, comprising at least a portion of each of the at least two frames, for transmission by the transceiver within a first time duration; and

formatting the first aggregated frame for transmission by the transceiver, if it is determined that the first aggregated frame is suitable for transmission within the first time duration.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the first aggregated frame using the transceiver, if it is determined that the first aggregated frame is suitable for transmission within the first time duration.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the at least two frames of different types includes a header and a body.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least a portion of each of the at least two frames includes the body of each of the at least two frames.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregated frame further comprises an aggregation header.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregated frame further comprises an altered header for each of the at least a portion of the at least two frames of different types.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein each of the altered headers includes at least one of frame control information, sequence control information, and security information.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least two frames of different types are configured for transmission during separate time durations.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein if the aggregated frame is not suitable for transmission within the first time duration, the method further comprises:

defining a second time duration which is longer than the first time duration, wherein the aggregated frame is suitable for transmission within the second time duration; and

formatting the first aggregated frame for transmission by the transceiver.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein a first frame of the at least two frames of different types includes one of a data frame, a command frame, and a control frame, and a second frame of the at least two frames of different types includes a different one of a data frame, a command frame, and a control frame.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein a first frame, a second frame, and a third frame of the at least two frames of different types include any one of a data frame, a command frame, and a control frame.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising placing at least one of security header information, length information, a frame check sequence, tail bits, and padding bits, with each of the at least a portion of the at least two frames of different types.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining the suitability of the aggregated frame for transmission within the first time duration includes:

determining the length of a header of the first aggregated frame;

determining the length of a body of the first aggregated frame; and

correlating the length of the header and the length of the body with the size of the first time duration.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the body of the first aggregated frame comprises the at least two frames of different types with the altered headers.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining if one of the at least two frames of different types is of a type wherein aggregation is not preferred; and

if one of the at least two frames of different types is of a type wherein aggregation is not preferred, transmitting the at least two frames of different types independently.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining if a network over which the at least two frames of different types are to be transmitted is substantially loaded; and

if the network over which the at least two frames of different types are to be transmitted is not substantially loaded, transmitting the at least two frames of different types independently.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining the suitability of a response message for transmission within the first time duration; and

if the response message is not suitable for transmission within the first time duration, transmitting the at least two frames of different types independently.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a third frame that is configured for transmission by the transceiver;

determining the suitability of a second aggregated frame, comprising at least a portion of each of the at least two frames and at least a portion of the third frame, for transmission by the transceiver within the first time duration; and

placing an altered header with each of the at least a portion of the at least two frames and the at least a portion of the third frame, if the second aggregated frame is suitable for transmission within the first time duration.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the third frame has a type which is different from the types of the at least two frames of different types.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least two frames represent at least one of voice, video, and data representing a physical object or substance.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the time duration includes at least one medium access slot.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication method includes a wireless communication method.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of frames include WiMedia MAC frames.

24. A communication device configured to communicate information comprising:

a plurality of frames configured for transmission by a transmitter, each frame of the plurality of frames including a header and a body, and the plurality of frames including at least two frames of different types;

a processor configured to determine the suitability of a first aggregated frame, the first aggregated frame including a header, a body, and at least a portion of each of the at least two frames of different types, for transmission within a first time duration; and

a message formatter configured to format the first aggregated frame for transmitting, if the processor determines that the first aggregated frame is suitable for transmission within the first time duration.

25. The device of claim 24, wherein if the processor determines that the first aggregated frame is not suitable of being transmitted within the first time duration, the processor is configured to:

determine the suitability of the first aggregated frame for transmission within an extended time duration which is longer than the first time duration, and

if the processor determines that the first aggregated frame is suitable of being transmitted within the extended time duration, the message formatter is further configured to format the first aggregated frame for transmission by the transmitter.

26. The device of claim 24, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit the first aggregated frame during the extended time duration.

27. The device of claim 24, wherein the message formatter is further configured to place an altered header with each of the at least a portion of the at least two frames of different types in the first aggregated frame.

30. The device of claim 24, wherein a first frame of the at least two frames of different types comprises one of a data frame, a command frame, and a control frame, and a second frame of the at least two frames of different types comprises a different one of a data frame, a command frame, and a control frame.

31. The device of claim 24, wherein a first frame, a second frame, and a third frame of the at least two frames of different types comprise any one of a data frame, a command frame, and a control frame.

32. The device of claim 24, wherein the message formatter is configured to place at least one of security header information, length information, a frame check sequence, tail bits and padding bits, with each of the at least a portion of the at least two frames of different types.

33. The device of claim 24, wherein the processor is configured to, when the processor determines the suitability of the first aggregated frame for transmission within the first time duration:

determine the length of the header of the first aggregated frame;

determine the length of the body of the first aggregated frame; and

correlate the length of the header of the first aggregated frame and the length of the body of the first aggregated frame with the size of the first time duration.

34. The device of claim 24, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine whether at least one of the at least two frames of different types is of a type wherein aggregation is not preferred; and

if the processor determines that the at least one of the at least two frames of different types is of a type wherein aggregation is not preferred, the message formatter is further configured to format the at least two frames of different types for independent transmission.

35. The device of claim 24, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine if a network over which the at least two frames of different types are to be transmitted is substantially loaded; and

if the processor determines that the network over which the at least two frames of different types are to be transmitted is not substantially loaded, the message formatter is further configured to format the at least two frames of different types for independent transmission.

36. The device of claim 24, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine the suitability of a response message for transmission within the first time duration; and

if the processor determines that the response message is not able to be transmitted within the first time duration, the message formatter is further configured to format the at least two frames of different types for independent transmission.

37. The device of claim 24, wherein the plurality of frames represents at least one of voice, video, and data representing a physical object or substance.

38. The device of claim 24, wherein the time duration includes at least one medium access slot.

39. The device of claim 24, wherein the communication device includes a wireless communication device.

40. The device of claim 24, wherein the plurality of frames include WiMedia MAC frames.

41. The device of claim 24, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit the first aggregated frame during the first time duration.

42. The device of claim 24, wherein the at least two frames of different types are configured for transmission during different time durations.

28. The device of claim 28, wherein the body of the first aggregated frame comprises the at least a portion of each of the at least two frames of different types with the altered headers.

29. The device of claim 28, wherein each of the altered headers includes at least one of frame control information, sequence control information, and security information.

43. A method of communicating information in a communication system, the information comprising a plurality of frames, the method comprising:

determining the suitability of at least two frames of different types for transmission by a transceiver within a first time duration, wherein each frame comprises a header and a body; and

if the at least two frames of different types are suitable for transmission within the first time duration, formatting the at least two frames of different types for transmission by the transceiver within the first time duration.

44. The method of claim 44, wherein the method further comprises:

if the at least two frames are not suitable for transmission within the first time duration,

determining the suitability of the at least two frames of different types for transmission within a second time duration which is longer than the first time duration; and

if the at least two frames of different types are suitable for transmission within the second time duration, formatting the at least two frames of different types for transmission by the transceiver within the second time duration.

45. A computer program product for communicating information in a communication system, the information comprising a plurality of frames, the computer program product comprising:

computer-readable medium including code for;

causing a computer to identify at least two frames of different types configured to be transmitted by a transceiver, wherein each frame comprises a header and a body;

causing the computer to determine the suitability of a first aggregated frame, the first aggregated frame comprising at least a portion of each of the at least two frames, for transmission by the transceiver within a first time duration;

causing the computer to format the aggregated frame for transmission by the transceiver, if it is determined that the aggregated frame is suitable for transmission within the first time duration; and

causing the computer to place an altered header with each of the at least a portion of the at least two frames of different types.

46. A communication device configured to communicate information, the device comprising:

means for transmitting a plurality of frames, wherein each frame of the plurality of frames includes a header and a body, and the plurality of frames includes at least two frames of different types;

means for determining the suitability of an aggregated frame comprising at least a portion of each of the at least two frames of different types for transmission within a first time duration; and

means for formatting the first aggregated frame for transmission by the transmitting means, if it is determined that the first aggregated frame is suitable for transmission within the first time duration.