WIRELESS COMMUNICATION METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS

• US 20130083722A1
• Filed: 06/03/2011
• Published: 04/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Board of Regents of the University of Texas System (University of Texas System)
• Original Assignee: Board of Regents of the University of Texas System (University of Texas System)
• Inventors: Bhargava, Vidur, Vishwanath, Sriram, Jose, Jubin
• Granted Patent: US 9,148,908 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/315
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/345 Interference values signal-to-interference ratio [SIR] or carrier-to-interference ratio [CIR] H04B17/336
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/373 Predicting channel quality or other radio frequency [RF] parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/15507 Relay station based processing for cell extension or control of coverage area, network planning with network coordinated processing with regard to cell extension H04W16/26; network topologies using dedicated repeater stations H04W84/047; terminal devices adapted for relaying to or from an other terminal H04W88/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2606 Arrangements for base station coverage control, e.g. by using relays in tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0057 Physical resource allocation for CQI
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/021 in wireless networks with changing topologies, e.g. ad-hoc networks self-organizing networks H04W84/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/12 based on transmission quality or channel quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0209 in terminal devices terminal devices per se H04W88/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/245 taking into account received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/343 taking into account loading or congestion level
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/46 in multi hop networks, e.g. wireless relay networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/542 using measured or perceived quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0816 with collision avoidance
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/047 using dedicated repeater stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method, wireless device and computer program product for expanding the coverage of a cellular network. A wireless device (e.g., cellular telephone) is able to communicate with a base station in a cell of the cellular network over a non-cellular interface via another wireless device in the cell through the use of multi-hopping. A wireless device may request permission to communicate with the base station over a non-cellular interface via hopping off another wireless device when its signal strength is below a threshold. Alternatively, a wireless device may receive a request to communicate with the base station over a non-cellular interface via hopping off the wireless device that sent the request when that wireless device has excess capacity in its bandwidth with the base station. By enabling wireless devices to communicate with a base station in such a manner, the effective coverage area of the cellular network is expanded and the effective capacity of the cellular network is improved.

Claims

1-125. -125. (canceled)

126. A method of conveying data on a cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network, the method comprising:

determining, in a first relay cellular device, that the first relay cellular device will make itself available as a relay for other cellular devices in a cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network;

in response to determining that the first relay cellular device will make itself available as a relay, transmitting, from a non-cellular interface of the first relay cellular device, a first node-state signal indicating the availability of the first relay cellular device as a relay for other cellular devices in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network;

receiving, with a non-cellular interface of an originating cellular device, the first node-state signal transmitted from the first relay cellular device;

determining, in the originating cellular device, based on the first node-state signal that the originating cellular device will wirelessly connect to a base station of a cellular network via the first relay cellular device in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network; and

in response to determining that the originating cellular device will wirelessly connect to the base station of the cellular network via the first relay cellular device;

transmitting uplink data, for transmission to the base station, from the originating cellular device via the first relay cellular device;

or

receiving downlink data, from the base station, at the originating cellular device via the first relay cellular device.

127. The method of claim 126, wherein the step of determining that the originating cellular device will wirelessly connect to the base station of the cellular network via the first relay cellular device in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network comprises:

sensing with the originating cellular device a first cellular signal strength of the base station;

sensing with the originating cellular device a second cellular signal strength of another base station; and

based on a comparison of the first cellular signal strength and the second cellular signal strength, determining, in the originating cellular device, that the originating cellular device will wirelessly connect to the base station of the cellular network via the first relay cellular device in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network.

128. The method of claim 126, comprising:

determining, in a second relay cellular device, that the second relay cellular device will make itself available as a relay for other cellular devices in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network;

in response to determining that the second relay cellular device will make itself available as a relay, transmitting, from a non-cellular interface of the second relay cellular device, a second node-state signal indicating the availability of the second relay cellular device as a relay for other cellular devices in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network;

receiving, with the non-cellular interface of the originating cellular device, the second node-state signal transmitted from the second relay cellular device; and

wherein the step of determining that the originating cellular device will wirelessly connect to the base station of the cellular network via the first relay cellular device comprises comparing, in the originating cellular device, information based on the first node-state signal and information based on the second node-state signal to select between the first relay cellular device and the second relay cellular device.

129. The method of claim 128, comprising:

sensing, in the originating cellular device, a deterioration in a wireless connection between the originating cellular device and the first relay cellular device or a deterioration in a wireless connection between the first relay cellular device and the base station; and

determining, in the originating cellular device, based on the sensed deterioration that the originating cellular device will wirelessly connect to the base station of the cellular network via the second relay cellular instead of the first relay cellular device.

130. The method of claim 126, wherein the step of determining, in the first relay cellular device, that the first relay cellular device will make itself available as a relay for other cellular devices in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network comprises the first relay cellular device determining to make itself available as a relay based on:

a value indicative of a cellular signal strength of cellular signals from the base station at the first relay cellular device;

a value indicative of a cellular signal quality of cellular signals from the base station at the first relay cellular device;

node-state signals received from other cellular devices in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network at the first relay cellular device;

a value indicative of a non-cellular signal strength of non-cellular signals from the originating cellular device at the first relay cellular device;

a value indicative of a non-cellular signal quality of non-cellular signals from the originating cellular device at the first relay cellular;

a value indicative of a price for cellular service paid by a user associated with the first relay cellular device;

a value indicative of an amount of energy stored by the first relay cellular device;

a type of power source of the first relay cellular device;

a number of antennas coupled to a cellular-interface of the first relay cellular device;

a value indicative of movement of the first relay cellular device;

a value indicative of the time of day;

a value indicative of a number of hops between the base station and the first relay cellular device; and

a value indicative of an amount of available bandwidth for wireless communication with the base station from the first relay cellular device.

131. The method of claim 126, wherein the step of determining, in the originating cellular device, based on the first node-state signal that the originating cellular device will wirelessly connect to a base station of a cellular network via the first relay cellular device in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network comprises:

extracting from the first node-state signal a first cellular signal strength, the first cellular signal strength quantifying a strength of cellular signals from the base station at the first relay cellular device or a sink cellular device through which the first relay cellular device wirelessly connects to the base station;

measuring a second cellular signal strength at the originating cellular device; and

determining that the first cellular signal strength is greater than the second cellular signal strength by more than a threshold amount.

132. The method of claim 126, comprising:

determining, in a sink cellular device, that the sink cellular device will make itself available as a sink for other cellular devices in a cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network; and

in response to determining that the sink cellular device will make itself available as a sink, transmitting, from a non-cellular interface of the sink cellular device, a third node-state signal, wherein the third node-state signal comprises data indicative of;

the availability of the sink cellular device as a sink;

a signal strength of cellular signals from the base station at the sink cellular device;

a signal quality of cellular signals from the base station at the sink cellular device;

an identity of a cellular network carrier operating the base station;

a number of antennas coupled to a cellular-interface of the sink cellular device;

movement of the sink cellular device;

a type of power source of the sink cellular device; and

a non-cellular transmit power of the sink cellular device.

133. The method of claim 132, wherein:

the step of determining, in the first relay cellular device, that the first relay cellular device will make itself available as a relay for other cellular devices in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network comprises;

receiving, with the non-cellular interface of the first relay cellular device, the third node-state signal transmitted from the sink cellular device;

determining, in the first relay cellular device, based on the third node-state signal that the first relay cellular device will wirelessly connect to the base station of the cellular network via the sink cellular device in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network; and

the step of transmitting, from the non-cellular interface of the first relay cellular device, the first node-state signal indicating the availability of the first relay cellular device as a relay for other cellular devices in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network comprises transmitting, in the first node-state signal, data indicative of;

a number of hops between the first relay cellular device and the base station;

a signal strength of cellular signals from the base station at the sink cellular device;

a signal quality of cellular signals from the base station at the sink cellular device;

an identity of a cellular network carrier operating the base station;

a number of antennas coupled to a cellular-interface of the sink cellular device;

movement of the sink cellular device;

a type of power source of the first relay cellular device;

a type of power source of the sink cellular device; and

a non-cellular transmit power of the first relay cellular device.

134. The method of claim 126, comprising transmitting the uplink data, wherein the step of transmitting uplink data, for transmission to the base station, from the originating cellular device via the first relay cellular device comprises:

obtaining in the originating cellular device a security key based on a cellular-security identifier associated with the originating cellular device, wherein the security key is received from the cellular network associated with the base station;

encrypting with the originating cellular device the uplink data for transmission to the base station with the security key to form encrypted data;

transmitting the encrypted data via the non-cellular interface of the originating cellular device to the non-cellular interface of the first relay cellular device; and

transmitting the encrypted data via a cellular interface of the first relay cellular device to the base station.

135. The method of claim 126, wherein the step of transmitting, from the non-cellular interface of the first relay cellular device, the first node-state signal indicating the availability of the first relay cellular device as a relay for other cellular devices in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network comprises broadcasting the first node-state signal periodically as a beacon frame.

136. A method of conveying data on a cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network, the method comprising:

determining, in a sink cellular device, that the sink cellular device will make itself available as a sink for other cellular devices in a cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network; and

in response to determining that the sink cellular device will make itself available as a sink, transmitting, from a non-cellular interface of the sink cellular device, a first node-state signal indicating the availability of the sink cellular device as a sink for other cellular devices in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network.

137. The method of claim 136, wherein the step of determining, in the sink cellular device, that the sink cellular device will make itself available as a sink for other cellular devices in a cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network comprises:

sensing with the sink cellular device a first cellular signal strength of a base station;

sensing with the sink cellular device a second cellular signal strength of another base station; and

based on a comparison of the first cellular signal strength and the second cellular signal strength, determining, in the sink cellular device, that the sink cellular device will make itself available as a sink for other cellular devices in a cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network.

138. The method of claim 136, wherein the step of transmitting, from the non-cellular interface of the sink cellular device, the first node-state signal indicating the availability of the sink cellular device as a sink for other cellular devices in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network comprises transmitting, in the first node-state signal, data indicative of:

a signal strength of cellular signals from the base station at the sink cellular device;

a signal quality of cellular signals from the base station at the sink cellular device;

an identity of a cellular network carrier operating the base station;

a number of antennas coupled to a cellular-interface of the sink cellular device;

movement of the sink cellular device;

a type of power source of the sink cellular device;

or

a non-cellular transmit power of the sink cellular device.

139. The method of claim 136, wherein the step of determining, in the sink cellular device, that the sink cellular device will make itself available as a sink for other cellular devices in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network comprises the sink cellular device determining to make itself available as a sink based on:

a value indicative of a cellular signal strength of cellular signals from the base station at the sink cellular device;

a value indicative of a cellular signal quality of cellular signals from the base station at the sink cellular device;

node-state signals received from other cellular devices in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network at the sink cellular device;

a value indicative of a price for cellular service paid by a user associated with the sink cellular device;

a value indicative of an amount of energy stored by the sink cellular device;

a type of power source of the sink cellular device;

a number of antennas coupled to a cellular-interface of the sink cellular device;

a value indicative of movement of the sink cellular device;

a value indicative of the time of day;

or

a value indicative of an amount of available bandwidth for wireless communication with the base station from the sink cellular device.

140. The method of claim 136, wherein the step of transmitting, from the non-cellular interface of the sink cellular device, the first node-state signal indicating the availability of the sink cellular device as a sink for other cellular devices in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network comprises broadcasting the first node-state signal periodically as a beacon frame.

141. The method of claim 136, comprising:

receiving, with a non-cellular interface of a first originating cellular device, the first node-state signal transmitted from the sink cellular device;

determining, in the first originating cellular device, based on the first node-state signal that the first originating cellular device will wirelessly connect to a base station of a cellular network via the sink cellular device in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network; and

in response to determining that the first originating cellular device will wirelessly connect to the base station of the cellular network via the sink cellular device;

transmitting uplink data, for transmission to the base station, from the first originating cellular device via the sink cellular device;

or

receiving downlink data, from the base station, at the first originating cellular device via the sink cellular device.

142. The method of claim 136, comprising:

encrypting downlink data with a security key associated with an originating cellular device to form encrypted downlink data;

transmitting the encrypted downlink data from the base station to a cellular interface of the sink cellular device;

receiving the encrypted downlink data with the cellular interface of the sink cellular device;

transmitting the encrypted downlink data from the non-cellular interface of the sink cellular device to the non-cellular interface of the originating cellular device;

decrypting, in the originating cellular device, the encrypted downlink data with the security key; and

presenting at least a portion of the downlink data to a user of the originating cellular device.

143. The method of claim 136, comprising:

receiving, with a non-cellular interface of a relay cellular device, the first node-state signal transmitted from the sink cellular device;

determining, in the relay cellular device, based on the first node-state signal that the relay cellular device will wirelessly connect to a base station of a cellular network via the sink cellular device in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network; and

in response to determining that the relay cellular device will wirelessly connect to the base station of the cellular network via the sink cellular device, transmitting, from the non-cellular interface of the relay cellular device, a second node-state signal indicating the availability of the relay cellular device as a relay via the sink cellular device for other cellular devices in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network.

144. The method of claim 143, wherein the step of transmitting, from the non-cellular interface of the relay cellular device, the second node-state signal indicating the availability of the relay cellular device as a relay for other cellular devices in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network comprises transmitting, in the second node-state signal, data indicative of:

a number of hops between the relay cellular device and the base station;

a signal strength of cellular signals from the base station at the sink cellular device;

a signal quality of cellular signals from the base station at the sink cellular device;

an identity of a cellular network carrier operating the base station;

a number of antennas coupled to a cellular-interface of the sink cellular device;

movement of the sink cellular device;

a type of power source of the relay cellular device;

a type of power source of the sink cellular device;

or

a non-cellular transmit power of the relay cellular device.

145. The method of claim 143, comprising:

receiving, with a non-cellular interface of an originating cellular device, the second node-state signal transmitted from the relay cellular device;

determining, in the originating cellular device, based on the second node-state signal that the originating cellular device will wirelessly connect to the base station of the cellular network via the relay cellular device in the cellular and multi-hop, non-cellular network; and

in response to determining that the originating cellular device will wirelessly connect to the base station of the cellular network via the relay cellular device;

transmitting uplink data, for transmission to the base station, from the originating cellular device via the relay cellular device;

or

receiving downlink data, from the base station, at the originating cellular device via the relay cellular device.

146. A method of signaling to other wireless devices the availability of a wireless device to relay signals in a multi-hop non-cellular network, the method comprising:

obtaining, at a relaying device, a cellular-signal value indicative of the quality of cellular signals at a gateway device through which the relaying cellular device exchanges uplink data or downlink data with a cellular base station, the relaying cellular device and the gateway cellular device each having a cellular interface and a non-cellular interface;

obtaining a hop value indicative of a number of hops between the relaying device and the gateway device;

adjusting the hop value to indicate an additional hop added by the relaying device; and

broadcasting a node-state signal from the non-cellular interface of the relaying device, the node-state signal including the obtained cellular-signal quality and the adjusted hop value.

147. The method of claim 146, wherein:

the relaying device and the gateway device are smartphones;

the non-cellular interface of the relaying device comprises an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 compliant non-cellular wireless interface;

the cellular interface of the gateway device comprises a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) compliant cellular interface;

the node-state signal includes an IEEE 802.11 compliant beacon frame transmitted periodically and encoding a number of intermediate relaying devices between the relaying device and the gateway device, the number of intermediate relaying devices being one or greater.

148. The method of claim 146, wherein the relaying device and the gateway device are the same device, such that the relaying device acts as a sink in a multi-hop non-cellular network through which data is exchanged between the non-cellular network and a cellular network.

149. The method of claim 146, wherein obtaining the cellular-signal quality indicative of the quality of cellular signals at the gateway device comprises:

receiving, with the non-cellular interface of the relaying device, a second node-state signal, the second node-state signal encoding the cellular-signal quality.

150. The method of claim 149, receiving the second node-state signal comprises:

determining an amount of time since a previous node-state signal was received; and

in response to determining that the amount of time exceeds a threshold, exiting a sleep mode of the relaying cellular device to receive the second node-state signal, wherein the threshold is encoded in the previous node-state signal.

151. The method of claim 146, wherein obtaining the cellular-signal quality indicative of the quality of cellular signals at the gateway device comprises:

receiving a plurality of node-state signals from each of a plurality of candidate intermediate relaying devices;

selecting an intermediate relaying device based on the plurality of node-state signals; and

extracting the cellular-signal quality from the node-state signal of the selected intermediate relaying device.

152. The method of claim 151, wherein:

each of the plurality of node-state signals encode a non-cellular broadcast strength of the respective candidate intermediate relaying device, and

selecting an intermediate relaying device comprises selecting an intermediate relaying device based on a difference between the broadcast strength and a measured signal strength at the relaying device.

153. The method of claim 151, wherein obtaining the hop value indicative of a number of hops between the relaying device and the gateway device comprises extracting a hop count from the node-state signal of the selected intermediate relaying device.

154. The method of claim 146, wherein broadcasting the node-state signal from the non-cellular interface of the relaying device comprises broadcasting the node-state signal encoding an identity of a cellular network carrier operating a base station to which the gateway device is wirelessly connected.

155. The method of claim 146, comprising:

after broadcasting the node-state signal, receiving, with the non-cellular interface of the relaying device, uplink data from an originating device that received the node-state signal; and

sending the uplink data to a cellular base-station to which the gateway device is connected.

156. The method of claim 155, wherein sending the uplink data to a cellular base-station to which the gateway device is connected comprises:

transmitting the uplink data from a cellular interface of the relaying device to the base station, wherein the relaying device is the gateway device.