SHORT PACKET COMMUNICATION IN A POWERLINE COMMUNICATION NETWORK

• US 20150092545A1
• Filed: 09/30/2014
• Published: 04/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Zyren, James Gerard, Katar, Srinivas, Avudainayagam, Arun
• Granted Patent: US 9,749,252 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5408 using protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/542 the information being in digital form
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/546 Combination of signalling, telemetering, protection circuits for remote indication of supply or distribution network condition H02J13/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0078 Avoidance of errors by organising the transmitted data in a format specifically designed to deal with errors, e.g. location forward error control, e.g. FEC, CRC H04L1/004; adaptive formatting H04L1/0006; mappings H04L27/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0083 Formatting with frames or packets; Protocol or part of protocol for error control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/365 Dynamic adaptation of the packet size

Abstract

A network device may transmit a short packet when the length of application data that will be transmitted does not exceed a threshold length. In some embodiments, the network device may transmit the application data in a frame control field of the short packet. The short packet may not include a payload field. In other embodiments, the network device may support multiple short payload field lengths and may transmit the application data in a short payload field with an appropriate short payload field length. The network device may also support communication techniques to transmit the application data in the short packet.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting packets, comprising:

determining to transmit application data from a first network device to a second network device of a communication network;

determining whether a length of the application data exceeds a first threshold length; and

transmitting the application data from the first network device to the second network device in a frame control field of a short packet when the length of the application data does not exceed the first threshold length.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the length of the application data exceeds the first threshold length comprises:

determining whether a number of bytes of the application data exceeds a threshold number of bytes.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, in the frame control field, an indication that the frame control field of the short packet includes the application data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the application data in the frame control field comprises:

determining to transmit the short packet without a payload field from the first network device to the second network device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the application data in the frame control field comprises:

transmitting the application data in a reserved field of the frame control field.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the application data in the frame control field comprises:

temporarily redefining a first field of the frame control field to transmit the application data in the frame control field; and

transmitting the application data in the redefined first field.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

transmitting, in the frame control field, an indication that the first field includes the application data.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing the length of the application data with a plurality of frame control field lengths; and

selecting a first frame control field length to transmit the application data based, at least in part, on the length of the application data, a length of control information, and the first frame control field length.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein:

determining to transmit the application data in the short packet is further based on at least one member of a group consisting of a communication capability of the first network device, a communication capability of the second network device, and an application that generated the application data.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining to transmit the application data in a payload field of the short packet when the length of the application data exceeds the first threshold length but does not exceed a second threshold length.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein,

the first threshold length is a predetermined frame control field length, and

the second threshold length is a predetermined payload field length.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining to transmit the application data in the short packet; and

determining to transmit the application data in the frame control field of the short packet or in a payload field of the short packet in response to determining to transmit the application data in the short packet.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a first communication technique to transmit the application data in a first portion of the frame control field and a second communication technique to transmit control information in a remaining portion of the frame control field.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein,

the first communication technique supports transmission of the short packet, and

the second communication technique does not support transmission of the short packet.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein selecting the first communication technique to transmit the application data and the second communication technique to transmit the control information is in response to:

determining that the communication network includes a legacy network device that implements the second communication technique and does not support transmission of the short packet.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein:

the first communication technique includes at least one member of a group consisting of a first encoding technique, a first transmission mode, and a first modulation technique, and

the second communication technique includes at least one member of a group consisting of a second encoding technique, a second transmission mode, and a second modulation technique.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a communication technique to transmit the application data and control information in the frame control field, wherein the communication technique supports transmission of the short packet.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the communication network includes a legacy network device; and

generating the short packet based, at least in part, on a time interval associated with the legacy network device.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the time interval is a contention window inter-frame space (CIFS).

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

transmitting a start-of-frame delimiter of the short packet in the communication network, wherein the legacy network device does not initiate a communication for the time interval in response to detecting the start-of-frame delimiter; and

transmitting a remainder of the short packet during the time interval.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a plurality of communication carriers for transmitting the application data in the short packet.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the short packet includes an indication of the plurality of communication carriers used for transmitting the short packet.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network device and the second network device are included in the communication network of a vehicle.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network device is a vehicle and the second network device is an electric vehicle supply equipment.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network device and the second network device each implements powerline communication (PLC) protocols.

26. A method for transmitting packets, comprising:

determining to transmit application data from a first network device to a second network device of a communication network;

comparing a length of the application data with a plurality of payload field lengths; and

selecting a first payload field length from the plurality of payload field lengths to transmit the application data in a payload field of a short packet based, at least in part, on comparing the length of the application data with the plurality of payload field lengths.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

determining to transmit the application data in the payload field of the short packet,

wherein comparing the length of the application data with the plurality of payload field lengths is in response to determining to transmit the application data in the payload field.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

transmitting control information in a frame control field of the short packet.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein a frame control field of the short packet comprises:

an indication that the payload field includes the application data; and

an indication of the first payload field length.

30. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

selecting a first communication technique to transmit the application data in the payload field of the short packet and a second communication technique to transmit control information in a frame control field of the short packet.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein,

the first communication technique supports transmission of the short packet, and

the second communication technique does not support transmission of the short packet.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein selecting the first communication technique to transmit the application data and the second communication technique to transmit the control information is in response to:

determining that the communication network includes a legacy network device that implements the second communication technique and does not support transmission of the short packet.

33. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

transmitting an indication that the first communication technique is applied to the application data.

34. A first network device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory to store instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the first network device to;

determine to transmit application data to a second network device of a communication network;

determine whether a length of the application data exceeds a threshold length; and

transmit the application data to the second network device in a frame control field of a short packet when the length of the application data does not exceed the threshold length.

35. The first network device of claim 34, wherein the instructions, which when executed by the processor, further cause the first network device to:

compare the length of the application data with a plurality of frame control field lengths; and

select a first frame control field length to transmit the application data based, at least in part, on the length of the application data, a length of control information, and the first frame control field length.

36. The first network device of claim 34, wherein the instructions, which when executed by the processor, further cause the first network device to:

determine to transmit the application data in the short packet; and

determine to transmit the application data in the frame control field of the short packet or in a payload field of the short packet in response to determining to transmit the application data in the short packet.

37. The first network device of claim 34, wherein the instructions, which when executed by the processor, further cause the first network device to:

select a first communication technique to transmit the application data in a first portion of the frame control field and a second communication technique to transmit control information in a remaining portion of the frame control field.

38. The first network device of claim 34, wherein the instructions, which when executed by the processor, further cause the first network device to:

determine that the communication network includes a legacy network device; and

generate the short packet based, at least in part, on a time interval associated with the legacy network device.

39. The first network device of claim 34, wherein the instructions, which when executed by the processor, further cause the first network device to:

select a plurality of communication carriers for transmitting the application data in the short packet.

40. A first network device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory to store instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the first network device to;

determine to transmit application data to a second network device of a communication network;

compare a length of the application data with a plurality of payload field lengths; and

select a first payload field length from the plurality of payload field lengths to transmit the application data in a payload field of a short packet based, at least in part, on the comparison of the length of the application data with the plurality of payload field lengths.

41. The first network device of claim 40, wherein the instructions, which when executed by the processor, further cause the first network device to:

determine to transmit the application data in the payload field of the short packet,

wherein causing the first network device to compare the length of the application data with the plurality of payload field lengths is in response to determining to transmit the application data in the payload field.

42. The first network device of claim 40, wherein a frame control field of the short packet comprises:

an indication that the payload field includes the application data; and

an indication of the first payload field length.

43. The first network device of claim 40, wherein the instructions, which when executed by the processor, further cause the first network device to:

select a first communication technique to transmit the application data in the payload field of the short packet and a second communication technique to transmit control information in a frame control field of the short packet.

44. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having machine executable instructions stored therein, the machine executable instructions comprising instructions to:

determine to transmit application data from a first network device to a second network device of a communication network;

determine whether a length of the application data exceeds a threshold length; and

transmit the application data from the first network device to the second network device in a frame control field of a short packet when the length of the application data does not exceed the threshold length.

45. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 44, wherein said instructions further comprise instructions to:

compare the length of the application data with a plurality of frame control field lengths; and

select a first frame control field length to transmit the application data based, at least in part, on the length of the application data, a length of control information, and the first frame control field length.

46. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 44, wherein said instructions further comprise instructions to:

determine to transmit the application data in the short packet; and

determine to transmit the application data in the frame control field of the short packet or in a payload field of the short packet in response to determining to transmit the application data in the short packet.

47. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 44, wherein said instructions further comprise instructions to:

select a first communication technique to transmit the application data in a first portion of the frame control field and a second communication technique to transmit control information in a remaining portion of the frame control field.

48. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 44, wherein said instructions further comprise instructions to:

select a plurality of communication carriers for transmitting the application data in the short packet.

49. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having machine executable instructions stored therein, the machine executable instructions comprising instructions to:

determine to transmit application data from a first network device to a second network device of a communication network;

compare a length of the application data with a plurality of payload field lengths; and

select a first payload field length from the plurality of payload field lengths to transmit the application data in a payload field of a short packet based, at least in part, on the comparison of the length of the application data with the plurality of payload field lengths.

50. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 49, wherein said instructions further comprise instructions to:

select a first communication technique to transmit the application data in the payload field of the short packet and a second communication technique to transmit control information in a frame control field of the short packet.