Neighbor Awareness Networking Datapath - Base Scheduling, Scheduler Rank, and Further Service Discovery

• US 20160278112A1
• Filed: 03/18/2016
• Published: 09/22/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Heerboth, Peter, Shani, Oren, Liu, Yong, Hartman, Christiaan A., Borges, Daniel R., Kurian, Lawrie, Yong, Su Khiong, Rajagopalan, Anand, Balasubramaniyan, Saravanan, Haque, Tashbeeb, Wolf, Andreas, Li, Guoqing, Zukerman, Lilach
• Granted Patent: US 10,212,574 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 Control channels or signalling for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/18 between terminal devices

Abstract

In some embodiments, one or more wireless stations operate to configure Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN)—direct communication between neighboring wireless stations, e.g., without utilizing an intermediate access point. Embodiments of the disclosure relate to NAN datapath configuration. The NAN datapath embodiments described herein provide a mechanism through which devices can communicate and provide services. Aspects of the datapath development include datapath scheduling, including datapath setup and scheduling attributes, scheduler rank management, and further NAN discovery. The datapath model may be implemented for unicast and multicast communication between wireless stations.

Claims

1. A wireless device, comprising:

at least one antenna;

at least one radio configured to perform Wi-Fi communication with a Wi-Fi access point;

at least one processor in communications with the at least one radio;

wherein the wireless device is configured to;

detect a neighboring wireless device that is configured to perform peer-to-peer Wi-Fi communication;

exchange, via peer-to-peer Wi-Fi communications, scheduling preferences and limitations with the neighboring wireless device;

determine a scheduler for a datapath with the neighboring wireless device;

wherein when the wireless device is the scheduler, the wireless device is configured to;

determine a base schedule for the datapath; and

send the base schedule to the neighboring wireless device.

2. The wireless device of claim 1,

wherein when the mobile device is not the scheduler, the mobile device is configured to receive the base schedule from the neighboring wireless device.

3. The wireless device of claim 1,

wherein the base schedule is based at least in part on the scheduling preferences and limitations of the wireless device and the neighboring wireless device.

4. The wireless device of claim 1,

wherein the base schedule comprises time and channel information for one or more discovery windows, one or more inter discovery windows, and one or more post discovery windows.

5. The wireless device of claim 1,

wherein the wireless device is further configured to maintain a scheduler rank of the wireless device, wherein to maintain the scheduler rank, the wireless device is further configured to:

increase the scheduler rank by a value based at least in part on a quality of service of an added datapath.

6. The wireless device of claim 1,

wherein to determine a scheduler for the datapath, the wireless device is further configured to:

determine a first scheduler rank associated with the wireless device;

receive a second scheduler rank associated with the neighboring wireless device; and

compare the first and second scheduler ranks, wherein if the first scheduler rank is higher than the second scheduler rank, the wireless device is the scheduler.

7. The wireless device of claim 6,

wherein the first scheduler rank comprises a schedule priority field and a tie break field.

8. The wireless device of claim 7,

wherein the wireless device is further configured to:

increase a value of the schedule priority field when the wireless device adds a datapath; and

decrease the value of the schedule priority field when the wireless device discontinues a datapath.

9. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor in communications with the memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to;

detect a first neighboring wireless device that is configured to perform peer-to-peer Wi-Fi communication;

send a first advertised scheduler rank to the first neighboring wireless device, wherein the first advertised scheduler rank is the greater of an inherited scheduler rank and a first native scheduler rank of the apparatus;

receive a second advertised scheduler rank from the first neighboring wireless device; and

in response to determining that the second advertised scheduler rank is greater than the first advertised scheduler rank;

update the first advertised scheduler rank to the second advertised scheduler rank; and

advertise the updated first advertised scheduler rank to a second neighboring wireless device.

10. The apparatus of claim 9,

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

in response to determining that the second advertised scheduler rank is less than the first scheduler rank;

advertise the first advertised scheduler rank to the second neighboring wireless device.

11. The apparatus of claim 9,

wherein the first native scheduler rank is based on scheduling flexibility, local scheduling constraints, and a number of peer-to-peer Wi-Fi communication sessions of the apparatus.

12. The apparatus of claim 9,

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

increment a value of the first native scheduler rank each time a new datapath is established with a neighboring wireless device; and

decrement the value of the first native scheduler rank each time a datapath with a neighboring wireless device is terminated.

13. The apparatus of claim 9,

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to maintain a sequence number associated with the first native scheduler rank, wherein the sequence number is incremented each time the first native scheduler rank is changed.

14. The apparatus of claim 9,

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to maintain a tie break value, wherein the tie break value is a combination of a random number and a medium access control (MAC) address of the apparatus.

15. The apparatus of claim 14,

wherein the first native rank is based on the tie break value, scheduling flexibility, local scheduling constraints, and a number of peer-to-peer Wi-Fi communication sessions of the apparatus.

16. The apparatus of claim 14,

wherein if the first and second advertised scheduler ranks are equivalent, the at least one processor is further configured to:

compare the tie break value of the apparatus to a tie break value of the first neighboring wireless device to determine whether to update the first advertised scheduler rank to the second advertised scheduler rank.

17. A non-transitory computer readable memory medium storing program instructions executable by a processor to:

publish a first service discovery frame (SDF) in a first discover window (DW) comprising one or more scheduling attributes;

exchange further service requests and responses in subsequent SDFs with a subscribing wireless device;

receive a connect session request SDF from the subscribing wireless device;

send a connect session confirm SDF to the subscribing wireless device; and

exchange further availability update SDFs with the subscribing wireless device.

18. The non-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 17,

wherein the one or more scheduling attributes comprise:

a scheduler rank;

one or more base channel preferences;

one or more base channel limitations;

a further availability attribute with an individual schedule;

an inflexible availability attribute with the individual schedule; and

a further availability attribute with an existing base schedule.

19. The non-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 17,

wherein the instructions are further executable to:

receive a further availability SDF from a neighboring wireless device, wherein the further availability SDF comprises an indication that the neighboring wireless device is generic advertisement service (GAS) capable; and

exchange GAS messages with the neighboring mobile device.

20. The non-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 19,

wherein the instructions are further executable to:

determine common further availability windows with the neighboring wireless device; and

schedule GAS message exchange as part of a neighbor awareness networking (NAN) schedule.