Coordination of wireless medium among a plurality of base stations
First Claim
1. A method of coordinating a usage of a wireless transmission medium amongst a plurality of transmission means, the transmission medium being utilized in accordance with a transmission period that is comprised of a plurality of consecutively occurring transmission sub-periods, comprising the steps of:
- periodically circulating amongst the transmission means a data structure, the data structure being expressive of an identification of each of the transmission means and also being expressive of an identification of an assigned transmission sub-period or sub-periods, if any, during which each of the transmission means is permitted to transmit on the wireless medium, the step of periodically circulating including the steps of;
receiving the data structure from a first transmission means with a second transmission means;
responsive to the receipt of the data structure at the second transmission means processing the data structure in accordance with an amount, if any, of impending transmission activity to modify the assignments of sub-periods therein; and
transmitting the modified data structure to another one of the transmission means.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Method and apparatus for coordinating a usage of a wireless transmission medium among a plurality of transmission units (12). The transmission medium is of a type that is utilized in accordance with a protocol having a transmission period that is comprised of a plurality of consecutively occurring transmission sub-periods. A method includes the following steps. A data structure (28a) is periodically circulated among the transmission units, the data structure being expressive of an identification of each of the transmission units and also expressive of an identification of an assigned transmission sub-period or sub-periods, if any, during which each of the transmission units is permitted to transmit on the wireless medium. The step of circulating includes the following steps: (a) receiving the data structure from a first transmission unit with a second transmission unit; (b) respsonsive to the receipt of the data structure at the second transmission unit processing the data structure in accordance with an amount, if any, of impending transmission activity to modify the assignments of sub-periods therein; and (c) transmitting the modified data structure to another one of the transmission units. A method of synchronizing the plurality of transmission units to a slotted transmission protocol is also disclosed.
368 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method of coordinating a usage of a wireless transmission medium amongst a plurality of transmission means, the transmission medium being utilized in accordance with a transmission period that is comprised of a plurality of consecutively occurring transmission sub-periods, comprising the steps of:
-
periodically circulating amongst the transmission means a data structure, the data structure being expressive of an identification of each of the transmission means and also being expressive of an identification of an assigned transmission sub-period or sub-periods, if any, during which each of the transmission means is permitted to transmit on the wireless medium, the step of periodically circulating including the steps of; receiving the data structure from a first transmission means with a second transmission means; responsive to the receipt of the data structure at the second transmission means processing the data structure in accordance with an amount, if any, of impending transmission activity to modify the assignments of sub-periods therein; and transmitting the modified data structure to another one of the transmission means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. For use in a wireless communications system, apparatus for coordinating a usage of a wireless transmission medium amongst a plurality of transmission means, the transmission medium being utilized in accordance with a transmission period that is comprised of a plurality of consecutively occurring transmission sub-periods, each of the transmission means comprising:
-
means for periodically circulating amongst the transmission means a data structure, the data structure being expressive of an identification of each of the transmission means and also being expressive of an identification of an assigned transmission sub-period or periods, if any, during which each of the transmission means is permitted to transmit on the wireless medium, the circulating means comprising; means coupled to a wired network for receiving the data structure from another transmission means; means, responsive to the receipt of the data structure, for processing the data structure in accordance with an amount, if any, of impending transmission activity to modify the data structure so as to alter the assignments of sub-periods; and means, coupled to the wired network, for transmitting the modified data structure to another one of the transmission means. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A method of synchronizing a usage of a wireless transmission medium amongst a plurality of transmission means having a transmission coverage area associated therewith, at least two of the coverage areas having an overlap region therebetween, the transmission medium being utilized in accordance with a transmission period that is comprised of a plurality of consecutively occurring transmission sub-periods, comprising the steps of:
-
(a) transmitting a message over the wireless transmission medium with only one of the transmission means, the message being repetitively transmitted during each of the transmission sub-periods of at least one of the transmission periods; (b) receiving the repetitively transmitted messages with one or more transmitter/receiver means disposed within the coverage area associated with the transmitting transmission means; (c) re-transmitting the received messages with each of the transmitter/receiver means receiving the repetitively transmitted messages, including a transmitter/receiver means, if any, that is disposed within the overlap region; (d) receiving the re-transmitted messages from the transmitter/receiver within the overlap region with another transmission means; and
responsive to the reception of the re-transmitted messages(e) synchronizing a timekeeping function of the second transmission means thereto so as to subsequently determine with the timekeeping function a required starting time of a predetermined one of the sub-periods for transmitting or receiving another message therein. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification