Access control method in communication system

• US 6,052,377 A
• Filed: 05/27/1997
• Issued: 04/18/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Redwood Technologies, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Ohmi, Shinichiro, Oue, Hiroshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Ton, Dang
• Assistant Examiner(s): VINCENT, DAVID ROBERT
• Application Number:
  US08/863,334
• Time in Patent Office: 1,057 Days
• Field of Search: 370/442, 370/443, 370/437, 370/449, 370/450, 370/458, 370/346, 370/347, 370/348, 370/438, 370/439, 370/459, 370/462
• US Class Current: 370/437
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2643 using time-division multiple access [TDMA] H04B7/2615, H04B7/2618 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/403 with centralised control, e.g. polling

Abstract

A down-link frame generating/transferring portion 12 detects a free channel from among a plurality of previously assigned up-link channels. The down-link frame generating/transferring portion 12 selects a secondary station 2 to which the free channel is to be assigned by referring to an address table 11 every time it detects a free channel. Then the down-link frame generating/transferring portion 12 sends out onto a down-link channel a down-link frame in which the secondary station address of the selected secondary station is set in an address slot corresponding to the free channel.

Claims

1. A method for controlling access from secondary stations to a master station in a communication system in which the master station and a plurality of the secondary stations can bi-directionally communicate, said method comprising:

wherein the master station is operable to use a down-link channel to transfer down-link signals, and each of the secondary stations is operable to use a plurality of up-link channels to transfer up-link signals;

wherein the master station detects currently unused one(s) of the up-link channels as free channel(s) and selects one(s) of the secondary stations of a number corresponding to the detected free channel(s);

assigns each of the free channel(s) to each of the selected secondary station(s); and

generates a down-link signal for signaling the free channel(s) in order to notify the selected secondary station(s) of the free channel(s) and sends out the down-link signal onto the down-link channel;

the secondary stations determine whether the up-link channels are assigned thereto on the basis of the down-link signal inputted from the down-link channel;

wherein each of the secondary stations send out the up-link signal onto one of the up-link channels assigned thereto only when any of the up-link channels is assigned thereto and each of the secondary stations has data to transmit to the master station;

wherein the master station detects whether an up-link signal is being transferred on each of the up-link channels in a certain period after sending out the down-link signal to detect the free channel(s);

wherein the up-link signal includes an error detecting code, and wherein the master station detects whether an error is occurring in a received up-link signal on the basis of an error detecting code included in the up-link signal; and

when an error is occurring in the received up-link signal, the master station selects a secondary station other than the secondary station to which the up-link channel carrying the up-link signal was assigned, and assigns the up-link channel carrying the received up-link signal to the selected secondary station.

2. A method for controlling access from secondary stations to a master station in a communication system in which the master station and a plurality of the secondary stations can bi-directionally communicate, said method comprising:

wherein the master station is operable to use a down-link channel to transfer down-link signals, and each of the secondary stations is operable to use a plurality of up-link channels to transfer up-link signals;

wherein the master station detects currently unused one(s) of the up-link channels as free channel(s) and selects one(s) of the secondary stations of a number corresponding to the detected free channel(s);

assigns each of the free channel(s) to each of the selected secondary station(s); and

generates a down-link signal for signaling the free channel(s) in order to notify the selected secondary station(s) of the free channel(s) and sends out the down-link signal onto the down-link channel;

the secondary stations determine whether the up-link channels are assigned thereto on the basis of the down-link signal inputted from the down-link channel;

wherein each of the secondary stations send out the up-link signal onto one of the up-link channels assigned thereto only when any of the up-link channels is assigned thereto and each of the secondary stations has data to transmit to the master station;

wherein the master station detects whether an up-link signal is being transferred on each of the up-link channels in a certain period after sending out the down-link signal to detect the free channel(s);

wherein the master station detects whether up-link signals are causing a communication collision on the up-link channels assigned to the secondary stations; and

wherein, when detecting the communication collision, the master station selects a secondary station other than the secondary station to which the up-link channel suffering the communication collision was assigned, and assigns the up-link channel suffering the communication collision to the selected secondary station.

3. A method for controlling access from secondary stations to a master station in a communication system in which the master station and a plurality of the secondary stations can bi-directionally communicate, said method comprising:

wherein the master station is operable to use a down-link channel to transfer a down-link signal, and each of the secondary stations is operable to use a plurality of up-link channels to transfer up-link signals;

wherein the master station detects an unused up-link channel as a free channel; and

generates a down-link signal for signaling the detected free channel in order to notify the secondary stations of the detected free channel and sends out the down-link signal onto the down-link channel;

wherein the secondary stations recognize the up-link channel which is currently free from the down-link signal inputted from the down-link channel and sends out the up-link signals onto the free channel;

when an error is occurring in the up-link signal inputted from an up-link channel, the master station generates a down-link signal including a data error command indicative of the occurrence of error and sends it out onto the down-link channel; and

the secondary station which is sending out the up-link signal suspends the transmission of the up-link signal on the basis of the data error command.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein when having suspended transmission of the up-link signal, each of the secondary stations retransmits the data.

5. A method for controlling access from secondary stations to a master station in a communication system in which the master station and a plurality of the secondary stations can bi-directionally communicate, said method comprising:

wherein the master station is operable to use a down-link channel to transfer a down-link signal, and each of the secondary stations is operable to use a plurality of up-link channels to transfer up-link signals;

wherein the master station detects an unused up-link channel as a free channel;

generates a down-link signal for signaling the detected free channel in order to notify the secondary stations of the detected free channel and sends out the down-link signal onto the down-link channel; and

wherein the secondary stations recognize the up-link channel which is currently free from the down-link signal inputted from the down-link channel and sends out the up-link signals onto the free channel;

wherein the master station detects the level of a received signal on each of the up-link channels, and when the level of the received signal has reached or exceeded a certain level on any of the up-link channels, the master station generates a down-link signal including a receive command for signaling that the master station has received the up-link signal and transmits the down-link signal to the secondary station sending out the up-link signal onto that up-link channel; and

wherein each of the secondary stations continues to send out the up-link signal on the basis of the receive command, and wherein the secondary stations suspend transfer of up-link signals when they can not recognize the receive command in the down-link signal received from the down-link channel.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein when having suspended transmission of the up-link signal, each of the secondary stations retransmits the data.

7. A method for controlling access from secondary stations to a master station in a communication system in which the master station and a plurality of the secondary stations can bi-directionally communicate, said method comprising:

wherein the master station is operable to use a down-link channel to transfer a down-link signal, and each of the secondary stations is operable to use a plurality of up-link channels to transfer up-link signals;

wherein the master station detects an unused up-link channel as a free channel; and

generates a down-link signal for signaling the detected free channel in order to notify the secondary stations of the detected free channel and sends out the down-link signal onto the down-link channel;

wherein the secondary stations recognize the up-link channel which is currently free from the down-link signal inputted from the down-link channel and sends out the up-link signals onto the free channel;

wherein the master station detects the level of a received signal on each of the up-link channels, and when the level of the received signal is lower than a certain level on any of the up-link channels, the master station recognizes that up-link channel as a free channel, and generates a down-link signal including a transmission enabling command for signaling the free channel to each of the secondary stations and sends out the down-link signal onto the down-link channel; and

wherein each of the secondary stations sends out an up-link signal onto the free channel on the basis of the transmission enabling command.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein when the down-link signal includes a plurality of transmission enabling commands, each of the secondary stations, when holding data to transmit to the master station, determines that there are a plurality of free channels, selects one free channel from among the plurality of free channels at random, and sends out the up-link signal onto the selected up-link channel.

9. A method for controlling access from secondary stations to a master station in a communication system in which the master station and a plurality of the secondary stations can bi-directionally communicate, said method comprising:

wherein the master station is operable to use a down-link channel to transfer a down-link signal, and each of the secondary stations is operable to use a plurality of up-link channels to transfer up-link signals;

wherein the master station detects an unused up-link channel as a free channel; and

generates a down-link signal for signaling the detected free channel in order to notify the secondary stations of the detected free channel and sending out the down-link signal onto the down-link channel;

wherein the secondary stations recognize the up-link channel which is currently free from the down-link signal inputted from the down-link channel and sends out the up-link signals onto the free channel;

wherein each of the secondary stations sends out the up-link signal onto the up-link channel assigned thereto with a synchronization pattern set in a predetermined position in the up-link signal, and when not detecting the synchronization pattern from the up-link signal sent on the up-link channel, the master station generates a down-link signal including a collision detection command for signaling an occurrence of a signal collision on the up-link channel and sends out the down-link signal onto the down-link channel; and

wherein the secondary station which transmitted the up-link signal suspends the transmission of the up-link signal on the basis of the collision detection command.

10. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein when having suspended transmission of the up-link signal, each of the secondary stations retransmits the data.

11. A method for controlling access from secondary stations to a master station in a communication system in which the master station and a plurality of the secondary stations can bi-directionally communicate, said method comprising:

wherein said master station is operable to use a down-link channel to transfer down-link signals, and each of the secondary stations is operable to use a plurality of up-link channels to transfer up-link signals;

wherein the master station is operable to detect currently unused one(s) of the up-link channels as free channel(s), which the master station and each of the secondary stations can correctly communicate, and selects one(s) of the secondary stations of a number corresponding to the detected free channel(s); and

assigns each of the detected free channel(s) to each of the selected one(s) of the secondary stations;

generates a down-link signal for signaling the free channel(s) in order to notify the selected one(s) of the secondary stations of the free channel(s) and sends out the down-link signal onto the down-link channel; and

each of the secondary stations determines whether the up-link channels are assigned thereto on the basis of the down-link signal inputted from the down-link channel.

12. A method as claimed in claim 11, wherein each of the secondary stations send out the up-link signal onto one of the up-link channels assigned thereto only when any of the up-link channels is assigned thereto and each of the secondary stations has data to transmit to the master station.

13. A method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the master station detects whether an up-link signal is being transferred on each of the up-link channels in a certain period after sending out the down-link signal to detect the free channel(s).

14. A method as claimed in claim 13, wherein a certain order for assigning the up-link channels to the secondary stations is determined in advance;

and

wherein the master station contains the certain order, and selects the secondary stations according to the stored certain order to assign detected free channel(s).

15. A method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the certain order is determined so that all of the secondary stations are equally selected by the master station.

16. A method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the certain order is determined so that a particular secondary station is selected by the master station unequally to other secondary stations.

17. A method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the master station generates a down-link signal including a certain command and sends out the down-link signal onto the down-link channel;

and

the secondary stations execute processing corresponding to the certain command included in the down-link signal inputted from the down-link channel.

18. A method for controlling access from secondary stations to a master station in a communication system in which the master station and a plurality of the secondary stations can bi-directionally communicate, said method comprising:

wherein the plurality of secondary stations are divided into a plurality of groups;

wherein the master station is operable to use a down-link channel to transfer a down-link signal;

each of the secondary stations belonging to each group is operable to use a plurality of up-link channels assigned to each of the groups to transfer up-link signals;

wherein the master station detects currently unused ones(s) of the up-link channels as free channel(s) which the master station and each of the secondary stations can correctly communicate;

selects one(s) of the secondary stations of a number corresponding to the detected free channel(s) from the secondary stations belonging to the group to which the free channel(s) is/are assigned;

assigns each of the detected free channel(s) to each of the selected one(s) of the secondary stations; and

generates a down-link signal for signaling the assigned free channel(s) in order to notify the selected one(s) of the secondary stations of the assigned free channel(s) and sends out the down-link signal onto the down-link channel; and

each of the secondary stations determines whether any of the up-link channels are assigned thereto on the basis of the down-link signal inputted from the down-link channel.

19. A method for controlling access from secondary stations to a master station in a communication system in which the master station and a plurality of the secondary stations can bi-directionally communicate, said method comprising:

wherein said master station is operable to use a down-link channel to transfer a down-link signal, and each of the secondary stations is operable to use a plurality of up-link channels to transfer up-link signals;

wherein the master station detects currently unused one(s) of up-link channel(s) as free channels, which the master station and each of the secondary stations can correctly communicate; and

generates a down-link signal for signaling the detected free channel(s) in order to notify each of the secondary stations of the detected fee channel(s) and sends out the down-link signal onto the down-link channel;

each of the secondary stations recognizes the up-link channels which is/are the free channel(s) from the down-link signal inputted from the down-link channel and sends out the up-link signals onto the free channel(s).

20. A method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the master station detects the level of a received signal on each up-link channel, and when the level of the received signal has reached or exceeded a certain level on any of the up-link channels, the master station generates a down-link signal including a receive command for signaling that the master station has received the up-link signal and transmits the down-link signal to the secondary station sending out the up-link signal onto that up-link channel;

and

wherein each of the secondary stations continues to send out the up-link signal on the basis of the receive command.

21. A method for controlling access from secondary stations to a master station in a communication system in which the master station and a plurality of the secondary stations can bi-directionally communicate, said method comprising:

wherein the master station is operable to use a down-link channel to transfer a down-link signal and each of the secondary stations is operable to use a plurality of up-link channels to transfer up-link signals;

wherein the master station detects a condition of use of each of the up-link channels; and

determines, on the basis of the condition of use, whether to assign currently unused one(s) of the up-link channels (i.e. free channel(s)), which the master station and each of the secondary stations can correctly communicate, to one(s) of the secondary stations or to signal the free channel(s) to each of the secondary stations;

wherein when having determined to assign the free channel(s) to one(s) of the secondary stations, the master station generates a down-link signal in order to assign the free channel(s) to one(s) of the secondary stations and sends out the down-link signal onto the down-link channel; and

when having determined to signal the free channel(s) to each of the secondary stations, the master station generates a down-link signal for signaling the free channel(s) in order to notify each of the secondary stations of the free channel(s) and sends out the down-link signal onto the down-link channel.

22. A method for controlling access from secondary stations to a master station in a communication system in which the master station and a plurality of the secondary stations can bi-directionally communicate, said method comprising:

wherein the master station is operable to use a down-link channel to transfer a down-link signal and each of the secondary stations is operable to use a plurality of up-link channels to transfer up-link signals;

wherein the master station counts a number of currently unused up-link channel(s) (i.e. free channel(s)), which the master station and each of the secondary stations can correctly communicate, and a number of up-link channels currently carrying up-link signals and suffering a communication collision (i.e. a number of communication collision channels);

wherein when the number of communication collision channels has reached or exceeded a first certain number, the master station detects a free channel and assigns the detected free channel to one of the secondary stations;

generates a down-link signal for signaling the free channel assigned to the secondary station, in order to notify the assigned free channel of the secondary station, and sends out the down-link signal onto the down-link channel; and

when the number of free channels has reached or exceeded a second certain number, the master station detects a free channel and generates a down-link signal for signaling the detected free channel in order to notify each of the secondary stations of the newly detected free channel and sends out the down-link signal onto the down-link channel.

23. A method as claimed in claim 22, wherein when the number of communication collision channels has reached or exceeded the first certain number, the master station detects free channel(s) and selects one(s) of the secondary stations of a number corresponding to the detected free channel(s), and individually assigns the free channel(s) to the selected secondary station(s).