Communicating in a network that includes a medium having varying transmission characteristics
First Claim
1. A method for operating in a network in which stations communicate over a shared medium, the shared medium having at least one varying channel characteristic that varies approximately periodically such that a period associated with the varying channel characteristic is approximately equal to a predetermined value, the method comprising:
- providing repeated beacon transmissions from a coordinator station for coordinating transmissions among a plurality of the stations, wherein at least some beacon transmissions are synchronized to the varying channel characteristic;
determining a start time of a first beacon transmission based on a time offset from a detected feature of the varying channel characteristic;
including in the first beacon transmission information indicating a start time of at least one future second beacon transmission; and
wherein transmission between a first station and at least one receiving station is performed during a time slot determined based on at least one of the first or second beacon transmissions received by the first station from the coordinator station.
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Abstract
A method and corresponding system for operating in a network in which stations communicate over a shared medium are presented. The shared medium has at least one varying channel characteristic that varies approximately periodically. The method includes providing repeated beacon transmissions from a coordinator station for coordinating transmissions among a plurality of the stations, wherein at least some beacon transmissions are synchronized to the varying channel characteristic; and transmitting from a first station to at least one receiving station during a time slot determined based on at least one of the beacon transmissions received by the first station from the coordinator station.
47 Citations
54 Claims
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1. A method for operating in a network in which stations communicate over a shared medium, the shared medium having at least one varying channel characteristic that varies approximately periodically such that a period associated with the varying channel characteristic is approximately equal to a predetermined value, the method comprising:
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providing repeated beacon transmissions from a coordinator station for coordinating transmissions among a plurality of the stations, wherein at least some beacon transmissions are synchronized to the varying channel characteristic; determining a start time of a first beacon transmission based on a time offset from a detected feature of the varying channel characteristic; including in the first beacon transmission information indicating a start time of at least one future second beacon transmission; and wherein transmission between a first station and at least one receiving station is performed during a time slot determined based on at least one of the first or second beacon transmissions received by the first station from the coordinator station. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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54. A system in which stations communicate over a shared medium, the system comprising:
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a coordinator station configured to provide repeated beacon transmissions over the shared medium, the shared medium having at least one varying channel characteristic that varies approximately periodically such that a period associated with the varying channel characteristic is approximately equal to a predetermined value, wherein the repeated beacon transmissions are for coordinating transmissions among a plurality of the stations, wherein at least some beacon transmissions are synchronized to the varying channel characteristic, wherein a start time of a first beacon transmission is determined based on a time offset from a detected feature of the varying channel characteristic and the first beacon transmission includes information indicating a start time of at least one future second beacon transmission; wherein transmissions on the shared medium occur during a time slot determined based on at least one of the first or second beacon transmissions received by a first station from the coordinator station.
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Specification