Wireless communication apparatus for selecting suitable transfer route on wireless network

• US 8,175,025 B2
• Filed: 12/26/2008
• Issued: 05/08/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: OKI Electric Industry Company Limited
• Original Assignee: OKI Electric Industry Company Limited
• Inventors: Yanagihara, Kentarou
• Primary Examiner(s): Mui, Gary
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chang, Richard K
• Application Number:
  US12/344,390
• Publication Number:
  US 20090168690A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,229 Days
• Field of Search: 370/315, 370/338, 455/445
• US Class Current: 370/315
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/10 based on available power or energy
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/24 Connectivity information management, e.g. connectivity discovery or connectivity update
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0219 where the power saving management affects multiple terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0274 by switching on or off the equipment or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A wireless communication apparatus prepared in each of wireless terminals configuring a wireless network adapted to transmit and receive a data signal and terminal information to and from peripheral wireless terminals of a subject wireless terminal; to manage the terminal information received from the peripheral wireless terminals; to determine a relay network to which the subject terminal belongs on the basis of the terminal information of the peripheral wireless terminals when the subject terminal can be connected to at least one of the relay networks provided within the wireless network; to transmit terminal information including information indicating the relay network of the subject terminal to the peripheral wireless terminal; and to use the relay network of the subject terminal as a data signal transfer route to perform forward processing. Thus, the apparatus can prepare plural transfer routes to avoid wireless signal interference and collision and balance the power consumption among the terminals.

Claims

1. A wireless communication apparatus included in a wireless terminal among a plurality of wireless terminals forming a wireless communication network, comprising:

a communication section for transmitting and receiving a data signal and terminal information to and from a peripheral wireless terminal existing in periphery of the wireless terminal;

a terminal information manager for managing the terminal information received from the peripheral wireless terminal;

a relay network determiner for referencing the terminal information received from the peripheral wireless terminal, and determining, when the wireless terminal can be connected to at least one of a plurality of relay networks provided within the wireless network, a first relay network and a second relay network that differs from the first relay network, as relay networks of the wireless terminal, to which the wireless terminal belongs, the first relay network providing an upward communication route from the wireless terminal to a managing terminal, the second relay network providing a downward communication route from the managing terminal to the wireless terminal;

a terminal information advertiser for transmitting terminal information including information indicating the relay networks of the wireless terminal to the peripheral wireless terminal; and

a forward processor for using the relay networks of the wireless terminal as a data signal transfer route to perform forward processing.

2. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said relay network determiner for determining the relay networks of the wireless terminal, when the wireless terminal can be connected to all of the plurality of relay networks provided within the wireless network.

3. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a relay network changer for changing in a given manner at least one of the relay networks of the wireless terminal.

4. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a communication direction changer for changing in a given manner a communication direction of at least one of the relay networks of the wireless terminal.

5. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a communication direction changer for changing in a given manner a communication direction of at least one of the relay networks of the wireless terminal, wherein said communication direction changer distinguishes the upward communication route in a first communication direction and the downward communication route in a second communication direction in the wireless network to configure communication routes.

6. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a power controller for controlling, when at least one of the relay networks of the wireless terminal is utilized, a receiver of said communication section to be powered on or off according to a condition of the peripheral wireless terminal on a basis of the terminal information received from the peripheral wireless terminal.

7. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a power controller for controlling, when at least one of the relay networks of the wireless terminal is utilized, a receiver of said communication section to be powered on or off according to a condition of the peripheral wireless terminal on a basis of the terminal information received from the peripheral wireless terminal,

wherein the condition includes a reception timing of at least one of destination terminals to which the wireless terminal transmits the data signal, a number of the destination terminals and a number of transfer terminals which transmit the data signal to the wireless terminal.

8. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a power controller for controlling, when at least one of the relay networks of the wireless terminal is utilized, a receiver of said communication section to be powered on or off according to a condition of the peripheral wireless terminal on a basis of the terminal information received from the peripheral wireless terminal,

wherein said power controller controls said receiver synchronously with all of the plurality of wireless terminals.

9. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a power controller for controlling, when at least one of the relay networks of the wireless terminal is utilized, a receiver of said communication section to be powered on or off according to a condition of the peripheral wireless terminal on a basis of the terminal information received from the peripheral wireless terminal,

wherein said power controller controls said receiver according to a reception timing of a destination terminal, to which the wireless terminal transmits the data signal, on a basis of the terminal information.

10. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a power controller for controlling, when at least one of the relay networks of the wireless terminal is utilized, a receiver of said communication section to be powered on or off according to a condition of the peripheral wireless terminal on a basis of the terminal information received from the peripheral wireless terminal,

wherein said power controller controls said receiver according to a reception timing of a destination terminal, to which the wireless terminal transmits the data signal, on a basis of the terminal information, and

said power controller powers on said receiver, when there exist a plurality of destination terminals to which the wireless terminal transmits the data signal before an earliest one of reception timings of the destination terminals.

11. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a power controller for controlling, when at least one of the relay networks of the wireless terminal is utilized, a receiver of said communication section to be powered on or off according to a condition of the peripheral wireless terminal on a basis of the terminal information received from the peripheral wireless terminal,

wherein, when transfer routes are utilized distinguishably between in the upward and downward communication routes, said power controller controls said receiver at timings for the upward and downward communication routes.

12. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the terminal information is contained in relay network identifying information that identifies the relay networks of the wireless terminal,

said relay network determiner determining the relay networks of the wireless terminal on a basis of relay network identifying information of the peripheral wireless terminal.

13. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the terminal information includes an assigned number assigned to the wireless terminal,

said relay network determiner assigning the wireless terminal to a subject assigned number on the basis of an assigned number of peripheral wireless terminals existing in periphery of the wireless terminal, said relay network determiner using the subject assigned number to determine the relay networks of the wireless terminal.

14. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the terminal information includes an assigned number assigned to the wireless terminal,

said relay network determiner assigning the wireless terminal to a subject assigned number on the basis of an assigned number of peripheral wireless terminals existing in periphery of the wireless terminal, said relay network determiner using the subject assigned number to determine the relay networks of the wireless terminal, and

said relay network determiner divides the subject assigned number of the wireless terminal by a predetermined value to derive a remainder value from a result of the division, detects a wireless terminal capable of deriving a same value as the remainder value, and utilizes the wireless terminal detected to determine the relay networks of the wireless terminal.

15. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a network manager equipped in the managing terminal for managing the entirety of the wireless network.

16. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the managing terminal belongs to both the first relay network and the second relay network.

17. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said relay network determiner determines the relay networks of the wireless terminal, upon receiving a notice signal from the managing terminal.

18. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the communication direction of the at least one of the relay networks is controlled to the reversed direction in response to a notice signal from the managing terminal.

19. A method of communicating by a wireless communication apparatus included in a wireless terminal forming a wireless communication network, wherein the apparatus comprises a communication section, a relay network determiner, a terminal information advertiser, a forward processor and a terminal information manager for managing terminal information received from a peripheral wireless terminal, said method comprising:

a communicating step of transmitting and receiving by the communication section a data signal and the terminal information to and from the peripheral wireless terminal existing in periphery of the wireless terminal;

a relay network determining step of referencing by the relay network determiner the terminal information received from the peripheral wireless terminal, and determining, when the wireless terminal can be connected to at least one of a plurality of relay networks provided within the wireless network, a first relay network and a second relay network that differs from the first relay network, as relay networks of the wireless terminal to which the wireless terminal belongs, the first relay network providing an upward communication route from the wireless terminal to a managing terminal, the second relay network providing a downward communication route from the managing terminal to the wireless terminal;

a terminal information advertising step of transmitting by the terminal information advertiser terminal information including information indicating the relay networks of the wireless terminal to the peripheral wireless terminal; and

a forward processing step of using by the forward processor the relay networks of the wireless terminal as a data signal transfer route to perform forward processing.

20. A machine-readable medium storing a wireless communication program executable by a computer for use in a wireless communication apparatus included in a wireless terminal forming a wireless communication network, the machine-readable medium being non-transitory, said program comprising:

a communication section to transmit and receive a data signal and terminal information to and from a peripheral wireless terminal existing in periphery of the wireless terminal;

a terminal information manager to manage the terminal information received from the peripheral wireless terminal;

a relay network determiner to reference the terminal information received from the peripheral wireless terminal, and to determine, when the wireless terminal can be connected to at least one of a plurality of relay networks provided within the wireless network, a first relay network and a second relay network that differs from the first relay network, as relay networks of the wireless terminal, to which the wireless terminal belongs, the first relay network providing an upward communication route from the wireless terminal to a managing terminal, the second relay network providing a downward communication route from the managing terminal to the wireless terminal;

a terminal information advertiser to transmit terminal information including information indicating the relay networks of the wireless terminal to the peripheral wireless terminal; and

a forward processor to use the relay networks of the wireless terminal as a data signal transfer route to perform forward processing.