US8767640B2
Active / In Force
US
⏱️ 4.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus for directional centralized contention based period in a wireless communication system
Assignee: Nant Holdings IP LLC
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Filing: 2010-10-26
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Granted: 2014-07-01
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Expires: 2030-10-26
Abstract
Abstract A method of communication includes allocating a portion of a superframe centralized contention based period where the access method is based on directional ALOHA. The centralized contention based period is divided into equal time slots, and each sequential set of N time slots forms a time cycle. During a time cycle, a wireless device listens for requests from other wireless devices while it changes its receiving direction from one time slot to another.
Inventors
- 👤 Ismail Lakkis
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 11:56
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04W; H04W74/00; H04W74/08; H04W74/0808; H04W74/0816; H01; H01Q; H01Q3/00; H01Q3/24; H04W72/00; H04W72/04; H04W72/044; H04W72/0446
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 73
Claim 1
Independent Claim
124 words
A method operating on at least a wireless device, the method comprising: selecting a sequence of time slots paired with a plurality of transmit directions for transmitting at least one request frame from a first wireless device to a second wireless device; listening for the at least one request frame at the second wireless device by employing a different one of a plurality of receive directions in each of the time slots; transmitting at least one response frame from the second wireless device to the first wireless device; listening for the at least one response frame at the first wireless device; and selecting a preferred set of uplink and downlink directions for further communication between the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
124 words
A method operating on at least a wireless device, the method comprising: selecting a sequence of time slots paired with a plurality of transmit directions for transmitting at least one request frame from a first wireless device to a second wireless device; listening for the at least one request frame at the second wireless device by employing a different one of a plurality of receive directions in each of the time slots; transmitting at least one response frame from the second wireless device to the first wireless device; listening for the at least one response frame at the first wireless device; and selecting a preferred set of uplink and downlink directions for further communication between the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless device employs a different transmit direction for transmitting in each of a plurality of sets of N time slots, where N equals the plurality of receive directions.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
53 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein a time cycle comprises a plurality N of consecutive time slots, where N equals the plurality of receive directions; and wherein listening for the at least one request frame at the second wireless device comprises cycling through the plurality of receive directions in each time cycle.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 3 , wherein the first wireless device employs only one transmit direction during each time cycle.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 3 , wherein the first wireless device employs a different transmit direction for each of a plurality of time cycles.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 3 , wherein each time cycle has a time-cycle boundary selected by at least one of the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein each time slot comprises a request frame slot, a first guard interval, a response frame slot, and a second guard interval.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the request frame comprises a preferred transmit direction for transmitting from the second wireless device to the first wireless device.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless device employs a set of back-off numbers corresponding to the receive directions for determining back-off times for transmitting request frames.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless device employs an algorithm for selecting transmit directions and time cycles for transmitting request frames.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
65 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of uplink and downlink directions comprises a preferred transmit direction for transmitting from the second wireless device to the first wireless device, a preferred receive direction for receiving transmissions from the second wireless device to the first wireless device, and a preferred transmit direction for transmitting from the first wireless device to the second wireless device.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of uplink and downlink directions comprises a pair of uplink directions and a pair of downlink directions.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of uplink and downlink directions comprises at least one of directions providing optimal link quality indicator and directions having an optimal link quality indicator above a predetermined threshold.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the set comprises performing at least one of a full double sweep and a partial double sweep of all possible uplink and downlink direction pairs.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the set is performed by the first wireless device.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the set further comprises measuring an uplink link quality indicator at the second wireless device and transmitting the uplink link quality indicator to the first wireless device.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the set comprises selecting an uplink pair from beacon frames and selecting a downlink pair during a C-CBP direction search.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising maintaining a plurality of downlink direction pairs, updating a link quality indicator measurement for each of the plurality of downlink direction pairs, and updating at least one of the set of uplink and downlink directions.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 1 configured to perform at least one of directional slotted ALOHA and directional cycle-based ALOHA.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 1 further configured for performing at least one of authentication, association, direction finding, direction tracking, communicating control frames, service period reservation, communicating command frames, communicating management frames, and communicating data frames.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
19 words
A computer program residing on a non-transient computer-readable memory configured to perform the method recited in claim 1 .
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
126 words
A wireless system comprising: means for selecting a sequence of time slots paired with a plurality of transmit directions for transmitting at least one request frame from a first wireless device to a second wireless device; means for listening for the at least one request frame at the second wireless device by employing a different one of a plurality of receive directions in each of the time slots; means for transmitting at least one response frame from the second wireless device to the first wireless device; means for listening for the at least one response frame at the first wireless device; and means for selecting a preferred set of uplink and downlink directions for further communication between the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
126 words
A wireless system comprising: means for selecting a sequence of time slots paired with a plurality of transmit directions for transmitting at least one request frame from a first wireless device to a second wireless device; means for listening for the at least one request frame at the second wireless device by employing a different one of a plurality of receive directions in each of the time slots; means for transmitting at least one response frame from the second wireless device to the first wireless device; means for listening for the at least one response frame at the first wireless device; and means for selecting a preferred set of uplink and downlink directions for further communication between the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
104 words
A method operating on at least a first wireless device, the method comprising: selecting a sequence of time slots paired with a plurality of transmit directions for transmitting at least one request frame from the first wireless device to a second wireless device, the second wireless device employing a different one of a plurality of receive directions for each of the time slots; listening for at least one response frame transmitted by the second wireless device to the first wireless device; and selecting a preferred set of uplink and downlink directions for further communication between the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
104 words
A method operating on at least a first wireless device, the method comprising: selecting a sequence of time slots paired with a plurality of transmit directions for transmitting at least one request frame from the first wireless device to a second wireless device, the second wireless device employing a different one of a plurality of receive directions for each of the time slots; listening for at least one response frame transmitted by the second wireless device to the first wireless device; and selecting a preferred set of uplink and downlink directions for further communication between the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method of claim 23 , wherein selecting a sequence further comprises employing a first transmit direction for a first plurality N of the time slots, and a second transmit direction for a second plurality N of the time slots, where N equals the plurality of receive directions.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
54 words
The method of claim 23 , wherein a time cycle comprises a plurality N of consecutive time slots, and transmitting the at least one request frame comprises at least one of employing only one transmit direction during each time cycle, and employing a different transmit direction for each of a plurality of time cycles.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 25 , wherein each time cycle has a time-cycle boundary selected by at least one of the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 23 , wherein each time slot comprises a request frame slot, a first guard interval, a response frame slot, and a second guard interval.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 23 , wherein the request frame comprises a preferred transmit direction for transmitting from the second wireless device to the first wireless device.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 23 , wherein selecting the sequence further comprises employing a set of back-off numbers corresponding to the plurality of receive directions for determining back-off times for transmitting the at least one request frame.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 23 , wherein selecting the sequence further comprises employing an algorithm for selecting transmit directions and time cycles for transmitting request frames.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
65 words
The method of claim 23 , wherein the set of uplink and downlink directions comprises a preferred transmit direction for transmitting from the second wireless device to the first wireless device, a preferred receive direction for receiving transmissions from the second wireless device to the first wireless device, and a preferred transmit direction for transmitting from the first wireless device to the second wireless device.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 23 , wherein the set of uplink and downlink directions comprises a pair of uplink directions and a pair of downlink directions.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 23 , wherein the set of uplink and downlink directions comprises at least one of directions providing optimal link quality indicator and directions having an optimal link quality indicator above a predetermined threshold.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 23 , wherein selecting the set comprises performing at least one of a full double sweep and a partial double sweep of all possible uplink and downlink direction pairs.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 23 , wherein selecting the set further comprises processing an uplink link quality indicator measured at the second wireless device.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 23 , wherein selecting the set comprises selecting an uplink pair from beacon frames and selecting a downlink pair during a C-CBP direction search.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method of claim 23 , further comprising maintaining a plurality of downlink direction pairs, updating a link quality indicator measurement for each of the plurality of downlink direction pairs, and updating at least one of the set of uplink and downlink directions.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 23 configured to perform at least one of directional slotted ALOHA and directional cycle-based ALOHA.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 23 further configured for performing at least one of authentication, association, direction finding, direction tracking, communicating control frames, service period reservation, communicating command frames, communicating management frames, and communicating data frames.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
19 words
A computer program residing on a non-transient computer-readable memory configured to perform the method recited in claim 23 .
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
131 words
In a wireless communication system, an apparatus comprising: a memory storage device configured to store computer readable instructions for selecting transmit and receive directions for communicating between a plurality of directional wireless devices; and a processing unit coupled to the memory storage device, configured to: select a sequence of time slots paired with a plurality of transmit directions for transmitting at least one request frame from a first wireless device to a second wireless device, the second wireless device employing a different one of a plurality of receive directions for each of the time slots; listen for at least one response frame transmitted by the second wireless device; and select a preferred set of uplink and downlink directions for further communication between the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
131 words
In a wireless communication system, an apparatus comprising: a memory storage device configured to store computer readable instructions for selecting transmit and receive directions for communicating between a plurality of directional wireless devices; and a processing unit coupled to the memory storage device, configured to: select a sequence of time slots paired with a plurality of transmit directions for transmitting at least one request frame from a first wireless device to a second wireless device, the second wireless device employing a different one of a plurality of receive directions for each of the time slots; listen for at least one response frame transmitted by the second wireless device; and select a preferred set of uplink and downlink directions for further communication between the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
97 words
A first wireless device, comprising: means for selecting a sequence of time slots paired with a plurality of transmit directions for transmitting at least one request frame from the first wireless device to a second wireless device, the second wireless device employing a different one of a plurality of receive directions for each of the time slots; means for listening for at least one response frame transmitted by the second wireless device; and means for selecting a preferred set of uplink and downlink directions for further communication between the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
97 words
A first wireless device, comprising: means for selecting a sequence of time slots paired with a plurality of transmit directions for transmitting at least one request frame from the first wireless device to a second wireless device, the second wireless device employing a different one of a plurality of receive directions for each of the time slots; means for listening for at least one response frame transmitted by the second wireless device; and means for selecting a preferred set of uplink and downlink directions for further communication between the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
Claim 48
Independent Claim
86 words
A method operating on at least a first wireless device, the method comprising: employing a different one of a plurality of receive directions for each of a sequence of time slots to listen for at least one request frame transmitted by a second wireless device; transmitting at least one response frame to the second wireless device in response to a received request frame; and selecting a preferred set of uplink and downlink directions for further communication between the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
Claim 49
Independent Claim
86 words
A method operating on at least a first wireless device, the method comprising: employing a different one of a plurality of receive directions for each of a sequence of time slots to listen for at least one request frame transmitted by a second wireless device; transmitting at least one response frame to the second wireless device in response to a received request frame; and selecting a preferred set of uplink and downlink directions for further communication between the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
50 words
The method of claim 43 , wherein a time cycle comprises a plurality N of consecutive time slots, where N equals the plurality of receive directions; and wherein employing a different one of the plurality of receive directions comprises cycling through the plurality of receive directions in each time cycle.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 44 , wherein each time cycle has a time-cycle boundary selected by at least one of the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 43 , wherein each time slot comprises a request frame slot, a first guard interval, a response frame slot, and a second guard interval.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 43 , wherein the at least one request frame comprises a preferred transmit direction for transmitting from the first wireless device to the second wireless device.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
65 words
The method of claim 43 , wherein the set of uplink and downlink directions comprises a preferred transmit direction for transmitting from the first wireless device to the second wireless device, a preferred receive direction for receiving transmissions from the first wireless device to the second wireless device, and a preferred transmit direction for transmitting from the second wireless device to the first wireless device.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 43 , wherein the set of uplink and downlink directions comprises a pair of uplink directions and a pair of downlink directions.
Claim 56
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 43 , wherein the set of uplink and downlink directions comprises at least one of directions providing optimal link quality indicator and directions having an optimal link quality indicator above a predetermined threshold.
Claim 57
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 43 , wherein selecting the set comprises performing at least one of a full double sweep and a partial double sweep of all possible uplink and downlink direction pairs.
Claim 58
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 43 , wherein selecting the set is performed by the second wireless device.
Claim 59
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 43 , wherein selecting the set further comprises measuring an uplink link quality indicator at the first wireless device and transmitting the uplink link quality indicator to the second wireless device.
Claim 60
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 43 configured to perform at least one of directional slotted ALOHA and directional cycle-based ALOHA.
Claim 61
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 43 further configured for performing at least one of authentication, association, direction finding, direction tracking, communicating control frames, service period reservation, communicating command frames, communicating management frames, and communicating data frames.
Claim 62
Dependent Claim
19 words
A computer program residing on a non-transient computer-readable memory configured to perform the method recited in claim 43 .
Claim 63
Dependent Claim
121 words
In a wireless communication system, an apparatus comprising: a memory storage device configured to store computer readable instructions for selecting transmit and receive directions for communicating between a first wireless device and a second wireless device; and a processing unit coupled to the memory storage device, configured to: employ a different one of a plurality of receive directions for each of a sequence of time slots to listen for at least one request frame transmitted by the second wireless device; transmit at least one response frame to the second wireless device in response to a received request frame; and select a preferred set of uplink and downlink directions for further communication between the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
Claim 64
Dependent Claim
121 words
In a wireless communication system, an apparatus comprising: a memory storage device configured to store computer readable instructions for selecting transmit and receive directions for communicating between a first wireless device and a second wireless device; and a processing unit coupled to the memory storage device, configured to: employ a different one of a plurality of receive directions for each of a sequence of time slots to listen for at least one request frame transmitted by the second wireless device; transmit at least one response frame to the second wireless device in response to a received request frame; and select a preferred set of uplink and downlink directions for further communication between the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
Claim 65
Dependent Claim
84 words
A first wireless device, comprising: means for employing a different one of a plurality of receive directions for each of a sequence of time slots to listen for at least one request frame transmitted by a second wireless device; means for transmitting at least one response frame to the second wireless device in response to a received request frame; and means for selecting a preferred set of uplink and downlink directions for further communication between the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
Claim 66
Dependent Claim
84 words
A first wireless device, comprising: means for employing a different one of a plurality of receive directions for each of a sequence of time slots to listen for at least one request frame transmitted by a second wireless device; means for transmitting at least one response frame to the second wireless device in response to a received request frame; and means for selecting a preferred set of uplink and downlink directions for further communication between the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
Claim 67
Independent Claim
127 words
A method operating on at least a first wireless device, the method comprising: generating a plurality of time cycle numbers, the plurality of time cycle numbers being equal to a plurality of receive directions employed by a second wireless device, each of the time cycle numbers being associated with one of the receive directions and having a value within a predetermined back-off window size; sequentially organizing the plurality of time cycle numbers with respect to their values for producing a sequence of time cycle numbers; and generating a sequence of time slot numbers from the sequence of time cycle numbers and the plurality of receive directions, the sequence of time slot numbers being used to select time slots for transmitting a frame to the second wireless device.
Claim 68
Independent Claim
127 words
A method operating on at least a first wireless device, the method comprising: generating a plurality of time cycle numbers, the plurality of time cycle numbers being equal to a plurality of receive directions employed by a second wireless device, each of the time cycle numbers being associated with one of the receive directions and having a value within a predetermined back-off window size; sequentially organizing the plurality of time cycle numbers with respect to their values for producing a sequence of time cycle numbers; and generating a sequence of time slot numbers from the sequence of time cycle numbers and the plurality of receive directions, the sequence of time slot numbers being used to select time slots for transmitting a frame to the second wireless device.
Claim 69
Dependent Claim
19 words
A computer program residing on a non-transient computer-readable memory configured to perform the method recited in claim 59 .
Claim 70
Dependent Claim
164 words
In a wireless communication system, an apparatus comprising: a memory storage device configured to store computer readable instructions for selecting time slots for transmitting request frames from a first directional wireless device to a second directional wireless device; and a processing unit coupled to the memory storage device, configured to: generate a plurality of time cycle numbers, the plurality of time cycle numbers being equal to a plurality of receive directions employed by the second wireless device, each of the time cycle numbers being associated with one of the receive directions and having a value within a predetermined back-off window size; sequentially organize the plurality of time cycle numbers with respect to their values for producing a sequence of time cycle numbers; and generate a sequence of time slot numbers from the sequence of time cycle numbers and the plurality of receive directions, the sequence of time slot numbers being used to select time slots for transmitting a frame to the second wireless device.
Claim 71
Dependent Claim
164 words
In a wireless communication system, an apparatus comprising: a memory storage device configured to store computer readable instructions for selecting time slots for transmitting request frames from a first directional wireless device to a second directional wireless device; and a processing unit coupled to the memory storage device, configured to: generate a plurality of time cycle numbers, the plurality of time cycle numbers being equal to a plurality of receive directions employed by the second wireless device, each of the time cycle numbers being associated with one of the receive directions and having a value within a predetermined back-off window size; sequentially organize the plurality of time cycle numbers with respect to their values for producing a sequence of time cycle numbers; and generate a sequence of time slot numbers from the sequence of time cycle numbers and the plurality of receive directions, the sequence of time slot numbers being used to select time slots for transmitting a frame to the second wireless device.
Claim 72
Dependent Claim
125 words
A first wireless device, comprising: means for generating a plurality of time cycle numbers, the plurality of time cycle numbers being equal to a plurality of receive directions employed by a second wireless device, each of the time cycle numbers being associated with one of the receive directions and having a value within a predetermined back-off window size; means for sequentially organizing the plurality of time cycle numbers with respect to their values for producing a sequence of time cycle numbers; and means for generating a sequence of time slot numbers from the sequence of time cycle numbers and the plurality of receive directions, the sequence of time slot numbers being used to select time slots for transmitting a frame to the second wireless device.
Claim 73
Dependent Claim
125 words
A first wireless device, comprising: means for generating a plurality of time cycle numbers, the plurality of time cycle numbers being equal to a plurality of receive directions employed by a second wireless device, each of the time cycle numbers being associated with one of the receive directions and having a value within a predetermined back-off window size; means for sequentially organizing the plurality of time cycle numbers with respect to their values for producing a sequence of time cycle numbers; and means for generating a sequence of time slot numbers from the sequence of time cycle numbers and the plurality of receive directions, the sequence of time slot numbers being used to select time slots for transmitting a frame to the second wireless device.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
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| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2021-06-30 | 2021-12-30 | 2022-07-01 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
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