Method and apparatus for data packet transmission

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10178599-B2
Application number	US-201315104586-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 16, 2013
Priority date	Dec 16, 2013
Publication date	Jan 8, 2019
Grant date	Jan 8, 2019

Abstract

The proposed technology generally relates to sending a data packet from a first node to a second node, wherein there is a direct link to the second node from the first node. The method comprises the steps of: determining a first power metric associated with transmitting the data packet from the first node to the second node on the direct link; when the determined first power metric is above a first power level then determining a first set of aggregation nodes, being within reach of the first node, wherein each aggregation node in the set is comprised in a respective alternative transmission path from the first node to the second node; for each aggregation node in the first set determining a second power metric associated with transmitting the data packet to from the first node to the second node via the aggregation node; selecting a transmission path for sending the data packet from the first node to the second node based on a comparison of the first power metric and the second power metric(s) and sending the packet on the selected transmission path. One aspect of the proposed technology relates to a method and ending a data packet from the first node to a second node as well as a corresponding device and computer program.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method, performed in a first node in a wireless network comprising a number of nodes wirelessly connected to each other, of sending a data packet from the first node to a second node, wherein there is a direct link to the second node from the first node, the method comprising:
determining a first power metric, P 1 , associated with transmitting the data packet from the first node to the second node on the direct link, wherein the direct link uses a first radio access technology;
when the determined first power metric, P 1 , is above a first power level, then determining a first set of aggregation nodes, being within reach of the first node, wherein each aggregation node in the set is comprised in a respective alternative transmission path from the first node to the second node and wherein nodes in the first set use a second radio access technology which is different from the first radio access technology;
for each aggregation node in the first set determining a second power metric, P 2 , associated with transmitting the data packet from the first node to the second node via the aggregation node,
selecting a transmission path for sending the data packet from the first node to the second node based on a comparison of the first power metric, and the second power metric(s),
sending the packet on the selected transmission path;
for each aggregation node in the first set determining a number of data packets in at least one transmission buffer, in the aggregation node, associated with transmitting the data packet from the first node to the second node via aggregation node; and
wherein the selection of a transmission path is further based on the determined number of data packets in the transmission buffers, of the aggregation nodes, associated with transmitting the data packet from the first node to the second node.

2. The method of sending a data packet according to claim 1 wherein the first radio access technology uses a coordinated transmission scheme.

3. The method of sending a data packet according to claim 2 , wherein the
first radio access technology is one of LTE, HSPA, GPRS/EDGE.

4. The method of sending a data packet according to claim 1 , wherein the second radio access technology uses a contention based transmission scheme.

5. The method of sending a data packet according to claim 1 , wherein the second radio access technology is Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

6. The method of sending a data packet according to claim 1 , wherein the first or second power metric is output power or total energy needed for the first or second node, respectively, to transmit the data packet.

7. The method of sending a data packet according to claim 1 , wherein the second power metric, associated with an aggregation node in the first set is total output power needed or the total energy needed for at least the first node and the aggregation node, for transmitting the data packet to the second node via the aggregation node.

8. The method of sending a data packet according to claim 1 , wherein the second power metric, associated with an aggregation node in the first set is the total output power needed or the total energy needed for the aggregation node, for transmitting the data packet to the second node via the aggregation node.

9. The method of sending a data packet according to claim 1 , wherein the second power metric, associated with an aggregation node is total output power needed or the total energy needed for all nodes comprised in the path between the first node and the second node when transmitting the data packet to the second node via the aggregation node.

10. The method of sending a data packet according to claim 1 , wherein the step of selecting a transmission path further comprises only selecting transmission paths wherein each node in the transmission path are positioned beyond a minimum distance from all other nodes in the transmission path.

11. The method of sending a data packet according to claim 1 , wherein the step of selecting a transmission path further comprises determining a number of aggregation nodes in a transmission path from the first to the second node and selecting a transmission path based on a number of links in the transmission path.

12. The method of sending a data packet according to claim 1 , wherein first power level corresponds to a “knee point” of a transmission power for a power amplifier, below which knee point a relationship between power needed for transmission and amplification level is flat.

13. The method of sending a data packet according to claim 1 , wherein the selected transmission includes an aggregation node from the first set having the most data in its transmission buffer associated with transmitting the data packet from the first node to the second node.

14. A first node in a wireless network comprising a number of nodes wirelessly connected to each other, configured for sending a data packet from the first node to a second node, wherein there is a direct link to the second node from the first node, the first node comprising:
a communication interface configured for wireless communication with other nodes in the wireless network, and being adaptable to communicate directly with the second node using a first radio access technology and to communicate with aggregation nodes of a first set of nodes using a second radio access technology which is different from the first radio access technology; and
processing circuitry, configured to:
i. determine a first power metric, associated with transmitting the data packet from the first node to the second node on the direct link, wherein the direct link uses a first radio access technology,
ii. when the determined first power metric, is above a first power level, then determine a first set of aggregation nodes, being within reach of the first node, wherein each aggregation node in the set comprised in a respective alternative transmission path from the first node to the second node and wherein nodes in the first set uses a second radio access technology which is different from the first radio access technology,
iii. for each aggregation node in the first set determine a second power metric, associated with transmitting the data packet from the first node to the second node via the aggregation node,
iv. select a transmission path for sending the data packet from the first node to the second node based on a comparison of the first power metric, and the second power metric(s),
v. end the packet on the selected transmission path; and
vi. for each aggregation node in the first set determining a number of data packets in at least one transmission buffer, in the aggregation node, associated with transmitting the data packet from the first node to the second node via aggregation node; and
wherein the selection of a transmission path is further based on the determined number of data packets in the transmission buffers, of the aggregation nodes, associated with transmitting the data packet from the first node to the second node.

15. The node of claim 14 , wherein the selected transmission includes an aggregation node from the first set having the most data in its transmission buffer associated with transmitting the data packet from the first node to the second node.

16. A nontransitory computer readable storage medium comprising computer readable code which, when run on a first node in a contention based communication system, causes the first node to perform a method of sending a data packet from the first node to a second node, wherein there is a direct link to the second node from the first node, the m

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Lindoff Bengt
• Persson Per

Classifications

• Y02D70/1224

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• Y02D70/1262

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• Y02D70/22

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• Y02D70/142

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• Y02D70/144

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic