Internet of everything device relay discovery and selection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016269486-A1
Application number	US-201514846630-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 4, 2015
Priority date	Mar 13, 2015
Publication date	Sep 15, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Wireless communication systems and methods related to the discovery and selection of relay devices by internet of everything (IoE) devices are disclosed. For example, IoE devices with low pathloss to a base station can broadcast information during discovery frames that allow other IoE devices to discover them and select them as a relay, if appropriate. The discovery broadcast message from an IoE device can include information to allow a listening IoE device to select a suitable IoE device for relaying its data that satisfies latency parameters while minimizing the energy impact of relaying. Signaling structures are also provided to allow different IoE devices to select slots for broadcasting within the discovery frame in a distributed manner without disrupting existing periodic broadcasts. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are also claimed and described.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for wireless communication, the method comprising:
receiving, at a first wireless communication device, discovery messages from one or more other wireless communication devices during a discovery time period; selecting, by the first wireless communication device, a relay device from among the one or more other wireless communication devices meeting data latency and energy parameters based on the received discovery messages; and associating, by the first wireless communication device, with the selected relay device during an association time period.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving the discovery messages from the one or more other wireless communication devices during separate slots of the discovery frame.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the association time period occupies at least one of:
an association frame separate from the discovery frame; or at least one slot of the discovery frame.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying the one or more other wireless communication devices within a range of the first wireless communication device based on a pathloss between the first wireless communication device and the one or more other wireless communication devices.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying the one or more other wireless communication devices satisfying a data latency requirement of the first wireless communication device based on an awake schedule of the one or more other wireless communication devices.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying the one or more other wireless communication device that optimizes an energy parameter selected from the group of energy parameters consisting of an energy consumption of the one or more other wireless communication device or a battery life of the one or more other wireless communication device.

7 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising receiving the discovery messages that include at least one of an ID of the one or more other wireless communication device, an awake schedule of the one or more other wireless communication device, a transmission schedule of the one or more other wireless communication device, a current rate of energy consumption of the one or more other wireless communication device, a remaining battery life of the one or more other wireless communication device, or an amount energy required for the one or more other wireless communication device to transmit a data packet of a certain length.

8 . A method for wireless communication, the method comprising:
listening, by a first wireless communication device, for transmissions of one or more other wireless communication devices during a broadcast time of one or more discovery slots of a discovery frame; broadcasting, by the first wireless communication device, a discovery message in a discovery slot of the discovery frame if no transmissions of the one or more other wireless communication devices are received during the discovery slot; and associating, by the first wireless communication device during an association time period, with a second wireless communication device that selected the first wireless communication device as a relay device based on the broadcast discovery message.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
listening, by the first wireless communication device, for transmissions of the one or more other wireless communication devices during a backoff period of the one or more discovery slots of the discovery frame if no transmissions of the one or more other wireless communication devices are heard during the broadcast time; and broadcasting, by the first wireless communication device, the discovery message in the discovery slot of the discovery frame if no transmissions of the one or more other wireless communication devices are heard during the broadcast time and if no transmissions of the one or more other wireless communication devices are received during the backoff period of the discovery slot.

10 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising broadcasting, by the first wireless communication device, a discovery message in a discovery slot of a subsequent discovery frame without listening for transmissions of the one or more other wireless communication devices in the subsequent discovery frame.

11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the association time period occupies at least one of:
an association frame separate from the discovery frame; or at least one slot of the discovery frame.

12 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising broadcasting, by the first wireless communication device, the broadcast discovery message that includes at least one of an ID of the first wireless communication device, an awake schedule of the first wireless communication device, a transmission schedule of the first wireless communication device, a current rate of energy consumption of the first wireless communication device, a remaining battery life of the first wireless communication device, or an amount energy required for the first wireless communication device to transmit a data packet of a certain length.

13 . A wireless communication device, comprising:
a sensor configured to generate data from a detected event; a transceiver configured to:
receive discovery messages from one or more other wireless communication devices during a discovery time period; and
transmit an association message to a selected relay device during an association time period; and
a processor configured to select the relay device from among the one or more other wireless communication devices satisfying data latency and energy parameters based on the discovery messages received by the transceiver.

14 . The device of claim 13 , wherein the discovery time period is a discovery frame and wherein the transceiver is configured to receive the discovery messages during separate slots of the discovery frame.

15 . The device of claim 13 , wherein the association time period occupies at least one of:
an association frame separate from the discovery frame; or at least one slot of the discovery frame.

16 . The device of claim 13 , wherein the processor is configured to select the relay device by identifying the one or more other wireless communication devices within a range of the first wireless communication device by calculating a pathloss between the first wireless communication device and the one or more other wireless communication devices.

17 . The device of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to select the relay device by identifying the one or more other wireless communication devices satisfying a data latency requirement of the first wireless communication device based on an awake schedule of the one or more other wireless communication devices.

18 . The device of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to select the relay device by identifying the other wireless communication device from among the one or more other wireless communication devices that optimizes an energy parameter selected from the group of energy parameters consisting of an energy consumption of the other wireless communication device or a battery life of the other wireless communication device.

19 . The device of claim 13 , wherein the discovery messages received by the transceiver include at least one of an ID of the one or more other wireless communication device, an awake schedule of the one or more other wireless communication device, a transmission schedule of th

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Gupta Piyush
• Li Junyi

Classifications

• H04W88/04

  adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user · CPC title

• H04L67/12 Primary

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• H04W4/70 Primary

  Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] · CPC title

• H04W72/0446

  Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames · CPC title

• H04W48/10

  using broadcasted information · CPC title