Neighbor Awareness Networking Ranging

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016309472-A1
Application number	US-201615131911-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 18, 2016
Priority date	Apr 20, 2015
Publication date	Oct 20, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

In some embodiments, one or more wireless stations operate to configure Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN)—direct communication with neighboring wireless stations, e.g., without utilizing an intermediate access point. Embodiments relate to scheduling of NAN ranging procedures, including to a first wireless station sending first information, including first scheduling preferences and a first ranging role, to a second wireless station. The first wireless device receives second information, including second scheduling preferences and a second ranging role, from the second wireless device. The first wireless station may initiate the ranging procedure based on the scheduling preferences and ranging parameters. Alternatively, the second wireless station and may initiate the ranging procedure based on the scheduling preferences and ranging parameters.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A wireless device, comprising:
at least one antenna; at least one radio communicatively coupled to the antenna and configured to perform Wi-Fi communication with a Wi-Fi access point; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one radio, wherein the wireless device is configured to perform voice and/or data communications; wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the wireless device to:
transmit first information to a neighboring wireless device, wherein the first information comprises first scheduling preferences and a first ranging role, each associated with the wireless device;
receive second information from the neighboring wireless device, wherein the second information comprises second scheduling preferences and a second ranging role, each associated with the second wireless device; and
perform a ranging procedure with the neighboring wireless device based on the first and second scheduling preferences and the first and second ranging roles.

2 . The wireless device of claim 1 ,
wherein the first information further comprises first ranging parameters associated with the wireless device; wherein the second information further comprises second ranging parameters associated with the neighboring wireless device; and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the wireless device to:
initiate the ranging procedure with the second wireless device.

3 . The wireless device of claim 1 ,
wherein the second information further comprises second ranging parameters associated with the neighboring wireless device; and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the wireless device to:
transmit third information to the neighboring wireless device, comprising first ranging parameters associated with the wireless device; and
receive fourth information initiating the ranging procedure from the neighboring wireless device.

4 . The wireless device of claim 1 ,
wherein the first information further comprises at least one of:
a service descriptor;
a current availability schedule; or
a preferred availability schedule.

5 . The wireless device of claim 1 ,
wherein the first information further comprises an initial fine timing measurement (FTM) request including one or more FTM attributes associated with the wireless device.

6 . The wireless device of claim 1 ,
wherein to perform the ranging procedure, the at least one processor is further configured to cause the wireless device to:
transmit a fine timing measurement (FTM) trigger frame;
receive one or more FTM responses, wherein each of the one or more FTM responses includes respective timing information; and
determine, based at least in part on the included respective timing information, one or more respective round trip times (RTTs).

7 . The wireless device of claim 1 ,
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the wireless device to:
transmit, subsequent to the ranging procedure, a range value to the neighboring wireless device.

8 . The wireless device of claim 7 ,
wherein the range value comprises an average of multiple measurements.

9 . An apparatus, comprising:
a memory; and at least one processor in communication with the memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
generate instructions to exchange service discovery frames (SDFs) with a neighboring wireless device to negotiate a ranging procedure, including instructions to transmit a first SDF to the neighboring wireless device;
generate instructions to transmit a fine timing measurement (FTM) trigger frame;
generate instructions to receive one or more FTM responses, wherein each of the one or more FTM responses includes respective timing information; and
determine, based at least in part on the included respective timing information, one or more respective round trip times (RTTs).

10 . The apparatus of claim 9 ,
wherein the first SDF includes scheduling preferences of the apparatus and at least one ranging role of the apparatus, wherein to generate instructions to exchange SDFs, the at least one processor is further configured to:
generate instructions to receive a second SDF from the neighboring wireless device, wherein the second SDF includes scheduling preferences of the neighboring wireless device and at least one ranging role of the neighboring wireless device; and
determine a schedule for the ranging procedure based at least in part on the respective scheduling preferences and the respective ranging roles.

11 . The apparatus of claim 9 ,
wherein the first SDF further includes first ranging parameters associated with the apparatus; and wherein a second SDF received from the neighboring wireless device includes second ranging parameters associated with the neighboring wireless device.

12 . The apparatus of claim 9 ,
wherein the first SDF further includes at least one of:
a service descriptor;
a current availability schedule; or
a preferred availability schedule.

13 . The apparatus of claim 9 ,
wherein the first SDF further includes an initial fine timing measurement (FTM) request, wherein the FTM request includes FTM attributes associated with the apparatus.

14 . The apparatus of claim 9 ,
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
generate instructions to transmit a range value to the neighboring wireless device, wherein the range value is based at least in part on the one or more RTTs.

15 . The apparatus of claim 14 ,
wherein the range value comprises an average of the one or more RTTs.

16 . A non-transitory computer readable memory medium storing program instructions executable by a processor to:
generate instructions to transmit a first SDF to a neighboring wireless, wherein the first SDF includes scheduling preferences of the apparatus and at least one ranging role of a wireless device; generate instructions to receive a second SDF from the neighboring wireless device, wherein the second SDF includes scheduling preferences of the neighboring wireless device and at least one ranging role of the neighboring wireless device; and schedule a ranging procedure based at least in part on the respective scheduling preferences and the respective ranging roles.

17 . The non-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 16 ,
wherein the program instructions are further executable to:
generate instructions to transmit a fine timing measurement (FTM) trigger frame;
generate instructions to receive one or more FTM responses, wherein each of the one or more FTM responses includes respective timing information; and
determine, based at least in part on the included respective timing information, one or more respective round trip times (RTTs).

18 . The non-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 16 ,
wherein the first SDF further includes first ranging parameters associated with the apparatus; and wherein the second SDF further includes second ranging parameters associated with the neighboring wireless device.

19 . The non-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 16 ,
wherein the first SDF further includes at least one of:
a service descriptor;
a current availability schedule; or
a preferred availability schedule.

20 . The non-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 16 ,
wherein the first SDF further includes an initial fine timing measurement (FTM) request, wherein the FTM reques

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Yong Su Khiong
• Hartman Christiaan A
• Liu Yong
• Kurian Lawrie
• Heerboth Peter N
• Li Guoqing
• Borges Daniel R
• Wong Chiu Ngok E
• Balasubramaniyan Saravanan
• Haque Tashbeeb
• Rajagopalan Anand

Classifications

• H04W76/14 Primary

  Direct-mode setup · CPC title

• H04W72/20

  Control channels or signalling for resource management · CPC title

• H04W64/006

  with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination · CPC title

• H04W72/0446 Primary

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

• H04W8/005

  Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals · CPC title