Network routing system, method, and computer program product

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025267706-A1
Application number	US-202418898197-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 26, 2024
Priority date	Mar 9, 2011
Publication date	Aug 21, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method, system, or computer program product to enhance the performance of multi-hop cellular networks or other wireless networks is provided. A wireless device (e.g., cellular telephone) is able to communicate with a base-station in a cell of the cellular network over a non-cellular interface via another wireless device in the cell through the use of multi-hopping. By enabling wireless devices to communicate with a base station in such a manner, the effective coverage area of the cellular network is expanded and the effective capacity of the cellular network is improved. Distributed routing, device management, adaptive scheduling, and distributed algorithms can be used to enhance the overall performance of multi-hop cellular networks.

First claim

1 . A method of coordinating use of a wireless medium among wireless devices that are out of range of one another, the method comprising:
receiving, by a first wireless device, a first request-to-send (RTS) signal transmitted from a second wireless device to a third wireless device, the RTS signal being wirelessly transmitted by the second wireless device in response to data in an output buffer of the second wireless device destined for the third wireless device; receiving, by the first wireless device, a second RTS signal transmitted from a fourth wireless device to the first wireless device, the second RTS signal being wirelessly transmitted by the fourth wireless device in response to data in an output buffer of the fourth wireless device destined for the first wireless device, the fourth wireless device being out of range of the second wireless device; in response to the first RTS signal, determining, by the first wireless device, to delay a transmission of a first clear-to-send (CTS) signal from the first wireless device until an acknowledgement (ACK) signal is transmitted from the third wireless device to the second wireless device; receiving the ACK signal, by the first wireless device, the ACK signal being wirelessly transmitted from the third wireless device to the second wireless device in response to receipt of data by the third wireless device from the second wireless device; and in response to the ACK signal, wirelessly transmitting a second CTS signal from the first wireless device to the fourth wireless device.

2 . The method of claim 1 , comprising receiving data frames, by the first wireless device, from the fourth wireless device after transmitting the second CTS signal.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless device is configure to operate as a node of a hybrid cellular and non-cellular multi-hop wireless network.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless device is a cell phone.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the ACK signal comprises receiving the ACK signal via a non-cellular interface of the first wireless device.

6 . A method of routing data in a multi-hop wireless network, the method comprising:
obtaining, by a first wireless device, data indicative of whether signal-quality of transmissions from a second wireless device to the first wireless device are above a first threshold; obtaining, by the first wireless device, data indicative of whether signal-quality of transmissions from a third wireless device to the first wireless device are above a second threshold; based on the obtained data, by the first wireless device, determining to route data from the first wireless device to the third wireless device through the second wireless device; and in response to the determination, transmitting data to the second wireless device for relay to the third wireless device.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the first threshold is greater than or equal to approximately 0 decibels.

8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the second threshold is greater than or equal to approximately 30 decibels.

9 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the data indicative of whether signal-quality of transmissions from a second wireless device to the first wireless device are above a first threshold comprises a beacon frame transmitted by the second wireless device.

10 . A method of relaying data in a multi-hop network, the method comprising:
receiving, by a first wireless device, a data frame and a first value both wirelessly transmitted from a second wireless device; determining, by the first wireless device, to relay the data frame based on first value; in response to the determination, selecting, by the first wireless device, a third wireless device to receive the data frame; and in response to the determination, transmitting, by the first wireless device, the data frame and a second value calculated by the first wireless device to the third wireless device.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the first value is based on a medium-access control (MAC) address of the second wireless device.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the first value is based on a destination MAC address.

13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the data frame comprises the first value.

14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the first value is smaller than or approximately equal to 4 bytes.

Assignees

• Univ Texas

Inventors

• Bhargava Vidur
• Vishwanath Sriram
• Jose Jubin

Classifications

• H04W80/06

  Transport layer protocols, e.g. TCP [Transport Control Protocol] over wireless {(transmission control protocol/Internet protocol [TCP/IP] or user datagram protocol [UDP] H04L69/16)} · CPC title

• H04W74/02

  Hybrid access · CPC title

• H04W40/22

  using selective relaying for reaching a BTS [Base Transceiver Station] or an access point · CPC title

• Y02D30/70

  in wireless communication networks · CPC title

• H04W40/12

  based on transmission quality or channel quality · CPC title