Systems and methods for synchronization within a neighborhood aware network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9516595-B2
Application number	US-201414212902-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 14, 2014
Priority date	Mar 27, 2013
Publication date	Dec 6, 2016
Grant date	Dec 6, 2016

Abstract

Methods, devices, and computer program products for synchronization of wireless devices in a peer-to-peer network are described herein. In one aspect, a method for synchronizing a wireless communication apparatus is provided. The method includes receiving one or more synchronization messages, each synchronization message having timing information and a cluster identifier, the timing information comprising anchor timing information, the cluster identifier being the same value as a cluster identifier of the apparatus. The method further includes determining whether a difference between a time value when a received synchronization message last received anchor timing information and a time value maintained for the apparatus is greater than a threshold. The method further includes discarding the received synchronization message if the difference exceeds the threshold.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of synchronizing a wireless communication apparatus, the method comprising:
receiving two or more synchronization messages, each synchronization message having timing information and a cluster identifier, the timing information comprising anchor timing information, the cluster identifier being the same value as a cluster identifier of the wireless communication apparatus;
determining a difference between a time value when a received synchronization message last received anchor timing information and a time value maintained for the wireless communication apparatus is greater than a threshold; and
selectively updating, using the received two or more synchronization messages when the determined difference for the message is below the threshold, the time value of the wireless communication apparatus based on the timing information in the received two or more synchronization messages, wherein selectively updating the time value of the wireless communication apparatus comprises:
updating the time value to a time value of a received synchronization message with a master preference value greater than master preference values of the other two or more received synchronization messages, and
updating the time value to a time value in the timing information of a received synchronization message with the most recent anchor timing information of the two or more received synchronization messages.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein selectively updating comprises:
determining whether a difference between a time value in the timing information of a received synchronization message and a time maintained by the wireless communication apparatus is greater than a threshold; and
discarding the received synchronization message if the difference exceeds the threshold.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein selectively updating comprises:
determining whether a difference between a time value in the timing information of a received synchronization message and the mean time value in the timing information of the other two or more received synchronization messages is greater than a threshold; and
discarding the received synchronization message if the difference exceeds the threshold.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein selectively updating further comprises updating the time value based on a device identifier of the two or more received synchronization messages when more than one received synchronization messages have the same master preference value.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the device identifier comprises a medium access control address.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein selectively updating further comprises updating the time value to a time value of a received synchronization message with a time value greater than time values of the other two or more received synchronization messages when more than one received synchronization messages have the same master preference value.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein selectively updating the time value of the wireless communication apparatus comprises updating the time value to a maximum time value of the timing information of the two or more received synchronization messages.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein selectively updating the time value of the wireless communication apparatus comprises updating the time value to one of a mean time value, a minimum time value, or a median time value of the timing information of the two or more received synchronization messages.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein selectively updating the time value of the wireless communication apparatus comprises updating the time value to a time value in the timing information of a received synchronization message with the most recent anchor timing information of the two or more received synchronization messages.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining whether the wireless communication apparatus has received timing information from an anchor node, wherein selectively updating the time value of the wireless communication apparatus comprises updating the time value to a maximum time value of the timing information of the two or more received synchronization messages when the wireless communication apparatus has not received timing information from the anchor node.

11. A wireless communication apparatus configured for wireless network synchronization, the wireless communication apparatus comprising:
a receiver configured to receive two or more synchronization messages, each synchronization message having timing information and a cluster identifier, the timing information comprising anchor timing information, the cluster identifier being the same value as a cluster identifier of the wireless communication apparatus; and
a processor configured to:
determine a difference between a time value when a received synchronization message last received anchor timing information and a time value maintained by the processor is greater than a threshold,
selectively update, using the received two or more synchronization messages when the determined difference for the message is below the threshold, the time value maintained by the processor based on the timing information in the received two or more synchronization messages, wherein the selectively update is further configured to:
update the time value by updating the time value to a time value of a received synchronization message with a master preference value greater than master preference values of the other two or more received synchronization messages, and
update the time value by updating the time value to a time value in the timing information of a received synchronization message of the two or more received synchronization messages with the most recent anchor timing information.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to selectively update the time value by:
determining whether a difference between a time value in the timing information of a received synchronization message and a time maintained by the wireless communication apparatus is greater than a threshold; and
discarding the received synchronization message if the difference exceeds the threshold.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to selectively update the time value by:
determining whether a difference between a time value in the timing information of a received synchronization message and the mean time value in the timing information of the other two or more received synchronization messages is greater than a threshold; and
discarding the received synchronization message if the difference exceeds the threshold.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to selectively update the time value by updating the time value based on a device identifier of the two or more received synchronization messages when more than one received synchronization messages have the same master preference value.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the device identifier comprises a medium access control address.

16. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to selectively update the time value by updating the time value to a time value of a received synchronization message with a time value greater than time values of the other two or more received synchronization messages when more than one received synchronization messages have the same master preference value.

17. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to selectively update the time value by updating the time v

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Abraham Santosh Paul
• Cherian George
• Raissinia Alireza
• Frederiks Guido Robert

Classifications

• H04W56/0035

  detecting errors in frequency or phase · CPC title

• H04W56/002

  Mutual synchronization · CPC title

• H04W56/0015

  one node acting as a reference for the others · CPC title

• H04W52/0229

  where the received signal is a wanted signal · CPC title

• H04W8/005

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