Systems and methods for formatting frames in neighborhood aware networks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9820131-B2
Application number	US-201314105114-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 12, 2013
Priority date	Jan 11, 2013
Publication date	Nov 14, 2017
Grant date	Nov 14, 2017

Abstract

Systems and methods for formatting frames in neighborhood aware networks are described herein. One aspect of the subject matter described in the disclosure provides a method of communicating in a wireless neighborhood aware network (NAN). The method includes determining a discovery period. The method further includes generating a discovery window information element indicating a start time of a discovery window. The method further includes generating a NAN beacon or other sync frame comprising the discovery period and the discovery window information element. The method further includes transmitting, at a wireless device, the NAN beacon or other sync frame during the discovery window.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of communicating in a wireless neighborhood aware network (NAN), comprising:
determining, by a wireless device, a discovery period, the discovery period including a discovery window and indicating a duration of time from a start of the discovery window to a start of a subsequent discovery window;
generating, by the wireless device, a NAN beacon or other sync frame comprising a discovery period field indicating the discovery period, a field indicating a start time of the discovery window in relation to the discovery period, a destination address field that includes a broadcast address, a network address field that includes a NAN BSSID of the NAN, independent of an address of the wireless device and an information element comprising a time synchronization function (TSF) indicating a time of a subsequent discovery period; and
transmitting, by the wireless device, the NAN beacon or other sync frame during the discovery window.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NAN beacon or other sync frame further comprises an information element comprising a time synchronization function (TSF) indicating a time of a current discovery window.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NAN beacon or other sync frame further comprises an information element comprising a transmit address.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NAN BSSID comprises a universal BSSID token.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NAN BSSID is based on an application identifier.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NAN BSSID comprises a pseudo-unique network identifier.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NAN beacon or other sync frame further comprises a frame control field comprising an indication that the NAN beacon or other sync frame is a beacon management frame.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the frame control field further comprises an indication that the NAN beacon or other sync frame is a probe response.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the destination address field further comprises a multicast address, or a group of addresses, indicating that the beacon is a NAN beacon or other sync frame.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the destination address is the same as the NAN BSSID.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NAN BSSID comprises at least one of a standards-body-defined BSSID or an application-defined BSSID.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the address of the wireless device is carried in a frame body of the NAN beacon.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NAN BSSID is based on a characteristic of the wireless device.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NAN beacon or other sync frame further comprises a timestamp comprising a clock time of the wireless device at the time of the generation of the NAN beacon or other sync frame.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NAN beacon or other sync frame further comprises an SSID element comprising at least one of a standards-body-defined SSID or an application-defined SSID.

16. A wireless device configured to communicate in a wireless neighborhood aware network (NAN), comprising:
a processor configured to:
determine a discovery period, the discovery period including a discovery window and indicating a period of time from a start of the discovery window to a start of a subsequent discovery window;
generate a NAN beacon or other sync frame comprising a discovery period field indicating the discovery period, a field indicating a start time of the discovery window in relation to the discovery period, a destination address field that includes a broadcast address, a network address field that includes a NAN BSSID of the NAN, independent of the address of the wireless device and an information element comprising a time synchronization function (TSF) indicating a time of a subsequent discovery period; and
transmit the NAN beacon or other sync frame during the discovery window.

17. The wireless device of claim 16 , wherein the NAN beacon or other sync frame further comprises an information element comprising a time synchronization function (TSF) indicating a time of a current discovery window.

18. The wireless device of claim 16 , wherein the NAN beacon or other sync frame further comprises an information element comprising a transmit address.

19. The wireless device of claim 16 , wherein the NAN BSSID comprises a universal BSSID token.

20. The wireless device of claim 16 , wherein the NAN BSSID is based on an application identifier.

21. The wireless device of claim 16 , wherein the NAN BSSID comprises a pseudo-unique network identifier.

22. The wireless device of claim 16 , wherein the NAN beacon or other sync frame further comprises a frame control field comprising an indication that the NAN beacon or other sync frame is a beacon management frame.

23. The wireless device of claim 22 , wherein the frame control field further comprises an indication that the NAN beacon or other sync frame is a probe response.

24. The wireless device of claim 16 , wherein the destination address field further comprises a multicast address, or a group of addresses, indicating that the beacon is a NAN beacon or other sync frame.

25. The wireless device of claim 16 , wherein the destination address is the same as the NAN BSSID.

26. The wireless device of claim 16 , wherein the NAN BSSID comprises at least one of a standards-body-defined BSSID or an application-defined BSSID.

27. The wireless device of claim 16 , wherein the address of the wireless device is carried in a frame body of the NAN beacon.

28. The wireless device of claim 16 , wherein the NAN BSSID is based on a characteristic of the wireless device.

29. The wireless device of claim 16 , wherein the NAN beacon or other sync frame further comprises a timestamp comprising a clock time of the wireless device at the time of the generation of the NAN beacon or other sync frame.

30. The wireless device of claim 16 , wherein the NAN beacon or other sync frame further comprises an SSID element comprising at least one of a standards-body-defined SSID or an application-defined SSID.

31. An apparatus for communicating in a wireless neighborhood aware network (NAN), comprising:
means for determining a discovery period, the discovery period including a discovery window and indicating a period of time from a start of the discovery window to a start of a subsequent discovery window;
means for generating a NAN beacon or other sync frame comprising a discovery period field indicating the discovery period, a field indicating a start time of the discovery window in relation to the discovery period, a destination address field that includes a broadcast address, a network address field that includes a NAN BSSID of the NAN independent of an address of the apparatus and an information element comprising a time synchronization function (TSF) indicating a time of a subsequent discovery period; and
means for transmitting the NAN beacon or other sync frame during the discovery window.

32. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code that, when executed, causes an apparatus configured to communicate in a wireless neighborhood aware network (NAN) to:
determine a discovery period, the discovery period including a discovery window and indicating a period of time from a start of the discovery

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc
• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Abraham Santosh Paul
• Cherian George
• Raissinia Alireza
• Shukla Ashish Kumar
• Frederiks Guido Robert
• Merlin Simone

Classifications

• H04W84/18

  Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks · CPC title

• H04W48/18

  Selecting a network or a communication service · CPC title

• H04W4/80

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title

• H04W76/00

  Connection management · CPC title

• H04W8/005 Primary

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