JP2003234686A - Network routing using positioning and short-range radio connection - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To construct a radio communication system including mobile equipment which can be used as a transmitting origin, a destination, and a relay medium of transmitted information. <P>SOLUTION: A relay node that receives a signal directed from the transmitting origin to the destination transfers the signal in the direction of the destination when a position of the destination is known and when the position is unknown, transmits the signal in the direction away from the transmitting origin or a transmitting medium of signals such as other relay nodes. When the signal is received, the destination transmits its address and the current position in the direction of the transmitting medium at the transmitting origin, etc., when a position of the transmitting origin is known and when the position is unknown, transmits them to the relay node by which the signal is directly transmitted more positively. The nodes may specify positions of other nodes in the network by taking out positional information in a network from the signal or a wide area positional report to be transmitted from a master node and to be periodically updated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED INVENTIONS Embodiments of the present invention claim priority based on US Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 329,029 filed Oct. 12, 2001.

Background Wireless networks, such as those used by mobile devices such as cellular phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs), may include fixed network nodes with fixed antennas as components. These fixed nodes form part of the network infrastructure. Mobile devices, including mobile devices having a relatively short communication range, can communicate with fixed nodes within the communication range using a bidirectional radio frequency (RF) communication channel. The fixed node can send signals from the mobile device to other network devices in the same network infrastructure and ultimately deliver the signals to other mobile devices in the network.

When a mobile device moves out of range of this fixed node, it may be in range of another fixed node, or it may be temporarily disconnected from the network. Absent.

These fixed nodes work by linking the mobile device to this wireless network. Since the positions of these fixed nodes are immovable, the entire geographical area of the wireless network can only be expanded by adding new fixed nodes. However, such additional installation may require significant financial outlays and other costs to secure the rights of the appropriate installation site.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one embodiment, a wireless communication network may function as a source, a destination, and a relay of transmitted information. A relay node that receives a signal from a source addressed to a certain destination transfers this signal in the direction of the destination if the position of this destination is known, and otherwise the source or another relay node, etc. This signal is transmitted in the direction away from the transmission medium of the.

When the destination receives the signal, the destination is more proactive in the direction of the transmission medium such as the relay node or the like which directly transmitted the signal, if the position is known, the originator if the position is known, or otherwise. May be sent in an explicit manner. These nodes may identify the position of other nodes by extracting the position information from this signal or the wide area position report that is periodically updated and transmitted from the master node.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication network 100 according to one embodiment. The network 100 may include mobile nodes 102 and fixed nodes. The mobile node may include a cellular telephone, personal digital assistant (PDA), or the like.
These nodes may be connected to each other on a one-to-one basis or may be broadcast. The communicable range of this node may be a relatively short range. These connections are bidirectional radio frequency (RF), infrared (IR),
Bluetooth (wireless technology and protocol for short range frequency hopping wireless links between devices)
Image file may be transmitted over a digital cellular telephone channel.

Each connection forming part of the network may be specialized for network use,
It may have other primary purposes. For example, a user PDA device in the network may be available to send traffic, while this user wants to send an electronic business card to another PDA user. It is possible that this business card transmission will take precedence over any other network traffic and completely stop any unrelated activity. Similarly, other uses may have priority to use resources such as memory, processing power, etc.
In this sense, the network makes efficient use of unused radio bands and other resources, thereby utilizing otherwise unused radio units and resources.

The mobile device may have a positioning function such as a GPS (Global Positioning System) compatible function. The mobile device may also send its location information, along with its network address or other identifier, to another node within range. In addition, the mobile device may specify its actual position more accurately and in detail by using the position information received from another mobile device, for example, by differential GPS.

The mobile device may act as both the source and destination in the transmission. If a destination device is out of range of the source device, the transmitted information can "hop" through one or more relay nodes before reaching the destination. Other nodes in this network, including fixed nodes, may function as relay nodes that forward network traffic.

With the passage of time, for example, some nodes 104 are driven out of the communication range of the network,
Alternatively, the physical positioning of the nodes in the network may change, such as being pushed out of the coverage of one node and entering the coverage of another node. Also, the state of the wireless link may change, such as the connection used to connect a source to the destination changing.

In each case, the transmission from the source to the destination can be more effectively performed by determining the traffic direction according to the physical positions of the source node, the destination node, and the relay node. In one embodiment, mobile nodes and fixed nodes may have directional transmission capabilities. For example, these nodes may have directional antennas that direct signals in a desired direction or area of direction. Alternatively, or in addition, these nodes may store the addresses of the nodes along with location information corresponding to these addresses. Also, these nodes may broadcast signals destined only to those nodes that are within the location corresponding to a desired direction or direction region. Also, these nodes may use the position information received from neighboring mobile nodes together with their own position information to determine the transmission direction of network traffic.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a network routing process 200 according to one embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the source node 300 is the destination node 30.
2 prepares information for transmission to (block 20)
2). Preparing information for transmission includes formatting the data into packets and adding destination addresses to outgoing packets. If the source node 300 knows the location of the destination node 302 (block 204),
The source node may use its location information to identify the direction from the location of the source node to the destination node, and send the prepared information in the direction of the destination node (block 20).
6). If the destination does not know the location of the destination node,
The source node may broadcast the information in all directions 304 (block 208).

One or more nodes within range of source node 302 may receive this transmission (block 210). If the receiving node is not the destination node (block 212), that is, if it is a relay node 306 (block 21).
3) It is determined if this node knows the location of the destination (block 204). If yes, relay node 3
06 directs the transmission to the known latest location of the destination (block 206). If the relay node does not know the location of the destination, the relay node may send the information towards the direction area 308 away from the medium of transmission of the information (block 209). This transmission medium may be the source node or another relay node. The transmission from the transmission source node 300 to the relay node 306 constitutes one hop during the connection between the transmission source node and the destination node 302.

When the destination node receives this information or receives a notification that it is the destination, the destination 30
2 may start sending its location information more aggressively (block 214). For example, the destination node may update and send its location more frequently. Also, this destination is
To improve signal quality and / or transmission area,
You may increase the power to transmit own location information.
The destination node may also send a packet containing its location information in that direction, if the direction of the source is known. To facilitate this, the source node 3
00 will include its own position information in the transmission. If the location of the source node is not known, the destination node may broadcast its location information, or it may transmit its location to the relay node that sent the source-originated transmission directly to itself. You may turn to.

The constituent nodes of such a mobile radio network may change over time. The mobile node may move out of the coverage area of the network, or may go out of the coverage area of one node and into the range of another communication node. The state of the wireless link also changes, which can lead to changes in network connectivity. In addition, a higher priority function (for example, the above-mentioned P
Execution of (DA electronic business card transmission) may not be available for relaying traffic or the power may be turned off. The local "master" node may be adapted to report and monitor the availability of mobile nodes that are part of the network. This master node is designated in real time and may be changed rapidly by the physical movement of the mobile node. The mobile unit periodically and / or whenever there is a significant change in position, and / or whenever it comes within range of, or connects to, other new units and keeps itself informed of its current position. It may be transmitted to units other than. The master node collects location information and location updates from other non-master nodes or nearby master nodes within range. For Bluetooth wireless connection,
The master node can be a Bluetooth master node.

In addition to positioning, mobile devices may be able to identify their speed and / or direction of travel. These nodes may include this information in their transmissions, for example location update information and headers in packets of transmissions from the source node. This speed information may be used to set up and change connections. The node may direct the transmission such that the information is sent near the location of the destination after a short time. The transmission containing velocity and / or direction of travel may also include a time stamp for extrapolating the position at a later time using this velocity and / or direction of travel.

These nodes may send the address and location information of the newly detected neighbor node to other nodes in the network. That node may periodically broadcast a request to identify other nearby nodes. For example, a Bluetooth enabled node may broadcast a "query" signal. Other Bluetooth-enabled nodes that receive this inquiry may return their address, capabilities, and location information. The node returning at this time may broadcast this information to other nodes in the network.

The techniques described herein may be implemented as hardware, software, or a combination of the two. These techniques include one or more programmable computers each having a processor, a storage medium (including volatile, non-volatile memory and / or storage elements) readable by the processor, and suitable input / output devices. It may be implemented as a computer program executed by. These programmable computers may be general purpose computers or special purpose embedded systems.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, for blocks used in the flowcharts to describe various processes, their execution may be omitted, or the order may be changed to achieve desired results. Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the appended claims.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication network according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a network routing process according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing transmission patterns of various nodes in a network according to an embodiment.

Claims (44)

[Claims] 1. A method of transferring a signal from a first node to a second node, wherein: address information for identifying the second node addressed to the second node in the first node. In response to receiving a signal including, extracting the address information from the signal, attempting to identify the position of the second node, and identifying the position of the second node. ,
In response to transmitting the signal to the second node and not specifying the position of the second node, the direction in which the signal is received is specified, and the direction to receive the signal is separated from the direction. Transmitting a signal. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the received signal includes information indicating the location of the second node. 3. The transmitting of the signal to the second node includes: identifying a current location of the first node and identifying a direction from the current location to a location of the second node. And transmitting the signal in the direction.
The method described in. 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a first location report from the node, the report comprising addresses of a plurality of nodes and location information for a plurality of the addresses. 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising receiving a second location report from the node, the report including updated location information for at least one of the addresses. 6. The transmitting the signal to the second node comprises transmitting the signal in an approximate direction of the second node, the direction being the identified second direction. The method of claim 1 including the location of the node. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the received signal includes information indicative of dynamic characteristics of the second node. 8. The information indicating the dynamic characteristic is the second information.
8. The method of claim 7 including the speed of the nodes of the. 9. The information indicating the dynamic characteristic is the second information.
8. The method of claim 7, including the direction of movement of the node. 10. Identifying a predicted position at a time after the second node from the information indicating the dynamic characteristic of the second node, and calculating the signal at the predicted position at the subsequent time. 8. The method of claim 7, comprising transmitting the signal to the. 11. The method of claim 3, wherein transmitting the signal in the direction comprises limiting transmission of the signal in the other direction. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the received signal includes information indicating the location of the transmission medium of the signal. 13. The identifying of the direction in which the signal is received comprises: retrieving the position of the transmission medium from the signal and calculating a direction from the position of the transmission medium to the position of the first node. The method of claim 1, comprising: 14. Receiving a signal as an intended destination, specifying a current position, and transmitting a position report including identification information and position information indicating the current position to a transmission medium of the signal. And transmitting the location report at a transmit power level. 15. The transmission of the location report to the transmission medium comprises: identifying the direction in which the signal was received and transmitting the location report in the direction. the method of. 16. The method of claim 14, further comprising transmitting the location report at an increased transmit power level in response to receiving a signal as an intended destination. 17. The method of claim 14, further comprising repeatedly transmitting the location report more frequently in response to receiving a signal as an intended destination. 18. The method of claim 14, further comprising: locating the transmission medium and determining a direction from the location of the transmission medium and the current location to the transmission medium. . 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the transmission medium is the source of the signal. 20. The method of claim 18, wherein locating the transmission medium comprises extracting information indicative of the location of the transmission medium from the signal. 21. Locating the transmission medium comprises: receiving a first global location report from a node, retrieving an address of the transmission medium from the signal, Comparing with the address in a first global location report, the first global location report including addresses of the plurality of nodes and location information for a plurality of the addresses. The method described in. 22. The method of claim 21, further comprising receiving a second global location report from the node, the report including updated location information for at least one of the addresses. 23. The method of claim 14, wherein the location report further includes information indicating dynamic characteristics of the node. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the information indicative of the dynamic characteristic includes a speed of the node. 25. The method according to claim 23, wherein the information indicating the dynamic characteristic includes a moving direction of the node. 26. The method of claim 14, further comprising updating the location report in response to changes in the current location. 27. The method of claim 14, further comprising updating the location report in response to changes in the dynamic characteristics of the node. 28. Further, broadcasting a position request, receiving an address and information indicating a position of a neighboring node, and broadcasting the address and information indicating a position of the neighboring node. 15. The method of claim 14, comprising: 29. Further connecting with a new node,
Or in response to the disconnection with the old node,
15. The method of claim 14, comprising updating the location report. 30. The method of claim 14, wherein transmitting the location report comprises repeatedly transmitting the location report at the transmit power level. 31. An antenna used for transmission and reception of a wireless communication signal, an antenna controller having a function of specifying a direction of a received signal and transmitting the signal to a selected direction or direction area, and addresses for a plurality of nodes. A memory device having a function of storing information and position information; and a routing controller, wherein the routing controller receives a signal addressed to a node and including address information for identifying the node, A function of extracting the address information from the signal, a function of attempting to specify the position of the node, a function of transmitting the signal in response to specifying the position of the node, and a position of the node In response to the failure, the direction in which the signal was received is specified, and the signal is transmitted so as to move away from the direction. A device having a function of transmitting a signal. 32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the received signal includes information indicating a location of the node, and identifying the node includes extracting the location information from the signal. 33. The routing controller further comprises a function of specifying a current position of the device, a function of specifying a direction from the current position to the position of the node, and a function of transmitting the signal in the direction. 32. The apparatus according to claim 31, comprising. 34. The memory device further has a function of storing a first location report received from the master node,
34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the report includes addresses of a plurality of nodes and location information for the plurality of addresses. 35. The memory device is further responsive to receiving a second location report from the master node,
35. The apparatus of claim 34, having the ability to update information in the stored address and location information, the report including up-to-date location information for at least one of the addresses. 36. An antenna used for transmitting and receiving a wireless communication signal, an antenna controller having a function of specifying a direction of a received signal and transmitting the signal to a selected direction or direction area, and addresses for a plurality of nodes. A memory device having a function of storing information and position information; and a routing controller, wherein the routing controller receives a signal as an intended destination, a function of determining the current position of the device, An apparatus having a function of transmitting a position report including identification information and position information indicating the current position to a transmission medium of the signal. 37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the routing controller is further capable of transmitting the location report at a certain transmit power level. 38. The routing controller is further responsive to receiving a signal as an intended destination.
38. The apparatus of claim 37, which is capable of transmitting the location report with an increased transmit power level. 39. The routing controller is further responsive to receiving a signal as an intended destination,
39. The apparatus of claim 38, having the capability of repeatedly transmitting the location report more frequently. 40. The routing controller further has a function of specifying a position of the transmission medium, and a function of specifying a direction from the position of the transmission medium and the current position to the transmission medium. The device according to. 41. A machine-readable medium storing machine-executable instructions, the instructions comprising: a function for receiving to a machine: a signal directed to a node, the signal comprising address information identifying the node. A function of extracting the address information from the signal, a function of attempting to specify the position of the node, a function of transmitting the signal in response to specifying the position of the node, and a position of the node In response to the failure to do so, the function of identifying the direction in which the signal is received and transmitting the signal so as to move away from the direction. 42. The object of claim 41, wherein the received signal includes information indicating the location of the node. 43. A machine-readable medium storing machine-executable instructions, the instructions comprising: a function of receiving signals from said machine as a desired destination, a function of determining a current position, and identification information. And a function of transmitting a position report including the position information indicating the current position to a transmission medium of the signal, and a function of repeatedly transmitting the position report. 44. The instructions that cause the machine to implement the function of transmitting the location report to the transmission medium further include: a function of identifying a direction in which the signal is received, and the location report in the direction. The function according to claim 43, further comprising an instruction for realizing the function to perform.