Distributed Proxy Coordination for Multi-Channel Wireless Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
In multi-channel wireless networks, coordinating devices across different frequency channels to share information efficiently is challenging due to limitations in existing frequency hopping techniques, particularly in supporting broadcasting, multicasting, and opportunistic spectrum usage, where channel availability changes over time, and the overhead of maintaining a dedicated rendezvous channel.
Innovation Solution
A distributed coordination method where devices on different channels use proxy devices to relay broadcast information, minimizing overhead and delays by allocating dedicated resources and beacon slots, enabling multi-hop communication across channels without a common rendezvous channel, and supporting robust coordination, synchronization, and spectral utilization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a dedicated rendezvous channel is used for coordination, then information sharing among devices on different channels is enabled, but overhead and resource requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the coordination function from a dedicated rendezvous channel and distributes it to individual channels. Each channel performs local coordination tasks independently, eliminating the need for a separate overhead channel while maintaining information sharing capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes each channel multi-functional by enabling it to perform both data transmission and coordination functions. Channels can act as master or slave roles dynamically, allowing any channel to handle coordination tasks, thus eliminating the need for a dedicated rendezvous channel.
2Productivity
If frequency hopping techniques are used to improve spectrum utilization, then spectral efficiency increases, but protocol design problems arise such as support for broadcasting and multicasting
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic channel assignment where channels can switch between master and slave roles based on current network conditions. This dynamic flexibility allows the system to maintain frequency hopping benefits while adapting to broadcasting and multicasting requirements by designating appropriate channels for specific functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces master channels as intermediaries that handle broadcasting and multicasting functions. These master channels act as mediators between slave channels and the network control plane, enabling efficient group communication without requiring all channels to participate in frequency hopping simultaneously.
3Productivity
If devices are tuned to different frequency channels, then spectrum utilization improves, but coordination and information sharing among devices becomes challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the network into multiple independent channels, each capable of autonomous operation. This segmentation allows devices to operate on different frequency channels simultaneously while maintaining coordination through defined master-slave relationships, preventing information loss across channel boundaries.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where slave channels report status information to master channels, which then propagate necessary coordination information to other channels. This feedback loop ensures that all devices remain synchronized and informed about network state changes despite operating on different frequencies.
Data Source
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Figure 2
AI summary
A distributed coordination of a wireless network operating on different channels is provided by dispatching a device on each 'home' channel to regularly visit other 'foreign' channels to propagate and listen to broadcast information on these channels. The information in the broadcast packets transmitted on the home channel is relayed to the devices on the foreign channels by the dispatched device, as a 'proxy device' that operates on behalf of the other devices in the home channel. In a preferred embodiment, various aspects of this proxy process are optimized to reduce overhead and delays. Each channel is configured to distinguish home devices from foreign devices, to avoid contention between home and foreign devices. Acquired beacon slots on foreign channels are reserved to facilitate returning proxy devices. At the home channel, an anchor device alerts other devices of the proxy device's temporary absence and preserves the proxy device's beacon slot on the home channel.