Two-Level Beacon Mechanism for Millimeter Wave Wireless Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Millimeter-wave wireless communication systems operating at 60 GHz face challenges due to high oxygen absorption and attenuation through obstructions, requiring directional antennas and inefficient omni-directional beacon transmissions for device discovery and synchronization, leading to high overhead and limited flexibility in device placement.
Innovation Solution
A two-level beacon mechanism is introduced, comprising low-rate omni-directional discovery beacons for initial network entry and high-rate directional announcement beacons for regular operations, optimizing efficiency by minimizing overhead and enabling flexible device placement through beamformed transmissions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If omni-directional beacon transmissions are used for device discovery and synchronization, then device discovery and network entry are enabled, but overhead is very high and data rate is very low (few Mbps)
Solution Approach 1:
The beacon transmission is segmented into two distinct types: omni-directional discovery beacons for initial device discovery and network entry, and directional announcement beacons for ongoing communications. This segmentation allows each beacon type to be optimized for its specific function, with omni beacons enabling easy device discovery while directional beacons provide high data rates for actual data transfer.
2Reliability
If directional antennas are used for mmWave communication, then signal to noise ratio is improved, but flexibility in device placement is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically switches between omni-directional and directional transmission modes based on the operational phase. During initial discovery and network entry, omni-directional transmission provides flexibility for devices to join from any position. Once connected, the system transitions to directional transmission for optimized SNR, with the ability to steer beams as devices move, thus maintaining both reliability and adaptability.
3Power
If high-gain directional antennas are used, then transmitted power requirements are reduced, but device placement flexibility is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The communication process is divided into two phases: initial access using omni-directional antennas that provide coverage for flexible device placement, and data transfer using high-gain directional antennas that reduce power requirements. This segmentation allows the system to benefit from both transmission modes without compromising either flexibility or power efficiency.
4Ease of operation
If omni-directional transmissions are used for initial network entry, then device discovery is enabled, but overhead is very high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the device discovery function from the ongoing data transfer function by using separate omni-directional discovery beacons for network entry and directional announcement beacons for data transfer. This extraction reduces overhead by limiting omni-directional transmissions to only when needed for discovery, rather than using them continuously for all communications.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, apparatus, and non-transient computer readable medium that pertain to communicating in a wireless network with a MAC layer that uses multi-level beacons, the multi-level beacons including a Discovery beacon (DB) which is transmitted in an omni mode and an announcement beacon/frame (AB) transmitted in a beam formed mode.