Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080222486 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ENCODING AND DECODING LOW DENSITY PARITY CHECK (LDPC) CODES - A novel apparatus and method for encoding data using a low density parity check (LDPC) code capable of representation by a bipartite graph are provided. To encode the data, an accumulate chain of a plurality of low degree variable nodes may be generated. The accumulate chain may then be closed to form a loop twice, once using a low degree variable nodes and once using a higher degree variable which is higher than the low degree variable node, where the higher degree variable node comprises a non-loop-closing edge. In one embodiment, the plurality of low degree variable nodes may have the same permutation on each edge. | 09-11-2008 |
20080298445 | SECTORIZED BASE STATIONS AS MULTIPLE ANTENNA SYSTEMS - Methods and apparatus for improved utilization of air link resources are discussed in wireless communications systems employing multi-sector base stations and wireless terminals with multiple antennas. Timing synchronization is maintained across the base station sectors, and the same set of tones are used in adjacent sectors. In a sector boundary region, which is typically a high interference region, a wireless terminal is set to a sector pair state and operated in a MIMO mode of operation, communicating with two adjacent base station antenna faces of the same base station concurrently, the two different adjacent base station antenna faces corresponding to different adjacent sectors. Thus, typically high interference sector boundary regions, are converted into high capacity regions by having the sectors coordinated and utilizing MIMO techniques. | 12-04-2008 |
20080298494 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVED UTILIZATION OF AIR LINK RESOURCES IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM - Methods and apparatus for improving the utilization of air link resources in a wireless communications system, e.g., an OFDM MIMO system, including a base station with multiple transmit antennas are described. Superposition signaling in the downlink is employed. The superimposed signal includes a first transform result signal and a second lower power signal. The first transform result signal is generated from a first signal, which uses position modulation, e.g., including null components and high power non-null components. Different components of the first transform result signal are directed to different transmit antennas. The first transform result signal communicates information to a first wireless terminal, e.g., a weak receiver. The non-null received elements of the first transform result signal are utilized by a second wireless terminal, e.g., a superior receiver, as pilots to determine a channel estimate. The second wireless terminal uses the determined channel estimate to demodulate received second signals. | 12-04-2008 |
20090010179 | METHODS AND APPARATUS SUPPORTING TRAFFIC SIGNALING IN PEER TO PEER COMMUNICATIONS - Methods and apparatus related to peer to peer communication networks are described. An active connection list is maintained by a wireless communications device supporting peer to peer communications. In various embodiments, the active connection identifier list being maintained is in addition to a list of discovered peers in the local vicinity. Paging signaling, e.g., peer to peer paging signaling, is used to establish active connections. Air link peer to peer traffic resources include traffic control resources and traffic data resources. A wireless communications device seeking to transmit on a traffic data resource transmits a traffic request signal on a traffic control resource. An active connection identifier is, in some embodiments, associated with a particular subset of traffic control resources. Thus, a wireless communications device monitors the portion or portions of the traffic control resource corresponding to its active connections for traffic request signals, but need not monitor other portions. | 01-08-2009 |
20090010231 | COMMUNICATIONS METHODS AND APPARATUS RELATED TO SYNCHRONIZATION WITH RESPECT TO A PEER TO PEER TIMING STRUCTURE - Methods and apparatus related to peer to peer communication networks are described. A peer to peer timing structure is implemented which includes recurring peer discovery intervals and traffic intervals. Some embodiments further include recurring paging intervals for peer to peer pages. A wireless communications device, supporting peer to peer communications and storing information defining the timing structure, determines a time reference point, facilitating a coarse level of synchronization with respect to the timing structure. The time reference point is determined based on a broadcast signal received from a communications device, e.g., a satellite, base station, or beacon signal transmitter. Multiple peer to peer wireless communications devices in a local vicinity thus obtain the same basic understanding as to the current relative point in time with respect to a common recurring peer to peer timing structure. Peer to peer timing synchronization is further refined based on received signals communicated between peers. | 01-08-2009 |
20090010232 | METHODS AND APPARATUS RELATED TO PEER TO PEER COMMUNICATIONS TIMING STRUCTURE - Methods and apparatus related to peer to peer communication networks are described. A peer to peer timing structure is implemented which includes a pattern of different types of time intervals including at least a peer discovery time interval and a traffic interval. A wireless communications device, supporting peer to peer operations stores the peer to peer timing structure information, accesses the stored information, and used the accessed information to determine an operation to be performed during a current time period. The operation is, e.g., a peer discovery operation, a peer to peer timing synchronization operation, a peer paging operation, or a peer to peer traffic signaling operation. Various exemplary relationships between the different types of intervals, including relative frequencies, relative durations, and spacing information, are described. Advantageous construction of the recurring peer to peer timing structure facilitates efficient utilization of air link resources and/or higher traffic data throughput capabilities. | 01-08-2009 |
20090010244 | METHODS AND APPARATUS SUPPORTING MULTIPLE TIMING SYNCHRONIZATIONS CORRESPONDING TO DIFFERENT COMMUNICATIONS PEERS - Methods and apparatus related to peer to peer communication networks are described. A wireless communications device supports peer to peer communications with multiple peers. The wireless communications device determines its transmit timing synchronization based on a reference signal received from a node such as a base station, a satellite, or a beacon transmitter which does not transmit user data. The wireless communications device determines a plurality of different receive timing adjustments corresponding to different peer communications devices based on signals received from those peer communications devices. The wireless communications device stores the plurality of determined receive timing adjustment information corresponding to the different peer communications devices. The wireless communications device retrieves and applies stored receive timing adjustment information which matches the particular device which transmitted the signal attempting to be recovered. | 01-08-2009 |
20090013081 | METHODS AND APPARATUS RELATED TO PEER DISCOVERY AND/OR PAGING IN PEER TO PEER WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS - Methods and apparatus related to peer to peer communication networks are described. A peer to peer timing structure is implemented which includes recurring peer discovery intervals and traffic intervals. During a peer discovery interval, a wireless communications device, supporting peer to peer communications, monitors for and receives a broadcast signal from another peer wireless communications device, recovers an identifier from the received broadcast signal, and stores the received identifier in memory. The identifier is one of a device identifier and a user identifier. The wireless communications device maintains a list of discovered identifiers in its vicinity. In some embodiments, paging intervals are also included in the recurring peer to peer timing structure. In various embodiments, a wireless communications device receives or sends a page to a peer node prior to sending or receiving user data in a traffic interval. Various features are directed to peer paging protocol implementations. | 01-08-2009 |
20090015478 | TECHNIQUES FOR RECEIVER BEAMFORMING AND YIELDING-THRESHOLD ADJUSTMENTS IN PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS - To mitigate interference between multiple peer-to-peer devices, transmitter yielding and/or receiver yielding may be performed among devices operating in a peer-to-peer network. Generally, a transmitter device will yield communications on a time slot to a higher priority transmitter device if it will cause unacceptable interference to a higher priority receiver device. Likewise, a receiver device may yield use of the time slot if interference is unacceptably high. Both transmitter and receiver yielding may be improved by use of beamforming at a receiver device. By utilizing beamforming information to make the transmitter and/or receiver yielding decisions, better interference mitigation may be achieved. | 01-15-2009 |
20090016248 | CODING METHODS OF COMMUNICATING IDENTIFIERS IN PEER DISCOVERY IN A PEER-TO-PEER NETWORK - Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate identifying peers based upon encoded signals during peer discovery in a peer to peer network. For example, direct signaling that partitions a time-frequency resource into a number of segments can be utilized to communicate an identifier within a peer discovery interval; thus, a particular segment selected for transmission can signal a portion of the identifier, while a remainder can be signaled based upon tones communicated within the selected segment. Moreover, a subset of symbols within the resource can be reserved (e.g., unused) to enable identifying and/or correcting timing offset. Further, signaling can be effectuated over a plurality of peer discovery intervals such that partial identifiers communicated during each of the peer discovery intervals can be linked (e.g., based upon overlapping bits and/or bloom filter information). | 01-15-2009 |
20090016249 | CODING METHODS OF COMMUNICATING IDENTIFIERS IN PEER DISCOVERY IN A PEER-TO-PEER NETWORK - Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate identifying peers based upon encoded signals during peer discovery in a peer to peer network. For example, direct signaling that partitions a time-frequency resource into a number of segments can be utilized to communicate an identifier within a peer discovery interval; thus, a particular segment selected for transmission can signal a portion of the identifier, while a remainder can be signaled based upon tones communicated within the selected segment. Moreover, a subset of symbols within the resource can be reserved (e.g., unused) to enable identifying and/or correcting timing offset. Further, signaling can be effectuated over a plurality of peer discovery intervals such that partial identifiers communicated during each of the peer discovery intervals can be linked (e.g., based upon overlapping bits and/or bloom filter information). | 01-15-2009 |
20090016250 | CODING METHODS OF COMMUNICATING IDENTIFIERS IN PEER DISCOVERY IN A PEER-TO-PEER NETWORK - Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate identifying peers based upon encoded signals during peer discovery in a peer to peer network. For example, direct signaling that partitions a time-frequency resource into a number of segments can be utilized to communicate an identifier within a peer discovery interval; thus, a particular segment selected for transmission can signal a portion of the identifier, while a remainder can be signaled based upon tones communicated within the selected segment. Moreover, a subset of symbols within the resource can be reserved (e.g., unused) to enable identifying and/or correcting timing offset. Further, signaling can be effectuated over a plurality of peer discovery intervals such that partial identifiers communicated during each of the peer discovery intervals can be linked (e.g., based upon overlapping bits and/or bloom filter information). | 01-15-2009 |
20090016321 | Synchronization Of A Peer-To-Peer Communication Network - In an ad hoc peer-to-peer communications network, timing synchronization can be facilitated between nodes as a function of a received timing of nearby nodes, as well as a network timing. A first timing reference can be used to determine a symbol timing. A second signal that includes a second timing reference can be used to determine a difference between the symbol timing and the second timing reference. The difference can be used to adjust a symbol timing, which can be transmitted to nearby nodes. The first timing reference and the second timing reference can be received from different sources. | 01-15-2009 |
20090016353 | CODING METHODS OF COMMUNICATING IDENTIFIERS IN PEER DISCOVERY IN A PEER-TO-PEER NETWORK - Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate identifying peers based upon encoded signals during peer discovery in a peer to peer network. For example, direct signaling that partitions a time-frequency resource into a number of segments can be utilized to communicate an identifier within a peer discovery interval; thus, a particular segment selected for transmission can signal a portion of the identifier, while a remainder can be signaled based upon tones communicated within the selected segment. Moreover, a subset of symbols within the resource can be reserved (e.g., unused) to enable identifying and/or correcting timing offset. Further, signaling can be effectuated over a plurality of peer discovery intervals such that partial identifiers communicated during each of the peer discovery intervals can be linked (e.g., based upon overlapping bits and/or bloom filter information). | 01-15-2009 |
20090016456 | Method and apparatus for reuse of wan infrastructure resources in a wireless peer-to-peer (P2P) network - To make efficient use of a frequency spectrum, a peer-to-peer network shares a wide area network (WAN) frequency spectrum as well as a time-frequency structure of the WAN, where the time-frequency structure includes a set of tones and symbols. A first wireless terminal monitors the time-frequency structure of the WAN to determine which subsets of tone-symbols are unused for WAN and/or other peer-to-peer connections. Then, the first wireless terminal selects and uses an unused subset of tone-symbols within the time-frequency structure for its peer-to-peer connection with a second wireless terminal. | 01-15-2009 |
20090017843 | PERFORMING PAGING IN A WIRELESS PEER-TO-PEER NETWORK - Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate paging within a peer-to-peer communication network. A first wireless terminal monitors the paging channel of a wide area network. When a second wireless terminal intends to establish a peer-to-peer connection with the first wireless terminal, the second wireless terminal generates a paging message and transfers the message to the WAN, which routes the paging message to a base station. The base station uses its paging channel to send a paging message to the target first wireless terminal. The paging message indicates to the target first wireless terminal that the second wireless terminal intends to establish a peer-to-peer connection with the first wireless terminal. The paging message may further include parameters to be used to establish the peer-to-peer connection. Upon reception of the paging message, the second wireless terminal sends a signal directly to the first wireless terminal to start the direct peer-to-peer communication. | 01-15-2009 |
20090019168 | APPARATUS AND METHOD OF GENERATING AND MAINTAINING HYBRID CONNECTION IDENTIFICATIONS (IDs) FOR PEER-TO-PEER WIRELESS NETWORKS - An apparatus and method are disclosed for generating a transmission connection identifier (CID) for a transmitter/receiver pair in a wireless network. The CID may be selected from or mapped to a hybrid CID space comprising a first set of orthogonal CIDs and a second set of non-orthogonal (random or pseudo-random) CIDs. When a transmitter device wants to initiate a peer-to-peer connection with a receiver device, the transmitter and receiver devices attempt to obtain a CID to identify their connection within a traffic channel in a shared frequency space. The first and/or second device attempt to select a CID from the first set of orthogonal CIDs. However, if a CID collision is detected, the first and second devices select their CID from the second set of non-orthogonal CIDs. The selected transmission CID may be used during a time slot or interval to facilitate communications between the first and second devices. | 01-15-2009 |
20090040996 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING MULTIPLE COMMUNICATIONS MODES OF OPERATION - Methods and apparatus for supporting multiple modes of communication operation, e.g., with different parameters and/or frequency bands being used in the different modes of operation are described. One or more adjustments are made based on a signal or signals received in a first frequency band from a second communications device, e.g., an access router with reliable timing. The communications device selects between and operates in either the first frequency band, e.g., a WAN frequency band, or in a second frequency band, e.g., a LAN frequency band. The WAN and LAN frequency bands may be non-overlapping. One or more parameters used in the second frequency band have a predetermined relationship to one or more parameters used for communications in the first frequency band making the adjustment based on the signal received in the first frequency band relevant and useful to support communications in the second frequency band. | 02-12-2009 |
20090109850 | METHODS AND APPARATUS RELATED TO CONTROLLING TRAFFIC IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM USING SHARED AIR LINK TRAFFIC RESOURCES - A peer to peer communications system implements scheduling of traffic intervals in a distributed manner utilizing connection priority and interference information. A peer to peer timing structure includes a user scheduling interval, with ordered transmission request and response intervals, and an associated traffic interval. The priority associated with a request of an early interval is higher than the priority of a request of a later interval. A first device, connected to a second device, makes a decision as to whether or not to yield the traffic interval as a function of estimated interference that it will impose on higher priority connection receivers if it transmits during the traffic interval. The second device makes a decision as to whether or not to transmit a positive transmission request response signal as a function of a generated received signal quality value, based on received requests for its own and for higher priority connections. | 04-30-2009 |
20090109851 | METHODS AND APPARATUS RELATED TO SCHEDULING TRAFFIC IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM USING SHARED AIR LINK TRAFFIC RESOURCES - Methods and apparatus for use in a wireless communications system in which traffic air link resources may be, and sometimes are, shared are described. Various described methods and apparatus are well suited for use in a peer to peer communications system in which transmission control decisions are made in a decentralized manner. An exemplary peer to peer communications system implements the scheduling of traffic intervals in a distributed manner utilizing connection priority information and interference information. An exemplary peer to peer timing structure includes a user scheduling interval and an associated traffic interval. The user scheduling interval includes a plurality transmission request/request response rounds. By utilizing multiple request/request response rounds, a transmission decision corresponding to a connection to yield in an earlier round can be overridden in a subsequent round, resulting in higher overall traffic throughput in the system. | 04-30-2009 |
20090109949 | METHODS AND APPARATUS RELATED TO SIGNALING REQUEST TO TRANSMIT TRAFFIC IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM - Methods and apparatus related to the communication of traffic in peer to peer communications are described. A peer to peer communications system includes traffic slots, and for a pair of devices having a connection a first transmission request resource and a second transmission request resource are associated with a traffic transmission interval of the traffic slot, the first request resource preceding the second request resource. The first request resource is used for the first device to communicate a request to transmit traffic to the second device. The second request resource is used to communicate a request from the second device to transmit traffic to the first device. One protocol calls for a second resource request to override a first resource request. In another protocol the second resource is used to communicate additional information corresponding to a first resource request, when a request is communicated in the first resource. | 04-30-2009 |
20090109950 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING INFORMATION USING DIFFERENT TYPES OF SYMBOLS - Methods and apparatus implementing communications using different types of symbols, e.g. different characteristic OFDM symbols, at different times for different purposes are described. A first type of symbol is used for control signaling including conveying transmission request signals and/or transmission request response signals. A second type of symbol is used for conveying user data, e.g., traffic signals. The symbol period for a first type symbol is larger than the symbol period for a second type symbol. The tone spacing for a first type symbol is larger than the tone spacing for a second type symbol. The methods and apparatus are well suited for peer to peer communications systems in which a peer to peer communications device operates in a half-duplex mode of operation. | 04-30-2009 |
20090111506 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR USE IN PEER TO PEER COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES AND/OR SYSTEMS RELATING TO RATE SCHEDULING, TRAFFIC SCHEDULING, RATE CONTROL, AND/OR POWER CONTROL - Methods and apparatus related to peer to peer communication networks are described. Embodiments directed to methods and apparatus for establishing traffic data transmission rates and/or transmission power levels between wireless terminals is described. Embodiments direct to methods and apparatus of making decisions whether or not to transmit as a function of the received power of the received response signals are also described. Transmission of pilot signals after granting of a transmission request and a decision to transmit traffic data has been made occurs in some embodiments. Rate information to be used in determining a traffic rate may be received in response to the pilot signal from a peer to peer (P2P) device. | 04-30-2009 |
20090129488 | METHOD OF REDUCING INTERFERENCE - Various schemes for reducing effects of interference within communication systems are disclosed. A transmitter transmits a signal in a first time interval and a scrambled version of the signal in a second time interval, which does not overlap with the first time interval. A receiver receives a composite signal including a signal transmitted from the desired transmitter as well as signals from interferers in the first or the second time interval. The receiver determines a dominant interferer and obtains knowledge of signal scrambling done by the interferer as well as the desired transmitter by sensing an identification associated with the interferer or the desired transmitter. This knowledge is employed to determine coefficients for combining the received composite signals received in the first and the second time interval in order to recover the desired signal in a manner that maximizes the SNR associated with the desired signal or completely cancels the dominant interference. | 05-21-2009 |
20090135720 | METHODS AND APPARATUS RELATED TO SCHEDULING IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM USING SHARED AIR LINK RESOURCES FOR TRAFFIC - Methods and apparatus related to scheduling decisions of a peer to peer communications device for transmission into traffic intervals are described. A first peer to peer communications device maintains a set of information which allows it to base a scheduling decision for a current traffic interval upon prior performance in a prior traffic interval in which users of other connections were also operating. In some embodiments, the set of information includes a list of device or connection identifiers which the first peer to peer communications device has previously determined to have corresponded to a prior traffic interval in which the first peer to peer device had a low determined data rate. In some embodiments, the set of information includes: (i) a list of device or connection identifiers corresponding to prior traffic intervals and (ii) first peer to peer device data rate information associated with the prior traffic intervals | 05-28-2009 |
20090219856 | METHOD OF ASSIGNING TRAFFIC RESOURCE - A communication system receives attributes associated with access terminals within a cell and groups them in accordance with similarities between the received attributes. Resource assignment messages customized to their respective attributes are transmitted to the groups, thereby ensuring that all groups receive these messages. These groups are formed dynamically as the attributes of the access terminals vary when they traverse through a cell. | 09-03-2009 |
20090232034 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS INCLUDING DIRECT PAGING IN COMBINATION WITH HOPPED DATA SIGNALING - Methods and apparatus for wireless communications in regional networks, e.g., ad hoc peer to peer networks, are described. Wireless communications devices transmit and monitor for presence indicator signals broadcast from other peer communications devices in its local vicinity. A wireless communications device maintains a list of discovered devices in its vicinity. A first wireless communications device transmits a paging signal directly over an airlink to a second communications device, which is on its list and to which it desires to send data units, e.g., user data in a peer to peer traffic segment. In response to a received paging response signal from the second device, the first device transmits data units, intended for the second device, to a third device, which acts as an intermediary node. The power level for the data unit signal is controlled to be lower than the power level used for the paging signal. | 09-17-2009 |
20090323647 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR PEER DISCOVERY ASSIST - Methods and apparatus related to peer/network/service discovery in a mobile wireless system, e.g., an ad hoc peer-to-peer network are described. Transmission of discovery information, e.g., upper layer discovery information, is divided into a number of portions to be transmitted separately over time. Transmission of the individual portions is structured so as to enable flexibility in the frequency of the peer discovery transmissions as well as the monitoring of such transmissions. Various embodiments facilitate rapid discovery and/or secure discovery, e.g., selective discovery by trusted peers. The structuring enables proxying of some transmissions by a third party, e.g., an assist node. The assist node receives discovery information portions being communicated at a first rate and retransmits the received discovery information portions at a second rate which is higher than the first rate. | 12-31-2009 |
20090323648 | MULTI-RATE PROXIMITY BASED PEER DISCOVERY METHODS AND APPARATUS - Various embodiments relate to wireless communications devices which support multiple modes of peer discovery operation. In some embodiments, the multiple modes of peer discovery operation include different modes which are associated with different rates of transmitting peer discovery information. In some embodiments, the multiple modes of peer discovery operation include different modes which are associated with different rates of monitoring peer discovery information. In various embodiments, a communications device determines whether or not to switch between different peer discovery modes of operation as a function of proximity to a location of interest. Proximity determinations may be, and sometimes are, based upon geographic position comparisons. Alternatively or in addition, proximity determinations may be, and sometimes are, based upon received signal strength measurements. | 12-31-2009 |
20090323665 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING QUALITY OF SERVICE IN A PEER TO PEER NETWORK - Methods and apparatus related to scheduling traffic slots in a wireless communications system, e.g., an ad hoc peer to peer communications network are described. An implemented timing structure includes multiple traffic transmission slots and multiple request blocks with different priorities corresponding to a traffic transmission slot. A wireless terminal determines its own block priority level. If a wireless terminal's determined block priority level is the highest block priority level the wireless terminal is allowed to transmit a traffic transmission request in the highest traffic transmission request block; otherwise, the wireless terminal is restricted from transmitting a traffic transmission request in the highest priority request block. A wireless terminal monitors for request and/or request response activity corresponding to other connections high priority block signaling, and uses the collected information to determine its own block priority. | 12-31-2009 |
20090325601 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING AND/OR USING DISCOVERY INFORMATION - Methods and apparatus related to peer/network/service discovery in a mobile wireless system, e.g., an ad hoc peer-to-peer network are described. Transmission of discovery information, e.g., upper layer discovery information, is divided into a number of portions to be transmitted separately over time. Transmission of the individual portions is structured so as to enable flexibility in the frequency of the peer discovery transmissions as well as the monitoring of such transmissions. Various embodiments facilitate rapid discovery and/or secure discovery, e.g., selective discovery by trusted peers. | 12-31-2009 |
20090327395 | MULTI-RATE PEER DISCOVERY METHODS AND APPARATUS - Wireless communications devices, e.g., peer to peer mobile wireless terminals in and ad-hoc peer to peer communications network, support multiple modes of peer discovery operation. In different peer discovery transmit modes peer discovery information is transmitted at different rates. In different peer discovery receive modes peer discovery information is monitored at different rates. Performing peer discovery operations at a higher rate has the benefit of reducing discovery latency at the cost of utilizing more communications resources and expending more power. A communications device dynamically changes its mode in response to changing conditions and/or needs. Transitions between modes are in response to a determined change condition trigger occurrence. Various change condition triggers include, e.g., a user event, an application event, information received over the air interface, information derived from information received over the air interface and/or temporal information. | 12-31-2009 |
20100022190 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING MULTI-HOP COMMUNICATIONS IN A PEER TO PEER COMMUNICATION SYSTEM - Methods and apparatus for wireless communications in networks, e.g., regional ad hoc peer to peer networks, are described. A communications node, e.g., a third node monitors for wireless communications between other peer communication nodes, e.g., a first node and a second node, in its local vicinity. The third node determines from the monitored wireless communication an indication of link quality corresponding to a communication link between the communication nodes which are communicating or seeking to establish a communications link. The third node generates an estimate of a link quality for a communications link between itself and the first node. Based on the indication of link quality and generated estimate of link quality, the third node decides whether or not to send a signal indicating availability to relay communication between the first and second nodes. The third node, when acting as an intermediary node after indicating its availability to so act, may receive traffic data e.g., user data communicated in a peer to peer traffic segment, from the first node. The third node communicates the received traffic data to the second node by transmitting the traffic data. | 01-28-2010 |
20100023834 | CODING SCHEMES FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION TRANSMISSIONS - Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate transmitting low-density parity-check encoded communications in a wireless communications network and incrementing such codes in response to requests from receiving devices. The LDPC codes can have associated constraints allowing the codes to be error corrected upon receipt. The requests for incremented codes can be in cases of low transmission power or high interference, for example, where the original code can be too error-ridden to properly decode. In this case, additional nodes can be added to current and/or subsequent communications to facilitate adding a more complex constraint to the LDPC code. In this regard, the large codes can require less validly transmitted nodes to predict error-ridden values as the additional constraint renders less ambiguity in possible node value choices. | 01-28-2010 |
20100029216 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR USING MULTIPLE FREQUENCY BANDS FOR COMMUNICATION - Methods and apparatus for using different frequency bands are described. In some embodiments a first frequency band which is a licensed spectrum frequency band is used for peer discovery, device authentication, session establishment between peer devices and/or supporting an ongoing communications through control signaling. When available, a second frequency band, e.g., an unlicensed public frequency band is used for communicating data while the communications session is maintained using one or more control signals communicated in the first frequency band. Data and control signaling may be performed on a time division basis during a time period in which data is communicated. | 02-04-2010 |
20100110929 | TRANSMISSION WITH HOPPING FOR PEER-PEER COMMUNICATION - Techniques for transmitting signals using time hopping or time and frequency hopping are described. In one design, a terminal selects different slots to use for transmission in multiple frames with time hopping. Each frame includes multiple slots, and each slot covers a particular time duration. The selected slots are at different time locations in the multiple frames. In another design, a terminal selects different resource units to use for transmission in multiple frames with time and frequency hopping. The selected resource units are at different time and frequency locations in the multiple frames. For both designs, the terminal sends a signal (e.g., a peer discovery signal) in the selected slots or resource units in the multiple frames. The terminal may detect for signals (e.g., peer discovery signals) from other terminals in slots not used for transmission by the terminal. | 05-06-2010 |
20100118702 | METHODS AND APPARATUS SUPPORTING ADAPTIVE DECENTRALIZED TRAFFIC SCHEDULING INCLUDING A DYNAMIC TRANSMITTER YIELDING THRESHOLD - Methods and apparatus relating to scheduling of air link resources, e.g., traffic segments, in a wireless communications system are described. Various described methods and apparatus are well suited to wireless peer to peer networks in which traffic scheduling is decentralized, e.g. an ad hoc peer to peer network. An individual wireless terminal corresponding to a peer to peer connection which desires to transmit traffic signals make transmitter yielding decisions on a traffic slot by traffic slot basis. The transmitter yielding decision, in some embodiments, includes comparing a link quality estimate corresponding to a higher priority link intending to use the same traffic segment concurrently, to a dynamically generated transmitter yielding threshold. The dynamically generated transmitter yielding threshold is determined based on at least one of: quality of service information corresponding to its own link and historical link quality information corresponding to the higher priority link. | 05-13-2010 |
20100118733 | METHODS AND APPARATUS SUPPORTING ADAPTIVE DECENTRALIZED TRAFFIC SCHEDULING FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS - Methods and apparatus relating to scheduling of air link resources, e.g., traffic segments, in wireless communications are described. Various described methods and apparatus are well suited to wireless peer to peer networks in which traffic scheduling is decentralized, e.g. an ad hoc peer to peer network. A first wireless terminal receives a transmission request and quality of service information from a second wireless terminal corresponding to a connection. The first wireless terminal decides not to receiver yield, determines a request response transmission power level as a function of the received quality of service information, and transmits, at the determined power level, a generated request response signal. By controllably adjusting the transmission power level of a request response, transmitter yielding decisions of lower priority links are impacted, since lower priority links measure and use received power level information corresponding to request responses of higher priority links in their transmitter yielding decisions. | 05-13-2010 |
20100118761 | METHODS AND APPARATUS SUPPORTING ADAPTIVE DECENTRALIZED TRAFFIC SCHEDULING INCLUDING A DYNAMIC RECEIVER YIELDING THRESHOLD - Methods and apparatus relating to scheduling of air link resources, e.g., traffic segments, in a wireless communications system are described. Various described methods and apparatus are well suited to wireless peer to peer networks in which traffic scheduling is decentralized, e.g. an ad hoc peer to peer network. An individual wireless terminal corresponding to a peer to peer connection which desires to communicate traffic signals makes a receiver yielding decision. The receiver yielding decision, in some embodiments, includes comparing a link quality estimate corresponding to its own link, to a dynamically generated receiver yielding threshold. The dynamically generated receiver yielding threshold is determined based on at least one of: quality of service information corresponding to its own link and historical link quality information corresponding to its own link. | 05-13-2010 |
20100124331 | SPECTRUM AUTHORIZATION AND RELATED COMMUNICATIONS METHODS AND APPARATUS - Various embodiments relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for authorizing use of spectrum, e.g., through the issuance of spectrum access keys, and/or preventing or discouraging the unauthorized use of licensed spectrum. Peer to peer wireless communications between authorized users of licensed spectrum may involve scrambling/descrambling of information communicated between authorized devices. In some embodiments air interface timing and/or other information received from a second device, e.g., a beacon or GPS transmitter, is incorporated into a computation of a pseudo-random bit sequence which is also computed based on a spectrum access key communicated to authorized spectrum users. In some embodiments authorized peer to peer devices scramble communicated information based on the generated pseudo random bit sequence thereby preventing or discouraging communication with devices which are not authorized to use the spectrum and lack a spectrum access key used to generate the pseudo random bit sequence. | 05-20-2010 |
20100142365 | BEACON CODING IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS - Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate transmitting beacon symbols of a beacon message such that a sequence of symbols can satisfy a linear constraint over a field where the field elements can be identified with carriers. In this regard, a coding scheme can be applied to a beacon message; the coding scheme can produce a plurality of beacon symbols to transmit on given subcarriers. A receiving device of the beacon symbols can decode a beacon message by receiving less than the total number of symbols in a beacon message and determining the remaining symbol subcarriers based on the linear constraint. Thus, more efficient decoding of beacons is facilitated as well as resolving beacon ambiguity by figuring out which symbols satisfy linear constraints for the symbols, and resolving time and frequency shift by detecting an offset that would result in satisfaction of the linear constraint. | 06-10-2010 |
20100190459 | AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORK - Techniques for performing automatic gain control (AGC) at a terminal in a wireless communication network are described. In an aspect, the terminal may use different receiver gain settings to receive different types of signals in different time intervals. The terminal may determine a receiver gain setting for each signal type and may use the receiver gain setting to receive signals of that signal type. In another aspect, the terminal may determine a receiver gain setting for a future time interval based on received power levels for peer terminals expected to transmit in that time interval. The terminal may measure received power levels of signals received from a plurality of terminals. The terminal may determine a set of terminals expected to transmit in the future time interval and may determine the receiver gain setting for the future time interval based on the measured received power levels for the set of terminals. | 07-29-2010 |
20100202400 | TRANSMISSION WITH COLLISION DETECTION AND MITIGATION FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION - Techniques for transmitting signals on shared resources in a manner to detect and/or combat collision are described. In an aspect, a terminal may transmit a signal on a subset of resource elements in a resource block, and at least one null resource element with no signal may be used to detect for collision of the signal. In another aspect, different terminals may simultaneously transmit their signals on different subsets of resource elements in a resource block. These different subsets of resource elements may be pseudo-randomly selected to randomize interference. In one design, a terminal may determine a resource block to use for transmission of a signal, select a subset of the resource elements in the resource block, and transmit the signal on the selected resource elements, e.g., to at least one other terminal for peer-to-peer communication. The signal may be a peer discovery signal, a paging signal, etc. | 08-12-2010 |
20100279724 | MITIGATING INTERFERENCE IN A COMMUNICATION NETWORK - Aspects relate to mitigating interference in a communication network that does not employ a centralized scheduler. A transmission sent on a subset of resources is evaluated to determine a number of communication pairs that have selected that subset of resources on which to transmit. If there are a large number of communication pairs transmitting on that subset, the transmission is ignored by a receiving device. The number of degrees of freedom that contain energy on the subset is evaluated to determine if an expected number of degrees of freedom that should have energy is met or exceeded. If the expected threshold number is met or exceed, the transmission is decoded by the receiving device, else the transmission is not decoded. | 11-04-2010 |
20100309781 | SWITCHING BETWEEN MIMO AND RECEIVER BEAM FORMING IN A PEER-TO-PEER NETWORK - Aspects describe different multiple antenna techniques that can be utilized in a peer-to-peer network based on a network congestion level. A MIMO scheme where a transmitter sends to a receiver multiple spatial streams at substantially the same time in the same traffic segment can be utilized when network congestion level is low. A receiver beam forming scheme where transmitter sends a single stream in a traffic segment and receiver uses multiple receive antennas to maximize signal to noise ratio can be utilized when network congestion level is high. The connection pair (transmitter and receiver) occupy more control resources in the MIMO scheme than the receiver beam forming scheme. The decision related to which technique to utilize can be made at about the same time as a communication is initiated. Further, if network conditions change during a communication, the antenna technique that is utilized can be switched to a different technique during the communication exchange. | 12-09-2010 |
20100309853 | PROGRESSIVE INFORMATION BEACON SYMBOLS - Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate transmitting beacon symbols comprising static and dynamic information about the beacon and/or a transmitter thereof (or substantially any information a beacon transmitter desires to send). In this regard, the beacon symbol transmitter can select a subcarrier of bandwidth for transmitting the beacon symbol where the subcarrier is indicative of data and is in one of a plurality of subcarrier groups related to the total available subcarriers. Thus, the groups can have common virtual subcarriers such that a subcarrier index can be found in each group. In this way, the selected group can indicate additional information that can change based on what group is selected for transmitting a given beacon symbol. | 12-09-2010 |
20100309854 | INTERFERENCE MANAGEMENT WITH MIMO IN A PEER-TO-PEER NETWORK - Aspects relate to interference management in a multiple-input-multiple-output peer-to-peer network utilizing connection scheduling. When channel side information is available at both transmitter and receiver, both devices determine transmit/receiver beamforming vectors. Transmitter sends a first transmission request signal with first transmit beamforming vector and a second transmission request signal with second transmit beamforming vector in a transmission request block. Receiver estimates SINRs of the MIMO channels associated with the receive beamforming vectors and determines whether to return request response signals. Based on received request response signals, transmitter decides to transmit streams of data using the corresponding transmit beamforming vectors in the data burst. When channel side information is available only at receiver, transmitter sends one transmission request signal. Receiver estimates the SINRs of the MIMO channels associated with receive beamforming vectors using MMSE and/or successive interference cancellation (SIC), and returns request response signals in the request response block. | 12-09-2010 |
20100317291 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING RESOURCE USE IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM - Methods and apparatus for detecting, controlling and/or mitigating interference are described. Various embodiments are well suited to wireless communications systems in which shared communications resources are used, e.g., in a peer to peer communications systems lacking centralized control. In some embodiments, a communications device receives signals on shared communications resource, evaluates its capability to decode a received signal, and conditionally transmits an interference signal, e.g., on the shared communications resource. The interference signal is intended to cause a device transmitting on the shared communications resource to switch to a different communications resource, e.g., in response to the interference signal, so that its transmitted signal can be successfully decoded. In at least one embodiment, the shared communications resource is a peer discovery air link resource associated with a peer discovery resource identifier. | 12-16-2010 |
20110007639 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING IDENTIFIERS - Methods and apparatus related to detecting identifiers in a wireless communications system are described. Various methods and apparatus are well suited to a decentralized peer to peer wireless communications system in which devices monitor for and attempts to detect peer discovery identifiers of interest. Identifiers correspond to identifier bit sequences which are intentionally structured to appear to be random sequences. A portion of an identifier bit sequence is broadcast in a peer discovery interval. A receiver device, searching for a particular bit sequence of interest, tries to match received peer discovery bit sequence portion against a corresponding portion of the bit sequence of interest. Matching bits are determined on a per portion basis, and an updated match quality value is determined. A match or mismatch condition is determined as a function of the updated match quality value. | 01-13-2011 |
20110019541 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING POWER EFFICIENCY AND LATENCY OF MOBILE DEVICES USING AN OUT OF BAND WIRELESS RESOURCE - Methods and apparatus of using a licensed spectrum to transmit data when an unlicensed spectrum is congested are disclosed. The method includes transmitting a first signal from a first mobile device to a second mobile device using an unlicensed spectrum, determining, at the first mobile device, whether a first response signal has been received by the first mobile device using the unlicensed spectrum, and transmitting a second signal from the first mobile device to the second mobile device using a licensed spectrum when the first response signal has not been received by the first mobile device using the unlicensed spectrum. | 01-27-2011 |
20110019601 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING POWER EFFICIENCY AND LATENCY OF MOBILE DEVICES USING AN EXTERNAL TIMING SOURCE - Methods and apparatus for increasing power efficiency and decreasing latency of communication of a mobile device operating in an unlicensed spectrum using global timing data are disclosed. The method includes receiving, at the mobile device, the global timing data from an external timing source, the mobile device communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, obtaining, at the mobile device, a time from the global timing data, and determining, at the mobile device, a wake time to switch the mobile device from a sleep state to an active state based on the time obtained from the global timing data. | 01-27-2011 |
20110028102 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR USING A LICENSED SPECTRUM TO TRANSMIT A SIGNAL WHEN AN UNLICENSED SPECTRUM IS CONGESTED - Methods and apparatus of using a licensed spectrum to transmit a signal when an unlicensed spectrum is congested are disclosed. One method includes receiving, at a first mobile device, a request signal from a second mobile device, receiving, at the first mobile device, a remote signal from one or more mobile devices using the unlicensed spectrum, and transmitting a control signal from the first mobile device to the second mobile device using the licensed spectrum, the control signal being based on the remote signal. The control signal carries control information that is based on at least one of a time at which the second mobile device sends a signal to the first mobile device or the received powers of the remote signal and the request signal. | 02-03-2011 |
20110066738 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING SWITCHING BETWEEN RESOURCES AND/OR COMMUNICATING RESOURCE CHANGE INFORMATION IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM - Methods and apparatus for controlling switching between resources and/or communicating resource change information in a wireless communications system are described. Various methods and apparatus are well suited for use in a decentralized wireless communications network, such as a decentralized peer to peer wireless network, where an individual communications device self allocates resources and makes resource switching decisions. A first communications device may decide that there is a need to switch from the first communications resource corresponding to a first identifier to a second communications resource corresponding to a second identifier, e.g., because of interference. The first communications device generates and transmits a broadcast change signal indicating a change from the first communications resource associated with the first identifier to a second communications resource associated with the second identifier. In some embodiments, the resource change signal is transmitted on at least one of the first and second communications resources. | 03-17-2011 |
20110085620 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING INFORMATION USING NON-COHERENT AND COHERENT MODULATION - Non-coherent modulation is used to communicate coding information via pilot signals using a first subset of resources, and coherent modulation is used to generate data signals. This allows for a stronger global code while keeping individual signaling complexity low. First and second communications devices communicate information using a set of communications resources. By performing non-coherent demodulation on pilot signals received on a first subset of said set of communications resources coding information is recovered. First and second channel estimates are generated from the pilot signals received on the first subset of said communications resources. Coherent demodulation is performed on data signals received on a second subset of said set of communications resources using said first and second channel estimates and said coding information to recover information communicated by said first communications device and to recover separate information communicated by said second communications device. | 04-14-2011 |
20110086664 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR SCALING TRANSMIT POWER OF SIGNALS IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS - Methods and apparatus of varying transmit power of signals for increasing system throughput and spectral reuse in an unlicensed spectrum are disclosed. One method includes transmitting from a first mobile device to a second mobile device a request to send (RTS) signal having a first transmit data power level based on a channel gain between the first mobile device and the second mobile device, receiving, at the first mobile device, a clear to send (CTS) signal from the second mobile device, and transmitting data at the first transmit data power level from the first mobile device to the second mobile device. | 04-14-2011 |
20110086679 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR SCALING TRANSMIT POWER OF SIGNALS IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS - Methods and apparatus of varying transmit power of signals for increasing system throughput and spectral reuse in an unlicensed spectrum are disclosed. One method includes transmitting from a first mobile device to a second mobile device a request to send (RTS) signal having a first transmit data power level based on a channel gain between the first mobile device and the second mobile device, receiving, at the first mobile device, a clear to send (CTS) signal from the second mobile device, and transmitting data at the first transmit data power level from the first mobile device to the second mobile device. | 04-14-2011 |
20110274094 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ESTIMATING A GEOLOCATION OF A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE - The methods and apparatus described herein are used to perform indoor and urban geolocation positioning. One method of estimating a geolocation of one of a first wireless device or a second wireless device includes receiving, at the first wireless device, a signal from the second wireless device, determining, at the first wireless device, a physical characteristic of the received signal, and determining, at the first wireless device, a region on a map representing a geolocation of the first wireless device or the second wireless device based on the physical characteristic of the received signal, a state transition matrix and a state occupancy vector. | 11-10-2011 |
20120008570 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLEXING OR TIME DIVISION MULTIPLEXING IN WIRELESS PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS - A method of operating a wireless device includes determining a preferred subset of bands of a set of bands for communicating with a first node, communicating a scheduling request with the first node, and determining whether to schedule a data transmission on each band of the set of bands based on the preferred subset of bands and the scheduling request. | 01-12-2012 |
20120020234 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR USE IN PEER TO PEER COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES AND/OR SYSTEMS RELATING TO RATE SCHEDULING, TRAFFIC SCHEDULING, RATE CONTROL, AND/OR POWER CONTROL - Methods and apparatus related to peer to peer communication networks are described. Embodiments directed to methods and apparatus for establishing traffic data transmission rates and/or transmission power levels between wireless terminals is described. Embodiments direct to methods and apparatus of making decisions whether or not to transmit as a function of the received power of the received response signals are also described. Transmission of pilot signals after granting of a transmission request and a decision to transmit traffic data has been made occurs in some embodiments. Rate information to be used in determining a traffic rate may be received in response to the pilot signal from a peer to peer (P2P) device. | 01-26-2012 |
20120056785 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR INCREASING THE RELIABILITY OF SIGNAL REFERENCE MAPS FOR USE IN POSITION DETERMINATION - A mobile wireless device receives a set of fingerprint prediction maps, e.g., RF signal prediction maps, and corresponding probability metrics, e.g., indicative of map reliability. A fingerprint prediction map is an expected signal measurement map corresponding to a parameter or parameters to be measured and a area given a set of expected conditions. At different times, e.g., due to different conditions, a different map in the set of fingerprint prediction maps may be more likely to be accurate. The mobile wireless device updates the probability metrics, associated with different alternative maps in the set of maps, as a function of one or more of: known information, sensor readings, measurements, detected information, and position determination. The mobile wireless device determines its current position using fingerprint predication maps and one or more updated probability metrics. | 03-08-2012 |
20120057475 | METHODS AND APPARATUS TO PERFORM JAMMING BASED ON SIGNAL AND INTERFERENCE IN PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS - A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product are provided in which a signal is received on a resource, a signal quality of the signal is determined, a signal energy of the signal is determined, and the resource is jammed based on the signal quality and the signal energy by transmitting a signal on the resource. | 03-08-2012 |
20120057646 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ENCODING AND TRANSMITTING MOBILE DEVICE LOCATION INFORMATION - Methods and apparatus for communicating the location of a mobile wireless communications device are described. Codewords, e.g., values or sets of bits, are selected from a codebook mapping different codewords to corresponding pieces of location information. In a first approach location information is communicated by using codewords from different codebooks with the product, e.g., intersection of location information provided by the codewords, providing relatively detailed location information using relatively few bits. In a second approach user specific codebooks are defined for individual users. The codewords in the codebook corresponding to a particular user map to locations the individual specific user is likely to frequent. In another approach codewords are transmitted at different power levels and/or using different coding rates. Received codewords corresponding to a device may be used in combination to determine the location or refine the understanding of the device location. | 03-08-2012 |
20120058733 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR USING MOBILE DEVICES AS LOCATION ANCHOR POINTS - Mobile devices are used as temporary location anchor points, e.g., to supplement fixed location permanent location anchor points, in a wireless communications system in which mobile device locations are determined. A mobile device receives a command or request to operate as a location anchor point. In some embodiments, the command includes time information indicating the amount of time the mobile device is to operate as a location anchor point. In some embodiments, a mobile device operating as a location anchor point reports a received signal strength measurement along with information identifying the device from which the signal was received to a network element, e.g., a location server node. In some embodiments, a mobile device operating as a location anchor point broadcasts a signal providing location information. The mobile device receives compensation for operating as a location anchor point. Compensation may be monetary, services, or benefits provided by the network. | 03-08-2012 |
20120058745 | ADVERTISING METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR USE IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM - Methods and apparatus related to communicating advertisements and/or service announcements to devices in a communications system are described. In various embodiments mobile devices are used as mobile advertisement transmission platforms. Advertisements may be downloaded to the wireless communications device along with transmission constraints. Transmission of an advertisement is made when a transmission constraint, e.g., target audience constraint is satisfied. The wireless terminal may change its transmission frequency, coding rate and/or other transmission characteristics to satisfy a transmission constraint and/or optimize revenue. The mobile device reports advertisements transmissions to a network device, e.g., advertisement server and the owner of the device is compensated for the transmissions. Transmission constraints may involve a number of devices to be reached, the type of devices to be reached, and/or other constraints relating to the demographics of device users. Information may be obtained from peer discovery signals and used to determine if a constraint is satisfied. | 03-08-2012 |
20120059935 | METHODS AND APPARATUS TO SELECT AND TO RESELECT A RESOURCE FOR PEER DISCOVERY IN PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS - A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product are provided in which signals are received on each of a plurality of resources and an energy of each of the signals of a set of the plurality of resources is determined. In addition, a resource is determined based on a probability for each of the resources in a subset of the set. The probability for selecting a resource with a lower determined energy is less than one and greater than the probability for selecting a resource with a higher determined energy. Furthermore, a signal is transmitted on the selected resource. | 03-08-2012 |
20120124231 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING SWITCHING BETWEEN RESOURCES AND/OR COMMUNICATING RESOURCE CHANGE INFORMATION IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM - Methods and apparatus for controlling switching between resources and/or communicating resource change information in a wireless communications system are described. Various methods and apparatus are well suited for use in a decentralized wireless communications network, such as a decentralized peer to peer wireless network, where an individual communications device self allocates resources and makes resource switching decisions. A first communications device may decide that there is a need to switch from the first communications resource corresponding to a first identifier to a second communications resource corresponding to a second identifier, e.g., because of interference. The first communications device generates and transmits a broadcast change signal indicating a change from the first communications resource associated with the first identifier to a second communications resource associated with the second identifier. In some embodiments, the resource change signal is transmitted on at least one of the first and second communications resources. | 05-17-2012 |
20120166914 | LDPC ENCODING AND DECODING OF PACKETS OF VARIABLE SIZES - Techniques to support low density parity check (LDPC) encoding and decoding are described. An apparatus includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor. The at least one processor is configured to encode or decode a packet based on a base parity check matrix and a set of lifting values. In a particular embodiment, the set of lifting values is limited to lifting values that are each a different power of two. The memory is configured to store parameters associated with the base parity check matrix. | 06-28-2012 |
20120182144 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTED LEARNING OF PARAMETERS OF A FINGERPRINT PREDICTION MAP MODEL - In accordance with various embodiments, mobile wireless devices which use prediction maps, e.g., RF prediction maps, to determine their location also contribute to the updating and distribution of parameters relating to prediction map generation. After a device determines its location, it uses the signal measurements used in determining the device's location to determine updated parameters which can be used in generating signal prediction maps in the future. The generated parameters are then transmitted to another device for use in generating prediction maps and/or distribution to other devices. In this manner parameters corresponding to a particular location can be updated and distributed without the need for a survey team and/or dedicated equipment. The devices using the prediction map become the devices which also aid in the updating of the parameters used to facilitate generation of a prediction map at some future time. In some embodiments, statistical information corresponding to the updated parameters is also generated and communicated. | 07-19-2012 |
20120184219 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LEARNING OF THE PARAMETERS OF A FINGERPRINT PREDICTION MAP MODEL - Signal measurements are received, e.g., by a network device such as a location determination server, and a location of a mobile device to which the signal measurements correspond is determined. The measurements are also used to update parameters used to generate a signal prediction map. The signal prediction map, generated using the updated parameters, is then used for determining the position of another mobile device. In some embodiments parameter updating is performed when the location of a device is determined to a predetermined degree of certainty but not when the position of a mobile device is determined with a lower degree of certainty. Parameters used for generating prediction maps are updated, e.g., refined, based on signals collected for use in determining the location of a device without the need to conduct an updated survey and/or take signal measurements specifically for the purpose of updating prediction map parameters. | 07-19-2012 |
20120184286 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR MOBILE DEVICE LOCATION DETERMINATION - Methods and apparatus for resolving an ambiguity with regard to a mobile device's location are described. In various embodiments, when a level of ambiguity with regard to the location of a mobile device is detected, and the level of ambiguity is above a threshold, an ambiguity resolution request signal is generated and transmitted. In this manner, a wireless terminal needing help in determining its location reliably may request such help but at other times may determine its own location without assistance. In some embodiments the ambiguity resolution request signal includes information, e.g., location probabilities, on one or more locations which are under consideration as possible locations of the mobile device. A device responding to the ambiguity resolution request provides information allowing the mobile device confronted with a location ambiguity to eliminate at least on location under consideration or to generate a new probability for one or more locations under consideration. | 07-19-2012 |
20120184287 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR MOBILE DEVICE BASED LOCATION DETERMINATION IN A COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM - Methods and apparatus related to determining location of mobile devices based on signals and/or location history information received from other mobile devices are described. In various embodiments mobile devices monitor signals from other devices. Mobile devices store signal measurement information along with time stamp information and information identifying the device from which a measured signal was received. In various embodiments a mobile communications device which determines its location with reasonable accuracy, e.g., to within a predetermined distance or some other accuracy metric, transmits location history information indicating one or more past locations, and optionally the device's current location, and the times it was at the indicated locations. Reliability information is communicated with the time and location information in some embodiments. A device receiving the location history log can determine and/or refine its understanding of its own location and the location of other devices at different points in time. | 07-19-2012 |
20120184301 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING MOBILE DEVICE LOCATION IN A COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM - Methods and apparatus related to determining location of one or more mobile devices based on signals received by mobile device and signals received by fixed devices such as access points (APs) in a communications system are described. In accordance with various embodiments, mobile devices, e.g., peer devices, measure one or more signal characteristics, e.g., received signal power level, of signals received from peer devices and report this information along with information identifying the peer devices to which individual signal measurements correspond. The time of the signal measurements is also reported allowing a location determination server to time align signal measurements made by multiple different devices, e.g., mobile devices and access points, and use signals measurements from the multiple devices to determine the location of one or mobile devices, e.g., at one or more points in time, with more accuracy than if AP signal measurement alone were used. | 07-19-2012 |
20120249372 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR TRIGGERING COOPERATIVE POSITIONING OR LEARNING IN A WIRELESS NETWORK - One or more bits are used in peer discovery signals to signal a device's ability and/or willingness to participate in a cooperative manner with regard to one or more mobile device location determination related operations. In some embodiments, the one or more bits are located at predetermined locations within a header portion of a peer discovery signal. Different bits, in some embodiments, are associated with different specific cooperative location determination related operations. The peer discovery signal is transmitted, e.g., broadcast, periodically or on some predetermined basis by a mobile wireless communications device. In this manner, a device listening to the peer discovery signals can determine other devices' willingness to perform particular location discovery related operations with very little signaling overhead. | 10-04-2012 |
20120263249 | MITIGATING INTERFERENCE IN A COMMUNICATION NETWORK - Aspects relate to mitigating interference in a communication network that does not employ a centralized scheduler. A transmission sent on a subset of resources is evaluated to determine a number of communication pairs that have selected that subset of resources on which to transmit. If there are a large number of communication pairs transmitting on that subset, the transmission is ignored by a receiving device. The number of degrees of freedom that contain energy on the subset is evaluated to determine if an expected number of degrees of freedom that should have energy is met or exceeded. If the expected threshold number is met or exceed, the transmission is decoded by the receiving device, else the transmission is not decoded. | 10-18-2012 |
20120276863 | AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORK - Techniques for performing automatic gain control (AGC) at a terminal in a wireless communication network are described. In an aspect, the terminal may use different receiver gain settings to receive different types of signals in different time intervals. The terminal may determine a receiver gain setting for each signal type and may use the receiver gain setting to receive signals of that signal type. In another aspect, the terminal may determine a receiver gain setting for a future time interval based on received power levels for peer terminals expected to transmit in that time interval. The terminal may measure received power levels of signals received from a plurality of terminals. The terminal may determine a set of terminals expected to transmit in the future time interval and may determine the receiver gain setting for the future time interval based on the measured received power levels. | 11-01-2012 |
20150063213 | WIRELESS COMMUNICATION METHODS AND APPARATUS USING BEACON SIGNALS - Methods and apparatus supporting peer to peer communications are discussed. A base station, serving as an access node for wireless terminals also communicates information supporting peer to peer communications. A base station transmits a beacon signal conveying information about a peer to peer frequency band and also receives user data from a plurality of wireless terminals, using the base station as a current point of network attachment. In some embodiments, the beacon signal is transmitted into the same frequency band being used for access node based communications and identifies a different frequency band which is to be used as a peer to peer frequency band. Alternatively, or in addition, in support of peer to peer communications, a beacon signal transmission apparatus, a free standing device which doesn't transmit user data, transmits a sequence of beacon signal bursts, each beacon signal burst including at least one high power beacon symbol. | 03-05-2015 |