IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
출원번호 |
US-0845505
(2004-05-14)
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등록번호 |
US-7304978
(2007-12-04)
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우선권정보 |
JP-2003-139358(2003-05-16) |
발명자
/ 주소 |
- Kuroda,Gou
- Kurobe,Akio
- Ikeda,Koji
- Yoshizawa,Kensuke
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출원인 / 주소 |
- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
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대리인 / 주소 |
Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack, L.L.P.
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인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
1 인용 특허 :
10 |
초록
▼
A medium access control method is provided in which a control station transmits one specific frame to terminal stations, thereby arranging a schedule of a data transmission time of the control station and each of the terminal stations and allowing a time zone unused by a station for data transmissio
A medium access control method is provided in which a control station transmits one specific frame to terminal stations, thereby arranging a schedule of a data transmission time of the control station and each of the terminal stations and allowing a time zone unused by a station for data transmission to be allocated to another station. The control station transmits a schedule frame having defined therein a time occupied by each of the terminal stations, thereby reducing overhead. Also, the completion of the preceding communication performed by another station is detected, thereby effectively using an idle time of a medium and improving transmission efficiency.
대표청구항
▼
What is claimed is: 1. A medium access control method, for use in a communication network system including a control station for controlling access to a network and a plurality of terminal stations for accessing the network under the control of the control station, and for controlling network acces
What is claimed is: 1. A medium access control method, for use in a communication network system including a control station for controlling access to a network and a plurality of terminal stations for accessing the network under the control of the control station, and for controlling network access by using a time division technique, the method comprising: steps performed by the control station of: generating transmission schedules for a plurality of communications performed in the network, the transmission schedules including information allocating a time zone usable for each of the communications; collecting the transmission schedules and generating one schedule frame based on the collected transmission schedules; transmitting the generated schedule frame to the plurality of terminal stations; and performing a communication in a time zone which is allocated to the control station, and steps performed by each of the terminal stations of: receiving the schedule frame transmitted by the control station; determining, based on the received schedule frame, a terminal station's own time zone in which communication can be performed; and performing the communication in the determined time zone; steps performed by the control station and each of the terminal stations of: monitoring a state of transmission of another station; detecting that communication is not performed by the other station in the time zone allocated by the transmission schedule or that communication has been completed by the other station before an end time allocated by the transmission schedule; and starting the station's own transmission earlier than scheduled by using an unused time zone of the other station based on the detection results in the detecting step. 2. The medium access control method according to claim 1, wherein the step of starting the station's own transmission earlier than scheduled is omitted when it is necessary to access the network at a specific timing. 3. The medium access control method according to claim 1, wherein the schedule frame has described therein a number of times of repetition indicative of how many more times the same schedule frame is successively and cyclically transmitted. 4. The medium access control method according to claim 3, further comprising a step performed by each of the terminal stations of, when the schedule frame cannot be received in a time period based on the number of times of repetition, determining, based on the schedule frame last received, a terminal station's own time zone in which communication can be performed. 5. A medium access control method, for use in a communication network system including a control station for controlling access to a network and a plurality of terminal stations for accessing the network under the control of the control station, and for controlling network access by using a time division technique, the method comprising: steps performed by the control station of: generating transmission schedules for a plurality of communications performed in the network, the transmission schedules including information allocating a time zone usable for each of the communications; collecting the transmission schedules and generating one schedule frame based on the collected transmission schedules; transmitting the generated schedule frame to the plurality of terminal stations; and performing communication in a time zone which is allocated to the control station, and steps performed by each of the terminal stations of: receiving the schedule frame transmitted by the control station; determining, based on the received schedule frame, a terminal station's own time zone in which communication can be performed; and performing communication in the determined time zone; steps performed by the control station and each of the terminal stations of: transmitting a predetermined report frame when no communication is performed in the time zone allocated by the transmission schedule or when communication has been completed before an end time allocated by the transmission schedule; and upon reception of the report frame from another station that is scheduled to perform a transmission immediately before a time zone in which the station can perform transmission, starting the station's own transmission earlier than scheduled by using an unused time zone of the other station. 6. The medium access control method according to claim 5, wherein the control station transmits the schedule frame in a broadcast manner. 7. The medium access control method according to claim 5, wherein the control station transmits the schedule frame in a multicast manner. 8. The medium access control method according to claim 5, wherein the control station transmits the schedule frame in predetermined cycles. 9. The medium access control method according to claim 5, wherein the transmission schedule includes information indicative of time zones in which data is allowed to be transmitted, the time zones respectively being allocated to the plurality of the terminal stations. 10. The medium access control method according to claim 5, wherein the transmission schedule includes information indicative of time zones in which data is allowed to be transmitted, the time zones respectively being allocated to either one of sessions and connections between the stations including the control station and the plurality of terminal stations. 11. The medium access control method according to claim 5, wherein the step of starting the station's own transmission earlier than scheduled is omitted when it is necessary to access the network at a specific timing. 12. The medium access control method according to claim 5, wherein the schedule frame has described therein a number of times of repetition indicative of how many more times the same schedule frame is successively and cyclically transmitted. 13. The medium access control method according to claim 12, further comprising a step performed by each of the terminal stations of, when the schedule frame cannot be received in a time period based on the number of times of repetition, determining, based on the schedule frame last received, a terminal station's own time zone in which communication can be performed. 14. A medium access control method, for use in a communication network system including a control station for controlling access to a network and a plurality of terminal stations for accessing the network under the control of the control station, and for controlling network access by using a time division technique, the method comprising: steps performed by the control station of: generating transmission schedules for a plurality of communications performed in the network, the transmission schedules including information allocating a time zone usable for each of the communications; collecting the transmission schedules and generating one schedule frame based on the collected transmission schedules; transmitting the generated schedule frame to the plurality of terminal stations; and performing communication in a time zone which is allocated to the control station, and steps performed by each of the terminal stations of: receiving the schedule frame transmitted by the control station; determining, based on the received schedule frame, a terminal station's own time zone in which communication can be performed; performing communication in the determined time zone; and starting the station's own transmission earlier than scheduled by using an unused time zone of another station if communication is not performed by the other station in the time zone allocated by the schedule frame or if communication has been completed by the other station before an end time allocated by the schedule frame, wherein the schedule frame has described therein a number of times of repetition indicative of how many more times the same schedule frame is successively and cyclically transmitted. 15. The medium access control method according to claim 14, further comprising a step performed by each of the terminal stations of, when the schedule frame cannot be received in a time period based on the number of times of repetition, determining, based on the schedule frame last received, a terminal station's own time zone in which communication can be performed. 16. A medium access control system in which network access is controlled by using a time division technique, said system comprising: a control station for controlling access to a network; and a plurality of terminal stations for accessing the network under the control of the control station, the control station comprising: a schedule generating section for generating transmission schedules for a plurality of communications performed in the network, the transmission schedules including information allocating a time zone usable for each of the communications; a frame transmitting section for collecting the transmission schedules generated by the schedule generating section into one schedule frame, transmitting the schedule frame to the plurality of the terminal stations, and transmitting data frames in a time zone which is allocated to the control station; and a communication control section for performing communication in a time zone which is allocated to the control station, and each of the plurality of the terminal stations comprising: a frame receiving section for receiving the schedule frame transmitted by the control station; a schedule processing section for determining, based on the schedule frame received by the frame receiving section, a transmission terminal's own time zone in which communication can be performed; and a communication control section for performing the communication in the time zone determined by the schedule processing section, wherein the communication control sections of the control station and each of the plurality of terminal stations is operable to: transmit a predetermined report frame when no communication is performed in the time zone allocated by the transmission schedule or when communication has been completed before an end time allocated by the transmission schedule; and upon reception by the station of the report frame from another station that is scheduled to perform a transmission immediately before a time zone in which the station can perform ,transmission, start the station's own transmission earlier than scheduled by using an unused time zone of the other station. 17. A computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon for use in a communication network system including a control station for controlling access to a network and a plurality of terminal stations for accessing the network under the control of the control station, and for executing a medium access control method for controlling network access by using a time division technique, the program causing the control station to perform steps comprising: a step of generating transmission schedules for a plurality of communications performed in the network, the transmission schedules including information allocating a time zone usable for each of the communications; a step of collecting the generated transmission schedules and generating one schedule frame based on the collected transmission schedules; a step of transmitting the generated schedule frame to the plurality of terminal stations; and a step of performing a communication in a time zone which is allocated to the control station, the program causing each of the terminal stations to perform steps comprising: a step of receiving the schedule frame transmitted by the control station; a step of determining, based on the received schedule frame, a transmission terminal's own time zone in which communication can be performed; and a step of performing the communication in the determined time zone, and the program causing the control station and each of the terminal stations to perform steps comprising: a step of transmitting a predetermined report frame when no communication is performed in the time zone allocated by the transmission schedule or when communication has been completed before an end time allocated by the transmission schedule; and a step of starting the station's own transmission earlier than scheduled, upon reception of the report frame from another station that is scheduled to perform a transmission immediately before a time zone in which the station can perform transmission, by using an unused time zone of the other station. 18. An integrated circuit incorporated in a station for use in a medium access control system for network access control using a time division technique, the circuit comprising: a schedule generating section for generating transmission schedules for a plurality of communications performed in the network, the transmission schedules including information allocating a time zone usable for each of the communications; a frame transmitting section for collecting the transmission schedules generated by the schedule generating section into one schedule frame, and transmitting the schedule frame to another station; a frame receiving section for receiving the schedule frame transmitted by the other station; a schedule processing section for determining, based on the schedule frame received by the frame receiving section, the integrated circuit's station's own time zone in which communication can be performed; and a communication control section for performing the communication in the time zone determined by the schedule processing section, transmitting a predetermined report frame when no communication is performed in the time zone allocated by the transmission schedule or when communication has been completed before an end time allocated by the transmission schedule, and upon reception of the report frame from another station that is scheduled to perform a transmission immediately before a time zone in which the integrated circuit's station can perform transmission, starting the integrated circuit's station's own transmission earlier than scheduled by using an unused time zone of the other station.
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