Neighbor awareness networking datapath—scheduling, scheduler rank, and pre-datapath operation triggering

US10893083B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Apple Inc. · US

Inventors

• Yong Liu · Campbell, US
• Christiaan A. Hartman · San Jose, US
• Daniel R. Borges · San Francisco, US
• Peter N. Heerboth · Cupertino, US
• Lawrie Kurian · San Jose, US
• Su Khiong Yong · Palo Alto, US
• Anand Rajagopalan · Saratoga, US
• Saravanan Balasubramaniyan · Los Gatos, US
• Tashbeeb Haque · San Francisco, US
• Andreas Wolf · Munich, DE
• Guoqing Li · Campbell, US
• Lilach Zukerman · Even Yehuda, IL
• Oren Shani · Saratoga, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 25, 2016
• Grant date: Jan 12, 2021
• Expiry date: Sep 14, 2036

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04W88/04
• WIPO field: Digital communication
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

In some embodiments, one or more wireless stations operate according to Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN)—direct communication with neighboring wireless stations, e.g., direct communication between the wireless stations without utilizing an intermediate access point. Embodiments of the disclosure relate to NAN datapath scheduling and NAN pre-datapath operation setup and scheduling. The NAN datapath embodiments described herein provide a mechanism through which devices can communicate and provide services. Aspects of the datapath development include datapath scheduling, including datapath setup and scheduling attributes, as well as pre-datapath operation triggering and scheduling. Scheduling attributes may include a native scheduler rank and a NAN data cluster scheduler rank. NAN data cluster base schedules may be scheduled as equal-sets or subsets of datapath schedules. The datapath model may be implemented for unicast and multicast communication between wireless stations, including mobile stations.