Methods and apparatus for communicating information using beacon signals
US7929501B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 7, 2007 |
| Grant date | Apr 19, 2011 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 18, 2029 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L5/0053
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Methods and apparatus related to efficiently communicating information, such as base station identification information and/or timing information, via beacon signals are described. Base station identification information and/or timing information is communicated via beacon signals. A beacon coding scheme is utilized in which different base station sectors in the communications system are associated with different sub-sets of beacon tones, e.g., a sub-set of 4 beacon tones. Different beacon tone sub-sets have at most 1 tone in common. A base station sector transmitter transmits a sequence of beacon signals, in accordance with a predetermined beacon tone hopping pattern, in a recurring timing structure, each beacon signal including one of the tones from its associated beacon tone subset. The structure of the beacon tone subsets and the hopping pattern facilitates efficient communication of information, efficient recovery of information being communicated and/or a simple implementation decoder by a wireless terminal.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.