Method and apparatus to negotiate channel sharing in PLC network

Abstract

A method of negotiating channel sharing between adjacent cells when there are a plurality of cells in a power line communication (PLC) network. The method includes attempting to negotiate the channel sharing during a minimum contention access period (CAP) which starts after a maximum beacon period ends and ends before a CAP of each PLC cell ends, wherein the maximum beacon period indicates a maximum size that a beacon frame in a super-frame transmitted from a coordinator of each PLC cell can have. When an attempt to negotiate the channel sharing is made using this method, interference does not occur during channel sharing negotiation, and effective channel sharing can be achieved, thereby eliminating interference between adjacent cells.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating interference between respective stations of adjacent power line communication (PLC) cells A and B;

FIG. 2 illustrates a super-frame structure of each of the PLC cells A and B of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a super-frame structure in a PLC network according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

FIG. 4 illustrates a process of negotiating channel sharing in order to eliminate the interference of an adjacent cell according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept; and

FIG. 5A is a schematic block diagram of a station performing TDMA channel sharing negotiation in a PLC network, and FIG. 5B is a schematic block diagram of a coordinator performing TDMA channel sharing negotiation in the PLC network.

Claims

1. A method of negotiating time division multiple access (TDMA) channel sharing in a power line communication (PLC) network, the method comprising: attempting to negotiate channel sharing during a minimum contention access period (CAP) which starts after a maximum beacon period ends and ends before a CAP of each PLC cell ends,wherein the maximum beacon period indicates a maximum size that a beacon frame in a super-frame transmitted from a coordinator of each PLC cell can have.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein: the attempting of the negotiation of the channel sharing comprises registering each station attempting to negotiate channel sharing as a target station for the negotiation with a detected station table or a detected cell table.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein: the attempting of the negotiation of the channel sharing comprises registering each station attempting to negotiate the channel sharing, adding in a predetermined flag to a command frame that is to be transmitted to a target station; andthe predetermined flag indicates that the command frame is for channel sharing negotiation.

4. A computer-readable recording medium having embodied thereon a computer program to execute a method of negotiating time division multiple access (TDMA) channel sharing in a power line communication (PLC) network, the method comprising: attempting to negotiate channel sharing during a minimum contention access period (CAP) which starts after a maximum beacon period ends and ends before a CAP of each PLC cell ends,wherein the maximum beacon period indicates a maximum size that a beacon frame in a super-frame transmitted from a coordinator of each PLC cell can have.

5. A method of negotiating TDMA channel sharing in a PLC network, the method comprising: perceiving interference of a second station included in a second cell and notifying a first coordinator of a first cell about the interference using a first station included in the first cell;transmitting a shared channel request to the second station through a minimum CAP and using the first station, and transmitting the shared channel request to the second coordinator of the second cell using the second station;transmitting to the first station first scheduling information of the second cell, which is received from the second coordinator through the second station, and transmitting the first scheduling information of the second cell to the first coordinator using the first station;transmitting to the second station second scheduling information of the first cell received from the first coordinator through the first station, and transmitting the second scheduling information of the first cell to the second coordinator using the second station; andbroadcasting time allocation information for channel sharing to each station included in each of the first and second cells using the first coordinator and the second coordinator,wherein the minimum CAP starts after a maximum beacon period ends and ends before a CAP of each PLC cell ends.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first station registers the second station as a target station, with a detected station table (DST) or a detected cell table (DCT).

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the second station registers the first station as a target station, with a DST or a DCT.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the first station adds a predetermined flag to a command frame that is to be transmitted to the second station; andthe predetermined flag indicates that the command frame is for channel sharing negotiation.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein: the second station adds a predetermined flag to a command frame that is to be transmitted to the first station; andwherein the predetermined flag indicates that the command frame is for channel sharing negotiation.

10. A computer-readable recording medium having embodied thereon a computer program to execute a method of negotiating TDMA channel sharing in a PLC network, the method comprising: perceiving interference of a second station included in a second cell and notifying a first coordinator of a first cell about the interference using a first station included in the first cell;transmitting a shared channel request to the second station through a minimum CAP and using the first station, and transmitting the shared channel request to the second coordinator of the second cell using the second station;transmitting to the first station first scheduling information of the second cell, which is received from the second coordinator through the second station, and transmitting the first scheduling information of the second cell to the first coordinator using the first station;transmitting to the second station second scheduling information of the first cell received from the first coordinator through_the first station, and transmitting the scheduling information of the first cell to the second coordinator using the second station; andbroadcasting time allocation information for channel sharing to each station included in each of the first and second cells using the first coordinator and the second coordinator,wherein the minimum CAP starts after a maximum beacon period ends and ends before a CAP of each PLC cell ends.

11. A station to negotiate TDMA channel sharing in a PLC network, the station comprising: an interference perception unit to perceive interference of a station included in another cell;a transmission unit to transmit a command frame to a coordinator or another station;a reception unit to receive another command frame from the coordinator or the another station; anda frame generation unit to generate the command frame that is to be transmitted to the coordinator or the another station,wherein the command frame and the another command frame negotiate TDMA channel sharing are received or transmitted during a minimum CAP, and the minimum CAP starts after a maximum beacon period ends and ends before a CAP of each PLC cell ends.

12. The station of claim 11, wherein the frame generation unit adds a predetermined flag to the command frame to indicate that the command frame is for channel sharing negotiation.

13. The station of claim 11, further comprising: a table to register a station or cell which is a target station for channel sharing negotiation.

14. The station of claim 13, wherein the table is a DST or a DCT.

15. A coordinator to negotiate TDMA channel sharing in a PLC network, the coordinator comprising: a transmission unit to transmit a command frame to a station;a reception unit to receive another command frame from the station; anda frame generation unit to generate the command frame that is to be transmitted to the station,wherein the command frame and the another command frame negotiate TDMA channel sharing and are received or transmitted during a minimum CAP, wherein the minimum CAP starts after a maximum beacon period ends and ends before a CAP of each PLC cell ends.

16. The coordinator of claim 15, wherein the frame generation unit adds a predetermined flag to the command frame to indicate that the command frame is for channel sharing negotiation.

17. A station of a cell in a power line communication (PLC) network, the station comprising: a transmission unit to transmit a command frame to a coordinator or another station of another cell in the PLC network;a reception unit to perceive interference of the another station included in the another cell and to receive another command frame from the coordinator or the another station of the another cell; anda frame generation unit to generate the command frame that is to be transmitted to the coordinator or the another station of the another cell,wherein the command frame and the another command frame negotiate channel sharing and contain a membership key that must not be ignored or abandoned by the coordinator or the another station of the another cell, the command frame being received or transmitted during a minimum contention access period (CAP).