TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONTROL APPARATUS AND A METHOD FOR DETERMINING A COMMUNICATING NODE WITH ELECTRIC POWER INTERFERENCE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT

Abstract

A telecommunications control apparatus is included in each of a plurality of nodes constituting a telecommunications system and includes a reception power decider for determining the reception power value of a control signal received from another node. A control signal decider decides, in accordance with the reception power value of the control signal thus determined, whether or not the own node should communicate with the other node in relation to interference at the own node. A communication controller controls communication between the own node and the other node in accordance with the result of decision made by the control signal decider.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and features of the present invention will become more apparent from consideration of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a specific configuration of a control signal decider included in a node embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the node embodying the present invention;

FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C demonstrate consecutive, initial, transitional and stable conditions, respectively, in which two of the nodes are tuned to each other in the illustrative embodiment;

FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C demonstrate, similarly to FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C, consecutive, initial, transitional and stable conditions, respectively, in which three of the nodes are tuned to each other in the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory chart useful for understanding a relation between a communication range and an interference range particular to the illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram showing a specific configuration of a control signal decider included in an alternative embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is another explanatory chart, like FIG. 5, useful for understanding how an impulse signal is transmitted in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6.

Claims

1. A telecommunications control apparatus included in each of a plurality of nodes constituting a telecommunications system, said apparatus comprising: a reception power decider configured to determine a reception power value of a control signal received from another node;a control signal decider configured to decide, in accordance with the reception power value of the control signal determined by said reception power decider, whether or not an own node should communicate with the other node in relation to interference at said own node; anda communication controller configured to control communication between the own node and the other node in accordance with a result of a decision made by said control signal decider.

2. The apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein said control signal decider comprises: a node sorter configured to determine a distance between the own node and the other node from the reception power value of the control signal in accordance with a preselected rule, and determine, in accordance with the distance determined, whether or not the another node is a node communicable with the own node; anda control signal identifier configured to reference a result of sorting executed by said node sorter to determine whether or not the control signal received this time is representative of the other node communicable with the own node.

3. The apparatus in accordance with claim 2, wherein said node sorter is configured to dynamically adjust sorting into a communicable node.

4. The apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the control signal comprises a reference control signal and a response control signal transmitted and received between the own node and the other node in two consecutive steps, said control signal decider including a response control signal generator configured to generate, when the reference control signal is received, the response control signal having a reception power value of the reference control signal and cause the response control signal to be transmitted.

5. The apparatus in accordance with claim 4, further comprising a parameter corrector configured to correct a parameter of interference resistance adapted for generating the response control signal.

6. The apparatus in accordance with claim 4, wherein said control signal decider includes an interference decider configured to compare, when the response control signal is received, the reception power value of the response control signal and a reception power value of the response control signal at a source node and determine, in accordance with a result of comparison, whether or not interference at the source node would occur due to a transmission from the own node.

7. The apparatus in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a timing calculator configured to determine a transmission timing of a timing signal of the own node by using a reception timing of a timing signal, which is a control signal received from the other node, and determine a transmission time slot of a data signal in accordance with the transmission timing and the reception timing of the timing signal from the another node.

8. A node included in a telecommunications system, which includes a plurality of nodes, and including a telecommunications control apparatus, said apparatus comprising: a reception power decider configured to determine a reception power value of a control signal received from another node;a control signal decider configured to decide, in accordance with the reception power value of the control signal determined by said reception power decider, whether or not an own node should communicate with the other node in relation to interference at said own node; anda communication controller configured to control communication between the own node and the other node in accordance with a result of a decision made by said control signal decider.

9. A telecommunications system comprising a plurality of nodes each of which includes a telecommunications control apparatus, said apparatus comprising: a reception power decider configured to determine a reception power value of a control signal received from another node;a control signal decider configured to decide, in accordance with the reception power value of the control signal determined by said reception power decider, whether or not an own node should communicate with the other node in relation to interference at the own node; anda communication controller configured to control communication between the own node and the other node in accordance with a result of a decision made by said control signal decider.

10. A method controlling telecommunications in a telecommunications system, said method comprising the steps of: preparing an own node constituting the telecommunications system together with another node, the own node including a reception power decider, a control signal decider and a communication controller;causing the reception power decider to determine a reception power value of a control signal received from the other node;causing the control signal decider to decide, in accordance with the reception power value of the control signal determined by the reception power decider, whether or not the own node should communicate with the other node in relation to interference at the own node; andcausing the communication controller to control communication between the own node and the other node in accordance with a result of a decision made by the control signal decider.

11. A method controlling telecommunications in an own node constituting a telecommunications system together with another node, said method comprising the steps of: determining a reception power value of a control signal received from the other node;deciding whether or not the own node should communicate with the other node in relation to interference at the own node in accordance with the reception power value of the control signal determined by said step of determining; andcontrolling communication between the own node and the other node in accordance with a result of a decision made by said deciding step.