Abstract: A system and method for allowing network users to securely administer and deploy network nodes (102). These networks (100) may comprise wired and/or wireless connections. Examples would include wired networks (104) with shared infrastructure in an office building, as well as ad-hoc multi-hopping peer-to-peer network applications for the home. The system and method provides a key (130) that allows new nodes (102) and thus new devices (124, 126, 132) to gain access to a network (100) via an existing node (122) of that network (100).

Abstract: A system and method for enabling the coexistence of waveforms that do not comply with IEEE Standard 802.11 in the presence of 802.11 compliant waveforms in a wireless communication network (100), in particular, a wireless multi-hopping ad-hoc peer-to-peer communication network (100). More particularly, the system and method controls 802.11 compliant devices (102, 106, 106) in the communication network to refrain from accessing a transmission medium for a predetermined time so that communication not complying with 802.11 can be performed, such as transmission of signals between devices (102, 106, 107) to perform time-of-flight measurements.

Abstract: A system and method that creates an abstraction of the physical layer of a wireless communication network (100), in particular, a wireless ad-hoc peer-to-peer communication network (100), and that normalizes the feedback from the physical layer to enable multiple types of nodes (102, 106, 107) in the wireless network to operate using a common wireless routing protocol. This routing protocol uses a link quality metric to determine the best route regardless of how it actually chooses the route or disseminates such link quality information. The generalized routing metric can be derived for any node (102, 106, 107), regardless of its relative performance or its media access control (MAC) technology. The system and method also create a transaction summary that can be used for link adaptation and link quality estimation to determine, for example, future data rates, link quality/routing metrics, and transmit powers.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a system and method for deploying devices, such as routers (107) and mobile nodes (102) or tags, that communicate in a wireless multihopping ad-hoc communication network (100), that enables a monitoring system such as a dispatcher (212) to create a reference system to identify the location of each device. The system and method thus allows for prompt identification of the locations of persons or items, particularly firefighters and other persons operating in hazardous environments, to expedite rescue efforts.

Abstract: The present invention provides a bandwidth efficient system and method of measuring the range between nodes (102, 106, 107) in a wireless communications network (100) with one-way data transfer, where each node (102, 106, 107) periodically transmits a message that contains information regarding neighboring nodes (102, 106, 107) from which any prior messages have been received by the transmitting node (102, 106, 107). A node (102, 106, 107) receives the messages transmitted from neighboring nodes (102, 106, 107) in the network (100), and records the times of arrival of the received messages. The node (102, 106, 107) receiving those messages can thus determine the respective distances between itself and the neighboring nodes (102, 106, 107) based on the respective time of arrivals of the received messages and the respective information included in the respective messages.

Abstract: A system and method for deploying a network of wireless devices, including mobile terminals, wireless routers and a least one control console, within a three dimensional deployment area such as a building, so that communication, identification and position calculations of personnel, such as firefighters, using the mobile terminals can be achieved regardless of building structure, and so that a user can determine whether tracked assets, such as firefighters in a fire and rescue scenario, have remained within predetermined user-designated areas for longer than a desired period of time, so that an alarm can be generated which identifies the subject assets and the locations, such as the floor number of a building, where the subject assets are located.

Abstract: The present invention provides a system and method to detect transient links in a timely and reliable way. The present invention introduces a metric that depends on the unicast data timeout measurements at the receiver node (102, 106, 107). This metric can be combined with existing solutions to estimate the link quality between nodes (102, 106, 107). Furthermore, the present invention takes the packet size into consideration when transceivers (108) update the link quality based on the packet completion rate to quantify the transient link quality more precisely.

Abstract: A system and method for providing position information of mobile user terminals (103) in a portable voice and data wireless communications network, such as an ad-hoc wireless communications network (100). More particularly, the present invention relates to a system of locating persons or assets using a centralized computing device, such as a server (125), that computes the respective locations of the terminals (103) from the respective information provided by the terminals (103) relating to their respective locations. A graphical display (121) that retrieves the location information from the centralized server (125) and generates a graphical display (121) of the location of all or selected terminals (103) based on their locations as computed by the server (125).

Abstract: A system and method for providing optimum wireless communication spreading code selection such that communication channel interpath interference is minimized. In Direct-Sequence Spread-Spectrum, the autocorrelation properties of a spreading code greatly affects the inherent ability of a system to resist multipath. Low/spreading gain codes (or “short” codes) associated with high data rates do not perform well where large-amplitude multipath is present. The system and method presented herein overcomes this problem by selecting spreading codes in such a way that interference caused by multipath is minimized. The system and method does so by determining the characteristics of the radio-frequency link in order to select a spreading code that will minimize interpath interference.

Abstract: A system and method for selecting a route from multiple potential routes in wireless network is shown. The present invention sends multiple route requests with the same route request identifier value concurrently to multiple candidate routes to obtain accurate bi-directional route metrics for candidate routes. The route having the best route metrics among the candidate routes is selected as the new route for communication through the wireless network.

Abstract: A system and method for providing a congestion optimized address resolution protocol (ARP) for a wireless ad-hoc network. The system and method enables a node in the wireless ad-hoc network to issue an ARP request without the need to broadcast the request to all of the nodes in the wireless ad-hoc network, to thus minimize radio traffic on the wireless ad-hoc network for handling the ARP request. The node includes an address resolution protocol module which is adapted to generate an ARP request for a media access control (MAC) address corresponding to an Internet protocol (IP) address, and a transceiver which is adapted to transmit the ARP request for delivery to an access point of a network portion, such as a core LAN of the network, without broadcasting the ARP request to a plurality of other nodes in the wireless ad-hoc network. The transceiver can transmit the ARP request to the access point directly or via other nodes in the wireless ad-hoc network.

Abstract: A system and method for dynamic rate adaptation in wireless networks is presented. A dynamic adjustment scheme adapts quickly to channel variation characteristics where adjustment values depend on the target data packet completion rates that maximizes the effective throughput. The required information is an estimate of the Medium Access Controller overhead including channel access delay. This a priori information can also be measured by the system a posteriori. Although the invention can be applied to both cellular and non-cellular systems, the exemplary embodiment is given for a carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) network.

Abstract: A system and method for improving the performance of an on-demand routing protocol in a wireless network is provided. The invention provides improved system performance of a wireless network by enabling nodes following an on-demand routing protocol to process (and possibly reply to) route request messages multiple times based on the routing metrics.

Abstract: A system and method for providing network data and system upgrades to individual nodes within an ad-hoc network without requiring network-wide information broadcasts. The system and method identifies adjacent devices authorized to share system and upgrade information. Nodes are directed to prepare and transmit requests for upgrade information from adjacent devices, such that upgrade information may be passed, from one node to the next, reaching each node in the network. The node-to-node upgrade propagation thereby replaces traditional network-wide broadcasts of upgrade information.

Abstract: An ad-hoc, peer-to-peer radio access system for cellular communications systems using time division duplex as a way of maximizing the bits/hz/km2 for cellular systems. The network architecture of the ad-hoc system allows the radio access to be integrated with the fixed components of a conventional cellular system, PSTN or ISP. The objective is to make the system of the invention transparent to the features and services provided by the external network. The advantages of such a system to a cellular operator are that significantly less infrastructure is required, and that the RF spectrum is more efficiently utilized resulting in much lower building and operating costs. The system architecture is comprised of remote terminals, routers, gateways, and at least one gateway controller that interfaces the ad-hoc system to a cellular network system. The ad-hoc system of the invention allows for both voice and data transmissions and receptions.

Abstract: A system and method for providing a congestion optimized address resolution protocol (ARP) for a wireless ad-hoc network. The system and method enables a node in the wireless ad-hoc network to issue an ARP request without the need to broadcast the request to all of the nodes in the wireless ad-hoc network, to thus minimize radio traffic on the wireless ad-hoc network for handling the ARP request. The node includes an address resolution protocol module which is adapted to generate an ARP request for a media access control (MAC) address corresponding to an Internet protocol (IP) address, and a transceiver which is adapted to transmit the ARP request for delivery to a broadcast server without broadcasting the ARP request to a plurality of other nodes in the wireless ad-hoc network.

Abstract: A system and method for improving the accuracy in computing the location of a mobile subscriber device connected in a wireless network. The system and method employ a predictive filter, including a measurement weight algorithm to decrease standard deviation error, to correctly determine a location of a mobile subscriber device. The predictive filter requires lower levels of computation, which allows for real-time processing on low-speed central processing units commonly used in wireless networks.

Abstract: A wireless local area network (LAN) for data communications. The wireless LAN includes a packet hopping access terminal (PHAST) and a packet hopping gateway (PHG). The PHAST has a first transceiver for wirelessly communicating with a client device, and a second transceiver for wirelessly receiving data packets addressed to the client device and for wirelessly transmitting data packets received from the client device in accordance with a packet hopping protocol. The PHG has a transceiver for wirelessly receiving the data packets transmitted by the PHAST and for transmitting the data packets addressed to the client device in accordance with the packet hopping protocol, and a network interface for establishing communication with a server.

Abstract: An ad-hoc, peer-to-peer radio access system having a series of remote terminals, where each remote terminal is capable of forming a link, or hop, of the routing of a call made by one of the series of terminals. The status of the battery of each terminal which may potentially form part of the routing path of a call is reported to other terminals, whereby the routing path for a call will be decided also based on the status of the battery-charge of each terminal along the routing path.

Abstract: A system and method for selecting an appropriate transmit power and data rate at which a communication signal is transmitted over a link between nodes in a wireless ad-hoc communication network based on factors such as variations in path loss in the link, fading conditions, noise level estimation and overall link quality. The system and method perform the operations of computing path loss in the link based on information provided to the source node from the destination node pertaining to characteristics of a message that was transmitted by the source node and received by the destination node, determining a noise factor at the destination node, and calculating the power level and rate at which the data is transmitted over the link from the source node to the destination node based on the path loss and the noise factor. More specifically, the method calculates the power level based on the path loss, the noise factor and signal fading, and determines the rate based on the calculated power level.