Wireless personal area network for extending service area

High-speed personal wireless network system for expanding service area

1 is a diagram showing an example of a piconet formed between devices in an IEEE 802.15.3 high-speed personal wireless network;

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a high-speed personal wireless network using an optical fiber;

3 is

A table showing an example of data input/output between the central station and the piconet A based on the optocoupler A of FIG.

4 is a diagram showing a preferred embodiment of a high-speed personal wireless network system according to the present invention;

5 is a table showing the input/output state of data based on the connection part A of FIG. 4, and

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of logically reconstructing a relationship between the piconets of FIG. 4 .

* Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawing *

100 : Fiber optic 220,240,260 : Connection part

222,242,262: first coupler 224,244,264: second coupler

226,246,266: 3rd coupler 300,400,500: piconet

310,410,510: signal converter 320,420,520: PNC device

<backgroundart><p>The present invention relates to an IEEE 802.15.3 high-speed personal area network (WPAN) using ultra-wideband (UWB), and more particularly, to an IEEE 802.15.3 high-speed personal area network (WPAN) included in different piconets in a high-speed personal wireless network. A high-speed personal wireless network capable of extending a network service area by enabling communication between devices. </p><p>Wireless communication technology using UWB is a technology that guarantees a transmission distance of 10m to 1km while using a frequency band of 3.1~10.6GHz. UWB wireless communication technology has been used as a military wireless communication technology by the U.S. Department of Defense for the past 40 years, and is a technology that has been opened to the public by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), an agency that has jurisdiction over communication frequencies in the United States.</p><p>UWB wireless communication technology is a high-speed wireless data transmission technology that uses ultra-wide bands of several GHz bands. Compared to the existing IEEE 802.11 and Bluetooth, UWB wireless communication technology has faster transmission speed (500Mpbs~1Gbps) and low power (1/100 of that of mobile phones and wireless LANs). is a technique with UWB wireless communication technology is a short-range personal network that connects computers, peripherals, and home appliances with high-speed wireless interfaces in a short-range (average of 10 to 20 m to a maximum of 100 m) space, or a wall-to-wall radar that sees through a building wall, high-precision positioning, It can be used in various fields such as vehicle collision avoidance device, mine burial detection, loss prevention system, and body internal object detection.</p><p>The standardization of UWB wireless communication technology as a high-speed personal wireless network (WPAN) has been proposed in IEEE 802.15.3. If we compare the IEEE 802 series standards before the IEEE 802.15.3 standard, IEEE 802.15.1 is the group that establishes the Bluetooth standard, and IEEE 802.11 is the group that establishes the Wireless LAN standard.</p><p>Bluetooth (Blue Tooth) is a widely known personal area network (PAN) technology that is in the commercialization stage, and is a technology that has been recently adopted and commercialized in many products. is in a state of completion. They mainly use the frequency band of 2.4GHz (ISM Band) and are used as a personal network (PAN) solution within a communication distance of 10m.</p><p>Looking at the subdivided group of IEEE 802.15.3, it can be divided into TG1 (Task Group1), TG2, and TG3. TG1 is working on standardization for Bluetooth, and TG2 is a meeting for technical analysis on how Bluetooth products can coexist with the existing Wireless LAN business. TG3 is a group that researches standards for high data rate personal network (PAN) solutions.</p><p>1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a piconet formed between devices in an IEEE 802.15.3 high-speed personal wireless network. </p><p>As shown, the piconet forming a high-speed personal wireless network is composed of a plurality of communication devices (10, 12, 14, 16, 18). Here, the piconet is a network unit that provides a communication service in an independent high-speed personal wireless network (WPAN).</p><p>Among the devices 10 , 12 , 14 , 16 and 18 , device 10 operates as a piconet coordinator (PNC). The PNC device 10 manages communication in the piconet using a message called a beacon to synchronize with the connected devices 12 , 14 , 16 , 18 . In addition, the PNC device 10 additionally controls QoS (Quality of Signal), a power save mode, and a piconet access.</p><p>In this way, an IEEE 802.15.3 device capable of serving as a piconet coordinator may form one piconet. The process of a device having the ability as a piconet coordinator to form a piconet is as follows.</p><p>The PNC device 10 searches for a channel to start a piconet, selects one of unused channels, and broadcasts a beacon frame. The devices 12, 14, 16, and 18 receiving the broadcast beacon frame establish channels for communication in response thereto. In this case, the PNC device 10 allocates and provides an ID corresponding to each of the devices 12 , 14 , 16 , and 18 .</p><p>Meanwhile, when a device wants to participate in an already formed piconet, it participates through an association procedure. That is, a device moving from the outside to the piconet requests connection as one device of the piconet formed in the PNC device 10 . Accordingly, the PNC device 10 provides a single device ID that can be used in the piconet to the device requesting subscription.</p><p>Through this process, a piconet as shown in FIG. 1 is formed. Here, each of the devices 12 , 14 , 16 , and 18 except for the PNC device 10 requests data transmission from the PNC device 10 for data transmission. The PNC device 10 allocates a communicable time slot to each of the devices 12, 14, 16, and 18 according to a data transmission request from each of the devices 12, 14, 16, and 18. At this time, when the PNC device 10 allocates a timeslot to the devices 12 , 14 , 16 , and 18 , the PNC device 10 informs it using a beacon frame. Each of the devices 12 , 14 , 16 , and 18 performs data transmission for a time corresponding to a timeslot allocated from the PNC device 10 .</p><p>Meanwhile, when a device wants to end communication in the piconet or when the PNC device 10 wants to disconnect a device from the piconet, a disassociation procedure is performed between the PNC device 10 and the device. do. Accordingly, the PNC device 10 deletes information on the device that has been registered through the piconet withdrawal procedure.</p><p>In general, a high-speed personal wireless network (WPAN) is a small network in which a physical service range for communication is set in a radius of about 10 m. However, as described above, the need to improve the service range limited to 10m has been shared since the introduction of a high-speed personal wireless network capable of providing wireless service of 100Mbps or more using UWB wireless communication technology.</p><p>In particular, when using UWB for wireless communication, in order to minimize interference with the existing frequency band, the transmission power is legally stipulated to be very low below -41.3dBm (3.1GHz to 10.6GHz band). Although communication is possible, there is still a limit that the physical service range stays within a radius of about 10m. </p><p>According to the IEEE 802.15.3 protocol, communication between high-speed private wireless networks that are physically separated from each other is not supported. That is, one piconet coordinator (PNC) device exists in one piconet, and only manages communication between devices in the piconet, and cannot transmit and receive data through the PNC device of another piconet.</p><p>Meanwhile, in FIG. 1 , the piconet formed between the PNC device 10 and the plurality of devices 12, 14, 16, and 18 is an independent piconet capable of independently allocating time slots to devices existing in the piconet. ) and a dependent piconet in which a timeslot provided from a PNC device located outside the piconet is distributed and allocated to devices existing inside the piconet. When a dependent piconet is newly generated in an independent piconet, the independent piconet at this time is called a parent piconet, and the newly created dependent piconet is a child piconet or a neighbor piconet. ) is called That is, the independent piconet becomes the parent piconet, and the dependent piconet becomes the child piconet. In this case, the child piconet (subordinate piconet) shares and uses the channel provided from the PNC device of the parent piconet. </p><p>However, the service is performed by dividing the bandwidth between the parent piconet and the child piconet, but the actual data transmission function is impossible. Accordingly, communication between different piconets, that is, communication between devices located in different piconets, is impossible. In order to support communication between devices located in different piconets, IEEE 802.15.3 MAC bridge (Media Access Control bridge) must be newly defined and implemented for all devices. In addition, in order to support communication between devices located in different piconets, a physical connection structure is made with a wire such as optical fiber or UTP cable (unshielded twisted pair cable), and an access point (Access Point) as in a high-speed personal wireless network. : AP) must be newly defined.</p><p>2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a high-speed personal wireless network using an optical fiber. For reference, the devices in the figure are devices capable of communication services in the high-speed personal wireless network defined in IEEE 802.15.3.</p><p>As shown, the conventional high-speed personal wireless network includes a central office 20, a plurality of optocouplers 22, 24, 26, a plurality of signal converters 31, 41, 51, and a plurality of piconets 30, 40 , 50). </p><p>The central office 20 performs a route setting function of switching data transmitted from the piconets 30 , 40 , and 50 to be transmitted to a destination. The plurality of optocouplers 22 , 24 , and 26 transmit data transmitted from the central station 20 through a connected path, and transmit data transmitted from each piconet 30 , 40 , and 50 to the central station 20 . do.</p><p>A plurality of signal converters 31, 41, 51 converts the optical signals transmitted from the central station 20 and transmitted from the respective optical couplers 22, 24, 26 into electrical signals, and broadcasts them to the corresponding piconet, and each piconet. The electrical signals transmitted from the devices (30, 40, 50) are converted into optical signals and transmitted to the central office 20 . </p><p>The plurality of piconets 30 , 40 , and 50 include PNC devices 32 , 42 , 52 for allocating timeslots to devices of the corresponding piconet, respectively, and piconet to which the PNC devices 32 , 42 , and 52 belong. It consists of a plurality of devices (33, ..., 37, 43, ..., 47, 53, ... 57) that transmit data based on the timeslot allocated from the PNC device. </p><p>In the high-speed personal wireless network structure as shown in FIG. 2, when communication is attempted between devices belonging to different piconets, the central station 20 cannot directly transmit data to the destination piconet due to the structure of the optocouplers 22, 24, and 26. ) to receive the data and transmit it to the destination piconet. This central office 20 has all the devices 32,...,37,42,...,47,52, ...57) should be equipped with a PNC function. In addition, there is a problem in that the central office 20 must also have a MAC bridge function necessary for switch-transmitting data transmitted from a certain piconet to a destination piconet.</p><p>3 is a table showing an example of data input/output between the central office 20 and the piconet A 30 based on the optocoupler A 22 of FIG. 2 . As shown, with reference to the optocoupler A 22, the central station 20 side is referred to as "1", the optocoupler B 24 side is referred to as "2", and the piconet A 30 side is referred to as "3". Data input to the optocoupler A 22 from the central station 20, i.e., from the "1" path, is outputted to the paths "2" and "3". Data input from path "2" is output to path "1" via optocoupler A 22, and data input from path "3" is output to path "1" via optocoupler A 22 .</p><p>For example, when data is transmitted from the piconet C 50 to any one device of the piconet B 40 , the signal photoelectrically converted by the signal converter C 51 goes through the optocoupler C 26 directly to the piconet B It is not transmitted to (40) and is transmitted to the central office (20). The central station 20 broadcasts the received signal to the piconets 30, 40 and 50 through the MAC bridge function. At this time, each of the devices 32, ..., 37, 42, ..., 47, 52, ... 57 of the piconets 30, 40, 50 is broadcast from the central station 20 and each signal ID information of data transmitted from the converters 31, 41, and 51 is analyzed to determine whether the data is data transmitted to itself.</p><p>As such, in order to transmit data to different piconets, there is a problem in that unnecessary work is performed in which data is transmitted to the central station 20 and then transmitted again to the destination piconet.</p></backgroundart><abstractproblem><p>SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a high-speed personal wireless network capable of transmitting data at a simpler and faster speed between devices located in different piconets. </p><p>Another object of the present invention is to provide a high-speed personal wireless network capable of directly transmitting data between devices located in different piconets without going through a central station. </p><p>Another object of the present invention is to provide a high-speed personal wireless network capable of bidirectional communication between devices located in different piconets. </p></abstractproblem>

<p>According to the present invention, there is provided a plurality of piconets each including a plurality of devices and a piconet coordinator (PNC) device for managing the plurality of devices; an optical fiber as a medium for transmitting data for each of the plurality of piconets; A plurality of connection units for connecting the optical fiber and each of the plurality of piconets to transmit data transmitted through the optical fiber into a predetermined piconet among the plurality of piconet and to transmit data from the predetermined piconet through the optical fiber ; and each of the plurality of piconets, converts the optical signal transmitted from the optical fiber through the connection unit into an electrical signal, and transmits it to each piconet. It is achieved by a high-speed personal wireless network system including a plurality of signal converters for converting and transmitting to the optical fiber through the connection unit.</p><p>Here, one PNC device among PNC devices provided in the plurality of piconets allocates and manages time slots for devices located in the plurality of piconets. </p><p>Preferably, the plurality of connection units each have a first coupler connected to one side of the optical fiber, a second coupler connected to the other side of the optical fiber, and a third coupler connected to the signal converter. Here, the first coupler, the second coupler, and the third coupler branch/couple the input signal.</p><p>The first coupler, the second coupler, and the third coupler are each configured with a first port on one side and a pair of second ports on the other side. Accordingly, the first coupler, the second coupler, and the third coupler each branch and output a signal input from the first port to the second port, and combine the signal input from the second port to the first port and output .</p><p>In addition, first ports of the first coupler and the second coupler are connected to the optical fiber, and the first port of the third coupler is connected to the signal converter. And second ports of the first coupler, the second coupler, and the third coupler are interconnected to form a loop. On the other hand, the plurality of piconets is formed as one piconet network by one PNC device that logically manages devices located in the plurality of piconets.</p><p>Preferably, when one PNC device managing devices located in a plurality of piconets is separated from the piconet, a device having priority among PNC capable devices existing in the plurality of piconet becomes a PNC device managing the devices. </p><p>According to the present invention, by connecting the piconet and the optical fiber to have a structure capable of bidirectional communication, when a signal is transmitted from the piconet, it is bidirectionally branched and transmitted, so that communication can be performed between devices of different piconet. In addition, as communication between devices of different piconets is possible, a physical service area of a high-speed personal wireless network can be expanded. In addition, just as a high-speed personal wireless network consists of one piconet, a signal transmitted from an arbitrary device is also transmitted to devices located in different piconets, so that the devices of physically different piconets can logically form one piconet. A piconet can be formed.</p><p>Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the same components in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals wherever possible. In addition, detailed descriptions of well-known functions and configurations that may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention will be omitted.</p><p>4 is a diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of a high-speed personal wireless network according to the present invention. As shown, the high-speed personal wireless network is composed of an optical fiber 100 as a transmission medium, a plurality of piconets 300, 400, 500, signal converters 310, 410, 510, and connections 220, 240, 260.</p><p>The plurality of piconets 300, 400, and 500 are configured with PNC devices 320, 420, 520 and a plurality of devices 330, ..., 370, 430, ..., 470, 530, ..., 570, respectively. Here, each of the PNC devices 320 , 420 , and 520 manages devices located in the piconet it has formed.</p><p>Each of the signal converters 310, 410, and 510 converts the optical signal transmitted from the optical fiber 100 into an electrical signal and broadcasts it to each piconet 300, 400, and 500, and converts the electrical signal transmitted from the devices of each piconet 300, 400, and 500 to an optical signal. converted to and transmitted to the optical fiber 100 . </p><p>The connection units 220 , 240 , and 260 connect the optical fiber 100 and each piconet 300 , 400 , 500 , respectively, and have a structure in which input data is transmitted in both directions. Accordingly, when data is received from one side of the optical fiber 100 , the connection units 220 , 240 , and 260 branch and transmit the received data to the other side of the optical fiber 100 and each piconet 300 , 400 , 500 . In addition, when data is received from the other side of the optical fiber 100 , the connection units 220 , 240 , and 260 branch and transmit the received data to one side of the optical fiber 100 and each piconet 300 , 400 , 500 . Meanwhile, when data is received from each of the piconets 300 , 400 , and 500 , the connection units 220 , 240 , and 260 branch and transmit the received data to one side and the other side of the optical fiber 100 .</p><p>When data is transmitted from the piconet in this way, it is bidirectionally branched and transmitted through an optical fiber, thereby enabling communication between devices of different piconets. As communication between devices of different piconets is possible, a physical service area of a high-speed personal wireless network can be expanded.</p><p>On the other hand, any one of the PNC devices 320 , 420 , 520 forming the piconets 300 , 400 , and 500 of the present embodiment is not only its own piconet, but also to devices including PNC devices forming another piconet connected through an optical fiber. Allocate timeslots and manage them. In the present embodiment, the PNC-A device 320 among the PNC devices 320 , 420 , and 520 is set as a device that actually performs a PNC function not only for its own piconet but also for other piconet.</p><p>FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an input/output state of data based on the connection unit A 220 of FIG. 4 . As shown, when data is input from one side 1 of the optical fiber 100 , the input data is output to the other side 2 of the optical fiber 100 and the piconet A 300 by the connection unit A 220 . Also, when data is input from the other side 3 of the optical fiber 100 , the input data is output to one side 1 and the piconet A 300 of the optical fiber 100 by the connection unit A 220 . Then, when data is input from the piconet A 300 , the input data is output to one side 10 and the other side 2 of the optical fiber 100 by the connection unit A 220 . Therefore, even when data is input from any direction, the input data can be transmitted in both directions. This configuration is equally applied to the other connection parts 240 and 260 .</p><p>Meanwhile, the connection part A 220 of FIG. 4 has a first coupler 222 , a second coupler 224 , and a third coupler 226 . In addition, the connection part B 240 has a first coupler 242, a second coupler 244, and a third coupler 246, and the connection part C 260 is a first coupler 262, a second coupler ( 264 ), and a third coupler 266 . The couplers configured in each of the connection units 220 , 240 , and 260 perform the same function to correspond to each other. Accordingly, the present embodiment will be described with the couplers 222 , 224 , and 226 constituting the connection part A 220 as an example.</p><p>The first coupler 222 is connected to one side of the optical fiber 100 to branch and transmit input data to the second coupler 224 and the third coupler 226 . The second coupler 224 is connected to the other side of the optical fiber 100 to branch and transmit input data to the first coupler 222 and the third coupler 226 . The third coupler 226 is connected to a signal converter A 310 that transmits and receives data to and from the devices of the piconet A 300 and transmits data input from the piconet A 300 to the first coupler 222 and the second coupler ( 224) and transmit it.</p><p>The first coupler 222 , the second coupler 224 , and the third coupler 226 are each configured with a first port on one side and a pair of second ports on the other side. Accordingly, the first coupler 222 , the second coupler 224 , and the third coupler 226 each branch and output data input from the first port to a pair of second ports, and output the data from the second port. The input data is combined to the first port and output.</p><p>Here, the first ports of the first coupler 222 and the second coupler 224 are connected to the optical fiber 100 , and the first port of the third coupler 226 performs communication with devices of the piconet A 300 . It is connected to the signal converter A (310). In addition, the second ports of the first coupler 222 , the second coupler 224 , and the third coupler 226 are interconnected by a common line with the second ports of the adjacent couplers, respectively. That is, one line of the second ports of the first coupler 222 is commonly connected to one line of the second ports of the second coupler 224 , and the other one of the second ports of the first coupler 222 . The line of is connected in common with one line of the second port of the third coupler 226 . In addition, the other line of the second ports of the second coupler 224 is commonly connected to the other line of the second ports of the third coupler 226 .</p><p>A process of data transmission from the device A1 330 to the device B1 430 in FIG. 4 will be briefly described as follows. The device A1 330 generates data destined for the device B1 430 based on the ID information and address information of the devices transmitted from the PNC-A device 320 performing the PNC function according to the present embodiment. to the signal converter A (310).</p><p>The signal converter A 310 converts the data transmitted from the device A1 330 into an optical signal and transmits it to the third coupler 226 of the connection unit A 220 . The third coupler 226 branches and transmits the input data to the first coupler 222 and the second coupler 224 . The first coupler 222 and the second coupler 224 respectively transmit data transmitted from the third coupler 226 to the optical fiber 100 .</p><p>The first coupler 242 of the connection unit B 240 branches the data transmitted from the connection unit A 220 and transmits it to the second coupler 244 and the third coupler 246 . The second coupler 244 of the connection unit B 240 transmits the data transmitted from the first coupler 242 to the connection unit C 260 through the optical fiber 100 . The third coupler 246 of the connection unit B 240 transmits the data transmitted from the first coupler 242 to the signal converter B 410 . The signal converter B 410 converts the data transmitted from the third coupler 246 into electrical signals and broadcasts them to the devices 420 , ... , 470 existing in the piconet B 400 . At this time, each of the devices 420, ..., 470 determines whether the ID information and address information included in the data broadcast from the signal converter B 410 are their own ID information and address information. Device B 430 determines that the received data is information transmitted to it and performs subsequent signal processing thereon, but the other devices 420, 440, 450, 460, and 470 discard the received data as it is not data transmitted to it. </p><p>FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of logically reconstructing a relationship between the piconets 300, 400, and 500 of FIG. 4 . As shown, the PNC-A device 320 of the piconet A 300 that allocates time slots to devices of all piconets 300, 400, and 500 and manages them becomes a PNC device with respect to the devices of all piconets 300, 400, and 500. .</p><p>At this time, the PNC-B device 420 of the piconet B 400 and the PNC-C device 520 of the piconet C 500 have a PNC function, but do not actually perform the PNC function and are allocated from the PNC-A device 320 . Since communication is performed using the designated timeslot, these devices are called PNC capable devices. Since the piconets 300, 400, and 500 are integrated and managed by the PNC-A device 320, the high-speed personal wireless network of this embodiment can be logically represented as a formed piconet network 600 in which the piconets 300, 400, and 500 are integrated. .</p><p>Data transmitted from an arbitrary device is also transmitted to devices located in different piconets, so that devices of physically different piconets logically operate as if they exist in one piconet. In addition, by setting a path to enable bidirectional communication between devices of different piconet using couplers, a high-speed personal wireless network without changing the MAC layer for data transmission between devices of different piconet or adding a MAC bridge function communication area can be expanded.</p><p>According to the high-speed personal wireless network of FIG. 4 , PNC devices 320 , 420 , and 520 are physically present in each of the piconets 300 , 400 , and 500 , but according to the present embodiment, each device logically operates as one piconet. Accordingly, when the PNC-A device 320 leaves the piconet network 600, the device having priority among the PNC-B device 420 and the PNC-C device 520, which are PNC capable devices, is automatically selected from the piconet network ( 600) is a PNC device. This operation is a form specified in IEEE 802.15.3.</p>

<p>According to the present invention, by connecting the piconet and the optical fiber to have a structure capable of bidirectional communication, when data is transmitted from the piconet, it is bidirectionally branched and transmitted, so that communication can be performed between devices of different piconet. </p><p>In addition, as communication between devices of different piconets is possible, a physical service area of a high-speed personal wireless network can be expanded. </p><p>In addition, just as a high-speed personal wireless network consists of one piconet, data transmitted from an arbitrary device is also transmitted to devices located in different piconets, so that the devices of physically different piconets can logically form one A piconet can be formed. </p><p>In the above, specific preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made by anyone with ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from the gist of the present invention appended in the claims. will be.</p>