Method for Distributed Relay Discovery and Data Forwarding

Abstract

A method of discovering relay agent in a wireless communications system is provided. A wireless station first sends a relay solicitation frame to query availability of relay agent. The wireless station then receives one or more relay acknowledgement frames from one or more candidate relay agents in response to the relay solicitation frames. The wireless station determines a selected relay agent, and establishes a wireless link with the selected relay agent. The selected relay agent performs data forwarding between the station and an access point. The method allows a wireless station to initiate the relay agent discovery process by soliciting a specific relay agent or broadcasting a request to all potential relay agents. The selected relay agent can be determined with minimum power and based on link quality associated with the relay agent and specific requirement of the wireless station.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.