Wireless communication methods and apparatus supporting different types of wireless communication approaches

A wireless terminal which supports peer to peer communication and communication via a base station, the wireless terminal comprising:

• a receiver module for receiving a first signal from a first communications band, the first signal being from a base station and for receiving a second signal from a second communications band which is different from said first communications band, said second signal being from a peer wireless terminal;
• a base station link quality determination module for determining from said first signal link quality of a first link between said base station and said wireless terminal;
• a peer to peer link quality determination module for determining from said second signal link quality of a second link between said wireless terminal and said peer wireless terminal;
• and
• a link selection module for selecting between said first and second links for a communication session based on the determined quality of said first and second links;
• a first data throughput determination module for predicting a first data throughput to the base station based on said first determined link quality;
• and
• a second data throughput determination module for predicting a second data throughput to the peer wireless communication device based on said second determined link quality;
• wherein said link selection module includes a throughput based selection module for selecting the one of the first and second links having the higher throughput.

A wireless terminal which supports both peer to peer communication and communication via a base station, the wireless terminal comprising:

• receiver means for receiving a first signal from a first communications band, the first signal being from a base station and for receiving a second signal from a second communications band which is different from said first communications band, said second signal being from a peer wireless terminal;
• base station link quality determination means for determining from said first signal link quality of a first link between said base station and said wireless terminal;
• peer to peer link quality determination means for determining from said second signal link quality of a second link between said wireless terminal and said peer wireless terminal;
• and
• link selection means for selecting between said first and second links for a communications session based on the determined quality of said first and second links,
• beacon burst processing means for recovering link information from a beacon signal burst;
• and
• user data recovery means for recovering user data from non-beacon signals used to communicate user data as part of a communications session
• wherein said first and second signals each include at least one beacon signal burst.

A method which supports peer to peer communication and communication via a base station, the method comprising:

• receiving a first signal from a first communications band, the first signal being from a base station and for receiving a second signal from a second communications band which is different from said first communications band, said second signal being from a peer wireless terminal;
• determining from said first signal link quality of a first link between said base station and said wireless terminal;
• determining from said second signal link quality of a second link between said wireless terminal and said peer wireless terminal;
• and
• selecting between said first and second links for a communication session based on the determined quality of said first and second links;
• recovering link information from a beacon signal burst;
• and
• recovering user data from non-beacon signals used to communicate user data as part of a communication session
• wherein said first and second signals each include at least one beacon signal.

A method which supports peer to peer communication and communication via a base station, the method comprising:

• receiving a first signal from a first communications band, the first signal being from a base station and for receiving a second signal from a second communications band which is different from said first communications band, said second signal being from a peer wireless terminal;
• determining from said first signal link quality of a first link between said base station and said wireless terminal;
• determining from said second signal link quality of a second link between said wireless terminal and said peer wireless terminal;
• and
• selecting between said first and second links for a communication session based on the determined quality of said first and second links;
• predicting a first data throughput to the base station based on said first determined link quality;
• and
• predicting a second data throughput to the peer wireless communication device based on said second determined link quality;
• and
• wherein said link selection module includes a throughput based selection module for selecting the one of the first and second links having the higher throughput.

A wireless terminal which supports peer to peer communication and communication via a base station, the wireless terminal comprising:

• receiver means for receiving a first signal from a first communications band, the first signal being from a base station and for receiving a second signal from a second communications band which is different from said first communications band, said second signal being from a peer wireless terminal;
• a base station link quality determination means for determining from said first signal link quality of a first link between said base station and said wireless terminal;
• a peer to peer link quality determination means for determining from said second signal link quality of a second link between said wireless terminal and said peer wireless terminal;
• and
• a link selection means for selecting between said first and second links for a communication session based on the determined quality of said first and second links;
• a first data throughput determination means for predicting a first data throughput to the base station based on said first determined link quality;
• and
• a second data throughput determination means for predicting a second data throughput to the peer wireless communication device based on said second determined link quality;
• wherein said link selection means includes a throughput based selection module for selecting the one of the first and second links having the higher throughput.

A non-transitory computer readable medium embodying machine executable instructions for controlling a wireless terminal comprising:

• instructions for receiving a first signal from a first communications band, the first signal being from a base station and for receiving a second signal from a second communications band which is different from said first communications band, said second signal being from a peer wireless terminal;
• instructions for determining a first signal link quality of a first link between said base station and said wireless terminal;
• instructions for determining a second signal link quality of a second link between said wireless terminal and said peer wireless terminal;
• and instructions for selecting between said first and second links for a communication session based on the determined quality of said first and second links;
• instructions for recovering link information from a beacon signal burst;
• and
• instructions for recovering user data from non-beacon signals used to communicate user data as part of a communication session
• wherein said first and second signals each include at least one beacon signal.

A non-transitory computer readable medium embodying machine executable instructions comprising:

• instructions for receiving a first signal from a first communications band, the first signal being from a base station and for receiving a second signal from a second communications band which is different from said first communications band, said second signal being from a peer wireless terminal;
• instructions for determining a first signal link quality of a first link between said base station and said wireless terminal;
• instructions for determining a second signal link quality of a second link between said wireless terminal and said peer wireless terminal;
• and
• instructions for selecting between said first and second links for a communication session based on the determined quality of said first and second links;
• instructions for predicting a first data throughput to the base station based on said first determined link quality;
• and
• instructions for predicting a second data throughput to the peer wireless communication device based on said second determined link quality;
• and
• wherein said link selection module includes a throughput based selection module for selecting the one of the first and second links having the higher throughput.