Method and system for managing communications in a wireless communication network

A method for managing communications in a wireless communication network having a relay-based communication mode operating according to a relay scheme, the network comprising a plurality of network devices defining a plurality of transmission links between them, the method comprising the steps of:

• detecting a mobile obstacle within the network coverage area;
• tracking the detected mobile obstacle by iteratively determining a monitoring area including the detected mobile obstacle;
• selecting, from the transmission links, a subset of monitoring links belonging at least partly to the monitoring area and monitoring a perturbation level of the selected subset of monitoring links to determine movement of the mobile obstacle in the network coverage area;
• and
• adapting the relay scheme of the network based on the belonging or not belonging of the transmission links between network devices to the selected subset of monitoring links,
• wherein adapting the relay scheme comprises determining routing paths between a sending network device and a receiving network device, wherein determining the routing paths comprises selecting relaying network devices amongst the network devices that are not involved in monitoring the selected subset of monitoring links in preference to those that are so involved, to define routing paths via the selected relaying network devices, as long as the defined routing paths do not meet a bandwidth requirement of the sending network device, and
• wherein determining the routing paths further comprises if the routing paths defined using the relaying network devices selected in preference cannot meet the bandwidth requirement of the sending network device, selecting relaying network devices amongst the network devices involved in monitoring the selected subset of monitoring links.

A method for managing communications in a wireless communication network having a relay-based communication mode operating according to a relay scheme, the network comprising a plurality of network devices defining a plurality of transmission links between them, the method comprising the steps of:

• detecting a mobile obstacle distinct from the network devices within the network coverage area;
• tracking the detected mobile obstacle by iteratively determining a monitoring area within the network coverage area, edges of the monitoring area being some of the transmission links, and the monitoring area including the detected mobile obstacle;
• selecting, from the transmission links, a subset of links, referred to as monitoring links, belonging at least partly to the monitoring area and monitoring a perturbation level of the selected subset of monitoring links to determine movement of the mobile obstacle in the network coverage area;
• and
• adapting the relay scheme of the network based on the belonging or not belonging of the transmission links between network devices to the selected subset of monitoring links;
• and
• defining a set of areas from which the monitoring area is determined, wherein defining a set of areas comprises:
• selecting a reference network device amongst the plurality of network devices, as a first vertex of a first area;
• selecting several network devices on the basis of their distances to the reference network device as additional vertices of the first area;
• and
• as long as not all network devices have been selected as a vertex of an area, iteratively selecting one side of a previously constructed area, and selecting at least one non-selected network device to construct a new area that does not overlap any previously constructed area.

A method for managing communications in a wireless communication network having a relay-based communication mode operating according to a relay scheme, the network comprising a plurality of network devices defining a plurality of transmission links between them, the method comprising the steps of:

• detecting a mobile obstacle within the network coverage area;
• tracking the detected mobile obstacle by iteratively determining a monitoring area including the detected mobile obstacle;
• selecting, from the transmission links, a subset of monitoring links belonging at least partly to the monitoring area and monitoring a perturbation level of the selected subset of monitoring links to determine movement of the mobile obstacle in the network coverage area;
• adapting the relay scheme of the network based on the belonging or not belonging of the transmission links between network devices to the selected subset of monitoring links, and
• upon detecting a perturbed monitoring link at the edge of the current monitoring area, selecting, as new monitoring area for the next tracking iteration, two areas adjacent to the detected perturbed monitoring link or another area adjacent to the detected perturbed monitoring link and sharing the same perturbed monitoring link.

A system for managing communications in a wireless communication network having a relay-based communication mode operating according to a relay scheme, comprising a plurality of network devices defining a plurality of transmission links between them, wherein the system is configured to:

• detect a mobile obstacle distinct from the network devices, within the network coverage area;
• track the detected mobile obstacle by iteratively determining a monitoring area within the network coverage area, edges of the monitoring area being some of the transmission links, and the monitoring area including the detected mobile obstacle;
• selecting, from the transmission links, a subset of links, referred to as monitoring links, that belong at least partly to the monitoring area and monitoring a perturbation level of the selected subset of monitoring links to determine movement of the mobile obstacle in the network coverage area;
• adapt the relay scheme of the network based on the belonging or not belonging of the transmission links between network devices to the selected subset of monitoring links;
• determine whether or not the adapted relay scheme provides acceptable load balancing between the network devices with respect to a set of constraints;
• and
• in case the load balancing is not acceptable, again adapt the relay scheme with additional constraints.

A system for managing communications in a wireless communication network having a relay-based communication mode operating according to a relay scheme, comprising a plurality of network devices defining a plurality of transmission links between them, wherein the system is configured to:

• detect a mobile obstacle within the network coverage area;
• track the detected mobile obstacle by iteratively determining a monitoring area including the detected mobile obstacle;
• select, from the transmission links, a subset of monitoring links belonging at least partly to the monitoring area and monitoring a perturbation level of the selected subset of monitoring links to determine movement of the mobile obstacle in the network coverage area;
• and
• adapt the relay scheme of the network based on the belonging or not belonging of the transmission links between network devices to the selected subset of monitoring links,
• wherein the adapt the relay scheme comprises determining routing paths between a sending network device and a receiving network device, wherein determining the routing paths comprises selecting relaying network devices amongst the network devices that are not involved in monitoring the selected subset of monitoring links in preference to those that are so involved, to define routing paths via the selected relaying network devices, as long as the defined routing paths do not meet a bandwidth requirement of the sending network device, and
• wherein determining the routing paths further comprises if the routing paths defined using the relaying network devices selected in preference cannot meet the bandwidth requirement of the sending network device, selecting relaying network devices amongst the network devices involved in monitoring the selected subset of monitoring links.

A system for managing communications in a wireless communication network having a relay-based communication mode operating according to a relay scheme, comprising a plurality of network devices defining a plurality of transmission links between them, wherein the system is configured to:

• detect a mobile obstacle distinct from the network devices within the network coverage area;
• track the detected mobile obstacle by iteratively determining a monitoring area within the network coverage area, edges of the monitoring area being some of the transmission links, and the monitoring area including the detected mobile obstacle;
• select, from the transmission links, a subset of links, referred to as monitoring links, belonging at least partly to the monitoring area and monitoring a perturbation level of the selected subset of monitoring links to determine movement of the mobile obstacle in the network coverage area;
• and
• adapt the relay scheme of the network based on the belonging or not belonging of the transmission links between network devices to the selected subset of monitoring links;
• and
• define a set of areas from which the monitoring area is determined, wherein define a set of areas comprises:
• selecting a reference network device amongst the plurality of network devices, as a first vertex of a first area;
• selecting several network devices on the basis of their distances to the reference network device as additional vertices of the first area;
• and
• as long as not all network devices have been selected as a vertex of an area, iteratively selecting one side of a previously constructed area, and selecting at least one non-selected network device to construct a new area that does not overlap any previously constructed area.

A system for managing communications in a wireless communication network having a relay-based communication mode operating according to a relay scheme, comprising a plurality of network devices defining a plurality of transmission links between them, wherein the system is configured to:

• method for managing communications in a wireless communication network having a relay-based communication mode operating according to a relay scheme, the network comprising a plurality of network devices defining a plurality of transmission links between them, the method comprising the steps of:
• detecting a mobile obstacle within the network coverage area;
• tracking the detected mobile obstacle by iteratively determining a monitoring area including the detected mobile obstacle;
• selecting, from the transmission links, a subset of monitoring links belonging at least partly to the monitoring area and monitoring a perturbation level of the selected subset of monitoring links to determine movement of the mobile obstacle in the network coverage area;
• adapting the relay scheme of the network based on the belonging or not belonging of the transmission links between network devices to the selected subset of monitoring links, and
• upon detecting a perturbed monitoring link at the edge of the current monitoring area, selecting, as new monitoring area for the next tracking iteration, two areas adjacent to the detected perturbed monitoring link or another area adjacent to the detected perturbed monitoring link and sharing the same perturbed monitoring link.