Efficient beacon transmission and reception

#Technical Field

#This disclosure relates to beaconing in wireless communication protocols.

#Related Art

#FIG. 1 shows an example wireless communications environment.

#FIG. 2 shows an example beacon transmission interval.

#FIG. 3 shows an example pseudo-randomized directional beacon transmission process.

#The disclosure below concerns techniques for efficient beacon transmission and reception. A wide variety of different wireless electronic devices may implement these techniques. Accordingly, the wireless communication environment example described below provides an example context for explaining the beaconing techniques. In other words, the environment is just one example of a wide array of environments and devices that may incorporate the beaconing techniques.

#FIG. 1 shows an example wireless communications environment 100. In one example, multiple devices 101, 151 may communicate over a wireless protocol. The devices may be virtually any wireless enabled device. For example, laptops, tablets, cellular telephones, access points, network controllers, audio/visual equipment, data storage device, portable gaming systems, and/or other wireless enabled devices.

#The station (STA) 101 may include one or more processors 104 to support execution of applications and general operation of the STA. The STA 101 may include memory 106 for execution support and storage of system instructions 108 and operation parameters 112. The STA 101 may also include one or more wireless interfaces 114 to support over-the-air communications. The wireless interfaces 114 may be operatively connected to a directional antenna 113. The wireless interfaces may include baseband processors, signal processing hardware, and other signal components to support communications by the STA 101 over one or more wireless protocols. The wireless interfaces may support protocols such as wireless local area network (WLAN) (IEEE 802.11 ad and or other WLAN protocols), cellular data/voice (LTE/LTE-A, 4G, 3G/2G, and/or other cellular protocols), Bluetooth, WiMAX, or other wireless protocols. The directional antenna may include multiple antennas for varied protocols. Multiple antennas of the directional antenna may be used for directed transmission/reception and/or transmitting/receiving signals with varying spatial modes. In various implementations, directed transmission/reception may be achieved via phased-array beam steering. In some implementations, various functions of the directional antenna 113 may be performed by a single antenna, which may be directed or omnidirectional. The STA 101 may include a user interface 116 to allow for user operation of the STA.