Directional transmission techniques
View Patent ↗Embodiments provide techniques for the transmission of broadcasts. For instance, an apparatus may include a sequence selection module, and multiple radiating elements. The sequence selection module selects sequences of directional transmission patterns, where each selected sequence corresponds to a time period. The multiple radiating elements wirelessly transmit a broadcast at the time periods in accordance with the selected sequences. The broadcast may include, for example, beacons, and/or a data broadcast, and/or a control broadcast and/or a management broadcast.
1. An apparatus, comprising:
a sequence selection module to select two or more sequences of a plurality of directional transmission patterns, the two or more sequences corresponding to two or more time periods;
a plurality of radiating elements to wirelessly transmit a broadcast, in a full rotation panorama at the two or more time periods in accordance with the two or more sequences.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sequence selection module is to randomly select the two or more sequences.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sequence selection module is to select the two or more sequences in accordance with a round robin technique.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the two or more time periods are beacon periods.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising: a directional control module to establish operational characteristics for the plurality of radiating elements based on the two or more sequences.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of directional transmission patterns corresponds to a sector within an available transmission panorama.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the broadcast comprises two or more beacon frames.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the broadcast comprises two or more data frames.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the broadcast comprises two or more control frames.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the broadcast comprises two or more management frames.
11. A method, comprising:
selecting a first sequence of a plurality of directional transmission patterns;
sending, within a first time period, a wireless broadcast in a full rotation panorama in accordance with the first sequence of the plurality of directional transmission patterns;
selecting a second sequence of the plurality of directional transmission patterns; and
sending, within a second time period, the wireless broadcast in a full rotation panorama in accordance with the second sequence of the plurality of directional transmission patterns;
wherein the second sequence is different than the first sequence.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first time period is within a first superframe, and the second time period is within a second superframe.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the wireless broadcast comprises a first beacon frame in the first superframe and a second beacon frame in the second superframe.
14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the wireless broadcast comprises a first data frame in the first superframe and a second data frame in the second superframe.
15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first and second superframes are consecutive superframes.
16. The method of claim 11 :
wherein said selecting the first sequence and said selecting the second sequence are in accordance with a random selection technique.
17. The method of claim 11 :
wherein said selecting the first sequence and said selecting the second sequence are in accordance with a round robin technique.
18. The method of claim 11 , wherein each of the plurality of directional transmission patterns corresponds to a sector within an available transmission panorama.
19. An article comprising a non-transitory machine-accessible medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:
select a first sequence of a plurality of directional transmission patterns;
send, within a first time period, a wireless broadcast in a full rotation panorama in accordance with the first sequence of the plurality of directional transmission patterns;
select a second sequence of the plurality of directional transmission patterns; and
send, within a second time period, the wireless broadcast in a full rotation panorama in accordance with the second sequence of the plurality of directional transmission patterns;
wherein the second sequence is different than the first sequence.
20. The article of claim 19 , wherein the wireless broadcast comprises a first beacon frame in a first superframe and a second beacon frame in a second superframe.
21. The article of claim 20 , wherein the first and second superframes are consecutive superframes.
22. The article of claim 20 , wherein first and second sequences are selected in accordance with a random selection technique.
23. The article of claim 20 , wherein the first and second sequences are selected in accordance with a round robin technique.