Mechanism and technique for dynamically optimizing antenna orientation and transmit power in a meshed network environment

Abstract

The present invention provides methods, systems, devices, and computer program instructions for enabling low-power wireless devices (such as wireless telephones and personal digital assistants, or PDAs) to connect to a fast wired or wireless voice/data network. A novel relay point device, referred to as an “extension point”, is defined that flexibly extends the effective reach of network access points. Use of extension points enables the network infrastructure to be expanded (and subsequently re-configured, if necessary) simply and cost-effectively, requiring little or no additional physical wiring. The defined techniques provide an infrastructure that is scalable, supporting a large number of end users without substantial degradation to connection establishment time and data rates. Using the disclosed techniques, end devices are able to reach network services, and to communicate with other end devices, beyond the nominal working range of these devices and without limitation to the numbers of such devices.

That which is claimed is:  
     
         25 . A method for dynamically tuning a directional antenna of a wireless device for communicating with an access point in a short-range wireless networking environment, comprising the steps of: 
 providing at least one wireless device;    providing at least one access point;    establishing a network link between a selected one of the wireless devices and a selected one of the access points using the directional antenna of the selected wireless device and an omnidirectional antenna of the selected access point; and    setting a position of the directional antenna to minimize a bit error rate along the established link.    
     
     
         26 . The method according to  claim 25 , wherein the step of setting the position of the directional antenna further comprises the steps of: 
 positioning the directional antenna at a plurality of angles toward the omnidirectional antenna;    recording the bit error rate at each of the angles; and    selecting one of the angles which exhibits a minimal value of the bit error rate to be the position of the directional antenna.    
     
     
         27 . The method according to  claim 26 , wherein the plurality of angles are selected by first locating an initial position beyond which communication using the directional antenna is not possible.  
     
     
         28 . The method according to  claim 25 , further comprising the step of setting a power of transmission of the directional antenna to a minimum value required to communicate on the established link.  
     
     
         29 . The method according to  claim 28 , wherein the step of setting the power of transmission of the directional antenna further comprises the steps of: 
 setting the power of transmission to a default value;    recording a bit error rate at the default value;    successively reducing the power of transmission until connectivity is lost or the bit error rate crosses a threshold; and    setting the power of transmission to be a value that results in the bit error rate staying below the threshold.    
     
     
         30 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein the threshold is a maximum acceptable value for the bit error rate.  
     
     
         31 . The method according to  claim 25 , wherein the selected wireless device is an extension point device.  
     
     
         32 . The method according to  claim 25 , wherein the selected wireless device is an end-user device.  
     
     
         57 . Computer program instructions for dynamically tuning a directional antenna of a wireless device for communicating with an access point in a short-range wireless networking environment, the computer program instructions embodied on one or more computer readable media and comprising: 
 computer program instructions for communicating with at least one wireless device;    computer program instructions for communicating with at least one access point;    computer program instructions for establishing a network link between a selected one of the wireless devices and a selected one of the access points using the directional antenna of the selected wireless device and an omnidirectional antenna of the selected access point; and    computer program instructions for setting a position of the directional antenna to minimize a bit error rate along the established link.    
     
     
         58 . The computer program instructions according to  claim 57 , wherein the computer program instructions for setting the position of the directional antenna further comprise: 
 computer program instructions for positioning the directional antenna at a plurality of angles toward the omnidirectional antenna;    computer program instructions for recording the bit error rate at each of the angles; and    computer program instructions for selecting one of the angles which exhibits a minimal value of the bit error rate to be the position of the directional antenna.    
     
     
         59 . The computer program instructions according to  claim 58 , wherein the plurality of angles are selected by first locating an initial position beyond which communication using the directional antenna is not possible.  
     
     
         60 . The computer program instructions according to  claim 57 , further comprising computer program instructions for setting a power of transmission of the directional antenna to a minimum value required to communicate on the established link.  
     
     
         61 . The computer program instructions according to  claim 60 , wherein the computer program instructions for setting the power of transmission of the directional antenna further comprise: 
 computer program instructions for setting the power of transmission to a default value;    computer program instructions for recording a bit error rate at the default value;    computer program instructions for successively reducing the power of transmission until the bit error rate crosses a threshold; and    computer program instructions for setting the power of transmission to be a value that results in the bit error rate staying below the threshold.    
     
     
         62 . The computer program instructions according to  claim 61 , wherein the threshold is a maximum acceptable value for the bit error rate.  
     
     
         63 . The computer program instructions according to  claim 57 , wherein the selected wireless device is an end device.  
     
     
         77 . A system for dynamically tuning a directional antenna of a wireless device for communicating with an access point in a short-range wireless networking environment, comprising: 
 at least one wireless device;    at least one access point;    means for establishing a network link between a selected one of the wireless devices and a selected one of the access points using the directional antenna of the selected wireless device and an omnidirectional antenna of the selected access point; and    means for setting a position of the directional antenna to minimize a bit error rate along the established link.    
     
     
         78 . The system according to  claim 77 , wherein the means for setting the position of the directional antenna further comprises: 
 means for positioning the directional antenna at a plurality of angles toward the omnidirectional antenna;    means for recording the bit error rate at each of the angles; and    means for selecting one of the angles which exhibits a minimal value of the bit error rate to be the position of the directional antenna.    
     
     
         79 . The system according to  claim 78 , wherein the plurality of angles are selected by first locating an initial position beyond which communication using the directional antenna is not possible.  
     
     
         80 . The system according to  claim 77 , further comprising means for setting a power of transmission of the directional antenna to a minimum value required to communicate on the established link, further comprising: 
 means for setting the power of transmission to a default value;    means for recording a bit error rate at the default value;    means for successively reducing the power of transmission until the bit error rate crosses a threshold; and    means for setting the power of transmission to be a value that results in the bit error rate staying below the threshold.    
     
     
         81 . The system according to  claim 80 , wherein the threshold is a maximum acceptable value for the bit error rate.