Short packet communication in a powerline communication network

Abstract

A network device may transmit a short packet when the length of application data that will be transmitted does not exceed a threshold length. In some embodiments, the network device may transmit the application data in a frame control field of the short packet. The short packet may not include a payload field.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for transmitting packets on a powerline communication network, the method comprising:
 determining to transmit application data on the powerline communication network;   comparing a length of the application data with a threshold length;   in response to determining that the length of the application data does not exceed the threshold length, inserting the application data into a portion of a frame control field of a short packet, wherein the frame control field is defined by a powerline communication protocol; and   transmitting the frame control field of the short packet on the powerline communication network without transmitting a payload field.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the powerline communication protocol includes at least one member of a group consisting of HomePlug AV, HomePlug AV2, HomePlug GreenPHY, G.hn and IEEE 1901. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the frame control field of the short packet comprises:
 a first indication that the frame control field includes the application data.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein inserting the application data into the portion of the frame control field of the short packet is based, at least in part, on at least one member of a group consisting of a communication capability of a first network device, a communication capability of a second network device, and an application that generated the application data. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the threshold length is less than a smallest predefined payload field length specified by the powerline communication protocol. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein inserting the application data into the portion of the frame control field comprises inserting the application data in a reserved field of the frame control field. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 setting an indicator in the frame control field to indicate that the reserved field has been temporarily redefined to include at least a portion of the application data.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 comparing the length of the application data with a plurality of frame control field lengths; and   selecting a first frame control field length to transmit the application data based, at least in part, on the length of the application data and a length of control information.   
     
     
         9 . A network device comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory to store instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the network device to:
 determine to transmit application data on a powerline communication network; 
 compare a length of the application data with a threshold length; 
 in response to a determination that the length of the application data does not exceed the threshold length, insert the application data into a portion of a frame control field of a short packet, wherein the frame control field is defined by a powerline communication protocol; and 
 transmit the frame control field of the short packet on the powerline communication network without transmitting a payload field. 
   
     
     
         10 . The network device of  claim 9 , wherein the powerline communication protocol includes at least one member of a group consisting of HomePlug AV, HomePlug AV2, HomePlug GreenPHY, G.hn and IEEE 1901. 
     
     
         11 . The network device of  claim 9 , wherein the application data is inserted into a reserved field of the frame control field. 
     
     
         12 . The network device of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the network device to set an indicator in the frame control field to indicate that the reserved field has been temporarily redefined to include at least a portion of the application data. 
     
     
         13 . The network device of  claim 9 , wherein the powerline communication network is an intra-vehicle network of a vehicle, and wherein the network device comprises a component of the vehicle. 
     
     
         14 . The network device of  claim 9 , wherein the powerline communication network communicably includes a network coupling a vehicle to an electric vehicle supply equipment. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having machine executable instructions stored therein, the machine executable instructions comprising instructions to cause a network device to:
 determine to transmit application data on a powerline communication network;   compare a length of the application data with a threshold length;   in response to a determination that the length of the application data does not exceed the threshold length, insert the application data into a portion of a frame control field of a short packet, wherein the frame control field is defined by a powerline communication protocol; and   transmit the frame control field of the short packet on the powerline communication network without transmitting a payload field.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the powerline communication protocol includes at least one member of a group consisting of HomePlug AV, HomePlug AV2, HomePlug GreenPHY, G.hn and IEEE 1901. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the frame control field of the short packet comprises:
 a first indication that the frame control field includes the application data.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the machine executable instructions to cause the network device to insert the application data into the portion of the frame control field comprise machine executable instructions to insert the application data in a reserved field of the frame control field. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 18 , wherein the machine executable instructions further comprise instructions to set an indicator in the frame control field to indicate that the reserved field has been temporarily redefined to include at least a portion of the application data. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the machine executable instructions further comprise instructions to:
 comparing the length of the application data with a plurality of frame control field lengths; and   selecting a first frame control field length to transmit the application data based, at least in part, on the length of the application data and a length of control information.