Patent ID: 8711784
Filing Date: 2014-04-29
Classification: H01Q,H04B,H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for station discovery and information exchange in a millimeter-wave (mmW) communication system, comprising: communicating in a wireless network implementing a superframe structure having multi-level beacons corresponding to a respective one of a plurality of data rates, said multi-level beacons including a Discovery beacon (DB) which is transmitted in an omni mode and an announcement beacon/frame (AB) transmitted in a beamformed mode; wherein in the superframe structure said DB is transmitted during a Discovery Time (DT), while said AB is transmitted during an Announcement Time (AT) and wherein a Data Transfer Time (DTT) is used for actual data communications amongst networked STAs and Association Beamforming Training (A-BFT) is used for beamforming training of a new STA attempting association with said network, and Beamforming Training Time (BFTT) is for beamforming amongst STAs that are already associated with said network; wherein in addition to serving currently associated stations (STAs) said DB is transmitted by a piconet coordinator (PNC) that allows new STAs to discover and potentially join said wireless network and wherein the AB is a unicast frame addressed to a particular station (STA).