Apparatus and method to secure acquisition and contention burst activity in a communication network

摘要

An apparatus and method of communication in a network includes a hub having a burst time plan generating section to generate a burst time plan including time slot allocation information that allocates transmission time slots in a subsequent frame to remote terminals. The allocation information identifies at least one time slot in the subsequent frame as a dummy time slot assigned to at least one remote terminal already acquired in the network. The hub also includes a transmitter to transmit the burst time plan including the allocation information. A corresponding remote terminal and computer readable media are also discussed.

主权项

1. A hub in a communication network, the hub comprising:
a transmitter; and a burst time plan generating circuit that generates a burst time plan including time slot allocation information by dynamically adjusting a ratio of a first probability of a dummy acquisition time slot to a second probability of an empty acquisition time slot according to a ratio of M/N while maintaining a constant probability of a real acquisition time slot, wherein M is a number of real bursts transmitted in a previous frame, N is a sum of dummy, real and empty acquisition time slots in a period of time, the time slot allocation information allocates dummy acquisition time slots in a subsequent frame to remote terminals already acquired in the communication network, the time slot allocation information identifies at least one time slot in the subsequent frame as a dummy acquisition time slot assigned to at least one remote terminal already acquired in the network, the transmitter transmits the burst time plan including the time slot allocation information, real bursts are transmitted during real acquisition time slots, dummy bursts are transmitted during dummy acquisition time slots, no bursts are transmitted during empty acquisition time slots, and the dynamic adjustment of the ratio of the first probability to the second probability disguises real acquisition time slots as dummy acquisition time slots to an unauthorized third party eavesdropper.