Methods and apparatus for carrying out backoff operations
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- on a communication device configured to operate according to a first wireless local area network (WLAN) communication protocol;
wirelessly receiving a communication frame;
measuring an energy level of the communication frame;
when the measured energy level of the communication frame meets a static clear channel assessment (CCA) criterion, identifying a basic service set (BSS) to which the frame corresponds,wherein identifying the BSS to which the frame corresponds comprises i) utilizing a BSS identifier included in a physical layer (PHY) preamble of the communication frame when the frame complies with the first WLAN communication protocol or ii) utilizing a media access control (MAC) address included in a MAC layer header of the communication frame when the communication frame complies with a second WLAN communication protocol that is a legacy communication protocol;
when the frame corresponds to a same BSS with which the communication device is associated, further processing the frame utilizing a first energy level threshold;
when the frame i) corresponds to an overlapping BSS (OBSS), ii) includes a broadcast BSS identifier or a BSS identifier reserved for public action frames, and iii) is either a public action frame or a management frame, further processing the frame utilizing the first energy level threshold; and
when the frame corresponds to an OBSS and is not a public action frame and is not a management frame, further processing the frame utilizing a second energy level threshold that is higher than the first energy level threshold.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method is carried out on a device capable of utilizing a high efficiency wireless local area network (HEW) communication protocol and a legacy communication protocol, and includes wirelessly receiving a communication frame; when the measured energy level of the frame exceeds a static clear channel assessment (CCA) energy level, identifying the BSS to which the frame corresponds, wherein identifying the BSS to which the frame corresponds comprises utilizing a BSS identifier included in the frame when the frame is an HEW frame or utilizing a MAC address included in the frame when the frame is a legacy frame; when the frame corresponds to the same BSS as the device, processing the frame utilizing the static CCA energy level; and when the frame corresponds to an overlapping OBSS, processing the frame utilizing a dynamic CCA energy level.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
on a communication device configured to operate according to a first wireless local area network (WLAN) communication protocol; wirelessly receiving a communication frame; measuring an energy level of the communication frame; when the measured energy level of the communication frame meets a static clear channel assessment (CCA) criterion, identifying a basic service set (BSS) to which the frame corresponds, wherein identifying the BSS to which the frame corresponds comprises i) utilizing a BSS identifier included in a physical layer (PHY) preamble of the communication frame when the frame complies with the first WLAN communication protocol or ii) utilizing a media access control (MAC) address included in a MAC layer header of the communication frame when the communication frame complies with a second WLAN communication protocol that is a legacy communication protocol; when the frame corresponds to a same BSS with which the communication device is associated, further processing the frame utilizing a first energy level threshold; when the frame i) corresponds to an overlapping BSS (OBSS), ii) includes a broadcast BSS identifier or a BSS identifier reserved for public action frames, and iii) is either a public action frame or a management frame, further processing the frame utilizing the first energy level threshold; and when the frame corresponds to an OBSS and is not a public action frame and is not a management frame, further processing the frame utilizing a second energy level threshold that is higher than the first energy level threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method comprising:
on a communication device configured to operate according to a first wireless local area network (WLAN) communication protocol; determining that a shared wireless communication medium is idle based on a static clear channel assessment (CCA) criterion; in response to determining that the shared wireless communication medium is idle, counting down a timer in a backoff procedure; wirelessly receiving a communication frame; measuring an energy level of the communication frame; when the measured energy level of the communication frame meets the static CCA criterion, pausing counting down the timer in the backoff procedure; identifying a basic service set (BSS) to which the communication frame corresponds; when the communication frame corresponds to a same BSS with which the communication device is associated, and the energy of the communication frame is lower than a first energy level threshold, resuming counting down the timer in the backoff procedure; when the communication frame i) corresponds to an overlapping BSS (OBSS), ii) includes a broadcast BSS identifier or a BSS identifier reserved for public action frames, iii) and is either a public action frame or a management frame, and the energy of the communication frame is lower than the first energy level threshold, resuming counting down the timer in the backoff procedure; and when the communication frame corresponds to an OBSS and is not a public action frame and is not a management frame, and the energy of the communication frame is lower than a second energy level threshold, resuming counting down the timer in the backoff procedure, wherein the second energy level threshold is higher than the first energy level threshold. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus, comprising:
a communication device having one or more integrated circuits configured to communicate according to a first wireless local area network (WLAN) communication protocol, wirelessly receive a communication frame, measure an energy level of the communication frame, when the measured energy level of the communication frame meets a static clear channel assessment (CCA) criterion, identifying a basic service set (BSS) to which the communication frame corresponds, wherein identifying the BSS to which the communication frame corresponds comprises i) utilizing a BSS identifier included in a physical layer (PHY) preamble of the frame when the frame complies with the first WLAN communication protocol, or ii) utilizing a media access control (MAC) address included in a MAC layer header of the communication frame when the communication frame complies with a second WLAN communication protocol that is a legacy protocol, when the communication frame corresponds to a same BSS with which the communication device is associated, processing the communication frame utilizing a first energy level threshold, when the communication frame i) corresponds to an overlapping BSS (OBSS), ii) includes a broadcast BSS identifier or a BSS identifier reserved for public action frames, and iii) is either a public action frame or a management frame, further processing the frame utilizing the first energy level threshold; and when the communication frame corresponds to an OBSS and is not a public action frame and is not a management frame, processing the communication frame utilizing a second energy level threshold that is higher than the first energy level threshold. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
Specification