Method and apparatus for wireless routhing on a plurality of different wireless channels

• US 20040090924A1
• Filed: 11/04/2003
• Published: 05/13/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Bahl, Paramvir, Bahl, Pradeep, Pennock, John P., Giaimo, Edward C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,522,551 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/306 Route determination based on the nature of the carried application
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/00 Communication routing or communication path finding
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

Abstract

To provide enhanced quality of service (QoS) communication capability, a wireless network is implemented in which different channels are used for conveying different types of data and in which wireless devices are selectively operated in either an infrastructure or ad hoc mode automatically selected to make best use of the available communication bandwidth. For example, a wireless device for a computer can be operated selectively as a client wireless device that is in communication with a legacy access point in an infrastructure mode on one channel, while using one or more different channels to communicate selectively in either ad hoc mode or infrastructure mode with client devices. To make efficient use of wireless devices, IEEE 802.11a or 802.11g wireless devices are used for communicating audio/video data on one channel, while an IEEE 802.11b wireless device is used on a different channel for communicating web page data.

Claims

1. A method for making more effective use of an available wireless communication bandwidth, comprising the steps of:

(a) automatically determining a type of data to be communicated over a wireless network; and

(b) as a function of the type of data to be communicated over the wireless network, automatically selectively operating a wireless device as one of;

(i) a client wireless device that is coupled in wireless communication with a first wireless access point; and

(ii) a second access point that is coupled in wireless communication with at least one other client wireless device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of selectively operating the wireless device in one of an ad hoc mode and an infrastructure mode when communicating over the wireless network with the at least one other client wireless device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of selectively operating the wireless device in at least one of a different data rate, and on a different channel when operating the wireless device as the client device, as when operating the wireless device as the second access point.

4. A wireless device for making more effective use of an available wireless communication bandwidth, comprising:

(a) a memory in which machine instructions are stored;

(b) a wireless transmitter and receiver which are capable of transmitting on a plurality of different wireless channels;

(c) a processor that is coupled to the memory and which executes the machine instructions to carry out a plurality of functions, including;

(i) automatically determining a type of data to be communicated over a wireless network; and

(ii) as a function of the type of data to be communicated over the wireless network, automatically selectively operating the wireless device as one of;

(1) a client wireless device that is adapted to couple in wireless communication with a first wireless access point; and

(2) a second access point that is adapted to couple in wireless communication with at least one other client wireless device.

5. The wireless device of claim 4, wherein the machine instructions are further operative to cause the processor to selectively operate the wireless device in one of an ad hoc mode and an infrastructure mode when communicating over the wireless network with the at least one other client wireless device.

6. The wireless device of claim 4, wherein the machine instructions are further operative to cause the processor to selectively operate the wireless device in at least one of a different data rate, and on a different channel when operating the wireless device as the client device, as when operating the wireless device as the second access point.

7. A method for making more effective use of an available wireless communication bandwidth on a wireless network, comprising the steps of:

(a) employing an infrastructure mode for wireless communication between a wireless access point and a first wireless client device on a first wireless channel; and

(b) in response to a need to communicate a specific type of data between the first wireless client device and one of a second wireless client device and the wireless access point, automatically selectively reconfiguring the first client device to operate so as to more effectively use the wireless network for communicating the data of the specific type.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of automatically selectively reconfiguring the first client device comprises the steps of:

(a) enabling a wireless communication between the first wireless client device and the second wireless client device in an ad hoc mode over a second wireless channel that is at a different frequency than the first wireless channel; and

(b) communicating data between the first wireless client device and the second wireless client device over the second wireless channel, using the ad hoc mode.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of automatically selectively reconfiguring comprises the step of automatically selectively configuring the first wireless client device to operate as a surrogate access point to communicate with the second wireless device over a second wireless channel in the infrastructure mode.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein:

(a) the first wireless client device is changed to operating in the ad hoc mode for retransmitting data packets that have previously been received by the first wireless client device from the wireless access point, to the second wireless client device; and

(b) the first wireless client device is changed to operating in the infrastructure mode for retransmitting data packets that have previously been received by the first wireless client device from the second wireless client device, to the wireless access point.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein due to one of distance and intervening structures, the second wireless client device is unable to directly communicate with the wireless access point at an acceptable data rate, and instead, communicates with the wireless access point indirectly through the first client wireless device.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of automatically selectively reconfiguring the first client wireless device comprises the step of causing the first wireless client device to use a different data rate for the communication between said one of the wireless access point and the second wireless client device than was previously used for communicating with the wireless access point.

13. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of reconfiguring the first wireless client device for communicating at least one of:

(a) a different type of data packets between the first wireless client device and the second wireless client device, than between the wireless access point and the first wireless client device; and

(b) a different size of data packets between the first wireless client device and the second wireless client device, than between the wireless access point and the first wireless client device.

14. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of employing a plurality of radios at the first wireless client device, each radio including a wireless transmitter and a wireless receiver, one radio being selectively set to operate in the infrastructure mode on the first wireless channel, and another radio being selectively set to operate in the ad hoc mode on the second wireless channel, further comprising the step of transmitting instructions from the wireless access point to the first wireless client device to reconfigure the plurality of radios and thereby control the mode of operation of each of the plurality of radios.

15. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of providing additional APs, each access point operating on a different wireless channel and being selectively coupled in communication with an external network over one of a wire and a wireless link.

16. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of providing a plurality of servers that are each selectively automatically coupled in communication with an external network when communication with the external network is required, further comprising the step of wirelessly communicating data to wireless client devices from the servers over different wireless channels, said data being stored by the server.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of using the ad hoc mode for communications between the servers and the wireless client devices on different wireless channels.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the servers communicate with different wireless client devices on the different wireless radio channels using at least one of:

(a) different types of data;

(b) different sizes of data packets;

(c) different data rates; and

(d) in accord with different wireless communication standards.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of servers selectively communicates with the wireless access point using the infrastructure mode and the first wireless channel, when the communication with the external network is required.

20. A memory medium storing machine readable instructions for carrying out the steps of claim 7.

21. A memory medium on which are stored machine readable instructions for carrying out the steps of claim 8.

22. A wireless access point that controls wireless client devices so as to efficiently use available bandwidth for wireless communications over a network comprising:

(a) a memory in which machine instructions are stored;

(b) a radio comprising a wireless transmitter and receiver, which are respectively capable of transmitting and receiving on a plurality of different wireless channels;

(c) a processor that is coupled to the memory and which executes the machine instructions to carry out a plurality of functions, including;

(i) communicating with at least one of a first wireless client device and a second wireless client device on a first wireless channel, in an infrastructure mode; and

(ii) in response to a need for wireless communication between the first wireless client device and the second wireless client device, transmitting a signal on the first wireless channel that causes the first wireless client device and the second wireless client device to establish an ad hoc mode of wireless communication on a second wireless channel that is different than first wireless channel.

23. The wireless access point of claim 22, wherein the machine instructions cause the processor to send routing instructions to the first wireless client device.

24. The wireless access point of claim 22, wherein the processor causes the first wireless client device to retransmit data received from the wireless access point on the first wireless channel, to the second wireless client device over the second wireless channel.

25. The wireless access point of claim 22, wherein the first wireless client device communicates a specific kind of data to the second wireless client device in the ad hoc mode.

26. The wireless access point of claim 23, wherein the specific kind of data comprises at least one of:

(a) music data;

(b) video data;

(c) gaming data; and

(d) voice data.

27. The wireless access point of claim 22, wherein the wireless access point communicates one type of data to at least one of the first wireless client device and the second wireless client device, said one type of data being substantially different than data communicated between the first wireless client device and the second wireless client device.

28. The wireless access point of claim 22, wherein the wireless access point communicates with at least one of the first wireless client device and the second wireless client device using at least one of a substantially different frequency and a substantially different data rate than used for communication between the first wireless client device and the second wireless client device.

29. A wireless device that is automatically reconfigurable to more effectively communicate a specific type of data over a wireless network, comprising:

(a) a memory in which machine instructions are stored;

(b) a radio comprising a wireless transmitter and receiver, which are respectively capable of transmitting and receiving on a plurality of different wireless channels;

(c) a processor that is coupled to the memory and which executes the machine instructions to carry out a plurality of functions, including;

(i) communicating a first type of data with at least one of a wireless access point and a wireless client device on a first wireless channel and in a first configuration; and

(ii) in response to a need for efficiently communicating a second type of data that is different than the first type of data, automatically reconfiguring the wireless device to a second configuration by changing at least one of a mode of communication, a data rate, and a channel used by the wireless device to communicate over the wireless network.

30. A method for efficiently communicating data over a wireless network, comprising the steps of:

(a) for data being communicated between wireless devices over the wireless network, determining at least one parameter from the following;

(i) a use for the data being communicated between specific wireless devices;

(ii) a size of data packets to be communicated between specific wireless devices;

(iii) a frequency band with which the data will be communicated;

(iv) a nominal data rate with which the data will be communicated; and

(v) a latency with which the data will be communicated;

(b) as a function of said at least one parameter that is thus determined and of a type of data being communicated, automatically causing the wireless devices to communicate over different wireless channels, so that a first wireless channel is used for communicating a first type of data between a first set of wireless devices, and a second wireless channel is used for communicating a second type of data between a second set of wireless devices;

(c) automatically enabling communication in an ad hoc mode between selected pairs of wireless devices that are communicating the same type of data; and

(d) automatically enabling communication in an infrastructure mode for wireless devices that include an access point wireless device.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising the step of automatically changing selected wireless devices between communicating using the ad hoc mode and communicating using the infrastructure mode in response to the type of data being transferred between the plurality of wireless devices.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the different types of data include at least two of:

(a) music data;

(b) video data;

(c) gaming data;

(d) voice data; and

(e) web page data.

33. The method of claim 30, further comprising the step of coupling at least one wireless device to an external network through a wired connection so that data from the external network can be communicated selectively to at least one other wireless device in one of the infrastructure mode and the ad hoc mode.

34. The method of claim 30, further comprising the step of automatically selectively operating at least one of the wireless devices as a wireless access point or a wireless client device, as a function of the type of data to be communicated to at least one other wireless device.

35. The method of claim 30, further comprising the step of automatically grouping wireless devices using a first wireless standard for communication together to communicate and other wireless devices using a second wireless standard for communication, where the second wireless standard is different than the first wireless standard.

36. The method of claim 30, wherein a wireless device that comprises a wireless access point controls other of the wireless devices to carry out steps (b) through (d).

37. The method of claim 30, wherein the step of automatically enabling communication in an ad hoc mode between selected wireless devices employs substantially all of a bandwidth of the wireless channel on which the selected wireless devices are communicating.

38. A memory medium storing machine readable instructions for carrying out the steps of claim 30.

39. A method for automatically selectively switching a wireless device between operating in an ad hoc mode and an infrastructure mode when communicating with at least one other wireless device, comprising the steps of:

(a) determining a type of data to be communicated between the wireless device and the at least one other wireless device; and

(b) in response to the type of data to be communicated, selectively automatically operating the wireless device in a preferred mode.

40. The method of claim 39, further comprising the step of selectively operating the wireless device as one of a client wireless device and an access point wireless device.