APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF POWER SAVE TRAFFIC CONTROL IN CLIENT/SERVER NETWORKS
First Claim
1. A method of traffic control during power save in a system of a plurality of power save enabled client devices and a server, said server having a host and a media access control (MAC), said method comprising the steps of:
- receiving descriptors on said MAC sent from said host, wherein each descriptor identifies a frame stored on said host and a client associated therewith; and
utilizing a bitmap in said MAC to indicate the frames to be retrieved from said host and the transferred frames ready to be transmitted to a client.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A novel and useful apparatus for and method of handling traffic congestion during power save mode in client/server systems such as wireless local area networks (WLANs). A reduction in response time is achieved by minimizing communications between the host and the MAC processing entities in client devices. The host sends shortened descriptors to the MAC rather than complete frames. Only a limited number of frames for each client queue are stored on the MAC. A transfer bitmap is used to track the frames to be transferred from the host to the MAC. Transmitter pre-processing is performed on the frames pulled from the host. A transmit bitmap is used to track frames that have been processed and awaiting transmission to a client. Frames that are ready are then sent out from queues for clients that are active and have an ongoing service period.
78 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A method of traffic control during power save in a system of a plurality of power save enabled client devices and a server, said server having a host and a media access control (MAC), said method comprising the steps of:
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receiving descriptors on said MAC sent from said host, wherein each descriptor identifies a frame stored on said host and a client associated therewith; and utilizing a bitmap in said MAC to indicate the frames to be retrieved from said host and the transferred frames ready to be transmitted to a client. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method of power save traffic control in a system of a plurality of power save enabled client devices and a server, said server having a host and a media access control (MAC), said method comprising the steps of:
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receiving frame descriptors from said host, wherein each frame descriptor identifies a frame stored on said host and a client associated therewith; and transferring from said host to said MAC a predetermined number of frames corresponding to received frame descriptors for sleeping clients and storing them in frame buffers; transferring from said host to said MAC a sufficient number of frames corresponding to received frame descriptors for active clients to provide a continuous flow of frames thereto and storing them in said frame buffer; and utilizing a bitmap to indicate which client queues have frame buffers ready to transmit. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. A method of minimizing traffic congestion in a system of power save client devices in communication with a server, said method comprising the steps of:
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receiving shortened message descriptors from said host and storing them in respective MAC queues, wherein each message descriptor identifies a buffer stored on said host and a client device associated therewith; indicating via a transfer bitmap the client queues with buffers to be transferred from said host to said MAC; transferring buffers from said host to said MAC in accordance with said transfer bitmap and storing them in MAC memory; processing contents of said buffers to yield processed buffers ready for transmission; and indicating via a transmit bitmap the client queues having buffers ready to transmit. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A media access control (MAC) for use in a base station server in communication with a plurality of power save enabled client devices, comprising:
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a transfer bitmap for storing indications of client queues for which buffers are to be transferred from a host; a transmit bitmap for storing indications of client queues having buffers ready to transmit; a plurality of frame buffers for storing complete frames; a power save traffic congestion module operative to; receive shortened message descriptors from said host, wherein each message descriptor identifies a buffer stored on said host and a client associated therewith; update said transfer bitmap in accordance with the message descriptors received and the status of each client corresponding thereto; retrieve client queue buffers from said host in accordance with the bits set in said transfer bitmap and storing them in said frame buffers; preprocess buffers retrieved from said host in preparation for transmission; and update said transmit bitmap in accordance with the preprocessed buffers ready to transmit. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A wireless access point, comprising:
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a radio frequency (RF) front end circuit coupled to an antenna; a PHY circuit coupled to said RF front end circuit; a baseband processor coupled to said PHY circuit; a media access control (MAC) coupled to said baseband processor, said MAC comprising; means for receiving shortened message descriptors from a said host, wherein each message descriptor identifies a buffer stored on said host and a client associated therewith; means for updating a transfer bitmap in accordance with the message descriptors received and the status of each client corresponding thereto; means for retrieving client queue buffers from said host in accordance with the bits set in said transfer bitmap and storing them in frame buffers; means for preprocessing buffers retrieved from said host in preparation for transmission; means for updating a transmit bitmap with said preprocessed buffers ready to transmit; and said host operative to interface said access point to an external network. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification