CHANNEL ACCESS PROTOCOL FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

• US 20090310692A1
• Filed: 06/12/2008
• Published: 12/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: KAFLE, Padam Lal, KIM, Kyeong Jin, VARSHNEY, Prabodh
• Granted Patent: US 8,503,283 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/260
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0037 Inter-user or inter-terminal allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0058 Allocation criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0091 Signaling for the administration of the divided path

Abstract

Method, apparatus, and computer program product embodiments are disclosed to enable an access point in a wireless network to use Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) reserve subcarriers of OFDM symbols for transmitting high priority voice data and video data to particular wireless devices, while the access point allocates the remaining available subcarriers for contention-based access by other wireless devices.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

reserving a first plurality of Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) subcarriers to a group of wireless receiving devices, for delivering wireless messages with high access categories; and

allocating a second plurality of OFDMA subcarriers for contention based access by wireless receiving devices, for delivering wireless messages with other access categories than said high access categories.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said wireless messages with high access categories include at least one of voice messages and low-rate video messages.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said first plurality of OFDMA subcarriers deliver management and control information messages.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said subcarrier reservation is based on the channel quality information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said subcarrier reservation is OFDMA subcarrier allocation on top of existing CSMA/CA contention based channel access.

6. A method, comprising:

receiving from at least one wireless device a request for at least one Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) subcarrier, the OFDMA subcarrier being a member of a group of OFDMA subcarriers occupying an available spectrum;

reserving at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier to said at least one wireless device in response to said request, based on allocation criteria, for exchanging wireless messages with high access categories;

allocating a remaining portion of said available spectrum to a plurality of OFDMA subcarriers not including said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier, for contention based access by wireless receiving devices, for exchanging wireless messages with other access categories than said high access categories; and

transmitting to the at least one wireless device a subcarrier reservation map designating said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier and said plurality of OFDMA subcarriers.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said allocation criteria include at least one of traffic load and configuration, high access categories for voice messages, high access categories for low-rate video messages, channel quality information (CQI), Quality of Service (QoS) requirements and subcarrier interference.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein said request is received in an association request or reassociation request frame.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein said subcarrier reservation map is transmitted in at least one of an association response or reassociation response frame, a beacon frame, and a probe response frame.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein said subcarrier reservation map is transmitted dynamically for each physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) inside signaling field of its physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) preamble.

11. A method, comprising:

transmitting to a wireless access point a request for at least one Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) subcarrier for delivering wireless messages with high access categories, the OFDMA subcarrier being a member of a group of OFDMA subcarriers occupying an available spectrum;

receiving from said access point a subcarrier reservation map designating at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier and a plurality of OFDMA subcarriers occupying a remaining portion of said available spectrum not including said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier, for contention based access to deliver wireless messages with other access categories than said high access categories;

selectively exchanging traffic in said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier for wireless messages with said high access categories; and

selectively contending for at least one of said plurality of OFDMA subcarriers to exchange wireless messages with said other access categories than said high access categories.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said high access categories include at least one of voice messages and low-rate video messages.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein said request is transmitted in an association request or reassociation request frame.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein said subcarrier reservation map is received in at least one of an association response or reassociation response frame, a beacon frame and a probe response frame.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein said subcarrier reservation map is received dynamically for each physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) inside signaling field of its physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) preamble.

16. A device, comprising:

a receiver configured to receive from at least one wireless device a request for at least one Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) subcarrier, the OFDMA subcarrier being a member of a group of OFDMA subcarriers occupying an available spectrum;

a processor configured to reserve at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier to said at least one wireless device in response to said request, based on allocation criteria, for exchanging wireless messages with high access categories;

said processor configured to allocate a remaining portion of said available spectrum to a plurality of OFDMA subcarriers not including said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier, for contention based access by wireless receiving devices, for exchanging wireless messages with other access categories than said high access categories; and

a transmitter configured to transmit to the at least one wireless device a subcarrier reservation map designating said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier and said plurality of OFDMA subcarriers.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein said allocation criteria include at least one of traffic load and configuration, high access categories for voice messages, high access categories for low-rate video messages, channel quality information (CQI), Quality of Service (QoS) requirements and subcarrier interference.

18. The device of claim 16, wherein said request is received in an association request or reassociation request frame.

19. The device of claim 16, wherein said subcarrier reservation map is transmitted in at least one of an association response or reassociation response frame, a beacon frame, and a probe response frame.

20. The device of claim 16, wherein said subcarrier reservation map is transmitted dynamically for each physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) inside signaling field of its physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) preamble.

21. A device, comprising:

a transmitter configured to transmit to a wireless access point a request for at least one Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) subcarrier for delivering wireless messages with high access categories, the OFDMA subcarrier being a member of a group of OFDMA subcarriers occupying an available spectrum;

a receiver configured to receive from said access point a subcarrier reservation map designating at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier and a plurality of OFDMA subcarriers occupying a remaining portion of said available spectrum not including said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier, for contention based access to deliver wireless messages with other access categories than said high access categories;

said receiver configured to selectively exchange traffic in said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier for wireless messages with said high access categories; and

a processor configured to selectively contend for at least one of said plurality of OFDMA subcarriers to exchange wireless messages with said other access categories than said high access categories.

22. The device of claim 21, wherein said wireless messages with high access categories include at least one of voice messages and low-rate video messages.

23. The device of claim 21, wherein said request is transmitted in an association request or reassociation request frame.

24. The device of claim 21, wherein said subcarrier reservation map is received in at least one of an association response or reassociation response frame, a beacon frame and a probe response frame.

25. The device of claim 21, wherein said subcarrier reservation map is received dynamically for each physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) inside signaling field of its physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) preamble.

26. An apparatus, comprising:

means for receiving from at least one wireless device a request for at least one Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) subcarrier, the OFDMA subcarrier being a member of a group of OFDMA subcarriers occupying an available spectrum;

means for reserving at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier to said at least one wireless device in response to said request, based on allocation criteria, for exchanging wireless messages with high access categories;

means for allocating a remaining portion of said available spectrum to a plurality of OFDMA subcarriers not including said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier, for contention based access by wireless receiving devices, for exchanging wireless messages with other access categories than said high access categories; and

means for transmitting to the at least one wireless device a subcarrier reservation map designating said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier and said plurality of OFDMA subcarriers.

27. An apparatus, comprising:

means for transmitting to a wireless access point a request for at least one Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) subcarrier for delivering wireless messages with high access categories, the OFDMA subcarrier being a member of a group of OFDMA subcarriers occupying an available spectrum;

means for receiving from said access point a subcarrier reservation map designating at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier and a plurality of OFDMA subcarriers occupying a remaining portion of said available spectrum not including said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier, for contention based access to deliver wireless messages with other access categories than said high access categories;

means for selectively exchanging traffic in said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier for wireless messages with said high access categories; and

means for selectively contending for at least one of said plurality of OFDMA subcarriers to exchange wireless messages with said other access categories than said high access categories.

28. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer readable storage medium storing computer program code which are executable in a computer processor;

program code in said medium for receiving from at least one wireless device a request for at least one Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) subcarrier, the OFDMA subcarrier being a member of a group of OFDMA subcarriers occupying an available spectrum;

program code in said medium for reserving at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier to said at least one wireless device in response to said request, based on allocation criteria, for exchanging wireless messages with high access categories;

program code in said medium for allocating a remaining portion of said available spectrum to a plurality of OFDMA subcarriers not including said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier, for contention based access by wireless receiving devices, for exchanging wireless messages with other access categories than said high access categories; and

program code in said medium for transmitting to the at least one wireless device a subcarrier reservation map designating said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier and said plurality of OFDMA subcarriers.

29. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer readable storage medium storing computer program code which are executable in a computer processor;

program code in said medium for transmitting to a wireless access point a request for at least one Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) subcarrier for delivering wireless messages with high access categories, the OFDMA subcarrier being a member of a group of OFDMA subcarriers occupying an available spectrum;

program code in said medium for receiving from said access point a subcarrier reservation map designating at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier and a plurality of OFDMA subcarriers occupying a remaining portion of said available spectrum not including said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier, for contention based access to deliver wireless messages with other access categories than said high access categories;

program code in said medium for selectively exchanging traffic in said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier for wireless messages with said high access categories; and

program code in said medium for selectively contending for at least one of said plurality of OFDMA subcarriers to exchange wireless messages with said other access categories than said high access categories.

30. A system, comprising:

a wireless access point having a receiver;

a wireless device having a transmitter configured to transmit to said receiver in said wireless access point a request for at least one Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) subcarrier for delivering wireless messages with high access categories, the OFDMA subcarrier being a member of a group of OFDMA subcarriers occupying an available spectrum;

a processor in said access point configured to reserve at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier to said at least one wireless device in response to said request, based on allocation criteria, for exchanging wireless messages with high access categories;

said processor configured to allocate a remaining portion of said available spectrum to a plurality of OFDMA subcarriers not including said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier, for contention based access by wireless receiving devices, for exchanging wireless messages with other access categories than said high access categories;

a transmitter in said access point configured to transmit to the at least one wireless device a subcarrier reservation map designating said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier and said plurality of OFDMA subcarriers;

a receiver in said wireless device configured to receive from said access point a subcarrier reservation map designating at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier and a plurality of OFDMA subcarriers occupying a remaining portion of said available spectrum not including said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier, for contention based access to deliver wireless messages with other access categories than said high access categories;

said receiver in said wireless device configured to selectively exchange traffic in said at least one allocated OFDMA subcarrier for wireless messages with said high access categories; and

a processor in said wireless device configured to selectively contend for at least one of said plurality of OFDMA subcarriers to exchange wireless messages with said other access categories than said high access categories.