METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROTECTING A PRIMARY SERVICE IN WLAN SYSTEM

• US 20110222488A1
• Filed: 10/22/2010
• Published: 09/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: SEOK, Yong Ho, Kim, Eun Sun
• Granted Patent: US 8,588,158 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0085 when channel conditions change
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/27 between access points
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/51 based on terminal or device properties
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for protecting a primary service as an unlicensed device in a regulatory domain where a licensed device and the unlicensed device are permitted to operate are disclosed. For protecting a primary service by a station as an unlicensed device in a regulatory domain where a licensed device and the unlicensed device are permitted to operate, the unlicensed device acquires a list of identified available channels for the operation of the unlicensed device and maximum allowed transmission powers of the identified available channels from a regulatory domain database system; generates a white space map (WSM) comprising the list of identified available channels and the maximum allowed transmission powers of the identified available channels; updates the WSM when the station acquires information that a primary service signal is detected on a specific channel which is indicated as available in the WSM; and transmits the updated WSM to another station such that the another station moves to another channel if the another station is operating on the specific channel.

Claims

1. A method of protecting a primary service by a station as an unlicensed device in a regulatory domain where a licensed device and the unlicensed device are permitted to operate, the method comprising:

acquiring a list of identified available channels for the operation of the unlicensed device and maximum allowed transmission powers of the identified available channels from a regulatory domain database system;

generating a white space map (WSM) comprising the list of identified available channels and the maximum allowed transmission powers of the identified available channels;

updating the WSM when the station acquires information that a primary service signal is detected on a specific channel which is indicated as available in the WSM; and

transmitting the updated WSM to another station such that the another station moves to another channel if the another station is operating on the specific channel.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from a specific station, a measurement report in which the primary service signal is detected on the specific channel which is indicated as available in the WSM.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the specific station comprises a Digital TV device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the station updating the WSM is an enabling station determining the available channels at its location using its own geographic location identification and a regulatory database access capability.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the another station is a dependent station receiving the information for the available channels from the enabling station or a dependent AP (Access Point) station that enables the operation of the dependent station.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the updated WSM is transmitted from the station via one of a beacon frame, a probe response frame, and a white space map announcement frame.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the station updating the WSM is non-AP station, and

wherein the updated WSM is transmitted from the non-AP station via a white space map announcement frame.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein transmitting the updated WSM comprises:

receiving, at a MAC sublayer management entity (MLME) of the non-AP station from a station management entity (SME) of the non-AP station a requesting primitive requesting that the white space map announcement frame be sent to the another station; and

transmitting, from the MLME of the non-AP station to a MLME of the another station, the white space map announcement frame comprises the updated WSM,

wherein the requesting primitive comprises the MAC address of the another station and the updated WSM.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the requesting primitive is a MLME.WSM.request message.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the updated WSM is transmitted, from the MLME of the another station to a SME of the another station, via an indication primitive indicating the reception of the updated WSM,

wherein the indication primitive comprises the MAC address of the station transmitting the white space map announcement frame and the updated WSM.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the indication primitive is a MLME-WSM.indication primitive.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the WSM is generated in a format of a White Space Map Element comprising a map version field, a channel number field, and maximum power level field, and

wherein the value in the map version field is circularly incremented by 1, the channel number field indicates the list of identified available channels, and the maximum power level field indicates the maximum allowed transmission powers of the identified available channels.

13. An apparatus for protecting a primary service as an unlicensed device in a regulatory domain where a licensed device and the unlicensed device are permitted to operate, the apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to acquire a list of identified available channels for the operation of the unlicensed device and maximum allowed transmission powers of the identified available channels from a regulatory domain database system, generate a white space map (WSM) comprising the list of identified available channels and the maximum allowed transmission powers of the identified available channels, and update the WSM when the station acquires information that a primary service signal is detected on a specific channel which is indicated as available in the WSM; and

a transceiver configured to transmit the updated WSM to another station such that the another station moves to another channel if the another station is operating on the specific channel.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive, from a specific station, a measurement report in which the primary service signal is detected on the specific channel which is indicated as available in the WSM.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the specific station comprises a Digital TV device.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the apparatus is configured to operate as an enabling station determining the available channels at its location using its own geographic location identification and a regulatory database access capability.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the another station is a dependent station receiving the information for the available channels from the enabling station or a dependent AP (Access Point) station that enables the operation of the dependent station.

18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the updated WSM is transmitted from the apparatus via one of a beacon frame, a probe response frame, and a white space map announcement frame.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the apparatus is a non-AP station, and

wherein the transceiver of the non-AP station transmits the updated WSM via a white space map announcement frame.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processor comprises a MAC sublayer management entity (MLME) and a station management entity (SME), and

wherein the MLME of the apparatus is configured to receive a requesting primitive requesting that the white space map announcement frame be sent to the another station from the SME of the apparatus, and to transmit the white space map announcement frame comprises the updated WSM to a MLME of the another station.

wherein the requesting primitive comprises the MAC address of the another station and the updated WSM.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the requesting primitive is a MLME.WSM.request message.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the updated WSM is transmitted, from the MLME of the another station to a SME of the another station, via an indication primitive indicating the reception of the updated WSM,

wherein the indication primitive comprises the MAC address of the apparatus and the updated WSM.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the indication primitive is a MLME-WSM.indication primitive.

24. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the WSM is generated in a format of a White Space Map Element comprising a map version field, a channel number field, and maximum power level field, and

wherein the value in the map version field is circularly incremented by 1, the channel number field indicates the list of identified available channels, and the maximum power level field indicates the maximum allowed transmission powers of the identified available channels.