METHODS AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR CHANNEL ACCESS IN WIRELESS NETWORKS

• US 20140153463A1
• Filed: 12/30/2011
• Published: 06/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Park, Minyoung, Qi, Emily H.
• Granted Patent: US 9,439,148 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/311
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0216 using a pre-established activity schedule, e.g. traffic indication frame
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0235 where the received signal is a power saving command
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/08 Non-scheduled access, e.g. ALOHA hybrid access H04W74/02
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Embodiments may define traffic priorities to facilitate transmissions for wireless communications devices. Many embodiments comprise MAC sublayer logic to generate and transmit management frames such as beacon frames, association response frames, reassociation response frames, and probe response frames with an access category for low power consumption stations or sensor stations comprising a parameter record defining a contention window that is the earliest contention window to open amongst contention windows defined for the access categories for traffic. In some embodiments, the MAC sublayer logic may store the parameter record sets for access categories in memory, in logic, or in another manner that facilitates transmission of the frames. Some embodiments may receive and detect communications with frames comprising the access categories and store a parameter set for one or more of the access categories in a management information base.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

generating, by a medium access control sublayer logic, a frame comprising parameter records to define access categories for traffic, wherein an access category for low power consumption stations comprises a parameter record defining a contention window that is the earliest contention window to open amongst contention windows defined for the access categories for traffic; and

encapsulating, by physical layer logic, the frame with a preamble to create a physical layer protocol data unit to transmit.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, by the antenna, the frame encapsulated by the preamble.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing, by the medium access control sublayer logic, at least part of the frame in memory.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the frame comprises generating the frame defining a threshold transmission time for transmitting the physical layer protocol data unit.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the frame comprises generating the frame, wherein the parameter record for the access category for low power consumption stations defines the highest priority for traffic amongst the access categories for traffic.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the frame comprises generating the frame defining the access category for low power consumption stations with an arbitration interframe space number setting that is lower than an arbitration interframe space number for a best efforts access category of the access categories for traffic.

7. A device comprising:

a memory;

a medium access control sublayer logic coupled with the memory to generate a frame comprising parameter records to define access categories for traffic, wherein an access category for low power consumption stations comprises a parameter record defining a contention window that is the earliest contention window to open amongst contention windows defined for the access categories for traffic.

8. The device of claim 7, further comprising a transmitter coupled with the medium access control logic to transmit the frame.

10. The device of claim 7, wherein the medium access control sublayer logic is coupled with the memory to store at least a portion of the frame.

11. The device of claim 7, wherein the medium access control logic comprises logic to generate the frame to define a threshold transmission time for transmitting the physical layer protocol data unit.

12. The device of claim 7, wherein the medium access control logic comprises logic to generate the frame to define the access category for low power consumption stations with the highest priority for traffic amongst defined access categories.

13. The device of claim 7, wherein the medium access control logic comprises logic to generate the frame to define the access category with an arbitration interframe space number setting that is lower than an arbitration interframe space number for a best efforts access category.

9. The device of claim 9, further comprising an antenna coupled with the transmitter to transmit the frame.

14. A method comprising:

receiving, by a medium access control sublayer logic, a frame comprising parameter records to define access categories for traffic, wherein an access category for low power consumption stations comprises a parameter record defining a contention window that is the earliest contention window to open amongst contention windows defined for the access categories for traffic; and

storing, by the medium access control sublayer logic, based upon the frame, the parameter record for the access category for the low power consumption stations in a management information base in memory.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising receiving, by the antenna, the frame encapsulated by the preamble.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising storing in memory, by the medium access control sublayer logic, a threshold transmission time defined in the frame for transmitting a physical layer protocol data unit.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising determining the parameter record for the access category for low power consumption stations defines the highest priority for traffic amongst the access categories for traffic.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising determining the frame defines the access category for low power consumption stations with an arbitration interframe space number setting of two.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein determining the frame defines the access category for low power consumption stations with a minimum contention window setting of (aCWmin+1)/2−

1.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein determining the frame defines the access category for low power consumption stations with a maximum contention window setting of aCWmax.

21. A device comprising:

a memory;

a medium access control sublayer logic coupled with the memory to receive a frame comprising parameter records to define access categories for traffic, wherein an access category for low power consumption stations comprises a parameter record defining a contention window that is the earliest contention window to open amongst contention windows defined for the access categories for traffic; and

to store, based upon receipt of the frame, the parameter record for the access category for the low power consumption stations in a management information base in memory.

25. The device of claim 21, wherein the medium access control logic comprises logic to determine the parameter record for the access category for low power consumption stations that defines the highest priority for traffic amongst the access categories for traffic.

26. The device of claim 21, wherein the medium access control logic comprises logic to determine that the frame defines the access category for low power consumption stations with an arbitration interframe space number setting of two.

27. The device of claim 21, wherein the medium access control logic comprises logic to determine that the frame defines the access category for low power consumption stations with a minimum contention window setting of (aCWmin+1)/4−

1.

22-24. -24. (canceled)

28. A machine-accessible product comprising:

a medium containing parameter records to define access categories for traffic, wherein the parameter records;

define a parameter record for an access category for low power consumption stations defining a contention window that is the earliest contention window to open amongst contention windows defined for the access categories for traffic.

29-30. -30. (canceled)