PROVIDING AIRTIME FAIRNESS IN WIRELESS SYSTEMS

• US 20160192378A1
• Filed: 12/30/2014
• Published: 06/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ADTRAN Incorporated (ADTRAN Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ADTRAN Incorporated (ADTRAN Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: GOODSON, Richard Lee, RAGHAVENDRA, Ramya
• Granted Patent: US 10,070,450 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/50 Queue scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/1263 Mapping of traffic onto schedule, e.g. scheduled allocation or multiplexing of flows
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/56 based on priority criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus for providing airtime fairness in a telecommunications network are disclosed. In one aspect a method includes determining, by an access point, respective transmission rates of multiple stations configured to wirelessly communicate with the access point; determining, by the access point and for each of the multiple stations, a weight of the station that is proportional to the respective transmission rate of the station; and transmitting, wirelessly by the access point and to each of the multiple stations, one or more packets to the station during an airtime allocation to the station, wherein the amount of one or more packets transmitted during the airtime allocation corresponds to the weight of the station and a size of queued packets for the station.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining, by an access point, respective transmission rates of a plurality of stations configured to wirelessly communicate with the access point;

determining, by the access point and for each of the plurality of stations, a weight of the station that is proportional to the respective transmission rate of the station; and

transmitting, wirelessly by the access point and to each of the plurality of stations, one or more packets to the station during an airtime allocation to the station, wherein the amount of one or more packets transmitted during the airtime allocation corresponds to the weight of the station and a size of queued packets for the station.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating, for the station, a deficit counter by adding the weight of the station to the deficit counter of the station; and

wherein transmitting one or more packets to the station comprises;

transmitting, to the station, one or more packets until the deficit counter is less than a size of a next packet to be transmitted to the station.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising deducting the size of each transmitted packet from the deficit counter.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating a deficit counter by adding a weight of the station to the deficit counter of the station; and

wherein transmitting one or more packets to the station comprises;

determining, during a given transmission interval, that the deficit counter for a given station is less than a size of a next packet to be transmitted to the station;

preventing transmission of a packet to the station in response to determining that the deficit counter is less than the size of the next packet; and

transmitting a packet to a different station.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the access point, one of the plurality of stations having an updated transmission rate;

updating, by the access point, a weight of the station that is proportional to the updated transmission rate; and

transmitting, wirelessly by the access point, one or more packets to the station during an airtime allocation to the station, wherein the amount of one or more packets transmitted during the airtime allocation corresponds to the updated weight of the station and the size of queued packets for the station.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising enabling block transmission by setting a weight of a station having a maximum transmission rate to a size of a maximum transmission block.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a change of a maximum transmission rate among the transmission rates of the plurality of stations; and

recalculating the weights of the plurality of stations based on the change.

8. A device, comprising:

a memory storing instructions executable by one or more data processing devices;

one or more data processing devices that interact with the memory and execute instructions that cause the device to be configured to;

determine respective transmission rates of a plurality of stations configured to wirelessly communicate with the device;

determine, for each of the plurality of stations, a weight of the station that is proportional to the respective transmission rate of the station; and

transmit, wirelessly to each of the plurality of stations, one or more packets to the station during an airtime allocation to the station, wherein the amount of one or more packets transmitted during the airtime allocation corresponds to the weight of the station and a size of queued packets for the station.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the one or more data processing devices that interact with the memory and execute instructions that cause the device to be configured to:

update, for the station, a deficit counter by adding the weight of the station to the deficit counter of the station; and

transmit, to the station, one or more packets until the deficit counter is less than a size of a next packet to be transmitted to the station.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the one or more data processing devices that interact with the memory and execute instructions that cause the device to be configured to deduct the size of each transmitted packet from the deficit counter.

11. The device of claim 8, wherein the one or more data processing devices that interact with the memory and execute instructions that cause the device to be configured to:

update a deficit counter by adding a weight of the station to the deficit counter of the station;

determine, during a given transmission interval, that the deficit counter for a station is less than a size of a next packet to be transmitted to the station;

prevent transmission of a packet to the station in response to determining that the deficit counter is less than the size of the next packet; and

transmit a packet to a different station.

12. The device of claim 8, wherein the one or more data processing devices that interact with the memory and execute instructions that cause the device to be configured to:

determine one of the plurality of stations having an updated transmission rate;

update a weight of the station that is proportional to the updated transmission rate; and

transmit, wirelessly, one or more packets to the station during an airtime allocation to the station, wherein the amount of one or more packets transmitted during the airtime allocation corresponds to the updated weight of the station and the size of queued packets for the station.

13. The device of claim 8, wherein the one or more data processing devices that interact with the memory and execute instructions that cause the device to be configured to enable block transmission for a station by setting a weight of a station having a maximum transmission rate to a size of a maximum transmission block.

14. The device of claim 8, wherein the one or more data processing devices that interact with the memory and execute instructions that cause the device to be configured to:

determine a change of a maximum transmission rate among the transmission rates of the plurality of stations; and

recalculate the weights of the plurality of stations based on the change.

15. A system, comprising:

an access point;

a plurality of stations configured to wirelessly communicate with the access point; and

the access point including one or more data processing devices, the access point configured to;

determine respective transmission rates of a plurality of stations configured to wirelessly communicate with the device;

determine, for each of the plurality of stations, a weight of the station that is proportional to the respective transmission rate of the station;

allocate, to each of the plurality of stations, a portion of airtime for downstream transmission to each of the stations based on the weights of the plurality of stations; and

transmit, wirelessly to each of the plurality of stations, one or more packets to the station during an airtime allocation to the station, wherein the amount of one or more packets transmitted during the airtime allocation corresponds to the weight of the station and a size of queued packets for the station.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the access point is configured to:

update, for a given station, a deficit counter by adding the weight of the given station to the deficit counter of the given station; and

transmit, to the given station, one or more packets until the deficit counter is less than a size of a next packet to be transmitted to the given station.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the access point is configured to deduct the size of each transmitted packet from the deficit counter.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the access point is configured to:

update a deficit counter by adding a weight of the station to the deficit counter of the station;

determine, during a given transmission interval, that the deficit counter for a station is less than a size of a next packet to be transmitted to the station;

prevent transmission of a packet to the given station in response to determining that the deficit counter is less than the size of the next packet; and

transmit a packet to a different station.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the access point is configured to:

determine one of the plurality of stations having an updated transmission rate;

update a weight of the station that is proportional to the updated transmission rate; and

transmit, wirelessly, one or more packets to the station during an airtime allocation to the station, wherein the amount of one or more packets transmitted during the airtime allocation corresponds to the updated weight of the station and the size of queued packets for the station.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the access point is configured to enable block transmission for a station by setting a weight of a station having a maximum transmission rate to a size of a maximum transmission block.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein the access point is configured to:

determine a change of a maximum transmission rate among the transmission rates of the plurality of stations; and

recalculate the weights of the plurality of stations based on the change.