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Method and apparatus using pipelined execution data sets for processing transmission frame sequences conforming to a wireless network MAC protocol

  • US 7,058,071 B1
  • Filed: 03/04/2002
  • Issued: 06/06/2006
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2002
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A MAC controller for a wireless station of a wireless network to operate according to one or more transmission policies of a MAC protocol, a transmission according to a policy decomposable into a set of sequential sub-sequences, executing each sub-sequence including transmitting a data unit and in the case that the data unit transmission has a set of one or more expected responses, successfully receiving or not one of the expected responses at the wireless station, each sub-sequence having a finite set of outcomes, each of the outcomes leading to further executing of none or more sub-sequences, such that a transmission from any point in time according to a policy is representable by a tree, each node of the tree representing a sub-sequence, and each branch from a particular node of the tree representing one of the outcomes of the subsequence of the particular node, the MAC controller comprising:

  • a packet scheduler coupled to a data link layer interface and including a scheduling engine and a memory, andtransmit hardware coupled to a physical layer interface, the transmit hardware to execute a sub-sequence and to cause transmission of the data unit of the sub-sequence and to detect which outcome occurs, executing a sub-sequence being describable to the transmit hardware by a corresponding set of execution data, the hardware further including a buffer coupled to the packet scheduler, the buffer organized to receive from the scheduler and store sets of execution data, the hardware further including a signal path to the scheduling engine to provide an indication to the packet scheduler of the outcome of executing a sub-sequence;

    wherein the transmit hardware is coupled to a receiver coupled to the physical layer interface to indicate to the transmit hardware the reception at the wireless station of a data unit of one of a set of received data unit types that includes those that may be in response to a transmission of a sub-sequence,wherein the packet scheduler is arranged to initially prepare and load into the buffer the execution data set for executing all the sub-sequences of a sub-tree starting from the first sub-sequence of the tree;

    wherein the buffer is organized as a pipeline for execution data sets; and

    wherein after a number of sub-sequences are executed, the packet scheduler, in response to an indication received from the transmit hardware of a particular outcome of a particular sub-sequence, is to provide and load into the buffer the execution data sets needed so that while the hardware is executing the sub-sequence resulting from the particular outcome, the buffer contains the execution data sets of at least each sub-sequence that follows the sub-sequence resulting from the particular outcome,such that the time available for the packet scheduler to provide and load the execution data sets in response to the indication is at least the time until the transmit hardware completes executing the sub-sequence following the particular outcome,whereby the sub-sequence being executed and the following subsequences that are available to the transmit hardware during the execution form a sub-tree starting with the node sub-sequence being executed.

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