Fast channel switching scheme for IEEE 802.11 WLANs
First Claim
1. A method for switching at least two wireless nodes of a plurality of wireless nodes, located within the coverage area of a basic-service set (BSS1) or infrastructure basic-service set (IBSS) in a wireless-local-area network (WLAN), from a first communication channel to a second communication channel, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) determining whether said second communication channel to be used by said at least two wireless nodes is needed;
(b) broadcasting, by a source node, a management frame including a channel switch announcement element (CSAE) to said at least two wireless nodes when it is determined in step (a) that said second communication channel is needed, said CSAE including at least a channel-switch time and a second communication channel identifier;
(c) switching, at said at least two wireless nodes receiving said management frame including said CSAE, from said first communication channel to said second communication channel within a countdown time corresponding to said channel-switch time, wherein said channel-switch time is specified in microseconds independent of a beacon interval;
(d) determining, in a second node of said at least two wireless nodes, that said management frame including said CSAE was not received by a first node of said at least two wireless nodes; and
(e) re-transmitting, in dependence on said determination, said management frame including said CSAE from said second node of said at least two wireless nodes that received said management frame including said CSAE.
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Abstract
Disclosed is a method and system for switching at least one wireless node located within the coverage area of a basic-service set (BSS) or infrastructure-basic-service set (IBSS) in a wireless-local-area network (WLAN) from a first communication channel to a second communication channel. The method includes: determining whether the second communication channel to be used by at least one wireless node is needed; broadcasting by a source node a management frame to at least one of the wireless node when it is determined that the second communication channel is needed, the management frame including a channel-switch time and a second communication channel identifier; and switching, at least one wireless node receiving the management frame, from the first communication channel to a second communication channel within a countdown time corresponding to the channel switch time, wherein the channel-switch time is less than a beacon interval.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method for switching at least two wireless nodes of a plurality of wireless nodes, located within the coverage area of a basic-service set (BSS1) or infrastructure basic-service set (IBSS) in a wireless-local-area network (WLAN), from a first communication channel to a second communication channel, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining whether said second communication channel to be used by said at least two wireless nodes is needed; (b) broadcasting, by a source node, a management frame including a channel switch announcement element (CSAE) to said at least two wireless nodes when it is determined in step (a) that said second communication channel is needed, said CSAE including at least a channel-switch time and a second communication channel identifier; (c) switching, at said at least two wireless nodes receiving said management frame including said CSAE, from said first communication channel to said second communication channel within a countdown time corresponding to said channel-switch time, wherein said channel-switch time is specified in microseconds independent of a beacon interval; (d) determining, in a second node of said at least two wireless nodes, that said management frame including said CSAE was not received by a first node of said at least two wireless nodes; and (e) re-transmitting, in dependence on said determination, said management frame including said CSAE from said second node of said at least two wireless nodes that received said management frame including said CSAE. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method for switching at least two wireless nodes of a plurality of wireless nodes, located within the coverage area of a basic-service set (BSS1) or infrastructure-basic-service set (IBSS), in a wireless-local-area network (WLAN) from a first communication channel to a second communication channel, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining whether said second communication channel to be used by said at least two wireless nodes is needed; (b) broadcasting, by a source node, a first management frame including a channel switch announcement element (CSAE) to said at least two wireless nodes when it is determined in step (a) that said second communication channel is needed, said first management frame including said CSAE including a channel-switch time and a second communication channel identifier; (c) upon receiving said broadcasted first management frame including said CSAE at said at least two wireless nodes, halting all further frame exchanges in said first communication channel to quiet said first communication channel during the duration of the channel-switch time; (d) determining, in a second node of said at least two wireless nodes, that said first management frame including said CSAE was not received by a first node of said at least two wireless nodes; and (e) re-transmitting, in response to said determination, said first management frame including said CSAE from said second node of said at least two wireless nodes that received said first management frame including said CSAE. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for switching at least two wireless nodes of a plurality of wireless nodes located within the coverage area of a basic-service set (BSS1) or infrastructure-basic-service set (IBSS) in a wireless-local-area network (WLAN) from a first communication channel to a second communication channel, the system comprising:
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means for determining whether said second communication channel to be used by said at least two wireless nodes is needed; means for broadcasting, by a source node, a management frame including a channel switch announcement element (CSAE) to said at least two wireless nodes when it is determined that said second communication channel is needed, said management frame including said CSAE including a channel-switch time and a second communication channel identifier; means for switching, at each of said at least two wireless nodes receiving said management frame including said CSAE, from said first communication channel to said second communication channel at the expiration of a countdown time corresponding to said channel-switch time, wherein said channel-switch time is independent of the beacon interval; means for determining, at a second node of said at least two wireless nodes, that said management frame including said CSAE was not received by a first node of said at least two wireless nodes; and means for re-transmitting said management frame including said CSAE from the second node of said at least two wireless nodes that received said management frame including said CSAE. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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13. A system for switching at least two wireless nodes of a plurality of wireless nodes located within the coverage area of a basic-service set (BSS) or infrastructure-basic-service set (IBSS) in a wireless-local-area network (WLAN) from a first communication channel to a second communication channel, the system comprising:
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means for determining whether said second communication channel to be used by said at least two wireless nodes is needed; means for broadcasting, by a source node, a first management frame including a channel switch announcement element (CSAE) to said at least two wireless nodes when it is determined that said second communication channel is needed, said CSAE including a channel-switch time and a second communication channel identifier; means for halting all further frame exchanges in said first communication channel to quiet said first communication channel upon receiving said broadcasted first management frame including said CSAE at said at least two wireless nodes; means for determining, at a second of node of said at least two wireless nodes, that said first management frame including said CSAE was not received by a first node of said at least two wireless nodes; and means for re-transmitting said first management frame including said CSAE from the second node of said at least two wireless nodes that received said first management frame including said CSAE. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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Specification