System of wireless local area network based on transmit power control and method for controlling transmit power

• US 7,613,475 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2004
• Issued: 11/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Song, Hak-Hoon, Kim, Nak-Koo
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu; Thong H
• Application Number:
  US11/010,321
• Publication Number:
  US 20050250528A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,785 Days
• Field of Search: 370/278, 370/328, 370/338, 370/208, 370/342, 455/437, 455/522, 455/355
• US Class Current: 455/522
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/32 TPC of broadcast or control channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/325 Power control of control or pilot channels

Abstract

A system of a wireless local area network (LAN) based on transmit power control comprises: an access point (AP) for broadcasting a beacon frame to an area that is outside a service coverage of a first transmit power by using a second transmit power higher than the first transmit power already set when it reaches a set period, and for increasing the first transmit power if there is a request for increase of the first transmit power based on the beacon frame broadcast by the second transmit power; and a station which requests an increase in the first transmit power on the basis of the received beacon frame so as to enable the station to have an association with the AP. The increase is requested when the station receives the beacon frame broadcast from the AP with the second transmit power when the station is outside the service coverage of the first transmit power. The AP periodically transmits a strong beacon frame having local maximum transmit power (LMTP), and then provides a station existing outside the transmit power coverage of a current AP with basic service set (BSS) information. In this way, a newly approaching station can be provided with a basis for associating and communicating with the BSS with ease.

Claims

1. A wireless local area network (LAN) system based on transmit power control, comprising:

an access point (AP) for broadcasting a beacon frame to an area that is outside a service coverage of a first transmit power by using a second transmit power which is higher than the first transmit power and which is already set when a set period is reached, and for increasing the first transmit power when there is an increase request to increase the first transmit power based on the beacon frame broadcast with the second transmit power; and

a station for requesting an increase in the first transmit power on the basis of the beacon frame broadcast with the second transmit power to make an association with the AP when the station receives the beacon frame broadcast from the AP with the second transmit power when the station is outside the service coverage of the first transmit power.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the access point (AP) performs link setting according to an association request of a corresponding station with increased first transmit power.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the set period has a period that is an integer times a beacon period.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the access point (AP) receives transmit power information of a corresponding station from the station that is outside the service coverage of the first transmit power, calculates a loss power of a channel from the transmit power information, calculates changed power in which a minimum reception power required for a data rate of a frame to be received by the station is added to the channel loss power, and increases the first transmit power to the calculated changed power.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the loss power of the channel is calculated by extracting the transmit power of the station from the transmit power information received from the station, and then comparing the extracted transmit power to reception power that is actually received from the station.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the second transmit power is set to a value lower than local maximum transmit power (LMTP).

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first transmit power may be increased to a maximum local maximum transmit power (LMTP).

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the station forms a link to the access point (AP) which transmits a frame with the increased first transmit power to perform a new association with the AP.

9. The system according to claim 1, wherein the station calculates path loss power of a channel from the received beacon frame broadcast with the second transmit power, adds a minimum reception power required for a data rate of the frame to be received by the access point (AP) to the calculated path loss power, and transmits calculated transmit power information to the AP.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the path loss power of the channel is calculated by extracting second transmit power information of the access point (AP) from the received beacon frame, and comparing the second transmit power information to the reception power that is actually received from the AP.

11. The system according to claim 1, wherein the station extracts Contention-Free Period (CFP) interval information from the received beacon frame and tries to make a connection after standing by for a CFP interval when the CFP interval is set.

12. The system according to claim 1, wherein the station transmits an associative transmit power control (TPC) frame including information to require an increase of the first transmit power for the association with the AP.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the associative TPC frame includes a category field, an action field, and a TPC report element field.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein the associative TPC frame sets a value to indicate that a frame type is an associative TPC report frame in the action field.

15. A method for controlling transmit power of an access point (AP), comprising the steps of:

broadcasting from the access point (AP), a beacon frame to an area that is outside a service coverage of a first transmit power by using a second transmit power, higher than the first transmit power, already set when it reaches a set period; and

increasing the first transmit power at the AP when at least one station in the area that is outside the service coverage of the first transmit power receives the beacon frame broadcast by the second transmit power and requests an increase in the first transmit power in order to make an association with the AP.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the set period has a period that is an integer times a beacon period.

17. The method according to claim 15, further comprising the step of allowing the access point (AP) to perform link setting according to an association request of a corresponding station with increased first transmit power.

18. The method according to claim 15, wherein the step of increasing the first transmit power includes the sub-steps of:

receiving transmit power information of a corresponding station from the station that is outside the service coverage of the first transmit power;

calculating a loss power of a channel from the transmit power information;

calculating changed power in which a minimum reception power required for a data rate of the frame to be received by the station is added to the channel loss power; and

increasing the first transmit power to the calculated changed power.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the loss power of the channel is calculated by extracting transmit power of the station from the transmit power information received from the station, and then comparing the extracted transmit power to reception power that is actually received from the station.

20. The method according to claim 15, wherein the second transmit power is set lower than local maximum transmit power (LMTP).

21. The method according to claim 15, wherein the first transmit power can be increased to a maximum local maximum transmit power (LMTP).

22. A method for controlling transmit power of a station in a wireless local area network (LAN) system, comprising the steps of:

requesting, from the station to an access point (AP), an increase in a first transmit power on the basis of a beacon frame received from the AP, when the beacon frame broadcast with a second transmit power, higher than the first transmit power, is received from the AP when the station does not associate with the AP and the station is disposed outside a service coverage of the first transmit power of the AP; and

forming a link from the station to the AP that transmits the frame with the increased first transmit power, and performing a new association with the AP.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the step of requesting the increase includes the sub-steps of:

calculating, at the station, a path loss power of a channel based upon the received beacon frame; and

adding minimum reception power required for a data rate of the frame to be received by the access point (AP) to the calculated path loss power at the station, and transmitting calculated transmit power information from the station to the AP.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the path loss power of the channel is calculated by extracting second transmit power information of the access point (AP) from the received beacon frame and comparing the extracted second transmit power information to received power that is actually received from the AP.

25. The method according to claim 22, wherein the station extracts contention-free period (CFP) interval information from the received beacon frame, and tries a connection after standing by for a CFP interval when the CFP interval is set in the extracted CFP interval information.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein the connection is tried immediately after the beacon frame is received when the contention-free period (CFP) interval has not been set in the extracted CFP interval information.

27. A wireless local area network (LAN) system based on transmit power control, comprising:

an access point (AP) for transmitting basic service set (BSS) information to an area that is outside a service coverage of a first transmit power by using a second transmit power which is higher than the first transmit power and which is already set, when a set period is reached, and for increasing the first transmit power when there is an increase request to increase the first transmit power based on the BSS information transmitted with the second transmit power; and

a station for requesting the increase of the first transmit power on the basis of the received BSS information so as to make an association with the AP when receiving the BSS information transmitted from the AP with the second transmit power when the station receiving the BSS information is outside the service coverage of the first transmit power.

28. A method for controlling transmit power of an access point (AP), comprising the steps of:

transmitting basic service set (BSS) information to an area that is outside a service coverage of a first transmit power by using a second transmit power which is higher than the first transmit power and which is already set when a set period is reached; and

increasing the first transmit power at the AP when at least one station that is outside the service coverage of the first transmit power receives the BSS information transmitted by the second transmit power and requests an increase of the first transmit power in order to make an association with the AP.

29. A method for controlling transmit power of a station in a wireless local area network (LAN) system based on transmit power control, comprising the steps of:

requesting, from the station to an access point (AP) an increase of a first transmit power on the basis of basic service set (BSS) information received from the AP in order to make an association with the access point (AP) when the station receives the BSS information transmitted with a second transmit power higher than the first transmit power, from the AP when the station is outside a service coverage of the first transmit power of the AP and is not associated with the AP; and

forming a link from the station to the AP that transmits a frame with increased first transmit power, and performing a new association at the station with the AP.