Adaptive network supporting single to concurrent interfering wireless transmissions

• US 8,194,587 B2
• Filed: 11/09/2006
• Issued: 06/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bennett, James D.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, SIMON
• Application Number:
  US11/595,346
• Publication Number:
  US 20080113640A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,035 Days
• Field of Search: 455/42, 455 412- 413, 455/507, 455/517, 4555521-5531, 370/312, 370328-330, 370336-337, 370343-349, 370/432, 370/442, 370470-471, 370/473, 370/475
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/541 using the level of interference

Abstract

A wireless network infrastructure supporting a plurality of wireless end point devices containing a wireless access point and a plurality of end point wireless devices that supports single transmission and reception and/or concurrent interfering transmission and reception. The wireless access point transmits data to the end point wireless devices that supports single transmission and reception during a first portion of a first data transmission period and simultaneously transmits data to the end point wireless devices that supports concurrent interfering transmission and reception during a second portion of the first data transmission period. The wireless access point simultaneously receives data from the end point wireless devices that supports concurrent interfering transmission and reception during a second data transmission period. The wireless access point detects and separates data that arrive from the Plurality of end point wireless devices that supports concurrent interfering transmission and reception.

Claims

1. A method performed by a wireless access point that communicates a plurality of packets with a plurality of end point wireless devices, the method comprising:

receiving first of the plurality of packets destined for a single transmissions capable device;

receiving second and third of the plurality of packets destined for a concurrent interfering transmissions capable device;

identifying single and concurrent interfering transmissions capable end point devices;

selecting protocol operation in response to the identification;

sending the first of the plurality of packets to the single transmissions capable end point devices during a first portion of a frame; and

transmitting the second and third of the plurality of packets to the concurrent interfering transmissions capable end point devices during a second portion of the frame.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a plurality of packets concurrently from the plurality of end point wireless devices; and

applying detection and separation algorithms to the received plurality of packets to separate the packets arriving from each of the plurality of end point devices.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the concurrent interfering transmissions comprise a plurality of transmissions in a single radio band.

4. A wireless access point comprising:

upstream transceiver circuitry;

wireless transceiver circuitry; and

processing circuitry coupled to the upstream transceiver circuitry and to the wireless transceiver circuitry, operable in combination to;

receive first of the plurality of packets destined for a single transmissions capable device;

receive second and third of the plurality of packets destined for a concurrent interfering transmissions capable device;

identify single and concurrent interfering transmissions capable end point devices;

select protocol operation in response to the identification;

send the first of the plurality of packets to the single transmissions capable end point devices during a first portion of a frame; and

transmit the second and third of the plurality of packets to the concurrent interfering transmissions capable end point devices during a second portion of the frame.

5. The access point of claim 4, wherein the second receiver circuitry is operable to:

receive a plurality of packets concurrently from the plurality of end point wireless devices; and

apply detection and separation algorithms to the received plurality of packets to separate the packets arriving from each of the plurality of end point devices.

6. The wireless access point of claim 4, wherein concurrent interfering transmissions comprise a plurality of transmissions in a single radio band.

7. A wireless access point comprising:

upstream transceiver circuitry;

wireless transceiver circuitry; and

processing circuitry coupled to the upstream transceiver circuitry and to the wireless transceiver circuitry, operable in combination to;

communicatively couple to a first end point device having first receiver circuitry that supports single receptions;

communicatively couple to a second end point device having second receiver circuitry that supports concurrent interfering receptions;

communicatively couple to a third end point device having third receiver circuitry that supports concurrent interfering receptions;

transmit first data to the first receiver circuitry of the first end point device during a first portion of a frame; and

concurrently transmits second data and third data during a second portion of the frame, the second data destined for the second receiver circuitry of the second end point device and the third data destined for the third receiver circuitry of the third end point device.

8. The access point of claim 7, wherein the second receiver circuitry is operable to extract the second data from the concurrent transmission of the second data and the third data.

9. The access point of claim 7, wherein the third receiver circuitry is operable to extract the second data and at least a portion of the third data from the concurrent transmission of the second data and the third data.

10. The access point of claim 7, wherein the processing circuitry and wireless transceiver circuitry are further operable to:

concurrently receive fourth data and fifth data from the second end point device and third end point device during a third portion of the frame; and

extract the fourth data and the fifth data

11. The access point of claim 7, wherein the processing circuitry and wireless transceiver circuitry are further operable to deliver contention information during a beacon period of the frame.

12. The wireless access point of claim 7, wherein concurrent interfering transmissions comprise a plurality of transmissions in a single radio band.

13. A wireless access point comprising:

upstream transceiver circuitry;

wireless transceiver circuitry; and

processing circuitry coupled to the upstream transceiver circuitry and to the wireless transceiver circuitry, operable in combination to;

communicatively couple to a first end point device having first receiver circuitry comprising one of a first type of wireless receiver circuitry and a second type of wireless receiver circuitry;

communicatively couple to a second end point device having second receiver circuitry comprising another of the first type of wireless receiver circuitry and the second type of wireless receiver circuitry; and

based on interaction with the first end point device and the second end point device, adapt a frame contention of a wireless local area network protocol to accommodate the first receiver circuitry and the second receiver circuitry by defining at least one first frame portion in which transmissions from the access point are limited to single transmissions, and at least one second frame portion wherein concurrent interfering transmissions are permitted.

14. The wireless access point of claim 13, wherein the processing circuitry and wireless transceiver circuitry are further operable to deliver contention information during a beacon period of the frame.

15. The wireless access point of claim 13, wherein the processing circuitry and wireless transceiver circuitry are further operable to communicatively couple to a third end point device having third wireless receiver circuitry comprising both the first type of wireless receiver circuitry and the second type of wireless receiver circuitry, the third wireless receiver circuitry operable to adapt to support the single transmissions and the concurrent interfering transmissions from the wireless transmitter circuitry of the access point.

16. The wireless access point of claim 13, wherein concurrent interfering transmissions comprise a plurality of transmissions in a single radio band.

17. A wireless access point comprising:

upstream transceiver circuitry;

wireless transceiver circuitry; and

processing circuitry coupled to the upstream transceiver circuitry and to the wireless transceiver circuitry, operable in combination to;

communicatively couple to a first end point device having first receiver circuitry comprising one of a first type of wireless receiver circuitry and a second type of wireless receiver circuitry;

communicatively couple to a second end point device having second receiver circuitry comprising another of the first type of wireless receiver circuitry and the second type of wireless receiver circuitry;

support single transmissions for communicating to at least the first type of wireless receiver circuitry and concurrent interfering transmissions for communicating to the second type of wireless receiver circuitry; and

select between the single transmissions and the concurrent interfering transmissions to accommodate the first receiver circuitry during a first portion of a frame and the second receiver circuitry during a second portion of the frame.

18. The wireless access point of claim 17, wherein the first receiver circuitry comprises either the first type of wireless receiver circuitry or a combination of the first type of wireless receiver circuitry and the second type of wireless receiver circuitry.

19. The wireless access point of claim 17, wherein the processing circuitry and the wireless transceiver circuitry are further operable in combination to communicatively couple to a third end point device having third wireless receiver circuitry comprising both the first type of wireless receiver circuitry and the second type of wireless receiver circuitry, the third wireless receiver circuitry operable to adapt to support the single transmissions and the concurrent interfering transmissions.

20. The wireless access point of claim 17, wherein concurrent interfering transmissions comprise a plurality of transmissions in a single radio band.

21. A wireless access point comprising:

upstream transceiver circuitry;

wireless transceiver circuitry; and

processing circuitry coupled to the upstream transceiver circuitry and to the wireless transceiver circuitry, operable in combination to;

communicatively couple to a first end point device having first wireless receiver circuitry and first wireless transmitter circuitry, the first wireless receiver circuitry supports concurrent interfering transmissions;

communicatively couple to a second end point device having a second wireless receiver circuitry and a second wireless transmitter circuitry, the second wireless receiver circuitry supports single transmissions; and

adapt to deliver single transmissions to communicate with the second end point device during a first portion of a frame; and

adapt to deliver the concurrent interfering transmissions to communicate with the first end point device during a second portion of the frame.

22. The wireless access point of claim 21, wherein the processing circuitry and the wireless transceiver circuitry are further operable in combination to:

communicatively couple to a third end point device having fourth wireless receiver circuitry and fourth wireless transmitter circuitry; and

support both single transmissions and concurrent interfering transmissions with the third end point device.

23. The wireless network infrastructure of claim 21, the third wireless transmitter circuitry adapts to deliver either single transmissions or the concurrent interfering transmissions to communicate with the third end point device.

24. The wireless access point of claim 21, wherein concurrent interfering transmissions comprise a plurality of transmissions in a single radio band.

25. A wireless access point comprising:

upstream transceiver circuitry;

wireless transceiver circuitry; and

processing circuitry coupled to the upstream transceiver circuitry and to the wireless transceiver circuitry, operable in combination to;

communicatively couple to a plurality of end point devices, a first of the plurality of end point devices having a first wireless receiver circuitry and a first wireless transmitter circuitry, a second of the plurality of end point devices having a second wireless receiver circuitry and a second wireless transmitter circuitry;

an access point having a third wireless receiver circuitry and a third wireless transmitter circuitry;

manage a protocol that adapts to enable or disable support for concurrent interfering transmissions from the first wireless transmitter and the second wireless transmitter;

direct the adaptation based on interaction with both the first of the plurality of end point devices and the second of the plurality of end point devices; and

wherein the protocol defines at least one first portion of a frame wherein transmissions are limited to single transmissions.

26. The wireless access point of claim 25, wherein concurrent interfering transmissions comprise a plurality of transmissions in a single radio band.

27. The wireless access point of claim 25, wherein the protocol defines at least one second portion of the frame wherein concurrent interfering transmissions are permitted.