System and method for quality of service control

• US 9,736,702 B2
• Filed: 01/14/2013
• Issued: 08/15/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/12/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Futurewei Technologies Incorporated (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Futurewei Technologies Incorporated (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Calcev, George, Krzymien, Lukasz, Chen, Bin, Cai, Lin
• Primary Examiner(s): EBRAHIM, ANEZ C
• Application Number:
  US13/740,866
• Publication Number:
  US 20130182592A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,674 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports

Abstract

A method for measuring delay in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) network includes measuring a delay associated with transmission of a packet through the WiFi network in response to a measurement request from a requesting device, and contending for access to a communications channel of the WiFi network after measurement of the delay. The method also includes transmitting the delay as measured to the access point using the communications channel after a successful contention.

Claims

1. A method for measuring delay in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) network, the method comprising:

measuring, by a non-access point measuring station, a delay associated with transmission of a packet through the WiFi network in response to a measurement request from a requesting device, wherein the delay is given by;

E(PD)=N_{retransmisson}*[E[backoff]+T_txcollision+T_{wait after collision}]+(E[backoff]+T_tx+T_sensing),

where E(PD) is a delay for a successful transmission, N_{retransmission} is a number of retransmissions, T_sensing is a sensing time, E[backoff] is a backoff time, T_tx is a data transmission time, T_txcollision is a time of transmission which collided with another packet, and T_{wait after collision} is a time to wait for a detection of a collision;

contending, by the non-access point measuring station, for access to a communications channel of the WiFi network after measurement of the delay; and

transmitting, by the non-access point measuring station, the delay as measured to the requesting device using the communications channel after a successful contention.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the requesting device comprises an access point of the WiFi network serving the non-access point measuring station.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the requesting device and the non-access point measuring station are served by an access point.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the retransmission time is a function of a number of retransmissions and a sum of a backoff time of a retransmission, a time of a retransmission that collided with another packet and a time to wait for a detection of a collision.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the delay is transmitted to a recipient, and wherein the method further comprises transmitting the delay to the recipient in accordance to a transmission criterion.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the measurement request includes the transmission criterion.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the transmission criterion comprises at least one of a reporting frequency, a reporting time, a reporting threshold, a type of traffic, a minimum number of packets measured, and a change threshold.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the requesting device comprises a peer station.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the request comprises a measurement request element.

10. A method for requesting a delay measurement in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) network, the method comprising:

transmitting, by a requesting device, a request to a non-access point measuring station, the request for a measurement of a delay associated with a transmission of a packet by the non-access point measuring station;

receiving, by the requesting device, a measured delay from the non-access point measuring station, wherein the measured delay is given by;

E(PD)=N_{retransmisson}*[E[backoff]+T_txcollision+T_{wait after collision}]+(E[backoff]+T_tx+T_sensing),

where E(PD) is a delay for a successful transmission, N_{retransmission} is a number of retransmissions, T_sensing is a sensing time, E[backoff] is a backoff time, T_tx is a data transmission time, T_txcollision is a time of transmission which collided with another packet, and T_{wait after collision} is a time to wait for a detection of a collision; and

operating, by the requesting device, responsive to the measured delay.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein operating responsive to the measured delay comprises at least one of adjusting admission control for a new station in accordance to the measured delay, balancing a load at a station in accordance to the measured delay, and adjusting a data rate for an existing station in accordance to the measured delay.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the request is transmitted to a plurality of stations including the non-access point measuring station.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the request is transmitted to a plurality of stations of a single type including the non-access point measuring station.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the request is transmitted in a management request frame.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the request is a measurement request element.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the request is transmitted in a beacon.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the request is transmitted on a communications channel, and wherein the method further comprises contending for access to the communications channel.

18. A non-access point measuring station comprising:

a processor of the non-access point measuring station configured to;

measure a delay associated with transmission of a packet through a wireless fidelity (WiFi) network in response to a measurement request from a requesting device, wherein the delay is given by;

E(PD)=N_{retransmisson}*[E[backoff]+T_txcollision+T_{wait after collision}]+(E[backoff]+T_tx+T_sensing),

where E(PD) is a delay for a successful transmission, N_{retransmission} is a number of retransmissions, T_sensing is a sensing time, E[backoff] is a backoff time, T_tx is a data transmission time, T_txcollision is a time of transmission which collided with another packet, and T_{wait after collision} is a time to wait for a detection of a collision; and

contend for access to a communications channel of the WiFi network after measurement of the delay; and

a transmitter operatively coupled to the processor, the transmitter configured to transmit the delay as measured to the requesting device using the communications channel after a successful contention.

19. The non-access point measuring station of claim 18, further comprising a receiver operatively coupled to the processor, the receiver configured to receive the measurement request from an access point serving the non-access point measuring station.

20. The non-access point measuring station of claim 18, further comprising a receiver operatively coupled to the processor, the receiver configured to receive the measurement request from a requesting station, wherein the requesting station and the non-access point measuring station are served by an access point.

21. The non-access point measuring station of claim 18, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit the delay to a recipient in accordance to a measurement criterion.

22. A requesting device comprising:

a transmitter configured to transmit a request to a non-access point measuring station, the request for a measurement of a delay associated with a transmission of a packet by the non-access point measuring station;

a receiver configured to receive a measured delay from the non-access point measuring station, wherein the measured delay is given by;

E(PD)=N_{retransmisson}*[E[backoff]+T_txcollision+T_{wait after collision}]+(E[backoff]+T_tx+T_sensing),

where E(PD) is a delay for a successful transmission, N_{retransmission} is a number of retransmissions, T_sensing is a sensing time, E[backoff] is a backoff time, T_tx is a data transmission time, T_txcollision is a time of transmission which collided with another packet, and T_{wait after collision} is a time to wait for a detection of a collision; and

a processor operatively coupled to the transmitter and to the receiver, the processor configured to operate responsive to the measured delay.

23. The requesting device of claim 22, wherein the processor is configured to contend for access to a communications channel used to transmit the request.

24. The requesting device of claim 22, wherein the request is transmitted in a management request frame.

25. The requesting device of claim 22, wherein the request is a measurement request element.

26. The requesting device of claim 22, wherein the request is transmitted in a beacon.

27. The requesting device of claim 22, wherein the processor is configured to adjust admission control for a new station in accordance to the measured delay, to balance a load at a station in accordance to the measured delay, and to adjust a data rate for an existing station in accordance to the measured delay.