VIRTUAL STREAMS FOR QOS-DRIVEN WIRELESS LANS

• US 20100103915A1
• Filed: 12/27/2009
• Published: 04/29/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lin, Wei, HO, JIN-MENG
• Granted Patent: US 7,899,012 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/215 using token-bucket
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2441 relying on flow classification, e.g. using integrated services [IntServ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/245 using preemption
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/724 at intermediate nodes, e.g. resource reservation protocol [RSVP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/765 triggered by the end-points
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/805 QOS or priority aware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/822 Collecting or measuring resource availability data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/824 Applicable to portable or mobile terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/02 Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/20 Negotiating bandwidth
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/26 Resource reservation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/08 Non-scheduled access, e.g. ALOHA hybrid access H04W74/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/00 Connection management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/02 Data link layer protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

A virtual stream (VS) in a basic service set (BSS) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) that exists solely within the medium access control (MAC) sublayer of the WLAN. The VS includes a unidirectional path in the wireless network between a station sourcing a quality of service (QoS) session and at least one station receiving the QoS session in the same BSS. The VS is defined by a VS identifier (VSID) that is unique within and local to the BSS, an address of the sourcing station, and an address of the at least one receiving station. The VS can be a virtual down-stream (VDS), a virtual up-stream (VUS) or a virtual side-stream (VSS). The VS can be a unitcast or a multicast VS.

Claims

1. A virtual stream (VS) in a basic service set (BSS) in a wireless local area network, the virtual stream comprising:

a path in the wireless local area network between a station sourcing a session and at least one station receiving the session in the same BSS;

wherein the VS is set up by a QoS management entity (QME) within a point coordinator (PC) station of the BSS to transport, under at least one predetermined QoS constraint, a traffic of the session from a local logical link control (LLC) entity to at least one peer LLC entity in the same BSS; and

wherein the PC station announces multiple transmission opportunities in a single frame.

2. The VS of claim 1, wherein the wireless local area network includes a distributed contention scheme under control of a distributed coordination function contained in each said station and the PC station controls a centralized contention scheme that functions in addition to the distributed contention scheme.

3. The VS of claim 1, wherein the QME of the PC-station reserves an associated resource of the BSS for the VS set up for the QoS session.

4. The VS of claim 3, wherein the reserved resource is a predetermined bandwidth of a communication link of the BSS.

5. The VS of claim 1, wherein the path is defined by a VS identifier (VSID), an address of the sourcing station, and an address of the at least one receiving station.

6. The VS of claim 5, wherein the VSID is unique within, and local to, the BSS.

7. The VS of claim 1, wherein the VS exists solely within a medium access control (MAC) sub layer of the wireless network.

8. The VS of claim 1, wherein the QME of the PC-station releases an associated resource of the BSS reserved for the VS, when the VS is torn down at a termination of the session.

9. The VS of claim 1, wherein the VS is a virtual down-stream (VDS), wherein the station sourcing the session is a PC-station of the BSS, and wherein the at least one station receiving the session is at least one non-PC station of the BSS.

10. The VS of claim 1, wherein the VS is a virtual up-stream (VUS), wherein the station sourcing the session is a non-PC station of the BSS, and wherein the one station receiving the session is the PC station of the BSS.

11. The VS of claim 1, wherein the VS is a virtual side-stream (VSS), wherein the station sourcing the session is a non-PC station of the BSS, and wherein the at least one station receiving the session is a non-PC station of the BSS.

12. The VS of claim 1, wherein the VS is a unicast VS, wherein the station sourcing the session is one of a PC-station and a non-PC station of the BSS, and wherein the at least one station receiving the session is one of a PC station and a non-PC station of the BSS.

13. The VS of claim 1, wherein the VS is a multicast VS, wherein the station sourcing the session is one of a PC-station and a non-PC station of the BSS, and wherein a plurality of stations of the same BSS receive the session.

14. A virtual stream (VS) in a basic service set (BSS) in a wireless local area network, the virtual stream comprising:

a path in the wireless local area network between a station sourcing a session and at least one station receiving the session in the same BSS;

wherein the VS is set up by a QoS management entity (QME) within a point coordinator (PC) station of the BSS to transport, under at least one predetermined QoS constraint, a traffic of the session from a local logical link control (LLC) entity to at least one peer LLC entity in the same BSS;

wherein the wireless local area network includes a distributed contention scheme under control of a distributed coordination function contained in each said station and the PC station controls a centralized contention scheme that functions in addition to the distributed contention scheme and

wherein the VS comprises a unicast VS.

15. The VS of claim 14, wherein the VS is a virtual down-stream (VDS), wherein the station sourcing the session is a PC-station of the BSS, and wherein the at least one station receiving the session is at least one non-PC station of the BSS.

16. The VS of claim 14, wherein the VS is a virtual up-stream (VUS), wherein the station sourcing the session is a non-PC station of the BSS, and wherein the one station receiving the session is the PC station of the BSS.

17. The VS of claim 14, wherein the VS is a virtual side-stream (VSS), wherein the station sourcing the session is a non-PC station of the BSS, and wherein the at least one station receiving the session is a non-PC station of the BSS.

18. A virtual stream (VS) in a basic service set (BSS) in a wireless local area network, the virtual stream comprising;

a path in the wireless local area network between a station sourcing a session and at least one station receiving the session in the same BSS;

wherein the VS is set up by a QoS management entity (QME) within a point coordinator (PC) station of the BSS to transport, under at least one predetermined QoS constraint, a traffic of the session from a local logical link control (LLS) entity to at least one peer LLC entity in the same BSS;

wherein the wireless local area network includes a distributed contention scheme under control of a distributed coordination function contained in each said station and the PC station controls a centralized contention scheme that functions in addition to the distributed contention scheme; and

wherein the VS comprises a multicast VS.

19. The VS of claim 18, wherein the VS is a virtual down-stream (VDS), wherein the station sourcing the session is a PC-station of the BSS;

and wherein the at least one station receiving the session is at least one non-PC station of the BSS.

20. The VS of claim 18, wherein the VS is a virtual up-stream (VUS), wherein the station sourcing the session is a non-PC station of the BSS, and wherein the one station receiving the session is the PC station of the BSS.