Systems and Methods to Provision Quality of Service Sensitive Devices in Wireless Local Area Networks

• US 20130308447A1
• Filed: 05/14/2013
• Published: 11/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Futurewei Technologies Incorporated (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Cheng, Ho-Ting, Aboul-Magd, Osama, Sun, Sheng, Suh, Junghoon, Dao, Ngoc-Dung, Stephenne, Alex
• Granted Patent: US 9,131,472 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/26 Resource reservation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/14 Reselecting a network or an air interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/02 Hybrid access
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/04 Scheduled access hybrid access H04W74/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/08 Non-scheduled access, e.g. ALOHA hybrid access H04W74/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

System and method embodiments are provided for provisioning a quality of cellular user experience (QoE) or quality of service (QoS) specified device in a wireless local area network (LAN). The embodiments enable a QoE or QoS specified by a service agreement for a device to be maintained during periods when the device is transmitting data to and receiving data from the wireless LAN (e.g., a WiFi hotspot). In an embodiment, a method includes determining that at least one QoS-sensitive device is communicating with a wireless LAN access point (AP), reserving a contention free period (CFP) in a superframe for the at least one QoS-sensitive device to communicate with the AP, and allocating a contention period (CP) in the superframe for non-QoS-sensitive devices to communicate with the AP, wherein the non-QoS-sensitive devices are prohibited from transmitting during the CFP.

Claims

1. A method for provisioning quality of service (QoS)-sensitive devices in a wireless local area network (LAN), the method comprising:

determining that at least one QoS-sensitive device is communicating with a wireless LAN access point (AP);

reserving a contention free period (CFP) in a superframe for the at least one QoS-sensitive device to communicate with the AP; and

allocating a contention period (CP) in the superframe for non-QoS-sensitive devices to communicate with the AP,

wherein the non-QoS-sensitive devices are prohibited from transmitting during the CFP.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a time duration for the CFP.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the time duration for the CFP is determined according to a number of QoS-sensitive devices, cellular user equipment (UE), or both.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the time duration for the CFP is determined according to QoS requirements for the QoS-sensitive devices.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

assigning a newly joining QoS-sensitive device to communicate during the CP when a number of QoS-sensitive devices in a coverage area for the AP exceeds a maximum.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the AP comprises an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 enabled AP.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising reassigning an QoS-sensitive device configured to communicate during the CFP to communicate during the CP when a new QoS-sensitive device joins the wireless LAN, wherein the new QoS-sensitive device comprises a higher priority QoS.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the QoS-sensitive devices are cellular devices.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a transmission schedule for a first one of the devices in a wireless LAN coverage area, wherein the transmission schedule specifies whether the first one of the devices transmits during the CFP or the CP.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first one of the devices transmits during the CFP and wherein the transmission schedule specifies a time within the CFP for the first one of the devices to transmit.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein determining a transmission schedule further comprises:

determining a respective token for the first one of the devices; and

transmitting the respective token to the first one of the devices,

wherein the respective token specifies whether the first one of the devices transmits during the CFP or the CP.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first one of the devices is a first QoS-sensitive device and further comprising:

transmitting an information message to a radio resource management (RRM) manager, wherein the information message comprises performance of the first QoS-sensitive device, token information, and total duration of CFPs.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving an updated RRM strategy from the RRM manager, wherein the updated RRM strategy is determined by the RRM manager according to the information message.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising forwarding the updated RRM strategy to the first QoS-sensitive device.

15. A network component configured provisioning quality of service (QoS)-sensitive devices in a wireless local area network (LAN), comprising:

a processor; and

a computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the processor, the programming including instructions to;

determine that at least one QoS-sensitive device is communicating with a wireless LAN access point (AP);

reserve a contention free period (CFP) in a superframe for the at least one QoS-sensitive device to communicate with the AP; and

allocate a contention period (CP) in the superframe for non-QoS-sensitive devices to communicate with the AP,

wherein the non-QoS-sensitive devices are prohibited from transmitting during the CFP.

16. The network component of claim 15, wherein the programming further comprise instructions to determine a time duration for the CFP.

17. The network component of claim 16, wherein the time duration for the CFP is determined according to a number of QoS-sensitive devices.

18. The network component of claim 16, wherein the time duration for the CFP is determined according to QoS requirements for the QoS-sensitive devices.

19. The network component of claim 15, wherein the programming further comprises instructions to assign a newly joining QoS-sensitive device to communicate during the CP when a number of QoS-sensitive devices in a coverage area for the AP exceeds a maximum.

20. The network component of claim 15, wherein the AP comprises an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 enabled AP.

21. The network component of claim 15, wherein the programming further comprises instructions to reassign an QoS-sensitive device configured to communicate during the CFP to communicate during the CP when a new QoS-sensitive device joins the wireless LAN, wherein the new QoS-sensitive device comprises a higher priority QoS.

22. The network component of claim 15, wherein the QoS-sensitive devices are cellular devices.

23. The network component of claim 15, wherein the programming further comprises instructions to:

determine a transmission schedule for a first one of the devices in a wireless LAN coverage area, wherein the transmission schedule specifies whether the first one of the devices transmits during the CFP or the CP.

24. The network component of claim 23, wherein the first one of the devices transmits during the CFP and wherein the transmission schedule specifies a time within the CFP for the first one of the devices to transmit.

25. The network component of claim 23, wherein the programming further comprises instructions to:

determine a respective token for the first one of the devices; and

transmit the respective token to the first one of the devices,

wherein the respective token specifies whether the first one of the devices transmits during the CFP or the CP.

26. The network component of claim 25, wherein the first one of the devices is a first QoS-sensitive device and wherein the programming further comprises instructions to transmit an information message to a radio resource management (RRM) manager, wherein the information message comprises performance of a first QoS-sensitive device, token information, and total duration of CFPs.

27. The network component of claim 26, wherein the programming further comprises instructions to receive an updated RRM strategy from the RRM manager, wherein the updated RRM strategy is determined by the RRM manager according to the information message.

28. The network component of claim 27, wherein the programming further comprises instructions to forward the updated RRM strategy to the first QoS-sensitive device.

29. A method for provision quality of cellular user experience (QoE) in a wireless local area network (LAN), the method comprising:

scheduling a cellular device to transmit/receive data to/from an access point (AP) of the wireless LAN during a contention free period (CFP); and

scheduling a non-cellular device to transmit/receive to/from the access point only during a contention period (CP).

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising determining a time duration for the CFP.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the time duration for the CFP is determined according to a number of cellular devices in a coverage area of the wireless LAN.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the time duration for the CFP is determined according to quality of service (QoS) requirements for the cellular devices.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein the AP comprises an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 enabled AP.