Method and apparatus for acquiring available channel information in a wireless local area network system

• US 9,049,686 B2
• Filed: 11/07/2013
• Issued: 06/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Kim, Eun Sun, Seok, Yong Ho
• Primary Examiner(s): Alam, Fayyaz
• Application Number:
  US14/074,276
• Publication Number:
  US 20140087778A1
• Time in Patent Office: 572 Days
• Field of Search: 455450-455, 455 411- 413, 370315-320
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/002 Transmission of channel access control information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for acquiring/providing available channel information using Generic Advertisement Service (GAS) protocol in a wireless local area network (WLAN) are disclosed. AP (Access Point) station has a capability to acquire information for available channels from a database using a specific protocol related to an operation within the White Space (e.g. Access Network Query Protocol (ANQP)). And, non-AP station can retrieve the information for available channels by transmitting a Generic Advertisement Service (GAS) initial request frame to the AP station, wherein the GAS initial request frame comprises an Advertisement Protocol Element whose element ID indicates the specific protocol, and receiving a GAS initial response frame comprising a White Space Map (WSM) the specific protocol. The WSM comprises one or more white space channel units, and each of the white space channel units comprises a channel number field indicating one of the available channels and a power constraint field indicating a maximum allowable power on the indicated channel.

Claims

1. A method for a first station to provide channel availability information to a second station in a wireless local area network (WLAN), the method comprising:

receiving, by the first station from the second station, a request frame for requesting the channel availability information, the request frame including a generic advertisement service (GAS) protocol element;

accessing, by the first station, a database to obtain information on available frequencies; and

transmitting, by the first station to the second station, a response frame for responding with the channel availability information,

wherein the response frame includes the GAS protocol element, wherein the GAS protocol element included in the response frame includes a white space map (WSM) including the information on the available frequencies, and

wherein the GAS protocol element is used by the first station and the second station, before the second station is associated with the WLAN.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the GAS protocol element includes an info ID field indicating whether the GAS protocol element is related to the channel availability information or not.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the request frame is a GAS initial request frame; and

the response frame is a GAS initial response frame.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the database provides a list of available channels for the location of the first station.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the WSM includes the information on the available frequencies for a location of the first station.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the database provides a list of available channels for the location of the second station.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the WSM includes the information on the available frequencies for a location of the second station.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the GAS protocol element is a Channel Availability Query Registered Location Query Protocol (RLQP) element.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, by the first station to the second station, an enabling signal;

receiving, by the first station from the second station, an enablement request frame; and

transmitting, by the first station to the second station, an enablement response frame,

wherein the enablement response frame includes the WSM.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the first station operates as an enabling station; and

the second station operates as a dependent station.

10. A method for a second station to obtain channel availability information from a first station in a wireless local area network (WLAN), the method comprising:

transmitting, by the second station to the first station, a request frame for requesting the channel availability information, the request frame including a generic advertisement service (GAS) protocol element; and

receiving, by the second station from the first station, a response frame for responding with the channel availability information,

wherein the response frame includes the GAS protocol element, wherein the GAS protocol element included in the response frame includes a white space map (WSM) including information on the available frequencies,

wherein the first station accesses a database to obtain the information on available frequencies, and

wherein the GAS protocol element is used by the first station and the second station, before the second station is associated with the WLAN.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein:

the first station operates as an enabling station; and

the second station operates as a dependent station.

11. An apparatus of a first station to provide channel availability information in a wireless local area network (WLAN), the apparatus comprising:

a transceiver; and

a processor configured to;

control the transceiver to receive, from a second station, a request frame for requesting the channel availability information, the request frame including a generic advertisement service (GAS) protocol element;

access a database to obtain information on available frequencies; and

control the transceiver to transmit, to the second station, a response frame for responding with the channel availability information,

wherein the response frame includes the GAS protocol element,

wherein the GAS protocol element included in the response frame includes a white space map (WSM) including the information on the available frequencies, and

wherein the GAS protocol element is used by the first station and the second station, before the second station is associated with the WLAN.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein:

the first station is configured to operate as an enabling station; and

the second station is configured to operate as a dependent station.

12. An apparatus of a second station to obtain channel availability information from a first station in a wireless local area network (WLAN), the apparatus comprising:

a transceiver; and

a processor configured to control the transceiver to;

transmit, to the first station, a request frame for requesting the channel availability information, the request frame including a generic advertisement service (GAS) protocol element; and

receive, from the first station, a response frame for responding with the channel availability information,

wherein the response frame includes the GAS protocol element,

wherein the GAS protocol element included in the response frame includes a white space map (WSM) including information on the available frequencies,

wherein the first station accesses a database to obtain the information on available frequencies, and

wherein the GAS protocol element is used by the first station and the second station, before the second station is associated with the WLAN.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein:

the first station is configured to operate as an enabling station; and

the second station is configured to operate as a dependent station.