Signal strength guided intra-cell upstream data forwarding

• US 9,504,051 B2
• Filed: 11/23/2015
• Issued: 11/22/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property II LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ji, Lusheng
• Primary Examiner(s): Lai, Andrew
• Assistant Examiner(s): HENSON, JAMAAL R
• Application Number:
  US14/949,151
• Publication Number:
  US 20160081102A1
• Time in Patent Office: 365 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/22 using selective relaying for reaching a BTS [Base Transceiver Station] or an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 Control channels or signalling for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/542 using measured or perceived quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

Abstract

Intra-cell upstream data forwarding can be utilized in a wireless network such as a wireless local area network. A network forwarding path can be determined based on the signal strength of an access point signal received at client stations within the network, referred to as the observed access point signal strength (OASS). In particular embodiments, a station that is either originating or forwarding a frame can insert its own OASS into the frame before transmitting it and a client station that receives a frame can forward it only if its own OASS exceeds the frame-enclosed OASS, by at least a predetermined amount.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining, by a first device comprising a processor, a first signal strength from first signal strength data associated with the first device;

receiving, by the first device from a second device, second signal strength data representative of a second signal strength associated with the second device;

comparing, by the first device, the first signal strength data to the second signal strength data;

inserting, by the first device, an indication of the first signal strength associated with the first signal strength data, after a media access control header;

and based on the comparing, forwarding, by the device, message data comprising the indication of the first signal strength to a third device in response to a determination the first signal strength exceeds the second signal strength.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

forwarding, by the first device, a media access control frame insert to the third device as a function of the second signal strength.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of the first signal strength is a first indication, and further comprising:

inserting, by the first device into a media access control frame, a second indication of the second signal strength of the second device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the first device, whether the message data has previously been forwarded to the third device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

inserting, by the first device, the first signal strength data field associated with the first signal strength data into a media access control frame of a wireless fidelity media access control layer.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the inserting the first signal strength data field comprises inserting the first signal strength data field into the media access control header of the wireless fidelity media access control layer.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the inserting the first signal strength data field comprises inserting the first signal strength data field before a frame body.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the first device, the message data from the second device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the inserting comprises inserting the indication of the first signal strength before a frame check sequence field.

5. The method of 4, wherein the indication of the first signal strength is a first indication, and wherein the determining whether the message data has previously been forwarded to the third device further comprises:

receiving a second indication that the message data has previously been forwarded to the third device.

11. A system, comprising:

a processor;

and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

comparing first signal strength data related to a first signal strength of a first device to second signal strength data related to a second signal strength of a second device;

receiving message data addressed to a third device;

inserting a first signal strength indicator in a data field associated with the first signal strength data before a frame body;

and in response to a condition associated with the first signal strength being determined to have been satisfied and based on a result of the comparing, forwarding the message data comprising the indication of the first signal strength to the third device.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving the first signal strength data from the first device.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving the second signal strength data from the second station device.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the condition being satisfied comprises a determination that the first signal strength is greater than the second signal strength by a predetermined factor associated with an observed access point signal strength.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the predetermined factor is a negative number.

16. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

receiving a media access control frame by a first node device from second node device;

comparing first signal strength data related to a first signal strength of the first node device to second signal strength data related to a second signal strength of the second node device;

inserting a first signal strength indicator, in a data field associated with the first signal strength data, between a media access control header and a frame body;

determining that the first node device is an access point device;

based on the comparing, sending acknowledgement data associated with the media access control frame to the second node device, and sending message data comprising the indication of the first signal strength to the third device.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

transmitting the media access control frame to the third node device in response to a condition associated with the third node device being determined to have been satisfied.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the condition being satisfied comprises determining that the third node device is a node device of a node device network associated with the access point device.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

transmitting the media access control frame to an Ethernet local area network of the access point device in response to a condition associated with the third node device being determined not to have been satisfied.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the media access control frame is transmitted by the access point device to an Internet connected device via the Ethernet local area network.