Managing interference in a wireless network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10490043-B2
Application number	US-201715727387-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 6, 2017
Priority date	Oct 10, 2016
Publication date	Nov 26, 2019
Grant date	Nov 26, 2019

Abstract

Methods, apparatuses, and embodiments related to a technique for managing interference of communication of a wireless network in a multi-band wireless networking system. In an example wireless network with multiple wireless networking devices and one or more client devices, communications between the wireless networking devices occurs via a backhaul channel, and communication between the client(s) and the wireless networking devices occurs via a fronthaul channel. In response to detection of electromagnetic interference, a wireless networking device attempts to manage the interference, such as by adjusting a parameter associated with circuitry associated with a radio of the wireless networking device, or by other disclosed techniques.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for managing interference of communication of a Wi-Fi network, the method comprising:
identifying, by an access point (AP) Wi-Fi device, a backhaul channel to use as a primary channel for communication between the AP Wi-Fi device and a satellite Wi-Fi device, wherein the AP Wi-Fi device is a router device that is capable of forwarding data packets between communication networks, that is capable of connecting to a wired network, and that is capable of communicating with other Wi-Fi devices via a plurality of communication channels,
identifying, by the AP Wi-Fi device, a communication channel as a primary channel for communication between a client Wi-Fi device and the AP Wi-Fi device;
transmitting, by the AP Wi-Fi device, via the backhaul channel, a first message at a first transmit power to the satellite Wi-Fi device, wherein the first transmit power is determined based on reducing electromagnetic (EM) interference while enabling reliable communication to the satellite Wi-Fi device;
transmitting, by the AP Wi-Fi device, a second message at a second transmit power to the client Wi-Fi device, wherein the second transmit power is determined based on reducing EM interference while enabling reliable communication to the client Wi-Fi device;
transmitting, by the AP Wi-Fi device, a detection message at a maximum transmit power, the maximum transmit power being higher than the second transmit power, to enable detection of a currently undetected client Wi-Fi device;
transmitting, by the AP Wi-Fi device, a third message at a third transmit power, wherein the third transmit power is determined based on reducing EM interference while enabling reliable communication to the client Wi-Fi device and to the undetected client Wi-Fi device;
detecting, by the AP Wi-Fi device, an indication of EM interference; and
in response to the detection of the indication of EM interference, adjusting, by the AP Wi-Fi device, a gain parameter of circuitry associated with a radio of the AP Wi-Fi device to manage communication interference effects of the EM interference.

2. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein communication to a Wi-Fi device is reliable when messages sent to the Wi-Fi device are received with a predetermined reliability criteria, and
wherein the AP Wi-Fi device is a router device that is a layer 2 bridge device or a layer 3 gateway device.

3. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the gain parameter of the circuitry is a gain parameter of an amplifier of the circuitry.

4. The method of claim 3 ,
wherein the amplifier of the circuitry is a low noise amplifier, and wherein the adjustment of the gain parameter of the circuitry reduces gain of the low noise amplifier to reduce saturation of the circuitry.

5. The method of claim 3 ,
wherein the gain parameter of the circuitry is a gain parameter associated with a particular stage of the circuitry.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the AP Wi-Fi device being a router device includes the AP Wi-Fi device being a bridge device or a gateway device.

7. A method comprising:
identifying, by a particular Wi-Fi device that is one of an access point (AP) Wi-Fi device or a satellite Wi-Fi device, a backhaul channel to use as a primary channel for communication between the AP Wi-Fi device and the satellite Wi-Fi device;
identifying, by the particular Wi-Fi device, a second channel as a primary channel for communication between a client Wi-Fi device and the particular Wi-Fi device;
wherein the backhaul channel is capable of higher bandwidth communication than the second channel;
detecting, by the particular Wi-Fi device, an indication of electromagnetic (EM) interference;
in response to the detection of the indication of electromagnetic (EM) interference, adjusting, by the particular Wi-Fi device, a parameter associated with circuitry of a radio of the particular Wi-Fi device; and
transmitting or receiving a message, by the particular Wi-Fi device, via the radio, after the adjusting of the parameter;
wherein the method further comprises any of:
transmitting a first message at a first transmit power to the client Wi-Fi device, wherein the first transmit power is determined based on a trade-off between reducing EM interference and enabling communication to the client Wi-Fi device, transmitting a second message at a higher transmit power, the higher transmit power being more than the first transmit power, to enable detection of a discoverable client Wi-Fi device, and transmitting a third message at a second transmit power, wherein the second transmit power is determined based on a trade-off between reducing EM interference and enabling communication to any of the client Wi-Fi device or the discoverable client Wi-Fi device; or
in response to the indication of EM interference, adjusting a transmission parameter to cause a reduction in size of an internet protocol (IP) packet to shorten an amount of time taken to transmit the IP packet.

8. The method of claim 7 ,
wherein the second transmit power is more than the first transmit power and less than the higher transmit power.

9. The method of claim 7 ,
wherein the parameter associated with the circuitry is a gain parameter.

10. The method of claim 9 ,
wherein the gain parameter is associated with a particular stage of the circuitry.

11. The method of claim 9 ,
wherein the gain parameter associated with the circuitry is a gain parameter associated with an amplifier of the circuitry, and
wherein the amplifier generates an output that facilitates EM transmission via the radio.

12. The method of claim 11 ,
wherein the facilitation of the EM transmission enables improved reception of the EM transmission by a receiving Wi-Fi device.

13. The method of claim 9 ,
wherein the adjusting of the parameter causes a reduction of saturation of a gain element of an amplifier.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the gain element is a transistor.

15. The method of claim 9 ,
wherein the gain parameter affects a gain of an amplifier of the circuitry.

16. The method of claim 15 ,
wherein the amplifier of the circuitry is a low noise amplifier, and wherein the adjustment of the parameter of the circuitry reduces gain of the low noise amplifier.

17. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
in response to an indication of reduced EM interference, adjusting the transmission parameter to cause an increase in size of a second IP packet to increase a data transmission throughput.

18. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
sending, by the particular Wi-Fi device, an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11 clear to send (CTS) message to the particular Wi-Fi device to cause another Wi-Fi device to delay a transmission.

19. The method of claim 7 , wherein the adjusting of the parameter associated with the circuitry of the radio of the particular Wi-Fi device includes adjusting an energy detection threshold.

20. A Wi-Fi device comprising:
a processor;
a wireless interface coupled to the processor; and
a memory coupled to the processor and storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the Wi-Fi device to perform operations including:
identifying a backhaul channel to use as a primary channel for communication between the Wi-Fi device and a second Wi-Fi device;
identifying a second channel to use as a primary channel for communication between a client Wi-Fi device and the Wi-Fi device;
detecting, by the Wi-Fi device, an indication of electromagnetic (EM) in

Assignees

• Netgear Inc

Inventors

• Emmanuel Joseph Amalan Arul
• Amini Peiman

Classifications

• H04W72/541

  using the level of interference · CPC title

• H04W72/563

  of the wireless resources · CPC title

• H04W72/543

  based on requested quality, e.g. QoS · CPC title

• H04W72/542

  using measured or perceived quality · CPC title

• G01S5/0289

  of multiple transceivers, e.g. in ad hoc networks · CPC title