Reconfigurable multi-radio bridge

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11202243-B2
Application number	US-201916671149-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 31, 2019
Priority date	Nov 5, 2018
Publication date	Dec 14, 2021
Grant date	Dec 14, 2021

Abstract

Methods and systems describe herein relate to a reconfigurable multi-radio bridge that may connect a local area network (LAN) with an access point (AP) or other WAP to the backhaul and may dynamically change and/or select transmission methods. An example implementation of a reconfigurable multi-radio bridge performs a method including discovering a topology of a network that includes one or more wireless stations (STAs), evaluating a metric for each of at least two routes discovered in the topology, receiving a packet that identifies a first STA of the one or more STAs as an intended destination of the packet, selecting a route of the at least two routes over which to send the packet based on the metric, and sending the packet from a reconfigurable multi-radio bridge over the selected route toward the first STA.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
discovering a topology of a network that includes a first wireless station (STA), a second STA, and an access point (AP);
evaluating a metric for each of at least two routes discovered in the topology;
receiving a first packet that identifies the first STA as an intended destination of the first packet;
selecting a route of the at least two routes over which to send the first packet based on the metric, each of the at least two routes reaching the first STA;
sending the first packet from a reconfigurable multi-radio bridge over the selected route toward the first STA; and
coordinating with the AP to effect simultaneous transmission of:
the first packet from the AP directly to the first STA over a first channel included in the selected route;
a nulling signal from the AP directly to the second STA over a second channel; and
a second packet from the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge directly to the second STA over a third channel.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving comprises receiving the first packet in a first frequency band and the sending comprises sending the first packet in a second frequency band different from the first frequency band.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving comprises converting a carrier frequency into an intermediate frequency.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sending comprises converting a baseband signal into an intermediate frequency.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising coordinating with the AP to effect simultaneous transmission of:
a third packet over the first channel from the AP directly to the first STA; and
the third packet over a fourth channel from the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge directly to the STA.

6. A method, comprising:
discovering a topology of a network that includes a wireless station (STA) and an access point (AP);
evaluating a metric for each of at least two routes discovered in the topology;
receiving a packet that identifies the STA as an intended destination of the packet;
selecting a route of the at least two routes over which to send the packet based on the metric, each of the at least two routes reaching the STA, wherein the selecting comprises selecting a route that includes one of a first channel from the AP directly to the STA or a second channel from a reconfigurable multi-radio bridge directly to the STA;
sending the packet from the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge over the selected route toward the STA, wherein the sending comprises sending the packet over one of the first channel or the second channel to the STA; and
one of:
in response to the packet being sent over the first channel, retransmitting the packet from the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge directly to the STA over the second channel; or
in response to the packet being sent over the second channel, retransmitting the packet from the AP directly to the STA over the first channel.

7. A method, comprising:
discovering a topology of a network that includes a wireless station (STA) and an access point (AP);
evaluating a metric for each of at least two routes discovered in the topology;
receiving a packet that identifies the STA as an intended destination of the packet;
selecting a route of the at least two routes over which to send the packet based on the metric, each of the at least two routes reaching the STA;
sending the packet from a reconfigurable multi-radio bridge over the selected route toward the STA, wherein the sending comprises sending the packet to the AP for the AP to send to the STA over a first link from the AP directly to the STA;
replicating a basic service set (BSS) of the AP at the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge;
establishing a second link directly between the STA and the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge; and
sending additional packets to the STA over the second link.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein at least one of:
the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge periodically replicates the BSS; and
the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge replicates the BSS in response to a BSS-replication trigger.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the BSS-replication trigger comprises at least one of:
a determination that a first interference level of the first link exceeds: a threshold interference level or a second interference level of the second link;
a determination that a first received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of the first link is less than: a threshold RSSI or a second RSSI of the second link; and
a command from the AP.

10. The method of claim 7 , further comprising terminating the BSS and the second link in response to a BSS-termination trigger.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the evaluating the metric for each of the at least two routes comprise evaluating at least one of: supported modulation and coding scheme (MCS), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), clear channel assessment (CCA) level, interference, estimated throughput, airtime, traffic priority, route congestion, and bridge/WAP load.

12. A method, comprising:
discovering a topology of a network that includes a wireless station (STA) and an access point (AP);
evaluating a metric for each of at least two routes discovered in the topology, including evaluating the metric for a first link from the AP to the STA and for a second link from a reconfigurable multi-radio bridge to the STA and determining that the first link has a better metric than the second link;
receiving a packet that identifies the STA as an intended destination of the packet;
selecting a route of the at least two routes over which to send the packet based on the metric, each of the at least two routes reaching the STA, wherein the selecting the route based on the metric comprises selecting the first link;
determining a total duration to send the packet from the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge to the AP and from the AP to the STA; and
reserving a transmit opportunity (TXOP) equal to the total duration; and
sending the packet from the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge over the selected route toward the STA, including sending the packet from the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge to the AP during a first portion of the reserved TXOP;
wherein the AP sends the packet to the STA during a remainder portion of the reserved TXOP.

13. A reconfigurable multi-radio bridge, comprising:
a first reconfigurable radio comprising a first transmit/receive (TX/RX) channel and a second TX/RX channel, wherein the first reconfigurable radio is configured to selectively transmit and receive data on the first TX/RX channel or the second TX/RX channel; and
a second reconfigurable radio comprising a third TX/RX channel and a fourth TX/RX channel, wherein the second reconfigurable radio is configured to selectively transmit and receive data on the third TX/RX channel or the fourth TX/RX channel,
wherein the first TX/RX channel comprises a first baseband (BB) circuit and the second TX/RX channel comprises the same first BB circuit;
wherein the third TX/RX channel comprises a second BB circuit and the fourth TX/RX channel comprises the same second BB circuit; and
wherein to selectively transmit and receive data, the first reconfigurable radio and the second reconfigurable radio are configured to:
discover a topology of a network that includes a wireless station (STA) and an access point (AP);
evaluate a metric for each of at least two routes discovered in the topology;
receive a packet that identifies the STA as an intended destination of the packet;
select a route of the at least two routes over which to send the first packet based on the metric, each of the at l

Assignees

• Semiconductor Components Ind Llc

Inventors

• Dash Debashis
• Dehghan-Fard Hossein
• Duxbury Simon
• Ho Wanjui

Classifications

• H04W40/12

  based on transmission quality or channel quality · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title

• H04L41/12 Primary

  Discovery or management of network topologies · CPC title

• H04W40/16

  based on interference · CPC title

• H04W40/246

  Connectivity information discovery · CPC title