Basic service set (BSS) configuration in a multiple access point (multi-AP) network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11659448-B2
Application number	US-202017079247-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 23, 2020
Priority date	Oct 23, 2019
Publication date	May 23, 2023
Grant date	May 23, 2023

Abstract

This disclosure provides methods, devices and systems for controlling basic service set (BSS) configuration of an access point (AP) in a multi-AP network. The multi-AP network may include a first AP that manages a first basic service set (BSS) and a second AP that manages a second BSS. The first BSS and the second BSS may share one or more wireless channels or may have overlapping coverage areas. A multi-AP controller may determine a BSS configuration policy (such as a maximum transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration) for the second BSS based on a type of traffic in the first BSS. This disclosure includes techniques for sharing traffic characteristics, determining the BSS configuration policy, communicating the BSS configuration policy, and controlling the BSS configuration policies for multiple BSSs so that one of the BSSs can provide a quality of service (QoS) for one or more stations (STAs).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for wireless communication by a multiple access point (multi-AP) controller, comprising:
receiving traffic classification information associated with communications between a first access point (AP) of a multi-AP network and one or more wireless stations (STAs) in a first basic service set (BSS) managed by the first AP;
determining a BSS configuration policy for a second BSS managed by a second AP of the multi-AP network based on the traffic classification information; and
transmitting, to the second AP, a first message that indicates the BSS configuration policy.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a type of traffic being transmitted or received by the one or more STAs in the first BSS based on the traffic classification information; and
determining the BSS configuration policy based, at least in part, on the type of traffic.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that the first BSS and the second BSS utilize a same wireless channel;
wherein determining the BSS configuration policy includes selecting a maximum transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration for the BSS configuration policy based on the traffic classification information for the one or more STAs in the first BSS, and wherein the maximum TXOP duration limits an amount of time that the second BSS is permitted to utilize the wireless channel after winning a contention for the wireless channel.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving one or more neighbor AP report messages from a plurality of APs of the multi-AP network;
determining that the first BSS and the second BSS are neighboring BSSs based, at least in part, on the one or more neighbor AP report messages; and
determining the BSS configuration policy when the first BSS and second BSs are neighboring BSSs.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining a quantity of neighboring BSSs, including the first BSS and the second BSS, that have co-channel interference based on the one or more neighbor AP report messages; and
determining the BSS configuration policy based, at least in part, on the quantity of neighboring BSSs.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining an amount of co-channel interference between that the first BSS and the second BSS based, at least in part, on the one or more neighbor AP report messages; and
determining the BSS configuration policy based on the amount of co-channel interference.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the amount of co-channel interference includes:
receiving, from the first AP, a received signal strength indication (RSSI) that indicates a signal strength of the second AP as measured by the first AP; and
determining the amount of co-channel interference based, at least in part, on the RSSI.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
determining whether the amount of co-channel interference is above a co-channel interference threshold; and
determining the BSS configuration policy for the second BSS when the amount of co-channel interference is above the co-channel interference threshold.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the traffic classification information includes at least one member selected from a group consisting of a latency quality-of-service (QoS) requirement, a traffic type, a service identifier, a traffic timing pattern, a user-configurable QoS setting, and a network-configurable QoS setting.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the BSS configuration policy for the second BSS includes:
determining one or more quality of service (QoS) parameters for the one or more STAs in the first BSS based on the traffic classification information; and
determining the BSS configuration policy for the second BSS based on the one or more QoS parameters for the one or more STAs in the first BSS, wherein the BSS configuration policy limits an amount of time that the second BSS is permitted to utilize a wireless channel before the second BSS has to contend for access to the wireless channel such that the first BSS has an opportunity to win a subsequent contention for the wireless channel to satisfy the one or more QoS parameters.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the one or more QoS parameters include a latency value, and wherein the BSS configuration policy includes a maximum transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration for the second BSS based on the latency value.

12. The method of claim 11 ,
wherein the maximum TXOP duration for the BSS configuration policy of the second BSS is a first value when a type of traffic of the one or more STAs in the first BSS includes one or more of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) traffic, video conferencing traffic, or gaming traffic; and
wherein the maximum TXOP duration is a second value when the type of traffic is internet video streaming traffic.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the BSS configuration policy for the second BSS based on the traffic classification information for the one or more STAs in the first BSS includes:
adapting one or more settings of the BSS configuration policy using a machine learning algorithm that balances airtime for the first BSS and the second BSS based on traffic classification information associated with the first BSS and the second BSS, respectively.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that a third AP manages a third BSS that is part of a multi-hop wireless path between the one or more STAs in the first BSS and another device; and
transmitting a second message to the third AP that indicates a BSS configuration policy for the third BSS.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the BSS configuration policy to the second AP causes the second AP to set one or more contention-based access parameters of a BSS configuration for the second BSS based on the BSS configuration policy.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the multi-AP controller is included in, or part of, an AP of the multi-AP network.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising managing BSS configuration policies for a plurality of APs of the multi-AP network in accordance with a multi-AP protocol specification that defines a control relationship between the multi-AP controller and respective multi-AP protocol agents in each of the plurality of APs.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first message is formatted as an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1905 message structured to include the BSS configuration policy in accordance with a multi-AP protocol specification.

19. A method for wireless communication by a first access point (AP) of a multi-AP network, comprising:
receiving a first message that indicates a basic service set (BSS) configuration policy for a first BSS managed by the first AP, wherein the BSS configuration policy is based, at least in part, on traffic classification information associated with communications between one or more stations (STAs) in a second BSS managed by a second AP of the multi-AP network; and
setting a BSS configuration setting for the first BSS based, at least in part, on the BSS configuration policy indicated in the first message.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the BSS configuration policy indicates a maximum transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration, and wherein the maximum TXOP duration limits an amount of time that the first AP or one or more STAs in the first BSS is permitted to utilize a wireless channel after winning a contention for the wirel

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Huang Xiaolong
• Katar Srinivas
• Bhushan Bharat

Classifications

• H04W74/0816

  with collision avoidance · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title

• H04W24/02

  Arrangements for optimising operational condition · CPC title

• H04W92/12

  between access points and access point controllers · CPC title

• H04W88/08

  Access point devices · CPC title