Range extender (RE) placement using fine timing measurement (FTM) procedure in a wireless local area network (WLAN)

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11785485-B2
Application number	US-202017013436-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 4, 2020
Priority date	Sep 4, 2020
Publication date	Oct 10, 2023
Grant date	Oct 10, 2023

Abstract

This disclosure provides methods, apparatuses and systems for placing a range extender (RE) based on a distance between the RE and an access point (AP). An RE may determine a distance between the RE and AP based on round trip timing (RTT) information. In some aspects, the RE may exchange fine timing measurement (FTM) frames with the AP. The RE may determine a distance between itself and the AP based on the RTT information. Based on the distance between the RE and AP, the RE may provide a coarse placement indicator for improving the RE's location. The RE also may determine a signal strength or channel state information (CSI) with respect to the AP. Based on the signal strength or the CSI, the RE may provide a fine placement indicator indicating the RE may be placed nearer or further from the AP, or remain at its current location.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for wireless communication in a wireless local area network (WLAN) performed by an apparatus of a first WLAN device, comprising:
determining a first distance from the first WLAN device to a second WLAN device based, at least in part, on fine timing measurement (FTM) frames exchanged with the second WLAN device;
determining whether the first WLAN device is located within a distance range of the second WLAN device based, at least in part, on the first distance;
determining channel state information (CSI) associated with the second WLAN device in response to the first WLAN device being within the distance range, the CSI including a receiver CSI (CSIR) and a transmitter CSI (CSIT);
comparing a difference between the CSIT and the CSIR to one or more CSI thresholds; and
providing a fine placement indicator based on the comparison.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR to one or more CSI thresholds comprises:
determining that the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR is less than a first CSI threshold of the one or more CSI thresholds, the first CSI threshold indicating one or more of scattering, fading and power decay over distance for the distance range.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein providing the fine placement indicator comprises:
providing the fine placement indicator indicating to move the first WLAN device nearer to the second WLAN device, in response to determining that the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR is less than the first CSI threshold.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR to one or more CSI thresholds comprises:
determining that the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR is greater than a second CSI threshold of the one or more CSI thresholds, the second CSI threshold indicating one or more of scattering, fading and power decay over distance for the distance range.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein providing the fine placement indicator comprises:
providing the fine placement indicator indicating to move the first WLAN device farther from the second WLAN device, in response to determining that the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR is greater than the second CSI threshold.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR to one or more CSI thresholds comprises:
determining that the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR is greater than or equal to a first CSI threshold of the one or more CSI thresholds, the first CSI threshold indicating a minimum CSI for the distance range, and
determining that the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR is less than or equal to a second CSI threshold of the one or more CSI thresholds, the second CSI threshold indicating a maximum CSI for the distance range.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein providing the fine placement indicator comprises:
providing the fine placement indicator indicating the first WLAN device to remain at a current location, in response to determining that the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR is greater than or equal to the first CSI threshold and the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR is less than or equal to the second CSI threshold.

8. A wireless communication apparatus of a first wireless local area network (WLAN) device, comprising:
one or more interfaces for communicating via a wireless local area network (WLAN); and
one or more processors configured to:
determine a first distance from the first WLAN device to a second WLAN device based, at least in part, on fine timing measurement (FTM) frames exchanged with the second WLAN device via the one or more interfaces;
determine whether the first WLAN device is located within a distance range of the second WLAN device based, at least in part, on the first distance;
determine channel state information (CSI) associated with the second WLAN device in response to the first WLAN device being within the distance range, the CSI including a receiver CSI (CSIR) and a transmitter CSI (CSIT);
compare a difference between the CSIT and the CSIR to one or more CSI thresholds; and
output a fine placement indicator based on the comparison.

9. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors configured to compare the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR to one or more CSI thresholds are further configured to:
determine that the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR is less than a first CSI threshold of the one or more CSI thresholds, the first CSI threshold indicating one or more of scattering, fading and power decay over distance for the distance range.

10. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors configured to provide the fine placement indicator are further configured to:
provide the fine placement indicator indicating to move the first WLAN device nearer to the second WLAN device, in response to determining that the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR is less than the first CSI threshold.

11. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors configured to compare the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR to one or more CSI thresholds are further configured to:
determine that the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR is greater than a second CSI threshold of the one or more CSI thresholds, the second CSI threshold indicating one or more of scattering, fading and power decay over distance for the distance range.

12. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors configured to provide the fine placement indicator are further configured to:
provide the fine placement indicator indicating to move the first WLAN device farther from the second WLAN device, in response to determining that the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR is greater than the second CSI threshold.

13. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors configured to compare the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR to one or more CSI thresholds are further configured to:
determine that the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR is greater than or equal to a first CSI threshold of the one or more CSI thresholds, the first CSI threshold indicating a minimum CSI for the distance range; and
determine that the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR is less than or equal to a second CSI threshold of the one or more CSI thresholds, the second CSI threshold indicating a maximum CSI for the distance range.

14. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors configured to provide the fine placement indicator are further configured to:
provide the fine placement indicator indicating the first WLAN device to remain at a current location, in response to determining that the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR is greater than or equal to the first CSI threshold and the difference between the CSIT and the CSIR is less than or equal to the second CSI threshold.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising processor-executable program code configured to cause one or more processors to:
determine a first distance from a first WLAN device to a second WLAN device based, at least in part, on fine timing measurement (FTM) frames exchanged with the second WLAN device;
determine whether the first WLAN device is located within a distance range of the second WLAN device based, at least in part, on the first distance;
determine channel state information (CSI

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Chennichetty Prakash
• Sekar Manoj
• Nagendran Thanigaivel
• Anantharaman Subramanian
• Natarajan Sreekanth

Classifications

• H04W24/08 Primary

  Testing, {supervising or monitoring} using real traffic · CPC title

• H04W4/021

  Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences · CPC title

• H04W4/023

  using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds · CPC title

• H04W16/26 Primary

  Cell enhancers {or enhancement}, e.g. for tunnels, building shadow · CPC title

• H04W24/02

  Arrangements for optimising operational condition · CPC title