Preemption via low and high power states in a wireless network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12520247-B2
Application number	US-202318309710-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 28, 2023
Priority date	Apr 28, 2023
Publication date	Jan 6, 2026
Grant date	Jan 6, 2026

Abstract

A preemption service in a wireless network is described. The preemption network increases the reliability of preemption traffic to be quickly delivered over the wireless network. The active preemption service in wireless networks causes the devices in a wireless network to enter a low transmit power state where every device transmits at a power lower than a high or maximum transmission power. Preemption traffic is transmitted from authorized devices at a high or maximum power, over the lower power transmissions, in order to provide an increased guarantee that the preemption traffic will arrive at the intended recipient.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A method comprising:
advertising, at an Access Point (AP), a preemption service capability for a basic service set (BSS) associated with the AP; upon receiving an authorization request from a client device in the BSS, authorizing the client device to transmit preempting traffic at a high power during a preemption state; activating the preemption state for the BSS by causing a plurality of client devices in the BSS to enter a low transmit power state to provide for preempting traffic in the BSS; receiving preempting (UL) traffic at the AP from the authorized client device that was transmitted at the high power; and transmitting control response frames from the preempting UL traffic from the authorized client device as preempting response transmissions.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the AP receives the authorization request from the client device during an association sequence.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the authorized client device is allowed to transmit over only non-preempting UL network traffic.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein authorizing the client device further comprises:
determining a traffic type for the authorization request; generating a preemption authorization for only traffic of the traffic type from the authorized client device; and providing the preemption authorization to the authorized client device.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein activating the preemption state further comprises:
causing the plurality of client devices in the BSS to transmit short downlink (DL) transmissions.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein activating the preemption state further comprises:
causing the plurality of client devices in the BSS to transmit uplink (UL) transmissions in an alternating pattern.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the AP causes the plurality of client devices in the low transmit power state to transmit at a respective transmission power level based on a respective proximity of each client device to the AP, wherein each client device in the plurality of client devices is heard by the AP at a same power level.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the low transmit power state at each device in the plurality of client devices comprises transmitting 15-20 decibels (dB) less than a respective maximum transmission power.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
reserving a resource unit (RU) for AP preemption transmissions; and transmitting a preempting DL transmission to a client in the BSS during the reserved RU.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting a preempting downlink (DL) transmission over a non-preempting UL transmission.

11 . A method comprising:
determining, at a client device, a preemption service capability is available for a basic service set (BSS) associated with an access point (AP); transmitting an authorization request to the AP; receiving a preemption authorization from the AP; upon receiving an indication of an active preemption state for the BSS:
transmitting non-preempting traffic in a low transmit power state;
transmitting preempting uplink (UL) traffic to the AP over non-preempting traffic in the BSS at a high transmission power; and
receiving preempting response transmission from the AP.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the client device transmits authorization request to the AP during an association sequence.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the client device is allowed to transmit over only non-preempting UL network traffic, and wherein the method further comprises:
inspecting network traffic in the BSS; and upon determining the network traffic is non-preempting traffic, transmitting the preempting traffic over the network traffic in the BSS.

14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the authorization request comprises a traffic type for preemption, wherein the client device is authorized to preempt network traffic for only traffic of the traffic type.

15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein during the active preemption state the method further comprises:
transmitting short uplink (UL) transmissions in an alternating pattern with downlink (DL) transmissions.

16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein transmitting non-preempting traffic comprises transmitting the non-preempting traffic at 15-20 decibels (dB) less than the high transmission power.

17 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
receiving a preempting DL transmission from the AP during a reserved resource unit (RU) for AP preemption transmissions.

18 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
receiving a preempting downlink (DL) transmission from the AP over a non-preempting UL transmission.

19 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising transmitting a preemption state request to the AP for the BSS to activate the preemption service.

20 . An access point (AP), comprising:
a processor; and a memory comprising instructions which, when executed on the processor, performs an operation, the operation comprising:
advertising a preemption service capability for a basic service set (BSS) associated with the AP;
upon receiving an authorization request from a client device in the BSS, authorizing the client device to transmit preempting traffic at a high power during a preemption state;
activating the preemption state for the BSS by:
causing a plurality of client devices in the BSS to enter a low transmit power state to provide for preempting traffic in the BSS;
receiving preempting (UL) traffic at the AP from the authorized client device; and
transmitting control response frames from the preempting UL traffic from the authorized client device as preempting response transmissions.

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Hart Brian D
• Silverman Matthew A
• Smith Malcolm M

Classifications

• H04W28/0268

  using specific QoS parameters for wireless networks, e.g. QoS class identifier [QCI] or guaranteed bit rate [GBR] (negotiating SLA or negotiating QoS H04W28/24) · CPC title

• H04W28/0221

  power availability or consumption · CPC title

• H04W72/569

  of the traffic information · CPC title

• H04W52/0209

  in terminal devices · CPC title

• H04W52/281 Primary

  taking into account user or data type priority · CPC title