Reconfigurable multi-radio bridge

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020145895-A1
Application number	US-201916671149-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 31, 2019
Priority date	Nov 5, 2018
Publication date	May 7, 2020
Grant date	—

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 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, each of the at least two routes reaching the first STA; and sending the packet from a reconfigurable multi-radio bridge over the selected route toward the first STA.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving comprises receiving the packet in a first frequency band and the sending comprises sending the 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 , wherein the network further includes an access point (AP) and a second STA as one of the one or more STAs, the method further comprising coordinating with the AP to effect simultaneous transmission of:
the 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.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the network further includes an access point (AP), the method further comprising coordinating with the AP to effect simultaneous transmission of:
the packet over a first channel from the AP directly to the first STA; and the packet over a second channel from the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge directly to the first STA.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the network further includes an access point (AP); selecting the route over which to send the packet comprises selecting a route that includes one of a first channel from the AP directly to the first STA or a second channel from the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge directly to the first STA; sending the packet over the selected route comprises sending the packet over one of the first channel or the second channel to the first STA; and the method further comprises one of:
if the packet is sent over the first channel, retransmitting the packet from the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge directly to the first STA over the second channel; or
if the packet is sent over the second channel, retransmitting the packet from the AP directly to the first STA over the first channel.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the network further includes an access point (AP); sending the packet from the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge over the selected route comprises sending the packet to the AP for the AP to send to the first STA over a first link from the AP directly to the first STA; and the method further comprises:
replicating a basic service set (BSS) of the AP at the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge;
establishing a second link directly between the first STA and the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge; and
sending additional packets to the first STA over the second link.

9 . The method of claim 8 , 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.

10 . The method of claim 9 , 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.

11 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising terminating the BSS and the second link in response to a BSS-termination trigger.

12 . 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.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the network further includes an access point (AP); the evaluating the metric for each of the at least two routes comprises evaluating the metric for a first link from the AP to the first STA and for a second link from the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge to the first STA and determining that the first link has a better metric than the second link; the selecting the route based on the metric comprises selecting the first link; the method further comprises:
determining a total duration to send the packet from the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge to the AP and from the AP to the first STA; and
reserving a transmit opportunity (TXOP) equal to the total duration;
the sending the packet from the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge over the selected route toward the first STA comprises sending the packet from the reconfigurable multi-radio bridge to the AP during a first portion of the reserved TXOP; and the AP sends the packet to the first STA during a remainder portion of the reserved TXOP.

14 . 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.

15 . The reconfigurable multi-radio bridge of claim 14 . wherein to selectively transmit and receive data, the first reconfigurable radio and the second reconfigurable radio arc configured to:
discover a topology of a network that includes one or more wireless stations (STAs); evaluate a metric for each of at least two routes discovered in the topology; receive a packet that identifies a STA of the one or more STAs as an intended destination of the packet; select 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; and send the packet over the selected route toward the STA.

16 . The reconfigurable multi-radio bridge of claim 14 , wherein:
the first TX/RX channel comprises a first baseband (BB) circuit, a first radio frequency (RF) circuit, a first front end module (FEM), and a first antenna; the second TX/RX channel comprises the first BB circuit, a second FEM, and a second antenna; the third TX/RX channel comprises a second BB circuit, a second RF circuit, a third FEM, and a third antenna; and the fourth TX/RX channel comprises the second BB circuit, a fourth FEM, and a fourth antenna.

17 . A reconfigurable multi-radio bridge system comprising:
a network; a memory; and a processor operatively coupled to the memory, where the processor configured to:
discover a topology of the network that includ

Assignees

• Semiconductor Components Ind Llc

Inventors

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

Classifications

• H04W40/02 Primary

  Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title

• H04W40/16

  based on interference · CPC title

• H04W40/246

  Connectivity information discovery · CPC title

• H04W40/12

  based on transmission quality or channel quality · CPC title