Scaling WiFi performance for large-audience environments via access points

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9544235-B2
Application number	US-201414517488-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 17, 2014
Priority date	Oct 17, 2013
Publication date	Jan 10, 2017
Grant date	Jan 10, 2017

Abstract

A network device connecting a client station with a TCP/IP server, the device includes a transmitter configured to transmit signals from at least one of the server and the client station, and a receiver configured to receive signals from at least one of the server and the client station. The device also includes a controller. The controller is configured to determine a priority level of the network device based on a dynamic traffic load of the network device, and assign a high priority setting to a first data packet received during a predetermined period of time. Duration of the predetermined period of time is based on the priority level of the network device.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A network device connecting a client station with a TCP/IP server, the device comprising:
a receiver configured to receive a data packet from at least one selected from a group consisting of the server and the client station;
a controller coupled to the receiver and configured to
determine a priority level of the network device based on a dynamic traffic load of the network device,
wherein the controller is configured to determine the priority level of the network device from a set of priority levels that increase as the dynamic traffic load of the network device increases,

assign a high priority setting to the data packet when the data packet is received, by the network device, during a predetermined period of time, and
change the priority level of the network device in response to a change in the dynamic traffic load at the network device;
wherein a duration of the predetermined period of time is based on the priority level of the network device; and

a transmitter coupled to the controller and configured to transmit the data packet from the network device to at least one selected from the group consisting of the server and the client station.

2. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the data packet is a first data packet and the predetermined period of time is a first predetermined period of time, and wherein the controller is further configured to assign a low priority setting to a second data packet received during a second predetermined period of time.

3. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the second predetermined period of time is based on the priority level of the network device, and wherein the first predetermined period of time is inversely proportional to the second period of time.

4. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to allocate transmission channels to the first data packet faster than to the second data packet.

5. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the set of priority levels increase linearly in relation to the dynamic traffic load of the network device.

6. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the set of priority levels increase logarithmically as the dynamic traffic load of the network device increases.

7. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the set of priority levels increase logistically with respect to an increase of the dynamic traffic load of the network device.

8. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the set of priority levels increase exponentially with respect to a dynamic traffic load increase of the network device.

9. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine the dynamic traffic load of the network device based on an instantaneous transmission queue size at the network device.

10. The network device of claim 9 , wherein an instantaneous transmission queue size of zero corresponds to a lowest priority level and a maximum instantaneous transmission queue size corresponds to a highest priority level.

11. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the priority level of the network device from a set of monotonically increasing priority levels.

12. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to implement a network device-only fairness control.

13. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to send a notification to the server when the instantaneous transmission queue exceeds a predetermined threshold.

14. A method of dynamically allocating channels in an access point to client stations, the method comprising:
determining a dynamic traffic load at the access point;
determining a priority level of the access point based on the dynamic traffic load at the access point,
wherein determining the priority level of the access point includes determining the priority level of the access point from a set of priority levels that increase as the dynamic traffic load of the access point increases;

receiving a first data packet at the access point from at least one selected from a group consisting of a server and the client stations;
assigning a high priority setting to the first data packet when the first data packet is received, the access point, during a predetermined period of time,
wherein a duration of the predetermined period of time is based on the priority level of the access point;

transmitting the first data packet from the access point to at least one selected from the group consisting of the server and the client stations; and
changing the priority level of the access point in response to a change in the dynamic traffic load at the access point.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein determining a dynamic traffic load includes determining an instantaneous transmission queue size at the access point.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein changing the priority level of the access point in response to the change in the dynamic traffic load at the access point includes increasing the priority level of the access point if the dynamic traffic load at the access point increases, and decreasing the priority level of the access point if the dynamic traffic load decreases.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein receiving a first data packet includes receiving the first data packet during a first predetermined time period, and further comprising:
determining a duration of the first predetermined time period based on the priority level of the access point.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
determining a duration of a second predetermined time period based on the priority level of the access point;
receiving a second data packet during the second predetermined time period;
assigning a low priority setting to the second data packet; and
allocating a transmission channel to the first data packet faster than the second data packet.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising
adjusting the duration of the first predetermined time period and the second predetermined time period in response to the change in priority level of the access point, wherein adjusting the duration of the first predetermined time period and the second predetermined time period includes increasing the duration of the first predetermined time period and decreasing the duration of the second predetermined time period when the priority level of the access point increases.

20. The method of claim 14 , further comprising implementing an access point-only fairness control.

21. The method of claim 14 , further comprising implementing a TCP proxy at the access point.

Assignees

• Univ North Carolina State

Inventors

• Rhee Injong
• Min Jeongki

Classifications

• H04L47/193 Primary

  at the transport layer, e.g. TCP related · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title

• H04L47/125

  by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering · CPC title

• H04W72/52

  based on load · CPC title

• H04W72/1252

  Electricity · mapped topic