Schedule for access to shared wireless medium based on profile data

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9713064-B2
Application number	US-201314760189-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 31, 2013
Priority date	Mar 31, 2013
Publication date	Jul 18, 2017
Grant date	Jul 18, 2017

Abstract

A schedule for access to a shared wireless medium by a device is based on profile data and an algorithm.

First claim

I claim:

1. A control device, comprising:
a hypervisor unit to transmit a hypervisor to a wireless device, if the wireless device is to be used in a designated location;
a receiving unit to receive profile data of the wireless device from the hypervisor at the wireless device;
an algorithm unit to determine a schedule for access to a shared wireless medium by the wireless device based on the received profile data and a Medium Access Control (MAC) algorithm to increase a bandwidth utilization of the shared wireless medium; and
an output unit to output the schedule to the hypervisor at the wireless device, wherein
the hypervisor at the wireless device is to configure a MAC policy of the wireless device based on the schedule.

2. The control device of claim 1 , wherein the control device is located within at least one of an access point (AP) and a wireless controller of a wireless network.

3. The control device of claim 1 , wherein the MAC algorithm determines the schedule based on at least one of a Distributed Coordinated Function (DCF), an Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) and a Hybrid Control Function (HCF) Controlled Channel Access (HCCA).

4. The control device of claim 1 , wherein,
the wireless device is owned by an employee,
an employer provides the hypervisor, and
the designated location is a workplace providing access to at least one of information and an application that is employer privileged.

5. The control device of claim 1 , wherein,
the profile data includes information related to at least one of an amount of data successfully transmitted by the wireless device, an amount of data retransmitted by the wireless device, an amount of data of the wireless device that collided, a backlog at the wireless device and a signal strength of the wireless device, and
a distance of the wireless device from an Access Point (AP) is estimated based on the signal strength.

6. The control device of claim 1 , wherein,
the algorithm unit includes an open interface to receive at least one of a third-party algorithm and an instruction for modifying the MAC algorithm, and
the algorithm unit is to dynamically determine the schedule based on the received at least one of third-party algorithm and instruction.

7. The control device of claim 1 , wherein,
the wireless device includes a private computing environment of the employee and a business computing environment of the employer on the device, and
the schedule does not affect at least one of data and use of an application by the employee in the private computing environment.

8. The control device of claim 1 , wherein the algorithm unit is to convert at least one of the received profile data to a format receivable by the MAC algorithm and the outputted schedule to a format receivable by the hypervisor at the wireless device.

9. A method, comprising:
receiving profile data from a wireless device related to at least one of transmission and collision of data at the wireless device;
calculating a contention rate of the wireless device based on the received profile data;
setting a schedule of the wireless device for sharing access to a wireless medium according to a contention-based algorithm if the contention rate is less than a low threshold;
setting the schedule of the wireless device for sharing access to the wireless medium according to a first contention-based and token-based algorithm if the contention rate is greater than a high threshold; and
setting the schedule of the wireless device for sharing access to the wireless medium according to a second contention-based and token-based algorithm if the contention rate is between the low and high thresholds,
configuring a MAC policy of the wireless device based on the schedule.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
initializing values of the low threshold and the high threshold, before receiving the profile data, wherein
the low threshold is less than the high threshold.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein,
the contention-based algorithm includes a Distributed Coordinated Function (DCF),
the first contention-based and token-based algorithm includes an Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA),
the second contention-based and token-based algorithm includes a Hybrid Control Function (HCF) Controlled Channel Access (HCCA), and
the contention rate is based on a number of unsuccessful transmission attempts out of a total number of transmission attempts.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein,
a period of a transmission opportunity (TXOP) is fixed for an Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA),
the period of the TXOP of the wireless device is proportional to a size of a backlog of the wireless device for a Hybrid Control Function (HCF) Controlled Channel Access (HCCA), and
the wireless device is assigned a priority for the HCCA, with higher priority wireless devices to receive the TXOP sooner than lower priority devices.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein,
receiving the profile data includes receives the profile data every sampling period,
a new interval of the sampling period is determined by adding a delta to a current interval of the sampling period, if the schedule is same for consecutive sampling periods,
the new interval of the sampling period is determined by subtracting the delta from the current interval of the sampling period, if the schedule is different for the consecutive sampling periods, and
the new interval of the sampling period is used for a next interval of the sampling period, if the new interval is at least one of less than a high period and greater than a low period.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, if executed by a processor of a device, cause the processor to:
receive a hypervisor if the device is to be used at a designated location;
transmit, via the hypervisor, profile data related to data transmission by the device to a control device;
receive, from the control device, a schedule for access to a shared wireless medium by the device based on the profile data; and
configure, via the hypervisor, a Medium Access Control (MAC) policy of the device in accordance with the schedule, wherein
the schedule is determined to increase a bandwidth utilization of the shared wireless medium.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein,
the profile data is to include a current MAC configuration of the device, and
the schedule is further based on at least one of a number of other devices accessing the shared wireless medium and a priority assigned to the device.

Assignees

• Hewlett-Packard Dev Company
• Hewlett Packard Entpr Dev Lp

Inventors

• Choi Byung Kyu

Classifications

• G06F9/45558

  Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects · CPC title

• H04W74/08 Primary

  Non-scheduled access, e.g. ALOHA (hybrid access H04W74/02) · CPC title

• G06F2009/45595

  Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title

• H04W48/04 Primary

  based on user or terminal location or mobility data, e.g. moving direction, speed · CPC title