Reducing latency in wireless networks

#A wireless local area network (herein “WLAN”) is a network in which two or more terminal stations (herein “STA's”) wirelessly communicate with each other over a spatially limited area. The IEEE 802.11 Wireless Local Area Network Specifications (herein “802.11”) define a set of protocols for communications between devices in a WLAN. In a mode of operation known as infrastructure mode, a single WLAN includes one or more access points (AP's) acting as hubs for the network. Terminal stations (herein “STA's”) may each access the WLAN by communicating with one of the AP's.

#Certain WLAN applications call for two or more STA's connected to a single WLAN to exchange data with each other through the wireless infrastructure, i.e., through one or more AP's. For example, a smartphone may be connected to a wireless display over a WLAN to display content from the smartphone on a larger screen. In this scenario, there will be a latency in communications between the wireless display and the smartphone, due to the time required for the data to travel over the WLAN infrastructure.

#It would be desirable to provide simple and efficient techniques to reduce latency in communications between terminal stations in WLAN's operating in infrastructure mode.

#FIG. 1 shows a wireless local area network illustrating various aspects of the present disclosure;

#FIG. 2 shows a procedure wherein any two intra-network STA's may wireless communicate with each other in infrastructure mode;

#FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary implementation of a method according to the present disclosure;

#Various aspects of the technology described herein are generally directed towards techniques for reducing latency in communications between terminal stations in a wireless local area network. In an aspect, two stations in close proximity may be configured to associate with a common access point, by causing one or more of the stations to disassociate from a current access point and to reassociate with the common access point. In an aspect, the identity of the common access point may be independently derived at each terminal station using simple broadcast messaging procedures, without the need for extensive communications or handshaking between the terminal stations. In an alternative aspect, the identity of the common AP need not be known a priori, and a terminal station may repeat the disassociation and reassociation procedures until a measured latency with a paired terminal station drops below a maximum latency threshold.

#The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of exemplary means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration,” and should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other exemplary aspects. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the exemplary aspects of the invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the exemplary aspects of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the novelty of the exemplary aspects presented herein.

#FIG. 1 shows an illustrative configuration 100 of a wireless local area network (herein “WLAN”) illustrating various aspects of the present disclosure. Note FIG. 1 is not meant to limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular network types, topologies, numbers of access points or stations, etc.