Methods, systems and devices for providing differentiated quality of service for wireless communication devices

A method, comprising:

• in an access point (AP) configured to control data transfers for associated stations (STAs) in time intervals,
• storing a unique identifier and quality-of-service (QoS) requirement for each STA of a first set in a nonvolatile memory of the AP;
• and
• in response to a STA associating with the AP,
• when the associating STA is in the first set, allocating time for the STA in the time intervals to meet the QoS requirement of the STA without receiving transmitted QoS data from the STA, and
• when the associating STA is not in the first set, establishing a QoS for the STA having a lower priority than any associated STAs of the first set;
• wherein
• allocating time for the STA in the time intervals includes the AP establishing a target wake time (TWT) for each STA of the first set, the TWT being sufficient to meet the QoS of the STA of the first set;
• and
• TWTs for STAs of the first set have priority over STAs not of the first set.

An access point (AP) device for a wireless communication system, comprising:

• nonvolatile memory circuits configured to store a unique station (STA) identifier and quality-of-service (QoS) value for each STA of a first set;
• wireless communication circuits configured to control data transfers for associated STAs in time intervals, and including
• a conditional allocation section configured to
• determine if an associating STA is in the first set,
• for STAs of the first set, allocating time for the STA in the time intervals to meet the QoS requirement of the STA without receiving transmitted QoS data from the STA, and
• for STAs not of the first set, establishing a QoS for the STA at a lower priority than associated STAs of the first set;
• wherein,
• the conditional allocation section is selected from a group consisting of:
• a first type conditional allocation section configured to schedule a contention free period (CFP) and contention period (CP) in the time intervals and allocate time for the STAs of the first set in the CFP, and
• a second type conditional allocation section configured to establish target wake times (TWTs) for each STA of the first set sufficient to meet the QoS of the STA of the first set;
• and TWTs for STAs of the first set have priority over STAs not of the first set.

A system, comprising:

• a plurality of first type stations (STAs) configured for wireless communication;
• and
• an access point (AP) configured to control data transfers for associated stations in time intervals, the AP including
• nonvolatile memory circuits configured to store a unique station STA identifier and quality-of-service (QoS) value for each first type STA;
• wireless communication circuits configured to, in response to a STA associating with the AP,
• when the associating STA is of the first type, allocating time for the STA in the time intervals to meet the QoS requirement of the first type STA without receiving transmitted QoS data from the first type STA, and
• when the associating STA is not of the first type, establishing a QoS for the STA having a lower priority than any associated first type STAs;
• wherein
• the AP is configured to schedule at least one contention free period (CFP) and at least one contention period (CP) in the time intervals;
• the STAs of the first type are configured to execute data transfers in the at least one CFP;
• and
• at least one STA not of the first type configured that transmit and receive data in the at least one CP and not in any of the CFP allocated to STAs of the first type.

A system, comprising:

• a plurality of first type stations (STAs) configured for wireless communication;
• and
• an access point (AP) configured to control data transfers for associated stations in time intervals, the AP including
• nonvolatile memory circuits configured to store a unique station STA identifier and quality-of-service (QoS) value for each first type STA;
• wireless communication circuits configured to, in response to a STA associating with the AP,
• when the associating STA is of the first type, allocating time for the STA in the time intervals to meet the QoS requirement of the first type STA without receiving transmitted QoS data from the first type STA, and
• when the associating STA is not of the first type, establishing a QoS for the STA having a lower priority than any associated first type STAs;
• wherein
• the AP is configured to establish a target wake time (TWT) for each STA of the first type having a service period sufficient to meet the QoS of the STA of the first type;
• and
• at least one STA not of the first type;
• wherein
• TWTs for STAs of the first type have priority over STAs not of the first type.