# US 11,451,966 B2 · Wireless access protocol with collaborative spectrum monitoring > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,451,966 B2 - Document ID: US11451966B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/809,432 - Filed: 2020-03-04 - Published: 2020-09-10 - Granted: 2022-09-20 - Earliest claimed: 2019-03-04 - Assignees: Apple Inc. - Applicants: Apple Inc. - Inventors: Daniel R. Borges; Joseph Hakim; Sriram Hariharan; Yoel Boger; Xiaowen Wang; Yaniv Dvory - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11451966B2 ## CPC - H04B 17/345: Interference values ({signal-to-interference ratio [SIR] or carrier-to-interference ratio [CIR]} H04B17/336) - H04W 16/14: Spectrum sharing arrangements {between different networks} - H04B 17/24: with feedback of measurements to the transmitter - H04W 16/02: Resource partitioning among network components, e.g. reuse partitioning - H04W 24/10: Scheduling measurement reports {; Arrangements for measurement reports} - H04W 72/541: using the level of interference - H04W 84/12: WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] - H04W 88/06: adapted for operation in multiple networks {or having at least two operational modes}, e.g. multi-mode terminals - H04W 88/08: Access point devices - H04W 24/02: Arrangements for optimising operational condition - H04W 52/243: {taking into account interferences} - H04B: TRANSMISSION - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract This application relates to electronic devices configured to connect to a wireless local area network and communicate using a trigger-based access mechanism. An access point is configured to manage the wireless local area network. The access point includes a processing subsystem configured to select a channel associated with a communications medium for communicating with the set of electronic devices. The processing subsystem is also configured to monitor the channel to detect interference from radio frequency sources not connected to the wireless local area network, receive channel information for at least one additional channel associated with the communications medium from the electronic devices, and configure an interface circuit of the access point to communicate with the set of electronic devices on a new channel based, at least in part, on the channel information. Each electronic device can be configured to collect the channel information and transmit the channel information to the access point for analysis. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An access point, comprising: one or more nodes configured to communicatively couple to an antenna; an interface circuit, communicatively coupled to the one or more nodes, configured to communicate with a set of electronic devices in a wireless local area network (WLAN); and a processing subsystem, communicatively coupled to the interface circuit, configured to cause the access point to: select a channel associated with a communications medium for communicating with the set of electronic devices; monitor the channel to detect interference from radio frequency (RF) sources not connected to the WLAN; receive channel information for at least one additional channel associated with the communications medium from one or more electronic devices in the set of electronic devices; and configure the interface circuit to communicate with the set of electronic devices on a new channel of the at least one additional channel, wherein: the access point communicates with the one or more electronic devices via scheduled communication during contention-free periods separated by quiet periods to share the communications medium with other WLANs; and the one or more electronic devices each select a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) to use to transmit uplink data to the access point during a respective allocated transmission opportunity based on a duration of the transmission opportunity and historical information related to success or failure of previous transmissions. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The access point of claim 1, wherein: the channel information comprises a signal metric measured by a particular electronic device in the one or more electronic devices for each channel in the at least one additional channel; the new channel is selected based on a comparison of the signal metric for the new channel with a corresponding signal metric for the channel; and the signal metric for a particular channel is weighted based on whether the particular channel is associated with a center frequency in a range of 5.250 gigahertz (GHz) to 5.710 GHz. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The access point of claim 1, wherein the one or more electronic devices each select the MCS further based on a size of queued data to be encoded with a frame payload. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The access point of claim 1, wherein the one or more electronic devices each select the MCS further based on whether one or more retries with the transmission opportunity are enabled or disabled. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The access point of claim 1, wherein the interface circuit is configured to transmit a wireless signal to the set of electronic devices that causes each electronic device to configure a radio to operate on the new channel. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The access point of claim 5, wherein the wireless signal is sent via a connection established via a wireless personal area network (WPAN). ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The access point of claim 1, wherein the processing subsystem is further configured to cause the access point to: transmit a wireless signal to a particular electronic device in the set of electronic devices, the wireless signal causing the particular electronic device to adjust a transmitter power of a radio used to communicate with the access point. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The access point of claim 7, wherein the particular electronic device reduces the transmitter power to reduce interference with other stations connected to one or more additional WLANs. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The access point of claim 1, wherein the communications medium comprises a number of channels in a 5 GHz RF spectrum, each channel in the number of channels having a center frequency between 5.170 GHz and 5.835 GHz. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The access point of claim 1, wherein each electronic device in the one or more electronic devices is configured to collect the channel information during a period of time subsequent to an end of a first contention-free period and prior to a start of a second contention-free period, wherein the first contention-free period and the second contention-free periods are defined by the access point and associated with a trigger-based access mechanism. ### Claim 11 An electronic device, comprising: one or more nodes configured to communicatively couple to an antenna; and an interface circuit, communicatively coupled to the one or more nodes, configured to communicate with an access point over a channel of a communications medium associated with a wireless local area network (WLAN); and a processing subsystem, communicatively coupled to the interface circuit, configured to cause the electronic device to: receive a request from the access point to collect channel information for at least one additional channel associated with the communications medium; measure a signal metric associated with each additional channel in the at least one additional channel; populate the signal metric for each additional channel in the at least one additional channel into a data structure to generate the channel information; select a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) to use to transmit the channel information during an allocated transmission opportunity based on a duration of the transmission opportunity and historical information related to success of failure of previous transmissions; and transmit the channel information to the access point during the allocated transmission opportunity. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the processing subsystem is further configured to: receive information that identifies a new channel in the at least one additional channel; and configure the interface circuit to communicate with the access point over the new channel. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the processing subsystem is further configured to: receive a request from the access point to reduce a transmitter power of the electronic device; and configure the interface circuit to reduce a power of wireless signals transmitted via the antenna. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the communications medium comprises a number of channels in a 5 gigahertz (GHz) radio frequency (RF) spectrum, each channel in the number of channels having a center frequency between 5.170 GHz and 5.835 GHz. ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the interface circuit is configured to cause the electronic device to: receive, from the access point, a trigger frame that includes information specifying an ordered list of electronic devices in a set of electronic devices that are allowed to transmit data via the communications medium during a contention-free period, and transmit a frame at a temporal position in a sequence of frames based on the ordered list of electronic devices. ### Claim 16 A method for managing a wireless local area network (WLAN), the method comprising: via a processing subsystem of an access point: monitoring a portion of a radio frequency spectrum to detect a power associated with one or more channels associated with the WLAN while the one or more channels are inactive; selecting an optimum channel within the radio frequency spectrum utilized to communicate with at least one electronic device connected to the WLAN; configuring an interface circuit of the access point to communicate with the at least one electronic device via the optimum channel; selecting a second channel in the radio frequency spectrum based, at least in part, on channel information collected by one or more electronic devices connected to WLAN; and re-configuring the interface circuit of the access point to communicate with the at least one electronic device via the second channel, wherein: the access point communicates with the one or more electronic devices via scheduled communication during contention-free periods separated by quiet periods to share the communications medium with other WLANs; and the one or more electronic devices each select a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) to use to transmit uplink data to the access point during a respective allocated transmission opportunity based on a duration of the transmission opportunity and historical information related to success or failure of previous transmissions. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, the method further comprising: via the processing subsystem of the access point: causing a wireless signal to be transmitted to the at least one electronic device via a wireless personal area network (WPAN), wherein the wireless signal causes each electronic device of the at least one electronic device to configure a respective interface circuit of the electronic device to communicate with the access point via the second channel. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, wherein the radio frequency spectrum comprises a number of channels having a center frequency in a range of frequencies between 5.170 gigahertz (GHz) and 5.835 GHz. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, wherein the center frequency of the second channel is in a range between 5.250 GHz to 5.710 GHz. ### Claim 20 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, wherein the channel information comprises a signal metric measured by a particular electronic device in the one or more electronic devices for each channel in the radio frequency spectrum.