Methods and systems to dynamically prioritize applications over 802.11 wireless LAN

A wireless access point comprising:

• one or more processors;
• a wireless transmitter and receiver, wherein the wireless access point supports a plurality of transmission modes including MU-MIMO (Multi-user Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) and OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access);
• and
• a memory including information regarding characteristics of a plurality of applications;
• wherein the wireless access point is to:
• receive information related to dynamic prioritization of applications, wherein the information related to dynamic prioritization defines one or more critical applications and one or more critical users;
• identify an application flow for each data packet of a plurality of data packets received at a wireless access point, and identifying a user associated with each of the identified application flows;
• assign each data packet of the plurality of data packets to a respective queue of a first plurality of queues based at least in part on the identified application flow for each data packet;
• generate prioritized candidate lists in a second plurality of queues based on iterating across the first plurality of queues to select candidate data packets for the prioritized candidate list from the first plurality of queues based at least in part on priority policies for the identified application flows, each queue of the second plurality of queues being dedicated for an access category (AC) for one or more applications;
• in response to determining that a respective identified user, associated with a respective identified application flow, corresponds with the one or more critical users, select data packets of the respective identified application flow associated with the respective identified user for the prioritized candidate lists from the second plurality of queues responsive to the respective application flow corresponding to a critical application of the one or more critical;
• in response to determining that the identified user associated with the application flow corresponds with the one or more critical users and that the application flow does not correspond to the one or more critical applications, override the selection of the data packets for the prioritized candidate lists from the second plurality of queues based at least in part on priority policies for each of a plurality of applications;
• and
• schedule data packets from the prioritized candidate lists.

A method comprising:

• receiving information related to dynamic prioritization of applications, wherein the information related to dynamic prioritization defines one or more critical applications and one or more critical users;
• identifying an application flow for each data packet of a plurality of data packets received at a wireless access point, and identifying a user associated with each of the identified application flows;
• assigning each data packet of the plurality of data packets to a respective queue of a first plurality of queues based at least in part on the identified application flow for each data packet;
• generating prioritized candidate lists in a second plurality of queues based on iterating across the first plurality of queues to select candidate data packets for the prioritized candidate list from the first plurality of queues based at least in part on priority policies for the identified application flows, each queue of the second plurality of queues being dedicated for an access category (AC) for one or more applications;
• in response to determining that respective identified user, associated with a respective identified application flow, corresponds with the one or more critical users, selecting data packets of the respective identified application flow associated with the respective identified user for the prioritized candidate lists from the second plurality of queues based at least in part on the respective application flow corresponding to a critical application of the one or more critical applications;
• in response to determining that the identified user associated with the application flow corresponds with the one or more critical users and that the application flow does not correspond to the one or more critical applications, overriding the selection of the data packets for the prioritized candidate lists from the second plurality of queues based at least in part on priority policies for each of a plurality of applications;
• and
• scheduling data packets from the prioritized candidate lists.