Adaptive MAC fragmentation and rate selection for 802.11 wireless networks
AssigneeAT&T Corp.
InventorsLeonard Joseph Cimini JR., Zoran Kostic, Kin K. Leung, Hujun Yin
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Abstract
A method for setting and adjusting MAC fragmentation threshold for IEEE 802.11 networks operating at different data rates is presented. The fragmentation threshold is adjusted based on throughput performance, delay constraints and hidden node influence.
Claims15
A method of determining a fragmentation threshold for use in nodes of a wireless comprising:
- receiving one or more packet transmissions from a transmitting node, the packet transmissions including fragments based on a fragmentation threshold value set at the transmitting node for a given data rate;
- producing a signal-to-noise ratio value based on the received more or more packet transmissions;
- producing a probability in error value based on the received one or more packet transmissions;
- and
- determining an optimal combination of new fragmentation threshold value and data rate value based on the signal-to-noise ratio and probability in error values.
The method of 1 wherein the step of determining the probability in error value comprises determining ACK loss rate.
An apparatus for use in nodes of a wireless network comprising:
- a transmitter/receiver to receive one or more packet transmissions from a transmitting node, the packet transmissions including fragments based on a fragmentation threshold value set at the transmitting node for a given data rate;
- a channel estimator to produce a signal-to-noise ratio value and a probability in error value based on the received more or more packet transmissions;
- a controller to determine an optimal combination of new fragmentation threshold value and data rate value based in the determined signal-to-noise ratio and probability in error values.
A computer program product residing on a computer-readable medium that determines a fragmentation threshold for use in nodes of a wireless network, the computer program product comprising instructions causing a computer to:
- produce a signal-to-noise ratio value based on one or more packet transmissions received by the node from a transmitting node, the packet transmissions including fragments based on a fragmentation threshold value set at the transmitting node for a given data rate;
- produce a probability in error value based on the one or more packet transmissions received by the node;
- and
- determine an optimal combination of new fragmentation threshold and data rate values based in the determined signal-to-noise ratio and probability in error values.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.