Method, wireless communication station, and system for reducing data starvation

A wireless communication station comprising:

• a medium access control (MAC) layer to configure an add block acknowledge (ADDBA) response frame;
• physical layer (PHY) circuitry to
• transmit the ADDBA response frame to an originator station,
• receive an ADDBA request frame from the originator station, and
• receive data packets from the originator station;
• and
• one or more processors to
• pass data packets to a higher-level MAC process upon receiving a data packet with an initial sequence number SN, the passing being performed in sequential order based on the SN subfields of the data packets;
• and
• activate a watchdog timer upon encountering a missing data packet, the encountering being based on an inspection of the SN subfields during the passing.

A method for receiving aggregate medium access control service data units (A-MSDUs), the method comprising:

• receiving an add block acknowledge (ADDBA) request frame requesting initiation of a block acknowledge (ACK) agreement;
• transmitting an ADDBA response frame to accept initiation of the block ACK agreement;
• and
• terminating the block ACK agreement within a time duration of detection of a missing A-MSDU during communication under the block ACK agreement.

A system comprising:

• an antenna arranged to receive data packets from an originator station;
• a processor arranged to
• store the received data packets in a reordering buffer in a memory, the data packets including corresponding sequence number (SN) subfields,
• pass the data packets of the reordering buffer to a higher-level medium access control (MAC) process upon receiving a data packet with an initial SN, the passing being performed in a sequential order based on the SN subfields of the data packets;
• and
• activate a watchdog timer upon encountering a missing data packet, the encountering being based on an inspection of the SN subfields during the passing;
• and
• a memory arranged to maintaining the reordering buffer, the reordering buffer including a number of data packets corresponding to a size of a block acknowledgement (ACK) reception window, the reordering buffer having included therein a first buffer subfield for storing an SN of a next data packet that has not been received (WinStartB) and a second buffer subfield for indicating a highest expected SN (WinEndB);
• and
• wherein the initial SN that triggers the passing corresponds to WinStartB.

A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when implemented on a receiver station, cause the receiver station to:

• pass received data packets to a higher-level medium access control (MAC) process sequentially, based on sequence numbers (SNs) of the data packets;
• activate a watchdog timer upon encountering a missing data packet, the encountering being based on an inspection of the SN subfields during the passing;
• and
• terminate a block acknowledgement (ACK) agreement with an originator of the data packets by transmitting a delete block acknowledgment (DELBA) frame to the originator of the data packets.