Systems and methods for enhancing cell-edge stations
OwnerJuan Fang, Minyoung Parkinventors
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Abstract
This disclosure describes methods, apparatus, and systems related to a MAC protocol that can coordinate the AP with a relay STA to improve both the uplink and downlink throughput of a CE STA by using underutilized secondary channels. The disclosed systems and methods can be used to improve the performance of cell-edge STAs without affecting the performance of non-cell-edge STAs. In various embodiments, RTS frames can be used to instruct relay STAs to transmit data to CE STAs over idle secondary channels while the AP transmits data to legacy (e.g. 20 or 40 MHz) STAs over primary channels.
Claims20
A device, comprising:
- at least one memory that stores computer-executable instructions;
- and
- at least one processor of the one or more processors configured to access the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor of the one or more processors is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:
- determine that the device has first data to transmit;
- determine that the first data to be transmitted is for a cell-edge station (CE STA);
- cause to send a plurality of request-to-send (RTS) frames to a relay station on one or more first channels;
- identify a plurality of clear-to-send (CTS) frames received from the relay station on the one or more first channels;
- cause to send the first data to the relay station on at least one of the one or more first channels;
- determine that the device has second data to transmit;
- determine that the second data to be transmitted is for a legacy station;
- cause to send a first request to send (RTS) frame to the legacy station on a primary channel;
- cause to send a plurality of second request-to-send (RTS) frames to the relay station on one or more secondary channels;
- identify an first clear to send (CTS) frame received from the legacy station on the primary channel and a plurality of second clear-to-send (CTS) frames received from the relay station on the one or more secondary channels;
- cause to send the second data to the legacy station on the primary channel;
- determine that the device has third data to transmit;
- determine that the third data to be transmitted is for a non-legacy non cell-edge station;
- cause to send a plurality of second request-to-send (RTS) frames to the station;
- identify a plurality of clear-to-send (CTS) frames received from the station;
- and
- cause to send the third data to the non cell-edge station.
A device, comprising:
- at least one memory that stores computer-executable instructions;
- and
- at least one processor of the one or more processors configured to access the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor of the one or more processors is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:
- identify data received from a first device;
- identify a plurality of request-to-send (RTS) frames on one or more secondary channels;
- identify a plurality of clear-to-send (CTS) frames associated with the data;
- and
- cause to send, based at least in part on the CTS frames, the data to a cell edge (CE) STA on the secondary channels.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
- determining that the device has first data to transmit;
- determining that the first data to be transmitted is for a cell-edge station (CE STA);
- causing to send a plurality of request-to-send (RTS) frames to a relay station on one or more first channels;
- identifying a plurality of clear-to-send (CTS) frames received from the relay station on the one or more first channels;
- causing to send the first data to the relay station on at least one of the one or more first channels;
- determining that the device has second data to transmit;
- determining that the second data to be transmitted is for a legacy station;
- causing to send a first request to send (RTS) frame to the legacy station on a primary channel;
- causing to send a plurality of second request-to-send (RTS) frames to the relay station on one or more secondary channels;
- identifying an first clear to send (CTS) frame received from the legacy station on the primary channel and a plurality of second clear-to-send (CTS) frames received from the relay station on the one or more secondary channels;
- and
- causing to send the second data to the legacy station on the primary channel.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
- identify data received from a first device;
- identify a plurality of request-to-send (RTS) frames on one or more secondary channels;
- identify a plurality of clear-to-send (CTS) frames associated with the data;
- and
- cause to send, based at least in part on the CTS frames, the data to a cell edge (CE) station on the secondary channels.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.