Method and apparatus for dynamic packet selection in uncoordinated radio systems

A communications device for communicating over a network connection in a wireless network, said device comprising:

• a transmitter having a channel quality processor for determining at least one quality measure of a channel of said network connection;
• a channel condition processor coupled to said channel quality processor adapted to continuously estimate a quality condition of said channel based on said at least one quality measure, wherein said estimation is based on at least one quality measure parameter selected from a group consisting of transmitter power value (QPA) and the number of retransmissions (QARQ);
• the channel condition processor further adapted to dynamically determine, based on the continuously estimated quality condition, whether the channel is primarily noise limited or primarily interference limited;
• a packet type selector coupled to the channel condition processor adapted to select a packet type to be transmitted over said channel based on the dynamic determination of whether the channel is primarily noise limited or primarily interference limited;
• the channel condition processor being adapted to estimate and determine whether the channel is primarily noise limited or interference limited from packet to packet;
• and
• wherein the channel condition processor is further adapted to determine whether the channel is primarily noise limited or interference limited individually for different packet types.

A method for improving a network connection in a wireless network, said method comprising the steps of:

• determining at least one quality measure for a channel of a network connection;
• continuously estimating, by a receiver in a network, a quality condition for said channel based on at least one quality measure selected from a group consisting of:
• an RSSI value (QRSSI);
• an error detection scheme (QCRC);
• a forward error correction code (FEC) (QFEC);
• a time synchronization (QTSYNC);
• and a frequency synchronization (QFSYNC);
• dynamically determining from the estimated quality condition whether the channel is primarily noise limited or primarily interference limited, wherein the step of dynamically determining whether the channel is primarily noise limited or interference limited is performed individually for different packet types;
• and
• selecting a packet type to be transmitted over said channel based on the determination of whether the channel is primarily noise limited or primarily interference limited.

A communications device for communicating over a network connection in a wireless network, said device comprising:

• a receiver having a channel quality processor for determining at least one quality measure of a channel of said network connection;
• a channel condition processor coupled to said channel quality processor adapted to continuously estimate a quality condition of said channel based on said at least one quality measure, wherein said estimation based on at least one quality measure parameter selected from a group consisting of an RSSI value (QRSSI);
• an error detection scheme (QCRC);
• a forward error correction code (FEC) (QFEC);
• a time synchronization scheme (QTSYNC);
• and a frequency synchronization (QFSYNC) scheme;
• the channel condition processor further adapted to dynamically determine, based on the estimated quality condition, whether the channel is primarily noise limited or primarily interference limited;
• a packet type selector coupled to the channel condition processor adapted to select a packet type to be transmitted over said channel based on the determination of whether the channel is primarily noise limited or primarily interference limited;
• the channel condition processor being adapted to estimate and determine whether the channel is primarily noise limited or interference limited from packet to packet;
• and
• wherein the channel condition processor is further adapted to determine whether the channel is primarily noise limited or interference limited individually for different packet types.