Method and apparatus for channel allocation in a wireless local area network (WLAN)

A method for channel allocation by the apparatus in a wireless local area network (WLAN) among a plurality of clients, the method comprises:

• assigning by the apparatus at least one client of the plurality of clients to a channel of a set of active channels in the WLAN, wherein the assigning at least one client further comprises:
• determining by the apparatus desired channel consumption of the at least one client;
• determining by the apparatus available channel capacity for each of the set of active channels;
• determining by the apparatus whether one of the set of active channels has the available channel capacity equal to or greater than the desired channel consumption;
• and
• when the one of the set of active channels has the available channel capacity equal to or greater than the desired channel consumption, assigning by the apparatus the at least one client to the one of the set of active channels;
• and
• for each of the set of active channels having the at least one client of the plurality of clients assigned to the channel, determining by the apparatus an access time for each client of the at least one clients based on an access time factor.

An apparatus for allocating channels in a wireless local area network (WLAN) among a plurality of clients, comprising:

• a processing module;
• and
• a memory operably coupled to the processing module, wherein the memory includes operational instructions that cause the processing module to:
• assign at least one client of the plurality of clients to a channel of a set of active channels in the WLAN by:
• determining available channel capacity of the set of active channels;
• determining desired channel consumption of the multiple clients;
• when the available channel capacity is equal to or greater than the desired channel consumption, assigning multiple clients of the plurality of clients to multiple channels of the set of active channels;
• when the available channel capacity is less than the desired channel consumption, scaling the desired channel consumption of the multiple clients to produce a scaled channel consumption and assigning the multiple clients to the multiple channels of the set of active channels based on the available channel capacity of each of the set of channels and the scaled channel consumption;
• and
• for each of the set of active channels having the at least one client of the plurality of clients assigned to the channel, determine access time for each client of the at least one clients based on an access time factor.

An apparatus for allocating channels in a wireless local area network (WLAN) among a plurality of clients, comprising:

• a processing module;
• and
• a memory operably coupled to the processing module, wherein the memory includes operational instructions that cause the processing module to:
• assign at least one client of the plurality of clients to a channel of a set of active channels in the WLAN by:
• determining desired channel consumption of the at least one client;
• determining available channel capacity for each of the set of active channels;
• determining whether one of the set of active channels has the available channel capacity equal to or greater than the desired channel consumption;
• when the one of the set of active channels has the available channel capacity equal to or greater than the desired channel consumption, assigning the at least one client to the one of the set of active channels;
• and
• for each of the set of active channels having the at least one client of the plurality of clients assigned to the channel, determine access time for each client of the at least one clients based on an access time factor.

An apparatus for allocating channels in a wireless local area network (WLAN) among a plurality of clients, comprising:

• a processing module;
• and
• a memory operably coupled to the processing module, wherein the memory includes operational instructions that cause the processing module to:
• assign at least one client of the plurality of clients to a channel of a set of active channels in the WLAN by:
• determining desired channel consumption of the at least one client;
• determining available channel capacity for each of the set of active channels;
• determining whether one of the set of active channels has the available channel capacity equal to or greater than the desired channel consumption;
• when none of the set of active channels has the available channel capacity equal to or greater than the desired channel consumption, determining a channel of the set of active channels having most available channel capacity and assigning the at least one client to the channel of the set of active channels having most available channel capacity;
• and
• for each of the set of active channels having the at least one client of the plurality of clients assigned to the channel, determine access time for each client of the at least one clients based on an access time factor, wherein determining access time for each client of the at least one clients based on an access time factor further comprises allocating equal access time to the each client of the at least one clients.