US 8,238,287 B1Granted

Method and apparatus for providing quality of service (QoS) in a wireless local area network

AssigneeMarvell International Ltd.

InventorsParamesh Gopi, Sameer Bidichandani, Aswath Mohan

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Abstract

Methods, apparatus, and computer programs for configuring one or more transmission parameters of a wireless client in a wireless local area network (WLAN) are provided. In one implementation, the methods include receiving capability information from a wireless client, generating a configuration table including at least one selectable configuration option corresponding to the capability information of the wireless client, receiving user input selecting a configuration option within the configuration table, and generating and sending a configuration packet to the wireless client. The configuration packet contains configuration data for configuring one or more transmission parameters of the wireless client based on the selected configuration option.

Claims77

Dependent claims

A wireless client comprising hardware effecting:

a signaling engine of the hardware operable to receive a discovery data packet configured to determine an identity of a wireless client;
a negotiation engine operable to:
a) generate and send a discovery response data packet to a querying system, the discovery response data packet including capability information associated with the wireless client;
and
b) receive a configuration packet containing configuration data related to one or more transmission parameters of the wireless client, the transmission parameters relating to a network quality of service (QoS), the configuration data being determined by the querying system;
a control engine operable to configure the one or more transmission parameters of the wireless client using the configuration packet;
and
a congestion quality meter engine operable to generate and send a congestion quality metric to the querying system, the congestion quality metric representing packet traffic congestion as measured at the wireless client, wherein the congestion quality meter engine is operable to generate the congestion quality metric based on a number of packet transmission retries or a received signal strength, and the congestion quality metric is generated based on the following equation:
CQ
⁡
(
t
)
=
a
⁢
⁢
1
*
ⅆ
ⅆ
t
⁢
(
RC
⁡
(
t
)
)
+
a
⁢
⁢
2
⁢
ⅆ
2
ⅆ
t
⁢
⁢
2
⁢
(
(
RC
⁡
(
t
)
)
+
b
⁢
⁢
1
*
ⅆ
ⅆ
t
⁢
(
RSSI
⁡
(
t
)
)
+
b
⁢
⁢
2
*
ⅆ
2
ⅆ
t
⁢
⁢
2
⁢
(
RSSI
⁡
(
t
)
)
,
where CQ(t) represents the congestion quality metric, RC(t) represents the number of packet transmission retries, RSSI(t) represents the received signal strength, and coefficients a1, a2, b1, b2 are scalars.

89 more elements

A wireless client comprising:

a signaling means for receiving a discovery data packet configured to determine an identity of a wireless client;
a negotiation means for:
a) generating and sending a discovery response data packet to a querying system, the discovery response data packet including capability information associated with the wireless client;
and
b) receiving a configuration packet containing configuration data related to one or more transmission parameters of the wireless client, the transmission parameters relating to a network quality of service (QoS), the configuration data being determined by the querying system;
a control means for configuring the one or more transmission parameters of the wireless client using the configuration packet;
and
a congestion quality means for generating and sending a congestion quality metric to the querying system, the congestion quality metric representing packet traffic congestion as measured at the wireless client, wherein the congestion quality means is operable to generate the congestion quality metric based on a number of packet transmission retries or a received signal strength, and the congestion quality metric is generated based on the following equation:
CQ
⁡
(
t
)
=
a
⁢
⁢
1
*
ⅆ
ⅆ
t
⁢
(
RC
⁡
(
t
)
)
+
a
⁢
⁢
2
⁢
ⅆ
2
ⅆ
t
⁢
⁢
2
⁢
(
(
RC
⁡
(
t
)
)
+
b
⁢
⁢
1
*
ⅆ
ⅆ
t
⁢
(
RSSI
⁡
(
t
)
)
+
b
⁢
⁢
2
*
ⅆ
2
ⅆ
t
⁢
⁢
2
⁢
(
RSSI
⁡
(
t
)
)
,
where CQ(t) represents the congestion quality metric, RC(t) represents the number of packet transmission retries, RSSI(t) represents the received signal strength, and coefficients a1, a2, b1, b2 are scalars.

89 more elements

A method comprising:

receiving a discovery data packet configured to determine an identity of a wireless client;
generating and sending a discovery response data packet to a querying system, the discovery response data packet including capability information associated with the wireless client;
receiving a configuration packet containing configuration data related to one or more transmission parameters of the wireless client, the transmission parameters relating to a network quality of service (QoS), the configuration data being determined by the querying system;
configuring the one or more transmission parameters of the wireless client using the configuration packet;
and
generating and sending a congestion quality metric to the querying system, the congestion quality metric representing packet traffic congestion as measured at the wireless client, wherein the congestion quality metric is generated based on a number of packet transmission retries or a received signal strength, and the congestion quality metric is generated based on the following equation:
CQ
⁡
(
t
)
=
a
⁢
⁢
1
*
ⅆ
ⅆ
t
⁢
(
RC
⁡
(
t
)
)
+
a
⁢
⁢
2
⁢
ⅆ
2
ⅆ
t
⁢
⁢
2
⁢
(
(
RC
⁡
(
t
)
)
+
b
⁢
⁢
1
*
ⅆ
ⅆ
t
⁢
(
RSSI
⁡
(
t
)
)
+
b
⁢
⁢
2
*
ⅆ
2
ⅆ
t
⁢
⁢
2
⁢
(
RSSI
⁡
(
t
)
)
,
where CQ(t) represents the congestion quality metric, RC(t) represents the number of packet transmission retries, RSSI(t) represents the received signal strength, and coefficients a1, a2, b1, b2 are scalars.

87 more elements

A content server comprising hardware effecting:

a negotiation engine of the hardware operable to receive capability information from (N) wireless clients, (N) being an integer greater than or equal to (1);
a data generator operable to generate a configuration table including at least one selectable configuration option corresponding to the capability information of at least one of the (N) wireless clients, the data generator further operable to receive user input selecting a configuration option within the configuration table, wherein the configuration table further includes a presentation of one or more current performances of one or more computer data services, and the one or more computer data services include one or more of processor usage, memory usage, or Internet download rate;
and
a configuration engine operable to generate and send (S) configuration packets to at least one of the (N) wireless clients, each configuration packet containing configuration data for configuring one or more transmission parameters of a given wireless client based on the selected configuration option, (S) being an integer greater than or equal to (1), the transmission parameters relating to a network quality of service (QoS).

1 more element

A content server comprising:

negotiation means for receiving capability information from (N) wireless clients, (N) being an integer greater than or equal to (1);
data generator means for generating a configuration table including at least one selectable configuration option corresponding to the capability information of at least one of the (N) wireless clients, the data generator means further operable to receive user input selecting a configuration option within the configuration table;
and
configuration means for generating and sending (S) configuration packets to at least one of the (N) wireless clients, each configuration packet containing configuration data for configuring one or more transmission parameters of a given wireless client based on the selected configuration option, (S) being an integer greater than or equal to (1), the transmission parameters relating to a network quality of service (QoS),
wherein the negotiation means further comprises means for receiving a congestion quality metric representing packet traffic congestion as measured at a given wireless client, the configuration table further includes a presentation of the congestion quality metric, and the negotiation means receives the congestion quality metric from the given wireless client at an interval that is dependent upon the selected configuration option for the given wireless client.

2 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:

receive a discovery data packet configured to determine an identity of a wireless client;
generate and send a discovery response data packet to a querying system, the discovery response data packet including capability information associated with the wireless client;
receive a configuration packet containing configuration data related to one or more transmission parameters of the wireless client, the transmission parameters relating to a network quality of service (QoS), the configuration data being determined by the querying system;
configure the one or more transmission parameters of the wireless client using the configuration packet;
and
generate and send a congestion quality metric to the querying system, the congestion quality metric representing packet traffic congestion as measured at the wireless client, wherein the congestion quality metric is generated based on a number of packet transmission retries or a received signal strength, and the congestion quality metric is generated based on the following equation:
CQ
⁡
(
t
)
=
a
⁢
⁢
1
*
ⅆ
ⅆ
t
⁢
(
RC
⁡
(
t
)
)
+
a
⁢
⁢
2
⁢
ⅆ
2
ⅆ
t
⁢
⁢
2
⁢
(
(
RC
⁡
(
t
)
)
+
b
⁢
⁢
1
*
ⅆ
ⅆ
t
⁢
(
RSSI
⁡
(
t
)
)
+
b
⁢
⁢
2
*
ⅆ
2
ⅆ
t
⁢
⁢
2
⁢
(
RSSI
⁡
(
t
)
)
,
where CQ(t) represents the congestion quality metric, RC(t) represents the number of packet transmission retries, RSSI(t) represents the received signal strength, and coefficients a1, a2, b1, b2 are scalars.

87 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:

receive capability information from (N) wireless clients, (N) being an integer greater than or equal to (1);
generate a configuration table including at least one selectable configuration option corresponding to the capability information of at least one of the (N) wireless clients;
receive user input selecting a configuration option within the configuration table;
generate and send (S) configuration packets to at least one of the (N) wireless clients, each configuration packet containing configuration data for configuring one or more transmission parameters of a given wireless client based on the selected configuration option, (S) being an integer greater than or equal to (1), the transmission parameters relating to a network quality of service (QoS);
and
receive a congestion quality metric representing packet traffic congestion as measured at a given wireless client, wherein the configuration table includes a presentation of the congestion quality metric, and the congestion quality metric is received from the given wireless client at an interval that is dependent upon the selected configuration option for the given wireless client.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 10/960,551Filed 6 Oct 2004
Granted: 7 Aug 2012
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification21 codes

H04L 41/0816
Characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings: the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
H04L 1/0017
Characterised by the adaptation strategy: where the mode-switching is based on Quality of Service requirement
H04L 41/12
Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks: discovery or management…
H04L 43/0882
Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level: utilisation of link capacity