Method and apparatus for real time scheduling of traffic in wireless networks

Abstract

A method for scheduling of traffic in wireless networks, whereas said network comprises real-time stations intending to send real-time traffic and best-effort stations sending best effort traffic, said method comprising: transmitting by a primary real-time station periodically a real-time access marker to thereby define rounds; assigning a sequence number to each station in said network which intends to send real-time traffic; based on the sequence number assigned to a station, defining a fixed backoff time at which a packet from this station is transmitted after the start of a round to thereby establish a sequence in which the real-time packets are sent by the different realtime stations, said method being characterized by further comprising: overhearing for a predetermined period of time the traffic by a station which intends to send real-time traffic; if from said overhearing said station concludes that there is already a primary station transmitting real-time access markers, assuming by said station a sequence number based on the number of real-time stations which already are sending real-time traffic.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to a method and equipment for real-time service scheduling in a wireless network. Background technique [0002] Wireless networks are now widely distributed. A widely used type of network known as a "Wireless Local Area Network" is defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard (a whole family of such standards exists). One problem with this type of wireless network is the quality of service issue. Nodes of such networks traditionally transmit in a so-called "best effort" mode, which means that the sender can send at the rate currently available in the network. The "best effort" mode does not guarantee a specific quality of service (also known as QoS), such as a minimum guaranteed bandwidth to enable "real-time" transmission. [0003] However, efforts have been made to implement QoS or real-time transmission in wireless networks. The most relevant known solution is IEEE 802.11e (see IEEE standard for information technology-specific requi...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0009] One possibility to reduce the delay is to reduce the interval between the two RT slots reserved for real-time transmission in the example shown in Figure 1A, but as mentioned before, this reduces the reservation efficiency, because for a given number real-time packets, there will be more unused RT slots

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