Wireless network device and signal transmission method

Abstract

The invention relates to a wireless network device and a signal transmission method. The signal transmission method includes the following operations: selectively enabling a first backoff timer according to a spatial multiplexing condition when a channel on a transmission medium has a busy state; selectively enabling a second backoff timer when the channel on the transmission medium is switched from the busy state to an idle state; and controlling the transmitter circuit to transmit the data signal via the transmission medium based on a corresponding timer of the first backoff timer and the second backoff timer, where the transmitter circuit is controlled to transmit the data signal at a first power when the corresponding timer is the first backoff timer, and the transmitter circuit is controlled to transmit the data signal at a second power when the corresponding timer is the second backoff timer. The transmitter circuit is controlled to transmit the data signal at a second power, and the first power is lower than the second power.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a wireless network device, and more particularly to a wireless network device and a signal transmission method having a function of increasing the opportunity of using a spatial reuse mechanism for data transmission. Background Art

[0002] The IEEE 802.11ax standard proposes a spatial reuse mechanism in the hope of improving data transmission throughput and reducing transmission delay. In actual applications, if packets with shorter transmission times compete for the same channel on the transmission medium, the data transmission of the spatial reuse mechanism may not be executed, making the improvement effect of the above mechanism not obvious. On the other hand, in the prior art, devices using the spatial reuse mechanism may have a higher probability of competing for the channel during non-spatial reuse periods, violating the random backoff mechanism specified in the existing standards. Summary of the invention

[0003] In some implementations, one of the purposes of the present invention is (but not limited to) to provide a packet processing method and a network device with multiple packet processing modes and memory management to improve the deficiencies of the prior art.

[0004] In some embodiments, the wireless network device includes a transmitter circuit and a controller circuit system. The controller circuit system is used to selectively enable a first backoff timer according to a spatial reuse condition when a channel on a transmission medium has a busy state, and selectively enable a second backoff timer when the transmission medium switches from the busy state to an idle state, and control the transmitter circuit to transmit a data signal via the transmission medium based on a corresponding timer in the first backoff timer and the second backoff timer. When the corresponding timer is the first backoff timer, the controller circuit system controls the transmitter circuit to transmit the data signal at a first power, and when the corresponding timer is the second backoff timer, the controller circuit system controls the transmitter circuit to transmit the data signal at a second power, and the first power is lower than the second power.

[0005] In some implementations, a signal transmission method includes the following operations: selectively enabling a first backoff timer according to a spatial multiplexing condition when a channel on a transmission medium has a busy state; selectively enabling a second backoff timer when the channel on the transmission medium switches from the busy state to an idle state; and controlling a transmitter circuit to transmit a data signal via the transmission medium based on a corresponding timer between the first backoff timer and the second backoff timer, wherein when the corresponding timer is the first backoff timer, the transmitter circuit is controlled to transmit the data signal at a first power, and when the corresponding timer is the second backoff timer, the transmitter circuit is controlled to transmit the data signal at a second power, and the first power is lower than the second power.

[0006] The features, implementation and effects of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the drawings as preferred embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] [ Figure 1 ] is a schematic diagram of a network system according to some embodiments of the present invention;

[0008] [ Figure 2 ] is drawn according to some embodiments of the present invention Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a wireless network device in;

[0009] [ Figure 3A ] is drawn according to some embodiments of the present invention Figure 1 and Figure 2 A schematic diagram of an operation behavior of a wireless network device in a first situation;

[0010] [ Figure 3B ] is drawn according to some embodiments of the present invention Figure 1 and Figure 2 A schematic diagram of an operation behavior of a wireless network device in a second situation;

[0011] [ Figure 3C ] is drawn according to some embodiments of the present invention Figure 1 and Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the operation behavior of the wireless network device in the third situation;

[0012] [ Figure 3D ] is drawn according to some embodiments of the present invention Figure 1 and Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the operation behavior of the wireless network device in the fourth situation;

[0013] [ Figure 3E ] is drawn according to some embodiments of the present invention Figure 1 and Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the operation behavior of the wireless network device in the fifth situation; and

[0014] [ Figure 4 ] is a flowchart of a signal transmission method according to some embodiments of the present case. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] All words used herein have their usual meanings. The definitions of the above words in commonly used dictionaries and the use examples of any words discussed herein in the content of this case are only illustrative and should not limit the scope and meaning of this case. Similarly, this case is not limited to the various embodiments shown in this specification.

[0016] As used herein, "coupling" or "connection" may refer to two or more elements making direct physical or electrical contact with each other, or making indirect physical or electrical contact with each other, or may refer to two or more elements operating or acting on each other. As used herein, the term "circuit system" may be a system formed by at least one circuit, and the term "circuit" may be a device composed of at least one transistor and / or at least one active and passive element connected in a certain manner to process signals.

[0017] As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any combination of one or more of the listed associated items. In this article, the words first, second, third, etc. are used to describe and distinguish each element. Therefore, the first element in this article can also be called the second element without departing from the original intention of the case. For ease of understanding, similar elements in each figure will be designated with the same reference numeral.

[0018] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a network system 100 is drawn according to some embodiments of the present invention. In this example, the network system 100 includes a plurality of wireless network devices 101-104 that use channels on a transmission medium 100A for data transmission. The wireless network device 101 and the wireless network device 102 form a basic service set (BSS), and the wireless network device 103 and the wireless network device 104 form another basic service set. For example, the wireless network device 101 operates as a station, the wireless network device 102 operates as an access point, and the wireless network device 101 and the wireless network device 102 can transmit data (for example, data signal SD) to each other via the channel on the transmission medium 100A. Similarly, the wireless network device 103 operates as another station, the wireless network device 104 operates as another access point, and the wireless network device 103 and the wireless network device 104 can transmit data (for example, data signal OD1 and response OR1) to each other via the channel on the transmission medium 100A. In some embodiments, the transmission medium 100A can be, but is not limited to, air.

[0019] In other words, Figure 1 In the example, the coverage of two basic service sets formed by multiple wireless network devices 101-104 partially or completely overlaps, forming an overlapping basic service set (OBSS). That is, in the same environment, wireless network device 101 and wireless network device 102 are overlapping basic service sets corresponding to wireless network device 103 and wireless network device 104; and vice versa. When the coverage of the above-mentioned multiple basic service sets overlap with each other, the data transmission of the multiple basic service sets may collide and interfere, causing the overall transmission performance of the network system 100 to deteriorate. In some embodiments, based on the Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA / CA) mechanism and Spatial Reuse (SR) mechanism proposed in the IEEE 802.11 standard, multiple wireless network devices 101-104 can minimize collisions and interference in the same environment, thereby improving the overall transmission performance and transmission stability. In some embodiments, based on the above-mentioned mechanisms, the wireless network devices 101 and 102 may utilize the backoff timers mentioned later to further increase the probability of using the spatial multiplexing mechanism to transmit data, thereby further improving transmission performance.

[0020] Figure 2 According to some embodiments of the present invention, Figure 1 Schematic diagram of a wireless network device 101 in FIG. Figure 1 The configuration of the other wireless network devices 102-104 in the embodiment may be the same as or different from that of the wireless network devices 102-104 in the embodiment. Figure 2 For example, in some embodiments, each of the wireless network devices 102-104 may not include multiple back-off timers. Figure 2 As shown, the wireless network device 101 includes a controller circuit system 210 and a transceiver circuit system 220. The transceiver circuit system 220 includes a transmitter circuit 222 and a receiver circuit 224. The receiver circuit 224 can be connected via Figure 1 The transmission medium 100A receives data from overlapping basic service sets (for example, Figure 1 The transmitter circuit 222 can transmit the data signal SD to the wireless network device 103 and / or the wireless network device 104 via the transmission medium 100A according to the control signal SC generated by the controller circuit system 210. Figure 1In some embodiments, the transmitter circuit 222 has a gain adjustment mechanism, which can adjust the amplification gain according to the control signal SC to adjust the output power of the data signal SD. In this way, the transmitter circuit 222 can transmit the data signal SD at the first power or the second power according to the corresponding timer.

[0021] The controller circuit system 210 may further receive clear channel assessment (CCA) information IA, an intra-BSS network allocation vector (NAV) IN1 transmitted from the wireless network device 102, and an overlapped BSS (e.g., Figure 1 The invention also provides a method for controlling the transmitter circuit 222 to use the corresponding power transmission signal SD according to the inter-BSS network allocation vector IN2 transmitted from the wireless network device 103 and / or the wireless network device 104 in the wireless network, and selectively enables the back-off timer 214A (corresponding to the aforementioned spatial multiplexing mechanism) and / or the back-off timer 214B (corresponding to the general back-off mechanism) according to the idle channel assessment information IA, the packet BP, the intra-BSS network allocation vector IN1 and the inter-BSS network allocation vector IN2, so as to control the transmitter circuit 222 to use the corresponding power transmission signal SD.

[0022] In detail, when the transmission medium 100A has a busy state in response to data transmission of overlapping basic service sets, the controller circuit system 210 can selectively enable the back-off timer 214A according to the spatial multiplexing condition. When the transmission medium 100A switches from a busy state to an idle state, the controller circuit system 210 can selectively enable the back-off timer 214B. In this way, the controller circuit system 210 can control the transmitter circuit 222 to transmit the data signal SD via the transmission medium 100A based on the corresponding timer in the back-off timer 214A and the back-off timer 214B. In some embodiments, when the overlapping basic service set (for example, Figure 1When the wireless network device 103 and / or the wireless network device 104 in the transmission medium 100A transmit data via the channel on the transmission medium 100A, the channel on the transmission medium 100A has a busy state. Under this condition, if the current transmission environment can meet the spatial multiplexing condition, the controller circuit system 210 can enable the back-off timer 214A, thereby controlling the transmitter circuit 222 to transmit the data signal SD via the transmission medium 100A at the first power based on the back-off timer 214A (if the back-off timer 214A expires first). In other words, the wireless network device 101 can transmit data via the channel on the transmission medium 100A at the same time as the overlapping basic service set. Alternatively, when the data transmission of the overlapping basic service set via the channel on the transmission medium 100A has been completed, the transmission medium 100A is switched from the busy state to the idle state. Under this condition, the controller circuit system 210 may enable the back-off timer 214B, thereby controlling the transmitter circuit 222 to transmit the data signal SD via the transmission medium 100A at the second power based on the back-off timer 214B (if the back-off timer 214B expires first), wherein the first power is lower than the second power. In some embodiments, when the transmitter circuit 222 transmits the data signal SD at the corresponding power of the first power or the second power, the signal power of the data signal SD is approximately equal to the corresponding power. Detailed descriptions of this will be described later. FIG. 3A to FIG. 3E illustrate.

[0023] In some embodiments, the controller circuit system 210 may include a spatial multiplexing control circuit 212 and an Enhanced Distributed Channel Access Function (EDCAF) control circuit 214. The spatial multiplexing control circuit 212 receives the packet BP and measures the power of the received packet BP, and determines the spatial multiplexing period TSR accordingly. In some embodiments, the packet BP may be a protocol data unit (PDU) of an overlapping basic service set, which may include, but is not limited to, the following information: a physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) header, a media access control (MAC) header, a data payload, and other information.

[0024] In some embodiments, based on the IEEE 802.11 standard (for example, including, but not limited to, the IEEE 802.11ax standard or its successor standard), the spatial reuse control circuit 212 can confirm whether the transmission medium 100A is busy in response to the data transmission of the overlapping basic service set according to the above information and power of the packet BP, or switches to an idle state because the data transmission of the overlapping basic service set has been completed, and determines the spatial reuse period TSR accordingly. In some embodiments, the spatial reuse period TSR is the time between when it is detected that the spatial reuse condition is satisfied and when the data signal SD is started to be transmitted using the spatial reuse mechanism, or when it is detected that the spatial reuse condition is satisfied and when the overlapping basic service set ends to transmit the data signal (for example, it can be, but not limited to, the time point of receiving a response from the receiving end device, wherein the response is used to notify the transmitting end device that the transmission of the data signal has been completed). In some embodiments, based on the aforementioned IEEE 802.11 standard, the spatial multiplexing control circuit 212 can confirm whether the spatial multiplexing condition is satisfied by the current transmission environment according to the above information and power of the packet BP, so as to decide whether to enable the back-off timer 214A corresponding to the spatial multiplexing mechanism. If the spatial multiplexing condition is satisfied, it means that the controller circuit system 210 can selectively control the transmitter circuit 222 to transmit the data signal SD based on the spatial multiplexing mechanism. In some embodiments, the requirements for satisfying the spatial multiplexing condition can refer to the aforementioned IEEE 802.11 standard, which will not be described in detail here. When the controller circuit system 210 detects that the spatial multiplexing condition is satisfied, the controller circuit system 210 can selectively enable the back-off timer 214A. Alternatively, after the spatial multiplexing period TSR ends, the controller circuit system 210 can selectively enable the back-off timer 214B.

[0025] The enhanced distributed channel access function control circuit 214 can selectively enable the corresponding timer in the back-off timer 214A or the back-off timer 214B according to the spatial reuse period TSR, the idle channel assessment information IA, the intra-basic service set network allocation vector IN1 and the inter-basic service set network allocation vector IN2, and send a control signal SC based on the corresponding timer, thereby controlling the transmitter circuit 222 to use the corresponding power to transmit the data signal SD. In some embodiments, the idle channel assessment information IA can be provided by other circuits (not shown) in the controller circuit system 210. In some embodiments, the idle channel assessment information IA can be obtained by measuring the energy on the channel of the transmission medium 100A. If the measured value is higher than a preset value, the idle channel assessment information IA can indicate that the channel on the transmission medium 100A has a busy state. Alternatively, if the measured value is not higher than the preset value, the idle channel assessment information IA can indicate that the channel on the transmission medium 100A may have an idle state.

[0026] In some embodiments, the network allocation vector IN1 within the basic service set may indicate another device (e.g., Figure 1 In some embodiments, the inter-basic service set network allocation vector IN2 may indicate the devices in the overlapping basic service set (e.g., Figure 1 In some embodiments, if the value of the network allocation vector IN2 between basic service sets or the value of the network allocation vector IN1 within a basic service set is not a preset value (for example, but not limited to, 0), it means that there are still overlapping basic service sets or other devices of the same basic service set transmitting on the channel of the transmission medium 100A. Under this condition, the enhanced distributed channel access function control circuit 214 will not enable the backoff timer 214A. After the spatial multiplexing period TSR, according to the execution status of the backoff timer 214A, the enhanced distributed channel access function control circuit 214 can selectively enable the backoff timer 214B, and generate a control signal SC based on the corresponding timer of the backoff timer 214A and the backoff timer 214B that expires first, thereby controlling the transmitter circuit 222 to transmit the data signal SD via the transmission medium 100A at a corresponding power.

[0027] In some embodiments, the controller circuit system 210 may be implemented by at least one digital circuit that executes a driver and / or an algorithm or software related to the above communication standard. For example, the spatial multiplexing control circuit 212 may be implemented by hardware and software and / or a processing circuit that executes the spatial multiplexing mechanism in the IEEE 802.11ax standard, and the enhanced distributed channel access function control circuit 214 may be implemented by hardware and software and / or a processing circuit that executes the distributed channel access mechanism in the IEEE 802.11ax standard, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, each of the back-off timer 214A and the back-off timer 214B may be a virtual countdown, which may be implemented by software or hardware, and a random value (such as the random value M and the random value N described later) is set by the aforementioned driver and / or algorithm.

[0028] Figure 3A According to some embodiments of the present invention, Figure 1 and Figure 2 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the operation behavior of the wireless network device 101 in the first scenario. In the first scenario, the current environment cannot meet the spatial reuse condition, so that the controller circuit system 210 does not enable the back-off timer 214A.

[0029] In some embodiments, the back-off timer 214A may be selectively enabled within the spatial multiplexing period TSR and count down from the random value M to 0. In some embodiments, the back-off timer 214B may be selectively enabled after the spatial multiplexing period TSR and count down from the random value N to 0. Each of the random value M and the random value N may be a positive integer greater than 0. When the back-off timer 214A expires (i.e., after counting to 0), the controller circuit system 210 may selectively send a control signal SC based on the first one of the back-off timer 214A and the back-off timer 214B to control the transmitter circuit 222 to transmit the data signal SD at the corresponding power.

[0030] like Figure 3A As shown, at time t1, the device in the overlapping basic service set (e.g. Figure 1 The wireless network device 103 in the overlapping basic service set sends a data signal OD1 to another device in the overlapping basic service set (e.g. Figure 1 wireless network device 104). Under this condition, the spatial multiplexing control circuit 212 can know at time t1 that the channel of the transmission medium 100A is in a busy state. At time t2, the other device in the overlapping basic service set has received the data signal OD1 and completed sending a response OR1 to the device in the overlapping basic service set. Under this condition, since the data transmission of the overlapping basic service set has been completed, the channel on the transmission medium 100A will be switched from a busy state to an idle state. As described above, in the first scenario, the controller circuit system 210 determines that the spatial multiplexing condition is not satisfied by the current environment (i.e., the spatial multiplexing period TSR is 0), so that the controller circuit system 210 does not enable the backoff timer 214A, so the backoff timer 214A is disabled and does not start counting down.

[0031] On the other hand, after time t2, the controller circuit system 210 activates the back-off timer 214B based on the general back-off mechanism. Under this condition, the back-off timer 214B starts to count down from the random value N to 0. At time t3, the back-off timer 214B expires, and the controller circuit system 210 sends a control signal SC based on the back-off timer 214B that expired first, thereby controlling the transmitter circuit 222 to transmit the data signal SD to the transmission medium 100A at a second power (higher than the first power). Figure 1 The wireless network device 102. Figure 3A It can be seen that in this example, after the data transmission of the overlapping basic service set using the transmission medium 100A is completed, the transmitter circuit 222 can start to transmit the data signal SD at the second power (i.e., time t3). In this way, the transmission between the wireless network device 101 and the wireless network device 102 can be prevented from being affected by the overlapping basic service set.

[0032] Figure 3B According to some embodiments of the present invention, Figure 1 and Figure 2 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the operation behavior of the wireless network device 101 in the second scenario. In the second scenario, the current environment meets the spatial reuse condition, so that the controller circuit system 210 enables the back-off timer 214A.

[0033] like Figure 3B As shown, at time t1, the device in the overlapping basic service set (e.g. Figure 1 The wireless network device 103 in the overlapping basic service set sends a data signal OD1 to another device in the overlapping basic service set (e.g. Figure 1 104). Under this condition, the spatial multiplexing control circuit 212 can know at time t1 that the channel of the transmission medium 100A is busy. At time t2, the controller circuit system 210 determines that the current environment meets the spatial multiplexing condition, and accordingly activates the back-off timer 214A, so that the back-off timer 214A starts counting down from the random value M. At time t3, the back-off timer 214A expires, so the controller circuit system 210 sends a control signal SC based on the back-off timer 214A that expires first, so as to control the transmitter circuit 222 to transmit the data signal SD to the first power through the transmission medium 100A. Figure 1 In other words, in the second scenario, the controller circuit system 210 controls the transmitter circuit 222 to transmit the data signal SD at a lower first power based on the spatial multiplexing mechanism. In this example, the period from time t2 to time t3 is equivalent to the aforementioned spatial multiplexing period TSR.

[0034] At time t4, the other device in the overlapping basic service set has received the data signal OD1 and completed sending a response OR1 to the device in the overlapping basic service set. Under this condition, since the data transmission of the overlapping basic service set has been completed, the channel on the transmission medium 100A will switch from a busy state to an idle state. Figure 3B In the example of FIG. 2 , the controller circuit system 210 enables the back-off timer 214A, and the back-off timer 214A expires before the channel on the transmission medium 100A switches to the idle state (i.e., before time t4). Under this condition, since the controller circuit system 210 has controlled the transmitter circuit 222 to transmit the data signal SD based on the back-off timer 214A that expired earlier, the controller circuit system 210 may not enable the back-off timer 214B. Figure 3BIt can be seen that in this example, when the data transmission of the overlapping basic service sets using the same transmission medium 100A has not been completed and the channel on the transmission medium 100A is still busy based on the data transmission of the overlapping basic service sets, the transmitter circuit 222 starts to transmit the data signal SD at the first power (i.e. after time t3). In other words, in this example, multiple overlapping basic service sets (i.e. Figure 1 Multiple wireless network devices 101-104) can use the same transmission medium 100A for data transmission at the same time. As mentioned above, since the transmitter circuit 222 transmits the data signal SD at a lower first power, the data transmission between the wireless transmission device 101 and the wireless transmission device 102 is less likely to affect the overlapping basic service set, and the data signal SD can be transmitted earlier (compared to Figure 3A ) to improve data transmission efficiency.

[0035] Figure 3C According to some embodiments of the present invention, Figure 1 and Figure 2 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the operation behavior of the wireless network device 101 in the third scenario. In the third scenario, both the back-off timer 214A and the back-off timer 214B are enabled, and the back-off timer 214B expires first.

[0036] like Figure 3C As shown, at time t1, the device in the overlapping basic service set (e.g. Figure 1 The wireless network device 103 in the overlapping basic service set sends a data signal OD1 to another device in the overlapping basic service set (e.g. Figure 1 Under this condition, the spatial multiplexing control circuit 212 can know that the channel of the transmission medium 100A is busy at time t1. At time t2, the controller circuit system 210 determines that the current environment meets the spatial multiplexing condition, and accordingly activates the back-off timer 214A, so that the back-off timer 214A starts counting down from the random value M.

[0037] At time t3, the other device in the overlapping basic service set has received the data signal OD1 and completed sending a response OR1 to the device in the overlapping basic service set, and the back-off timer 214A has not expired (for example, counted down to a value X, and the value X is greater than or equal to N). Under this condition, since the data transmission of the overlapping basic service set has been completed, the channel on the transmission medium 100A will switch from a busy state to an idle state, so that the controller circuit system 210 enables the back-off timer 214B based on a general back-off mechanism. In this way, the back-off timer 214B starts to count down from a random value N to 0. In this example, the period from time t2 to time t3 is equivalent to the aforementioned spatial multiplexing period TSR. At time t4, the back-off timer 214B expires, while the back-off timer 214A has not expired, so the controller circuit system 210 sends a control signal SC based on the back-off timer 214B that expired first, thereby controlling the transmitter circuit 222 to transmit the data signal SD via the transmission medium 100A at the second power.

[0038] Similar to Figure 3A In this example, when the transmitter circuit 222 transmits the data signal SD at the second power (i.e. after time t4), the data transmission of the overlapping basic service set using the same transmission medium 100A has been completed. In this way, the transmission between the wireless network device 101 and the wireless network device 102 can be prevented from being affected by the overlapping basic service set.

[0039] Figure 3D According to some embodiments of the present invention, Figure 1 and Figure 2 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the operation behavior of the wireless network device 101 in the fourth scenario. In the fourth scenario, the back-off timer 214A and the back-off timer 214B are both enabled, and the back-off timer 214A expires first.

[0040] like Figure 3D As shown, at time t1, the device in the overlapping basic service set (e.g. Figure 1 The wireless network device 103 in the overlapping basic service set sends a data signal OD1 to another device in the overlapping basic service set (e.g. Figure 1 Under this condition, the spatial multiplexing control circuit 212 can know that the channel of the transmission medium 100A is busy at time t1. At time t2, the controller circuit system 210 determines that the current environment meets the spatial multiplexing condition, and accordingly activates the back-off timer 214A, so that the back-off timer 214A starts counting down from the random value M.

[0041] At time t3, the other device in the overlapping basic service set has received the data signal OD1 and completed sending the response OR1 to the device in the overlapping basic service set, and the back-off timer 214A has not expired (counted down to the value X, and the value X is less than N). Under this condition, since the data transmission of the overlapping basic service set has been completed, the channel on the transmission medium 100A will switch from a busy state to an idle state, so that the controller circuit system 210 activates the back-off timer 214B based on the general back-off mechanism. In this way, the back-off timer 214B starts to count down from the random value N to NX. At time t4, the back-off timer 214A expires, and the back-off timer 214B has not expired, so the controller circuit system 210 sends a control signal SC based on the back-off timer 214A that expires first, thereby controlling the transmitter circuit 222 to transmit the data signal SD via the transmission medium 100A at the first power.

[0042] Different from Figure 3B In this example, after the data transmission of the overlapping basic service set using the same transmission medium 100A is completed, the transmitter circuit 222 starts to transmit the data signal SD at the first power (i.e., time t4). Figure 3B and Figure 3D It can be seen that when the controller circuit system 210 sends the control signal SC based on the back-off timer 214A to control the transmitter circuit 222 to transmit the data signal SD at a lower first power, the channel on the transmission medium 100A may continue to have a busy state (such as Figure 3B ), or has an idle state (such as Figure 3D In other words, when the data signal SD is transmitted via the spatial multiplexing mechanism, the data transmission of the wireless network device 101 will not be limited by the operating state of the channel on the transmission medium 100A.

[0043] Figure 3E According to some embodiments of the present invention, Figure 1 and Figure 2 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the operation behavior of the wireless network device 101 in the fifth scenario. In the fifth scenario, the back-off timer 214A is enabled, but stops counting down when the spatial reuse period TSR ends.

[0044] like Figure 3E As shown, at time t1, the device in the overlapping basic service set (e.g. Figure 1 The wireless network device 103 in the overlapping basic service set sends a data signal OD1 to another device in the overlapping basic service set (e.g. Figure 1Under this condition, the spatial multiplexing control circuit 212 can know that the channel of the transmission medium 100A is busy at time t1. At time t2, the controller circuit system 210 determines that the current environment meets the spatial multiplexing condition, and accordingly activates the back-off timer 214A, so that the back-off timer 214A starts counting down from the random value M.

[0045] At time t3, the other device in the overlapping basic service set has received the data signal OD1 and completed sending the response OR1 to the device in the overlapping basic service set. The back-off timer 214A has not expired (counted down to the value X), but the controller circuit system 210 can confirm that the channel usage rate of the wireless network device 101 after time t3 is much higher than the channel usage rate of other devices based on the statistics of the previous transmission, and control the back-off timer 214A to stop counting accordingly to ensure fairness in channel usage. In other words, in some embodiments, the controller circuit system 210 can selectively stop the back-off timer 214A based on the channel usage rate of the transmitter circuit 222. In this way, when the controller circuit system 210 determines that the channel usage rate of its own device (for example, the transmitter circuit 222) is too high, the controller circuit system 210 can only use the back-off timer 214B for subsequent channel contention. In some embodiments, the controller circuit system 210 can execute a preset algorithm to count the aforementioned channel usage rate during the transmission process. For example, the wireless network device 101 may detect whether the wireless network device using the channel belongs to the same basic service set as itself within a period of time (e.g., multiple time points therein), so as to calculate the ratio of the channel usage time of the overlapping basic service set to the channel usage time of itself (or its basic service set), and then determine whether the channel usage rate of itself (or its basic service set) is high. On the other hand, at time t3, since the data transmission of the overlapping basic service set has been completed, the channel on the transmission medium 100A will switch from a busy state to an idle state, so that the controller circuit system 210 activates the backoff timer 214B based on a general backoff mechanism. In this way, the backoff timer 214B starts to count down from the random value N to 0. At time t4, the backoff timer 214B expires, so the controller circuit system 210 sends a control signal SC based on the expired backoff timer 214B, thereby controlling the transmitter circuit 222 to start transmitting the data signal SD via the transmission medium 100A at the second power.

[0046] In the above-mentioned multiple situations, according to the data transmission of another overlapping basic service set in the application environment and / or the operating conditions in the environment, the controller circuit system 210 can selectively enable the back-off timer 214A corresponding to the spatial multiplexing mechanism or the back-off timer 214B corresponding to the general back-off mechanism, and generate the control signal SC according to the first one of the two back-off timers to expire, so as to control the transmitter circuit 222 to transmit the data signal SD with the corresponding power. By using the above-mentioned control mechanism, the wireless network device 101 can increase the opportunity of transmitting the data signal SD by the spatial multiplexing mechanism without violating the original back-off mechanism, so as to meet the requirements of the existing communication standards.

[0047] Figure 4 A flow chart of a signal transmission method 400 is drawn according to some embodiments of the present invention. In operation S410, when a channel on a transmission medium has a busy state, a first backoff timer is selectively enabled according to a spatial multiplexing condition. In operation S420, when the channel on the transmission medium switches from the busy state to an idle state, a second backoff timer is selectively enabled. In operation S430, a transmitter circuit is controlled to transmit a data signal via the transmission medium based on a corresponding timer in the first backoff timer and the second backoff timer, wherein when the corresponding timer is the first backoff timer, the transmitter circuit is controlled to transmit the data signal at a first power, and when the corresponding timer is the second backoff timer, the transmitter circuit is controlled to transmit the data signal at a second power, and the first power is lower than the second power.

[0048] The description of the multiple operations of the above-mentioned signal transmission method 400 can refer to the above-mentioned multiple embodiments, so it is not repeated here. The above-mentioned multiple operations are only examples and are not limited to being performed in the order in this example. Without violating the operation mode and scope of each embodiment of the present case, the various operations under the signal transmission method 400 can be appropriately increased, replaced, omitted or performed in a different order. Alternatively, one or more operations under the signal transmission method 400 can be performed simultaneously or partially simultaneously.

[0049] In summary, the wireless network device and signal transmission method provided by some embodiments of the present invention can selectively use the spatial multiplexing mechanism to transmit data signals according to the data transmission of the overlapping basic service sets in the current environment and the environmental operating conditions. In this way, the opportunity to use the spatial multiplexing mechanism can be increased and the provisions of the current existing communication standards can be met, and the efficiency of data transmission can be further improved.

[0050] Although the embodiments of the present case are described above, these embodiments are not intended to limit the present case. A person with ordinary knowledge in the technical field may make changes to the technical features of the present case based on the explicit or implicit content of the present case. All these changes may fall within the scope of patent protection sought in the present case. In other words, the scope of patent protection in the present case shall be subject to the scope of the patent application defined in this specification.

[0051] Explanation of symbols

[0052] 100: Network system

[0053] 100A: Transmission medium

[0054] 101-104: Wireless network device

[0055] 210: Controller circuit system

[0056] 212: Spatial multiplexing control circuit

[0057] 214: Enhanced channel access function control circuit

[0058] 214A, 214B: Back-off timer

[0059] 220: Transceiver Circuit System

[0060] 222: Transmitter circuit

[0061] 224: Receiver Circuit

[0062] 400: Signal transmission method

[0063] BP: Packet

[0064] IA: Idle Channel Assessment Information

[0065] IN1: Network allocation vector within basic service set

[0066] IN2: Basic service set network allocation vector

[0067] M, N: random value

[0068] OD1, SD: data signal

[0069] OR1: Response

[0070] S410, S420, S430: Operation

[0071] SC: Control signal

[0072] X: value

[0073] t1~t4: time

[0074] TSR: Spatial reuse period

Claims

1. A wireless network device, comprising: transmitter circuit; and a controller circuit system for selectively enabling a first backoff timer according to a spatial multiplexing condition when a channel on a transmission medium has a busy state, and selectively enabling a second backoff timer when the transmission medium switches from the busy state to an idle state, and controlling the transmitter circuit to transmit a data signal via the transmission medium based on a corresponding timer of the first backoff timer and the second backoff timer, When the corresponding timer is the first back-off timer, the controller circuit system controls the transceiver circuit to transmit the data signal at a first power, and when the corresponding timer is the second back-off timer, the controller circuit system controls the transmitter circuit to transmit the data signal at a second power, and the first power is lower than the second power.

2. The wireless network device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the channel on the transmission medium has the busy state based on data transmission in an overlapping basic service set, and after the data transmission is completed, the transmitter circuit starts to transmit the data signal at the second power.

3. The wireless network device as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the controller circuit system enables the first back-off timer and the first back-off timer expires before the channel on the transmission medium is switched to have the idle state, the controller circuit system does not enable the second back-off timer. 4 . The wireless network device of claim 1 , wherein when the controller circuit system determines that the spatial reuse condition is not satisfied, the controller circuit system does not enable the first back-off timer.

5. The wireless network device of claim 1 , wherein the channel on the transmission medium has the busy state based on data transmission in the overlapping basic service set, and when the data transmission has not been completed so that the channel on the transmission medium continues to have the busy state based on the data transmission in the overlapping basic service set, the transmitter circuit starts to transmit the data signal at the first power.

6. The wireless network device of claim 1, wherein the channel on the transmission medium has the busy state based on data transmission in an overlapping basic service set, and after the data transmission is completed, the transmitter circuit starts transmitting the data signal at the first power. 7 . The wireless network device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the controller circuit system is further configured to selectively stop the first back-off timer according to a channel usage rate of the transmitter circuit. 8 . The wireless network device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the corresponding timer is one of the first back-off timer and the second back-off timer that expires earlier. 9 . The wireless network device of claim 1 , wherein the first back-off timer corresponds to a spatial multiplexing mechanism.

10. A signal transmission method, comprising: selectively enabling a first backoff timer according to a spatial multiplexing condition when a channel on the transmission medium has a busy status; selectively enabling a second backoff timer when the channel on the transmission medium switches from the busy state to the idle state; and controlling a transmitter circuit to transmit a data signal via the transmission medium based on a corresponding timer in the first back-off timer and the second back-off timer, When the corresponding timer is the first back-off timer, the transmitter circuit is controlled to transmit the data signal at a first power, and when the corresponding timer is the second back-off timer, the transmitter circuit is controlled to transmit the data signal at a second power, and the first power is lower than the second power.

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