Divided MAC Protocol Structure for Wireless Handover
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless communication systems face challenges in efficiently managing session information during handovers in mobile subscriber stations (MSS), leading to increased transfer times and service interruptions due to the need to transfer and re-establish session information between access points.
Innovation Solution
A divided MAC protocol structure is introduced, separating the MAC layer into a MAC-high layer for managing session information and a MAC-low layer for data transmission, allowing session information to be fixedly managed and reducing the need for session information transfer during handovers by using a tunneling layer for address information and adjusting PDU block sizes based on wireless channel conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If session information is transferred between access points during handover, then communication continuity is maintained, but handover time increases and service interruptions occur
Solution Approach 1:
The MAC layer is divided into two independent sublayers: MAC-high for session information management and MAC-low for data transmission. This segmentation allows session information to remain fixed in the MAC-high layer while data transmission continues through MAC-low, enabling handover without session information transfer and eliminating service interruptions.
Solution Approach 2:
The MAC-high layer acts as an intermediary that manages session information independently from the data transmission path. By separating session management from data transmission, the system can perform handovers at the MAC-low layer without affecting session information stored in MAC-high, thus maintaining communication continuity without time loss.
2Reliability
If session information is stored in both MSS and AP, then communication functions are maintained, but system load increases during handover
Solution Approach 1:
Session information management is extracted from the AP and centralized in the MAC-high layer. This extraction eliminates the need for APs to store and transfer session information during handovers, significantly reducing system load while maintaining communication functions through the MAC-high layer's session management capabilities.
3Ease of manufacture
If PDU block size is fixed, then data transmission is simple, but communication quality decreases under varying channel conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The PDU block size is made dynamic and adjustable based on wireless channel conditions. The MAC-low layer can adaptively change PDU block sizes to match channel quality, ensuring high communication quality under varying conditions while maintaining simple data transmission through the standardized MAC protocol structure.
Data Source
AI summary
A divided Media Access Control (MAC) protocol structure, a data transmission and reception method, and a handover method and system using the structure in a wireless communication system for efficiently managing session information in handover of an MSS (Mobile Subscriber Station). In the MAC protocol structure, a MAC is divided into a MAC-high layer and a MAC-low layer. The MAC-high layer performs session information-related functions and the MAC-low layer performs functions sensitive to a time delay in relation to handover of an MSS. In the handover method, when an MSS in the wireless communication system performs handover between Access Points (APs), session information is managed at a fixed position by an Access Point Controller (APC) including an MAC-high layer or a serving AP. Therefore, the system load can be reduced and communication quality can be improved.