Joint Sounding NAV Management via Virtual BSS TA
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies face challenges in efficiently managing network allocation vectors (NAV) during joint sounding procedures involving multiple access points (APs), leading to issues with channel state information (CSI) transmission and interference management.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves a method for joint sounding by a client with a master AP and a slave AP, where the client receives messages from both APs, updates NAV values, and transmits CSI based on specific conditions, such as prespecified transmit addresses and broadcast addresses, to ensure proper NAV updates and minimize interference.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If multiple APs participate in joint sounding procedures, then the transmission power and antenna gain are increased, but the NAV management complexity and interference coordination difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the NAV management of multiple APs into a unified virtual BSS structure. By setting a common TA value in NDPA and trigger frames from different APs, the client device treats transmissions from multiple APs as originating from a single logical source, consolidating NAV updates and eliminating the need for separate NAV management per AP.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a virtual BSS identifier as an intermediary mechanism. This virtual identifier acts as a mediator that allows multiple physical APs to coordinate their NAV management through a unified logical framework, enabling seamless joint sounding operations without increasing management complexity.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If NAV is updated based on inter-BSS rules for messages from multiple APs, then the client defers transmission to avoid interference, but the channel utilization efficiency decreases due to excessive deferral
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional BSS classification approach. Instead of treating messages from different APs as inter-BSS (which would trigger conservative deferral), the patent makes them appear as intra-BSS messages by using a common TA value. This inversion allows the client to apply more aggressive NAV update rules that enable transmission opportunities while maintaining interference avoidance.
3Ease of operation
If the TA of received messages is set to a common value for joint sounding, then the client can apply simplified intra-BSS NAV rules, but the ability to distinguish individual AP transmissions is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the common TA value serve multiple functions simultaneously. It acts as both a simplification mechanism for NAV management (by creating unified intra-BSS appearance) and as an identification mechanism (through the virtual BSS identifier). This multi-functionality allows the system to achieve both operational simplicity and information preservation.
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments relate to a system and method for joint sounding by a client with a master access point (AP) and a slave (AP), including: receiving a message from the master AP; applying network allocation vector (NAV) rules to update a NAV values, wherein the received message is treated as an intra-basic service set (BSS) message when the transmit address (TA) of the received message has a prespecified value; receiving a first trigger frame; and transmitting a first channel state information (CSI) to the master AP when the channel is idle based upon the updated NAV value in response to the trigger frame.