Multi-AP ACK Timing Coordination in Wireless LAN Transmission
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Solution Overview
Problem
In a wireless LAN system where identical data is simultaneously transmitted from multiple access points (APs) to a single communication terminal, the terminal struggles to determine which AP to send a receipt acknowledgment (ACK) to, and retransmissions can occur unnecessarily if one AP fails to receive the ACK.
Innovation Solution
A wireless communication device and method that coordinates data transmission among multiple APs, including a wireless transmission unit to transmit data with a specified acknowledgment timing and a reception unit to receive ACKs, ensuring efficient collection of acknowledgments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If identical data is simultaneously transmitted from multiple APs to one STA, then data transmission reliability is improved, but the STA cannot determine which AP to return ACK to
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the ACK collection process by assigning each AP a unique identifier and creating separate ACK transmission paths. Each AP transmits its own ACK separately after receiving data, eliminating the ambiguity of which AP the STA should return ACK to when multiple APs transmit simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a coordinator AP as an intermediary that manages the ACK collection process. The coordinator receives ACKs from STAs and forwards them to the appropriate APs, mediating the communication between multiple APs and the STA to resolve the ACK routing ambiguity.
2Reliability
If any AP fails to receive ACK, then retransmission is started from that AP, but unnecessary retransmission occurs even though STA already received data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the STA sends ACKs to all APs that transmitted data, and each AP independently processes the ACK based on its own transmission status. This feedback system ensures that only APs that actually failed to receive data initiate retransmission, preventing unnecessary retransmissions from APs that successfully delivered data.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the retransmission decision process by having each AP independently track its own data delivery status and ACK reception. Each AP makes its own retransmission decision based on whether it received the ACK, preventing coordinated retransmissions and ensuring only necessary retransmissions occur.
3Productivity
If multiple APs transmit identical data simultaneously, then data transmission efficiency is improved, but ACK collection becomes complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the ACK collection process by having each AP handle its own ACK reception and processing independently. Each AP maintains its own state information about data transmission and ACK reception, simplifying the overall system architecture while maintaining high transmission efficiency through parallel operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by having each AP maintain its own local state information regarding data transmission status and ACK reception. This localized tracking mechanism simplifies ACK collection complexity while enabling efficient parallel data transmission from multiple APs.
Data Source
AI summary
The present technology relates to a wireless communication device and method, and a wireless communication terminal and method that enable a plurality of access points to efficiently collect receipt acknowledgments of data from respective communication terminals. The wireless communication device coordinately transmits, with one or more first other wireless communication devices, data addressed to the wireless communication terminals each including information indicating a transmission timing of a receipt acknowledgment of each of the plurality of wireless communication terminals. Furthermore, the wireless communication device receives the receipt acknowledgment from each of the wireless communication terminals after transmitting the data. The present technology can be applied to a wireless communication system.