Multi-Access Point Coordination Frames for Shared TXOPs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless local area networks (WLANs) lack a solution for exchanging transmission parameters to coordinate transmission between multiple access points (APs), which hinders efficient network performance and reliability.
Innovation Solution
A multi-access point (M-AP) coordination method that involves transmitting and receiving a coordination control frame with enhanced user information fields, including coordination transmission parameters, to enable coordinated transmission between APs, facilitating techniques like coordinated spatial reuse (CSR), coordinated beam-forming (CBF), and coordinated time division multiple access (TDMA).
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If M-AP coordination schemes are implemented to enhance network performance and reliability, then network efficiency and user experience are improved, but device complexity and difficulty of coordination increase due to lack of transmission parameter exchange mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a coordination control frame as an intermediary mechanism that mediates communication between multiple access points. This frame carries transmission parameter information and coordination information, enabling APs to exchange necessary data without complex direct coordination protocols, thus improving reliability while managing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The coordination control frame serves multiple functions simultaneously: it carries user information, transmission parameters, coordination information, and triggering signals. This multi-functionality reduces the need for multiple separate control mechanisms, thereby improving network reliability without proportionally increasing device complexity.
2Productivity
If coordination control frames with user information fields are exchanged between APs, then coordinated transmission is enabled, but information exchange complexity and processing overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple types of information (user information, transmission parameters, coordination information) into a single coordination control frame structure. This consolidation enables comprehensive information exchange in one frame rather than requiring multiple separate exchanges, thereby improving network efficiency while managing processing complexity through unified handling.
Solution Approach 2:
The coordination control frame is designed with pre-defined fields and structures that allow APs to quickly parse and process information without complex runtime decision-making. The frame format is established in advance with clear field definitions, reducing processing overhead during actual coordination operations.
3Speed
If multiple access points share transmission opportunities and coordinates transmission, then network capacity and speed improve, but coordination overhead and time synchronization requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic transmission opportunities (TXOPs) that are coordinated through the control frame. By establishing periodic sharing patterns in advance, APs can synchronize their transmissions efficiently, achieving high speed data transfer while minimizing coordination overhead through pre-established timing patterns rather than continuous negotiation.
Data Source
AI summary
A multi-access point (M-AP) coordination method comprises receiving a coordination control frame, by a processor of a second access point (AP), wherein the coordination control frame is transmitted from a first AP, wherein the coordination control frame comprises at least one user information field for at least one shared AP, and each of the at least one user information field comprises an AP ID of a shared AP and coordination transmission parameters information of the shared AP; identifying, by the processor, the second AP as the shared AP if the AP ID of the second AP is in one user information field; and transmitting, by the processor, a packet during a transmission opportunity (TX OP) shared by the first AP based on the coordination transmission parameters information in the user information field containing the AP ID of the second AP.