Multi-AP Co-TDMA TXOP Sharing Under Transmit Opportunity Limits
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional Coordinated Time Division Multiple Access (Co-TDMA) techniques fail to enforce a maximum transmit opportunity (TXOP) limit, leading to unfairness towards legacy access points and their clients, and existing NAV extensions do not prevent unbounded TXOP durations.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method for access points to share TXOPs using Co-TDMA with multi-AP coordination (MAPC), ensuring adherence to a TXOP limit by controlling TXOP sharing through single or distributed AP mechanisms, where each AP manages TXOP duration allocation to maintain fairness and adherence to predefined limits.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If TXOP chaining is used to extend NAV and share TXOP among multiple APs, then resource utilization is improved, but TXOP duration becomes unbounded causing unfairness to legacy APs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the TXOP sharing process into controlled portions by introducing a TXOP limit parameter that divides the total available TXOP duration into manageable segments. Each AP can share TXOP with other APs, but the total duration is segmented and controlled to prevent unbounded extension, thus maintaining fairness to legacy APs while enabling multi-AP coordination.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces and enforces a TXOP limit parameter that constrains the maximum duration of TXOP chaining. By changing the system parameter from unbounded TXOP duration to bounded TXOP duration with a specified limit, the patent resolves the contradiction between improving resource utilization through TXOP sharing and preventing excessive TXOP duration that would harm legacy APs.
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional TXOP sharing techniques are used, then multi-AP coordination is achieved, but TXOP limit compliance is violated causing unfairness to legacy devices
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where APs monitor and track the cumulative TXOP duration used during chaining operations. Each AP receives information about the current TXOP state and adjusts its sharing decisions accordingly, ensuring that the total TXOP duration does not exceed the predefined limit. This feedback loop maintains both multi-AP coordination capability and reliable compliance with TXOP limits.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent establishes the TXOP limit parameter in advance before multi-AP coordination begins. By preliminarily setting the maximum allowable TXOP duration and communicating this constraint to all participating APs, the system ensures that subsequent coordination actions remain within compliant boundaries, preventing unfairness to legacy devices while enabling versatile multi-AP operation.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is performed by an access point (AP) using coordinated time division multiple access (Co-TDMA) with multi-AP coordination (MAPC). The method comprises: upon acquiring a transmit opportunity (TXOP) having a TXOP duration for traffic of an access category among prioritized access categories, exchanging the traffic with a client during a portion of the TXOP; and transmitting, to a first AP, a first outbound control frame configured to allocate, to the first AP, a first shared portion of the TXOP duration to be used by the first AP to exchange first traffic for the access category or a higher priority access category with a first client, wherein the first outbound control frame includes a multi-user request-to-send TXOP sharing trigger frame having a first indication of the first shared portion of the TXOP duration, and a second indication of the access category.