Multiband CRP Availability IEs for Wireless Slot Reservation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current medium access control (MAC) protocols are limited to single-channel systems and do not enable multiband transmission in wireless systems, as they lack the necessary data structures and mechanisms for negotiating slot ownership and use policies across multiple channels.
Innovation Solution
The development of a method and data structures for medium access reservation in multiband wireless networks, including the generation and exchange of Channel Reservation Protocol (CRP) and Prioritized Contentions Access (PCA) availability information elements across multiple channels, enabling devices to reserve slots on multiple channels and announce transmission modes, with the use of Multiband CRP and PCA Information Elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If current single-channel MAC protocols are used, then the system is simple to implement, but multiband transmission capability is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the medium access control protocol into separate components for each channel (main channel and extended channels). Each channel has its own availability bitmap and reservation mechanism, allowing independent management while maintaining overall multiband coordination. This segmentation enables multiband capability without requiring complete redesign of the MAC protocol.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extends the single-channel MAC protocol into multiple channels by adding channel identifiers and multi-channel availability bitmaps. This dimensional extension from one channel to multiple channels allows devices to negotiate and reserve slots across different frequency bands while maintaining compatibility with existing single-channel operations.
2Productivity
If multiband transmission is enabled, then communication efficiency improves, but slot reservation coordination across channels becomes complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary slot reservation through availability bitmaps that indicate which slots are free on each channel before actual data transmission. Devices exchange CRP IE messages to negotiate and reserve slots in advance, avoiding complex real-time coordination during multiband transmission and improving communication efficiency.
3Adaptability or versatility
If channel availability information is exchanged across multiple channels, then multiband slot reservation is enabled, but information element size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The availability information is segmented into separate bitmaps for each channel (main channel bitmap and extended channel bitmaps). Each bitmap independently tracks slot availability on its respective channel, allowing compact representation of multiband availability information without requiring a single large data structure.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3A~4
Figure 5~7
AI summary
A method (900) for medium access reservation in a multiband wireless network comprises determining available slots (220) for reservation in a superframe (210) for reservation across multiple channels (S910); generating channel reservation protocol (CRP) availability information element (IE) (310) to indicate the available slots on a main channel; generating one or more Extended- Channel CRP availability IEs (500) to indicate the available slots on one or more respective extended channels (S920); exchanging the CRP availability IE and the Extended-Channel CRP availability IEs between a receiving device and a transmitting device (S930); and generating a Multiband CRP IE (600) to reserve slots that are available on the receiving device and the transmitting device (S940).