Multicast Broadcast Frame Conversion for Wi-Fi Reliability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wireless networking protocols like IEEE 802.11ax's Target Wake Time (TWT) can cause client devices to miss multicast/broadcast transmissions when they are in a low-power sleep state, leading to reliability issues due to the potential for missing beacon signals.
Innovation Solution
A controller associated with an access point detects buffered multicast/broadcast frames and determines the beacon slot time, converting the frames to unicast messages if stations in a low-power state will miss the transmission, and holds the unicast frames until the stations wake up, ensuring delivery when they are active.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If client devices enter low-power state using TWT, then energy consumption is reduced, but multicast/broadcast transmission reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of requiring stations to wake up for beacon transmissions, the patent inverts the approach by having the access point detect which stations are in low-power state and convert multicast/broadcast frames to unicast frames, sending them individually when stations wake up. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining reliability without requiring stations to consume energy for listening to beacons.
Solution Approach 2:
The access point acts as an intermediary that transforms multicast/broadcast frames into unicast frames for stations in low-power state. This intermediary transformation allows the system to maintain both energy efficiency (stations can sleep) and transmission reliability (data is delivered when stations are active).
2Loss of energy
If stations sleep during low-power state, then power savings are achieved, but beacon signal reception is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The access point performs preliminary detection of which stations are in low-power state before transmitting multicast/broadcast frames. This preliminary action allows the system to prepare unicast frames in advance, ensuring that stations receive data when they wake up without needing to listen for beacons during sleep periods.
Data Source
AI summary
In one example a computer implemented method comprises receiving, at an access point of a wireless network, a multicast/broadcast frame which identifies one or more stations associated with the access point as a recipient for the multicast/broadcast frame, and in response to a determination that at least one station of the one or more stations identified as a recipient for the multicast/broadcast frame is in an inactive state, determining a beacon slot time for a transmission of the multicast/broadcast frame from the access point, in response to a determination that at least one of the one or more stations in an inactive state will miss the beacon signal, converting the multicast/broadcast frame to a unicast frame, and holding a copy of the unicast frame to be transmitted to the at least one of the one or more stations in an inactive state that will miss the beacon signal.