Multi-Link Hybrid ARQ Across WLAN Bands for Reliable Throughput
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless local area networks (WLANs) face challenges in maintaining reliable communication due to interference and multipath fading, which can lead to errors in data transmission, especially when using single-frequency band communications.
Innovation Solution
Implementing multi-link hybrid ARQ techniques by transmitting encoded bits over multiple frequency bands, such as the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, where a first subset of encoded bits is sent over one channel and a second subset is sent over another channel in response to transmission errors, allowing for improved error correction and increased throughput.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If single-frequency band communication is used, then device complexity is reduced, but communication reliability deteriorates due to interference and multipath fading
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the communication system into multiple independent frequency bands (e.g., 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands). Each band operates as a separate transmission channel with its own error correction coding, allowing the system to segment data transmission across multiple bands to overcome interference and fading in any single band.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from single-frequency band communication to multi-frequency band communication, adding the frequency dimension to the transmission system. This dimensional expansion allows simultaneous transmission over multiple independent channels, improving reliability by exploiting the statistical independence of fading and interference across different frequency bands.
2Reliability
If error correction coding is applied, then communication reliability is improved, but data transmission throughput decreases due to overhead bits
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the error correction coding process across multiple frequency bands. Instead of applying full error correction coding to the entire data stream in a single band, the coding is divided and distributed across multiple bands. This segmentation reduces the overhead ratio in each individual transmission while maintaining overall error correction capability through the combined effect of multiple bands.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines transmissions from multiple frequency bands to achieve the desired error correction performance. By merging the information transmitted across different bands, the system reconstructs the original data with improved reliability, effectively distributing the error correction burden across multiple channels rather than concentrating it in a single transmission.
3Reliability
If multiple frequency bands are used for transmission, then communication reliability is improved through independent interference characteristics, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a multi-radio system where each radio unit is designed with universal functionality to operate in different frequency bands. The error correction coding and data transmission mechanisms are standardized across multiple radios, allowing them to perform identical functions in different frequency environments. This multi-functionality approach manages complexity by using replicated, standardized components rather than highly specialized hardware for each band.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods for an electronic device to communicate in a wireless local area network are provided in which information bits are encoded at the electronic device to provide a plurality of encoded bits. A first radio of the electronic device is used to transmit a first subset of the encoded bits over a first channel that is within a first frequency band, where the first subset of the encoded bits comprises less than all of the encoded bits. A second radio of the electronic device is used to transmit a second subset of the encoded bits over a second channel that is within a second frequency band.