Rapid Scan Request Mechanism for Wireless Link Setup
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wireless communication protocols, such as the 802.11 standard, require significant time to establish a link by scanning multiple channels, leading to prolonged connection setup times and increased power consumption.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution introduces a rapid scan request (RSR) message and response (RSRR) mechanism, allowing for rapid coverage discovery and reducing the time to scan idle channels by detecting the start of energy or autocorrelation properties within a SIFS time, thereby shortening the scan time and minimizing power usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional channel scanning is performed to establish wireless connection, then connection reliability is improved, but connection setup time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary channel scanning and energy detection before the actual connection establishment process. By detecting energy levels and identifying potential access points in advance, the system prepares the connection path beforehand, reducing the time required during the actual connection setup while maintaining reliability through pre-validated channel selection.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection establishment process is divided into distinct phases: initial energy detection phase, channel scanning phase, and connection establishment phase. This segmentation allows the system to perform quick energy detection on multiple channels simultaneously to identify promising candidates, then focus detailed scanning only on those channels, rather than uniformly scanning all channels sequentially.
2Measurement precision
If comprehensive channel scanning is performed across multiple channels, then network selection accuracy is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs energy detection on all channels as a preliminary step, but only performs comprehensive scanning on a subset of channels that show promising energy levels. This partial action approach ensures that full scanning resources are allocated only where needed, reducing overall power consumption while maintaining network selection accuracy for the most viable channels.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts scanning parameters such as scan duration, sampling rate, and detection threshold based on initial energy detection results. Channels with higher detected energy levels receive more intensive scanning resources, while channels with low energy levels use minimal scanning, optimizing the balance between selection accuracy and power consumption.
Data Source
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AI summary
Embodiments of station and responder and method for reducing the time and power consumption for stations to scan for wireless network coverage and establish a link to the responder to gain access thereto are generally described herein. In some embodiments, a first scan phase establishing the existence and perhaps other characteristics of responders, is followed by an responder discovery phase where a link can be established using active or passive scanning procedures. In some embodiments the two phases are somewhat combined with the first phase using a Probe Request with an Organizationally Unique Identifier as the Scan Request and an ACK message acting as a Scan Request Response and a Probe Response Request transmitted separately. Specific timings and message constructs allow utilization within existing or new 802.11 standards.