WLAN Traffic Scheduling for AR Services Using Segmented Contention-Free Periods
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Solution Overview
Problem
Augmented reality (AR) services experience latency issues due to delays in AR image output, leading to motion sickness and inaccuracies in virtual object positioning, which existing traffic scheduling techniques fail to adequately address.
Innovation Solution
A method for scheduling downlink (DL)/uplink (UL) traffic in a wireless local area network (WLAN) that involves arranging a contention period (CP) on both sides of a contention-free period (CFP) within a preset capture interval (I) and allocating AR traffic, including UL and DL traffic, to the CFP, using multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) transmission schemes to reduce airtime and ensure timely decoding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If conventional traffic scheduling is used in WLAN-based AR service, then general network traffic can be handled, but AR image output delay occurs causing motion sickness and positioning inaccuracies
Solution Approach 1:
The transmission medium is segmented into distinct contention periods (CP) and contention-free periods (CFP). AR traffic is allocated to the CFP where it can transmit without contention delays, while non-AR traffic uses the CP. This segmentation ensures that time-sensitive AR images are transmitted with guaranteed timing, eliminating the output delay that causes motion sickness and positioning errors.
2Loss of time
If AR traffic is prioritized to reduce latency, then AR image output delay is minimized, but other network traffic may be affected
Solution Approach 1:
The transmission medium is divided into contention periods (CP) for non-AR traffic and contention-free periods (CFP) for AR traffic. This segmentation allows AR traffic to be prioritized during CFP without completely blocking other network traffic, as non-AR traffic can still transmit during the CP. Thus, AR latency is minimized while the network maintains versatility in handling different traffic types.
Solution Approach 2:
The transmission medium alternates periodically between CP and CFP within each capture interval. This periodic structure ensures that AR traffic receives dedicated transmission opportunities at regular intervals, minimizing output delay, while non-AR traffic gets periodic opportunities during CPs, maintaining overall network adaptability and versatility.
3Productivity
If multiple users transmit AR traffic simultaneously, then network efficiency improves, but transmission conflicts and delays occur
Solution Approach 1:
The CFP is further segmented into multiple resource units that can be allocated to different users. During the CFP, multiple users can transmit AR traffic simultaneously in their assigned resource units without contention, as the medium is reserved for AR traffic. This eliminates transmission conflicts while maintaining high network efficiency for AR services.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a method, performed by an electronic device, of scheduling downlink (DL)/uplink (UL) traffic for an augmented reality (AR) service based on a wireless local area network (WLAN). The method includes a period arrangement operation of arranging a contention period (CP) at both sides of a contention free period (CFP) in a preset capture interval (I) and an AR traffic allocation operation of allocating AR traffic including UL traffic and DL traffic to the CFP.