Station-Level WLAN Interference Detection From Frame Timing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing interference detection methods in wireless local area networks (WLAN) suffer from low granularity, failing to accurately describe how interference affects access points (APs), leading to suboptimal data throughput and user experience due to the inability to identify interference sources at a finer level.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that collect and process frame information from multiple stations, including sending and receiving times, to determine interference information with high granularity, identifying interference sources and their impact on individual stations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If channel scanning-based interference detection is used, then interference sources can be identified, but the detection granularity is too coarse to accurately describe interference impact on individual stations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments interference detection from AP-level to station-level by having each station independently detect and report interference information to its associated AP. This segmentation enables fine-grained interference detection for individual stations while distributing the detection complexity across multiple stations rather than centralizing it in the AP.
Solution Approach 2:
Stations perform self-service by autonomously detecting interference sources and reporting results to their associated APs. This eliminates the need for centralized channel scanning by the AP, reducing AP complexity while maintaining high detection granularity through distributed station-level monitoring.
2Measurement precision
If distributed station-level frame information collection is implemented, then interference detection accuracy is improved, but system communication overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential interference detection results (interference source identification and impact metrics) from station-level measurements, rather than transmitting all raw frame information. This extraction approach maintains high interference detection accuracy while minimizing the quantity of data that needs to be transmitted to the AP.
3Measurement precision
If comprehensive frame information is collected from all stations, then interference source identification is enhanced, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
Stations perform preliminary interference detection and pre-process frame information locally before reporting to the AP. This preliminary action at the station level filters and prepares data in advance, enabling the AP to quickly aggregate and analyze interference information without undergoing lengthy processing, thus reducing overall detection time while maintaining identification accuracy.
Data Source
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AI summary
An interference information detection method and a related apparatus are disclosed. The method includes: A server collects information about the plurality of frames from the plurality of stations, where information about some of the plurality of frames includes sending time, contention time, and frame duration, and the contention time indicates time at which a corresponding frame starts to wait to be sent or duration in which the corresponding frame waits to be sent; and the server determines the interference information about the plurality of stations based on the information about the plurality of frames. The server collects the information about the plurality of frames from the plurality of stations, so that the server can analyze the interference information of the plurality of stations based on the information about the plurality of frames with a small granularity. This improves accuracy of the interference information. This feature accurately displays interference information of each station without affecting services, to improve current communication quality.