DE-112024002191-T5 - Accelerated data rate selection in wireless communication

DE112024002191T5DE 112024002191 T5DE112024002191 T5DE 112024002191T5DE-112024002191-T5

Abstract

Method in a computer device comprising: establishing an association with a base station; in response to establishing the association, transmitting one or more unencrypted messages to the base station using one or more data rates selected according to an optimization sequence; receiving, from the base station, one or more acknowledgments of the one or more unencrypted messages; based on the one or more acknowledgments, selecting an active data rate; and sending encrypted data to the base station using the active data rate.

Inventors

Venkata Aneel Kumar Inuganti
Kishore Kumar Pathankanur
Surya Kantha Rao Kandoti
Naga Babu Parsi
Darpan Majumder
Mahesh Kumar Edar
Mahendiran Balasubramaniyam
Partha P. HAZRA
Vaibhav Srinivasa

Assignees

ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20240502
Priority Date: 20230519

Claims (20)

Method in a computer device comprising: establishing an association with a base station; in response to the establishment of the association, transmitting an unencrypted message to the base station using a data rate selected according to an optimization sequence; receiving, from the base station, an acknowledgment of one or more unencrypted messages; based on the confirmation, selecting an active data rate; and in response to the selection of the active data rate, sending encrypted data to the base station using the active data rate.
Procedure according to Claim 1 , furthermore comprehensively: in response to the establishment of the association, initiating a handshake with the base station to obtain an encryption key; wherein the encrypted data is encrypted using the encryption key.
Procedure according to Claim 2 , whereby the transmission of the unencrypted message occurs simultaneously with the initiation of the handshake.
Procedure according to Claim 1 , where each unencrypted message contains a Quality of Service (QoS) zero frame.
Procedure according to Claim 1 , wherein the transmission of one or more unencrypted messages comprises: setting a current data rate according to the optimization sequence; transmitting an unencrypted message using the current data rate; determining whether the base station acknowledges the unencrypted message; if the base station does not acknowledge the unencrypted message, adjusting the current data rate according to the optimization sequence and repeating the transmission of an unencrypted message using the current data rate.
Procedure according to Claim 5 , where selecting the active data rate when the base station acknowledges the unencrypted message includes selecting the current data rate as the active data rate.
Procedure according to Claim 5 , wherein the optimization sequence comprises a set of modulation and coding scheme (MCS) index values corresponding to data rates in a decremented order, and wherein adjusting the current data rate involves selecting the next decremented MCS index value.
Procedure according to Claim 5 , where determining whether the base station acknowledges the unencrypted message includes determining whether an acknowledgment message is received within a time period.
Procedure according to Claim 1 , where selecting the active data rate based on the one or more acknowledgments includes determining whether a threshold number of acknowledgments has been received for a current data rate.
Procedure according to Claim 1 , where the base station includes a Wi-Fi access point.
Procedure according to Claim 1 , wherein the base station contains a cellular base station.
A computer device comprising: a wireless communication interface; and a processor configured to: establish an association with a base station via the communication interface; in response to the establishment of the association, transmit an unencrypted message to the base station using a data rate selected according to an optimization sequence; receive, from the base station, an acknowledgment of the unencrypted message; based on the acknowledgment, select an active data rate; and in response to the selection of the active data rate, send encrypted data to the base station using the active data rate.
Computer device according to Claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to: in response to the establishment of the association, initiate a handshake with the base station to obtain an encryption key; wherein the encrypted data is encrypted using the encryption key.
Computer device according to Claim 13 , where the processor is configured to transmit the one or more unencrypted messages simultaneously with the initiation of the handshake.
Computer device according to Claim 12 , where each unencrypted message contains a Quality of Service (QoS) zero frame.
Computer device according to Claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to transmit the one or more unencrypted messages by: setting a current data rate according to the optimization sequence; transmitting an unencrypted message using the current data rate; determining whether the base station acknowledges the unencrypted message; If the base station does not acknowledge the unencrypted message, adjust the current data rate according to the optimization sequence and repeat the transmission of an unencrypted message using the current data rate.
Computer device according to Claim 16 , where the processor is configured to select the active data rate by selecting the current data rate as the active data rate when the base station acknowledges the unencrypted message.
Computer device according to Claim 16 , wherein the optimization sequence comprises a set of modulation and coding scheme (MCS) index values corresponding to data rates in a decremented order, and wherein the processor is configured to adjust the current data rate by selecting the next decremented MCS index value.
Computer device according to Claim 16 , where the processor is configured to determine whether the base station acknowledges the unencrypted message by determining whether an acknowledgment message is received within a time period.
Computer device according to Claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to select the active data rate based on the one or more acknowledgments by determining whether a threshold number of acknowledgments has been received for a current data rate.

Description

background Wireless communications, such as those conducted over wireless local area networks (WLANs), can employ a variety of modulation and coding schemes (MCS), each offering a different balance between data rate and reliability. The optimal MCS for a wireless device to use can vary over time, for example, due to environmental factors and/or the transmission requirements of an application running on the wireless device. Discovering an optimal MCS can disrupt ongoing communications on the wireless device. Brief description of the different views of the drawings The accompanying figures, in which the same reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements in the individual views, are integrated into the specification together with the following detailed description and form a part thereof, serving to further illustrate embodiments of concepts that include the claimed invention and to explain various principles and advantages of these embodiments. 1 is a representation of a wireless communication system. 2 is a sequence diagram that represents a roaming process in the system of 1 illustrated. 3 This is a flowchart of a procedure for accelerated data rate selection. 4 is a sequence diagram that illustrates an exemplary implementation of the procedure of 3 illustrated. 5 is a sequence diagram that shows another exemplary implementation of the procedure of 3 illustrated. Experts will recognize that elements in the figures are illustrated for the sake of simplicity and clarity and are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve the understanding of embodiments of the present invention. Where appropriate, the apparatus and process components have been represented by conventional symbols in the drawings, which show only those specific details relevant to understanding the embodiments of the present invention, so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that would be obvious to persons skilled in the art referring to the present description. Detailed description Examples disclosed herein relate to a procedure in a computer device comprising: establishing an association with a base station; in response to the establishment of the association, transmitting an unencrypted message to the base station using a data rate selected according to an optimization sequence; receiving, from the base station, an acknowledgment of the unencrypted message; based on the acknowledgment, selecting an active data rate; and in response to the selection of the active data rate, sending encrypted data to the base station using the active data rate. Additional examples disclosed herein relate to a computer device comprising: a wireless communication interface; and a processor configured to: establish an association with a base station via the communication interface; in response to the establishment of the association, transmit an unencrypted message to the base station using a data rate selected according to an optimization sequence; receive, from the base station, an acknowledgment of the unencrypted message; based on the acknowledgment, select an active data rate; and in response to the selection of the active data rate, send encrypted data to the base station using the active data rate. 1 System 100 illustrates a wireless communication system that uses one or more wireless networks, such as wireless local area networks (WLANs) based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard family (e.g., one or more Wi-Fi™ networks). System 100 may also use one or more wide area networks (WANs), such as a cellular network or the like, in addition to or instead of one or more WLANs. System 100 includes at least one base station, such as a WLAN access point (AP), a cellular base station, or the like. As shown in 1 As shown, the system contains 100 access points 104-1 and 104-2, which are collectively referred to herein as access points 104 and generally as one access point 104 (a similar nomenclature may also be used for other numbered Components with dashed suffixes are used). In other examples, System 100 may contain more than two Access Points 104 or only one Access Point 104. Each access point (AP) can contain a housing that accommodates one or more controllers, transceivers, antenna assemblies, and the like. A given network, identified by a service name (SSID), can be implemented by a multitude of APs. For example, APs 104 together can implement a WLAN with a given SSID, e.g., to extend the WLAN coverage area beyond that achievable with a single AP 104. Client devices within the network, such as a wireless computing device 108 (e.g., a mobile computer, smartphone, mobile printer, barcode scanner, tablet computer, or the like), can switch between the APs 104 implementing the network, e.g., according to signal strength, congestion, band preferences on the client device 108,