Search

EP-4742798-A2 - RESOURCE ALLOCATION FOR LOW LATENCY WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

EP4742798A2EP 4742798 A2EP4742798 A2EP 4742798A2EP-4742798-A2

Abstract

The subject disclosure provides systems and methods for improved medium access for wireless communication. A wireless access point, on contending for and gaining medium access, may share a time and/or bandwidth channel resource with one or more other wireless access points and/or one or more client devices. The wireless access point can efficiently share the channel resource using buffer status information computed by the wireless access point and/or additional buffer status information computed by the one or more other wireless access points. In one or more implementations, latency information for buffered data can be provided from a client device to a wireless access point and/or from a satellite wireless access point to a control wireless access point.

Inventors

  • VERMA, LOCHAN
  • LIU, YONG

Assignees

  • Apple Inc.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20230919

Claims (15)

  1. A method, comprising: receiving buffer size information from each of one or more client devices at a wireless access point; generating, at the wireless access point and based on the buffer size information: first uplink buffer size information for a first access category of multiple access categories for the one or more client devices, the first access category being a high priority access category having a priority that is higher than respective priorities of remaining access categories of the multiple access categories; second uplink buffer size information for the multiple access categories including the high priority access category for the one or more client devices; first downlink buffer size information for the high priority access category for the one or more client devices; and second downlink buffer size information for the multiple access categories including the high priority access category for the one or more client devices; and allocating, by the wireless access point, a channel resource to the one or more client devices based at least in part on the first uplink buffer size information, the second uplink buffer size information, the first downlink buffer size information, and the second downlink buffer size information.
  2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating, by the wireless access point, third uplink buffer size information for the high priority access category for the wireless access point and fourth uplink buffer size information for the multiple access categories including the high priority access category for the wireless access point.
  3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: allocating the channel resource to the one or more client devices based on the first uplink buffer size information, the second uplink buffer size information, the first downlink buffer size information, the second downlink buffer size information, the third uplink buffer size information, and the fourth uplink buffer size information.
  4. The method of claim 3, wherein allocating the channel resource further comprises, by the wireless access point: contending for channel access to obtain a transmission opportunity; and allocating at least a portion of the transmission opportunity to at least one of the one or more client devices based on the first uplink buffer size information, the second uplink buffer size information, the first downlink buffer size information, the second downlink buffer size information, the third uplink buffer size information, and the fourth uplink buffer size information.
  5. The method of claim 4, wherein allocating at least the portion of the transmission opportunity comprises allocating a first portion of a time of the transmission opportunity.
  6. The method of claim 4, wherein allocating at least the portion of the transmission opportunity comprises allocating a first portion of a bandwidth of the transmission opportunity.
  7. The method of any of claims 3-6, wherein allocating the channel resource further comprises, by the wireless access point: providing the first uplink buffer size information, the second uplink buffer size information, the first downlink buffer size information, the second downlink buffer size information, the third uplink buffer size information, and the fourth uplink buffer size information to an other wireless access point.
  8. The method of claim 7, wherein allocating the channel resource further comprises, by the wireless access point: receiving a portion of a transmission opportunity obtained by the other wireless access point, from the other wireless access point responsive to providing the first uplink buffer size information, the second uplink buffer size information, the first downlink buffer size information, the second downlink buffer size information, the third uplink buffer size information, and the fourth uplink buffer size information to the other wireless access point.
  9. The method of claim 8, wherein allocating the channel resource further comprises, by the wireless access point: allocating at least some of the portion of the transmission opportunity to at least one of the one or more client devices based, at least in part, on the first uplink buffer size information, the second uplink buffer size information, the first downlink buffer size information, the second downlink buffer size information, the third uplink buffer size information, and the fourth uplink buffer size information.
  10. The method of claim 9, further comprising, by the other wireless access point: determining a third downlink buffer size of the high priority access category of the wireless access point; and determining a sum of downlink buffer sizes of the multiple access categories including the high priority access category at the wireless access point.
  11. The method of claim 10, further comprising, by the other wireless access point: contending for channel access to obtain the transmission opportunity; and allocating the portion of the transmission opportunity to the wireless access point based, at least in part, on the third uplink buffer size information, the fourth uplink buffer size information, the third downlink buffer size, and the sum of the downlink buffer sizes.
  12. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the buffer size information from each of the one or more client devices comprises a buffer size of the high priority access category and a sum of buffer sizes for the multiple access categories including the high priority access category.
  13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first uplink buffer size information comprises a sum of uplink buffer sizes for the high priority access category over all of the one or more client devices, the second uplink buffer size information comprises a sum of uplink buffer sizes over all access categories over all of the one or more client devices, the first downlink buffer size information comprises a sum of downlink buffer sizes for the high priority access category over all of the one or more client devices, and the second downlink buffer size information comprises a sum of downlink buffer sizes over all access categories over all of the one or more client devices.
  14. A device, comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform the method of any of claims 1-13.
  15. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of any of claims 1-13.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/409,651, entitled, "RESOURCE ALLOCATION FOR LOW LATENCY WIRELESS COMMUNICATION", filed on September 23, 2022, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present description relates generally to wireless communication, including, for example, resource allocation for low latency wireless communication. BACKGROUND Electronic devices often communicate over wireless networks using WiFi protocols defined by the 802.11 standards. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Certain features of the subject technology are set forth in the appended claims. However, for purpose of explanation, several embodiments of the subject technology are set forth in the following figures. FIG. 1 illustrates an example network environment in accordance with one or more implementations.FIG. 2 illustrates an example device that may implement a system for resource allocation for low latency wireless communication in accordance with one or more implementations.FIG. 3 illustrates an example collaborative multi-access point (CoMAP) architecture in accordance with one or more implementations.FIG. 4 illustrates another example CoMAP architecture in accordance with one or more implementations.FIG. 5 illustrates examples of time division multiple access (TDMA) and frequency division multiple access (FDMA) allocation of channel resources in the architecture of FIG. 3 in accordance with one or more implementations.FIG. 6 illustrates examples of TDMA and FDMA allocation of channel resources in the architecture of FIG. 4 in accordance with one or more implementations.FIG. 7 illustrates an example timing diagram for channel resource allocation operations in the architecture of FIG. 3 in accordance with one or more implementations.FIG. 8 illustrates an example timing diagram for channel resource allocation operations in the architecture of FIG. 4 in accordance with one or more implementations.FIG. 9 illustrates an example timing diagram for channel resource allocation operations with latency guidance in the architecture of FIG. 3 in accordance with one or more implementations.FIG. 10 illustrates an example timing diagram for channel resource allocation operations with latency guidance in the architecture of FIG. 4 in accordance with one or more implementations.FIG. 11 illustrates an example of buffer size information and latency information in accordance with one or more implementations.FIG. 12 illustrates another example of buffer size information and latency information in accordance with one or more implementations.FIG. 13 illustrates a flow diagram of an example process that can be performed for wireless communication with latency guidance in accordance with one or more implementations.FIG. 14 illustrates a flow diagram of an example process that can be performed for wireless communication in accordance with one or more implementations.FIG. 15 illustrates a flow diagram of an example process that can be performed for wireless communication with latency guidance in accordance with one or more implementations.FIG. 16 illustrates an example electronic system with which aspects of the subject technology may be implemented in accordance with one or more implementations. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The detailed description set forth below is intended as a description of various configurations of the subject technology and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the subject technology can be practiced. The appended drawings are incorporated herein and constitute a part of the detailed description. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the subject technology. However, the subject technology is not limited to the specific details set forth herein and can be practiced using one or more other implementations. In one or more implementations, structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the subject technology. In a wireless communication system, such as a WiFi network, a wireless access point (AP) allocates uplink (UL) and/or downlink (DL) channel resources to one or more client devices, by which the one or more client devices can transmit and receive data. In one or more use cases, a wireless access point can perform Multi User (MU) operations in which the AP communicates concurrently with multiple client devices in its basic service set (BSS). In one or more use cases, multi-link operations (MLO) can be performed in which an AP can communicate with a client device in its BSS concurrently via multiple links over multiple channels and/or frequency bands. MU and MLO operations can provide benefits, such as increasing throughput, reducing latency, and improving reliability for wireless communication between devices. Latency reductions can be particu