Wireless networks may operate on unlicensed bands, such as Wi-Fi. Wireless networks that use unlicensed bands may have lower costs than wireless networks that use licensed bands, such as cellular or WiMax networks. For example, deployment, maintenance and system costs of wireless networks using unlicensed bands may be lower than that of those using licensed bands.
However, wireless networks that use unlicensed bands and that are relatively large in size, may not operate effectively. For example, information may be lost and/or transmitted repeatedly in such large wireless networks due to contention and interference, as well as a lack of determinism. Manufacturers, vendors, and/or users are challenged to provide more effective methods for transmitting information over large wireless networks using unlicensed bands.
The following detailed description references the drawings, wherein:
Specific details are given in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, systems may be shown in block diagrams in order not to obscure embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known processes, structures and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring embodiments.
Wireless networks may operate on unlicensed bands and use standards like Wi-Fi, in order to save costs, compared to operating on licensed bands. Also, an bands for licensing and/or exclusive use may not always be available in certain environments. In addition to avoiding licensing fees, wireless networks using unlicensed bands may also have lower deployment, maintenance and system costs.
Nonetheless, interference may become too great between network elements, such as wireless access points (WAP) or client devices CD), using a same frequency channel of the unlicensed band in larger wireless networks. For example, a large wireless network, such as an oil and gas exploration system, may include thousands to millions of CDs, such as sensors, that send information to one or more WAPs over the same frequency channel. The one or more WAPs may forward the information to a central entity, such as a central command center. In this case, reliable delivery of the information may be difficult because of the interference between the CDs and/or WAPs attempting to communicate simultaneously over the same frequency channel. Further, if the CDs and/or WAPs are running on a limited power source, such as a battery, the power source may become drained more quickly, due to retransmissions of information lost to radio frequency (RF) interference. In addition, time may be wasted attempting to receive and/or transmit the information due to the RF interference.
Embodiments may allow for large wireless networks using unlicensed bands to operate with reduced RF interference while also conserving more power and reducing times to transmit or receive information. For example, a plurality of WAPs may share a same frequency channel that is part of an industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio band. Each of a plurality of CDs may communicate with one of the WAPs along the same frequency channel.
During a beacon transmit period (BTP), each of a plurality of the WAPs in the wireless network may transmit a beacon. Then, a first WAP of the plurality of WAPs may collect information from at least one of the plurality of CDs associated with first WAP during a control access period (CAP). Next, the first WAP transmits the collected information during an open access period (OAP). A remainder of the WAPs may not access the same frequency channel during the CAP when the first WAP is using the same frequency channel. Further, the above BTP, CAP and OAP may be sequentially repeated for each of the WAPs. Also, the CDs associated with a single WAP may be sequentially polled by the single WAP to collect information during the CAP.
Thus, by limiting ownership of the single, same frequency channel to one WAP at a time and by scheduling polling of the CDs during a time that an associated WAP is in exclusive control of the same frequency channel, embodiments may provide greater fairness, save power and reduce information reception/transmission times. Moreover, by using the ISM radio band, embodiments may be more readily deployed in different environments, such as different parts over the world, because the costs and restrictions inherent in securing a licensed band may not be present.
Referring to the drawings,
The WAPs 110-1 to 110-n may be any type of device that allows information collected from the CDs 120-1 to 120-n to be relayed to a remainder of the wireless network 100, such as a router, a switch, a gateway, a server, a command center and the like. The CDs 120-1 to 120-n may include any type of device capable of measuring, collecting, storing and/or transmitting information to one of the WAPs 110-1 to 110-n, such as a sensor, a transmitter, and the like. For example, an embodiment of the wireless network 100 may include about 100 WAPs 110-1 to 110-100 and about 100 CDs 120 associated each WAP 110. Each WAP 110 and its associated one or more CDs 120 may be referred to as a cell. For example, the first WAP 110-1 and the first devices 120-1 may form a fiat cell while the nth WAP 110-n and the nth devices 120-n may form an nth cell.
The WAPs 110-1 to 110-n may include, for example, a hardware device including electronic circuitry for implementing the functionality described below, such as control logic and/or memory. In addition or as an alternative, the WAPs 110-1 to 110-n may be implemented as a series of instructions encoded on a machine-readable storage medium and executable by a processor.
As noted above, the plurality of WAPs 110-1 to 110-n share the frequency channel A, which is part of the ISM band. The frequency channel A is used, for example by the plurality of WAPs 110-1 to 110-n to communicate with the plurality of CDs 120-1 to 120-n and/or to each other. Each of the CDs 120-1 to 120-n communicates with one of the WAPs 110-1 to 110-n along the same frequency channel A. For example, the first CDs 110-1 communicate with first WAP 110-1 using the frequency channel A and the nth CDs 120-n communicate with the nth WAP 110-n using the frequency channel A.
As shown in
Next, a first WAP 110-1 of the plurality of WAPs 110-1 to 110-n that transmitted the beacons is to collect information from at least one of the plurality of CDs 120-1 associated with the first WAP 110-1 during a control access period (CAP). Lastly, the first WAP 110-1 transmits the collected information during an open access period (OAP). The BTP, CAP and OAP will be described in greater detail with respect to
As shown in
In one embodiment, each of the WAPs 110 may be assigned an order number beforehand, such as by a user, administrator, or manufacturer. The order may be determined according to any method, such as a timing sequence, a location of the WAPs 110, or distances of the WAPs 110 from a central point. Thus, in
For instance, during a first iteration of the BTP, all the WAPs 110-1 to 110-n may transmit unmarked beacons. The first WAP 110-1 may determine that its turn to use the frequency channel A is next if it only hears unmarked beacons and has not previously heard any marked beacons for a first cycle. However, for subsequent cycles, the first WAP 110-1 may only determine that its turn to use the frequency channel A is next if it hears a marked beacon from the nth WAP 110-n during a last iteration of the CAP. Similarly, a remainder of the WAPs 110-2 to 110-n (where n greater than 2) may determine that their turn to use the frequency channel A is next only if they hear marked beacon from the previous WAP 110-1 to 110-(n−1) during a previous iteration of the CAP. For example, the fifth WAP 110-5 would determine that its turn to use the frequency channel A is next if it hears the marked beacon of the fourth WAP 1104 during the latest iteration of the CAP. The current WAP 110 controlling the frequency channel A may need to be geographically close enough to at least the next WAP 110 receiving control of the frequency channel A such that the next WAP 110 may hear marked beacon of the current WAP 110.
In another embodiment (not shown), the order for transferring control of the frequency channel A may be determined centrally instead of in a distributed manner. For example, a higher layer or powered controlling WAP (not shown) may detect all the beacons and determine order in which the all the WAPs 110-1 to 110-n are to share the frequency channel A, such as based on MAC addresses of the WAPs and the like. In this case, the WAPs 110-1 to 110-n may require enough transmission power for their beacons to reach the controlling WAP and the controlling WAP may require enough transmission power to reach all the WAPs 110-1 to 110-n. In addition, the controlling WAP may supplement the above described distributed system, such as by helping to pass control of the frequency channel A when one of the WAPs 110 refuses to relinquish control of the frequency channel A.
Next, during the CAP, the WAP 110 that currently is determined to have access to the frequency channel A transmits a marked beacon. The beacon may be marked, for example, by setting a flag or bit. In one embodiment, a Point coordination function (PCF) of the IEEE 802.11 standard may be used, such that the marked beacon indicates a Contention Free Period (CFP) while an unmarked period indicates a Contention Period (CP).
In
Next, the first WAP 110-1 may collect information from the one or more first client devices 120-1 during the CAP. If there is more than one first client device 120-1, the first WAP 110-1 may sequentially poll the first client devices 120-1, such as by transmitting Contention-Free-Poll (CF-Poll) packets. In response to being polled, the first devices 120-1 may transmit information to the first WAP-1. For example, the first devices 120-1 may transmit information collected by sensors, such as pressure and light data. A remainder of the WAPs 110, such as the nth WAP 110-n, do not communicate with any of the plurality of CDs 120-1 to 120-n during this CAP.
The first CDs 120-1 associated with the first WAP 110-1 at least one of awake and remain awake in response to receiving the marked beacon and/or being polled. During a remainder of the time, the first CDs 120-1 may remain in a low power state, such as a sleep, hibernate or off state, to conserve energy and/or increase a lifespan of the first CDs 120-1. For example, if the first CDs 120-1 are battery powered, staying in the lower power state may significantly increase a time before the battery is recharged and/or replaced. The remaining CDs 120-2 to 120-n associated with the remainder of the plurality of WAPs 110-2 to 120-n at least one of remain in and enter the low power state it response to receiving the unmarked beacon. Further, the remaining CDs 120-2 to 120-n may react similarly to the first CD 120-1 when receiving marked beacons.
In one embodiment, the first WAP 110-1 may transmit a first message, such as a CF-End Frame or token, during the CAP to at least one of the plurality of WAPs 120-2 to 120-n to indicate that the first WAP 120-1 has completed collecting information from the first CDs 120-1 and to indicate an end of the CAP, if the first WAP 110-1 completes collecting the information from all the first devices 110-1 within the CAP. Alternatively, the first WAP 110-1 may not transmit the first message when the WAP 110-1 completes collecting the information from all the first devices 110-1 before the CAP ends. In this case, the first WAP 110-1 may simply wait for the CAP end, instead of prematurely shortening the CAP.
However, if the first WAP 110-1 anticipates not completing collection of the information from the first CDs 120-1 during the CAP, the first WAP 110-1 may extend the CAP to complete collecting the information from all the first devices 110-1. For example, at a threshold time period before the CAP is to end, the first WAP 110-1 may transmit or continue to transmit the marked beacon to extend a time interval of the CAP.
After the CAP is over, first WAP 110-1 transmits the collected information during OAP. The first WAP 110-1 may, for example, transmit the collected information to another of the WAPs 110-2 to 110-n and/or a higher level WAP or network element, such as a hub, router or gateway. The first WAP 110-1 may also transmit a second message during the OAP to the second WAP 110-2. The second message is to indicate that the second WAP 110-2 is to have exclusive control of the frequency channel A during a subsequent iteration of the CAP. Alternatively, the first WAP 110-1 may not the second message. Instead, the second WAP 110-2 may determine that is to have exclusive control of the frequency channel A during a subsequent iteration of the CAP upon hearing the marked beacon of the first WAP 110-1. The second WAP 110-2 may prepare a marked beacon to be transmitted during the subsequent iteration of the CAP, in response to learning it will next have exclusive control of the frequency channel A.
The OAP may be a time period where more than one of the WAPs 110-1 to 110-n may communicate using the frequency channel A. In addition, a new CD 120 being added to the network may also communicate using the frequency channel A during the OAP to indicate its presence to its associated WAP 110. However, non-new CDs 120 may not generally transmit information using the frequency channel A during the OAP. Due to simultaneous use of the frequency channel A by the WAPs 110 and/or new CDs 120, there may be interference or contention during the OAP. As a result, contention mechanisms may be used during this time period, such as a Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) of the 802.11 standard.
The BTP, CAP, and OAP sequentially iterate until all of the plurality of the WAPs 110-1 to 110-n have exclusively controlled the frequency channel A. As explained above, the transitions between the BTP, CAP and OAP may be determined asynchronously by at least one of the WAPs 110-1 to 110-n signaling an end or beginning of at least one of the BTP, CAP and OAP. Alternatively or in addition to, transitions between the BTP, CAP, and OAP may be timed to occur synchronously, such as by using a global timer. As a result, less signals may be transmitted by the WAPs 110-1 to 110-n between transitions of the BTP, CAP and OAP.
The computing device 300 may be, for example, a router, a switch, a gateway, a server, a command center or any other type of user device capable of executing the instructions 322, 324 and 326. In certain examples, the computing device 300 may included or be connected to additional components such as memories, sensors, displays, wireless access points (WAP), client devices (CD), etc.
The processor 310 may be, at least one central processing unit (CPU), at least one semiconductor-based microprocessor, at least one graphics processing unit (GPU), other hardware devices suitable for retrieval and execution of instructions stored in the machine-readable storage medium 320, or combinations thereof. The processor 310 may fetch, decode, and execute instructions 322, 324 and 326 to implement for transmitting information over the wireless network. As an alternative or in addition to retrieving and executing instructions, the processor 310 may include at least one integrated circuit (IC), other control logic, other electronic circuits, or combinations thereof that include a number of electronic components for performing the functionality of instructions 322, 324 and 326.
The machine-readable storage medium 320 may be any electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical storage device that contains or stores executable instructions. Thus, the machine-readable storage medium 320 may be, for example, Random Access Memory (RAM), an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), a storage drive, a Compact Disc Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), and the like. As such, the machine-readable storage medium 320 can be non-transitory. As described in detail below, machine-readable storage medium 320 may be encoded with a series of executable instructions for transmitting information over the wireless network.
Moreover, instructions 322, 324 and 326 when executed by a processor (e.g., via one processing element or multiple processing elements of the processor) can cause the processor to perform processes, such as, the process of
The collect information instructions 324 may be executed by the processor 310 to collect information from a first CD (not shown) associated with the first WAP, during a CAP, if the first WAP is determined to have exclusive control during the CAP. The transmit information instructions 326 may be executed by the processor 310 to transmit from the first WAP the collected information during an OAP.
The machine-readable storage medium 420 may also include instructions (not shown) to indicate to the second WAP that the second WAP is to receive exclusive control of the same frequency channel after the first WAP collects the information from the first CD. The first WAP collects the information from the first CD during a first iteration of the CAP and the second WAP collects information from a second CD during a second iteration of the CAP.
At block 405, the plurality of WAPs 110-1 to 110-n of the wireless network 100 transmit beacons over a same shared frequency channel that is part of the ISM radio band, during the BTP. Next, at block 410, the first WAP 110-1 collects information from the first CD 120-1 associated with the first WAP 110-1, during the CAP. A remainder of the plurality of WAPs 110-2 to 110-n (where n is greater than 2) do not collect information during the CAP. Also, a second CD, such as the nth CD 120-n, not associated with the first WAP 110-1 at least one of remains in and enters the lower power state during the CAP. Then, at block 415, the first WAP 110-1 transmits the collected information during the OAP. While at least some of the figures have been described to have at least three WAPs 110 (e.g. n greater than or equal to 3), embodiments may also include more or less than three WAPs 110.
According to the foregoing, embodiments provide a method and/or device for allowing WAPs sharing a same unlicensed frequency channel in a large wireless network to operate with reduced RF interference while also conserving more energy of CDs and reducing times to transmit or receive information. For example, embodiments may limit ownership of the single, same frequency channel to one WAP at a time and schedule polling of the CDs during this time of exclusive control of the same frequency channel, this providing greater fairness, saving power and reducing instances of retransmission
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/US2012/027095 | 2/29/2012 | WO | 00 | 8/11/2014 |