Patent · US Expired

Hybrid coordination function (HCF) access through tiered contention and overlapped wireless cell mitigation

US7136361B2 · kind B2 · utility

158Cited by
26References
6Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateJun 28, 2002
Grant dateNov 14, 2006
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 28, 2025

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04W84/18
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and system reduce interference between overlapping first and second wireless LAN cells in a medium. Each cell includes a respective plurality of member stations and there is at least one overlapped station occupying both cells. An inter-cell contention-free period value is assigned to a first access point station in the first cell, associated with an accessing order in the medium for member stations in the first and second cells. The access point transmits a beacon packet containing the inter-cell contention-free period value, which is intercepted at the overlapped station. The overlapped station forwards the inter-cell contention-free period value to member stations in the second cell. A second access point in the second cell can then delay transmissions by member stations in the second cell until after the inter-cell contention-free period expires. The beacon packet sent by the first access point station also includes an intra-cell contention-free period value, which causes the member stations in the first cell to delay accessing the medium until polled by the first access point. After the expiration of the intra-cell contention-free period, member stations in the first …

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.