Configurable quality-of-service support per virtual access point (VAP) in a wireless LAN (WLAN) access device
View Patent ↗A wireless network access device includes a radio and support for virtual access points. According to the invention, each virtual access point has an independently configurable quality-of-service profile. The per-VAP QoS support enables multiple services to be delivered from a single physical access point. A plurality of transmit/receive queues are associated with each virtual access point (VAP) configured on the access device. Each queue in the plurality of queues is associated with a given quality-of-service level, such as (in decreasing order of priority): voice, video, best effort data, and background data. The access device further includes a data transfer mechanism in the form of a data packet forwarding engine that, for each VAP, transfers data from the plurality of queues to enforce the per-VAP QoS policy.
1. An apparatus for coupling a wireless network to a wired network and that includes a radio configurable to support virtual access points, comprising:
a plurality of queues associated with each virtual access point (VAP) configured, wherein each queue in the plurality of queues is associated with a given quality-of-service level;
a data transfer mechanism for each VAP that transfers data from the plurality of queues to enforce a per VAP quality-of-service policy; and
a mechanism to guarantee a given minimum service level to a device requesting to be added to a given VAP QoS level.
2. The apparatus as described in claim 1 , wherein a first queue in the plurality of queues provides a quality of service at a first level.
3. The apparatus as described in claim 2 , wherein the data stored in the first queue is voice data.
4. The apparatus as described in claim 2 , wherein a second queue in the plurality of queues provides a quality of service at a second level that is lower than the quality of service at the first level.
5. The apparatus as described in claim 4 , wherein the data stored in the second queue is video data.
6. The apparatus as described in claim 4 , wherein a third queue in the plurality of queues provides a quality of service at a third level that is lower than the quality of service at the second level.
7. The apparatus as described in claim 6 , wherein the data stored in the third queue is data other than voice and video data.
8. The apparatus as described in claim 1 , wherein the data transfer mechanism transmits all of the data in a queue at a first quality-of-service level before initiating transmission of data in a queue at a second quality-of-service level.
9. The apparatus as described in claim 1 , further including an interface through which a given client security policy is specified, wherein each VAP includes a given client security policy.
10. The apparatus as described in claim 1 , further including a mechanism for mapping a given QoS policy from a first, downstream interface to a second, upstream interface, wherein the downstream interface is a wireless network.
11. The apparatus as described in claim 10 , wherein the QoS policy mapping is between 802.11e and a protocol selected from one of the following: 802.1 p, DiffServ and MPLS.
12. The apparatus as described in claim 1 , wherein a given queue has one or more sub-queues associated therewith, wherein each sub-queue provides a quality-of-service sub-level.
13. The apparatus as described in claim 12 , further including a mechanism to balance data transfer from the one or more sub-queues according to a given queuing algorithm.
14. The apparatus as described in claim 1 , further including a mechanism to enforce a given QoS priority rule within a given VAP with respect to a TCP or UDP destination port.
15. An apparatus for coupling a first network to a second network and that includes a radio configurable to support virtual access points, the apparatus having a first, downstream interface to the first network, and a second, upstream interface to the second network, comprising:
a set of queues associated with each virtual access point (VAP) configured, wherein each queue in the set of queues is associated with a given quality-of-service level;
a data transfer mechanism for each VAP to transfer data from the set of queues to enforce a per VAP quality-of-service policy; and
a mechanism to guarantee a given minimum service level to a device requesting to be added to a given VAP QoS level.
16. The apparatus as described in claim 15 , wherein a given VAP is configured to provide a given quality-of-service level for all traffic on an associated BSSID.
17. The apparatus as described in claim 15 , wherein the given VAP is configured without active collaboration with a given access device.
18. The apparatus as described in claim 15 , further including a mechanism to enforce a given QoS priority rule within a given VAP with respect to a TCP or UDP destination port.
19. The apparatus as described in claim 1 , wherein each QoS level has a reserved amount of bandwidth.
20. The apparatus as described in claim 15 , wherein each QoS level has a reserved amount of bandwidth.