Systems and methods for management of wireless clients
View Patent ↗Systems and methods for band hopping and power conservation in a wireless network are described. At least one embodiment is directed a method of hopping channels by a device within a wireless network. The method comprises hopping from a first channel to a target channel, resetting a virtual carrier sense after hopping to the target channel to enable service on the target channel, waiting for a pre-determined period of time, and setting a virtual carrier sense on the target channel after expiration of the pre-determined period of time and prior to hopping to a next target channel.
1. A method of hopping channels by a device within a wireless network, comprising:
hopping from a first channel to a target channel;
resetting a virtual carrier sense after hopping to the target channel to enable service on the target channel;
waiting for a pre-determined period of time; and
setting a virtual carrier sense on the target channel after expiration of the pre-determined period of time and prior to hopping to a next target channel, wherein the device sends a Broadcast Probe Response (BPR) on the target channel to assist clients scanning for the device to locate the channel in which the device is currently located.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein resetting the virtual carrier sense is achieved by sending a Contention Free End (CF-End) frame.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the virtual carrier sense is achieved by sending one of:
a Power Save Multi-Poll (PSMP) frame;
a Clear to Send (CTS) frame; and
a hop indication frame.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein sending the PSMP frame comprises sending a frame with an N-STA field equal to 0 and a PSMP Sequence Duration field which specifies a time period in which the device is not available on the first channel.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein a time period in which the device is not available is coded in a PSMP STA info field with a STA_ID equal to 0.
6. The method of claim 3 , wherein a time period in which the device is not available is coded in a PSMP STA info field with an STA_ID equal to an association identifier (AID), wherein the AID is not associated with any clients associated with the device.
7. The method of claim 3 , wherein the at least one client remains in sleep mode for a time duration equal to a time duration specified in a PSMP Sequence Duration field within the PSMP frame.
8. The method of claim 3 , wherein the at least one client remains in sleep mode for a time duration equal to a time duration specified in a frame separate from the PSMP frame.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pre-determined time period associated with the target channel is different from a pre-determined time period associated with the first channel.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pre-determined time period is determined by setting a pre-determined number of backoff slots.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the number of backoff slots for the target channel is different from the first channel.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pre-determined period of time is a period of time during which no transmissions occur on the target channel.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the period of time is a Point Coordination Function Interframe Space (PIFS) after occurrence of a Transmit Opportunity (TXOP) on the target channel during the pre-determined period of time.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the BPR is transmitted with a time interval between 5 ms and 50 ms.
15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising at least one wireless client hopping to the target channel as a result of the device hopping to the target channel, wherein the at least one wireless client is communicatively coupled to the device to form the wireless network.
16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising the device sending a hop indication on the first channel prior to hopping to the target channel.
17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising the device sending a duplicate hop indication.
18. A method of hopping channels by a device within a wireless network, comprising:
hopping from a first channel to a target channel;
sending a frame to reinforce a virtual carrier sense in order to disable wireless service on the first channel;
waiting for a pre-determined period of time;
setting a virtual carrier sense on the target channel after expiration of the pre-determined period of time and prior to hopping to a next target channel, wherein the device sends a Broadcast Probe Response (BPR) on the target channel to assist clients scanning for the device to locate the channel in which the device is currently located; and
hopping from the target channel back to the first channel.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the frame is a Clear to Send (CTS) frame.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the frame is a Broadcast Probe Response (BPR) frame.