ADVERTISEMENT OF QUALITY OF SERVICE (QoS) INFORMATION FOR NETWORK MANAGEMENT TRAFFICE IN A WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORK (WLAN)
An access point advertises a management frame quality of service (MFQ) policy that defines an access category used for transmitting a first type of management frame. Each mobile station associated with the access point is to prioritize transmission of management frames according to the MFQ policy advertised by the access point, unless a policy configuration request for the mobile station to prioritize transmission of management frames according to a different MFQ policy has been accepted.
1 . A method for an access point, the method comprising:
advertising a management frame quality of service (MFQ) policy,
wherein the MFQ policy defines an access category used for transmitting a first type of management frame.
2 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the access category includes any access category among a plurality of access categories.
3 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the access category is indicative of a transmission priority used for transmitting the first type of management frame, the transmission priority being any transmission priority among a plurality of transmission priorities.
4 . The method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the transmission priority is not a highest priority of transmission.
5 . The method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the MFQ policy further defines a second access category for a second type of management frame, the second access category being indicative of another transmission priority among the plurality of transmission priorities.
6 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein advertising the MFQ policy comprises:
generating an element comprising an indication of how the MFQ policy differs from a default MFQ policy; and
including the element in one or more downlink frames transmitted by the access point.
7 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein advertising the MFQ policy comprises:
generating an element that defines the access category for the first type of management frame; and
transmitting the element.
8 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , the method further comprising:
setting a change bit to a value indicative of a change to the MFQ policy from a previous MFQ policy.
9 . The method as claimed in claim 8 , the method further comprising:
setting the change bit to a second value indicative of no change once an interval has elapsed following the change.
10 . A method for a mobile station within range of an access point, the method comprising:
receiving, from the access point, an advertisement of a management frame quality of service (MFQ) policy,
wherein the MFQ policy defines an access category used for transmitting a first type of management frame.
11 . The method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the access category includes any access category among a plurality of access categories.
12 . The method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the access category is indicative of a transmission priority used for transmitting the first type of management frame, the transmission priority being any transmission priority among a plurality of transmission priorities.
13 . The method as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the transmission priority is not a highest priority of transmission.
14 . The method as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the MFQ policy further defines a second access category for a second type of management frame, the second access category being indicative of another transmission priority among the plurality of transmission priorities.
15 . The method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein receiving the advertisement comprises:
receiving an element that defines the access category for the first type of management frame.
16 . The method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein receiving the advertisement comprises:
receiving a downlink frame transmitted by the access point, wherein the downlink frame includes an element comprising an indication of how the MFQ policy differs from a default MFQ policy.
17 . The method as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the downlink frame is a Generic Advertisement Service response frame, the method further comprising:
transmitting a request to the access point for the MFQ policy prior to receiving the Generic Advertisement Service response frame.
18 . The method as claimed in claim 10 , the method further comprising:
assigning the access category to management frames of the first type according to the MFQ policy.
19 . The method as claimed in claim 18 , the method further comprising:
transmitting the management frames using the access category.
20 . An access point comprising:
a processor configured to:
advertise a management frame quality of service (MFQ) policy,
wherein the MFQ policy defines an access category used for transmitting a first type of management frame.
21 . The access point as claimed in claim 20 , wherein the access category includes any access category among a plurality of access categories.
22 . The access point as claimed in claim 20 , wherein the access category is indicative of a transmission priority used for transmitting the first type of management frame, the transmission priority being any transmission priority among a plurality of transmission priorities.
23 . The access point as claimed in claim 22 , wherein the transmission priority is not a highest priority of transmission.
24 . The access point as claimed in claim 22 , wherein the MFQ policy further defines a second access category for a second type of management frame, the second access category being indicative of another transmission priority among the plurality of transmission priorities.
25 . The access point as claimed in claim 20 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
generate an element that defines the access category for the first type of management frame; and
transmit the element.
26 . A mobile station comprising:
a processor configured to:
receive, from an access point, an advertisement of a management frame quality of service (MFQ) policy,
wherein the MFQ policy defines an access category used for transmitting a first type of management frame.
27 . The mobile station as claimed in claim 26 , wherein the access category includes any access category among a plurality of access categories.
28 . The mobile station as claimed in claim 26 , wherein the access category is indicative of a transmission priority used for transmitting the first type of management frame, the transmission priority being any transmission priority among a plurality of transmission priorities.
29 . The mobile station as claimed in claim 28 , wherein the transmission priority is not a highest priority of transmission.
30 . The mobile station as claimed in claim 28 , wherein the MFQ policy further defines a second access category for a second type of management frame, the second access category being indicative of another transmission priority among the plurality of transmission priorities.
31 . The mobile station as claimed in claim 26 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive an element that defines the access category for the first type of management frame.
32 . The mobile station as claimed in claim 26 , wherein the processor is further configured to assign the access category to management frames of the first type according to the MFQ policy.
33 . The mobile station as claimed in claim 32 , wherein the processor is further configured to transmit the management frames using the access category.