System and method for wireless local area network airtime fairness

1. A method, comprising:

first monitoring, by a wireless access point, a first utilization measure of a channel, said first monitoring including an identification of a portion of time during a first time period that said first monitoring detects energy on said channel;

second monitoring, by said wireless access point, during a second time period, a second utilization measure of said channel by a plurality of mobile stations associated with said wireless access point, said second monitoring including an identification of a portion of time during a second time period that said second monitoring detects data traffic being sent by said wireless access point to said plurality of mobile stations or received by said wireless access point from said mobile stations;

determining an availability of said channel based on said first utilization measure and said second utilization measure; and

distributing said determined availability of said channel amongst said plurality of mobile stations, wherein said distributing comprises assigning, by said wireless access point, a separate counter to each of said plurality of mobile stations, said counters being used to monitor a level of use of said channel by each of plurality of mobile stations.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said determining comprises calculating 1 −U1 +U2, where U1 is the first utilization measure and U2 is the second utilization measure.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first monitoring considers utilization of said channel by a second wireless access point to which said mobile stations are not associated.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first monitoring considers utilization of said channel by other devices that are incompatible with said wireless access point.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising dropping a packet received from a first of said plurality of mobile stations when it is determined that a counter associated with said first of said plurality of mobile stations has exceeded a threshold level.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said determining is performed periodically.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said determining comprises lowering a total availability value by a first amount indicated by the first utilization measure to produce a first result, and adding a second amount indicated by the second utilization measure to the first result.

8. A method, comprising:

determining an availability of a channel based on a channel energy detection measure and a mobile station utilization measure, said channel energy detection measure representing a first percentage of time during a first time period that energy is detected on said channel, and said mobile station utilization measure representing a second percentage of time during a second time period that communication is detected between a wireless access point and a plurality of mobile stations; and

distributing said determined availability of said channel amongst said plurality of mobile stations, wherein said distributing comprises assigning, by said wireless access point, a separate counter to each of said plurality of mobile station , said counters being use to monitor a level of use of said channel by each of said plurality of mobile stations.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein said determining comprises calculating 1 −U1 +U2, where U1 is the channel energy detection measure and U2 is the mobile station utilization measure.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein said channel energy detection measure considers utilization of said channel by a second wireless access point to which said mobile stations are not associated.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein said channel energy detection measure considers utilization of said channel by other devices that are incompatible with said wireless access point.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising dropping a packet received from a first of said plurality of mobile stations when it is determined that a counter associated with said first of said plurality of mobile stations has exceeded a threshold level.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein said determining is performed periodically.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein said determining comprises lowering a total availability value by a first amount indicated by the first utilization measure to produce a first result, and adding a second amount indicated by the second utilization measure to the first result.

15. A wireless access point, comprising:

a wireless transceiver that enables communication with a plurality of mobile stations via a communication channel; and

a controller that distributes available airtime amongst said plurality of mobile stations, said available airtime being determined based on a channel energy detection measure and a mobile station utilization measure, said channel energy detection measure representing a first percentage of time during a first time period that energy is detected on said communication channel, and said mobile station utilization measure representing a second percentage of time during a second time period that communication is detected between said wireless access point and said plurality of mobile stations, wherein said wireless access point drop a packet receive from a first of said plurality of mobile station when it is determined that a counter associated with said first of said plurality of mobile stations has exceeded a threshold level.

16. The wireless access point of claim 15 , wherein said available airtime is determined by calculating 1 −U1 +U2, where U1 is the channel energy detection measure and U2 is the mobile station utilization measure.

17. The wireless access point of claim 15 , wherein said channel energy detection measure considers utilization of said channel by a second wireless access point to which said mobile stations are not associated.

18. The wireless access point of claim 15 , wherein said channel energy detection measure considers utilization of said channel by other devices that are incompatible with said wireless access point.

19. The wireless access point of claim 15 , wherein said distribution assigns a separate counter to each of said plurality of mobile stations, said counters being used to monitor a level of use of said communication channel by each of said plurality of mobile stations. result, and adding a second amount indicated by the second utilization measure to the first result.

20. The wireless access point of claim 15 , wherein said available airtime is determined by lowering a total available airtime value by a first amount indicated by the first utilization measure to produce a first result, and adding a second amount indicated by the second utilization measure to the first result.