Contention for channel access in wireless network

1. A method comprising:

providing, in an apparatus, mapping between reception sensitivity thresholds for determining whether a radio channel is busy or available for channel access and time values affecting a back-off time representing a time interval the apparatus refrains from channel access upon determining that the radio channel is busy, wherein a first time value is mapped to a first reception sensitivity threshold and a second time value is mapped to a second reception sensitivity threshold such that when the first reception sensitivity threshold provides a higher probability, than the second reception sensitivity threshold, of a determination that the channel is busy, the first time value provides the apparatus with a lower back-off time than the second time value; and

selecting, by the apparatus, a combination of a reception sensitivity threshold and a time value mapped to each other.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reception sensitivity thresholds and the time values are further mapped to signal strength values of a received beacon signal.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first reception sensitivity threshold is linked to a first signal strength range of the received beacon signal and the second reception sensitivity threshold is linked to a second signal strength range of the received beacon signal such that when the first signal strength range is below the second signal strength range, the first reception sensitivity threshold provides the higher probability of the determination that the channel is busy.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein a reception signal strength of a detected signal that exceeds the selected reception sensitivity threshold causes the apparatus to determine that the channel is busy, and further comprising increasing the selected sensitivity threshold upon detecting an increase in the signal strength of the received beacon signal.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the first time value and the second time value comprises at least one of a minimum contention window value and a maximum contention window value.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the first time value and the second time value comprises an inter-frame spacing value.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first time value is determined as a function of the first reception sensitivity threshold and the second time value is determined as a function of the second reception sensitivity threshold.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said one of the first time value and the second time value is selected on the basis of the selected reception sensitivity threshold and a currently-applied quality-of-service class.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first time value is further linked to a first length of a transmission opportunity and the second time value is further linked to a second length of the transmission opportunity, wherein the first length of the transmission opportunity is higher than the second length of the transmission opportunity.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reception sensitivity thresholds and the time values are a function of a location of the apparatus with respect to an access node.

11. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including a computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to:

provide a mapping between reception sensitivity thresholds for determining whether a radio channel is busy or available for channel access and time values affecting a back-off time representing a time interval the apparatus refrains from channel access upon determining that the radio channel is busy, wherein a first time value is mapped to a first reception sensitivity threshold and a second time value is mapped to a second reception sensitivity threshold such that when the first reception sensitivity threshold provides a higher probability, than the second reception sensitivity threshold, of a determination that the channel is busy, the first time value provides the apparatus with a lower back-off time than the second time value; and

select a combination of a reception sensitivity threshold and a time value mapped to each other.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the reception sensitivity thresholds and the time values are further mapped to signal strength values of a received beacon signal.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the first reception sensitivity threshold is linked to a first signal strength range of the received beacon signal and the second reception sensitivity threshold is linked to a second signal strength range of the received beacon signal such that when the first signal strength range is below the second signal strength range, the first reception sensitivity threshold provides the higher probability of the determination that the channel is busy.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein a reception signal strength of a detected signal that exceeds the selected reception sensitivity threshold causes the apparatus to determine that the channel is busy, and wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to increase the selected reception sensitivity upon detecting an increase in the signal strength of the received beacon signal.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein each of the first time value and the second time value comprises at least one of a minimum contention window value and a maximum contention window value.

16. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein each of the first time value and the second time value comprises an inter-frame spacing value.

17. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to determine the first time value as a function of the first reception sensitivity threshold and to determine the second time value as a function of the second reception sensitivity threshold.

18. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to select said one of the first time value and the second time value on the basis of the selected reception sensitivity threshold and a currently-applied quality-of-service class.

19. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the first time value is further linked to a first length of a transmission opportunity and the second time value is further linked to a second length of the transmission opportunity, wherein the first length of the transmission opportunity is higher than the second length of the transmission opportunity.

20. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the reception sensitivity thresholds and the time values are a function of a location of the apparatus with respect to an access node.

21. The apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising radio interface components providing the apparatus with radio communication capability.

22. A computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium and comprising program instructions which, when loaded into an apparatus, execute a computer process comprising:

providing mapping between reception sensitivity thresholds for determining whether a radio channel is busy or available for channel access and time values affecting a back-off time representing a time interval the apparatus refrains from channel access upon determining that the radio channel is busy, wherein a first time value is mapped to a first reception sensitivity threshold and a second time value is mapped to a second reception sensitivity threshold such that when the first reception sensitivity threshold provides a higher probability, than the second reception sensitivity threshold, of a determination that the channel is busy, the first time value provides the apparatus with a lower back-off time than the second time value; and

selecting a combination of a reception sensitivity threshold and a time value mapped to each other.