Controlling transmission of a wireless device associated with multiple access points
A device decides to not transmit over a first wireless link between a wireless device and a first access point (AP), in response to determining that the wireless device is communicating or is about to communicate over a second wireless link with a second AP, wherein the wireless device is concurrently associated with the first and second APs.
1. A method of a wireless device, comprising:
setting a first transceiver to a first wireless link between the wireless device and a first access point (AP) in an active state;
setting a second transceiver to a second wireless link between the wireless device and a second AP in an active state, wherein each of the first and second transceivers in the respective active state is able to transmit and receive over a respective wireless link of the first and second wireless links;
while the first transceiver is set in the active state of the first transceiver and the second transceiver is set in the active state of the second transceiver, deciding, by at least one processor in the wireless device, to not transmit over the first wireless link between the wireless device and the first AP, in response to determining that the wireless device is communicating or is about to communicate over the second wireless link with the second AP, wherein the wireless device is concurrently associated with the first and second APs using a same protocol, wherein the first AP is part of a first network and the second AP is part of a second network different and separate from the first network, and wherein one network of the first network and the second network is provided by a cellular network operator that has allocated the first network to offload communication of data traffic from a cellular network of the cellular network operator; and
in response to deciding to not transmit over the first wireless link, controlling the first transceiver to prevent transmission over the first wireless link while the first transceiver is in the active state of the first transceiver.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the deciding to not transmit comprises deciding to not transmit uplink information to the first AP.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the determining that the wireless device is communicating or is about to communicate wirelessly with the second AP comprises processing, by the wireless device, a header of a frame and determining based on the header that the frame is targeted to the wireless device from the second AP.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the determining that the wireless device is communicating or is about to communicate wirelessly with the second AP comprises processing, by the wireless device, a unique identifying code prepended to a transmission from the second AP, the unique identifying code identifying the wireless device.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the determining that the wireless device is communicating or is about to communicate wirelessly with the second AP comprises determining, by the wireless device, that a downlink transmission from the second AP is expected in response to a previous transmission from the wireless device to the second AP.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
proceeding, by the wireless device, with an uplink transmission to the first AP even though the wireless device is receiving or about to receive a downlink transmission from the second AP, in response to determining that the uplink transmission comprises information that cannot be delayed.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining that the wireless device is communicating or is about to communicate wirelessly with the second AP comprises determining, by the wireless device, that a beacon transmission is expected from the second AP.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the deciding to not transmit over the first wireless link between the wireless device and the first AP comprises restricting transmission of information over the first wireless link until the beacon transmission has been received over the second wireless link.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying, from among a plurality of channels, pairs of channels that exhibit interference; and
in response to use of a given pair of the identified pairs of channels, requesting by the wireless device, at least one AP associated with the given pair of channels to use a lower order modulation and coding scheme (MCS).
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the wireless device, whether concurrent transmissions by the wireless device to a plurality of APs would exceed a Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) threshold; and
in response to determining that concurrent transmissions by the wireless device to the plurality of APs would exceed the SAR threshold, abort or delay or reduce a transmission power of at least one transmission to at least one of the plurality of APs.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting one of a plurality of options for concurrent transmissions to a plurality of APs, a first option of the plurality of options using different bands for the concurrent transmissions, a second option of the plurality of options using different channels of a common band, and a third option of the plurality of options using a same channel.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the selecting is based on one or more of (1) a capability of the wireless device, (2) specified preferences relating to one or more of enhancing throughput or enhancing power efficiency, or (3) whether the wireless device is already associated with an AP.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first transceiver is maintained in the active state of the first transceiver even though the at least one processor of the wireless device decided to not transmit over the first wireless link.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first transceiver is a first radio frequency (RF) transceiver, and the second transceiver is a second RF transceiver.
15. A wireless device comprising:
a first transceiver to transmit and receive information over a first wireless link with a first access point (AP), and a second transceiver to transmit and receive information over a second wireless link with a second AP, wherein the wireless device is to concurrently associate with both the first and second APs using an Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 protocol, wherein the first AP is part of a first network and the second AP is part of a second network different and separate from the first network, and wherein one network of the first network and the second network is provided by a cellular network operator that has allocated the first network to offload communication of data traffic from a cellular network of the cellular network operator;
at least one processor configured to:
set each of the first and second transceivers in a respective active state so that the first and second transceivers are able to transmit and receive over the respective first and second wireless links;
while the first and second transceivers are each set in the respective active state, gate transmission of uplink information over the first wireless link between the wireless device and the first AP, in response to determining that the wireless device is receiving or is about to receive downlink information over the second wireless link from the second AP, wherein the gating of the transmission of uplink information over the first wireless link comprises controlling the first transceiver in the active state of the first transceiver to prevent transmission over the first wireless link.
16. The wireless device of claim 15 , wherein the gating of the uplink information comprises aborting an uplink transmission in response to determining that the wireless device is receiving downlink information over the second wireless link from the second AP.
17. The wireless device of claim 15 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to further:
determine that an uplink message is part of an atomic operation; and
in response to determining that the uplink message is part of the atomic operation, transmit the uplink message without performing gating of the uplink message.
18. The wireless device of claim 15 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to maintain the first transceiver in the active state of the first transceiver even though the transmission of the uplink information over the first wireless link is gated.
19. The wireless device of claim 15 , wherein the first transceiver is a first radio frequency (RF) transceiver, and the second transceiver is a second RF transceiver.