Controlled spatial reuse in a WLAN
An interface circuit in an electronic device may receive, from an access point associated with the electronic device, a frame with management information that enables the electronic device to use a spatial-reuse technique, where the electronic device, through the spatial-reuse technique, adjusts a transmit power and a channel-availability sensing threshold. Moreover, the management information may specify parameters for the spatial-reuse technique. Then, the electronic device may transmit, using the spatial-reuse technique, one or more frames to the access point based on the parameters. Furthermore, the electronic device may transmit, to the access point, feedback information that indicates communication performance during the communication between the electronic device and the access point. For example, the feedback information may include a retry rate and, more generally, communication-performance information. This feedback information may be used by the access point to modify the parameters.
1. An electronic device, comprising:
one or more nodes configured to communicatively couple to an antenna; and
an interface circuit, communicatively coupled to the one or more nodes, configured to communicate with a second electronic device, and configured to:
receive, from the second electronic device, management information that enables the electronic device to use a spatial-reuse technique, wherein the electronic device, through the spatial-reuse technique, adjusts a transmit power and a channel-availability sensing threshold; and
transmit, using the spatial-reuse technique, one or more frames to the second electronic device or to a third electronic device,
wherein:
the management information comprises a minimum transmit power, a maximum transmit power, a minimum channel-availability sensing threshold, and a maximum channel-availability sensing threshold, and
decreasing the transmit power of the electronic device below a reference transmit power results in increasing the channel-availability sensing threshold of the electronic device above the minimum channel-availability sensing threshold.
2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the second electronic device comprises an access point.
3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the management information is received in one of: a unicast frame or a broadcast frame.
4. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the management information is intended solely for the electronic device.
5. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the management information is intended for multiple electronic devices, including the electronic device, in a wireless local area network (WLAN).
6. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the management information specifies parameters for the spatial-reuse technique.
7. The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein the interface circuit is further configured to operate in a range of transmit powers and channel-availability sensing thresholds specified by the parameters.
8. The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein the parameters specify an operating point having at least one of: a fixed transmit power, or a fixed channel-availability sensing threshold.
9. The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein the parameters are associated with a transmit power control (TPC) threshold and a clear-channel assessment (CCA) threshold.
10. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the interface circuit is further configured to:
transmit, to the second electronic device, feedback information that indicates communication performance during communication between the electronic device and the second electronic device; and
receive, from the second electronic device, updated management information to control spatial-reuse by the electronic device.
11. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the electronic device further comprises the antenna communicatively coupled to the one or more nodes.
12. An access point, comprising:
one or more nodes configured to communicatively couple to an antenna; and
an interface circuit, communicatively coupled to the one or more nodes, configured to communicate with an electronic device, and configured to:
transmit, to the electronic device, management information that enables the electronic device to use a spatial-reuse technique, wherein the electronic device, through the spatial-reuse technique, is allowed to adjust a transmit power and a channel-availability sensing threshold,
wherein:
the management information comprises a minimum transmit power, a maximum transmit power, a minimum channel-availability sensing threshold, and a maximum channel-availability sensing threshold, and
decreasing the transmit power of the electronic device below a reference transmit power results in increasing the channel-availability sensing threshold of the electronic device above the minimum channel-availability sensing threshold.
13. The access point of claim 12 , wherein the management information is communicated via a unicast frame and is intended solely for the electronic device.
14. The access point of claim 12 , wherein the management information is communicated via a broadcast frame and is intended for multiple electronic devices, including the electronic device, in a wireless local area network (WLAN).
15. The access point of claim 12 , wherein the management information specifies parameters for the spatial-reuse technique.
16. The access point of claim 15 , wherein the parameters specify a range of transmit powers and channel-availability sensing thresholds.
17. The access point of claim 15 , wherein the parameters specify an operating point having at least one of: a fixed transmit power, or a fixed channel-availability sensing threshold.
18. The access point of claim 15 , wherein the parameters are associated with transmit power control (TPC) threshold and a clear-channel assessment (CCA) threshold.
19. The access point of claim 15 , wherein the interface circuit is further configured to:
receive, from the electronic device or from a second electronic device, feedback information that indicates communication performance during communication between the access point and the electronic device or the second electronic device;
modify the parameters based on the feedback information; and
transmit, to the electronic device, the modified parameters.
20. A method for transmitting management information, the method comprising:
using an interface circuit of an access point to:
transmit, to an electronic device, management information that enables the electronic device to use a spatial-reuse technique, wherein the electronic device, through the spatial-reuse technique, is allowed to adjust a transmit power and a channel-availability sensing threshold;
receive, from the electronic device or from a second electronic device, feedback information that indicates communication performance during communication between the access point and the electronic device or the second electronic device;
modify parameters for spatial-reuse based on the feedback information; and
transmit, to the electronic device, the modified parameters,
wherein:
the management information comprises the parameters including a minimum transmit power, a maximum transmit power, a minimum channel-availability sensing threshold, and a maximum channel-availability sensing threshold, and
decreasing the transmit power of the electronic device below a reference transmit power results in increasing the channel-availability sensing threshold of the electronic device above the minimum channel-availability sensing threshold.