Procedure for setting threshold for accessing channel

1. A method, comprising:

determining, by an apparatus, a channel assessment threshold based on a factor representative of a signal-to-interference ratio at another apparatus with which said apparatus has established a link;

determining, by the apparatus on the basis of the channel assessment threshold, whether or not a channel is free for transmission over the link;

upon determining the channel to be free, causing transmission of a frame; and

setting the channel, assessment threshold such that the channel is more probably considered to be free when the order of the modulation and coding scheme is high than when the order of the modulation and coding scheme is low.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the factor representative of the signal-to-interference ratio at the other apparatus comprises a modulation and coding scheme used for transmission over the link, and wherein said determining the channel assessment threshold comprises:

determining, by the apparatus, said modulation and coding scheme used for transmission over the link;

determining, by the apparatus, the channel assessment threshold based on the modulation and coding scheme.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the signal-to-interference ratio comprises a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the channel assessment threshold implicitly on the basis of at least one frame acknowledgment message received from the other apparatus over the link.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the channel assessment threshold explicitly from a message received from the other apparatus of the link.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the channel assessment threshold is used in a carrier-sensing mechanism employed by the apparatus when determining whether or not the channel is free.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the determining whether or not the channel is free comprises:

measuring a signal from the channel and computing a value representing a signal strength of the measured signal;

comparing the value with the channel assessment threshold and determining, on the basis of the comparison, whether or not the channel is free.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the channel assessment threshold is a reception sensitivity threshold.

9. 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:

determine a channel assessment threshold based on a factor representative of a signal-to-interference ratio at another apparatus with which said apparatus is configured to establish a link;

determine, on the basis of the channel assessment threshold, whether or not a channel is free for transmission over the link; and

upon determining the channel to be free, cause transmission of a frame; and

set the channel assessment threshold such that the channel is more probably considered to be free when the order of the modulation and coding scheme is high than when the order of the modulation and coding scheme is low.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the factor representative of the signal-to-interference ratio at the other apparatus comprises a modulation and coding scheme used for transmission over the link, 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 determine the channel assessment threshold by:

determining said modulation and coding scheme used for transmission over the link;

determining the channel assessment threshold based on the modulation and coding scheme.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the signal-to-interference ratio comprises a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 , 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 channel assessment threshold implicitly on the basis of at least one frame acknowledgment message received from the other apparatus over the link.

13. The apparatus of claim 9 , 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 channel assessment threshold explicitly from a message received from the other apparatus of the link.

14. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to use the channel assessment threshold in a carrier-sensing mechanism employed when determining whether or not the channel is free.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , 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 whether or not the channel is free by:

measuring a signal from the channel and computing a value representing a signal strength of the measured signal;

comparing the value with the channel assessment threshold and determining, on the basis of the comparison, whether or not the channel is free.

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

determining, by the apparatus, a channel assessment threshold based on a factor representative of a signal-to-interference ratio at another apparatus with which said apparatus has established a link;

determining, by the apparatus on the basis of the channel assessment threshold, whether or not a channel is free for transmission over the link; and

upon determining the channel to be free, causing transmission of a frame; and

setting the channel assessment threshold such that the channel is more probably considered to be free when the order of the modulation and coding scheme is high than when the order of the modulation and coding scheme is low.