System and method for dynamic adjustment of target wake time service period intervals

1. A method for communicating over a WiFi channel, the method comprising:

receiving, from an access point station, an indication of buffer status of the access point station;

determining, by a non-access point station, that a first skipping criterion is met;

in response to determining that the first skipping criterion is met, skipping N1 target wait time service periods, N1 being a positive integer;

after skipping N1 target wait time service periods, determining, by the non-access point station, whether a second skipping criterion is met; and

in response to determining that the second skipping criterion is met, skipping N2 subsequent target wait time service periods, N2 being a positive integer greater than N1,

wherein:

the determining, by the non-access point station, that the first skipping criterion is met, comprises determining, by the non-access point station, whether a third skipping criterion is met; and

the determining, by the non-access point station, whether the third skipping criterion is met, comprises:

determining whether all enhanced distributed channel access buffers of the non-access point station are empty, and

determining whether the buffer status of the access point station indicates that the access point station has no buffered units.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second skipping criterion is the same as the first skipping criterion.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, after skipping N2 target wait time service periods:

determining, by the non-access point station, whether the second skipping criterion is met; and

in response to determining that the second skipping criterion is met, skipping N3 subsequent target wake time service periods, N3 being a positive integer greater than N2,

N3/N2 being between 0.5 N2/N1 and 4 N1/N2.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein N2/N1 is 2.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining, by the non-access point station, that the first skipping criterion is met further comprises:

in response to determining that the third skipping criterion is met, sending, by the non-access point station to an access point station, a target wake time information frame, notifying the access point station that N1 target wake time service periods are to be skipped; and

receiving, by the non-access point station, an acknowledgment, from the access point station, for the target wake time information frame.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the determining, by the non-access point station, whether the third skipping criterion is met, comprises:

at a point in time preceding a current service period end by a maximum amount of time required for a target wake time frame exchange, determining:

determining whether all enhanced distributed channel access buffers of the non-access point station are empty; and

during a preceding time interval:

the channel has been clear, and

no quality of service data frames have been received from the access point station.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the preceding time interval has a length less than the sum of:

an arbitration inter-frame spacing for background, and

the product of:

a maximum contention window length for background and

a slot time.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication of buffer status of the access point station is a value of a more data bit in a quality of service data frame header.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication of buffer status of the access point station is a value of a more data bit in a quality of service data frame header.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, from the access point station, a quality of service data frame having an end of service period bit set to 1.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising waiting, by the non-access point station, until a point in time preceding a current service period end by a maximum amount of time required for a target wake time frame exchange, before the determining whether all enhanced distributed channel access buffers of the non-access point station are empty.

12. A system for communicating over a WiFi channel, the system comprising a non-access point station comprising a processing circuit, the processing circuit being configured to:

receive, from an access point station, an indication of buffer status of the access point station;

determine that a first skipping criterion is met;

in response to determining that the first skipping criterion is met, skip N1 target wait time service periods, N1 being a positive integer;

after skipping N1 target wait time service periods, determine whether a second skipping criterion is met; and

in response to determining that the second skipping criterion is met, skip N2 subsequent target wait time service periods, N2 being a positive integer greater than N1,

wherein:

the determining that the first skipping criterion is met comprises determining whether a third skipping criterion is met; and

the determining whether the third skipping criterion is met comprises:

determining whether all enhanced distributed channel access buffers of the non-access point station are empty, and

determining whether the buffer status of the access point station indicates that the access point station has no buffered units.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the second skipping criterion is the same as the first skipping criterion.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

after skipping N2 target wait time service periods, determine whether the second skipping criterion is met; and

in response to determining that the second skipping criterion is met, skip N3 subsequent target wake time service periods, N3 being a positive integer greater than N2,

N3/N2 being between 0.5 N2/N1 and 4 N1/N2.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein N2/N1 is 2.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the determining that the first skipping criterion is met further comprises:

in response to determining that the third skipping criterion is met, sending to an access point station a target wake time information frame, notifying the access point station that N1 target wake time service periods are to be skipped; and

receiving an acknowledgment, from the access point station, for the target wake time information frame.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the indication of buffer status of the access point station is a value of a more data bit in a quality of service data frame header.

18. A method for communicating over a WiFi channel, the method comprising:

receiving, from an access point station, an indication of buffer status of the access point station;

determining, by a non-access point station, that a first skipping criterion is met;

in response to determining that the first skipping criterion is met, switching from a first target wake time agreement to a second target wake time agreement, different from the first target wake time agreement;

determining, by the non-access point station, whether a second skipping criterion is met; and

in response to determining that the second skipping criterion is met, switching from the second target wake time agreement to a third target wake time agreement, the third target wake time agreement being different from the first target wake time agreement, and the third target wake time agreement being different from the first target wake time agreement,

wherein:

the determining, by the non-access point station, that the first skipping criterion is met, comprises determining, by the non-access point station, whether a third skipping criterion is met; and

the determining, by the non-access point station, whether the third skipping criterion is met, comprises:

determining whether all enhanced distributed channel access buffers of the non-access point station are empty, and

determining whether the buffer status of the access point station indicates that the access point station has no buffered units.