HK1194897A - Method and apparatus for providing information indicative of traffic delay of a wireless link - Google Patents

Description

Method and apparatus for providing information indicative of traffic delay of a wireless link

The present application is a divisional application filed on 25/05/2006 under application number 200680018294.4 entitled "method and apparatus for providing information indicating traffic delay of a radio link".

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for providing information indicative of radio link traffic delay.

Background

As wireless communications become more prevalent in offices, homes, schools, etc., the demand for resources may cause network congestion and slowdown in the wireless environment. In particular, the latency and/or jitter of the wireless link may degrade performance and/or network capacity. For example, real-time multimedia services, such as voice and/or video transmissions, which need to be distributed in a timely manner, as well as other types of services, such as data transmissions, compete for limited radio environment resources. To reduce performance degradation and/or system overhead conditions, metrics (e.g., delay) of the wireless link may be measured.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example wireless communication system in accordance with embodiments of the methods and apparatus disclosed herein;

FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating an exemplary delay measurement system;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary communication node of FIG. 2;

fig. 4 shows an example of a measurement request format;

fig. 5 shows an example of a measurement report format;

fig. 6 shows an example of a table indicating histogram (histogram) information;

fig. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a method in which the exemplary communication node of fig. 3 may be configured to provide information indicative of radio link traffic delay;

fig. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example processor system that may be used to implement the example communication node of fig. 3.

Detailed Description

In general, methods and apparatus for providing information indicative of wireless link traffic delay are described herein. The methods and apparatus described herein are not limited in this respect.

Referring to fig. 1, an exemplary wireless communication system 100 is depicted that includes one or more wireless communication networks generally designated 110, 120, and 130. Although fig. 1 depicts three wireless communication networks, the wireless communication system 100 may include more or fewer wireless communication networks. Each wireless communication network 110, 120, and 130 may include one or more communication nodes. In one example, the wireless communication network 110 may be a wireless mesh network. Wireless meshed network 110 may include two or more Mesh Points (MPs) 140. Although fig. 1 depicts 5 MPs, the wireless mesh network 110 may include more or fewer MPs. MP140 may include access points, redistribution points, end points, and/or other suitable connection points for traffic flows traversing a mesh path.

The MPs 140 may use various modulation techniques such as spread spectrum modulation (e.g., direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) and/or frequency hopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA)), Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) modulation, Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) modulation, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulation, multi-carrier modulation (MDM), and/or other suitable modulation techniques to communicate with each other. For example, MP140 may implement OFDM modulation to transmit large amounts of digital data by splitting a radio frequency signal into multiple small sub-signals, which are then transmitted simultaneously at different frequencies. In particular, MP140 may communicate with each other (e.g., transmit data within wireless mesh network 110) over wireless links using OFDM modulation as described in the 802.xx family of standards developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and/or variations and improvements in such standards (e.g., 802.11, 802.15, 802.16, etc.). The MPs 140 may also operate in accordance with suitable other wireless communication protocols that require very low power, such as bluetooth, Ultra Wideband (UWB), and/or Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), to communicate with each other via wireless links. The methods and apparatus described herein are not limited in this regard.

The wireless communication system 100 may also include a wireless non-mesh network. In one example, the wireless communication network 120 may be a Basic Service Set (BSS) network. BSS network 120 may include one or more stations 150, shown generally as 151, 152, 153, and 154. Although fig. 1 depicts 4 stations, BSS120 may include more or fewer stations. For example, BSS120 may include a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a handheld computer, a tablet computer, a cellular telephone, a pager, an audio/video device (e.g., MP3 player), a gaming device, a navigation device (e.g., GPS device), a monitor, a printer, a server, and/or other suitable wireless electronic devices.

These stations 150 may communicate over wireless links as described in the 802.xx family of standards developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and/or variations and evolutions of these standards (e.g., 802.11, 802.15, 802.16, etc.). In one example, station 150 may operate according to the 802.16 family of standards developed by IEEE to provide fixed, portable, and/or mobile Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) networks (e.g., the IEEE std. 802.16 published 2004). Station 150 may also use Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) modulation (e.g., IEEE standard 802.11 b) and/or Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) modulation (e.g., IEEE standard 802.11).

In addition, station 150 may also operate according to suitable other wireless communication protocols that require very low power (e.g., bluetooth, UWB, and/or RFID) to communicate over a wireless link. Station 150 may also communicate over a wired link (not shown). For example, station 150 may communicate using a serial interface, a parallel interface, a Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), an ethernet interface, a universal serial bus (UWB) interface, a high performance serial bus interface (e.g., IEEE1394 interface), and/or any other suitable type of wired interface. The methods and apparatus described herein are not limited in this regard.

BSS network 120 may also include one or more communication nodes, such as an Access Point (AP) 160, that provide stations 150 with wireless communication services. Although fig. 1 depicts 1 AP, BSS120 may include additional APs. AP160 may be coupled to receive and/or transmit data with stations 151, 152, 153, and/or 154. In addition to operating as an access point within BSS network 120, AP160 may also operate as a mesh AP (e.g., mesh AP270 of fig. 2). For example, AP160 may operate as an MP of wireless mesh network 110 to communicate with MP 140. In particular, AP160 may connect with, receive and/or transmit data to one or more of the plurality of MPs 140. As a result, AP160 may operate as a mesh AP to communicate with MP140 of wireless mesh network 110 and stations 150 of BSS network 120.

The wireless communication system 100 may also include a Radio Access Network (RAN) 130 (e.g., a cellular network). RAN130 may include one or more base stations 170. Although fig. 1 depicts 7 base stations, RAN130 may include more or fewer base stations. Base station 170 may operate in accordance with one or more of several wireless communication protocols to communicate with wireless communication devices and/or nodes of wireless mesh network 110, BSS network 120, and/or other wireless communication networks.

In one example, base station 170 of RAN130 may communicate directly with station 150 of BSS network 120 (e.g., without using AP 160). In particular, the wireless communication protocols may be based on analog, digital, and/or dual-mode communication system standards such as Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) -based standards, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) -based standards (e.g., global system for mobile communications (GSM), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), etc.), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) -based standards, wideband CDMA (wcdma) -based standards, variations and modifications of such standards, and/or other suitable wireless communication standards. The methods and apparatus described herein are not limited in this regard.

Further, wireless communication system 100 may include other Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) devices, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) devices, Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN) devices, and/or network interface devices and peripherals (e.g., Network Interface Cards (NICs), Access Points (APs), gateways, bridges, hubs, etc.) such Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) devices implementing a cellular telephone system, a satellite system, a Personal Communication System (PCS), a two-way radio system, a one-way paging system, a two-way paging system, a Personal Computer (PC) system, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) system, a Personal Computing Assistant (PCA) system, and/or any other suitable communication system (not shown). Accordingly, wireless mesh network 110 may be implemented to provide a WPAN, WLAN, WMAN, WWAN, and/or other suitable wireless communication network. Although a few examples have been described above, the scope of coverage of this disclosure is not limited thereto.

In the example of fig. 2, the delay measurement system 200 may include a requesting node and a reporting node (e.g., the communication node 300 of fig. 3 may be configured to operate as either the requesting node or the reporting node). In summary, the requesting node may be configured to send a measurement request to the reporting node, which then sends a measurement report to the requesting node. The requesting node may send a measurement request (e.g., measurement request 400 of fig. 4) to the reporting node (210). For example, the requesting node may format the measurement request based on the proposed IEEE standard 802.11k and/or variations and improvements of that standard. The methods and apparatus described herein are not limited in this regard.

In response to receiving a measurement request from a requesting node, the reporting node may send one or more frames, generally designated 220, 240, and 260, to the requesting node for the measurement duration specified by the measurement request. For each frame received by the requesting node, the requesting node may send acknowledgements, generally indicated as 230, 250 and 270, to the reporting node. In one example, the requesting node may send an acknowledgement 230 in response to receiving the frame 220. In another example, the requesting node may send an acknowledgement 250 in response to receiving frame 240. Likewise, the requesting node may send an acknowledgement 270 in response to receiving the frame 260. Although fig. 2 depicts 3 communication pairs (e.g., frames and acknowledgements), the delay measurement system 200 may include more or fewer communication pairs based on the measurement delay.

Thus, the reporting node may generate histogram information based on the acknowledgements 230, 250, and 270 from the requesting node. The reporting node may generate histogram information (e.g., table 600 of fig. 6) indicating the radio link traffic delay between the requesting and reporting nodes. For example, the histogram information may include information related to maximum delay, minimum delay, pattern delay, average delay, or jitter of the wireless link. Based on the histogram information, the reporting node may send a measurement report (e.g., measurement report 500 of fig. 5) to the requesting node (280). The methods and apparatus described herein are not limited in this regard.

Referring to fig. 3, an exemplary communication node 300 may include a communication interface 310, a monitor 320, an identifier 330, a generator 340, and a management information base station (MIB) 350. As described above, the communication node 300 may be configured to operate as a requesting node or a reporting node. For example, communication node 300 may be a station or access point of a BSS, or a mesh point of a mesh network. The methods and apparatus described herein are not limited in this regard.

The communication interface 310 may include a receiver 312 and a transmitter 314. The communication interface 310 may receive and/or transmit traffic signals associated with a wireless communication network, including a mesh network (e.g., the wireless mesh network 110 of fig. 1) and/or a non-mesh network (e.g., the BSS network 120 and/or the RAN130 of fig. 1). In particular, receiver 312 may receive transmissions from other communication nodes such as stations, access points, and/or mesh points. The receiver 312 may receive the measurement request, for example, if the communication node 300 is operating as a requesting node. The transmitter 314 may transmit the transmission to other communication nodes. The transmitter 314 may send a measurement report, for example, if the communication node is operating as a reporting node.

Monitor 320, identifier 330, generator 340, and MIB350 may be operatively coupled to communication interface 310. Briefly, the monitor 320 may be configured to monitor the duration of traffic over a wireless link between the communication node 300 and another communication node. The identifier 330 may be configured to identify a plurality of frequency bins (bins), wherein each frequency bin corresponds to a delay interval of the measurement duration. The generator 340 may be configured to generate histogram information that indicates the delay associated with the wireless link. For example, generator 340 may include one or more counters (not shown), each counter corresponding to one of a plurality of frequency bins. In one example, a counter may count a number of frames. In another example, a counter may count a number of packets. The MIB350 may be configured to store a counter of the generator 340.

Although the components shown in fig. 3 are depicted as separate blocks within the communication node 300, the functions performed by some of these blocks may be integrated within a single semiconductor circuit or may be implemented using two or more separate integrated circuits. For example, although the receiver 312 and the transmitter 314 are depicted as separate blocks within the communication interface 310, the receiver 312 may be integrated within the transmitter 314 (e.g., a transceiver). The methods and apparatus described herein are not limited in this regard.

In the example of fig. 4, the measurement request 400 may include a channel number field (CN) 405, a management class field (RC) 410, a randomization interval field (RI) 415, a measurement duration field (MD) 420, a destination address field (DA) 425, a service identifier field (TI) 430, a frequency bin offset field (BO) 435, a frequency bin duration field (BD) 440, a frequency bin increment mode field (BIM) 445, and a frequency bin number field (NOB) 450.

The channel number field 405 may indicate the particular channel in which the requesting node desires to make delay measurements (e.g., 1 byte of the measurement request 400). The channel management class field 410 may indicate a frequency band defining the channel (e.g., 1 byte of the measurement request 400) of the channel number field 405. The randomization interval field 415 may indicate an upper limit of the random delay (e.g., 2 bytes of the measurement request 400) before making the measurement. The measurement duration field 420 may indicate a duration for the measurement (e.g., 2 bytes of the measurement request 400) as described in detail below. The destination address field 425 may indicate the address of the communication node measuring the wireless link traffic. For example, the destination address field 425 may be a 6 byte Media Access Control (MAC) address of the reporting node. The traffic identifier field 430 may indicate the type of traffic or traffic flow (e.g., 1 byte of the measurement request 400) selected for measurement. For example, the traffic type may be voice, video, data, or other suitable transmission type.

As described in detail below, the reporting node may identify a plurality of frequency bins, and each of the plurality of frequency bins may correspond to a delay interval of the measurement duration specified by the measurement duration field 420. The measurement request 400 may also include a frequency bin field that specifies the manner in which the reporting node may generate histogram information indicative of traffic delays (e.g., generally represented as a frequency bin offset field 435, a frequency bin duration field 440, a frequency bin incremental pattern field 445, and a frequency bin number field 450).

In particular, the bin offset field 435 may indicate the time location of the first bin (e.g., 1 byte of the measurement request 400). For example, the time position of the first frequency bin may be 10 milliseconds (ms). The bin duration field 440 may indicate the duration of each of the plurality of bins (e.g., 1 byte of the measurement request 400). The bin increment mode field 445 may indicate the increment type of the delay interval (e.g., 1 byte of the measurement request 400). For example, a value of 0 may correspond to a linear increment in the delay time interval, while a value of 1 may correspond to an exponential increment in the delay time interval. The number of bins field 450 may indicate the total number of bins in the histogram information (e.g., 1 byte of the measurement request 400). Thus, as described in more detail below, the requesting node may customize the histogram information as needed by changing the manner in which the reporting node generates the histogram information. Although the measurement request field described in the above example occupies a certain number of bytes, the field may occupy more or fewer bytes. The methods and apparatus described herein are not limited in this regard.

In the example of fig. 5, the measurement report 500 may include a channel number field (CN) 505, a management class field (RC) 510, a measurement start time field (MST) 515, a measurement duration field (MD) 520, a destination address field (DA) 525, a service identifier field (TI) 530, a frequency bin offset field (BO) 535, a frequency bin duration field (BD) 540, a frequency bin incremental mode field (BIM) 545, and a frequency bin number field (NOB) 550.

The channel number field 505 may indicate the particular channel in which the requesting node desires to make delay measurements (e.g., 1 byte of the measurement report 500). The channel management class field 510 may indicate the frequency band (e.g., 1 byte of the measurement report 500) that defines the channel number field 505. The measurement start time field 515 may indicate the start time of the measurement (e.g., 8 bytes of the measurement report 500). The measurement duration field 520 may indicate a duration for the measurement (e.g., 2 bytes of the measurement report 500) as described in detail below. The destination address field 425 may indicate the address of the communication node that is measuring traffic (e.g., 6 bytes of the measurement report 500). The traffic identifier field 530 may indicate the type of traffic or traffic flow (e.g., 1 byte of the measurement report 500) selected for measurement.

The bin offset field 535 may indicate the time location of the first bin (e.g., 1 byte of the measurement report 500). The bin duration field 540 may indicate the duration of each of the plurality of bins (e.g., 1 byte of the measurement report 500). The bin increment mode field 545 may indicate the increment type of the delay interval (e.g., 1 byte of the measurement report 500). The number of bins field 550 may indicate the total number of bins in the histogram information (e.g., 1 byte of the measurement report 500).

The measurement report 500 may also include histogram information indicating the delay associated with the wireless link between the requesting and reporting nodes. As described in detail below, the histogram information may include one or more count fields, generally designated as 560, 570, and 580. Each count field may include a number of transmission time intervals of measurement duration (e.g., 4 bytes of measurement report 500) corresponding to one of a plurality of frequency bins. Each of the plurality of frequency bins may correspond to a delay time interval of the measurement duration. Although the measurement report field described in the above example occupies a certain number of bytes, the field may occupy more or fewer bytes. The methods and apparatus described herein are not limited in this regard.

Turning to fig. 6, an example table 600 of histogram information may include a plurality of frequency points, generally denoted as frequency point 0, frequency point 1, frequency point 2, frequency point 3, frequency point 4, frequency point 5, frequency point 6, and frequency point 7. As described above, the number of frequency bins field 405 of the measurement request from the requesting node may indicate the number of frequency bins (N) (e.g., N = 8). Although fig. 6 depicts 8 frequency bins, the table 600 may include more or fewer frequency bins.

Each of the plurality of frequency bins may correspond to one of a plurality of delay time intervals. The plurality of delay time intervals may be based on the frequency bin offset field 435, the frequency bin duration field 440, and the frequency bin increment pattern 445. In one example, the bin offset (i)₀) May be 10 milliseconds (ms), the bin duration (Δ i) may be 10ms, and the bin increment pattern may be a binary exponential pattern based on the following equation:

B₀： Delay＜i₀， i＝0；

B_i： i₀+(2^i-1*Δi)≤Delay＜i₀+(2ⁱ*Δi)， 0＜i＜N-1;

B_N-1： i₀+(2^i-1*Δi)≤Delay， i＝N-1.

as a result, bin 0 may correspond to a delay interval of less than 10 ms. Bin 1 may correspond to a delay interval greater than or equal to 10ms but less than 20 ms. Bin 2 may correspond to a delay interval greater than or equal to 20ms but less than 40 ms. Bin 3 may correspond to a delay interval greater than or equal to 40ms but less than 80 ms. Bin 4 may correspond to a delay interval greater than or equal to 80ms but less than 160 ms. Bin 5 may correspond to a delay interval greater than or equal to 160ms but less than 320 ms. Frequency bin 6 may correspond to a delay interval greater than or equal to 320ms but less than 640 ms. Frequency bin 7 may correspond to a delay interval greater than or equal to 640 ms.

The histogram information of table 600 may provide information indicative of delays associated with the wireless link, such as maximum delay, minimum delay, mode delay, average delay, jitter, and/or other suitable delay information. In one example, the reporting node may transmit a total of 10 frames during the measurement duration as indicated by the count column of table 600. Based on the acknowledgement from the requesting node, the reporting node may measure each transmission time interval of 10 frames and correlate it with one of a plurality of delay time intervals.

In one example, the reporting node may determine the transmission time interval for each frame in 10 frames. Specifically, the transmission time interval for frame 1 may be 20 ms. The transmission time interval for frame 2 may be 10 ms. The transmission time interval for frame 3 may be 200 ms. The transmission time interval for frame 4 may be 400 ms. The transmission time interval for frame 5 may be 60 ms. The transmission time interval for frame 6 may be 15 ms. The transmission time interval for frame 7 may be 25 ms. The transmission time interval for frame 8 may be 30 ms. The transmission time interval for frame 9 may be 35 ms. The transmission time interval for frame 10 may be 38 ms. Although the reporting node described in the above example sends 10 frames, the reporting node may send more or fewer frames based on the measurement duration.

Based on the above transmission time interval, no 1 of the 10 frames has a delay of less than 10 ms. Thus, bin 0 has a count of 0. In contrast, bin 2 has a count of 5 because 5 of 10 frames (e.g., frames 1, 7, 8, 9, and 10) may have a delay greater than or equal to 20ms but less than 40 ms. In a similar manner, bin 1 has a count of 2 because 2 of the 10 frames (e.g., frames 2 and 6) may have a delay greater than or equal to 10ms but less than 20 ms. Accordingly, each of bins 3, 4, and 5 has a count of 1 (e.g., frames 3, 4, and 5, respectively), and frames 6 and 7 have a count of 0.

Based on the histogram information of table 600, the maximum delay may be greater than or equal to 160ms but less than 320ms because bins 6 and 7 both have a count of 0 and bin 5 has 1 or more counts (e.g., frame 4 has a transmission time interval of 400 ms). Because bin 0 has a count of 0 and bin 1 has 1 or more counts (e.g., frame 2 has a transmission time interval of 10 ms), the minimum delay may be greater than or equal to 10ms but less than 20 ms. Because bin 2 has the largest number of counts (e.g., frames 1, 7, 8, 9, and 10) relative to bins 0, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, the mode delay (e.g., the most frequent delay interval) may be greater than or equal to 20ms but less than 40 ms. The methods and apparatus described herein are not limited in this regard.

Alternatively, the bin increment mode may be a linear mode based on the following equation:

B₀： Delay＜i₀， i＝0；

B_i： i₀+((i-1)*Δi)≤Delay＜i₀+(i*Δi)， 0＜i＜N-1；

B_N-1： i₀+((i-1)*Δi)≤Delay， i＝N-1.

as a result, bin 0 may correspond to a delay interval of less than 10 ms. Bin 1 may correspond to a delay interval greater than or equal to 10ms but less than 20 ms. Bin 2 may correspond to a delay interval greater than or equal to 20ms but less than 30 ms. Bin 3 may correspond to a delay interval greater than or equal to 30ms but less than 40 ms. Frequency bin 4 may correspond to a delay interval greater than or equal to 40ms but less than 50 ms. Frequency bin 5 may correspond to a delay interval greater than or equal to 50ms but less than 60 ms. Frequency bin 6 may correspond to a delay interval greater than or equal to 60ms but less than 70 ms. Frequency bin 7 may correspond to a delay interval of greater than or equal to 70 ms.

Although the above examples are described with respect to frames, the methods and apparatus disclosed herein may be applied to other suitable transmission types. For example, the methods and apparatus disclosed herein may be applied to data packets. The methods and apparatus described herein are not limited in this regard.

In particular, fig. 7 depicts a manner in which the example communication node 300 of fig. 3 may be configured to provide information indicative of radio link traffic delay. The example process 700 of fig. 7 may be implemented as machine-accessible instructions stored on any combination of machine-accessible media such as a volatile or non-volatile memory or other mass storage device (e.g., floppy disks, CDs, and DVDs) using any of a number of different program codes. For example, the machine-accessible instructions may be embodied in a machine-accessible medium such as a programmable gate array, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic medium, an optical medium, and/or any other suitable type of medium.

Further, while a particular order of operations is illustrated in FIG. 7, these operations may be performed in other temporal sequences. Again, the exemplary process 700 is provided only in connection with the apparatus of fig. 3 and is described as an example of one manner of configuring a communication node to provide information indicative of wireless link traffic delay.

In the example of fig. 7, the process 700 may begin with the communication node 300 operating as a reporting node and receiving a measurement request (e.g., via the communication interface 310) from another communication node (e.g., a requesting node) (block 710). As described above, the measurement request may include information that the communication node 300 uses to measure the wireless link traffic delay between the communication node 300 and the requesting node.

Based on the measurement request, the communication node 300 may monitor (e.g., via monitor 320) the duration of traffic over the wireless link (block 720). In particular, the measurement request may indicate a measurement duration for measuring a specific traffic type, such as voice, video or data transmission. As a result, the requesting node may specify a measurement duration based on the traffic type. In one example, the measurement request may specify a longer measurement duration for video transmission than for voice transmission.

The communication node 300 may send one or more frames to the requesting node and monitor for an acknowledgement from the requesting node corresponding to each of the one or more frames. The communication node 300 may measure a time interval (e.g., a transmission time interval) from a transmission time of each frame to a reception time of a corresponding acknowledgement. The communication node 300 may also operate in an active manner and automatically monitor the duration of traffic over the wireless link without receiving a measurement request.

The measurement request may also include information related to a plurality of frequency points. Accordingly, the communication node 300 (e.g., the identifier 330) may identify a plurality of frequency bins (block 730). In one example, the measurement request may specify a frequency point offset, a frequency point duration, a frequency point increment pattern, and a frequency point number for a plurality of frequency points based on the service type. For example, the measurement request may specify a greater number of frequency bins for video transmission than for voice transmission. As described above, each of the plurality of bins may correspond to a delay time interval based on a bin increment pattern (e.g., a linear pattern or an exponential pattern). In one example, the communication node 300 may identify 8 frequency bins, each frequency bin corresponding to a delay interval as in the table 600 of fig. 6. Therefore, the requesting node can customize the histogram information as needed by changing the way the reporting node generates the histogram information.

The communication node 300 may also correlate each transmission time interval with one of a plurality of frequency bins (block 740). In one example, communication node 300 may transmit 10 frames, which results in 10 transmission time intervals. Thus, the communication node 300 may correlate each of the 10 transmission time intervals with one of a plurality of frequency points, such that each frequency point may operate as a counter for the corresponding delay time interval. As a result, the communication node 300 may generate histogram information indicating the traffic delay of the wireless link between the communication node 300 and the requesting node.

Based on the histogram information, the communication node 300 may send a measurement report to the requesting node (block 750). The measurement report may include a frame count for each delay time interval. In one example, table 600 of fig. 6 may indicate that bin 2 may have a maximum frame count of 5. Thus, the most frequent delay may be a delay greater than or equal to 20ms but less than 40 ms. As a result, the communication node 300 may provide a probability distribution of traffic delays through the wireless link between the communication node 300 and the requesting node. The methods and apparatus described herein are not limited in this regard.

Fig. 8 is a block diagram of an example processor system 2000 adapted to implement the methods and apparatus disclosed herein. The processor system 2000 may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a handheld computer, a tablet computer, a PDA, a server, an internet appliance, and/or any other type of computing device.

The processor system 2000 illustrated in fig. 8 includes a chipset 2010, which includes a memory controller 2012 and an input/output (I/O) controller 2014. The chipset 2010 may provide memory and I/O management functions as well as a plurality of general purpose and/or special purpose registers, timers, etc. that are accessible or used by a processor 2020. Processor 2020 may be implemented using one or more processors, WLAN components, WMAN components, WWAN components, and/or other suitable processing components. For example, it is possible to useThe technology,The technology,Centrino^TMThe technology,Technique and/orOne or more of the technologies may implement the processor 2020. Other processing technologies may also be used to implement the processor 2020. The processor 2020 may include a cache 2022, which may be implemented using a level one unified cache (L1), a level two unified cache (L2), a level three unified cache (L3), and/or any other suitable structure for storing data.

The memory controller 2012 may perform functions that enable the processor 2020 to access and communicate with a main memory 2030 via a bus 2040, wherein the main memory 2030 includes a volatile memory 2032 and a non-volatile memory 2034. The volatile memory 2032 may be implemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM), and/or any other type of random access memory device. The non-volatile memory 2034 may be implemented using flash memory, Read Only Memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), and/or any other desired type of memory device.

The processor system 2000 may also include an interface circuit 2050 that is coupled to the bus 2040. The interface circuit 2050 may be implemented using any type of interface standard such as an ethernet interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB), a third generation input/output interface (3 GIO), and/or any other suitable type of interface.

One or more input devices 2060 may be connected to the interface circuit 2050. The input device(s) 2060 permit an individual to enter data and commands into the processor 2020. The input device 2060 may be implemented by, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch screen, a track pad, a track ball, an equal point (isopoint), and/or a voice recognition system.

One or more output devices 2070 may also be connected to the interface circuit 2050. The output device(s) 2070 may be implemented by display devices (e.g., a Light Emitting Display (LED), a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display, a printer and/or speakers), for example. The interface circuit 2050 may include a graphics driver card.

The processor system 2000 may also include one or more mass storage devices 2080 to store software and data. Examples of such mass storage devices 2080 include floppy disks and drives, hard disk drives, optical disks and drives, and digital versatile disks and drives.

The interface circuit 2050 may also include a communication device such as a modem or a network interface card to facilitate exchange of data with external computers via a network. The communication link between the processor system 2000 and the network may be any type of network connection such as an ethernet connection, a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), a telephone line, a cellular telephone system, a coaxial cable, etc.

Access to the input device(s) 2060, the output device(s) 2070, the mass storage device(s) 2080 and/or the network may be controlled through the I/O controller 2014. In particular, the I/O controller 2014 may perform functions that enable the processor 2020 to communicate with the input device(s) 2060, the output device(s) 2070, the mass storage device(s) 2080 and/or the network via the bus 2040 and the interface circuit 2050.

Although the components shown in fig. 8 are depicted as separate blocks within the processor system 2000, the functions performed by some of these blocks may be integrated within a single semiconductor circuit or the functions performed by some of these blocks may be implemented using two or more separate integrated circuits. For example, while the memory controller 2012 and the I/O controller 2014 are depicted as separate blocks within the chipset 2010, the memory controller 2012 and the I/O controller 2014 may be integrated within a single semiconductor circuit.

Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture have been described herein, the scope of coverage of this disclosure is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this disclosure covers all methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the appended claims either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents. For example, while the exemplary systems disclosed above include software or firmware executed on hardware, it should be noted that these systems are merely illustrative and should not be considered as limiting. In particular, it is contemplated that any or all of the disclosed hardware, software, and/or firmware components could be embodied exclusively in hardware, exclusively in software, exclusively in firmware or in some combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware.

Claims (18)

1. A method, comprising:

wirelessly receiving a measurement request message from a remote Station (STA), the measurement request message indicating a plurality of frequency points corresponding to a plurality of exponentially distributed delay time intervals;

measuring a delay of a communication traffic on a radio link in response to the measurement request message;

generating histogram information based on the measurements, the histogram information including a count corresponding to each of the delay time intervals; and

wirelessly transmitting a measurement report message to the remote STA, the measurement report message including the histogram information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein communication traffic has a particular traffic type, and wherein the measurement request message indicates the particular traffic type.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the measurement request message indicates the particular traffic type as voice traffic.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the measurement request message indicates the specific traffic type as video traffic.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the measuring step comprises monitoring a plurality of transmission time intervals, and wherein each of the plurality of transmission time intervals is associated with one of a frame or a packet.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote STA is an access point.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote STA is a mesh point.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement request message further includes information indicating one or more of a measurement duration, a frequency bin offset, or a frequency bin duration.

9. An apparatus, comprising:

a receiver for wirelessly receiving a measurement request message from a remote Station (STA), the measurement request message indicating a plurality of frequency points corresponding to a plurality of exponentially distributed delay time intervals;

a monitor for generating a delay measurement of the communication traffic over the wireless link in response to the received measurement request message; and

a generator to generate histogram information based on the measurements, the histogram information including a count corresponding to each of the delay time intervals.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising;

a transmitter to wirelessly transmit the histogram information to the remote STA.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein communication traffic has a particular traffic type, and wherein the measurement request message indicates the particular traffic type.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the measurement request message indicates the particular traffic type as voice traffic.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the measurement request message indicates the particular traffic type as video traffic.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the measurement request message further comprises information indicating one or more of a measurement duration, a frequency bin offset, or a frequency bin duration.

15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the apparatus comprises one or more of a laptop computer, a handheld computer, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, a wireless telephone, a pager, an audio/video player, a gaming device, a navigation device, an access point, or a mesh point.

16. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the generating a measurement operation comprises monitoring a plurality of transmission time intervals, and wherein each of the plurality of transmission time intervals is associated with one of a frame or a packet.

17. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the generator is configured to:

generating information indicative of one of a maximum delay, a minimum delay, a modal delay, an average delay, or a jitter associated with the wireless link.

18. A system, comprising:

means for measuring a delay of communication traffic over a wireless link in response to a received measurement request message from a remote Station (STA); and

means for generating histogram information based on the measurements, the histogram information including a count corresponding to each of the delay time intervals,

wherein the measurement request message indicates a plurality of frequency points corresponding to a plurality of exponentially distributed delay time intervals.