KR100935660B1 - Method for STA-to-STA tcommunication through channel scanning and allocation using DLS multi-channel manager - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention searches for and allocates available channels using a DLS multichannel manager, transmits them using HCCA and DLS, and searches and assigns a channel of a DLS multichannel manager capable of communicating with a BSS channel during use of a dedicated DLS channel. Its purpose is to provide a method of communication between stations through the network.

In order to achieve the object of the present invention, the base station to communicate using a dedicated channel in the DLS environment is a process for requesting the DLS dedicated channel allocation to the DLS multi-channel manager via the AP, DLS multi-channel manager Searching for assignable channels among the channels for the neighboring APs being managed, transmitting the result to the AP, and if the channel allocation is successful, sending the allocated channel number to the destination station in the DLS request message; The destination station decides whether to accept the multi-channel DLS and informs the AP, the AP sends the DLS response message to the source station, and after the successful establishment of the dedicated channel DLS connection, the destination station and the source station switch to the DLS dedicated channel Communication start process, switch to relevant BSS channel when beacon message occurs during DLS data transmission to dedicated channel After open communication switch to a dedicated channel again it is characterized in that made in comprising the step of starting the DLS communication.

DLS, Multichannel, HCCA, Wireless LAN, IEEE802.11e

Description

Method for STA-to-STA tcommunication through channel scanning and allocation using DLS multi-channel manager}

The present invention relates to a technique using a DLS multi-channel manager (DLS multi-channel manager) that provides the peripheral channel search, allocation and communication functions to use the DLS (Direct-Link Setup) proposed in IEEE 802.11e as a dedicated channel. More specifically, the DLS multi-channel manager can be used to efficiently search for and allocate available channels. Also, the BSS (Basic Service Set) is used during transmission of the dedicated DLS channel using HCCA (HCF Controlled Channel Access) and DLS. (STA-to-STA) communication method through the channel search and allocation of the DLS multi-channel manager that can communicate with the channel.

DLS allows direct data transmission between stations without going through an access point (AP) when transmitting data between two stations (STA-to-STA) belonging to the same BSS in infrastructure mode.

In other words, about twice as much transmission gain as when not using DLS.

IEEE 802.11e defines DLS connection establishment and release procedures in the standard to use DLS.

The DLS connection procedure is initiated by sending a DLS request message to the AP at the source station. The source station wishing to connect to the DLS transmits the address of the destination station and the available WLANs physical layer information to the AP in a DLS request message.

After receiving the DLS request message, the AP determines the various conditions and delivers the DLS request message to the destination station if the conditions are satisfied.

If the condition is not satisfied, the reason for connection failure is sent to the source station in the DLS request message.

The condition that the AP checks when it receives the DLS request message is, does the AP provide the DLS function? Is the destination station currently registered node in the BSS? Does the destination station support the DLS function? to be.

After receiving the DLS request message from the AP, the source station determines whether to accept the DLS connection request and transfers the result to the DLS response message to the AP. The AP receiving the DLS response message forwards back to the source station. After receiving the DLS response message, the source station determines whether the connection is established successfully, and starts data transmission using the DLS when the connection is successfully executed.

When using DLS using the same channel as BSS, the transmission gain is about twice that of non-DLS. However, if data transmission between DLS stations occurs frequently after establishing the DLS connection, it is more advantageous to allocate and transmit the DLS dedicated channel than to transmit with other stations using the BSS channel.

However, in order to allocate a dedicated channel to the DLS, it is necessary to solve problems such as a method of searching and assigning a channel that can be used in addition to the BSS channel, a method of receiving data from the AP or a method of transmitting data to the AP when transmitting data using the dedicated channel.

Disclosure of Invention The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a DLS multichannel manager that provides a peripheral channel search, allocation and communication function to use the DLS proposed in IEEE 802.11e as a dedicated channel. It is possible to search and allocate available channels efficiently by using, and also, inter-station communication through channel search and allocation of DLS multi-channel manager that can communicate with BSS channel during transmission DLS channel using HCCA and DLS. To provide a way.

In order to achieve the object of the present invention as described above, in order to use the DLS proposed in IEEE 802.11e as a dedicated channel, the available channel is searched using a DLS multichannel manager that provides peripheral channel search, allocation and communication functions. In a station-to-station communication method using a multi-channel manager in a DLS environment capable of communicating with a BSS channel using HCCA and DLS, a source station (QSTA1) to communicate using a dedicated channel in the DLS environment The first process of transmitting a DLS connection request message for DLS configuration using a dedicated channel to an AP (QAP_A), and the AP (QAP_A) receiving the DLS connection request requests a DLS dedicated channel allocation to the DLS multichannel manager. The DLS multi-channel manager searches for assignable channels among channels for neighboring APs that it manages, and transfers the result to the AP (QAP_A). The second process of transmitting, and the AP (QAP_A) has been informed of the channel allocation result, the third process of transmitting the assigned channel number to the destination station (QSTA2) in the DLS request message when the channel allocation is successful, and the DLS request. The destination station (QSTA2) receiving the message determines whether to accept the multi-channel DLS and transmits the result to the DLS response message to the AP (QAP_A), and the AP (QAP_A) receives the DLS response message. A fifth process of transmitting a result to the source station QSTA1, and after the dedicated channel DLS connection is established successfully, the destination station QSTA2 and the source station QSTA1 switch to the DLS dedicated channel to start DLS communication. A sixth process, and a seventh process of switching to a corresponding BSS channel to communicate with a BSS channel when a beacon message occurs during transmission of DLS data to the dedicated channel, and then switching to a dedicated channel to start DLS communication. Characterized in that eojin.
In this case, preferably, the third process may include transmitting a DLS setting cause to a "reason field" of a DLS response message to the source station (QSTA1) when the channel is not allocated from the DLS multichannel manager, and the DLS multiplexing. If a channel is allocated from the channel manager, the allocated channel is recorded in a payload portion of the DLS request message and transferred to the destination station QSTA2.
In addition, the seventh process transmits data using a dedicated channel established for DLS connection between the source station (QSTA_1) and the destination station (QSTA2), and then transmits or receives data from another AP (QAP_A) to another BSS. switching to the corresponding BSS channel at the start point, receiving a beacon message after switching to the BSS channel, and communicating with the AP (QAP_A) according to an HCCA polling message, and a non-competition interval (QAP_A) from the AP (QAP_A). After the contention free period (end) is received, and switching to the DLS dedicated channel again characterized in that it comprises the step of starting the DLS communication.

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According to the present invention as described above, it is possible to obtain a very improved link utilization by setting the DLS using a dedicated channel, and the effective channel search and allocation scheme for this can be efficiently performed using the DLS multichannel manager. In addition, since the data is transmitted and received according to the HCCA polling message through the BSS channel switching, the dedicated channel DLS can communicate with the existing BSS AP and the station.

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First, the DLS multichannel manager proposed in the present invention is located in a server capable of communicating with an AP, and manages channels of several APs to use DLS using a dedicated channel. In addition, it periodically manages channel information about neighboring APs and already allocated DLS channels, and the DLS multichannel manager receiving the channel assignment request checks the assignable channels and notifies the AP of the result.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
1 is a block diagram of an entire network for implementing a method of communication between stations through channel search and allocation of a DLS multi-channel manager according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a dedicated channel DLS connection procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a configuration diagram of a data format used to distinguish a dedicated channel DLS connection request according to an embodiment of the present invention.
As shown here, the source station (QSTA1) requesting the DLS connection transmits a DLS request message to the AP (QAP_A). At this time, to inform the DLS configuration using the dedicated channel, a reserved bit of the "QoS Capability" field is used as shown in FIG. Setting the reserved bit to “1” indicates that the dedicated channel is used. If the reserved bit is set to “0”, the DLS configuration is shown without the dedicated channel.
In addition, the base station (QSTA1) includes a DLS multi-channel manager module used for HCCA resource reservation using TSPEC, data transmission or reception to the AP (QAP_A) when successfully connecting a dedicated channel DLS after receiving a “DLS response message”. It is configured by.

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The AP (QAP_A) includes a DLS multi-channel manager module for requesting available channel information upon receiving a DLS request message and then, upon successful allocation of a dedicated channel, putting the channel information in a payload of the DLS request message to a destination station (QSTA2). It is configured by. In this case, the DLS multichannel manager uses a data structure as shown in FIG. 6 to maintain available channel information, and the DLS multichannel manager manages data according to a dedicated channel DLS connection approval and release as shown in FIG.
In addition, the AP (QAP_A) is configured to include a DLS multi-channel manager module for notifying the end use of the channel assigned to the DLS multi-channel manager upon successful connection to the dedicated channel DLS after receiving the DLS response message.
When the destination station (QSTA2) receives the DLS connection request message, the DLS connection request message uses the "reserved bit" of the "QoS Capability" field as shown in FIG. 3 to determine whether the dedicated channel DLS connection is established or not. It consists of modules. In this case, the DLS multi-channel manager module reserves the HCCA resource using TSPEC when the dedicated channel DLS connection is established, is used when transmitting or receiving data to the AP, and the channel number assigned when transmitting the DLS response message is used to load the DLS response message. Fill in and send.
In addition, the stations QSTA1 and 2 that have received the HCCA polling message from the AP QAP_A include a DL-HCCA manager module for distinguishing whether the HCCA polling message is a DLS polling message using a TSID and a TCLASS.
4 is a diagram illustrating an operation process in an AP receiving a DLS message according to an embodiment of the present invention.
First, the AP (QAP_A) checks whether the currently received DLS request message requires a dedicated channel.

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If you do not require a dedicated channel, follow the DLS connection setup procedure outlined in the standard. If a dedicated channel is required, the DLS dedicated channel number is requested from the DLS multichannel manager. In this case, if the channel is not allocated from the DLS multi-channel manager, the cause of DLS setting is marked in the "reason field" and the DLS response message is transmitted to the origin station QSTA1 due to the failure of the dedicated channel allocation.

If the channel is successfully allocated, the allocated channel is recorded in the DLS request message flow load portion and transferred to the destination station QSTA2.

The destination station QSTA2 receiving the DLS request message operates as shown in FIG. 5.
5 is an operation flowchart of a destination station QSTA2 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and first checks whether a currently received DLS request message requires a dedicated channel. At this time, whether the dedicated channel is used or not also uses the reseverd field of the "QoS capability" field.

If a dedicated channel is not required, follow the DLS connection setup procedure defined in the standard. However, if DLS setting is requested using a dedicated channel, acceptance is determined. If denying DLS setting using a dedicated channel, the AP (QAP_A) is notified after marking "reason code" in the DLS response message. do.
On the other hand, when the destination station (QSTA2) accepts the dedicated channel, it notifies the AP (QAP_A) after marking the successful connection "reason code" in the DLS response message. At this time, the DLS response message is transmitted to the AP (QAP_A) and the HCCA resource is allocated between the destination station (QSTA2) and the AP (QAP_A) by using TSPEC. This is used for receiving data from the AP (QAP_A) or vice versa for transferring data to the AP (QAP_A).
After the HCCA resource is reserved, the channel is switched to the DLS dedicated channel and the DLS communication is prepared.

Upon receiving the DLS response message, the AP (QAP_A) checks the DLS connection establishment result. If the dedicated channel DLS connection is successfully established, it informs the DLS multi-channel manager that the allocated channel is finally used and sends the received DLS response message to the source station (QSTA1). Receiving the DLS response message, the source station (QSTA1) checks the result of the dedicated channel connection request, and if the connection is established successfully, reserves the HCCA resource using TSPEC and switches to the DLS dedicated channel to start DLS communication.

FIG. 6 is a data format configuration diagram for managing a list of channels available in a DLS multichannel manager according to the present invention. In the DLS multichannel manager, a data structure as shown for each dedicated channel DLS is configured, and a BSS adjacent to a dedicated channel is shown. Keep the information in list form.

When receiving data from the AP (QAP_A) or transmitting data using the dedicated channel DLS, the channel is converted through the process as shown in FIG. 7.
7 is a diagram illustrating an operation of communicating with a BSS channel in a dedicated channel DSL communication according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The DLS multi-channel manager is a BSS channel at the start of the next beacon when the source station (QSTA1) and the destination station (QSTA2) transmit or receive data to the BSS while transmitting data using the dedicated channel after the DLS connection is established. After switching to the communication with the AP (QAP_A) using the HCCA, when receiving a contention-free period (contention free period), the call to the dedicated channel again to start the DLS communication.
In more detail, data is transmitted using a dedicated channel and then switched to a BSS channel before a beacon message occurs. The beacon message is generated periodically from the AP (QAP_A) can predict the next beacon message generation time. Receives a beacon message after switching to the BSS channel, and receives or transmits data from the AP (QAP_A) when the HCCA polling message is received. After being informed of the end of the contention free period from the AP (QAP_A), the AP switches back to the DLS dedicated channel and resumes DLS communication.

The apparatus and method for searching and allocating a channel for using multiple channels in a DLS environment according to the present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and without departing from the gist of the present invention as claimed in the following claims. Anyone with ordinary knowledge in the field of the invention has the technical spirit to the extent that it can be variously modified and implemented.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an entire network according to the present invention;

2 is a view showing a dedicated channel DLS connection procedure in the present invention.

3 is a format used to distinguish a dedicated channel DLS connection request in the present invention.

4 is a diagram illustrating an operation process in an AP receiving a DLS request message according to the present invention;

5 is a diagram illustrating an operation process in a destination STA that receives a DLS request message according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of a DLS multichannel manager constituting channel information in the present invention. FIG.

7 is a view showing an operation of communicating with the BSS channel of the dedicated channel DLS communication in the present invention.
<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>
QSTA1: Origin Station QSTA2: Destination Station
QAP_A, B, C: access point

Claims (7)

delete In order to use the DLS (Direct-Link Setup) proposed by IEEE 802.11 as a dedicated channel, the available channel is searched by using the DLS Multi-channel Manager, which provides peripheral channel search, allocation, and communication functions. In the station-to-station communication method using a multi-channel manager in a DLS environment that allocates and can communicate with a Basic Service Set (BSS) channel using HCF Controlled Channel Access (HCCA) and DLS, In the DLS environment, the base station (QSTA1) that wants to communicate using a dedicated channel transmits a DLS connection request message for accessing a DLS using a dedicated channel to an AP (Access Point) (QAP_A), and receives the DLS connection request. (QAP_A) is a first step of requesting allocation of a DLS dedicated channel to the DLS multichannel manager; A second step of the DLS multichannel manager searching for assignable channels among channels for neighboring APs being managed and transmitting the result to the AP (QAP_A); The AP (QAP_A) notified of the channel allocation result, transmits the allocated channel number to the destination station (QSTA2) in the DLS request message when the channel allocation is successful; A fourth step of, upon receiving the DLS request message, the destination station (QSTA2) determining whether to accept the multi-channel DLS, and transmitting the result to the AP (QAP_A) by putting the result in a DLS response message; A fifth step of the AP (QAP_A) transmitting a result of receiving the DLS response message to the source station (QSTA1); A sixth step of, after the successful establishment of the dedicated channel DLS connection, the destination station QSTA2 and the source station QSTA1 switch to the DLS dedicated channel to start DLS communication; And A seventh process of switching to a corresponding BSS (Basic Service Set) channel and communicating again after switching to a dedicated channel to start a DLS communication when a beacon message occurs during the transmission of the DLS data through the dedicated channel; Station-to-station communication method through channel manager's channel search and assignment. The method of claim 2, In the first process, the source station (QSTA1) uses a "reserved bit" in the "QoS Capability" field of the transmitted data to inform the DLS request message that the DLS is set using a dedicated channel. Dedicated channel communication method between stations through channel search and assignment. The method of claim 2, The third step may include: if a channel is not allocated from the DLS multi-channel manager, marking a cause of DLS establishment in a "reason field" of a DLS response message and transmitting it to the source station (QSTA1); And If the channel is allocated from the DLS multi-channel manager, recording the allocated channel in a payload portion of the DLS request message and transferring the allocated channel to the destination station QSTA2; Station-to-station communication method through discovery and assignment. The method of claim 2, In addition to the fourth process, the DLS response message is further transmitted to the AP (QAP_A) and the HCCA resource is allocated to the destination station (QSTA2) and the AP (QAP_A) using a TSPEC (Traffic Specification). Station-to-station communication method through the channel search and assignment of the DLS multi-channel manager. The method of claim 2, In addition to the sixth step, the source station further comprises the step of reserving the HCCA resources in the AP (QAP_A) using the TSPEC (Traffic Specification) and switching to the DLS dedicated channel when the dedicated channel connection is successfully established. Station-to-station communication method through the channel search and assignment of the DLS multi-channel manager. The method of claim 2, The seventh process transmits data using a dedicated channel established for DLS connection between the source station (QSTA_1) and the destination station (QSTA2), and then transmits or receives data from another AP (QAP_A) to another BSS. Switching to a corresponding BSS channel at a start point; Receiving a beacon message after switching to the BSS channel and communicating with the AP (QAP_A) according to an HCCA polling message; After receiving the end of the contention free period from the AP (QAP_A), switching to a DLS-only channel to start DLS communication; and searching and assigning a channel of the DLS multi-channel manager. Station-to-station communication method.

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