Techniques for channel access and transmit queue selection

Abstract

Various embodiments are disclosed for techniques to perform channel access decisions and to select a transmit queue. These decisions may be performed, for example, based upon the age and number of packets in a queue. These techniques may allow a node to improve the length of data bursts transmitted by the node, although the invention is not limited thereto.

1 . A method of determining when to initiate a channel access comprising: 
 initiating a channel access if at least one of the following has occurred: 
 a timer associated with a transmit queue has expired; and  
 a count associated with a transmit queue has exceeded a threshold.  
   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the threshold may be set for each queue.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the threshold may be set for a plurality of queues.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1  and further comprising: 
 detecting a first packet stored into an empty queue; and    starting a timer associated with the queue.    
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1  and further comprising: 
 storing at least one packet in a queue; and    maintaining a count of the amount of data in the queue.    
   
   
       6 . A method of selecting a transmit queue from a group of eligible transmit queues for transmission: 
 determining if any of the eligible queues have a timer expired;    selecting one of the queues having an expired timer if there is an eligible queue having an expired timer;    otherwise, determining if any of the eligible queues have a count that exceeds a threshold; and    selecting one of the queues having a count that exceeds the threshold if there is an eligible queue having a count that exceeds the threshold.    
   
   
       7 . A method of  claim 6  and further comprising: 
 otherwise, selecting a non-empty queue.    
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 6  and further comprising: 
 detecting a first packet stored in a queue; and    starting a timer associated with the queue.    
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 6  and further comprising: 
 storing at least one packet in a queue; and    maintaining a count of the amount of data in the queue.    
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the count represents an amount of at least one of packets and bytes.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the selecting one of the queues having a count comprises selecting one of the queues having a greatest count.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the selecting one of the queues having an expired timer comprises selecting the eligible queue having a timer that expired the longest ago.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the selecting one of the queues having an expired timer comprises selecting the eligible queue having an expired timer that has the oldest data in the queue.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the selecting one of the queues having an expired timer comprises selecting the eligible queue having at least one of: 
 an expired timer that has the oldest data in the queue;    having a timer that expired the longest ago; and    a combination of an expired timer that has the oldest data in the queue and that expired the longest ago.    
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 6  wherein a queue may be eligible based on comparing the queue and status of the queue to channel access rules.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein queue eligibility is defined based on queues assigned to packets of a specified priority.  
   
   
       17 . A method comprising: 
 determining when to initiate a channel access comprising: 
 initiating a channel access if at least one of the following has occurred: 
 a timer associated with a transmit queue has expired; and  
 a count associated with a transmit queue has exceeded a threshold; and  
 
   selecting a transmit queue from a group of eligible transmit queues for transmission.    
   
   
       18 . The method of  17  wherein the selecting a transmit queue from a group 
 determining if any of the eligible queues have a timer expired;    selecting one of the queues having an expired timer if there is an eligible queue having an expired timer;    otherwise, determining if any of the eligible queues have a count that exceeds a threshold; and    selecting one of the queues having a count that exceeds the threshold if there is an eligible queue having a count that exceeds the threshold.    
   
   
       19 . A method of selecting a transmit queue for transmission, comprising: 
 determining if any of the queues are eligible based on channel access rules;    if there are eligible queues, then determining if any of the eligible queues have a timer expired;    selecting one of the queues having an expired timer if there is an eligible queue having an expired timer;    otherwise, determining if any of the eligible queues have a count that exceeds a threshold; and    selecting one of the queues having a count that exceeds the threshold if there is an eligible queue having a count that exceeds the threshold.    
   
   
       20 . An apparatus comprising: 
 a transceiver;    at least one transmit queue, each queue including a count indicating an amount of data in the queue, and a threshold;    a timer associated with each of said transmit queue; and    wherein the apparatus is adapted to initiate a channel access if the timer of one of the queues has expired or the count of one of the queues exceeds the threshold.    
   
   
       21 . An apparatus comprising: 
 a transceiver;    a plurality of transmit queues, each queue including a count indicating an amount of data in the queue, and a threshold;    a timer associated with each of said transmit queue; and    wherein the apparatus is adapted to select one of the at least one of the transmit queues having an expired timer if a queue has an expired timer, and otherwise, to select one of the at least one of the transmit queues having a count that exceeds the threshold if one of the queues has a count that exceeds the threshold.