Systems and methods for simultaneously using multiple wlan modules operating in different wireless bands

Abstract

Systems and methods for enabling a wireless local area network (WLAN) client to communicate simultaneously over more than one band at a time are described, where each client has at least one radio that is operational in each supported band. Load balancing based on traffic requirements optimizes the use of the multiple bands.

1 . A method comprising:
 wirelessly communicating by a client station with a wireless device over a first wireless channel using a local area network protocol;   simultaneously wirelessly communicating by the client station with the wireless device over a second wireless channel using the local area network protocol,   wherein the first wireless channel is distinct from the second wireless channel.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first wireless channel is in a first wireless band, and the second wireless channel is in a second wireless band, and further wherein the first wireless band is distinct from the second wireless band. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising simultaneously wirelessly communicating by the client station with the wireless device over a third wireless channel, wherein the first wireless channel and the second wireless channel are in a first wireless band, and the third wireless channel are in a second wireless band. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication over both the first wireless channel and the second wireless channel is via layer two link aggregation, multipath TCP (transport control protocol), or layer two link aggregation and multipath TCP. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein link aggregation for communication over the first wireless channel and the second wireless channel is via link aggregation performed at an application layer in the network, wherein application layer link aggregation is selected from one of: multi-server HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol), BitTorrent, peer-to-peer aggregation methods, and server-based aggregation methods. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein communication with the wireless device over the first wireless band and the second wireless band is via a relay device. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first wireless channel is used to transmit data, and the second wireless channel is used to control information for the data. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein simultaneous wireless communication over a first wireless channel and a second wireless channel advantageously effects communication with the wireless device as compared to using only the first wireless channel or the second wireless channel, and further wherein an advantageous effect of communicating using both the first wireless channel and the second wireless channel is at least one of: increased throughput, decreased delay, decreased delay variation, reduced number of retries when re-transmitting unacknowledged packets, and improved quality of service.