Method and system for beacon information provisioning, transmissions and protocol enhancements

Abstract

A method for beacon information provisioning, transmissions and protocol enhancements includes defining multiple level beacons based on the attributes of beacon information fields/elements. A short beacon may be used in addition to a primary beacon in space-time block code (STBC) modes, non-STBC modes and in multiple bandwidth modes. The short beacons may also be used for Fast Initial Link Setup (FILS) and to extend system coverage range. Beacon transmissions may use adaptive modulation and coding set/scheme (MCS).

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method implemented by a station (STA) in wireless communication with a wireless local area network, the method comprising:
 receiving a short beacon comprising a element that indicates a version of the short beacon; on a condition that the element indicates that the short beacon has not changed from a known version of the short beacon, accessing a medium; and   on a condition that the element indicates that the short beacon has changed from a known version of the short beacon, performing at least one of decoding the short beacon or sending a probe request, and accessing the medium.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , the element comprising a version number information field. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the short beacon includes fast initial link setup (FILS) information, the method further comprising:
 comparing information of a MLME-SCAN.request primitive with the FILS information;   invoking a MLME-SCAN.confirm primitive in response to scan results;   reporting the MLME-SCAN.confirm primitive on a condition that the comparing information produced a match; and   selecting an access point AP, for linking on a condition that the STA determines that sufficient network service information was obtained from the scan and that the AP satisfies STA requirements.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the version number information field comprises at least one of a Common Advertisement Group (CAG) number or an AP Configuration Sequence Number (AP-CSN). 
     
     
         5 . A method implemented in an access point (AP) of a wireless local area network (WLAN), the method comprising:
 determining an element value based on whether a beacon has changed; and   sending the beacon comprising the element value to a station (STA), the element enabling the STA to determine whether to perform at least one of the following: decoding the beacon, or sending a probe request.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , the element value comprising a version number information field. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 broadcasting a link setup beacon having a transmission periodicity defined according to system configuration parameters and used to allow the STA to detect the WLAN.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 sending a link and operation maintenance beacon as a unicast, broadcast or multicast transmission having a transmission periodicity defined according to system configuration parameters and used to alert another STA to link operation changes.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 sending an operation initialization beacon as a unicast, broadcast or multicast transmission aperiodically, wherein the sending is triggered by an event in response to a received indication from another STA for attempted connection establishment.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 sending a traffic information beacon as a unicast, broadcast or multicast transmission either periodically or aperiodically, wherein the sending is triggered by an event, wherein listening window information associated with the traffic indication beacon is provided to the STA while the STA is in a power saving mode.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the version number information field comprises at least one of a Common Advertisement Group (CAG) number or an AP Configuration Sequence Number (AP-CSN). 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 defining a plurality of beacons according to a multiple level beacon scheme in which each beacon level has a different transmission periodicity according to system configuration parameters, wherein content in each defined multiple level beacon is at least one of having partial overlap, having no overlap, or being forward inclusive.   
     
     
         13 . A station (STA) comprising a processor configured to:
 receive a short beacon comprising an element that indicates a version of the short beacon;   on a condition that the element indicates that the short beacon has not changed from a known version of the short beacon, access a medium; and   on a condition that the element indicates that the short beacon has changed from a known version of the short beacon, perform at least one of decoding the short beacon or sending a probe request, and access the medium.   
     
     
         14 . The STA of  claim 13 , the element comprising a version number information field. 
     
     
         15 . The STA of  claim 13 , wherein the short beacon includes fast initial link setup (FILS) information, the processor further configured to:
 compare information of a MLME-SCAN.request primitive with the FILS information;   invoke a MLME-SCAN.confirm primitive in response to scan results;   report the MLME-SCAN.confirm primitive on a condition that the comparing information produced a match; and   select an access point AP, for linking on a condition that the STA determines that sufficient network service information was obtained from the scan and that the AP satisfies STA requirements.   
     
     
         16 . The STA of  claim 14 , wherein the version number information field comprises at least one of a Common Advertisement Group (CAG) number or an AP Configuration Sequence Number (AP-CSN). 
     
     
         17 . A station (STA) implemented as an access point (AP) of a wireless local area network (WLAN), the STA comprising a processor configured to:
 determine an element value based on whether a beacon has changed; and   send the beacon comprising the element value to a target station (STA), the element enabling the target STA to determine whether to perform at least one of the following: decoding the beacon, or sending a probe request.   
     
     
         18 . The STA implemented as an AP of  claim 17 , the element value comprising a version number information field value. 
     
     
         19 . The STA implemented as an AP of  claim 18 , wherein the version number information field comprises at least one of a Common Advertisement Group (CAG) number or an AP Configuration Sequence Number (AP-CSN). 
     
     
         20 . The STA implemented as an AP of  claim 17 , the processor further configured to:
 define a plurality of beacons according to a multiple level beacon scheme in which each beacon level has a different transmission periodicity according to system configuration parameters, wherein content in each defined multiple level beacon is at least one of having partial overlap, having no overlap, or being forward inclusive.