FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates to wireless networking systems and methods. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to thermal management of wireless access points including local thermal management, cloud-based thermal management, and thermal management based on optimization and operation in a distributed Wi-Fi network.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

In Wi-Fi networks and the like, the trend is deploying smaller form-factor devices that have compelling aesthetic designs. This is especially important in mesh and distributed Wi-Fi systems which require numerous access points deployed throughout a location. Disadvantageously, compact designs of powerful access points, wireless routers, etc., containing multiple radios each with numerous Radio Frequency (RF) chains, can result in the wireless router dissipating more heat than can be quickly removed from it. Typical solutions today are to limit the number of radio chains built into a device, or the output power that each radio chain can deliver. However, both of these solutions reduce the maximum possible performance of the wireless router. Alternatively, some wireless routers are designed with larger surface area, and include heat sinks, venting holes, fans, and other additions, increasing the size, complexity, and cost of the product. This problem is exacerbated in a distributed Wi-Fi system. Such systems use multiple APs distributed about a location. Consumers place an added priority on such access points being small and attractive. Small size, no external heat sinks, no venting holes, quiet operation without fans, all make the product more attractive, but they make keeping the product cool more difficult. The result is the potential for the APs to overheat, degrading performance and product lifetime.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In an embodiment, a method of thermal control of an access point includes determining temperature associated with the access point including one or more radio chips operating therein; responsive to the temperature exceeding a first threshold, performing one or more thermal mitigation techniques to modify operating conditions of the one or more radio chips; and, responsive to the temperature being lower than a second threshold, reverting back the one or more thermal mitigation techniques. The one or more thermal mitigation techniques can include reducing a Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO) dimension on the one or more radio chips. The MIMO dimension can be reduced only on transmissions and not on receptions. The one or more thermal mitigation techniques can include turning off any of the one or more radio chips. The one or more thermal mitigation techniques can include reducing power of a transmitter associated with the one or more radio chips. The one or more thermal mitigation techniques can include controlling a duty cycle of a transmitter associated with the one or more radio chips. The duty cycle can be controlled through off-channel scans. The duty cycle can be controlled via one of software and low-level hardware mechanisms. The duty cycle can be controlled between 100% to 0% in a feedback loop which continually adjusts the duty cycle based on the determining. The one or more thermal mitigation techniques can include a control loop which operates in a continuous manner.

The second threshold can be different from the first threshold for a hysteresis band to maintain stability in the thermal control. The temperature can be determined at a plurality of points in the access point and the one or more thermal mitigation techniques are selected based on which temperature is above the first threshold. The access point can include one or more radios, and wherein the one or more thermal mitigation techniques can include moving a client device from one radio to a different radio of the one or more radios. The one or more thermal mitigation techniques can include one of shutting down and rebooting the access point. There can be multiple temperature thresholds and one of multiple thermal mitigation techniques can be triggered depending on which threshold is crossed. The determining of the temperature can be based on observation of a duty cycle.

In another embodiment, an access point configured for local thermal control includes one or more radios; a processor communicatively coupled to the one or more radios and configured to determine temperature associated with the one or more radios operating therein; responsive to the temperature exceeding a first threshold, perform one or more thermal mitigation techniques to modify operating conditions of the one or more radios; and, responsive to the temperature being lower than a second threshold, revert back the one or more thermal mitigation techniques. The temperature can be determined at a plurality of points in the access point and the one or more thermal mitigation techniques can be selected based on which temperature is above the first threshold. There can be multiple temperature thresholds and one of multiple thermal mitigation techniques can be triggered depending on which threshold is crossed.

In a further embodiment, a distributed Wi-Fi network configured to implement local thermal control at various nodes therein includes a plurality of access points connected to one another forming the distributed Wi-Fi network; wherein each of the plurality of access points is configured to determine temperature associated with one or more radios operating therein; responsive to the temperature exceeding a first threshold, perform one or more thermal mitigation techniques to modify operating conditions of the one or more radios; and, responsive to the temperature being lower than a second threshold, revert back the one or more thermal mitigation techniques.

In an embodiment, a method of cloud-based thermal control of an access point performed by a cloud-based controller includes periodically obtaining temperature measurements from the access point including one or more radio chips operating therein; responsive to the temperature exceeding a first threshold, causing one or more thermal mitigation techniques to modify operating conditions of the one or more radio chips; and, responsive to the temperature being lower than a second threshold, causing reversion back of the one or more thermal mitigation techniques. The one or more thermal mitigation techniques can include any of reducing a Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO) dimension on one or more of the one or more radio chips; turning off one of the one or more radio chips; reducing power of a transmitter associated with one of the one or more radio chips; and controlling a duty cycle of the transmitter associated with one or more of the one or more radio chips.

The access point can be part of a multi-node Wi-Fi network, and wherein the one or more thermal mitigation techniques can include changing a topology of the multi-node Wi-Fi network to adjust the operating conditions of the access point. The topology can be chosen to result in one or more of fewer children connected to the access point, children with lower traffic load, and children at a shorter range from the access point. The access point can be part of a multi-node Wi-Fi network, and wherein the one or more thermal mitigation techniques can include steering clients associated with the access point to adjust the operating conditions of the access point. The access point can be part of a multi-node Wi-Fi network, and wherein the one or more thermal mitigation techniques can include band steering clients associated with the access point between the one or more radios.

The access point can be part of a multi-node Wi-Fi network, and the method can further include determining the one or more thermal mitigation techniques based on network operating conditions in the multi-node Wi-Fi network and a performance metric. The performance metric can include maximizing throughput, wherein the throughput factors one or more of a total throughput to all clients, the throughput to a slowest client, and a weighted throughput among all clients. The performance metric can be quality based including one or more of consistency of throughput throughout the multi-node Wi-Fi network, latency minimization, and jitter minimization.

The method can further include logging the temperature measurements; and analyzing historical temperature measurements for one or more of identifying values for the first threshold and the second threshold; determining product lifetime of the access point; informing design of new access points; and identifying manufacturing defects. The access point can be part of a multi-node Wi-Fi network, and the method can further include performing an optimization of the multi-node Wi-Fi network subsequent to the causing one or more thermal mitigation techniques to compensate therefor. The determining of the temperature can be based on observation of duty cycle.

In another embodiment, a cloud-based controller configured to perform thermal control of an access point includes a network interface communicatively coupled to the access point; one or more processors communicatively coupled to the network interface; and memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to periodically obtain temperature measurements from the access point including one or more radio chips operating therein; responsive to the temperature exceeding a first threshold, cause one or more thermal mitigation techniques to modify operating conditions of the one or more radio chips; and, responsive to the temperature being lower than a second threshold, cause reversion back of the one or more thermal mitigation techniques. The one or more thermal mitigation techniques can include any of reducing a Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO) dimension on one or more of the one or more radio chips; turning off one of the one or more radio chips; reducing power of a transmitter associated with one of the one or more radio chips; and controlling a duty cycle of the transmitter associated with one or more of the one or more radio chips.

The access point can be part of a multi-node Wi-Fi network, and wherein the one or more thermal mitigation techniques can include changing a topology of the multi-node Wi-Fi network to adjust the operating conditions of the access point. The access point can be part of a multi-node Wi-Fi network, and wherein the one or more thermal mitigation techniques can include steering clients associated with the access point to adjust the operating conditions of the access point. The access point can be part of a multi-node Wi-Fi network, and wherein the one or more thermal mitigation techniques can include band steering clients associated with the access point between a plurality of radios. The access point can be part of a multi-node Wi-Fi network, and the memory storing instructions that, when executed, can further cause the one or more processors to determine the one or more thermal mitigation techniques based on network operating conditions in the multi-node Wi-Fi network and a performance metric. The access point can be part of a multi-node Wi-Fi network, and the memory storing instructions that, when executed, can further cause the one or more processors to perform an optimization of the multi-node Wi-Fi network subsequent to the causing one or more thermal mitigation techniques to compensate therefor.

In a further embodiment, a Wi-Fi network controlled by a cloud-based controller includes one or more access points each including one or more radios; wherein the cloud-based controller is configured to periodically obtain temperature measurements from the one or more access points; responsive to the temperature exceeding a first threshold in an access point of the one or more access points, cause one or more thermal mitigation techniques to modify operating conditions of the one or more radio in the access point; and, responsive to the temperature being lower than a second threshold, cause reversion back of the one or more thermal mitigation techniques.

In an embodiment, a method of optimizing a distributed Wi-Fi network considering thermal management of a plurality of access points in the distributed Wi-Fi network includes periodically obtaining temperature measurements from the plurality of access points; performing an optimization to configure the distributed Wi-Fi network with the temperature measurements as thermal inputs used in the optimization, wherein the optimization determines configuration parameters including one or more of a topology of the distributed Wi-Fi network, band and channel of each hop in the topology, and which clients associate with which access point on which band; and providing the configuration parameters to the distributed Wi-Fi network for implementation thereof. The configuration parameters can include adjustments to one or more radio chips for thermal mitigation based on the thermal constraints, and wherein the adjustments can include any of reducing a Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO) dimension on one or more radio chips; turning off the one or more radio chips; reducing power of a transmitter associated with the one or more radio chips; and controlling a duty cycle of the transmitter associated with the one or more radio chips.

The optimization can adjust topology related parameters of the distributed Wi-Fi network to compensate for the adjustments to the configuration parameters for thermal mitigation. The optimization can utilize an objective function which factors the thermal constraints of each of the plurality of access points with throughput and/or quality. The optimization can have an input loads of each client and an output of the configuration parameters including client assignments based on the thermal constraints. The input loads of each client can be anticipated based on historical measurements. The optimization can determine the configuration parameters to change the topology based on the thermal constraints such that access points operating at high temperatures have reduced load. The reduced load can be one or more of fewer children, children with lower traffic load, and children at closer range to the access point.

The optimization can determine the configuration parameters to steer clients to access points based on the thermal constraints such that access points operating at high temperatures have reduced load. The reduced load can be one or more of fewer children, children with lower traffic load, and children at closer range to the access point. The optimization can determine the configuration parameters based on network operating conditions and a performance metric, wherein the performance metric can include one or more of a total throughput to all clients, the throughput to a slowest client, and a weighted throughput among all clients The optimization can determine the configuration parameters based on network operating conditions and a performance metric, wherein the performance metric can include one or more of consistency of throughput, latency minimization, and jitter minimization. The optimization can utilize the thermal constraint which is specific to each radio to implement a thermal mitigation technique for each radio. The optimization can ignore the thermal constraint of each access point until the thermal constraint exceeds a threshold and then the thermal constraint is treated as a dominant factor in the optimization for that access point. The temperature measurements can be determined based on a transmit duty cycle of one or more radios.

In another embodiment, a cloud-based controller configured to control a Wi-Fi network with a plurality of access points includes a network interface communicatively coupled to the Wi-Fi network; one or more processors communicatively coupled to the network interface; and memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to periodically obtain temperature measurements from the plurality of access points; perform an optimization to configure the distributed Wi-Fi network with the temperature measurements as thermal inputs used in the optimization, wherein the optimization determines configuration parameters including one or more of a topology of the distributed Wi-Fi network, band and channel of each hop in the topology, and which clients associate with which access point on which band; and provide the configuration parameters to the distributed Wi-Fi network for implementation thereof.

The configuration parameters can include adjustments for thermal mitigation based on the thermal constraints, and wherein the adjustments can include any of reducing a Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO) dimension on the one or more radio chips; turning off the one or more radio chips; reducing power of a transmitter associated with the one or more radio chips; and controlling a duty cycle of the transmitter associated with the one or more radio chips. The optimization can adjust topology related parameters of the distributed Wi-Fi network to compensate for the adjustments to the configuration parameters for thermal mitigation. The optimization can determine the configuration parameters to change the topology based on the thermal constraints such that access points operating at high temperatures have reduced load.

In a further embodiment, a Wi-Fi network controlled by a cloud-based controller includes one or more access points each including one or more radios; wherein the cloud-based controller is configured to periodically obtain temperature measurements from the plurality of access points; perform an optimization to configure the distributed Wi-Fi network with the temperature measurements as thermal inputs used in the optimization, wherein the optimization determines configuration parameters including one or more of a topology of the distributed Wi-Fi network, band and channel of each hop in the topology, and which clients associate with which access point on which band; and provide the configuration parameters to the distributed Wi-Fi network for implementation thereof.

