Virtual priority mechanism for IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) Access Point

IEEE 802.11（Wi-Fi）网络已被广泛部署用于校园和家庭网络。它们为台式计算机、笔记本电脑、平板电脑、蜂窝电话等各种终端用户设备提供低成本的互联网无线接入。然而，现有的Wi-Fi技术无法支持服务质量（QoS）要求，这使得它难以被校园网络中的重要业务应用所接受。 IEEE 802.11e就是为了解决这个问题而提出的。然而，它需要对接入点和最终用户设备进行修改。因此，它没有被广泛接受。该项目提出了一种新的机制，可以支持QoS的要求，而无需修改的最终用户设备。该机制可以完全在软件中实现，并下载到现有的Wi-Fi接入点。这一特性极大地简化了迁移过程，使其能够被所有园区网络广泛采用。

IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) networks have been widely deployed for both campus and home networks. They provide low-cost wireless access to the Internet for a whole range of end-user devices such as desktop computers, laptops, tablets, cellular phones, etc. However existing Wi-Fi technology cannot support quality of service (QoS) requirements, which makes it difficult to be accepted for serious bussiness applications in campus networks. IEEE 802.11e was proposed to address this issue. However it requires modifications to both access points and end-user devices. Therefore it has not been widely accepted. This project proposes a new mechanism that can support QoS requirements without modification to the end-user devices. The mechanism can be fully implemented in software and downloaded to existing Wi-Fi access points. This feature greatly simplifies migration process and makes it possible to be widely adopted by all campus networks.