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

IEEE 802.11(Wi-Fi)网络已广泛部署在园区网络和家庭网络中。它们为台式计算机、笔记本电脑、平板电脑、手机等一系列终端用户设备提供低成本的无线互联网接入。然而，现有的Wi-Fi技术不能支持服务质量(Qos)要求，这使得校园网络中的重要商务应用很难接受。IEEE 802.11e就是为了解决这个问题而提出的。但是，它需要对接入点和最终用户设备进行修改。因此，它还没有被广泛接受。本项目提出了一种新的机制，可以在不对终端用户设备进行修改的情况下支持服务质量要求。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。这一功能极大地简化了迁移过程，使其有可能被所有校园网广泛采用。

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.