Apple patents method to speed up wireless data sharing between devices
Apple has filed a patent application describing a way to reduce delay in wireless communication between two devices, such as a phone and a laptop. The method involves packing data into specific time slots based on priority and using a shared schedule to ensure other nearby devices also get their turn on the wireless channel.
In the filing’s own words
The subject disclosure provides systems and methods for low-latency point-to-point communication between electronic devices. In one or more implementations, low latency can be achieved by including data in transmission units, in order of priority up to a maximum duration for the transmission unit. In an example in which the communication occurs over a WiFi channel, the transmission unit may be a multi-TID AMPDU, and the priority may be based on a Quality of Service (QoS) category as identified by the traffic identifier (TID). The communication may be exchanged using a periodic access window that can be adaptively offset, to efficiently share bandwidth with other device pairs on the same wireless channel. Base and client devices can be time synchronized, and transmission opportunity (TXOP) bursting can be allowed, in one or more implementations.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A method, comprising: obtaining, by a first device, data frames for transmission to a second device over a wireless channel, wherein the first device and the second device are a first device pair; generating, by the first device, a transmission unit for transmission over the wireless channel by: including at least some of the data frames in the transmission unit, wherein the including comprises constraining a duration of the transmission unit by selecting the at least some of the data frames based at least on a maximum downlink duration for the transmission unit; providing the transmission unit for transmission from the first device over the wireless channel; waiting at least a predetermined duration after transmitting the transmission unit from the first device; and attempting to transmit a subsequent transmission unit after the waiting, wherein the first device constraining the duration of the transmission unit maintains a portion of the predetermined duration for transmissions associated with one or more other device pairs on the wireless channel, without inter-pair communication between the first device pair and the one or more other device pairs.
Facts
- Company
- Apple (Apple Inc.)
- Official title
- LOW LATENCY WIRELESS COMMUNICATION
- Publication number
- US20260333415A1
- Application number
- 19728031
- Filed
- Jul 1, 2026
- Published
- Oct 22, 2026
- Inventors
- 4
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
H04W 72/566 Electricity & electronicsMore from Apple in Networks & wireless
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.