Beamforming training in orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication systems
First Claim
1. A method for beamforming training in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:
- transmitting, from a first communication device, a transmission to multiple second communication devices, wherein the transmission indicates that the first communication device will subsequently transmit a null data packet (NDP), wherein the multiple second communication devices include i) a plurality of non-legacy second communication devices and ii) a legacy second communication device, wherein the transmission includes an NDP announcement frame that includes multiple per-station information fields for indicating respective second communication devices that are to provide feedback in response to the NDP, wherein the multiple per-station information fields are arranged in an order, wherein a first-occurring per-station information field in the order is set to indicate an address that has not been allocated to any communication devices in the wireless communication network, and wherein another per-station information field after the first-occurring per-station information field is set to indicate an address of the legacy second communication device;
transmitting, from the first communication device, the NDP;
generating, at the first communication device, a trigger frame to trigger an uplink orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) transmission of beamforming training feedback from at least some non-legacy second communication devices among the plurality of non-legacy second communication devices;
transmitting, with the first communication device and after transmission of the NDP by the first communication device, the trigger frame to the at least some non-legacy second communication devices among the plurality of non-legacy second communication devices;
receiving, at the first communication device, the uplink OFDMA transmission, wherein the uplink OFDMA transmission includes respective beamforming training feedback packets generated based on the NDP by respective ones of the at least some non-legacy second communication devices among the plurality of non-legacy second communication devices, and wherein the respective beamforming training feedback packets are simultaneously transmitted by the at least some non-legacy second communication devices among the plurality of non-legacy second communication devices; and
after receiving the uplink OFDMA transmission, transmitting a polling frame to trigger transmission of beamforming training feedback, corresponding to the NDP, from the legacy second communication device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A beamforming training packet is transmitted from a first communication device to multiple second communication devices. A trigger frame is generated at the first communication device to trigger an uplink orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) transmission of beamforming training feedback from at least some of the multiple second communication devices. After transmission of the beamforming training packet by the first communication device, the trigger frame is transmitted to the at least some of the multiple communication devices. The uplink OFDMA transmission is then received at the first communication device. The uplink OFDMA transmission includes respective beamforming training feedback packets generated based on the beamforming training packet by respective ones of the at least some of the multiple second communication devices. The respective beamforming training feedback packets are simultaneously transmitted by the at least some of the multiple second communication devices.
65 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for beamforming training in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:
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transmitting, from a first communication device, a transmission to multiple second communication devices, wherein the transmission indicates that the first communication device will subsequently transmit a null data packet (NDP), wherein the multiple second communication devices include i) a plurality of non-legacy second communication devices and ii) a legacy second communication device, wherein the transmission includes an NDP announcement frame that includes multiple per-station information fields for indicating respective second communication devices that are to provide feedback in response to the NDP, wherein the multiple per-station information fields are arranged in an order, wherein a first-occurring per-station information field in the order is set to indicate an address that has not been allocated to any communication devices in the wireless communication network, and wherein another per-station information field after the first-occurring per-station information field is set to indicate an address of the legacy second communication device; transmitting, from the first communication device, the NDP; generating, at the first communication device, a trigger frame to trigger an uplink orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) transmission of beamforming training feedback from at least some non-legacy second communication devices among the plurality of non-legacy second communication devices; transmitting, with the first communication device and after transmission of the NDP by the first communication device, the trigger frame to the at least some non-legacy second communication devices among the plurality of non-legacy second communication devices; receiving, at the first communication device, the uplink OFDMA transmission, wherein the uplink OFDMA transmission includes respective beamforming training feedback packets generated based on the NDP by respective ones of the at least some non-legacy second communication devices among the plurality of non-legacy second communication devices, and wherein the respective beamforming training feedback packets are simultaneously transmitted by the at least some non-legacy second communication devices among the plurality of non-legacy second communication devices; and after receiving the uplink OFDMA transmission, transmitting a polling frame to trigger transmission of beamforming training feedback, corresponding to the NDP, from the legacy second communication device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus, comprising:
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a network interface device implemented on one or more integrated circuits; wherein the one or more integrated circuits are configured to; transmit a transmission to multiple communication devices, wherein the transmission indicates that the network interface device will subsequently transmit a null data packet (NDP), wherein the multiple communication devices include i) a plurality of non-legacy communication devices and ii) a legacy communication device, wherein the transmission includes an NDP announcement frame that includes multiple per-station information fields for indicating respective second communication devices that are to provide feedback in response to the NDP, wherein the multiple per-station information fields are arranged in an order, wherein a first-occurring per-station information field in the order is set to indicate an address that has not been allocated to any communication devices in the wireless communication network, and wherein another per-station information field after the first-occurring per-station information field is set to indicate an address of the legacy communication device transmit the NDP; generate a trigger frame to trigger an uplink orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) transmission of beamforming training feedback from at least some non-legacy communication devices among the plurality of non-legacy communication devices; after transmission of the NDP, transmit the trigger frame to the at least some non-legacy communication devices among the plurality of non-legacy communication devices; receive the uplink OFDMA transmission, wherein the uplink OFDMA transmission includes respective beamforming training feedback packets generated based on the NDP by respective ones of the at least some non-legacy communication devices among the plurality of non-legacy communication devices, and wherein the respective beamforming training feedback packets are simultaneously transmitted by the at least some non-legacy communication devices among the plurality of non-legacy communication devices; and after receiving the uplink OFDMA transmission, transmit a polling frame to trigger transmission of beamforming training feedback, corresponding to the NDP, from the legacy communication device. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification