Classification and silencing for uplink multi-user transmissions in WLANs

• US 10,568,119 B2
• Filed: 03/09/2017
• Issued: 02/18/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Inventors: Oteri, Oghenekome, Lou, Hanqing, Xi, Fengjun, Yang, Rui
• Primary Examiner(s): Alia, Curtis A
• Application Number:
  US16/083,028
• Publication Number:
  US 20190090259A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,076 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0452 Multi-user MIMO systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0242 Determining whether packet losses are due to overload or to deterioration of radio communication conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/1268 of uplink data flows
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/541 using the level of interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

Method, apparatuses, and systems for multi-user (MU) transmission is provided, including scheduling, by an access point (AP), an uplink (UL) MU transmission for a group of wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) in which there is an indication that at least one resource unit (RU) of a plurality of RUs is silenced. The silencing may be based on coordinating with one or more overlapping APs or by analyzing conditions of channels associated with an AP.

Claims

1. A method carried out by an 802.11 access point (AP) for minimizing interference, the method comprising:

generating a high efficiency signal-B (HE-SIG-B) field for an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) signal to be transmitted to a plurality of wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs), wherein the HE-SIG-B field includes a WTRU-identifier (WTRU-ID) element indicating a predetermined value that indicates a resource unit (RU) is silenced; and

transmitting the OFDMA signal, which includes the HS SIG-B field, to the plurality of WTRUs.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining padding and timing adjustment information for the plurality of WTRUs; and

sending padding and timing adjustment information to the plurality of WTRUs.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining to silence the RU based on information from one or more neighboring APs or observations regarding interference statistics.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

incrementing a storage bucket associated with interference statistics of a packet failure of the RU; and

marking the RU associated with the storage bucket to be silenced.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

assessing whether interference statistics of a packet failure rate on a 26 tone RU granularity meets a threshold; and

marking the RU associated with the packet failure rate to be silenced, on a condition that the threshold is met.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving a message indicating a preferred RU from the one or more neighboring APs; and

marking the RU associated with the preferred RU to be silenced.

7. An access point (AP) for minimizing interference, comprising:

a transceiver;

a processor operatively connected to the transceiver, the processor and transceiver configured to generate a high efficiency signal-B (HE-SIG-B) field for an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) signal to be transmitted to a plurality of wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs), wherein the HE-SIG-B field includes a WTRU-identifier (WTRU-ID) element indicating a predetermined value that indicates a resource unit (RU) is silenced; and

the processor and transceiver further configured to transmit the OFDMA signal, which includes the HE SIG-B field, to the plurality of WTRUs.

8. The AP of claim 7, wherein the processor and transceiver are further configured to:

determine padding and timing adjustment information for the plurality of WTRUs; and

send padding and timing adjustment information to the plurality of WTRUs.

9. The AP of claim 7, wherein the processor and transceiver are further configured to:

determine to silence the RU based on information from one or more neighboring APs or observations regarding interference statistics.

10. The AP of claim 9, wherein the processor and transceiver are further configured to:

increment a storage bucket associated with interference statistics of a packet failure of the RU; and

mark the RU associated with the storage bucket to be silenced.

11. The AP of claim 9, wherein the processor and transceiver are further configured to:

assess whether interference statistics of a packet failure rate on a 26 tone RU granularity meets a threshold; and

mark the RU associated with the packet failure rate to be silenced, on a condition that the threshold is met.

12. The AP of claim 9, wherein the processor and transceiver are further configured to:

receive a message indicating a preferred RU from the one or more neighboring APs; and

marking the RU associated with the preferred RU to be silenced.

13. A method performed by a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), the method comprising:

receiving, from an 802.11 access point (AP), an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) signal including a preamble with a WTRU specific high efficiency common signal-B (HE-SIG-B) field, wherein the HE-SIG-B field includes a WTRU identifier (WTRU-ID) element indicating a predetermined value; and

determining that the predetermined value indicates a resource unit (RU) is silenced.