Methods and apparatus for multiple user uplink

• US 10,601,715 B2
• Filed: 01/17/2019
• Issued: 03/24/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Merlin, Simone, Barriac, Gwendolyn Denise, Sampath, Hemanth, Vermani, Sameer
• Primary Examiner(s): Choudhry, Samina F
• Application Number:
  US16/251,030
• Publication Number:
  US 20190173794A1
• Time in Patent Office: 432 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0452 Multi-user MIMO systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2621 using frequency division multiple access [FDMA] H04B7/2615 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0008 by supplementing frame payload, e.g. with padding bits
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0031 Multiple signaling transmission H04L1/1664, F15 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1607 Details of the supervisory signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1621 Group acknowledgement, i.e. the acknowledgement message defining a range of identifiers, e.g. of sequence numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1854 Scheduling and prioritising arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1858 Transmission or retransmission of more than one copy of acknowledgement message
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1861 Physical mapping arrangements for ACK signaling see also H04L5/0053
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/0093 Point-to-multipoint
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/12 Avoiding congestion; Recovering from congestion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/24 Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/72 using reservation actions during connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/805 QOS or priority aware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0005 Time-frequency
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/003 Arrangements for allocating sub-channels of the transmission path
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0037 Inter-user or inter-terminal allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0044 allocation of payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0055 Physical resource allocation for ACK/NACK for physical mapping arrangements in ARQ protocols H04L1/1861
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17309 : Transmission or handling of upstream communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/06 : Optimizing the usage of the radio link, e.g. header compression, information sizing , discarding information system modifying transmission characteristic according to link quality by modifying frame length H04L1/0007; dynamic adaptation of the packet size for flow control or congestion control H04L47/365
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/24 : Negotiating SLA [Service Level Agreement]; Negotiating QoS [Quality of Service]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/146 : Uplink power control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/50 : at the moment of starting communication in a multiple access environment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 : Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 : Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/12 : Wireless traffic scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/121 : for groups of terminals or users
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/21 : in the uplink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 : in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/002 : Transmission of channel access control information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/006 : in the downlink, i.e. towards the terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/008 : with additional processing of random access related information at receiving side
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/04 : Scheduled access hybrid access H04W74/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/08 : Non-scheduled access, e.g. ALOHA hybrid access H04W74/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0816 : with collision avoidance
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/085 : collision avoidance
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 : Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for multiple user uplink are provided. In one aspect, a method for wireless communication is provided. The method includes receiving a trigger frame from an access point, the trigger frame being transmitted to two or more stations and indicating an uplink transmission opportunity. The trigger frame further includes a request for the two or more stations to concurrently transmit uplink data at a specific time. The method includes transmitting uplink data at the specific time to the access point concurrently with another of the two or more stations transmitting uplink data to the access point.

Claims

1. A station for wireless communication comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a trigger frame from an access point, the trigger frame being transmitted to the station and to at least another station, the trigger frame indicating an uplink transmission opportunity for the station to transmit a first uplink physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) at a specific time and concurrently with the at least another station transmitting a second uplink PPDU, the trigger frame further comprising a duration field indicating a same duration of the first uplink PPDU and the second uplink PPDU; and

a transmitter configured to transmit the first uplink PPDU at the specific time and with the indicated duration to the access point concurrently with the at least another station transmitting the second uplink PPDU to the access point.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the specific time is communicated based on a short interframe space (SIFS) or a point interframe space (PIFS) time after the end of the reception of the trigger frame.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit a clear to send (CTS) message having a scrambling sequence at a time after receiving the trigger frame and before transmitting the first uplink PPDU, the scrambling sequence being the same as a scrambling sequence of a clear to send (CTS) message transmitted by the at least another station.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the trigger frame comprises a group identifier (GID) field indicating the station and the at least another station as a group of stations to concurrently transmit uplink data at the specific time.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the trigger frame comprises a receiver address (RA) field indicating a unicast or multicast address which identifies the station and the at least another station to concurrently transmit uplink data at the specific time.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the trigger frame comprises a field indicating data rate information for the station and the at least another station as a group of stations to concurrently transmit uplink data at the specific time.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the trigger frame comprises one or more of a frame control field, a transmitter address field, a duration field, and a basic service set identifier (BSSID) field.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the trigger frame comprises a management frame or a control frame.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the trigger frame is received as an aggregated message with a second message.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit a request for transmission of the first uplink PPDU to the access point.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the request to transmit the first uplink PPDU comprises a request to send (RTS) message, a request to transmit (RTX) message, a power save (PS) poll message, or a quality of service (QoS) null message.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive a second trigger frame in response to the request for transmission of the first uplink PPDU, the second trigger frame indicating the request for transmission of the first uplink PPDU has been received but excluding an indication of the uplink transmission opportunity.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the trigger frame comprises one or more station (STA) information fields for a particular station.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the station (STA) information field comprises a tone allocation field indicating the tone and/or frequencies for transmission of the first uplink PPDU using a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) system and/or an orthogonal FDMA system.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the station (STA) information field comprises a transmission start time field indicating a start time for transmission of the first uplink PPDU.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the station (STA) information field comprises one or more of an address identifier field, a number and index of spatial streams, a time adjustment field, a power adjustment field, an allowed traffic identifier field, and a modulation and coding scheme field.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the station (STA) information field comprises an indication of allowed transmission modes.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the indication of allowed transmission modes comprises one or more of a short/long guard interval (GI) or cyclic prefix mode, a binary convolutional code (BCC)/low density parity check (LDPC) mode, and a space-time block coding (STBC) mode.

19. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

receiving a trigger frame from an access point, the trigger frame being transmitted to the station and to at least another station, the trigger frame indicating an uplink transmission opportunity for the station to transmit a first uplink physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) at a specific time and concurrently with the at least another station transmitting a second uplink PPDU, the trigger frame further comprising a duration field indicating a same duration of the first uplink PPDU and the second uplink PPDU; and

transmitting the first uplink PPDU at the specific time and with the indicated duration to the access point concurrently with the at least another station transmitting the second uplink PPDU to the access point.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the specific time is communicated based on a short interframe space (SIFS) or a point interframe space (PIFS) time after the end of the reception of the trigger frame.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the trigger frame is received as an aggregated message with a second message.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the trigger frame comprises a receiver address (RA) field indicating a unicast or multicast address which identifies the station and to at least another station to concurrently transmit uplink data at the specific time, wherein the trigger frame further comprises a station (STA) information field.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the station (STA) information field comprises one or more of an address identifier field, a number of spatial streams field, a time adjustment field, a power adjustment field, an allowed traffic identifier field, and a modulation and coding scheme field.

24. An apparatus for wireless communication comprising:

means for receiving a trigger frame from an access point, the trigger frame being transmitted to the station and to at least another station, the trigger frame indicating an uplink transmission opportunity for the station to transmit a first uplink physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) at a specific time and concurrently with the at least another station transmitting a second uplink PPDU, the trigger frame further comprising a duration field indicating a same duration of the first uplink PPDU and the second uplink PPDU; and

means for transmitting the first uplink PPDU at the specific time and with the indicated duration to the access point concurrently with the at least another station transmitting the second uplink PPDU to the access point.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the trigger frame comprises a receiver address (RA) field indicating a unicast or multicast address which identifies the station and to at least another station to concurrently transmit uplink data at the specific time, wherein the trigger frame further comprises a station (STA) information field.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the station (STA) information field comprises one or more of an address identifier field, a number of spatial streams field, a time adjustment field, a power adjustment field, an allowed traffic identifier field, and a modulation and coding scheme field.

27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the station (STA) information field comprises a tone allocation field indicating the tone and/or frequencies for transmission of the first uplink PPDU using a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) system and/or an orthogonal FDMA system.

28. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that when executed cause a processor to perform a method of:

receiving a trigger frame from an access point, the trigger frame being transmitted to the station and to at least another station, the trigger frame indicating an uplink transmission opportunity for the station to transmit a first uplink physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) at a specific time and concurrently with the at least another station transmitting a second uplink PPDU, the trigger frame further comprising a duration field indicating a same duration of the first uplink PPDU and the second uplink PPDU; and

transmitting the first uplink PPDU at the specific time and with the indicated duration to the access point concurrently with the at least another station transmitting the second uplink PPDU to the access point.

29. The medium of claim 28, wherein the method further comprises transmitting a clear to send (CTS) messages having a scrambling sequence at a time after receiving the trigger frame and before transmitting the first uplink PPDU.

30. The medium of claim 28, wherein receiving the trigger frame comprises receiving the trigger frame in response to a request for transmission of uplink data.