Wireless LAN protocol stack

• US 20050135416A1
• Filed: 10/13/2004
• Published: 06/23/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Walton, Jay Rodney, Ketchum, John W., Nanda, Sanjiv
• Granted Patent: US 8,472,473 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/469
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1635 Cumulative acknowledgement, i.e. the acknowledgement message applying to all previous messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/03343 Arrangements at the transmitter end
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2441 relying on flow classification, e.g. using integrated services [IntServ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/161 Implementation details of TCP/IP or UDP/IP stack architecture; Specification of modified or new header fields
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/32 Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/323 in the physical layer [OSI layer 1]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/324 in the data link layer [OSI layer 2], e.g. HDLC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/065 using assembly or disassembly of packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/02 Data link layer protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

Embodiments addressing MAC processing for efficient use of high throughput systems are disclosed. In one aspect, a protocol stack is disclosed comprising one or more of the following: an adaptation layer, a data link control layer, a physical layer, and a layer manager. In another aspect, physical layer feedback is used for adaptation layer processing. In one embodiment, physical layer feedback is used for segmentation. In another embodiment, physical layer feedback is used for multicast mapping onto one or more unicast channels. In another aspect, a data unit for transmission from a first station to a second station comprises zero or more complete sub-data units, zero or one partial sub-data units from a prior transmission, and zero or one partial sub-data units to fill the data unit. In one embodiment, a pointer may be used to indicate the location of any complete sub-data units.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a first layer for receiving one or more packets from one or more data flows and for generating one or more first layer Protocol Data Units (PDUs) from the one or more packets.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a second layer for receiving the one or more first layer PDUs from the first layer and generating one or more second layer PDUs therefrom.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a third layer for receiving the one or more second layer PDUs and transmitting the one or more second layer PDUs to a remote station.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a layer manager for receiving second layer feedback and delivering the second layer feedback to the first layer.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising a layer manager for receiving third layer feedback and delivering the third layer feedback to the first layer.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising a layer manager for receiving third layer feedback and delivering the third layer feedback to the second layer.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first layer PDUs are generated in response to physical layer feedback.

8. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the first layer PDUs are generated in response to physical layer feedback.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the physical layer feedback comprises one or more parameters associated with the transmission.

10. A protocol stack comprising:

a first layer comprising;

first logic to examine higher layer headers from one or more packets and to classify the packets into one or more flows in response to the examined headers.

11. The protocol stack of claim 10, further comprising second logic for multicast mapping the classified packets.

12. The protocol stack of claim 11, wherein the second logic receives physical layer feedback and multicast maps the classified packets in response thereto.

13. The protocol stack of claim 10, further comprising second logic for segmentation of the classified packets.

14. The protocol stack of claim 13, wherein the second logic receives physical layer feedback and segments the classified packets in response thereto.

15. The protocol stack of claim 10, further comprising second logic for reassembly of the classified packets.

16. The protocol stack of claim 10, further comprising second logic for physical layer transmission of the classified packets.

17. An apparatus comprising:

an adaptation layer for receiving one or more packets from one or more data flows and for generating one or more adaptation layer Protocol Data Units (PDUs) from the one or more packets in response to physical layer feedback;

a data link control layer for receiving the one or more adaptation layer PDUs from the adaptation layer and generating one or more physical layer PDUs therefrom;

a physical layer for receiving the one or more physical layer PDUs and transmitting the one or more physical layer PDUs to a remote station, the physical layer feedback comprising one or more parameters associated with the transmission; and

a layer manager for receiving the physical layer feedback and delivering the physical layer feedback to the adaptation layer.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the physical layer feedback comprises a rate.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the physical layer feedback comprises transmit power.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the physical layer feedback comprises a modulation format.

21. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the physical layer feedback comprises a packet size.

22. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the physical layer performs spatial processing.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the physical layer performs spatial multiplexing.

24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the physical layer performs space time transmit diversity.

25. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the physical layer performs beam steering.

26. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the physical layer comprises Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM).

27. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the physical layer comprises Code Division Multiplexing (CDM).

28. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the physical layer comprises two or more antennas and performs Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) processing.

29. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the adaptation layer performs flow classification based on physical layer feedback.

30. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the adaptation layer is adaptable to segment a received packet into a plurality of segments, the size of the segments determined in response to the physical layer feedback.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the segment size is proportional to rate.

32. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the adaptation layer performs multicast mapping of one or more received packets in response to the physical layer feedback.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the adaptation layer comprises:

first circuitry operable to map a multicast packet to a single first adaptation layer PDU for transmission to two or more remote stations;

second circuitry operable to map a multicast packet to two or more second adaptation layer PDUs for transmission to the two or more remote stations;

third circuitry operable to compute a first transmission metric associated with the first adaptation layer PDU and a second transmission metric associated with the second adaptation layer PDUs, the transmission metrics computed in response to the physical layer feedback associated with channels corresponding to the respective remote stations;

a comparator to compare the first and second transmission metrics to produce a metric comparison; and

a selector to generate one or more output adaptation layer PDUs by selecting the first or second adaptation layer PDUs in response to the metric comparison.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the first transmission metric is a supportable rate for a single channel to the two or more remote stations and the second transmission metric is a supportable rate from one of the two or more channels.

35. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the first and second transmission metrics are capacity used for the single channel to the two or more remote stations and the two or more channels to the two or more remote stations, respectively.

36. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the first adaptation layer PDU is selected when the metric comparison indicates the capacity used for the first adaptation layer PDU is less than the capacity used for the second adaptation layer PDUs, and the second adaptation layer PDUs are selected otherwise.

37. A wireless communication system comprising:

a first layer for receiving one or more packets from one or more data flows and for generating one or more first layer Protocol Data Units (PDUs) from the one or more packets.

38. The wireless communication system of claim 37, further comprising a second layer for receiving the one or more first layer PDUs from the first layer and generating one or more second layer PDUs therefrom.

39. The wireless communication system of claim 38, further comprising a third layer for receiving the one or more second layer PDUs and transmitting the one or more second layer PDUs to a remote station.

40. The wireless communication system of claim 38, further comprising a layer manager for receiving second layer feedback and delivering the second layer feedback to the first layer.

41. The wireless communication system of claim 39, further comprising a layer manager for receiving third layer feedback and delivering the third layer feedback to the first layer.

42. The wireless communication system of claim 37, wherein the first layer PDUs are generated in response to physical layer feedback.

43. A wireless communication system comprising:

an adaptation layer for receiving one or more packets from one or more data flows and for generating one or more adaptation layer Protocol Data Units (PDUs) from the one or more packets in response to physical layer feedback;

a data link control layer for receiving the one or more adaptation layer PDUs from the adaptation layer and generating one or more physical layer PDUs therefrom;

a physical layer for receiving the one or more physical layer PDUs and transmitting the one or more physical layer PDUs from a first station to a remote station, the physical layer feedback comprising one or more parameters associated with the transmission; and

a layer manager for receiving the physical layer feedback and delivering the physical layer feedback to the adaptation layer.

44. A method comprising:

receiving one or more packets from one or more data flows; and

generating one or more first layer PDUs from the one or more packets.

45. The method of claim 44, further comprising generating one or more second layer PDUs from the one or more first layer PDUs.

46. The method of claim 45, further comprising transmitting the one or more second layer PDUs to a remote station.

47. The method of claim 44, wherein the first layer PDUs are generated in response to physical layer feedback.

48. A method for medium access control comprising:

receiving one or more packets from one or more data flows;

generating one or more adaptation layer PDUs from the one or more packets in response to physical layer feedback;

generating one or more physical layer PDUs from the one or more adaptation layer PDUs; and

transmitting the one or more physical layer PDUs to a remote station.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the transmitting comprises spatial processing in accordance with a rate, the rate associated with the physical layer feedback.

50. The method of claim 48, further comprising performing flow classification in response to the physical layer feedback to generate one or more adaptation layer PDUs.

51. The method of claim 48, further comprising segmenting a received packet in response to the physical layer feedback to generate one or more adaptation layer PDUs.

52. The method of claim 51, further comprising selecting a segment size for the segmenting in response to physical layer feedback.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein the segment size is proportional to a rate.

54. The method of claim 48, further comprising multicast mapping a packet to two or more channels in response to the physical layer feedback.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein one or more of the two or more channels are unicast channels.

56. The method of claim 48, further comprising multicast mapping to a single channel in a first mode and multicast mapping to two or more channels in a second mode.

57. The method of claim 56, further comprising selecting the first mode when the system resources required for multicast mapping to a single channel are less than system resources required for multicast mapping to two or more channels, and selecting the second mode otherwise.

58. The method of claim 57 wherein the system resource requirements are computed in association with rates required to transmit on a single channel and on two or more channels, respectively.

59. A method for medium access control comprising:

receiving a packet directed to a remote station; and

segmenting the received packet into two or more segments, the segments sized in accordance with the physical layer parameters associated with the remote station channel.

60. A method for medium access control comprising:

receiving a packet addressed to a multicast group comprising two or more remote stations; and

transmitting the packet to the remote stations in the multicast group on two or more channels.

61. A method for medium access control comprising:

receiving a packet addressed to a multicast group comprising two or more remote stations;

comparing a first resource allocation required for multicast transmission to the multicast group on a single channel with a second resource allocation required for multicast transmission to the multicast group on two or more channels; and

transmitting the packet on one channel when the first resource allocation is less than the second resource allocation, and transmitting the packet on two or more channels otherwise.

62. The method of claim 61, wherein the first resource allocation is the lowest supportable rate for a channel receivable by each remote station in the multicast group and the second resource allocation is the lowest rate for each of the two or more channels.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein the supportable rates are received as physical layer feedback.

64. Computer readable media operable to perform the following steps:

receiving one or more packets from one or more data flows; and

generating one or more first layer PDUs from the one or more packets.

65. The computer readable media of claim 64, further operable to perform the step of generating one or more second layer PDUs from the one or more first layer PDUs.

66. The computer readable media of claim 65, further operable to perform the step of transmitting the one or more second layer PDUs to a remote station.

67. The computer readable media of claim 64, wherein the generating step is operable to generate one or more first layer PDUs in response to physical layer feedback.

68. Computer readable media operable to perform the following steps:

receiving one or more packets from one or more data flows;

generating one or more adaptation layer PDUs from the one or more packets in response to physical layer feedback;

generating one or more physical layer PDUs from the one or more adaptation layer PDUs; and

transmitting the one or more physical layer PDUs to a remote station.

69. Computer readable media operable to perform the following steps:

receiving a packet directed to a remote station; and

segmenting the received packet into two or more segments, the segments sized in accordance with the physical layer parameters associated with the remote station channel.

70. Computer readable media operable to perform the following steps:

receiving a packet addressed to a multicast group comprising two or more remote stations; and

transmitting the packet to the remote stations in the multicast group on two or more channels.

71. Computer readable media operable to perform the following steps:

receiving a packet addressed to a multicast group comprising two or more remote stations;

comparing a first resource allocation required for multicast transmission to the multicast group on a single channel with a second resource allocation required for multicast transmission to the multicast group on two or more channels; and

transmitting the packet on one channel when the first resource allocation is less than the second resource allocation, and transmitting the packet on two or more channels otherwise.

72. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving one or more packets from one or more data flows; and

means for generating one or more first layer PDUs from the one or more packets.

73. The apparatus of claim 72, further comprising means for generating one or more second layer PDUs from the one or more first layer PDUs.

74. The apparatus of claim 73, further comprising means for transmitting the one or more second layer PDUs to a remote station.

75. The apparatus of claim 74, wherein the first layer PDUs are generated in response to physical layer feedback.

76. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving one or more packets from one or more data flows;

means for generating one or more adaptation layer PDUs from the one or more packets in response to physical layer feedback;

means for generating one or more physical layer PDUs from the one or more adaptation layer PDUs; and

means for transmitting the one or more physical layer PDUs to a remote station.

77. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a packet directed to a remote station; and

means for segmenting the received packet into two or more segments, the segments sized in accordance with the physical layer parameters associated with the remote station channel.

78. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a packet addressed to a multicast group comprising two or more remote stations; and

means for transmitting the packet to the remote stations in the multicast group on two or more channels.

79. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a packet addressed to a multicast group comprising two or more remote stations;

means for comparing a first resource allocation required for multicast transmission to the multicast group on a single channel with a second resource allocation required for multicast transmission to the multicast group on two or more channels; and

means for transmitting the packet on one channel when the first resource allocation is less than the second resource allocation, and transmitting the packet on two or more channels otherwise.

80. A wireless communication system comprising:

means for receiving one or more packets from one or more data flows; and

means for generating one or more first layer PDUs from the one or more packets.

81. The wireless communication system of claim 80, further comprising means for generating one or more second layer PDUs from the one or more first layer PDUs.

82. The wireless communication system of claim 81, further comprising means for transmitting the one or more second layer PDUs to a remote station.

83. The wireless communication system of claim 80, wherein the first layer PDUs are generated in response to physical layer feedback.

84. A wireless communication system comprising:

means for receiving one or more packets from one or more data flows;

means for generating one or more adaptation layer PDUs from the one or more packets in response to physical layer feedback;

means for generating one or more physical layer PDUs from the one or more adaptation layer PDUs; and

means for transmitting the one or more physical layer PDUs to a remote station.