DEVICE, SYSTEM AND METHOD OF SIMULTANEOUSLY COMMUNICATING WITH A GROUP OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICES

• US 20110149918A1
• Filed: 12/20/2009
• Published: 06/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Stacey, Robert J., Gong, Michelle X.
• Granted Patent: US 9,173,191 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/336
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0421 utilizing implicit feedback, e.g. steered pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0617 for beam forming
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0626 Channel coefficients, e.g. channel state information [CSI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/30 Resource management for broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0816 with collision avoidance

Abstract

Some demonstrative embodiments include devices, systems and/or methods of simultaneously communicating with a group of wireless communication devices. For example, a device may include a wireless communication unit to communicate with at least one group of a plurality of wireless communication devices over a wireless communication medium, wherein the wireless communication unit is to reserve the wireless communication medium for a time period, during which the wireless communication unit is to simultaneously transmit two or more different wireless communication transmissions to two or more wireless communication devices of the group, respectively. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Claims

1. A device including:

a wireless communication unit to communicate with at least one group of a plurality of wireless communication devices over a wireless communication medium,

wherein the wireless communication unit is to reserve the wireless communication medium for a time period, during which the wireless communication unit is to simultaneously transmit two or more different wireless communication transmissions to two or more wireless communication devices of the group, respectively.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication unit is to reserve the wireless communication medium by transmitting at least one request-to-send packet to one or more wireless communication devices of the group, wherein the request-to-send packet includes a duration value corresponding to the time period to be reserved.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the request-to-send packet includes an address assigned to the group of wireless communication devices.

4. The device of claim 2, wherein the wireless communication unit is to transmit the transmissions to the two or more wireless communication devices after receiving two or more clear-to-send packets from the two or more wireless communication devices, in response to the request-to-send packet.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the wireless communication unit is to receive the two or more clear-to-send packets simultaneously.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein the two or more clear-to-send packets are identical.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication unit is to reserve the wireless communication medium by transmitting a data packet to at least one of the wireless communication devices of the group, wherein the packet includes a duration value corresponding to the time period to be reserved.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication unit is to transmit at least one beamforming-training initiation frame to the group of wireless communication devices,

wherein the wireless communication unit is to receive two or more feedback frames from the two or more wireless communication devices,

wherein the wireless communication unit is to determine two or more beamforming schemes based on the two or more feedback frames,

and wherein the wireless communication unit is to transmit the two or more different wireless communication transmissions to the two or more wireless communication devices, respectively, using the two or more beamforming schemes, respectively.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the wireless communication unit is to transmit the initiation frame including an address assigned to the group of wireless communication devices.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication unit is to transmit the two or more transmissions according to a space-division-multiple-access (SDMA) scheme.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein the wireless medium operates according to a carrier-sense-multiple-access-with-collision-avoidance scheme.

12. A method including:

reserving, by a wireless communication unit, a wireless communication medium for a time period; and

simultaneously transmitting, during the reserved time period, two or more different wireless communication transmissions from the wireless communication unit to two or more respective wireless communication devices of a group of a plurality of wireless communication devices.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein reserving the wireless communication medium includes transmitting at least one request-to-send packet to one or more wireless communication devices of the group, wherein the request-to-send packet includes a duration value corresponding to the time period to be reserved.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the request-to-send packet includes an address assigned to the group of wireless communication devices.

15. The method of claim 13 including transmitting the transmissions to the two or more wireless communication devices after receiving two or more clear-to-send packets from the two or more wireless communication devices, in response to the request-to-send packet, wherein the two or more clear-to-send packets are identical.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein reserving the wireless communication medium includes transmitting a data packet to at least one of the wireless communication devices of the group, wherein the packet includes a duration value corresponding to the time period to be reserved.

17. The method of claim 12 including:

transmitting at least one beamforming-training initiation frame from the wireless communication unit to the group of wireless communication devices;

receiving at the wireless communication unit two or more feedback frames from the two or more wireless communication devices; and

determining two or more beamforming schemes based on the two or more feedback frames; and

transmitting the two or more different wireless communication transmissions to the two or more wireless communication devices, respectively, using the two or more beamforming schemes, respectively.

18. A wireless communication system including:

a wireless communication device to communicate with a group of a plurality of other wireless communication devices over a wireless communication medium,

wherein the wireless communication device includes;

one or more antennas; and

a wireless communication unit is to reserve the wireless communication medium for a time period, during which the wireless communication unit is to simultaneously transmit two or more different wireless communication transmissions to two or more wireless communication devices of the group, respectively.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the wireless communication device is to reserve the wireless communication medium by transmitting at least one request-to-send packet to one or more wireless communication devices of the group, wherein the request-to-send packet includes a duration value corresponding to the time period to be reserved.

20. The system of claim 18 wherein the wireless communication device is to reserve the wireless communication medium by transmitting a data packet to at least one of the wireless communication devices of the group, wherein the packet includes a duration value corresponding to the time period to be reserved.