METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ORDERING SUB-FIELDS OF VHT-SIG-A AND VIT-SIG-B FIELDS

• US 20120020261A1
• Filed: 07/19/2011
• Published: 01/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Van Zelst, Albert, Jones, Vincent Knowles IV, Sampath, Hemanth
• Granted Patent: US 9,860,037 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/310
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0625 Transmitter arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0631 Receiver arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/003 Arrangements for allocating sub-channels of the transmission path
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/065 using assembly or disassembly of packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to a technique of ordering sub-fields within Signal (SIG) fields of a preamble in Very High Throughput (VHT) wireless communications systems and to a technique of managing sizes of these sub-fields.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communications, comprising:

constructing a Signal (SIG) field with a first portion followed by a second portion, wherein a plurality of sub-fields of the SIG field are allocated between the first and second portions to ensure that a group of the sub-fields common for a Single User (SU) mode and a Multi User (MU) mode is transmitted before another group of the sub-fields not common for the SU and MU modes; and

transmitting the SIG field within a preamble.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the SIG field comprises a Very High Throughput Signal field type A (VHT-SIG-A field).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the SIG field is transmitted to only one apparatus for the SU mode, and

the SIG field is transmitted to two or more apparatuses for the MU mode.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more sub-fields from the group comprise different information for the SU mode and for the MU mode.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the one or more sub-fields comprise a space-time stream (STS) sub-field with information about a number of space-time streams dedicated for each apparatus to which the preamble is transmitted.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

utilizing one or more reserved bits in the first portion to extend at least one of a group ID sub-field or a space-time stream (STS) sub-field of the group of sub-fields, wherein

the STS sub-field comprises information about a number of space-time streams dedicated for each apparatus to which the preamble is transmitted, and

the group ID sub-field comprises information about a group of apparatuses to which the preamble is transmitted.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the STS sub-field is extended in the SU mode to 14 bits by utilizing the one or more reserved bits,

three bits of the STS sub-field indicate a number of space-time streams dedicated to that apparatus, and

eleven bits of the STS sub-field comprise at least a part of an Association Identifier (AID) of that apparatus.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

constructing another SIG field within the preamble with at least one of a Length sub-field, a Modulation-Coding Scheme (MCS) sub-field, a Tail sub-field, or reserved bits,

wherein the Length sub-field comprises an indication about a length of data to be transmitted after the preamble.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

transmitting the Length sub-field followed by the MCS sub-field, the reserved bits and the Tail sub-field.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein:

the other SIG field comprises a Very High Throughput Signal field type B (VHT-SIG-B field), and

the VHT-SIG-B field is transmitted within the preamble after transmitting a Very High Throughput Signal field type A (VHT-SIG-A field).

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the preamble is transmitted in accordance with IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communications standards.

12. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

a circuit configured to construct a Signal (SIG) field with a first portion followed by a second portion, wherein a plurality of sub-fields of the SIG field are allocated between the first and second portions to ensure that a group of the sub-fields common for a Single User (SU) mode and a Multi User (MU) mode is transmitted before another group of the sub-fields not common for the SU and MU modes; and

a transmitter configured to transmit the SIG field within a preamble.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the SIG field comprises a Very High Throughput Signal field type A (VHT-SIG-A field).

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein:

the SIG field is transmitted to only one apparatus for the SU mode, and

the SIG field is transmitted to two or more apparatuses for the MU mode.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein one or more sub-fields from the group comprise different information for the SU mode and for the MU mode.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the one or more sub-fields comprise a space-time stream (STS) sub-field with information about a number of space-time streams dedicated for each apparatus to which the preamble is transmitted.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:

another circuit configured to utilize one or more reserved bits in the first portion to extend at least one of a group ID sub-field or a space-time stream (STS) sub-field of the group of sub-fields, wherein

the STS sub-field comprises information about a number of space-time streams dedicated for each apparatus to which the preamble is transmitted, and

the group ID sub-field comprises information about a group of apparatuses to which the preamble is transmitted.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein:

the STS sub-field is extended in the SU mode to 14 bits by utilizing the one or more reserved bits,

three bits of the STS sub-field indicate a number of space-time streams dedicated to that apparatus, and

eleven bits of the STS sub-field comprise at least a part of an Association Identifier (AID) of that apparatus.

19. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:

another circuit configured to construct another SIG field within the preamble with at least one of a Length sub-field, a Modulation-Coding Scheme (MCS) sub-field, a Tail sub-field, or reserved bits,

wherein the Length sub-field comprises an indication about a length of data to be transmitted after the preamble.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the transmitter is also configured to:

transmit the Length sub-field followed by the MCS sub-field, the reserved bits and the Tail sub-field.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein:

the other SIG field comprises a Very High Throughput Signal field type B (VHT-SIG-B field), and

the VHT-SIG-B field is transmitted within the preamble after transmitting a Very High Throughput Signal field type A (VHT-SIG-A field).

22. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the preamble is transmitted in accordance with IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communications standards.

23. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

means for constructing a Signal (SIG) field with a first portion followed by a second portion, wherein a plurality of sub-fields of the SIG field are allocated between the first and second portions to ensure that a group of the sub-fields common for a Single User (SU) mode and a Multi User (MU) mode is transmitted before another group of the sub-fields not common for the SU and MU modes; and

means for transmitting the SIG field within a preamble.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the SIG field comprises a Very High Throughput Signal field type A (VHT-SIG-A field).

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein:

the SIG field is transmitted to only one apparatus for the SU mode, and

the SIG field is transmitted to two or more apparatuses for the MU mode.

26. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein one or more sub-fields from the group comprise different information for the SU mode and for the MU mode.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the one or more sub-fields comprise a space-time stream (STS) sub-field with information about a number of space-time streams dedicated for each apparatus to which the preamble is transmitted.

28. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising:

means for utilizing one or more reserved bits in the first portion to extend at least one of a group ID sub-field or a space-time stream (STS) sub-field of the group of sub-fields, wherein

the STS sub-field comprises information about a number of space-time streams dedicated for each apparatus to which the preamble is transmitted, and

the group ID sub-field comprises information about a group of apparatuses to which the preamble is transmitted.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein:

the STS sub-field is extended in the SU mode to 14 bits by utilizing the one or more reserved bits,

three bits of the STS sub-field indicate a number of space-time streams dedicated to that apparatus, and

eleven bits of the STS sub-field comprise at least a part of an Association Identifier (AID) of that apparatus.

30. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising:

means for constructing another SIG field within the preamble with at least one of a Length sub-field, a Modulation-Coding Scheme (MCS) sub-field, a Tail sub-field, or reserved bits,

wherein the Length sub-field comprises an indication about a length of data to be transmitted after the preamble.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the means for transmitting is further configured to:

transmit the Length sub-field followed by the MCS sub-field, the reserved bits and the Tail sub-field.

32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein:

the other SIG field comprises a Very High Throughput Signal field type B (VHT-SIG-B field), and

the VHT-SIG-B field is transmitted within the preamble after transmitting a Very High Throughput Signal field type A (VHT-SIG-A field).

33. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the preamble is transmitted in accordance with IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communications standards.

34. A computer-program product for wireless communications, comprising a computer-readable medium comprising instructions executable to:

construct a Signal (SIG) field with a first portion followed by a second portion, wherein a plurality of sub-fields of the SIG field are allocated between the first and second portions to ensure that a group of the sub-fields common for a Single User (SU) mode and a Multi User (MU) mode is transmitted before another group of the sub-fields not common for the SU and MU modes; and

transmit the SIG field within a preamble.

35. A wireless node, comprising:

at least one antenna;

a circuit configured to construct a Signal (SIG) field with a first portion followed by a second portion, wherein a plurality of sub-fields of the SIG field are allocated between the first and second portions to ensure that a group of the sub-fields common for a Single User (SU) mode and a Multi User (MU) mode is transmitted before another group of the sub-fields not common for the SU and MU modes; and

a transmitter configured to transmit the SIG field within a preamble via the at least one antenna.