PHYSICAL LAYER HEADER WITH ACCESS POINT IDENTIFIER

• US 20120063433A1
• Filed: 09/13/2011
• Published: 03/15/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Wentink, Maarten Menzo
• Granted Patent: US 8,989,213 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0697 using spatial multiplexing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/04 Scheduled access hybrid access H04W74/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0816 with collision avoidance
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup

Abstract

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide methods and apparatus for utilizing a physical layer (PHY) header comprising an identifier for an access point (AP) or a Basic Service Set (BSS). A station (STA) that is assigned an order in a sequential response sequence may count only frames with PHY headers that contain the correct identifier. A STA may terminate its sequential access procedure when it receives a frame with a PHY header that specifies a different identifier for the AP or BSS that assigned the sequence. In this manner, the STA may prevent partly synchronizing to an overlapping network and avoid accessing the wireless medium at the wrong time.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communications, comprising:

receiving, at a station, a first indication of a set with which the station is associated;

receiving a second indication of an order in a sequence at which the station is allowed to transmit; and

determining timing for transmitting a frame based, at least in part, on the first and second indications.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the frame according to the determined timing, wherein the frame comprises a physical layer (PHY) header comprising at least a portion of the first indication.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the PHY header comprises a Number of Space Time Streams (Nsts) field comprising the at least the portion of the first indication.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least the portion of the first indication comprises 9 least significant bits (LSBs) of the first indication.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the set comprises a basic service set (BSS) and wherein the first indication comprises an identifier for the BSS or for an access point (AP) in the BSS.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein receiving the first indication comprises receiving an information element (IE) comprising the identifier for the AP.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the first indication comprises receiving, from an access point (AP) during association with the AP, an association response frame comprising the first indication.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the timing comprises:

counting a number of frames received with at least a portion of the first indication; and

ignoring received frames with an identifier that does not match the at least the portion of the first indication.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising terminating a sequential access procedure based on the order in the sequence if the station receives a frame with an identifier that does not match at least a portion of the first indication.

10. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

means for receiving a first indication of a set with which the apparatus is associated and a second indication of an order in a sequence at which the apparatus is allowed to transmit; and

means for determining timing for transmitting a frame based, at least in part, on the first and second indications.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising means for transmitting the frame according to the determined timing, wherein the frame comprises a physical layer (PHY) header comprising at least a portion of the first indication.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the PHY header comprises a Number of Space Time Streams (Nsts) field comprising the at least the portion of the first indication.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the at least the portion of the first indication comprises 9 least significant bits (LSBs) of the first indication.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the set comprises a basic service set (BSS) and wherein the first indication comprises an identifier for the BSS or for an access point (AP) in the BSS.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the means for receiving the first indication is configured to receive an information element (IE) comprising the identifier for the AP.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the means for receiving is configured to receive, from an access point (AP) during association with the AP, an association response frame comprising the first indication.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the means for determining the timing is configured to:

count a number of frames received with at least a portion of the first indication; and

ignore received frames with an identifier that does not match the at least the portion of the first indication.

18. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising means for terminating a sequential access procedure based on the order in the sequence if the apparatus receives a frame with an identifier that does not match at least a portion of the first indication.

19. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

a receiver configured to;

receive a first indication of a set with which the apparatus is associated; and

receive a second indication of an order in a sequence at which the apparatus is allowed to transmit; and

a processing system configured to determine timing for transmitting a frame based, at least in part, on the first and second indications.

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

receive, at a station, a first indication of a set with which the station is associated;

receive a second indication of an order in a sequence at which the station is allowed to transmit; and

determine timing for transmitting a frame based, at least in part, on the first and second indications.

21. A method for wireless communications, comprising:

receiving, at an access point (AP), an association request message from a station;

associating the station with the AP; and

transmitting a first indication of a set with which the station is associated and to which the AP belongs.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the set comprises a basic service set (BSS) and wherein the first indication comprises an identifier for the BSS or for the AP in the BSS.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein transmitting the first indication comprises transmitting an information element (IE) comprising the identifier for the AP.

24. The method of claim 21, further comprising receiving a frame from the station, wherein the frame comprises a physical layer (PHY) header comprising at least a portion of the first indication.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising transmitting a second indication of an order in a sequence at which the station is allowed to transmit, wherein the frame is received according to the order in the sequence.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising transmitting a spatial division multiple access (SDMA) transmission, wherein the frame is received in response to the SDMA.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein the PHY header comprises a Number of Space Time Streams (Nsts) field comprising the at least the portion of the first indication.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the at least the portion of the first indication comprises 9 least significant bits (LSBs) of the first indication.

29. The method of claim 21, wherein transmitting the first indication comprises transmitting an association response message comprising the first indication.

30. The method of claim 21, further comprising randomly selecting the first indication of the set.

31. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

means for receiving an association request message from a station;

means for associating the station with the apparatus; and

means for transmitting a first indication of a set with which the station is associated and to which the apparatus belongs.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the set comprises a basic service set (BSS) and wherein the first indication comprises an identifier for the BSS or for the apparatus in the BSS.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the means for transmitting the first indication is configured to transmit an information element (IE) comprising the identifier for the apparatus.

34. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the means for receiving is configured to receive a frame from the station, wherein the frame comprises a physical layer (PHY) header comprising at least a portion of the first indication.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the means for transmitting is configured to transmit a second indication of an order in a sequence at which the station is allowed to transmit, wherein the frame is received according to the order in the sequence.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for transmitting is configured to transmit a spatial division multiple access (SDMA) transmission, wherein the frame is received in response to the SDMA.

37. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the PHY header comprises a Number of Space Time Streams (Nsts) field comprising the at least the portion of the first indication.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the at least the portion of the first indication comprises 9 least significant bits (LSBs) of the first indication.

39. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the means for transmitting is configured to transmit an association response message comprising the first indication.

40. The apparatus of claim 31, further comprising means for selecting the first indication of the set from a list of values meeting a certain parameter.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the certain parameter comprises a peak-to-average-power ratio (PAPR).

42. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

a receiver configured to receive an association request message from a station;

a processing system configured to associate the station with the apparatus; and

a transmitter configured to transmit a first indication of a set with which the station is associated and to which the apparatus belongs.

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

receive, at an access point (AP), an association request message from a station;

associate the station with the AP; and

transmit a first indication of a set with which the station is associated and to which the AP belongs.