METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PROCESSING UPLINK SIGNAL IN WLAN SYSTEM

• US 20140247824A1
• Filed: 10/11/2012
• Published: 09/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Korea University Research and Business Foundation, LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Korea University Research and Business Foundation, LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Sohn, Ill Soo, Seok, Yong Ho, Kong, Han Bae, Song, Chang Ick, Park, Hae Wook, Lee, Inkyu
• Granted Patent: US 9,729,367 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0452 Multi-user MIMO systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2601 Multicarrier modulation systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/002 Transmission of channel access control information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/186 Processing of subscriber group data

Abstract

Provided are a method and device for processing an uplink (UL) signal in a WLAN system. An access point (AP) receives a request to send (RTS) frame from one station (STA) among a plurality of STAs, transmits a group identifier (ID) of a group to which STAs for performing UL multi user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) transmission together with the one STA, among group IDs of a group to which the one STA belongs, and receives UL signals from the STAs which perform the UL MU-MIMO transmission such that the received UL signals are processed.

Claims

1. A method of processing, by an access point (AP), an uplink (UL) signal in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, the method comprising:

receiving a request to send (RTS) frame from one station (STA) among a plurality of STAs;

transmitting a group identifier (ID) of a group to which a STA, which will perform UL multi-user (MU) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission with the one STA, belongs among group IDs of groups to which the one STA belongs; and

receiving UL signals from STAs performing the UL MU-MIMO transmission and processing the received UL signals.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the group ID of the group to which the STA, which will perform the UL MU-MIMO transmission, is transmitted via an UL spacetime division multiple access (SDMA) control frame.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the group ID of the group to which the STA, which will perform the UL MU-MIMO transmission, is transmitted via a clear to send (CTS) frame.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting a number of spatial streams used by each STA performing the UL MU-MIMO transmission.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting a group ID management frame to the plurality of STAs.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the group ID management frame includes a membership field for each group and a preamble sequence field for each group.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the membership field for each group indicates whether or not each STA belongs to each group.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the preamble sequence field for each group indicates an index of a preamble sequence used by each STA when performing the UL MU-MIMO transmission.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the index of the preamble sequence is predetermined in a codebook formed between the AP and the STAs.

10. An access point (AP) processing an uplink (UL) signal in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, the AP comprising:

a radio frequency (RF) unit for transmitting or receiving a radio signal; and

a processor connected to the RF unit, and configured to;

receive a request to send (RTS) frame from one station (STA) among a plurality of STAs;

transmit a group identifier (ID) of a group to which a STA, which will perform UL multi-user (MU) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission with the one STA, belongs among group IDs of groups to which the one STA belongs; and

receive UL signals from STAs performing the UL MU-MIMO transmission and processing the received UL signals.

11. The AP of claim 10, wherein the group ID of the group to which the STA, which will perform the UL MU-MIMO transmission, is transmitted via an UL spacetime division multiple access (SDMA) control frame or a clear to send (CTS) frame.

12. The AP of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to:

transmit a mber of spatial streams used by each STA performing the UL MU-MIMO transmission.

13. The AP of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to:

transmit a group ID management frame to the plurality of STAs.

14. The AP of claim 13, wherein the group ID management frame includes a membership field for each group which indicates whether or not each STA belongs to each group, and a preamble sequence field for each group which indicates an index of a preamble sequence used by each STA when performing the UL MU-MIMO transmission.

15. The AP of claim 14, wherein the index of the preamble sequence is predetermined in a codebook formed between the AP and the STAs.