SMART ANTENNA ARRAY CONFIGURATION FOR MULTIPLE-INPUT MULTIPLE-OUTPUT COMMUNICATIONS
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- logically forming, at an access point including a plurality of antennas, a multi-user group for a multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) data transmission based, at least in part, on similar station performance measurements of stations included in the multi-user group;
selecting a first subset of antennas from the plurality of antennas to transmit a multi-user MIMO data transmission to the multi-user group;
receiving a data transmission responsive to a sounding packet transmitted by the access point from the first subset of antennas; and
sending the multi-user MIMO data transmission based, at least in part, on the received data transmission responsive to the sounding packet.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An access point can include an array of antennas and a smart antenna selector. The smart antenna selector is configured to select a subset of antennas from the antenna array for use in multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU MIMO) data transmissions. Stations that are communicatively coupled to the access point can be selected for inclusion in a multi-user group based, at least in part, on performance measurements of the stations. Performance measurements are determined directly and indirectly from data transmissions sent in response to sounding packets. Antennas for use in MU MIMO data transmissions are selected for the antenna array based, at least in part, on previous antenna selections used for single user data transmissions.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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logically forming, at an access point including a plurality of antennas, a multi-user group for a multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) data transmission based, at least in part, on similar station performance measurements of stations included in the multi-user group; selecting a first subset of antennas from the plurality of antennas to transmit a multi-user MIMO data transmission to the multi-user group; receiving a data transmission responsive to a sounding packet transmitted by the access point from the first subset of antennas; and sending the multi-user MIMO data transmission based, at least in part, on the received data transmission responsive to the sounding packet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method comprising:
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logically forming, at an access point including a plurality of antennas, a multi-user group for a multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) data transmission; selecting a first subset of antennas from the plurality of antennas; receiving a first beamforming report responsive to a first sounding packet transmitted from the first subset of antennas; determining a first communication channel based, at least in part, on the first beamforming report; selecting a second subset of antennas from the plurality of antennas; receiving a second beamforming report responsive to a second sounding packet transmitted from the second subset of antennas; determining a second communication channel based, at least in part on the second beamforming report; and selecting an antenna configuration based, at least in part, on a correlation between the first communication channel and the second communication channel. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A device comprising:
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an antenna selector configured to form a multi-user group for a multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) data transmission based, at least in part, on station performance measurements of stations included in the multi-user group; an antenna array; an antenna routing module coupled to the antenna array and configured to select a first subset of antennas from the antenna array to transmit a multi-user MIMO data transmission to the multi-user group; a receive processing unit configured to receive a first data transmission from the multi-user group sent in response to a first sounding packet transmitted by the device through the first subset of antennas; and a transmit processing unit configured to send the multi-user MIMO data transmission based, at least in part, on the received first data transmission responsive to the first sounding packet. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A non-transitory machine-readable storage media having machine instructions stored therein, the machine executable instructions comprising instructions to:
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form, at an access point including a plurality of antennas, a multi-user group for a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) data transmission based, at least in part, on station performance measurements of stations included in the multi-user group; select a first subset of antennas from the plurality of antennas to transmit a multi-user MIMO data transmission to the multi-user group; receive a data transmission responsive to a sounding packet transmitted from the first subset of antennas; and send the multi-user MIMO data transmission based, at least in part, on the received data transmission responsive to the sounding packet. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A device comprising:
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means for forming, at an access point including a plurality of antennas, a multi-user group for a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) data transmission based, at least in part, on station performance measurements of stations included in the multi-user group; means for selecting a first subset of antennas from the plurality of antennas to transmit a multi-user MIMO data transmission to the multi-user group; means for receiving a data transmission responsive to a sounding packet transmitted from the first subset of antennas; and means for sending the multi-user MIMO data transmission based, at least in part, on the received data transmission responsive to the sounding packet. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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Specification