METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ACKNOWLEDGING MULTIPLE USER UPLINK TRANSMISSIONS

• US 20160127020A1
• Filed: 11/02/2015
• Published: 05/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Abraham, Santosh Paul, Barriac, Gwendolyn Denise, Merlin, Simone, Cherian, George
• Granted Patent: US 9,948,367 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0452 Multi-user MIMO systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1607 Details of the supervisory signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1829 Arrangements specially adapted for the receiver end
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT

Abstract

Methods and systems for acknowledging multi-user transmissions on a wireless network include receiving a multi-user transmission comprising a first message from the first device and a second message from the second device, generating a first media access control protocol data unit, the first media access control protocol data unit acknowledging the first message and including a destination address field identifying the first device, generating a second media access control protocol data unit, the second media access control protocol data unit acknowledging the second message and including a destination address field identifying the second device, generating an aggregated media access control protocol data unit (A-MPDU) comprising the first media access control protocol data unit (MPDU) and the second media access control protocol data unit (MPDU); and transmitting the aggregated media access control protocol data unit (A-MPDU) on the wireless network.

Claims

1. A method of acknowledging transmissions from a first device and a second device to a third device on a wireless network, the method comprising:

generating, by the third device, an aggregated media access control protocol data unit including a first media access control protocol data unit, and a second media access control protocol data unit, the first media access control data unit acknowledging reception of a first message from the first device and including a first destination address field identifying the first device, and the second media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of a second message from the second device and including a second destination address field identifying the second device; and

transmitting, by the third device, the aggregated media access control protocol data unit on the wireless network.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a multi-user transmission including the first message and the second message.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the multi-user transmission uses multi-user multiple input multiple output.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the multi-user transmission uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregated media access control protocol data unit is generated to further include an indicator of whether the aggregated media access control protocol data unit includes more than one media access control protocol data unit having different destination address fields.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a third message from a fourth device, wherein the aggregated media access control protocol data unit is generated to further include a third media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the third message and including a third destination address field identifying the fourth device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting a trigger message including a time reference for the transmitting of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the trigger message is transmitted by an access point.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the trigger message is a clear to transmit (CTX) message.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device and the second device are stations and the third device is an access point.

11. An apparatus for acknowledging transmissions from a first device and a second device on a wireless network, the apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to;

generate an aggregated media access control protocol data unit including a first media access control protocol data unit, and a second media access control protocol data unit, the first media access control data unit acknowledging reception of a first message from the first device and including a first destination address field identifying the first device and the second media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of a second message from the second device and including a second destination address field identifying the second device; and

a transmitter configured to transmit the aggregated media access control protocol data unit on the wireless network.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a receiver configured to receive the first message and the second message in a multi-user transmission.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the multi-user transmission uses multi-user multiple input multiple output.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the multi-user transmission uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to generate the aggregated media access control protocol data unit to include an indicator of whether the aggregated media access control protocol data unit includes more than one media access control protocol data unit having different destination address fields.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive a third message from a third device, and the processor is further configured to generate the aggregated media access control protocol data unit to further include a third media access control protocol data unit, the third media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the third message and including a third destination address field identifying the third device.

17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to transmit a trigger message including a time reference for the transmitting of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the trigger message is transmitted by an access point.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the trigger message is a clear to transmit (CTX) message.

20. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first device and the second device are stations and the apparatus is an access point.

21. An apparatus for acknowledging transmissions from a first device and a second device on a wireless network, the apparatus comprising:

means for generating, by a third device, an aggregated media access control protocol data unit comprising a first media access control protocol data unit and a second media access control protocol data unit, the first media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of a first message from the first device and including a first destination address field identifying the first device, and the second media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of a second message from the second device and including a second destination address field identifying the second device; and

means for transmitting the aggregated media access control protocol data unit on the wireless network.

22. A computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed cause a processor to perform a method of acknowledging transmissions from a first device and a second device to a third device on a wireless network, the method comprising:

generating, by the third device, an aggregated media access control protocol data unit comprising a first media access control protocol data unit and a second media access control protocol data unit, the first media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of a first message from the first device and including a first destination address field identifying the first device, and the second media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of a second message from the second device and including a second destination address field identifying the second device; and

transmitting, by the third device, the aggregated media access control protocol data unit on the wireless network.

23. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22, further comprising receiving a multi-user transmission including the first message and the second message.

24. The computer readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the multi-user transmission uses multi-user multiple input multiple output.

25. The computer readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the multi-user transmission uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.

26. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22, the method further comprising generating the aggregated media access control protocol data unit to include an indicator of whether the aggregated media access control protocol data unit includes more than one media access control protocol data unit having different destination address fields.

27. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22, the method further comprising receiving a third message from a fourth device, wherein the aggregated media access control protocol data unit is generated to include a third media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the third message.

28. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22, the method further comprising transmitting a trigger message to include a time reference for the transmitting of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit.

29. The computer readable storage medium of claim 28, wherein the trigger message is transmitted by an access point.

30. The computer readable storage medium of claim 28, wherein the trigger message is a clear to transmit (CTX) message.

31. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the first device and the second device are stations and the third device is an access point.

32. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

receiving, by a first device, an aggregated media access control protocol data unit from a second device, wherein the aggregated media access control protocol data unit includes more than one media access control protocol data unit;

decoding, by the first device, the aggregated media access control protocol data unit; and

determining, by the first device, whether the aggregated media access control protocol data unit is acknowledging a transmission of a message by the first device based on the decoding of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising transmitting the message to the second device in a multi-user transmission.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the multi-user transmission uses multi-user multiple input multiple output.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the multi-user transmission uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.

36. The method of claim 32, further comprising determining whether the first device is unicast addressed by a media access control protocol data unit included in the aggregated media access control protocol data unit, and determining the message is acknowledged in response to the first device being unicast addressed by the media access control protocol data unit.

37. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

decoding a trigger message to determine a time reference for receiving of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the transmission of the message by the first device; and

entering a sleep state before the receiving of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit based on the time reference.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the trigger message is a clear to transmit (CTX) message.

39. The method of claim 32, wherein the first device is a station and the second device is an access point.

40. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a receiver configured to receive an aggregated media access control protocol data unit from a device, wherein the aggregated media access control protocol data unit includes more than one media access control protocol data unit; and

a processor configured to;

decode the aggregated media access control protocol data unit, and

determine whether the aggregated media access control protocol data unit is acknowledging a transmission of a message by the apparatus based on the decoding of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, further comprising a transmitter configured to transmit the message as part of a multi-user transmission.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the multi-user transmission uses multi-user multiple input multiple output.

43. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the multi-user transmission uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.

44. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether the apparatus is unicast addressed by a media access control protocol data unit included in the aggregated media access control protocol data unit, and determine the message is acknowledged in response to the apparatus being unicast addressed by the media access control protocol data unit.

45. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein

the receiver is further configured to receive a trigger message, and

wherein the processor is further configured to decode the trigger message to determine a time reference for receiving of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the transmission of the message by the apparatus, and to enter a sleep state before the receiving of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit based on the time reference.

46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the trigger message is a clear to transmit (CTX) message.

47. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the apparatus is a station and the device is an access point.

48. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for receiving an aggregated media access control protocol data unit wherein the aggregated media access control protocol data unit includes more than one media access control protocol data unit;

means for decoding the aggregated media access control protocol data unit; and

means for determining whether the aggregated media access control protocol data unit is acknowledging a transmission of a message by the apparatus based on the decoding of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit.

49. A computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed cause a processor to perform a method of wireless communication, the method comprising:

receiving, by a first device, an aggregated media access control protocol data unit from a second device, wherein the aggregated media access control protocol data unit includes more than one media access control protocol data unit;

decoding the aggregated media access control protocol data unit; and

determining whether the aggregated media access control protocol data unit is acknowledging a transmission of a message by the first device based on the decoding of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit.

50. The computer readable storage medium of claim 49, the method further comprising transmitting the message in a multi-user transmission.

51. The computer readable storage medium of claim 50, wherein the multi-user transmission uses multi-user multiple input multiple output.

52. The computer readable storage medium of claim 50, wherein the multi-user transmission uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.

53. The computer readable storage medium of claim 49, the method further comprising determining whether the first device is unicast addressed by a media access control protocol data unit included in the aggregated media access control protocol data unit, and determining the message is acknowledged in response to the first device being unicast addressed by the media access control protocol data unit.

54. The computer readable storage medium of claim 49, the method further comprising:

receiving a trigger message;

decoding the trigger message to determine a time reference for receiving of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the transmission of the message by the first device; and

entering a sleep state before the receiving of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit based on the time reference.

55. The computer readable medium of claim 54, wherein the trigger message is a clear to transmit (CTX) message.

56. The computer readable medium of claim of claim 49, wherein the first device is a station and the second device is an access point.