TONE BLOCK AND SPATIAL STREAM ALLOCATION
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- selecting a block allocation that indicates a plurality of contiguous tone blocks of a wireless local area network (WLAN) communication channel for a multi-user, multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data unit, wherein each of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks corresponds to a respective device set having at least one communication device;
selecting, for at least some of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks, respective spatial stream allocations that indicate a number of spatial streams for the corresponding contiguous tone block of the MU-MIMO OFDMA data unit, wherein the number of spatial streams of a contiguous tone block is equal to a number of communication devices of the device set that corresponds to the contiguous tone block;
encoding a first field to indicate the selected block allocation and the selected spatial stream allocations;
encoding one or more second fields to indicate a respective device identifier for each communication device of the respective device sets; and
transmitting the first field and the one or more second fields to the communication devices of the respective device sets.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method is described. A block allocation that indicates a plurality of contiguous tone blocks of a wireless local area network communication channel is selected for a multi-user, multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data unit. A contiguous tone block corresponds to a respective device set having at least one communication device. Respective spatial stream allocations are selected, for at least some of the blocks, that indicate a number of spatial streams for the corresponding block of the data unit. The number of streams of a block is equal to a number of communication devices of the device set that corresponds to the block. A first field is encoded and transmitted to indicate the selected block allocation and the selected spatial stream allocations. A second field is encoded and transmitted to indicate a respective device identifier for each communication device of the respective device sets.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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selecting a block allocation that indicates a plurality of contiguous tone blocks of a wireless local area network (WLAN) communication channel for a multi-user, multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data unit, wherein each of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks corresponds to a respective device set having at least one communication device; selecting, for at least some of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks, respective spatial stream allocations that indicate a number of spatial streams for the corresponding contiguous tone block of the MU-MIMO OFDMA data unit, wherein the number of spatial streams of a contiguous tone block is equal to a number of communication devices of the device set that corresponds to the contiguous tone block; encoding a first field to indicate the selected block allocation and the selected spatial stream allocations; encoding one or more second fields to indicate a respective device identifier for each communication device of the respective device sets; and transmitting the first field and the one or more second fields to the communication devices of the respective device sets. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A first communication device, comprising:
a network interface device having one or more integrated circuits configured to; select a block allocation that indicates a plurality of contiguous tone blocks of a wireless local area network (WLAN) communication channel for a multi-user, multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data unit, wherein each of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks corresponds to a respective device set having at least one second communication device; select, for at least some of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks, respective spatial stream allocations that indicate a number of spatial streams for the corresponding contiguous tone block of the MU-MIMO OFDMA data unit, wherein the number of spatial streams of a contiguous tone block is equal to a number of communication devices of the device set that corresponds to the contiguous tone block; encode a first field to indicate the selected block allocation and the selected spatial stream allocations; encode one or more second fields to indicate a respective device identifier for each communication device of the respective device sets; and transmit the first field and the one or more second fields to the communication devices of the respective device sets. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method, comprising:
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receiving an orthogonal frequency division multiple orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) data unit via a wireless local area network (WLAN) communication channel; decoding a non-legacy signal field of the OFDM data unit to determine i) a block allocation that indicates a plurality of contiguous tone blocks of the WLAN communication channel, and ii) respective spatial stream allocations that indicate a number of spatial streams for at least some of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks, wherein each of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks corresponds to a respective device set having at least one communication device, and the number of spatial streams of a contiguous tone block is equal to a number of communication devices of the device set that corresponds to the contiguous tone block; determining an assigned contiguous tone block and spatial stream based on the block allocation and the spatial stream allocations; and decoding a data portion of a multi-user, multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data unit using the assigned contiguous tone block and spatial stream. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A first communication device, comprising:
a network interface device having one or more integrated circuits configured to; receive an orthogonal frequency division multiple orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) data unit via a wireless local area network (WLAN) communication channel; decode a non-legacy signal field of the OFDM data unit to determine i) a block allocation that indicates a plurality of contiguous tone blocks of the WLAN communication channel, and ii) respective spatial stream allocations that indicate a number of spatial streams for at least some of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks, wherein each of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks corresponds to a respective device set having at least one communication device, and the number of spatial streams of a contiguous tone block is equal to a number of communication devices of the device set that corresponds to the contiguous tone block; determine an assigned contiguous tone block and spatial stream based on the block allocation and the spatial stream allocations; and decode a data portion of a multi-user, multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data unit using the assigned contiguous tone block and spatial stream. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
Specification