DATA TRANSMISSION INDICATION METHOD, ACCESS POINT AND TERMINAL

• US 20160337100A1
• Filed: 07/27/2016
• Published: 11/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Yang, Xun, Liu, Yalin
• Granted Patent: US 10,778,389 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0023 Time-frequency-space
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0037 Inter-user or inter-terminal allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0055 Physical resource allocation for ACK/NACK for physical mapping arrangements in ARQ protocols H04L1/1861
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0094 Indication of how sub-channels of the path are allocated

Abstract

The present invention provides a data transmission indication method, an access point and a terminal. The method includes: sending, by an access point, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) physical layer signaling to a terminal. The OFDMA physical layer signaling indicates, to the terminal, a subchannel allocated for the terminal, so that the terminal determines the subchannel according to the OFDMA physical layer signaling. The OFDMA physical layer signaling includes an identifier of the terminal and subchannel information corresponding to the identifier of the terminal. In the method provided in an embodiment of the present invention, a manner in which the access point allocates a subchannel for each terminal according to OFDMA physical layer signaling enables the access point to indicate subchannels for more terminals.

Claims

1. A data transmission indication method, comprising:

sending, by an access point, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) physical layer signaling to a terminal,

wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling indicates, to the terminal, a subchannel allocated for the terminal, so that the terminal determines the subchannel according to the OFDMA physical layer signaling; and

wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling comprises an identifier of the terminal and subchannel information corresponding to the identifier of the terminal.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the identifier of the terminal is an identifier of a terminal group, and the terminal group comprises at least one terminal;

wherein the subchannel information comprises an uplink subchannel, a downlink subchannel, or an uplink and downlink bidirectional subchannel;

wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling indicates to the terminal group that the allocated subchannel is an uplink subchannel, a downlink subchannel, or an uplink and downlink bidirectional subchannel; and

wherein the terminal group and the subchannel are in a one-to-one correspondence.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein sending, by the access point, the OFDMA physical layer signaling to the terminal comprises:

sending, by the access point, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) preamble to the terminal, wherein the OFDM preamble carries the OFDMA physical layer signaling.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein sending, by the access point, the OFDMA physical layer signaling to the terminal comprises:

sending, by the access point, a null data packet announcement (NDPA) frame to the terminal, wherein the NDPA frame carries the OFDMA physical layer signaling.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling indicates, to the terminal, a subchannel allocated to the terminal for receiving downlink OFDMA data information, and wherein the method further comprises:

sending, by the access point in an OFDMA mode, the downlink OFDMA data information on the subchannel allocated to the terminal, wherein the downlink OFDMA data information comprises an OFDMA preamble and OFDMA data.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling or the downlink OFDMA data information carries an acknowledge (ACK) request or a block acknowledge (BA) request;

wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling further indicates, to the terminal, that the allocated subchannel is used for sending an ACK response or a BA response to the access point; and

wherein the method further comprises;

receiving, by the access point in the OFDMA mode, the ACK response or the BA response from the terminal on the subchannel allocated to the terminal.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling further indicates, to the terminal, that the allocated subchannel is used for sending acknowledge (ACK) responses or block acknowledge (BA) responses to the access point;

and wherein after the sending, by the access point, downlink OFDMA data information on the subchannel allocated to the terminal, the method further comprises;

sending, by the access point, an ACK request frame or a BA request frame to the terminal, wherein the ACK request frame or the BA request frame comprises a dedicated information bit, and the dedicated information bit instructs the terminal to send an ACK response or a BA response to the access point in the OFDMA mode; and

receiving, by the access point in the OFDMA mode, the ACK response or the BA response from the terminal on the allocated subchannel.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling indicates, to the terminal, the subchannel allocated for the terminal for sending acknowledge (ACK) responses or block acknowledge (BA) responses to the access point;

wherein sending, by the access point, the OFDMA physical layer signaling to the terminal comprises;

sending, by the access point in a multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) mode, MU-MIMO data information to the terminal; and

sending, by the access point, an ACK request frame or a BA request frame to the terminal, wherein the ACK request frame or the BA request frame comprises a dedicated information bit, and the dedicated information bit is used for instructing the terminal to send an ACK response or an BA response to the access point in an OFDMA mode;

wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling is carried in at least one of;

the MU-MIMO data information, the ACK request frame, and the BA request frame; and

wherein after sending, by the access point, the OFDMA physical layer signaling to the terminal, the method further comprises;

receiving, by the access point in the OFDMA mode, the ACK response or the BA response from the terminal on the subchannel allocated to the terminal.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling indicates, to the terminal, the subchannel allocated to the terminal for sending acknowledge (ACK) responses or block acknowledge (BA) responses to the access point;

and wherein after sending, by the access point, the OFDMA physical layer signaling to the terminal, the method further comprises;

sending, by the access point in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (OFDMA+MU-MIMO) mode, OFDMA+MU-MIMO data information to the terminal on the subchannel allocated to the terminal;

sending, by the access point, an ACK request frame or a BA request frame to the terminal, wherein the ACK request frame or the BA request frame comprises a dedicated information bit, and the dedicated information bit is used for instructing the terminal to send an ACK response or a BA response to the access point in an OFDMA mode; and

receiving, by the access point in the OFDMA mode, the ACK response or the BA response from the terminal on the allocated subchannel.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the the subchannel is used by the terminal to send uplink OFDMA data information to the access point;

and wherein the method further comprises;

receiving, by the access point, an uplink transmission frame from the terminal;

and wherein after sending, by the access point, the OFDMA physical layer signaling to the terminal, the method further comprises;

receiving, by the access point in an OFDMA mode, the uplink OFDMA data information from the terminal on the allocated subchannel.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the uplink OFDMA data information carries an acknowledge (ACK) request or a block acknowledge (BA) request, and the ACK request or the BA request is used for instructing the access point to send an ACK response or a BA response to the terminal in the OFDMA mode;

and wherein after the receiving, by the access point, the uplink OFDMA data information from the terminal on the allocated subchannel, the method further comprises;

sending, by the access point in the OFDMA mode, the ACK response or the BA response corresponding to the uplink OFDMA data information on the subchannel allocated to the terminal.

12. A network apparatus that acts as an access point for terminal devices, comprising a transmitter, a receiver and a processor;

wherein the transmitter is configured to;

send orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) physical layer signaling to a terminal,

wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling indicates, to the terminal, a subchannel allocated for the terminal, so that the terminal determines the subchannel according to the OFDMA physical layer signaling, and wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling comprises an identifier of the terminal and subchannel information corresponding to the identifier of the terminal.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the identifier of the terminal is an identifier of a terminal group, and the terminal group comprises at least one terminal;

wherein the subchannel information comprises an uplink subchannel, a downlink subchannel, or an uplink and downlink bidirectional subchannel;

wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling indicates to the terminal group that the allocated subchannel is an uplink subchannel, a downlink subchannel, or an uplink and downlink bidirectional subchannel; and

wherein the terminal group and the sub channel are in a one-to-one correspondence.

14. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein in sending the OFDMA physical layer signaling to the terminal, the transmitter is configured to:

send an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) preamble to the terminal, wherein the OFDM preamble carries the OFDMA physical layer signaling.

15. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein in sending the OFDMA physical layer signaling to the terminal, the transmitter is configured to:

send a null data packet announcement (NDPA) frame to the terminal, wherein the NDPA frame carries the OFDMA physical layer signaling.

16. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling indicates, to the terminal, a subchannel allocated to the terminal for receiving downlink OFDMA data information, and wherein the transmitter is further configured to:

send, in an OFDMA mode, the downlink OFDMA data information on the subchannel allocated to the terminal, wherein the downlink OFDMA data information comprises an OFDMA preamble and OFDMA data.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling or the downlink OFDMA data information carries an acknowledge (ACK) request or a block acknowledge (BA) request;

wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling further indicates, to the terminal, that the allocated subchannel is used for sending an ACK response or a BA response; and

wherein the receiver is configured to;

receive, in the OFDMA mode, the ACK response or the BA response from the terminal on the subchannel allocated to the terminal.

18. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling further indicates, to the terminal, that the allocated subchannel is used for sending acknowledge (ACK) responses or block acknowledge (BA) responses;

and wherein the transmitter is further configured to;

after the downlink OFDMA data information is sent on the subchannel corresponding to the terminal, send an ACK request frame or a BA request frame to the terminal, wherein the ACK request frame or the BA request frame comprises a dedicated information bit, and the dedicated information bit instructs the terminal to send an ACK response or a BA response;

and wherein the receiver is configured to;

receive, in the OFDMA mode, the ACK response or the BA response from the terminal on the allocated subchannel.

19. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling indicates, to the terminal, the subchannel allocated for the terminal for sending acknowledge (ACK) responses or block acknowledge (BA) responses;

and wherein in sending the OFDMA physical layer signaling to the terminal, the transmitter is configured to;

send, in a multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) mode, MU-MIMO data information to the terminal; and

send an ACK request frame or a BA request frame to the terminal, wherein the ACK request frame or the BA request frame comprises a dedicated information bit, and the dedicated information bit is used for instructing the terminal to send an ACK response or a BA response;

wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling is carried in at least one of;

the MU-MIMO data information, the ACK request frame, and the BA request frame;

and wherein the receiver is configured to;

after the OFDMA physical layer signaling is sent to the terminal, receive, in an OFDMA mode, the ACK response or the BA response from the terminal on the subchannel allocated to the terminal.

20. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling indicates, to the terminal, the subchannel allocated to the terminal for sending acknowledge (ACK) responses or block acknowledge (BA) responses;

and wherein the transmitter is further configured to;

after the OFDMA physical layer signaling is sent to the terminal, send, in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (OFDMA+MU-MIMO) mode, OFDMA+MU-MIMO data information to the terminal on the subchannel allocated to the terminal; and

send an acknowledge (ACK) request frame or a block acknowledge (BA) request frame to the terminal, wherein the ACK request frame or the BA request frame comprises a dedicated information bit, and the dedicated information bit is used for instructing the terminal to send an ACK response or a BA response; and

wherein the receiver is further configured to receive, in the OFDMA mode, the ACK response or the BA response from the terminal on the allocated sub channel.

21. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the subchannel is used by the terminal to send uplink OFDMA data information;

and wherein the receiver is further configured to;

receive an uplink transmission frame from the terminal; and

after the OFDMA physical layer signaling is sent to the terminal, receive, in an OFDMA mode, the uplink OFDMA data information from the terminal on the allocated sub channel.

22. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the uplink OFDMA data information carries an acknowledge (ACK) request or a block acknowledge (BA) request;

and wherein the transmitter is further configured to;

after the uplink OFDMA data information is received from the terminal on the allocated subchannel, send, in the OFDMA mode, a ACK response or a BA response corresponding to the uplink OFDMA data information on the subchannel allocated to the terminal.