Orthogonal frequency division multiple access with carrier sense
First Claim
1. A method of operating a wireless access point to exchange data with a plurality of devices, the data being exchanged wirelessly over a frequency range having a plurality of subcarriers, the method comprising:
- sensing activity in at least a portion of a plurality of subcarriers, the sensing comprising, for each subcarrier in the portion;
at a first time, detecting whether a signal is being transmitted over the subcarrier; and
when a signal is detected at the first time, waiting a random interval and detecting whether a signal is being transmitted over the subcarrier;
generating a plurality of subcarrier assignments, each subcarrier assignment indicating a plurality of subcarriers and each of the subcarrier assignments being associated with a device of the plurality of devices, and each of the subcarrier assignments being selected based at least in part on whether a signal being transmitted was detected in a subcarrier of the plurality of subcarriers, and the subcarrier assignments of the plurality of subcarrier assignments being selected to distinguish communications with each of the plurality of devices from communications with others of the plurality of devices;
sending each of the plurality of subcarrier assignments to the associated device of the plurality of devices that is configured for selecting a portion of the sent subcarrier assignment; and
communicating with the associated device using the portion of the sent subcarrier assignment where correction error processing of further communications is modified at the wireless access point so that lack of information in subcarriers that are not in the portion of the sent subcarrier assignment will not be interpreted as an error.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A communication system in which an access point and one or more devices communicating through the access point adaptively apply Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA). The access point may assign orthogonal subcarriers to devices as in conventional OFDMA, but the access point senses activity on the subcarriers and selects subcarriers without activity for assignment. In an alternative approach, a device that is configured for OFDMA communication may receive a channel assignment from a device that does not support OFDMA. The OFDMA-capable device may use only a portion of the subcarriers in the assigned channel, which may be communicated to the non-OFDMA device. During the non-OFDMA device may then ignore unused subcarriers in error detection and correction to avoid incorrectly classifying communications as erroneous. Information about OFDMA capabilities, subcarrier assignments and subcarriers in use may be communicated as information elements in network control communications, such as beacons and probe messages.
163 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method of operating a wireless access point to exchange data with a plurality of devices, the data being exchanged wirelessly over a frequency range having a plurality of subcarriers, the method comprising:
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sensing activity in at least a portion of a plurality of subcarriers, the sensing comprising, for each subcarrier in the portion; at a first time, detecting whether a signal is being transmitted over the subcarrier; and when a signal is detected at the first time, waiting a random interval and detecting whether a signal is being transmitted over the subcarrier; generating a plurality of subcarrier assignments, each subcarrier assignment indicating a plurality of subcarriers and each of the subcarrier assignments being associated with a device of the plurality of devices, and each of the subcarrier assignments being selected based at least in part on whether a signal being transmitted was detected in a subcarrier of the plurality of subcarriers, and the subcarrier assignments of the plurality of subcarrier assignments being selected to distinguish communications with each of the plurality of devices from communications with others of the plurality of devices; sending each of the plurality of subcarrier assignments to the associated device of the plurality of devices that is configured for selecting a portion of the sent subcarrier assignment; and communicating with the associated device using the portion of the sent subcarrier assignment where correction error processing of further communications is modified at the wireless access point so that lack of information in subcarriers that are not in the portion of the sent subcarrier assignment will not be interpreted as an error. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 19)
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10. A computer storage device storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computer adapted to communicate over a wireless network through an access point, cause the computer to perform a method comprising:
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identifying a subcarrier requirement based on at least one application program installed on the computer; negotiating a subcarrier assignment with the access point, the subcarrier assignment comprising an identification of a subset of a plurality of subcarriers of a wireless communication frequency range used by the wireless network, the negotiating comprising; formatting an information element representing the subcarrier requirement; communicating, to the access point, the information element in a first control communication, the first control communication being in a format of a protocol of the wireless network; and receiving, from the access point, information defining the subcarrier assignment in at least a second control communication in the format of the protocol of the wireless network; selecting a subset of the subcarrier assignment; and wirelessly transmitting a communication over the wireless network using the subset of the subcarrier assignment, where the communication is configured for causing modified error correction processing of further communications received at the access point so that lack of information in subcarriers that are not in the subset of the subcarrier assignment will not be interpreted as an error. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A method of operating a device to communicate wirelessly through an access point, the method comprising:
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receiving a control communication from the access point; determining whether an information element contained in the control communication indicates that the access point is capable of performing OFDMA; and when the access point is not indicated to be capable of performing OFDMA; selecting a portion of a plurality of subcarriers assigned to the device; wirelessly communicating the selected portion to the access point; and sending a second communication to the access point using the selected portion of the subcarriers where the sent second communication is configured for causing modified error correction processing at the access point so that lack of information in subcarriers that are not in the portion will not be interpreted as an error. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification