Device, system and method of simultaneously communicating with a group of wireless communication devices

• US 8,374,154 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2009
• Issued: 02/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Daedalus Prime LLC (Daedalus Group LLC)
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Gong, Michelle X., Stacey, Robert J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sam, Phirin
• Assistant Examiner(s): HALIYUR, VENKATESH N
• Application Number:
  US12/645,648
• Publication Number:
  US 20110149941A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,147 Days
• Field of Search: 370228-356
• US Class Current: 370/334
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0634 Antenna weights or vector/matrix coefficients
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2025/03783 Details of reference signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2025/03802 Signalling on the reverse channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/03343 Arrangements at the transmitter end
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0023 Time-frequency-space
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/28 using beam steering
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0833 Random access procedures, e.g. with 4-step access

Abstract

Some demonstrative embodiments include devices, systems and/or methods of simultaneously communicating with a group of wireless communication devices. For example, a device may include a wireless communication unit to transmit at least one beamforming-training initiation frame to a group of a plurality of wireless communication devices, wherein the wireless communication unit is to receive two or more feedback frames from two or more of the wireless communication devices, wherein the wireless communication unit is to determine two or more beamforming schemes based on the two or more feedback frames, and wherein the wireless communication unit is to simultaneously transmit two or more different wireless communication transmissions to the two or more wireless communication devices, respectively, using the two or more beamforming schemes, respectively. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Claims

1. A device including:

a wireless communication unit to communicate with a group of a plurality of wireless communication devices over a wireless communication medium using one or more addresses assigned to the plurality of wireless communication devices in the group, wherein the wireless communication unit is to reserve the wireless communication medium for a time period, during which the wireless communication unit is to transmit at least one beamforming-training initiation frame to the wireless communication devices, to receive two or more feedback frames from two or more of the wireless communication devices, to determine two or more beamforming schemes based on the two or more feedback frames, and to simultaneously transmit two or more different wireless communication transmissions to the two or more wireless communication devices, respectively, using the two or more beamforming schemes.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication unit is to determine an order at which the feedback frames are to be transmitted, and wherein the beamforming-training initiation frame includes an indication of the required order.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the beamforming-training initiation frame includes a training request frame, and wherein the feedback frames include channel sounding frames.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the beamforming-training initiation frame includes a channel sounding frame, and wherein the feedback frames include beamforming feedback frames.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication unit is to transmit the beamforming-training initiation frame including an address assigned to the group of wireless communication devices.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication unit is to reserve the wireless communication medium by transmitting at least one request-to-send packet to one or more wireless communication devices of the group, wherein the request-to-send packet includes a duration value corresponding to the time period to be reserved.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication unit is to reserve the wireless communication medium by transmitting a data packet to at least one of the wireless communication devices of the group, wherein the data packet includes a duration value corresponding to the time period to be reserved.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication medium operates according to a carrier-sense-multiple-access-with-collision-avoidance scheme.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication unit is to transmit the two or more transmissions according to a space-division-multiple-access (SDMA) scheme.

10. A method comprising:

reserving, by a wireless communication unit, a wireless communication medium for a time period; and

during the reserved time period, transmitting at least one beamforming-training initiation frame from the wireless communication unit to a group of a plurality of wireless communication devices using one or more addresses assigned to the plurality of wireless communication devices in the group, receiving, at the wireless communication unit, two or more feedback frames from two or more wireless communication devices of the plurality of wireless communication devices, determining two or more beamforming schemes based on the two or more feedback frames, and simultaneously transmitting two or more different wireless communication transmissions from the wireless communication unit to the two or more wireless communication devices, respectively, using the two or more beamforming schemes.

11. The method of claim 10 including determining an order at which the feedback frames are to be transmitted, wherein the beamforming-training initiation frame includes an indication of the required order.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the beamforming-training initiation frame includes a training request frame, and wherein the feedback frames include channel sounding frames.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the beamforming-training initiation frame includes a channel sounding frame, and wherein the feedback frames include beamforming feedback frames.

14. The method of claim 10 including transmitting the beamforming-training initiation frame including an address assigned to the group of wireless communication devices.

15. A wireless communication system comprising:

a wireless communication device to communicate with a group of a plurality of other wireless communication devices using one or more addresses assigned to the plurality of other wireless communication devices in the group, wherein the wireless communication device includes;

one or more antennas; and

a wireless communication unit is to reserve the wireless communication medium for a time period, during which the wireless communication unit is to transmit at least one beamforming-training initiation frame to the group of wireless communication devices, to receive two or more feedback frames from two or more of the wireless communication devices, to determine two or more beamforming schemes based on the two or more feedback frames and to simultaneously transmit two or more different wireless communication transmissions to the two or more wireless communication devices, respectively, using the two or more beamforming schemes.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the wireless communication unit is to determine an order at which the feedback frames are to be transmitted, and wherein the beamforming-training initiation frame includes an indication of the required order.

17. The device of claim 15, wherein the wireless communication unit is to transmit the beamforming-training initiation frame including an address assigned to the group of wireless communication devices.

18. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a machine, result in:

reserving, by a wireless communication unit, a wireless communication medium for a time period; and

during the reserved time period, transmitting at least one beamforming-training initiation frame from the wireless communication unit to a group of plurality of wireless communication devices using one or more addresses assigned to the plurality of wireless communication devices in the group, receiving, at the wireless communication unit, two or more feedback frames from two or more wireless communication devices of the plurality of wireless communication devices, determining two or more beamforming schemes based on the two or more feedback frames, and simultaneously transmitting two or more different wireless communication transmissions from the wireless communication unit to the two or more wireless communication devices, respectively, using the two or more beamforming scheme.

19. The product of claim 18, wherein the instructions result in determining an order at which the feedback frames are to be transmitted, and wherein the beamforming-training initiation frame includes an indication of the required order.

20. The product of claim 18, wherein the beamforming-training initiation frame includes a training request frame, and wherein the feedback frames include channel sounding frames.

21. The product of claim 18, wherein the beamforming-training initiation frame includes a channel sounding frame, and wherein the feedback frames include beamforming feedback frames.