MAC packet data unit construction for wireless system

• US 8,885,661 B2
• Filed: 10/04/2012
• Issued: 11/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Zhang, Hang, Fong, Mon-Han
• Primary Examiner(s): Elliott, IV, Benjamin H
• Application Number:
  US13/644,908
• Publication Number:
  US 20130028155A1
• Time in Patent Office: 768 Days
• Field of Search: 370/203, 370/204, 370/206, 370/208, 370/210, 370/242, 370/246, 370/328, 370/331, 370/437, 370/471
• US Class Current: 370/437
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1867 Arrangements specially adapted for the transmitter end
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/037 of the control plane, e.g. signalling traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/065 using assembly or disassembly of packets

Abstract

A method for wireless communication using MAC PDUs. The method includes determining one or more characteristics of a service flow and selecting on the basis of the one or more characteristics a MAC PDU header type among a plurality of MAC PDU header types. The service flow data is encapsulated in MAC PDUs with a header of the selected type. The MAC PDUs with the encapsulated service flow data are then wirelessly transmitted. Also, a method for communication between a Base Station (BS) and a Subscriber Station (SS). The method includes generating at the BS a plurality of MAC PDU packets with a payload component holding service flow data and a plurality of MAC PDU packets without payload component, carrying control information. The method also includes transmitting wirelessly the MAC PDU packets with the payload component and the MAC PDU packets with the control information to the SS.

Claims

1. A method for performing wireless communication using Medium Access Control Protocol Data Units (MAC PDUs), the method comprising:

at a communication device;

identifying at least one characteristic of a service flow;

selecting, from a plurality of MAC PDU headers, and based on the identified at least one characteristic, a MAC PDU header that implements a Service Data Unit (SDU) fragmentation scheme;

encapsulating service flow data as SDU fragments into payloads of a plurality of MAC PDUs, wherein each MAC PDU of the plurality of MAC PDUs includes;

an SDU fragment that stores a portion of the service flow data, and

the selected MAC PDU header, wherein a packing format (PI) field of the selected MAC PDU header is assigned a value that represents a manner in which the SDU fragment spans the payload of the MAC PDU; and

wirelessly transmitting the encapsulated service flow data using the plurality of MAC PDUs.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one characteristic of the service flow includes an encryption requirement.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one characteristic of the service flow includes an Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) requirement.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one characteristic of the service flow includes an SDU fragmentation scheme requirement.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one characteristic of the service flow includes a range of possible lengths for each of the SDU fragments.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of MAC PDU headers includes a first header and a second header, and the second header represents the selected MAC PDU header.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein first header comprises fewer bits than the second header.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein, when a MAC PDU includes the first header, the payload of the MAC PDU includes a single SDU fragment in its entirety, and the single SDU fragment does not span into the payload of a preceding MAC PDU or a subsequent MAC PDU.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first header of the MAC PDU includes a first field whose value indicates a fixed length of the single SDU fragment.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein, when a MAC PDU includes the first header, the payload of the MAC PDU includes one or more SDU fragments in their entirety, and each SDU fragment of the one or more SDU fragments does not span into the payload of a preceding MAC PDU or a subsequent MAC PDU.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more SDU fragments are concatenated to one another within the payload of the MAC PDU.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first header of the MAC PDU includes a first field whose value indicates a total number of the one or more SDU fragments that are concatenated to one another within the payload of the MAC PDU.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein each SDU fragment of the one or more SDU fragments has a same fixed length.

14. The method of claim 6, wherein the first header includes a header type field whose value indicates whether the MAC PDU has a payload.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the payload of each MAC PDU of the plurality of MAC PDUs stores only the SDU fragment.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein each MAC PDU of the plurality of MAC PDUs does not include a sub-header in connection with each SDU fragment.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein each MAC PDU of the plurality of MAC PDUs includes a sub-header that indicates a length of the SDU fragment stored in the payload.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the sub-header immediately follows the respective MAC PDU header.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the PI field of a MAC PDU indicates whether both a starting portion and an ending portion of the SDU fragment spans into a payload of a preceding MAC PDU and a subsequent MAC PDU, respectively.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the PI field of a MAC PDU indicates whether a starting portion of the SDU fragment spans into a payload of a preceding MAC PDU, and an ending portion of the SDU fragment is contained within the payload of the MAC PDU.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the PI field of a MAC PDU indicates whether an ending portion of the SDU fragment spans into a payload of a subsequent MAC PDU, and an starting portion of the SDU fragment is contained within the payload of the MAC PDU.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein the PI field of a MAC PDU indicates whether both a starting portion and an ending portion of the SDU fragment are contained within the payload of the MAC PDU.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the SDU fragments stores a different portion of the service flow data.

24. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium configured to store program instructions that, when executed by a processor included in a computing device, cause the computing device to perform wireless communication using Medium Access Control Protocol Data Units (MAC PDUs), by carrying out steps that include:

identifying at least one characteristic of a service flow;

selecting, from a plurality of MAC PDU headers, and based on the identified at least one characteristic, a MAC PDU header that implements a Service Data Unit (SDU) fragmentation scheme;

encapsulating service flow data as SDU fragments into payloads of a plurality of MAC PDUs, wherein each MAC PDU of the plurality of MAC PDUs includes;

an SDU fragment that stores a portion of the service flow data, and

the selected MAC PDU header, wherein a packing format (PI) field of the selected MAC PDU header is assigned a value that represents a manner in which the SDU fragment spans the payload of the MAC PDU; and

wirelessly transmitting the encapsulated service flow data using the plurality of MAC PDUs.

25. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein the plurality of MAC PDU headers includes a first header and a second header, and the second header represents the selected MAC PDU header.

26. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein first header comprises fewer bits than the second header.

27. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein, when a MAC PDU includes the first header, the payload of the MAC PDU includes a single SDU fragment in its entirety, and the single SDU fragment does not span into the payload of a preceding MAC PDU or a subsequent MAC PDU.

28. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 27, wherein the first header of the MAC PDU includes a first field whose value indicates a fixed length of the single SDU fragment.

29. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein, when a MAC PDU includes the first header, the payload of the MAC PDU includes one or more SDU fragments in their entirety, and each SDU fragment of the one or more SDU fragments does not span into the payload of a preceding MAC PDU or a subsequent MAC PDU.

30. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the one or more SDU fragments are concatenated to one another within the payload of the MAC PDU.

31. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 30, wherein the first header of the MAC PDU includes a first field whose value indicates a total number of the one or more SDU fragments that are concatenated to one another within the payload of the MAC PDU.

32. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein each SDU fragment of the one or more SDU fragments has a same fixed length.

33. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 25, wherein the first header includes a header type field whose value indicates whether the MAC PDU has a payload.

34. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 24, wherein the payload of each MAC PDU of the plurality of MAC PDUs stores only the SDU fragment.

35. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 34, wherein each MAC PDU of the plurality of MAC PDUs does not include a sub-header in connection with each SDU fragment.

36. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 34, wherein each MAC PDU of the plurality of MAC PDUs includes a sub-header that indicates a length of the SDU fragment stored in the payload.

37. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 36, wherein the sub-header immediately follows the respective MAC PDU header.

38. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 34, wherein the PI field of a MAC PDU indicates whether both a starting portion and an ending portion of the SDU fragment spans into a payload of a preceding MAC PDU and a subsequent MAC PDU, respectively.

39. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 34, wherein the PI field of a MAC PDU indicates whether a starting portion of the SDU fragment spans into a payload of a preceding MAC PDU, and an ending portion of the SDU fragment is contained within the payload of the MAC PDU.

40. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 34, wherein the PI field of a MAC PDU indicates whether an ending portion of the SDU fragment spans into a payload of a subsequent MAC PDU, and an starting portion of the SDU fragment is contained within the payload of the MAC PDU.

41. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 34, wherein the PI field of a MAC PDU indicates whether both a starting portion and an ending portion of the SDU fragment are contained within the payload of the MAC PDU.

42. A communication device configured to perform wireless communication using Medium Access Control Protocol Data Units (MAC PDUs), the communication device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory configured to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the communication device to carry out steps that include;

identifying at least one characteristic of a service flow;

selecting, from a plurality of MAC PDU headers, and based on the identified at least one characteristic, a MAC PDU header that implements a Service Data Unit (SDU) fragmentation scheme;

encapsulating service flow data as SDU fragments into payloads of a plurality of MAC PDUs, wherein each MAC PDU of the plurality of MAC PDUs includes;

an SDU fragment that stores a portion of the service flow data, and

the selected MAC PDU header, wherein a packing format (PI) field of the selected MAC PDU header is assigned a value that represents a manner in which the SDU fragment spans the payload of the MAC PDU; and

wirelessly transmitting the encapsulated service flow data using the plurality of MAC PDUs.

43. The communication device of claim 42, wherein the plurality of MAC PDU headers includes a first header and a second header, and the second header represents the selected MAC PDU header.

44. The communication device of claim 43, wherein, when a MAC PDU includes the first header, the payload of the MAC PDU includes a single SDU fragment in its entirety, and the single SDU fragment does not span into the payload of a preceding MAC PDU or a subsequent MAC PDU.

45. The communication device of claim 44, wherein the first header of the MAC PDU includes a first field whose value indicates a fixed length of the single SDU fragment.

46. The communication device of claim 43, wherein, when a MAC PDU includes the first header, the payload of the MAC PDU includes one or more SDU fragments in their entirety, and each SDU fragment of the one or more SDU fragments does not span into the payload of a preceding MAC PDU or a subsequent MAC PDU.

47. The communication device of claim 46, wherein the one or more SDU fragments are concatenated to one another within the payload of the MAC PDU.

48. The communication device of claim 47, wherein the first header of the MAC PDU includes a first field whose value indicates a total number of the one or more SDU fragments that are concatenated to one another within the payload of the MAC PDU.

49. The communication device as defined in claim 42, wherein the payload of each MAC PDU of the plurality of MAC PDUs stores only the SDU fragment.

50. The communication device as defined in claim 49, wherein each MAC PDU of the plurality of MAC PDUs does not include a sub-header in connection with each SDU fragment.

51. The communication device as defined in claim 49, wherein each MAC PDU of the plurality of MAC PDUs includes a sub-header that indicates a length of the SDU fragment stored in the payload.

52. The communication device as defined in claim 49, wherein the PI field of a MAC PDU indicates whether both a starting portion and an ending portion of the SDU fragment spans into a payload of a preceding MAC PDU and a subsequent MAC PDU, respectively.

53. The communication device of claim 49, wherein the PI field of a MAC PDU indicates whether a starting portion of the SDU fragment spans into a payload of a preceding MAC PDU, and an ending portion of the SDU fragment is contained within the payload of the MAC PDU.

54. The communication device of claim 49, wherein the PI field of a MAC PDU indicates whether an ending portion of the SDU fragment spans into a payload of a subsequent MAC PDU, and an starting portion of the SDU fragment is contained within the payload of the MAC PDU.

55. The communication device of claim 49, wherein the PI field of a MAC PDU indicates whether both a starting portion and an ending portion of the SDU fragment are contained within the payload of the MAC PDU.