Method and apparatus for facilitating simultaneous transmission from multiple stations
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method, comprising:
- receiving, at an access point (AP) device, respective indications of respective amounts of data corresponding to a common traffic identifier (TID), from multiple respective client devices among a plurality of client devices in a wireless local area network (WLAN) to which the AP device belongs, the respective indications of respective amounts of data corresponding to respective data to be transmitted to the AP device from the multiple respective client devices;
determining, at the AP device, a maximum duration of simultaneous uplink transmissions to be transmitted from the multiple respective client devices, wherein determining the maximum duration includes using the received respective indications of amounts of data from the multiple client devices;
transmitting, to the multiple respective client devices, a communication frame prompting the multiple respective client devices to simultaneously transmit independent data corresponding to the common TID to the AP device, wherein the communication frame includes an indication of the maximum duration; and
receiving, at the AP device, respective data streams simultaneously transmitted, in response to the communication frame, by the multiple respective client devices, wherein the respective data streams do not exceed the maximum duration, the respective data streams are received via i) respective spatial streams, or ii) respective sets of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subchannels, andthe respective data streams correspond to independent data from the multiple respective client devices, the independent data corresponding to the common TID.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A first communication device determines that each second communication device in a plurality of second communication devices has respective data to be transmitted to the first communication device. The first communication device transmits a request to the plurality of second communication devices to transmit data to the first communication device simultaneously during a transmit opportunity period of the first communication device. The first communication device receives data transmitted simultaneously by the plurality of second communication devices during the transmit opportunity period of the first communication device.
87 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method, comprising:
-
receiving, at an access point (AP) device, respective indications of respective amounts of data corresponding to a common traffic identifier (TID), from multiple respective client devices among a plurality of client devices in a wireless local area network (WLAN) to which the AP device belongs, the respective indications of respective amounts of data corresponding to respective data to be transmitted to the AP device from the multiple respective client devices; determining, at the AP device, a maximum duration of simultaneous uplink transmissions to be transmitted from the multiple respective client devices, wherein determining the maximum duration includes using the received respective indications of amounts of data from the multiple client devices; transmitting, to the multiple respective client devices, a communication frame prompting the multiple respective client devices to simultaneously transmit independent data corresponding to the common TID to the AP device, wherein the communication frame includes an indication of the maximum duration; and receiving, at the AP device, respective data streams simultaneously transmitted, in response to the communication frame, by the multiple respective client devices, wherein the respective data streams do not exceed the maximum duration, the respective data streams are received via i) respective spatial streams, or ii) respective sets of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subchannels, and the respective data streams correspond to independent data from the multiple respective client devices, the independent data corresponding to the common TID. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. An access point (AP) device, comprising:
-
a wireless network interface device having one or more integrated circuits configured to receive respective indications of respective amounts of data corresponding to a common traffic identifier (TID), from multiple respective client devices among a plurality of client devices in a wireless local area network (WLAN) to which the AP device belongs, the respective indications of respective amounts of data corresponding to respective data to be transmitted to the AP device from the multiple respective client devices, determine a maximum duration of simultaneous uplink transmissions to be transmitted from the multiple respective client devices, wherein determining the maximum duration includes using the received respective indications of respective amounts of data from the multiple respective client devices, transmit, to the multiple respective client devices, a communication frame prompting the multiple respective client devices to simultaneously transmit independent data corresponding to the common TID, to the AP device, wherein the communication frame includes an indication of the maximum duration, and receive respective data streams simultaneously transmitted, in response to the communication frame, by the multiple respective client devices, wherein the respective data streams do not exceed the maximum duration, the respective data streams are received via i) respective spatial streams, or ii) respective sets of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subchannels, and the respective data streams correspond to independent data from the multiple respective client devices, the independent data corresponding to the common TID. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification