Apparatus, method, and computer readable medium for initiating uplink multi-user medium access in high efficiency wireless local-area networks

• US 9,844,049 B2
• Filed: 03/26/2015
• Issued: 12/12/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel IP Corporation (Intel Corporation)
• Inventors: Ghosh, Chittabrata, Stacey, Robert J., Azizi, Shahrnaz
• Primary Examiner(s): ZUNIGA ABAD, JACKIE
• Application Number:
  US14/669,265
• Publication Number:
  US 20160198445A1
• Time in Patent Office: 992 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0452 Multi-user MIMO systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 11/00 Orthogonal multiplex systems, e.g. using WALSH codesH04J13/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 2011/0009 with FDM/FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/00 Arrangements affording multiple use of the transmission path
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0037 Inter-user or inter-terminal allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0094 Indication of how sub-channels of the path are allocated
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/044 based on the type of the allocated resource
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

Apparatus, computer readable medium, and methods for initiating uplink multi-user medium access in high-efficiency wireless local-area networks (WLANs) are disclosed. A station is disclosed comprising circuitry configured to generate a trigger frame comprising one or more resource allocations. Each of the resource allocations may include an indication of whether the resource allocation is an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) resource allocation or a multiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) resource allocation. An identity either of an OFDMA group or an MU-MIMO group may be included. Each resource allocation may include an indication of a bandwidth for the OFDMA resource allocation or a bandwidth for the MU-MIMO resource allocation. Each OFDMA resource allocation may include one or more indications of an address of one or more HE stations and one or more indications of an OFDMA sub-channel resource allocation for the corresponding HE station.

Claims

1. An apparatus of a master station, the master station comprising:

memory; and

, circuitry coupled to the memory, the circuitry configured to;

generate a trigger frame (TF) comprising one or more resource allocations for simultaneous uplink transmissions, wherein each of the one or more resource allocations comprises an indication of whether the resource allocation is an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) resource allocation or a multiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIM) resource allocation, and an identity either of an OFDMA group or an MU-MIMO group, and wherein each resource allocation comprises an indication of a bandwidth for the OFDMA resource allocation or a bandwidth for the MU-MIMO resource allocation, wherein each OFDMA resource allocation comprises one or more indications of an address of a plurality of high-efficiency (HE) stations and one or more indications of an OFDMA sub-channel resource allocation for a corresponding HE station, wherein the TF further comprises an indication of a duration of a transmission opportunity obtained by the master station and an indication of whether a next TF will be transmitted within the transmission opportunity; and

transmit the TF to the plurality of HE stations to initiate the simultaneous uplink transmissions from the plurality of stations within the transmission opportunity.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each OFDMA resource allocation further comprises a 20 MHz allocation sub-field that indicates a number of 20 MHz sub-channels allocated in the OFDMA resource allocation.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the one or more indications of the OFDMA sub-channel resource allocation for the corresponding HE station further comprise an indication of a location of the number of 20 MHz sub-channels.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the one or more indications of the OFDMA sub-channel resource allocation for the corresponding HE station further comprise an indication of whether a basic resource unit of the one or more indications of the OFDMA sub-channel resource allocation for the corresponding HE station is 26 tones or 242 tones.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the one or more indications of the OFDMA sub-channel resource allocation for the corresponding HE station further comprise an indication of a last sub-channel that is allocated to the corresponding HE station within the number of 20 MHz sub-channels.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the 20MHz allocation sub-field further indicates a bandwidth for the OFDMA sub-channel resource allocation.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the 20 MHz allocation sub-field indicates one from the following group:

zero 20 MHz sub-channels are allocated in the OFDMA resource allocation, one 20 MHz sub-channel is allocated in the OFDMA resource allocation, two 20 MHz sub-channels are allocated to one or two HE stations of the one or more HE stations in the OFDMA resource allocation, and three 20 MHz sub-channels are allocated to one or more HE stations of the one or more HE stations in the OFDMA resource allocation.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more indications of the OFDMA sub-channel resource allocation for the corresponding HE station further comprise an indication of whether the OFDMA sub-channel resource allocation for the corresponding HE station is final or whether the one or more indications of the OFDMA sub-channel resource allocations include an additional OFDMA sub-channel resource allocation for the corresponding HE station.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each OFDMA resource allocation further comprises an indication of whether the one or more indications of the OFDMA sub-channels resource allocation for the corresponding HE station is a same resource allocation as a resource allocation of a previous HE station.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each OFDMA resource allocation comprises one or more indications of an address of one or more HE stations, and one or more indications of a width of an OFDMA sub-channel resource allocation for the corresponding HE station.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein each OFDMA resource allocation further comprises an indication of whether the OFDMA resource allocation is for a single HE station of 80 MHz or for a plurality of HE stations each of less than 80 MHz.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein each OFDMA resource allocation further comprises an indication of a position with a bandwidth of the OFDMA sub-channel resource allocation for the corresponding HE station.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the, master station is one from the following group:

an access point, an Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 access point, an IEEE 802.11 station, an IEEE 802.11ax access point, and an IEEE 802.11ax station.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each resource allocation comprises an indication of a number of one or more HE stations.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising one or more nte as coupled to the circuitry.

16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the memory is configured to store the TF.

17. A method performed by an apparatus of an access point (AP), the method comprising:

generating a trigger frame (TF) comprising one or more resource allocations for simultaneous uplink transmissions, wherein each of the one or more resource allocations comprises an indication of whether the resource allocation is an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) resource allocation or a multiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) resource allocation, and an identity either of an OFDMA group or an MU-MIMO group, and wherein each resource allocation comprises an indication of a bandwidth for the OFDMA resource allocation or a bandwidth for the MU-MIMO resource allocation, wherein each OFDMA resource allocation comprises one or more indications of an address of a plurality of high-efficiency (HE) stations and one or more indications of an OFDMA sub-channel resource allocation for a corresponding HE station, wherein the TF further comprises an indication of a duration of a transmission opportunity obtained by the master station and an indication of whether a next TF will be transmitted within the transmission opportunity; and

transmitting the TF to the plurality of HE stations to initiate the simultaneous uplink transmissions from the plurality of stations within the transmission opportunity.

18. A station, the station comprising:

memory; and

, circuitry coupled to the circuitry, wherein the circuitry is configured to;

receive a trigger frame (TF) from a master station comprising one or more resource allocations, wherein each of the one or more resource allocations comprises an indication of whether the resource allocation is an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) resource allocation or a multiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) resource allocation, and an identity either of an OFDMA group or an MU-MIMO group, and wherein each resource allocation comprises an indication of a bandwidth for the OFDMA resource allocation or a bandwidth for the MU-MIMO resource allocation, wherein each OFDMA resource allocation comprises one or more indications of an address of one or more high-efficiency (HE) stations and one or more indications of an OFDMA sub-channel resource allocation for the corresponding HE station, wherein the TF further comprises an indication of a duration of a transmission opportunity and an indication of whether a next TF will be transmitted within the transmission opportunity; and

transmit data to the master station in accordance with the TF.

19. The station of claim 18, further comprising one or more antennas coupled to the circuitry.

20. The station of claim 18, wherein the memory is configured to store the TF.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors, the instructions to configure the one or more processors to cause a master station to:

generate a trigger frame (TF) comprising one or more resource allocations for simultaneous uplink transmissions, wherein each of the one or more resource allocations comprises an indication of whether the resource allocation is an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) resource allocation or a multiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) resource allocation, and an identity either of an OFDMA group or an MU-MIMO group, and wherein each resource allocation comprises an indication of a bandwidth for the OFDMA resource allocation or a bandwidth for the MU-MIMO resource allocation, wherein each OFDMA resource allocation comprises one or more indications of an address of a plurality of high-efficiency (HE) stations and one or more indications of an OFDMA sub-channel resource allocation for a corresponding HE station, wherein the TF further comprises an indication of a duration of a transmission opportunity obtained by the master station and an indication of whether a next TF will be transmitted within the transmission opportunity; and

transmit the TF to the plurality of HE stations to initiate the simultaneous uplink transmissions from the plurality of stations within the transmission opportunity.