Methods and apparatus for acknowledging multiple user uplink transmissions

• US 9,948,367 B2
• Filed: 11/02/2015
• Issued: 04/17/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Abraham, Santosh Paul, Barriac, Gwendolyn Denise, Merlin, Simone, Cherian, George
• Primary Examiner(s): Musa, Abdelnabi O
• Application Number:
  US14/930,361
• Publication Number:
  US 20160127020A1
• Time in Patent Office: 897 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0452 Multi-user MIMO systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1607 Details of the supervisory signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1829 Arrangements specially adapted for the receiver end
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT

Abstract

Methods and systems for acknowledging multi-user transmissions on a wireless network include receiving a multi-user transmission comprising a first message from the first device and a second message from the second device, generating a first media access control protocol data unit, the first media access control protocol data unit acknowledging the first message and including a destination address field identifying the first device, generating a second media access control protocol data unit, the second media access control protocol data unit acknowledging the second message and including a destination address field identifying the second device, generating an aggregated media access control protocol data unit (A-MPDU) comprising the first media access control protocol data unit (MPDU) and the second media access control protocol data unit (MPDU); and transmitting the aggregated media access control protocol data unit (A-MPDU) on the wireless network.

Claims

1. A method of acknowledging transmissions from a first device and a second device to a third device on a wireless network, the method comprising:

transmitting, by the third device, a trigger message including a time reference for transmitting, from the third device, an aggregated media access control protocol data unit;

in response to transmitting the trigger message, receiving, at the third device, a first message from the first device and a second message from the second device;

in response to receiving the first and second messages, generating, by the third device, the aggregated media access control protocol data unit including

a first media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the first message and including a first destination address field identifying the first device,

a second media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the second message and including a second destination address field identifying the second device, and

an indication that the aggregated media access control protocol data unit includes more than one media access control protocol data unit having different destination address fields; and

transmitting, by the third device, the aggregated media access control protocol data unit on the wireless network in accordance with the time reference included in the trigger message.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a multi-user transmission including the first message and the second message.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the multi-user transmission uses multi-user multiple input multiple output.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the multi-user transmission uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a third message from a fourth device, wherein the aggregated media access control protocol data unit is generated to further include a third media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the third message and including a third destination address field identifying the fourth device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the third device is an access point.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the trigger message is a clear to transmit (CTX) message.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device and the second device are stations and the third device is an access point.

9. An apparatus for acknowledging transmissions from a first device and a second device on a wireless network, the apparatus comprising:

a transmitter configured to transmit a trigger message including a time reference for transmitting, from the apparatus, an aggregated media access control protocol data unit;

a receiver configured to receive, in response to transmitting the trigger message, a first message from the first device and a second message from the second device; and

a processor configured to;

in response to receiving the first and second messages, generate the aggregated media access control protocol data unit including

a first media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the first message and including a first destination address field identifying the first device,

a second media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the second message and including a second destination address field identifying the second device, and

an indication that the aggregated media access control protocol data unit includes more than one media access control protocol data unit having different destination address fields,

the transmitter being further configured to transmit the aggregated media access control protocol data unit on the wireless network in accordance with the time reference included in the trigger message.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive the first message and the second message in a multi-user transmission.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the multi-user transmission uses multi-user multiple input multiple output.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the multi-user transmission uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive a third message from a third device, and the processor is further configured to generate the aggregated media access control protocol data unit to further include a third media access control protocol data unit, the third media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the third message and including a third destination address field identifying the third device.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the apparatus is an access point.

15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the trigger message is a clear to transmit (CTX) message.

16. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the first device and the second device are stations and the apparatus is an access point.

17. An apparatus for acknowledging transmissions from a first device and a second device on a wireless network, the apparatus comprising:

a processor coupled with a memory comprising instructions that when executed cause the processor to perform;

means for transmitting, by the apparatus, a trigger message including a time reference for transmitting an aggregated media access control protocol data unit;

means for receiving, at the apparatus and in response to transmitting the trigger message, a first message from the first device and a second message from the second device;

means for generating, in response to receiving the first and second messages, the aggregated media access control protocol data unit comprising

a first media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the first message and including a first destination address field identifying the first device,

a second media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the second message and including a second destination address field identifying the second device, and

an indication that the aggregated media access control protocol data unit includes more than one media access control protocol data unit having different destination address fields; and

means for transmitting the aggregated media access control protocol data unit on the wireless network in accordance with the time reference included in the trigger message.

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed cause a processor to perform a method of acknowledging transmissions from a first device and a second device to a third device on a wireless network, the method comprising:

transmitting, by the third device, a trigger message including a time reference for transmitting, from the third device, an aggregated media access control protocol data unit;

in response to transmitting the trigger message, receiving, at the third device, a first message from the first device and a second message from the second device;

in response to receiving the first and second messages, generating, by the third device, the aggregated media access control protocol data unit comprising

a first media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the first message and including a first destination address field identifying the first device,

a second media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the second message and including a second destination address field identifying the second device, and

an indication that the aggregated media access control protocol data unit includes more than one media access control protocol data unit having different destination address fields; and

transmitting, by the third device, the aggregated media access control protocol data unit on the wireless network in accordance with the time reference included in the trigger message.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18, further comprising receiving a multi-user transmission including the first message and the second message.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the multi-user transmission uses multi-user multiple input multiple output.

21. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the multi-user transmission uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.

22. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18, the method further comprising receiving a third message from a fourth device, wherein the aggregated media access control protocol data unit is generated to include a third media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the third message.

23. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the third device is an access point.

24. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the trigger message is a clear to transmit (CTX) message.

25. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the first device and the second device are stations and the third device is an access point.

26. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

decoding, by a first device, a trigger message to determine a time reference for receiving an aggregated media access control protocol data unit from a second device;

in response to decoding the trigger message, transmitting, at the first device, a first message to the second device;

receiving, by the first device, in accordance with the time reference, the aggregated media access control protocol data unit from the second device, wherein the aggregated media access control protocol data unit includes

a first media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the first message and including a first destination address field identifying the first device,

a second media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of a second message and including a second destination address field identifying a third device, and

an indication that the aggregated media access control protocol data unit includes more than one media access control protocol data unit having different destination address fields;

decoding, by the first device, the aggregated media access control protocol data unit; and

determining, by the first device, that the aggregated media access control protocol data unit is acknowledging the transmission of the first message based on the decoding of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising transmitting the first message to the second device in a multi-user transmission.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the multi-user transmission uses multi-user multiple input multiple output.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the multi-user transmission uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.

30. The method of claim 26, further comprising determining whether the first device is unicast addressed in the aggregated media access control protocol data unit, and determining the message is acknowledged in response to the first device being unicast addressed in the media access control protocol data unit.

31. The method of claim 26, further comprising entering a sleep state before the receiving of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit based on the time reference.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the trigger message is a clear to transmit (CTX) message.

33. The method of claim 26, wherein the first device is a station and the second device is an access point.

34. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a processor configured to decode a trigger message to determine a time reference for receiving an aggregated media access control protocol data unit from a first device;

a transmitter configured to, in response to decoding the trigger message, transmit a first message to the first device;

a receiver configured to receive the aggregated media access control protocol data unit from the first device, in accordance with the time reference, wherein the aggregated media access control protocol data unit includes

a first media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the first message and including a first destination address field identifying the apparatus,

a second media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of a second message and including a second destination address field identifying a second device, and

an indication that the aggregated media access control protocol data unit includes more than one media access control protocol data unit having different destination address fields;

wherein the processor is further configured to;

decode the aggregated media access control protocol data unit, and

determine that the aggregated media access control protocol data unit is acknowledging the transmission of the first message based on the decoding of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit the first message as part of a multi-user transmission.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the multi-user transmission uses multi-user multiple input multiple output.

37. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the multi-user transmission uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.

38. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether the apparatus is unicast addressed in the aggregated media access control protocol data unit, and determine the message is acknowledged in response to the apparatus being unicast addressed in the media access control protocol data unit.

39. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the processor is further configured to enter a sleep state before the receiving of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit based on the time reference.

40. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the trigger message is a clear to transmit (CTX) message.

41. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the apparatus is a station and the first device is an access point.

42. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a processor coupled with a memory comprising instructions that when executed cause the processor to perform;

means for decoding a trigger message to determine a time reference for receiving, from a first device, an aggregated media access control protocol data unit;

means for transmitting, in response to decoding the trigger message, a first message to the first device;

means for receiving, at the apparatus, the aggregated media access control protocol data unit, in accordance with the time reference, wherein the aggregated media access control protocol data unit includes

a first media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the first message and including a first destination address field identifying the apparatus,

a second media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of a second message and including a second destination address field identifying a second device, and

an indication that the aggregated media access control protocol data unit includes more than one media access control protocol data unit having different destination address fields;

means for decoding the aggregated media access control protocol data unit; and

means for determining that the aggregated media access control protocol data unit is acknowledging the transmission of the first message based on the decoding of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit.

43. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed cause a processor to perform a method of wireless communication, the method comprising:

decoding, by a first device, a trigger message to determine a time reference for receiving an aggregated media access control protocol data unit from a second device;

in response to decoding the trigger message, transmitting, at the first device, a first message to the second device;

receiving, by a first device, in accordance with the time reference, the aggregated media access control protocol data unit from the second device, wherein the aggregated media access control protocol data unit includes

a first media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of the first message and including a first destination address field identifying the first device,

a second media access control protocol data unit acknowledging reception of a second message and including a second destination address field identifying a third device, and

an indication that the aggregated media access control protocol data unit includes more than one media access control protocol data unit having different destination address fields;

decoding the aggregated media access control protocol data unit; and

determining that the aggregated media access control protocol data unit is acknowledging the transmission of the first message based on the decoding of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit.

44. The computer readable storage medium of claim 43, the method further comprising transmitting the first message in a multi-user transmission.

45. The computer readable storage medium of claim 44, wherein the multi-user transmission uses multi-user multiple input multiple output.

46. The computer readable storage medium of claim 44, wherein the multi-user transmission uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.

47. The computer readable storage medium of claim 43, the method further comprising determining whether the first device is unicast addressed in the aggregated media access control protocol data unit, and determining the message is acknowledged in response to the first device being unicast addressed in the media access control protocol data unit.

48. The computer readable storage medium of claim 43, the method further comprising entering a sleep state before the receiving of the aggregated media access control protocol data unit based on the time reference.

49. The computer readable medium of claim 48, wherein the trigger message is a clear to transmit (CTX) message.

50. The computer readable medium of claim of claim 43, wherein the first device is a station and the second device is an access point.