Apparatuses, methods, and computer-readable medium for communication in a wireless local area network

• US 10,321,405 B2
• Filed: 01/02/2017
• Issued: 06/11/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/16/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Communication Systems LLC
• Original Assignee: Communication Systems LLC
• Inventors: Atefi, Ali
• Primary Examiner(s): Phan, Tri H
• Application Number:
  US15/396,729
• Publication Number:
  US 20170150525A1
• Time in Patent Office: 890 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0216 using a pre-established activity schedule, e.g. traffic indication frame
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0219 where the power saving management affects multiple terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0229 where the received signal is a wanted signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0245 according to signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/146 Uplink power control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/241 taking into account channel quality metrics, e.g. SIR, SNR, CIR, Eb/lo
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/242 taking into account path loss
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/365 Power headroom reporting
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0473 the resource being transmission power
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/006 in the downlink, i.e. towards the terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0808 using carrier sensing, e.g. carrier sense multiple access [CSMA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Various aspects related to various apparatuses, methods, and computer-readable medium are described herein. Some aspects may enable an apparatus to protect downlink (DL) communication(s). Some aspects may enable an apparatus to perform DL communication(s). Some aspects may enable an apparatus to communicate regarding uplink (UL) communication(s). Some aspects may enable an apparatus to perform operation(s) related to an allocation vector. Some aspects may enable an apparatus to perform operation(s) related to random access. Some aspects may enable an apparatus to perform UL communication(s). The written description and appended drawings provide detailed descriptions regarding these and many other aspects.

Claims

1. A station (STA) for wireless communication, the STA comprising:

a transceiver configured to;

receive a signal comprising an uplink (UL) transmission request (ULTR) configured to cause one or more STAs to transmit a signal that is configured to protect a downlink (DL) multi-user transmission to a plurality of STAs, wherein the ULTR comprises an indicator identifying a scrambling seed and information for identifying the plurality of STAs; and

in response to the received signal, transmit the signal configured to protect the DL multi-user transmission to the plurality of STAs, wherein a scrambling seed associated with the transmitted signal configured to protect the DL multi-user transmission is the same as a scrambling seed associated with the received signal configured to cause the one or more STAs to transmit the signal configured to protect the DL multi-user transmission, wherein a time synchronization of the one or more transmissions by the one or more STAs is based on an end time of the received signal configured to cause the one or more STAs to transmit the signal configured to protect the DL multi-user transmission; and

receive a DL multi-user transmission comprising a data packet intended for the plurality of STAs and comprising a plurality of space-time streams; and

one or more processor(s) configured to;

use a field included in the received data packet to determine a total number of space-time streams included in the data packet and further use the same field to select a subset of values from a set of values, the selected subset of values indicating a number of space-time streams intended for each of at least some of the plurality of STAs;

determine a value of a user position assigned to the STA and select which of the plurality of STSs in the data packet is/are intended for the STA by considering a number of STSs allocated to any other STAs assigned a user position value lower than the user position value assigned to the STA; and

process the one or more STSs in the data packet that is/are intended for the STA.

2. The STA of claim 1, wherein the received data packet includes a header, wherein the one or more processor(s) is/are further configured to:

if a portion of the header is repeated at least once, determine that the data packet is not a legacy data packet; and

if the portion of the header is not repeated at least once, determine that the data packet is a legacy data packet,

wherein the portion of the header of the received data packet comprises at least one of a short training field (STF), a long training field (STF), or a signal field (SIG), a non-high throughput signal field (L-SIG), a Signal A field (SIG-A), or a Signal B field (SIG-B).

3. The STA of claim 1, wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive a frame from another STA, the frame configured to update a network/navigation allocation vector (NAV) of the STA, wherein the one or more processors is/are further configured to initiate UL transmission without evaluating a NAV of the STA if the basic service set identifier (BSSID) of the basic service set (BSS) with which the STA is associated corresponds to a BSSID of a BSS with which the other STA is associated.

4. The STA of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors is/are further configured to determine not to reset one or more parameters corresponding to a preceding network/navigation allocation vector (NAV) update caused by an apparatus with which the STA is associated, when receiving, from an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) apparatus, a message configured for or comprising information for early termination of a transmission opportunity, wherein the OBSS comprises a BSS with which the STA is not associated.

5. The STA of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors is/are further configured to initiate, in response to receiving the ULTR, transmission of a frame without considering a network/navigation allocation vector (NAV) of the STA, if a response to the ULTR comprises a block acknowledgement and a duration of the UL transmission is below a threshold value.

6. The STA of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors is/are further configured to maintain a plurality of network/navigation allocation vectors (NAVs), the plurality of network/navigation allocation vectors (NAVs) comprising a first NAV and a second NAV different from the first NAV, wherein the first NAV is adapted for frames originating from an apparatus in a BSS with which the STA is associated and the second NAV is adapted for other frames including frames originating from an apparatus in a BSS with which the STA is not associated.

7. The STA of claim 6, wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive a frame from another STA, the frame configured to update at least one of the plurality of NAVs, the received frame comprising information indicating a duration of time usable for updating a respective NAV of the STA, and wherein the one or more processors is/are further configured to update the first NAV when a basic service set (BSS) identifier (BSSID) of a BSS with which the STA is associated corresponds to a BSSID of a BSS with which the other STA is associated and update the second NAV when the BSSID of the BSS with which the STA is associated does not correspond to the BSSID of the BSS with which the other STA is associated, wherein the updating the respective NAV of the STA comprises overriding an existing duration of time of the respective NAV with the received information indicating the duration of time usable for updating the NAV, the overriding depending on a difference between the existing duration of time of the respective NAV and the received information indicating the duration of time usable for updating the respective NAV.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processing system of a station (STA), cause the processing system to:

receive a signal comprising an uplink (UL) transmission request (ULTR) configured to cause one or more STAs to transmit a signal that is configured to protect a downlink (DL) multi-user transmission to a plurality of STAs, wherein the ULTR comprises an indicator identifying a scrambling seed and information for identifying the plurality of STAs;

in response to the received signal, transmit the signal configured to protect the DL multi-user transmission to the plurality of STAs, wherein a scrambling seed associated with the transmitted signal configured to protect the DL multi-user transmission is the same as a scrambling seed associated with the received signal configured to cause the one or more STAs to transmit the signal configured to protect the DL multi-user transmission, wherein a time synchronization of the one or more transmissions by the one or more STAs is based on an end time of the received signal configured to cause the one or more STAs to transmit the signal configured to protect the DL multi-user transmission;

receive a DL multi-user transmission comprising a data packet intended for the plurality of STAs and comprising a plurality of space-time streams;

use a field included in the received data packet to determine a total number of space-time streams included in the data packet and further use the same field to select a subset of values from a set of values, the selected subset of values indicating a number of space-time streams intended for each of at least some of the plurality of STAs;

determine a value of a user position assigned to the STA and select which of the plurality of STSs in the data packet is/are intended for the STA by considering a number of STSs allocated to any other STAs assigned a user position value lower than the user position value assigned to the STA; and

process the one or more STSs in the data packet that is/are intended for the STA.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the ULTR comprises a first portion including a field common to the plurality of STAs and indicating a duration of at least a portion of the UL transmission, and a second portion including a plurality of user-specific fields indicating a description of resource allocation for UL transmission by at least some of the plurality of STAs.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the ULTR comprises information corresponding to a target received signal strength and information corresponding to a power measurement of the transmitted ULTR, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises instructions that, when executed by the processing system of the STA, cause the processing system to:

based on the received information corresponding to the power measurement of the transmitted ULTR, determine an amount of power loss during downlink (DL) transmission of the ULTR to the STA;

based on the determined amount of power loss during the DL transmission of the ULTR to the STA and further based on the received information corresponding to the target received signal strength, determine an amount of power for the UL transmission; and

initiate UL transmission in accordance with the determined amount of power for the UL transmission, the UL transmission comprising information corresponding to how much transmission power the STA remains capable of using relative to a transmission power currently utilized.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises instructions that, when executed by the processing system of the STA, cause the processing system to receive a frame from another STA, the frame being configured to update a network/navigation allocation vector (NAV) of the STA, and to cause the processing system to initiate UL transmission without evaluating a NAV of the STA if the NAV was set by an apparatus that transmitted the ULTR.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises instructions that, when executed by the processing system of the STA, cause the processing system to receive a frame from another STA, the frame configured to update a network/navigation allocation vector (NAV) of the STA, and to initiate UL transmission without evaluating a NAV of the STA if the other STA is in the same BSS as the STA.

13. An access point (AP) for wireless communication, the AP comprising:

a transceiver configured to;

transmit a signal comprising an uplink (UL) transmission request (ULTR) configured to cause one or more stations (STAs) to transmit a signal that is configured to protect a downlink (DL) multi-user transmission to a plurality of STAs, wherein the ULTR comprises an indicator identifying a scrambling seed and information for identifying the plurality of STAs, and

in response to the transmitted signal, receive the signal configured to protect the DL multi-user transmission to the plurality of STAs, wherein a scrambling seed associated with the signal configured to protect the DL multi-user transmission is the same as a scrambling seed associated with the signal configured to cause the one or more STAs to transmit the signal configured to protect the DL multi-user transmission, wherein a time synchronization of the one or more transmissions by the one or more STAs is based on an end time of the signal configured to cause the one or more STAs to transmit the signal configured to protect the DL multi-user transmission; and

one or more processors configured to;

determine to transmit a DL multi-user transmission comprising a data packet intended for the plurality of STAs and comprising a plurality of space-time streams, wherein a field included in the data packet is used to determine a total number of space-time streams included in the data packet and the same field is further used to select a subset of values from a set of values, the selected subset of values indicating a number of space-time streams intended for each of at least some of the plurality of STAs, a selection of which of the plurality of STSs in the data packet is/are intended for a STA including a consideration of a number of STSs allocated to any other STAs assigned a user position value lower than the user position value assigned to the STA,

wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit the DL multi-user transmission.

14. The AP of claim 13, wherein the ULTR comprises a field comprising a plurality of bits, wherein a first subset of the plurality of bits of the field of the ULTR determines whether one or more resources allocated to the STA is included in a primary communication channel or a non-primary communication channel, and wherein a second subset of the plurality of bits of the field of the ULTR determines a number of units of a resource(s) allocated to the STA.

15. The AP of claim 14, wherein at least some of the plurality of bits of the field of the ULTR determines an index of resources, wherein the index of resources is associated with an ordering of available resources.

16. The AP of claim 14, wherein a first range of possible values for at least some of the plurality of bits of the field of the ULTR is associated with a resource size or a number of resources that is different from another resource size or number of resources associated with a second range of possible values for at least some of the plurality of bits of the field of the ULTR.

17. The AP of claim 14, wherein at least some of the plurality of bits of the field of the ULTR is associated with a bandwidth of resources allocated to the STA and other STAs of the plurality of STAs.

18. The AP of claim 13, wherein the ULTR includes an indication indicating whether to perform carrier sensing prior to UL transmission in response to the ULTR, the carrier sensing comprising signal detection and network/navigation allocation vector (NAV) evaluation.

19. The AP of claim 18, wherein the determining whether to perform the carrier sensing prior to UL transmission in response to the ULTR comprises:

not performing carrier sensing when a length or duration of the UL transmission is less than a threshold value, performing carrier sensing for at least a subchannel allocated to the UL transmission when the indication in the ULTR indicates a requirement to perform carrier sensing prior to UL transmission in response to the ULTR, and refraining from performing carrier sensing when the indication in the ULTR indicates no requirement to perform carrier sensing prior to UL transmission in response to the ULTR.