CN117411604A - Method and communication device for performing enhanced long-range wireless communication - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a wireless communication method, comprising: the processor of the apparatus performs Enhanced Long Range (ELR) wireless communication by: transmitting an ELR physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU); or receiving an ELR PPDU, wherein the ELR PPDU includes a waveform structure that is backward and forward compatible with different generations of Wi-Fi standards.

Description

Method and communication device for performing enhanced long-range wireless communication

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to enhanced long range (enhanced long range, ELR) waveform structures and Signal (SIG) subfields in wireless communications.

Background

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims listed below and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

Due to the explosive growth of Internet of things (IoT) applications, such as video doorbell and surveillance, a great deal of research has been conducted on long range wireless communication technologies, such as Wi-Fi and wireless local area network (wireless local area network, WLAN) based on one or more institute of electrical and electronics engineers (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer, IEEE) 802.11 standards. Wi-Fi tends to provide higher wireless throughput (in Mbps/sub-Mbps metering) than other wireless technologies such as bluetooth, zigbee, or LoRa. In addition, wi-Fi also benefits from a successful IEEE 802.11 economic system, meaning that future ELR devices can communicate with existing Wi-Fi devices and reuse the IEEE 802.11 infrastructure.

However, current enhanced long-range communication Wi-Fi standards (e.g., IEEE 802.11ah for below 1GHz (sub-1 GHz)) do not have a unified frequency band in the global market. In addition, the allowed bandwidth may limit the transmission rate. Particularly, the 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz frequency bands are required, and coexistence problems need to be solved. Therefore, there is a need for a new waveform structure (or physical-layer protocol data unit, PPDU) that has backward and forward compatibility for ELR applications to support potential multi-user scenarios and provide a direct access point-to-station (AP-STA) communication link without any additional relay or power boost, thereby reducing or lowering implementation costs.

Disclosure of Invention

The following summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. That is, the following summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts, benefits, and advantages of the novel and non-obvious techniques described herein. Selected embodiments are further described in the detailed description below. Thus, the following summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter.

It is an object of the present invention to provide schemes, concepts, designs, techniques, methods and apparatus related to ELR waveform structures and SIG subfields in wireless communications. The foregoing problems may be avoided or otherwise alleviated by implementing one or more of the various proposed solutions described herein.

In one aspect, a method may involve a processor of an apparatus performing ELR wireless communication by: (i) transmitting the ELR PPDU; or (ii) receiving an ELR PPDU. The ELR PPDU includes waveform structures that are backward and forward compatible with different generations of Wi-Fi standards (i.e., existing and upcoming/future Wi-Fi standards).

In another aspect, an apparatus may include a transceiver configured for wireless communication and a processor coupled to the transceiver. The processor may perform ELR wireless communication via the transceiver by: (i) transmitting the ELR PPDU; or (ii) receiving an ELR PPDU. The ELR PPDU includes waveform structures that are backward and forward compatible with different generations of Wi-Fi standards (i.e., existing and upcoming/future Wi-Fi standards).

Notably, while the description provided herein may be in the context of certain radio access technologies, networks, and network topologies (e.g., wi-Fi), the concepts, schemes, and any variants/derivatives presented may be implemented in, for, and used with other types of radio access technologies, networks, and network topologies, such as, but not limited to, bluetooth, zigBee, fifth generation (5) ^th Generation, 5G)/New Radio (NR), long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced Pro, internet-of-things (IoT), industrial IoT (IIoT), and narrowband IoT (NB-IoT). Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not limited to the examples described herein.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. It should be appreciated that the drawings are not necessarily to scale, since some components may be shown out of scale in actual practice in order to clearly illustrate the concepts of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an example network environment in which various solutions and schemes according to the invention may be implemented.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an example design under the proposed solution according to the invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary design under the proposed solution according to the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of an example design under the proposed solution according to the invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of an example scenario under the proposed solution according to the invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of an example scenario under the proposed solution according to the invention.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of an example design under the proposed solution according to the invention.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of an example scenario under the proposed solution according to the invention.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of an example scenario under the proposed solution according to the invention.

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of an example design under the proposed solution according to the invention.

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of an example design under the proposed solution according to the invention.

Fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of an example design under the proposed solution according to the invention.

Fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of an example design under the proposed solution according to the invention.

Fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of an example scenario under the proposed solution according to the present invention.

Fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of an example design under the proposed solution according to the invention.

Fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of an example scenario under the proposed solution according to the present invention.

Fig. 17 is a block diagram of an example communication system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 18 is a flowchart of an example process according to an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

Detailed examples and implementations of the claimed subject matter are disclosed herein. It is to be understood, however, that the disclosed examples and implementations are merely illustrative of the claimed subject matter, which may be embodied in various forms. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments and implementations set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments and implementations are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the following description, well-known features and technical details are omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments and implementations.

SUMMARY

Embodiments in accordance with the present invention relate to various techniques, methods, schemes and/or solutions relating to ELR waveform structures and SIG subfields in wireless communications. According to the invention, a plurality of possible solutions can be implemented singly or in combination. That is, although these possible solutions may be described below separately, two or more of these possible solutions may be implemented in one combination or another.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network environment 100 in which various solutions and schemes according to the invention may be implemented. Fig. 2-18 illustrate example embodiments of various proposed schemes in a network environment 100 according to the present invention. With reference to fig. 1-18, the following description of various proposed schemes is provided.

Referring to fig. 1, network environment 100 may involve at least STA 110 in wireless communication with STA 120. Each of STA 110 and STA 120 may be an Access Point (AP) STA, or alternatively, either of STA 110 and STA 120 may act as a non-AP STA. In some cases, STA 110 and STA 120 may be associated with a basic service set (basic service set, BSS) according to one or more IEEE 802.11 standards (e.g., IEEE 802.11be and standards developed in the future). Each of STA 110 and STA 120 may be configured to communicate with each other by utilizing techniques related to ELR waveform structures and SIG subfields in wireless communications according to various proposed schemes described below. It is noted that while various proposed schemes may be described below, individually or separately, in actual implementations, some or all of the proposed schemes may be utilized or otherwise jointly implemented. Of course, each of the proposed solutions may be utilized or otherwise implemented, either separately or separately.

In IEEE 802.11b, single carrier, complementary code keying (complementary code keying, CCK) modulated communication schemes are employed, which provide lower spectral efficiency, lower data rates and poorer network management than Wi-Fi based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing, OFDM). Using legacy preambles (e.g., OFDM-based short training field (short training field, STF), long training field (long training field, LTF), and Signal (SIG) field), the supported distance (range) may be X, depending on the frequency band used, and shorter than under IEEE 802.11 b. In Wi-Fi6 (IEEE 802.11 ax), an Enhanced Range (ER) with 3dB power boost is proposed, which supports the same distance as ER under IEEE 802.11b and has all the advantages of OFDM. Under various proposed schemes according to the present invention, a new waveform structure may be utilized to provide a significant improvement in transmission distance over that achievable by IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be-based devices.

Notably, for ELR applications, backward and forward compatibility with existing (pre-existing) and upcoming/future (i.e., different generation) Wi-Fi standards is important. In current IEEE 802.11be multi-user (MU) and/or single-user (SU) -PPDU structures, a legacy STF/LTF/SIG (L-STF/LTF/SIG) field and a repeated legacy SIG (RL-SIG)) field are used to fool a non-extra-high-throughput (non-EHT) device, and two new preambles called universal SIG (U-SIG) are applied after the above fields for forward compatibility. Specifically, the first U-SIG field (U-SIG 1) contains an indicator for indicating a Wi-Fi version, and a subfield indicating a PPDU type is included in the second U-SIG field (U-SIG 2), which may be used as an ELR PPDU indicator in the scheme proposed by the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows an example design 200 of an ELR waveform structure (PPDU) under the proposed scheme according to the present invention. Referring to fig. 2, similar to that in IEEE 802.11be, backward compatibility may be achieved in design 200 by the first six symbols for spoofing. The detailed method may follow the method specified in the IEEE 802.11be standard. Power boosting (Power boosting) may be applied to the spoofing portion as well as the U-SIG portion so that a more remote spoofed device may receive to provide an enhanced spoofing distance. Two U-SIG's may be appended after the spoofing to support forward compatibility with the upcoming Wi-Fi standard and to provide ELR PPDU information in the upcoming Wi-Fi standard. The information of the ELR PPDU may include, for example, but not limited to, physical-layer (PHY) version, PPDU type, bandwidth, transmission direction, basic service set (basic service set, BSS) color, and transmission opportunity (transmission opportunity, TXOP). To provide a significant improvement in transmission distance over that achievable by IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be-based devices (interchangeably referred to herein as legacy devices), legacy devices may not be able to successfully receive and decode the spoofed portion and the U-SIG portion. Thus, a new and designated ELR-STF/LTF/SIG/data field is needed for ELR applications, as shown in fig. 2. Under the proposed scheme, the ELR-LTF/SIG portion may be extended for multi-user scenarios.

Fig. 3 shows an example design 300 of an ELR waveform structure (PPDU) under the proposed scheme according to the present invention. Referring to fig. 3, in contrast to design 200, two additional U-SIG fields may be employed after spoofing the portion in design 300. Power boosting may be applied to the spoofing portion as well as the U-SIG portion to provide an enhanced spoofed distance. The U-SIG may provide ELR PPDU information in the upcoming Wi-Fi standard such as, but not limited to, PHY version, PPDU type, bandwidth, transmission direction, BSS color, and TXOP. Notably, the ELR-LTF/SIG portion may be extended to apply to multi-user scenarios. ER PPDU and ER preamble are introduced in IEEE 802.11ax and IEEE 802.11be, respectively. In design 300, additional 3dB spoofing capability may be expected by reusing (reuse) the time domain repeated U-SIG structure. Although spoofing or end-performance for the transfer distance (delivery distance) may be limited by other parts (e.g., L-STF/LTF/SIG), in the proposed scheme it may provide additional opportunities to cooperate with previous ER devices.

Fig. 4 shows an example design 400 of an STF in an ELR waveform structure (PPDU) in a proposed scheme according to the present invention. Referring to fig. 4, in the proposed scheme, and based on IEEE

The ELR-STF may provide a significant improvement in PD capability over the preamble detection (preamble detection, PD) capability achievable by the 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be device. This enhancement, expressed in m-n dB, may come primarily from two contributions, namely PD receive sensitivity and power boost. In design 400, the ELR-STF sequence may be a waveform designed in time or frequency that is not related to the L-STF to avoid false PD alarms. In addition, the ELR-STF may support at least 20MHz mode to obtain a better data rate scheme. Larger and smaller bandwidths or sub-bands with frequency domain repetition to extend the distance and/or Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) may also be the option. Notably, the PD processing gain may need to cover a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of at least n dB for ELR applications. The peak-to-average-power ratio (PAPR) of the designed ELR-STF may need to be suitably low for power boosting of the ELR preamble portion and provide a ratio based on IEEE

The output power achievable by the 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be device is m dB higher than the output power. In the proposed scheme, ELR-STF may act as signature (signature) for different ELR applications for potential multi-user/spatial streams. In addition, the ELR-LTF/SIG/data fields may support reasonable distance enhancements such as STF segments in the ELR waveform structure.

Fig. 5 shows an example scenario 500 under the proposed solution according to the invention. Scenario 500 pertains to an example ELR-SFT of Golay32 based on pi/2 modulation. Referring to fig. 5, under the conditions of an additive white gaussian noise (additive white Gaussian noise, AWGN) channel and 20/40ppm frequency offset, a PD hit rate (PD hit rate) of 99% or more can be achieved at an SNR input of-6 dB of interest based on different filter design parameters. Under this test condition, at least three cycles of Golay32 are required for a PD hit. The results also indicate that longer distances are possible to support. The filter design parameters may be alpha_mod2=1/32, alpha_mode2_plr=1/8, or alpha_mod2=1/16, alpha_mode2_plr=1/4, or alpha_mod2=1/8, alpha_mode2_plr=1/2.

Fig. 6 shows an example scenario 600 under the proposed solution according to the invention. Scenario 600 pertains to an example ELR-SFT based on pi/2 modulated Golay 32. Referring to fig. 6, the employed example ELR-STF is a single carrier waveform with pi/2 modulation, and thus, the PAPR achieves 0dB and 1.3dB, respectively, without and with pulse shaping. Considering the-0.5 dB PD receive sensitivity and maintaining the same amount of power, the example ELR STF design may provide a performance enhancement of 10.8dB, and may even be higher to achieve better sensitivity or higher power boost.

Regarding transmission of SIG in IEEE 802.11 based Wi-Fi, as in the current IEEE 802.11 family of standards, design of the preamble is primarily focused on coexistence and overhead minimization. To achieve this goal, the conventional design for packet detection, synchronization, boundary (boundary) detection, and channel estimation needs to be reused, so an OFDM symbol duration of 3.2 microseconds (μs) in a 20MHz channel is used for SIG transmission (interchangeably referred to herein as a 1x SIG symbol). In addition, a Guard Interval (GI) for SIG field transmission is 0.8 μs, which is insufficient to support ELR. In the proposed scheme according to the present invention, OFDM symbol durations of 3.2 μs, 6.4 μs, and 12.8 μs (corresponding to 64, 128, and 256 subcarriers in a 20MHz channel) may be used for ELR-SIG transmissions in a 20MHz channel (interchangeably referred to herein as 1x, 2x, and 4x ELR-SIG symbols, respectively). Furthermore, longer GIs for ELR-SIG symbols, e.g. 1.6 μs and 3.2 μs, may be used in the proposed scheme.

Fig. 7 shows an example design 700 of an STF in an ELR waveform structure (PPDU) under the proposed scheme according to the present invention. Referring to fig. 7, PPDUs may be selected according to a target application and an AP-STA distance, wherein an ER (IEEE 802.11 ax) PPDU exceeds a MU PPDU (IEEE 802.11 be) by 3dB due to power boosting and HE (high-efficiency) -SIG repetition. Design 700 provides a new waveform structure that may obtain a transmit path (relievable path) gain of greater than 3dB (> 3 dB) from MU PPDU (IEEE 802.11 be). Since packet detection, synchronization, boundary detection, and channel estimation may depend on ELR-STF/LTF, 3.2/6.4/12.8 μs symbols (1 x/2x/4x ELR-SIG symbols) and 1.6/3.2 μs GIs may be utilized for ELR PPDUs, which are suitable for outdoor and/or long reach applications due to their excellent performance (long reach application). In addition, the OFDM symbol durations of the ELR-LTF and the ELR-SIG may be the same or different, but if the ELR-LTF and the ELR-SIG have the same symbol duration, the channel estimation does not require additional interpolation processing. The CFO in fig. 7 is the carrier frequency offset (carrier frequency offset).

Fig. 8 shows an example scenario 800 in a proposed solution according to the invention. Scene 800 relates to a 1x/2x/4x ELR-SIG symbol and a GI of 1.6/3.2 mus. It can be seen that the 1x OFDM symbol duration (3.2 mus) and longer GI of the ELR PPDU have the benefit of reusing the legacy design. With an increase in OFDM symbol duration (6.4/12.8 mus), throughput enhancement and long range (long-range) reliability can be obtained compared to the "3.2 mus+0.8 mus GI" example.

Fig. 9 shows an example scenario 900 in the proposed solution according to the invention. For the overhead of the 1x/2x/4xELR-SIG symbol, the data rate requirement ranges from 0.12Mbps to 4Mbps (e.g., in the case of video doorbell and surveillance cameras). Thus, under the proposed scheme according to the present invention, rates as low as 1Mbps (e.g., 1 bit/μs) may be applied to ELR-SIG, or even lower rates, to achieve better robustness. To achieve this goal, time and/or frequency domain repetition and/or lower forward error correction (forward error correction, FEC) code rates (e.g., 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, etc.) may be applied. If there are 60/45/40/16 bits in the ELR-SIG, at least 60/45/40/16 μs may be required for ELR-SIG alone (without the GI). Under the foregoing assumption, overhead is summarized in the table shown in fig. 9. Since the ELR-SIG OFDM symbol duration is relatively long, a 2x/4x ELR-SIG symbol may save overhead with relatively more bits where the same GI is used. However, if the multiple out portion (overflow) of the SIG is pushed into the data portion (e.g., 16-bit example in ELR-SIG), the 1x ELR-SIG symbol may reuse the legacy design while also maintaining a short overhead. As shown in fig. 9, a Cyclic Prefix (CP) may be filled in the GI.

Fig. 10 shows an example design 1000 of an ELR-SIG in a proposed solution according to the invention. For ELR-SIG, the U-SIG information may not pass the cyclic redundancy check (cyclic redundancy check, CRC) or may not be received because the L-STF cannot trigger legacy preamble detection (legacy preamble detection, L-PD). In view of this consideration, under the proposed scheme, the content of L-SIG, U-SIG, and EHT-ELR may be borrowed, refined, and combined into useful SIG content and placed into the ELR-SIG. Based on the PPDU structure as shown in fig. 10, ELR-SIG may be indicated as ELR-SIG1 for a common SIG field and ELR-SIG2 for a user-specific field, respectively.

Fig. 11 shows an example design 1100 of ELR version subfields in the proposed solution according to the invention. In IEEE 802.11be, ELR versions distinguish between different PHY versions (e.g., wiFi7 and WiFi 8), and may be set to 0 for EHT (values 1-7 are not defined (Validate)). For ELR, an ELR version subfield may be used to distinguish the ELR version and the ELR version may be contained in ELR-SIG 1. The reserved bits may depend on the future Internet of things (IoT) market. In the proposed scheme, the ELR version is different from the PHY version identifier in the U-SIG. For example, a first version of the ELR version may be defined in WiFi8, while a second version of the ELR may not be defined in WiFi 9. The separate identifier (separate identifiers) may avoid additional modifications in WiFi 9. If two versions (e.g., SU and MU) are defined in WiFi8, separate identifiers also help to distinguish them. For example, using 2 bits to represent the ELR version, the value may be set to 0 for the first version of ELR, with values 1-3 not defined (Validate) ". As another example, the ELR version is represented using 1 bit, and for the first version of ELR, the value may be set to 0, with the value 1 not defined. Referring to fig. 11, the same ELR version may be supported in different WiFi versions.

Fig. 12 shows an example design 1200 of an ELR PPDU type subfield in the proposed scheme according to the present invention. In IEEE 802.11be, the ELR PPDU type has two bits, which are combined with UL/DL (uplink/downlink), EHT-SIG and RU allocation (allocation) subfields to indicate EHT SU/MU/TB/NDP, non-OFDMA/OFDMA, non-MU-MIMO/MU-MIMO. For ELR, an ELR PPDU type subfield may be used to distinguish between different ELR PPDU types, and the ELR PPDU type may be included in the ELR-SIG 1. The ELR PPDU type subfield may not need to have as many combinations as in IEEE 802.11be or WiFi8 (e.g., ELR null-data packet (NDP)). However, it is beneficial to have an ELR PPDU type in the ELR SIG. Thus, in the proposed scheme, the ELR PPDU type may be defined as an example indicating SU/MU and trigger-based (TB), as shown in fig. 12. With the SU/MU identifier, the incoming ELR-SIG2 length and information can be determined.

Fig. 13 shows an example design 1300 of ELR modulation and coding scheme (modulation and coding scheme, MCS) subfields in the proposed scheme according to the invention. In IEEE 802.11be, the relevant subfield for the EHT-MCS may be set to 0-15, which has 4 bits. The lowest data rate in the 242-tone Resource Unit (RU) is Mcs15 using binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) -dual carrier modulation (dual-carrier modulation, DCM) and 3.2 μ sGI. For ELR, an MCS level may be set for each user, and an ELR MCS subfield may be included in ELR-SIG1 for SU transmissions, or it may be included in ELR-SIG2 for user-specific (user-specific) MCS levels. Because the primary objective is to improve link reliability and coverage, ELR communications are less likely to employ higher levels of quadrature amplitude modulation (quadrature amplitude modulation, QAM) modulation. For ELR communications, QAM levels may be limited and lower data rate formats may be introduced to better serve ELR STAs. In this regard, since the newly defined MCS level may be included in WiFi8, the ELR MCS table in the proposed scheme may be a subset of the full MCS table or a compressed MCS table of the full MCS table in the upcoming WiFi standard. As an example, the ELR MCS table may include a low data rate subset in the MCS table. For example, a comprehensive table of 242-tone RUs shown in FIG. 13. In this case, index 0 may map to MCS16, index 1 may map to MCS17, and index 2 may map to index MCS18. It is noted that it is not necessary to map continuously, and that it is acceptable that index 0 maps to MCS0 and index 1 maps to MCS 16. As another example, using the comprehensive table of 242-tone RUs shown in fig. 13, in the case of OFDMA support, index 3 may be used to indicate the MCS level of ELR-SIG2 (if present), and it may automatically become the ELR-SIG2 MCS.

Fig. 14 shows an example scenario 1400 of an ELR MCS subfield under the proposed scheme according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 14, the original table is from IEEE P802.11be ^TM /D3.0, and the ELR MCS table may be a compressed MCS table from a subset of or a complete MCS table in the upcoming WiFi standard.

Regarding the ELR GI size, in IEEE 802.11be, a 2-bit ELR GI subfield indicates a GI duration and an EHT-LTF size. This value is set to 0 to indicate 2x ltf+0.8μs GI, to 1 to 2x ltf+1.6μs GI, to 2 to 4x ltf+0.8μs GI, and to 3 to 4x ltf+3.2μs GI. For ELR, an ELR GI size subfield may indicate the GI duration. In this regard, an example of "gi+ltf size" may be modified to "ELR GI size" and may be included in ELR-SIG 2. To provide excellent performance for outdoor and/or long reach applications (long reach application), 0.8 μs GI is not considered. More specifically, under the proposed scheme, the size of the ELR GI size subfield may be reduced to 1 bit. For example, in case of using a short guard interval, the value of the ELR GI size subfield may be set to 0. In case a short guard interval is not used in the data field, then the value may be set to 1. For example, for a 1.6 μs GI, the value may be set to 0, and for a 3.2 μs GI, the value may be set to 1.

Fig. 15 shows an example design 1500 of ELR RU allocation subfields in the proposed scheme according to the present invention. In IEEE 802.11be, the RU allocation-A subfield is presented in the EHT-SIG content with a number of bits of 9. For ELR, an ELR RU allocation subfield may indicate RU allocation (if the ELR supports OFDMA), and the ELR RU allocation subfield may be included in ELR-SIG 2. For ELR scenarios, the indication of 9 bits for RU allocation in IEEE 802.11be tends to be quite complex. ELR RU allocations should limit the possible RU allocation combinations. Under the proposed scheme, the ELR RU allocation combinations may be a subset of the full RU allocation tables or compressed and modified versions of the full RU allocation tables in the upcoming WiFi standard, as shown in fig. 15. The ELR RU allocation subfield may indicate a subset of the complete RU allocation table in the upcoming WiFi standard or RU allocations in a compressed and modified version of the complete RU allocation table.

Fig. 16 illustrates an example scenario 1600 of ELR RU allocation in a proposed scheme according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 16, the table is from IEEE P802.11be ^TM and/D3.0. In this example, ELR RU assignments may be proposed as a subset of RU assignments or a compressed and modified version of RU assignments in the upcoming WiFi standard. There may be a one-to-one mapping from the complete table.

In IEEE 802.11be, an STA-ID (STAidentifier ) subfield is set to a value of the TXVECTOR parameter STA-ID, and the number of bits is 11, which is used to indicate a specific STA. For ELR, an ELR STA-ID subfield may be used to indicate an ELR STA-ID and may be included in ELR-SIG 2.11 bits for the STA-ID in IEEE 802.11 are too long in the ELR scene. The ELR STA-ID should reduce its number of bits and may be defined as a truncated Association ID (AID). Thus, in the proposed scheme, the ELR STA-ID may be defined as a truncated AID and may start transmitting from its least significant bit (least significant bit, LSB). Wherein the number of bits of the truncated AID is smaller than that of the AID in IEEE 802.11 be. For example, the original AID (e.g., AID in IEEE 802.11 be) is 11 bits, and the ELR STA-ID of the present application may have 6 bits. In this example, duplicate ELR STA-IDs may or may not be allowed depending on design goals. As an example, the ELR STA-ID may have 6 bits and may allow for duplicate ELR STA-IDs. In this way, in case that the PPDU ELR STA-ID does not match itself, some ELR STAs do not continue to demodulate the PPDU, so power can be saved. The scheme can be applied in SU. As another example, each STA may be assigned a unique ELR STA-ID. In this case, the ELR STA may save power and the ELR STA-ID may function the same as the STA-ID in IEEE 802.11 be.

In view of the above, it can be summarized that the waveform structure of ELR communications using Wi-Fi under the proposed scheme may include a new ELR PPDU with backward and forward compatibility with existing and upcoming/future (i.e., different generation Wi-Fi standards). One option may be based on an EHT, where the ELR-STF, LTF, SIG and data subfields may follow U-SIG1 and U-SIG 2. Modulation of the ELR-STF subfield may use a Golay (Golay) sequence. Another option may be based on an EHT ER, where ELR-STF, LTF, SIG and data subfields may follow U-SIG1, U-SIG2, and corresponding repeated U-SIG (e.g., U-SIG3 and U-SIG 4). Furthermore, in order to achieve an efficient SIG transmission in the ELR PPDU, an efficient ELR-SIG symbol duration may be utilized in the proposed scheme. In the first option (option 1), the duration may be 3.2 μs (corresponding to 64 subcarriers in a 20MHz channel) and the GI is 1.6 μs or 3.2 μs. In a second option (option 2), the duration may be 6.4 μs (corresponding to 128 subcarriers in a 20MHz channel), and the GI is 1.6 μs or 3.2 μs. In a third option (option 3), the duration may be 12.8 μs (corresponding to 256 subcarriers in a 20MHz channel) and the GI is 1.6 μs or 3.2 μs GI. Furthermore, in the proposed scheme, the ELR-SIG may include or otherwise contain various subfields, such as, but not limited to, ELR version, ELR PPDU type, ELR GI size, ELR MCS, ELR RU allocation, and ELR STA-ID.

Illustrative embodiments

Fig. 17 illustrates an example system 1700 having at least an example apparatus 1710 and an example apparatus 1720 according to an embodiment of the invention. Each of the apparatus 1710 and 1720 may perform various functions to implement the schemes, techniques, procedures, and methods described herein in connection with ELR waveform structures and SIG subfields in wireless communications, including the various schemes described above with respect to the various proposed designs, concepts, schemes, systems, and methods, and procedures described below. For example, apparatus 1710 may be implemented in STA 110, and apparatus 1720 may be implemented in STA120, or vice versa.

Each of device 1710 and device 1720 may be part of an electronic device, which may be a non-AP STA or an AP STA, such as a portable or mobile device, a wearable device, a wireless communication device, or a computing device. When implemented in a STA, each of the apparatuses 1710 and 1720 may be implemented in a smart phone, a smart watch, a personal digital assistant, a digital camera, or a computing device such as a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a notebook computer. Each of the devices 1710 and 1720 may also be part of a machine type device, which may be an IoT device, such as a non-removable or fixed device, a home device, a wired communication device, or a computing device. For example, each of the devices 1710 and 1720 may be implemented in a smart thermostat, a smart refrigerator, a smart door lock, a wireless speaker, or a home control center. When implemented in or as a network device, the device 1710 and/or the device 1720 may be implemented in a network node, e.g., an AP in a WLAN.

In some implementations, each of the apparatuses 1710 and 1720 may be implemented in the form of one or more Integrated Circuit (IC) chips, such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more reduced-instruction-set-computing (RISC) processors, or one or more complex-instruction-set-computing (CISC) processors. In the various aspects described above, each of the apparatus 1710 and 1720 may be implemented in or as a STA or AP. Each of the apparatus 1710 and 1720 may include at least some of those components shown in fig. 17, e.g., a processor 1712 and a processor 1722. Each of the apparatus 1710 and 1720 may also include one or more other components (e.g., an internal power source, a display device, and/or a user interface device) not related to the proposed solution of the present invention, neither such components of the apparatus 1710 and 1720 being shown in fig. 17 nor described below for simplicity and brevity.

In an aspect, each of processor 1712 and processor 1722 may be implemented in the form of one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more RISC processors, or one or more CISC processors. That is, although the singular term "processor" is used herein to refer to the processor 1712 and the processor 1722, each of the processor 1712 and the processor 1722 may include multiple processors in some embodiments and a single processor in other embodiments according to the present invention. In another aspect, each of the processor 1712 and the processor 1722 may be implemented in hardware (and optionally firmware) with electronic components including, for example, but not limited to, one or more transistors, one or more diodes, one or more capacitors, one or more resistors, one or more inductors, one or more memristors, and/or one or more varactors configured and arranged to achieve particular objects in accordance with the invention. In other words, in at least some embodiments, each of the processor 1712 and the processor 1722 is a special purpose machine specifically designed, arranged, and configured to perform certain tasks, including tasks related to ELR waveform structures and SIG subfields in wireless communications according to embodiments of the present invention.

In some implementations, the apparatus 1710 may further include a transceiver 1716 coupled to the processor 1712. The transceiver 1716 may include a transmitter capable of wirelessly transmitting data and a receiver capable of wirelessly receiving data. In some implementations, the apparatus 1720 may further include a transceiver 1726 coupled to the processor 1722. The transceiver 1726 may include a transmitter capable of wirelessly transmitting data and a receiver capable of wirelessly receiving data. Notably, although transceiver 1716 and transceiver 1726 are shown external to processor 1712 and processor 1722, respectively, and separate from processor 1712 and processor 1722, in some embodiments transceiver 1716 may be an integrated part of processor 1712 as a system on chip (SoC). Transceiver 1726 may be an integral part of processor 1722 as a SoC.

In some implementations, the apparatus 1710 may further include a memory 1714 coupled to the processor 1712 and capable of being accessed by the processor 1712 and storing data therein. In some implementations, the apparatus 1720 may further include a memory 1724, the memory 1724 coupled to the processor 1722 and capable of being accessed by the processor 1722 and storing data therein. Each of the memory 1714 and the memory 1724 may include a type of random-access memory (RAM), such as Dynamic RAM (DRAM), static RAM (SRAM), thyristor RAM (T-RAM), and/or zero-capacitor RAM (Z-RAM). Alternatively or additionally, each of memory 1714 and memory 1724 may include a type of read-only memory (ROM), such as mask ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (erasable programmable ROM, EPROM), and/or electrically erasable programmable ROM (electrically erasable programmable ROM, EEPROM). Alternatively or additionally, each of memory 1714 and memory 1724 may include a type of non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM), such as flash memory (flash memory), solid-state memory, ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM), magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), and/or phase-change memory (phase-change memory).

Each of the apparatus 1710 and the apparatus 1720 may be communication entities capable of communicating with each other using various proposed schemes according to the present invention. For illustrative purposes, and not limitation, a description of the capabilities of device 1710 as STA 110 and device 1720 as STA120 is provided below. It is noted that while a detailed description of the capabilities, functions and/or technical features of device 1720 is provided below, it is equally applicable to device 1710, although a detailed description thereof is not provided merely for brevity. It is also noted that while the example embodiments described below are provided in the context of a WLAN, they may be implemented in other types of networks as well.

Under various proposed schemes related to ELR waveform structure and SIG subfield in wireless communication according to the present invention, in the network environment 100, the apparatus 1710 is implemented in the STA 110 or as the STA 110, the apparatus 1720 is implemented in the STA120 or as the STA120, and the processor 1712 of the apparatus 1710 may perform ELR wireless communication involving the ELR PPDU via the transceiver 1716 by: (i) transmitting the ELR PPDU; or (ii) receiving an ELR PPDU. The ELR PPDU may include a waveform structure having a Wi-Fi standard compatible with forward and backward pre-existing and upcoming, i.e., different generations.

In some embodiments, the ELR PPDU may include an ELR-STF, an ELR-LTF, an ELR-SIG, and an ELR-Data following U-SIGl and U-SIG 2. In some embodiments, the ELR-STF may be modulated using a gray sequence. In some implementations, U-SIG1 and U-SIG2 can support forward compatibility with respect to ELR applications and upcoming/different Wi-Fi standards. In addition, the ELR PPDU may also include legacy fields that serve as spoofing to support backward compatibility. In some implementations, the ELR-SIG may have a symbol duration of 3.2 μs (corresponding to 64 subcarriers in a 20MHz channel) and a GI of 1.6 or 3.2 μs. Alternatively, the ELR-SIG may have a symbol duration of 6.4 μs (corresponding to 128 subcarriers in a 20MHz channel) and a GI of 1.6 or 3.2 μs. Still alternatively, the ELR-SIG may have a symbol duration of 12.8 μs (corresponding to 256 subcarriers in a 20MHz channel) and a GI of 1.6 or 3.2 μs.

In some embodiments, the ELR PPDU may include: ELR-STF, ELR-LTF, ELR-SIG and ELR-Data following U-SIGl, U-SIG2 and corresponding repeated common signal fields (U-SIG 3 and U-SIG 4). In some implementations, U-SIG1, U-SIG2, U-SIG3, and U-SIG4 may support forward compatibility with respect to ELR applications and upcoming/different Wi-Fi standards. In addition, the ELR PPDU may also include legacy fields that serve as spoofing to support backward compatibility. In some implementations, the ELR-SIG may have a symbol duration of 3.2 μs (corresponding to 64 subcarriers in a 20MHz channel) and a GI of 1.6 or 3.2 μs. Alternatively, the ELR-SIG may have a symbol duration of 6.4 μs (corresponding to 128 subcarriers in a 20MHz channel), and a GI of 1.6 or 3.2 μs. Still alternatively, the ELR-SIG may have a symbol duration of 12.8 μs (corresponding to 256 subcarriers in a 20MHz channel) and a GI of 1.6 or 3.2 μs.

In some implementations, the ELR PPDU may include an indication of a different ELR version than the PHY identifier indicated in the U-SIG of the ELR PPDU.

In some implementations, the ELR PPDU may include an indication of an ELR PPDU type in the ELR-SIG. Further, the ELR PPDU type may be SU, MU, or TB type.

In some implementations, the ELR PPDU may include an indication of an ELR MCS, which may be a subset of a complete MCS table or a compressed MCS table of a complete MCS table.

In some embodiments, the ELR PPDU may include a1 bit indication of the ELR GI size, which indicates that the ELR GI size is 1.6 or 3.2 μs.

In some embodiments, the ELR PPDU may include an indication of an ELR RU allocation, which may be a subset of the full RU allocation table or a compressed and modified version of the full RU allocation table.

In some implementations, the ELR PPDU may include an indication of an ELR STA ID, which is a truncated Association Identifier (AID). In addition, ELR STAID may be transmitted from its LSB.

Illustrative procedure

FIG. 18 shows an example process 1800 according to an embodiment of the invention. Process 1800 may represent aspects of implementing the various proposed designs, concepts, schemes, systems and methods described above. More particularly, process 1800 may represent one aspect of the proposed concepts and schemes related to ELR waveform structures and SIG subfields in wireless communications in accordance with the present invention. Process 1800 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as illustrated by block 1810 and one or more of sub-blocks 1812 and 1814. While shown as discrete blocks, the various blocks of process 1800 may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. Further, the blocks/sub-blocks of process 1800 may be performed in the order shown in fig. 18, or in a different order. Further, one or more blocks/sub-blocks of process 1800 may be performed repeatedly or iteratively. Process 1800 may be implemented by apparatus 1710 and apparatus 1720, and any variant thereof, or in apparatus 1710 and apparatus 1720. For illustrative purposes only and without limiting the scope, the process 1800 is described below in the context of an apparatus 1710 implemented in STA110 acting as a non-AP STA or as STA110 acting as a non-AP STA, and an apparatus 1720 implemented in STA120 acting as an AP STA or as STA120 acting as an AP STA, the AP STA and the non-AP STA being located in a wireless network, such as a WLAN in network environment 100 according to one or more IEEE 802.11 standards. Process 1800 may begin at block 1810.

At 1810, the process 1800 may involve the processor 1712 of the apparatus 1710 performing ELR wireless communications involving an ELR PPDU via the transceiver 1716, which may be represented by 1812 and 1814. ELR PPDUs may include waveform structures that are forward and backward compatible with existing and upcoming (i.e., different generation Wi-Fi standards).

At 1812, the process 1800 may involve the processor 1712 transmitting an ELR PPDU.

At 1814, the process 1800 may involve the processor 1712 receiving an ELR PPDU.

In some embodiments, the ELR PPDU may include an ELR-STF, an ELR-LTF, an ELR-SIG, and an ELR-Data following U-SIGl and U-SIG 2. In some embodiments, the ELR-STF may be modulated using a gray sequence. In some implementations, U-SIG1 and U-SIG2 may support forward compatibility with respect to ELR applications and upcoming/different Wi-Fi standards. In addition, the ELR PPDU may also include legacy fields that serve as spoofing to support backward compatibility. In some implementations, the ELR-SIG may have a symbol duration of 3.2 μs (corresponding to 64 subcarriers in a 20MHz channel) and a GI of 1.6 or 3.2 μs. Alternatively, the ELR-SIG may have a symbol duration of 6.4 μs (corresponding to 128 subcarriers in a 20MHz channel), and a GI of 1.6 μs or 3.2 μs. Still alternatively, the ELR-SIG may have a symbol duration of 12.8 μs (corresponding to 256 subcarriers in a 20MHz channel) and a GI of 1.6 μs or 3.2 μs.

In some embodiments, the ELR PPDU may include an ELR-STF, an ELR-LTF, an ELR-SIG, and an ELR-Data following U-SIG1, U-SIG2, and corresponding repeated common signal fields (U-SIG 3 and U-SIG 4). In some implementations, U-SIG1, U-SIG2, U-SIG3, and U-SIG4 may support forward compatibility with respect to ELR applications and upcoming/different Wi-Fi standards. In addition, the ELR PPDU may also include legacy fields that serve as spoofing to support backward compatibility. In some implementations, the ELR-SIG may have a symbol duration of 3.2 μs (corresponding to 64 subcarriers in a 20MHz channel) and a GI of 1.6 or 3.2 μs. Alternatively, the ELR-SIG may have a symbol duration of 6.4 μs (corresponding to 128 subcarriers in a 20MHz channel), and a GI of 1.6 or 3.2 μs. Still alternatively, the ELR-SIG may have a symbol duration of 12.8 μs (corresponding to 256 subcarriers in a 20MHz channel) and a GI of 1.6 or 3.2 μs.

In some implementations, the ELR PPDU may include an indication of a different ELR version than the PHY identifier indicated in the U-SIG of the ELR PPDU.

In some implementations, the ELR PPDU may include an indication of an ELR PPDU type in the ELR-SIG. Further, the ELR PPDU type may be SU, MU, or TB type.

In some implementations, the ELR PPDU may include an indication of an ELR MCS, which may be a subset of a complete MCS table or a compressed MCS table of a complete MCS table.

In some embodiments, the ELR PPDU may include a 1-bit indication of the ELR GI size, which indicates that the ELR GI size is 1.6 or 3.2 μs.

In some embodiments, the ELR PPDU may include an indication of an ELR RU allocation, which may be a subset of the full RU allocation table or a compressed and modified version of the full RU allocation table.

In some implementations, the ELR PPDU may include an indication of an ELR STA ID, which is a truncated Association Identifier (AID). In addition, the ELR STA ID may start transmitting from its LSB.

Additional description

The subject matter described herein sometimes illustrates different components contained within or connected with other different components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely examples, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively "associated" such that the desired functionality is achieved. Thus, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as "associated with" each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being "operably connected," or "operably coupled," to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being "operably coupled," to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably coupled include, but are not limited to, physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components.

Furthermore, with respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural depending upon the context and/or application. For clarity, various singular/plural permutations may be explicitly set forth herein.

Furthermore, it will be understood by those within the art that terms commonly used herein, and especially those in the appended claims, such as the subject of the appended claims, are generally intended as "open" terms, such as the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "comprising" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," and so forth. It will be further understood by those with skill in the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim element is intended, such intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim elements. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim element by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim element to only one such element, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an", e.g. "a" and/or "an" are to be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one or more", and the same is also suitable for use with respect to the introductory phrases such as "one or more" or "at least one". Furthermore, even if a specific number of an introduced claim element is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number, e.g., the bare recitation of "two elements," without other modifiers, meaning at least two elements, or two or more elements. Further, where a structure similar to "at least one of a, B, and C, etc." is used, for its purpose, such a construction is typical, and one skilled in the art would understand the convention, for example "the system has at least one of a, B, and C" would include, but not be limited to, the system having a alone a, B alone, C, A alone and B together, a and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B and C together, etc. Where a structure similar to "at least one of a, B, or C, etc." is used, such a construction is typical for its purpose, one having skill in the art would understand the convention, for example "a system having at least one of a, B, or C" would include, but not be limited to, a system having a alone, B alone, C, A and B together, a and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B and C together, etc. Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternatives, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, any of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase "a or B" will be understood to include the possibilities of "a" or "B" or "a and B".

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various embodiments of the application have been described herein for purposes of illustration, and that various modifications may be made without deviating from the scope and spirit of the application. Accordingly, the various embodiments disclosed herein are not meant to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being determined by the following claims.

Claims (17)

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

the processor of the apparatus performs Enhanced Long Range (ELR) wireless communication by:

transmitting an ELR physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU); or alternatively

The ELR PPDU is received and,

wherein the ELR PPDU includes a waveform structure that is backward and forward compatible with different generations of Wi-Fi standards.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the ELR PPDU comprises: an ELR short training field (ELR-STF), an ELR long training field (ELR-LTF), an ELR signal field (ELR-SIG), and an ELR Data field (ELR-Data) following the first and second common signal fields (U-SIG 1, 2).

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the ELR-STF is modulated using a gray sequence.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the U-SIG1 and U-SIG2 support forward compatibility of ELR applications and different Wi-Fi standards, and the ELR PPDU further comprises: serving as a spoofing role to support backward compatible legacy fields.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the ELR PPDU comprises: an ELR short training field (ELR-STF), an ELR long training field (ELR-LTF), an ELR signal field (ELR-SIG), and an ELR Data field (ELR-Data) following the first common signal field (U-SIG 1), the second common signal field (U-SIG 2), and the corresponding repeated common signal fields (U-SIG 3 and U-SIG 4).

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the U-SIG1, U-SIG2, U-SIG3, and U-SIG4 support forward compatibility of ELR applications and different Wi-Fi standards, and wherein the ELR PPDU further comprises: serving as a spoofing role to support backward compatible legacy fields.

7. The method of claim 2 or 5, wherein the ELR-SIG has a symbol duration of 3.2 μs and a GI of 1.6 or 3.2 μs.

8. The method of claim 2 or 5, wherein the ELR-SIG has a symbol duration of 6.4 μs and a GI of 1.6 or 3.2 μs.

9. The method of claim 2 or 5, wherein the ELR-SIG has a symbol duration of 12.8 μs and a GI of 1.6 or 3.2 μs.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the ELR PPDU comprises: an indication of an ELR version that is different from a physical layer (PHY) identifier indicated in a universal signal field (U-SIG) of the ELR PPDU.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the ELR PPDU comprises: an indication of an ELR PPDU type in an ELR signal field (ELR-SIG), wherein the ELR PPDU type is a Single User (SU) type, a multi-user (MU) type, or a trigger-based (TB) type.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the ELR PPDU comprises: an indication of an ELR Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) that is an MCS in a subset of a complete MCS table or an MCS in a compressed MCS table of a complete MCS table.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the ELR PPDU comprises a 1 bit indication indicating an ELR Guard Interval (GI) size that indicates the ELR GI size is 1.6 μs or 3.2 μs.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the ELR PPDU comprises an indication of an ELR Resource Unit (RU) allocation, the ELR RU allocation being an RU allocation in a subset of a full RU allocation table or an RU allocation in a compressed and modified version of a full RU allocation table.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the ELR PPDU includes an indication of an ELR Station (STA) Identifier (ID), the ELR STA ID is a truncated Association Identifier (AID), and the ELR STA ID is transmitted starting from its Least Significant Bit (LSB).

16. A communication device, comprising:

a transceiver for wireless communication; and

a processor coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform Enhanced Long Range (ELR) wireless communication via the transceiver by:

transmitting an ELR physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU); or alternatively

The ELR PPDU is received and,

wherein the ELR PPDU includes a waveform structure that is backward and forward compatible with different generations of Wi-Fi standards.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the ELR PPDU comprises:

an ELR short training field (ELR-STF), an ELR long training field (ELR-LTF), an ELR signal field (ELR-SIG), and an ELR Data field (ELR-Data) following the first and second common signal fields (U-SIG 1, 2); or,

ELR-STR, ELR-LTF, ELR-SIG and ELR-Data following U-SIG1, U-SIG2 and corresponding repeated common signal fields (U-SIG 3 and U-SIG 4).