DE112018007686T5 - METHOD AND DEVICE FOR FACILITATING SYNCHRONOUS TRANSMISSION OPPORTUNITY IN A WIRELESS LOCAL NETWORK - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and apparatus for facilitating a synchronous transmission opportunity in a wireless local area network are disclosed. An exemplary apparatus includes a transmission opportunity feature determiner for dividing a transmission opportunity into transmission intervals, each of the transmission intervals being reserved for at least one of an uplink transmission and a downlink transmission; a preamble generator for generating a preamble containing information on durations of the transmission intervals and a total number of transmission intervals; and an interface to transmit the preamble to a station to initiate the transmission opportunity.

Description

FIELD OF REVELATION

The disclosure relates generally to wireless fidelity fidelity (Wi-Fi) connectivity and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for facilitating synchronous transmission opportunity in a wireless local area network.

STATE OF THE ART

Many locations provide Wi-Fi to connect Wi-Fi-enabled devices to networks such as the Internet. Wi-Fi-enabled devices include personal computers, video game consoles, cell phones and devices, digital cameras, tablets, smart televisions, digital audio players, etc. Wi-Fi allows Wi-Fi-enabled devices to access the Internet wirelessly over a wireless local area network (WLAN). To provide Wi-Fi connectivity to a device, a Wi-Fi access point exchanges radio frequency Wi-Fi signals with the Wi-Fi-enabled device within the signal range of the access point (e.g. a hotspot). Wi-Fi is implemented using a set of media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) specifications (e.g., such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 protocol).

Figure list

• 1 Figure 13 is an illustration of a communication system using wireless local area network Wi-Fi protocols to facilitate synchronous transmission opportunity in a wireless local area network.
• 2 FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an exemplary PHY level communication determiner of FIG 1 .
• 3 FIG. 13 is an example of a synchronous transmission opportunity that includes frames / fields generated by the exemplary PHY level communication determiner of FIG 1 and / or 2 can be generated.
• 4-7 FIG. 13 is flowcharts indicating example machine readable instructions that may be executed to perform the example PHY level communication determinator of the example access point of FIG 1 to implement.
• 8-10 FIG. 13 is flowcharts indicating example machine-readable instructions that may be executed to perform the example PHY level communications determinator of the example non-legacy station of FIG 1 to implement.
• 11 Figure 13 is a block diagram of a radio architecture in accordance with some examples.
• 12th FIG. 11 illustrates exemplary front end module circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG 11 in accordance with some examples.
• 13th FIG. 14 illustrates exemplary radio integrated circuit circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG 11 in accordance with some examples.
• 14th FIG. 7 illustrates exemplary baseband processing circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG 11 in accordance with some examples.
• 15th FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a processor platform that is structured to include the exemplary machine readable instructions of FIG 4-10 to implement the exemplary PHY level communication determiner.

The figures are not true to scale. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used in the drawing (s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Different locations (e.g. homes, offices, coffeehouses, restaurants, parks, airports, etc.) can provide Wi-Fi to the Wi-Fi-ready devices (e.g. stations (STA)) in order to connect the Wi-Fi-ready devices to the Internet or any other network with minimal effort. The sites can provide one or more Wi-Fi access points (APs) to output Wi-Fi signals to the Wi-Fi-ready devices within a range of the Wi-Fi signals (e.g. a hotspot). A Wi-Fi AP is structured to wirelessly connect a Wi-Fi-ready device to the Internet through a wireless local area network (WLAN) using Wi-Fi protocols (e.g., such as IEEE 802.11). The Wi-Fi protocol is how the AP communicates with devices to provide access to the Internet by transmitting uplink (UL) transmissions to the Internet and receiving downlink (DL) transmissions from the Internet.

Autonomous systems, smart factories, professional audio / video and mobile / wireless VR are time-sensitive applications that require low and deterministic latency with high reliability. For example, professional audio / video, industrial control / automation, autonomous systems, wireless VR can have ultra-low latency on the order of a fraction of Delivered from milliseconds to a few milliseconds in a consistent and predictable manner. Traditional Wi-Fi systems focus on improving throughput and efficiency. However, such conventional systems do not provide low enough latency with high enough reliability to work satisfactorily with some time sensitive applications. For example, in some time-sensitive applications, each packet may have a target delivery time (latency limit) and may not be able to take advantage of aggregation techniques commonly used to increase throughput efficiency.

Examples disclosed herein include an AP-initiated transmission opportunity corresponding to a sequence of synchronous, conflict-free (uplink or downlink) transmissions scheduled by the AP. Examples disclosed herein include generating a Synchronous Transmission Opportunity (S-TXOP) preamble that enables coexistence with legacy STAs (e.g., conventional non-S-TXOP-capable STAs) and communicating S-TXOP configuration information to non-legacy STAs (e.g., STAs) S-TXOP-capable STAs). In this way, data transfers (e.g. UL or DL) occur with known time limits and do not carry older synchronization (e.g. older short training field (L-STF) or older long training field (L-LTF) frames). Accordingly, non-older STAs use the S-TXOP preamble to synchronize with the AP and only a small synchronization field (e.g. a light preamble) can be added to the DL / UL physical layer convergence protocol data unit (PPDU) to compensate for residual carrier frequency shifts (CFOs) and / or correct symbol timing shifts. The S-TXOP definition allows the AP to define multiple UL / DL interval configurations as needed to meet deterministic / low latency requirements of STAs. By using the S-TXOP preamble for timing and frequency synchronization, unnecessary overhead (e.g. older preambles) in the planned DL / UL operations can be avoided, thereby increasing the overall system throughput / capacity while enabling low latency applications.

Examples disclosed herein provide better performance in terms of throughput efficiency, ultra-low and deterministic latency compared to conventional Wi-Fi systems. For example, using the examples disclosed herein, the preamble (e.g., light preamble) of individual physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data units (PPDU) is increased by 41.6 microseconds (µs) for each DL PPDU and 112 µs for each UL PPDU considering single input - Single exit (SISO) communication with nine stations reduced. Examples disclosed herein support high numbers of STAs for given wireless resources while meeting latency limits for time sensitive applications. Examples disclosed herein provide higher throughput efficiency through reduced PHY overhead and synchronous, conflict-free transmissions. The S-TXOP format also enables higher reliability and facilitates implementation of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) techniques, as described below.

In some examples disclosed herein, the S-TXOP allows to switch between DL and UL within a TXOP, thereby providing flexibility for the AP (planner) to address time sensitive / low latency applications. However, alternating between DL / UL requires constant switching from receiver (RX) to transmitter (TX) radio modes and vice versa, which can result in the presence of residual carrier frequency and symbol timing shifts (e.g. after CFO correction and symbol Timing estimation during S-TXOP preamble processing). Therefore, removing the timing / frequency synchronization completely from the DL / UL intervals can result in a small carrier frequency shift after each RX / TX transmission. Accordingly, examples disclosed herein include a minimum synchronization field in each scheduled DL / UL interval to allow for small CFO correction. Because conventional L-STF or L-LTF fields are designed to correct high CFOs, examples disclosed herein can eliminate such conventional fields and replace them with an OFDM symbol synchronization field (instead of 2 symbols as in L-STF and L- LTF) with two symbol repetitions (3.2 µs) preceded by a cyclic prefix (0.8 µs). In this way, examples disclosed herein reduce the overhead of preambles from PPDUs (e.g., for UL and / or DL transmissions) within a transmission opportunity.

In addition, conventional Wi-Fi systems do not support HARQ mechanisms because (A) such systems lack support for centralized planning of transmissions and retransmissions, (B) although long TXOP can be supported for some traffic classes (if TXOP limit = 0), no more than one frame can be sent in such cases; therefore there is no limit to retransmission delay, and (C) such systems only rely on MAC layer acknowledgments (ACKs) as an indication of successful transmission (e.g. contrary to later PHY-ACKs). Although MAC layer ACKs can improve reliability, they also add overhead and latency, which is a problem for time sensitive applications.

Examples disclosed herein support HARQ in older Wi-Fi systems within a synchronous TXOP (S-TXOP) where access is controlled by the AP and time is divided into multiple DL / UL intervals. Examples disclosed herein support HARQ in Wi-Fi systems by decoding and detecting packet errors at the PHY layer. By adding support for HARQ and S-TXOP operation, Wi-Fi APs and clients can benefit from improved connection reliability, latency and increased throughput (e.g. especially when transmitting large data packets), thereby improving the end-user's experience. In addition, the proposed HARQ methods for uplink communications can easily be implemented by 802.11 ax-capable APs by increasing the relatively larger computational and memory resources available compared to stations.

1 Figure 11 illustrates a communication system using wireless local area network Wi-Fi protocols to facilitate a synchronous transmission opportunity. The example of 1 includes an exemplary AP 100 , exemplary application processors 102a , 102b , exemplary PHY level communication determiners 104a , 104b , exemplary radio architectures 106a , 106b , an exemplary older STA 108 , an exemplary non-older STA 110 and an exemplary network 112 . Although the illustrated example of 1 two STAs 108 , 110 may include the exemplary AP 100 communicate with any number and / or type of STAs.

The exemplary AP 100 from 1 is a device that complies with the exemplary STAs 108 , 110 allowed wirelessly on the exemplary network 112 to access. The exemplary AP 100 can be a router, a modem router, and / or any other device that wirelessly connects to the network 112 provides. A router provides a wireless communication link with an STA. The router accesses the network 112 through a wired connection through a modem. A modem router combines the functionalities of the modem and the router. In some examples, the AP is 100 an STA that is in communication with the exemplary senior STA 108 and / or the exemplary non-older STA 110 stands. The exemplary AP 100 includes the exemplary PHY level communication determiner 104b to provide a synchronous transmission opportunity with the exemplary non-older STA 110 to facilitate.

The exemplary application processor 102a , 102b from 1 generates data to be transmitted to a device and / or performs operations based on data extracted from one or more data packets. For example, the application processor 102a , 102b a MAC control in the MAC layer of the AP 100 and / or the non-older STA 110 be. The application processor 102a , 102b assigns the exemplary PHY level communication determiner 104a , 104b to generate data packets (e.g. PPDUs) based on the data that are desired to be transmitted. In addition, the application processor receives 102a Data that is sent by a transmitting device (e.g. the older STA 108 and / or the exemplary non-older STA 110 ) were received. For example, the application processor 102a Receive synchronous data to synchronize itself with a connected device that sets a timer at the MAC layer.

The exemplary PHY level communication determinator 104a of the exemplary AP 100 from 1 generates S-TXOP preambles and data units if the exemplary application processor 102a , 102b from 1 the PHY level communication determiner 104a Sends instructions to transmit data units (e.g. a PPDU) or to receive a data unit. As previously described, older data packet communication includes large preambles corresponding to the initiation of data transmission and also includes large preambles for each DL / UL data transmission interval, causing latency problems for applications that require low latency. Accordingly, the exemplary PHY level communication determinator generates 104a of the exemplary AP 100 the S-TXOP preambles and light data packet preambles with a significant PHY overhead reduction, thereby providing data transmission that is better throughput efficiency, lower latency, and more deterministic latency than older transmissions. The exemplary PHY level communication determinator 140 of the exemplary AP 100 generates the S-TXOP preamble to correspond to a synchronous, conflict-free, low overhead transmission. The exemplary S-TXOP preamble includes fields corresponding to a number and duration of DL / UL intervals for DL / UL transmissions within the transmission opportunity, thereby enabling DL / UL transmission between devices (e.g., the exemplary AP 100 and the exemplary non-senior STA 110 ) is synchronized across the transmission opportunity. The exemplary S-TXOP preamble may include a legacy section and a non-legacy section. In this way, if the more exemplary older STA 108 receives the older portion of the S-TXOP preamble, the older STA sees it 108 refrain from arguing in the medium, thereby creating a conflict-free transmission for the transmission opportunity to the non-older STA 110 provided. An example of the S-TXOP preamble and lighter preambles used by the exemplary PHY level communication determiner 140 of the exemplary AP 100 are generated further below in connection with 3 described. Once the data packet is generated, the PHY level communication determiner transmits 104a the data packet to the exemplary radio architecture 106a to be transmitted wirelessly. The exemplary radio architecture 106a is further linked to below 11 described. In addition, the exemplary PHY level communication determiner receives 104a of the exemplary AP 100 light preambles for UL data packets from the exemplary non-older STA 110 and processes them. As further described below, the slight preambles reduce and / or correct otherwise small CFOs ( 3 PPM or about 15 KHz), which is dependent on constant switching of the RX / TX front end by radio architecture from 11 caused. In some examples, the PHY level communications determinator leads 104a of the exemplary AP 100 automatic repeat request (ARQ) or HARQ to confirm receipt of UL data packets or to confirm negative.

The exemplary PHY level communication determinator 104b the exemplary non-older STA 110 from 1 receives S-TXOP preambles and facilitates communication with the exemplary AP 100 , based on the received S-TXOP preambles. For example, the PHY level communications determiner receives 104b the exemplary non-older STA 110 the S-TXOP preamble at the beginning of a transmission opportunity and processes the S-TXOP preamble to determine the number and duration of intervals for UL / DL transmissions. In addition, the exemplary PHY level communication determinator generates 104b the exemplary non-older STA 110 light preambles for UL data packets relating to the exemplary AP 100 be transmitted. In some examples, the PHY level communications determinator leads 104b the exemplary non-older STA 110 ARQ or HARQ to confirm receipt of DL data packets or to confirm negative. The exemplary PHY level communication determinator 104b the exemplary non-older STA 110 receives and / or transmits data (e.g. including S-TXOP preambles) using the exemplary radio architecture 106b from 11 . In addition, the exemplary PHY level communication determiner communicates 104b the exemplary non-older STA 110 with the exemplary application processor 102b (e.g. the MAC layer) to receive data (e.g. MSDUs) for converting to UL PPDUs, to forward received and requested DL packets and / or to send synchronization information, to a timer of the exemplary application processor 102b to synchronize.

The exemplary STAs 108 , 110 from 1 are Wi-Fi ready computing devices. The exemplary STAs 108 , 110 For example, computing devices, portable devices, mobile devices, cell phones, smartphones, tablets, game systems, digital cameras, digital video recorders, televisions, set-top boxes, e-book readers, automated systems, VR-ready devices and / or any other wi- Be Fi-ready devices. As below in connection with 3 described, the S-TXOP preamble includes an older section, that of the exemplary older STA 108 allows S-TXOP preambles from the exemplary AP 100 to receive and even though they cannot communicate based on the S-TXOP, the exemplary older STA 108 their Network Assignment Vector (NAV), communication during S-TXOP with the exemplary non-older STA 110 to avoid. The exemplary non-older STA 110 includes the exemplary PHY level communication determiner 104b to process S-TXOP preambles and / or data packets that are sent to the exemplary AP 100 to be transmitted in order to process the data packets received from the exemplary AP 100 are transferred.

The exemplary network 112 from 1 is a system of interconnected systems that exchange data. The exemplary network 112 can be implemented using any type of public or private network such as, but not limited to, the Internet, a telephone network, a local area network (LAN), a cable network, and / or a wireless network. To communicate over the network 112 The exemplary Wi-Fi AP includes 100 a communication interface that allows connection to an ethernet, digital subscriber line (DSL), telephone line, coaxial cable, or any wireless connection, etc.

2 Figure 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary implementation of the PHY level communication determinator disclosed herein 104a , 104b from 1 to facilitate a synchronous transmission opportunity. The exemplary PHY level communication determinator 104a , 104b includes an exemplary component interface 200 , an exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner 202 , an exemplary data converter 204 , an exemplary preamble generator 206 , the exemplary communication determiner 208 and an exemplary PHY buffer 210 .

The exemplary component interface 200 from 2 is connected to components of the transmitting device (e.g. the exemplary AP 100 or the exemplary non-older one 110 from 1 ) connected to transmit signals (e.g. data units) and / or signals (e.g. instructions, Generate data units) from the exemplary application processor 102a to recieve. In some examples, if the exemplary PHY level communication determiner 104a in the exemplary AP 100 is implemented, the component interface 200 the exemplary radio architecture 106a from 1 and / or instruct 12 to transmit S-TXOP preambles and / or transmit DL data. In such examples the component interface 200 additional instructions from the exemplary application processor 102a (e.g. the MAC layer) to generate the S-TXOP preamble (s) and / or DL PPDUs during the transmission opportunity. In some examples, if the exemplary PHY level communication determiner 104b in the exemplary non-older STA 110 is implemented, the exemplary component interface 200 S-TXOP preambles and / or DL data from the exemplary radio architecture 106a receive. In such examples the component interface 200 additionally received DL data to the exemplary application processor 102b transmit synchronization information to the exemplary application processor 102b transmit and / or UL data from the exemplary application processor 102b to generate UL PPDUs that conform to the exemplary radio architecture 106b are to be transferred.

The exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner 202 from 2 determines S-TXOP characteristics for the transmission opportunity so that the exemplary AP 100 and the exemplary non-older STA 110 are synchronized across the transmission opportunity. The S-TXOP feature determiner 202 determines the S-TXOP characteristics by dividing the transmission into intervals based on the UL data and / or the DL data to be transmitted within the transmission opportunity. For example, if the PHY level communication determiner 104a , 104b reserves a transmission opportunity, the exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner determines 202 a number and duration of transmission limits (e.g. intervals) dedicated to UL / DL transmission, as well as the length of the total transmission opportunity. In this way, the exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner 202 Divide the S-TXOP into intervals according to UL transmission (s) and / or DL transmission (s). In some examples, the S-TXOP determines feature determiner 202 the S-TXOP opportunities based on the total amount of data to be transmitted (e.g. as DL and / or UL) within the transmission duration. For example, the S-TXOP feature determiner 202 Select the transmission duration to be as long as possible based on channel conditions (e.g. coherence length). In addition, the exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner 202 select a length of a codeword (CW) (e.g., a low density parity check (LDPC) or a binary convolutional coding (BCC) codeword). The exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner 202 can select the codeword length based on user and / or manufacturing preferences. The exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner 202 selects an encoded MAC Protocol Data Unit (MPDU) size to be an integer of the LDPC CWs. The exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner 202 can select encoded MPDU size based on user and / or manufacturing preferences. The encoded MPDU size corresponds to latency and overhead (e.g. the better the latency, the more overhead). In some examples, when the PHY level communication determiner 104b in the exemplary non-older STA 110 is implemented, the exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner processes 202 a received S-TXOP preamble to determine the S-TXOP characteristics from the S-TXOP preamble.

The exemplary data converter 204 from 2 converts UL and / or DL data packets (e.g. a MAC service data unit (MSDU) from the application processor 102a , 102b ) to PPDUs for transmission within the transmission opportunity. For example, the data converter 204 adjust the DL / UL interval size to match the selected encoded MPDU size. Once the sizes are determined, the exemplary data converter will fragment 204 the MSDU in MPDUs and matches the MPDU size with the uncoded MPDU size (e.g. (coded segment size) × (LDPC code rate)), encrypts each of the MPDUs and generates PHY service data units (PSDUs) by performing a cyclic redundancy check (CRC ) is added to the encrypted MPDUs. In addition, the exemplary data converter 204 embed the CW in the PSDUs. The exemplary PSDU in combination with the light preamble (e.g. from the exemplary preamble generator 206 generated) corresponds to a PPDU. As described further below, the exemplary data converter 204 Segment, encrypt and encode MSDUs to enable HARQ operation.

The exemplary preamble generator 206 from 2 generates S-TXOP preambles to initiate a transmission opportunity and / or light S-TXOP preambles for DL / UL packets within a transmission opportunity. The S-TXOP preamble initiates a transmission opportunity. The S-TXOP includes both an older section and a non-older section. The older section contains fields corresponding to the older operation. In this way, if the exemplary older STA 108 receives the S-TXOP preamble, the older STA wrestles 108 not about the medium within the transmission opportunity, even though the exemplary older STA 108 cannot process the non-older section of the S-TXOP preamble. In some examples, the preamble generator generates 206 the non-older section of the S-TXOP preamble by modulating the constellation of the non-older fields (e.g. by ninety degrees) and / or formatting, encoding and / or otherwise of the non-older fields in a manner different from older frames be modulated so that the exemplary older STA 108 cannot process the non-older frames. The exemplary preamble generator 206 generates the S-TXOP preamble with control information fields (eg STXOP SIG-A1 and STXOP SIG-A2) according to the S-TXOP characteristics. In this way, the non-older STA 110 remain synchronized across the transmission opportunity, thereby allowing a reduced preamble for individual DL / UL transmissions (e.g., a light preamble). In some examples, the preamble generator 206 in addition, an optional control field (eg STXOP-SIG-B) corresponding to interval-specific configuration information (eg information that is specific for a certain interval of the transmission opportunity) generated for the exemplary non-older STA 110 before the appropriate interval can be helpful. Such information can include planning, semi-static planning, and so on. In addition, the exemplary preamble generator generates 206 the light preamble. As below in connection with 3 is generated by the preamble generator 206 the slight preamble to include an RSYNC field to correct small CFOs, eliminating the need for the L-STF, L-LTF, Legacy Signal Field (L-SIG) and repeated L-SIG (RL-SIG) fields of conventional preamble fields DL / UL packets is eliminated. This is how the preamble generator generates 206 a light preamble that is much shorter than traditional preambles to reduce overhead and further reduce latency from transmission during the transmission opportunity. In addition, the exemplary preamble generator generates 206 a light trigger frame for UL transmissions. As further described below, the lightweight deployment PPDU (e.g., lightweight deployment PPDU) can be sent to the exemplary STA 108 to initiate UL transfers. As below in connection with 3 described, the exemplary preamble generator generates 206 the light trigger PPDU to be much shorter than a PPDU that carries a conventional trigger frame by not including a MAC frame in the light trigger PPDU. Instead, the light PPDU includes uplink resource allocation information in a field followed by a synchronization field.

The exemplary communication determinator 208 from 2 facilitates communication with a connected device, including facilitating ARQ and / or HARQ operation to acknowledge receipt of data packets. In some examples, if HARQ is not enabled and data reception has ended (e.g. reception of DL packets in the exemplary non-older STA 110 or receiving UL packets at the exemplary AP 100 ) transmits the exemplary communication determiner 208 an ACK if all the packets have been received and transmits a negative ACK (NACK) or transmits nothing if all the data packets have not been received. Additionally, the exemplary communication determiner discards 208 the received data and waits for a retransmission of the data packet. In other examples, if HARQ is enabled and data reception has ended, the exemplary communication determiner transmits 208 an ACK if the packet has been received and transmits a NACK if not all of the data packets have been received. In addition, the exemplary communication determiner stores 208 the received data in the exemplary PHY buffer 210 . In this way, if a retransmission includes the missing data from a previous transmission, the exemplary communication determiner determines 208 that all of the data of the transmission was received in at least one of the transmissions and the exemplary communication determiner 208 transmits an ACK regardless of whether the current transmission is complete or not.

The exemplary PHY buffer 210 from 2 saves received data packets if HARQ is enabled. In this way, the exemplary communication determinator 208 determine that all of the DL packets go with the DL packets in the exemplary PHY buffer 210 were received, contrary to if the current DL / UL transmission contains all the DL / UL data packets. When the exemplary PHY buffer 210 contains all the data packets for a DL / UL transmission, the PHY buffer transmits 210 the data packets to the exemplary application processor (eg the MAC layer) for further processing.

3 is an exemplary S-TXOP 300 for UL / DL transmission between the exemplary AP 100 and the exemplary non-senior STA 110 . The exemplary S-TXOP 300 includes an exemplary S-TXOP preamble 302 , an exemplary DL interval 304a , an exemplary UL interval 304b and an exemplary UL / DL interface 304n . The exemplary S-TXOP preamble 302 includes an exemplary older section 306 and an exemplary non-legacy section 307 . The exemplary non-older section 307 includes an exemplary STXOP-SIG-A1 control panel 308a , an exemplary STXOP-SIG-A2 control panel 308b and an optional exemplary STXOP-SIG-B control panel 310 . The exemplary UL / DL interval 304n can be the exemplary DL interval 304a or the exemplary UL interval 304b correspond. The exemplary DL interval 304a includes an exemplary DL PPDU 312 and an exemplary ACK / ARQ / HARQ frame 314 and the exemplary UL interval 304b includes the exemplary ACK / ARQ / HARQ frame 314 , an exemplary lightweight (LW) trigger frame 316 , an exemplary lightweight UL preamble (LP) 317 and an exemplary UL PPDU 318 . The exemplary DL PPDU 312 and / or the exemplary UL PPDU 318 includes an exemplary RSYNC field 320 , an exemplary STXOP-SIG-D field 322 , an example HE-LTF frame (s) 324 and example data 326 . The exemplary ACK / HARQ frame can be an exemplary RSYNC field 320 and an exemplary STXOP-SIG-D field 322 include. The exemplary LW release PPDU 316 includes the exemplary RSYNC field 320 and the exemplary STXOP-SIG-D field 322 . Although the exemplary S-TXOP 300 can contain three intervals for UL / DL transmission, the S-TXOP 300 include any number of intervals corresponding to any length of time. In addition, some fields / frames in the example of 4th rearranged, excluded, or added.

The exemplary older section 306 the exemplary S-TXOP preamble 302 from 3 contains older fields (e.g. L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, RL-SIG) that are used by the exemplary older STA 108 can be processed. In this way, if the exemplary older STA 108 the older section 306 the exemplary S-TXOP preamble 302 sees the exemplary older STA 108 from communicating during the transmission opportunity. The exemplary non-older section 307 can be encoded and / or modulated so that the exemplary non-legacy STA 110 those in the non-older section 307 can handle stored information, but the exemplary older STA 108 it can't. In this way the S-TXOP 300 in an environment with both STAs 108 , 110 (e.g. coexistent). The exemplary PHY level communication determinator 104a of the exemplary AP 100 can use the non-older section 307 for example modulate and / or encode with a 90-degree phase shift.

The exemplary STXOP-SIG-A1 field 308a and the STXOP-SIG-A2 field 308b the exemplary S-TXOP preamble 302 from 3 are control information fields that contain data corresponding to the timing of the DL / UL transmission within the transmission opportunity. The STXOP-SIG-A1 field 308a and / or the STXOP-SIG-A2 field 308b contain a number and duration of intervals within the transmission opportunity according to the S-TXOP preamble. For example, because the exemplary S-TXOP 300 includes three UL / DL intervals, include the exemplary STXOP-SIG-A1 field 308a and / or the STXOP-SIG-A2 field 308b Data that identifies the three intervals and the duration of each interval. In addition, the exemplary STXOP-SIG-A1 field 308a and the STXOP-SIG-A2 field 308b Include data relating to the type of ACK signaling to use for each interval (e.g. no ACK, ARQ or HARQ). If all of the control information data is in any of the exemplary STXOP-SIG-A1 fields 308a can be embedded, the STXOP-SIG-A2 field 308b repeat the data to increase the robustness of the data. Alternatively, if all of the control information data is in one of the exemplary STXOP-SIG-A1 fields 308a can be embedded, the STXOP-SIG-A2 field 308b can be eliminated, reducing overhead.

The exemplary STXOP-SIG-B field 310 from 3 is an optional control information field that contains data corresponding to interval-specific configuration information. For example, if there is information that the exemplary AP 100 to the exemplary non-older STA 110 according to the interval 3 before the occurrence of interval 3 wants to provide, the exemplary AP encodes 100 such interval-specific configuration information in the exemplary STXOP-SIG-B field 310 . Such information can include, for example, resource allocation and confirmation type applicable to this interval.

The exemplary DL interval 304a from 3 is for DL transmission (e.g. from AP 100 to the non-older STA 110 ) reserved. The exemplary DL interval 304a includes the exemplary DL PPDU 312 . The exemplary DL PPDU is a portion of an MSDU that is encrypted and tagged with a CRC from the exemplary AP 100 was coded. The exemplary AP 100 transmits the DL PPDU 312 during the DL interval 304a . As soon as the DL PPDU 312 has been transmitted, the exemplary non-older STA responds 110 with the exemplary ACK / ARQ / HARQ frame 314 depending on whether the DL PPDU 312 received or not based on the ACK signaling used for each interval. For example, if the ACK signaling conforms to an ACK / no ACK protocol, the non-older STA transmits 110 an ACK to the AP 100 when the entire DL PPDU 312 received and does not transmit an ACK to the AP 100 if part or all of the DL PPDU 312 was not received. If the ACK signaling corresponds to ARQ or HARQ, the non-older STA transmits 110 an ACK to the AP 100 when the entire DL PPDU 312 received and transmits a NACK to the AP 100 if part or all of the DL PPDU 312 was not received and / or if the exemplary PHY buffer 210 does not contain all data according to the interval. On Example of that the exemplary ACK / ARQ / HARQ frame 314 is a HARQ signal is further described below.

The exemplary UL interval 304b from 3 is for UL transmission (e.g. from the non-older STA 110 to the AP 100 ) reserved. The exemplary UL interval 304b includes the LW release PPDU 316 to initialize the UL transmission. The exemplary LW release PPDU 316 is a control signal sent by the AP 100 to the non-older STA 110 was sent to initiate UL transmission. The LW release PPDU 316 may correspond to spatial streams and / or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) assignments for each connected STA and corresponds to the exact moment when the exemplary non-older STA 110 Should initiate UL transfer. The LW release PPDU 316 includes the exemplary RSYNC field 320 and the exemplary STXOP-SIG-D field 322 as further described below. The exemplary LW release PPDU 316 is much shorter than a PPDU that transports a conventional trigger frame (e.g. a trigger frame that contains a complete MAC layer frame) because the LW trigger PPDU 316 does not contain a MAC frame. Instead, it includes the LW trigger PPDU 316 Uplink resource allocation information in the exemplary STXOP-SIG-D field 322 that corresponds to the RSYNC field 320 follows. The exemplary UL interface 304b includes the exemplary UL LP 319 as further described below. In addition, the exemplary UL interval includes 304b the exemplary UL PPDU 318 . The exemplary UL PPDU 318 is a portion of an MSDU that is encrypted and with a CRC from the exemplary non-older STA 110 was coded. The exemplary non-older STA 110 transmits the UL PPDU 318 during the DL interval 304a . Once the UL PPDU 318 has been transmitted, the exemplary AP responds 100 with the exemplary ACK / ARQ / HARQ frame 314 according to whether the UL PPDU 318 received or not based on the ACK signaling used for each interval.

The exemplary DL PPDU 312 and the exemplary UL PPDU 318 include the exemplary light preamble 319 . As previously described, because of the exemplary S-TXOP preamble 302 the non-older STA 110 and the AP 100 for the duration of the exemplary S-TXOP 300 synchronized, the preamble of individual intervals can be reduced in order to remove older fields (e.g. the L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG and RL-SIG frames). However, changing between UL and DL requires RX and TX front ends of the exemplary radio architecture 106a , 106b from 11 to switch. Such switching can cause small CFOs on every UL / DL transmission. Accordingly, the exemplary light preamble includes 319 the exemplary RSYNC field 320 to correct such small CFOs. The exemplary RSYNC field 320 is an OFDM symbol synchronization field that contains two symbol repetitions (e.g. for 3.2 microseconds (µs)) with a cyclic prefix ( 0 , 8 µs) in front. The OFDM symbol can be generated by a 64-point reverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) with 52-point frequency coefficients (e.g. subcarriers). For example the RSYNC field 320 52 Include subcarriers (e.g. 20 megahertz) where the first 26 are repeated. In this way, the receiving device can determine and correct the small CFO based on the repeated structure. Alternatively, the RSYNC field 320 contain a sequence based on Zadoff-Chu or m-sequences.

The exemplary light preamble 319 from 3 further includes the exemplary STXOP-SIG-D field 322 . The exemplary STXOP-SIG-D field 322 is a control information field (e.g. corresponding to UL transmission or DL transmission, depending on the data transmission type) that contains data relating to resource allocation information for the exemplary STA 110 includes. In addition, the exemplary light preamble includes 319 the exemplary HE-LTF fields 324 . The HE-LTF fields 324 are control information fields that correspond to the multiple parameters for interpolation / smoothing during UL / DL transmission. Once the exemplary light preamble 319 is transmitted, the exemplary data 326 transfer.

In some examples, the exemplary ACK / ARQ / HARQ frame corresponds to 314 HARQ signaling. In such examples, the exemplary includes HARQ frame 314 the exemplary RSYNC field 320 . As previously described, corrects the RSYNC field 320 small CFOs. The HARQ frame also includes 314 the exemplary STXOP-SIG-D field 322 . The exemplary STXOP-SIG-D field 322 contains a bitmap that corresponds to the received data packets stored in the exemplary PHY buffer 210 from 2 are stored. In this way, when the responding device sends a NACK using the exemplary HARQ frame 314 transmits, the bitmap identifies which parts of the exemplary data 326 were received and / or which parts of the exemplary data 326 missing (e.g. to initiate a retransmission). In some examples, the bitmap 9 Bits correspond to denote ACK / NACK of nine 2 MHz users operating in a 20 MHz operating band. Using the exemplary ACK / ARQ / HARQ frame 314 no conventional preamble is required (e.g. because the relevant information is already in the exemplary S-TXOP preamble 302 provided), whereby the amount of data required to transmit an acknowledgment is reduced.

While in an exemplary manner, the exemplary PHY level communication determinator 104a , 104b from 1 to implement in 2 illustrated, one or more of the in 2 elements, processes and / or devices illustrated may be combined, shared, rearranged, omitted, eliminated and / or otherwise implemented. The exemplary component interface 200 , the exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner 202 , the exemplary data converter 204 , the exemplary preamble generator 206 , the exemplary communication determiner 208 , the exemplary PHY buffer 210 and / or more generally the exemplary PHY level communication determiner 104a , 104b from 2 be implemented by hardware, software, firmware and / or any combination of hardware, software and / or firmware. Therefore, for example, any of the exemplary component interfaces 200 , the exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner 202 , the exemplary data converter 204 , the exemplary preamble generator 206 , the exemplary communication determiner 208 , of the exemplary PHY buffer 210 and / or more generally the exemplary PHY level communication determiner 104a , 104b from 2 by one or more analog or digital circuit (s), logic circuits, programmable processor (s), application-specific integrated circuit (s) (ASIC (s)), programmable logic device (s) ( PLD (s)) and / or field programmable (s) logical device (s) (FPLD (s)) be implemented. If any of the device or system claims of this patent are read to cover software and / or firmware implementation only, at least one of the examples may be the example component interface 200 , the exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner 202 , the exemplary data converter 204 , the exemplary preamble generator 206 , the exemplary communication determiner 208 , of the exemplary PHY buffer 210 and / or more generally of the exemplary PHY level communication determiner 104a , 104b from 2 hereby expressly defined to include a non-transitory computer-readable data storage device or data storage medium, such as a memory, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk (CD), a Blu-ray data carrier, etc., which contains software and / or firmware. The exemplary PHY level communication determinator can do even further 104a , 104b from 2 one or more elements, processes and / or devices in addition to or instead of those in 2 illustrated include and / or may include more than one of any or all of the illustrated elements, processes, and devices.

Flow diagrams showing example machine readable instructions for implementing the example PHY level communication determinator 104a , 104b from 2 are in 4-10 shown. In this example, the machine readable instructions comprise a program for execution by a processor, such as the processor 1512 that is related to in the below 15th example processor platform discussed 1500 is shown on. The program can be embodied in software stored on a non-transitory computer readable data storage medium such as a CD-ROM, floppy disk, hard disk, digital versatile disk (DVD), Blu-ray disk, or processor 1512 associated memory, but the entire program and / or parts of it could alternatively be provided by a device other than the processor 1512 and / or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware. Further, although the exemplary program related to the in 4-10 As described in the illustrated flow diagram, many other methods of implementing the exemplary PHY level communication determiner may alternatively be used 104a , 104b be used. For example, the order of execution of the blocks can be changed and / or some of the blocks described can be changed, eliminated or combined. Additionally or alternatively, any or all of the blocks can be implemented by one or more hardware circuits (e.g. discrete and / or integrated analog and / or digital circuits, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a Comparator, operational amplifier (op-amp), logic circuit, etc.) structured to perform the appropriate operation without running software or firmware.

As mentioned earlier, the example processes of 4-10 can be implemented using coded instructions (e.g. computer and / or machine readable instructions) stored on a non-transitory computer and / or machine readable medium such as a hard disk drive, flash memory, read-only memory, compact disk (CD ), a digital versatile disk, a cache, a random access memory and / or any other data storage device or data storage medium in which information is stored for any duration (e.g. for extended periods of time, permanent, for short instances, for temporary buffering and / or for caching the information ) are saved. As used herein, the term non-transitory computer readable medium is expressly defined to include and exclude propagation signals and / or data storage media of any type Exclude transmission media. “Including” and “having” (and all forms and tenses thereof) are used herein as open ended terms. Therefore, whenever a claim lists anything of any form of “include” or “have” (e.g., has, includes, having, including, etc.) following, it is to be understood that additional elements, terms, etc. may be present without to fall outside the scope of the corresponding claim. As used herein, when the phrase “at least” is used as the transitional phrase in a preamble of a claim, it is open ended in the same way that the terms “having” and “including” are open ended.

4th is an exemplary flow chart 400 , which denotes example machine readable instructions issued by the example PHY level communication determinator 104a from 1 and / or 2 within the exemplary AP 100 from 1 can be carried out to facilitate a synchronous transmission opportunity in a wireless local network (e.g. Wi-Fi network). Although the example of 4th in conjunction with the exemplary AP 100 in the network of 1 as described, the instructions can be executed by any type of AP on any network.

At block 402 determines the exemplary PHY level communication determiner 104a the S-TXOP characteristics (e.g. a number and duration of intervals for the S-TXOP). The exemplary PHY level communication determinator 104a can determine the S-TXOP characteristics based on the data that needs to be communicated and / or channel states, as further in conjunction with below 5 is described. At block 404 determines the exemplary preamble generator 206 whether the transmission opportunity contains interval-specific configuration information. The exemplary application processor 102a can determine that the transmission opportunity contains interval-specific configuration information to be included in the S-TXOP preamble. If the exemplary preamble generator 206 determines that the S-TXOP contains interval-specific configuration information (block 404 : YES), the exemplary preamble generator generates 206 the S-TXOP preamble 302 based on the S-TXOP features with the interval specific configuration information in the exemplary STXOP-SIG-B field 310 from 3 (Block 406 ). If the exemplary preamble generator 206 determines that the S-TXOP does not contain any interval-specific configuration information (block 404 : NO), the exemplary preamble generator generates 206 the S-TXOP preamble 302 , based on the S-TXOP characteristics without the interval-specific configuration information in the exemplary STXOP-SIG-B field 310 from 3 (Block 408 ).

At block 410 transmits the exemplary component interface 200 the S-TXOP preamble 302 to the exemplary radio architecture 106a that wirelessly connect to the exemplary STAs 108 , 110 is to be transferred. The exemplary S-TXOP preamble 302 is linked to above 3 described. At block 412 determines the exemplary communication determiner 208 whether the current interval corresponds to the transmission opportunity UL transmission or DL transmission. The exemplary communication determinator 208 determines whether the current interval corresponds to UL transmission or DL transmission based on the S-TXOP characteristics provided by the exemplary PHY level communication determiner 104a and a timer of the exemplary application processor 102a are determined (e.g. the timer keeps track of time and the S-TXOP features identify the number and duration of intervals of the S-TXOP).

If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the current interval corresponds to the S-TXOP DL transmission (block 412 : DL), the exemplary PHY level communication determinator facilitates 104a DL transmission with the exemplary non-older STA 110 (Block 414 ), as below in connection with 6th is described. If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the current interval corresponds to the S-TXOP UL transmission (block 412 : UL), the exemplary PHY level communication determinator facilitates 104a UL transmission with the exemplary non-older STA 110 (Block 416 ), as below in connection with 7th is described. At block 418 determines the exemplary communication determiner 208 whether the transmission opportunity has ended. The exemplary communication determinator 208 determines that the transmission opportunity is over based on a duration corresponding to the S-TXOP features. If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the transmission opportunity is not over (block 418 : NO), the process returns to block 412 back. If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the transmission opportunity has ended (block 418 : YES), the process ends.

5 is an exemplary flow chart 402 , of example machine readable instructions provided by the example PHY level communication determinator 104a from 1 and / or 2 within the exemplary AP 100 from 1 can be performed to determine S-TXOP characteristics, as described in connection with block above 402 from 4th is described. Although the example of 5 in conjunction with the exemplary AP 100 in the network of 1 as described, the instructions can be executed by any type of AP on any network.

At block 502 determines the exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner 202 the S-TXOP length (e.g. duration). The exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner 202 can select the S-TXOP length to be as large as possible depending on the channel states (e.g. coherence length). At block 504 the exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner selects 202 a code word size. The code word is an LDPC and / or BCC code that is used for high-performance error correction. In some examples, the CW size does not change during the S-TXOP operation. The exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner 202 selects the CW size based on user and / or manufacturing preferences. At block 506 the exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner selects 202 an encoded MPDU size to be an integer number of codewords. The exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner 202 selects the integer based on user and / or manufacturing preferences (e.g., the size of the number that balances latency versus overhead).

At block 508 the exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner fits 202 the individual DL / UL interval sizes to match the coded MPDU size. At block 510 determines the exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner 202 the order / timing of the UL / DL packet transmissions in the transmission opportunity to divide the S-TXOP into intervals. At block 512 the exemplary data converter fragments 204 the MSDU in MPDUs to match the MPDU size with the uncoded MPDU size of the DL packet. At block 514 the exemplary data converter encrypts 204 the MPDUs of the DL packets. At block 516 the exemplary data converter generates the PSDUs by adding the CRC to the encrypted MPDUs of the DL packet. In this way, the AP enables 100 PHY level ACK / NACK capacities corresponding to HARQ. At block 518 the exemplary data converter embeds 204 Code words into the PSDUs of the DL packets and the process returns to block 404 from 4th back.

6th is an exemplary flow chart 414 , which denotes example machine readable instructions issued by the example PHY level communication determinator 104a from 1 and / or 2 within the exemplary AP 100 from 1 can be performed to facilitate DL transmission during the current interval, as described above in association with block 414 from 4th is described. Although the example of 6th in conjunction with the exemplary AP 100 in the network of 1 as described, the instructions can be executed by any type of AP on any network.

At block 602 generates the exemplary preamble generator 206 the light preamble 319 for the DL package. As above in connection with 3 includes the exemplary light preamble 319 the RSYNC field 320 , contrary to the older preamble fields, to correct small CFOs. At block 604 transmits the exemplary component interface 200 the DL data packet 326 with the light preamble 319 about the exemplary radio architecture 106a to the exemplary non-older STA 110 . At block 606 determines the exemplary communication determiner 208 whether an ACK was received. As previously described, the ACK signaling can correspond to ACK / no ACK or ACK / NACK signaling. Accordingly, the exemplary communication determiner determines 208 whether an ACK was received, if the ACK from the exemplary component interface 200 about the radio architecture 106a is received and determines whether the ACK is not received when (A) no ACK is received or (B) a NACK at the component interface 200 about the radio architecture 106a is received.

If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the ACK was received (block 606 : YES), the process returns to block 418 from 4th back. If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the ACK was not received (block 606 : NO), determines the exemplary communication determiner 208 whether a threshold number of attempts has been exceeded (e.g. based on user and / or manufacturing preferences) (block 608 ). If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the threshold number of attempts has not been exceeded (block 608 : NO), the process returns to block 604 back to retransmit. If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the threshold number of attempts has been exceeded (block 608 : YES), rejects the exemplary communication determiner 208 the DL data packet (block 610 ) and the process returns to block 418 from 4th back.

7th is an exemplary flow chart 416 , which denotes example machine readable instructions issued by the example PHY level communication determinator 104a from 1 and / or 2 within the exemplary AP 100 from 1 can be performed to facilitate UL transmission during the current interval, as previously in association with block 416 from 4th described. Although the example of 7th in conjunction with the exemplary AP 100 in the network of 1 is described, the Instructions from any type of AP are executed on any network.

At block 702 transmits the exemplary component interface 200 the light release PPDU to the non-older STA 110 , according to the UL data transmission. The exemplary preamble generator 202 generates the light trigger PPDU. As previously described, the trigger PPDU initiates the UL transmission. At block 704 receives the exemplary component interface 200 the UL data via the exemplary radio architecture 106a from the non-older STA 110 . In some examples, the communication determiner may 208 the RSYNC field 320 use to correct CFOs within the receipt of the UL package. For example, the communication determiner can 208 CFO estimation techniques on the RSYNC field 320 use to find the rest of the CFO. In this way the communication determiner can 208 Apply compensation for the estimated CFO to the received data. At block 706 determines the exemplary communication determiner 208 whether HARQ is enabled. HARQ can be based on initial communications with the exemplary non-senior STA 110 be made possible.

If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that HARQ is enabled (block 706 : YES) the exemplary communication determiner saves 208 the received UL data into the exemplary PHY buffer 210 (Block 708 ). If only a portion of the UL data is received, the exemplary communication determiner stores 208 the partial data in the exemplary PHY buffer 210 . At block 710 determines the exemplary communication determiner 208 that the exemplary PHY buffer 210 all the data 326 the exemplary UL PPDU 318 includes. For example, if the UL transmission is faulty or otherwise corrupt, the exemplary PHY buffer stores 210 the section of the data 326 that is not corrupt. If a retransmission includes the missing data, the exemplary PHY buffer 210 all of the data 326 include. In this way, the retransmission can only correspond to the missing data and / or the exemplary PHY buffer 210 can determine that all of the data has been received even if a subsequent retransmission is in error, as long as the subsequent retransmission includes the missing data.

If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the exemplary PHY buffer 210 not all the data 326 the exemplary UL PPDU 312 includes (block 712 : NO), transmits the exemplary component interface 200 a NACK (block 712 ) about the exemplary radio architecture 106a and the process returns to block 704 back to process a retransmission or a subsequent transmission. For example, the component interface 200 the exemplary HARQ field 312a from 3 which is a bitmap of the received and stored data in the PHY buffer 210 includes. The exemplary preamble generator 206 can generate the NACK frame. If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the exemplary PHY buffer 210 all the data 326 the exemplary UL PPDU 318 includes (block 710 : YES), transmits the exemplary component interface 200 a HARQ field 312a (Block 714 ) about the exemplary radio architecture 106a and the process returns to block 418 from 4th back. For example, the component interface 200 the exemplary HARQ field 312a from 3 transmitted, which is a complete bitmap (e.g. corresponding to an ACK) of the received and stored data in the PHY buffer 210 includes. The exemplary preamble generator 206 can generate the HARQ / ACK frame.

Back to block 706 if the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that HARQ is not enabled (block 706 : NO), determines the exemplary communication determiner 208 that the data 326 the exemplary UL PPDU 318 are complete (block 716 ). If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the data 326 the exemplary UL PPDU 318 are complete (block 716 : YES), transmits the exemplary component interface 200 the ACK / ARQ / HARQ field 312 (Block 714 ) according to an ACK via the exemplary radio architecture 106a and the process returns to block 418 from 4th back. If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the data 326 the exemplary UL PPDU 318 are not complete (block 716 : NO), transmits the exemplary component interface 200 the ACK / ARQ / HARQ field 312 (Block 718 ) according to a NACK about the exemplary radio architecture 106a or the exemplary component interface 200 refrains from sending an ACK and the process returns to block 704 back to process a retransmission or subsequent transmission.

8th is an exemplary flow chart 800 , denoting example machine readable instructions issued by the example PHY level communication determinator 104b from 1 and / or 2 within the exemplary non-older STA 110 from 1 can be carried out to facilitate a synchronous transmission opportunity in a wireless local network (e.g. Wi-Fi network). Although the example of 8th in conjunction with the exemplary non-older STA 110 in the network of 1 as described, the instructions can be executed by any type of STA on any network.

At block 802 receives the exemplary component interface 200 the exemplary S-TXOP preamble 302 about the exemplary radio architecture 106b . At block 804 processes the exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner 202 the received S-TXOP preamble 302 to determine the S-TXOP configuration / synchronization information. For example, the S-TXOP feature determiner determines 202 the number of intervals, the length of each interval, the interval characteristics (e.g. which intervals are reserved for UL transmissions and which intervals are reserved for DL transmissions), the ACK / ARQ / HARQ signaling protocol and / or any interval-specific information from the exemplary S-TXOP preamble 302 . At block 806 transmits the component interface 200 the configuration / synchronization information to the MAC layer in the exemplary application processor 102b . In this way, the exemplary MAC layer can timer the application processor 102b synchronize with the S-TXOP.

At block 808 determines the exemplary communication determiner 208 whether the transmission opportunity includes intervals corresponding to a UL transmission (e.g. based on the S-TXOP configurations and / or instructions from the exemplary application processor 102b) . If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the transfer opportunity does not include a UL transfer (block 808 : NO), the process continues with a block 812 away. If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the transfer opportunity includes a UL transfer (block 808 : YES), the exemplary data converter converts 204 converts the UL data (e.g. an MSDU) into UL data packets (e.g. PPDUs). For example, the data converter 204 the UL data from the exemplary application processor 102b to convert UL data packets in a similar way as in blocks 512-518 from 5 to the exemplary AP 100 are to be transferred.

At block 812 determines the exemplary communication determiner 208 whether the current interval corresponds to the transmission opportunity UL transmission or DL transmission. The exemplary communication determinator 208 determines whether the current interval corresponds to UL transmission or DL transmission based on the S-TXOP characteristics provided by the exemplary PHY level communication determiner 104b and a timer of the exemplary application processor 102b are determined (e.g. the timer keeps track of time and the S-TXOP features identify the number and duration of intervals of the S-TXOP).

If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the current interval corresponds to the S-TXOP DL transmission (block 812 : DL), the exemplary PHY level communication determinator facilitates 104b DL transmission with the exemplary non-older STA 110 (Block 814 ), as below in connection with 7th is described. If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the current interval corresponds to the S-TXOP UL transmission (block 812 : UL), the exemplary PHY level communication determinator facilitates 104b UL transmission with the exemplary non-older STA 110 (Block 816 ), as below in connection with 10 is described. At block 818 determines the exemplary communication determiner 208 whether the transmission opportunity has ended. The exemplary communication determinator 208 determines that the transmission opportunity is over based on a duration corresponding to the S-TXOP features. If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the transmission opportunity is not over (block 818 : NO), the process returns to block 812 back. If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the transmission opportunity has ended (block 818 : YES), the process ends.

9 is an exemplary flow chart 814 , denoting example machine readable instructions generated by the example PHY level communication determinator 104b of FIG 1 and / or 2 within the exemplary non-older STA 110 from 1 can be performed to facilitate DL transmission during the current interval, as previously in association with Block 814 from 8th described. Although the example of 9 in conjunction with the exemplary non-older STA 110 in the network of 1 as described, the instructions can be executed by any type of STA on any network.

At block 902 receives the exemplary component interface 200 the DL data via the exemplary radio architecture 106b from the non-older STA 110 . In some examples, the communication determiner may 208 the RSYNC field 320 to correct CFOs within the receipt of the DL packet. At block 904 determines the exemplary communication determiner 208 whether HARQ is enabled. HARQ can be based on initial communications with the exemplary non-senior STA 110 be made possible.

If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that HARQ is enabled (block 904 : YES) the exemplary communication determiner saves 208 the received DL data in the exemplary PHY buffer 210 (Block 906 ). If only part of the DL data is received, the exemplary one stores Communication determiners 208 the partial data in the exemplary PHY buffer 210 . At block 908 determines the exemplary communication determiner 208 whether the exemplary PHY buffer 210 all the data 326 the exemplary DL PPDU 312 includes. For example, if the DL transmission is faulty or otherwise corrupt, the exemplary PHY buffer stores 210 the section of the data 326 that is not corrupt. If a retransmission includes the missing data, the exemplary PHY buffer 210 all of the data 326 include. In this way, the retransmission can only correspond to the missing data and / or the exemplary PHY buffer 210 can determine that all of the data has been received even if a subsequent retransmission is in error, as long as the subsequent retransmission includes the missing data.

If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the exemplary PHY buffer 210 not all the data 326 the exemplary DL PPDU 312 includes (block 910 : NO), transmits the exemplary component interface 200 a NACK (block 910 ) about the exemplary radio architecture 106b and the process returns to block 902 back to process a retransmission or a subsequent transmission. For example, the component interface 200 the exemplary HARQ field 312a from 3 which is a bitmap of the received and stored data in the PHY buffer 210 includes. The exemplary preamble generator 206 can generate the NACK frame. If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the exemplary PHY buffer 210 all the data 326 the exemplary DL PPDU 312 includes (block 908 : YES), transmits the exemplary component interface 200 a HARQ field 312a (Block 912 ) about the exemplary radio architecture 106b and the process returns to block 818 from 8th back. For example, the component interface 200 the exemplary HARQ field 312a from 3 transmitted, which is a complete bitmap (e.g. corresponding to an ACK) of the received and stored data in the PHY buffer 210 includes. The exemplary preamble generator 206 can generate the HARQ / ACK frame.

Back to block 904 if the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that HARQ is not enabled (block 904 : NO), determines the exemplary communication determiner 208 whether the data 326 the exemplary DL PPDU 312 are complete (block 914 ). If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the data 326 the exemplary DL PPDU 312 are complete (block 914 : YES), transmits the exemplary component interface 200 the ACK / ARQ / HARQ field 312 (Block 912 ) according to an ACK via the exemplary radio architecture 106b and the process returns to block 818 from 8th back. If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the data 326 the exemplary DL PPDU 312 are not complete (block 914 : NO), transmits the exemplary component interface 200 the ACK / ARQ / HARQ field 312 (Block 916 ) according to a NACK about the exemplary radio architecture 106b or the exemplary component interface 200 refrains from transmitting an ACK and the process returns to block 902 back to process a retransmission or subsequent transmission.

10 is an exemplary flow chart 816 , denoting example machine readable instructions issued by the example PHY level communication determinator 104b from 1 and / or 2 within the exemplary non-older STA 110 from 1 can be performed to facilitate UL transmission during the current interval, as previously in association with block 816 from 8th described. Although the example of 10 in conjunction with the exemplary non-older STA 110 in the network of 1 as described, the instructions can be executed by any type of STA on any network.

At block 1002 the example component interface receives the example light trip PPDU 316 . As before in conjunction with 3 initiates the exemplary LW trigger PPDU 316 the UL transmission. At block 1004 generates the exemplary preamble generator 206 the light preamble 319 for the UL package. As before in conjunction with 3 includes the exemplary light preamble 319 the RSYNC field 320 , contrary to the older preamble fields, to correct small CFOs. At block 1006 transmits the exemplary component interface 200 the UL data package 326 with the light preamble 319 to the exemplary non-older STA 110 about the exemplary radio architecture 106b , according to the trigger PPDU (e.g. based on the timing of receipt of the trigger PPDU). At block 1008 determines the exemplary communication determiner 208 whether an ACK was received. As previously described, the ACK signaling can correspond to ACK / no ACK or ACK / NACK signaling. Accordingly, the exemplary communication determiner determines 208 whether an ACK was received, if the ACK from the exemplary component interface 200 about the radio architecture 106b is received and determines whether the ACK is not received when at the component interface 200 about the radio architecture 106b no ACK is received or a NACK is received.

If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the ACK was received (block 1008 : YES), the process returns to block 418 from 4th back. If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the ACK was not received (block 1008 : NO), determines the exemplary communication determiner 208 whether a threshold number of attempts has been exceeded (e.g. based on user and / or manufacturing preferences) (block 1010 ). If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the threshold number of attempts has not been exceeded (block 1010 : NO), the process returns to block 1006 back to retransmit. If the exemplary communication determiner 208 determines that the threshold number of attempts has been exceeded (block 1010 : YES), rejects the exemplary communication determiner 208 UL data package (block 1012 ) and the process returns to block 418 from 4th back.

11 Figure 3 is a block diagram of a radio architecture 106a , 106b in accordance with some embodiments described in the exemplary AP 100 and / or the exemplary non-older STA 110 from 1 can be implemented. Radio architecture 106a , 106b can radio front-end module (FEM) circuits 1104a-b , Radio IC circuits 1106a-b and baseband processing circuitry 1108a-b include. Radio architecture 106a , 106b includes both wireless local area network (WLAN) functionality and Bluetooth (BT) functionality, as shown, although embodiments are not so limited. In this disclosure, "WLAN" and "Wi-Fi" are used interchangeably.

FEM circuits 1104a-b can be WLAN or Wi-Fi FEM circuits 1104a and Bluetooth (BT) FEM circuits 1104b include. The WLAN FEM circuits 1104a may include a receive signal path having circuitry configured to operate on WLAN RF signals received from one or more antennas 1101 are received to amplify the received signals and the amplified versions of the received signals to the WLAN radio integrated circuit 1106a to provide for further processing. The BT-FEM circuits 1104b may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on BT-RF signals received from one or more antennas 1101 are received to amplify the received signals and the amplified versions of the received signals to the BT radio integrated circuit 1106b to provide for further processing. FEM circuits 1104a may also include a transmission signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify WLAN signals transmitted by the radio integrated circuit circuitry 1106a for wireless transmission through one or more of the antennas 1101 are provided. In addition, FEM circuits 1104b also include a transmission signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify BT signals transmitted by the radio integrated circuit circuits 1106b are provided for wireless transmission through one or more antennas. In the embodiment of 11 , although FEM 1104a and FEM 1104b are shown to be different from each other, embodiments are not limited to and include within the scope of the use of an FEM (not shown) that includes a transmission path and / or a reception path for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of a or several FEM circuits, where at least some of the FEM Circuits share transmission and / or reception signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

Radio IC Circuits 1106a-b can make WiFi radio IC circuits as shown 1106a and BT radio IC circuits 1106b include. The WLAN radio IC circuits 1106a may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry to downconvert WLAN RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1104a and baseband signals to WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1108a provide. BT radio IC circuits 1106b may in turn include a receive signal path that may include circuitry to downconvert BT-RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1104b and baseband signals to BT baseband processing circuitry 1108b provide. WLAN radio IC circuits 1106a may also include a transmission signal path that may include circuitry to upconvert WLAN baseband signals received from the WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1108a and WLAN RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1104a for subsequent wireless transmission through one or more antennas 1101 provide. BT radio IC circuits 1106b may also include a transmission signal path that may include circuitry to upconvert BT baseband signals received from the BT baseband processing circuitry 1108b and BT-RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1104b for subsequent wireless transmission through one or more antennas 1101 provide. In the embodiment of 11 , although radio IC circuits 1106a and 1106b are shown to differ from one another, embodiments are not so limited and include within their scope the use of radio integrated circuit circuits (not shown) that include a transmit signal path and / or a receive signal path for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more radio IC circuits where at least some of the radio IC circuits share transmission and / or reception signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

Baseband processing circuitry 1108a-b can use WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1108a and BT baseband processing circuitry 1108b include. The WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1108a For example, a memory such as a set of RAM arrays in a Fast Fourier Transform or Reverse Fast Fourier Transform block (not shown) of the WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1108a include. Each of the WiFi baseband circuitry 1108a and the BT baseband circuitry 1108b may further include one or more processors and control logic to process the signals coming from the corresponding WLAN or BT receive signal path of the radio integrated circuit 1106a-b are received and also corresponding WLAN or BT baseband signals for the transmission signal path of the radio IC circuits 1106a-b to create. Each of the baseband processing circuits 1108a and 1108b may further include physical layer (PHY) and media access control layer (MAC) circuitry, and may further relate to the exemplary PHY level communication determinator 104a , 104b for generating and processing the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the radio IC circuits 1106a-b network.

Still in terms of 11 can, according to the embodiment shown, WLAN BT coexistence circuits 1113 Include logic that provides an interface between the WLAN baseband circuitry 1108a and the BT baseband circuitry 1108b to enable use cases that require WLAN and BT coexistence. In addition, a circuit 1103 between the WLAN FEM circuits 1104a and the BT-FEM circuits 1104b be provided to allow switching between the WLAN and BT sparks according to application requirements. In addition, though the antennas 1101 are shown with the WLAN FEM circuits 1104a or the BT-FEM circuits 1104b being connected, embodiments within the scope thereof include sharing one or more antennas between the WLAN and BT FEMs, or providing more than one antenna to each of the FEMs 1104a or 1104b connected is.

In some embodiments, the front end module circuits 1104a-b who have favourited Radio IC Circuits 1106a-b and baseband processing circuitry 1108a-b on a single radio card, such as a wireless radio card 1102 , be provided. In some other embodiments, the one or more antennas 1101 who have favourited FEM circuits 1104a-b and the radio IC circuits 1106a-b be provided on a single radio card. In some other embodiments, the radio integrated circuit circuits 1106a-b and the baseband processing circuitry 1108a-b on a single chip or an integrated circuit (IC), such as IC 1112 , be provided.

In some embodiments, the wireless card can 1102 may include a WLAN radio card and may be configured for Wi-Fi communications, although the scope of the embodiments in this regard is not limited. In some of these embodiments, the radio architecture 106a , 106b be configured to receive and transmit orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDM) or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication signals over a multicarrier communication channel. The OFDM or OFDMA signals can comprise several orthogonal sub-carriers.

In some of these multicarrier embodiments, radio architecture 106a , 106b Be part of a Wi-Fi communication station (STA), such as a wireless access point (AP), base station, or a mobile device including a Wi-Fi device. In some of these embodiments, radio architecture 106a , 106b be configured to transmit and receive signals in accordance with specific communication standards and / or protocols, such as any of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards including 802.1 In-2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE 802.11-2016, 802.1 In-2009, 802.11ac, 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay and / or 802.11ax standards and / or proposed specifications for WLANs, although the scope of the embodiments in this regard is not limited. Radio architecture 106a , 106b may also be capable of transmitting and / or receiving communications in accordance with other techniques and standards.

In some embodiments, the radio architecture 106a , 106b configured for high efficiency Wi-Fi (HEW) communications in accordance with the IEEE 802.11ax standard. In these embodiments, the radio architecture 106a , 106b be configured to communicate in accordance with an OFDMA technique, although the scope of the embodiments in this regard is not limited.

In some other embodiments, the radio architecture 106a , 106b be configured to transmit and receive signals transmitted using one or more other modulation techniques, such as frequency spread modulation (e.g., direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) and / or frequency hopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA), time division multiplexing (TDM) modulation, and / or frequency division multiplexing (FDM) modulation, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard.

In some embodiments, as further in 11 shown, the BT baseband circuits 1108b Be compliant with a Bluetooth (BT) connection standard, such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth 12.0 or bluetooth 10.0 or any other edition of the Bluetooth standard. In embodiments, the BT functionality such as in 11 may include the radio architecture 106a , 106b be configured to set up a synchronous connection (SCO) BT connection and / or a BT Low Energy (BT LE) connection. In some of the embodiments that include functionality, the radio architecture 106a , 106b be configured to establish an extended SCO (eSCO) connection for BT communication, although the scope of the embodiments in this regard is not limited. In some of these embodiments that include BT functionality, the radio architecture can be configured to intervene in asynchronous connectionless (ACL) BT communication, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard. In some embodiments, as in 11 shown, the functions of a BT radio card and WLAN radio card can work on a single wireless radio card, such as the single wireless radio card 1102 , although embodiments are not so limited, and include discrete WLAN and BT radio cards within their scope.

In some embodiments, the radio architecture 106a , 106b include other wireless cards, such as a cellular card configured for cellular (e.g. 5GPP, such as LTE, LTE-Advanced or 7G communications).

In some IEEE 802.11 embodiments, the radio architecture 106a , 106b configured for communications over different channel bandwidths including bandwidths with center frequencies of about 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and bandwidths of about 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 5 MHz, 5.5 MHz, 6 MHz, 8 MHz, 10 MHz , 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz (with continuous bandwidths) or 80 + 80 MHz (160 MHz) (with discontinuous bandwidths). In some embodiments, a 920 MHz channel bandwidth can be used. However, the scope of the embodiments is not limited with respect to the center frequencies from above.

12th illustrates WLAN FEM circuits 1104a in accordance with some embodiments. Although the example of 12th in connection with the WLAN FEM circuits 1104a is described, the example of 12th in connection with the exemplary BT-FEM circuits 1104b ( 11 ), although other circuit configurations may also be suitable.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuits 1104a a TX / RX switch 1202 to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuits 1104a may include a reception signal path and a transmission signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuits 1104a can use a low-noise amplifier (LNA) 1206 involve to received RF signals 1203 to amplify and the amplified received RF signals 1207 as an output (e.g. to the radio IC circuits 1106a-b ( 11 )) to provide. The circuit's transmission signal path 1104a can use a power amplifier (PA) to input RF signals 1209 (e.g. from the radio IC circuits 1106a-b provided), and one or more filters 1212 , such as band pass filters (BPFs), low pass filters (LPFs), or other types of filters, incorporate to RF signals 1215 for subsequent transmission (e.g. through one or more of the antennas 1101 ( 11 )) via an exemplary duplexer 1214 to create.

In some dual mode embodiments for Wi-Fi communication, the FEM circuits can 1104a configured to operate either the 2.4 GHz frequency spectrum or the 12 GHz frequency spectrum. In these embodiments, the receive signal path of the FEM circuits 1104a a receive signal path duplexer 1204 to separate the signals from each spectrum, as well as a separate LNA 1206 for each spectrum as shown. In these embodiments, the transmission signal path of the FEM circuits 1104a also a power amplifier 1210 and a filter 1212 include, such as a BPF, an LPF or other type of filter for each frequency spectrum and a transmission signal path duplexer 1204 to bring the signals of one of the different spectra onto a single transmission path for subsequent transmission through the one or more of the antennas 1101 ( 11 ) to provide. In some embodiments, BT communications can use the 2.4 GHz signal paths and can use the same FEM circuitry 1104a such as those used for wireless LAN communications.

13th illustrates radio integrated circuit circuits 1106a in accordance with some embodiments. The radio IC circuits 1106a are an example of circuitry suitable for use as the WLAN or BT radio IC circuits 1106a / 1006b ( 11 ) may be suitable, although other circuit configurations may also be suitable. Alternatively, the example of 13th in conjunction with the exemplary BT radio IC circuits 1106b be described.

In some embodiments, the radio integrated circuit circuits 1106a include a reception signal path and a transmission signal path. The receive signal path of the radio integrated circuit circuits 1106a can at least mixer circuits 1302 such as down conversion mixer circuits, amplifier circuits 1306 and filter circuits 1308 include. The transmission signal path of the radio integrated circuit circuits 1106a can at least filter circuits 1312 and mixer circuits 1314 such as up-conversion mixer circuits. Radio IC Circuits 1106a can also use synthesizer circuits 1304 to synthesize a frequency 1305 for use by the mixer circuitry 1302 and the mixer circuits 1314 include. The mixer circuits 1302 and or 1314 may each be configured to provide direct conversion functionality in accordance with some embodiments. The last type of circuit is a much simpler architecture compared to standard superheterodyne mixer circuits and any flicker noise caused by the same can be attenuated, for example, by using OFDM modulation. 13th Figure 3 illustrates only a simplified version of radio integrated circuit circuitry and, although not shown, may include embodiments where each of the circuits shown may include more than one component. For example, mixer circuits 1314 each contain one or more mixers and filter circuits 1308 and or 1312 each may include one or more filters, such as one or more BPFs and / or LPFs, according to application requirements. For example, if mixer circuits are of the direct conversion type, they may each include two or more mixers. In some embodiments, mixer circuits 1302 be configured to use RF signals 1207 made by the FEM circuits 1104a-b ( 11 ) are received based on the synthesized frequency 1305 by synthesizer circuits 1304 are provided to convert downwards. The amplifier circuits 1306 can be configured to amplify the downconverted signals and the filter circuitry 1308 may include an LPF configured to remove unwanted signals from the downconverted signals to output baseband signals 1307 to create. Output baseband signals 1307 can be sent to the baseband processing circuitry 1108a-b ( 11 ) must be made available for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 1307 Be zero frequency baseband signals although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuits 1302 have passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuits 1314 configured to input baseband signals 1311 based on the synthesized frequency 1305 up converting that from the synthesizer circuitry 1304 are provided to RF output signals 1209 for the FEM circuits 1104a-b to create. The baseband signals 1311 can from the baseband processing circuitry 1108a-b and can be provided by filter circuits 1312 be filtered. The filter circuits 1312 may include an LPF or a BPF, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuits 1302 and the mixer circuits 1314 each include two or more mixers and can be used for quadratic downconversion and / or upconversion with the help of the synthesizer 1304 be arranged. In some embodiments, the mixer circuits 1302 and the mixer circuits 1314 each contain two or more mixers that are each configured for image suppression (e.g. Hartley image suppression). In some embodiments, the mixer circuits 1302 and the mixer circuits 1314 be arranged for direct down conversion and / or direct up conversion. In some embodiments, the mixer circuits 1302 and the mixer circuits 1314 be configured for superheterodyne operation, although this is not a requirement.

Mixer circuits 1302 may have, according to one embodiment: square passive mixers (eg for the in-phase (I) and square-phase (Q) paths). In such an embodiment, the RF input signal 1207 from 13th downconverted to provide I and Q baseband output signals to be sent to the baseband processor.

Square passive mixers can be driven by zero or ninety degree time varying LO toggle signals provided by square circuitry that can be configured to receive a LO frequency (fLO) from a local oscillator or synthesizer, such as LO frequency 1305 of synthesizers 1304 ( 13th ). In some embodiments, the LO frequency can be the carrier frequency, while in other embodiments the LO frequency can be a fraction of the carrier frequency (eg, one half of the carrier frequency, one third of the carrier frequency). In In some embodiments, the zero and ninety degree time-varying toggle signals may be generated by the synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard.

In some embodiments, the LO signals may differ in duty cycle (the percentage of a duration that the LO signal is high) and / or offset (the difference between starting points of duration). In some embodiments, the LO signals can have an 85% duty cycle and an 80% offset. In some embodiments, each branch of the mixer circuitry (e.g., the in-phase (I) and square-phase (Q) paths) can operate at an 80% duty cycle, which can result in a significant reduction in power consumption.

The RF input signal 1207 ( 12th ) may have a balanced signal, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard. The I and Q baseband output signals can be fed to a low noise amplifier such as amplifier circuitry 1306 ( 13th ), or to filter circuits 1308 ( 13th ) must be provided.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 1307 and the input baseband signals 1311 baseband analog signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signals 1307 and the input baseband signals 1311 be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, the radio integrated circuit circuitry may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuits.

In some dual mode embodiments, separate radio integrated circuit circuits may be provided to process signals for each spectrum or for other spectra not mentioned herein, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1304 a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N / N + 1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments in this regard is not limited as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuits 1304 be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer that has a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. According to some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry can 1304 include digital synthesizer circuitry. One advantage of using digital synthesizer circuitry is that, while they can still include analog components, their footprint can be reduced much more than the footprint of analog synthesizer circuitry. In some embodiments, frequency input into synthesizer circuitry 1304 provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although this is not a requirement. A divider control input can be further from either the baseband processing circuitry 1108a-b ( 11 ) or a connection aggregator, depending on the desired output frequency 1305 . In some embodiments, a divider control input (eg, N) can be determined from a look-up table (eg, within a Wi-Fi card) based on a channel number and a channel center frequency as determined or specified by the connection aggregator. The application processor 102a , 102b can use the exemplary PHY communication determiner 104a , 104b from 1 contain or otherwise be associated with it. The application processor 102a , 102b includes an exemplary timer 1110 . The exemplary application processor 102a , 102b can be its timer 1110 based on information from the exemplary PHY communication determiner 104a , 104b synchronize.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 1304 be configured to use a carrier frequency as the output frequency 1305 while in other embodiments the output frequency 1305 a fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g. one half of the carrier frequency, one third of the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the output frequency can be 1305 be a LO frequency (fLO).

14th Figure 10 illustrates a functional block diagram of baseband processing circuitry 1108a in accordance with some embodiments. The baseband processing circuitry 1108a are an example of circuitry for use as the baseband processing circuitry 1108a ( 11 ) are suitable, although other circuit configurations may also be suitable. Alternatively, the example of 13th can be used to build the exemplary BT baseband processing circuitry 1108b from 11 to implement.

The baseband processing circuitry 1108a may have a receive baseband processor (RX BBP) 1402 to process receive baseband signals 1309 by the radio IC circuits 1106a-b ( 11 ) and a transmission baseband processor (TX BBP) 1404 for generating transmission baseband signals 1311 for the radio IC circuits 1106a-b include. The baseband processing circuitry 1108a can also control logic 1406 to the Coordinating the operations of the baseband processing circuitry 1108a include.

In some embodiments (e.g., when analog baseband signals are between the baseband processing circuitry 1108a-b and the radio IC circuits 1106a-b can be replaced), the baseband processing circuitry 1108a ADC 1410 involve to analog baseband signals 1409 by the radio IC circuits 1106a-b are received into baseband digital signals for processing by the RX BBP 1402 to convert. In these embodiments, the baseband processing circuitry 1108a also DAC 1412 Include digital baseband signals from TX BBP 1404 to analog baseband signals 1411 to convert.

In some embodiments, the OFDM signals or OFDMA signals communicate, such as by baseband processor 1108a , the transmission baseband processor can 1404 be configured to generate OFDM or OFDMA signals as appropriate for transmission by performing an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT). The receiving baseband processor 1402 can be configured to process received OFDM signals or OFDMA signals by performing an FFT. In some embodiments, the receive baseband processor 1402 be configured to detect the presence of an OFDM signal or OFDMA signal by performing autocorrelation to detect a preamble, such as a short preamble, and by performing cross-correlation to detect a long preamble. The preambles can be part of a given framework for Wi-Fi communication.

Again in terms of 11 In some embodiments, the antennas 1101 ( 11 ) each have one or more directional or non-directional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other antenna types that are suitable for the transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas can be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the various channel characteristics that may result. Antennas 1101 may each include a set of phased array antennas, although embodiments are not so limited.

Although the radio architecture 106a , 106b As illustrated as having some separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements can be combined and implemented by combinations of software configured elements such as processing elements including digital signal processors (DSPs) and / or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may have one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), and combinations of different hardware and logic circuits for performing at least the functions described herein . In some embodiments, the functional elements may relate to one or more processes that operate on one or more processing elements.

15th Figure 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary processor platform 1500 who is able to follow the instructions from 4-10 to execute the exemplary PHY level communication determiner 104a , 104b from 1 and 2 to implement. The processor platform 1500 For example, it can be a server, a personal computer, a mobile device (e.g. a cell phone, a smartphone, a tablet such as an iPad ™), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an Internet appliance, or any other type of computing device.

The processor platform 1500 of the illustrated example includes a processor 1512 . The processor 1512 of the illustrated example is hardware. For example, the processor can 1512 be implemented by integrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors or controllers of any desired family or manufacturer.

The processor 1512 of the illustrated example includes local storage 1513 (e.g. a cache). The exemplary processor 1512 from 15th executes the instructions from 4-10 to the exemplary component interface 200 , the exemplary S-TXOP feature determiner 202 , the exemplary data converter 204 , the exemplary preamble generator 206 , the exemplary communication determiner 208 and / or the exemplary PHY buffer 210 from 2 and / or the exemplary application processor 102a , 102b from 1 and / or 11 to be implemented. The processor 1512 of the illustrated example is via a bus 1518 in communication with a main memory, which is a volatile memory 1514 and a non-volatile memory 1516 includes. The volatile memory 1514 may be implemented by synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), RAMBUS dynamic random access memory (RDRAM), and / or any other type of random access memory device. The non-volatile memory 1516 can be implemented by flash memory and / or any other desired type of storage device. Access to the main memory 1514 , 1516 is controlled by a clock controller.

The processor platform 1500 of the illustrated example includes an interface circuit 1520 . The interface circuit 1520 can also be implemented by any type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB), and / or a PCI Express interface.

In the illustrated example, there are one or more input devices 1522 with the interface circuit 1520 connected. The input device (s) 1522 allows a user to put data and commands into the processor 1512 to enter. The input device (s) may by, for example, a sensor, a microphone, a camera (image or video), a keyboard, a key, a mouse, a touch screen, a swipe pad, a control button, a Isopoint and / or a speech recognition system can be implemented.

One or more output devices 1524 are also with the interface circuit 1520 of the illustrated example. The output devices 1524 For example, may be implemented by display devices (e.g., a light emitting diode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystal display, a cathode ray tube display (CRT), a touch screen, a tactile output device, and / or speakers). The interface circuit 1520 Thus, the illustrated example typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chip, or a graphics driver processor.

The interface circuit 1520 The illustrated example also includes a communication device, such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, a modem and / or a network interface card in order to exchange data with external machines (eg computing devices of any type) over a network 1526 (e.g., an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line (DSL), a telephone line, coaxial cable, a cellular phone system, etc.).

The processor platform 1500 The illustrated example also includes one or more mass data storage devices 1528 for storing software and / or data. Examples of such mass data storage devices 1528 include floppy disk drives, hard disk drives, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, RAID systems, and digital versatile disk (DVD) drives.

The coded instructions 1532 from 4-10 can in the mass data storage device 1528 , in volatile memory 1514 , in non-volatile memory 1516 and / or stored on a removable, tangible, computer readable data storage medium such as a CD or DVD.

From the foregoing it can be seen that the previously disclosed method, the device and the articles of manufacture facilitate a synchronous transmission opportunity in a wireless local area network. Examples disclosed herein provide low overhead, low latency, synchronous, conflict-free transmission within a transmission opportunity using an S-TXOP preamble for the S-TXOP and a light preamble for UL / DL PPDUs within the transmission opportunity. Using the examples disclosed herein, the PPDU preamble (e.g. the light preamble compared to a regular preamble) is 41.6 µs for each DL-PPDU and 112 µs for each UL-PPDU considering single-input-single-output- (SISO) Communication involving nine stations decreased. Further, the slight preamble provides a peak-to-average power reduction (PAPR) of 1.83 decibels (dB) with 15 dB separation between a correlation peak and a minor peak, resulting in a maximum CFO correction of 312.5 KHz (± 1 / 1.6µs / 2) allowed. Accordingly, examples disclosed herein provide synchronous transmission opportunity with significantly lower overhead and latency than conventional Wi-Fi techniques.

While certain exemplary methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture have been described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not so limited. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods, devices and articles of manufacture that fall within the scope of the claims of this patent.

Claims (25)

Apparatus for facilitating a synchronous transmission opportunity in wireless local area network communication, the apparatus comprising: a transmission opportunity feature determiner for dividing a transmission opportunity into transmission intervals, each of the transmission intervals being reserved for at least one of an uplink transmission and a downlink transmission; a preamble generator for generating a preamble containing information on durations of the transmission intervals and a total number of transmission intervals; and an interface to transmit the preamble to a station to initiate the transmission opportunity. Device according to Claim 1 wherein the transmission opportunity feature determiner is to divide the transmission opportunity into transmission intervals based on a size of a downlink media access control service data unit. Device according to Claim 2 , further including a data converter to convert the downlink media access control service data unit to a physical layer convergence protocol data unit. Device according to Claim 1 , wherein: if a transmission interval corresponds to the transmission opportunity of a downlink transmission, the preamble generator serves to generate a light preamble for the downlink transmission, the light preamble corresponding to a synchronization field corresponding to two symbol repetitions, which are preceded by a cyclic prefix in order to offset carrier frequency shifts correct within the transfer opportunity; and the interface serves to transmit the light preamble to the station before downlink data units corresponding to the downlink transmission are transmitted. Device according to Claim 4 , whereby the light preamble does not contain an older short training field or an older long training field. Device according to Claim 1 wherein the preamble generator serves to generate the preamble to include an older section and a non-older section, the non-older section corresponding to a first modulation that is different from a second modulation of the older section. Device according to Claim 1 , further including a physical layer buffer for storing uplink data units received from the station when a transmission interval corresponds to the transmission opportunity of an uplink transmission. Device according to Claim 7 , the interface serving to transmit a negative acknowledgment if the physical layer buffer does not contain all of the uplink data units corresponding to the uplink transmission. Device according to Claim 8 wherein the negative acknowledgment is a control information frame that includes a bitmap of the physical layer buffer. Device according to Claim 1 wherein the preamble generator serves to generate a trigger data unit that includes a synchronization field and a field corresponding to uplink resource allocation information, the trigger data unit not including a MAC frame. Device according to Claim 10 , wherein the interface serves to transmit the trigger data unit to the station in order to initiate the uplink transmission. Device according to Claim 1 wherein the transmission opportunity feature determiner is used to determine transmission opportunity features by: determining a transmission opportunity length based on channel conditions; Selecting a code word size, the code word being at least one of a low density parity code and a binary convolutional code; Selecting an encoded media access control protocol data unit (MPDU) size based on an integer number of codewords; Adjusting sizes of the transmission intervals to match the encoded MPDU size; Determining an order of the transmission intervals in the transmission opportunity; Fragmenting a media access control service data unit (MSDU) according to downlink packets in MPDUs to match the MPDU size with the unencoded MPDU size; Encrypt the MPDUs; and generating PSDUs by adding a cyclic redundancy check to the encrypted MPDUs. Device according to Claim 1 If a transmission interval corresponds to the transmission opportunity of an uplink transmission: the preamble generation serves to generate a light preamble for an acknowledgment, the light preamble containing a synchronization field corresponding to two symbol repetitions, preceded by a cyclic prefix in order to avoid carrier frequency shifts within the Correct transmission opportunity; the interface is used to transmit the acknowledgment in response to receiving the uplink transmission. A method of facilitating a synchronous transmission opportunity in a wireless local area network communication, the method comprising: dividing a transmission opportunity into transmission intervals, each of the transmission intervals being reserved for at least one of an uplink transmission and a downlink transmission; Generating a preamble containing information relating to durations of the transmission intervals and a total number of transmission intervals; and transmitting the preamble to a station to initiate the transmission opportunity. Procedure according to Claim 14 , further including dividing the transmission opportunity into transmission intervals based on a size of a downlink media access control service data unit. Procedure according to Claim 15 , further including converting the downlink media access control service data unit to a physical layer convergence protocol data unit. Procedure according to Claim 14 , wherein: if a transmission interval corresponds to the transmission opportunity of a downlink transmission, generating a light preamble for the downlink transmission, the light preamble containing a synchronization field corresponding to two symbol repetitions preceded by a cyclic prefix in order to assign carrier frequency shifts within the transmission opportunity correct; and transmitting the light preamble to the station prior to transmitting downlink data units corresponding to the downlink transmission. Procedure according to Claim 15 , whereby the light preamble does not contain an older short training field or an older long training field. Procedure according to Claim 14 further including generating the preamble to include an older section and a non-older section, the non-older section corresponding to a first modulation that is different from a second modulation of the older section. Procedure according to Claim 14 , further including, if a transmission interval corresponds to the transmission opportunity of an uplink transmission, storing received uplink data units from the station in a physical layer buffer. Procedure according to Claim 20 , further including transmitting a negative acknowledgment if the physical layer buffer does not contain all of the uplink data units corresponding to the uplink transmission. Procedure according to Claim 21 wherein the negative acknowledgment is a control information frame that includes a bitmap of the physical layer buffer. Procedure according to Claim 14 , further comprising generating a trigger data unit that includes a synchronization field and a field corresponding to uplink resource allocation information, wherein the trigger data unit does not include a MAC frame. Procedure according to Claim 14 , further comprising determining transmission opportunity characteristics by: determining a transmission opportunity length based on channel conditions; Selecting a code word size, the code word being at least one of a low density parity code and a binary convolutional code; Selecting an encoded media access control protocol data unit (MPDU) size based on an integer number of codewords; Adjusting sizes of the transmission intervals to match the encoded MPDU size; Determining an order of the transmission intervals in the transmission opportunity; Fragmenting a media access control service data unit (MSDU) according to downlink packets in MPDUs to match the MPDU size with the unencoded MPDU size; Encrypt the MPDUs; and generating PSDUs by adding a cyclic redundancy check to the encrypted MPDUs. Tangible computer readable data storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least: Dividing a transmission opportunity into transmission intervals, each of the transmission intervals being reserved for at least one of an uplink transmission and a downlink transmission; Generating a preamble containing information relating to durations of the transmission intervals and a total number of transmission intervals; and Broadcast the preamble to a station to initiate the broadcast opportunity.

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