TWI642292B - Apparatus of wireless device and high-efficiency station, method performed by apparatus and non-transitory computer-readable stoage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention defines an embodiment of a transmit messaging structure for HEW to carry packet information to assemble an OFDMA receiver for demodulation of a particular portion of the packet and/or for a transmit group using a particular OFDMA and MU-MIMO resource With receiver. In some embodiments, the particular portion of the packet includes one or more of the 20 MHz channels or a plurality of minimum bandwidth units. Each 20 MHz bandwidth structure may include several minimum bandwidth units to allow each 20 MHz channel to have a smaller granularity than 20 MHz.

Description

Wireless device and high-performance station device, method by device and non-transitory computer Readable storage medium Priority claim

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 14/458,000, filed on Aug. 12, 2014. Serial No. 61/906,059, filed on April 1, 2014, Serial No. 61/973,376, filed on April 1, 2014, Serial No. 61/976,951, filed on April 8, 2014, filed on April 30, 2014 Serial No. 61/986,256, Serial No. 61/986,250, filed on Apr. 30, 2014, Serial No. 61/991,730, filed on May 12, 2014, No. 62/013,869, Serial No. 62/024,813, filed on July 15, 2014, Serial No. 61/990,414, filed on May 08, 2014, Serial No. Serial No. 62/026, 277, filed on Jul. 18, 2014, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Field of invention

Embodiments relate to wireless networks. Some embodiments relate to wireless local area networks (WLANs), Wi-Fi networks, and networks operating in accordance with one of the IEEE 802.11 standards, such as the IEEE 802.11ac standard or the IEEE 802.11ax SIG (referred to as DensiFi). . Some embodiments relate to high performance wireless communication or high performance WLAN (HEW) communication.

Background of the invention

IEEE 802.11ax, known as High Efficiency WLAN (HEW), is a successor to the IEEE 802.11ac standard and is intended to improve the performance of wireless local area networks (WLANs). The goal of HEW is to provide up to four times or more throughput of the IEEE 802.11ac standard. HEWs are particularly suitable in high density hotspots and cellular offload scenarios where many devices competing for wireless media can have low to moderate data rate requirements. The Wi-Fi standard has evolved from IEEE 802.11b to IEEE 802.11g/a, evolved to IEEE 802.11n, evolved to IEEE 802.11ac, and is now evolving to IEEE 802.11ax. In each of these standards, there are mechanisms for providing coexistence with previous standards. For HEW, the same requirements exist for coexistence with these old standards. One of the problems with HEW is the efficient allocation and use of bandwidth.

Therefore, there is a general need for systems and methods that allow HEW devices to coexist with legacy devices. There is also a general need for systems and methods that allow HEW devices to coexist with legacy devices and to more efficiently allocate and use available bandwidth.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a special one is proposed A device for a wireless device, comprising: a memory; and processing circuitry coupled to the memory, the processing circuit configured to: encode a high performance (HE) packet comprising a plurality of HE signals (HE-SIG a field, each of the HE-SIG fields including an indicator for indicating a configuration of resource elements (RUs) in a frequency for one of a plurality of 20 MHz bands, wherein each HE-SIG column The bit is configured to assemble the HE station to receive a data portion of the HE packet in a corresponding 20 MHz band, and wherein each of the HE-SIG fields is separately encoded for the HE packet in the corresponding The transmission on the 20 MHz band; and assembling the HE packet for transmission by the wireless device.

100‧‧‧HEW Network

102‧‧‧Master Station (STA)/Access Point

104‧‧‧HEW station/scheduled HEW station/schedule station

106‧‧‧Old device/old station

200‧‧‧Transmission communication structure

202‧‧20MHz channel/old 20MHz channel/channel

211‧‧‧Knowledge VHT-SIG-A

212‧‧‧HEW Signal Field/HEW Signal Field (HEW-SIG-A)/HEW SIG

214‧‧‧ Field/HEW Short Training Field (HEW-STF)

216‧‧‧Field/data field

302‧‧‧OFDMA subchannel/10MHz subchannel/subchannel

312A~312F‧‧‧Subchannel configuration

500‧‧‧HEW device

502‧‧‧Physical Layer (PHY) Circuit/PHY

504‧‧‧Media Access Control Layer Circuit (MAC)

506‧‧‧Other processing circuits

508‧‧‧ memory

600‧‧‧Program

602~606‧‧‧ operation

1 illustrates an HEW network in accordance with some embodiments; FIG. 2A illustrates an old packet structure; FIG. 2B illustrates an HEW packet structure in accordance with some embodiments; and FIG. 3 illustrates an OFDMA subchannel configuration for a 20 MHz channel in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 4 illustrates a simplified OFDMA subchannel configuration for a 20 MHz channel in accordance with some embodiments; FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a HEW device in accordance with some embodiments; and FIG. 6 is for use by a host in accordance with some embodiments Station's HEW communication program.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiment

The following description and drawings fully illustrate specific embodiments to allow Those skilled in the art practice these embodiments. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in, or substituted for, those portions and features of other embodiments. The embodiments set forth in the scope of the patent application cover all available equivalents of the claims.

FIG. 1 illustrates a HEW network in accordance with some embodiments. The HEW network 100 can include a primary station (STA) 102, a plurality of HEW stations 104 (HEW devices), and a plurality of legacy devices 106 (legacy stations). The primary station 102 can be configured to communicate with the HEW station 104 and the legacy device 106 in accordance with one or more of the IEEE 802.11 standards. According to some HEW embodiments, the primary station 102 and the HEW station 104 can communicate in accordance with the IEEE 802.11ax standard. According to some HEW embodiments, the access point 102 can operate as a primary station that can be configured to contend for wireless media (e.g., during a contention period) to control the period for the HEW (i.e., the transmitter (TXOP)) Receive media exclusion controls. The primary station can transmit HEW primary synchronous transmissions at the beginning of the HEW control period. During the HEW control period, the scheduled HEW station 104 can communicate with the primary station in accordance with a non-contention based multiple access technique. This is different from conventional Wi-Fi communication in which the device communicates based on contention-based communication technologies rather than multiple access technologies. During the HEW control period, the primary station can communicate with the HEW station using one or more HEW frames. Old stations avoid communication during the HEW control cycle. In some embodiments, the primary synchronization transmission may be referred to as HEW control and scheduled transmission.

In some embodiments, the multiple access technique used during the HEW control period may be an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) technique, however this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, multiple access techniques may It is a time division multiple access (TDMA) technology or a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) technology. In some embodiments, the multiple access technology may be a sub-space multiple access (SDMA) technique. The communication during the control period can be uplink communication or downlink communication.

The primary station 102 can also communicate with the legacy station 106 in accordance with the legacy IEEE 802.11 communication technology. In some embodiments, the primary station 102 can also be configurable to communicate with the HEW station 104 outside of the HEW control period in accordance with the legacy IEEE 802.11 communication technology, although this is not a requirement.

In some embodiments, the data fields of the HEW frame can be grouped to have the same bandwidth, and the bandwidth can be one of a 20 MHz, 40 MHz, or 80 MHz connected bandwidth or a 80+80 MHz (160 MHz) non-contiguous bandwidth. In some embodiments, a 320 MHz connected bandwidth can be used. In these embodiments, each data field of the HEW frame can be assembled for transmitting a number of spatial streams. In some embodiments, the data field of the HEW frame can be communicated within an OFDMA subchannel having one or more minimum bandwidth units. These embodiments are discussed in more detail below.

In some embodiments, the transmit messaging structure is configured to carry packet information (eg, HEW frame) to assemble devices (eg, HEW station 104) to demodulate a particular portion of the packet and/or to assemble the device for use with a particular OFDMA and MU-MIMO resources are transmitted or received. In some embodiments, the particular portion of the packet can include one or more of the minimum bandwidth units of one or more 20 MHz bandwidth structures (eg, channels). Each 20 MHz bandwidth structure may include several minimum bandwidth units to allow each 20 MHz segment to have a smaller granularity than 20 MHz. Some embodiments disclosed herein may provide The design is to assemble an OFDMA receiver in a next-generation Wi-Fi standard such as High Efficiency WLAN (HEW) (ie, the IEEE 802.11ax task group), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

Since one of the primary use cases of HEW is that many devices attempt to access dense deployment of media at moderate data rates, there is a need for techniques that allow for more simultaneous access devices. The current IEEE 802.11ac specification allows for up to 160 MHz bandwidth with eight simultaneous multiple input multiple output (MIMO) streams. The focus of the HEW is to use this wide bandwidth to provide access to many devices. Some embodiments disclosed herein define a transmit messaging structure that carries packet information to assemble an OFDMA receiver and/or to assemble an upcoming OFDMA transmission by a device at the receiving end.

Some embodiments disclosed herein define transmit transmit structures that are efficient, scalable, and decodable by devices operating in the 20 MHz mode, and other proposals in DensiFi or IEEE to date have not provided the transmit transmit structure. In accordance with some embodiments, the transmit structure is configured to carry packet information to assemble an OFDMA receiver such that the receiver can demodulate a particular portion of the packet (eg, a particular OFDMA resource and/or MU-MIMO stream), and / Or use a specific OFDMA and MU-MIMO resource transmission in combination with the receiver. The structure of the present invention can use a minimum of 20 MHz bandwidth, and the structure is modular and can be extended to a higher bandwidth, which is a multiple of 20 MHz (for example, the old Wi-Fi operating bandwidth is 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and 160MHz). Each 20 MHz structure can then be combined with one or more OFDMA subchannels of the smallest bandwidth unit. These embodiments allow the grouping of HEW stations 104 to be for OFDMA communication in the uplink direction and for the downlink direction OFDMA communication was assembled.

One of the goals of HEW is to adopt methods to improve the performance of Wi-Fi and, in particular, to improve the performance of dense deployment. Based on this goal of HEW, techniques for improving the performance of physical layer (PHY), such as OFDMA technology, are proposed. Embodiments disclosed herein provide a new packet structure that can be used to assemble an OFDMA receiver.

Fig. 2A illustrates an old packet structure. As can be seen in Figure 2A, in IEEE 802.11ac, VHT-SIG-A is replicated in each 20 MHz channel 202. In addition, the VHT-SIG-A transmission uses IEEE 802.11a compatible waveforms containing only 48 data subcarriers.

2B illustrates an HEW packet structure in accordance with some embodiments. Embodiments disclosed herein do not duplicate signal fields in each segment, and instead transmit separate signal fields (e.g., HEW signal field 212) that assemble receiver stations in each 20 MHz channel 202. Some embodiments may use fifty-two (52) data subcarriers (eg, instead of 48) to provide more subcarriers to carry messaging information. As shown in FIG. 2B, transmit messaging structure 200 can include individual HEW signal fields (HEW-SIG-A) 212 for each of a plurality of 20 MHz channels 202. Each HEW signal field 212 can be grouped with one or more of the scheduled HEW stations 104 for communicating on one or more OFDMA sub-channels in one of the 20 MHz channels 202 in accordance with OFDMA techniques. Each 20 MHz channel 202 can be configurable to include one or more fields 214, 216 following the HEW signal field 212. In some embodiments, the HEW Short Training Field (HEW-STF) 214 and the Data Field 216 may also be included in the transmit messaging structure 200. These embodiments are described in more detail below.

According to an embodiment, the primary station 102 can be assembled to generate a packet that includes a transmit messaging structure 200 to assemble the scheduled HEW station 104 for communicating over channel resources in accordance with OFDMA techniques. The channel resources may include one or more OFDMA subchannels within the old 20 MHz channel 202. Each OFDMA subchannel may include one or more minimum bandwidth units having a predetermined bandwidth.

As previously discussed, the HEW OFDMA structure can have a smaller granularity than 20 MHz. Thus, each HEW signal field 212 for a downlink (DL) or uplink (UL) OFDMA schedule can be combined with an OFDMA structure within each 20 MHz segment. These embodiments are discussed in more detail below.

FIG. 3 illustrates an OFDMA subchannel configuration for a 20 MHz channel in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 3 illustrates subchannel configurations 312A, 312B, 312C, 312D, 312E, and 312F.

4 illustrates a simplified OFDMA subchannel configuration for a 20 MHz channel in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 4 illustrates subchannel configurations 312A, 312E, and 312F.

Referring to Figures 3 and 4, in accordance with some embodiments, a transmit messaging structure 20 (Fig. 2) can be configured to schedule a HEW station 104 (Fig. 1) for communicating over channel resources in accordance with OFDMA techniques, and the channel resources can include 20 MHz. One or more OFDMA sub-channels 302 within channel 202. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, each OFDMA subchannel 302 can include one or more minimum bandwidth units having a predetermined bandwidth. In such embodiments, the transmit messaging structure may include separate signal fields for each 20 MHz channel (eg, HEW signal field 212 (Fig. 2)) to group the HEW stations 104 for OFDMA communications (i.e., downlink communications or uplink communications) during the OFDMA control period.

In some embodiments, each minimum bandwidth unit can be, for example, 4.75 MHz, and each OFDMA sub-channel 302 can include up to four minimum bandwidth units, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, each 20 MHz channel 202 can include up to four OFDMA sub-channels 302, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In such embodiments, the size of the minimum bandwidth unit is fixed, and this condition allows the size of the OFDMA subchannel 302 to vary based on the number of minimum bandwidth units.

As mentioned above, individual HEW signal fields 212 (eg, HEW-SIG-A) for each of a plurality of 20 MHz channels may be provided, and each HEW signal field 212 may be configured to schedule HEWs One or more of the stations 104 are for communicating on one or more of the OFDMA sub-channels 302 in one of the 20 MHz channels 202 in accordance with OFDMA techniques. In such embodiments, the individual and possibly different HEW signal fields 212 on each 20 MHz channel 202 allow the OFDMA structures for each 20 MHz channel to be individually grouped (eg, a different number of subchannels 302, different Communication parameters such as MCS, etc.). These embodiments are discussed in more detail below. In some embodiments, the transmit messaging structure 200 can be prior, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, each HEW signal field 212 can be a 20 MHz transmission on one of the 20 MHz channels 202 associated with the 20 MHz channel, and each of the individual HEW signal fields 212 can be configured to be in the 20 MHz channel One of the 202 transmits in parallel on the associated 20 MHz channel. Therefore, no The same HEW signal field 212 can be transmitted in parallel on each 20 MHz channel.

In some embodiments, each HEW signal field 212 is configured to assemble a scheduled HEW station 104 for up to four up communications in the OFDMA subchannel 302 within each 20 MHz channel in the 20 MHz channel 202. In these exemplary embodiments, each 20 MHz channel 202 can be divided into up to four minimum bandwidth units, each associated with the OFDMA subchannel 302.

In some embodiments, each OFDMA subchannel 302 can include a minimum bandwidth unit between one and four of a predetermined bandwidth within each 20 MHz channel. In such embodiments, since the minimum bandwidth unit has a predetermined bandwidth, the number of minimum bandwidth units within the 20 MHz channel will also be fixed. However, the number of OFDMA sub-channels 302 within the 20 MHz channel 202 can vary, as each OFDMA sub-channel 302 can be configured to have a number of minimum bandwidth units (eg, between one and four).

In some embodiments, the predetermined bandwidth of the minimum bandwidth unit is 4.375 MHz. In some embodiments, the predetermined bandwidth is defined by a predetermined number of subcarriers and a predetermined subcarrier spacing. In some embodiments, the predetermined number of subcarriers is fourteen (14) and the predetermined subcarrier spacing is 312.5 KHz to provide a predetermined bandwidth of 4.375. In these embodiments, a 64 point FFT can be used.

In some other embodiments, a 256 point FFT can be used. In such other embodiments using a 256 point FFT, for example, the predetermined number of subcarriers of the minimum bandwidth unit may be 14x4 = 56, and the predetermined subcarrier spacing may be 312.5 / 4 = 78.125 kHz.

In other embodiments (not separately illustrated), each HEW signal bar Bit 212 may be arranged to schedule HEW station 104 (e.g., carry configuration for scheduling HEW station 104) for up to eight or more of OFDMA subchannels within each 20 MHz channel in 20 MHz channel 202 Multiple communication. In these other embodiments, for example, each 20 MHz channel 202 can be divided into up to eight or more minimum bandwidth units, and each minimum bandwidth unit can be less than 4.375 MHz.

In some embodiments, the HEW signal field 212 of each 20 MHz channel can be generated to include an indicator to indicate the subchannel configuration of the associated 20 MHz channel. The subchannel configuration can include at least a number of minimum bandwidth units. The sub-channel configuration may also include information (e.g., communication parameters) for communicating within the OFDMA sub-channel 302 during the OFDMA control period, including, for example, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) indicator and a minimum bandwidth unit. Length indicator. Thus, different communication parameters (e.g., MCS) are available for each 20 MHz channel 202, and in some embodiments, for each OFDMA sub-channel 302.

In some embodiments, an indicator in the HEW signal field 212 to indicate a subchannel configuration for each 20 MHz channel may indicate a plurality of subchannel configurations (eg, subchannel configurations 312A, 312B, 312C, 312D, 312E and One of 213F). In the example illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, subchannel configuration 312A can include four OFDMA subchannels 302, with each OFDMA subchannel 302 containing a single minimum bandwidth unit. The sub-channel configuration 312B/C/D may include three OFDMA sub-channels 302, where both of the OFDMA sub-channels 302 comprise a single minimum bandwidth unit and one of the OFDMA sub-channels 302 comprises two contiguous minimum bandwidth units. Subchannel configuration 312E can include two OFDMA sub- Channel 302, wherein each OFDMA subchannel 302 includes two contiguous minimum bandwidth units. Subchannel configuration 312F may include a single OFDMA subchannel 302 that includes four contiguous minimum bandwidth units.

For example, HEW signal field 212 may indicate the use of MCS #_1 in the 10 MHz sub-channel 302 of sub-channel configuration 312E. In some embodiments, the indicator may indicate a particular sub-channel configuration that may define the location and number of different sub-channels 302 within the channel 202 (ie, sub-channel configuration 312B, sub-channel configuration 312C, or sub-channel configuration) 312D). As illustrated in FIG. 3, for example, each 20 MHz channel 202 can be configured according to any of a plurality of subchannel configurations (eg, subchannel configuration 312A, subchannel configuration 312B, subchannel configuration 312C, sub Channel configuration 312D, subchannel configuration 312E or subchannel configuration 312F) are combined.

In some embodiments, up to 52 subcarriers of a 20 MHz channel (ie, instead of 48 of the conventional VHT-SIG-A 211 (FIG. 2A)) may be used during OFDMA control periods according to OFDMA techniques. Data communication. These embodiments are discussed in more detail below.

In some embodiments, each 20 MHz channel 202 can be configurable to include one or more fields 214, 216 following the HEW signal field 212. In some embodiments, one of the more fields 214, 216 can be a minimum bandwidth unit that can be combined to include a minimum of four 4.375 MHz, etc., with zero subcarriers other than the zero subcarrier at the DC. Inserted, and further assembled to include one or more additional/extra zero subcarriers around the DC and at the edge of the band to cover the 20 MHz bandwidth of each 20 MHz channel. For example, for data field 216, when the predetermined number of subcarriers of the minimum bandwidth unit is fourteen and When the predetermined subcarrier spacing is 312.5 kHz to supply a predetermined bandwidth of 4.375, the 56 subcarriers of the minimum bandwidth unit may include at least one pilot subcarrier, thereby allowing up to 52 total subcarriers for data, however, The scope is not limited in this respect. On the other hand, the HEW-SIG 212 will transmit, for example, using a full 20 MHz bandwidth using, for example, 52 data tones and 4 pilot tones.

In some embodiments, transmit messaging structure 200 can include a HEW Scheduling (SCH) field to indicate specific time and frequency resources for OFDMA subchannel 302 for each scheduled station 104 for use during an OFDMA control cycle Communication with the primary station 102 is in accordance with OFDMA techniques. In some embodiments, the HEW scheduling field may have an independent encoding (ie, may be an individual field) and may be after the HEW signal field 212, although this is not a requirement. In other embodiments, the HEW scheduling field can be part of the HEW signal field 212. In some embodiments, the schedule information may be part of the HEW signal field 212 rather than an individual HEW scheduled field, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the schedule information can be embedded in the data field, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the primary station 102 can allocate bandwidth to the scheduled HEW station 104 based on a minimum bandwidth unit for communicating with the primary station 102 during an OFDMA control period during which the primary station 102 Has dedicated control of the wireless medium (ie, during the TXOP). In such embodiments, the minimum bandwidth unit can be configurable to time and frequency multiplex during data field 216 (FIG. 2), which can occur during the OFDMA control cycle. During the control period, the packet uses OFDMA according to the uplink. Spatial Multiple Access (SDMA) techniques are received from the scheduled HEW station 104, or transmitted to the scheduled HEW station 104 (i.e., during the data field 216 (Fig. 2) using OFDMA according to the downlink multiplex technique. Data or downlink data can be communicated with the scheduled HEW station).

In some embodiments, the data field 216 can be configured for both downlink transmissions and uplink transmissions. In such embodiments, the scheduling information in the HEW SIG 212 or SCH field may include downlink scheduling information and uplink scheduling information. In such embodiments, after the downlink transmission by the primary station 102 in the data field 216, the primary station 102 may self-schedule within the data field 216 after a particular inter-frame interval (eg, SIFS). The station receives the uplink transmission.

In some embodiments, the HEW signal field 212 may also include configuration parameters, such as an STBC (1 bit) indicator to indicate whether Space Time Block Coding (STBC) is used, to allow the receiver to determine the data reward. A group ID (6 bit) indicator loaded as a single user (SU) or multiple users (MU), indicating a number of spatiotemporal streams (for example, 3 bits) indicating the number of spatiotemporal streams , an LDPC additional symbol (eg, 1 bit) indicator for LDPC encoding, an MCS field containing the MCS index value for the payload, and a bundle to indicate when the beaming matrix is applied to the transmission ( For example, a 1 bit) indicator, a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) to allow detection errors in the HEW signal field 212. This is different from the conventional VHT-SIG-A 211 (Fig. 2A) which requires a bandwidth indicator. In such embodiments, the HEW signal field 212 will not require a bandwidth indicator because the HEW signal field 212 is not replicated on every 20 MHz channel as the VHT-SIG-A 211, however the scope of the embodiment is here square The face is not limited as the bandwidth indicator can be included to facilitate the implementation of the receiver.

In some embodiments, such configuration parameters are available for each of the different sub-channel configurations 312A through 312F. This may result in a longer HEW signal field 212 (eg, 6 OFDMA symbols or 8 OFDMA symbols) compared to VHT-SIG-A 211.

In some alternative embodiments, one or more of the same configuration parameters may be cross-routed with all configurations (ie, sub-channel configurations 312A through 312F) (eg, the same STBC or LDPC use) to reduce HEW The management burden of the signal field 212. For example, if the same STBC will be used for all sub-channel configurations, the STBC bit does not need to be configured for each sub-channel, but will be sent only once for all minimum bandwidth units (eg, in the primary sync transmission). This may allow the HEW signal field 212 to be shorter compared to the conventional VHT-SIG-A 211.

As discussed above, in some embodiments, one of the more fields of the HEW transmit messaging structure 200 can be configurable to include interleaving with zero subcarriers (ie, other than the zero subcarriers at the DC). A number of minimum bandwidth units, and may include one or more additional/extra zero subcarriers around the DC and at the edge of the band to cover the 20 MHz bandwidth of each 20 MHz channel. In some embodiments, the addition of zero subcarriers can alleviate the implementation requirements for synchronization, DC cancellation, power amplifiers, and filtering.

In some embodiments, the 20 MHz channel 202 can be configured to have two wider subchannels, and each subchannel includes a bandwidth of 2x 4.375 MHz minimum bandwidth unit. In these embodiments, at each 2x4.375MHz bandwidth The waveform transmitted in the middle can be different from the two transmitted waveforms transmitted in each single 4.375 MHz minimum bandwidth unit.

Some embodiments may simplify the design by allowing only a subset of the OFDMA configuration (eg, the subchannel configuration of Figure 4, rather than the subchannel configuration of Figure 3). This simplification reduces the information required to assemble the receiver and thereby reduces the burden of communication management and thus improves overall system performance.

Some embodiments may limit the number of scheduled HEW stations 104 assigned (e.g., assigned to four multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) users) in each minimum bandwidth unit. These embodiments may allow the number of spatial streams to be reduced to three streams per user. Limiting the number of MU-MIMO users to four can use only two information bits to be carried, and the number of spatial streams is limited to three using the other two information bits. These limitations may further reduce the communication management burden in the HEW signal field 212, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

Some embodiments disclosed herein modularize and extend the OFDMA structure. The basic structure can, for example, be combined with several combinations of four minimum bandwidth units or minimum bandwidth units (eg, 4.375 MHz and 2 x 4.375 MHz).

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a HEW device in accordance with some embodiments. The HEW device 500 can be an HEW compliant device that can be configured to communicate with one or more other HEW devices, such as the HEW station 104 (FIG. 1) or the primary station 102 (FIG. 1), and to communicate with legacy devices. . HEW device 500 may be adapted to operate as primary station 102 (FIG. 1) or HEW station 104 (FIG. 1). According to an embodiment, HEW device 500 may include, in particular, physical layer (PHY) circuitry 502 and medium access control layer circuitry (MAC) 504. PHY 502 and MAC 504 can be The HEW conforms to the layer and may also conform to one or more of the legacy IEEE 802.11 standards. PHY 502 and MAC 504 can be configured to transmit HEW frames in accordance with the structures and techniques disclosed herein. The HEW device 500 can also include other processing circuits 506 and memory 508 that are assembled to perform the various operations described herein.

According to some HEW embodiments, the MAC 504 may be configured to contend for wireless media during a contention period to receive control of the media for the HEW control period and to group HEW frames. The PHY 502 can be configured to transmit a transmit messaging structure within the HEW frame as discussed above. PHY 502 can also be configured to communicate with HEW station 104 in accordance with OFDMA techniques. The MAC 504 can also be configured to transmit and receive operations by the PHY 502. PHY 502 may include circuitry for modulation/demodulation, upconversion/downconversion, filtering, amplification, and the like. In some embodiments, processing circuit 506 can include one or more processors. In some embodiments, two or more antennas can be coupled to a physical layer circuit configured to transmit and receive signals including the transmission of the HEW frame. Memory 508 can store information for assembling processing circuitry 506 for performing operations for HEW communications and performing various operations described herein. In some embodiments, HEW device 500 can include one or more radios (eg, WLAN radio and cellular/LTE radio) for communicating with different types of networks.

In some embodiments, HEW device 500 can be configured to communicate via a multi-carrier communication channel using OFDM communication signals. In some embodiments, HEW device 500 can be configured to receive signals in accordance with a particular communication standard, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The standards include the IEEE 802.11-2012, 802.11n-2009 and/or 802.11ac-2013 standards, and/or the recommended specifications for WLAN include the proposed HEW standard, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect, as the invention may It is also suitable for transmitting and/or receiving according to other technologies and standards. In some other embodiments, HEW device 500 can be configured to receive signals transmitted using one or more other modulation techniques, such as spread spectrum modulation (eg, direct sequence code division) Multiple access (DS-CDMA) and/or frequency hopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA), time division division (TDM) modulation and/or frequency division multiplexing (FDM) modulation, however, The scope is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the HEW device 500 can be part of a portable wireless communication device such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wireless communication capabilities, a network A tablet (web tablet), a wireless or smart phone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, an access point, a television, a medical device (eg, a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor, etc.) or Other devices that receive and/or transmit information wirelessly. In some embodiments, HEW device 500 can include a keyboard, a display, a non-electric memory cartridge, a plurality of antennas, a graphics processor, an application processor, a speaker, and other mobile device components. The display can be an LCD screen that includes a touch screen.

The antenna of the HEW device 500 may include one or more directional antennas or omnidirectional antennas including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas, or transmissions suitable for RF signals. Other types of antennas. In some multiple input multiple output (MIMO) embodiments, days The lines can be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and different channel characteristics that can occur between each of the antennas and the antenna of the transmitting station.

Although the HEW device 500 is illustrated as having a number of individual functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be coupled by software components, such as processing elements, including digital signal processors (DSPs), and / or a combination of other hardware components. For example, some components may include one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), and for performing at least the description herein. A combination of various hardware and logic circuits of functionality. In some embodiments, the functional elements of HEW device 500 may relate to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

In some embodiments, the hardware processing circuitry of the HEW device, when operating as HEW station 104, can be assembled to receive the HEW signal field (HEW-SIG-A) via one of a plurality of 20 MHz channels. The HEW signal field is grouped with HEW station 104 for communicating on one or more OFDMA sub-channels of one of the 20 MHz channels in a 20 MHz channel according to OFDMA techniques. The channel resources may include one or more OFDMA subchannels within a 20 MHz channel. The HEW station 104 can also be configured to communicate data with the primary station 102 on the indicated OFDMA subchannel based on configuration information received in the HEW signal field. Each OFDMA subchannel may include one or more minimum bandwidth units having a predetermined bandwidth. In such embodiments, the received HEW signal field may include an indicator to indicate the subchannel configuration of the associated 20 MHz channel. The subchannel configuration can include at least a number of minimum bandwidth units. The received HEW signal field may also be included for use in the OFDMA control period. Information about communication within the channel, including information on the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) indicator and the length indicator of the minimum bandwidth unit.

Embodiments can be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. Embodiments can also be implemented as instructions stored on a computer readable storage device, which can be read by at least one processor and executed to perform the operations described herein. The computer readable storage device can include any non-transitory mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a machine (eg, a computer). For example, computer readable storage devices may include read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, and other storage devices and media. Some embodiments may include one or more processors and may be assembled by instructions stored on a computer readable storage device.

6 is a process for HEW communication by a primary station in accordance with some embodiments. The program 600 can be performed by an access point of the primary station 102 that operates as a primary station 102 for communicating with a plurality of HEW stations 104.

In operation 602, the primary station 102 can generate a packet that includes a transmit messaging structure to assemble the scheduled HEW station 104 for communicating over channel resources in accordance with OFDMA techniques. The channel resources may include one or more OFDMA subchannels within a 20 MHz channel, and each OFDMA subchannel may include one or more minimum bandwidth units having a predetermined bandwidth.

In operation 604, the transmit messaging structure can be assembled to include individual HEW signal fields (eg, HEW-SIG-A) for each of the plurality of 20 MHz channels, and each HEW signal field can be Configuring to schedule one or more of the HEW stations 104 for use in accordance with OFDMA techniques at 20 One of the MHz channels is associated with one of the 20 MHz channels or is communicated over multiple OFDMA subchannels. Each HEW signal field can be a 20 MHz transmission on one of the 20 MHz channels in an associated 20 MHz channel, and each of the individual HEW signal fields can be configured to be associated with one of the 20 MHz channels in the 20 MHz channel. Parallel transmission.

In operation 606, the HEW signal field for each 20 MHz channel can be assembled to include an indicator to indicate the subchannel configuration of the associated 20 MHz channel. The subchannel configuration can include at least a number of minimum bandwidth units. The HEW signal field for each 20 MHz channel can be configured to include information for communicating within the sub-channel during the OFDMA control period, the information including the MCS indicator and the length indicator of the minimum bandwidth unit.

After the HEW signal field is generated in operation 606, the primary station 102 transmits a packet including the HEW signal field 212 and any other fields (eg, field 214 (FIG. 2)) to the scheduling station 104 for use in Subsequent communications of downlink data and/or uplink data in data field 216 are as discussed above.

The Abstract is provided to comply with 37C.F.R Section 1.72(b), which will allow the reader to determine the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract is submitted with the understanding that the abstract will not be used to limit or explain the scope or meaning of the scope of the patent application. The scope of the following patent application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety in its entirety in its entirety in its entirety herein

Claims (24)

A device for a wireless device, comprising: a memory; and a processing circuit coupled to the memory, the processing circuit configured to: encode a high performance (HE) packet comprising a plurality of HE signals (HE- SIG) field, each of the HE-SIG fields including an indicator indicating a configuration of resource units (RUs) in a frequency for one of a plurality of 20 MHz bands, wherein in the frequency Each RU of the RUs is an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) RU, wherein each HE-SIG field is used to group the HE stations to receive a data portion of the HE packet in a corresponding 20 MHz band. And wherein each of the HE-SIG fields separately encodes transmissions for the HE packet on the corresponding 20 MHz band; and assembles the HE packets for transmission by the wireless device. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the indicator further indicates a number of RUs allocated for multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO). The device of claim 1, wherein the configuration of the RU comprises a mix of different RU sizes for the corresponding 20 MHz band. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each HE-SIG field further includes configuration parameters for each RU of the RU configuration, the configuration parameters including one or more of the following fields: a modulation and coding scheme One of (MCS) Indicates whether a low density parity check code is to be used by one of the indicators, and whether beamforming is to be used. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: encode the data portion of each HE packet, wherein the data is to be based on each RU of the RU configuration configured with a plurality of RUs in the corresponding 20 MHz band The associated configuration parameters are encoded. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: encode a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) for each HE-SIG field. The device of claim 1, wherein each HE-SIG field further includes configuration parameters for each of the RUs of the RU configuration, and wherein the configuration parameters include an indicator to indicate whether the The RU is configured as a single user (SU) or multi-user (MU) RU configuration and to indicate a number of spatiotemporal streams. The device of claim 1, wherein the wireless device and each of the HE stations are one of the following groups: an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 access point, an IEEE 802.11 station, an IEEE 802.11ax Access point, and an IEEE 802.11ax station. The device of claim 1, further comprising a transceiver circuit coupled to the physical circuit. The device of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of antennas coupled to the transceiver circuit. A method performed by a device, the method comprising: encoding a high performance (HE) packet comprising a plurality of HE signal (HE-SIG) fields, each of the HE-SIG fields including an indicator , a configuration for indicating resource units (RUs) in a frequency for one of a plurality of 20 MHz bands, wherein each RU of the RUs in the frequency is an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) RU, Wherein each HE-SIG field is used to group the HE stations to receive a data portion of the HE packet in a corresponding 20 MHz band, and wherein each of the HE-SIG fields is separately encoded for use in The corresponding 20 MHz band of transmissions; and the HE packets are assembled for transmission by a wireless device. The method of claim 11, wherein the configuration of the RU comprises a mix of different RU sizes for the corresponding 20 MHz band. The method of claim 11, wherein each HE-SIG field further includes configuration parameters for each RU of the RU configuration, the configuration parameters including one or more of the following fields: a modulation and coding scheme One of the indications (MCS), whether a low density parity check code is to be used, and whether one of beamforming is to be used. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions for execution by one or more processors for assembling the one or more processors to cause a device to: encode one A high performance (HE) packet comprising a plurality of HE-SIG (HE-SIG) fields, each of the HE-SIG fields including an indicator indicating a frequency for one of a plurality of 20 MHz bands A configuration of a resource unit (RU) in which each RU of the RUs in the frequency is an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) RU, wherein each HE-SIG field is used to group the HE stations To receive at a corresponding 20MHz a data portion of the HE packet in the frequency band, and wherein each of the HE-SIG fields separately encodes transmissions for the HE packet on the corresponding 20 MHz frequency band; and assembling the HE packet for By the transmission of a wireless device. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14 wherein the indicator further indicates a number of RUs allocated for multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO). The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14 wherein the configuration of the RU includes a mix of different RU sizes for the corresponding 20 MHz band. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein each HE-SIG field further includes configuration parameters for each RU of the RU configuration, the configuration parameters including one or more of the following fields A: one of the modulation and coding schemes (MCS) indications, whether a low-density parity check code is to be used, one indicator, and whether beamforming is to be used. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions are further configured to assemble the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: encode the data portion of each HE packet, wherein The data is to be encoded according to configuration parameters associated with each RU of the RU configuration configured in a plurality of RUs on the corresponding 20 MHz band. A high performance (HE) station device, the device comprising: a memory; A processing circuit coupled to the memory, the processing circuit configured to: decode a high performance (HE) packet including a plurality of HE signals (HE-SIG) fields, and the HE-SIG fields Each includes an indicator indicating a configuration of resource elements (RUs) in a frequency for one of a plurality of 20 MHz bands, wherein each RU of the RUs in the frequency is an orthogonal frequency division multiple An access (OFDMA) RU, wherein each HE-SIG field is used to group HE stations to receive a data portion of the HE packet in a corresponding 20 MHz band, and wherein each of the HE-SIG fields Separatingly encoding for transmission on the corresponding 20 MHz band; and decoding the data portion of the 20 MHz band corresponding to one of the HE-SIG fields, the HE-SIG field being indicated according to one of the RU configurations The HE station. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the indicator further indicates a number of RUs allocated for multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO). The device of claim 19, wherein the configuration of the RU comprises a mix of different RU sizes for the corresponding 20 MHz band. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein each HE-SIG field further includes configuration parameters for each RU of the RU configuration, the configuration parameters including one or more of the following fields: a modulation and coding scheme One of the indications (MCS), whether a low density parity check code is to be used, and whether one of beamforming is to be used. The device of claim 19, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: Decoding the data portion, wherein the data is encoded according to a configuration parameter associated with the corresponding 20 MHz band of the HE-SIG field, the HE-SIG field indicating the HE according to the RU configured by the RU station. The device of claim 19, further comprising a transceiver circuit coupled to the physical circuit; and a plurality of antennas coupled to the transceiver circuit.