WO2019040062A1

WO2019040062A1 - Methods and apparatus to perform beam selection for wireless communication

Info

Publication number: WO2019040062A1
Application number: PCT/US2017/048254
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rath Vannithamby; Yi Zhang; Carlos Cordeiro; Ou Yang; Mohammad Mamunur Rashid; Arvind Merwaday; Carlos Aldana
Original assignee: Intel Corporation
Priority date: 2017-08-23
Filing date: 2017-08-23
Publication date: 2019-02-28

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture to perform beam selection for wireless communication are disclosed. An example first wireless device comprising memory and processing circuitry configured to determine a first beam sector of a second wireless device communicated by the second wireless device, determine a second beam sector of the first wireless device for communication with the second wireless device on the first beam sector, determine a third beam sector of the second wireless device communicated by the second wireless device, determine a fourth beam sector of the first wireless device for communication with the second wireless device on the third beam sector, and transmitting an identification of a first combination of the first beam sector and the second beam sector and a second combination of the third beam sector and the fourth beam sector.

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUS TO PERFORM BEAM SELECTION FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0001] This disclosure relates generally to wireless communication, and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus to perform beam selection for wireless communication.

BACKGROUND

[0002] In some wireless communication systems, a wireless device controls the direction of signal transmissions to focus the transmission power towards a destination of the signal (e.g., a communication partner). For example, the wireless transmission area may be divided into a number of sectors. In some such systems, the wireless device performs a training process to identify the optimal sector. For example, the wireless device may send probing transmissions via multiple sectors while the communication partner collects measurements. When the communication partner transmits the measurements back to the wireless device, the wireless device determines an optimal sector (e.g., the sector which resulted in the best signal quality at the communication partner).

[0003] In some wireless communication systems, multiple pairs of wireless devices may communicate simultaneously within an overlapping geographic area using spatial reuse techniques. For example, an access point may collect measurements from multiple communication pairs to determine if the devices may communicate in parallel (e.g., because the directed signal beams have an interference that is below a threshold).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example environment in which multiple example communication stations (STA) in pairs and also

communicate with an example access point (AP).

[0005] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating example sectors of the example STA A and the example STA B. [0006] FIG. 3 is a message diagram illustrating a sector measurement by the example multi-beam analyzer within the example environment of FIG. 1.

[0007] FIG. 4 is a message diagram continuing from FIG. 3 with the sector measurement by the example multi-beam analyzer within the example environment.

[0008] FIGS. 5-7 are flowcharts representative of example machine readable instructions for implementing the STAs and/or the AP of FIG. 1.

[0009] FIG. 8 illustrates an example communication message that may be utilized by the STAs (e.g., the multi-beam analyzer) to notify other STAs and/or the AP that the STAs support the collection and reporting of multiple beam pairs.

[0010] FIG. 9 illustrates an example communication message that may be utilized by the AP (e.g., the multi-beam director) to notify the STAs that the AP supports receipt multiple beam pairs supported by the STAs of FIG. 1.

[0011] FIG. 10 illustrates an example message that may be utilized by the AP (e.g., the example multi-beam director) to instruct the beam pair to be utilized by an STA pair.

[0012] FIG. 11 illustrates another example message that may be utilized by the AP to transmit an indication of which of multiple reported beam pairs are to be utilized.

[0013] FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a radio architecture in accordance with some embodiments.

[0014] FIG. 13 illustrates a front-end module circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 12 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0015] FIG. 14 illustrates a radio IC circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 12 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0016] FIG. 15 illustrates a baseband processing circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 12 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0017] FIG. 16 is a block diagram of an example processing device that may execute the instructions of FIGS. 5-7 to implement an STA and/or an AP. [0018] The figures are not to scale. As used in this patent, stating that any part (e.g., a layer, film, area, or plate) is in any way positioned on (e.g., positioned on, located on, disposed on, or formed on, etc.) another part, indicates that the referenced part is either in contact with the other part, or that the referenced part is above the other part with one or more intermediate part(s) located therebetween. Stating that any part is in contact with another part means that there is no intermediate part between the two parts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] In existing systems (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802. Had, 802. H ay, etc.), wireless communication pairs determine the best beam sectors for use during communication. When such systems utilize spatial reuse, an access point (AP), personal basic service set (PBSS) control point (PCP), etc. instructs each wireless communication pair to take measurements while another pair(s) transmits. Based on the

measurements, the AP/PCP determines if spatial reuse is possible. However, in such systems, the AP/PCP may determine that spatial reuse is not possible using the particular sectors that each communication pair selects (e.g., selects as the best sectors for the pair without regard for spatial reuse).

[0020] Methods and apparatus disclosed herein collect additional sectors measurements from wireless communication pairs to determine if spatial reuse may be allowed using any of the selected sectors. For example, each communication pair may determine an optimal sector pair (e.g., Device A using sector 1 (Al) and Device B using sector 1 (B l)) and may also determine one or more further pairs (e.g., a second most optimal pair A2/B2). Thus, when spatial reuse is attempted, measurements may be collected for each of the sectors pairs to determine the optimal pairs to be utilized in a multi- communication pair environment. As disclosed herein, the methods and apparatus may be utilized with service period (SP)-based spatial reuse, content based access period (CBAP) reuse, etc. In some examples, wireless devices, device pairs, and/or AP/PCP notify other devices of the capability to support multiple beam pairing (e.g., by setting a flag in a message). [0021] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example environment 100 in which multiple example communication stations (STA) 102-108 communicate in pairs and also communicate with an example access point (AP) 110.

According to the illustrated example, the example STA 102-108 include an example multi-beam analyzer 112 and the example AP 110 includes an example multi-beam director 114.

[0022] The STA 102-108 are wireless consumer devices (e.g., laptops, portable computing devices, desktop computers, servers, embedded computing devices, etc.). While four STA 102-108 (e.g., two pairs) are shown in the illustrated example, any number of STA may be present in an environment. Furthermore, while the examples described herein refer to communication pairs, any of the example described in this disclosure may include any number of communication peers (e.g., three devices inter-communicating, four devices, etc.).

[0023] According to the illustrated example, the STA A 102 communicates with the STA B 104 under control from the example AP 110. According to the illustrated example, the STA C 106 communicates with the STA D 108 under control from the example AP 110. In the example environment 100, the STA pair A/B are physically near enough to the STA pair C/D that communications may interfere with each other and, thus, spatial reuse is utilized. According to the illustrated example, the STA 102-108 utilize SP spatial sharing. Alternatively, any other technique for spatial sharing may be utilized (e.g., CBAP spatial reuse, etc.).

[0024] The AP 110 is an access point that controls operation of the STA 102-108 within the example environment 100. Alternatively, the AP 110 may be any other type of controlling device (e.g., a PCP, etc.). Alternatively, the STA 102-108 within the example environment 100 may be controlled by one or more of the STA 102-108 (e.g., the STA A 102 may direct

communications within the environment 100).

[0025] Each of the STA 102-108 of the illustrated example, include the example multi-beam analyzer 112 that cooperates with the example multi- beam director 114 to attempt to establish spatial sharing utilizing suitable sectors of the wireless communications of the example STA 102-108. For example, FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating example sectors of the example STA A 102 and the example STA B 104.

[0026] According to the illustrated example, the multi-beam analyzer 112 determines multiple suitable sector pairs in each communication pair (e.g., the example multi-beam analyzer 112 determines two suitable pairs for each STA pair, but any number of sector pairs may be determined in other implementations). The example multi-beam analyzer 112 communicates the identified sector pairs to the example multi-beam director 114 of the example AP 110. The example multi-beam director 114 then directs one or more of the multi-beam analyzer(s) 112 to collect measurements while directing other of the STA 102-108 to transmit on the identified sector pairs. The example multi-beam analyzer(s) 112 collecting measurements transmit the

measurements to the example multi-beam director 114 that selects sector pairs for the environment 100 and communicates the selected pairs to each of the STA 102-108. Accordingly, multi-beam director 114 may direct the STA 102-108 to utilize sectors that are suitable for spatial reuse even if the sectors are not the most optimal sectors for the communication pair in isolation (e.g., the second most optimal sectors for a communication pair may be the best sectors when considering the presence of other STAs 102-108 in the environment).

[0027] FIG. 3 is a message diagram 300 illustrating a sector measurement by the example multi-beam analyzer 112 within the example environment 100. In the illustrated example, it is to be understood that the messages may be generated by the example multi-beam analyzer 112 of the STA 102-108, but for clarity, FIG. 3 identifies the particular STA 102-108 the transmits each message.

[0028] According to the illustrated example, the example STA A 102 sends a transmit (TX) training request 302 to the example STA B 104. The example STA B 104 collects measurement data during the transmission and transmits channel measurement feedback 304 back to the STA A 102.

According to the illustrated example, the request 302 includes an indication of the size of the channel measurement to be collected by the STA B 104. After receiving the channel measurement feedback, the STA A 102 selects sectors(s) to be utilized for communication with the STA B 104. According to the illustrated example, the STA A 102 selects two sectors (e.g., sector Al and sector A2). Alternatively, the STA A 102 may select any number of sectors.

[0029] The STA A 102 sends receive training requests 306 and 308 on the selected sectors, respectively. According to the illustrated example, the STA A 102 sends a first receive training request 306 using sector Al and sends a second receive training request 308 using sector A2. According to the illustrated example, the STA B 104 receives the receive training requests 306- 308 and determines sectors to be utilized for receiving transmissions from the sectors selected by the STA A 102. According to the illustrated example, the STA B 104 selects sector Bl for use with Al and section B2 for use with B2. The selection may be based on the sector in which the signal quality was the greatest during the transmission from STA A 102.

[0030] According to the illustrated example, the example STA C 106 and the example STA D 108 also complete a transmission and receive training via requests and responses 320-326.

[0031] After the messaging illustrated in FIG. 3 has completed, each communication pair has identified multiple sector pairs that may be utilized (e.g., Al/Bl, A2/B2, Cl/Dl, and C2/D2).

[0032] FIG. 4 is a message diagram 400 continuing from FIG. 3 with the sector measurement by the example multi-beam analyzer 112 within the example environment 100. The communication illustrated in FIG. 4 is directed to an example in which the environment 100 utilizes SP based spatial reuse.

[0033] According to the illustrated example, the example STA B 104 (e.g., the example multi-beam analyzer 112 of the example STA B 104) transmits a first identification 402 of the selected sectors pairs determined from the measurements discussed in conjunction with FIG. 3 to the example AP 110 (e.g., to the example multi-beam director 114 of the example AP 110). For example, the STA B 104 may report that beam pairs ΑΙ,ΒΙ and A2,B2 are supported for communication. Similarly, the example STA C 106 transmits a second identification 404 of the selected beam pairs to the example AP 110. For example, the STA C 106 may report that beam pairs C1,D1 and C2,D2 are supported. In operation, any ones of the STAs 102-108 from each

communication peer group may report the selected beam pairs to the AP 110.

[0034] After receiving the identification of beam pairs from STA pairs, the example AP 110 broadcasts measurement instructions 406 to the STAs 102-108. For example, the AP 110 may iterate through the available beam pairs instructing one pair to perform measurements on each available sector combination while one pair communicates on a sector combination (e.g., the AP 110 may instruct STA A 102 and STA B 104 to communicate using ΑΙ,ΒΙ while instructing STA C 106 and STA D 108 to collect measurements with C1,D1 and C2,D2). According to the illustrated example, the AP 110 instructs the measurements with all combinations of sector combinations reported by the example STAs 102-108. In other examples, a subset of sector

combinations may be measured (e.g., measurements may be collected until a suitable combination is identified). According to the illustrated example, the example STA B 104 and the STA C 106 transmit measurement reports 408, 410 to the AP 110. Alternatively, any other STAs 102-108 may transmit the measurement reports.

[0035] The AP 110 (e.g., the example multi-beam analyzer 114) analyzes the measurement reports 408, 410 to identify beam pair combinations that may be suitable for spatial reuse. For example, the AP 110 may determine if there are beam pair combinations that have a signal quality that meets a threshold. Alternatively, the AP 110 may identify beam pair combinations that have a greatest signal level, a least interference level, etc.

[0036] The example AP 110 broadcasts instructions 412, 414 identifying the beam pair combinations to be utilized. According to the illustrated example, the beam pair combinations are transmitted in an

Announce/Grant frame. For example, the AP 110 may instruct the use of beam pair A2,B2 and beam pair C1,D1. According to the illustrated example, beam pair A2,B2 was the second most optimal beam pair for use by STA A 102 and STA B 104 without regard to communication of STA C,D 106,108. Thus, if STAs A,B 102,104 had not reported multiple suitable beam pair combinations to the AP 110, the combination of A2,B2 and C1,D1 would not have been available to the AP 110. Thus, if ΑΙ,ΒΙ and C1,D1 would not allow for spatial reuse (e.g., due to unsuitable levels of interference), AP 110 may have instructed the STAs 102-108 that spatial reuse was not available.

[0037] The example illustrated in FIG. 4 is directed to an environment in which SP spatial reuse is utilized. In other examples, the sector measurements determined in accordance with FIG. 3 may be utilized in other environments (e.g., CBAP spatial reuse environments).

[0038] For a CBAP spatial reuse environment, when a STA pair wishes to join a spatial reuse, the new STA pair will perform directional clear channel assessment (CCA) using the multiple beam pairs determined to be suitable according to FIG. 3. For example, if STA A 102 and STA B 104 are communicating in a spatial reuse environment and STA C 106 and STA D 108 wish to join the environment, STA C 106 and STA D 108 will perform directional CCA using the beam pairs identified during the measurements set forth in FIG. 3 (e.g., the STA C 106 and STA D 108 will perform directional CCA using C1,D1 and C2,D2. Based on the measurements collected during directional CCA, STA C 106 and/or STA D 108 will select a beam pair if spatial reuse is possible (e.g., if there is a beam pair with a suitable level of signal quality, interference level, etc. in the environment in which STA A 102 and STA B 104 are already communicating). Thus, having identified multiple beam pairs according to FIG. 3, there is more opportunity for the possibility of spatial reuse. Once a beam pair is identified, the selected beam pair may be communicated within the STA pair (e.g., communicated in a ready to send (RTS) message, communicated in a clear to send (CTS) message, etc.). For example, the selected beam pair may be added to the Control Trailer component of an RTS and/or CTS.

[0039] While an example manner of implementing the STAs 102-108 and the AP 110 are illustrated in FIG. 1, one or more of the elements, processes and/or devices illustrated in FIG. 1 may be combined, divided, re- arranged, omitted, eliminated and/or implemented in any other way. Further, the example multi-beam analyzer 112, the example multi-beam director 114, and/or more generally the example STAs 102-108 and/or the AP 110 may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware and/or any combination of hardware, software and/or firmware. Thus, for example, any of the multi- beam analyzer 112, the example multi-beam director 114, and/or more generally the example STAs 102-108 and/or the AP 110 could be

implemented 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 logic device(s) (FPLD(s)). When reading any of the apparatus or system claims of this patent to cover a purely software and/or firmware

implementation, at least one of the example multi-beam analyzer 112, and/or the example multi-beam director 114 is/are hereby expressly defined to include a non-transitory computer readable storage device or storage disk such as a memory, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk (CD), a Blu-ray disk, etc. including the software and/or firmware. Further still, the example STAs 102-108 and/or the AP 110 may include one or more elements, processes and/or devices in addition to, or instead of, those illustrated in FIG. 1, and/or may include more than one of any or all of the illustrated elements, processes and devices.

[0040] Flowcharts representative of example machine readable instructions for implementing the STAs 102-108 and/or the AP 110 of FIG. 1 are shown in FIGS. 5-7. In the examples, the machine readable instructions comprise a program for execution by a processor such as the application processor 1210 of FIG. 12 and/or the processor 1612 shown in the example processor platform 1600 discussed below in connection with FIG. 16. The program may be embodied in software stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a hard drive, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a Blu-ray disk, or a memory associated with the processor 1612, but the entire program and/or parts thereof could altematively be executed by a device other than the processor 1612 and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware. Further, although the example program is described with reference to the flowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 5-7, many other methods of implementing the example STAs 102-108 and/or the AP 110 may alternatively be used. For example, the order of execution of the blocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated, or combined. Additionally or alternatively, any or all of the blocks may be implemented by one or more hardware circuits (e.g., discrete and/or integrated analog and/or digital circuitry, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated circuit (ASIC), a comparator, an operational- amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit, etc.) structured to perform the

corresponding operation without executing software or firmware.

[0041] As mentioned above, the example processes of FIGS. 5-7 may 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, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a cache, a random-access memory and/or any other storage device or storage disk in which information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extended time periods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarily buffering, and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, the term non-transitory computer readable medium is expressly defined to include any type of computer readable storage device and/or storage disk and to exclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media. "Including" and "comprising" (and all forms and tenses thereof) are used herein to be open ended terms. Thus, whenever a claim lists anything following any form of "include" or "comprise" (e.g., comprises, includes, comprising, including, etc.), it is to be understood that additional elements, terms, etc. may be present without falling outside the scope of the corresponding claim. As used herein, when the phrase "at least" is used as the transition term in a preamble of a claim, it is open-ended in the same manner as the term "comprising" and "including" are open ended.

[0042] The flowchart of FIG. 5 illustrates an example process 500 that may be implemented by machine readable instructions to request beam training at one of the STAs 102-108 (e.g., multi-beam analyzer 112 of STA A 102). The process of FIG. 5 begins when the multi-beam analyzer 112 sends a transmission training request to a communication partner (e.g., to the STA B 104) (block 502). The example STA A 102 receives feedback that includes measurement information in response to the training request (block 504). Based on the measurement feedback, the STA A 102 selects beam sectors to be used for transmissions (block 506). According to the illustrated example, the STA A 102 selects multiple beams (e.g., selects the two, three, four, etc. most optimal beams such as the beams with the highest signal to noise levels).

[0043] The example STA A 102 transmits a receive training request using a selected beam (block 508). For example the STA A 102 may transmit a receive training request using Al . The example STA A 102 determines if there are additional beams (e.g., A2) (block 510). When there are additional beams, the example STA A 102 transmits a further receive training request using the additional beams. When there are no additional beams, the process of FIG. 5 is complete.

[0044] FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example process 600 that may be executed to implement the multi-beam analyzer 112 at an STA in communication with the STA associated with FIG. 5 (e.g., STA B 104).

[0045] The process of FIG. 6 begins when the STA B 104 receives a transmission training request (e.g., the transmission training request sent in block 502 of FIG. 5) (block 602). The STA B 104 transmits feedback (e.g., measurement information) in response to the transmission training request (block 604). The STA B 104 then receives a receive training request (block 606). The STA B 104 selects a receive beam sector for the receive training request (e.g., selects a beam sector with a greatest signal quality) (block 608). The example STA B 104 then determines if an additional receive training request has been received (block 610). For example, the STA B 104 may receive one receive training request for each beam selected by the STA A 102 in block 506 of FIG. 5). When additional receive training requests have been received, the example STA B 104 selects receive beams for each receive training request. When there are no additional receive training requests, the example STA B 104 transmits the identified beam pairs to the example AP 110 (block 612). The process of FIG. 6 then ends.

[0046] In other examples, the identified beam pairs may be not be transmitted to an AP 110. For example, in CBAP spatial reuse environments, the STA B 104 may, instead, perform directional CCA to identify a suitable beam pair combination that may be utilized for communication between with the STA A 102 and the STA B 104.

[0047] FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example process 700 that may be executed to implement the example multi-beam director 114 of the example AP 110 of FIG. 1.

[0048] The process 700 begins when AP 110 receives beam pairs (e.g., receives beam pairs from each communication peer group in the example environment 100) (block 702). The example AP 110 instructs a first pair of STA to communicate using one of the identified beam pairs (block 704). The AP 110 then instructs a second STA pair to perform measurements using a second beam pair (block 704). For example, while the STA A 102 and the STA B 104 are instructed to use ΑΙ,ΒΙ, the STA C 106 and the STA D 108 may be instructed to perform measurements using C1,D1. The example AP 110 then receives the measurement response from the measuring STA pair (block 708).

[0049] The example AP 110 then determines if there are additional beam pairs available for the second STA pair (block 710). For example, the AP 110 may determine that C2,D2 has also been identified as available.

When there are additional beam pairs, control returns to block 706 to perform measurements with the additional beam pairs. When there are no additional beam pairs, the AP 110 determines if there are additional beam pairs for first STA pair (block 712). For example, the AP 110 may determine that ΑΙ,ΒΙ has also been identified as available. When there are additional beam pairs, control returns to block 704 collect measurement data while the first pair communicates using the new beam pair. Accordingly, the AP 110 may cause iteration of all combinations of communication and measurement beam pairs of the various STA pairs. [0050] When there are no additional beam pairs to be measured (block 712), the AP 110 identifies beam pairs that may be utilized for spatial reuse (block 714). For example, the AP 110 may determine which, if any, beam pairs may be utilized together without exceeding a threshold level of interference. The AP 110 then instructs the STAs 102-108 of the environment 100 of the beam pairs to be utilized for communication (block 716).

[0051] FIG. 8 illustrates an example communication message 800 that may be utilized by the STAs 102-108 (e.g., the multi-beam analyzer 112) to notify other STAs 102-108 and/or the AP 110 that the STAs 102-108 support the collection and reporting of multiple beam pairs. The example message 800 of FIG. 8 is a DMG STA capability information element. According to the illustrated example, one bit of the reserved space may be utilized to indicate whether or not multiple beam pair analysis is supported.

Altematively, any other communication message from the STAs 102-108 may be utilized.

[0052] FIG. 9 illustrates an example communication message 900 that may be utilized by the AP 110 (e.g., the multi-beam director 114) to notify the STAs 102-108 that the AP 110 supports receipt multiple beam pairs supported by the STAs 102-108. The example message 900 of FIG. 8 is a DMG AP or PCP capability information element. According to the illustrated example, one bit of the reserved space may be utilized to indicate whether or not multiple beam pair analysis is supported. Alternatively, any other communication message from the STAs 102-108 may be utilized.

[0053] FIG. 10 illustrates an example message 1000 that may be utilized by the AP 110 (e.g., the example multi-beam director 114) to instruct the beam pair to be utilized by an STA pair. The example message 1000 is a channel allocation field of an enhanced directional multi-gigabit (DMG) (EMDG) extended schedule element. Alternatively, any other message may be utilized.

[0054] According to the illustrated example, the AP 110 inserts an indication of the beam pair selected by the AP 110 using two bits of the channel allocation field (e.g., two bits selected from the currently reserved bits). According to the illustrated example, up to three beam pairs may be reported by the STAs 102-108. Accordingly, the AP 110 indicates selection of the first beam pair (or only beam pair) using 0,0, indicates selection of the second beam pair using 0,1, indicates selection of the third beam pair using

1.0, and indicates that the STAs 102-108 may select the beam pair itself using

1.1. Alternatively, any other bit pattern may be utilized. For example, if more than three beam pairs are reported by the STAs 102-108, additional bits may be utilized (e.g., 3, bits, 4 bits, etc.)

[0055] FIG. 11 illustrates another example message 1100 that may be utilized by the AP 110 to transmit an indication of which of multiple reported beam pairs are to be utilized. The example message 1100 is an allocation control field of a DMG message. According to the illustrated example, the AP 110 may insert an indication of the selected beam pair. According to the illustrated example, up to three beam pairs may be reported by the STAs 102- 108. Accordingly, the AP 110 indicates selection of the first beam pair (or only beam pair) using 0,0, indicates selection of the second beam pair using 0,1, indicates selection of the third beam pair using 1,0, and indicates that the STAs 102-108 may select the beam pair itself using 1,1. Alternatively, any other bit pattern may be utilized. For example, if more than three beam pairs are reported by the STAs 102-108, additional bits may be utilized (e.g., 3, bits, 4 bits, etc.).

[0056] FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a radio architecture 1200 in accordance with some embodiments. Radio architecture 1200 may include radio front-end module (FEM) circuitry 1204, radio IC circuitry 1206 and baseband processing circuitry 1208. Radio architecture 1200 as shown includes both Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) functionality and Bluetooth (BT) functionality although embodiments are not so limited. In this disclosure, "WLAN" and "Wi-Fi" are used interchangeably.

[0057] FEM circuitry 1204 may include a WLAN or Wi-Fi FEM circuitry 1204a and a Bluetooth (BT) FEM circuitry 1204b. The WLAN FEM circuitry 1204a may include a receive signal path comprising circuitry configured to operate on WLAN RF signals received from one or more antennas 1201, to amplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the WLAN radio IC circuitry 1206a for further processing. The BT FEM circuitry 1204b may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on BT RF signals received from one or more antennas 1201, to amplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the BT radio IC circuitry 1206b for further processing. FEM circuitry 1204a may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify WLAN signals provided by the radio IC circuitry 1206a for wireless transmission by one or more of the antennas 1201. In addition, FEM circuitry 1204b may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify BT signals provided by the radio IC circuitry 1206b for wireless transmission by the one or more antennas. In the embodiment of FIG. 12, although FEM 1204a and FEM 1204b are shown as being distinct from one another, embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scope the use of an FEM (not shown) that includes a transmit path and/or a receive path for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more FEM circuitries where at least some of the FEM circuitries share transmit and/or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

[0058] Radio IC circuitry 1206 as shown may include WLAN radio IC circuitry 1206a and BT radio IC circuitry 1206b. The WLAN radio IC circuitry 1206a may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert WLAN RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1204a and provide baseband signals to WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1208a. BT radio IC circuitry 1206b may in turn include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert BT RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1204b and provide baseband signals to BT baseband processing circuitry 1208b. WLAN radio IC circuitry 1206a may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert WLAN baseband signals provided by the WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1208a and provide WLAN RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1204a for subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 1201. BT radio IC circuitry 1206b may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert BT baseband signals provided by the BT baseband processing circuitry 1208b and provide BT RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1204b for subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 1201. In the embodiment of FIG. 12, although radio IC circuitries 1206a and 1206b are shown as being distinct from one another, embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scope the use of a radio IC circuitry (not shown) that includes 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 circuitries where at least some of the radio IC circuitries share transmit and/or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

[0059] Baseband processing circuity 1208 may include a WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1208a and a BT baseband processing circuitry 1208b. The WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1208a may include a memory, such as, for example, a set of RAM arrays in a Fast Fourier

Transform or Inverse Fast Fourier Transform block (not shown) of the WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1208a. Each of the WLAN baseband circuitry 1208a and the BT baseband circuitry 1208b may further include one or more processors and control logic to process the signals received from the corresponding WLAN or BT receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry 1206, and to also generate corresponding WLAN or BT baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry 1206. Each of the baseband processing circuitries 1208a and 1208b may further include physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry, and may further interface with application processor 1210 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the radio IC circuitry 1206.

[0060] Referring still to FIG. 12, according to the shown embodiment, WLAN-BT coexistence circuitry 1213 may include logic providing an interface between the WLAN baseband circuitry 1208a and the BT baseband circuitry 1208b to enable use cases requiring WLAN and BT coexistence. In addition, a switch 1203 may be provided between the WLAN FEM circuitry 1204a and the BT FEM circuitry 1204b to allow switching between the WLAN and BT radios according to application needs. In addition, although the antennas 1201 are depicted as being respectively connected to the WLAN FEM circuitry 1204a and the BT FEM circuitry 1204b, embodiments include within their scope the sharing of one or more antennas as between the WLAN and BT FEMs, or the provision of more than one antenna connected to each of FEM 1204a or 1204b.

[0061] In some embodiments, the front-end module circuitry 1204, the radio IC circuitry 1206, and baseband processing circuitry 1208 may be provided on a single radio card, such as wireless radio card 1202. In some other embodiments, the one or more antennas 1201, the FEM circuitry 1204 and the radio IC circuitry 1206 may be provided on a single radio card. In some other embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 1206 and the baseband processing circuitry 1208 may be provided on a single chip or integrated circuit (IC), such as IC 1212.

[0062] In some embodiments, the wireless radio card 1202 may include a WLAN radio card and may be configured for Wi-Fi

communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some of these embodiments, the radio architecture 1200 may be configured to receive and transmit orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication signals over a multicarrier communication channel. The OFDM or OFDMA signals may comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

[0063] In some of these multicarrier embodiments, radio architecture 1200 may be part of a Wi-Fi communication station (STA) such as a wireless access point (AP), a base station or a mobile device including a Wi-Fi device. In some of these embodiments, radio architecture 1200 may 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 ln-2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, 802.11n-2009, 802.1 lac, and/or 802.11ax standards and/or proposed specifications for WLANs, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. Radio architecture 1200 may also be suitable to transmit and/or receive communications in accordance with other techniques and standards.

[0064] In some embodiments, the radio architecture 1200 may be configured for high-efficiency Wi-Fi (HEW) communications in accordance with the IEEE 802.1 lax standard. In these embodiments, the radio architecture 1200 may be configured to communicate in accordance with an OFDMA technique, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0065] In some other embodiments, the radio architecture 1200 may be configured to transmit and receive signals transmitted using one or more other modulation techniques such as spread spectrum 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 respect.

[0066] In some embodiments, as further shown in FIG. 12, the BT baseband circuitry 1208b may be compliant with a Bluetooth (BT) connectivity standard such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth 15.0 or Bluetooth 5.0, or any other iteration of the Bluetooth Standard. In embodiments that include BT functionality as shown for example in FIG. 12, the radio architecture 1200 may be configured to establish a BT synchronous connection oriented (SCO) link and or a BT low energy (BT LE) link. In some of the embodiments that include functionality, the radio architecture 1200 may be configured to establish an extended SCO (eSCO) link for BT communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some of these embodiments that include a BT functionality, the radio architecture may be configured to engage in a BT Asynchronous Connection-Less (ACL) communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 12, the functions of a BT radio card and WLAN radio card may be combined on a single wireless radio card, such as single wireless radio card 1202, although embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scope discrete WLAN and BT radio cards

[0067] In some embodiments, the radio-architecture 1200 may include other radio cards, such as a cellular radio card configured for cellular (e.g., 14GPP such as LTE, LTE-Advanced or 5G communications).

[0068] In some IEEE 802.1 1 embodiments, the radio architecture 1200 may be configured for communication over various channel bandwidths including bandwidths having center frequencies of about 900 MHz, 13.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and bandwidths of about 12 MHz, 13 MHz, 13.5 MHz, 15 MHz, 5MHz, 8 MHz, 120 MHz, 126 MHz, 130 MHz, 150MHz, 80MHz (with contiguous bandwidths) or 80+80MHz (160MHz) (with non-contiguous bandwidths). In some embodiments, a 1420 MHz channel bandwidth may be used. The scope of the embodiments is not limited with respect to the above center frequencies however.

[0069] FIG. 13 illustrates FEM circuitry 1300 in accordance with some embodiments. The FEM circuitry 1300 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the WLAN and/or BT FEM circuitry 1204a/1204b (FIG. 12), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

[0070] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 1300 may include a TX/RX switch 1302 to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry 1300 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 1300 may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) 1306 to amplify received RF signals 1303 and provide the amplified received RF signals 1307 as an output (e.g., to the radio IC circuitry 1206 (FIG. 12)). The transmit signal path of the circuitry 1300 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals 1309 (e.g., provided by the radio IC circuitry 1206), and one or more filters 1312, such as band-pass filters (BPFs), low-pass filters (LPFs) or other types of filters, to generate RF signals 1315 for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the antennas 1201 (FIG. 12)).

[0071] In some dual-mode embodiments for Wi-Fi communication, the FEM circuitry 1300 may be configured to operate in either the 13.4 GHz frequency spectrum or the 5 GHz frequency spectrum. In these embodiments, the receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 1300 may include a receive signal path duplexer 1304 to separate the signals from each spectrum as well as provide a separate LNA 1306 for each spectrum as shown. In these embodiments, the transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 1300 may also include a power amplifier 1310 and a filter 1312, such as a BPF, a LPF or another type of filter for each frequency spectrum and a transmit signal path duplexer 1314 to provide the signals of one of the different spectrums onto a single transmit path for subsequent transmission by the one or more of the antennas 1201 (FIG. 12). In some embodiments, BT communications may utilize the 13.4 GHZ signal paths and may utilize the same FEM circuitry 1300 as the one used for WLAN communications.

[0072] FIG. 14 illustrates radio IC circuitry 1400 in accordance with some embodiments. The radio IC circuitry 1400 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the WLAN or BT radio IC circuitry

1206a/1006b (FIG. 12), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

[0073] In some embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 1400 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry 1400 may include at least mixer circuitry 1402, such as, for example, down-conversion mixer circuitry, amplifier circuitry 1406 and filter circuitry 1408. The transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry 1400 may include at least filter circuitry 1412 and mixer circuitry 1414, such as, for example, up-conversion mixer circuitry. Radio IC circuitry 1400 may also include synthesizer circuitry 1404 for synthesizing a frequency 1405 for use by the mixer circuitry 1402 and the mixer circuitry 1414. The mixer circuitry 1402 and/or 1414 may each, according to some embodiments, be configured to provide direct conversion functionality. The latter type of circuitry presents a much simpler architecture as compared with standard super-heterodyne mixer circuitries, and any flicker noise brought about by the same may be alleviated for example through the use of OFDM modulation. FIG. 14 illustrates only a simplified version of a radio IC circuitry, and may include, although not shown, embodiments where each of the depicted circuitries may include more than one component. For instance, mixer circuitry 1420 and/or 1414 may each include one or more mixers, and filter circuitries 1408 and/or 1412 may each include one or more filters, such as one or more BPFs and/or LPFs according to application needs. For example, when mixer circuitries are of the direct-conversion type, they may each include two or more mixers.

[0074] In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 1402 may be configured to down-convert RF signals 1307 received from the FEM circuitry 1204 (FIG. 12) based on the synthesized frequency 1405 provided by synthesizer circuitry 1404. The amplifier circuitry 1406 may be configured to amplify the down- converted signals and the filter circuitry 1408 may include a LPF configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals 1407. Output baseband signals 1407 may be provided to the baseband processing circuitry 1208 (FIG. 12) for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 1407 may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 1402 may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0075] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1414 may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals 141 1 based on the synthesized frequency 1405 provided by the synthesizer circuitry 1404 to generate RF output signals 1309 for the FEM circuitry 1204. The baseband signals 141 1 may be provided by the baseband processing circuitry 1208 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 1412. The filter circuitry 1412 may include a LPF or a BPF, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0076] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1402 and the mixer circuitry 1414 may each include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and/or up-conversion respectively with the help of synthesizer 1404. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1402 and the mixer circuitry 1414 may each include two or more mixers each configured for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1402 and the mixer circuitry 1414 may be arranged for direct down-conversion and/or direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1402 and the mixer circuitry 1414 may be configured for super-heterodyne operation, although this is not a requirement.

[0077] Mixer circuitry 1402 may comprise, according to one embodiment: quadrature passive mixers (e.g., for the in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) paths). In such an embodiment, RF input signal 1307 from FIG. 14 may be down-converted to provide I and Q baseband output signals to be sent to the baseband processor

[0078] Quadrature passive mixers may be driven by zero and ninety degree time-varying LO switching signals provided by a quadrature circuitry which may be configured to receive a LO frequency (fLO) from a local oscillator or a synthesizer, such as LO frequency 1405 of synthesizer 1404 (FIG. 14). In some embodiments, the LO frequency may be the carrier frequency, while in other embodiments, the LO frequency may be a fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the zero and ninety degree time-varying switching signals may be generated by the synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0079] In some embodiments, the LO signals may differ in duty cycle (the percentage of one period in which the LO signal is high) and/or offset (the difference between start points of the period). In some embodiments, the LO signals may have a 135% duty cycle and a 50% offset. In some embodiments, each branch of the mixer circuitry (e.g., the in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) path) may operate at a 135% duty cycle, which may result in a significant reduction is power consumption.

[0080] The RF input signal 1307 (FIG. 13) may comprise a balanced signal, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The I and Q baseband output signals may be provided to low-nose amplifier, such as amplifier circuitry 1406 (FIG. 14) or to filter circuitry 1408 (FIG. 14).

[0081] In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 1407 and the input baseband signals 1411 may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals 1407 and the input baseband signals 1411 may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the radio IC circuitry may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry.

[0082] In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, or for other spectrums not mentioned here, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0083] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1404 may be a fractional -N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 1404 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. According to some

embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1404 may include digital synthesizer circuitry. An advantage of using a digital synthesizer circuitry is that, although it may still include some analog components, its footprint may be scaled down much more than the footprint of an analog synthesizer circuitry. In some embodiments, frequency input into synthesizer circuity 1404 may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. A divider control input may further be provided by either the baseband processing circuitry 1208 (FIG. 12) or the application processor 1210 (FIG. 12) depending on the desired output frequency 1405. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table (e.g., within a Wi-Fi card) based on a channel number and a channel center frequency as determined or indicated by the application processor 1210.

[0084] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 1404 may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency 1405, while in other embodiments, the output frequency 1405 may be a fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the output frequency 1405 may be a LO frequency (fLO).

[0085] FIG. 15 illustrates a functional block diagram of baseband processing circuitry 1500 in accordance with some embodiments. The baseband processing circuitry 1500 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the baseband processing circuitry 1208 (FIG. 12), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable. The baseband processing circuitry 1500 may include a receive baseband processor (RX BBP) 1502 for processing receive baseband signals 1409 provided by the radio IC circuitry 1206 (FIG. 12) and a transmit baseband processor (TX BBP) 1504 for generating transmit baseband signals 1411 for the radio IC circuitry 1206. The baseband processing circuitry 1500 may also include control logic 1506 for coordinating the operations of the baseband processing circuitry 1500.

[0086] In some embodiments (e.g., when analog baseband signals are exchanged between the baseband processing circuitry 1500 and the radio IC circuitry 1206), the baseband processing circuitry 1500 may include ADC 1510 to convert analog baseband signals received from the radio IC circuitry 1206 to digital baseband signals for processing by the RX BBP 1502. In these embodiments, the baseband processing circuitry 1500 may also include DAC 1512 to convert digital baseband signals from the TX BBP 1504 to analog baseband signals.

[0087] In some embodiments that communicate OFDM signals or OFDMA signals, such as through baseband processor 1208a, the transmit baseband processor 1504 may be configured to generate OFDM or OFDMA signals as appropriate for transmission by performing an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT). The receive baseband processor 1502 may be configured to process received OFDM signals or OFDMA signals by performing an FFT. In some embodiments, the receive baseband processor 1502 may be configured to detect the presence of an OFDM signal or OFDMA signal by performing an autocorrelation, to detect a preamble, such as a short preamble, and by performing a cross-correlation, to detect a long preamble. The preambles may be part of a predetermined frame structure for Wi-Fi communication. [0088] Referring back to FIG. 12, in some embodiments, the antennas 1201 (FIG. 12) may each comprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result. Antennas 1201 may each include a set of phased-array antennas, although embodiments are not so limited.

[0089] Although the radio-architecture 1200 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be 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 comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field- programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[0090] FIG. 16 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 1600 capable of executing the instructions of FIGS. 5-7 to implement the STAs 102-108 with the multi-beam analyzer 112 and/or the AP 110 with the multi-beam director 114 and/or may implement elements of the radio architecture 1200 (e.g., the application processor 1210, etc.). The processor platform 1600 can be, for example, a server, a personal computer, a mobile device (e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone, a tablet such as an iPad™), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an Internet appliance, a DVD player, a CD player, a digital video recorder, a Blu-ray player, a gaming console, a personal video recorder, a set top box, or any other type of computing device.

[0091] The processor platform 1600 of the illustrated example includes a processor 1612. The processor 1612 of the illustrated example is hardware. For example, the processor 1612 can be implemented by one or more integrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors or controllers from any desired family or manufacturer. The hardware processor may be a semiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device. The example processor 1612 includes the example multi-beam analyzer 112 and the example multi-beam director 114. Alternatively, the processor 1612 may include only one of the multi-beam analyzer 112 or the multi-beam director 114.

[0092] The processor 1612 of the illustrated example includes a local memory 1613 (e.g., a cache). The processor 1612 of the illustrated example is in communication with a main memory including a volatile memory 1614 and a non-volatile memory 1616 via a bus 1618. The volatile memory 1614 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 1616 may be implemented by flash memory and/or any other desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 1614, 1616 is controlled by a memory controller.

[0093] The processor platform 1600 of the illustrated example also includes an interface circuit 1620. The interface circuit 1620 may be implemented by any type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, a universal serial bus (USB), and/or a PCI express interface.

[0094] In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 1622 are connected to the interface circuit 1620. The input device(s) 1622 permit(s) a user to enter data and/or commands into the processor 1612. The input device(s) can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, a microphone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, a touchscreen, a trackpad, a trackball, isopoint and/or a voice recognition system.

[0095] One or more output devices 1624 are also connected to the interface circuit 1620 of the illustrated example. The output devices 1624 can be implemented, for example, 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 touchscreen, a tactile output device, a printer and/or speakers). The interface circuit 1620 of the illustrated example, thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chip and/or a graphics driver processor.

[0096] The interface circuit 1620 of the illustrated example also includes a communication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, a modem and/or network interface card to facilitate exchange of data with external machines (e.g., computing devices of any kind) via a network 1626 (e.g., an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line (DSL), a telephone line, coaxial cable, a cellular telephone system, etc.).

[0097] The processor platform 1600 of the illustrated example also includes one or more mass storage devices 1628 for storing software and/or data. Examples of such mass storage devices 1628 include floppy disk drives, hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, RAID systems, and digital versatile disk (DVD) drives.

[0098] The coded instructions 1632 of FIGS. 4-7 may be stored in the mass storage device 1628, in the volatile memory 1614, in the non-volatile memory 1616, and/or on a removable tangible computer readable storage medium such as a CD or DVD.

[0099] From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the collection and reporting of multiple beam pairs by the STAs as described herein facilitates the use of spatial reuse in wireless communication devices. Such use of multiple beam pairs improves the operation of the wireless

communication devices by increasing the likelihood that spatial reuse may be utilized as opposed to systems in which each STA pair determines a preferred beam pair without interaction with other STA pairs in a spatial reuse environment.

[00100] Example 1 is a first wireless device comprising memory and processing circuitry configured to: determine a first beam sector of a second wireless device communicated by the second wireless device, determine a second beam sector of the first wireless device for communication with the second wireless device on the first beam sector, determine a third beam sector of the second wireless device communicated by the second wireless device, determine a fourth beam sector of the first wireless device for communication with the second wireless device on the third beam sector, and transmit an identification of a first combination of the first beam sector and the second beam sector and a second combination of the third beam sector and the fourth beam sector.

[00101] Example 2 includes the first wireless device as defined in example 1, wherein the identification is transmitted to at least one of an access point or a personal basic service set control point.

[00102] Example 3 includes the first wireless device as defined in example 2, wherein the memory and processing circuitry are configured to utilize the second combination for communication with the second wireless device in response to an instruction from the at least one of the access point or the personal basic service set control point.

[00103] Example 4 includes the first wireless device as defined in one of examples 1 to 3, wherein the memory and processing circuitry are configured to transmit measurement feedback for the first beam sector and the third beam sector to the second wireless device.

[00104] Example 5 includes the first wireless device as defined in one of examples 1 to 3, wherein the memory and processing circuitry are configured to transmit an indication that the first wireless device supports multiple beam pairs.

[00105] Example 6 includes the first wireless device as defined in one of examples 1 to 3, wherein the memory and processing circuitry are configured to include an indication of the first combination in a ready to send transmission transmitted to the second wireless device.

[00106] Example 7 includes the first wireless device as defined in one of examples 1 to 3, wherein the memory and processing circuitry are configured to receive a channel allocation field identifying the first combination to be utilized for communication with the second wireless device.

[00107] Example 8 is a method to perform beam selection for wireless devices, the method comprising: determining a first beam sector of a second wireless device communicated by the second wireless device, determining a second beam sector of a first wireless device for communication with the second wireless device on the first beam sector, determining a third beam sector of the second wireless device communicated by the second wireless device, determining a fourth beam sector of the first wireless device for communication with the second wireless device on the third beam sector, and transmitting an identification of a first combination of the first beam sector and the second beam sector and a second combination of the third beam sector and the fourth beam sector.

[00108] Example 9 includes the method as defined in example 8, wherein the identification is transmitted to at least one of an access point or a personal basic service set control point.

[00109] Example 10 includes the method as defined in example

9, further including utilizing the second combination for communication with the second wireless device in response to an instruction from the at least one of the access point or the personal basic service set control point.

[00110] Example 11 includes the method as defined in one of examples 8 to 10, further including transmitting measurement feedback for the first beam sector and the third beam sector to the second wireless device.

[00111] Example 12 includes the method as defined in one of examples 8 to 10, further including transmitting an indication that the first wireless device supports multiple beam pairs.

[00112] Example 13 includes the method as defined in example

8, further including inserting an indication of the first combination in a ready to send transmission transmitted to the second wireless device.

[00113] Example 14 includes the method as defined in one of examples 8 to 10, further including receiving a channel allocation field identifying the first combination to be utilized for communication with the second wireless device.

[00114] Example 15 is a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a first wireless device to at least: determine a first beam sector of a second wireless device communicated by the second wireless device, determine a second beam sector of the first wireless device for communication with the second wireless device on the first beam sector, determine a third beam sector of the second wireless device communicated by the second wireless device, determine a fourth beam sector of the first wireless device for communication with the second wireless device on the third beam sector, and transmit an identification of a first combination of the first beam sector and the second beam sector and a second combination of the third beam sector and the fourth beam sector.

[00115] Example 16 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in example 15, wherein the identification is transmitted to at least one of an access point or a personal basic service set control point.

[00116] Example 17 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in example 16, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the first wireless device to utilize the second combination for communication with the second wireless device in response to an instruction from the at least one of the access point or the personal basic service set control point.

[00117] Example 18 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in one of examples 15 to 17, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the first wireless device to transmit measurement feedback for the first beam sector and the third beam sector to the second wireless device.

[00118] Example 19 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in cl one of examples 15 to 17, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the first wireless device to transmit an indication that the first wireless device supports multiple beam pairs.

[00119] Example 20 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in one of examples 15 to 17, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the first wireless device to insert an indication of the first combination in a ready to send transmission transmitted to the second wireless device. [00120] Example 21 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in one of examples 15 to 17, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the first wireless device to receive a channel allocation field identifying the first combination to be utilized for communication with the second wireless device.

[00121] Example 22 is an access point device comprising: first means for determining a first beam sector of a second wireless device communicated by the second wireless device, determining a second beam sector of a first wireless device for communication with the second wireless device on the first beam sector, determining a third beam sector of the second wireless device communicated by the second wireless device, and determining a fourth beam sector of the first wireless device for communication with the second wireless device on the third beam sector, and second means for transmitting an identification of a first combination of the first beam sector and the second beam sector and a second combination of the third beam sector and the fourth beam sector.

[00122] Example 23 includes the first wireless device as defined in example 22, wherein the first means is to receive the first beam sector from the first wireless device.

[00123] Example 24 is a system comprising: a first wireless device, an access point, a second wireless device to transmit, to the access point, a first beam sector of the second wireless device, to transmit, to the access point, a second beam sector of the first wireless device for

communication with the second wireless device on the first beam sector, to transmit, to the access point, a third beam sector of the second wireless device, and to transmit, to the access point, a fourth beam sector of the first wireless device for communication with the second wireless device on the third beam sector, and the access point to transmit, to at least one of the first wireless device and the second wireless device, an identification of a first combination of the first beam sector and the second beam sector and a second combination of the third beam sector and the fourth beam sector. [00124] Example 25 includes the system as defined in example

24, further including: a third wireless device, and a fourth wireless device to transmit, to the access point, a fifth beam sector of the fourth wireless device, to transmit, to the access point, a sixth beam sector of the third wireless device for communication with the fourth wireless device on the fifth beam sector, to transmit, to the access point, a seventh beam sector of the fourth wireless device, and to transmit, to the access point, an eighth beam sector of the third wireless device for communication with the fourth wireless device on the seventh beam sector.

[00125] Example 26 includes the system as defined in example

25, wherein the access point is to determine that the first beam sector and the second beam sector may be utilized with spatial reuse in combination with the fifth beam sector and the sixth beam sector.

[00126] Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture have been disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the claims of this patent.

Claims

What Is Claimed Is:

1. A first wireless device comprising memory and processing circuitry configured to:

determine a first beam sector of a second wireless device

communicated by the second wireless device;

determine a second beam sector of the first wireless device for communication with the second wireless device on the first beam sector; determine a third beam sector of the second wireless device communicated by the second wireless device;

determine a fourth beam sector of the first wireless device for communication with the second wireless device on the third beam sector; and transmit an identification of a first combination of the first beam sector and the second beam sector and a second combination of the third beam sector and the fourth beam sector.

2. A first wireless device as defined in claim 1, wherein the identification is transmitted to at least one of an access point or a personal basic service set control point.

3. A first wireless device as defined in claim 2, wherein the memory and processing circuitry are configured to utilize the second combination for communication with the second wireless device in response to an instruction from the at least one of the access point or the personal basic service set control point.

4. A first wireless device as defined in one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the memory and processing circuitry are configured to transmit measurement feedback for the first beam sector and the third beam sector to the second wireless device.

5. A first wireless device as defined in one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the memory and processing circuitry are configured to transmit an indication that the first wireless device supports multiple beam pairs.

6. A first wireless device as defined in one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the memory and processing circuitry are configured to include an indication of the first combination in a ready to send transmission transmitted to the second wireless device.

7. A first wireless device as defined in one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the memory and processing circuitry are configured to receive a channel allocation field identifying the first combination to be utilized for

communication with the second wireless device.

8. A method to perform beam selection for wireless devices, the method comprising:

determining a first beam sector of a second wireless device communicated by the second wireless device;

determining a second beam sector of a first wireless device for communication with the second wireless device on the first beam sector; determining a third beam sector of the second wireless device communicated by the second wireless device;

determining a fourth beam sector of the first wireless device for communication with the second wireless device on the third beam sector; and transmitting an identification of a first combination of the first beam sector and the second beam sector and a second combination of the third beam sector and the fourth beam sector.

9. A method as defined in claim 8, wherein the identification is transmitted to at least one of an access point or a personal basic service set control point.

10. A method as defined in claim 9, further including utilizing the second combination for communication with the second wireless device in response to an instruction from the at least one of the access point or the personal basic service set control point.

11. A method as defined in one of claims 8 to 10, further including transmitting measurement feedback for the first beam sector and the third beam sector to the second wireless device.

12. A method as defined in one of claims 8 to 10, further including transmitting an indication that the first wireless device supports multiple beam pairs.

13. A method as defined in claim 8, further including inserting an indication of the first combination in a ready to send transmission transmitted to the second wireless device.

14. A method as defined in one of claims 8 to 10, further including receiving a channel allocation field identifying the first combination to be utilized for communication with the second wireless device.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a first wireless device to at least:

determine a first beam sector of a second wireless device

communicated by the second wireless device;

16. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in claim

15, wherein the identification is transmitted to at least one of an access point or a personal basic service set control point.

17. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in claim

16, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the first wireless device to utilize the second combination for communication with the second wireless device in response to an instruction from the at least one of the access point or the personal basic service set control point.

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in one of claims 15 to 17, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the first wireless device to transmit measurement feedback for the first beam sector and the third beam sector to the second wireless device.

19. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in cl one of claims 15 to 17, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the first wireless device to transmit an indication that the first wireless device supports multiple beam pairs.

20. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in one of claims 15 to 17, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the first wireless device to insert an indication of the first combination in a ready to send transmission transmitted to the second wireless device.

21. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in one of claims 15 to 17, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the first wireless device to receive a channel allocation field identifying the first combination to be utilized for communication with the second wireless device.

22. An access point device comprising:

first means for determining a first beam sector of a second wireless device communicated by the second wireless device, determining a second beam sector of a first wireless device for communication with the second wireless device on the first beam sector, determining a third beam sector of the second wireless device communicated by the second wireless device, and determining a fourth beam sector of the first wireless device for

communication with the second wireless device on the third beam sector; and second means for transmitting an identification of a first combination of the first beam sector and the second beam sector and a second combination of the third beam sector and the fourth beam sector.

23. A first wireless device as defined in claim 22, wherein the first means is to receive the first beam sector from the first wireless device.

24. A system comprising:

a first wireless device;

an access point;

a second wireless device to transmit, to the access point, a first beam sector of the second wireless device, to transmit, to the access point, a second beam sector of the first wireless device for communication with the second wireless device on the first beam sector, to transmit, to the access point, a third beam sector of the second wireless device, and to transmit, to the access point, a fourth beam sector of the first wireless device for communication with the second wireless device on the third beam sector; and

the access point to transmit, to at least one of the first wireless device and the second wireless device, an identification of a first combination of the first beam sector and the second beam sector and a second combination of the third beam sector and the fourth beam sector.

25. A system as defined in claim 24, further including:

a third wireless device; and

a fourth wireless device to transmit, to the access point, a fifth beam sector of the fourth wireless device, to transmit, to the access point, a sixth beam sector of the third wireless device for communication with the fourth wireless device on the fifth beam sector, to transmit, to the access point, a seventh beam sector of the fourth wireless device, and to transmit, to the access point, an eighth beam sector of the third wireless device for communication with the fourth wireless device on the seventh beam sector.