Patent ID: 9172446
Filing Date: 2015-10-27
Classification: H04B,H04L,H04W

Abstract:
1. A beamformer access point comprising: a plurality of antennas; a plurality of radio circuits, each configured to transmit and receive signals via the plurality of antennas, respectively; and a baseband processor configured to monitor signals received by the radio circuits and generate a list of co-channel neighboring beamformee access points, each having a plurality of antennas and located within a clear channel assessment (CCA) range of the beamformer access point, wherein the baseband processor is further configured to cause the radio circuits to transmit via the respective antennas a beamformer sounding sequence to the neighboring beamformee access points on the generated list of co-channel neighboring beamformee access points, according to a multi-user multiple-input-multiple-output (MU-MIMO) air-protocol, and receive from the neighboring beamformee access points Channel State Information (CSI) providing explicit channel estimation information, and wherein the baseband processor of the beamformer access point is further configured to carry out an implicit channel estimation procedure via additional pilot transmissions of the neighboring beamformee access points, appended to the explicit channel estimation information.