Patent ID: 7460512
Filing Date: 2008-12-02
Classification: H04B,H04L,H04W

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for inclusion in a station of a wireless network, the apparatus comprising: a radio receiver to wirelessly receive data from at least one remote station, said data transmitted by the remote station as at least one packet of data, the receiver including an analog-to-digital converter producing samples of signals received at the station from the remote station, a packet of data including a part modulated in a pre-defined way and containing information indicative of the type of modulation used for at least some of the packet; a demodulator coupled to the radio receiver to demodulate samples of the signals received at the receiver from each station to produce demodulated signals from each of the remote stations; an error vector magnitude (EVM) calculator coupled to the receiver and to the demodulator, the EVM calculator operative to determine for each remote station from which data is received a measure of the received signal quality based on the samples of the received data from the remote station, the EVM calculator arranged to accept from the demodulator an indication of the type of modulation used for at least some of the packet; and a transmitter to transmit data for transmission, such that in the case that the received data is ascertained to include a request management message, the station responds to the request management message with a response management message that includes a measure of the EVM of received data corresponding to the request management message, whereby the remote station receiving the response management message receives an indication of a quality of a link between the station and the remote station without said receiving remote station necessarily being EVM-capable.