Source: https://patents.justia.com/patent/20150341102
Timestamp: 2019-07-16 07:01:21
Document Index: 116249886

Matched Legal Cases: ['§120', '§119', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'art 11']

US Patent Application for Distributed signal field for communications within multiple user, multiple access, and/or MIMO wireless communications Patent Application (Application #20150341102 issued November 26, 2015) - Justia Patents Search
Justia Patents US Patent Application for Distributed signal field for communications within multiple user, multiple access, and/or MIMO wireless communications Patent Application (Application #20150341102)
Jul 30, 2015 - BROADCOM CORPORATION
The present U.S. Utility Patent Application claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §120 as a continuation of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 14/089,939, entitled “Distributed signal field for communications within multiple user, multiple access, and/or MIMO wireless communications”, filed Nov. 26, 2013, pending, and scheduled subsequently to be issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,107,099 on Aug. 11, 2015 (as indicated in an ISSUE NOTIFICATION mailed from the USPTO on Jul. 22, 2015), which is a continuation of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 12/852,859, entitled “Distributed signal field for communications within multiple user, multiple access, and/or MIMO wireless communications,” filed Aug. 9, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,599,804, issued on Dec. 3, 2013, which claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/232,316, entitled “WLAN next generation PHY header options,” filed Aug. 7, 2009; U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/240,285, entitled “WLAN next generation PHY header options,” filed Sep. 7, 2009; U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/250,531, entitled “WLAN next generation PHY header options,” filed Oct. 11, 2009; and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/255,232, entitled “WLAN next generation PHY header options,” filed Oct. 27, 2009,” all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and made part of the present U.S. Utility Patent Application for all purposes.
2. U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 12/816,352, entitled “Carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) for multiple user, multiple access, and/or MIMO wireless communications,” filed on 06-15-2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,804,495, issued on Aug. 8-12, 2014.
3. U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 12/817,118, entitled “Scheduled clear to send (CTS) for multiple user, multiple access, and/or MIMO wireless communications,” filed on Jun. 16, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,582,485, issued on Nov. 12, 2013.
1. IEEE 802.11 -2007, “IEEE Standard for Information technology—Telecommunications and information exchange between systems—Local and metropolitan area networks—Specific requirements; Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications,” IEEE Computer Society, IEEE Std 802.11™-2007, (Revision of IEEE Std 802.11-1999), 1232 pages.
The process then proceeds to Step 118 where the baseband processing module determines a number of transmit streams based on the mode select signal. For example, the mode select signal will select a particular mode which indicates that 1, 2, 3, 4 or more antennae may be utilized for the transmission. Accordingly, the number of transmit streams will correspond to the number of antennae indicated by the mode select signal.
The process then proceeds to Step 120 where the baseband processing module converts the encoded data into streams of symbols in accordance with the number of transmit streams in the mode select signal. This step will be described in greater detail with reference to FIG. 6.
[ C 1 C 2 C 3 C 4 … C 2  M - 1 C 2  M - C 2 * C 1 * - C 4 * C 3 * … - C 2  M * C 2  M - 1  ]
FIGS. 7-9 are diagrams illustrating various embodiments for encoding the scrambled data. FIG. 7 is a diagram of one method that may be utilized by the baseband processing module to encode the scrambled data at Step 116 of FIG. 5. In this method, the encoding of FIG. 7 may include an optional Step 144 where the baseband processing module may optionally perform encoding with an outer Reed-Solomon (RS) code to produce RS encoded data. It is noted that Step 144 may be conducted in parallel with Step 140 described below.
[ C 1 C 2 C 3 C 4 … C 2  M - 1 C 2  M - C 2 * C 1 * - C 4 * C 3 * … - C 2  M * C 2  M - 1  ] .
As will be seen in various embodiments, the HT-SIG field need not be employed in all embodiments (e.g., several embodiments do not use such a HT-SIG field). When an HT-SIG field is employed in a particular embodiment, it may be necessary for such a HT-SIG cyclic redundancy check (CRC) to be valid so that HT device accepts the signal field and defers the medium (i.e., does not occupy the channel/air). In the bottom embodiment of this diagram, the structure includes the VHT-SIG field shown as being immediately after such a HT-SIG field. The VHT-SIG field is 90 degrees rotated with respect to HT-STF field to allow for better discrimination between the two respective fields. Other rotations (e.g., besides only 90 degrees) are alternatively and also possible to assist in such discrimination as preferred in other embodiments. As such, the probability of considering the HT-SIG field (when employed in a given embodiment) and thereby treating a VHT mixed mode frame as in fact being a valid HT frame should be relatively small. This problem typically occurs when an HT device finds its MAC address and the frame check sequence (FCS) passes in its decoding of an IEEE 802.11ac mixed mode frame. The VHT short training field (VHT-STF), VHT long training field (VHT-LTF), and payload data portion all follow VHT-SIG field in the 802.11ac mixed mode packet.
Different formats of such multi-user packet may be employed to effectuate the respective and different operational modes of single user (SU), multi-user (MU) resolvable LTFs, and MU non-resolvable LTFs operational modes. For example, the preamble structure may vary for each of these various operational modes (the SU, MU resolvable LTFs, and MU non-resolvable LTFs operational modes). In some instances, having different frame formats for each respective operational mode may yield a more efficient (e.g., shorter) preamble structure for some of the cases. However, for other of the cases, there may be an increase in complexity (e.g., VHT devices oftentimes need to handle multiple frame formats, and would then need to accommodate the multiple frame formats being employed). To ensure a more simplistic and less complex approach, a common or same frame format may be employed in some embodiments. When employing different types of frame formats, indicating which preamble is being used in a particular instance may be signaled in one of the fields of the multi-user packet (e.g., in the first component of the distributed SIG field, VHT-SIG-A field using one or more of the following (or equivalent) bits: MU-MIMO bit, and VHT-LTF Mode bit.
Referring to method 2600 of FIG. 26A, the method 2600 describes operations as may be performed within a transmitting wireless communication device. The method 2600 begins by generating a multi-user packet including a distributed signal (SIG) field composed of at least two SIG fields, such that a first SIG field being included in a first operational mode portion (e.g., legacy portion) and a second SIG field being included in a second operational mode portion (e.g., IEEE 802.11ac (VHT) portion) of the multi-user packet, as shown in a block 2610. Again, within this multi-user packet may be performed in accordance with a baseband processing module (e.g., such as in accordance with the baseband processing module as described within FIG. 2) that is implemented within a wireless communication device.
a processor configured to: generate a packet that includes a group identification field (GroupID); set a plurality of bits within the GroupID to a first value to indicate the packet is a single user (SU) packet or set the plurality of bits within the GroupID to a second value to indicate the packet is a multiple user (MU) packet; and transmit the packet to at least one other wireless communication device.
generate another packet that includes a first signal (SIG) field, a second SIG field, and at least one other field located between the first SIG field and the second SIG field;
set another plurality of bits within another GroupID that is included within the first SIG field to the first value to indicate the another packet is another SU packet or set the another plurality of bits within the another GroupID of the first SIG field to the second value to indicate that the another packet is another MU packet; and
transmit the another packet to at least one of the at least one other wireless communication device or another wireless communication device.
generate another packet that includes a signal (SIG) field;
set another plurality of bits within another GroupID that is included within the SIG field to the first value to indicate the another packet is another SU packet or set the another plurality of bits within the another GroupID of the SIG field to the second value to indicate that the another packet is another MU packet; and
generate the packet as the MU packet that includes a first signal (SIG) field, a second SIG field, and at least one other field located between the first SIG field and the second SIG field, wherein the first SIG field includes first information for use by both a first other wireless communication device and a second other wireless communication device to process a first other field in the MU packet, wherein the second SIG field includes second information for use by at least one of the first other wireless communication device or the second other wireless communication device to process a second other field in the MU packet.
generate the packet to include a first signal (SIG) field, a second SIG field, and at least one other field located between the first SIG field and the second SIG field;
transmit the first SIG field using omni-directional transmission; and
transmit the second SIG field using beamforming transmission.
generate the packet to include a first short training field (STF), followed by a first long training field (LTF), followed by a first signal field (SIG) field that includes the GroupID, followed by a second STF, followed by a second LTF, followed by a second SIG field, followed by a data field.
an access point (AP), wherein the at least one other wireless communication device includes a wireless station (STA).
a wireless station (STA), wherein the at least one other wireless communication device includes an access point (AP).
a processor configured to: receive a packet from another wireless communication device; and interpret a group identification field (GroupID) of the packet to determine whether the packet is a single user (SU) packet or a multiple user (MU) packet including to determine that the packet is the SU packet when a plurality of bits within the GroupID is set to a first value and to determine that the packet is the MU packet when the plurality of bits within the GroupID is set to a second value.
receive another packet from the another wireless communication device;
process the another packet to identify a first signal (SIG) field that includes another GroupID, a second SIG field, and at least one other field located between the first SIG field and the second SIG field within the another packet; and
interpret the another GroupID to determine whether the another packet is another SU packet or another MU packet including to determine that the another packet is the another SU packet when another plurality of bits within the another GroupID is set to the first value and to determine that the another packet is the another MU packet when the another plurality of bits within the another GroupID is set to the second value.
receive a first signal (SIG) field of the packet via omni-directional transmission; and
receive a second SIG field of the packet via beamforming transmission, wherein the packet includes the first SIG field, the second SIG field, and at least one other field located between the first SIG field and the second SIG field.
process the packet to identify a first short training field (STF), followed by a first long training field (LTF), followed by a first signal field (SIG) field that includes the GroupID, followed by a second STF, followed by a second LTF, followed by a second SIG field, followed by a data field within the packet.
generating a packet that includes a group identification field (GroupID);
setting a plurality of bits within the GroupID to a first value to indicate the packet is a single user (SU) packet or setting the plurality of bits within the GroupID to a second value to indicate the packet is a multiple user (MU) packet; and
transmitting, via a communication interface of the wireless communication device, the packet to at least one other wireless communication device.
generating another packet that includes a first signal (SIG) field, a second SIG field, and at least one other field located between the first SIG field and the second SIG field;
setting another plurality of bits within another GroupID that is included within the first SIG field to the first value to indicate the another packet is another SU packet or setting the another plurality of bits within the another GroupID of the first SIG field to the second value to indicate that the another packet is another MU packet; and
transmitting, via the communication interface of the wireless communication device, the another packet to at least one of the at least one other wireless communication device or another wireless communication device.
generating another packet that includes a signal (SIG) field;
setting another plurality of bits within another GroupID that is included within the SIG field to the first value to indicate the another packet is another SU packet or setting the another plurality of bits within the another GroupID of the SIG field to the second value to indicate that the another packet is another MU packet; and
generating the packet as the MU packet that includes a first signal (SIG) field, a second SIG field, and at least one other field located between the first SIG field and the second SIG field, wherein the first SIG field includes first information for use by both a first other wireless communication device and a second other wireless communication device to process a first other field in the MU packet, wherein the second SIG field includes second information for use by at least one of the first other wireless communication device or the second other wireless communication device to process a second other field in the MU packet.
generating the packet to include a first signal (SIG) field, a second SIG field, and at least one other field located between the first SIG field and the second SIG field;
transmitting, via the communication interface of the wireless communication device, the first SIG field using omni-directional transmission; and
transmitting, via the communication interface of the wireless communication device, the second SIG field using beamforming transmission.
generating the packet to include a first short training field (STF), followed by a first long training field (LTF), followed by a first signal field (SIG) field that includes the GroupID, followed by a second STF, followed by a second LTF, followed by a second SIG field, followed by a data field.
20. The method of claim 14, wherein the wireless communication device is an access point (AP), and the at least one other wireless communication device includes a wireless station (STA).
Patent Grant number: 9553649
Application Number: 14/813,445
International Classification: H04B 7/06 (20060101); H04L 29/06 (20060101); H04B 7/04 (20060101);