Distributed multi-user (MU) wireless communication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10897285-B2
Application number	US-201815872294-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 16, 2018
Priority date	Feb 15, 2017
Publication date	Jan 19, 2021
Grant date	Jan 19, 2021

Abstract

This disclosure provides systems, methods and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for group formation and sounding for distributed multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO). Some implementations include a method of wireless communication. The method includes transmitting, from a first access point of a plurality of access points, an announcement frame for performing a beamforming procedure for a distributed transmission. The distributed transmission includes a transmission from the plurality of access points. The announcement frame includes at least one identifier of a user terminal in a different basic service set than a basic service set of the first access point. The method further includes transmitting a packet for measuring a channel. The method further includes receiving feedback information from the user terminal based on the packet for measuring the channel. The method further includes transmitting the distributed transmission using the beamforming procedure.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:
transmitting, from a first access point of a plurality of access points, a group formation trigger for forming a group including the plurality of access points for performing a beamforming procedure for a distributed transmission;
receiving an intent to participate from at least one of the plurality of access points based on the group formation trigger;
transmitting, from the first access point to a user terminal and each of the at least one of the plurality of access points, an announcement frame for performing the beamforming procedure for the distributed transmission,
wherein the distributed transmission includes a transmission from the at least one of the plurality of access points,
wherein the announcement frame includes at least one identifier of the user terminal in a different basic service set than a basic service set of the first access point, and
wherein the announcement frame is configured to cause each of the at least one of the plurality of access points to transmit a separate packet for measuring a channel in response to receiving the announcement frame;

transmitting, from the first access point to the user terminal, a packet for measuring a channel in response to transmitting the announcement frame, wherein each packet for measuring the channel is configured to cause at least one user terminal to transmit feedback information based on the packet for measuring the channel;
receiving, by the first access point, feedback information from the user terminal based on the packet for measuring the channel; and
transmitting, by the first access point, the distributed transmission using the beamforming procedure, wherein the beamforming procedure is based on the feedback information.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
forming the group based on receiving the intent to participate from the at least one of the plurality of access points.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the group formation trigger includes an indication of a number of spatial streams available for transmissions of other access points.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting by the first access point a request frame requesting the feedback information, wherein the request frame includes the at least one identifier of the user terminal in the different basic service set than the basic service set of the first access point.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the announcement frame includes an allocation of a plurality of spatial streams to the plurality of access points.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the announcement frame includes at least one identifier of another user terminal in the basic service set of the first access point.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of access points transmits a separate packet for measuring a channel during a first time interval based on the announcement frame, and wherein the plurality of access points multiplex transmitting the separate packets using one or more of frequency division multiplexing, code division multiplexing, a P-matrix, or time division multiplexing.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of access points transmits a separate packet for measuring a channel during different time intervals based on the announcement frame.

9. A first access point of a plurality of access points, comprising:
a memory; and
a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to:
transmit a group formation trigger for forming a group including the plurality of access points for performing a beamforming procedure for a distributed transmission;
receive an intent to participate from at least one of the plurality of access points based on the group formation trigger;
transmit, to a user terminal and each of the at least one of the plurality of access points, an announcement frame for performing the beamforming procedure for the distributed transmission,
wherein the distributed transmission includes a transmission from the at least one of the plurality of access points,
wherein the announcement frame includes at least one identifier of the user terminal in a different basic service set than a basic service set of the first access point, and
wherein the announcement frame is configured to cause each of the at least one of the plurality of access points to transmit a separate packet for measuring a channel in response to receiving the announcement frame;

transmit, to the user terminal, a packet for measuring a channel in response to transmitting the announcement frame, wherein each packet for measuring the channel is configured to cause at least one user terminal to transmit feedback information based on the packet for measuring the channel;
receive feedback information from the user terminal based on the packet for measuring the channel; and
transmit the distributed transmission using the beamforming procedure, wherein the beamforming procedure is based on the feedback information.

10. The first access point of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
form the group based on receiving the intent to participate from the at least one of the plurality of access points.

11. The first access point of claim 9 , wherein the group formation trigger includes an indication of a number of spatial streams available for transmissions of other access points.

12. The first access point of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to transmit a request frame requesting the feedback information, wherein the request frame includes the at least one identifier of the user terminal in the different basic service set than the basic service set of the first access point.

13. The first access point of claim 9 , wherein the announcement frame includes an allocation of a plurality of spatial streams to the plurality of access points.

14. The first access point of claim 9 , wherein the announcement frame includes at least one identifier of another user terminal in the basic service set of the first access point.

15. The first access point of claim 9 , wherein each of the plurality of access points transmits a separate packet for measuring a channel during a first time interval based on the announcement frame, and wherein the plurality of access points multiplex transmitting the separate packets using one or more of frequency division multiplexing, code division multiplexing, a P-matrix, or time division multiplexing.

16. The first access point of claim 9 , wherein each of the plurality of access points transmits a separate packet for measuring a channel during different time intervals based on the announcement frame.

17. A first access point of a plurality of access points, comprising:
means for transmitting a group formation trigger for forming a group including the plurality of access points for performing a beamforming procedure for a distributed transmission;
means for receiving an intent to participate from at least one of the plurality of access points based on the group formation trigger;
means for transmitting, to a user terminal and each of the at least one of the plurality of access points, an announcement frame for performing the beamforming procedure for the distributed transmission,
wherein the distributed transmission includes a transmission from the at least one of the plurality of access points,
wherein the announcement frame includes at least one identifier of the user terminal in a different basic service set than a basic service set of the first access point, and
wherein the announc

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Vermani Sameer
• Tian Bin

Classifications

• H04W72/29

  between an access point and the access point controlling device · CPC title

• H04W72/27

  between access points · CPC title

• H04W72/046

  the resource being in the space domain, e.g. beams · CPC title

• H04B7/0643

  Feedback on request · CPC title

• H04B7/0626

  Channel coefficients, e.g. channel state information [CSI] · CPC title