Coordinated multi-access point transmissions for wireless local area network systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12537565-B2
Application number	US-202117919868-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 28, 2021
Priority date	Apr 29, 2020
Publication date	Jan 27, 2026
Grant date	Jan 27, 2026

Abstract

A method performed by a first wireless access point for coordinating a multi-access point transmission in a wireless network of multiple access points includes receiving an indication of a transmit opportunity for the first wireless access point, transmitting at least one indication frame to the multiple access points comprising information related to the transmit opportunity, receiving at least one request frame from one or more access points of the multiple access points indicating participation with the transmit opportunity, and transmitting a trigger frame to the one or more access points that indicated participation with the transmit opportunity, wherein the trigger frame comprises information indicating respective power levels for the participating access points. The shared transmit opportunity may then be used to transmit downlink data to associated stations of the first wireless access point and the other participating access points during the transmit opportunity.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A method performed by a first wireless access point, AP, for coordinating a multi-access point transmission in a wireless network of multiple access points, APs, the method comprising:
receiving from each of a plurality of stations in the wireless network, an indication of interference from one or more overlapping APs; determining station groups based on the indications of interference received from the plurality of stations; transmitting at least one indication frame to the multiple APs, the at least one indication frame comprising interference level information related to a transmit opportunity, TXOP; receiving at least one response frame from one or more APs of the multiple APs indicating participation within the TXOP; transmitting a trigger frame to the one or more APs that indicated participation within the TXOP, wherein the trigger frame comprises information indicating respective power levels for the participating APs; transmitting downlink data to at least one station of a station group of the determined station groups during the TXOP; and receiving an acknowledgement transmission from the at least one station.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the trigger frame comprises transmitting an indication of power levels for the participating APs for use with station groups.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the indications of interference received from the plurality of stations is stored in the first wireless AP in an interference level table.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving, from each of the plurality of stations in the wireless network, an indication of interference comprises receiving a transmission of received signal strength indication from each station in the wireless network.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting at least one indication frame comprises transmitting at least one coordinated multi-access point TXOP indication frame in a physical protocol data unit to a candidate set of APs, wherein the indication frame is transmitted to the candidate set in multiple channels simultaneously.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving at least one response frame comprises receiving at least one coordinated multi-access TXOP response frame from one or more of the multiple APs to participate with the TXOP of the first wireless AP, wherein the response frames are received in multiple channels simultaneously.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
after receiving at least one response frame, transmitting at least one schedule frame confirming a grant of joining the TXOP and providing resource allocation information to the participating APs.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the schedule frame comprises basic service set identification or AP identification information, and time and frequency information for a downlink transmission.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving at least one local schedule frame from the participating APs.

10 . A wireless access point, AP, comprising circuitry, including a transmitter, a receiver, a processor, and memory, the wireless AP configured to:
receive from each of a plurality of stations in the wireless network, an indication of interference from one or more overlapping APs; determine station groups based on the indications of interference received from the plurality of stations; transmit at least one indication frame to the multiple APs, the at least one indication frame comprising information related to a transmit opportunity, TXOP; receive at least one response frame from one or more APs of the multiple APs indicating participation within the TXOP; transmit a trigger frame to the one or more APs that indicated participation within the TXOP, wherein the trigger frame comprises information indicating respective power levels for the participating APs; transmit downlink data to at least one station of a station group of the determined station groups during the TXOP; and receive an acknowledgement transmission from the at least one station.

11 . The wireless AP of claim 10 , wherein the trigger frame comprises an indication of power levels for the participating APs for use with station groups.

12 . The wireless AP of claim 10 , wherein the indications of interference received from the plurality of stations is stored in the first wireless AP in an interference level table.

13 . The wireless AP of claim 10 , wherein the wireless AP is configured to receive an indication of interference via received signal strength indication from each station in the wireless network.

14 . The wireless AP of claim 10 , wherein the at least one indication frame comprises at least one coordinated multi-access point TXOP indication frame transmitted in a physical protocol data unit to a candidate set of APs, wherein the indication frame is transmitted to the candidate set in multiple channels simultaneously.

15 . The wireless AP of claim 10 , wherein the at least one response frame comprises at least one coordinated multi-access TXOP response frame from one or more of the multiple APs to participate with the TXOP of the first wireless AP, wherein the response frames are received in multiple channels simultaneously.

16 . The wireless AP of claim 10 , further configured to:
after receiving at least one response frame, transmit at least one schedule frame to confirm a grant of joining the TXOP and provide resource allocation information to the participating APs.

17 . The wireless AP of claim 16 , wherein the schedule frame comprises basic service set identification or AP identification information, and time and frequency information for a downlink transmission.

18 . A computer-readable storage device having instructions thereon, which when executed, performs a method conducted by an access point, AP, for coordinating a multi-access point transmission in a wireless network of multiple access points, APs, the method comprising:
receiving from each of a plurality of stations in the wireless network, an indication of interference from one or more overlapping APs; determining station groups based on the indications of interference received from the plurality of stations; transmitting at least one indication frame to the multiple APs, the at least one indication frame comprising interference level information related to a transmit opportunity, TXOP; receiving at least one response frame from one or more APs of the multiple APs indicating participation within the TXOP; transmitting a trigger frame to the one or more APs that indicated participation within the TXOP, wherein the trigger frame comprises information indicating respective power levels for the participating APs; transmitting downlink data to at least one station of a station group of the determined station groups during the TXOP; and receiving an acknowledgement transmission from the at least one station.

19 . The computer-readable storage device method of claim 18 , wherein transmitting the trigger frame comprises transmitting an indication of power levels for the participating APs for use with station groups.

20 . The computer-readable storage device method of claim 18 , wherein receiving, from each of the plurality of stations in the wireless network, an indication of interference comprises receiving a transmission of received signal strength indication from each station in the wireless network.

Assignees

• Interdigital Patent Holdings Inc

Inventors

• Lou Hanqing
• Sun Li Hsiang
• Wang Xiaofei
• Yang Rui

Classifications

• H04W52/243

  taking into account interferences · CPC title

• H04W52/143 Primary

  Downlink power control · CPC title

• H04B7/024 Primary

  Co-operative use of antennas of several sites, e.g. in co-ordinated multipoint or co-operative multiple-input multiple-output [MIMO] systems · CPC title

• H04L5/0094

  Indication of how sub-channels of the path are allocated · CPC title

• H04L5/0073

  Allocation arrangements that take into account other cell interferences · CPC title