Coordinated orthogonal frequency division multiple access (C-OFDMA) in high density networks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12543132-B2
Application number	US-202217813216-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 18, 2022
Priority date	Jul 18, 2022
Publication date	Feb 3, 2026
Grant date	Feb 3, 2026

Abstract

Coordinated Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (C-OFDMA) in high density networks may be provided. A primary Access Point (AP) and a subordinate AP may be caused to use an omnidirectional antenna pattern during a synchronization period. Next, the primary AP and the subordinate AP may be caused to use an omnidirectional antenna pattern during a time in which the primary AP sends a subordinate Trigger Frame (TF) during a first C-OFDMA period. The primary AP and the subordinate AP may then be caused to use a directional antenna pattern during times in which the primary AP and the subordinate AP Uplink (UL) data during the first C-OFDMA period and Downlink (DL) data during the first C-OFDMA period.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
causing a primary Access Point (AP) and a subordinate AP to use an omnidirectional antenna pattern during a synchronization period; causing the primary AP and the subordinate AP to use the omnidirectional antenna pattern during a time in which the primary AP sends a first subordinate Trigger Frame (TF) during a first Coordinated Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (C-OFDMA) period; causing the primary AP and the subordinate AP to use a directional antenna pattern during times in which the primary AP and the subordinate AP receive Uplink (UL) data during the first C-OFDMA period and send Downlink (DL) data during the first C-OFDMA period; and switching back, by the primary AP and the subordinate AP, to the omnidirectional antenna pattern when the primary AP sends a second subordinate TF.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a beacon frame is sent by the primary AP during the synchronization period.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the beacon frame contains Timing Synchronization Function (TSF) information for clock synchronization for the subordinate AP.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the beacon frame contains information about the first C-OFDMA period, which is upcoming.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the information about the first C-OFDMA period comprises information about when the C-OFDMA period will occur.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the information about the first C-OFDMA period comprises information about how long the first C-OFDMA period will last.

7 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the beacon frame contains information indicating that a second C-OFDMA period is upcoming.

8 . A system comprising:
a memory storage; and a processing unit coupled to the memory storage, wherein the processing unit is operative to:
cause a primary Access Point (AP) and a subordinate AP to use an omnidirectional antenna pattern during a synchronization period;
cause the primary AP and the subordinate AP to use the omnidirectional antenna pattern during a time in which the primary AP sends a subordinate Trigger Frame (TF) during a first Coordinated Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (C-OFDMA) period;
cause the primary AP and the subordinate AP to use a directional antenna pattern during times in which the primary AP and the subordinate AP receive Uplink (UL) data during the first C-OFDMA period and send Downlink (DL) data data during the first C-OFDMA period; and
switch back, by the primary AP and the subordinate AP, to the omnidirectional antenna pattern when the primary AP sends a second subordinate TF.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein a beacon frame is sent by the primary AP during the synchronization period.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the beacon frame contains Timing Synchronization Function (TSF) information for clock synchronization for the subordinate AP.

11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the beacon frame contains information about the first C-OFDMA period, which is upcoming.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the information about the first C-OFDMA period comprises information about when the C-OFDMA period will occur.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the information about the first C-OFDMA period comprises information about how long the first C-OFDMA period will last.

14 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores a set of instructions which when executed by a processor perform a method executed by the set of instructions comprising:
causing a primary Access Point (AP) and a subordinate AP to use an omnidirectional antenna pattern during a synchronization period; causing the primary AP and the subordinate AP to use the omnidirectional antenna pattern during a time in which the primary AP sends a subordinate Trigger Frame (TF) during a first Coordinated Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (C-OFDMA) period; causing the primary AP and the subordinate AP to use a directional antenna pattern during times in which the primary AP and the subordinate AP receive Uplink (UL) data during the first C-OFDMA period and send Downlink (DL) data during the first C-OFDMA period; and switching back, by the primary AP and the subordinate AP, to the omnidirectional antenna pattern when the primary AP sends a second subordinate TF.

15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein a beacon frame is sent by the primary AP during the synchronization period.

16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the beacon frame contains Timing Synchronization Function (TSF) information for clock synchronization for the subordinate AP.

17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the beacon frame contains information about the first C-OFDMA period, which is upcoming.

18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the information about the first C-OFDMA period comprises information about when the C-OFDMA period will occur.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the information about the first C-OFDMA period comprises information about how long the first C-OFDMA period will last.

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the beacon frame contains information indicating that a second C-OFDMA period is upcoming.

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Alizadeh Ardalan
• Swartz John Matthew
• Kalavakuru Sivadeep Reddy
• Silverman Matthew Aaron

Classifications

• H04W88/08

  Access point devices · CPC title

• H04L5/0035

  Resource allocation in a cooperative multipoint environment · CPC title

• H04L5/0007

  the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A) or DMT · CPC title

• H04W56/0015 Primary

  one node acting as a reference for the others · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title