Null data packet frame structure for wireless communication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016119933-A1
Application number	US-201514924279-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 27, 2015
Priority date	Oct 28, 2014
Publication date	Apr 28, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Null data packet (NDP) frames for wireless communications are described herein. In one example, a method for wireless communication includes generating an NDP frame comprising a physical layer preamble having a legacy preamble portion and a non-legacy portion. The method may also include transmitting the NDP frame.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for wireless communication in a Wi-Fi system, comprising:
generating a null data packet (NDP) frame comprising a physical layer preamble having a legacy preamble portion and a non-legacy portion; and transmitting the NDP frame.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the NDP frame further comprises:
determining control information for at least one station; and including the control information in the NDP frame.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein including the control information further comprises:
including the control information in one of a first HE signal field (HE-SIG 1 ), a second HE signal field (HE-SIG 2 ), or a third HE signal field (HE-SIG 3 ).

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the NDP frame comprises:
generating the legacy preamble portion to include one or more of a legacy short training field (L-STF), a legacy long training field (L-LTF), or a legacy signal field (L-SIG).

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the non-legacy portion is a high efficiency (HE) portion.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the NDP frame comprises:
generating the non-legacy portion to include one or more of a repetition legacy signal (RL-SIG) field, a first HE signal field (HE-SIG 1 ), a second HE signal field (HE-SIG 2 ), an HE short training field (HE-STF), an HE long training field (HE-LTF), or a third HE signal field (HE-SIG 3 ).

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein transmitting the NDP frame further comprises:
broadcasting the HE-SIG 1 and the HE-SIG 2 , wherein the HE-SIG 1 and the HE-SIG 2 comprise information for two or more stations.

8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein transmitting the NDP frame further comprises:
transmitting the NDP to a plurality of recipient stations; and unicasting at least one of the HE-STF, HE-LTF, or HE-SIG 3 , wherein the HE portion comprises a different HE-STF, HE-LTF, or HE-SIG 3 for each of the recipient stations.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein unicasting further comprises:
transmitting the at least one of the HE-STF, HE-LTF, or HE-SIG 3 on one of a unique sub-band for each recipient station or a unique spatial stream for each recipient station.

10 . The method of claim 6 , wherein generating the non-legacy portion comprises:
generating the repetition legacy signal (RL-SIG) field to include at least some of a same content as the legacy preamble portion.

11 . The method of claim 6 , wherein generating the non-legacy portion comprises:
generating the HE-SIG 1 to include information related to a format of a physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PLDU).

12 . The method of claim 6 , wherein generating the non-legacy portion comprises:
generating the HE-SIG 2 to include at least one of an operational indication or information related to a format of the NDP.

13 . The method of claim 6 , wherein generating the NDP frame comprises:
generating an indicator that identifies a length of the HE-SIG 2 .

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein generating the non-legacy portion comprises:
generating the HE-SIG 1 to include the indicator.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the NDP frame further comprises:
transmitting a plurality of legacy preamble portions, one legacy preamble portion for each 20 megahertz (MHz) channel of a bandwidth comprising two or more 20 MHz channels.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein transmitting the NDP frame further comprises:
transmitting the non-legacy portion across the two or more 20 MHz channels.

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the non-legacy portion consists of:
generating one or more of a high efficiency short training field (HE-STF), a high efficiency long training field (HE-LTF), or a third high efficiency signal field (HE-SIG 3 ); and formatting the non-legacy portion according to transmission parameters defined in a trigger frame, wherein transmitting the NDP frame is responsive to the trigger frame.

18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the non-legacy portion comprises:
generating an NDP indicator that identifies the NDP frame as being an NDP frame.

19 . An apparatus for wireless communication in a Wi-Fi system, comprising:
a null data packet (NDP) component to generate an NDP frame comprising a physical layer preamble having a legacy preamble portion and a non-legacy portion; and a transmitter to transmit the NDP frame.

20 . An apparatus for wireless communication in a Wi-Fi system, comprising:
means for generating a null data packet (NDP) frame comprising a physical layer preamble having a legacy preamble portion and a non-legacy portion; and means for transmitting the NDP frame.

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Merlin Simone
• Vermani Sameer
• Wentink Maarten Menzo
• Cherian George

Classifications

• H04W72/53

  based on regulatory allocation policies · CPC title

• H04W72/0453

  Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA · CPC title

• H04L5/0048 Primary

  Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver (allocation of control signalling H04L5/0053; use of control signalling H04L5/0091) · CPC title

• H04W72/0446

  Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title