Efficient Trigger-Based Multi-User Uplink Transmissions In Wireless Local Area Networks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022132351-A1
Application number	US-202117506085-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 20, 2021
Priority date	Oct 26, 2020
Publication date	Apr 28, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

Various examples pertaining to efficient trigger-based (TB) multi-user (MU) uplink (UL) transmissions in wireless local area networks (WLANs) are described. A stations (STA) receives a trigger frame from an access point (AP), with the trigger frame assigning one or more resource units (RUs) corresponding to one or more subchannels of a plurality of subchannels. The STA then performs a transmission using the assigned one or more RUs responsive to receiving the trigger frame. In an event that at least one subchannel of the plurality of subchannels is detected as being busy, the one or more subchannels may include a subset (e.g., some but not all) of the plurality of subchannels.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method, comprising:
receiving a trigger frame from an access point (AP), with the trigger frame assigning one or more resource units (RUs); and performing a transmission using the assigned one or more RUs corresponding to one or more subchannels of a plurality of subchannels responsive to receiving the trigger frame, wherein the one or more subchannels comprise a subset of the plurality of subchannels in an event that at least one subchannel of the plurality of subchannels is detected as being busy.

2 . The method of claim 1 , prior to receiving the trigger frame from the AP, further comprising:
performing clear channel assessment (CCA) on the plurality of subchannels; receiving a poll from the AP; and transmitting a report to the AP responsive to receiving the poll, with the report indicating status of the plurality of subchannels according to the CCA.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the one or more RUs are assigned based on the status of the plurality of subchannels according to the CCA as indicated in the report, and wherein no RU corresponding to the at least one subchannel is assigned responsive to the at least one subchannel being detected as being busy according to the CCA.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the trigger frame indicates whether RU downsizing is enabled, and wherein the trigger frame further indicates a target received signal strength indicator (RSSI) as power control information with respect to the assigned one or more RUs.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing of the transmission using the assigned one or more RUs comprises performing the transmission with RU downsizing by transmitting a trigger-based (TB) physical-layer protocol data unit (PPDU) to the AP on a downsized RU with the at least one subchannel punctured, and wherein the downsized RU is smaller than a size of the assigned one or more RUs responsive to the at least one subchannel being detected as being busy.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the TB PPDU contains a trigger-based signal (TB-SIG) field carrying information on the RU downsizing.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the trigger frame triggers an uplink (UL) trigger-based (TB) orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) transmission, wherein the assigned one or more RUs comprise a 26-tone RU or 52-tone RU within a primary 20 MHz subchannel of the plurality of subchannels, and wherein the performing of the transmission comprises transmitting a status report including clear channel assessment (CCA) status using the assigned 26-tone RU or 52-tone RU.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the performing of the transmission further comprises duplicating a waveform of the primary 20 MHz subchannel over an entire bandwidth comprising the plurality of subchannels except the at least one subchannel in an event that the at least one subchannel is detected as being busy.

9 . A method, comprising:
transmitting a trigger frame to a station (STA), with the trigger frame assigning one or more resource units (RUs); and receiving a transmission from the STA on the assigned one or more RUs corresponding to one or more subchannels of a plurality of subchannels responsive to transmitting the trigger frame, wherein the one or more subchannels comprise a subset of the plurality of subchannels in an event that at least one subchannel of the plurality of subchannels is detected as being busy.

10 . The method of claim 9 , prior to transmitting the trigger frame to the STA, further comprising:
transmitting a poll to the STA; and receiving a report from the STA responsive to transmitting the poll, with the report indicating status of the plurality of subchannels according to clear channel assessment (CCA) performed by the STA on the plurality of subchannels.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the one or more RUs are assigned based on the status of the plurality of subchannels according to the CCA as indicated in the report, and wherein no RU corresponding to the at least one subchannel is assigned responsive to the at least one subchannel being detected as being busy according to the CCA.

12 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the trigger frame indicates whether RU downsizing is enabled, and wherein the trigger frame further indicates a target received signal strength indicator (RSSI) as power control information with respect to the assigned one or more RUs.

13 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the receiving of the transmission from the STA on the assigned one or more RUs comprises receiving a trigger-based (TB) physical-layer protocol data unit (PPDU) with RU downsizing by the STA using a downsized RU with the at least one subchannel punctured, and wherein the downsized RU is smaller than a size of the assigned one or more RUs responsive to the at least one subchannel being detected as being busy.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the TB PPDU contains a trigger-based signal (TB-SIG) field carrying information on the RU downsizing.

15 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the trigger frame triggers an uplink (UL) trigger-based (TB) orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) transmission from the STA, wherein the assigned one or more RUs comprise a 26-tone RU or 52-tone RU within a primary 20 MHz subchannel of the plurality of subchannels, and wherein the receiving of the transmission comprises receiving a status report including clear channel assessment (CCA) status using the assigned 26-tone RU or 52-tone RU.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein a waveform of the primary 20 MHz subchannel is duplicated over an entire bandwidth comprising the plurality of subchannels except the at least one subchannel in an event that the at least one subchannel is detected as being busy.

17 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
detecting whether the transmission is performed by the STA with RU downsizing by performing one or more of:
decoding either or both of a legacy signal (L-SIG) field and a universal signal (U-SIG) field on each of the plurality of subchannels to check a repetition pattern, contents, and a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of each of the L-SIG and U-SIG;
comparing a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of the received transmission to a target RSSI of each of the plurality of subchannels; and
processing either or both of an extremely-high-throughput short training field (EHT-STF) and one or more extremely-high-throughput long training field (EHT-LTFs).

18 . An apparatus, comprising:
a transceiver configured to communicate wirelessly; and a processor coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations comprising:
receiving, via the transceiver, a trigger frame from an access point (AP), with the trigger frame assigning one or more resource units (RUs); and
performing, via the transceiver, a transmission using the assigned one or more RUs corresponding to one or more subchannels of a plurality of subchannels responsive to receiving the trigger frame,
wherein the one or more subchannels comprise a subset of the plurality of subchannels in an event that at least one subchannel of the plurality of subchannels is detected as being busy.

19 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein, in performing the transmission using the assigned one or more RUs, the processor is configured to perform the transmission with RU downsizing by transmitting a trigger-based (TB) physical-layer protocol data unit (PPDU) to the AP on a downsized RU with the at least one subchannel punctured, and wherein t

Assignees

• Mediatek Singapore Pte Ltd

Inventors

• Liu Jianhan
• Hu Shengquan
• Seok Yongho
• Pare Jr Thomas Edward
• Lu Kai Ying

Classifications

• H04W72/23

  in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal · CPC title

• H04L5/003 Primary

  Arrangements for allocating sub-channels of the transmission path · CPC title

• H04W74/006 Primary

  in the downlink, i.e. towards the terminal · CPC title

• H04W74/0808

  using carrier sensing, e.g. carrier sense multiple access [CSMA] · CPC title

• H04W52/245

  taking into account received signal strength · CPC title