HK1178006A1

HK1178006A1 - Method and device for response frame modulation coding set (mcs) selection within wireless communications

Info

Publication number: HK1178006A1
Application number: HK13105692.5A
Authority: HK
Inventors: 佩曼．阿米尼; 馬修．詹姆斯．菲舍爾; 马修．詹姆斯．菲舍尔
Original assignee: 美国博通公司
Priority date: 2011-07-06
Filing date: 2013-05-13
Publication date: 2013-08-30
Also published as: CN102868485A; TWI478562B; CN102868485B; TW201306542A

Abstract

Response frame modulation coding set (MCS) selection within single user, multiple user, multiple access, and/or MIMO wireless communications. With respect to any exchange between communication devices in which there is a response frame, a first frame (e.g., an eliciting frame) is a first transmitted from the eliciting communication device to the responding communication device, and a second frame (e.g., a response frame) is transmitted from the responding communication device to the eliciting communities device. Appropriate selection of MCS to be used within the response frame may be determined explicitly or implicitly. One or more parameters (e.g., a limit parameter, a reduction parameter, etc.) may be used to determine the MCS of the response frame. The MCS employed for a response frame may be selected from a basic MCS set that ensures all response frames from any responding communication device may be properly received by the eliciting communication device.

Description

Selecting response frame modulation coding set MCS in wireless communication

Cross reference to related patent applications

Priority of U.S. provisional application US61/505,504 filed on 6/7/2011 and U.S. application US13/524,888 filed on 15/6/2012, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference and made a part of this application.

Incorporation by reference

The following IEEE standard/draft IEEE standard is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety and forms a part of this U.S. utility patent application in its entirety:

1.IEEE Std 802.11^TM-2012, "IEEE Standard for information communications-Telecommunications and information exchange between Local and geographical area networks-Specifications, Part11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications," IEEE Computer facility, sponsored by LAN/Standard Committee, IEEE St.S.d 802.11^TM2012 (revision of IEEE Std 802.11-2007), for a total of 2793 pages (incl. pp. i-xcvi, 1-2695).

2.IEEE Std 802.11n^TM–2012,“IEEE Standard for Informationtechnology—Telecommunications and information exchange betweensystems-Local and metropolitan area networks—Specific requirements;Part11:Wireless LAN Medium Access Control(MAC)and Physical Layer(PHY)Specifications；Amendment5:Enhancements for Higher Throughput,”IEEEComputer Society，IEEE Std 802.11n^TM-2009（IEEE Std802.11^TMRevision of-2007, by IEEE Std802.11k^TM-2008,IEEE Std802.11r^TM-2008,IEEE Std802.11y^TM2008 and IEEE Std802.11r^TM-2009 revision), for a total of 536 pages (incl.

3.IEEE Draft P802.11-REVmb^TMD12, month 11 2011 (IEEE Std802.11)^TMRevision of-2007, by EEE Std802.11k^TM-2008,IEEE Std802.11r^TM-2008,IEEE Std 802.11y^TM-2008,IEEE Std 802.11w^TM-2009,IEEEStd 802.11n^TM-2009,IEEE Std 802.11p^TM-2010,IEEE Std 802.11z^TM-2010,IEEE Std 802.11v^TM-2011,IEEE Std 802.11u^TM2011 and IEEE Std802.11s^TM-2011 revisions), "IEEE Standard for information based communications and information exchange between Local and geographical area networks-specificity requirements," [ Part11 ] Wireless LAN Medium Access Controls (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) specificities, "" from 802.11 Working Group of the LAN/MAN Standard Committee of the IEEE Computer Society for 2910 pages ((incl. pp. i-cxxviii, 1-2782) in total.

4.IEEE P802.11ac^TM[ 2.1 ]/D3/2012, "Draft STANDARD for information Technology-Telecommunications and information exchange between systems-Local andmetropolitan area networks-specifications, Part11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and physical Layer (PHY) specifications, amino 4: Enhancements for VeryHigh Throughput for Operation in Bands below 6 GHz, "filed by 802.11 Working group of the 802Committee, total at 363 p.p.i-xxv, 1-338.

5.IEEE P802.11ad^TMD6.0, month 3 2012, (revised draft by IEEE P802.11REVmbD 12.0), (revised version of IEEE P802.11REVmb D12.0, revised by IEEE802.11ae D8.0 and IEEE802.11aa D9.0), "IEEE P802.11 add/D6.0 draft Standard for Information Technology-Telecommunications and Information Exchange Between Betwen Systems-Local and Metapolians AreaNetworks-specificity-Part 11: Wireless LAN Access control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) specificity-amino 3: enhancement for Verhoh High Throughput thread through 60: IEEE802.11 Committee of the IEEE Computer Society, IEEE-SA Standard Board, for a total of 664 pages.

6.IEEE Std 802.11ae^TM-2012, "IEEE Standard for information communications-communications and information exchange between systems-Local and geographical area networks-details requirements"; Part11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications, "" revision 1: PRIORITIATION of Management Frames, "IEEEComputer Society, sponsored by LAN/MAN Standards Committee, IEEE Std802.11ae^TM2012, (revision of IEEE Std 802.11M-2012), total 52 pages (incl.

7.IEEE P802.11afr^TM(IEEE Std802.11REVmb) 1.06, 3 months 2012^TMRevision of/D12.0, IEEE Std802.11ae^TM/D8.0,IEEE Std802.11aa^TM/D9.0,IEEE Std 802.11ad^TM[ solution ] D5.0 and IEEE Std802.11ac^TMRevision of/D2.0), "Draft Standard for IThe transformation Technology-Telecommunications and formatting exchange between systems-Local and metropoli area networks-specificity-Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) specificity-amplitude 5: TVwhite space Operation, "filed by 802.11 Working Group of the IEEE802 Committee, 140 pages in total (include. pp. i-xxii, 1-118).

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to communication systems; and more particularly to selecting Modulation Coding Sets (MCSs) and related communication parameters for use by various communication devices operating within such communication systems.

Background

Communication systems are known for supporting wireless and wired communication between wireless and/or wired communication devices. Such communication systems range from national and/or international cellular telephone systems to the internet to point-to-point home wireless networks. Various communication systems are constructed and, thus, operate in accordance with one or more communication standards. For example, a wireless communication system may operate in accordance with one or more standards including, but not limited to, ieee802.11x, bluetooth, Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS), digital AMPS, global system for mobile communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Local Multipoint Distribution System (LMDS), multi-channel multipoint distribution service (MMDS), and/or variations thereof.

Depending on the type of wireless communication system, wireless communication devices, such as cellular telephones, two-way radios, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), Personal Computers (PCs), handheld computers, home entertainment equipment, and the like, communicate directly or indirectly with other wireless communication devices. For direct communication (also referred to as point-to-point communication), a participating wireless communication device tunes its receiver and transmitter into the same channel or channels (e.g., one of the multiple Radio Frequency (RF) carriers of the wireless communication system) and communicates over the channel or channels. For indirect wireless communication, each wireless communication device communicates directly with an associated base station (e.g., for cellular service) and/or an associated access point (e.g., for a home or indoor wireless network) over an assigned channel. To complete a communication connection between wireless communication devices, the associated base stations and/or associated access points communicate directly with each other through a system controller, through a public switched telephone network, through the internet, and/or through some other wide area network.

For each wireless communication device engaged in wireless communication, embedded wireless transceivers (i.e., receivers and transmitters) are included or coupled to associated wireless transceivers (e.g., for home and/or indoor wireless communication networks, radio frequency modems). As is well known, the receiver is coupled to an antenna and includes a low noise amplifier, one or more intermediate frequency stages, a filtering stage, and a data recovery stage. The low noise amplifier receives an inbound radio frequency signal through an antenna. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix the amplified radio frequency signals with one or more local oscillations, thereby converting the amplified radio frequency signals to baseband signals or Intermediate Frequency (IF) signals. The filtering stage filters the baseband signal or the intermediate frequency signal to attenuate undesired signals from the frequency band signal, thereby producing a filtered signal. The data recovery stage recovers the original data from the filtered signal in accordance with a particular wireless communication standard.

It is also known for a transmitter to include a data modulation stage, one or more intermediate frequency stages and a power amplifier. The data modulation stage converts the raw data to a baseband signal according to a particular wireless communication standard. One or more intermediate frequency stages mix the baseband signal and one or more local oscillations to produce a radio frequency signal. The power amplifier amplifies the radio frequency signal through the antenna prior to transmission.

Typically, the transmitter includes an antenna for transmitting radio frequency signals, and the receiver's antenna or antennas (or antennas) receive the radio frequency signals. When the receiver includes two or more antennas, the receiver selects one antenna to receive the incoming radio frequency signal. In this case, even if the receiver includes a plurality of antennas serving as different antennas (i.e., one antenna is selected so as to receive an incoming radio frequency signal), the wireless communication between the transmitter and the receiver is single-output single-input (SISO) communication. For single output single input wireless communication, most Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) use single output single input wireless communication, which is IEEE802.11, 802.11a, 802.11b, or 802.11 g.

Other types of wireless communication include Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO), Multiple Input Single Output (MISO), and Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO). In SIMO wireless communication, a single transmitter processes data into a radio frequency signal that is transmitted to a receiver. The receiver includes two or more antennas and two or more receiver paths. Each antenna receives radio frequency signals and provides these signals to a respective receiver path (e.g., LNA, down conversion module, filter, and ADC). Each receiver path processes the received radio frequency signals to produce digital signals, combines and processes the signals to recover the transmitted data.

For multiple-input single-output (MISO) wireless communications, a transmitter includes two or more transmission paths (e.g., digital-to-analog converters, filters, up-conversion modules, and power amplifiers), each of which converts a corresponding portion of a baseband signal to a radio frequency signal that is transmitted through a corresponding antenna to a receiver. The receiver includes a single receiver path that receives multiple radio frequency signals from the transmitter. In this case, the receiver uses beamforming to combine multiple radio frequency signals into one signal for processing.

For multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communications, both the transmitter and the receiver include multiple paths. In such communications, a transmitter processes data in parallel using spatial and temporal coding functions to produce two or more data streams. The transmitter includes a plurality of transmission paths to convert each data stream into a plurality of radio frequency signals. The receiver receives a plurality of radio frequency signals through a plurality of receiver paths, which reacquire the data stream using spatial and temporal decoding functions. The retrieved data streams are combined and then processed to recover the original data.

Through various wireless communications (e.g., SISO, MISO, SIMO, and MIMO), one or more types of wireless communications are preferably used to enhance data throughput within the WLAN. For example, MIMO communication can achieve a high data rate compared to SISO communication. However, most WLANs include legacy wireless communication devices (i.e., devices that are compliant with legacy wireless communication standards). Thus, a transmitter capable of MIMO wireless communication should also be backward compatible with legacy devices to operate within most existing WLANs.

Therefore, there is a need for a WLAN device that can have high data throughput and is backward compatible with legacy devices.

Disclosure of Invention

According to an aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus comprising: at least one antenna that receives a trigger frame from a communication device; a processor to: determining a first Modulation Coding Set (MCS) associated with the trigger frame; and selecting a second MCS based on at least the first MCS and based on at least one measured parameter associated with a communication link between the device and the communication apparatus and generating a response frame having the second MCS, wherein the second MCS is a highest MCS within a basic MCS set associated with the device and the communication apparatus; and, wherein: the at least one antenna transmits the response frame to the communication device.

Wherein a third MCS for the response frame is explicitly represented within the trigger frame; and the processor processes the trigger frame to obtain the third MCS therefrom, and selects the second MCS with the third MCS based on at least one measured parameter associated with a communication link between the apparatus and the communication device.

Wherein the second MCS has a lower order relative to the first MCS.

Wherein the processor selects the second MCS based on at least one of a reduction parameter and a restriction parameter provided by the communication device; and when the first MCS is lower than the limiting parameter, the second MCS has a relatively lower order than the first MCS based on the reducing parameter.

Wherein the device is a wireless Station (STA); and the communication device is an Access Point (AP) or at least one other STA.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus comprising: at least one antenna that receives a trigger frame from a communication device; a processor to: determining a first Modulation Coding Set (MCS) associated with the trigger frame; and selecting a second MCS based on at least the first MCS and generating a response frame with the second MCS; and, wherein: the at least one antenna transmits the response frame to the communication device.

Wherein: explicitly indicating a third MCS for the response frame within the provoking frame; and the processor processes the trigger frame to obtain the third MCS therefrom and selects the second MCS with the third MCS based on at least one measured parameter associated with a communication link between the apparatus and the communication device.

Wherein the processor selects the second MCS based on at least one measured parameter associated with a communication link between the device and the communication apparatus.

Wherein the second MCS is the first MCS.

Wherein the second MCS has a lower order relative to the first MCS.

Wherein the second MCS is a highest MCS within a basic MCS group associated with the apparatus and the communication device.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of operation of a communications device, the method comprising: receiving, via at least one antenna of the communication device, a trigger frame from at least one other communication device; determining a first Modulation Coding Set (MCS) associated with the trigger frame; selecting a second MCS based on at least the first MCS and generating a response frame with the second MCS; and transmitting the response frame to the at least one other communication device via the at least one antenna of the communication device.

Wherein a third MCS for use in the response frame is explicitly indicated within the provoking frame; and further comprising: processing the trigger frame to obtain the third MCS therefrom, and selecting the second MCS by the third MCS based on at least one measured parameter associated with a communication link between the communication device and the at least one other communication device.

The method further comprises the following steps: selecting the second MCS based on at least one measured parameter associated with a communication link between the communication device and the at least one other communication device.

Wherein the second MCS has a lower order relative to the first MCS.

Wherein the second MCS is a highest MCS within a basic MCS group associated with a device and the communication apparatus.

Wherein the second MCS is a highest MCS within a basic MCS group associated with the communication apparatus and the at least one other communication apparatus.

Wherein the second MCS is selected based on at least one of a reduction parameter and a restriction parameter provided by the at least one other communication device; and, wherein: when the first MCS is lower than the limiting parameter, the second MCS has a relatively lower order than the first MCS based on the reducing parameter.

Wherein the communication device is a wireless Station (STA); and the at least one other communications device is an Access Point (AP) or at least one other STA.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a wireless communication system;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a wireless communication device;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a Radio Frequency (RF) transmitter;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a radio frequency receiver;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method for baseband processing data;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method that further defines step 120 of FIG. 5;

FIGS. 7-9 are diagrams illustrating various embodiments of encoding secure data;

FIGS. 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating embodiments of a wireless transmitter;

11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating embodiments of a wireless receiver;

fig. 12 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a plurality of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) devices and Access Points (APs) operating in accordance with one or more different aspects and/or embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a wireless communication device and a cluster that may be used to support communication with at least one other wireless communication device, where different bands may have different CHs #; the OFDM tones may be distributed among 1+ clusters; cluster = fnc (1+ CHs,1+ bands, or any combination thereof) [ e.g., cluster 1 (CH 11, CH12, CH 1X), cluster 2 (CH 11, Cha 1), cluster 3 (CH 11, CH12, CH2X, CHaX) ];

FIG. 14 illustrates an embodiment of a response Modulation Coding Set (MCS) selection for communication between communication devices, where any exchange between devices includes a response (e.g., RTS/CTS; DATA, MPDU, A-MPDU, or B-ACK request/B-ACK; MGMT/ACK; DATA/ACK; etc.); p1, P2 may be completely different; a response frame TX at the highest MCS in the basic MCS set (e.g., based on the response frame, the highest MCS ≦ the provoking frame MCS);

fig. 15 illustrates an alternative embodiment of responding to MCS selection for communication between communication devices, wherein the basic MCS set for all WDEVs within a BSS;

FIG. 16 illustrates an embodiment of explicit suggestion/command responsive MCS selection for communication between communication devices;

FIG. 17 illustrates an embodiment of responding to an MCS selection for communication between communication devices, particularly using certain operating parameters (e.g., R, L) therein;

FIG. 18 illustrates an alternative embodiment responsive to MCS selection for communication between communication devices, particularly using certain operating parameters therein, where a basic MCS set 0 … N (e.g., a subset of the MCS set, parameter 0 … M), different parameters may have different d_min(for example, parameter 1 is d_1,minParameter 2 is d_2,minEtc.);

FIG. 19 illustrates an embodiment of a communication including a response reduction field within the communication for communicating between communication devices;

FIG. 20 illustrates another embodiment of a communication including a response reduction field within the communication for communicating between communication devices;

fig. 21 illustrates an embodiment of responsive MCS selection for communication between communication devices based on a determination of a triggering node, where different basic MCS sets are used for different nodes (a basic MCS set may include more than one node);

FIG. 22 illustrates an embodiment of responsive MCS selection for communication between communication devices, based on a determination by a responding node and at least one retry;

FIG. 23 illustrates an embodiment of a responsive MCS selection for communication between communication devices based on a determination by a responding node and using a lowest MCS within a basic MCS group, wherein the basic MCS group can be modified to include the lowest MCS;

FIG. 24 illustrates one embodiment of representing power differences between communication devices;

FIG. 25 illustrates an embodiment of responsive MCS selection for communication between communication devices, based on MCS selection using channel/MCS feedback, wherein the upper half shows A and B for data transmission, link adaptation feedback, the lower half shows A and B only for data transmission (one-way), other nodes for acknowledgements, responses, etc.;

fig. 26, 27A, 27B, 28, 29A and 29B illustrate various embodiments of methods performed by one or more communication devices.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 is a diagram of one embodiment of a wireless communication system 10 that includes a plurality of base stations and/or access points 12-16, a plurality of wireless communication devices 18-32, and a network hardware element 34. The wireless communication devices 18-32 may be: notebook host computers 18 and 26, personal digital assistant hosts 20 and 30, personal computer hosts 24 and 32, and/or cellular telephone hosts 22 and 28. Referring to fig. 2, the details of one embodiment of such a wireless communication device are described in greater detail.

Base Stations (BSs) or Access Points (APs) 12-16 are operatively coupled to the network hardware 34 by local area network connections 36, 38, and 40. Network hardware 34 may be a router, switch, bridge, modem, system controller, or the like that provides wide area network connection 42 for communication system 10. Each base station or access point 12-16 has an associated antenna or antenna array for communicating with wireless communication devices within its area. Typically, a wireless communication device is aligned with a particular base station or access point 12-14 to receive service from the communication system 10. For direct connection (i.e., point-to-point communication), the wireless communication device communicates directly over the assigned channel.

Typically, base stations are used for cellular telephone systems (e.g., Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS), digital AMPS, global system for mobile communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Local Multipoint Distribution System (LMDS), multi-channel multipoint distribution service (MMDS), enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), and/or variants thereof), and similar systems, while access points are used for home or indoor wireless networks (e.g., IEEE802.11, bluetooth, ZigBee, any other type of radio frequency based network protocol, and/or variants thereof). Regardless of the particular type of communication system, each wireless communication device includes an embedded radio and/or is coupled to a radio. As described herein, such wireless communication devices may operate in accordance with various aspects of the present invention to enhance performance, reduce cost, reduce size, and/or enhance broadband applications.

Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating one embodiment of a wireless communication device including host devices 18-32 and an associated radio 60. For cellular telephone hosts, the radio 60 is an embedded element. For a personal digital assistant host, a notebook computer host, and/or a personal computer host, the radio 60 may be an embedded or externally coupled component. For an access point or base station, the elements are typically housed within a single structure.

As shown, the host devices 18-32 include a processing module 50, a memory 52, a wireless interface 54, an input interface 58, and an output interface 56. The processing module 50 and memory 52 execute corresponding instructions that are typically executed by a host device. For example, for a cellular telephone host device, the processing module 50 performs the corresponding communication functions according to a particular cellular telephone standard.

Wireless interface 54 allows data to be received from radio 60 and transmitted to the radio. For data received from radio 60 (e.g., inbound data), wireless interface 54 provides data to processing module 50 for further processing and/or transmission to output interface 56. The output interface 56 provides a connection for an output display device, such as a display, monitor, speaker, etc., so that the received data can be displayed. The wireless interface 54 also provides data for the processing module 50 to the radio 60. The processing module 50 may receive outbound data from an input device (e.g., keyboard, keys, microphone, etc.) and generate the data itself via the input interface 58. For data received via input interface 58, processing module 50 may perform a corresponding host function on the data and/or send the function to radio 60 via wireless interface 54.

The radio 60 includes a host interface 62, a baseband processing module 64, a memory 66, a plurality of Radio Frequency (RF) transmitters 68-72, a transmit/receive (T/R) module 74, a plurality of antennas 82-86, a plurality of radio frequency receivers 76-80, and a local oscillation module 100. The baseband processing module 64, in conjunction with operating instructions stored within the memory 66, performs digital receiver functions and digital transmitter functions, respectively. The digital receiver functions, including but not limited to digital intermediate frequency for baseband conversion, demodulation, constellation (constellation) demapping, decoding, de-interleaving, fast fourier transform, cyclic prefix removal, spatial and temporal decoding, and/or descrambling, are more particularly described in fig. 11B. The digital transmitter functions, which include, but are not limited to, scrambling, encoding, interleaving, constellation mapping, modulation, inverse fast fourier transform, cyclic prefix addition, spatial and temporal coding, and/or digital baseband with intermediate frequency conversion, will be described in more detail in the following figures. The baseband processing module 64 may be executed using one or more processing devices. Such a processing device may be a microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, field programmable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logic circuitry, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device that manipulates signals (analog and/or digital) based on operational instructions. The memory 66 may be a single memory device or a plurality of memory devices. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, random access memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamic memory, flash memory, and/or any device that stores digital information. It is noted that when the processing module 64 performs one or more functions via a state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry, the memory storing the corresponding operational instructions is embedded with circuitry comprising the state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry.

In operation, the radio 60 receives outbound data 88 from the host device through the host interface 62. The baseband processing module 64 receives the outbound data 88 and generates one or more outbound symbol streams 90 based on the mode select signal 102. Mode select signal 102 indicates a particular mode as shown in the mode selection table that occurs at the end of the detailed discussion. For example, referring to Table 1, the mode select signal 102 may represent a frequency band of 2.4GHz or 5GHz, a channel bandwidth of 20 or 22MHz (e.g., a channel width of 20 or 22 MHz), and a maximum bit rate of 54 megabits per second. In other embodiments, the channel bandwidth may be extended to 1.28GHz or more, with the maximum supported bit rate extended to 1 gigabit per second or more. In this general category, the modulus select signal further indicates that the particular rate ranges from 1 megabit per second to 54 megabits per second. Further, the mode selection signal represents a particular type of modulation including, but not limited to, Barker coded modulation, BPSK, QPSK, CCK, 16QAM, and/or 64 QAM. As further shown in table 1, the coding rate is provided as well as the number of coded bits per subcarrier (NBPSC), the number of coded bits per OFDM symbol (NCBPS), and the number of data bits per OFDM symbol (NDBPS).

The mode selection symbol also indicates the particular channelization of the corresponding mode, and the information about the corresponding mode in table 1 is shown in table 2. As shown, table 2 includes channel numbers and corresponding center frequencies. The mode select signal may further represent a power spectral density mask value, the mask value for table 1 being shown in table 3. The mode select signal may alternatively represent the ratio in table 4, with a frequency band of 5GHz, a channel bandwidth of 20MHz, and a maximum bit rate of 54 megabits per second. If this is the particular mode selection, then channelization is shown in table 5. As yet another alternative, the mode select signal 102 may represent a 2.4GHz band, a 20MHz channel, and a maximum bit rate of 192 Mega bits per second, as shown in Table 6. In table 6, better bit rates are achieved using multiple antennas. In this case, the mode selection further indicates the number of antennas to be used. Table 7 shows the channelization for setting table 6. Table 8 shows yet another mode in which the frequency band is 2.4GHz, the channel bandwidth is 20MHz, and the maximum bit rate is 192 megabits per second. As shown, the corresponding table 8 includes a plurality of bit rates ranging from 12 megabits per second to 216 megabits per second using 2-4 antennas and spatial coding rates. Table 9 shows the channelization for table 8. The mode select signal 102 may further indicate a particular mode of operation, as shown in table 10, corresponding to a frequency band of 5GHz, having a 40MHz frequency band with 40MHz channels, and a maximum bit rate of 486 megabits per second. As shown in table 10, the bit rate ranges from 13.5 megabits per second to 486 megabits per second, using 1-4 antennas and a corresponding space-time coding rate. Table 10 further shows the specific modulation scheme coding rate and NBPSC value. Table 11 provides the power spectral density mask values for table 10 and table 12 provides the channelization for table 10.

Of course, it is noted that other types of channels have different bandwidths and may be used in other embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. For example, various other channels may be used interchangeably, such as those having 80MHz, 120MHz, and/or 160MHz bandwidths, for example, according to IEEE Task Group ac (TGac VHTL 6).

The baseband processing module 64 generates one or more outbound symbol streams 90 from the outbound data 88 based on a module selection signal 102, as further described in fig. 5-9. For example, if the module selection signal 102 indicates that a single transmit antenna is used for a particular mode that has been selected, the baseband processing module 64 may generate a single outbound symbol stream 90. Alternatively, if the mode select signal indicates 2, 3, or 4 antennas, then the baseband processing module 64 may generate 2, 3, or 4 outbound symbol streams 90 corresponding to the number of antennas in the outbound data 88.

Depending on the number of outbound symbol streams 90 generated by the baseband module 64, a corresponding number of radio frequency transmitters 68-72 may be capable of converting the outbound symbol streams 90 into outbound radio frequency signals 92. The implementation of the rf transmitters 68-72 is further described in fig. 3. The transmit/receive module 74 receives the outbound RF signals 92 and provides each outbound RF signal to a respective antenna 82-86.

When the radio 60 is in the receive mode, the transmit/receive module 74 receives one or more outbound RF signals via the antennas 82-86. The transmit/receive module 74 provides the inbound RF signals 94 to one or more of the radio frequency receivers 76-80. The rf receivers 76-80, which convert the inbound rf signal 94 into a corresponding number of inbound symbol streams 96, are described in more detail in fig. 4. The number of inbound symbol streams 96 corresponds to a particular mode in which data is received (which may be any of the modes described in tables 1-12). The baseband processing module 60 receives the inbound symbol stream 90 and converts it to inbound data 98, which is provided to the host devices 18-32 through the host interface 62.

In one embodiment of the radio 60, a transmitter and a receiver are included. The transmitter may include a MAC module, a PLCP module, and a PMD module. A Media Access Control (MAC) module, executable by the processing module 64, is operably coupled to convert MAC Service Data Units (MSDUs) into MAC Protocol Data Units (MPDUs) according to the WLAN protocol. A Physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) module may be executed within the processing module 64 and operatively coupled to convert MPDUs into PLCP Protocol Data Units (PPDUs) according to a WLAN protocol. A Physical Medium Dependent (PMD) module is operably coupled to convert the PPDU into a plurality of Radio Frequency (RF) signals according to one of a plurality of operating modes of the WLAN protocol, wherein the plurality of operating modes includes multiple-input and multiple-output combinations.

Fig. 10A and 10B depict in more detail an embodiment of a Physical Media Dependent (PMD) module including an error protection module, a demultiplexing module, and a plurality of directional conversion modules. An error protection module may be implemented within the processing module 64 and operatively coupled to adjust PPDU (PLCP (physical layer convergence procedure) physical data units) to reduce transmission errors that generate error protected data. The demultiplexing module is operably coupled to divide the error protection data into a plurality of error protection data streams. The plurality of direct conversion modules are operably coupled to convert the plurality of error protection data streams into a plurality of Radio Frequency (RF) signals.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the wireless communication device of fig. 2 may be implemented using one or more integrated circuits. For example, the host device may be executed on one integrated circuit, the baseband processing module 64 and memory 66 may be executed on a second integrated circuit, and the remaining elements of the radio 60 (less the antennas 82-86) may be executed on a third integrated circuit. As an alternative example, the radio 60 may be implemented on a single integrated circuit. As yet another example, the processing module 50 and the baseband processing module 64 of the host device are the same processing device executable on a single integrated circuit. Moreover, memory 52 and memory 66 may be implemented on a single integrated circuit and/or the same integrated circuit as the same processing module of processing module 50 and baseband processing module 64.

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating one embodiment of Radio Frequency (RF) transmitters 68-72 or RF front ends of WLAN transmitters. The radio frequency transmitters 68-72 include a digital filter and up-sampling module 75, a digital to analog conversion module 77, an analog filter 79 and up-conversion module 81, a power amplifier 83, and an RF filter 85. The digital filter and upsample module 75 receives an outbound symbol stream 90 and digitally filters the symbol stream and then upsamples the rate of the symbol stream to the desired rate to produce a filtered symbol stream 87. The digital to analog conversion module 77 converts the filtered symbols 87 into an analog signal 89. The analog symbol may include an in-phase element and a quadrature element.

Analog filter 79 filters analog signal 89 to produce filtered analog signal 91. The up-conversion module 81 may include a pair of mixers and a filter that mixes the filtered analog signal 91 with a local oscillation 93 generated by a local oscillation module 100 to generate the high frequency signal 95. The frequency of the high frequency signal 95 corresponds to the frequency of the RF signal 92.

The power amplifier 83 amplifies the high frequency signal 95 to produce an amplified high frequency signal 97. The RF filter 85 may be a high frequency band pass filter that filters the amplified high frequency signal 97 to produce the desired outbound RF signal 92.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that each of the radio frequency transmitters 68-72 includes a similar structure, as shown in fig. 3, and further includes a shutdown mechanism, so that when a particular radio frequency transmitter is not required, the shutdown mechanism is disabled so as not to generate an interfering signal and/or noise.

Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of an RF receiver. This depicts any one of the RF receivers 76-80. In this embodiment, each radio frequency receiver 76-80 includes an RF filter 101, a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) 103, a Programmable Gain Amplifier (PGA) 105, a down conversion module 107, an analog filter 109, an analog-to-digital conversion module 111, and a digital filter and down sampling module 113. The RF filter 101, which may be a high frequency bandpass filter, receives the inbound RF signals 94 and filters these signals, thereby generating filtered inbound RF signals. The low noise amplifier 103 amplifies the filtered inbound RF signal 94 according to a gain setting and provides the amplified signal to the programmable gain amplifier 105. The programmable gain amplifier further amplifies the inbound RF signal 94 before providing the inbound RF signal to the down-conversion module 107.

The down-conversion module 107 includes a pair of mixers, a summing module, and a filter to mix the inbound RF signal with a Local Oscillation (LO) provided by the local oscillation module to generate an analog baseband signal. The analog filter 109 filters the analog baseband signals and provides the filtered signals to an analog-to-digital conversion module 111, which converts the signals to digital signals. The digital filter and downsampling module 113 filters the digital signal and then adjusts the sampling rate to produce digital samples (corresponding to the inbound symbol stream 96).

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method for baseband processing data. The diagram shows a method by which the baseband processing module 64 converts outbound data 88 into one or more outbound symbol streams 90. The process begins at step 110 where the baseband processing module receives the outbound data 88 and the mode selection signal 102. The mode select signal may represent any one of a plurality of operational modules, as shown in tables 1-12. The process then continues to step 112 where the baseband processing module scrambles the data according to a pseudorandom sequence, thereby generating scrambled data. It is to be noted that the polynomial s (x) = x may be generated by⁷+x⁴+1, a pseudo-random sequence is generated by the feedback shift register.

The process then continues to step 114 where the baseband processing module selects one of a plurality of coding modes based on a mode select signal. The process then continues to step 116 where the baseband processing module encodes the scrambled data according to the selected coding mode, thereby producing encoded data. The encoding may be performed using one or more of any number of encoding schemes, such as convolutional encoding, Reed Solomon (RS) encoding, Turbo Trellis Coded Modulation (TTCM) encoding, LDPC (low density parity check) encoding, and the like.

The process then continues to step 118 where the baseband processing module determines the number of transport streams based on the mode select signal. For example, the mode select signal selects a particular mode, meaning that 1, 2, 3, 4, or more antennas are available for transmission. Thus, the number of transport streams corresponds to the number of antennas represented by the mode selection signal. The process then continues to step 120 where the baseband processing module converts the encoded data into a symbol stream according to the number of transport streams within the mode selection signal. This step is described in more detail in fig. 6.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an embodiment of a method that further defines step 120 of FIG. 5. The diagram shows a method performed by a baseband processing module to convert encoded data into a symbol stream according to the number of transport streams and a mode selection signal. The process begins at step 122 where the baseband processing module interleaves the encoded data over a plurality of symbols and subcarriers of a channel, thereby producing interleaved data. In general, interleaving is designed to spread encoded data over multiple symbols and transport streams. This allows for improved detection and error correction capabilities of the receiver. In one embodiment, the interleaving process conforms to the IEEE802.11(a) or (g) standard for the backward compatible mode. To have higher performance modes (e.g., IEEE802.11 (n)), interleaving is also performed across multiple transport paths or streams.

The process then continues to step 124 where the baseband processing module demultiplexes the interleaved data into multiple parallel streams of interleaved data. The number of parallel streams corresponds to the number of transport streams, which in turn corresponds to the number of antennas represented by the particular mode used. The process then continues to steps 126 and 128 where, for each parallel stream of interleaved data, the baseband processing module maps the interleaved data to Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) symbols, thereby producing frequency domain symbols at step 126. At step 128, the baseband processing module may convert the frequency domain symbols to time domain symbols using an inverse fast fourier transform. The conversion of the frequency domain symbols into time domain symbols may further include the addition of a cyclic prefix, allowing for the cancellation of intersymbol interference at the receiver. It is noted that the lengths of the inverse fast fourier transform and the cyclic prefix are defined in the pattern tables of tables 1-12. Typically, a 64-point inverse fast Fourier transform is used for the 20MHz channel and a 128-point inverse fast Fourier transform is used for the 40MHz channel.

The process then continues at step 130 where the baseband processing module spatially and temporally encodes the time domain symbols for each parallel stream of interleaved data to produce a symbol stream. In one embodiment, the spatial and temporal encoding uses an encoding matrix to encode the time domain symbols of each parallel stream of interleaved data into a corresponding number of symbol streams for spatial and temporal encoding. Alternatively, the time domain symbols of the M parallel streams of interleaved data are spatially and temporally encoded into P symbol streams using an encoding matrix, thereby performing spatial and temporal encoding, where P = 2M. In one embodiment, the encoding matrix may comprise the form:

the number of rows of the coding matrix corresponds to M and the number of columns of the coding matrix corresponds to P. The particular symbol values of the constants within the coding matrix may be real or imaginary numbers.

Fig. 7 through 9 are diagrams of various embodiments for encoding scrambled data.

Fig. 7 is a diagram of one method that the baseband processing module may use to encode scrambled data in step 116 of fig. 5. In this method, the encoding of fig. 7 may include an optional step 144 in which the baseband processing module optionally encodes via an outer Reed Solomon (RS) code to produce RS encoded data. It is noted that step 144 may be performed simultaneously with step 140 described below.

Also, the process proceeds to step S140, where the baseband processing module encodes the scrambled data (which may or may not be RS encoded) with a 64 state code and G₀=133₈And G₁=171₈The generator polynomial is convolutionally encoded to produce convolutionally encoded data. The process then continues to step 142 where the baseband processing module punctures (punctures) the convolutionally encoded data at one of a plurality of rates in accordance with the mode select signal to thereby generate encoded data. Note that shrinkage may include 1/2, 2/3, and 3/4, or any of the rates specified in tables 1-12. It is noted that for a particular mode, the rate may be selected to be backward compatible with IEEE802.11(a), IEEE802.11(g), or IEEE802.11 (n) rate requirements.

Fig. 8 is a diagram of another encoding method that the baseband processing module may use to encode scrambled data at step 116 of fig. 5. In this embodiment, the encoding of fig. 8 may include an optional step 148 in which the baseband processing module optionally encodes using an outer RS code to produce RS encoded data. It is noted that step 148 may be performed concurrently with step 146 described below.

The method then continues at step 146 where the baseband processing module encodes the scrambled data (which may or may not be RS encoded) according to a Complementary Code Keying (CCK) code, thereby generating encoded data. According to the IEEE802.11(b) specification, the IEEE802.11(g) and/or the IEEE802.11 (n) specification.

Fig. 9 is a diagram of yet another method of encoding scrambled data at step 116, which may be performed by a baseband processing module. In this embodiment, the encoding of fig. 9 may include an optional step 154 in which the baseband processing module optionally encodes using an outer RS code to produce RS encoded data.

Then, in some embodiments, the process continues at step 150, where the baseband processing module performs LDPC (low density parity check) coding on the scrambled data (RS-coding possible or not possible) to generate LDPC coded bits. Alternatively, the scrambled data (which may or may not be RS encoded) is encoded with a 256 state code and G₀=561₈And G₁=753₈The generator polynomial is convolutionally encoded so that step 150 can be performed. The process then continues to step 152 where the baseband processing module punctures the convolutionally encoded data at one of a plurality of rates in accordance with the mode select signal to produce encoded data. Note that the shrinkage ratios are shown in tables 1 to 12 for the respective modes.

The encoding of fig. 9 may further include an optional step 154 in which the baseband processing module combines the convolutional encoding with an outer reed solomon code to produce convolutionally encoded data.

Fig. 10A and 10B are diagrams of embodiments of a wireless transmitter. This may include the PMD module of the WLAN transmitter. In fig. 10A, the baseband processing module includes a scrambler 172, a channel encoder 174, an interleaver 176, a demultiplexer 178, a plurality of symbol mappers 180 and 184, a plurality of Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT)/cyclic prefix addition modules 186 and 190, and a space/time encoder 192. The baseband portion of the transmitter may further include a mode manager module 175 that receives the mode select signal 173 and generates settings 179 for the wireless transmitter portion, as well as generating a rate selection 171 for the baseband portion. In this embodiment, the scrambler 172, the channel encoder 174, and the interleaver 176 include error protection modules. The symbol mapper 180, 184, the multiple IFFT/cyclic prefix addition modules 186, 190, and the space/time encoder 192 comprise digital baseband processing module portions.

During operation, the scrambler 172 adds (e.g., within the Galois finite field (GF 2)) a pseudo-random sequence to the outbound numberAnd bits 88, thereby making the data appear randomly. By generating a polynomial S (x) = x⁷+x⁴+1, a pseudo-random sequence may be generated from the feedback shift register, thereby producing scrambled data. The channel encoder 174 receives the scrambled data and generates a new series of redundant bits. This can improve the detection of the receiver. Channel encoder 174 may operate in one of a plurality of modes. For example, for backward compatibility with IEEE802.11(a) and IEEE802.11(G), the channel encoder is of the form as a rate 1/2 convolutional encoder having 64 states and generating a polynomial G₀=133₈And G₁=171₈. The output of the convolutional encoder may be punctured to a rate of 1/2, 2/3, and 3/4 according to a prescribed rate table (e.g., tables 1-12). For backward compatibility with the CCK mode of IEEE802.11(b) and IEEE802.11(g), the channel encoder is in the form of a CCK code, as shown in IEEE802.11 (b). To have higher data rates (e.g., those described in tables 6, 8, and 10), the channel encoder may use the same convolutional codes described above or may use more powerful codes, including convolutional codes with more states, any one or more of the different types of Error Correction Codes (ECCs) described above (e.g., RS, LDPC, turbo, TTCM, etc.), parallel concatenated (turbo) codes, and/or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) block codes. Also, any of these codes may be combined with outer reed solomon codes. It is preferable to have one or more such codes in terms of performance balance, backward compatibility, and low latency. It is noted that concatenated turbo coding and low density parity check are described in more detail in the following figures.

Interleaver 176 receives the encoded data and spreads the data over multiple symbols and transport streams. This allows for improved detection and error correction capabilities of the receiver. In one embodiment, the interleaver 176 complies with the IEEE802.11(a) or (g) standard in a backward compatible mode. To have higher performance modes (e.g., those described in tables 6, 8, and 10), the interleaver interleaves the data over multiple transport streams. Demultiplexer 178 converts the serial interleaved stream from interleaver 176 into M parallel streams for transmission.

Each symbol mapper 180-184 receives a respective one of the M parallel data paths from the demultiplexer. Each symbol mapper 180-182 lock maps the bit stream to quadrature amplitude modulated QAM symbols (e.g., BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, 256QAM, etc.) according to a rate table (e.g., tables 1-12). For backward compatibility with IEEE802.11(a), dual gray codes may be used.

The mapped symbols generated by each symbol mapper 180-184 are provided to an IFFT/cyclic prefix addition module 186-190 for frequency-to-time domain conversion and prefix addition, allowing the receiver to remove inter-symbol interference. It is noted that the length and cyclic prefix of the IFFT are defined in the pattern tables of tables 1-12. Typically, a 64-point IFFT is used for 20MHz channels and a 128-point IFFT is used for 40MHz channels.

Space/time encoder 192 receives the M parallel paths of time domain symbols and converts them to P output symbols. In one embodiment, the number of M input paths is equal to the number of P output paths. In another embodiment, the number of output paths P is equal to 2M paths. For each path, the space/time encoder multiplies the input symbols by an encoding matrix, which is in the form of

The number of rows of the coding matrix corresponds to the number of input paths and the number of columns corresponds to the number of output paths.

FIG. 10B shows the radio portion of the transmitter, including a plurality of digital filter/upsample modules 194, 198, digital to analog conversion modules 200, 204, analog filters 206, 216, I/Q modulators 218, 222, RF amplifiers 224, 228, RF filters 230, 234, and antennas 236, 240. The P output of the spatial/temporal encoder 192 is received by various digital filter/upsample modules 194 and 198. In one embodiment, the digital filtering/upsampling module 194 and 198 is part of a digital baseband processing module, with the remaining elements including a plurality of RF front ends. In this embodiment, the digital baseband processing module and the RF front end include a direct conversion module.

During operation, the number of active radio paths corresponds to the number of pouts. For example, if only one P output path is generated, only one wireless transmitter path is active. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the number of output paths may range from one to any desired number.

The digital filter/upsample module 194, 198 filters the corresponding symbols and adjusts the sampling rate to correspond to the sampling rate required by the digital to analog conversion module 200, 204. The digital to analog conversion module 200 and 204 converts the digitally filtered and upsampled signals into corresponding in-phase and quadrature analog signals. The analog filters 208 and 214 filter the corresponding in-phase and/or quadrature components of the analog signal and provide the filtered signals to the corresponding I/Q modulators 218 and 222. The local oscillation based I/Q modulator 218 and 222 is generated by the local oscillator 100 to up-convert the I/Q signal to a radio frequency signal.

The rf amplifier 224 and 228 amplifies the rf signals and then filters the signals through the rf filter 230 and 234 before transmitting through the antenna 236 and 240.

Fig. 11A and 11B are diagrams of embodiments of a wireless receiver. These figures show a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a receiver. FIG. 11A shows the analog portion of the receiver, including multiple receiver paths. Each receiver path includes an antenna, an RF filter 252- 256, a low noise amplifier 258- 260, an I/Q demodulator 264- 268, an analog filter 270- 280, an analog-to-digital converter 282- 286, and a digital filtering and downsampling module 288- 290.

In operation, the antenna receives inbound RF signals, which are bandpass filtered by RF filter 252 and 256. The filtered signals are amplified by respective low noise amplifiers 258 and 260 and provided to respective I/Q demodulators 264 and 268. The local oscillation based I/Q demodulator 264-268 is generated by a local oscillator 100 down converting the radio frequency signal to baseband in-phase and quadrature analog signals.

The corresponding analog filters 270-280 filter the in-phase and quadrature analog components, respectively. Analog-to-digital converters 282-286 convert the in-phase and quadrature analog signals into digital signals. The digital filtering and downsampling module 288 and 290 filters the digital signal and adjusts the sampling rate to correspond to the rate of baseband processing, as will be described in fig. 11B.

Fig. 11B shows the baseband processing module of the receiver. The baseband processing module includes a space/time decoder 294, a plurality of Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)/cyclic prefix removal modules 296 and 300, a plurality of symbol demapping modules 302 and 306, a multiplexer 308, a deinterleaver 310, a channel decoder 312, and a descrambling module 314. The baseband processing module may further include a mode management module 175 that generates rate selections 171 and settings 179 based on mode selections 173. Spatial/temporal decoder 294 performs the inverse function of spatial/temporal encoder 192, receiving the P input from the receiver path and generating the M output path. The M output paths are processed through FFT/cyclic prefix removal block 296-300, which performs the functions of IFFT/cyclic prefix addition block 186-190 to produce frequency domain symbols.

The symbol demapping module 302 and 306 converts the frequency domain symbols into data using the inverse of the symbol mapper 180 and 184. Multiplexer 308 combines the demapped symbol streams into a single path.

The deinterleaver 310 deinterleaves the single path using the inverse of the function performed by the interleaver 176. The deinterleaved data is then provided to a channel decoder 312, which performs the inverse function of the channel encoder 174. The descrambler 314 receives the decoded data and performs the reverse function of the jammer 172, thereby producing inbound data 98.

Fig. 12 is a diagram of one embodiment of an Access Point (AP) and a plurality of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) devices operating in accordance with one or more various aspects and/or embodiments of the invention. In accordance with various aspects of the invention, access point 1200 may be compatible with any number of communication protocols and/or standards, such as IEEE802.11(a), IEEE802.11(b), IEEE802.11(g), IEEE802.11 (n). According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, the AP also supports backward compatibility with older versions of the IEEE802.11x standard. In accordance with other aspects of the invention, AP1200 supports communication with WLAN devices 1202, 1204 and 1206 through bandwidth, MIMO size and at data throughput rates not supported by the previous ieee802.11x operating standard. For example, access point 1200 and WLAN devices 1202, 1204, and 1206 may support channel bandwidths, from those of previous versions of the devices, and from 40MHz to 1.28GHz and beyond. Access point 1200 and WLAN devices 1202, 1204, and 1206 support MIMO sizes up to 4 x 4 and above. With these features, access point 1200 and WLAN devices 1202, 1204, and 1206 may support data throughput rates of up to 1GHz and above.

AP1200 supports simultaneous communication with more than one WLAN device 1202, 1204, and 1206. Simultaneous communication may be made through OFDM tone allocation (e.g., specifying a particular number of OFDM tones within a cluster), MIMO size multiplexing, or through other techniques. With some simultaneous communications, for example, AP1200 may allocate one or more of its multiple antennas separately, thereby supporting communication with each WLAN device 1202, 1204, and 1206.

And AP1200 and WLAN devices 1202, 1204, and 1206 are backward compatible with IEEE802.11(a), (b), (g), and (n) operating standards. In supporting this backward compatibility, these devices support signal formats and architectures that are consistent with these previous operating standards.

Fig. 13 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a wireless communication device and a cluster that may be used to support communication with at least one other wireless communication device. In general, clustering can be viewed as describing tone mapping, e.g., OFDM symbols, within one or more channels (e.g., subdivided portions of the spectrum), which can be located within one or more frequency bands (e.g., portions of the spectrum that are separated by a larger amount). As one example, the different signals at 20MHz may be within or around the 5GHz band. The channels within any such band may be continuous (e.g., adjacent to each other) or discontinuous (e.g., separated by some guard interval or bandgap). In general, one or more channels may be within a specified frequency band, and there need not be the same number of channels within different frequency bands. Also, a cluster is generally understood to be any combination of one or more channels within one or more frequency bands. As can be seen, any single cluster may be associated with any one or more antennas (as few as one antenna and as many as all antennas) of the wireless communication device.

The wireless communication device of this figure may be any of the different types and/or equivalents described herein (e.g., an AP, a WLAN device, or other wireless communication device, including but not limited to those described in fig. 1, etc.). The wireless communication device includes multiple antennas through which one or more signals may be transmitted to one or more receiving wireless communication devices and/or may be received from one or more other wireless communication devices.

Such a cluster may be used to transmit signals over different selected antenna or antennas. For example, different clusters are used to transmit signals using one or more different antennas, respectively.

In the various figures and embodiments described and illustrated herein, the wireless communication device is commonly referred to as a WDEV. It is noted that such wireless communication devices may be wireless Stations (STAs), Access Points (APs), or any other type of wireless communication device without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

In some cases, some wireless communication devices may be generally referred to as transmitting wireless communication devices, such as APs, and other wireless communication devices may be generally referred to as receiving wireless communication devices, such as STAs. It is noted, however, that any of the functions, capabilities, etc. described herein can be used with any type of wireless communication device in general.

Of course, it is noted that with respect to certain embodiments, generic terms may be used herein in which a transmitting wireless communication device (e.g., an AP or an STA acting as an 'AP' with respect to other STAs) begins communicating with respect to a plurality of other receiving wireless communication devices (e.g., STAs), and/or as a network controller type of wireless communication device, a receiving wireless communication device (e.g., STA) responds to and cooperates with the transmitting wireless communication device in supporting such communications. Of course, such generic terms of transmitting wireless communication device and receiving wireless communication device may be used to distinguish operations performed by these different wireless communication devices within a communication system, and all such wireless communication devices within a communication system may of course support two-way communication to and from other wireless communication devices within the communication system. In other words, the various transmitting wireless communication devices and receiving wireless communication devices may each support two-way communication to and from other wireless communication devices within the communication system. Generally, such functions, capabilities, etc. described herein may be generally applicable to any wireless communication device.

The various aspects and principles of the invention described herein, and equivalents thereof, may be applied to various standards, protocols, and/or recommendations, including those currently in progress, such as those in accordance with ieee802.11x (e.g., where x is a, b, g, n, ac, ah, ad, af, etc.).

Fig. 14 illustrates an embodiment responsive to Modulation Coding Set (MCS) selection for communication between communication devices. In this diagram, as well as in other diagrams, certain communication devices (wireless communication devices or WDEVs) are depicted. However, the reader will appreciate that reference is generally made to devices, nodes, etc., which are to be construed equally as similar to wireless communication devices.

As can be seen in this figure, at least two different means are indicated by reference numerals 1401 and 1402 for communication therebetween. In some cases, after the first communication is provided from one device to another, the responsive communication is returned to the device that originally provided the first communication. According to one example of this figure, and with respect to any other figures and/or embodiments herein, it is noted that any such communication having some type of responsive communication may include one or more of the various aspects and equivalents thereof in accordance with the present invention.

For example, various communications and/or exchanges with a response frame may include a Clear To Send (CTS) provided in response to a Request To Send (RTS). Various other communications may include block acknowledgements (B-ACKs), MAC (media access control) data protocol units (MPDUs), aggregated MAC (media access control) data protocol units (a-MPDUs), or block acknowledgement requests in response to data. Even in other cases, an Acknowledgement (ACK) may be provided in response to a management communication, a data communication, and so forth.

Generally, the initial frame in the exchange may be referred to as an initiator pin. The device sending the provoking frame may be generally referred to as the provoking node, e.g., provoking node a. The apparatus that transmits the response frame may be generally referred to as a responding node, e.g., a responding node B.

Depending on certain applications, there may be relatively large differences between the transmit power levels of different devices. With such large differences between the transmit power levels of different devices along a communication link, control response rates and MCS selection must be considered. For example, certain control response rates and MCS selection rules may present problems in these situations (e.g., asymmetric transmitter power used by different devices at opposite ends of a communication link). The rate used by response frames (e.g., response frames for response node B) is too high for the communication link when the rate used by the forward direction (e.g., the originating frame for originating node a) is near or below the highest base rate value within the Basic Service Set (BSS). Unfortunately, these cases, i.e., Acknowledgements (ACKs) or block acknowledgements (B-ACKs) for the responding node B, are lost. Various embodiments are provided herein that reduce any one or more operating parameters that govern response frame communication. For example, also as disclosed herein, for example with reference to fig. 17, any one or more operating parameters that govern communication between two devices at opposite ends of a communication link may be included in accordance with this reduction principle.

For example, the difference between the transmit power levels of two different devices is above 10dB, and in these particular cases, such as when one device uses one or more higher powers, the Power Amplifier (PA) and the other device may be implemented and operated so as to transmit only relatively less power. For example, in the case of a wireless communication system, such as a WLAN, a base station may be operated to transmit a signal level of about 1W, and a given wireless station may be operated to transmit a signal level of about 100mW or so. Here, a larger difference between the respective transmit power levels may be used, thereby causing some operations.

Consider yet another embodiment in which an Access Point (AP) has a higher transmit power than one or more associated wireless Stations (STAs) (e.g., not acting as APs). The AP may be operated to transmit at approximately 30dBm and the one or more STAs may be operated to transmit at approximately 15dBm, considering that such transmit power asymmetry may allow for downstream transmissions from the AP to the one or more STAs using operating parameters that are higher than the operating parameters available for upstream transmissions from the one or more STAs to the AP. For example, considering a Modulation Coding Set (MCS) as one operating parameter (or a set of operating parameters, since the MCS itself corresponds to at least a modulation, a coding rate, a number of streams, etc.), a relatively higher MCS may be used for downstream transmissions from the AP to one or more STAs rather than for upstream transmissions from any one STA to the AP.

Depending on the communication being conducted between two separate devices, at least one of which is a responsive communication, the Modulation Coding Set (MCS) for that response may be selected in a variety of ways.

In one embodiment, the MCS of the control transmission rate or the response frame is selected based on the trigger frame transmission rate or MCS. For example, implicitly assuming that the respective communication link margins are substantially the same in both directions and the transmit power levels used by the respective devices at each end of the communication link are substantially the same, a responsive MCS selection may be made.

In some cases, the response frame is sent at the highest MCS in the basic MCS set, which has the same or lower modulation than the trigger frame. That is, all devices within the system may know the basic MCS set in advance. The response frame is sent using the highest MCS selected from the set of basic MCSs according to the characteristics of the trigger frame, including its MCS. For example, the transmission rate of the response frame is set to the highest rate within the basic rate set of a Basic Service Set (BSS) (e.g., alternatively referred to as BSSBasicRateSet), which is less than or equal to the rate of the priming frame. The MCS of the response frame may be set to the highest modulation, coding, and MCS index, each of the values M (for modulation), C (for coding), and I (for MCS index) being less than or equal to the corresponding value of the provoking frame, starting from a basic MCS set of a Basic Service Set (BSS) (e.g., otherwise known as BSSBasicRateSet). For example, considering an embodiment in which the priming frame includes capitalized M1, C1, and I1 values, the corresponding values of the response frame may be set to the highest values within the basic MCS group, less than or equal to M1, C1, and I1 (e.g., the corresponding values of the response frame may be set to M2 ≦ M1, C2 ≦ C1, and I2 ≦ I1 such that M2, C2, and I2 are all included within the basic MCS group).

Note that the MCS contained within the basic MCS set need not be used to communicate through the originating node (e.g., the originating frame). As can be seen from this embodiment, the response frame MCS is selected based on the MCS of the trigger frame.

For example, consider the case of lower complexity, the basic MCS set includes three MCSs (e.g., assuming a high MCS, a medium MCS, and a low MCS). If the trigger frame is sent using an intermediate MCS, then the response frame may be sent using this intermediate MCS. Likewise, if the trigger frame is sent using an MCS located between the high MCS and the intermediate MCS, the response frame may also be sent using the intermediate MCS.

The MCS may be adjusted on Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) responses and/or acknowledgements if needed, but not on Medium Access Control (MAC) responses and/or acknowledgements, thus adjusting the MAC layer decomposition earlier.

Certain embodiments described herein operate according to a reduction principle in which one or more operating parameters for a response frame are controlled to be less than, e.g., sufficiently different from (e.g., according to a minimum distance d) a corresponding one or more operating parameters for a trigger frame_min) There may be certain situations where there is a large enough margin between one or more individual operating parameters and responses for the priming frame, so there is no need to use this reduction principle. For example, even in certain embodiments where such a reduction principle is not specifically used, if one or more operating parameters for the provoking frame are sufficiently greater than or higher than one or more corresponding operating parameters for the response frame (e.g., consider under BSSBasicRateSet and/or bssbasicmsset), then there may be sufficient margin in order to avoid performance degradation.

At least two different examples are provided below to illustrate to the reader that selecting one or more operating parameters associated with a response frame may receive/provide sufficient performance and may not receive/provide poor/insufficient performance.

An example is set forth below in which there is a sufficient margin between one or more operating parameters for the initiation frame and those for the response frame.

Example 1:

AP TX power =30dBm

AP DATA Transmission

The link supports 40MHz MCS31=64QAM R =5/6,540Mbps

non-AP STA TX Power =15dBm

BSSBasicRate_highest=16QAM R=1/2,24Mbps

Control response BA, 16QAM R =1/2,24Mbps transmitted as non-HT replica

The forward link supports maximum 64QAM, R =5/6

With power below 15dB, 16QAM, R =1/2 applies for the reverse link

As can be seen in this example, the one or more operating parameters for the response frame, which is sent as uplink communications from the STA (e.g., not serving as an AP) to the AP, are sufficiently different from those for the provoking frame, which is sent as downlink communications from the AP to the STA.

Example 2:

AP TX power =30dBm

AP DATA Transmission

The link only supports 40MHz MCS27=16QAM R =1/2,216Mbps

non-AP STA TX Power =15dBm

BSSBasicRate_highest=16QAM R=1/2,24Mbps

Control response BA, 16QAM R =1/2,24Mbps transmitted as non-HT replica

The forward link supports maximum 16QAM, R =1/2

Below 15dB power, 16QAM, R =1/2 is not suitable for the reverse link

ACK/BA may be lost

As can be seen from this example, the communication link is capable of supporting the highest modulation 16QAM, and a code rate of about 1/2. The transmission power of the response frame is performed at half the transmission power used for the provoking frame, using such operating parameters that just reach the limit at which the communication link and support are uncertain and can cause a situation where Acknowledgements (ACKs) or block acknowledgements (B-ACKs) are lost during the uplink communication from the STA to the AP.

Fig. 15 illustrates an alternative embodiment of responding to MCS selection for communication between communication devices. It can be seen in this figure that at least two different devices are implemented to communicate therebetween, as represented by reference numerals 1501 and 1502. The figure shows a particular embodiment in which the initiating node a is adapted to transmit at 30dBm and the responding node B is adapted to transmit at 15 dBm.

As can be seen, when considering the originating node a and its relatively high transmit power level, the originating frame may be transmitted using relatively high order (order) modulation. Such higher order modulations may include, for example, 16QAM, 64QAM, and so forth. The responding node B is performed even with these relatively higher order modulations in order to successfully receive these trigger frames.

The responding node B will use the highest MCS within the basic MCS set, with the modulation of the MCS less than or equal to the modulation of the trigger frame sent from the triggering node a. For example, considering an embodiment in which the provoking frame is transmitted from the provoking node a at a particular bit rate (e.g., 24Mb per second in Mbps) through a specified MCS, the response frame transmitted from the responding node B may be transmitted at the same MCS or a relatively lower MCS within the basic MCS set.

In some cases, the responding node a may not successfully receive the response frame because the responding node B transmission power is significantly lower than the initiating node a transmission power. That is, different transmission power and MCS combinations are not sufficient for a particular communication link.

Unfortunately, in certain situations, the throughput of the communication link drops dramatically due to the loss of response frames during transmission. The MCS of the response frame does not change unless the MCS of the provoking frame sent by the provoking node a changes to a relatively lower order MCS (e.g., to a relatively lower order modulation). According to the response frame MCS selection made based on the provoking frame MCS, if the provoking node a can become a relatively lower order MCS, the responding node B should also be able to send the response frame at the relatively lower order MCS and the provoking node a expects to receive the response frame.

From a certain perspective, it is noted that causing a decrease in MCS on node a may also cause a decrease in throughput of the communication link. It is noted, however, that this undesirable situation is not required at all if the response frame MCS can be reduced using some alternative approach.

Fig. 16 illustrates an embodiment of explicit suggestion/instruction responsive MCS selection for communication between communication devices. It can be seen that at least two different devices (represented by reference numerals 1601 and 1602) are implemented to communicate therebetween.

Referring to the figure, exchanges are made between the various devices, so that explicit suggestions and/or instructions are provided from the originating node a. It is noted that such suggestions and/or indications may be provided from the originating node a only when it is determined that a particular MCS is required. For example, a particular MCS may be determined to be needed by one or more of a number of considerations. The determination may be made explicitly, for example, based on individual differences in transmission power levels between the various devices within the system. Explicit information exchange may be provided between the respective devices to determine respective transmission power levels of the respective devices and also to determine transmission power level differences therebetween.

In the process of initiating the reception of the response frame at node a, the determination may alternatively be made by means of the measured received power. For example, when initiating node a to receive a response frame from another device, the received power of the received communication may be measured. In some cases, this relatively low received power of the received communication may be used to trigger a need for a particular MCS that node a would suggest.

In even other embodiments, this determination may be made by measuring the measured channel/Bit Error Rate (BER)/Packet Error Rate (PER) statistics for a particular acknowledgment frame sent by the responding node B and received by the originating node a. That is, certain features associated with the response frame received by originating node a (rather than just the received power) may be used to cause selection of a particular MCS.

Furthermore, some link measurement report information may be available for such terminals. Likewise, a specified decision is made to cause node a to average certain measured parameters from which a response frame should be provided via a particular MCS before providing suggestions and/or instructions to the responding node B regarding the particular MCS.

Also, note that one or more or any combination of any such considerations (including particular weighted combinations, average combinations, etc.) may be used to trigger response frame MCS selection at the originating node a. Even in other cases, the responding node E may simply request to cause the node to propose and/or inform the responding node B of the particular response frame MCS to use.

Fig. 17 illustrates an embodiment of responding to an MCS selection for communicating between communication devices, particularly using certain operating parameters therein. As can be seen in this figure, at least two different devices (represented by reference numerals 1701 and 1702) are implemented to communicate therebetween.

In operating according to this mode, the initiating node a may determine at least two different parameters, R (decrease) and L (limit), using any one or more or any combination of the various considerations discussed above, which cause the initiating node a to suggest and/or inform the responding node B of the particular response frame MCS to use. In some embodiments, the parameters R and/or L may be considered respective vectors (e.g., each describing one or more parameters, respectively, associated with initiating such communication between node A and responding node B; e.g., the specified MCS itself may include a number of parameters, such as modulation, coding rate, number of streams, etc.). It is also noted that some embodiments may include only one parameter R (decrease). For example, all embodiments need not include the parameter L (limit), but may use only the parameter R (decrease). Also, any one or both of the parameter R (decrease) and the parameter R (decrease) may be considered vectors, as any one of the two parameters may dictate or manage operation based on a plurality of operating parameters.

The parameter R relating to the reduction relates to the MCS of the response frame sent by the responding node B, which should be of order R below the MCS used to initiate the frame transmission. For example, if the trigger frame is transmitted via a specified MCS, the response frame MCS should be at least R steps below the MCS of the trigger frame.

The limit-related parameter L relates to the value of one or more operating parameters below which the parameter R is applied. It is noted that in embodiments where the parameter L is used as a vector, for example corresponding to a plurality of operating parameters, a plurality of different values may be used for one or more of the operating parameters under which the parameter R is applied. Likewise, there are embodiments where the parameter R is used as a vector, e.g. corresponding to a plurality of operating parameters. Also, in general, the use of the parameter L within the parameter R may be used in cooperation to separately and individually manage a plurality of operating parameters. For example, considering an embodiment in which parameters L include L1, L2, L3, etc., and parameters R include R1, R2, R3, etc., parameter L1 corresponds to the value of the first operating parameter under which parameter R1 is applied. The parameter L2 corresponds to the value of the second operating parameter under which the parameter R2 is applied, and the parameter L3 corresponds to the value of the third operating parameter under which the parameter R3 is applied, and so on. In general, the use of a parameter L implemented as a vector and a parameter R implemented as a vector allows for the management of a number of different operational parameters in accordance with the reduction and restriction principles described herein.

For example, in one embodiment, the constraint-related parameter L relates to a modulation/coding trigger frame, below which the parameter R is applied. That is, at or above L, the responding node B need not apply the parameter R to the responding MCS selection. Instead, the responding node B may use some alternative method by which to select the MCS through which the response frame should be sent to the originating node a. For example, the responding node B may select an MCS for the basic MCS within the basic MCS set that is less than or equal to the MCS of the provoking frame. Of course, other methods may be used to select the response frame MCS.

In general, for these different parameters R and L, if the rate of response frames (e.g., acknowledgements) is too high, then these different parameters may be adjusted accordingly. It is noted that these respective frames may be lost for a number of different reasons, including collisions, improper MCS selection, etc.

It is noted that the initiating node a may be used to determine these different parameters R and L, which are also known to the responding node B. For example, the initiating node a may also communicate these parameters to the responding node B. These parameters may be communicated from the initiating node a to the responding node B in a variety of ways. These parameters may be communicated, for example, on a static basis, such as according to a joint exchange. Alternatively, these parameters may be so communicated on a semi-dynamic basis; such transmission may be made using management frames to transmit the changes at any given time. In even another embodiment, the trigger frame itself may be used, such as to convey these parameters according to a dynamic basic mode of operation. Note that not all of the provoking frames need to carry any MCS suggestions and/or instructions from the provoking node a to the responding node B. For example, the responding node B continues to use the latest/most recently received instructions and/or suggestions regarding MCS until a new instruction and/or suggestion regarding MCS is received from the originating node A. In general, in various embodiments, the initiating node A and responding node B may be informed by the respective parameters R and L employed in the various embodiments in any of a number of desired manners.

In an alternative embodiment, these different parameters R and L may be known in advance by the initiating node a and the responding node B. That is, these parameters may be predetermined, predefined, and stored in some memory of each device. In even other embodiments, the default values for these parameters may be known in advance by different devices within the system.

A number of considerations may be used to determine the parameters R and L. For example, the number of retries of a frame sent from a given node may be used as at least one consideration in determining these parameters. A retry of the provoking frame is received from the node, and the retried provoking frame is successfully received from the responding node B and acknowledged by the responding node B. Note that the retry indicates that a response frame is lost (e.g., no acknowledgement is received) during the transmission. Response frames are unfortunately lost due to the appropriate MCS selection by each communication link. In some embodiments, the responding node B may attempt to distinguish between such a loss of response frames due to collisions and such a loss of response frames due to improper MCS selection. It is noted that the loss of a response frame due to improper MCS selection can be distinguished when the response frame is lost within a delivery opportunity (TXOP) that already includes at least one complete frame exchange. In even other embodiments, the originating node a may take some action in order to determine the loss of response frames for different reasons.

Also, there are certain situations where the proposed response MCS cannot be supported by the specified communication link. For example, a check that causes node a to report a transmit power greater than that of the responding node B may determine that the proposed responding MCS is not appropriate. Also, the checking of the respective transmission powers of the respective nodes a and B (and determining that transmission power a is greater than transmission power B) and the link margin in combination with the transmission power of the responding node (if known) need not support the proposed responding MCS.

For example, when the difference of the respective transmission powers exceeds the difference of the minimum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) required between the trigger frame MCS and the response frame MCS, the response frame MCS may be appropriately reduced. The amount of MCS reduction may be determined according to the difference of the respective transmission powers of the respective nodes a and B and the estimated link margin. There may be certain situations where a relatively low responding node transmission power has sufficient margin yet still is sufficient/sufficient for a given communication link, for example if two devices are receiving packets with reasonably good probability (e.g., acceptable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)/Packet Error Rate (PER) and/or acceptable Bit Error Rate (BER)/Packet Error Rate (PER)).

Adjusting the time for one or more operating parameters of the response frame is also contemplated herein. When or during the connection of two or more devices, relevant information may be collected and exchanged. Alternatively, one or more management frames between the devices may be exchanged outside the connection. For example, as described later in fig. 24, information related to transmission power is exchanged between respective different apparatuses in different manners.

The information relating to the reversed directional link may be in the form of a relative margin reduction compared to known communication links. For example, given one or more operating parameters by which a given communication link may operate, the relative link margin may be reduced as compared to the one or more operating parameters associated with the given communication link. In some embodiments, information corresponding to the reverse link is still needed in response to the node B being aware of the forward link information. Also, in some cases, the inducing node a is aware of the reverse link information and still needs the information corresponding to the forward link. This information may be shared between different devices located at different ends of the communication link in a variety of ways, including by one or more management frame exchanges. For example, a link management report may be transmitted from one device located at one end of a communication link to another device located at the other end of the communication link. In even other embodiments, a given device may determine information associated with the opposite directional link separately (e.g., without providing communication or information from another device at the other end of the communication link).

Fig. 18 shows an alternative embodiment 1800 of responding to MCS selection for communication between communication devices, particularly using certain operating parameters therein. As can be seen in this figure, at least two different devices (represented by reference numerals 1801 and 1802) are implemented to communicate therebetween.

It is noted that different embodiments may operate according to different decision modes of operation. For example, some embodiments may operate according to an exciton (eligiber) -based decision mode of operation, while other embodiments may operate according to a transponder-based decision mode of operation.

For example, for a exciton-based decision mode of operation, a triggering device (e.g., a wireless Station (STA)) may be used to determine to decrease one or more operating parameters relative to a response frame. For example, considering one such operating parameter as a transmission rate, it may be determined that a reduction in the response rate is required. According to one possible implementation of this mode of operation, information relating to the amount that needs to be reduced may be provided in the management frame exchange. According to another possible implementation of this mode of operation, information relating to the amount that needs to be reduced may be provided within the trigger frame. For example, at least one field within the trigger frame may represent a reduction by a specified amount. A reduction by a specified amount may be indicated by a reduction of a certain number of steps (e.g., N steps), where one step corresponds to a change in at least one operating parameter. Of course, it is noted that different operational parameters may be managed according to different steps (e.g., step 1 for modulation, step 2 for coding rate, etc.). In general, a large amount of granularity may be provided so that each different operating parameter may be managed, controlled, reduced, adjusted individually.

It is also described here that, for example, for a parameter L related to an operating parameter, below which the parameter R applies, there is some indication that may be performed on the operating parameter by the operating parameter basis, above or below which such a reduction function may be performed. For example, considering the operating parameters of the modulation, e.g., initially determining that the MCS for the response frame response is less than some predetermined value (e.g., defined according to parameter L), the MCS for the response may be decreased according to the specified step (e.g., in step N, the initially determined MCS is decreased for use in the response frame).

Also, in accordance with such a syndrome-based decision mode of operation, a triggering device (e.g., a wireless Station (STA) located at triggering node a) may operate to appropriately adjust a Medium Access Control (MAC) Duration (DUR) field and trigger transmission.

Considering another example, a device (e.g., a wireless Station (STA) used at a responding node B) may be used to determine that one or more operating parameters need to be reduced relative to a transponder-based decision mode of operation. Such responding device may make this determination by checking the transmission power, which is reported from another device, e.g., from an Access Point (AP) used at originating node a or originating wireless Station (STA). Alternatively, such a determination may be made by repeatedly receiving, e.g., making a number of retries, not receiving an acknowledgement, etc. The responding node B may be used to determine the amount of reduction used, depending on the mode of decision operation based on the responder. In some embodiments, it is preferable that the responding node B intends or attempts to reduce the initiating node a in this way, so that the initiating node a can appropriately adjust the respective MAC DUR values within its respective initiated transmission; such information may be communicated between the various devices through one or more management exchanges.

Referring particularly to the figure, the overall MCS set includes a plurality of values varying between 0 and M (e.g., the values correspond to a particular operating parameter, such as modulation, coding rate, number of streams, etc.), and the basic MCS set includes a plurality of values varying between 0 and N. It can be seen that the basic MCS set may be considered a subset of the entire MCS set. The initiating node a may support communication according to any of the individual MCS values within the entire MCS set, but the responding node B may support communication according to those values within the basic MCS set. It is also described herein that originating node a need not use those particular values within the basic MCS set for supporting communications therein. According to the reduction principle shown here, if node A is triggered to use the signals contained in M and N + d_minAny value within the entire MCS set in between, sends the initiating frame to the responding node B, and then the responding node B may use the highest value of N (e.g., as the minimum distance d) when sending the response frame to the initiating node a_minLower than the corresponding value for the provoking frame). Also, for ease of description, the figure shows multiple values corresponding to a single operating parameter, while it is noted that there may be multiple sets of values corresponding to different respective operating parameters. The reader will appropriately understand that the excitation frame may include a number of different parameters, such as M1, M2, M3, and so forth, however, for convenience of description, this illustration is for convenience of descriptionA relationship to a single operating parameter is shown.

For minimum distance d_minNote that the corresponding value for the operating parameter specified in the response frame is separated from the value for that corresponding operating parameter in the trigger frame by the minimum distance. That is, in this example, the value for the specified operating parameter within the response frame is always separated from the value for that corresponding operating parameter within the inducing frame by the minimum distance.

Considering the specific example that the value of the specified operating parameter is particularly relevant to the MCS, consider the trigger frame available at any MCS between 0 and 27, including the minimum distance d, and the basic MCS set_min=2, basic MCS set maximum MCS is 16 (e.g. basic MCS set includes any MCS between 0 and 16), as long as MCS of the trigger frame is 18 or more, then response frame MCS may be provided within MCS of 16. That is, as long as 18 or more MCS is used to provide the trigger frame, the response frame may be provided using the maximum MCS within the basic MCS set, i.e., 16. However, if the trigger frame is provided using the MCS of 16, then the response frame cannot be provided using the largest MCS within the basic MCS set since the minimum distance requirement needs to be met; in this case, the response frame may be provided using an MCS of 14. Generally, the response frame may be provided using the largest MCS within the basic MCS set, which still meets the minimum distance requirement.

Fig. 19 shows an embodiment 1900 of a communication in which a response reduction field is included for communication between communication devices. Various communications are made between different devices at opposite ends of the communication link for individually controlling and adjusting different operating parameters. Certain embodiments may enable such communication between these devices on a per-MAC (media access control) data protocol unit (MPDU) signaling basis. For example, in some embodiments, it may be desirable to include one or more operating parameters within the initiation frame for use in subsequent response frames. That is, the initiation frame may be used to include one or more operating parameters that signal the manner in which the response frame is provided. It is noted that some embodiments and their associated frame formats do not have sufficient bit positions available to represent such information therein. However, various other embodiments and their associated frame formats, such as new frame formats, may be designed to include such information within the initiating frame.

One possible embodiment 1900 shown in the figure shows a response operation parameter reduction field included within the communication. The responsive operating parameter reduction field may include respective different reduction values associated with respective different operating parameters. For example, any one of a plurality of different parameters may each be controlled in accordance with a separate, different reduction value. The reduction values are the respective minimum reductions used between the operating parameters used in the initiation frame and the response frame. For example, a plurality of first operating parameters P1, P2, P3, etc. may be used to fire a frame. The reduction values represent a minimum amount by which each of these operating parameters P1, P2, P3, etc., respectively, is reduced (e.g., thereby generating P1', P2', P3', etc.), which may be used for the response frame. It can be seen that different reduction values for each individual operating parameter can be managed individually.

Such communication may occur from initiating node a to responding node B, including the operating parameter reduction field. For example, there may be embodiments wherein node a is caused to decide that each reduction value is associated with one or more operating parameters. In other embodiments, the initiating node a and the responding node B may operate together to determine respective reduction values, and even in other embodiments, the responding node B determines that respective reduction values are associated with one or more operating parameters.

Fig. 20 illustrates another embodiment 2000 of a communication in which a response reduction field is included for communication between communication devices. The figure shows a specific format of communication, including a field that is decreased in response to operating parameters, particularly towards MCS. That is, the response operation parameter reduction field of the figure relates particularly to the response MCS reduction field. Of course, as can be seen in the previous embodiments, the responsive operating parameter reduction field may include any number of operating parameters. The response MCS reduction field in this figure is one particular embodiment.

Referring to the figure, the MCS reduction status field may be used to query response negotiations between various devices. The response MCS reduction field includes a plurality of different reduction values, the reduction value being the minimum amount of reduction used between those corresponding parameters that are used within the provoking frame and the response frame. Specifically, in the figure, the response MCS reduction field includes at least three separate sub-fields corresponding to a minimum reduction related to modulation, a minimum reduction related to coding rate, and a minimum reduction related to the number of streams (e.g., the number of space time streams NSS), respectively.

Considering the particular operating parameters of the modulation, the difference between QPSK and BPSK modulation can be considered as a step of the operating parameters (e.g., step 1 is the modulation change from QPSK to BPSK). Considering a particular operating parameter for the code rate, the difference between 5/6 and 3/4 may be considered a step for that operating parameter. Considering a specific operating parameter of the number of streams, the difference between NSS =4 and NSS =3 may be considered as one step of the operating parameter.

It is noted that if decreasing the specified operating parameters would result in a non-existent MCS, the decrease may be such that an actual existent/realistic MCS is produced. For example, if a reduction operation is performed to generate a QPSK of a modulation type with a coding rate of 5/6, then a reduction operation is performed to find an actually existing/realistic MCS, for example, a QPSK with a coding rate of 3/4.

It is also noted that some management frame exchange may occur between different devices. For example, according to a High Throughput (HT) classification, a new management action may be used. This can be used to provide a control response MCS reduction. This may also be used to include responsive operating parameter reduction components (e.g., components described in fig. 19) and/or responsive MCS reduction components (e.g., components described in fig. 20).

For a request or trigger frame exchanged according to such management, the value of the Request (REQ) field may be set to 1. Such communications may be transmitted from a wireless Station (STA) (e.g., not functioning as an Access Point (AP)) or the like to an associated AP or another STA (e.g., not functioning as an Access Point (AP)) or the like. The transmitting device, e.g., STA, will not decrement within the request frame unless accepted by the recipient of the request frame.

For a response frame exchanged according to such management, the value of the REQ field may be set to 0. Such a communication transmission may be transmitted from a device such as an access point AP to another device STA or the like. Alternatively, such communication may be transmitted from a device such as an STA (e.g., not functioning as an AP) to a requesting device such as another STA (e.g., not functioning as an AP). An AP or other designated device may send unsolicited responses to other devices within the system and may defer to such unsolicited responses.

Some examples are provided below to illustrate the reader regarding operations that may be performed with or without reduction.

Example without reduction:

● reduction = MOD1, Coding1, NSS0

● BSSBasicMCSSet includes MCS 0-MCS 15

●STA1 TX AMPDU MCS23(64Q,5/6,4)

● STA2 determines the BA response to be MCS15(64Q,5/6,2)

● STA2 determines that all minimums are met and therefore no reduction is required

Example 1 with reduction:

● reduction = MOD1, Coding1, NSS0

● BSSBasicMCSSet includes MCS 0-MCS 15

●STA1 TX AMPDU MCS18(QPSK,3/4,3)

● before making the reduction, STA2 determines the BA response as MCS10 (QPSK, 3/4, 2)

● STA2 determines that some minimum amount is not met and therefore needs to be reduced

● reduction gives BPSK, 1/2, 2= > MCS8

Example 2 with reduction:

● reduction = MOD1, Coding1, NSS1

● BSSBasICMCSSet clear, BSSBasICRateSet includes 24,12,6

●STA1 TX AMPDU MCS18(QPSK,3/4,3)

● STA2 determines that the trigger frame MCS is at or below the limit, all that needs to be reduced

● before decrementing, STA2 determines the BA response to be 24Mbps (16Q, 1/2, 1)

● reduction gives BPSK, 1/2, 1= >6Mbps

Fig. 21 illustrates an embodiment of responsive MCS selection for communication between communication devices based on an acknowledgement based on a triggering node. It can be seen that at least two different devices, represented by reference numerals 2102 and 2102, are implemented to communicate therebetween. In some embodiments, additional devices (e.g., represented by 2103 through 2104) may also be used to communicate with other devices.

As can be seen in this figure, different devices may operate according to different basic MCS sets. For example, a first basic MCS set may correspond to a first apparatus, a second basic MCS set may correspond to a second apparatus, and so on. It is noted that more than one device may be included in a group operating according to a specified basic MCS set. In general, different basic MCS sets may be used for different nodes within the system. Considerations related to the MCS selection of the response frame that elicits node a may take into account, at least in part, the capabilities of each node, communication link, etc. That is, there may be multiple communication links between the initiating node and different responding nodes. It may be determined between the initiating node and the designated responding node which devices are associated with which basic MCS set to determine the basic MCS set for the designated responding node. Likewise, each responding node can be dynamically classified through one or more basic MCS groups; for example, a specified apparatus may be associated with a first basic MCS set at a time and a second basic MCS set at a second time.

According to this embodiment of response frame MCS selection at originating node a, the originating node may be implemented as an Access Point (AP) operable to transmit a basic MCS set, the set being selected to ensure that the originating node/AP can efficiently and properly receive response transmissions for all responding nodes within a Basic Service Set (BSS). For example, in embodiments where the originating node operates as an AP, it may be adapted to remove those higher MCS values from the basic MCS set, thereby disallowing the use of those MCS values within the corresponding transmission.

Alternatively, in embodiments where the initiating node operates as an AP, different basic MCS sets may be provided for different responding nodes. These responding nodes with reduced transmit power capabilities may be assigned to a basic MCS set with a reduced MCS (e.g., operating according to a lower order modulation, lower rate, etc.). In some cases, each explicitly transmitted basic MCS set may be sent to each responding node, respectively, when operating in accordance with this embodiment. For example, a first basic MCS set may be transmitted from an initiating node to a first responding node, a second basic MCS set may be transmitted from an initiating node to a second responding node, and so on. Those responding nodes that receive such a basic (especially customized/specific) MCS set corresponding to the responding node may operate by disregarding the broadcast basic MCS set that may be sent by the originating node/AP. For example, when an initiating node/AP may generally transmit or broadcast a basic MCS set to various responding nodes within the system, a given responding node may ignore broadcasting the basic MCS set if the given responding node has received a particular/special basic MCS set for use. It is noted that any such basic MCS set may be sent to a given responding node at once.

Also, it is noted that such embodiments may include a means by which the personalized basic MCS set may be withdrawn from those responding nodes to which it has been assigned. For example, there are situations where the initiating node/AP that wishes to return all responding nodes operates within the same basic MCS set, rather than selectively and differentially operating some responding nodes according to different respective basic MCS sets. To perform such refresh/re-initialization operations, the initiating node may direct one or more responding nodes to revert to the common broadcast basic MCS set. Alternatively, there may be situations where each responding node has information relating to some basic MCS set, and the originating node may transmit to one or more responding nodes to revert to the basic MCS set (e.g., by setting a particular bit within a given communication from the originating node to the one or more responding nodes).

Fig. 22 illustrates an embodiment of responsive MCS selection based on a determination based on a responding node and making at least one retry for communication between communication devices. It can be seen that at least two different devices (represented by reference numerals 2201 and 2202) are implemented to communicate therebetween.

Even in other embodiments, the responding node may make the response frame MCS selection itself. That is, response frame MCS selection may be made available at the responding node, determined autonomously by the responding node, without direction from the originating node.

For example, if a retry of an initiation frame is received from one of the retries, the initiation frame was previously successfully received by the responding node and acknowledged by the responding node, the response frame MCS for transmission to the given node may be reduced, e.g., again similar to other embodiments described above, the retry indicating that a response, such as an acknowledgement, was lost during the course of transmission. Such losses are caused by improper MCS selection for a given communication link. The responding node may be implemented to include the ability to distinguish between a loss of response due to a collision and a loss of response due to improper MCS selection. For example, when a response (e.g., an acknowledgement) is lost within a transmission opportunity (TXOP) that already includes at least one complete frame exchange, a communication loss associated with an improper MCS selection may be distinguished.

Also, there are certain situations where the proposed response MCS cannot be supported by a given communication link. For example, a check that causes node A to report a transmission power greater than that of the responding node B may determine that the proposed responding MCS is not appropriate. Also, the checking of the respective transmission powers of the respective nodes a and B (and determining that a's transmission power is greater than B's transmission power) and the link margin in combination with the responding node's transmission power (if known) need not support the proposed responding MCS.

For example, reducing the response frame MCS may be a suitable way when the difference in the respective transmission powers exceeds the difference that induces the required minimum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) between the frame MCS and the response frame MCS. The amount of MCS may be reduced according to the difference in transmission power of the respective nodes a and B and the estimated link margin. There are certain situations where a lower responding node transmission power is still sufficient/adequate for a given communication link with sufficient margin, for example if both devices receive packets with a reasonably good probability (e.g., acceptable BER/PER).

Fig. 23 illustrates an embodiment of responsive MCS selection based on a determination based on a responding node and using a lowest MCS within a basic MCS set for inter-communication device communication. It can be seen that at least two different devices (represented by reference numerals 2302 and 2302) are implemented to communicate therebetween. In some embodiments, additional devices, e.g., as represented by 2303 through 2304, may also be used to communicate with other devices.

Even in other embodiments where response frame MCS selection is made at the responding node, the response frame may simply be sent at the lowest MCS. For example, within the basic MCS set, the response frame may simply be sent using its lowest possible MCS. For example, as a simple alternative to avoid the need to determine a relative transmission power value, evaluate link margin, check retries, etc., a default manner may be used by which a response frame may be sent. One such default flag may include sending a response frame at the lowest MCS within the basic MCS set.

It is noted that the specified basic MCS set may be modified to include a given lowest MCS. For example, in embodiments where multiple responding nodes operate according to multiple respective basic MCS sets, if response frames need to be provided at a common lowest MCS for multiple responding nodes within the multiple basic MCS sets, one or more of the basic MCS sets may be modified to include such a common lowest MCS (e.g., such that all of the respective basic MCS sets include this common lowest MCS).

The responding node may simply use this reduced MCS for all response transmissions. This reduced MCS may be considered to be relatively less than or equal to the MCS of the trigger frame compared to the requirement to use the highest MCS within the basic MCS set.

Fig. 24 illustrates one embodiment of representing power differences between communication devices. It can be seen that at least two different devices (represented by reference numerals 2401 and 2402) are implemented to communicate therebetween.

As with the other figures and/or embodiments described herein, it is noted that the respective transmission power levels of the different devices within the system are at least one criterion for response frame MCS selection. For example, for a power difference indication, each respective node may represent a transmission power level being used towards the associated process.

In an alternative embodiment, some kind of management frame exchange may take place between the two devices. One such example is according to the Link Measurement Request and report (Link Measurement Request and report) function (e.g., revmb.8.5.7.4). For example, a link measurement request frame uses a mobile body format and is transmitted by a wireless Station (STA) to request another STA to respond with the link measurement request frame in order to be able to measure a link path loss and estimate a link margin. Fig. 8-390 show the format of the active field within the link measurement request frame (link measurement request frame active field format). The reader also refers to the link measurement report frame format in section 8.5.7.5.

Even in alternative embodiments, it is noted that the indication of the transmission power level of a given node may be provided on a per-frame basis (e.g., dynamically on a per-frame basis). Such an indication of the transmission power level may be contained within the MAC header.

Fig. 25 illustrates an embodiment of responsive MCS selection for communication between communication devices based on MCS selection using channel/MCS feedback. It can be seen that at least two different devices (represented by reference numerals 2501 and 2502) are implemented to communicate therebetween.

As can be seen in this figure, there are situations where data communication is possible in both directions of a given communication link, for example, between an initiating node a and a responding node B. In other words, both nodes a and B transmit data to the other node. In the example of data communication in both directions in practice, both devices at each end of the communication link use link adaptation. Generally, if data communication is in both directions, such information and functionality relating to link adaptation is available and can then be used.

However, there are certain situations where data communication is only in one direction, e.g., from originating node a to responding node B, which provides only one response frame, e.g., back to originating node a for acknowledgement (but does not provide the data frame to originating node a). In this case, the responding node B may make additional communications to the originating node a in order to assist in accordance with the link adaptation function.

In general, link adaptation may be used to select the MCS on the forward link (e.g., 9.27 link adaptation for refmb).

If there is forward and reverse traffic, then a similar approach to forward link adaptation may also be used for a given indicated link as described above, with link adaptation feedback (e.g., MCS feedback) being used for data traffic that is transmitted in the same direction as the response frame. The link adaptation feedback may be used to select an MCS to transmit in the same direction as the response frame. The same link adaptation feedback may be used to select the MCS for the response frame. This may provide a safer margin for response frames. That is, a relatively lower MCS may be selected for the response frame than for data communications provided in the same direction. Further, during the course of the connection, any difference between the MCS used for the data and the response (e.g., a safety margin therebetween) may be indicated.

Referring to method 2600 of fig. 26, as shown in block 2610, an initiation frame is received from at least one additional communication device (e.g., via at least one antenna of the communication device) to begin performing method 2600. As shown in block 2620, the method 2600 continues with: a first Modulation Coding Set (MCS) associated with the trigger frame is determined.

Then, as shown in block 2630, method 2600 operates: based on at least the first MCS, a second MCS is selected and a response frame with the second MCS is generated. As shown in block 2640, method 2600 continues with: the response frame is sent into at least one additional communication device (e.g., via at least one antenna of the communication device).

Referring to the method 2700 of FIG. 27A, as shown in block 2710, the method 2700 begins to be performed: an MCS explicitly indicated within a trigger frame (e.g., received from at least one additional communication device via at least one antenna of the communication device) is identified. As shown in block 2720, method 2700 continues with: at least one measured parameter associated with a communication link between the communication device and at least one additional communication device is identified.

Then, as shown in block 2730, method 2700 proceeds to: selecting at least one additional MCS based at least in part on the identified at least one measured parameter by causing the MCS shown within the frame.

Referring to the method 2701 of fig. 27B, as shown in block 2711, a basic MCS set is received from a network manager (e.g., via at least one antenna of a communication device) to begin performing the method 2701. As shown in block 2721, method 2701 continues with: the initiation frame is received from at least one additional communication device (e.g., through at least one antenna of the communication device).

The method 2701 then operates by selecting a second MCS that is the highest order MCS within the basic MCS set and generating a response frame having the second MCS, as shown in block 2731. As shown in block 2741, the method 2701 proceeds with sending the response frame into at least one additional communication device (e.g., via at least one antenna of the communication device).

Referring to method 2800 of fig. 28, as shown in block 2810, a first MCS associated with a provoking frame is determined, beginning execution of method 2800. As shown in decision block 2820, the method 2800 continues with: it is determined whether a first MCS associated with the provoking frame is below L (e.g., a limiting parameter).

If it is determined at decision block 2820 that the first MCS is below L, then, as shown at block 2830, the method 2800 operates: based on R (e.g., a reduction parameter) for the response frame, a second MCS is selected, the second MCS having a relatively lower order than the first MCS.

Alternatively, if it is determined at decision block 2820 that the first MCS is not below L, then, as shown at block 2840, the method 2800 operates to: the second MCS for the response frame is selected by other means.

Referring to method 2900 of fig. 29A, as shown in block 2910, a first basic MCS set is transmitted to the first communication device to begin performing method 2900. As shown in block 2920, method 2900 proceeds to: the second basic MCS set is transmitted to the second communication device.

Method 2900 then operates as shown in block 2930: a first signal is received from a first communication device based on an MCS that is a highest order MCS within a first basic MCS set. As shown in block 2940, method 2900 proceeds to: a second signal is received from the second communication device according to the MCS being the highest order MCS within the second basic MCS group.

Referring to method 2901 of fig. 29B, as shown in block 2911, a first trigger frame is sent to at least one additional communication device (e.g., via at least one antenna of the communication device) in accordance with the first MCS to begin performing method 2901. As shown at block 2921, method 2901 continues with: after a period of time, no response frame is received.

Method 2901 then operates as shown in block 2931: the second trigger frame is transmitted to at least one additional communication device (e.g., via at least one antenna of the communication device) according to a second MCS having a relatively lower order than the first MCS. As shown in block 2941, method 2901 proceeds to: the response frame is received from the at least one additional communication device according to the second MCS or a third MCS having a relatively lower order than the second MCS.

It is also noted that various operations and functions described in accordance with the various methods herein may be performed within a wireless communication device, such as using a baseband processing module and/or a processing module executed therein (e.g., in accordance with baseband processing module 64 and/or processing module 50 depicted in fig. 2) and/or other elements therein. For example, such baseband processing modules may generate such signals and frames as described herein, and perform various operations and analyses as described herein, or any other operations and functions described herein, and the like, or equivalents thereof.

In some embodiments, such baseband processing modules and/or processing modules (which may be executed within the same device or separate devices) may perform such processing to generate signals for transmission to another wireless communication device (e.g., also including at least one of any number of radios and at least one of any number of antennas) using at least one of any number of radios and at least one of any number of antennas, and/or any other operations and functions described herein, and the like, or equivalents thereof, in accordance with various aspects of the present invention. In some embodiments, the processing module within the first device and the baseband processing module within the second device collectively perform such processing. In other embodiments, this processing is performed entirely by the baseband processing module or processing module.

The terms "substantially" and "approximately" as may be used herein provide industry-recognized tolerances and/or dependencies between items for the corresponding terms. Such industry-accepted tolerances range from less than 1% to 50% and correspond to, without limitation, component values, integrated circuit process variations, temperature variations, the number of ramp-ups and-downs, and/or thermal noise. This correlation between items ranges from a few percent difference to a large difference. As used herein, the terms "operatively coupled to," "coupled to," and/or "coupled to" include direct coupling between items and/or indirect coupling between items through intervening items (e.g., items including, but not limited to, elements, components, circuits, and/or modules), where, for indirect coupling, intervening items do not modify signal information, but may adjust their current levels, voltage levels, and/or power levels. Inferred coupling (i.e., where one component is coupled to another component by inference) as further usable herein includes direct and indirect coupling between two items in the same manner as "coupled to". The term "operable" or "operably coupled" as may be further used herein means that an item includes one or more power connections, inputs, outputs, etc. to, when activated, perform one or more of its respective functions, and that the item may further include inferred coupling to one or more other items. The term "associated" as may be further used herein includes one item directly and/or indirectly coupled to a separate item and/or embedded within another item. The term "compares favorably", as may be used herein, indicates that a comparison made between two or more items, signals, etc., provides a desired relationship. For example, a favorable comparison may be made when signal 1 has a greater magnitude than signal 2 in the desired relationship, when the magnitude of signal 1 is greater than the magnitude of signal 2, or when the magnitude of signal 2 is less than the magnitude of signal 1.

The terms "processing module," "processing circuit," and/or "processing unit" (e.g., including various modules and/or circuits, such as those that may operate, execute, and/or perform encoding, decoding, baseband processing, etc.) may also be used herein may be a single processing device or multiple processing devices. Such a processing device may be a microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, field programmable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logic circuitry, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device that manipulates signals (analog and/or digital) based on hard-coded and/or operational instructions for the circuitry. A processing module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit may have associated memory and/or integrated memory components, which may be a single memory device, multiple memory devices, and/or embedded circuitry of the processing module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit. Such a memory device may be read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamic memory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any device that stores digital information. It is noted that if the processing module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit includes multiple processing devices, these processing devices may be centrally located (e.g., directly coupled together by a wired and/or wireless bus structure) or distributively located (e.g., cloud-computing via indirect coupling via a local area network and/or a wide area network). Also, it is noted that if the processing module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit performs one or more functions via a state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry, the memory and/or memory components storing the corresponding operational instructions may be embedded within, or external to, the circuitry comprising the state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry. It is further noted that the memory component may store hard coded and/or operational instructions and the processing module, processing circuit and/or processing unit may execute the hard coded and/or operational instructions corresponding to at least some of the steps and/or functions described in one or more of the figures. Such a memory device or memory component may be included within an article of manufacture.

The invention has been described above with reference to method steps illustrating the performance of specific functions and relationships thereof. Boundaries and sequence of these functional components and method steps have been arbitrarily defined herein for convenience of description. Alternate boundaries and sequences may be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships are appropriately performed. Accordingly, any such alternate boundaries or sequences are within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention. Moreover, the boundaries of these functional elements have been arbitrarily defined for convenience of description. Alternate boundaries may be defined so long as certain significant functions are appropriately performed. Also, the flow diagram components within have been arbitrarily defined to illustrate certain important functions. To the extent used, the boundaries and sequence of flow diagram components have been defined and still perform some significant function. Accordingly, such alternative definitions of functional and flow diagram components and sequences are within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the functional components, as well as other illustrative components, modules, and elements herein, may be used for illustration or may be performed by discrete elements, application specific integrated circuits, processors executing suitable software, etc., or any combination thereof.

The present invention has also been described, at least in part, in one or more embodiments. Embodiments of the invention are described herein to illustrate the invention, one aspect, feature, concept, and/or example of the invention. Physical embodiments of devices, articles, machines and/or processes embodying the present invention may include one or more aspects, features, concepts, examples, etc., described with reference to one or more embodiments discussed herein. Moreover, it can be seen that the embodiments may include functions, steps, modules, etc. having the same or similar names using the same or different reference numerals, and as such, the functions, steps, modules, etc. may be the same or similar functions, steps, modules, etc. or different functions, steps, modules, etc.

Unless specifically stated to the contrary, signals sent to, from, and/or between components in any of the figures shown herein may be analog or digital, continuous-time or discrete-time, and single-ended or differential signals. For example, if the signal path is a single-ended path, a differential signal path is also indicated. Likewise, if the signal path is a differential path, a single-ended signal path is also indicated. Those skilled in the art will recognize that while one or more particular architectures are described herein, other architectures may be used which use one or more data buses, direct connections between components, and/or indirect couplings between other components which are not explicitly shown.

In describing various embodiments of the invention, the term "module" is used. A module includes functional components that are executed by hardware to perform one or more module functions, such as processing one or more input signals to produce one or more output signals. The hardware of the execution module itself may operate in conjunction with software and/or firmware. A module, as used herein, may include one or more sub-modules that are modules themselves.

While specific combinations of features and functions of the invention have been described herein, other combinations of features and functions are possible. The invention is not limited to the specific examples disclosed herein, and other such combinations are expressly included.

Mode selection table:

table 1: 2.4GHz,20/22MHz channel BW, 54Mbps maximum bit rate

Table 2: channelization for table 1

Table 3: power Spectral Density (PSD) mask for Table 1

Table 4: 5GHz,20MHz channel BW, 54Mbps maximum bit rate

Table 5: channelization for table 4

Table 6: 2.4GHz,20MHz channel BW, 192Mbps maximum bit rate

Table 7: channelization for table 6

Table 8: 5GHz,20MHz channel BW, 192Mbps maximum bit rate

Table 9: channelization for table 8

Table 10: 5GHz with 40MHz channel and 486Mbps maximum bit rate

Table 11: power Spectral Density (PSD) mask for table 10

Table 12: channelization for table 10

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one antenna to receive a trigger frame from a communication device;

a processor to:

determining a first Modulation Coding Set (MCS) associated with the trigger frame; and

selecting a second MCS based on at least the first MCS and based on at least one measured parameter associated with a communication link between the device and the communication apparatus and generating a response frame having the second MCS, wherein the second MCS is a highest MCS within a basic MCS group associated with the device and the communication apparatus; and the number of the first and second groups,

wherein:

the at least one antenna transmits the response frame to the communication device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

explicitly indicating a third MCS for the response frame within the provoking frame; and

the processor processes the trigger frame to obtain the third MCS therefrom, and selects the second MCS by the third MCS based on at least one measured parameter associated with a communication link between the apparatus and the communication device.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the processor selecting the second MCS based on at least one of a reduction parameter and a restriction parameter provided by the communication device; and

when the first MCS is lower than the limiting parameter, based on the decreasing parameter,

the second MCS has a relatively lower order than the first MCS.

4. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one antenna to receive a trigger frame from a communication device;

a processor to:

selecting a second MCS based on at least the first MCS and generating a response frame with the second MCS; and, wherein:

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein:

the processor processes the trigger frame to obtain the third MCS therefrom and selects the second MCS by the third MCS based on at least one measured parameter associated with a communication link between the apparatus and the communication device.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein:

the processor selects the second MCS based on at least one measured parameter associated with a communication link between the apparatus and the communication device.

7. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein:

when the first MCS is lower than the limiting parameter, the second MCS has a relatively lower order than the first MCS based on the reducing parameter.

8. A method of operation of a communication device, the method comprising:

receiving, via at least one antenna of the communication device, a trigger frame from at least one other communication device;

determining a first Modulation Coding Set (MCS) associated with the trigger frame;

selecting a second MCS based on at least the first MCS and generating a response frame with the second MCS; and

transmitting the response frame to the at least one other communication device via the at least one antenna of the communication device.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein:

explicitly indicating a third MCS for use in the response frame within the provoking frame; and further comprising:

processing the trigger frame to obtain the third MCS therefrom, and selecting the second MCS by the third MCS based on at least one measured parameter associated with a communication link between the communication device and the at least one other communication device.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein:

selecting the second MCS based on at least one of a reduction parameter and a restriction parameter provided by the at least one other communication device; and, wherein: