JP2018506220A - Method and apparatus for multicast block acknowledgment - Google Patents

Abstract

  A method for wireless communication is disclosed that includes generating and interpreting a multicast block acknowledgment frame. Group identifiers and device identifiers are used to indicate the presence of aggregated acknowledgment information and to extract acknowledgment information for individual stations.

Description

  The following description relates generally to communication systems, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for acknowledgment schemes.

  To address the problem of increased bandwidth requirements required for wireless communication systems, multiple user terminals communicate with a single access point by sharing channel resources while achieving high data throughput. Various schemes have been developed to make this possible. With limited communication resources, it is desirable to reduce the amount of traffic that passes between the access point and multiple terminals. For example, when an access point acknowledges transmissions from multiple terminals, it is desirable to minimize the amount of traffic to complete all transmission acknowledgments. Therefore, there is a need for an improved protocol for acknowledging transmissions from multiple terminals.

  In one aspect, a communication method is provided. The method generally includes receiving one or more transmissions from one or more of a plurality of devices, a group identifier associated with at least the plurality of devices, and the received one or more transmissions. Generating an acknowledgment message including at least acknowledgment information based on the acknowledgment message, the acknowledgment message including one or more bits indicating the presence of acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message; Transmitting to a plurality of devices.

  In one aspect, an apparatus for communication is provided. The apparatus generally includes a receiver configured to receive one or more transmissions from one or more of the plurality of apparatuses, a group identifier associated with at least the plurality of apparatuses, and one or more received One or more processing systems configured to generate an acknowledgment message that includes at least acknowledgment information based on multiple transmissions, wherein the acknowledgment message indicates the presence of acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message And a transmitter configured to send an acknowledgment message to a plurality of devices.

  In another aspect, the apparatus generally receives a means for receiving one or more transmissions from one or more of the plurality of apparatuses and a group identifier associated with at least the plurality of apparatuses. Means for generating an acknowledgment message including at least acknowledgment information based on multiple or multiple transmissions, wherein the acknowledgment message is one or more bits indicating the presence of acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message And means for transmitting an acknowledgment message to the plurality of devices.

  According to another aspect, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product generally includes a computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the device, cause the device to perform the method. The method generally includes receiving one or more transmissions from one or more of a plurality of devices, a group identifier associated with at least the plurality of devices, and the received one or more transmissions. Generating an acknowledgment message including at least acknowledgment information based on the acknowledgment message, the acknowledgment message including one or more bits indicating the presence of acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message; Transmitting to a plurality of devices.

  In another aspect, a wireless node is provided. The wireless node generally includes at least one antenna, a receiver configured to receive one or more transmissions from one or more of a plurality of devices via at least one antenna, and at least a plurality of A processing system configured to generate an acknowledgment message that includes at least a group identifier associated with a device of the device and acknowledgment information based on the received one or more transmissions, wherein the acknowledgment message is A processing system including one or more bits indicating the presence of acknowledgment information in the response message and a transmitter configured to transmit the acknowledgment message to the plurality of devices via at least one antenna.

  In one aspect, a communication method is provided. The method generally includes transmitting data from one of a plurality of devices to a wireless node and receiving an acknowledgment message from the wireless node, wherein the acknowledgment message is associated with at least the plurality of devices. At least partially including a group identifier and acknowledgment information, wherein the acknowledgment message includes one or more bits indicating the presence of the acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message, and at least partially in the group identifier and the acknowledgment information Determining confirmation response information for one of the plurality of devices based on.

  In another aspect, an apparatus for communication is provided. The device is one of a plurality of devices associated with the group identifier and is generally configured to receive a response message from the transmitter and a transmitter configured to transmit data to the wireless node. A receiver, wherein the acknowledgment message includes at least a group identifier and acknowledgment information, and the acknowledgment message includes one or more bits indicating the presence of acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message; And a processing system configured to determine acknowledgment information for the device based at least in part on the group identifier and the acknowledgment information.

  In another aspect, the apparatus is generally means for transmitting data to a wireless node and means for receiving an acknowledgment message from the wireless node, the acknowledgment message comprising at least a group identifier and acknowledgment information. And acknowledgment information about the device based at least in part on the group identifier and the acknowledgment information, wherein the acknowledgment message includes one or more bits indicating the presence of the acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message Means for determining.

  According to another aspect, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product generally includes a computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that when executed by a device that is one of a plurality of devices associated with a group identifier. . The method generally includes transmitting data to a wireless node and receiving an acknowledgment message from the wireless node, the acknowledgment message including at least a group identifier and acknowledgment information, the acknowledgment message comprising: Including one or more bits indicating the presence of acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message and determining acknowledgment information regarding the device based at least in part on the group identifier and the acknowledgment information.

  In another aspect, an access terminal is provided. The access terminal generally receives an acknowledgment message from a wireless node via at least one antenna, a transmitter configured to transmit data to the wireless node via the at least one antenna, and the at least one antenna. The acknowledgment message includes at least acknowledgment information and a group identifier associated with the access terminal and at least one other device, wherein the acknowledgment message is the acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message. A receiver that includes one or more bits that indicate presence of the data, and a processing system configured to determine acknowledgment information for the access terminal based at least in part on the group identifier and the acknowledgment information.

  These and other exemplary aspects of the invention are described in the detailed description that follows and in the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram of a wireless communication network in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless node that includes a front-end processing system in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an apparatus including a processing system according to some aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 is a timing diagram for communications in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 illustrates a block acknowledgment frame that includes an absolute device identifier, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 illustrates the content and structure of a block acknowledgment frame that includes a group identifier and a relative device identifier in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 illustrates the content and structure of a block acknowledgment frame that includes a group identifier and does not include a device identifier, according to some aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 illustrates the content and structure of a block acknowledgment frame according to one aspect, according to some aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 illustrates the contents and structure of a block acknowledgment control field according to some aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 illustrates the contents and structure of a block acknowledgment control field according to some aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 illustrates the contents and structure of a block acknowledgment information field according to some aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 illustrates the content and structure of a per-traffic identifier information field according to some aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 illustrates the content and structure of a block acknowledgment information field according to another aspect, according to some aspects of the present disclosure. 4 is a flowchart of a method for acknowledgment transmission using a multicast block acknowledgment in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for receiving and interpreting aggregated acknowledgment information according to some aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 illustrates aspects of an apparatus used in a wireless communication system in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 illustrates aspects of an apparatus used in a wireless communication system in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

  In accordance with common practice, some drawings may be simplified for clarity. Thus, the drawings may not show all of the components of a given apparatus (eg, device) or method. Finally, like reference numerals may be used throughout the specification and figures to indicate like features.

  Various aspects of the novel systems, apparatus, and methods are described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the teaching disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to any particular structure or function presented throughout this disclosure. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. Based on the teachings herein, the scope of the present disclosure may be implemented regardless of any other aspect of the invention, or in combination with any other aspect of the invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art should appreciate that they encompass any aspect of the novel systems, devices, and methods disclosed herein. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be implemented using any number of aspects described herein. In addition, the scope of the present invention is such that it is implemented using other structures, functions, or structures and functions in addition to or other than the various aspects of the present invention described herein. Includes apparatus or method. It should be understood that any aspect disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of a claim.

  Referring now to FIG. 1, some aspects of a wireless network are presented. The wireless network 100 is shown with a number of wireless nodes designated generally as an access point 110 and a plurality of access terminals or stations (STAs) 120. Each wireless node can receive and / or transmit. In the detailed description below, in downlink communication, the term “access point” is used to designate a transmitting node, and the term “access terminal” is used to designate a receiving node, while uplink. In communication, the term “access point” is used to designate a receiving node, and the term “access terminal” is used to designate a transmitting node. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that other terminology or names for the access point and / or access terminal may be used. By way of example, for an access point, a base station, base transceiver station, station, terminal, node, wireless node, access terminal operating as an access point, or some other suitable terminology may be used as a nomenclature. For access terminals, user terminals, mobile stations, subscriber stations, stations, wireless devices, terminals, nodes, wireless nodes, or some other suitable terminology may be used as designations. The various concepts described throughout this disclosure are intended to apply to all suitable wireless nodes, regardless of their specific names.

  Wireless network 100 may support any number of access points distributed throughout the geographic region to form coverage for access terminal 120. System controller 130 may be used to coordinate and control access points and to allow access terminal 120 to access other networks (eg, the Internet). For ease of explanation, one access point 110 is shown. An access point is typically a fixed terminal that provides backhaul services to access terminals within the geographic area of coverage. However, the access point may be mobile in some applications. The access terminal may be fixed or mobile and uses an access point backhaul service or engages in peer-to-peer communication with other access terminals. Examples of access terminals include phones (eg, cellular phones), laptop computers, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital audio players (eg, MP3 players), cameras, game consoles, or any other suitable There is a wireless node.

  The wireless network 100 may support MIMO technology. Using MIMO technology, access point 110 may communicate with multiple access terminals 120 simultaneously using space division multiple access (SDMA). SDMA is a multiple access scheme that allows multiple streams sent to different receivers at the same time to share the same frequency channel, resulting in higher user capacity. This is achieved by spatially precoding each data stream and then transmitting each spatially precoded stream on a downlink through a different transmit antenna. The spatially precoded data stream arrives at the access terminal, each with a different spatial signature, thereby allowing each access terminal 120 to recover the data stream intended for that access terminal 120 . On the uplink, each access terminal 120 transmits a spatially precoded data stream, which allows the access point 110 to identify the source of each spatially precoded data stream. . Although the term “precoding” is used herein, the term “coding” is generally used to encompass the process of precoding, encoding, decoding, and / or postcoding a data stream. Note that it may be.

  One or more access terminals 120 may be equipped with multiple antennas to allow certain functions. In this configuration, for example, multiple antennas at access point 110 may be used to communicate with multiple antenna access points to improve data throughput without adding bandwidth or transmit power. This may be achieved by splitting the high data rate signal at the transmitter into multiple lower rate data streams with various spatial signatures so that the receiver can divide these streams into multiple channels. And the streams can be combined appropriately to recover the high rate data signal.

  Although some portions of the following disclosure describe access terminals that also support MIMO technology, the access point 110 may be configured to support access terminals that do not support MIMO technology. This approach allows older versions of access terminals (i.e. `` legacy '' terminals) to remain deployed in the wireless network, extending its useful life, while introducing new MIMO access terminals accordingly. Can be made possible.

  In the detailed description that follows, various aspects of the disclosure will be described with reference to a MIMO system supporting any suitable wireless technology, such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). OFDM is a spread spectrum technique that distributes data over multiple subcarriers spaced at precise frequencies. Spacing provides “orthogonality” that allows the receiver to recover data from the subcarriers. An OFDM system may implement IEEE 802.11 or some other air interface standard. Other suitable wireless technologies include, by way of example, code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA) or any other suitable wireless technology, or any combination of suitable wireless technologies. The CDMA system may implement IS-2000, IS-95, IS-856, wideband CDMA (WCDMA®), or some other suitable air interface standard. The TDMA system may implement Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), or some other suitable air interface standard. As those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the various aspects of the present disclosure are not limited to any particular wireless technology and / or air interface standard.

  A wireless node is a physical (that implements all physical and electrical specifications for interfacing a wireless node with a shared wireless channel, regardless of whether the wireless node is an access point or an access terminal. PHY) layer, medium access control (MAC) layer that coordinates access to the shared wireless channel, and application layers that perform various data processing functions including, for example, audio and multimedia codecs, and graphics processing A protocol using a hierarchical structure including the above may be implemented. Any particular application may require additional protocol layers (eg, network layer, transport layer). In some configurations, a wireless node may serve as a relay point between an access point and an access terminal or between two access terminals, and thus may not require an application layer. Those skilled in the art will be able to easily implement an appropriate protocol for any wireless node depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

  When the wireless node is in transmit mode, the application layer processes the data, splits the data as packets, and supplies the data packets to the MAC layer. The MAC layer assembles the MAC packet, and each data packet from the application layer is transmitted by the payload of the MAC packet. Alternatively, the payload of the MAC packet may transmit a fragment of the data packet from the application layer or may transmit a plurality of data packets. Each MAC packet includes a MAC header and an error detection code. A MAC packet may be referred to as a MAC protocol data unit (MPDU), but a frame, packet, time slot, segment, or any other suitable name may be used as a designation for the MAC packet.

  When the MAC decides to transmit, it supplies a block of MAC packets to the PHY layer. The PHY layer assembles a PHY packet by assembling a block of MAC packets as a payload and adding a preamble. As described in more detail below, the PHY layer also serves to perform various signal processing functions (eg, modulation, coding, spatial processing, etc.). The preamble, sometimes called Physical Layer Convergence Protocol (PLCP), is used by the receiving node to detect the start position of the PHY packet and synchronize with the transmitter node data block. A PHY packet may be referred to as a physical layer protocol data unit (PLPDU), but a frame, packet, time slot, segment, or any other suitable name may be used as a designation for the PHY packet.

  The process is reversed when the wireless node is in receive mode. That is, the PHY layer detects incoming PHY packets from the wireless channel. The preamble allows the PHY layer to lock into the PHY packet and perform various signal processing functions (eg, demodulation, decoding, spatial processing, etc.). After processing, the PHY layer recovers the block of MAC packets transmitted in the payload of the PHY packet and supplies the MAC packet to the MAC layer.

  The MAC layer checks the error detection code for each MAC packet and determines whether the packet has been successfully decoded. If the error detection code for the MAC packet indicates that the packet has been successfully decoded, the payload of the MAC packet is supplied to the application layer. If the error detection code for the MAC packet indicates that packet decoding has failed, the MAC packet is discarded. A block acknowledgment (BACK) indicating which data packet has been successfully decoded may be sent back to the transmitting node. The sending node uses BACK to determine which data packet, if any, needs to be retransmitted.

  FIG. 2 is a conceptual block diagram illustrating an example of the signal processing function of the PHY layer. In transmit mode, TX data processor 202 may be used to receive data from the MAC layer, encode the data (e.g., turbo coding), and facilitate forward error correction (FEC) at the receiving node. Good. The encoding process results in a sequence of code symbols that may be blocked by the TX data processor 202 and mapped to a signal constellation to create a sequence of modulation symbols.

  In a wireless node that implements OFDM, modulation symbols from TX data processor 202 may be provided to OFDM modulator 204. The OFDM modulator 204 divides the modulation symbols into parallel streams. Each stream is then mapped to an OFDM subcarrier and then combined using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to create a TX spatial processor 204 that performs spatial processing of the modulation symbols. This may be achieved by spatially precoding the modulation symbols before supplying the modulation symbols to the OFDM modulator 206.

  The OFDM modulator 206 divides the modulation symbols into parallel streams. Each stream is then mapped to an OFDM subcarrier and then combined using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to create a time domain OFDM stream. Each spatially precoded OFDM stream is then fed to a different antenna 210a-210n via a respective transceiver 208a-208n. Each transceiver 208a-208n modulates an RF carrier that includes a respective precoded stream for transmission over a wireless channel.

  In receive mode, each transceiver 208a-208n receives a signal through its respective antenna 210a-210n. Each transceiver 208a-208n may be used to recover the information modulated on the RF carrier and provide this information to OFDM demodulator 220.

  RX spatial processor 222 performs spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial stream directed to wireless node 200. Spatial processing may be performed according to channel correlation matrix inversion (CCMI), minimum mean square error (MMSE), soft interference cancellation (SIC) or some other suitable technique. If multiple spatial streams are directed to the wireless node 200, they may be combined by the RX spatial processor 222.

  In a wireless node that implements OFDM, streams (or combined streams) from transceivers 208 a-208 n are provided to OFDM demodulator 220. OFDM demodulator 220 transforms the stream (or composite stream) from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal includes a separate stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. OFDM demodulator 220 recovers the data (ie, modulation symbols) transmitted on each subcarrier, multiplexes this data as a stream of demodulated symbols, and then sends this stream to RX spatial processor 222.

  RX spatial processor 222 performs spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial stream directed to wireless node 200. Spatial processing may be performed according to channel correlation matrix inversion (CCMI), minimum mean square error (MMSE), soft interference cancellation (SIC) or some other suitable technique. If multiple spatial streams are directed to the wireless node 200, they may be combined by the RX spatial processor 222.

  The RX data processor 224 may be used to translate the modulation symbols back to the proper point in the signal constellation. Due to noise and other disturbances in the wireless channel, the modulation symbols may not correspond to the exact location of the point in the original signal constellation. The RX data processor 224 detects which modulation symbol is most likely transmitted by finding the minimum distance between the reception point and the position of a valid symbol in the signal constellation. For turbo codes, these soft decisions may be used, for example, to calculate the log likelihood ratio (LLR) of the code symbols associated with a given modulation symbol. The RX data processor 224 then uses the sequence of code symbols LLR to decode the initially transmitted data before providing the data to the MAC layer.

  FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the processing system 300 in the wireless node. In this example, processing system 300 may be implemented with a bus architecture schematically represented by bus 302. Bus 302 may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges, depending on the specific application of processing system 300 and the overall design constraints. The bus links various circuits including processor 304, computer readable medium 306, and bus interface 308. Bus interface 308 may be used, among other things, to connect network adapter 310 to processing system 300 via bus 302. The network adapter 310 may be used to implement PHY layer signal processing functions. In the case of access terminal 110 (see FIG. 1), user interface 312 (eg, keypad, display, mouse, joystick, etc.) may also be connected to the bus via bus interface 308. Bus 302 is well known in the art and may therefore link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., which will not be described further.

  The processor 304 is responsible for general processing, including managing the bus and executing software stored on the computer readable medium 306. The processor 304 may be implemented with one or more general purpose and / or dedicated processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gate logic, discrete hardware circuits, and throughout this disclosure Other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functions described is included.

  One or more processors in the processing system may execute software. Software, whether called software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or other names, instructions, instruction sets, codes, code segments, program codes, programs, subprograms, software modules, It should be interpreted broadly to mean applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, execution threads, procedures, functions, etc.

  The software may reside on a computer readable medium. Computer readable media include, by way of example, magnetic storage devices (eg, hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic strips), optical disks (eg, compact disks (CDs), digital versatile disks (DVDs)), smart cards, flash Memory devices (for example, cards, sticks, key drives), random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), registers , Removable disks, carrier waves, transmission lines, signals, or any other suitable medium for storing or transmitting software. The computer readable medium may reside in the processing system or may be external to the processing system, and may be distributed across multiple entities that include the processing system. The computer readable medium may be embodied in a computer program product. By way of example, a computer program product may include a computer readable medium in the packaging material.

  In the hardware implementation shown in FIG. 3, computer readable media 306 is shown as part of processing system 300, separate from processor 304. However, as will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, the machine-readable medium 306, or any portion thereof, may be located outside the processing system 300. By way of example, computer readable media 306 may include transmission lines, carrier waves modulated by data, signals, and / or computer products separate from wireless nodes, all of which are processed by processor 304 via bus interface 308. May be accessed. Alternatively or additionally, computer readable media 306, or any portion thereof, may be incorporated into processor 304 as is the case with caches and / or general register files. Similarly, the bus interface 308, the network adapter 310, and the user interface 312 may be located inside or outside the processing system 300.

  Processing system 300 may be implemented using one or more processors. One or more processors can be general purpose microprocessors, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), controllers, state machines, logic gates, individual hardware components May be implemented using any combination of dedicated hardware finite state machines or any other suitable entity capable of performing computations or other operations of information.

  FIG. 4 shows a timing diagram 400. This timing diagram shows a system in which one access point is associated with multiple stations. For example, the system includes at least station 1, station 2, station 3, and station 4. Of course, more or fewer stations may be included in the system. As illustrated, station 1 may send a transmission request 403 requesting an opportunity to transmit data to the access point to the access point. In response to the request, the access point may send an acknowledgment 405 to station 1. Station 4 may send a transmission request 407 to the access point. The access point may respond with an acknowledgment 409 to station 4. After receiving and acknowledging various transmission requests 403 and 407, the access point generates a transmission start message 411 indicating that the stations 1 and 4 can start transmitting data according to the information in the transmission start message 411 itself. It may be multicast. In response to the transmission start message 411, the stations 1 and 4 start transmission of the respective data messages 413 and 415 to the access point. As described above, an access point may have multiple antennas and may be able to receive transmission information from both stations simultaneously. In another aspect, transmission start message 411 may indicate various times within a single frame at which station 1 and station 4 transmit data messages. Accordingly, each data message 413 and 415 may be received at a different time. The access point may send an acknowledgment to each station after receiving the respective data messages 413 and 415. As described below, it may be advantageous to send a single block acknowledgment message 417 to station 1 and station 4 that includes all of the acknowledgment information for both stations. Using multicast block acknowledgment may reduce overhead compared to sending separate acknowledgment messages to each station. Further, as will be described later, the multicast block confirmation response may be performed without extensive modification to a communication standard such as IEEE802.11.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a block acknowledgment message including an absolute device identifier. Block acknowledgment message 501 begins with an absolute device identifier 511 associated with station 1. In one aspect, the absolute device identifier 511 associated with station 1 may uniquely refer to station 1 511 of the stations associated with the access point. The absolute device identifier may be assigned to the station by the access point at the time of association. For example, the absolute device identifier may be an association identifier (AID). The association identifier can be, for example, 12 bits. In another example, 11 bits are used. In another aspect, the absolute device identifier 511 associated with station 1 may uniquely refer to station 1 511 of the stations associated with the access point and the stations not associated with the access point. The absolute device identifier may be assigned to the station by the manufacturer and stored in the station hardware. More specifically, an absolute device identifier may be assigned to a station prior to association with an access point. For example, the absolute device identifier may be a media access control (MAC) address. The media access control address can be 48 bits, for example.

  Next, in the block confirmation response message 501, there is confirmation response information 531 regarding the station 1. Acknowledgment information may include, for example, a bitmap representing the acknowledgment status of one or more specific transmissions from the station to the access point. For example, data transmitted by station 1 to access point 110 may include multiple packets, and the acknowledgment information indicates whether each bit corresponds to one of the packets and whether the packet is acknowledged. It may contain several bits to represent. This confirmation response information may include additional information as described later.

  Block acknowledgment message 501 also includes an absolute device identifier 514 for station 4 and acknowledgment information 534 for station 4. The absolute device identifier and acknowledgment information may be as described above for station 1 but refers to data 415 transmitted by station 4 and station 4, respectively.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a block confirmation response message including a group identifier and a relative device identifier. As described above, an absolute device identifier uniquely refers to a station and may distinguish between stations associated with an access point and stations not associated with an access point. Thus, the absolute device identifier may be quite long. For example, the absolute device identifier may be a MAC address and may include 48 bits. On the other hand, the relative device identifier assigned to a station for the purpose of distinguishing a station from only stations in a specific group includes bits with as few as ceiling (log ₂ (N)) bits. In this case, N is the number of stations in a particular group, and ceiling (x) is the smallest integer greater than or equal to x.

  In the block acknowledgment message 601, there is initially a group identifier 605 associated with a plurality of stations including station 1 and station 4. Group identifier 605, in one aspect, may be assigned to multiple stations by the access point upon association. In one aspect, the group identifier 605 is a media access control (MAC) address.

  In the block acknowledgment message 601, there is then a relative device identifier 621 associated with station 1. As described above, the relative device identifier distinguishes station 1 from other stations in the group. The block confirmation response message 601 further includes transmission side confirmation response information 631 regarding the station 1. The confirmation response information may be as described above with respect to FIG.

  Block acknowledgment message 601 also includes a relative device identifier 624 for station 4 and acknowledgment information 634 for station 4. The absolute device identifier and acknowledgment information may be as described above for station 1 but refers to data 415 transmitted by station 4 and station 4, respectively.

Because block acknowledgment message 601 includes group identifier 605 and relative device identifiers 621 and 624 instead of absolute device identifiers, unlike block acknowledgment message 501 of FIG. 5, a smaller number of bits may be transmitted. For example, assuming that each absolute device identifier is a 48-bit MAC address, 96 bits are required to transmit the absolute device identifiers 511 and 514 in the block acknowledgment message 501 of FIG. Each relative device identifier may include as few bits as ceiling (log ₂ (N)) bits. Assuming that there are four stations in the group associated with the access point, each relative device identifier may be only two bits. Therefore, assuming that the group identifier is a 48-bit MAC address, the bits required for group identifier 605 and relative device identifiers 621 and 624 may be as few as 52 bits.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a block acknowledgment message that includes a group identifier and does not include a device identifier. In the block acknowledgment message 701, there is a group identifier 705 first. The group identifier 705 may be as described above with respect to FIG. Next, in the block confirmation response message 701, there are confirmation response information 731 related to the station 1, confirmation response information 732 related to the station 2, confirmation response information 733 related to the station 3, and confirmation response information 734 related to the station 4. Since the block acknowledgment message does not include a device identifier, station 1 and station 4 can determine which acknowledgment information points to the data transmitted by each station according to the order or arrangement of the acknowledgment information. Thus, station 1 assumes that the first acknowledgment information points to data 413 transmitted by station 1, and station 4 assumes that the fourth acknowledgment information points to data 415 transmitted by station 4. To do.

  The confirmation response information 732 regarding the station 2 and the confirmation response information 733 regarding the station 3 may be dummy confirmation response information when there is no data transmitted from the station 2 or the station 3. The dummy confirmation response information may be all zero. In another aspect, these bits are used for other purposes such as channel estimation or other side channel communications. Dummy acknowledgment information about other stations may or may not be included. For example, the dummy acknowledgment information regarding the fifth station is not necessary for the station 1 and the station 4 to determine which acknowledgment information indicates the data transmitted by the fifth station. However, dummy acknowledgment information for the fifth station may be included for channel estimation or other side channel communications.

  Since the block acknowledgment message 701 does not include a device identifier, the number of bits required for transmission may be smaller than that of the block acknowledgment message 601 in FIG. For example, each group identifier 605 and 705 is a 48-bit MAC address, each relative device identifier 612 and 624 is 2 bits, and each acknowledgment information 631, 634, 731, 732, 733, and 744 is 1 bit. Assuming that 54 bits are required to transmit the block acknowledgment message 601 of FIG. 6, only 52 bits are required to transmit the block acknowledgment message 701 of FIG.

  However, assuming that each acknowledgment information 631, 634, 731, 732, 733, and 744 is 4 bits, 60 bits are required to transmit the block acknowledgment message 601 of FIG. 64 bits are required to transmit the block acknowledgment message 701. Thus, in one aspect, the access point determines the length of the block acknowledgment message using the format of FIG. 6 and determines the length of the block acknowledgment message using the format of FIG. Send block acknowledgment message with bits. The block acknowledgment message may include a field indicating which format is being used.

  FIG. 8A is a diagram illustrating the contents and structure of a block acknowledgment (BA) frame, according to one aspect. Although each aspect may be described with respect to the IEEE 802.11 standard, it will be appreciated that various aspects may be implemented in accordance with other communication protocol specifications. FIG. 8A shows a block acknowledgment (BA) frame 800. The BA frame 800 includes a receiver address 802 and a transmitter address 804. In one aspect, the receiver address field 802 may include a media access control (MAC) address. In one aspect, the transmitter address field 804 may include a media access control (MAC) address. For example, if a single station receives a block acknowledgment, the receiver address field 802 may include the single station's MAC address or another absolute device identifier. However, the BA frame may be used to multicast multiple acknowledgments to multiple stations. Thus, in another aspect, the receiver address field 802 may include a group identifier rather than an identifier for a single station. In another aspect, the transmitter address field 804 may include a group identifier rather than an identifier for a single station. The acquisition and use of group identifiers will be described in more detail below. The BA frame 800 also includes a block acknowledgment control field 810 and a block acknowledgment information field 830 that will be further described below.

  FIG. 8B is a diagram showing the contents and structure of the block acknowledgment (BA) control field 810a. The BA control field 810a includes a multi-traffic identifier (multi-TID) field 812 in addition to other information. When the BA frame 800 is used to acknowledge traffic from a single station, the multi-TID field 812 is used to indicate that multiple traffic elements are being used by that station Also good. For example, the station may be involved in transmitting video information as well as email information. Each of these different traffic elements or flows may have different quality of service requirements and may be treated differently in some cases. Multi-TID field 812 may be used to indicate the presence of multiple such traffic elements. However, as described below, the multi-TID field may be used in the BA frame 800 to indicate the presence of acknowledgments for multiple stations as well as multiple traffic elements. In particular, the multi-TID field may be based on the number of devices whose acknowledgment information is included in the block acknowledgment. The BA control field 810a may include a reserved field 814. Reserved field 814 may include a plurality of reserved bits. In another aspect, one or more of the reserved bits in reserved field 814 may be used to indicate the presence of acknowledgment information in BA frame 800 for multiple stations. In one example, the reserved bit may be B4.

  FIG. 8C is a diagram showing the contents and structure of a block acknowledgment (BA) control field 810b that may conform to the IEEE 802.11aa standard. The BA control field 810b includes a multi-traffic identifier (multi-TID) field 822 and a group cast (GCR) field 824 using retry in addition to other information. According to some aspects, the presence of acknowledgment information in BA frame 800 for multiple STAs may be indicated by a reserved value of one or more bit combinations. For example, if the standard reserves the combination of setting the GCR field 824 to 1 and setting the multi-TID field to 1, the combination (i.e., GCR = 1 and multi-TID = 1) will be replaced with the new frame format. Can be used to show. Any other unused combination (ie, any combination not covered by the standard) may be used.

  According to some aspects, the presence of acknowledgment information in the BA frame 800 for multiple STAs may be indicated by setting the RA field 802 to the same value of the TA field 804. For example, the RA field may be set to the same value as defined for TA (ie, the transmitter's MAC address). According to some aspects, this combination is not defined in the standard and may be used for signaling.

FIG. 8D is a diagram showing the contents and structure of the block acknowledgment (BA) information field 830. In one aspect, the BA frame 800 may include multiple instances of the BA information field. For example, if the BA frame 800 is used to acknowledge multiple traffic elements originating from a single station, the BA information field 830 is repeated for each traffic element utilized by that station. May be. Each instance of BA information field 830 may include information for identifying the traffic element to which the acknowledgment information in the field relates. For example, the BA information field 830 may include a per-TID info field 832. The per TID info field 832 may be used to distinguish various traffic elements being used by the station. Furthermore, as described below, when acknowledgment information for multiple stations is aggregated as a single BA frame 800, the per TID info field 832 is used to distinguish acknowledgment information for different stations. May be. The BA information field 830 may include a representation of acknowledgment information related to a particular traffic element.
For example, the BA information field 830 may include a bitmap in the block ACK bitmap field 836 that represents an acknowledgment status of one or more specific transmissions from a station to the access point. This acknowledgment status is sometimes referred to herein as acknowledgment information. The acknowledgment information in the specific BA information field 830 may be called a part of the acknowledgment information. The term confirmation response information may refer to a plurality of confirmation response information portions.

  According to some aspects, block ACK bitmap field 836 may include acknowledgments for more than 64 MPDUs (ie, the block Ack bitmap field may be longer than 8 bytes). In another embodiment, the block Ack bitmap field 836 may be shorter or longer than 8 bytes, or may not be present.

  According to some aspects, neither the block Ack bitmap field 836 nor the start sequence control field 834 may be present. In some cases, one or more of the presence and / or length of the block Ack bitmap field 836 may be indicated in one of the following ways.

  For example, the presence and / or length of block Ack bitmap field 836 per STA is indicated in per-TID info field 832 by using an indication in, for example, an additional block acknowledgment (ADDBA) exchange. Based on the previous management negotiation of the block ACK policy configuration with the STA, it may be implicitly associated with the STA identifier in the per-TID info field 832.

  The presence and / or length of the block Ack bitmap field 836 per STA is based on the STA identifier based on the type of BAR or data frame (single MPDU or A-MPDU) requesting acknowledgment and the block ACK policy. It may be implicitly associated.

  The presence and / or length of block Ack bitmap field 836 common to all STAs should use one or more reserved bits in the BA control field (e.g., BA control field 810a and / or 810b) May be indicated by This bit may indicate the presence of a longer bitmap having a pre-negotiated size, or may indicate one of multiple possible sizes. In this case, all of the block ACK bitmaps for all STAs may use the same length, or may or may not exist. Further, the presence and / or length of block Ack bitmap field 836 per STA may be indicated by using one bit from per-TID info field 832.

  The presence and / or length of a block Ack bitmap field 836 common to all STAs may be indicated by using compressed bitmap bits. Normally, compressed bitmap bits distinguish between 64-bit and 256-bit bitmaps, but 256-bit bitmaps contain acknowledgments for 64 MPDUs, possibly up to 16 fragments per MPDU. including. For multi-STA BA, the compressed bitmap bit may indicate a bitmap longer than 64 for acknowledgment of more than 64 MPDUs, or may indicate the presence or absence of a block Ack bitmap field 836 Good.

  According to some aspects, if any of the above exemplary indications are used to indicate that the block ACK bitmap has a different size, the fragment number field in the block ACK start sequence control field 834 (Not shown) may indicate the size of the bitmap.

  According to some aspects, if any of the above exemplary indications are used to signal that the block ACK bitmap field 836 is not present (for one STA or for all STAs), Block ACK start sequence control field 834 may identify the sequence number of a correctly received MPDU.

  According to some aspects, the size and / or presence of the block ACK bitmap field may be negotiated in the ADDBA procedure.

  According to some aspects, if an M-BA is received at the STA that has a per-TID info field 832 that identifies the STA and does not have the block ACK bitmap field 836, the start sequence control field It may indicate that the identified MPDU has been received correctly.

  According to some aspects, an STA is received at the STA that has a per-TID info field 832 that identifies the STA, and neither the block ACK bitmap field 836 nor the block ACK start sequence control field 834. May indicate that a single MPDU has been correctly received.

  According to some aspects, if an STA receives a M-BA that has a per-TID info field 832 that identifies the STA and does not have a block ACK bitmap field 836, the sequence number is Of the “n” MPDUs having the first MPDU, the first MPDU having the sequence number indicated in the start sequence control field 834 may be correctly received.

  For example, if an M-BA is used to acknowledge a single MPDU with an immediate ACK policy sent from the STA, the BA information field 830 for that STA contains a per- Only the TID info field 832 may be included, or the start sequence control field 834 may be included.

  For example, if an M-BA is used to acknowledge an A-MPDU and all MPDUs are received correctly, the BA information field 830 starts with a per-TID info field 832 that identifies the STA. Only the sequence control field 834 may be included.

  According to some aspects, the M-BA may include only one BA information field 830 that includes a block ASK bitmap field 836, where each bit in the bitmap in the block ACK bitmap field 836 May be associated with one STA according to a predetermined order. According to some aspects, each bit in the bitmap may indicate an acknowledgment for the associated STA. This acknowledgment may indicate that a single MPDU from the STA has been correctly received or that all MPDUs in the A-MPDU from the STA have been correctly received.

  FIG. 8E is a diagram showing the contents and structure of the identifier per traffic (per TID info) field 832. The per TID info field 832 includes a reserved field 842 and a traffic identifier (TID) value field 844. When the BA frame 800 is used to acknowledge a transmission from a single station, the TID value field 844 may be used to identify acknowledgment information for that station's particular traffic element. Good. However, in one aspect, when the BA frame 800 is used to acknowledge transmissions from multiple stations, a reserved field 842 to indicate the particular station to which the corresponding portion of the acknowledgment information pertains. May be used. Specifically, one or more of the reserved bits in reserved field 842 may be set to identify a particular station. Accordingly, the per TID info field 832 may be used to specify a particular station and traffic elements associated with that station (eg, via an STA identifier). According to some aspects, the STA identifier may include an AID, a partial AID, a partial MAC address, or any other suitable type of identifier.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the contents and structure of a block acknowledgment information field according to another aspect. In some respects, the BA info field 937 is similar to the BA info field 830 of FIG. 8D. For example, the BA info field includes a per TID info field 937 similar to the per TID info field 832 of FIG. 8D. However, the BA info field 937 includes a station identifier (STA ID) field 939. The STA ID field may be referred to as a device identifier field. The STA ID field 939 may be used as a dedicated field for identifying a station to which a specific acknowledgment information part relates. Therefore, the station identifier may be encoded in the STA ID field 939 instead of encoding the station identifier in the reserved bits of the per TID info field 937. In one aspect, the STA ID field has a size of 6 octets to accommodate a MAC address or other absolute device identifier. In another aspect, the STA ID field includes two octets to accommodate the relative device identifier for a particular station. In other aspects, the STA ID field may include other length bits to accommodate other identifiers. As described above, when the device identifier is used in the BA frame, the acknowledgment information regarding a plurality of stations in a single BA frame can be efficiently aggregated.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a method for acknowledgment transmission using a multicast block acknowledgment. In one aspect, the method 1000 may be implemented on an access point similar to the access point 110 of FIG.

  Method 1000 begins at block 1010 where one or more transmissions are received from one or more of the plurality of devices. This reception can be performed, for example, by the access point 110 of FIG. 1 or the transceivers 210a and 210n of FIG. As described above, the transmission from each station may include multiple traffic elements, and each traffic element may have its own traffic identifier.

  The method 1000 proceeds to block 1020, where an acknowledgment message is generated that includes at least a group identifier associated with the plurality of devices and acknowledgment information based on the received one or more transmissions, wherein the acknowledgment message is , Including one or more bits indicating the presence of acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message. This generation can be performed, for example, by the access point 110 of FIG. 1 or the processing system 300 of FIG. In various aspects, the acknowledgment messages may be modified differently to facilitate interpretation of the aggregated acknowledgment information. In one aspect, the receiver address field in the acknowledgment message may be set to the group identifier. This may be interpreted by the receiving station as meaning that the acknowledgment message includes acknowledgment information for multiple stations. In another aspect, the acknowledgment message may include a multi-TID bit set to 1 in the BA control field. This may be interpreted by the receiving station as meaning that the acknowledgment message includes acknowledgment information for multiple stations. In another aspect, a zero value in the multi-TID bit field can be used to indicate the presence of aggregated acknowledgment information. In another aspect, one or more bits in the reserved field of the BA control field may be set to a predetermined pattern to indicate that the acknowledgment message includes acknowledgment information for multiple stations. For example, the last bit of the reserved field may be set to 1 to indicate the presence of aggregated acknowledgment information. In other aspects, other patterns may be used.

  The group identifier may be as described above with respect to FIGS. In one aspect, the group identifier is represented as a MAC address. The group identifier may be a static identifier, or may be generated periodically or determined in some cases, or for other stimuli such as the station joining a network or communication condition in the network. It may be generated in response or in some cases determined. In one aspect, the group identifier may be agreed in advance by the station or access point manufacturer. In another aspect, the group identifier may be obtained by the access point and distributed to each station upon association. In another aspect, the group identifier may be transmitted to each station using other messages such as the TxS message described above. As described above, the group identifier may be used by individual stations to recognize that an aggregated block acknowledgment frame is being used.

  In one aspect, the acknowledgment message includes a device identifier. In one aspect, the device identifier may be an absolute device identifier. For example, the device identifier may be a media access control (MAC) address. In another aspect, the device identifier may be a relative device identifier. The relative device identifier may be generated and assigned at the time of association. In another aspect, the relative device identifier may be implicitly derived by a station in each station's ordered list. For example, if four stations are participating in the network, the four stations may be identified as 0x00, 0x01, 0x10, and 0x11, respectively. In one aspect, the identifier-relative device identifier corresponds to the order in which each station is listed in the TxS message described above. Specifically, in one aspect, the relative device identifier is determined based on the arrangement of information in the transmission start message. In another aspect, the relative device identifier may be explicitly listed in the TxS message. In one aspect, the relative device identifier is temporary and is replaced after a period of time or after a certain number of cycles or after a certain number of uses. Thus, in one aspect, the device identifier is a temporary identifier. As described above with respect to FIG. 6, the relative device identifier may be used by each station to identify which portion of the block acknowledgment message contains the associated acknowledgment information. In another aspect, as described above with respect to FIG. 7, each station may identify which portion of the block acknowledgment message includes relevant acknowledgment information according to the order of acknowledgment information. Specifically, each station may identify related parts based on the arrangement of information in the acknowledgment message.

  In one aspect, as described above, the acknowledgment message includes one or more bits that indicate the presence of acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message. In some cases, the one or more bits include a plurality of bits, and a particular value of the combination of bits indicates the presence of acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message. Further, in some cases, the particular value corresponds to a combination that is considered not valid for each standard, as described above.

  The method proceeds to block 1030 and an acknowledgment message is sent. This transmission can be performed, for example, by the access point 110 of FIG. 1 or the transceivers 210a and 210n of FIG. This transmission is received by one or more stations and may be interpreted as described below with respect to FIG.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for receiving and interpreting aggregated acknowledgment information. In one aspect, method 1100 may be implemented on one or more stations, such as station 120 of FIG.

  Method 1100 begins at block 1110 where data is transmitted from one of the plurality of devices to a wireless node. This transmission may be performed, for example, by the station 120 of FIG. 1 or the transceivers 210a and 210n of FIG. The method 1100 proceeds to block 1120 where an acknowledgment message is received from the wireless node, where the acknowledgment message includes at least a group identifier and acknowledgment information associated with at least a plurality of devices, wherein the acknowledgment message is , Including one or more bits indicating the presence of acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message. Group identifier types have been described above with respect to FIG. This reception can be performed, for example, by the station 120 of FIG. 1 or the transceivers 210a and 210n of FIG.

  The method 1100 proceeds to block 1130 where acknowledgment information for one of the plurality of devices is determined based at least in part on the group identifier and the acknowledgment information. This determination may be made by checking acknowledgments for various identifiers, patterns, and values as described above. For example, a station may determine whether the receiver address in the BA frame is set as the group identifier. In another aspect, a station determines whether one or more of the multi-TID bits or reserved bits in the BA control field are set to indicate the presence of aggregated acknowledgment information. Can be done. If there is an aggregated acknowledgment message, the station may then analyze the acknowledgment information portion to determine if there is a portion related to this station. For example, in one aspect, the station may examine an acknowledgment message regarding the relative device identifier associated therewith. In another aspect, the station may determine which part of the acknowledgment information is associated with the station by analyzing the order of the acknowledgment information. As another example, in one aspect, the station examines one or more of the reserved bits in the per TID info field of each BA information field, and one or more reserved bits are associated with the station. It may be determined whether or not the identifier matches. This station may interpret the acknowledgment information and use it to plan future communications with the access point.

  As described above, the acknowledgment message may include one or more bits indicating the presence of acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message. In some cases, the one or more bits include a plurality of bits, and a particular value of the combination of the plurality of bits indicates the presence of acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message. Further, in some cases, the particular value corresponds to a combination that is considered not valid for each standard, as described above.

  The functions described herein (e.g., with respect to one or more of the accompanying drawings) may, in some aspects, be categorized as "means for" as also specified in the appended claims. May correspond. For example, FIG. 12 shows an aspect of a wireless node 1200 comprising a circuit 1210 for reception, a circuit 1220 for generation, and a circuit 1230 for transmission.

  The circuit for reception 1210 may be configured to receive one or more transmissions from one or more of the plurality of devices. The circuit for reception 1210 may be implemented in whole or in part as at least one antenna, transceiver, receiver, processing system, or network adapter. The means for receiving may include a circuit 1210 for receiving. Circuit 1220 for generating may be configured to generate an acknowledgment message that includes at least a group identifier associated with at least a plurality of devices and acknowledgment information based on the received transmission, wherein the acknowledgment message Contains one or more bits indicating the presence of acknowledgment information in the response message. The circuit for generation 1220 may be implemented in whole or in part as a processing system or network adapter. The means for generating may include a circuit 1220 for generating. The circuit for transmission 1230 may be configured to transmit an acknowledgment message to multiple devices. Circuit 1230 for transmission may be implemented in whole or in part as at least one antenna, transceiver, transmitter, processing system, or network adapter. The means for transmitting may include a circuit 1230 for transmitting. Wireless node 1200 may be configured to implement the functionality described herein, and may be implemented as hardware or software, or some combination thereof, as described above with respect to FIGS. . Specifically, the wireless node 1200 may be configured to perform the functions described above with respect to FIGS.

  FIG. 13 shows another aspect of a wireless node 1300 comprising a circuit 1310 for transmission, a circuit 1320 for reception, and a circuit 1330 for determination. The circuit for transmission 1310 may be configured to transmit data from one of the plurality of devices to the wireless node. The circuit 1310 for transmission may be implemented in whole or in part as at least one antenna, transceiver, transmitter, processing system, or network adapter. The means for transmitting may include a circuit 1310 for transmitting. The circuit for receiving 1320 may be configured to receive an acknowledgment message from the wireless node, the acknowledgment message including at least a group identifier and acknowledgment information associated with at least a plurality of devices, The message includes one or more bits that indicate the presence of acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message. The circuit for reception 1320 may be implemented in whole or in part as at least one antenna, transceiver, receiver, processing system, or network adapter. The means for receiving may include a circuit 1320 for receiving. The circuit for determination 1330 may be configured to determine acknowledgment information for one of the plurality of devices based at least in part on the group identifier and the acknowledgment information. The determination circuit 1330 may be implemented in whole or in part as a processing system or network adapter. The means for determination may include a circuit 1330 for determination.

  As used herein, the term “determining” encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, `` determining '' is calculating, calculating, processing, deriving, examining, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, database or another data structure ), Confirmation, etc. Also, “determining” may include receiving (eg, receiving information), accessing (eg, accessing data in a memory) and the like. Further, “determining” may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing and the like.

  The functionality of the circuits described with respect to FIGS. 12 and 13 may be implemented in a variety of ways consistent with the teachings herein. In some aspects, the functionality of these modules may be implemented as one or more electrical components. In some aspects, the functionality of these blocks may be implemented as a processing system that includes one or more processor components. In some aspects, the functionality of these modules may be implemented using, for example, at least a portion of one or more integrated circuits (eg, ASICs). As described herein, an integrated circuit may include a processor, software, other related components, or some combination thereof. The functionality of these modules may also be implemented in any other manner taught herein.

  One or more processors in the processing system may execute software. Software can be an instruction, instruction set, code, code segment, program code, program, sub, regardless of whether it uses software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or other names. It should be interpreted broadly to mean a program, software module, application, software application, software package, routine, subroutine, object, executable, execution thread, procedure, function, and so on.

  In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented as software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that may be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer readable media can be RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or desired program in the form of instructions or data structures. Any other medium that can be used to carry or store the code and that is accessible by the computer can be provided. Also, it is reasonable to call any connection a computer readable medium. For example, software is sent from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, wireless, and microwave. Wireless technology such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of media. As used herein, a disk and a disc are a compact disc (CD), a laser disc (registered trademark), an optical disc, a digital versatile disc (DVD), a floppy (registered trademark) disc, and a Blu-ray disc. In general, a disk reproduces data magnetically, and a disc optically reproduces data using a laser. Thus, in some aspects computer readable media may include non-transitory computer readable media (eg, tangible media). In addition, in some aspects computer readable media may include transitory computer readable media (eg, signals). Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

  A processing system or any portion of a processing system may constitute a means for performing the functions described herein. Alternatively, the code on the computer readable medium or the computer readable medium itself may constitute a means for performing the functions described herein.

  One skilled in the art will recognize the best way to implement the described functionality presented throughout this disclosure, depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

  It should be understood that any specific order or hierarchy of steps described in the context of a method or software module is presented to provide an example of a wireless node. It should be understood that based on design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of each step may be rearranged within the scope of this disclosure.

  The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Modifications of the various configurations disclosed herein will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the claims are not intended to be limited to the various aspects of the disclosure described herein, but are intended to include the full scope consistent with the terms of the claims. Should be given, a reference to a singular element should be interpreted as "one or more" rather than "one" unless specifically stated otherwise. Unless otherwise specified, the term “several” refers to one or more. A claim indicating at least one of a combination of elements (e.g., at least one of A, B, or C) refers to one or more of the listed elements (e.g., A or B). Or C or any combination thereof). All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure, known to those of ordinary skill in the art or later, are expressly incorporated herein by reference. And is intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed in this specification is intended to be made publicly available whether or not such disclosure is expressly recited in the claims. Any claim element is described using the phrase “steps for” unless the element is explicitly stated using the phrase “means for” or in the case of method claims. Unless otherwise specified, it should not be construed under the provisions of Section 112 (6) of the US Patent Act.

100 wireless network
110 access point
120 access terminal
130 System controller
200 wireless nodes
202 TX data processor
204 TX spatial processor
206 OFDM modulator
210a transceiver
220 OFDM demodulator
222 RX spatial processor
224 RX data processor
300 treatment system
302 Bus
304 processor
306 Computer-readable medium
308 Bus interface
310 network adapter
312 User interface
403 Send request
405 Acknowledgment
407 Request to send
409 Acknowledgment
411 Transmission start message
413 data
415 data
417 Block acknowledgment message
501 Block acknowledgment message
511 Absolute device identifier
514 Absolute device identifier
601 block acknowledgment message
605 Group identifier
621 Relative device identifier
624 Relative device identifier
701 Block acknowledgment message
705 Group identifier
732 Acknowledgment information
800 BA frame
802 RA field
804 Transmitter address field
810 Block acknowledgment control field
810a BA control field
810b BA control field
812 Multi TD field
814 Reserved field
830 BA information field
832 per TID info field, per-TID info field
834 Start sequence control field
836 Block ACK bitmap field, Block Ack bitmap field
842 Reserved field
844 TID value field
937 BA info field
1200 wireless nodes
1210 Circuit for reception
1220 Generation circuit
1230 Circuit for transmission
1300 wireless node
1310 Circuit for transmission
1320 Circuit for reception
1330 Circuit for judgment

Claims (22)

A wireless communication method,
Receiving one or more transmissions from one or more of the plurality of devices;
Generating an acknowledgment message including at least a group identifier associated with the plurality of devices and acknowledgment information based on the received one or more transmissions, wherein the acknowledgment message is the confirmation message. Including one or more bits indicating the presence of said acknowledgment information in a response message;
Transmitting the acknowledgment message to the plurality of devices. The one or more bits include a plurality of bits;
The method of claim 1, wherein a specific value of the plurality of bit combinations indicates the presence of the acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message.   The method of claim 2, wherein the specific value corresponds to a combination that is considered not valid for each standard.   The method of claim 1, wherein the acknowledgment information includes a bitmap field representing an acknowledgment status for the one or more transmissions.   5. The method of claim 4, wherein at least one of the presence or length of the bitmap field is associated with a station (STA) identifier.   At least one of the presence or length of the bitmap field is one or more reservations in a block acknowledgment (BA) control field of the acknowledgment message or an identifier per traffic (per-TID) field of the acknowledgment message 5. The method of claim 4, indicated by a finished bit.   5. The method of claim 4, wherein at least one of the presence or length of the bitmap field is displayed using compressed bitmap bits.   5. The method of claim 4, wherein at least one of the presence or length of the bitmap field is negotiated in an additional block acknowledgment (ADDBA) procedure. A device for wireless communication,
A receiver configured to receive one or more transmissions from one or more of a plurality of devices;
A processing system configured to generate an acknowledgment message including at least a group identifier associated with the plurality of devices and acknowledgment information based on the received one or more transmissions, the confirmation system comprising: A processing system, wherein the response message includes one or more bits indicating the presence of the acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message;
A device configured to transmit the acknowledgment message to the plurality of devices. The one or more bits include a plurality of bits;
The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a specific value of the combination of the plurality of bits indicates the presence of the acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message.   11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the specific value corresponds to a combination that is considered not valid for each standard.   10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the acknowledgment information includes a bitmap field representing an acknowledgment status regarding the one or more transmissions.   13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein at least one of the presence or length of the bitmap field is associated with a station (STA) identifier.   At least one of the presence or length of the bitmap field is one or more of a block acknowledgment (BA) control field of the acknowledgment message or an identifier per traffic (per-TID) field of the acknowledgment message. The apparatus of claim 12, indicated by a reserved bit.   13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein at least one of the presence or length of the bitmap field is displayed using compressed bitmap bits.   13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein at least one of the presence or length of the bitmap field is negotiated in an additional block acknowledgment (ADDBA) procedure. A wireless communication method,
Transmitting data from one of the plurality of devices to the wireless node;
Receiving an acknowledgment message from the wireless node, wherein the acknowledgment message includes at least a group identifier and acknowledgment information associated with the plurality of devices, and the acknowledgment message is the acknowledgment message; Including one or more bits indicating the presence of said acknowledgment information in
Determining acknowledgment information for the one of the plurality of devices based at least in part on the group identifier and the acknowledgment information. The one or more bits include a plurality of bits;
18. The method of claim 17, wherein a specific value of the plurality of bit combinations indicates the presence of the acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message.   19. The method of claim 18, wherein the specific value corresponds to a combination that is considered not valid for each standard. A device for communication that is one of a plurality of devices associated with a group identifier,
A transmitter configured to transmit data to the wireless node;
A receiver configured to receive an acknowledgment message from the wireless node, wherein the acknowledgment message includes at least the group identifier and acknowledgment information, and the acknowledgment message is in the acknowledgment message. A receiver including one or more bits indicating the presence of acknowledgment information;
And a processing system configured to determine acknowledgment information regarding the device based at least in part on the group identifier and the acknowledgment information. The one or more bits include a plurality of bits;
21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein a particular value of the plurality of bit combinations indicates the presence of the acknowledgment information in the acknowledgment message.   23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the specific value corresponds to a combination that is considered not valid for each standard.

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