Communication apparatus, communication method, and communication system
A communication apparatus includes a frame generating device configured to generate a physical frame containing, of a plurality of MAC frames to be transmitted, a MAC frame which requires acknowledgement indicating that the frame is received by a receiving side, a MAC frame which does not require the acknowledgement, and identification information which indicates necessity/unnecessity of acknowledgement for each MAC frame depending on whether each MAC frame requires acknowledgement, and a transmitting device configured to transmit the physical frame generated by the frame generating device.
1. A communication apparatus comprising:
a receiving device configured to receive a physical frame containing a plurality of MAC frames with different traffic identifiers, for said each MAC frame, which includes a traffic identifier field;
a response generating device configured to generate a MAC frame including:
a MAC header;
a first starting sequence control corresponding to a first traffic identifier;
a first acknowledgement bitmap corresponding to the first identifier, the first acknowledgement bitmap indicating first reception statuses for one or more of the MAC frames corresponding to the first traffic identifier;
a second starting sequence control corresponding to a second traffic identifier;
a second acknowledgement bitmap corresponding to the second traffic identifier, the second acknowledgement bitmap indicating second reception statuses for one or more of the MAC frames corresponding to the second traffic identifier; and
a frame check sequence (FCS); and
a response transmitting device configured to transmit a physical frame containing the MAC frame generated by the response generating device.
2. A communication method comprising:
receiving a physical frame containing a plurality of MAC frames with different traffic identifiers;
generating a MAC frame including:
a MAC header;
a first starting sequence control corresponding to a first traffic identifier;
a first acknowledgement bitmap corresponding to the first traffic identifier, the first acknowledgement bitmap indicating first reception statuses for one or more of the MAC frames corresponding to the first traffic identifier;
a second starting sequence control corresponding to a second traffic identifier;
a second acknowledgement bitmap corresponding to the second traffic identifier, the second acknowledgement bitmap indicating second reception statuses for one or more of the MAC frames corresponding to the second traffic identifier; and
a frame check sequence (FCS); and
transmitting a physical frame containing the MAC frame generated in the generating step.
3. A communication apparatus comprising:
a data receiving device configured to receive a series of QoS data corresponding to a plurality of traffic identifiers;
a control frame receiving device configured to receive a single control frame containing a plurality of Block Ack Requests corresponding to said plurality of traffic identifiers; and
a response generating device configured to generate a single response frame containing a plurality of Block Acks corresponding to said plurality of Block Ack Requests in response to the control frame, wherein the response frame is a MAC frame including:
a MAC header;
a first starting sequence control corresponding to a first traffic identifier;
a first Block Ack bitmap corresponding to the first traffic identifier, the first Block Ack bitmap indicating first reception statuses for one or more of the series of QoS data corresponding to the first traffic identifier;
a second starting sequence control corresponding to a second traffic identifier;
a second Block Ack bitmap corresponding to the second traffic identifier, the second Block Ack bitmap indicating second reception statuses for one or more of the series of QoS data corresponding to the second traffic identifier; and
a frame check sequence (FCS).
4. An apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein an immediate response sequence of transmitting the response frame within a polled period is executed.
5. An apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein a delayed response sequence of transmitting the response frame after a predetermined period in a polled period is executed.
6. A communication method comprising:
receiving a series of QoS data corresponding to a plurality of traffic identifiers;
receiving a single control frame containing a plurality of Block Ack Requests corresponding to said plurality of traffic identifiers; and
generating a single control response frame containing a plurality of Block Acks corresponding to said plurality of Block Ack Requests in response to the control frame, wherein the response frame is a MAC frame including:
a MAC header;
a first starting sequence control corresponding to a first traffic identifier;
a first Block Ack bitmap corresponding to the first traffic identifier, the first Block Ack bitmap indicating first reception statuses for one or more of the series of QoS data corresponding to the first traffic identifier;
a second starting sequence control corresponding to a second traffic identifier;
a second Block Ack bitmap corresponding to the second traffic identifier, the second Block Ack bitmap indicating second reception statuses for one or more of the series of QoS data corresponding to the second traffic identifier; and
a frame check sequence (FCS).
7. A method according to claim 6 , wherein an immediate response sequence of transmitting the response frame within a polled period is executed.
8. A method according to claim 6 , wherein a delayed response sequence of transmitting the response frame after a predetermined period in a polled period is executed.
9. A communication system comprising:
a first communication apparatus including a data transmitting device configured to transmit a series of QoS data corresponding to a plurality of traffic identifiers, and a control frame transmitting device configured to transmit a single control frame containing a plurality of Block Ack Requests corresponding to said plurality of traffic identifiers; and
a second communication apparatus including a data receiving device configured to receive a series of QoS data corresponding to a plurality of traffic identifiers, a control frame receiving device configured to receive a single control frame containing a plurality of Block Ack Requests corresponding to said plurality of traffic identifiers, and a response transmitting device configured to transmit, to the first communication apparatus, a single response frame containing a plurality of Block Acks corresponding to said plurality of Block Ack Requests in response to the control frame, wherein the response frame is a MAC frame including:
a MAC header;
a first starting sequence control corresponding to a first traffic identifier;
a first Block Ack bitmap corresponding to the first traffic identifier, the first Block Ack bitmap indicating first reception statuses for one or more of the series of QoS data corresponding to the first traffic identifier;
a second starting sequence control corresponding to a second traffic identifier;
a second Block Ack bitmap corresponding to the second traffic identifier, the second Block Ack bitmap indicating second reception statuses for one or more of the series of QoS data corresponding to the second traffic identifier; and
a frame check sequence (FCS).