Systems and methods for uplink multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU MIMO) medium access and error recovery

1. A method of uplink multi-user multiple input multiple output (UL MU MIMO) communication using a station (STA), comprising:

contending to transmit a frame in a network;

transmitting the frame, wherein the frame indicates buffered data at the STA;

receiving a first polling frame during a transmission opportunity (TXOP), wherein the first polling frame is received through a contention process and the first polling frame identifies a plurality of stations (STA)s for UL MU MIMO communication during the TXOP; and

transmitting a MAC protocol data unit (MPDU) during the transmission opportunity (TXOP).

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the STA is part of a basic service set (BSS) comprising a plurality of STAs and wherein the MPDU is an aggregate MPDU (A-MPDU).

3. The method of claim 2 , further including:

receiving a first block acknowledgment (BA) from a receiving STA during the TXOP, wherein the BA is in response to a second MPDU received by the AP;

receiving a second polling frame from the receiving STA;

re-transmitting the MPDU; and

receiving a second BA in response to the MPDU.

4. The method of claim 1 , further including inserting the buffered data in the MPDU.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first polling frame is transmitted from a receiving STA through enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA).

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first polling frame is transmitted from a receiving STA after exceeding a threshold of an average medium busy time.

7. A method of uplink multi-user multiple input multiple output (UL MU MIMO) communication in a network, comprising:

receiving buffered traffic information from a plurality of stations (STA)s;

contending in the network to transmit a polling frame;

transmitting the polling frame in a transmission opportunity (TXOP), wherein the polling frame identifies STAs for the UL MU MIMO communication;

receiving MAC protocol data units (MPDU)s from the STAs in response to the polling frame, wherein the MPDUs are sent concurrently during the TXOP; and

transmitting a number of block acknowledgment (BA)s during the TXOP for MPDUs received in response to the polling frame.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of stations are part of a basic service set (BSS) that contend to transmit data frames in the network.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising contending in the network using enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) and wherein the MPDUs are aggregate MPDUs (A-MPDU).

10. The method of claim 7 , further including sending a second polling frame during the TXOP if an MPDU is not received from a STA identified in the polling frame.

11. The method of claim 10 , further including receiving the MPDU in response to the second polling frame.

12. The method of claim 11 , further including sending another BA in response to receiving the MPDU.

13. A station (STA), comprising:

a media access controller (MAC) to receive data and to generate a MAC protocol data unit (MPDU);

a physical layer (PHY) to receive the MPDU and to generate a preamble and a PHY header;

a transceiver array configured to;

transmit a frame to a receiving STA using a contention process, wherein the frame indicates buffered data at the STA;

receive a first polling frame during a transmission opportunity (TXOP), wherein the first polling frame is received through a contention process and the first polling frame identifies a plurality of stations (STA)s for UL MU MIMO communication during the TXOP; and

transmit the MPDU during the TXOP.

14. The STA of claim 13 , wherein the MAC is embodied through a software routine.

15. The STA of claim 13 , wherein the STA is part of a basic service set (BSS) comprising a plurality of STAs.

16. The STA of claim 13 , wherein the STA is further configured to:

receive a first block acknowledgment (BA) from a receiving STA during the TXOP, wherein the BA is in response to a second MPDU received by the AP;

receive a second polling frame from the receiving STA during the TXOP;

re-transmit the MPDU during the TXOP; and

receive a second BA in response to the MPDU.

17. The STA of claim 13 , further including inserting the buffered data in the MPDU.

18. The STA of claim 13 , wherein the first polling frame is transmitted from a receiving STA through enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA).

19. The STA of claim 13 , wherein the first polling frame is transmitted from a receiving STA after exceeding a threshold of an average medium busy time.

20. The STA of claim 14 , wherein the PHY is embodied through a software routine.