System and Method for Communicating Using Short-Header Frames
A method for communicating information from a power-constrained device includes configuring, by the power-constrained device, a short media access control (MAC) frame having fewer fields than a full-length MAC frame. The method also includes transmitting, by the power-constrained device, the short MAC frame.
1 . A method for communicating information from a power-constrained device, the method comprising:
configuring, by the power-constrained device, a short media access control (MAC) frame having fewer fields than a full-length MAC frame; and
transmitting, by the power-constrained device, the short MAC frame.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the short MAC frame comprises at least one field with a length shorter than a length of a field in the full-length MAC frame.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the short MAC frame comprises a frame control field, two MAC address fields, a sequence control field, and a frame check sequence field.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the frame control field is one of a 1-byte long and a 2-byte long field, the two MAC address fields are each variable length fields, the sequence control field is a 1-byte long field, and the frame check sequence field is one of a 2-byte long and a 4-byte long field.
5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein a frame access category is indicated by one or more bits in the short MAC frame.
6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the frame access category provides information related to a Quality of Service criteria for the short MAC frame.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the short MAC frame comprises a frame control field, two MAC address fields, a sequence control field, and a forward error check field.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the frame control field is one of a 1-byte long and a 2-byte long field, the two MAC address fields are each variable length fields, the sequence control field is a 1-byte long field, and the forward error check field is one of a 2-byte long and a 4-byte long field.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the short MAC frame has a short frame indication.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the short frame indication is located in a signal field of a physical layer protocol data unit.
11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the short frame indication comprises one bit.
12 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the short MAC frame has a subtype field in a frame control field differentiating the short MAC frame from the full-length MAC frame.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the short MAC frame is a shortened IEEE 802.11 frame.
14 . A short frame stored in memory, comprising:
a frame control field immediately adjacent to a first address field;
a second address field immediately adjacent to the first address field;
a sequence control field immediately adjacent to the second address field; and
a frame check sequence field adjacent to the sequence control field, wherein the short frame has fewer fields than a full-length frame.
15 . The short frame of claim 14 , wherein the frame check sequence field is spaced apart from the sequence control field by a frame body.
16 . The short frame of claim 14 , wherein the frame control field is one of a 1-byte long and a 2-byte long field, the first address and the second address field are each variable length fields, the sequence control field is a 1-byte long field, and the frame check sequence field is one of a 2-byte long and a 4-byte long field.
17 . The short frame of claim 14 , further comprising a data field immediately adjacent to the sequence control field and to the frame check sequence.
18 . A communications device comprising:
a transmitter configured to transmit a short media access control (MAC) frame, the short MAC frame having fewer fields than a full-length MAC frame; and
a processor operatively coupled to the transmitter, the processor configured to generate the short MAC frame.
19 . The communications device of claim 18 , wherein the short MAC frame comprises at least one field with a length shorter than a length of a field in the full-length MAC frame.
20 . The communications device of claim 18 , wherein the short MAC frame comprises a frame control field, two MAC address fields, a sequence control field, and a frame check sequence field.
21 . The communications device of claim 18 , wherein the short MAC frame comprises a frame control field, two MAC address fields, a sequence control field, and a forward error check field.
22 . The communications device of claim 18 , wherein the processor is configured to differentiate the short MAC frame from the full-length MAC frame with a short frame indication.
23 . The communications device of claim 18 , wherein the processor is configured to differentiate the short MAC frame from the full-length MAC frame with a subtype field in a frame control field of the full-length MAC frame.