Advanced technology frame structure with backward compatibility
View Patent ↗An advanced technology frame structure is described herein. The advanced technology frame structure can enhance a first technology frame structure in dimensions of time, frequency, or a combination of time and frequency. A second technology frame structure time division multiplexes second technology subframes with the first technology downlink and uplink subframes. The first technology downlink subframe can be divided into a first technology downlink subframe and one or more second technology downlink subframes. Similarly, the first technology uplink subframe can be divided into a first uplink subframe and one or more second technology uplink subframes. These principles can be expanded upon and can be applied in many communication systems.
1. A method of orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication, the method comprising:
transmitting, from a base station, a first downlink subframe in a first downlink frequency band according to a first technology format, the first downlink subframe beginning at a first time and ending at a second time, the first downlink subframe comprising a preamble for synchronization, a downlink allocation table (DL-MAP) associated with the first downlink subframe, and an uplink allocation table (UL-MAP);
transmitting, from the base station, at least one second downlink subframe in a second downlink frequency band according to a second technology format, the at least one second downlink subframe beginning after the second time and ending at a third time;
transmitting, from a first client station, a first uplink subframe in a first uplink frequency band according to the first technology format, the first uplink subframe beginning after the third time and ending at a fourth time;
transmitting, from a second client station, at least one second uplink subframe in a second uplink frequency band according to the second technology format, the at least one second uplink subframe beginning after the fourth time and ending at a fifth time.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first downlink frequency band is the same as the second downlink frequency band.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first uplink frequency band is the same as the second uplink frequency band.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first downlink frequency band is the same as the second downlink frequency band, and wherein the first uplink frequency band is the same as the second uplink frequency band but is different than the frequency band of the first downlink frequency band and the second downlink frequency band.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first downlink frequency band, the second downlink frequency band, the first uplink frequency band and the second uplink frequency band are each different frequency bands than each other.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first downlink frequency band, the second downlink frequency band, the first uplink frequency band and the second uplink frequency band are the same frequency band.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the UL-MAP is associated with a time interval occurring between the third time and the fourth time.
8. The method of claim 4 , wherein the UL-MAP is associated with a time interval occurring after the fifth time.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the first downlink frequency band is part of the second downlink frequency band;
the second downlink frequency band is wider than the first downlink frequency band;
the first uplink frequency band is the same as the first downlink frequency band; and
the second uplink frequency band is the same as the second downlink frequency band.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the first downlink frequency band is part of the second downlink frequency band;
the second downlink frequency band is wider than the first downlink frequency band;
the first uplink frequency band is part of the second uplink frequency band; and
the second uplink frequency band is wider than the first uplink frequency band.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the UL-MAP is associated with a time interval between the third time and the fourth time.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the UL-MAP is associated with a time interval that occurs after the fifth time.
13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising dynamically adjusting a timing of an occurrence of at least one of the second time, the third time, the fourth time and the fifth time.
14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting, after the second time, a stand-alone frame header associated with the second technology format.
15. A wireless orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) system, the system comprising:
a base station comprising a transmitter configured to:
transmit a first downlink subframe in a first downlink frequency band according to a first technology format, the first downlink subframe beginning at a first time and ending at a second time, the first downlink subframe comprising a preamble for synchronization, a downlink allocation table (DL-MAP) associated with the first downlink subframe, and an uplink allocation table (UL-MAP); and
transmit at least one second downlink subframe in a second downlink frequency band according to a second technology format, the at least one second downlink subframe beginning after the second time and ending at a third time;
a first client station comprising a transmitter configured to:
transmit a first uplink subframe in a first uplink frequency band according to the first technology format, the first uplink subframe beginning after the third time and ending at a fourth time; and
a second client station comprising a transmitter configured to:
transmit at least one second uplink subframe in a second uplink frequency band according to the second technology format, the at least one second uplink subframe beginning after the fourth time and ending at a fifth time.
16. The wireless OFDMA system of claim 15 , wherein the first downlink frequency band is the same as the second downlink frequency band.
17. The wireless OFDMA system of claim 15 , wherein the first uplink frequency band is the same as the second uplink frequency band.
18. The wireless OFDMA system of claim 15 , wherein the first downlink frequency band is the same as the second downlink frequency band, and wherein the first uplink frequency band is the same as the second uplink frequency band but is different than the frequency band of the first downlink frequency band and the second downlink frequency band.
19. The wireless OFDMA system of claim 15 , wherein the first downlink frequency band, the second downlink frequency band, the first uplink frequency band and the second uplink frequency band are each different frequency bands than each other.
20. The wireless OFDMA system of claim 15 , wherein the first downlink frequency band, the second downlink frequency band, the first uplink frequency band and the second uplink frequency band are the same frequency band.
21. The wireless OFDMA system of claim 20 , wherein the UL-MAP is associated with a time interval occurring between the third time and the fourth time.
22. The wireless OFDMA system of claim 18 , wherein the UL-MAP is associated with a time interval occurring after the fifth time.
23. The wireless OFDMA system of claim 15 , wherein:
the first downlink frequency band is part of the second downlink frequency band;
the second downlink frequency band is wider than the first downlink frequency band;
the first uplink frequency band is the same as the first downlink frequency band; and
the second uplink frequency band is the same as the second downlink frequency band.
24. The wireless OFDMA system of claim 15 , wherein:
the first downlink frequency band is part of the second downlink frequency band;
the second downlink frequency band is wider than the first downlink frequency band;
the first uplink frequency band is part of the second uplink frequency band; and
the second uplink frequency band is wider than the first uplink frequency band.
25. The wireless OFDMA system of claim 23 , wherein the UL-MAP is associated with a time interval between the third time and the fourth time.
26. The wireless OFDMA system of claim 24 , wherein the UL-MAP) is associated with a time interval that occurs after the fifth time.
27. The wireless OFDMA system of claim 15 , wherein the base station is further configured to dynamically adjust a timing of an occurrence of at least one of the second time, the third time, the fourth time and the fifth time.
28. The wireless OFDMA system of claim 15 , wherein the transmitter of the base station is further configured to transmit, after the second time, a stand-alone frame header associated with the second technology format.