FAST CHANNEL RESERVATION FOR WI-FI
Methods, apparatus, and systems for fast channel reservation in a Wi-Fi environment are discussed. More specifically, a communication station arranged for Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) channel status reporting, an access point, and communication methodologies therebetween are disclosed. Methods, apparatus, and systems described herein can be applied to 802.11ax downlink MU-MIMO as well as uplink MU-MIMO, either separately or simultaneously.
1 . A communication station arranged for Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) channel status reporting, the communication station comprising physical layer circuitry, memory and processing elements to:
receive, from an Access Point (AP), a downlink poll;
reserve a channel for downlink data by transmitting a packet to the AP;
transmit a response to the downlink poll immediately following or preceding the packet; and
receive, from the AP, a downlink schedule carrying notification of the downlink data from the AP.
2 . The communication station of claim 1 , wherein response to the poll is transmitted without a training preamble.
3 . The communication station of claim 1 , wherein the packet is a Clear to Send (CTS) frame.
4 . A non-transitory computer readable storage device including instructions stored thereon, which when executed by one or more processor(s) of a communication station, cause the communication station to perform operations to:
receive, from an Access Point (AP), a downlink poll;
reserve a channel for downlink data by transmitting a packet to the AP;
transmit a response to the downlink poll immediately following or preceding the packet; and
receive, from the AP, a downlink schedule carrying notification of the downlink data from the AP.
5 . The non-transitory computer readable storage device of claim 4 , wherein response to the poll is transmitted without a training preamble.
6 . The non-transitory computer readable storage device of claim 4 , wherein the packet is a Clear to Send (CTS) frame.
7 . An Access Point (AP) arranged for Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) channel status report polling, the AP comprising physical layer circuitry, memory and processing elements to:
transmit, to a communication station, a downlink poll;
receive from the communication station, a packet for reserving a channel for downlink data;
receive from the communication station a response to the downlink poll immediately following or preceding the packet; and
transmit a downlink schedule carrying notification of the downlink data from the AP to the communication station.
8 . The AP of claim 7 , further arranged to receive responses from multiple communication stations simultaneously using Frequency Division Multiple Access or Code Division Multiple Access.
9 . The AP of claim 7 , further arranged to receive responses from multiple communication stations sequentially using Time Division Multiple Access.
10 . The AP of claim 7 , wherein the downlink data is transmitted immediately following or preceding the downlink schedule.
11 . A non-transitory computer readable storage device including instructions stored thereon, which when executed by one or more processor(s) of an Access Point (AP), cause the AP to perform operations to:
transmit, to a communication station, a downlink poll;
receive from the communication station, a packet for reserving a channel for downlink data;
receive from the communication station a response to the downlink poll immediately following or preceding the packet; and
transmit a downlink schedule carrying notification of the downlink data from the AP to the communication station.
12 . The non-transitory computer readable storage device of claim 11 , further arranged to receive responses from multiple communication stations simultaneously using Frequency Division Multiple Access or Code Division Multiple Access.
13 . The non-transitory computer readable storage device of claim 11 , further arranged to receive responses from multiple communication stations sequentially using Time Division Multiple Access.
14 . The non-transitory computer readable storage device of claim 11 , wherein the downlink data is transmitted immediately following or preceding the downlink schedule.
15 . A communication station arranged for Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) channel status reporting, the communication station comprising physical layer circuitry, memory and processing elements to:
receive, from an Access Point (AP), an uplink poll;
reserve a channel for uplink data by transmitting a packet to the AP;
transmit a response to the uplink poll immediately following or preceding the packet; and
receive, from the AP, an uplink schedule.
16 . The communication station of claim 15 , wherein response to the poll is transmitted without a training preamble.
17 . The communication station of claim 15 , wherein the channel reservation packet is a Clear to Send (CTS) frame.
18 . A non-transitory computer readable storage device including instructions stored thereon, which when executed by one or more processor(s) of a communication station, cause the communication station to perform operations to:
receive, from an Access Point (AP), an uplink poll;
reserve a channel for uplink data by transmitting a packet to the AP;
transmit a response to the uplink poll immediately following or preceding the packet; and
receive, from the AP, an uplink schedule.
19 . The non-transitory computer readable storage device of claim 18 , wherein response to the poll is transmitted without a training preamble.
20 . The non-transitory computer readable storage device of claim 18 , wherein the channel reservation packet is a Clear to Send (CTS) frame.
21 . An Access Point (AP) arranged for Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) channel status report polling, the AP comprising physical layer circuitry, memory and processing elements to:
transmit, to a communication station, an uplink poll;
receive from the communication station, a packet for reserving a channel for uplink data;
receive from the communication station a response to the uplink poll immediately following or preceding the packet; and
transmit an uplink schedule to the communication station.
22 . The AP of claim 21 , further arranged to receive responses from multiple communication stations simultaneously using Frequency Division Multiple Access or Code Division Multiple Access.
23 . The AP of claim 21 , further arranged to receive responses from multiple communication stations sequentially using Time Division Multiple Access.
24 . The AP of claim 21 , wherein the uplink data is transmitted immediately following or preceding the uplink schedule.
25 . A non-transitory computer readable storage device including instructions stored thereon, which when executed by one or more processor(s) of an Access Point (AP), cause the AP to perform operations to:
transmit, to a communication station, an uplink poll;
receive from the communication station, a packet for reserving a channel for uplink data;
receive from the communication station a response to the uplink poll immediately following or preceding the packet; and
transmit an uplink schedule to the communication station.
26 . The non-transitory computer readable storage device of claim 25 , further arranged to receive responses from multiple communication stations simultaneously using Frequency Division Multiple Access or Code Division Multiple Access.
27 . The non-transitory computer readable storage device of claim 25 , further arranged to receive responses from multiple communication stations sequentially using Time Division Multiple Access.
28 . The non-transitory computer readable storage device of claim 25 , wherein the uplink data is transmitted immediately following or preceding the uplink schedule.