Transitioning from MIMO to SISO to save power

1. A method of transitioning wireless communication modes in a wireless communication with a node, the method comprising:

determining one or more types of traffic to be transmitted to the node;

providing, for transmission, an association request to the node, the association request indicating which of the one or more types of traffic to be transmitted to the node in a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) mode and which of the one or more types of traffic to be transmitted to the node in a single-input-single-output (SISO) mode; and

facilitating a transition between the MIMO mode and the SISO mode based on at least one of the one or more types of traffic determined to be transmitted to the node.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating an indication of the types of traffic determined to be transmitted in the MIMO mode and the types of traffic determined to be transmitted in the SISO mode.

3. The method of claim 2 ,

wherein the indication is included in a header portion of the association request, further comprising:

receiving an association response from the node, the association response including an acknowledgment by the node in response to the association request.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

determining a change in one or more of the types of traffic determined to be transmitted in the MIMO mode or the SISO mode;

generating a second indication of the determined change; and

providing, for transmission, an action frame to the node subsequent to transmission of the association request, the second indication being included in a header portion of the action frame.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining which types of traffic associated with a first priority to be transmitted to the node in the MIMO mode;

determining which types of traffic associated with a second priority to be transmitted to the node in the SISO mode, the first priority being greater than the second priority;

generating an indication of the types of traffic determined to be transmitted in the MIMO mode and the types of traffic determined to be transmitted in the SISO mode; and

providing, for transmission, a management frame to the node, the indication being included in a header portion of the management frame, the transition between the MIMO mode and the SISO mode occurring in response to transmission of traffic associated with the first priority and traffic associated with the second priority.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a stream of traffic to be transmitted to the node, the stream of traffic comprising a first type of traffic to be transmitted in the MIMO mode and a second type of traffic to be transmitted in the SISO mode; and

providing, for transmission, the stream of traffic to the node, the transition between the MIMO mode and the SISO mode occurring dynamically in response to transmission of the first type of traffic and the second type of traffic.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining which types of traffic to be transmitted to the node in the MIMO mode;

generating an indication of the types of traffic determined to be transmitted in the MIMO mode; and

providing, for transmission, a management frame to the node, the indication being included in a header portion of the management frame, the transition to the SISO mode being inferred by the node if the indication bypassed identification of which types of traffic to be transmitted to the node in the SISO mode.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining which types of traffic to be transmitted to the node in the SISO mode;

generating an indication of the types of traffic determined to be transmitted in the SISO mode; and

providing, for transmission, a management frame to the node, the indication being included in a header portion of the management frame, the transition to the MIMO mode being inferred by the node if the indication bypassed identification of which types of traffic to be transmitted to the node in the MIMO mode.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a priority threshold level for identifying which types of traffic to be transmitted to the node in the MIMO mode, wherein traffic associated with a priority level greater than the priority threshold level is identified as traffic to be transmitted to the node in the MIMO mode;

generating an indication of the priority threshold level; and

providing, for transmission, a management frame to the node, the indication being included in a header portion of the management frame.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a priority threshold level for identifying which types of traffic to be transmitted to the node in the SISO mode, wherein traffic associated with a priority level smaller than the priority threshold level is identified as traffic to be transmitted to the node in the SISO mode;

generating an indication of the priority threshold level; and

providing, for transmission, a management frame to the node, the indication being included in a header portion of the management frame.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a first traffic stream to be transmitted to the node in the MIMO mode;

determining a second traffic stream to be transmitted to the node in the SISO mode; and

generating an indication of the first traffic stream determined to be transmitted in the MIMO mode and the second traffic stream determined to be transmitted in the SISO mode.

12. An apparatus comprising:

a transceiver configured to communicate wirelessly with a node; and

a controller coupled to the transceiver and configured to:

determine which types of traffic to be transmitted to the node in a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) mode;

determine which types of traffic to be transmitted to the node in a single-input-single-output (SISO) mode; and

generate an indication of the types of traffic determined to be transmitted in the MIMO mode and the types of traffic determined to be transmitted in the SISO mode;

provide, for transmission, an association request to the node, the association request indicating which types of traffic to be transmitted to the node in the MIMO mode and which types of traffic to be transmitted to the node in the SISO mode, the indication being included in a header portion of the association request; and

facilitate a transition between the MIMO mode and the SISO mode in response to a type of traffic to be transmitted to the node.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the controller is configured to:

determine a change in one or more of the types of traffic determined to be transmitted in the MIMO mode or the SISO mode;

generating a second indication of the determined change; and

providing, for transmission, an action frame to the node subsequent to transmission of the association request, the second indication being included in a header portion of the action frame.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the controller is configured to:

determine which types of traffic associated with a first priority to be transmitted to the node in the MIMO mode; and

determine which types of traffic associated with a second priority to be transmitted to the node in the SISO mode, the first priority being greater than the second priority, the transition between the MIMO mode and the SISO mode occurring in response to transmission of traffic associated with the first priority and transmission of traffic associated with the second priority.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the controller is configured to:

determine a stream of traffic to be transmitted to the node, the stream of traffic comprising a first type of traffic to be transmitted in the MIMO mode and a second type of traffic to be transmitted in the SISO mode; and

provide for transmission the stream of traffic to the node, the transition between the MIMO mode and the SISO mode occurring dynamically in response to transmission of the first type of traffic and the second type of traffic.

16. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the controller is configured to:

determine which types of traffic to be transmitted to the node in the MIMO mode or the SISO mode; and

provide an indication of the types of traffic determined to be transmitted in one of the MIMO mode or the SISO mode in the header portion of the association request, the transition to the MIMO mode being inferred by the node if the indication bypassed identification of which types of traffic to be transmitted to the node in the MIMO mode, and the transition to the SISO mode being inferred by the node if the indication bypassed identification of which types of traffic to be transmitted to the node in the SISO mode.

17. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the controller is configured to:

determine a priority threshold level for identifying which types of traffic to be transmitted to the node in one of the MIMO mode or the SISO mode, wherein traffic associated with a priority level greater than the priority threshold level is identified as traffic to be transmitted to the node in the MIMO mode, and wherein traffic associated with a priority level smaller than the priority threshold level is identified as traffic to be transmitted to the node in the SISO mode; and

provide an indication of the priority threshold level in the header portion of the association request.

18. A computer program product comprising instructions stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the instructions comprising:

instructions for providing, for transmission, an association request to a node in association with a client device, the association request including an indication of a first type of traffic to be transmitted in a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) mode and a second type of traffic to be transmitted in a single-input-single-output (SISO) mode;

instructions for facilitating a transition from the MIMO mode to the SISO mode for transmitting the second type of traffic if the client device is previously set to the MIMO mode; and

instructions for facilitating a transition from the SISO mode to the MIMO mode for transmitting the first type of traffic if the client device is previously set to the SISO mode.

19. The computer program product of claim 18 , the instructions comprising:

instructions for determining the first type of traffic to be transmitted to the node in the MIMO mode;

instructions for determining the second type of traffic to be transmitted to the node in the SISO mode; and

instructions for generating the association request for transmission to the node, the indication being included in a header portion of the association request.

20. The computer program product of claim 18 , the instructions comprising:

instructions for determining that the first type of traffic is associated with a first priority to be transmitted to the node in the MIMO mode; and

instructions for determining that the second type of traffic is associated with a second priority to be transmitted to the node in the SISO mode, the first priority being greater than the second priority, the transition between the MIMO mode and the SISO mode occurring in response to transmission of the first type of traffic associated with the first priority or transmission of the second type of traffic associated with the second priority.