Method and apparatus for frame exchange in a high efficiency wireless LAN

1. A method for exchanging frames by an access point (AP) in a wireless local area network, the method comprising:

transmitting to one or more stations (STAs) a first frame eliciting a second frame from the one or more STAs in a downlink (DL) Physical layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), wherein the DL PPDU carrying the first frame includes information indicating a type of a PPDU carrying the second frame from PPDU types including a Single User (SU) PPDU and a Multiple User (MU) PPDU; and

receiving from the one or more STAs the second frame in an uplink (UL) PPDU having a type determined based on the information indicating the type of the PPDU,

wherein the DL PPDU carrying the first frame further includes information indicating a length of the PPDU carrying the second frame, and

wherein the information indicating the length of the PPDU carrying the second frame indicates a value equal to or greater than a predetermined minimum value.

2. The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the information indicating the type of the PPDU is included in a Medium Access Control (MAC) header of the first frame.

3. The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the UL PPDU carrying the second frame includes one or more HE-LTF fields having a type determined based on the information indicating the type of HE-LTF.

4. The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein a symbol duration of High-Efficiency-Short Training Field (HE-STF) of the PPDU carrying the second frame is determined based on whether the second frame is transmitted based on the first frame or not.

5. The method according to claim 4 ,

wherein the symbol duration of HE-STF is 4.0 μs or 8.0 μs.

6. The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the AP determines a symbol duration of HE-STF of the PPDU carrying the second frame based on a value of a Length field of Legacy-SIGNAL (L-SIG) of the PPDU carrying the second frame.

7. The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the DL PPDU carrying the first frame has a type of High-Efficiency PPDU (HE PPDU) or NON-HT (NON-High Throughput) PPDU.

8. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the DL PPDU carrying the first frame further includes information indicating a type of High-Efficiency-Long Training Field (HE-LTF) of the PPDU carrying the second frame from HE-LTF types including Compressed HE-LTF and Uncompressed HE-LTF.

9. A method for exchanging frames by a station (STA) in a wireless local area network, the method comprising:

receiving a first frame eliciting a second frame from an access point (AP) in a downlink (DL) Physical layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), wherein the DL PPDU carrying the first frame includes information indicating a type of a PPDU carrying the second frame from PPDU types including a Single User (SU) PPDU and a Multiple User (MU) PPDU;

determining, by the STA, a symbol duration of a High-Efficiency-Short Training Field (HE-STF) of the PPDU based on the second frame being transmitted in response to the first frame; and

transmitting to the AP the second frame in an uplink (UL) PPDU having a type determined based on the information indicating the type of the PPDU.

10. The method according to claim 9 ,

wherein the information indicating the type of the PPDU is included in a Medium Access Control (MAC) header of the first frame.

11. The method according to claim 9 ,

wherein the DL PPDU carrying the first frame further includes information indicating a type of High-Efficiency-Long Training Field (HE-LTF) of the PPDU carrying the second frame from HE-LTF types including Compressed HE-LTF and Uncompressed HE-LTF.

12. The method according to claim 11 ,

wherein the UL PPDU carrying the second frame includes one or more HE-LTF fields having a type determined based on the information indicating the type of HE-LTF.

13. The method according to claim 9 ,

wherein the DL PPDU carrying the first frame further includes information indicating a length of the PPDU carrying the second frame.

14. The method according to claim 13 ,

wherein the information indicating the length of the PPDU carrying the second frame indicates a value equal to or greater than a predetermined minimum value.

15. The method according to claim 9 ,

wherein the symbol duration of HE-STF is 4.0 μs or 8.0 μs.

16. The method according to claim 9 ,

wherein a symbol duration of HE-STF of the PPDU carrying the second frame is determined based on a value of a Length field of Legacy-SIGNAL (L-SIG) of the PPDU carrying the second frame.

17. The method according to claim 9 ,

wherein the DL PPDU carrying the first frame has a type of High-Efficiency PPDU (HE PPDU) or NON-HT (NON-High Throughput) PPDU.

18. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, which includes instruction that when performed by a station (STA) in a wireless local area network causes the STA to:

receive a first frame eliciting a second frame from an access point (AP) in a downlink (DL) Physical layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), wherein the DL PPDU carrying the first frame includes information indicating a type of a PPDU carrying the second frame from PPDU types including a Single User (SU) PPDU and a Multiple User (MU) PPDU;

determine a symbol duration of a High-Efficiency-Short Training Field (HE-STF) of the PPDU based on the second frame being transmitted in response to the first frame; and

transmit to the AP the second frame in an uplink (UL) PPDU having a type determined based on the information indicating the type of the PPDU.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 18 ,

wherein the DL PPDU carrying the first frame further includes information indicating a length of the PPDU carrying the second frame.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 19 ,

wherein the information indicating the length of the PPDU carrying the second frame indicates a value equal to or greater than a predetermined minimum value.