Apparatuses, methods, and computer-readable medium for communication in a wireless local area network
View Patent ↗Various aspects related to various apparatuses, methods, and computer-readable medium are described herein. Some aspects may enable an apparatus to protect downlink (DL) communication(s). Some aspects may enable an apparatus to perform DL communication(s). Some aspects may enable an apparatus to communicate regarding uplink (UL) communication(s). Some aspects may enable an apparatus to perform operation(s) related to an allocation vector. Some aspects may enable an apparatus to perform operation(s) related to random access. Some aspects may enable an apparatus to perform UL communication(s). The written description and appended drawings provide detailed descriptions regarding these and many other aspects.
1. A station (STA) configured for wireless communication, the STA comprising:
a transceiver configured to:
receive, from an access point (AP), an uplink (UL) transmission request (ULTR) intended for a plurality of STAs, the ULTR configured to trigger simultaneous UL transmissions by the plurality of STAs within a period of time after receiving the ULTR, the ULTR comprising a first portion including a field common to the plurality of STAs and indicating a duration of at least a portion of the simultaneous UL transmissions, the ULTR further configured to assign at least one resource unit (RU) for random access, the ULTR further comprising a second portion including a plurality of user-specific fields indicating a description of resource allocation for the simultaneous UL transmissions; and
one or more processors configured to:
in response to receiving the ULTR, consider a network/navigation allocation vector (NAV) unless the NAV was set by a frame originating from an apparatus from which the ULTR was transmitted;
determine a number of RUs assigned by the ULTR for random access and reduce a back-off counter based on the determined number of RUs assigned by the ULTR for random access; and
depending on a value of the reduced back-off counter, randomly select one or more of the RUs assigned by the ULTR for random access and, using the transceiver, transmit an UL transmission using the randomly selected one or more RUs assigned by the ULTR for random access, the UL transmission occurring simultaneously with one or more other STAs of the plurality of STAs.
2. The STA of claim 1 , wherein the reducing the back-off counter based on the number of RUs assigned by the ULTR for random access comprises reducing a value of the back-off counter by a predetermined amount for each of the at least one RU assigned by the ULTR for random access and associated with an identifier.
3. The STA of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive a downlink (DL) transmission comprising a packet destined to the plurality of STAs, and wherein the one or more processors is/are further configured to use a field included in the packet to determine a total number of space-time streams (STSs) included in the packet and further use the field to select a subset of values from a set of values indicating a number of STSs destined to each of at least some of the plurality of STAs.
4. The STA of claim 3 , wherein the one or more processors is/are further configured to:
determine a value of a user position (UP) assigned to the STA and select which of the plurality of STSs in the packet are destined to the STA by considering a number of STSs allocated to one or more other STAs each assigned a UP value that is different from the UP value assigned to the STA.
5. The STA of claim 1 , wherein:
the transceiver is further configured to:
receive a frame from a second STA different from the STA and the AP; and
the one or more processors is/are further configured to:
use the received frame to set a NAV of the STA; and
refrain from considering the NAV of the STA in response to receiving the ULTR when the second STA is in a same basic service set (BSS) as the STA.
6. The STA of claim 1 , wherein the ULTR further comprises information for identifying the plurality of STAs for the simultaneous UL transmissions.
7. The STA of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is further configured to:
in response to receiving the ULTR, if the UL transmission in response to the ULTR comprises an acknowledgement message having less than a threshold duration, transmit the UL transmission without considering the NAV.
8. The STA of claim 1 , wherein:
the transceiver is further configured to:
receive a frame from a second STA different from the STA and the AP; and
the one or more processors is/are further configured to:
use the received frame to set a NAV of the STA; and
refrain from considering the NAV of the STA in response to receiving the ULTR when a basic service set (BSS) identifier (BSSID) of the BSS with which the STA is associated corresponds to a BSSID of the BSS with which the second STA is associated.
9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for a station (STA) or an apparatus of the STA, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code or instructions configured to cause the STA or the apparatus to:
receive, from an access point (AP), an uplink (UL) transmission request (ULTR) intended for a plurality of STAs, the ULTR configured to trigger simultaneous UL transmissions by the plurality of STAs within a period of time after receiving the ULTR, the ULTR comprising a first portion including a field common to the plurality of STAs and indicating a duration of at least a portion of the simultaneous UL transmissions, the ULTR further configured to assign at least one resource unit (RU) for random access, the ULTR further comprising a second portion including a plurality of user-specific fields indicating a description of resource allocation for the simultaneous UL transmissions;
in response to receiving the ULTR, consider a network/navigation allocation vector (NAV) unless the NAV was set by a frame originating from an apparatus from which the ULTR was transmitted;
determine a number of RUs assigned by the ULTR for random access and reduce a back-off counter based on the determined number of RUs assigned by the ULTR for random access; and
depending on a value of the reduced back-off counter, randomly select one or more of the RUs assigned by the ULTR for random access and transmit an UL transmission using the randomly selected one or more RUs assigned by the ULTR for random access, the UL transmission occurring simultaneously with one or more other STAs of the plurality of STAs.
10. A method of wireless communication by a station (STA) or an apparatus of the STA, the method comprising:
receiving, from an access point (AP), an uplink (UL) transmission request (ULTR) intended for a plurality of STAs, the ULTR configured to trigger simultaneous UL transmissions by the plurality of STAs within a period of time after receiving the ULTR, the ULTR comprising a first portion including a field common to the plurality of STAs and indicating a duration of at least a portion of the simultaneous UL transmissions, the ULTR further configured to assign at least one resource unit (RU) for random access, the ULTR further comprising a second portion including a plurality of user-specific fields indicating a description of resource allocation for the simultaneous UL transmissions;
in response to receiving the ULTR, considering a network/navigation allocation vector (NAV) unless the NAV was set by a frame originating from an apparatus from which the ULTR was transmitted;
determining a number of RUs assigned by the ULTR for random access and reducing a back-off counter based on the determined number of RUs assigned by the ULTR for random access; and
depending on a value of the reduced back-off counter, randomly selecting one or more of the RUs assigned by the ULTR for random access and transmitting an UL transmission using the randomly selected one or more RUs assigned by the ULTR for random access, the UL transmission occurring simultaneously with one or more other STAs of the plurality of STAs.
11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the reducing the back-off counter based on the number of RUs assigned by the ULTR for random access comprises reducing a value of the back-off counter by a predetermined amount for each of the at least one RU assigned by the ULTR for random access and associated with an identifier.
12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the code or instructions is/are further configured to cause the STA or apparatus thereof to:
receive a downlink (DL) transmission comprising a packet destined to the plurality of STAs; and
use a field included in the packet to determine a total number of space-time streams (STSs) included in the packet and further use the field to select a subset of values from a set of values indicating a number of STSs destined to each of at least some of the plurality of STAs.
13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the code or instructions is/are further configured to cause the STA or the apparatus to:
determine a value of a user position (UP) assigned to the STA and select which of the plurality of STSs in the packet are destined to the STA by considering a number of STSs allocated to one or more other STAs each assigned a UP value that is different from the UP value assigned to the STA.
14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the code or instructions is/are further configured to cause the STA or the apparatus to:
receive a frame from a second STA different from the STA and the AP;
use the received frame to set a NAV of the STA; and
refrain from considering the NAV of the STA in response to receiving the ULTR when the second STA is in a same basic service set (BSS) as the STA.
15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the ULTR further comprises information for identifying the plurality of STAs for the simultaneous UL transmissions.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the code or instructions is/are further configured to cause the STA or the apparatus to:
in response to receiving the ULTR, if the UL transmission in response to the ULTR comprises an acknowledgement message having less than a threshold duration, transmit the UL transmission without considering the NAV.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the code or instructions is/are further configured to cause the STA or the apparatus to:
receive a frame from a second STA different from the STA and the AP;
use the received frame to set a NAV of the STA; and
refrain from considering the NAV of the STA in response to receiving the ULTR when a basic service set (BSS) identifier (BSSID) of the BSS with which the STA is associated corresponds to a BSSID of the BSS with which the second STA is associated.
18. The method of claim 10 , wherein the reducing the back-off counter based on the number of RUs assigned by the ULTR for random access comprises reducing a value of the back-off counter by a predetermined amount for each of the at least one RU assigned by the ULTR for random access and associated with an identifier.
19. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
receiving a downlink (DL) transmission comprising a packet destined to the plurality of STAs; and
using a field included in the packet to determine a total number of space-time streams (STSs) included in the packet and further use the field to select a subset of values from a set of values indicating a number of STSs destined to each of at least some of the plurality of STAs.
20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
determining a value of a user position (UP) assigned to the STA and select which of the plurality of STSs in the packet are destined to the STA by considering a number of STSs allocated to one or more other STAs each assigned a UP value that is different from the UP value assigned to the STA.
21. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
receiving a frame from a second STA different from the STA and the AP;
using the received frame to set a NAV of the STA; and
refraining from considering the NAV of the STA in response to receiving the ULTR when the second STA is in a same basic service set (BSS) as the STA.
22. The method of claim 10 , wherein the ULTR further comprises information for identifying the plurality of STAs for the simultaneous UL transmissions.
23. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
in response to receiving the ULTR, if the UL transmission in response to the ULTR comprises an acknowledgement message having less than a threshold duration, transmitting the UL transmission without considering the NAV.
24. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
receiving a frame from a second STA different from the STA and the AP;
using the received frame to set a NAV of the STA; and
refraining from considering the NAV of the STA in response to receiving the ULTR when a basic service set (BSS) identifier (BSSID) of the BSS with which the STA is associated corresponds to a BSSID of the BSS with which the second STA is associated.