PADDING FOR TRIGGER RESPONSE
A Trigger may be carried in a DL MU PPDU to solicit an UL BA. Then, the AP sends out the following transmission in SIFS time based on the UL BA information. There are numerous situations however where the AP should process the information transmitted (in UL) by multiple STAs and respond to them within the SIFS time. Some AP implementations (in particular the ones that do not use massive hardware (VLSI) accelerators) may not be able to finish the process within the SIFS time due to a very long PHY (Physical Layer) transmission decoding time (e.g., 802.11ax is 16 uS symbols vs 4 uS in legacy IEEE 802.11) and long PHY and MAC information possessing.
1 . A wireless communications device comprising:
a uplink (UL) transmission duration determination module to determine a UL transmission duration of padding or a maximum transmission duration for a response to a Trigger frame, the Trigger frame to be transmitted from the wireless communications device to another wireless device;
a trigger frame manager and processor configured to indicate the UL transmission duration of the padding or maximum transmission duration for the response to the Trigger frame in the Trigger frame; and
a transmitter to transmit the Trigger frame with the indication of the padding.
2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the UL transmission duration of the padding is for MAC (Media Access Control) padding or PHY (Physical Layer) padding.
3 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the UL transmission duration of the padding is based on a total response duration.
4 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the UL transmission duration of the padding is specified in a common info field.
5 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the UL transmission duration of the padding is based on: a packet extension, signaling and or a station indication of what is needed.
6 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising a negotiation module to negotiate UL transmission duration for the padding prior to an uplink response.
7 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the UL transmission duration of the padding is signaled by an indicated total response duration minus an indicated duration of actual data transmission.
8 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the duration of the padding is specified in a per-user field of the Trigger frame.
9 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the Trigger frame specifies a restricted type of response for a solicited station to respond.
10 . The device of claim 9 , wherein the device operates to indicate a total response UL transmission duration with value that is equal to the required time to transmit the restricted type of response plus a sufficient time for the device to process one or more responses to a Trigger frame.
11 . A non-transitory information storage media having stored thereon one or more instructions, that when executed by one or more processors, cause a wireless device to perform a method comprising:
determining a UL transmission duration of padding for a response to a Trigger frame, the Trigger frame to be transmitted from the wireless communications device to another wireless device;
indicating the UL transmission duration of the padding for the response to the Trigger frame in the Trigger frame; and
transmitting the Trigger frame with the indication of the padding.
12 . The media of claim 11 , wherein the UL transmission duration of the padding is for MAC (Media Access Control) padding or PHY (Physical Layer) padding.
13 . The media of claim 11 , wherein the UL transmission duration of the padding is based on a total response duration.
14 . The media of claim 11 , wherein the UL transmission duration of the padding is specified in a common info field.
15 . The media of claim 11 , wherein the UL transmission duration of the padding is based on a packet extension.
16 . The media of claim 11 , further comprising a negotiation module to negotiate the UL transmission duration for the padding prior to an uplink response.
17 . The media of claim 11 , wherein the UL transmission duration of the padding is signaled by an indicated total response duration minus an indicated duration of actual UL data transmission.
18 . The media of claim 11 , wherein the UL transmission duration of the padding is specified in a per-user field of the Trigger frame.
19 . The media of claim 11 , wherein the Trigger frame specifies a restricted type of response for a solicited station to respond.
20 . A wireless communications device comprising:
means for determining a duration for padding for a response to a Trigger frame, the Trigger frame to be transmitted from the wireless communications device to another wireless device;
means for indicating the duration of the padding for the response to the Trigger frame in the Trigger frame; and
means for transmitting the Trigger frame with the indication of the padding.