Techniques for group-based spatial stream assignment signaling in 60 GHz wireless networks
Techniques for group-based spatial stream assignment signaling in 60 GHz wireless networks are described. According to various such techniques, a 60 GHz-capable transmitting device may be configured to define one or more DL MU-MIMO groups, each of which may comprise one or more respective 60 GHz-capable receiving devices. In various embodiments, the 60 GHz-capable transmitting device may include a DL MU-MIMO group ID within DL MU-MIMO control information in a PHY header of a PPDU in order to indicate that the PPDU is directed to a DL MU-MIMO group corresponding to that DL MU-MIMO group ID. In some embodiments, DL MU-MIMO control information may comprise information specifying spatial stream assignments for the 60 GHz-capable receiving devices of that DL MU-MIMO group. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
1. An apparatus, comprising:
medium access control (MAC) processing circuitry for a station (STA), the MAC processing circuitry to:
based on contents of an information element (IE) comprised in a received management frame:
identify a downlink multi-user multiple input, multiple output (DL-MU-MIMO) group to which the STA belongs; and
determine a DL-MU-MIMO group identifier (ID) associated with the DL-MU-MIMO group; and
physical layer (PHY) processing circuitry for the STA, the PHY processing circuitry to:
deconstruct a PHY protocol data unit (PPDU) received via a DL-MU-MIMO transmission of an access point, the PPDU encapsulating a plurality of MAC protocol data units (MPDUs) including, for each of a plurality of STAs in the DL-MU-MIMO group, at least one MPDU comprising data for that STA;
identify one or more spatial streams assigned to the STA based on a header of the PPDU; and
receive the PPDU via the one or more spatial streams assigned to the STA.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , the IE to comprise a field containing a value to indicate a number of DL-MU-MIMO groups defined by the IE.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , the IE to comprise one or more group information fields, each of the one or more group information fields to define a respective DL-MU-MIMO group, the one or more group information fields to include a group information field defining the DL-MU-MIMO group to which the STA belongs.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 , the MAC processing circuitry to identify the DL-MU-MIMO group to which the STA belongs based on a presence of an association identifier (AID) of the STA within the group information field defining the DL-MU-MIMO group to which the STA belongs.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 , the AID of the STA comprised among a plurality of AIDs contained in the group information field defining the DL-MU-MIMO group to which the STA belongs, each of the plurality of AIDs associated with a respective one of a plurality of STAs belonging to that DL-MU-MIMO group.
6. The apparatus of claim 3 , each of the one or more group information fields to comprise a respective subfield containing a value to indicate a DL-MU-MIMO group ID associated with the DL-MU-MIMO group defined by that group information field.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , the received management frame to comprise a beacon frame.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 , comprising a radio frequency (RF) transceiver to receive modulated RF signals comprising the PPDU.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 , comprising one or more processors to process data comprised in at least one of the plurality of MPDUs.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 , comprising one or more RF antennas coupled to the RF transceiver.
11. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing instructions that, in response to being executed by processing circuitry of a station (STA), cause the STA to:
based on contents of an information element (IE) comprised in a received management frame:
identify a downlink multi-user multiple input, multiple output (DL-MU-MIMO) group to which the STA belongs; and
determine a DL-MU-MIMO group identifier (ID) associated with the DL-MU-MIMO group;
deconstruct a PHY protocol data unit (PPDU) received via a DL-MU-MIMO transmission of an access point, the PPDU encapsulating a plurality of MAC protocol data units (MPDUs) including, for each of a plurality of STAs in the DL-MU-MIMO group, at least one MPDU comprising data for that STA;
identify one or more spatial streams assigned to the STA based on a header of the PPDU; and
receive the PPDU via the one or more spatial streams assigned to the STA.
12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 11 , the IE to comprise a field containing a value to indicate a number of DL-MU-MIMO groups defined by the IE.
13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 11 , the IE to comprise one or more group information fields, each of the one or more group information fields to define a respective DL-MU-MIMO group, the one or more group information fields to include a group information field defining the DL-MU-MIMO group to which the STA belongs.
14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 13 , storing instructions that, in response to being executed by processing circuitry of the STA, cause the STA to identify the DL-MU-MIMO group to which the STA belongs based on a presence of an association identifier (AID) of the STA within the group information field defining the DL-MU-MIMO group to which the STA belongs.
15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 14 , the AID of the STA comprised among a plurality of AIDs contained in the group information field defining the DL-MU-MIMO group to which the STA belongs, each of the plurality of AIDs associated with a respective one of a plurality of STAs belonging to that DL-MU-MIMO group.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 13 , each of the one or more group information fields to comprise a respective subfield containing a value to indicate a DL-MU-MIMO group ID associated with the DL-MU-MIMO group defined by that group information field.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 11 , the received management frame to comprise a beacon frame.
18. A wireless communication device, comprising:
baseband circuitry for a station (STA), the baseband circuitry to:
based on contents of an information element (IE) comprised in a received management frame:
identify a downlink multi-user multiple input, multiple output (DL-MU-MIMO) group to which the STA belongs; and
determine a DL-MU-MIMO group identifier (ID) associated with the DL-MU-MIMO group;
deconstruct a PHY protocol data unit (PPDU) received via a DL-MU-MIMO transmission of an access point, the PPDU encapsulating a plurality of MAC protocol data units (MPDUs) including, for each of a plurality of STAs in the DL-MU-MIMO group, at least one MPDU comprising data for that STA;
identify one or more spatial streams assigned to the STA based on a header of the PPDU; and
receive the PPDU via the one or more spatial streams assigned to the STA; and
one or more processors to process data comprised in at least one of the plurality of MPDUs.
19. The wireless communication device of claim 18 , the IE to comprise a field containing a value to indicate a number of DL-MU-MIMO groups defined by the IE.
20. The wireless communication device of claim 18 , the IE to comprise one or more group information fields, each of the one or more group information fields to define a respective DL-MU-MIMO group, the one or more group information fields to include a group information field defining the DL-MU-MIMO group to which the STA belongs.
21. The wireless communication device of claim 20 , the baseband circuitry to identify the DL-MU-MIMO group to which the STA belongs based on a presence of an association identifier (AID) of the STA within the group information field defining the DL-MU-MIMO group to which the STA belongs.
22. The wireless communication device of claim 21 , the AID of the STA comprised among a plurality of AIDs contained in the group information field defining the DL-MU-MIMO group to which the STA belongs, each of the plurality of AIDs associated with a respective one of a plurality of STAs belonging to that DL-MU-MIMO group.
23. The wireless communication device of claim 20 , each of the one or more group information fields to comprise a respective subfield containing a value to indicate a DL-MU-MIMO group ID associated with the DL-MU-MIMO group defined by that group information field.
24. The wireless communication device of claim 18 , the received management frame to comprise a beacon frame.