Medium access control for multi-channel OFDM in a wireless local area network

1. A method, comprising:

transmitting, by an access point, a first downlink orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) physical layer (PHY) data unit to a plurality of client stations;

receiving, by the access point, a first uplink OFDMA transmission from the plurality of client stations, wherein the first uplink OFDMA transmission is responsive to the first downlink OFDMA transmission, and wherein the first uplink OFDMA transmission includes, from the respective client stations, i) respective acknowledgment frames for the downlink OFDMA PHY data unit, and ii) respective frames that include indications of respective amounts of buffered data at the respective client stations that are to be transmitted to the access point;

using, at the access point, the received indications of respective amounts of buffered data at the respective client stations to determine an allocation of frequency resources to the plurality of client stations for a second uplink OFDMA transmission;

transmitting, by the access point, a second downlink OFDMA PHY data unit to the plurality of client stations, wherein the second downlink OFDMA PHY data unit i) indicates the allocation of frequency resources to the plurality of client stations for the second uplink OFDMA transmission, and ii) is configured to prompt the plurality of client stations to begin transmitting the second uplink OFDMA transmission; and

receiving, by the access point, a second uplink OFDMA transmission from the plurality of client stations, wherein the second uplink OFDMA transmission is responsive to the second downlink OFDMA transmission, and wherein the second uplink OFDMA transmission includes respective data from respective client stations, among the plurality of client stations, transmitted within respective frequency portions in accordance with the allocation of frequency resources.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

using, at the access point, the received indications of respective amounts of buffered data at the respective client stations to determine a duration of the second uplink OFDMA transmission;

wherein the second downlink OFDMA PHY data unit further indicates the duration of the second uplink OFDMA transmission; and

wherein the second uplink OFDMA transmission has the duration indicated by the second downlink OFDMA PHY data unit.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the allocation of frequency resources is a first allocation of frequency resources; and

the first downlink OFDMA transmission is transmitted according to a second allocation of frequency resources that is different than the first allocation of frequency resources.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the first downlink OFDMA transmission is transmitted within respective frequency portions in accordance with the allocation of frequency resources indicated by the second downlink OFDMA PHY data unit.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the respective frames that include the indications of the respective amounts of buffered data at the respective client stations are respective quality of service (QoS) null frames.

6. A communication device, comprising:

a wireless network interface device associated with an access point, wherein the wireless network interface device comprises one or more integrated circuits configured to:

transmit a first downlink orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) physical layer (PHY) data unit to a plurality of client stations,

receive a first uplink OFDMA transmission from the plurality of client stations, wherein the first uplink OFDMA transmission is responsive to the first downlink OFDMA transmission, and wherein the first uplink OFDMA transmission includes, from the respective client stations, i) respective acknowledgment frames for the downlink OFDMA PHY data unit, and ii) respective frames that include indications of respective amounts of buffered data at the respective client stations that are to be transmitted to the access point,

use the received indications of respective amounts of buffered data at the respective client stations to determine an allocation of frequency resources to the plurality of client stations for a second uplink OFDMA transmission,

transmit a second downlink OFDMA PHY data unit to the plurality of client stations, wherein the second downlink OFDMA PHY data unit i) indicates the allocation of frequency resources to the plurality of client stations for the second uplink OFDMA transmission, and ii) is configured to prompt the plurality of client stations to begin transmitting the second uplink OFDMA transmission, and

receive a second uplink OFDMA transmission from the plurality of client stations, wherein the second uplink OFDMA transmission is responsive to the second downlink OFDMA transmission, and wherein the second uplink OFDMA transmission includes respective data from respective client stations, among the plurality of client stations, transmitted within respective frequency portions in accordance with the allocation of frequency resources.

7. The communication device of claim 6 , wherein the one or more integrated circuits are further configured to:

use the received indications of respective amounts of buffered data at the respective client stations to determine a duration of the second uplink OFDMA transmission;

generate the second downlink OFDMA PHY data unit to further indicate the duration of the second uplink OFDMA transmission; and

wherein the second uplink OFDMA transmission has the duration indicated by the second downlink OFDMA PHY data unit.

8. The communication device of claim 6 , wherein:

the allocation of frequency resources is a first allocation of frequency resources; and

the one or more integrated circuits configured to transmit the first downlink OFDMA transmission according to a second allocation of frequency resources that is different than the first allocation of frequency resources.

9. The communication device of claim 6 , wherein the one or more integrated circuits are further configured to:

transmit the first downlink OFDMA transmission within respective frequency portions in accordance with the allocation of frequency resources indicated by the second downlink OFDMA PHY data unit.

10. The communication device of claim 6 , wherein the respective frames that include the indications of the respective amounts of buffered data at the respective client stations are respective quality of service (QoS) null frames.

11. A method, comprising:

jointly scheduling, at a first access point serving a first wireless local area network (WLAN) with a second access point serving a second WLAN, a first orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) transmission opportunity period (TXOP) for the first WLAN and a second OFDMA TXOP for the second WLAN such that the first OFDMA TXOP is non-overlapping in time with the second OFDMA TXOP;

transmitting, by the first access point, a downlink OFDMA PHY data unit to a group of client stations in the first WLAN during the first OFDMA TXOP, wherein the downlink OFDMA PHY data unit is configured to prompt the group of client stations to begin transmitting an uplink OFDMA transmission; and

receiving, by the first access point, the uplink OFDMA transmission from the group of client stations during the first OFDMA TXOP, wherein the uplink OFDMA transmission is responsive to the downlink OFDMA transmission.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein jointly scheduling the first OFDMA TXOP for the first WLAN and the second OFDMA TXOP for the second WLAN comprises:

transmitting, by the first access point, first scheduling information regarding the first OFDMA TXOP to the second access point; and

receiving, by the first access point, second scheduling information regarding the second OFDMA TXOP from the second access point.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

quieting, at the access point, the first WLAN during the second OFDMA TXOP for the second WLAN.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

transmitting, by the first access point, a frame to at least the group of client stations in the first WLAN, wherein the frame includes scheduling information regarding the first OFDMA TXOP to provide at least the group of client stations in the first WLAN with timing information regarding the first OFDMA TXOP.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the frame that includes the scheduling information regarding the first OFDMA TXOP is a beacon frame.

16. A communication device, comprising:

a wireless network interface device associated with a first access point that serves a first wireless local area network (WLAN), wherein the wireless network interface device comprises one or more integrated circuits configured to:

jointly schedule, with a second access point serving a second WLAN, a first orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) transmission opportunity period (TXOP) for the first WLAN and a second OFDMA TXOP for the second WLAN such that the first OFDMA TXOP is non-overlapping in time with the second OFDMA TXOP,

transmit a downlink OFDMA PHY data unit to a group of client stations in the first WLAN during the first OFDMA TXOP, wherein the downlink OFDMA PHY data unit is configured to prompt the group of client stations to begin transmitting an uplink OFDMA transmission, and

receive the uplink OFDMA transmission from the group of client stations during the first OFDMA TXOP, wherein the uplink OFDMA transmission is responsive to the downlink OFDMA transmission.

17. The communication device of claim 16 , wherein the one or more integrated circuits are further configured to:

jointly schedule the first OFDMA TXOP for the first WLAN and the second OFDMA TXOP for the second WLAN at least by:

transmitting first scheduling information regarding the first OFDMA TXOP to the second access point, and

receiving second scheduling information regarding the second OFDMA TXOP from the second access point.

18. The communication device of claim 16 , wherein the one or more integrated circuits are further configured to:

quiet the first WLAN during the second OFDMA TXOP for the second WLAN.

19. The communication device of claim 16 , wherein the one or more integrated circuits are further configured to:

transmit a frame to at least the group of client stations in the first WLAN, wherein the frame includes scheduling information regarding the first OFDMA TXOP to provide at least the group of client stations in the first WLAN with timing information regarding the first OFDMA TXOP.

20. The communication device of claim 16 , wherein the frame that includes the scheduling information regarding the first OFDMA TXOP is a beacon frame.