Spectrum allocation for multiple resource units in a wireless network
Methods, devices and systems for allocating spectrum in a wireless local area network. A bit representation of the availability or unavailability of a plurality of sub-bands of a portion of frequency spectrum is generated and included in a physical layer protocol data unit, which is transmitted to a target station to allocate resource units within the portion of frequency spectrum for use by the target station. The sub-bands may be 20 MHz spectrum sub-bands for large-size resource units, or the portion of frequency spectrum may be a single 20 MHz band sub-divided into multiple sub-bands for allocating small-size resource units. A station that receives the data unit may decode the bit representation and use the allocated resource units to communicate over the wireless local area network.
1. A method of allocating a portion of frequency spectrum in a wireless local area network, comprising:
generating a bit representation comprising an ordered set of binary numbers corresponding to an ordered set of equal-size sub-bands of the portion of frequency spectrum, each successive binary number in the ordered set of binary numbers having a fixed number of digits and indicating the availability or unavailability of one or more successive sub-bands of the ordered set of equal-size sub-bands;
generating a physical layer protocol data unit, the physical layer protocol data unit comprising a header, the header comprising the bit representation; and
transmitting the physical layer protocol data unit to a target station.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the portion of frequency spectrum being allocated is an operating channel;
each sub-band has a bandwidth of 20 MHz; and
each binary number indicates an unavailable sub-band or one or more available sub-bands.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein:
the operating channel consists of one to four sub-blocks of the operating channel, each sub-block of the operating channel consisting of four 20 MHz sub-bands; and
the bit representation consists of, for each sub-block of the operating channel, a corresponding sub-block representation, each sub-block representation consisting of one or more binary numbers.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein:
each binary number is two bits; and
each binary number corresponds to an unavailable 20 MHz sub-band or the size of an available one or more contiguous 20 MHz sub-bands.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein:
the four possible binary numbers correspond to:
an unavailable sub-band;
an available sub-band;
two contiguous available sub-bands; and
four contiguous available sub-bands.
6. The method of claim 3 , wherein:
each binary number is one bit; and
each binary number corresponds to an unavailable 20 MHz sub-band or an available 20 MHz sub-band.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein:
a binary number of “0” indicates an unavailable 20 MHz sub-band; and
a binary number of “1” indicates an available 20 MHz sub-band.
8. The method of claim 3 , wherein:
the header includes a universal signal field; and
the bit representation is included in the universal signal field.
9. The method of claim 3 , wherein:
the header includes an extreme high throughput signal field; and
the bit representation is included in the extreme high throughput signal field.
10. A method, comprising:
receiving, over a wireless local area network, a physical layer protocol data unit, the physical layer protocol data unit comprising a header, the header comprising a bit representation;
identifying the availability of sub-bands to which resource units can be allocated within a portion of frequency spectrum based on the bit representation, the bit representation consisting of an ordered set of binary numbers, each binary number having a fixed number of digits and indicating the availability or unavailability of one or more successive equal-size sub-bands of an ordered set of equal-size sub-bands making up the portion of frequency spectrum; and
communicating over the wireless local area network using one or more of the available sub-bands.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein:
the portion of frequency spectrum being allocated is an operating channel;
each sub-band has a bandwidth of 20 MHz; and
each binary number indicates an unavailable sub-band or one or more available sub-bands capable of supporting a single-user resource unit.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein:
the operating channel consists of one to four sub-blocks of the operating channels, each sub-block of the operating channel consisting of four sub-bands; and
the bit representation comprises, for each sub-block of the operating channel, a corresponding sub-block representation, each sub-block representation consisting of one or more binary numbers.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
each binary number is two bits; and
each binary number corresponds to an unavailable 20 MHz sub-band or the size of one or more contiguous available 20 MHz sub-bands.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein:
the four possible binary numbers correspond to:
an unavailable sub-band;
an available sub-band;
two contiguous available sub-bands; and
four contiguous available sub-bands.
15. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
each bit of the bit representation corresponds to an unavailable sub-band or an available sub-band.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein:
a binary number of “0” indicates an unavailable 20 MHz sub-band; and
a binary number of “1” indicates an available 20 MHz sub-band.
17. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
the header includes a universal signal field; and
the bit representation is included in the universal signal field.
18. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
the header includes an extreme high throughput signal field; and
the bit representation is included in the extreme high throughput signal field.
19. A station enabled for use in a wireless area local area network (WLAN), the station being configured to perform the method of claim 1 .
20. A processing system, comprising:
a processing device;
a wireless network interface for wireless communication with a network; and
a memory,
the memory having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed by the processing device, implement a communication module configured to perform the method of claim 10 using the wireless network interface.
21. The processing system of claim 20 , wherein:
the portion of frequency spectrum being allocated is an operating channel;
each sub-band has a bandwidth of 20 MHz; and
each binary number indicates an unavailable sub-band or one or more available sub-bands.
22. The processing system of claim 21 , wherein:
the operating channel consists of one to four sub-blocks of the operating channel, each sub-block of the operating channel consisting of four 20 MHz sub-bands; and
the bit representation consists of, for each sub-block of the operating channel, a corresponding sub-block representation, each sub-block representation consisting of one or more binary numbers.
23. The processing system of claim 22 , wherein:
each binary number is one bit; and
each binary number corresponds to an unavailable 20 MHz sub-band or an available 20 MHz sub-band.