Wireless communication system, wireless communication apparatus, and wireless communication method
A wireless communication system is disclosed. The wireless communication system performs data transmission using spatially multiplexed streams from a first terminal including N antennas to a second terminal including M antennas (N and M are integers larger than or equal to 2 and N>M).
1. A first wireless communication apparatus for receiving spatially multiplexed streams from a second wireless communication apparatus, the first wireless communication apparatus comprising:
a notification receiving unit for receiving notification of beamforming capability information including a maximum number of antennas supported by the second wireless communication apparatus through a predetermined management frame including a capability description field;
a channel estimation unit for estimating a channel matrix;
a feedback transmitting unit for providing a feedback matrix generated based on the beamforming capability information to the second wireless communication apparatus; and
a data packet receiving unit for receiving a data packet beamformed in a transmission weight matrix generated based on the feedback matrix.
2. A first wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the feedback matrix comprises a maximum dimension reflecting the maximum number of rows of a matrix.
3. A first wireless communication apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the feedback matrix comprises a suppressed channel matrix estimated by the channel estimation unit.
4. A first wireless communication apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the transmission weight matrix is computed based on the feedback matrix.
5. A first wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the capability description field describes a spatial dimension number of a sounding packet, which can be received from the second wireless communication apparatus.
6. A first wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined management frame is provided in one of a beacon, an association response, a re-association response, and a probe response.
7. A method for receiving spatially multiplexed streams from a wireless communication apparatus, the method comprising:
receiving notification of beamforming capability information including a maximum number of antennas supported by the wireless communication apparatus through a predetermined management frame including a capability description field;
estimating a channel matrix;
transmitting a feedback matrix generated based on the beamforming capability information to the wireless communication apparatus; and
receiving a data packet beamformed in a transmission weight matrix generated based on the feedback matrix.
8. A method according to claim 7 , wherein the feedback matrix comprises a maximum dimension reflecting the maximum number of rows of a matrix.
9. A method according to claim 8 , wherein the feedback matrix comprises a suppressed channel matrix estimated by the channel estimation unit.
10. A method according to claim 9 , wherein the transmission weight matrix is computed based on the feedback matrix.
11. A method according to claim 7 , wherein the capability description field describes a spatial dimension number of a sounding packet, which can be received from the wireless communication apparatus.
12. A method according to claim 7 , wherein the predetermined management frame is provided in one of a beacon, an association response, a re-association response, and a probe response.
13. A first wireless communication apparatus for transmitting spatially multiplexed streams to a second wireless communication apparatus, the first wireless communication apparatus comprising:
a notification transmitting unit for transmitting notification of beamforming capability information including a maximum number of antennas supported by the first wireless communication apparatus through a predetermined management frame including a capability description field;
a feedback receiving unit for receiving a feedback matrix generated based on the beamforming capability information from the second wireless communication apparatus; and
a data packet transmitting unit for transmitting a data packet beamformed in a transmission weight matrix generated based on the feedback matrix.
14. A first wireless communication apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the feedback matrix comprises a maximum dimension reflecting the maximum number of rows of a matrix.
15. A first wireless communication apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein the feedback matrix comprises a suppressed channel matrix estimated by a channel estimation unit.
16. A first wireless communication apparatus according to claim 15 , wherein the transmission weight matrix is computed based on the feedback matrix.
17. A first wireless communication apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the capability description field describes a spatial dimension number of a sounding packet, which can be transmitted to the second wireless communication apparatus.
18. A first wireless communication apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the predetermined management frame is provided in one of a beacon, an association response, a re-association response, and a probe response.
19. A method for transmitting spatially multiplexed streams to a wireless communication apparatus, the method comprising:
transmitting notification of beamforming capability information including a maximum number of antennas supported for communication, through a predetermined management frame including a capability description field;
receiving a feedback matrix generated based on the beamforming capability information from the wireless communication apparatus; and
transmitting a data packet beamformed in a transmission weight matrix generated based on the feedback matrix.
20. A method according to claim 19 , wherein the feedback matrix comprises a maximum dimension reflecting the maximum number of rows of a matrix.
21. A method according to claim 20 , wherein the feedback matrix comprises a suppressed channel matrix estimated by a channel estimation unit.
22. A method according to claim 21 , wherein the transmission weight matrix is computed based on the feedback matrix.
23. A method according to claim 19 , wherein the capability description field describes a spatial dimension number of a sounding packet, which can be transmitted to the wireless communication apparatus.
24. A method according to claim 19 , wherein the predetermined management frame is provided in one of a beacon, an association response, a re-association response, and a probe response.