Application layer FEC framework for WiGig

1. A method of performing forward error correction (FEC) in a wireless communication device in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

transmitting application layer forward error correction (AL-FEC) capability information during a capabilities exchange;

applying a single parity check (SPC) AL-FEC code on a set of k source packets to encode i) systematic packets for the set of k source packets and ii) at least one parity packet, a header of each of the encoded systematic packets and at least one parity packet comprising a parity packet indicator, wherein applying the SPC AL-FEC code to encode the at least one parity packet comprises computing a payload for the at least one parity packet by performing a bit-wise XOR on one of the set of k source packets; and

processing the encoded systematic packets and the at least one parity packet in a media access control (MAC) layer and a physical (PHY) layer for transmission;

wherein the SPC AL-FEC code comprises a non-interleaved mode, wherein encoding the systematic packets and the at least one parity packet comprises:

generating a sequence number i for one parity packet;

generating sequence numbers i+1, i+2, . . . , i+k for the set of k source packets; and

wherein computing the payload for the at least one parity packet comprises performing the bit-wise XOR on the set of k source packets to compute the payload for the parity packet with the sequence number i,

wherein the sequence number for the parity packet is included in a header for the parity packet, and the sequence numbers for the set of k source packets are included in headers for corresponding systematic packets.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein encoding the systematic packets for the set of k source packets and the at least one parity packet comprises performing a Hamming AL-FEC code in combination with the SPC AL-FEC code.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a packet block comprising at least one of systematic packets and repair packets;

determining whether at least one packet is missing in the received packet block;

when at least packet is missing, determining whether the received packets are AL-FEC encoded by checking the parity packet indicator in each received packet;

when the AL-FEC code is detected, determining whether the at least one missing packet may be recovered; and

in response to determining that the at least one missing packets may be recovered, performing AL-FEC decoding by using the received systematic and repair packets.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining whether the received packets are AL-FEC encoded further comprises determining whether the received packets are interleaved based on a number of parity packets received.

5. A method of performing forward error correction (FEC) in a wireless communication device in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

transmitting application layer forward error correction (AL-FEC) capability information during a capabilities exchange;

applying a single parity check (SPC) AL-FEC code on a set of k source packets to encode i) systematic packets for the set of k source packets and ii) at least one parity packet, a header of each of the encoded systematic packets and at least one parity packet comprising a parity packet indicator, wherein applying the SPC AL-FEC code to encode the at least one parity packet comprises computing a payload for the at least one parity packet by performing a bit-wise XOR on one of the set of k source packets; and

processing the encoded systematic packets and the at least one parity packet in a media access control (MAC) layer and a physical (PHY) layer for transmission;

wherein the SPC AL-FEC code comprises an interleaved mode with x subsets of source packets, wherein encoding the systematic packets and the at least one parity packet comprises:

generating sequence numbers i, i+1, i+2, f i+(x−I) for x parity packets, each parity packet corresponding to one of x subsets of source packets;

generating sequence numbers i+1, i+2, . . . , i+k for the set of k source packets;

interleaving the set of k source packets across the x subsets such that source packets with consecutive sequence numbers correspond to different subsets; and

wherein computing the payload for the at least one parity packet comprises computing a payload for each of the x parity packets by performing a bit-wise XOR on a corresponding subset of source packets,

wherein the sequence numbers for the parity packets are included in headers for corresponding parity packets, and the sequence numbers for the set of k source packets are included in headers for corresponding systematic packets.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

receiving a packet block comprising at least one of systematic packets and repair packets;

determining whether at least one packet is missing in the received packet block;

when at least packet is missing, determining whether the received packets are AL-FEC encoded by checking the parity packet indicator in each received packet;

when the AL-FEC code is detected, determining whether the at least one missing packet may be recovered; and

in response to determining that the at least one missing packets may be recovered, performing AL-FEC decoding by using the received systematic and repair packets.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining whether the received packets are AL-FEC encoded further comprises determining whether the received packets are interleaved based on a number of parity packets received.

8. An apparatus for performing forward error correction (FEC) in a wireless communication device in a wireless communication network, the apparatus comprising:

a transmitter configured to communicate with other communication devices; and

a controller coupled to the transmitter and configured to:

control the transmitter to transmit application layer forward error correction (AL-FEC) capability information during a capabilities exchange;

apply a single parity check (SPC) AL-FEC code on a set of k source packets to encode i) systematic packets for the set of k source packets and ii) at least one parity packet, a header of each of the encoded systematic packets and the at least one parity packet comprising a parity packet indicator, wherein to apply the SPC AL-FEC code to encode the at least one parity packet the controller is configured to compute a payload for the at least one parity packet by performing a bit-wise XOR on one of the set of k source packets or a subset of source packets in the set of k source packets; and

process the encoded systematic packets and the at least one parity packet in a media access control (MAC) layer and a physical (PHY) layer for transmission;

wherein the SPC AL-FEC code comprises an non-interleaved mode, wherein the controller is further configured to:

generate a sequence number i for one parity packet;

generate sequence numbers i+1, i+2, . . . , i+k for the set of k source packets; and

wherein in computing the payload for the at least one parity packet the controller is further configured to perform the bit-wise XOR on the set of k source packets to compute the payload for the parity packet with the sequence number i,

wherein the sequence number for the parity packet is included in a header for the parity packet, and the sequence numbers for the set of k source packets are included in headers for corresponding systematic packets.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the controller is further configured to perform a Hamming AL-FEC code in combination with the SPC AL-FEC code when encoding the systematic packets for the set of k source packets and the at least one parity packet.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

receive at least one of systematic packets and repair packets;

determine whether at least one packet is missing;

when any packet is missing, determine whether the received packets are AL-FEC encoded by checking the parity packet indicator in each received packet;

when the AL-FEC code is detected, determine whether the at least one missing packet may be recovered; and

in response to determining that the missing packets may be recovered, perform AL-FEC decoding by using the received systematic and repair packets.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether the received packets are interleaved based on a number of parity packets received when determining whether the received packets are AL-FEC encoded.

12. An apparatus for performing forward error correction (FEC) in a wireless communication device in a wireless communication network, the apparatus comprising:

a transmitter configured to communicate with other communication devices; and

a controller coupled to the transmitter and configured to:

control the transmitter to transmit application layer forward error correction (AL-FEC) capability information during a capabilities exchange;

apply a single parity check (SPC) AL-FEC code on a set of k source packets to encode i) systematic packets for the set of k source packets and ii) at least one parity packet, a header of each of the encoded systematic packets and the at least one parity packet comprising a parity packet indicator, wherein to apply the SPC AL-FEC code to encode the at least one parity packet the controller is configured to compute a payload for the at least one parity packet by performing a bit-wise XOR on one of the set of k source packets or a subset of source packets in the set of k source packets; and

process the encoded systematic packets and the at least one parity packet in a media access control (MAC) layer and a physical (PHY) layer for transmission;

wherein the SPC AL-FEC code comprises an interleaved mode with x subsets of source packets, wherein the controller is further configured to:

generate sequence numbers i, i+1, i+2, . . . , i+(x−I) for x parity packets, each parity packet corresponding to one of x subsets of source packets;

generate sequence numbers i+1, i+2, . . . , i+k for the set of k source packets;

interleave the set of k source packets across the x subsets such that source packets with consecutive sequence numbers correspond to different subsets; and

wherein in computing the payload for the at least one parity packet the controller is further configured to compute a payload for each of the x parity packets by performing a bit-wise XOR on a corresponding subset of source packets,

wherein the sequence numbers for the parity packets are included in headers for corresponding parity packets, and the sequence numbers for the set of k source packets are included in headers for corresponding systematic packets.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

receive at least one of systematic packets and repair packets;

determine whether at least one packet is missing;

when any packet is missing, determine whether the received packets are AL-FEC encoded by checking the parity packet indicator in each received packet;

when the AL-FEC code is detected, determine whether the at least one missing packet may be recovered; and

in response to determining that the missing packets may be recovered, perform AL-FEC decoding by using the received systematic and repair packets.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether the received packets are interleaved based on a number of parity packets received when determining whether the received packets are AL-FEC encoded.