MU-MIMO group assignment

1. A communications device, comprising:

communications circuitry to wirelessly communicate with a client device; and

control circuitry to determine a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) for the client device based on compressed client-side channel state information received from the client device, and to assign the client device to a multi-user-multiple-input-multiple-output (MU-MIMO) group based on the SINR;

determine beamformer-side channel state information based on a control packet received from the client device, the beamformer-side channel state information being represented by a channel matrix H′,

determine the singular value decomposition of the channel matrix H′, which is represented by H′=U′·D′·V′H, and

use the matrix D′ in determining the SINR,

wherein H′ respresents beamformer-side channel state information (CSI),

wherein U′ is a unitary matrix,

wherein D′ is a scalar diagonal matrix,

wherein V′ is compressed CSI feedback,

wherein H represents client-side CSI.

2. The communications device of claim 1 ,

wherein the control circuitry is to determine the SINR for the client device based on beamformer-side channel state information obtained from a control packet received from the client device.

3. The communications device of claim 1 ,

wherein the control circuitry is to estimate a throughput of the client device in the MU-MIMO group based on the SINR, and to assign the client device to the MU-MIMO group based on the throughput.

4. A method of controlling a beamforming device, comprising:

at the beamforming device, receiving compressed client-side channel state information from a client device,

determining a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) for the client device based on the compressed client-side channel state information, and

assigning the client device to a multi-user-multiple-input-multiple-output (MU-MIMO) group based on the SINR;

at the beamforming device, receiving a control packet from the client device;

determining beamformer-side channel state information based on the control packet, the beamformer-side channel state information being represented by a channel matrix H′;

determining the singular value decomposition of the channel matrix H′, which is represented by H′=U′·D′·V′H; and

using the matrix D′ in determining the SINR,

wherein H′ respresents beamformer-side channel state information (CSI),

wherein U′ is a unitary matrix,

wherein D′ is a scalar diagonal matrix,

wherein V′ is compressed CSI feedback,

wherein H represents client-side CSI.

5. The method of claim 4 ,

wherein the determining the SINR for the client device is further based on beamformer-side channel state information obtained from a control packet received from the client device.

6. The method of claim 4 ,

wherein the assigning the client device to the MU-MIMO group based on the SINR includes estimating a throughput of the client device in the MU-MIMO group based on the SINR.

7. A non-transitory machine-readable medium that stores instructions that, when executed by a processor of a beamforming device, cause the beamforming device to:

determine potential multi-user-multiple-input-multiple-output (MU-MIMO) groupings of a plurality of client devices;

for each of the plurality of client devices and each of the potential MU-MIMO grouping in which the respective client device is included, estimate a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) based on compressed client-side channel state information received by the beamforming device from the respective client device; and

assign the plurality of client devices to MU-MIMO groups based on the estimated SINRs;

determine beamformer-side channel state information for the respective client device based on a control packet received from the respective client device, the beamformer-side channel state information for the respective client device being represented by a channel matrix H′k,

determine the singular value decomposition of the channel matrix H′k, which is represented by H′k=U′k·D′k·V′Hk, and

use the matrix D′k in determining each of the SINRs corresponding to the respective client device, where k is an index corresponding to the respective client device,

wherein H′ respresents beamformer-side channel state information (CSI),

wherein U′ is a unitary matrix,

wherein D′ is a scalar diagonal matrix,

wherein V′ is compressed CSI feedback,

wherein H represents client-side CSI.

8. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 7 ,

wherein the instructions are to, when executed by the processor of the beamforming device, cause the beamforming device to:

for each of the plurality of client devices, determine beamformer-side channel state information from a control packet received from the respective client device; and

for each of the plurality of client devices, determine each of the SINRs corresponding to the respective client device based on the beamformer-side channel state information corresponding to the respective client device.

9. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 7 ,

wherein the instructions are to, when executed by the processor of the beamforming device, cause the beamforming device to:

for each of the plurality of client devices and each of the potential MU-MIMO grouping in which the respective client device is included, estimate a throughput of the respective client device in the respective potential MU-MIMO grouping based on the SINR corresponding to the respective client device and the respective potential MU-MIMO grouping, and

assign the plurality of client devices to MU-MIMO groups based on the estimated throughputs.