WAP uplink optimization by selection of MIMO antennas spatial states

1. A wireless access point (WAP) for wireless communication with associated stations on selected orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) communication channels of a wireless local area network (WLAN); and the WAP comprising:

an array of antennas having a number of spatial states;

a plurality of components coupled to one another to form receive chains and transmit chains;

an antenna control circuit coupled to the plurality of components and to the array of antennas to determine for each uplink an optimal spatial state of each antenna in the array of antennas for receiving said uplink; and to change the spatial state of at least one antenna of the array of antennas for each uplink to match the optimum determined spatial state of the at least one antenna.

2. The WAP of claim 1 , further comprising:

the array of antennas having the number of spatial states each corresponding to a distinct radio frequency (RF) footprint.

3. The WAP of claim 1 , further comprising:

the array of antennas having a number of antennas greater than a number of receive chains, and each of the number of spatial states corresponding to a distinct subset of the antennas equal in number to the number of receive chains; and

the antenna control circuit to determine for each uplink an optimal subset of the array of antennas for receiving each uplink; and to switchably couple the optimum subset of the array of antennas to the receive chains for each uplink.

4. The WAP of claim 1 , further comprising:

the array of antennas having each antenna with selectable spatial coverage; and

the antenna control circuit to determine for each uplink an optimal selection of spatial coverage for each antenna in the array of antennas for receiving each uplink; and to select said optimal spatial coverage of the array of antennas for reception of each uplink.

5. The WAP of claim 1 , further comprising:

the antenna control circuit proactively changing the spatial state of the array of antennas for a given uplink before transmitting a trigger frame to the associated stations which identifies the station or stations to uplink.

6. The WAP of claim 1 , further comprising:

the antenna control circuit reactively changing the spatial state of the array of antennas for a given uplink responsive to receiving a “Request to Send” (RTS) frame from a corresponding one of the associated stations.

7. The WAP of claim 1 , further comprising:

the antenna control circuit reactively changing the spatial state of the array of antennas for a given uplink by identifying the uplink station from either uplink statistics or from a header portion of an uplink packet and by changing the spatial state to match the optimum determined spatial state for the given uplink before reception of at least the payload portion of the uplink packet.

8. The WAP of claim 1 , further comprising:

the antenna control circuit determining which distinct spatial state of the array of antennas optimizes uplink communications from a given one of the associated stations by evaluating a communication channel on each of the antennas during uplinks from the given one of the associated stations and by extrapolating an optimal spatial state of the array of antennas from said evaluation.

9. The WAP of claim 1 , further comprising:

the antenna control circuit determining which distinct spatial state of the array of antennas optimizes uplink communications from a given one of the associated stations by evaluation a signal strength on each of the antennas during uplinks from the given one of the associated stations and by extrapolating an optimal spatial state of the array of antennas from said evaluation.

10. The WAP of claim 1 , further comprising:

the antenna control circuit determining which distinct spatial state of the antennas optimizes uplink communications from a multi-user uplink from at least two of the associated stations by evaluating channel state information (CSI) on each of the antennas during single-user uplinks from each one of the at least two associated stations and by extrapolating an optimal spatial state of the array of antennas for the multi-user uplink from said evaluation.

11. A method for operating a wireless access point (WAP) for wireless communication with associated stations on selected orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) communication channels of a wireless local area network (WLAN); and the method comprising the acts of:

providing an array of antennas having a number of spatial states;

providing a plurality of components coupled to one another to form receive chains and transmit chains;

determining for each uplink an optimal spatial state of each antenna in the array of antennas for reception of said uplink; and

changing the spatial state of at least one antenna in the array of antennas for each uplink to the optimum spatial state of the at least one antenna.

12. The method for operating the WAP of claim 11 , further comprising the act of:

providing the array of antennas having the number of spatial states each corresponding to a distinct radio frequency (RF) footprint.

13. The method for operating the WAP of claim 11 , further comprising the acts of:

providing the array of antennas having a number of antennas greater than a number of receive chains, and each of the number of spatial states corresponding to a distinct subset of the antennas equal in number to the number of receive chains; and

switchably coupling to the receive chains an optimum subset of the array of antennas equal in number to the number of receive chains for each uplink.

14. The method for operating the WAP of claim 11 , further comprising the acts of:

providing the array of antennas having each antenna with selectable spatial coverage; and

selecting an optimal spatial coverage of the array of antennas for reception of each uplink.

15. The method for operating the WAP of claim 11 , further comprising the acts of:

changing the spatial state of the array of antennas to the optimal spatial state for receiving a selected uplink from an associated one of the stations; and

transmitting a trigger frame to the given one of the associated stations to trigger the uplink therefrom.

16. The method for operating the WAP of claim 11 , further comprising the acts of:

receiving a “Request to Send” (RTS) frame from a corresponding one of the associated stations;

changing the spatial state of the array of antennas to the optimal spatial state for receiving the uplink from the corresponding one of the associated stations; and

transmitting a “Clear to Send” (CTS) frame to the corresponding one of the associated stations to trigger the uplink therefrom.

17. The method for operating the WAP of claim 11 , further comprising the acts of:

identifying an uplink from either uplink statistics or from a header portion of an uplink packet from a corresponding one of the associated stations;

changing the spatial state of the array of antennas to the optimal spatial state for the identified uplink; and

receiving at least a payload portion of the uplink packet, subsequent to the changing act.

18. The method for operating the WAP of claim 11 , further comprising the acts of:

evaluating a communication channel on each of the antennas during uplinks from the given one of the associated stations; and

extrapolating an optimal spatial state of the array of antennas from said evaluation.

19. The method for operating the WAP of claim 11 , further comprising the acts of:

evaluating a signal strength on each of the antennas during uplinks from the given one of the associated stations; and

extrapolating an optimal spatial state of the array of antennas from said evaluation.

20. The method for operating the WAP of claim 11 , further comprising the acts of:

evaluating channel state information (CSI) on each of the antennas during single-user uplinks from each one of the at least two associated stations; and

extrapolating an optimal spatial state of the array of antennas for the multi-user uplink from said evaluation.