US 10,379,196 B2 · Unicast and broadcast protocol for wireless local area network ranging and direction finding

Abstract

Disclosed embodiments facilitate wireless channel calibration, ranging, and direction finding, between networked devices. A method on a first station (STA) may comprise: broadcasting, at a first time, a first NDPA frame to a plurality of second STAs. The first NDPA frame may include a first bit indicating that one or more subsequent frames comprise ranging or angular information. After a Short Interval Frame Space (SIFS) time interval from the first time, a second frame may be broadcast. The second frame may be a Null Data Packet (NDP) frame. In response, a plurality of Compressed Beamforming (CBF) frames may be received at the first STA where each CBF frame may be received from a distinct corresponding second STA, and may include Channel Feedback Information field with information pertaining to communication channel between the first STA and the corresponding second STA. The communications may be encoded using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access.

Claims30

Dependent claims

A method on a first station (STA) comprising:

broadcasting, at a first time, a first Null Data packet Announcement (NDPA) frame to a plurality of second stations (STAs), the first NDPA frame comprising a first bit indicating that an immediately subsequent second frame is to be used for ranging;
broadcasting, after a Short Interval Frame Space (SIFS) time interval from the first time, the second frame to the plurality of second station (STAs), wherein the second frame is one of:
a Null Data Packet az (NDP_az) frame with information about a time of transmission of the NDP_az frame, or
a Null Data Packet (NDP) frame;
and
receiving, at the first STA, in response to the second frame or a trigger frame, a plurality of Compressed Beamforming (CBF) frames, wherein each CBF frame in the plurality of CBF frames is:
received from a distinct corresponding second STA in the plurality of second STAs, and
comprises a corresponding Channel Feedback Information (CFI) field with information pertaining to a communication channel between the first STA and the corresponding second STA.

5 more elements

A first station (STA) comprising:

a memory, and
a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured to:
broadcast, at a first time, a first Null Data packet Announcement (NDPA) frame to a plurality of second stations (STAs), the first NDPA frame comprising a first bit indicating that an immediately subsequent second frame is to be used for ranging;
broadcast, after a Short Interval Frame Space (SIFS) time interval from the first time, the second frame to the plurality of second station (STAs), wherein the second frame is one of:
a Null Data Packet az (NDP_az) frame with information about a time of transmission of the NDP_az frame, or
a Null Data Packet (NDP) frame;
and
receive, at the first STA, in response to the second frame or a trigger frame, a plurality of Compressed Beamforming (CBF) frames, wherein each CBF frame in the plurality of CBF frames is:
received from a distinct corresponding second STA in the plurality of second STAs, and
comprises a corresponding Channel Feedback Information (CFI) field with information pertaining to communication channel between the first STA and the corresponding second STA.

7 more elements

A first station (STA) comprising:

means for broadcasting, at a first time, a first Null Data packet Announcement (NDPA) frame to a plurality of second stations (STAs), the first NDPA frame comprising a first bit indicating that an immediately subsequent second frame is to be used for ranging;
means for broadcasting, after a Short Interval Frame Space (SIFS) time interval from the first time, the second frame to the plurality of second station (STAs), wherein the second frame is one of:
a Null Data Packet az (NDP_az) frame with information about a time of transmission of the NDP_az frame, or
a Null Data Packet (NDP) frame;
and
means for receiving, at the first STA, in response to the second frame or a trigger frame, a plurality of Compressed Beamforming (CBF) frames, wherein each CBF frame in the plurality of CBF frames is:
received from a distinct corresponding second STA in the plurality of second STAs, and
comprises a corresponding Channel Feedback Information (CFI) field with information pertaining to communication channel between the first STA and the corresponding second STA.

5 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising

code executable by a processor to:
broadcast, at a first time, a first Null Data packet Announcement (NDPA) frame to a plurality of second stations (STAs), the first NDPA frame comprising a first bit indicating that an immediately subsequent second frame is to be used for ranging;
broadcast, after a Short Interval Frame Space (SIFS) time interval from the first time, the second frame to the plurality of second station (STAs), wherein the second frame is one of:
a Null Data Packet az (NDP_az) frame with information about a time of transmission of the NDP_az frame, or
a Null Data Packet (NDP) frame;
and
receive, at the first STA, in response to the second frame or a trigger frame, a plurality of Compressed Beamforming (CBF) frames, wherein each CBF frame in the plurality of CBF frames is:
received from a distinct corresponding second STA in the plurality of second STAs, and
comprises a corresponding Channel Feedback Information (CFI) field with information pertaining to communication channel between the first STA and the corresponding second STA.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Unicast and broadcast protocol for wireless local area network ranging and direction finding

Life of this patent

Unicast and broadcast protocol for wireless local area network ranging and direction finding

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims30