Spatial reuse in 60 GHZ wireless networks

A wireless device comprising:

• a receiver to:
• receive a beacon frame from an access point (AP) or a Personal Basic Service Set (PBSS) Central Point (AP/PCP),
• wherein the beacon frame includes an indication indicating whether reuse of wireless medium by the wireless device associated with the AP/PCP is allowed during a period specified in a beacon interval of the beacon frame, and
• wherein the period specified in the beacon interval of the beacon frame occurs after the beacon frame;
• and
• a controller to perform the reuse of the wireless medium during the period specified in the beacon interval based on the indication included in the beacon frame;
• wherein the controller comprises a medium access control circuit to:
• identify one or more wireless devices to which the wireless device has data to transmit;
• and
• determine a set of directions in which the one or more wireless devices are located relative to the wireless device;
• and
• wherein the controller further comprises a sensing circuit to:
• sense the wireless medium in a direction selected from the set of directions prioritized based on type of data to be transmitted, wherein the sensing is performed using beamforming training already performed;
• determine whether the wireless medium is busy in the selected direction based on a clear channel assessment threshold for the reuse of the wireless medium or whether one or more conditions for performing the reuse in the selected direction are met;
• and
• attempt to obtain duration information of a scheduled transmit opportunity (TXOP).

A method for an access point (AP) or a Personal Basic Service Set (PBSS) Central Point (AP/PCP) operating in a 60 GHz frequency band, the method comprising:

• generating a beacon frame, wherein the beacon frame includes an indication indicating whether spatial reuse of wireless medium by wireless devices associated with the AP/PCP is allowed during a plurality of periods specified in a beacon interval of the beacon frame, and wherein the plurality of periods specified in the beacon interval of the beacon frame occur after the beacon frame, wherein the plurality of periods include one or more scheduled service periods and one or more contention based access periods;
• and
• transmitting the beacon frame to the wireless devices;
• wherein the AP/PCP and the wireless devices operate according to Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 802.11ay specification.

A method for a wireless device, the method comprising:

• receiving a beacon frame from an access point (AP) or a Personal Basic Service Set (PBSS) Central Point (AP/PCP), wherein the beacon frame includes an indication indicating whether reuse of wireless medium by the wireless device associated with the AP/PCP is allowed during a period specified in a beacon interval of the beacon frame, and wherein the period specified in the beacon interval of the beacon frame occurs after the beacon frame;
• performing the reuse of the wireless medium during the period specified in the beacon interval based on the indication included in the beacon frame;
• identifying one or more wireless devices to which the wireless device has data to transmit;
• and
• determining a set of directions in which the one or more wireless devices are located relative to the wireless device;
• sensing the wireless medium in a direction selected from the set of directions prioritized based on type of data to be transmitted, wherein the sensing is performed using beamforming training already performed;
• determining whether the wireless medium is busy in the selected direction based on a clear channel assessment threshold for the reuse of the wireless medium or whether one or more conditions for performing the reuse in the selected direction are met;
• and
• attempting to obtain duration information of a scheduled transmit opportunity (TXOP).