System and method for sectorized transmission in a wireless network
AssigneeFuturewei Technologies, Inc.
InventorsGeorge Calcev, Lin Cai, Bin Chen, Lukasz Krzymien
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Abstract
The hidden node problem can be avoided by scheduling stations in different sectors to perform transmissions during different time periods. Sectorized scheduling can be communicated to stations through transmission of beamformed beacon signals at the beginning of respective time periods. For instance, a first beamformed beacon signal may be transmitted to stations in a first sector at the beginning of a first time period, while a second beamformed beacon signal may be transmitted to stations in a second sector at the beginning of a second time period.
Claims20
A method for group sectorization to reduce the number of hidden nodes that simultaneously access an access point (AP) in a Wi-Fi network, the method comprising:
- transmitting, by an AP, sectorized beacons to geographical areas of a multi-sector coverage area of the Wi-Fi network, each of the sectorized beacons including a respective list of group identifiers (IDs) and excluding bearer data, wherein the sectorized beacons coordinate groups of mobile stations (STAs), positioned in different sectors of the multi-sector coverage area, to perform contention-based transmissions, during different sector intervals, such that STAs contend for resources with other STAs in the same sector without contending for resources with STAs in different sectors, the contention-based transmissions based on an allocated group ID of each STA and the respective list of group IDs corresponding to the sectorized beacons instructing the each STA, wherein STAs associated with a group ID zero are permitted to perform contention-based transmissions during all of the sector intervals.
An access point (AP) comprising:
- a processor;
- and
- a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the processor, the programming including instructions to:
- transmit sectorized beacons to geographical areas of a multi-sector coverage area of a Wi-Fi network, each of the sectorized beacons including a respective list of group identifiers (IDs) and excluding bearer data, wherein the sectorized beacons coordinate instruct groups of mobile stations (STAs), positioned in different sectors of the multi-sector coverage area, to perform contention-based transmissions, during different sector intervals, the contention-based transmissions based on an allocated group ID of each STA and the respective list of group IDs corresponding to the sectorized beacons instructing the each STA, wherein STAs associated with a group ID zero are permitted to perform contention-based transmissions during all of the sector intervals.
A method for group sectorization to reduce the number of hidden nodes that simultaneously access an access point (AP) in a Wi-Fi network, the method comprising:
- transmitting, by an AP, a sectorized beacon listing one or more group identifiers (IDs) over a sector in a multi-sector coverage area of the Wi-Fi network, wherein stations (STAs) assigned a non-zero group ID listed by the sectorized beacon and STAs assigned a group ID zero are allowed to perform contention-based transmissions during a sector interval associated with the sectorized beacon, and wherein STAs assigned a non-zero group ID which is not listed by the sectorized beacon are not allowed to perform contention-based transmissions during the sector interval.
An access point (AP) comprising:
- a processor;
- and
- a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the processor, the programming including instructions to:
- transmitting a sectorized beacon listing one or more group identifiers (IDs) over a sector in a multi-sector coverage area of a Wi-Fi network, wherein stations (STAs) assigned a non-zero group ID listed by the sectorized beacon and STAs assigned a group ID zero are allowed to perform contention-based transmissions during a sector interval associated with the sectorized beacon, and wherein STAs assigned a non-zero group ID which is not listed by the sectorized beacon are not allowed to perform contention-based transmissions during the sector interval.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.