Data retransmission in wireless network

A station enabled for use in a wireless area local area network (WLAN), the station comprising:

• a processing unit;
• and
• a memory storing instructions executable by the processing unit to cause the station to:
• segment a first group of unencoded information bits into a set of information blocks that each include a respective plurality of the unencoded information bits;
• encode, using low density parity check (LDPC) encoding, each of the information blocks to generate corresponding codewords;
• transmit the codewords to a destination station;
• responsive to receiving a feedback message indicating that at least one of the codewords has not been successfully decoded by the destination station, identify a first information block of the set of information blocks corresponding to a first codeword of the at least one of the codewords that has not been successfully decoded by the destination station;
• responsive to identifying the first information block, interleave a second group of unencoded information bits representing a subset of the first group of unencoded information bits and associated with the first information block, to generate interleaved unencoded information bits associated with a revised first information block;
• encode, using low density parity check (LDPC) encoding, the interleaved unencoded information bits associated with the revised first information block to generate a revised first codeword, wherein values obtained in respect of parity check bits included in the first codeword are different from values obtained in respect of parity check bits included in the revised first codeword;
• and
• transmit the revised first codeword to the destination station.

A method for decoding codewords at a station of a wireless local area network (WLAN), comprising:

• receiving at the station, through a wireless medium, a first packet that includes a plurality of low density parity check (LDPC) encoded codewords, each of the plurality of LDPC encoded codewords being generated by encoding a respective set of unencoded information bits;
• transmitting a feedback message that includes a codeword bitmap field containing a decoding status bit for each interleaved codeword indicating whether the codeword was successfully decoded;
• and
• after transmitting the feedback message, receiving at the station, through the wireless medium, a second packet including a revised LDPC encoded codeword generated at a source station by interleaving the unencoded information bits used to generate a corresponding codeword included in the first packet and indicated in the message as having an unsuccessful decoding status, and encoding, using LDPC encoding, the interleaved unencoded information bits, wherein values obtained in respect of parity check bits included in the codeword are different from values obtained in respect of parity check bits included in the revised LDPC encoded codeword.