Multi-user (MU) communication in a wireless mesh network

A method for wireless communication, comprising:

• communicating in a wireless mesh network that includes a plurality of mesh nodes;
• and
• establishing at least a first multi-user (MU) association group that includes a first mesh node and one or more peer mesh nodes of the plurality of mesh nodes, the first MU association group enabling the first mesh node as an MU group head to operate as a multi-user access point (MU AP) in the MU association group to allocate wireless channel resources for MU communication between the first mesh node and at least a subset of the one or more peer mesh nodes that form the first MU association group, wherein the one or more peer mesh nodes operate as multi-user stations (MU STAS);
• wherein establishing the at least first MU association group includes:
• selecting the first mesh node as the MU group head to manage the first MU association group based, at least in part, on the routing topology or traffic flow information of the wireless mesh network;
• and
• selecting the one or more peer mesh nodes as members of the first MU association group based on their respective peer relationship with the first mesh node.

A method performed by a first mesh node of a wireless mesh network, comprising:

• communicating in the wireless mesh network with a plurality of mesh nodes;
• receiving a configuration for at least a first multi-user (MU) association group that includes a second mesh node as an MU group head and at least the first mesh node;
• and
• transmitting part of a first MU group communication to the second mesh node using wireless channel resources managed by the second mesh node, the first MU group communication including transmissions from one or more mesh nodes;
• and
• sending, from the first mesh node to a network management unit, one or more candidate MU association groups based on traffic flow information or a routing topology of the wireless mesh network,
• wherein the configuration for the first MU association group is based, at least in part, on the one or more candidate MU association groups.

A first mesh node, comprising:

• a processing system that comprises one or more processors and one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors, the processing system configured to cause the first mesh node to:
• communicate in a wireless mesh network that includes a plurality of mesh nodes;
• establish at least a first multi-user (MU) association group that includes the first mesh node and one or more peer mesh nodes of the plurality of mesh nodes, the first MU association group enabling the first mesh node as an MU group head to operate as a multi-user access point (MU AP) in the MU association group to allocate wireless channel resources for MU communication between the first mesh node and at least a subset of the one or more peer mesh nodes that form the first MU association group, wherein the one or more peer mesh nodes operate as multi-user stations (MU STAS);
• and
• select the first mesh node as the MU group head of the first MU association group based, at least in part, on a routing topology of the wireless mesh network, and
• wherein selecting the first mesh node as the MU group head includes selecting the first mesh node as the MU group head of the first MU association group based on at least one condition from a group consisting of:
• a determination that the first mesh node has a highest traffic load from among the plurality of mesh nodes not already assigned as an MU group head;
• a determination that the first mesh node produces a highest capacity bottleneck in the wireless mesh network from among the plurality of mesh nodes not already assigned as an MU group head;
• a determination that the first mesh node receives traffic from a highest quantity of source mesh nodes from among the plurality of mesh nodes not already assigned as an MU group head;
• or
• any combination thereof.

A first mesh node, comprising:

• a processing system that comprises one or more processors and one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors, the processing system configured to cause the first mesh node to:
• communicate in a wireless mesh network that includes a plurality of mesh nodes;
• establish at least a first multi-user (MU) association group that includes the first mesh node and one or more peer mesh nodes of the plurality of mesh nodes, the first MU association group enabling the first mesh node as an MU group head to operate as a multi-user access point (MU AP) in the MU association group to allocate wireless channel resources for MU communication between the first mesh node and at least a subset of the one or more peer mesh nodes that form the first MU association group, wherein the one or more peer mesh nodes operate as multi-user stations (MU STAS);
• select the first mesh node as the MU group head to manage the first MU association group based, at least in part, on the routing topology or traffic flow information of the wireless mesh network;
• and
• select the one or more peer mesh nodes as members of the first MU association group based on their respective peer relationship with the first mesh node.

A first mesh node, comprising:

• a processing system that comprises one or more processors and one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors, the processing system configured to cause the first mesh node to:
• communicate in a wireless mesh network with a plurality of mesh nodes,
• obtain a configuration for at least a first multi-user (MU) association group that includes a second mesh node as an MU group head and at least the first mesh node;
• manage a first MU group communication in accordance with the configuration;
• output part of the first MU group communication for transmission to the second mesh node using wireless channel resources managed by the second mesh node, the first MU group communication including transmissions from one or more mesh nodes;
• and
• output, to a network management unit, one or more candidate MU association groups based on traffic flow information or a routing topology of the wireless mesh network,
• wherein the configuration for the first MU association group is based, at least in part, on the one or more candidate MU association groups.