Uplink OFDMA Processing in WLANs
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsJoonsuk Kim, Yuchul Kim
Life of this patent
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Abstract
This disclosure relates to orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication in wireless local area networks (WLANs). According to some embodiments, a downlink OFDMA frame may be transmitted. An uplink OFDMA frame including acknowledgements associated with the downlink OFDMA frame may be received. The uplink OFDMA frame may be processed, in some instances including determining which devices receiving the downlink OFDMA frame transmitted an acknowledgement associated with the downlink OFDMA frame in the uplink OFDMA frame.
Claims21
-20. (canceled)
A processor comprising memory configured to cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
- receive, from an access point device, a downlink orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame;
- determine, based on the downlink OFDMA frame, a dynamic uplink bandwidth allocation for a non-access point station (STA);
- determine, based on whether the downlink OFDMA frame was successfully received, acknowledgement information responsive to the downlink OFDMA frame;
- delay for a short interframe space (SIFS);
- and
- after the SIFS, transmit, to the access point device and using the dynamic uplink bandwidth allocation for the STA, an uplink transmission comprising the acknowledgement information responsive to the downlink OFDMA frame, wherein the uplink transmission is synchronized with a second uplink transmission comprising second acknowledgement information responsive to the downlink OFDMA frame transmitted by a second STA.
A processor comprising memory configured to cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
- generating a plurality of packets for a plurality of receiving devices, wherein respective packets of the plurality of packets correspond to respective receiving devices of the plurality of receiving devices;
- determining a desired packet length of the plurality of packets based on a packet of the plurality of packets that has a longest length;
- facilitating uplink timing synchronization by padding at least one other packet of the plurality of packets to match the desired packet length;
- transmitting the plurality of packets as a downlink frame to the plurality of receiving devices on a plurality of channels;
- receiving an uplink frame comprising a plurality of responses associated with the downlink frame from at least a subset of the plurality of receiving devices on at least a subset of the plurality of channels;
- and
- processing the uplink frame, including determining, based on the subset of the plurality of channels, the subset of the plurality of receiving devices associated with the plurality of responses.
A processor comprising memory configured to cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
- transmit a downlink orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame to a plurality of receiving devices;
- receive an uplink OFDMA frame, wherein the uplink OFDMA frame comprises a plurality of acknowledgements associated with the downlink OFDMA frame, wherein the plurality of acknowledgements comprise an acknowledgement from at least a subset of the plurality of receiving devices;
- and
- process the uplink OFDMA frame, including determining, based on a comparison of bandwidth portions of the downlink OFDMA frame to bandwidth portions of the uplink OFDMA frame, which of the plurality of receiving devices transmitted, in the uplink OFDMA frame, an acknowledgement associated with the downlink OFDMA frame.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.