Wireless communication apparatus, wireless communication method, and computer program
AssigneeSony Corporation
InventorsTomoya Yamaura, Yuichi Morioka
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed are a wireless communication apparatus, a wireless communication method, and a computer program for intercommunication between a plurality of wireless stations. In a reception standby state, packet detection is performed by using a part of the plurality of reception branches to disable the reception operation of the remaining reception branches that do not perform packet detection, and thereby reducing the power consumption during packet detection standby. Further, in a packet reception state, only the minimum necessary number of reception branches for receiving signal that is spatially multiplexed is enabled by MIMO transmission, and thereby reducing the power consumption also during reception of MIMO signals.
Claims20
A wireless communication apparatus for performing packet communication using a plurality of transmission channels formed by spatial multiplexing, the wireless communication apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of reception branches configured to receive a spatially multiplexed wireless signal;
- a signal processor configured to process a signal received at each reception branch;
- and
- a controller configured to enable and disable each reception branch in accordance with a reception operation state, the controller performing packet detection using a part of the plurality of reception branches in a reception standby state and disabling reception operation of the remaining reception branches that do not perform packet detection;
- and in response to detection of a packet, the controller transitioning from the reception standby state to a packet reception state, enabling reception branches that are disabled in the reception standby state, and allowing the reception branches to receive a spatially multiplexed signal.
A wireless communication method for performing reception processing on a spatially multiplexed transmission signal using a plurality of reception branches, the wireless communication method comprising:
- a reception standby step of performing packet detection using a part of the plurality of reception branches and disabling reception operation of the remaining reception branches that do not perform packet detection;
- and
- a packet reception step of enabling reception branches in response to detection of a packet, which are disabled in a reception standby state, in order to allow the reception branches to receive a spatially multiplexed signal.
A computer-readable medium storing a computer program described in computer-readable form so as to allow a computer system to execute processing for performing reception processing on a spatially multiplexed transmission signal using a plurality of reception branches, the computer program comprising:
- a reception standby step of performing packet detection using a part of the plurality of reception branches and disabling reception operation of the remaining reception branches that do not perform packet detection;
- and
- a packet reception step of enabling reception branches in response to detection of a packet, which are disabled in a reception standby state, in order to allow the reception branches to receive a spatially multiplexed signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.