System and method for WLAN OFDMA design of subcarrier groups and frame format

A method by a network component for allocating subcarriers to users for Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communications in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), the method comprising:

• establishing a plurality of subcarrier groups for a plurality of stations (STAs) according to a defined and deterministic grouping structure for the subcarrier groups;
• allocating the subcarrier groups to the STAs;
• establishing a plurality of user groups, wherein each one of the user groups represents a sequence of the STAs;
• associating the allocated subcarrier groups with a user group of the user groups;
• and
• sending, to the STAs, a sequence of the allocated subcarrier groups associated with the user group for OFDMA communications, wherein the sequence of the STAs of the user group is mapped one to one to the sequence of the allocated subcarrier groups, and wherein the sequence of the allocated subcarrier groups is signaled in a physical layer (PHY) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) comprising a first preamble portion configured to silence users that do not use OFDMA communications, and a second preamble portion indicating the sequence of the allocated subcarrier groups for OFDMA communications.

A network component for provisioning subcarriers to users for Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communications in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), the network component comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the processor, the programming including instructions to:
• allocate subcarrier groups to a plurality of corresponding users;
• and
• signal, to the users, a map of the subcarrier groups allocated to corresponding users for OFDMA communication;
• wherein the subcarriers for OFDMA transmissions are organized, in accordance with a pre-defined grouping structure for the subcarriers, into the subcarrier groups;
• and
• wherein the map is signaled using an OFDMA physical layer (PHY) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) comprising a first preamble portion configured to silence users that do not use OFDMA communications, and a second preamble portion indicating the map for OFDMA communications.

A method by a user device supporting Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communications in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), the method comprising:

• receiving an indication of a plurality of subcarrier groups grouping a plurality of corresponding subcarriers for OFDMA transmissions, wherein each one of the subcarrier groups comprises one or more of the corresponding subcarriers;
• receiving a physical layer (PHY) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) comprising a first preamble portion configured to silence users that do not use OFDMA communications, and a second preamble portion indicating a map of the subcarrier groups to a plurality of corresponding user devices for OFDMA communications, wherein the map includes an allocation of one of the subcarrier groups to the user device;
• and
• exchanging OFDMA transmissions on one or more subcarriers belonging to one of the subcarrier groups allocated to the user device.

A user device supporting Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communications in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), the user device comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the processor, the programming including instructions to:
• receive an indication of a plurality of subcarrier groups grouping a plurality of corresponding subcarriers for OFDMA transmissions, wherein each one of the subcarrier groups comprises one or more of the corresponding subcarriers;
• receive a physical layer (PHY) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) comprising a first preamble portion configured to silence users that do not use OFDMA communications, and a second preamble portion indicating a map of the subcarrier groups to a plurality of corresponding user devices for OFDMA communications, wherein the map includes an allocation of one of the subcarrier groups to the user device;
• and
• exchange OFDMA transmissions on one or more subcarriers belonging to one of the subcarrier groups allocated to the user device.