Methods for WiFi sectorization MAC enhancement
AssigneeInterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc.
InventorsXiaofei Wang, Guodong Zhang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus may be used for WiFi sectorization medium access control enhancement (WiSE MAC). An IEEE 802.11 STA may receive an omni-directional indication of a first sectorized transmission opportunity (TXOP) associated with a second STA. The omni-directional indication may include an identifier (ID) of a first sector associated with the first sectorized TXOP. The STA may transmit a directional indication of a second sectorized TXOP a condition that a second sector associated with the second sectorized TXOP does not interfere with the first sector associated with the first sectorized TXOP.
Claims18
A method for use in a first station (STA), wherein the first STA is an IEEE 802.11 STA, the method comprising:
- receiving, from an access point (AP), an omni-directional request-to-send (RTS) frame indicating that an associated transmission opportunity (TXOP) will be a sectorized TXOP, wherein the omni-directional RTS frame further indicates a sector identifier (ID) associated with the sectorized TXOP;
- transmitting an omni-directional clear-to-send (CTS) frame in response to the omni-directional RTS frame, wherein the omni-directional CTS frame indicates that the associated TXOP will be a sectorized TXOP, and wherein the omni-directional CTS frame further indicates the sector ID associated with the sectorized TXOP;
- and
- receiving a sectorized transmission from the AP, wherein the sectorized transmission includes an indication of sectorized transmission and the sector ID associated with the sectorized TXOP;
- wherein the sector ID associated with the TXOP included in the omni-directional CTS frame is the same as the omni-directional RTS frame.
A first station (STA) that is IEEE 802.11 compatible, comprising:
- receiver circuitry configured to receive a first omni-directional clear-to-send (CTS) frame from a second STA in an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) reserving a first sectorized transmission opportunity (TXOP), wherein the first omni-directional CTS frame includes a first sector identifier (ID) associated with the first sectorized TXOP;
- processing circuitry configured to determine whether a first sector associated with the first sector ID interferes with a second sector associated with a second sectorized TXOP;
- transmitter circuitry configured to transmit, to a third STA, on a condition that the first sector associated with the first sector ID does not interfere with the second sector associated with the second TXOP, a sectorized request-to-send (RTS) frame indicating that an associated TXOP will be the second sectorized TXOP, wherein the sectorized RTS frame further indicates a second sector ID associated with the second sectorized TXOP;
- the receiver circuitry further configured to receive, from the third STA, a second omni-directional CTS frame in response to the sectorized RTS frame;
- and the transmitter further configured to transmit, to the third STA, a sectorized transmission in response to the omni-directional CTS frame.
A first station (STA) that is IEEE 802.11 compatible, comprising:
- receiver circuitry configured to receive, from an access point (AP), an omni-directional request-to-send (RTS) frame indicating that an associated transmission opportunity (TXOP) will be a sectorized TXOP, wherein the omni-directional RTS frame further indicates a sector identifier (ID) associated with the sectorized TXOP;
- transmitter circuitry configured to transmit an omni-directional clear-to-send (CTS) frame in response to the omni-directional RTS frame, wherein the omni-directional CTS frame indicates that the associated TXOP will be a sectorized TXOP, and wherein the omni-directional CTS frame further indicates the sector ID associated with the sectorized TXOP;
- and
- the receiver circuitry further configured to receive a sectorized transmission from the AP, wherein the sectorized transmission includes an indication of sectorized transmission and the sector ID associated with the sectorized TXOP;
- wherein the sector ID associated with the sectorized TXOP included in the omni-directional CTS frame is the same as the omni-directional RTS frame.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.