Method, apparatus and system of spatial division multiple access communication in a wireless local area network

Abstract

Some demonstrative embodiments of the invention include a method, apparatus, and system of performing simultaneous downlink transmission over a wireless medium to a plurality of wireless stations, using Spatial Division Multiple Access (SDMA) in a wireless local area network (WLAN). In one demonstrative embodiment of the invention, the method may include synchronizing transmission of first and second data frames to be received by first and second wireless stations, respectively, such that the transmissions of the first and second data frames end substantially simultaneously. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a Continuation In Part Application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 319,526, filed Dec. 29, 2005, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to the field of wireless communication. In particular, embodiments of the invention relate to a method, apparatus and system for use of Spatial Division Multiple Access (SDMA) in a wireless local area network (WLAN). BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] In a wireless local area network (WLAN), a single central base station, e.g., an access point (AP) may communicate with multiple mobile stations (STA) over a wireless communication link in what may be referred to as point to multi-point communication. For example, the AP may utilize a time domain duplexing (TDD) channel access scheme, in which transmissions to the multiple stations may be multiplexed in different time slots in the same frequen...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Backward compatibility of APs with user stations operating on earlier, slower versions of a transmission standard may reduce overall throughput.

However, in a deployment scenario having legacy stations designed to an earlier standard, e.g., IEEE 802.11b, that may communicate at less than 11 Mbps, the legacy stations may dominate the usage of the wireless medium to the detriment of user stations of more recent design.

This problem may be further compounded as new standards such as, e.g., the IEEE 802.11n multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) standard which allows for data rates over 100 Mbps, are deployed.

Images