Avoid MAC Padding for Trigger-Based PPDUs

Abstract

A wireless station (STA) (103A) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) (100) performs a method of avoiding media access control (MAC) padding of physical layer convergence protocol data units (PPDUs), such as trigger-based (TB) PPDUs. This method can reduce the current or power consumption of the STA (103A), which in turn can optimize the STA (103A) and, in some cases, the entire WLAN (100). In one example, the method includes the STA (103A) receiving a trigger frame from an access point (AP) (101). The trigger frame specifies the length of the PPDU. The method further includes the STA (103A) generating a TB PPDU based on the specification in the trigger frame. In particular, the STA (103A) generates a PPDU with a length less than the length specified by the trigger frame. The method also includes the STA (103A) transmitting the generated PPDU to the AP (101).

Description

Background Art

[0001] In the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.1lax protocol, an access point (AP) can communicate with multiple stations (STAs) simultaneously. In one case, the AP transmits a trigger frame to the STA to discover data that the STA wishes to send to the AP. Each STA responds to the trigger frame of the AP using a physical layer convergence protocol data unit (PPDU) containing the requested information.

[0002] When generating a PPDU, the STA may need to pad the PPDU to meet the length of the PPDU defined in the trigger frame. Most padding is done at the media access control (MAC) layer by adding virtual frames to reach the defined length. PPDU length equalization is used to avoid or minimize potential transient events that may occur when the STA stops transmitting its PPDU in the middle of an uplink (UL) transmission. These transient effects reduce the error vector magnitude (EVM) of the PPDU. In addition, transmitting padding items in the PPDU may require more resources than transmitting data in the PPDU. For example, the current or time associated with transmitting padding items in the PPDU may undesirably be greater than the current or time associated with transmitting data in the PPDU. In addition, the current or power consumption in the case of UL transmission subject to the AP packet policy may be affected by unpredictability and instability. Summary of the Invention

[0003] A wireless station (STA) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) performs a method for avoiding media access control (MAC) padding of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.1lax trigger-based (TB) physical layer convergence protocol data units (PPDUs). The method can reduce the current consumption of the STA, which can then optimize the STA and, in some cases, the entire WLAN. In one example, the method includes the STA receiving a trigger frame from an access point (AP). The trigger frame specifies the length of the TB PPDU. The method also includes the STA generating a TB PPDU based on the specification in the trigger frame. In particular, the STA generates a TB PPDU having a length less than the length specified by the trigger frame. The method also includes the STA transmitting the generated TB PPDU to the AP.

[0004] In another example, the method described in the previous paragraph can be implemented using one or more non-transitory computer-readable media. Additionally, the method described above in the previous paragraph can be implemented by an apparatus having components that perform the operations of the method. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0005] For a detailed description of various examples, reference will now be made to the drawings, in which:

[0006] Figure 1 It is a diagram of an example architecture of a network system.

[0007] Figures 2A - 2B It is a diagram of a timing diagram showing the interaction between an example access point (AP) and an example wireless station (STA) in a network system designed according to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11ax protocol.

[0008] Figure 3 It is a diagram of an example graph highlighting the gradual decline of gain over time, which is attributed to the gradual shutdown of an exemplary wireless station (STA).

[0009] Figure 4 It is a diagram of an electronic device according to some examples.

[0010] Figure 5 It is a diagram of components of an electronic device according to some examples. Detailed Description

[0011] Examples described herein relate to one or more devices (e.g., wireless stations (STAs), access points (APs), etc.) configured to operate in a network (e.g., wireless local area network (WLAN), etc.), which is designed according to a wireless protocol (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11ax protocol, any other IEEE 802.11 protocol, any other suitable wireless protocol, any combination thereof, etc.). In one case, an example STA generates a trigger-based (TB) physical layer convergence protocol data unit (PPDU) in response to receiving a trigger frame from an AP. In this case, the length of the generated TB PPDU is less than the length specified by the trigger frame. The shorter length of the generated TB PPDU is attributed to the generated TB PPDU including few or no padding items. Thus, the amount of current or power associated with transmitting the generated TB PPDU can be reduced. More specifically, the current or power associated with transmitting the generated TB PPDU is less than the current or power associated with transmitting a TB PPDU having the length specified by the trigger frame. The current or power savings attributable to the generated TB PPDU can improve the operation of the STA and, in some cases, the operation of the network itself.

[0012] Figure 1FIG. 0 is a diagram of an example architecture of a system 100 of a network (e.g., a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), etc.). The following description is provided for an example system 100 that operates in conjunction with a wireless protocol (e.g., the IEEE 802.11ax protocol, any other IEEE 802.11 protocol, any other suitable wireless protocol, any combination thereof, etc.). It should be noted that the example system 100 is not limited to the IEEE 802.11ax protocol and can be applied to other protocols or combinations of protocols that benefit from the principles described herein, such as current and future IEEE 802.11 protocols.

[0013] As Figure 1 shown, the system 100 includes an AP 101 coupled to an antenna array 105. Figure 1 The illustrated antenna array 105 includes one antenna; however, the antenna array 105 may include multiple antennas. In one example, the antenna array 105 is coupled to one or more receivers (not shown) of the AP 101 that are capable of receiving any number of signals. In one example, the antenna array 105 is coupled to one or more transmitters (not shown) of the AP 101 that are capable of transmitting any number of signals. The example antenna array 105 may be communicatively coupled to one or more transceivers (not shown) of the AP 101, which may receive or transmit any number of signals.

[0014] The AP 101 is sometimes referred to as a wireless AP (WAP). The AP 101 may be a hardware device or node on a LAN or WLAN that allows devices (e.g., STAs 103A - 103C, etc.) to connect to each other, connect to the Internet, or other networks using a wireless standard (e.g., any one of the IEEE 802.11 protocols, Bluetooth, etc.).

[0015] The system 100 also includes STAs 103A - 103C, which, among other things, may receive frames or packets from the AP 101 and transmit frames or packets to the AP 101. As Figure 1As shown, each of STAs 103A - 103C includes a corresponding antenna array 107A - 107C. Each of the antenna arrays 107A - 107C may include one or more antennas. Each of the antenna arrays 107A - 107C may be communicatively coupled to one or more receivers (not shown) corresponding to one of the STAs 103A - 103C that can receive signals. In one example, each of the antennas 107A - 107C may be communicatively coupled to one or more transmitters (not shown) corresponding to one of the STAs 103A - 103C that can transmit signals. In one example, each of the antennas 107A - 107C is communicatively coupled to one or more transceivers (not shown) corresponding to one of the STAs 103A - 103C that can receive or transmit signals. In one embodiment, each of the STAs 103A - 103C is a device having the ability to use one or more IEEE 802.11 protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11ax protocol, etc.). The STA (e.g., any one of STAs 103A - 103C, etc.) may be, for example, a laptop computer, a desktop personal computer (PC), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a Wi-Fi phone, a vehicle, a wearable device, a tablet computer, or any other type of computing device that can be operated by an end user. The STA (e.g., any one of STAs 103A - 103C, etc.) may be fixed, mobile, or portable. At least one of STAs 103A - 103C is a device that includes a media access control (MAC) compliant with IEEE 802.11 and a physical layer (PHY) interface to a wireless medium (WM).

[0016] As Figure 1 shown, AP 101 may communicate 109A with STA 103A through a wireless or wired coupling mechanism. Similarly, AP 101 may communicate 109B with STA 103B through a wireless or wired coupling mechanism. Likewise, AP 101 may communicate 109C with STA 103C through a wireless or wired coupling mechanism.

[0017] System 100 may be designed according to the IEEE 802.11ax protocol. In such a system, AP 101 may utilize orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), which enables frames to be transmitted simultaneously and in parallel to multiple STAs (e.g., STAs 103A - 103C, etc.). One feature of OFDMA includes dividing the channel into smaller frequency allocations called resource units (RUs). To serve multiple STAs 103A - 103C, AP 101 allocates at least one RU to each of STAs 103A - 103C. After the RU allocation, uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) communications may occur simultaneously on the RUs between AP 101 and the multiple STAs 103A - 103C.

[0018] Multi-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MU-MIMO) is another feature of system 100 designed according to the IEEE 802.11ax protocol. Similar to OFDMA, MU-MIMO also allows simultaneous UL and DL communications between AP 101 and STAs 103A - 103C. MU-MIMO includes using beamforming to direct signals to one or more intended wireless devices (e.g., one or more of AP 101, STAs 103A - 103C, etc.).

[0019] To coordinate UL OFDMA transmissions or UL MU-MIMO transmissions, AP 101 can transmit trigger frames to STAs 103A - 103C. A trigger frame is a control frame that manages access to the WM and provides MAC layer reliability functions. More specifically, the trigger frame specifies common parameters for an upcoming UL OFDMA transmission or an upcoming UL MU-MIMO transmission (e.g., duration, guard interval (GI), etc.), allocates RUs for STAs 103A - 103C, and defines one or more transmission parameters for at least one of STAs 103A - 103C. These transmission parameters include packet length, transmission power, modulation and coding scheme (MCS), number of spatial streams (NSS), channel width, modulation scheme, coding scheme, physical layer convergence protocol data unit (PPDU) format, bandwidth (BW), PPDU duration, etc.

[0020] After receiving the trigger frame, STAs 103A - 103C respond in a synchronous manner. More specifically, STAs 103A - 103C generate trigger-based (TB) packets. The TB packet can be a TB PPDU or any other TB packet in response to the trigger frame. STAs 103A - 103C further transmit the TB packet to AP 101 after a specified time interval called the Short Inter-Frame Space (SIFS). After AP 101 receives the TB packet, AP 101 generates one or more block acknowledgment (BA) frames (e.g., a BA frame for each STA 103A - 103C, a multi-STA BA frame for two or more of STAs 103A - 103C, etc.). AP 101 then transmits the (one or more) BA frames to STAs 103A - 103C after SIFS. Subsequently, UL OFDMA transmissions or UL MU-MIMO transmissions can begin.

[0021] The trigger frame can specify the packet length of the TB packets (e.g., TB PPDUs, etc.) generated by STAs 103A - 103C. Generally, the packet lengths of all the TB packets generated by STAs 103A - 103C are the same. In many scenarios, STAs 103A - 103C include different amounts of data in each of their respective TB packets. For example, the amount of data included by STA 103A in its TB packet is less than or greater than the amount of data included by STA 103B in its TB packet. However, due to the fact that each TB packet associated with STAs 103A - 103C has the same length, some TB packets may need to be padded to meet the length requirement. This phenomenon is sometimes referred to as packet length equalization.

[0022] Padding involves filling the unused portions of a data structure (e.g., a packet, a frame, etc.) with bits, characters, and / or dummy frames. Padding can be performed at the end of the data structure to fill it with data. The data structure can be padded with "1" bits, blank characters, null characters, or dummy frames. Specifically with respect to example system 100, transmitting padded TB packets from STAs 103A - 103C to AP 101 may not be optimal in some cases. For example, the amount of current or power associated with transmitting a padded TB packet from STA 103A to AP 101 may not be optimal. In particular, for this example, the amount of current or power associated with transmitting the padding items in the padded TB packet may undesirably be greater than the amount of current or power associated with transmitting the data portion of the padded TB packet. In such a case, current or power is wasted in transmitting unimportant data (e.g., padding items, etc.).

[0023] The examples described herein can help reduce the amount of current or power associated with transmitting TB packets generated by STAs. In one example, an STA (e.g., any one of STAs 103A - 103C, etc.) has data that does not fill a TB packet (e.g., a TB PPDU, etc.) whose length is specified in a trigger frame received by the STA. In this example, the STA generates a TB packet whose length is less than the length specified by the trigger frame. More specifically, the STA generates a TB packet with few or no padding items. Example TB packets will sometimes be referred to herein as shortened TB packets.

[0024] Assume that there is little padding in the shortened TB packet. Then the shortened TB packet includes most or only the relevant or required data. Minimizing or eliminating the padding entries in the TB packet results in a reduction in the amount of current or power associated with transmitting the TB packet. That is, transmitting a shortened TB packet (whose length is less than the length specified by the trigger frame) avoids one or more of the above disadvantages. For example, the amount of current or power associated with transmitting the data portion of the shortened TB packet will be higher than the current or power associated with transmitting the padding entries of the shortened TB packet (if the shortened TB packet includes padding entries). For another example, for a shortened TB packet lacking padding entries, there will be no current or power dedicated to transmitting the padding entries. In the previous two examples, most or all of the current or power associated with transmitting the shortened TB packet is dedicated to transmitting the data portion of the shortened TB packet. In this way, little or no current or power is dedicated to transferring the padding entries. Assume that current or power is saved by using shortened TB packets (instead of "full-length" TB packets), then the operation of the transmitting STA or the overall functionality of system 100 can be improved.

[0025] Figures 2A - 2B is an illustration of a timing diagram showing the interaction between an example access point (AP) 201 and example wireless stations (STAs) 203A - 203C in system 200 of a network designed according to the IEEE 802.11ax protocol. System 200 is similar or identical to system 100 described above in conjunction with Figure 1 description. As Figures 2A - 2B shown, system 200 includes AP 201 and STAs 203A - 203C. AP 201 is similar to AP 101 described above in conjunction with Figure 1 description.

[0026] In Figures 2A - 2B each of, the data exchange between AP 201 and STAs 203A - 203C is time - based, which is represented by the horizontal axis 243. As depicted by the horizontal axis 243, time increases in the right - hand direction. Thus, frames and packets are exchanged at specific times (e.g., t1, t2, t3, short inter - frame space (SIFS) 245, etc.).

[0027] Now with respect to Figure 2A , AP 201 generates a trigger frame 231. The trigger frame was described above in conjunction with Figure 1 description. Next, at time t1, AP 201 transmits the trigger frame 231 to STAs 203A - 203C during time frame t1.

[0028] After receiving the trigger frame 231, each of the STAs 203A - 203C processes the trigger frame 231 and generates a TB packet. More specifically, STA 203A processes the trigger frame 231 and generates a TB packet 237, STA 203B processes the trigger frame 231 and generates a TB packet 239, and STA 203C processes the trigger frame 231 and generates a TB packet 241. Each of the TB packets 237, 239, and 241 can be a TB PPDU or any other TB packet in response to a trigger frame (e.g., trigger frame 231, etc.).

[0029] After SIFS 245A has elapsed, each of the STAs 203A - 203C transmits the corresponding one of its TB packets 237, 239, and 241 to the AP 201 during time frame t2. The AP 201 generates a BA 233 in response to receiving the TB packets 237, 239, and 241. After SIFS 245B has elapsed, the AP 201 transmits the BA 233 to the STAs 203A - 203C during time frame t3. After the STAs 203A - 203C receive the BA 233, UL OFDMA transmission or UL MU - MIMO transmission can start. In one example, SIFS 245A–245B have the same duration, which is pre - determined.

[0030] Each of the TB packets 237, 239, and 241 can be a TB PPDU. In some scenarios, the TB PPDU includes a legacy preamble, a High - Efficiency (HE) preamble, and a payload, which is sometimes referred to as data herein. In other scenarios, the TB PPDU further includes padding items. As Figure 2A shown, the TB PPDU 237 includes a legacy preamble 205, an HE preamble 207, data 209, and a padding item 211. Additionally, as Figure 2A shown, the TB PPDU 239 includes a legacy preamble 213, an HE preamble 215, data 217 and no padding item. Additionally, as Figure 2A shown, the TB PPDU 241 includes a legacy preamble 221, an HE preamble 223, data 225 and no padding item / data.

[0031] A legacy preamble (e.g., any one of legacy preambles 205, 213, 221, etc.) enables a TB PPDU to be decoded by legacy devices (e.g., devices not designed to work with protocols such as the IEEE 802.11ax protocol, etc.). In other words, the legacy preamble is included in the TB PPDU for backward compatibility. The legacy preamble includes: (i) a legacy short training field (L-STF), sometimes referred to as a non-high throughput (HT) short training field; (ii) a legacy training field (L-LTF), sometimes referred to as a non-HT training field; (iii) a legacy signal field (L-SIG), sometimes referred to as a non-HT signal field.

[0032] An HE preamble (e.g., HE preamble 207, HE preamble 215, HE preamble 223, etc.) can only be decoded by devices designed to work using the IEEE 802.11ax protocol. The HE preamble includes: (i) a repeated legacy signal field (RL-SIG), sometimes referred to as a repeated non-HT signal field; (ii) an HE signal A field (HE-SIG-A); (iii) an HE signal B field (HE-SIG-B); (iv) an HE short training field (HT-STF); and (v) an HE long training field (HE-LTF).

[0033] The TB PPDU also includes a payload (e.g., data 209, data 217, data 225, etc.). Such data can include a service field, a physical layer service data unit (PSDU), and PPDU tail bits. A part of the bits in the service field can be used for synchronization at the receiver. The PSDU corresponds to a MAC protocol data unit (PDU) defined at the MAC layer and can include data generated / used at higher layers. The PPDU tail bits can be used to return the encoder to a zero state.

[0034] Generally, a legacy preamble (e.g., legacy preamble 205, legacy preamble 213, legacy preamble 221, etc.) has a predetermined size, and thus, a predetermined amount of time (e.g., a time length, etc.) will be required to transmit it to the AP 201. Additionally, an HE preamble (e.g., HE preamble 207, HE preamble 215, HE preamble 223, etc.) has a predetermined size, and thus, a predetermined amount of time (e.g., a time length, etc.) will be required to transmit it to the AP 201. However, the payloads (e.g., data 209, data 217, data 225, etc.) may have different sizes from each other, and thus, different amounts of time (e.g., time lengths, etc.) will be required to transmit them to the AP 201. For example, as Figure 2AAs shown, data 225 is less than data 209, and data 209 is less than data 217. Thus, for this example, the time lengths associated with transmitting data 209, data 217, and data 225 will vary. Despite these differences, each of TBPPDUs 237, 239, and 241 has a common information length 235 specified by trigger frame 231. That is, each of STAs 203A-C needs to transmit its respective one of TB PPDUs 237, 239, and 241 within a specific time frame (t2) based on the common information length 235 set forth in trigger frame 231. In such a case, one or more of STAs 203A - 203C may employ padding items to ensure that its TB PPDU complies with the length specified by trigger frame 231. For example, and with respect to Figure 2A , STA203A generates TB PPDU 237, which includes a legacy preamble 205, an HE preamble 207, data 209, and a padding item 211. In this example, data 209 lacks a length that satisfies the common information length 235. Thus, STA203A pads TB PPDU 237 to ensure that TB PPDU 237 complies with the length specified by trigger frame 231.

[0035] An STA (e.g., any one of STAs 203A - 203C, etc.) does not always employ padding. For example, with respect to Figure 2A , STA203B generates TB PPDU 239, which includes a legacy preamble 213, an HE preamble 215, and data 217. In this example, data 217 has a length that satisfies the common information length 235. Thus, STA203B does not pad TB PPDU 239.

[0036] Specifically with respect to Figure 2A the system 200 described herein, in some cases, transmitting a padded TB PPDU 235 from STA103A to AP 201 may not be optimal. For example, the amount of current or power associated with transmitting a padded TB PPDU 235 from STA103A to AP 201 may not be optimal. In particular, for this example, the amount of current or power associated with transmitting the padding item 211 in the padded TB PPDU 235 may be higher than the amount of current or power associated with transmitting data 209 in the padded TB PPDU 235. In such a case, current or power is wasted in transmitting unimportant data (e.g., padding item 211, etc.).

[0037] The examples described herein may help reduce the amount of current or power associated with transmitting TB packets generated by an STA. In one example, and with respect to Figure 2A, the STA 203C has data 225 that does not fill the TB PPDU 241, and its length is specified in the trigger frame 231 received by the STA 203C. In this example, the STA203C generates a TB PPDU241 with a length L1 that is less than the common information length 235 specified by the trigger frame 231. In particular, the STA 203C generates a TB PPDU 241 without padding. This example TB PPDU 241 will sometimes be referred to herein as a shortened TB PPDU 241.

[0038] Assuming there is no padding in the shortened TB PPDU 241, only the relevant or required data 225 is included in the shortened TB PPDU 241. Eliminating the padding in the TB PPDU 241 results in a reduction in the amount of current or power associated with transmitting the TB PPDU 241. That is, transmitting the shortened TB PPDU 241 (whose length L1 is less than the length 235 specified by the trigger frame 231) avoids one or more of the above disadvantages. For example, with respect to the shortened TB PPDU 241, no current or power is dedicated to transmitting the padding. Therefore, most or all of the current or power associated with transmitting the shortened TB PPDU 241 is directed at transmitting the data 225. Assuming that current or power can be saved by using a shortened TB PPDU (instead of a "full-length" TB PPDU such as the TB PPDU237), the operation of the transmitting STA203C or the overall functionality of the system 200 can be improved.

[0039] Now refer to Figure 2B , another example of the system 200 is shown. Figure 2B The system 200 described in Figure 2A is similar to the system 200 described in Figure 2B , except that the STA203C in Figure 2B, the STA 203C has data 225 that does not fill the TB PPDU 247, and its length is specified in the trigger frame 231 received by the STA 203C. In this example, the STA 203C generates a TB PPDU 249 with a length L2, and this length L2 is less than the common information length 235 specified by the trigger frame 231. In particular, the STA 203C generates a TBPPDU 249 with padding items 247, and the padding items 247 do not fill the entire length of the TB PPDU 249 as specified by the trigger frame 231. This example TBPPDU 249 will sometimes be referred to as a shortened TB PPDU 249 herein.

[0040] Assume that there are only a small number of padding items 247 in the shortened TB PPDU 249. Then, only relevant or necessary data 225 and a small amount of unimportant data (e.g., padding items 247, etc.) are included in the shortened TB PPDU 249. Minimizing the padding items in the TB PPDU 249 results in a reduction in the amount of current or power associated with transmitting the TB PPDU 249. That is, transmitting the shortened TBPPDU 249 (whose length L2 is less than the length 235 specified by the trigger frame 231) avoids one or more of the above disadvantages. For example, for the shortened TB PPDU 249, the current or power dedicated to transmitting the padding items 247 will be less than the current or power dedicated to transmitting the data 225. Therefore, a larger proportion of the current or power associated with transmitting the shortened TB PPDU 249 is dedicated to transmitting the data 225, while a smaller proportion of the current or power associated with transmitting the shortened TB PPDU 249 is dedicated to transmitting unimportant data (e.g., padding items 247, etc.). Assume that current or power is saved by using the shortened TB PPDU 249 (instead of a "full-length" TBPPDU, such as the TB PPDU 237), then the operation of the STA 203C or the overall function of the system 200 can be improved.

[0041] In Figures 2A - 2BAmong them, STA 203C completes the transmission of the shortened TB PPDU (e.g., TBPPDU 241, TB PPDU 249, etc.) before the end of time frame t2. In some scenarios, after STA 203C completes the transmission of the shortened TB PPDU (e.g., TBPPDU 241, TB PPDU 249, etc.), STA 203C shuts down. Therefore, STA 203C will shut down before any one of STA 203A - 203B shuts down. In many cases, STA 203C may shut down suddenly. The premature and sudden shutdown of STA 203C may affect the operation of STA203A - 203B. Specifically, the premature and sudden shutdown of STA 203C may cause transient events that have a negative impact on the operation of STA 203A - 203B. To avoid the generation of transient events, in one example, STA 203C can be designed to gradually shut down 251 after transmitting the shortened TB PPDU (e.g., TBPPDU 241, TB PPDU 249, etc.) to AP 201. In one example, as Figures 2A - 2B each of which shows, after transmitting the data 225 in the shortened TB PPDU, STA 203C gradually shuts down 251 the radio frequency (RF) power associated with the transmission of the shortened TB PPDU (e.g., TBPPDU 241, TB PPDU 249, etc.). The following Figure 3 provides additional details regarding gradually shutting down an STA that transmits a shortened TB PPDU to an AP.

[0042] Figure 3 is an illustration of an example graph 300 highlighting the gradual decrease in gain over time, which can be attributed to the gradual shutdown of an example wireless station (STA). Graph 300 includes a vertical axis 305 and a horizontal axis 307. The vertical axis 305 represents the current (or power) gain associated with the example STA, and the horizontal axis 307 represents the time associated with shutting down the example STA after the example STA completes the transmission of a TB packet (e.g., TB - PPDU, shortened TB - PPDU, etc.).

[0043] As explained above in Figure 1 and Figure 2B an STA (e.g., STA 203C described above in connection with Figures 2A - 2B that transmits a shortened TB PPDU (e.g., TBPPDU 241, TB PPDU 249, etc.) to an AP (e.g., AP 201, etc.) will complete its transmission before the time length specified by a trigger frame (e.g., trigger frame 231, etc.). Generally, an STA that transmits a shortened TBPPDU shuts down suddenly after transmitting the shortened TB PPDU. AsFigure 3 As shown by curve 303 described in [reference], this sudden turn-off causes a sharp drop in gain. Conceptually, the sharp drop in gain represented by curve 303 can be compared to an ideal brick-wall response 303. The sharp drop in gain may generate transient events that affect the operation of other STAs associated with the STA transmitting the shortened TB PPDU.

[0044] In one example, the STA transmitting the shortened TB PPDU is designed to gradually turn off after transmitting the shortened TB PPDU to the AP. This gradual turn-off causes a gradual drop in gain, as represented by curve 301 in graph 300. This gradual drop in gain minimizes or eliminates the occurrence of transient events that may affect the operation of other STAs associated with the STA transmitting the shortened TB PPDU.

[0045] Figure 4 is an illustration of an electronic device 400 according to some examples. The electronic device 400 may implement a base station or an AP (e.g., AP 101, AP 201, etc.) or an STA (e.g., any one of STAs 103A - 103C, any one of STAs 203A - 203C, etc.) and / or any one or all of any other elements / devices discussed herein. The electronic device 400 may include one or more of an application circuit 405, a baseband circuit 410, one or more radio front-end modules 415, a memory circuit 420, a power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 425, a power circuit 430, a network controller circuit 435, a network interface connector 440, a satellite positioning circuit 445, and a user interface 450. In some examples, the electronic device 400 may include additional elements, such as a memory / storage device, a display, a camera, a sensor, or an input / output (I / O) interface. In other examples, the components described below may be included in more than one device. That is, the electronic device 400 may be distributed across multiple devices.

[0046] As used herein, the term "circuit" may refer to a hardware component configured to provide the described functionality, such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and / or a memory (shared, dedicated, or group), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), a high capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable system on a chip (SoC)), a digital signal processor (DSP), etc., and may be part of them or include them. In some examples, a circuit may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the described functionality. Additionally, the term "circuit" may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system) and program code for performing the functions of the program code. In these examples, the combination of the hardware elements and the program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuit.

[0047] The terms "application circuit" and / or "baseband circuit" may be considered synonyms of "processor circuit" and may be referred to as "processor circuit". As used herein, the term "processor circuit" may refer to a circuit capable of sequentially and automatically performing a series of arithmetic or logical operations, or recording, storing, and / or transferring digital data, and may be part of them or include them. The term "processor circuit" may refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, and / or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, and / or functional procedures).

[0048] Furthermore, the term "network element" may describe physical or virtualized equipment for providing wired or wireless communication network services. The term "network element" may be considered synonymous with and / or refer to networked computers, networked hardware, network equipment, network nodes, routers, switches, hubs, bridges, radio network controllers, APs (e.g., AP 101, AP 201, etc.), gateways, servers, virtualized virtual network functions (VNFs), network function virtualization infrastructure (NFVIs), etc.

[0049] The application circuit 405 may include one or more central processing unit (CPU) cores and cache memories, low dropout regulators (LDOs), interrupt controllers, serial interfaces (such as SPI, I2C), or general-purpose programmable serial interface modules, real-time clocks (RTCs), timer counters (including interval and watchdog timers), general-purpose input / output (I / O or IO), memory card controllers (such as Secure Digital (SD) multimedia cards (MMCs) or the like), Universal Serial Bus (USB) interfaces, Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) interfaces, and Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) test access ports. In some examples, the electronic device 400 may not utilize the application circuit 405, but instead may include a dedicated processor / controller to process Internet Protocol (IP) data received from a network (e.g., a network designed according to the 802.11ax protocol), a network designed according to any other 802.11 protocol, etc.).

[0050] Additionally or alternatively, the application circuit 405 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more field programmable devices (FPDs), such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc.; programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), etc.; application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), such as structured ASICs, etc.; programmable system-on-chips (PSoCs), and so on. In such examples, the circuitry of the application circuit 405 may include logic blocks or logic structures, as well as other interconnect resources that can be programmed to perform various functions (e.g., processes, methods, functions, etc.) discussed herein (e.g., generation of the shortened TB PPDU as described above). Figures 1 - 3 In such examples, the circuitry of the application circuit 405 may include memory units (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), flash memories, static memories (e.g., static random access memories (SRAMs)), antifuses, etc.) for storing logic blocks, logic structures, data, etc. in lookup tables (LUTs), etc.

[0051] For example, the baseband circuit 410 can be implemented as a solder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits (ICs), a single packaged IC soldered to the main circuit board, or a multi-chip module including two or more ICs. Although not shown, the baseband circuit 410 can include one or more digital baseband systems, which can be coupled to a central processing unit (CPU) subsystem, an audio subsystem, and an interface subsystem via an interconnect subsystem. The digital baseband subsystem can also be coupled to a digital baseband interface and a mixed-signal baseband subsystem via another interconnect subsystem. Each interconnect subsystem can include a bus system, a point-to-point connection, a network-on-chip (NOC) architecture, and / or some other suitable bus or interconnect technology. The audio subsystem can include digital signal processing circuitry, buffer memories, program memories, voice processing accelerator circuitry, data converter circuitry such as analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converter circuitry, analog circuitry including one or more amplifiers and filters, and / or other similar components. In some examples, the baseband circuit 410 can include protocol processing circuitry having one or more control circuit instances (not shown) to provide control functions for the digital baseband circuit and / or the radio frequency circuit (e.g., the radio front-end module 415).

[0052] The user interface circuit 450 can include one or more user interfaces or peripheral component interfaces, where the user interface is designed to allow a user to interact with the electronic device 400, and the peripheral component interface is designed to allow peripheral components to interact with the electronic device 400. The user interface can include, but is not limited to, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), one or more indicators (e.g., a light-emitting diode (LED)), a physical keyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touch screen, a speaker or other audio emitting device, a microphone, a printer, a scanner, headphones, a display screen or display device, etc. The peripheral component interface can include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power interface, etc.

[0053] The radio front-end module (RFEM) 415 can include a millimeter-wave RFEM and one or more sub-millimeter-wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some embodiments, one or more sub-millimeter-wave RFICs can be physically separated from the millimeter-wave RFEM. The RFIC can include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays, and the RFEM can be connected to multiple antennas. In an alternative embodiment, both millimeter-wave and sub-millimeter-wave radio functions can be implemented in the same physical radio front-end module 415. The RFEM 415 can include a millimeter-wave antenna and a sub-millimeter-wave antenna. In one example, one or more of the RFEM 415 transmits the shortened TB PPDU generated by the application circuit 405 to an AP (e.g., AP 101, AP 201, etc.). The above is combined withFigures 1 - 3 Describes generating and transmitting a shortened TB PPDU.

[0054] Memory circuit 420 may include one or more of volatile memory and non-volatile memory. Volatile memory includes dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and / or synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM). Non-volatile memory (NVM) includes high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly known as flash memory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc. Memory circuit 420 may be implemented as one or more of a soldered package integrated circuit, a socketed memory module, and a plug-in memory card.

[0055] PMIC 425 may include voltage regulators, surge protectors, power alert detection circuits, and one or more backup power supplies (such as batteries or capacitors). The power alert detection circuit may detect one or more of power-down (under-voltage) and surge (over-voltage) conditions. Power circuit 430 may provide power drawn from the network cable to provide a power supply and data connection to electronic device 400 using a single cable.

[0056] Network controller circuit 435 may provide connectivity to a network (e.g., a network designed according to the 802.11ax protocol, a network designed according to any of the 802.11 protocols, etc.) using a standard network interface protocol (such as Ethernet, Ethernet over GRE tunnel, Ethernet over Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), or some other suitable protocol). Network connectivity to and from electronic device 400 may be provided via a physical connection through network interface connector 440, which may be electrical (commonly known as "copper interconnect"), optical, or wireless. Network controller circuit 435 may include one or more dedicated processors and / or FPGAs to communicate using one or more of the above-mentioned protocols. In some embodiments, network controller circuit 435 may include multiple controllers to provide connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0057] The positioning circuit 445 may include circuitry to receive and decode signals transmitted by one or more navigation satellite constellations of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) may include the Global Positioning System (GPS) of the United States, the Global Navigation System (GLONASS) of Russia, the Galileo system of the European Union, the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System of China, regional navigation systems, or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) of India, the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) of Japan, the Satellite Inertial Doppler Orbit and Radio Positioning (DORIS) of France, etc.). The positioning circuit 545 may include various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc. to facilitate Over-the-Air (OTA) communication) to communicate with components of the positioning network, such as navigation satellite constellation nodes.

[0058] Nodes or satellites of a (one or more) navigation satellite constellation (GNSS nodes) may provide positioning services by continuously transmitting or broadcasting GNSS signals along the line of sight, and GNSS receivers (e.g., the positioning circuit 445 and / or the positioning circuit implemented by an STA (e.g., any one of STA103A - 103C, any one of STA 203A - 203C, etc.)) may use the GNSS signals to determine their GNSS positions. GNSS signals may include a pseudo-random code known to the GNSS receiver (e.g., a sequence of 1s and 0s) and a message including the Transmission Time (ToT) of a code element (e.g., a defined point in the pseudo-random code sequence) and the GNSS node position at the ToT. The GNSS receiver may monitor / measure GNSS signals transmitted / broadcast by multiple GNSS nodes (e.g., four or more satellites) and solve various equations to determine the corresponding GNSS position (e.g., spatial coordinates). The GNSS receiver also implements a clock that is generally less stable and accurate than the atomic clocks of GNSS nodes, and the GNSS receiver may use the measured GNSS signals to determine the deviation of the GNSS receiver from the true time (e.g., the offset of the GNSS receiver clock relative to the GNSS node time). In some examples, the positioning circuit 445 may include a Micro-PNT (Micro-Positioning, Navigation, and Timing) integrated circuit (IC) for positioning, navigation, and timing, which uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance.

[0059] A GNSS receiver can measure the time of arrival (ToA) of GNSS signals from multiple GNSS nodes according to its own clock. The GNSS receiver can determine the time-of-flight (ToF) value of each received GNSS signal from the ToA and ToT, and then can determine the three-dimensional (3D) position and clock offset from the ToF. The 3D position can then be converted into latitude, longitude, and altitude. The positioning circuit 445 can provide data to the application circuit 405, which can include one or more of position data or time data. The application circuit 405 can use the time data to synchronize operations with other radio base stations (e.g., AP 101, AP 201, etc.).

[0060] Figure 4 The components shown in can communicate with each other using an interface circuit. As used herein, the term "interface circuit" can refer to a circuit that provides information exchange between two or more components or devices, can be part of or include the circuit. The term "interface circuit" can refer to one or more hardware interfaces, such as a bus, input / output (I / O) interface, peripheral component interface, network interface card, etc. Any suitable bus technology can be used for various embodiments, which can include any number of technologies, including Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Extended ISA (EISA), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Extended Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCIx), PCI Express (PCIe), or any number of other technologies. The bus can be a proprietary bus, e.g., used in a system based on an SoC. Other bus systems can be included, such as an I2C interface, an SPI interface, a point-to-point interface, and a power bus, etc.

[0061] Figure 5 is a block diagram showing components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and performing any one or more of the methods or techniques discussed herein. Specifically, Figure 5FIG. shows a graphical representation of hardware resources 500, including one or more processors (or processor cores) 510, one or more memory / storage devices 520, and one or more communication resources 530, each of which can be communicatively coupled via a bus 540. As used herein, terms such as "computing resources", "hardware resources", etc. may refer to physical or virtual devices, physical or virtual components within a computing environment, and / or physical or virtual components within a particular device, such as a computer device, a mechanical device, memory space, processor / CPU time and / or processor / CPU utilization, processor and accelerator load, hardware time or utilization, power, input / output operations, ports or network sockets, channel / link allocation, throughput, memory usage, storage, network, database, and applications, etc. For example, for an example utilizing node virtualization (e.g., NFV, etc.), a hypervisor 502 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 500. "Virtualized resources" may refer to computing, storage, and / or network resources provided by a virtualization infrastructure to applications, devices, systems, etc.

[0062] The processor 510 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP) such as a baseband processor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor 512 and a processor 514.

[0063] The memory / storage device 520 may include a main memory, a disk storage device, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 520 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid state storage devices, etc.

[0064] The communication resource 530 may include an interconnect or network interface component or other suitable device to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 504 or one or more databases 506 via a network 508. For example, the communication resource 530 may include a wired communication component (e.g., for coupling via a universal serial bus (USB)), a cellular communication component, an NFC component, a Bluetooth component (e.g., Bluetooth low energy ) Components and other communication components. As used herein, the term "network resource" or "communication resource" may refer to computing resources accessible to a computing device via a communication network. The term "system resource" may refer to any type of shared entity that provides a service and may include computing and / or network resources. A system resource may be considered a set of coherent functions, network data objects, or services accessible via a server, where such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and may be clearly identified.

[0065] Instruction 550 may include software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any processor 510 to perform any one or more of the methods or techniques discussed herein. For example, instruction 550 may include executable code capable of generating and transmitting a shortened TB PPDU, as described above in connection with Figures 1 - 3 what is described. Instruction 550 may reside, in whole or in part, in at least one of processor 510 (e.g., within the cache memory of the processor), memory / storage device 520, or any suitable combination thereof. Additionally, any portion of instruction 550 may be transferred from any combination of peripheral device 504 or database 506 to hardware resource 500. Thus, the memory of processor 510, memory / storage device 520, peripheral device 504, and database 506 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0066] At least one of the components illustrated in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more of the operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods set forth in the examples discussed herein. For example, the baseband circuitry described above in connection with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples discussed herein. For another example, the circuitry associated with an STA, an AP, a network element, etc., as described above in connection with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples discussed herein.

[0067] In this specification, the term "coupled" means an indirect or direct wired or wireless connection. Thus, if a first device is coupled to a second device, the connection may be through a direct connection or through an indirect connection via other devices and connections. The phrase "based on" means "at least partially based on". Thus, if X is based on Y, then X may be a function of Y and many other factors. Additionally, the use of "A or B", "A and / or B", "A and B", "at least one of A or B", "at least one of A and B", "A / B", or "one or more of A and B" is intended to mean either A alone, B alone, or A and B together.

[0068] Modifications to the described examples are possible within the scope of the claims, and other examples are possible.

Claims

1. A method for communication, comprising: A trigger frame is received by a wireless station, i.e., STA, and the trigger frame specifies the length of a trigger-based physical layer convergence protocol data unit, i.e., TB PPDU; The TB PPDU is generated by the STA, where the length of the generated TB PPDU is less than the specified length in the trigger frame; The generated TB PPDU is transmitted by the STA; And In response to completing the transmission of the generated TB PPDU, the power associated with transmitting the generated TB PPDU is reduced by the STA.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: In response to completing the transmission of the generated TB PPDU, a block acknowledgment is received by the STA.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: In response to completing the transmission of the TB PPDU, the STA refrains from transmitting any data.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein in response to completing the transmission of the TB PPDU, the STA refraining from transmitting any data comprises: Before receiving the block acknowledgment, the STA refrains from transmitting any data.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein generating the TB PPDU comprises: The TB PPDU is filled.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the generated TB PPDU comprises: Conventional preamble; High-efficiency preamble, i.e., HE preamble; And Data.

7. An apparatus for communication, comprising: A communication circuit configured to transmit and receive data; And A processing circuit coupled to the communication circuit and configured to: Receive a trigger frame via the communication circuit, the trigger frame specifying the length of a trigger-based physical layer convergence protocol data unit, i.e., TBPPDU; Generate the TB PPDU, where the length of the generated TB PPDU is less than the specified length in the trigger frame; Transmit the generated TB PPDU via the communication circuit; And In response to completing the transmission of the generated TB PPDU via the communication circuit, reduce the power associated with transmitting the generated TB PPDU via the communication circuit.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: In response to completing the transmission of the generated TB PPDU via the communication circuit, receive a block acknowledgment via the communication circuit.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: In response to completing the transmission of the generated TB PPDU via the communication circuit, refrain from transmitting any data via the communication circuit.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the processing circuit is configured to, in response to completing transmission of the generated TB PPDU via the communication circuit, refrain from transmitting any data via the communication circuit, including that the processing circuit is configured to: Refrain from transmitting any data via the communication circuit until the block acknowledgment is received via the communication circuit.

11. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the processing circuit is configured to generate the TB PPDU, including that the processing circuit is configured to: Fill the TB PPDU.

12. The generated TB PPDU according to claim 7 includes: Conventional preamble; High-efficiency preamble, i.e., HE preamble; And Data.

13. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media, comprising instructions executable by one or more processors to cause a wireless station, i.e., STA, to perform the following operations: Receive a trigger frame that specifies the length of a trigger-based physical layer convergence protocol data unit, i.e., TB PPDU. Generate the TB PPDU, where the length of the generated TB PPDU is less than the specified length in the trigger frame; Transmit the generated TB PPDU; And In response to completing the transmission of the generated TB PPDU, reduce the power associated with transmitting the generated TB PPDU.

14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media according to claim 13, further comprising instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the STA to perform the following operation: Receive a block acknowledgment in response to completing transmission of the generated TB PPDU.

15. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media according to claim 14, further comprising instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the STA to perform the following operation: Refrain from transmitting any data in response to completing transmission of the generated TB PPDU.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media according to claim 15, wherein the instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the STA to refrain from transmitting any data in response to completing transmission of the generated TB PPDU include instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the STA to perform the following operation: Refrain from transmitting any data until the block acknowledgment is received.

17. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media according to claim 13, wherein the instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the STA to generate the TB PPDU include instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the STA to perform the following operations: Fill the TB PPDU.

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