Access point, non-access point station, and device used therein

Abstract

The present application relates to an access point (AP), a non-AP station (non-AP STA), and an apparatus for use in an AP or a non-AP STA. An apparatus for use in an AP or non-AP STA includes processor circuitry configured to cause the AP or non-AP STA to transmit a contention-free end (CF-end) frame during an allocated time in a case where a sharing AP has allocated a time within its transmission opportunity (TXOP) to the AP or non-AP STA and sets a network allocation vector (NAV) for the AP or non-AP STA within the allocated time, the CF-end frame carries a Media Access Control (MAC) address of the shared AP in a Transmitter Address (TA) field.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application is based upon and claims the benefit of U.S. patent application No. 63 / 507,661, filed on June 12, 2023, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to an access point (AP), a non-AP station (non-AP STA), and apparatuses used in the AP and the non-AP STA. Background Art

[0004] Wireless devices are becoming widely popular and increasingly requesting access to wireless channels. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is developing one or more standards that use Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) in channel allocation. Summary of the invention

[0005] On the one hand, the present disclosure provides an apparatus for use in an AP or a non-AP STA, the apparatus comprising a processor circuit, the processor circuit being configured to cause the AP or the non-AP STA to, when a shared AP has allocated time within its transmission opportunity (TXOP) to the AP or the non-AP STA and set a network allocation vector (NAV) for the AP or the non-AP STA during the allocated time: send a contention-free end (CF-end) frame during the allocated time, the CF-end frame carrying a media access control (MAC) address of the shared AP in a sender address (TA) field.

[0006] On the other hand, the present disclosure provides a device for use in an AP, which includes a processor circuit, which is configured to cause the AP to: allocate time within its TXOP to a shared AP or a shared non-AP STA; set a NAV for the shared AP or the shared non-AP STA within the allocated time; and ignore a CF-end frame sent by the shared AP or the shared non-AP STA within the allocated time and carrying the AP's MAC address in the TA field. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements.

[0008] Figure 1 is a network diagram of an example network environment according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0009] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an example NAV protection mechanism according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0010] Figure 3 is a functional block diagram of an exemplary communication station according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0011] Figure 4 is a block diagram of an example of a machine or system on which any one or more of the techniques (eg, methodologies) discussed herein may be performed.

[0012] Figure 5 According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, Figure 1 Block diagram of the radio architecture in either an AP and / or user equipment.

[0013] Figure 6 is a functional block diagram of a WLAN FEM circuit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0014] Figure 7 is a functional block diagram of a radio IC circuit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 8 is a functional block diagram of a baseband processing circuit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] The various aspects of the illustrative embodiments will be described using terms commonly used by those skilled in the art to convey the substance of the present disclosure to other persons skilled in the art. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many alternative embodiments may be practiced using the parts of the aspects. For purposes of explanation, specific quantities, materials, and configurations are proposed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the illustrative embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that alternative embodiments may be practiced without the specific details. In other cases, in order to avoid confusing the illustrative embodiments, known features may be omitted or simplified.

[0017] In addition, various operations will be described as multiple discrete operations in turn in a manner that is most helpful for understanding the illustrative embodiments; however, the order of description should not be interpreted as implying that these operations are necessarily order-dependent. In particular, these operations do not need to be performed in the order presented.

[0018] The phrases "in an embodiment," "in one embodiment," and "in some embodiments" are used repeatedly herein. The phrases generally do not refer to the same embodiment; however, they may refer to the same embodiment. Unless the context dictates otherwise, the terms "including," "having," and "comprising" are synonymous. The phrases "A or B" and "A / B" mean "(A), (B), or (A and B)."

[0019] Figure 11 is a network diagram illustrating an example NAV protected network environment according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. A wireless network 100 may include one or more user devices 120 and one or more access points (APs) 102, which may communicate according to the IEEE 802.11 communication standard. The user device(s) 120 may be a non-fixed (e.g., not having a fixed location) mobile device, or may be a fixed device.

[0020] In some embodiments, user equipment 120 and AP 102 may include Figure 3 Functional diagrams and / or Figure 4 The example machine / system is similar to one or more computer systems.

[0021] One or more illustrative user devices 120 and / or AP 102 may be operated by one or more users 110. It should be noted that any addressable unit may be a station (STA). A STA may present a plurality of different characteristics, each of which shapes its functionality. For example, a single addressable unit may be a portable STA, a quality-of-service (QoS) STA, a subordinate STA, and a hidden STA at the same time. One or more illustrative user devices 120 and AP 102 may be STAs. One or more illustrative user devices 120 and / or AP 102 may operate as a personal basic serviceset (PBSS) control point / access point (PBSS control point / access point, PCP / AP). (One or more) user devices 120 (e.g., 124, 126, or 128) and / or (one or more) AP 102 may include any suitable processor-driven device, including but not limited to a mobile device or a non-mobile device, such as a static device. For example, the user equipment (one or more) 120 and / or the AP (one or more) 102 may include: user equipment (UE), station (STA), access point (AP), software enabled AP (SoftAP), personal computer (PC), wearable wireless device (e.g., bracelet, watch, glasses, ring, etc.), desktop computer, mobile computer, laptop computer, Ultrabook TMcomputer, laptop computer, tablet computer, server computer, handheld computer, handheld device, Internet of Things (IoT) device, sensor device, PDA device, handheld PDA device, airborne device, non-airborne device, hybrid device (e.g., combining cellular phone functionality with PDA device functionality), consumer device, in-vehicle device, non-in-vehicle device, mobile or portable device, non-mobile or non-portable device, mobile phone, cellular phone, PCS device, PDA device including wireless communication device, mobile or portable GPS device, DVB device, relatively small computing device, non-desktop computer, "carrysmall live large" (CSLL) device, ultra mobile device (UMD), ultra mobile PC (UMPC), mobile internet device (MID), "origami" device or computing device, dynamically composable computing (dynamically composable computing) computing (DCC) devices, context-aware devices, video devices, audio devices, A / V devices, set-top-box (STB), Blu-ray disc (BD) player, BD recorder, digital video disc (DVD) player, high definition (HD) DVD player, DVD recorder, HDDVD recorder, personal video recorder (PVR), broadcast HD receiver, video source, audio source, video sink, audio sink, stereo tuner, broadcast radio receiver, flat panel display, personal media player (PMP), digital video camera (DVC), digital audio player, speaker, audio receiver, audio amplifier, gaming device, data source, data sink, digital still camera (DSC), media player, smart phone, television, music player, etc. Other devices, including smart devices such as lights, climate control, vehicle components, home components, appliances, etc., may also be included in this list.

[0022] As used herein, the term "Internet of Things (IoT) device" is used to refer to any object (e.g., appliance, sensor, etc.) that has an addressable interface (e.g., Internet protocol (IP) address, Bluetooth identifier (ID), near-field communication (NFC) ID, etc.) and can send information to one or more other devices via a wired or wireless connection. IoT devices may have passive communication interfaces, such as quick response (QR) codes, radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, NFC tags, etc., or active communication interfaces, such as modems, transceivers, transmitter-receivers, etc. IoT devices may have a specific set of attributes (e.g., device states or conditions, such as whether the IoT device is on or off, open or closed, idle or active, available for task execution or busy, etc., cooling or heating functions, environmental monitoring or recording functions, light functions, sound functions, etc.), which may be embedded in and / or controlled / monitored by a central processing unit (CPU), microprocessor, ASIC, etc., and configured to connect to an IoT network, such as a local ad hoc network or the Internet. For example, IoT devices may include, but are not limited to, refrigerators, toasters, ovens, microwave ovens, freezers, dishwashers, tableware, hand tools, washing machines, dryers, stoves, air conditioners, thermostats, televisions, lamps, vacuum cleaners, sprinklers, electricity meters, gas meters, etc., as long as these devices are equipped with an addressable communication interface for communicating with the IoT network. IoT devices may also include cellular phones, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc. Thus, an IoT network may be comprised of a combination of “traditional” Internet-accessible devices (e.g., laptop or desktop computers, cell phones, etc.) as well as devices that do not typically have Internet connectivity (e.g., dishwashers, etc.).

[0023] The user device(s) 120 and / or the AP(s) 102 may also comprise, for example, mesh stations in a mesh network in accordance with one or more IEEE 802.11 standards and / or 3GPP standards.

[0024] Any of the user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and the APs 102 (one or more) may be configured to communicate with each other wirelessly or by wire via one or more communication networks 130 and / or 135. The user devices 120 (one or more) may also communicate with each other peer-to-peer or directly with or without the APs 102 (one or more). Any of the communication networks 130 and / or 135 may include, but are not limited to, any of a combination of different types of suitable communication networks, such as, for example, a broadcast network, a cable network, a public network (e.g., the Internet), a private network, a wireless network, a cellular network, or any other suitable private and / or public network. In addition, any of the communication networks 130 and / or 135 may have any suitable communication range associated therewith and may include, for example, a global network (e.g., the Internet), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), or a personal area network (PAN). Furthermore, any of the communication networks 130 and / or 135 may include any type of media over which network traffic may be carried, including, but not limited to, coaxial cable, twisted pair, optical fiber, hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) media, microwave ground transceivers, radio frequency communication media, white space communication media, ultra high frequency communication media, satellite communication media, or any combination of these.

[0025] Any of the user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and the AP(s) 102 may include one or more communication antennas. The one or more communication antennas may be any suitable type of antenna corresponding to the communication protocol used by the user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, and 128) and the AP(s) 102. Some non-limiting examples of suitable communication antennas include Wi-Fi antennas, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards compatible antennas, directional antennas, non-directional antennas, dipole antennas, folded dipole antennas, patch antennas, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, omnidirectional antennas, quasi-omnidirectional antennas, and the like. The one or more communication antennas may be communicatively coupled to a radio component to send and / or receive signals, such as to send and / or receive communication signals to and / or from the user device(s) 120 and / or the AP(s) 102.

[0026] Any one of the user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and APs 102 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and APs 102 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) may be configured to perform directional transmission and / or directional reception in conjunction with wireless communications in a wireless network. Any one of the user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and APs 102 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) may be configured to perform such directional transmission and / or reception using a set of multiple antenna arrays (e.g., DMG antenna arrays, etc.). Each of the multiple antenna arrays may be used for transmission and / or reception in a specific corresponding direction or range of directions. Any one of the user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and APs 102 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) may be configured to perform any given directional transmission toward one or more defined transmission sectors. Any of the user device(s) 120 (eg, user devices 124, 126, 128) and AP(s) 102 may be configured to perform any given directional reception from one or more defined reception sectors.

[0027] MIMO beamforming in a wireless network may be implemented using RF beamforming and / or digital beamforming. In some embodiments, when performing a given MIMO transmission, user equipment 120 and / or (one or more) APs 102 may be configured to perform MIMO beamforming using all or a subset of one or more of their communication antennas.

[0028] Any of the user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and the AP(s) 102 may include any appropriate radios and / or transceivers to send and / or receive radio frequency (RF) signals in a bandwidth and / or channel corresponding to a communication protocol used by any of the user devices 120 and the AP(s) 102 to communicate with each other. The radio component may include hardware and / or software to modulate and / or demodulate communication signals according to a pre-established transmission protocol. The radio component may also have hardware and / or software instructions to communicate via one or more Wi-Fi and / or Wi-Fi Direct protocols, such as those standardized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard. In certain example embodiments, the radio assembly, in cooperation with the communication antenna, may be configured to communicate via a 2.4 GHz channel (e.g., 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ax), a 5 GHz channel (e.g., 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11be, etc.), a 6 GHz channel (e.g., 802.11ax, 802.11be, etc.), or a 60 GHz channel (e.g., 802.11ad, 802.11ay), an 800 MHz channel (e.g., 802.11ah). The communication antenna may operate at 28 GHz and 40 GHz. It should be understood that this list of communication channels according to certain 802.11 standards is only a partial list and other 802.11 standards may be used (e.g., next generation Wi-Fi, or other standards). In some embodiments, non-Wi-Fi protocols may be used for communication between devices, such as Bluetooth, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) (e.g., IEEE 802.11af, IEEE 802.22), white space frequencies (e.g., white space), or other packetized radio communications. The radio component may include any known receiver and baseband suitable for communicating via the communication protocol. The radio component may also include a low noise amplifier (LNA), an additional signal amplifier, an analog-to-digital (A / D) converter, one or more buffers, and a digital baseband.

[0029] In one embodiment, reference Figure 1, the user equipment 120 may communicate with one or more APs 102. For example, the one or more APs 102 may implement NAV protection 142 with the one or more user equipment 120. The one or more APs 102 may be a multi-link device (MLD), and the one or more user equipment 120 may be a non-AP MLD. Each of the one or more APs 102 may include multiple individual APs (e.g., AP1, AP2, ..., APn, where n is an integer), and each of the one or more user equipment 120 may include multiple individual STAs (e.g., STA1, STA2, ..., STAn). The AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may establish one or more links (e.g., link 1, link 2, ..., link n) between each individual AP and the STA. It is to be understood that the above description is for illustration and is not intended to be limiting.

[0030] In an ultra-high reliability (UHR) wireless communication network, it is desirable to define a multi-AP mode that enables a sharing AP to allocate time within its TXOP to one or more shared APs using one or more of the following allocation methods: 1) allocated to a shared AP that starts sending a short interframe space (SIFS) after the start of the allocation; 2) allocated to multiple shared APs that may compete within the allocated time; and 3) allocated to multiple shared APs that start sending SIFS after the start of the allocation and align their respective physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU) transmission lengths within the allocation.

[0031] In all of these allocation modes, once the allocation is over, it is expected that the sharing AP continues to be the TXOP holder for the remainder of its TXOP. However, this requires that no other STA obtains the medium within the allocated time (which is possible without setting their NAV). On the other hand, if the sharing AP sets the NAV at the shared AP and its basic service set (BSS), the shared AP cannot use a trigger frame (TF) to request a response PPDU from its associated STAs. Obviously, there is a tradeoff between the high probability of the sharing AP regaining access to the medium and the shared AP being able to perform a request to send (RTS)-clear to send (CTS) exchange or multi-user uplink (MU UL) operation.

[0032] In view of the above situation, the present disclosure proposes a mechanism for NAV protection in contention time division multiple access (C-TDMA), wherein a shared AP or a shared non-AP STA can send a contention-free end (CF-end) frame on behalf of the sharing AP to clear any NAV set by the sharing AP during the allocated time, and the sharing AP can ignore the CF-end frame and regain access to its TXOP.

[0033] In some embodiments, when the sharing AP has allocated time within its TXOP to the shared AP or shared non-AP STA and set a NAV for the shared AP or shared non-AP STA within the allocated time, the shared AP or shared non-AP STA can send a CF-end frame carrying the media access control (MAC) address of the sharing AP in the sender address (TA) field during the allocated time, and the sharing AP can ignore the CF-end frame and regain access to its TXOP.

[0034] In some embodiments, the shared AP or the shared non-AP STA may send a CF-end frame at a predefined data rate. In other words, the 802.11 standard may define a data rate for such CF-end frame transmission in order to (a) increase the probability that the STA correctly receives such a frame and / or (b) align the CF-end frame transmissions from multiple shared APs through PPDU alignment in the case of coordinated spatial reuse.

[0035] In some embodiments, the CF-end frame sent by the shared AP or the shared non-AP STA also carries a distinguishing indicator for distinguishing the CF-end frame from a regular CF-end frame sent by the shared AP. For example, the power management bit set to 1 in the frame control field of the CF-end frame can be used as a distinguishing indicator.

[0036] In some embodiments, the shared AP or shared non-AP STA may send a frame immediately after sending the CF-end frame so that any other STA within the service range of the shared AP or within the same service range as the shared non-AP STA cannot seize the medium within the allocated time.

[0037] In some embodiments, the shared AP or shared non-AP STA may send a CF-end frame before initiating any RTS-CTS exchange operation or MU UL operation, and / or send a CTS frame carrying the MAC address of the sharing AP in the Recipient Address (RA) field during the allocated time.

[0038] In some embodiments, the shared AP or the shared non-AP STA may perform MU UL frame exchange during the allocated time after sending the CTS frame and the CF-end frame.

[0039] Figure 2 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an example NAV protection mechanism according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 2As shown, in the case where the sharing AP-0 has allocated the time within its TXOP to the shared AP-1 and the NAV is set for the shared AP-1 during the allocated time, during the time allocated for the shared AP-1, the shared AP-1 sends a CTS frame carrying the MAC address of the sharing AP-0 in the RA field and a CF-end frame carrying the MAC address of the sharing AP-0 in the TA field, and then performs MU UL frame exchange. For a non-hidden STA of the shared AP-1, during the period when the shared AP-1 sends the CTS frame and the CF-end frame of the time allocated for the shared AP-1, if the STA is not associated with the sharing AP-0, its NAV is the basic NAV, otherwise its NAV is the intra-BSS NAV; during the remaining part of the time allocated for the shared AP-1, if the STA is associated with the shared AP-1, its NAV is the intra-BSS NAV, otherwise its NAV is the basic NAV. For a hidden STA of the shared AP-1, during the time allocated for the shared AP-1, if the STA is not associated with the shared AP-0, its NAV is the basic NAV, otherwise its NAV is the intra-BSS NAV.

[0040] Figure 3 A functional diagram of an exemplary communication station according to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In one embodiment, Figure 3 FIG. 1 illustrates an AP 102 ( Figure 1 ) or user equipment 120( Figure 1 ) is a functional block diagram of a communication station 300 of the present invention. The communication station 300 may also be suitable for use as a handheld device, a mobile device, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a tablet device, a netbook, a wireless terminal, a laptop computer, a wearable computer device, a femtocell, a high data rate (HDR) subscriber station, an access point, an access terminal, or other personal communication system (PCS) equipment.

[0041] The communication station 300 may include a communication circuit 302 and a transceiver 310 for sending and receiving signals to and from other communication stations using one or more antennas 301. The communication circuit 302 may include circuits that are operable for physical layer (PHY) communications and / or medium access control (MAC) communications that control access to a wireless medium, and / or any other communication layer for sending and receiving signals. The communication station 300 may also include a processing circuit 306 and a memory 308 that are arranged to perform the operations described herein. In some embodiments, the communication circuit 302 and the processing circuit 306 may be configured to perform the operations detailed in the above-mentioned figures, schematics, and processes.

[0042] In some embodiments, the communication circuit 302 may be arranged to contend for a wireless medium and configure a frame or packet to communicate over the wireless medium. The communication circuit 302 may be arranged to send and receive signals. The communication circuit 302 may also include circuits for modulation / demodulation, up-conversion / down-conversion, filtering, amplification, and the like. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 306 of the communication station 300 may include one or more processors. In other embodiments, two or more antennas 301 may be coupled to the communication circuit 302 arranged to send and receive signals. The memory 308 may store information for configuring the processing circuit 306 to perform operations for configuring and sending message frames and performing various operations described herein. The memory 308 may include any type of memory for storing information in a machine (e.g., computer) readable form, including non-transitory memory. For example, the memory 308 may include a computer-readable storage device, a read-only memory (ROM), a random-access memory (RAM), a disk storage medium, an optical storage medium, a flash memory device, and other storage devices and media.

[0043] In some embodiments, the communication station 300 may be part of a portable wireless communication device, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wireless communication capabilities, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, a smart phone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, an access point, a television, a medical device (e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor, etc.), a wearable computer device, or other device that can wirelessly receive and / or send information.

[0044] In some embodiments, the communication station 300 may include one or more antennas 301. Antenna 301 may include one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, such as dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas, or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some embodiments, instead of two or more antennas, a single antenna with multiple apertures may be used. In these embodiments, each aperture may be considered a separate antenna. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectively separated to obtain spatial diversity and different channel characteristics may be generated between each antenna and the antenna of the transmitting station.

[0045] In some embodiments, communication station 300 may include one or more of the following: a keyboard, a display, a non-volatile memory port, multiple antennas, a graphics processor, an application processor, speakers, and other mobile device elements. The display may be a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen including a touch screen.

[0046] Although the communication station 300 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, two or more of these functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by a combination of software-configured elements (e.g., processing elements including digital signal processors (DSPs)) and / or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may include one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), and combinations of various hardware and logic circuits for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements of the communication station 300 may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[0047] Certain embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. Other embodiments may also be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device, which may be read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described herein. A computer-readable storage device may include any non-transitory memory mechanism for storing information in a machine (e.g., computer) readable form. For example, a computer-readable storage device may include a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a disk storage medium, an optical storage medium, a flash memory device, and other storage devices and media. In some embodiments, the communication station 300 may include one or more processors and may be configured to store instructions on a computer-readable storage device.

[0048] Figure 4A block diagram of an example of a machine or system on which any one or more technologies (e.g., methods) discussed herein can be executed is illustrated. In other embodiments, machine 400 may be operated as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, machine 400 may be operated as a server machine, a client machine, or both in a server-client network environment. In one example, machine 400 may act as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment. Machine 400 may be a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a wearable computer device, a web appliance, a network router, a switch or a bridge, or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) specifying the actions to be taken by the machine (e.g., a base station). Further, while a single machine is illustrated, the term "machine" shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), or other computer cluster configurations.

[0049] Examples as described herein may include logic or several components, modules, or mechanisms or may operate on logic or several components, modules, or mechanisms. A module is a tangible entity (e.g., hardware) that can perform a specified operation when in operation. A module includes hardware. In one example, the hardware may be specifically configured to perform a specific operation (e.g., hardwired). In another example, the hardware may include a configurable execution unit (e.g., a transistor, a circuit, etc.) and a computer-readable medium containing instructions, wherein the instructions configure the execution unit to perform a specific operation when in operation. The configuration may occur under the command of the execution unit or a loading mechanism. Therefore, when the device is operating, the execution unit is communicatively coupled to the computer-readable medium. In this example, the execution unit may be a member of more than one module. For example, in operation, the execution unit may be configured by a first instruction set to implement a first module at a point in time and reconfigured by a second instruction set to implement a second module at a second point in time.

[0050] The machine (e.g., computer system) 400 may include a hardware processor 402 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination of these), a main memory 404, and a static memory 406, some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interconnection link (e.g., a bus) 408. The machine 400 may also include a power management device 432, a graphics display device 410, an alphanumeric input device 412 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 414 (e.g., a mouse). In one example, the graphics display device 410, the alphanumeric input device 412, and the UI navigation device 414 may be a touch screen display. The machine 400 may also include a storage device (e.g., a drive unit) 416, a signal generating device 418 (e.g., a speaker), a NAV protection device 419, a network interface device / transceiver 420 coupled to (one or more) antennas 430, and one or more sensors 428, such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, a compass, an accelerometer, or other sensors. The machine 400 may include an output controller 434, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB)), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate with or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., printers, card readers, etc.). The operations according to one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed by a baseband processor. The baseband processor may be configured to generate corresponding baseband signals. The baseband processor may also include physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) circuits, and may also interface with the hardware processor 402 to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of the main memory 404, storage device 416, and / or NAV protection device 419. The baseband processor may be provided on a single radio card, a single chip, or an integrated circuit (IC).

[0051] The storage device 416 may include a machine-readable medium 422 on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 424 (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functionality described herein. The instructions 424 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 404, within the static memory 406, or within the hardware processor 402 during execution thereof by the machine 400. In one example, one or any combination of the hardware processor 402, the main memory 404, the static memory 406, or the storage device 416 may constitute a machine-readable medium.

[0052] The NAV protection device 419 may implement or perform any of the operations and processes described and illustrated above.

[0053] It is to be understood that the above is only a subset of the functions that the NAV protection device 419 may be configured to perform, and other functions included throughout this disclosure may also be performed by the NAV protection device 419 .

[0054] Although machine-readable medium 422 is illustrated as a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” may include a single medium or multiple media (eg, a centralized or distributed database, and / or associated caches and servers) configured to store one or more instructions 424 .

[0055] Various embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part in software and / or firmware. This software and / or firmware may take the form of instructions contained in or on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. These instructions may then be read and executed by one or more processors to enable the execution of the operations described herein. The instructions may take any suitable form, such as, but not limited to, source code, compiled code, parsed code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, and the like. Such computer-readable media may include any tangible non-transitory medium for storing information in one or more computer-readable forms, such as, but not limited to, read-only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory, and the like.

[0056] The term "machine-readable medium" may include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the machine 400 and causing the machine 400 to perform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, or capable of storing, encoding, or carrying data structures used by or associated with such instructions. Non-limiting examples of machine-readable media may include solid-state memory and optical and magnetic media. In one example, large-scale machine-readable media include machine-readable media in which a plurality of particles have a rest mass. Specific examples of large-scale machine-readable media may include non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

[0057] The instructions 424 may also be sent or received over a communication network 426 using a transmission medium via the network interface device / transceiver 420 using any of a number of transmission protocols (e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP), transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks may include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet data network (e.g., the Internet), a mobile phone network (e.g., a cellular network), a plain old telephone (POTS) network, a wireless data network (e.g., a wireless network known as a WLAN), a wireless network (e.g., ... The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards, known as 4 family of standards), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, and peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, etc. In one example, the network interface device / transceiver 420 may include one or more physical sockets (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or telephone sockets) or one or more antennas to connect to the communication network 426. In one example, the network interface device / transceiver 420 may include multiple antennas to wirelessly communicate using at least one of single-input multiple-output (SIMO), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), or multiple-input single-output (MISO) technology. The term "transmission medium" should be understood to include any intangible medium that can store, encode, or carry instructions for execution by the machine 400, and includes digital or analog communication signals or other intangible media to facilitate the communication of such software.

[0058] In various implementations, the operations and processes described and shown above may be implemented or performed in any appropriate order as needed. In addition, in some implementations, at least a portion of the operations may be performed in parallel. In addition, in some implementations, less than or more than the operations described may be performed.

[0059] Figure 5 is a block diagram of a radio architecture according to some embodiments, which may be used in Figure 1 The radio architecture 500A, 500B may include a radio front-end module (FEM) circuit 504a-b, a radio IC circuit 506a-b, and a baseband processing circuit 508a-b. As shown, the radio architecture 500A, 500B includes a wireless local area network (WLAN) function and a Bluetooth (BT) function, although the embodiment is not limited thereto. In the present disclosure, "WLAN" and "Wi-Fi" are used interchangeably.

[0060] The FEM circuits 504a-b may include WLAN or Wi-Fi FEM circuits 504a and Bluetooth (BT) FEM circuits 504b. The WLAN FEM circuits 504a may include a receive signal path including circuits configured to operate on WLAN RF signals received from one or more antennas 501, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to the WLAN radio IC circuits 506a for further processing. The BT FEM circuits 504b may include a receive signal path including circuits configured to operate on BT RF signals received from one or more antennas 501, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to the BT radio IC circuits 506b for further processing. The FEM circuits 504a may also include a transmit signal path including circuits configured to amplify WLAN signals provided by the radio IC circuits 506a for wireless transmission by one or more of the antennas 501. Additionally, the FEM circuitry 504b may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify BT signals provided by the radio IC circuitry 506b for wireless transmission by one or more antennas. Figure 5 In the embodiment of the present invention, although FEM 504a and FEM 504b are shown as being distinguished from each other, the embodiments are not limited thereto and include within their scope the use of a FEM (not shown) that includes a transmit path and / or receive path for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more FEM circuits wherein at least some of the FEM circuits share transmit and / or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

[0061] The radio IC circuits 506a-b may include a WLAN radio IC circuit 506a and a BT radio IC circuit 506b as shown. The WLAN radio IC circuit 506a may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry to down-convert WLAN RF signals received from the FEM circuit 504a and provide a baseband signal to the WLAN baseband processing circuit 508a. The BT radio IC circuit 506b may in turn include a receive signal path that may include circuitry to down-convert BT RF signals received from the FEM circuit 504b and provide a baseband signal to the BT baseband processing circuit 508b. The WLAN radio IC circuit 506a may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry to up-convert WLAN baseband signals provided by the WLAN baseband processing circuit 508a and provide a WLAN RF output signal to the FEM circuit 504a for subsequent wireless transmission by one or more antennas 501. The BT radio IC circuit 506b may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry to up-convert the BT baseband signal provided by the BT baseband processing circuit 508b and provide a BT RF output signal to the FEM circuit 504b for subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 501. Figure 5 In the embodiment, although the radio IC circuits 506a and 506b are shown as being distinguished from each other, the embodiments are not limited thereto and include within their scope the use of a radio IC circuit (not shown) that includes a transmit signal path and / or receive signal path for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more radio IC circuits in which at least some of the radio IC circuits share transmit and / or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

[0062] The baseband processing circuits 508a-b may include a WLAN baseband processing circuit 508a and a BT baseband processing circuit 508b. The WLAN baseband processing circuit 508a may include a memory, such as a set of RAM arrays in a fast Fourier transform or inverse fast Fourier transform block (not shown) of the WLAN baseband processing circuit 508a. Each of the WLAN baseband processing circuit 508a and the BT baseband processing circuit 508b may also include one or more processors and control logic to process signals received from the corresponding WLAN or BT receive signal path of the radio IC circuit 506a-b, and also generate corresponding WLAN or BT baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the radio IC circuit 506a-b. Each of the baseband processing circuits 508a and 508b may also include a physical layer (PHY) and a medium access control layer (MAC) circuit, and may further interface with devices for generating and processing baseband signals and for controlling the operation of the radio IC circuit 506a-b.

[0063] Still reference Figure 5 According to the illustrated embodiment, the WLAN-BT coexistence circuit 513 may include logic to provide an interface between the WLAN baseband processing circuit 508a and the BT baseband processing circuit 508b to enable use cases requiring WLAN and BT coexistence. In addition, a switch 503 may be provided between the WLAN FEM circuit 504a and the BT FEM circuit 504b to allow switching between the WLAN and BT radios as required by the application. In addition, while the antenna 501 is depicted as being connected to the WLAN FEM circuit 504a and the BT FEM circuit 504b, respectively, embodiments include within their scope sharing one or more antennas between the WLAN and BT FEMs, or providing more than one antenna connected to each of the FEMs 504a or 504b.

[0064] In some embodiments, the front end module circuits 504a-b, the radio IC circuits 506a-b, and the baseband processing circuits 508a-b may be provided on a single radio card, such as the radio circuit card 502. In some other embodiments, one or more antennas 501, the FEM circuits 504a-b, and the radio IC circuits 506a-b may be provided on a single radio card. In some other embodiments, the radio IC circuits 506a-b and the baseband processing circuits 508a-b may be provided on a single chip or integrated circuit (IC), such as IC 512.

[0065] In some embodiments, the wireless circuit card 502 may include a WLAN radio card and may be configured for Wi-Fi communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some of these embodiments, the radio architecture 500A, 500B may be configured to receive and transmit orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (orthogonal frequency division multiplexed, OFDM) or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (orthogonal frequency division multiple access, OFDMA) communication signals on a multi-carrier communication channel. OFDM or OFDMA signals may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0066] In some of these multi-carrier embodiments, the radio architecture 500A, 500B may be part of a Wi-Fi communication station (STA), such as a wireless access point (AP), a base station, or a mobile device including a Wi-Fi device. In some of these embodiments, the radio architecture 500A, 500B may be configured to send and receive signals in accordance with a specific communication standard and / or protocol, such as any standard of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), including, 802.11n-2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE 802.11-2016, 802.11n-2009, 802.11ac, 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, and / or 802.11ax standards and / or specifications proposed for WLAN, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The radio architecture 500A, 500B may also be adapted to send and / or receive communications in accordance with other technologies and standards.

[0067] In some embodiments, the radio architectures 500A, 500B may be configured for high-efficiency Wi-Fi (HEW) communications in accordance with the IEEE 802.11ax standard. In these embodiments, the radio architectures 500A, 500B may be configured to communicate in accordance with OFDMA technology, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0068] In some other embodiments, the radio architectures 500A, 500B may be configured to send and receive signals sent using one or more other modulation techniques, such as spread spectrum modulation (e.g., direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) and / or frequency hopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA)), time-division multiplexing (TDM) modulation, and / or frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) modulation, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0069] In some embodiments, Figure 5 As further shown, the BT baseband processing circuit 508 b may comply with a Bluetooth (BT) connectivity standard, such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth 8.0, or Bluetooth 6.0, or any other iteration of the Bluetooth standard.

[0070] In some embodiments, the radio architecture 500A, 500B may include other radio cards, such as a cellular radio card configured for cellular (e.g., 5GPP, such as LTE, LTE Advanced, or 7G communications).

[0071] In some IEEE 802.11 embodiments, the radio architecture 500A, 500B may be configured for communication over a variety of channel bandwidths, including bandwidths having center frequencies of about 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and bandwidths of about 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 5 MHz, 5.5 MHz, 6 MHz, 8 MHz, 10 MHz, 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz (with continuous bandwidth), or 80+80 MHz (160 MHz) (with non-continuous bandwidth). In some embodiments, a 920 MHz channel bandwidth may be used. However, the scope of the embodiments is not limited to the above center frequencies.

[0072] Figure 6 The WLAN FEN circuit 504a is shown in accordance with some embodiments. Although described in conjunction with the WLAN FEM circuit 504a Figure 6 , but can be combined with the example BT FEM circuit 504b ( Figure 5 ) to describe Figure 6 , although other circuit configurations may also be appropriate.

[0073] In some embodiments, the FEM circuit 504a may include a TX / RX switch 602 to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuit 504a may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuit 504a may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) 606 to amplify the received RF signal 603 and provide an amplified received RF signal 607 as an output (e.g., provided to the radio IC circuit 506a-b ( Figure 5 )). The transmit signal path of circuit 504a may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify an input RF signal 609 (e.g., provided by radio IC circuits 506a-b), and one or more filters 612, such as a band-pass filter (BPF), a low-pass filter (LPF), or other types of filters, to generate an RF signal 615 for subsequent transmission via an example duplexer 614 (e.g., transmitted by antenna 501 ( Figure 5 ) is sent in one or more ).

[0074] In some dual-mode embodiments for Wi-Fi communications, the FEM circuit 504a may be configured to operate in the 2.4 GHz spectrum or the 5 GHz spectrum. In these embodiments, the receive signal path of the FEM circuit 504a may include a receive signal path duplexer 604 to separate the signals from each spectrum and provide a separate LNA 606 for each spectrum, as shown. In these embodiments, the transmit signal path of the FEM circuit 504a may also include a power amplifier 610 and a filter 612, such as a BPF, LPF, or another type of filter for each spectrum, and a transmit signal path duplexer 604 to provide the signal of one of the different spectrums onto a single transmit path for subsequent transmission by the antenna 501 ( Figure 5 ) in one or more of the transmission. In some embodiments, BT communications can utilize the 2.4 GHz signal path and can utilize the same FEM circuit 504a as used for WLAN communications.

[0075] Figure 7 The radio IC circuit 506a is illustrated according to some embodiments. The radio IC circuit 506a is suitable for use as a WLAN or BT radio IC circuit 506a / 506b ( Figure 5 ) is an example of a circuit, although other circuit configurations may also be appropriate. Alternatively, the example BT radio IC circuit 506b may be described in conjunction with the example Figure 7 .

[0076] In some embodiments, the radio IC circuit 506a may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the radio IC circuit 506a may include at least a mixer circuit 702, such as a down-conversion mixer circuit, an amplifier circuit 706, and a filter circuit 708. The transmit signal path of the radio IC circuit 506a may include at least a filter circuit 712 and a mixer circuit 714, such as an up-conversion mixer circuit. The radio IC circuit 506a may also include a synthesizer circuit 704 for synthesizing a frequency 705 for use by the mixer circuit 702 and the mixer circuit 714. According to some embodiments, the mixer circuits 702 and / or 714 may each be configured to provide a direct conversion function. Compared to a standard superheterodyne mixer circuit, the latter type of circuit presents a much simpler architecture, and any flicker noise caused by it can be mitigated, for example, by using OFDM modulation. Figure 7 Only a simplified version of the radio IC circuit is illustrated, and although not shown, embodiments may include that each of the depicted circuits may include more than one component. For example, mixer circuits 714 may each include one or more mixers, and filter circuits 708 and / or 712 may each include one or more filters, such as one or more BPFs and / or LPFs, as required by the application. For example, when the mixer circuits are of the direct conversion type, they may each include two or more mixers.

[0077] In some embodiments, mixer circuit 702 may be configured to generate a frequency signal from FEM circuits 504a-b based on synthesized frequency 705 provided by synthesizer circuit 704. Figure 5 ) down-converts the received RF signal. The amplifier circuit 706 may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and the filter circuit 708 may include an LPF configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to generate an output baseband signal 707. The output baseband signal 707 may be provided to the baseband processing circuits 508a-b ( Figure 5 ) for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signal 707 can be a zero frequency baseband signal, although this is not a necessary requirement. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 702 can include a passive mixer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard.

[0078] In some embodiments, mixer circuit 714 may be configured to up-convert input baseband signal 711 based on synthesized frequency 705 provided by synthesizer circuit 704 to generate RF output signal 609 for FEM circuits 504a-b. Baseband signal 711 may be provided by baseband processing circuits 508a-b and may be filtered by filter circuit 712. Filter circuit 712 may include an LPF or a BPF, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0079] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 702 and the mixer circuit 714 may each include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and / or up-conversion, respectively, with the aid of the synthesizer 704. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 702 and the mixer circuit 714 may each include two or more mixers, each mixer being configured for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 702 and the mixer circuit 714 may each be arranged for direct down-conversion and / or direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 702 and the mixer circuit 714 may be configured for superheterodyne operation, although this is not a necessary requirement.

[0080] According to one embodiment, mixer circuit 702 may include: quadrature passive mixers (eg, for in-phase (I) and quadrature-phase (Q) paths). In such an embodiment, Figure 6 The RF input signal 607 may be downconverted to provide I and Q baseband output signals to be sent to a baseband processor.

[0081] The quadrature passive mixers may be driven by zero and ninety degree time varying LO switching signals provided by a quadrature circuit that may be configured to receive the LO frequency (fLO) from a local oscillator or synthesizer, such as synthesizer 704 ( Figure 7 ) 705. In some embodiments, the LO frequency may be the carrier frequency, while in other embodiments, the LO frequency may be some fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the zero-degree and ninety-degree time-varying switching signals may be generated by a synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0082] In some embodiments, the LO signal can vary in duty cycle (the percentage of a cycle that the LO signal is high) and / or offset (the difference between the start points of the cycle). In some embodiments, the LO signal can have an 85% duty cycle and an 80% offset. In some embodiments, each branch of the mixer circuit (e.g., the in-phase (I) and quadrature-phase (Q) paths) can operate at an 80% duty cycle, which can result in a significant reduction in power consumption.

[0083] RF input signal 607 ( Figure 6 ) may include balanced signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The I and Q baseband output signals may be provided to a low noise amplifier, such as amplifier circuit 706 ( Figure 7 ) or filter circuit 708 ( Figure 7 ).

[0084] In some embodiments, output baseband signal 707 and input baseband signal 711 may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, output baseband signal 707 and input baseband signal 711 may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, the radio IC circuit may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuits.

[0085] In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuits may be provided to process signals for each spectrum, or for other spectrums not mentioned herein, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0086] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 704 may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N / N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect, as other types of frequency synthesizers may be appropriate. For example, the synthesizer circuit 704 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. According to some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 704 may include a digital synthesizer circuit. The advantage of using a digital synthesizer circuit is that, although it may still include some analog components, its footprint can be much reduced compared to the footprint of an analog synthesizer circuit. In some embodiments, the frequency input to the synthesizer circuit 704 may be provided by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), although this is not a necessary requirement. The divider control input may be further provided by the baseband processing circuit 508a-b ( Figure 5 ) is provided, depending on the desired output frequency 705. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) can be determined from a lookup table (e.g., within a Wi-Fi card) based on the channel number and channel center frequency determined or indicated by the example application processor 510. The application processor 510 may include or otherwise be connected to one of the example secure signal converter 101 or the example receive signal converter 103 (e.g., depending on which device the example radio architecture is implemented on).

[0087] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 704 may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency 705, while in other embodiments, the output frequency 705 may be a fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the output frequency 705 may be the LO frequency (fLO).

[0088] Figure 8FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a baseband processing circuit 508 a according to some embodiments. The baseband processing circuit 508 a is a circuit that can be used as a baseband processing circuit 508 a ( Figure 5 ), although other circuit configurations may also be appropriate. Alternatively, Figure 8 The example can be used to implement Figure 5 An example BT baseband processing circuit 508b.

[0089] Baseband processing circuitry 508a may include circuitry for processing signals received from radio IC circuitry 506a-b ( Figure 5 ) and a transmit baseband processor (TX BBP) 804 for generating a transmit baseband signal 711 for the radio IC circuits 506a-b. The baseband processing circuit 508a may also include control logic 806 for coordinating the operation of the baseband processing circuit 508a.

[0090] In some embodiments (e.g., when analog baseband signals are exchanged between baseband processing circuits 508a-b and radio IC circuits 506a-b), baseband processing circuits 508a may include ADC 810 to convert analog baseband signals 809 received from radio IC circuits 506a-b into digital baseband signals for processing by RX BBP 802. In these embodiments, baseband processing circuits 508a may also include DAC 812 to convert digital baseband signals from TX BBP 804 into analog baseband signals 811.

[0091] In some embodiments where an OFDM signal or an OFDMA signal is transmitted, for example, by the baseband processing circuit 508a, the transmit baseband processor 804 may be configured to generate an OFDM or OFDMA signal suitable for transmission by performing an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT). The receive baseband processor 802 may be configured to process the received OFDM or OFDMA signal by performing an FFT. In some embodiments, the receive baseband processor 802 may be configured to detect the presence of an OFDM or OFDMA signal by performing an autocorrelation to detect a preamble such as a short preamble, and to detect the presence of an OFDM or OFDMA signal by performing a cross-correlation to detect a long preamble. The preamble may be part of a predetermined frame structure for Wi-Fi communications.

[0092] Return to reference Figure 5 In some embodiments, antenna 501 ( Figure 5) may each include one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, such as dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas, or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectively separated to exploit spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may be generated. Antennas 501 may each include a set of phased array antennas, although embodiments are not limited thereto.

[0093] Although the radio architecture 105A, 105B is shown as having several separate functional elements, one or more of these functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by a combination of software-configured elements (e.g., processing elements including digital signal processors (DSPs)) and / or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may include one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), and combinations of various hardware and logic circuits for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, a functional element may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[0094] The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. The terms "computing device," "user device," "communication station," "station," "handheld device," "mobile device," "wireless device," and "user equipment" (UE) as used herein refer to a wireless communication device, such as a cellular phone, a smart phone, a tablet device, a netbook, a wireless terminal, a laptop computer, a femtocell, a high data rate (HDR) subscriber station, an access point, a printer, a point of sale device, an access terminal, or other personal communication system (PCS) device. The device may be mobile or fixed.

[0095] As used within this document, the term "communication" is intended to include sending, or receiving, or both sending and receiving. This may be particularly useful when the claim describes the organization of data that is sent by one device and received by another device, but only the functionality of one of the devices is required for the claim to infringe. Similarly, when only the functionality of one of two devices is claimed, a two-way exchange of data between the two devices (both devices send and receive during the exchange) may be described as "communication." The term "transmit" used herein for wireless communication signals includes sending wireless communication signals and / or receiving wireless communication signals. For example, a wireless communication unit capable of transmitting wireless communication signals may include a wireless transmitter that sends wireless communication signals to at least one other wireless communication unit, and / or a wireless communication receiver that receives wireless communication signals from at least one other wireless communication unit.

[0096] As used herein, unless otherwise indicated, the use of ordinal adjectives "first," "second," "third," etc. to describe common objects simply indicates that different instances of similar objects are referred to and is not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence in time, space, ranking, or in any other manner.

[0097] The term "access point" (AP) as used herein may be a fixed station. An access point may also be referred to as an access node, a base station, an evolved Node B (eNodeB), or some other similar term known in the art. An access terminal may also be referred to as a mobile station, a user equipment (UE), a wireless communication device, or some other similar term known in the art. Embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to wireless networks. Some embodiments may relate to a wireless network operating according to one of the IEEE 802.11 standards.

[0098] Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with various devices and systems, for example, a personal computer (PC), a desktop computer, a mobile computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a server computer, a handheld computer, a handheld device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) device, a handheld PDA device, an onboard device, an off-board device, a hybrid device, an onboard device, an off-board device, a mobile or portable device, a consumer device, a non-mobile or non-portable device, a wireless communication station, a wireless communication device, a wireless access point (AP), a wired or wireless router, a wired or wireless modem, a video device, an audio device, an audio-video (A / V) device, a wired or wireless network, a wireless area network, a wireless video area network (WVAN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a personal area network (PAN), a wireless PAN (WPAN), and the like.

[0099] Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with: one-way and / or two-way radio communication systems, cellular radiotelephone communication systems, mobile phones, cellular phones, wireless phones, personal communication system (PCS) devices, PDA devices including wireless communication devices, mobile or portable global positioning system (GPS) devices, devices including GPS receivers or transceivers or chips, devices including RFID elements or chips, multiple input multiple output (MIMO) transceivers or devices, single input multiple output (SIMO) transceivers or devices, multiple input single output (MISO) transceivers or devices, devices with one or more internal antennas and / or external antennas, digital video broadcast (DVB) devices or systems, multi-standard radio devices or systems, wired or wireless handheld devices (e.g., smart phones), wireless application protocol (WAP) devices, and the like.

[0100] Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with one or more types of wireless communication signals and / or systems that comply with one or more wireless communication protocols, such as radio frequency (RF), infrared (IR), frequency-division multiplexing (FDM), orthogonal FDM (OFDM), time-division multiplexing (TDM), time-division multiple access (TDMA), extended TDMA (E-TDMA), general packet radio service (GPRS), extended GPRS, code-division multiple access (CDMA), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), CDMA 2000, single carrier CDMA, multi-carrier CDMA, multi-carrier modulation (MDM), discrete multi-tone (DMT), Global Positioning System (GPS), Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, ZigBee, ultra-wideband (UWB), global system for mobile communications (GSM), 2G, 2.5G, 3G, 3.5G, 4G, fifth generation (5G) mobile network, 3GPP, long term evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced, enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), etc. Other embodiments may be used in various other devices, systems, and / or networks.

[0101] The following examples relate to further embodiments.

[0102] Example 1 includes an apparatus for use in an access point (AP) or a non-AP station (non-AP STA), the apparatus comprising a processor circuit configured to cause the AP or non-AP STA to, when a shared AP has allocated time within its transmission opportunity (TXOP) to the AP or non-AP STA and set a network allocation vector (NAV) for the AP or non-AP STA during the allocated time: send a contention-free end (CF-end) frame during the allocated time, the CF-end frame carrying a media access control (MAC) address of the shared AP in a sender address (TA) field.

[0103] Example 2 includes the apparatus of Example 1, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the AP or non-AP STA to send the CF-end frame at a predefined data rate.

[0104] Example 3 includes the apparatus of Example 1, wherein the CF-end frame further carries a distinguishing indicator for distinguishing the CF-end frame from a regular CF-end frame sent by the shared AP.

[0105] Example 4 includes the apparatus of Example 3, wherein a power management bit set to 1 in a frame control field of the CF-end frame is used as the distinguishing indicator.

[0106] Example 5 includes the apparatus of Example 1, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the AP or non-AP STA to send a frame immediately after sending the CF-end frame.

[0107] Example 6 includes the apparatus of Example 1, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the AP or non-AP STA to send the CF-end frame before initiating any request to send (RTS)-clear to send (CTS) exchange operation or multi-user uplink (ML UL) operation.

[0108] Example 7 includes the apparatus of Example 1, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the AP or non-AP STA to send a clear to send (CTS) frame during the allocated time, the CTS frame carrying the MAC address of the shared AP in a receiver address (RA) field.

[0109] Example 8 includes the apparatus of Example 7, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the AP or non-AP STA to perform a multi-user uplink (MU UL) frame exchange during the allocated time after sending the CTS frame and the CF-end frame.

[0110] Example 9. includes a device for use in an access point (AP), the device comprising a processor circuit, the processor circuit being configured to cause the AP to: allocate time within its transmission opportunity (TXOP) to a shared AP or a shared non-AP station (non-AP STA); set a network allocation vector (NAV) for the shared AP or shared non-AP STA within the allocated time; and ignore a contention-free end (CF-end) frame sent by the shared AP or shared non-AP STA within the allocated time and carrying the AP's media access control (MAC) address in a sender address (TA) field.

[0111] Example 10 includes the apparatus of Example 9, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the AP to regain access to its TXOP after the allocated time or immediately after the shared AP or shared non-AP STA returns the unused time.

[0112] Example 11 includes the apparatus of Example 9, wherein the CF-end frame further carries a distinguishing indicator for distinguishing the CF-end frame from a regular CF-end frame sent by the AP.

[0113] Example 12 includes the apparatus of Example 11, wherein a power management bit set to 1 in a frame control field of the CF-end frame is used as the distinguishing indicator.

[0114] Example 13 includes a method for use in an access point (AP) or a non-AP station (non-AP STA), the method comprising, when a shared AP has allocated time within its transmission opportunity (TXOP) to the AP or non-AP STA and set a network allocation vector (NAV) for the AP or non-AP STA during the allocated time: sending a contention-free end (CF-end) frame during the allocated time, the CF-end frame carrying a media access control (MAC) address of the shared AP in a sender address (TA) field.

[0115] Example 14 includes the method of Example 13, wherein the CF-end frame is sent at a predefined data rate.

[0116] Example 15 includes the method of Example 13, wherein the CF-end frame further carries a distinguishing indicator for distinguishing the CF-end frame from a regular CF-end frame sent by the shared AP.

[0117] Example 16 includes the method of Example 15, wherein a power management bit set to 1 in a frame control field of the CF-end frame is used as the distinguishing indicator.

[0118] Example 17 includes the method of Example 13, wherein the method further comprises sending a frame immediately after sending the CF-end frame.

[0119] Example 18 includes the method of Example 13, wherein the CF-end frame is sent before initiating any request to send (RTS)-clear to send (CTS) exchange operation or multi-user uplink (ML UL) operation.

[0120] Example 19 includes the method of Example 13, wherein the method further comprises: sending a clear to send (CTS) frame during the allocated time, the CTS frame carrying a MAC address of the shared AP in a receiver address (RA) field.

[0121] Example 20 includes the method of Example 19, wherein the method further comprises: performing a multi-user uplink (UL MU) frame exchange during the allocated time after sending the CTS frame and the CF-end frame.

[0122] Example 21 includes a method for use in an access point (AP), the method comprising: allocating time within its transmission opportunity (TXOP) to a shared AP or a shared non-AP station (non-AP STA); setting a network allocation vector (NAV) for the shared AP or shared non-AP STA within the allocated time; and ignoring a contention-free end (CF-end) frame sent by the shared AP or shared non-AP STA within the allocated time and carrying the media access control (MAC) address of the AP in a sender address (TA) field.

[0123] Example 22 includes the method of Example 21, wherein the method further comprises regaining access to its TXOP after the allocated time or immediately after the shared AP or shared non-AP STA returns the unused time.

[0124] Example 23 includes the method of Example 21, wherein the CF-end frame further carries a distinguishing indicator for distinguishing the CF-end frame from a regular CF-end frame sent by the AP.

[0125] Example 24 includes the method of Example 23, wherein a power management bit set to 1 in a frame control field of the CF-end frame is used as the distinguishing indicator.

[0126] Example 25 includes an access point (AP) or a non-AP station (non-AP STA), including the apparatus of any one of Examples 1 to 8.

[0127] Example 26 includes an access point (AP) comprising the apparatus of any of Examples 9 to 12.

[0128] Example 27 includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by a processor circuit of an access point (AP) or a non-AP station (non-AP STA), cause the AP or non-AP STA to implement any of the methods described in Examples 13 to 20.

[0129] Example 28 A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by a processor circuit of an access point (AP), cause the AP to implement the method of any one of Examples 21 to 24.

[0130] Example 29 includes an access point (AP) or a non-AP station (non-AP STA), including a device for implementing the method of any one of Examples 13 to 20.

[0131] Example 30 includes an access point (AP) comprising a device for implementing the method of any of Examples 21 to 24.

[0132] Although certain embodiments are illustrated and described herein for purposes of description, various alternative and / or equivalent embodiments or implementations calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. This application is intended to cover any changes or variations of the embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, the embodiments described herein are expressly limited only by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An apparatus for use in an access point (AP) or a non-AP station (non-AP STA), the apparatus comprising a processor circuit, the processor circuit being configured to cause the AP or non-AP STA to, when a sharing AP has allocated a time within its transmission opportunity (TXOP) to the AP or non-AP STA and set a network allocation vector (NAV) for the AP or non-AP STA within the allocated time: A contention-free end (CF-end) frame is sent during the allocated time, the CF-end frame carrying a media access control (MAC) address of the shared AP in a sender address (TA) field.

2. The device according to claim 1, in, The processor circuit is further configured to cause the AP or non-AP STA to transmit the CF-end frame at a predefined data rate.

3. The device according to claim 1, in, The CF-end frame also carries a distinguishing indicator for distinguishing the CF-end frame from a regular CF-end frame sent by the shared AP.

4. The device according to claim 3, in, The power management bit set to 1 in the frame control field of the CF-end frame is used as the distinguishing indicator.

5. The device according to claim 1, in, The processor circuit is further configured to cause the AP or non-AP STA to send a frame immediately after sending the CF-end frame.

6. The device according to claim 1, in, The processor circuit is further configured to cause the AP or non-AP STA to send the CF-end frame before initiating any request to send (RTS)-clear to send (CTS) exchange operation or multi-user uplink (ML UL) operation.

7. The device according to claim 1, in, The processor circuit is further configured to cause the AP or non-AP STA to send a clear to send (CTS) frame during the allocated time, the CTS frame carrying the MAC address of the shared AP in a receiver address (RA) field.

8. The device according to claim 7, in, The processor circuit is further configured to cause the AP or non-AP STA to perform a multi-user uplink (MU UL) frame exchange during the allocated time after sending the CTS frame and the CF-end frame.

9. An apparatus for use in an access point (AP), the apparatus comprising a processor circuit configured to cause the AP to: Allocate the time within its transmission opportunity (TXOP) to a shared AP or a shared non-AP station (non-AP STA); Setting a network allocation vector (NAV) for the shared AP or shared non-AP STA within the allocated time; and A contention-free end (CF-end) frame carrying the medium access control (MAC) address of the AP in a sender address (TA) field and sent by the shared AP or shared non-AP STA within the allocated time is ignored.

10. The device according to claim 9, in, The processor circuit is further configured to cause the AP to regain access to its TXOP after the allocated time or immediately after the shared AP or shared non-AP STA returns the unused time.

11. The device according to claim 9, in, The CF-end frame also carries a distinguishing indicator for distinguishing the CF-end frame from a regular CF-end frame sent by the AP.

12. The device according to claim 11, in, The power management bit set to 1 in the frame control field of the CF-end frame is used as the distinguishing indicator.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, in, The computer executable instructions, when executed by a processor circuit of an access point (AP) or a non-AP station (non-AP STA), cause the AP or non-AP STA to, if a sharing AP has allocated time within its transmission opportunity (TXOP) to the AP or non-AP STA and set a network allocation vector (NAV) for the AP or non-AP STA within the allocated time: A contention-free end (CF-end) frame is sent during the allocated time, the CF-end frame carrying a media access control (MAC) address of the shared AP in a sender address (TA) field.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, in, The computer executable instructions, when executed by a processor circuit of the AP or non-AP STA, further cause the AP or non-AP STA to transmit the CF-end frame at a predefined data rate.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, in, The CF-end frame also carries a distinguishing indicator for distinguishing the CF-end frame from a regular CF-end frame sent by the shared AP.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15, in, The power management bit set to 1 in the frame control field of the CF-end frame is used as the distinguishing indicator.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, in, The computer executable instructions, when executed by a processor circuit of the AP or non-AP STA, further cause the AP or non-AP STA to transmit a frame immediately after transmitting the CF-end frame.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, in, The computer executable instructions, when executed by a processor circuit of the AP or non-AP STA, further cause the AP or non-AP STA to transmit the CF-end frame before initiating any request to send (RTS)-clear to send (CTS) exchange operation or multi-user uplink (ML UL) operation.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, in, The computer executable instructions, when executed by a processor circuit of the AP or non-AP STA, further cause the AP or non-AP STA to transmit a clear to send (CTS) frame during the allocated time, the CTS frame carrying the MAC address of the shared AP in a receiver address (RA) field.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19, in, The computer executable instructions, when executed by a processor circuit of the AP or non-AP STA, further cause the AP or non-AP STA to perform an uplink multi-user (UL MU) frame exchange during the allocated time after sending the CTS frame and the CF-end frame.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, in, The computer executable instructions, when executed by a processor circuit of an access point (AP), cause the AP to: Allocate the time within its transmission opportunity (TXOP) to a shared AP or a shared non-AP station (non-AP STA); Setting a network allocation vector (NAV) for the shared AP or the shared non-AP STA within the allocated time; as well as A contention-free end (CF-end) frame carrying the medium access control (MAC) address of the AP in a sender address (TA) field and sent by the shared AP or shared non-AP STA within the allocated time is ignored.

22. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 21, in, The computer executable instructions, when executed by a processor circuit of the AP, further cause the AP to regain access to its TXOP after the allotted time or immediately after the shared AP or shared non-AP STA returns unused time.

23. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 21, in, The CF-end frame also carries a distinguishing indicator for distinguishing the CF-end frame from a regular CF-end frame sent by the AP.

24. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 23, in, The power management bit set to 1 in the frame control field of the CF-end frame is used as the distinguishing indicator.

25. An access point (AP) or a non-AP station (non-AP STA), comprising the apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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