Wireless communication method and related wireless communication device

Abstract

The invention provides a wireless communication method and a related wireless communication device. A wireless communication method includes communicating an ultra-high throughput physical layer protocol data unit between a first station and a second station, indicating resource unit allocation for a plurality of users; and determining one or more resource units allocated to the first station or the second station as indicated in the ultra-high throughput physical layer protocol data unit by using a resource unit allocation table, the resource unit allocation table including entries corresponding to resource units that can be allocated to a plurality of users, in addition to the entries corresponding to the resource units that can be allocated to the plurality of users, also included is one or more null resource unit entries corresponding to one or more of a null 242 tone resource unit, a null 484 tone resource unit, and a null 996 tone resource unit. According to the wireless communication method and the related wireless communication device, efficient signaling can be realized.

Description

[0001]

Cross reference

[0002] This application is part of a non-provisional patent application claiming priority to U.S. provisional application numbers 63 / 039,514 and 63 / 040,029 filed on June 16, 2020 and June 17, 2020, respectively, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. [Technical field]

[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly, to efficient resource unit (RU) allocation signaling in extremely high throughput (EHT) wireless communications. [Background technology]

[0004] Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

[0005] In next generation wireless communications such as those implemented in wireless local area networks (WLANs) based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11be standard, detection of an EHT physical-layer protocol data unit (PPDU) is based on comparing the LENGTH field in the legacy signal field (L-SIG) and the repeated legacy signal field (RL-SIG) with a value N such that mod(N,3) = 0. Reducing the length of the EHT signal field (EHT-SIG) of the EHT PPDU, with per-80MHz preamble signaling being preferred. However, since each station (STA) in the WLAN only needs to process the preamble (including the short training field (STF) and the long training field (LTF)) of the corresponding EHT PPDU in a given 80 MHz frequency band, a solution is needed to inform each STA in which 80 MHz frequency band its content channel is located before receiving the EHT PPDU. [Summary of the invention]

[0006] These and other objects of the present invention and the advantages it brings to the art will no doubt become apparent to those skilled in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment which is illustrated in the various diagrams and figures.

[0007] One embodiment of the present invention provides a wireless communication method, including transmitting an ultra-high throughput physical layer protocol data unit between a first station and a second station, indicating resource unit allocation for multiple users; and determining one or more resource units allocated to the first station or the second station as indicated in the ultra-high throughput physical layer protocol data unit by using a resource unit allocation table, wherein the resource unit allocation table includes, in addition to entries corresponding to resource units that can be allocated to multiple users, one or more empty resource unit entries corresponding to one or more of empty 242-tone resource units, empty 484-tone resource units, and empty 996-tone resource units.

[0008] One embodiment of the present invention provides a wireless communication device, including a transceiver configured for wireless communication; and a processor coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations including the following operations: transmitting a very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit between a first station and a second station via the transceiver, indicating resource unit allocation relative to multiple users; and determining one or more resource units allocated to the first station or the second station, as indicated in the very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit, wherein, when at least one of the multiple resource unit allocation subfields corresponds to an empty resource unit not allocated to any user, the number of one or more user fields in the very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit is less than the number of multiple resource unit allocation subfields in the very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit.

[0009] The wireless communication method and related wireless communication device of the present invention can realize efficient signaling.

[0010] By reading the following description of specific embodiments, other aspects and features of the present invention and the advantages brought to the relevant field will become apparent to those skilled in the art.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011] Various embodiments of the present disclosure, presented as examples, will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings, in which:

[0012] Figure 1 An example network environment is illustrated in which various solutions and concepts according to the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0013] Figure 2 An example design in one implementation under a proposed scheme according to the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0014] Figure 3 An example scenario in an implementation under a proposed scheme according to the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0015] Figure 4 An example scenario in an implementation under a proposed scheme according to the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0016] Figure 5 An example design in one implementation under the proposed scheme according to the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0017] Figure 6 An example design in one implementation under the proposed scheme according to the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0018] Figure 7 An example scenario in an implementation under a proposed scheme according to the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0019] Figure 8 An example scenario in an implementation under a proposed scheme according to the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0020] Fig. 9 An example system according to an implementation of the present disclosure is shown.

[0021] Fig.10 An example process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0022] Fig.11 An example process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated. [Specific implementation method]

[0023] Certain words are used in the specification and claims to refer to specific components. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that manufacturers may use different terms to refer to the same component. This specification and claims do not use differences in names as a way to distinguish components, but rather use differences in the functions of the components as the basis for distinction. The term "including" mentioned throughout the specification and claims is an open-ended term and should be interpreted as "including but not limited to". In addition, the term "coupled" herein includes any direct and indirect electrical connection means. Therefore, if the text describes a first device coupled to a second device, it means that the first device can be directly electrically connected to the second device, or indirectly electrically connected to the second device through other devices or connection means.

[0024] It will be readily understood that the components of the present invention, as generally described and illustrated in the drawings herein, may be arranged and designed in a variety of different configurations. Therefore, the following more detailed description of embodiments of the systems and methods of the present invention, as illustrated in the drawings, is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention, but is merely representative of selected embodiments of the present invention.

[0025] Embodiments according to the present disclosure relate to various technologies, methods, schemes and / or solutions related to efficient RU allocation signaling in EHT wireless communications. According to the present disclosure, a variety of possible solutions may be implemented individually or jointly. That is, although these possible solutions may be described separately below, two or more of these possible solutions may be implemented in one combination or another combination. It is worth noting that although the examples described herein and shown in the figures may show a first RU of size A and a second RU of size B, such as in RU A+RU B, RU A+RU B may be implemented according to various proposed schemes of the present disclosure, and vice versa (e.g., RU B+RU A). In other words, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the examples presented herein, but also covers variants thereof. For example, for a multi-RU group (996+484), the order of RUs may be exchanged in different implementations, for example, in one implementation, a first RU of size 484 plus a second RU of size 996, or optionally in another implementation, a first RU of size 996 plus a second RU of size 484. Furthermore, in the present disclosure, aggregated multiple RUs may be interchangeably referred to as "multi-RU" and "MRU." Thus, in the above example, the multi-RU group (996+484) is an aggregation of two RUs (i.e., a 996-tone RU and a 484-tone RU), which may be referred to as multi-RU (996+484) or MRU (996+484).

[0026] Figure 1 An example network environment 100 is illustrated in which various solutions and concepts according to the present disclosure may be implemented. Figure 2 to Figure 11 FIG. 1 illustrates an example of implementation of various proposed solutions in a network environment 100 according to the present disclosure. Figures 1 to 11 The following description of various proposed approaches is provided.

[0027] Reference Figure 1 , the network environment 100 may involve a communication entity 110 and a communication entity 120 in wireless communication (e.g., in a WLAN according to one or more IEEE 802.11 standards). For example, the communication entity 110 may be a first STA and the communication entity 120 may be a second STA, wherein each of the first STA and the second STA is an access point (AP) or a non-AP STA. Under various proposed schemes according to the present disclosure, the communication entity 110 and the communication entity 120 may be configured to perform effective RU allocation signaling in EHT wireless communication, as described herein.

[0028] The general format of the EHT multi-user (MU) PPDU generally includes multiple fields, such as a legacy short training field (L-STF), a legacy long training field (L-LTF), a legacy signal field (L-SIG), a repeated legacy signal field (RL-SIG), a universal signal field (U-SIG), an EHT signal field (EHT-SIG), an EHT short training field (EHT-STF), an EHT long training field (EHT-LTF) and a data payload. The U-SIG may have a length of two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, and a jointly coded U-SIG may be present in the EHT preamble immediately following the RL-SIG. The U-SIG may contain version-independent fields. The version-independent content is intended to achieve better coexistence between future IEEE802.11 generations. In addition, the U-SIG may have some version-related fields. Since a variable modulation and coding scheme (MCS) can be used, the EHT-SIG may have a variable length and may be immediately after the U-SIG in the EHT PPDU. For each 80MHz preamble signaling, the U-SIG may be replicated in each 80MHz band. In addition, in each 80MHz band, there may be two or four content channels for the EHT-SIG.

[0029] Figure 2 An example design 200 in an implementation according to the proposed scheme of the present disclosure is illustrated. Design 200 shows a large-sized RU allocation table with empty RUs. Under the proposed scheme according to the present disclosure, entries of empty 242-tone RUs, 242-tone RUs, 996-tone RUs, and 2x996-tone RUs, or a subset of these four RUs, may be added to the RU allocation table. The "empty RU" herein refers to an unallocated RU, corresponding to a zero user field, i.e., for a given 80 MHz band, there is an empty RU entry in the RU allocation table, and the empty RU is allocated with zero users or no users in the corresponding content channel within the 80 MHz band. Therefore, in the corresponding user field, when zero users are allocated, there is no need to indicate the RU allocation. Advantageously, the length of the user field in the EHT-SIG may be reduced, thereby improving the signaling efficiency of RU allocation in the EHT MU PPDU.

[0030] Under the proposed scheme for per-80MHz EHT signaling for orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) according to the present disclosure, in case there are no users on a given set of RUs in the 80MHz band, corresponding empty RU entries may be placed in the RU allocation subfield of the corresponding content channel. Figure 3An example scenario 300 in one implementation according to the present disclosure is illustrated. According to the proposed scheme, in each 80 MHz band, the EHT-SIG may only include user fields for users parked in the 80 MHz band. In scenario 300, empty resource allocation (RA) x1 and empty RA y2 may be filled in the unallocated RU in the first 80 MHz band on content channel 1. Similarly, empty RA z1 and empty RA w1 may be filled in the unallocated RU in the first 80 MHz band on content channel 2. Similarly, empty RA x2 and empty RA y2 may be filled in the unallocated RU in the first 80 MHz band on content channel 1. In addition, empty RA z2 and empty RA w2 may be filled in the unallocated RU in the first 80 MHz band on content channel 2. It is believed that the proposed scheme will introduce minimal changes to HE-SIGB style signaling and can achieve flexibility in per-80 MHz signaling.

[0031] Figure 3 An example scenario 300 in one implementation under the proposed scheme according to the present disclosure is illustrated. In the scenario 300, each of the primary 80 MHz band and the secondary 80 MHz band may have four respective 20 MHz content channels. In the primary 80 MHz band, the U-SIG for each of the four 20 MHz content channels may be U-SIG1. In the secondary 80 MHz band, the U-SIG for each of the four 20 MHz content channels may be U-SIG2.

[0032] refer to Figure 3, in the primary 80MHz band, since two RUs are unallocated, the EHT-SIG of the first of the four 20MHz content channels of content channel 1 may have an RU allocation subfield filled with "RA1", "RA 2", "empty RAx1", and "empty RA y1", and accordingly, the EHT-SIG of the first of the four 20MHz content channels of content channel 1 only contains the user fields of the users parked in the 20MHz content channel (i.e., the user fields of RA1 and RA2). Similarly, since two RUs are unallocated, the EHT-SIG of the second of the four 20MHz content channels of content channel 2 may have an RU allocation subfield filled with "RA5", "RA 6", "empty RAz1", and "empty RAw1", and accordingly, only contains the user fields of the users parked in the 20MHz content channel (i.e., the user fields of RA5 and RA6). Similarly, since two RUs are not allocated, the EHT-SIG of the third of the four 20 MHz content channels of content channel 1 may have an RU allocation subfield filled with "RA1", "RA 2", "empty RA x1", and "empty RA y1", and accordingly, only user fields of users parked in the 20 MHz content channel (i.e., user fields of RA 1 and RA 2) are included. In addition, since two RUs are not allocated, the EHT-SIG of the fourth of the four 20 MHz content channels of content channel 2 may have an RU allocation subfield filled with "RA 5", "RA6", "empty RAz1", and "empty RAw1", and accordingly, only user fields of users parked in the 20 MHz content channel (i.e., user fields of RA 5 and RA 6) are included.

[0033] In addition, in the secondary 80 MHz band, since two RUs are unallocated, the EHT-SIG of the first of the four 20 MHz content channels of content channel 1 may have an RU allocation subfield filled with "empty RA x2", "empty RAy2", "RA3", and "RA4", and accordingly, only user fields (i.e., user fields of RA 3 and RA 4) of users parked in that 20 MHz content channel are included. Similarly, since two RUs are unallocated, the EHT-SIG of the second of the four 20 MHz content channels of content channel 2 may have an RU allocation subfield filled with "empty RAz2", "empty RA w2", "RA7", and "RA8", and accordingly, only user fields (i.e., user fields of RA 7 and RA 8) of users parked in that 20 MHz content channel are included. Likewise, since two RUs are unallocated, the EHT-SIG of the third of the four 20 MHz content channels of content channel 1 may have an RU allocation subfield filled with "empty RA x2", "empty RA y2", "RA 3", and "RA 4", and accordingly, only user fields (i.e., user fields of RA 3 and RA 4) of users parked in the 20 MHz content channel. In addition, since two RUs are unallocated, the EHT-SIG of the fourth of the four 20 MHz content channels for content channel 2 may have an RU allocation subfield filled with "empty RA z2", "empty RAw2", "RA7", and "RA8", and accordingly, only user fields (i.e., user fields of RA7 and RA8) of users parked in the 20 MHz content channel.

[0034] Under the proposed scheme according to the present disclosure, in the case where one RU or MRU is referenced by two or more RU allocation subfields in an EHT-SIG content channel, one of the two or more RU allocation subfields other than the first one of the two or more RU allocation subfields in the EHT-SIG content channel may be used to encode one or more empty additional user fields for each RU, which contribute to the user-specific fields in the same EHT-SIG content channel as one of the two or more RU allocation subfields.

[0035] Under the proposed scheme for localized RU allocation within each 80MHz band according to the present disclosure, all STAs can obtain RU allocation within each parked segment. Significant overhead reduction can be achieved through two RU allocation subfields and a user field only for STAs allocated on the segment. A localized mode indicator can be inserted in the U-SIG to indicate the EHT-SIG using a localized RU indication.

[0036] Figure 4 An example scenario 400 in one implementation according to the proposed scheme of the present disclosure is illustrated. In the scenario 400, each of the primary 80 MHz band, the secondary 80 MHz band, the second primary 80 MHz band, and the second secondary 80 MHz band may have four 20 MHz content channels respectively. Figure 4 As shown, the primary 80MHz frequency band may have four 20MHz content channels, denoted as CH11, CH12, CH13 and CH14, the secondary 80MHz frequency band may have four 20MHz content channels, denoted as CH21, CH22, CH23 and CH24, the second primary 80MHz frequency band may have four 20MHz content channels, denoted as CH31, CH32, CH33 and CH34, and the second secondary 80MHz frequency band may have four 20MHz content channels, denoted as CH41, CH42, CH43 and CH44. Under the proposed scheme, through local RU allocation within each 80MHz frequency channel, RU11, RU12, RU13 and RU14 can be allocated to CH11, CH12, CH13 and CH14, respectively. Similarly, RU21, RU22, RU23 and RU24 can be allocated to CH21, CH22, CH23 and CH24, respectively. Likewise, RU31, RU32, RU33, and RU34 may be allocated to CH31, CH32, CH33, and CH34, respectively. Furthermore, RU41, RU42, RU43, and RU44 may be allocated to CH41, CH42, CH43, and CH44, respectively.

[0037] Under a proposed scheme for HE-SIGB RU signaling for multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) according to the present disclosure, load balancing on two or more content channels can be improved. Under the proposed scheme, for RUs larger than 242 tones, such as 484-tone RUs, two HE-SIGB content channels can be utilized, each with an 8-bit RU allocation subfield. For example, in the first content channel (or content channel #1), the corresponding 8-bit RU allocation subfield may be y2y1y0, where y2y1y0=011. Similarly, in the second content channel (or content channel #2), the corresponding 8-bit RU allocation subfield may be 11001y2y1y0, where y2y1y0=010, where y2y1y0=000 represents one user, y2y1y0=001 represents two users, y2y1y0=010 represents three users, and y2y1y0=011 represents 4 users. Therefore, in content channel #1, there are four user fields in the user specific field. Similarly, in content channel #2, there are three user fields in the user specific field. Therefore, in this example, the total number of multiplexed users on this 484-tone RU is 3+4=7 users. Therefore, the STA can decode two content channels to determine the entire RU signaling.

[0038] It is worth noting that the HE-SIGB style user field format may not support efficient signaling per 80 MHz. Therefore, the STA may need to know the total number of spatial streams and its user location to determine the corresponding index of its spatial stream. Therefore, a STA operating on the secondary 80 MHz band may need to have information about STAs operating in the primary 80 MHz band, and vice versa. To address this issue, one or more of the several proposed schemes described below regarding a self-contained spatial configuration of the user field format for MU-MIMO may be utilized.

[0039] Figure 5 An example design 500 is illustrated in one implementation according to the proposed scheme of the present disclosure. Figure 5In design 500, the user field may include at least a STA identifier (ID) subfield, a spatial configuration subfield, an EHT-MCS subfield, and a coding subfield. The STA ID may indicate the ID of the user / STA addressed as the intended recipient. The spatial configuration subfield may indicate information related to the spatial stream configuration. The EHT-MCS subfield may indicate the MCS scheme being used. The coding subfield may indicate the coding scheme used. In design 500, the spatial configuration subfield in the user field may have six bits. In particular, in the 6-bit spatial configuration subfield, four bits may be used to indicate the spatial start index of a given user (e.g., STA) and two bits may be used to indicate the number of spatial streams allocated to the user. Therefore, design 500 may support up to a total of eight users, up to a total of sixteen spatial streams, and up to a total of four streams per user.

[0040] Figure 6 An example design 600 is illustrated in one implementation according to the proposed scheme of the present disclosure. Figure 6 In design 600, the user field may include at least a STA ID subfield, a spatial configuration subfield, an EHT-MCS subfield, and a coding subfield. The STA ID may indicate the ID of the user / STA addressed as the intended recipient. The spatial configuration subfield may indicate information related to the spatial stream configuration. The EHT-MCS subfield may indicate the MCS scheme being used. The coding subfield may indicate the coding scheme used. Figure 6 In part (A) of the present invention, in design 600, the spatial configuration subfield in the user field can have nine bits. In particular, in the 9-bit spatial configuration subfield, 6 bits can be used to indicate the spatial stream configuration of a given user in the MU-MIMO allocation. In the case where the spatial configuration subfield coding is extended from eight spatial streams to sixteen spatial streams, six bits will be required. In addition, in the 9-bit spatial configuration subfield, three bits can be used to indicate the corresponding position of the user. Figure 6 In part (B) of the present invention, in design 600, the spatial configuration subfield in the user field may have seven bits. In particular, in the 7-bit spatial configuration subfield, four bits may be utilized to indicate the spatial stream configuration of a given user in the MU-MIMO allocation. In addition, in the 9-bit spatial configuration subfield, three bits may be utilized to indicate the corresponding position of the user.

[0041] Figure 7An example scenario 700 in an implementation under a proposed scheme according to the present disclosure is illustrated. For MU-MIMO (compressed mode and non-compressed mode), efficient per-80MHz RU signaling may be required. For example, as an illustrative example, there may be a total of five MU-MIMO users on a 2x996 RU. In the first content channel (or content channel #1) in the primary 80MHz band, the corresponding 8-bit RU allocation subfield may be 11001y2y1y0, where y2y1y0=001. In the second content channel (or content channel #2) in the primary 80MHz band, the corresponding 8-bit RU allocation subfield may be 11001y2y1y0, where y2y1y0=000. Here y2y1y0=000 represents one user, y2y1y0=001 represents two users, y2y1y0=010 represents three users, and y2y1y0=011 represents four users. Therefore, as shown in the figure, in the primary 80MHz band, there are two users (user A and user B) on content channel #1 and one user (user C) on content channel #2. In the first content channel (or content channel #1) in the secondary 80MHz band, the corresponding 8-bit RU allocation subfield can be 11001y2y1y0, where y2y1y0=000. In the second content channel (or content channel #2) in the secondary 80MHz band, the corresponding 8-bit RU allocation subfield can be 11001y2y1y0, where y2y1y0=000. Therefore, as shown in the figure, in the secondary 80MHz band, there is one user (user D) on content channel #1 and one user (user E) on content channel #2.

[0042] In scenario 700, efficient signaling may be achieved because the EHT-SIG in each 80 MHz band may need to include only user fields for STAs operating in that 80 MHz band and not include any user fields for STAs not operating in that 80 MHz band. Figure 7 As shown, for the primary 80 MHz band, the EHT-SIG may include two user fields in content channel #1 (for user A and user B) and one user field in content channel #2 (for user C). Similarly, for the secondary 80 MHz band, the EHT-SIG may include one user field in content channel #1 (for user D) and one user field in content channel #2 (for user E).

[0043] Figure 8An example scenario 800 in an implementation under a proposed scheme according to the present disclosure is illustrated. For each 80MHz RU signaling in MU-MIMO, a 6-bit extended space configuration subfield may be used in the user field. Under the proposed scheme, for MU-MIMO (full bandwidth MU-MIMO in compressed mode or hybrid MU-MIMO and OFDMA mode), a dummy user field (Dummy User field) may be used for MIMO for users that are not parked in a given 80MHz band. Borrowing the example described above for scenario 700, in scenario 800, for the primary 80MHz band, the EHT-SIG may include two user fields (for user A and user B) in content channel #1 and other fields as dummy users and one user field (for user C) and other fields as dummy users in content channel #2. Similarly, for the secondary 80MHz band, the EHT-SIG may include one user field (for user D) in content channel #1 and other fields as dummy users and one user field (for user E) in content channel #2 and other fields as dummy users.

[0044] Fig. 9 An example system 900 having at least an example device 910 and an example device 920 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Each of the device 910 and the device 920 can perform various functions to implement the schemes, techniques, processes and methods described herein related to efficient RU allocation signaling in EHT wireless communications, including the above-mentioned various proposed designs, concepts, schemes, systems and methods described above, and the processes described below. For example, the device 910 can be an example implementation of the communication entity 110, and the device 920 can be an example implementation of the communication entity 120.

[0045] Each of the devices 910 and 920 may be part of an electronic device, which may be a STA or an AP, such as a portable or mobile device, a wearable device, a wireless communication device, or a computing device. For example, each of the devices 910 and 920 may be implemented in a smart phone, a smart watch, a personal digital assistant, a digital camera, or a computing device such as a tablet, a laptop, or a notebook computer. Each of the devices 910 and 920 may also be part of a machine-type device, which may be an Internet of Things device, such as a non-movable or fixed device, a household device, a wired communication device, or a computing device. For example, each of the devices 910 and 920 may be implemented in a smart thermostat, a smart refrigerator, a smart door lock, a wireless speaker, or a home control center. When implemented in or as a network device, the device 910 and / or the device 920 may be implemented in a network node, such as an AP in a WLAN.

[0046] In some embodiments, each of the apparatus 910 and the apparatus 920 may be implemented in the form of one or more integrated circuit (IC) chips, such as but not limited to one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, or one or more complex instruction set computing (CISC) processors. In the above various schemes, each of the apparatus 910 and the apparatus 920 may be implemented in a STA or an AP or implemented as a STA or an AP. Each of the apparatus 910 and the apparatus 920 may include Fig. 9 At least some of the components shown in the figure, for example, processor 912 and processor 922, respectively. Each of the apparatus 910 and the apparatus 920 may also include one or more other components not related to the solution proposed by the present disclosure (for example, an internal power supply, a display device and / or a user interface device), so for the sake of simplicity and brevity, such components of the apparatus 910 and the apparatus 920 are not shown in the figure. Fig. 9 is shown in the figure and is not described below.

[0047] On the one hand, each of the processors 912 and 922 can be implemented in the form of one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more RISC processors, or one or more CISC processors. That is, even if the singular term "processor" is used herein to refer to the processors 912 and 922, each of the processors 912 and 922 according to the present disclosure may include multiple processors in some embodiments, and may include a single processor in other embodiments. On the other hand, each of the processors 912 and 922 can be implemented in the form of hardware (and optionally, firmware) with electronic components, including, for example, but not limited to, one or more transistors, one or more diodes, one or more capacitors, one or more resistors, one or more inductors, one or more memristors, and / or one or more varactor diodes, which are configured and arranged to achieve specific purposes according to the present disclosure. In other words, in at least some embodiments, each of the processors 912 and 922 is a dedicated machine specially designed, arranged, and configured to perform specific tasks, including those tasks related to efficient RU allocation signaling in EHT wireless communications according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, each of processor 912 and processor 922 may be configured with hardware components or circuits to implement one, some, or all of the examples described and illustrated herein.

[0048] In some embodiments, the device 910 may further include a transceiver 916 coupled to the processor 912. The transceiver 916 may be capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data. In some embodiments, the device 920 may further include a transceiver 926 coupled to the processor 922. The transceiver 926 may include a transceiver capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data.

[0049] In some embodiments, the device 910 may also include a memory 914 coupled to the processor 912 and capable of being accessed by the processor 912 and storing data therein. In some embodiments, the device 920 may also include a memory 924 coupled to the processor 922 and capable of being accessed by the processor 922 and storing data therein. Each of the memory 914 and the memory 924 may include a type of random access memory (RAM), such as a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a thyristor RAM (T-RAM) and / or a zero-capacitance RAM (Z-memory). Alternatively or additionally, each of the memory 914 and the memory 924 may include a type of read-only memory (ROM), such as a mask ROM, a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM) and / or an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM)). Alternatively or additionally, each of memory 914 and memory 924 may include a type of non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) such as flash memory, solid-state memory, ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM), magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), and / or phase change memory.

[0050] Each of the apparatus 910 and the apparatus 920 may be a communication entity capable of communicating with each other using various proposed schemes according to the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes and not limitation, a description of the capabilities of the apparatus 910 as the communication entity 110 and the apparatus 920 as the communication entity 120 is provided below. It is worth noting that, although the example implementation described below is provided in the context of a WLAN, it may also be implemented in other types of networks. Therefore, although the following description of the example implementation belongs to a scenario in which the apparatus 910 is used as a transmitting device and the apparatus 920 is used as a receiving device, it is also applicable to another scenario in which the apparatus 910 is used as a receiving device and the apparatus 920 is used as a transmitting device.

[0051] Under the proposed scheme for efficient RU allocation signaling in EHT wireless communication according to the present disclosure, the processor 912 of the device 910 can establish a wireless communication connection between a first STA (e.g., the device 910 implemented as a non-AP STA in the communication entity 110) and a second STA (e.g., the device 920 implemented as an AP in the communication entity 120) through the transceiver 916. For example, the processor 912 can receive an EHT PPDU from the device 920 via the transceiver 916. In addition, the processor 912 can determine one or more RUs allocated to the first STA as indicated in the EHT PPDU by using an RU allocation table. In addition to the entries corresponding to RUs that can be allocated to multiple users, the RU allocation table can also include one or more empty RU entries corresponding to one or more of an empty 242-tone RU, an empty 484-tone RU, and an empty 996-tone RU. Alternatively, the processor 912 may determine one or more RUs allocated to the first STA as indicated in the EHT PPDU, wherein the number of one or more user fields in the EHT PPDU is less than the number of multiple RU allocation subfields in the EHT PPDU when at least one of the multiple RU allocation subfields corresponds to an empty RU that is not allocated to any user.

[0052] In some implementations, when determining the one or more RUs to be allocated, the processor 912 may determine the one or more RUs to be allocated by using an RU allocation table. The RU allocation table may include one or more empty RU entries, corresponding to one or more of an empty 242-tone RU, an empty 484-tone RU, and an empty 996-tone RU, in addition to entries corresponding to RUs that can be allocated to multiple users.

[0053] In some implementations, zero users may be allocated on each of an empty 242-tone RU, an empty 484-tone RU, and an empty 996-tone RU. In some implementations, the RU allocation table may also include an empty RU entry corresponding to an empty 2x996-tone RU, on which zero users may be allocated.

[0054] In some implementations, the EHT PPDU may indicate a corresponding RU allocation for each of the one or more frequency bands. In this case, for at least one of the one or more frequency bands, the corresponding EHT-SIG may include at least a first RU allocation subfield and a second RU allocation subfield for at least one of the multiple content channels in at least one of the one or more frequency bands. In addition, the first RU allocation subfield may be populated with a non-empty entry from the RU allocation table, indicating that there is a user on one or more RUs corresponding to the non-empty entry. In addition, the second RU allocation subfield may be populated with one of the one or more empty RU entries, indicating that there is no user on one or more RUs corresponding to one of the one or more empty RU entries.

[0055] In some embodiments, for at least one of the one or more frequency bands, each EHT-SIG may also include a user field corresponding to the first RU allocation subfield and not include a user field corresponding to the second RU allocation subfield.

[0056] In some embodiments, the one or more frequency bands may include one or more 80MHz frequency bands in an 80MHz, 160MHz, or 320MHz bandwidth used in communication between a first STA and a second STA in an EHT WLAN. In some embodiments, the EHT PPDU may indicate a corresponding RU allocation for each of the one or more 80MHz frequency bands. In this case, in each of the one or more 80MHz frequency bands, each of the one or more corresponding EHT-SIGs may contain one or more corresponding RU allocations in the corresponding frequency band, which are allocated to RUs of one or more users of a plurality of users parked in the corresponding frequency band.

[0057] In some embodiments, in a delivery operation, the processor 912 may deliver signaling for MU-MIMO via the transceiver 916. In such a case, the EHT PPDU may indicate the allocation of RUs of a size greater than 242 tones on more than one content channel including a first content channel and a second content channel. For example, the first 8-bit RU allocation subfield corresponding to the first content channel may indicate the number of first users to which the corresponding first number of RUs is allocated. In addition, the EHT PPDU may include a first user field number corresponding to the first number of users of the first content channel. Similarly, the second 8-bit RU allocation subfield corresponding to the second content channel may indicate the number of second users to which the corresponding second number of RUs is allocated. In addition, the EHT PPDU may include a second user field number corresponding to the second number of users of the second content channel.

[0058] In some embodiments, in the delivery operation, the processor 912 may deliver signaling for MU-MIMO via the transceiver 916. In this case, the EHT PPDU may indicate a MU-MIMO allocation of one or more RUs to one or more users of a plurality of users. In addition, the EHT PPDU may include one or more user fields, each user field corresponding to a corresponding one of the one or more users. In addition, each of the one or more user fields may include a spatial configuration subfield, which includes: (a) 6 bits indicating a spatial stream configuration of a corresponding user of the one or more users in the MU-MIMO allocation, and 3 bits indicating a position of the corresponding user, or (b) 4 bits indicating a starting spatial index of the corresponding user and 2 bits indicating the number of spatial streams allocated to the corresponding user.

[0059] In some implementations, in the communicating operation, the processor 912 may communicate signaling for MU-MIMO via the transceiver 916. In this case, for a corresponding frequency band in the one or more frequency bands, the EHT-SIG in the EHT PPDU may include one or more user fields corresponding to one or more users in the plurality of users, and one or more corresponding RUs are allocated to the one or more users in the corresponding frequency band. In this case, the number of the one or more user fields in the EHT-SIG of the corresponding frequency band is equal to the number of the one or more users to which the one or more corresponding RUs are allocated in the corresponding frequency band.

[0060] In some embodiments, where a RU or MRU is referenced by two or more RU allocation subfields in the EHT-SIG content channel, one of the two or more RU allocation subfields, except for the first one of the two or more RU allocation subfields in the EHT-SIG content channel, may be used to encode one or more empty additional user fields for each RU that contribute to the user-specific fields in the same EHT-SIG content channel as one of the two or more RU allocations.

[0061] Fig.10 An example process 1000 is illustrated according to an implementation of the present disclosure. Process 1000 may represent one aspect of implementing the various proposed designs, concepts, schemes, systems, and methods described above. More specifically, process 1000 may represent one aspect of the proposed concepts and schemes related to efficient RU allocation signaling in EHT wireless communications according to the present disclosure. Process 1000 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as shown in one or more of blocks 1010 and 1020. Although shown as discrete blocks, the various blocks of process 1000 may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. In addition, the blocks / sub-blocks of process 1000 may be arranged as follows: Fig.101000 may be performed in the order shown, or in a different order. In addition, one or more blocks / sub-blocks of process 1000 may be performed repeatedly or iteratively. Process 1000 may be implemented by device 910 and device 920 and any variants thereof, or implemented in device 910 and device 920. For illustrative purposes only and without limiting the scope, process 1000 is described below in the context of device 910 as a communication entity 110 (e.g., a transmitting device, whether a STA or an AP) of a wireless network (e.g., a WLAN) according to one or more IEEE 802.11 standards and device 920 as a communication entity 120 (e.g., a receiving device, whether a STA or an AP) of a wireless network (e.g., a WLAN) according to one or more IEEE 802.11 standards. Process 1000 may start at block 1010.

[0062] At 1010, the process 1000 may involve signaling an EHT PPDU indicating RU allocations for multiple users between a first STA (e.g., a device 910 implemented as a non-AP STA in the communication entity 110) and a second STA (e.g., a device 920 implemented as an AP in the communication entity 120). For example, the processor 912 of the device 910 may receive the EHT PPDU from the device 920 via the transceiver 916. The process 1000 may proceed from 1010 to 1020.

[0063] At 1020, process 1000 may involve determining one or more RUs allocated to the first STA or the second STA as indicated in the EHT PPDU by using the RU allocation table. The RU allocation table may include one or more empty RU entries, corresponding to one or more of an empty 242-tone RU, an empty 484-tone RU, and an empty 996-tone RU, in addition to entries corresponding to RUs that can be allocated to multiple users. For example, processor 912 may determine which RU or RUs have been allocated to device 910 by using the RU allocation table, as indicated in the received EHT PPDU.

[0064] In some implementations, zero users may be allocated on each of the empty 242-tone RUs, empty 484-tone RUs, and empty 996-tone RUs. In some implementations, the RU allocation table may also include an empty RU entry corresponding to an empty 2x996-tone RU, on which zero users may be allocated.

[0065] In some implementations, the EHT PPDU may indicate a corresponding RU allocation for each of the one or more frequency bands. In this case, for at least one of the one or more frequency bands, the corresponding EHT-SIG may include at least a first RU allocation subfield and a second RU allocation subfield for at least one of the one or more content channels in at least one of the one or more frequency bands. In addition, the first RU allocation subfield may be populated with a non-empty entry from the RU allocation table, indicating that there is a user on one or more RUs corresponding to the non-empty entry. In addition, the second RU allocation subfield may be populated with one of the one or more empty RU entries, indicating that there is no user on one or more RUs corresponding to one of the one or more empty RU entries.

[0066] In some embodiments, for at least one of the one or more frequency bands, the corresponding EHT-SIG may also include a user field corresponding to the first RU allocation subfield and not include a user field corresponding to the second RU allocation subfield.

[0067] In some embodiments, the one or more frequency bands may include one or more 80MHz frequency bands in 80MHz, 160MHz, or 320MHz bandwidths used in communications between a first STA and a second STA in an EHT WLAN. In some embodiments, the EHT PPDU may indicate a corresponding RU allocation for each of the one or more 80MHz frequency bands. In this case, in each of the one or more 80MHz frequency bands, each of the one or more corresponding EHT-SIGs may contain one or more corresponding RU allocations in the corresponding frequency band allocated to one or more users of the plurality of users parked in the corresponding frequency band.

[0068] In some implementations, in a delivery operation, process 1000 may involve delivering signaling for MU-MIMO. In such a case, the EHT PPDU may indicate the allocation of RUs of a size greater than 242 tones on more than one content channel including a first content channel and a second content channel. For example, the first 8-bit RU allocation subfield corresponding to the first content channel may indicate the first number of users to which the corresponding first number of RUs is allocated. In addition, the EHT PPDU may include a first user field number corresponding to the first number of users of the first content channel. Similarly, the second 8-bit RU allocation subfield corresponding to the second content channel may indicate the second number of users to which the corresponding second number of RUs is allocated. In addition, the EHT PPDU may include a second user field number corresponding to the second number of users of the second content channel.

[0069] In some implementations, in a delivery operation, process 1000 may involve delivering signaling for MU-MIMO. In this case, the EHT PPDU may indicate a MU-MIMO allocation of one or more RUs to one or more users of a plurality of users. In addition, the EHT PPDU may include one or more user fields, each user field corresponding to a respective one of the one or more users. In addition, each of the one or more user fields may include a spatial configuration subfield, which includes: (a) 6 bits indicating a spatial stream configuration of a respective user of the one or more users in the MU-MIMO allocation, and 3 bits indicating a position of the respective user, or (b) 4 bits indicating a starting spatial index of the respective user and 2 bits indicating a number of spatial streams allocated to the respective user.

[0070] In some implementations, in the delivery operation, process 1000 may involve delivering signaling for MU-MIMO. In this case, for a corresponding frequency band in the one or more frequency bands, the EHT-SIG in the EHT PPDU may include one or more user fields corresponding to one or more users of the plurality of users to which one or more corresponding RUs are allocated in the corresponding frequency band. In this case, the number of the one or more user fields in the EHT-SIG for the corresponding frequency band is equal to the number of the one or more users to which the one or more corresponding RUs are allocated in the corresponding frequency band.

[0071] In some embodiments, where a RU or MRU is referenced by two or more RU allocation subfields in the EHT-SIG content channel, one of the two or more RU allocation subfields in the EHT-SIG content channel, except for the first one of the two or more RU allocation subfields, may be used to encode one or more empty additional user fields for each RU that contribute to the user-specific fields in the same EHT-SIG content channel as one of the two or more RU allocation subfields.

[0072] Fig.11 An example process 1100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated. Process 1100 may represent one aspect of implementing the various proposed designs, concepts, schemes, systems, and methods described above. More specifically, process 1100 may represent one aspect of the proposed concepts and schemes related to efficient RU allocation signaling in EHT wireless communications according to the present disclosure. Process 1100 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as shown in one or more of blocks 1110 and 1120. Although shown as discrete blocks, the various blocks of process 1100 may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. In addition, the blocks / sub-blocks of process 1100 may be arranged as follows: Fig.111100 may be performed in the order shown, or in a different order. In addition, one or more of the blocks / sub-blocks of process 1100 may be performed repeatedly or iteratively. Process 1100 may be implemented by or in device 910 and device 920 and any variants thereof. For illustrative purposes only and without limiting the scope, process 1100 is described below in the context of device 910 as a communication entity 110 (e.g., a transmitting device, whether a STA or an AP) of a wireless network (e.g., a WLAN) according to one or more IEEE 802.11 standards and device 920 as a communication entity 120 (e.g., a receiving device, whether a STA or an AP) of a wireless network (e.g., a WLAN) according to one or more IEEE 802.11 standards. Process 1100 may start at block 1110.

[0073] At 1110, the process 1100 may involve signaling an EHT PPDU indicating RU allocations for multiple users between a first STA (e.g., a device 910 implemented as a non-AP STA in the communication entity 110) and a second STA (e.g., a device 920 implemented as an AP in the communication entity 120). For example, the processor 912 of the device 910 may receive the EHT PPDU from the device 920 via the transceiver 916. The process 1100 may proceed from 1110 to 1120.

[0074] At 1120, the process 1100 may involve determining one or more RUs allocated to the first STA or the second STA as indicated in the EHT PPDU, wherein the number of one or more user fields in the EHT PPDU is less than the number of multiple RU allocation subfields in the EHT PPDU when at least one of the multiple RU allocation subfields corresponds to an empty RU that is not allocated to any user. For example, the processor 912 may determine which RU or RUs have been allocated to the device 910 as indicated in the received EHT PPDU.

[0075] In some embodiments, when determining the one or more RUs to allocate, process 1100 may involve determining the one or more RUs to allocate by using an RU allocation table. The RU allocation table may include one or more empty RU entries corresponding to one or more of an empty 242-tone RU, an empty 484-tone RU, and an empty 996-tone RU in addition to entries corresponding to RUs that can be allocated to multiple users.

[0076] In some implementations, zero users may be assigned on each of the empty 242-tone RU, the empty 484-tone RU, and the empty 996-tone RU.

[0077] In some embodiments, the EHT PPDU may indicate a corresponding RU allocation for each of the one or more frequency bands. In this case, for at least one of the one or more frequency bands, the corresponding EHT-SIG may include at least a first RU allocation subfield and a second RU allocation subfield for at least one of the multiple content channels in at least one of the one or more frequency bands. In addition, the first RU allocation subfield may be populated with a non-empty entry from the RU allocation table, indicating that there is a user on one or more RUs corresponding to the non-empty entry. In addition, the second RU allocation subfield may be populated with one of the one or more empty RU entries, indicating that there is no user on one or more RUs corresponding to one of the one or more empty RU entries.

[0078] In some embodiments, for at least one of the one or more frequency bands, each EHT-SIG may also include a user field corresponding to the first RU allocation subfield and not include a user field corresponding to the second RU allocation subfield.

[0079] In some embodiments, the one or more frequency bands may include one or more 80 MHz frequency bands among 80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 320 MHz bandwidths used in communication between the first STA and the second STA in the EHT WLAN.

[0080] In some embodiments, the EHT PPDU may indicate a corresponding RU allocation for each of the one or more 80 MHz bands. In this case, in each of the one or more 80 MHz bands, each of the one or more corresponding EHT-SIGs may include one or more corresponding RU allocations of RUs in the corresponding band allocated to one or more users of the plurality of users parked in the corresponding band.

[0081] In some implementations, in a delivery operation, process 1100 may involve delivering signaling for MU-MIMO. In such a case, the EHT PPDU may indicate the allocation of RUs of a size greater than 242 tones on more than one content channel including a first content channel and a second content channel. For example, the first 8-bit RU allocation subfield corresponding to the first content channel may indicate the first number of users to which the corresponding first number of RUs is allocated. In addition, the EHT PPDU may include a first user field number corresponding to the first number of users of the first content channel. Similarly, the second 8-bit RU allocation subfield corresponding to the second content channel may indicate the second number of users to which the corresponding second number of RUs is allocated. In addition, the EHT PPDU may include a second user field number corresponding to the second number of users of the second content channel.

[0082] In some implementations, in a delivery operation, process 1100 may involve delivering signaling for MU-MIMO. In this case, the EHT PPDU may indicate a MU-MIMO allocation of one or more RUs to one or more users of a plurality of users. In addition, the EHT PPDU may include one or more user fields, each user field corresponding to a respective one of the one or more users. In addition, each of the one or more user fields may include a spatial configuration subfield, which includes: (a) 6 bits indicating a spatial stream configuration of a respective user of the one or more users in the MU-MIMO allocation, and 3 bits indicating a position of the respective user, or (b) 4 bits indicating a starting spatial index of the respective user and 2 bits indicating a number of spatial streams allocated to the respective user.

[0083] In some implementations, in the delivery operation, the process 1100 may involve delivering signaling for MU-MIMO. In this case, for a corresponding frequency band in the one or more frequency bands, the EHT-SIG in the EHT PPDU may include one or more user fields corresponding to one or more users of the multiple users allocated to the one or more corresponding RUs in the corresponding frequency band. In this case, the number of the one or more user fields in the EHT-SIG of the corresponding frequency band is equal to the number of the one or more users allocated to the one or more corresponding RUs in the corresponding frequency band.

[0084] The subject matter described herein sometimes shows different components contained in or connected to other different components. It should be understood that the architecture depicted in this way is only exemplary, and many other architectures that realize the same function can actually be implemented. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components that realize the same function is effectively "associated" so that the desired function is realized. Therefore, any two components that are combined to obtain a specific function in the text can be regarded as "associated" with each other to realize the desired function, regardless of the architecture or intermediate components. Similarly, any two components that are associated in this way can also be regarded as "operably connected" or "operably coupled" to each other to realize the desired function, and any two components that can be associated in this way can also be regarded as "operably coupled" to each other to realize the desired function. The specific examples of "operably coupled" include but are not limited to: components that can be physically connected and / or physically interact with each other, and / or components that can interact wirelessly and / or wirelessly interact, and / or components that can interact logically and / or logically interact.

[0085] In addition, with respect to the use of substantially any plural and / or singular terms herein, those skilled in the art may convert the plural to the singular, and / or the singular to the plural, as appropriate for the context and / or application. For clarity, various singular / plural arrangements may be explicitly set forth herein.

[0086] Those skilled in the art will understand that, in general, the terms used herein, particularly in the appended claims (e.g., the subject matter of the appended claims), are generally intended as "open" terms (e.g., the term "comprising" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to", the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least", the term "comprising" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to", etc.). Those skilled in the art will also understand that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation object is intended, such intent will be explicitly stated in the claim, and in the absence of such a statement, no such intent exists. For example, to aid understanding, the appended claims may include the use of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitation objects. However, the use of such phrases should not be interpreted as limiting any claim containing such introduced claim recitation with the indefinite article "a or an" to an invention containing only one such recitation, even if the same claim contains the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and an indefinite article such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and / or "an" should generally be interpreted as meaning "at least one" or "one or more"); the same applies to the case where the claim recitation is introduced with a definite article. In addition, even if a specific number of introduced claim recitations is explicitly stated, those skilled in the art will recognize that such a statement should generally be interpreted as meaning at least the stated number (e.g., a statement of "two recitations" without other modifiers generally means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, where phrases similar to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” are used, generally such constructions are intended to be in the meaning of the phrase as understood by those skilled in the art (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include, but not be limited to, systems having A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B, and C together, etc.). Where phrases similar to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” are used, generally such constructions are intended to be in the meaning of the phrase as understood by those skilled in the art (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include, but not be limited to, systems having A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B, and C together, etc.). Those skilled in the art will further understand that, whether in the specification, claims, or drawings, substantially any disjunctive word and / or phrase representing two or more alternative terms should be understood to contemplate the possibility of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both of the terms.For example, the phrase "A or B" should be understood to include the possibilities of "A", "B", or "A and B".

[0087] It can be understood from the foregoing that various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described herein for illustrative purposes, and various modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Therefore, the various embodiments disclosed herein are not intended to be limiting, and the true scope and spirit are indicated by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A wireless communication method, comprising: receiving a very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit from a second station indicating an allocation of resource units for a plurality of users; as well as determining one or more resource units to allocate to the first station or the second station based on the received very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit, wherein the one or more resource units are indicated in the very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit according to a resource unit allocation table, the resource unit allocation table including one or more empty resource unit entries in addition to entries corresponding to resource units allocable to multiple users, the one or more empty resource unit entries corresponding to one or more of empty 242-tone resource units, empty 484-tone resource units, and empty 996-tone resource units; wherein the very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit indicates a corresponding resource unit allocation for each of the one or more frequency bands, wherein, for at least one of the one or more frequency bands, the corresponding very high throughput signal field comprises at least a first resource unit allocation subfield and a second resource unit allocation subfield for at least one of the plurality of content channels in the at least one of the one or more frequency bands, and wherein the first resource unit allocation subfield is populated with one of the one or more non-empty resource unit entries indicating that there are users on one or more resource units corresponding to the one or more non-empty resource unit entries, and the second resource unit allocation subfield is populated with one of the one or more empty resource unit entries indicating that there are no users on one or more resource units corresponding to the one of the one or more empty resource unit entries; For at least one of the one or more frequency bands, the corresponding ultra-high throughput signal field includes a user field corresponding to the first resource unit allocation subfield, and for at least one of the one or more frequency bands, the corresponding ultra-high throughput signal field does not include a user field corresponding to the second resource unit allocation subfield.

2. A wireless communication method, comprising: sending a very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit to the first station indicating a resource unit allocation for the plurality of users, wherein the resource unit allocation is indicated in the very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit according to a resource unit allocation table, the resource unit allocation table including, in addition to entries corresponding to resource units allocatable to the plurality of users, one or more empty resource unit entries corresponding to one or more of empty 242-tone resource units, empty 484-tone resource units, and empty 996-tone resource units; wherein the very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit indicates a corresponding resource unit allocation for each of the one or more frequency bands, wherein, for at least one of the one or more frequency bands, the corresponding very high throughput signal field comprises at least a first resource unit allocation subfield and a second resource unit allocation subfield for at least one of the plurality of content channels in the at least one of the one or more frequency bands, and wherein the first resource unit allocation subfield is populated with one of the one or more non-empty resource unit entries from the resource unit allocation table, indicating that there are users on one or more resource units corresponding to the one or more non-empty resource unit entries, and the second resource unit allocation subfield is populated with one of the one or more empty resource unit entries from the resource unit allocation table, indicating that there are no users on one or more resource units corresponding to the one of the one or more empty resource unit entries; For at least one of the one or more frequency bands, the corresponding ultra-high throughput signal field includes a user field corresponding to the first resource unit allocation subfield, and for at least one of the one or more frequency bands, the corresponding ultra-high throughput signal field does not include a user field corresponding to the second resource unit allocation subfield.

3. The wireless communication method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein zero users are allocated on each of the empty 242 tone resource unit, the empty 484 tone resource unit and the empty 996 tone resource unit.

4. The wireless communication method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The resource unit allocation table also includes empty resource unit entries corresponding to empty 2x996 tone resource units on which zero users are allocated.

5. The wireless communication method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first resource unit allocation subfield is filled with a non-empty entry from the resource unit allocation table, indicating that there is a user on one or more resource units corresponding to the non-empty entry.

6. The wireless communication method according to claim 5, characterized in that: For at least one of the one or more frequency bands, the corresponding very high throughput signal field further includes a user field corresponding to the first resource unit allocation subfield.

7. The wireless communication method according to claim 5, wherein: The one or more frequency bands include one or more 80 MHz frequency bands in 80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 320 MHz bandwidths used in communications between the first station and the second station in an ultra-high throughput wireless local area network.

8. The wireless communication method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit indicates a corresponding resource unit allocation for each of the one or more 80 MHz frequency bands, wherein, in each of the one or more 80 MHz frequency bands, each of the one or more corresponding very high throughput signal fields contains one or more corresponding resource unit allocations of resource units in the corresponding frequency band, and the resource units are allocated to one or more users among the multiple users parked in the corresponding frequency band.

9. The wireless communication method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the delivery operation comprises signaling delivery for multi-user multiple-input multiple-output, wherein the very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit indicates allocation of resource units of size greater than 242 tones on more than one content channel, including a first content channel and a second content channel, wherein a first 8-bit resource unit allocation subfield corresponding to the first content channel indicates a first number of users to which a corresponding first number of resource units are allocated, wherein the very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit includes a first number of users field corresponding to the first number of users of the first content channel, wherein a second 8-bit resource unit allocation subfield corresponding to the second content channel indicates a second number of users to which a corresponding second number of resource units are allocated, wherein the very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit includes a second number of users field corresponding to the second number of users of the second content channel.

10. The wireless communication method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the delivery operation comprises signaling delivery for multi-user multi-input multi-output, wherein the very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit indicates a multi-user multi-input multi-output allocation of one or more resource units to one or more users among a plurality of users, wherein the very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit comprises one or more user fields, each user field corresponding to a respective one of the one or more users, and wherein each of the one or more user fields comprises a space configuration subfield, the space configuration subfield comprising: 6 bits indicating a spatial stream configuration of a corresponding user of the one or more users in the multi-user MIMO allocation and 3 bits indicating a position of the corresponding user, or 4 bits indicate the starting spatial index of the corresponding user and 2 bits indicate the number of spatial streams allocated to the corresponding user.

11. The wireless communication method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the transfer operation comprises signaling transfer for multi-user multiple-input multiple-output, wherein: For a corresponding frequency band in one or more frequency bands, the very high throughput signal field in the very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit includes one or more user fields corresponding to one or more users among the multiple users to which the one or more corresponding resource units are allocated in the corresponding frequency band, and wherein the number of the one or more user fields in the very high throughput signal field of the corresponding frequency band is equal to the number of the one or more users to which the one or more corresponding resource units are allocated in the corresponding frequency band.

12. The wireless communication method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: In the case where a resource unit or M resource units are referenced by two or more resource unit allocation subfields of a plurality of resource unit allocation subfields in a very high throughput signal field content channel, except for a first one of the two or more resource unit allocation subfields, one of the two or more resource unit allocation subfields in the very high throughput signal field content channel encodes one or more empty additional user fields per resource unit that contribute to the same user-specific fields in the very high throughput signal field content channel as the one of the two or more resource unit allocation subfields.

13. A wireless communication device, comprising: a transceiver configured for wireless communication; as well as A processor coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations including: communicating, via a transceiver, a very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit between a first station and a second station indicating an allocation of resource units relative to a plurality of users; as well as determining one or more resource units to allocate to the first station or the second station using a resource unit allocation table, as indicated in the very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit, the resource unit allocation table including, in addition to entries corresponding to resource units allocable to a plurality of users, one or more empty resource unit entries corresponding to one or more of empty 242-tone resource units, empty 484-tone resource units, and empty 996-tone resource units; wherein the very high throughput physical layer protocol data unit indicates a corresponding resource unit allocation for each of the one or more frequency bands, wherein, for at least one of the one or more frequency bands, the corresponding very high throughput signal field comprises at least a first resource unit allocation subfield and a second resource unit allocation subfield for at least one of the plurality of content channels in the at least one of the one or more frequency bands, and wherein the first resource unit allocation subfield is populated with one of the one or more non-empty resource unit entries indicating that there are users on one or more resource units corresponding to the one or more non-empty resource unit entries, and the second resource unit allocation subfield is populated with one of the one or more empty resource unit entries indicating that there are no users on one or more resource units corresponding to the one of the one or more empty resource unit entries; For at least one of the one or more frequency bands, the corresponding ultra-high throughput signal field includes a user field corresponding to the first resource unit allocation subfield, and for at least one of the one or more frequency bands, the corresponding ultra-high throughput signal field does not include a user field corresponding to the second resource unit allocation subfield.

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