COMMUNICATION APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR AGGREGATE SIGNAL SOUNDING PROCEDURE - Patent application

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a communications device comprising: a circuit that, in operation, generates at least one signal, where a portion of the at least one signal is configured for a first station of a first generation and another portion of the at least one signal is configured for a second station of a second generation in a sounding procedure; and a transmitter that, in operation, transmits the at least one signal.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a communication apparatus and method for a sounding procedure, and more particularly, to an aggregate signal sounding procedure in an extremely high throughput wireless local area network (EHT WLAN). [Background technology]

[0002] In the standardization of the next generation wireless local area network (WLAN), a new wireless access technology that necessarily has backward compatibility with IEEE 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax technologies is being discussed in the IEEE 802.11 working group and is named IEEE 802.11be Very High Throughput (EHT) WLAN.

[0003] For 802.11be EHT WLAN, it is proposed to define an aggregated physical layer protocol data unit (A-PPDU) to achieve good throughput gains with traffic from mixed generation STAs over a wide bandwidth.

[0004] However, no sounding sequence is defined for A-PPDU transmission. Specifically, for stations (STAs) that have an operating bandwidth (BW) smaller than the entire basic service set (BSS) BW, participate in A-PPDU, and are parked on a secondary channel, the sounding sequence according to the current standard is not applicable. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Thus, what is needed is a communication apparatus and method that provides a viable technical solution for aggregate signal sounding procedures in the context of EHT WLANs. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the following detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the disclosure. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] Non-limiting, illustrative embodiments facilitate providing a communications apparatus and method for aggregate signal sounding procedures in the context of EHT WLANs.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present disclosure provides a communications device comprising: a circuit that, in operation, generates at least one signal, where a portion of the at least one signal is configured for a first station of a first generation and another portion of the at least one signal is configured for a second station of a second generation in a sounding procedure; and a transmitter that, in operation, transmits the at least one signal.

[0008] In a second aspect, the present disclosure provides a communication method implemented by a communication device, the communication method including: generating at least one signal, where a portion of the at least one signal is configured for a first station of a first generation and another portion of the at least one signal is configured for a second station of a second generation, in a sounding procedure; and transmitting the at least one signal.

[0009] In a third aspect, the present disclosure provides a first station comprising: a receiver configured, in operation, to receive at least one signal, where a portion of the at least one signal is configured for a first station of a first generation and another portion of the at least one signal is configured for a second station of a second generation in a sounding procedure; and circuitry configured, in operation, to decode the at least one signal.

[0010] In a fourth aspect, the present disclosure provides a communication method implemented by a first station, the communication method including receiving at least one signal, where in a sounding procedure, a portion of the at least one signal is configured for a first station of a first generation and another portion of the at least one signal is configured for a second station of a second generation, and decoding the at least one signal.

[0011] It should be noted that the general or specific embodiments may be implemented as a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, a storage medium, or any selective combination thereof.

[0012] Further benefits and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will become apparent from the specification and drawings. Benefits and / or advantages may be obtained individually from the various embodiments and features of the specification and drawings, and it is not necessary that all of them are provided to obtain one or more of such benefits and / or advantages.

[0013] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be better understood and readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following written description, by way of example only, taken in conjunction with the drawings in which: [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of single-user (SU) communication between an access point (AP) and a station (STA) in a MIMO wireless network. [Diagram 2] 1 is a schematic diagram of downlink multi-user (MU) communication between an AP and multiple STAs in a MIMO wireless network. [Diagram 3] 1 is a schematic diagram of trigger-based uplink MU communication between an AP and multiple STAs in a MIMO wireless network; [Figure 4] 1 is a schematic diagram of trigger-based downlink multi-AP communication between multiple APs and STAs in a MIMO wireless network; [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 illustrates an aggregated physical layer protocol data unit (A-PPDU). [Figure 6] 13 is a flowchart illustrating a process in which a STA participates in A-PPDU transmission. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram showing a High Efficiency (HE) trigger-based (TB) sounding procedure in 802.11ax. [Figure 8] 1 is a flow diagram showing an ultra-high throughput (EHT) trigger-based (TB) sounding procedure in 802.11be. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 illustrates a signal field in the EHT sounding null data packet (NDP) of FIG. 8. [Figure 10] A diagram showing the format of a HE NDP Announcement (NDPA: NDP Announcement) frame. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the format of an EHT NDPA frame. [Figure 12] 1A and 1B show the tone plan and RU location for HE 80 MHz PPDU, respectively. [Figure 13] 1A and 1B are diagrams showing the tone plan and resource unit (RU) positions of an EHT 80 MHz PPDU, respectively. [Figure 14] FIG. 1 shows an HE sounding NDP and an EHT sounding NDP. [Figure 15] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing communication between an AP and an EHT STA parked on a primary channel and an EHT STA parked on a secondary channel. [Figure 16]FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a conventional sounding procedure between an HE STA parked on a primary 80 MHz or 160 MHz channel and an EHT STA parked on a secondary channel prior to A-PPDU transmission. [Figure 17] 1 is a flow diagram illustrating an aggregate TB sounding procedure for HE STAs and EHT STAs according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 18] 1 is a schematic, partially sectioned diagram of a communication device according to the present disclosure; [Figure 19] 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a communication method implemented by an AP according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 20] 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a communication method implemented by a generation of STAs according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 21] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary A-PPDU sounding procedure according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 22] A flow diagram illustrating an exemplary A-PPDU sounding procedure according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 23] FIG. 1 illustrates an example format of a downlink (DL) PPDU carrying multiple HE NDP announcement frames according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 24] FIG. 1 illustrates an example format of a DL PPDU carrying multiple Beamforming Report Poll (BFRP) trigger frames (TFs) according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 25] A flow diagram illustrating an exemplary A-PPDU sounding procedure according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 26] FIG. 2 illustrates an example format of a DL PPDU carrying multiple HE NDP announcement frames according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 27] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary format of a HE NDP announcement frame according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 28] FIG. 1 illustrates an example format of a DL PPDU carrying an EHT BFRP TF and an HE BFRP TF according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 29] A flow diagram showing an exemplary A-PPDU sounding procedure according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 30] FIG. 2 illustrates an example format of a DL PPDU carrying HE and EHT NDP announcement frames according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 31] FIG. 2 illustrates an example format of an EHT NDP announcement frame according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 32] FIG. 29 illustrates an example format of a DL PPDU 2916 carrying EHT BFRP TFs and HE BFRP TFs according to one embodiment of the disclosure. [Diagram 33] A figure showing a flow diagram 3300 illustrating an exemplary A-PPDU sounding procedure according to a fifth embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 34] A diagram showing a first exemplary format of a special EHT sounding NDP according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 35] A diagram showing a second exemplary format of a special EHT sounding NDP according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 36] A flow diagram showing an exemplary A-PPDU sounding procedure according to a sixth embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 37] 1 illustrates an exemplary HE sounding NDP and an exemplary EHT sounding NDP that are not orthogonally aligned but are transmitted simultaneously in an aggregate trigger-based sounding procedure in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 38] 1 is a block diagram illustrating an OFDMA transmission using multiple IFFT processors according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 39]A flow diagram illustrating an example A-PPDU sounding procedure in a multi-link (link 1, link 2) system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 40] A flow diagram illustrating an example A-PPDU sounding procedure using a full-bandwidth special HE sounding NDP 4014 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 41] A diagram showing the configuration of a communication device such as an AP according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. [Diagram 42] A diagram showing the configuration of a communication device such as a STA according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures, block diagrams, or flow charts may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help facilitate an accurate understanding of embodiments of the present invention.

[0016] Some embodiments of the present disclosure are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the drawings in which like reference numbers and letters indicate similar elements or equivalents, and in which:

[0017] In the following paragraphs, certain exemplary embodiments are described with particular reference to an access point (AP) and a station (STA) for aggregate signal sounding procedures in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless network.

[0018] In the context of IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) technology, a station, synonymously called a STA, is a communication device capable of using the 802.11 protocol. Based on the definition of IEEE 802.11-2016, a STA can be any device that includes an IEEE 802.11 compliant media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) interface to the wireless medium (WM).

[0019] For example, an STA may be a laptop, a desktop personal computer (PC), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an access point, or a Wi-Fi phone in a wireless local area network (WLAN) environment. An STA may be fixed or mobile. In a WLAN environment, the terms "STA," "wireless client," "user," "user device," and "node" are often used synonymously.

[0020] Similarly, an AP, which may be synonymously referred to as a wireless access point (WAP) in the context of IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) technology, is a communications device that allows STAs in a WLAN to connect to a wired network. APs typically connect to a router (via the wired network) as standalone devices, but can also be integrated into or used within a router.

[0021] As mentioned above, a STA in a WLAN may function as an AP at another time, and vice versa. This is because a communication device in the context of IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) technology may include both STA and AP hardware components. In this way, the communication device may switch between STA and AP modes based on actual WLAN conditions and / or requirements.

[0022] In a MIMO wireless network, "multiple" refers to multiple antennas used simultaneously for transmission and multiple antennas used simultaneously for reception over a wireless channel. In this regard, "multiple-input" refers to multiple transmit antennas that input wireless signals into a channel, and "multiple-output" refers to multiple receive antennas that receive wireless signals from the channel to a receiver. For example, in an N×M MIMO network system, N is the number of transmit antennas and M is the number of receive antennas, where N may or may not be equal to M. For simplicity, the respective numbers of transmit and receive antennas will not be further discussed in this disclosure.

[0023] In a MIMO wireless network, single-user (SU) and multi-user (MU) communications can be deployed for communication between communication devices such as APs and STAs. MIMO wireless networks have advantages such as spatial multiplexing and spatial diversity, which achieve higher data rates and robustness through the use of multiple spatial streams. According to various embodiments, the term "spatial stream" may be used interchangeably with the term "space-time stream" (i.e., STS).

[0024] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of SU communication 100 between an AP 102 and a STA 104 in a MIMO wireless network. As shown, the MIMO wireless network may include one or more STAs (e.g., STA 104, STA 106, etc.). If the SU communication 100 in the channel is performed over the entire channel bandwidth, it is referred to as full-bandwidth SU communication. If the SU communication 100 in the channel is performed over a portion of the channel bandwidth (e.g., one or more 20 MHz subchannels in the channel are punctured), it is referred to as punctured SU communication. In the SU communication 100, the AP 102 transmits multiple space-time streams using multiple antennas (e.g., four antennas shown in FIG. 1), and all the space-time streams are directed to a single communication device, i.e., the STA 104. For simplicity, the multiple space-time streams directed to the STA 104 are shown as a grouped data transmission arrow 108 directed to the STA 104.

[0025] SU communication 100 can be configured for bidirectional transmission. As shown in FIG. 1, in SU communication 100, STA 104 may transmit multiple space-time streams using multiple antennas (e.g., two antennas shown in FIG. 1), with all space-time streams directed to AP 102. For simplicity, the multiple space-time streams directed to AP 102 are shown as grouped data transmission arrows 110 directed to AP 102.

[0026] Thus, the SU communication 100 shown in FIG. 1 enables both uplink and downlink SU transmissions in a MIMO wireless network.

[0027] FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of downlink MU communication 200 between an AP 202 and multiple STAs 204, 206, 208 in a MIMO wireless network. The MIMO wireless network may include one or multiple STAs (e.g., STA 204, STA 206, STA 208, etc.). The MU communication 200 may be OFDMA (orthogonal frequency division multiple access) communication or MU-MIMO communication. In the case of OFDMA communication in a channel, the AP 202 transmits multiple streams simultaneously to the STAs 204, 206, 208 in the network in different resource units (RUs) in the channel bandwidth. In the case of MU-MIMO communication in a channel, the AP 202 uses multiple antennas to transmit multiple streams simultaneously to the STAs 204, 206, 208 in the same RU(s) in the channel bandwidth using spatial mapping or precoding techniques. When the RU(s) in which OFDMA or MU-MIMO communication takes place occupies the entire channel bandwidth, the OFDMA or MU-MIMO communication is referred to as full-bandwidth OFDMA or MU-MIMO communication. When the RU(s) in which OFDMA or MU-MIMO communication takes place occupies a portion of the channel bandwidth (e.g., one or more 20 MHz subchannels in the channel are punctured), the OFDMA or MU-MIMO communication is referred to as punctured OFDMA or MU-MIMO communication. For example, two space-time streams may be directed to the STA 206, another space-time stream may be directed to the STA 204, and yet another space-time stream may be directed to the STA 208. For simplicity, the two space-time streams directed to the STA 206 are shown as grouped data transmission arrow 212, the space-time stream directed to the STA 204 is shown as data transmission arrow 210, and the space-time stream directed to the STA 208 is shown as data transmission arrow 214.

[0028] To enable uplink MU transmissions, trigger-based communication is provided in a MIMO wireless network. In this regard, FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of trigger-based uplink MU communication 300 between an AP 302 and multiple STAs 304, 306, 308 in a MIMO wireless network.

[0029] Since there are multiple STAs 304, 306, 308 participating in trigger-based uplink MU communications, the AP 302 needs to coordinate the simultaneous transmissions of the multiple STAs 304, 306, 308.

[0030] To do so, as shown in Figure 3, the AP 302 simultaneously transmits trigger frames 310, 314, 318 to the STAs 304, 306, 308 to indicate user-specific resource allocation information (e.g., number of space-time streams, starting STS number, and assigned RU) that each STA can use. In response to the trigger frames, the STAs 304, 306, 308 may simultaneously transmit their respective space-time streams to the AP 302 according to the user-specific resource allocation information indicated in the trigger frames 310, 314, 318. For example, two space-time streams may be directed from the STA 306 to the AP 302, another space-time stream may be directed from the STA 304 to the AP 302, and yet another space-time stream may be directed from the STA 308 to the AP 302. For simplicity, the two space-time streams directed from STA 306 to AP 302 are shown as grouped data transmission arrow 316, the space-time stream directed from STA 304 to AP 302 is shown as data transmission arrow 312, and the space-time stream directed from STA 308 to AP 302 is shown as data transmission arrow 320.

[0031] Also, trigger-based communication is provided in the MIMO wireless network to enable downlink multi-AP communication. In this regard, FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of downlink multi-AP communication 400 between a STA 406 and multiple APs 402, 404 in a MIMO wireless network.

[0032] Since there are multiple APs 402, 404 participating in trigger-based downlink multi-AP MIMO communication, the master AP 404 needs to coordinate the simultaneous transmissions of the multiple APs 402, 404.

[0033] To do so, as shown in FIG. 4, the master AP 404 simultaneously transmits trigger frames 408, 410 to the AP 402 and the STA 406 to indicate AP-specific resource allocation information (e.g., number of space-time streams, starting STS stream number, and assigned RU) that each AP can use. In response to the trigger frame, the multiple APs 402, 404 may transmit their respective space-time streams to the STA 406 according to the AP-specific resource allocation information indicated in the trigger frame 408, and the STA 406 may receive all the space-time streams according to the AP-specific resource allocation information indicated in the trigger frame 410. For example, two space-time streams may be directed from the AP 404 to the STA 406, and two other space-time streams may be directed from the AP 402 to the STA 406. For simplicity, the two space-time streams directed from the AP 404 to the STA 406 are illustrated as a grouped data transmission arrow 412, and the two space-time streams directed from the AP 402 to the STA 406 are illustrated as a grouped data transmission arrow 414.

[0034] Due to the packet / PPDU (physical layer protocol data unit) based transmission and distributed MAC (medium access control) scheme in 802.11 WLAN, time scheduling (e.g., periodic time slot allocation for data transmission like TDMA (time division multiple access)) does not exist in 802.11 WLAN. Scheduling of frequency and spatial resources is performed on a packet-by-packet basis. In other words, resource allocation information is on a PPDU-by-PPDU basis.

[0035] According to various embodiments, the EHT WLAN supports non-triggered communication as shown in Figures 1 and 2 and triggered communication as shown in Figures 3 and 4. In non-triggered communication, a communication device unilaterally transmits PPDUs to one other communication device or two or more other communication devices. In triggered communication, a communication device transmits PPDUs to one other communication device or two or more other communication devices only if a solicited trigger frame is received.

[0036] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a format of an aggregated physical layer protocol data unit (A-PPDU) 500. The PPDUs of different amendments in the A-PPDU 500 may include a high-efficiency (HE) PPDU and an extremely high-throughput (EHT) PPDU, and the PPDUs included in the PPDU are orthogonal on a symbol-by-symbol basis in the frequency domain. The PPDUs may be transmitted simultaneously to multiple STAs (e.g., STAs 204, 206). Each STA may support a different amendment (e.g., 11ax, 11be), or in other words, each STA may have different capabilities. For example, STA 204 may be an HE STA (i.e., the STA supports the 802.11ax amendment), and STA 206 may be an EHT STA (i.e., the STA supports the 802.11be amendment), with the HE PPDU destined for the HE STA 204 and the EHT PPDU destined for the EHT STA 206. The bandwidth of a single PPDU in the A-PPDU may be 80 MHz or more. One of the PPDUs (e.g., the HE PPDU in FIG. 5) may occupy a primary channel (e.g., a primary 80 MHz (P80) channel), and the other PPDU (e.g., the EHT PPDU in FIG. 5) may occupy a secondary (non-primary) channel (e.g., a secondary 80 MHz (S80) channel). Prior to the A-PPDU transmission, the PPDU transmission on the secondary 80 / 160 MHz channel may be configured using a subchannel selective transmission (SST) scheme.

[0037] FIG. 6 shows a flow chart 600 illustrating the process of a STA participating in A-PPDU transmission. In step 602, A-PPDU setup is performed, including but not limited to steps such as capability negotiation, SST setup, and frequency segment allocation. Then, in step 604, it is determined whether MU-MIMO is used in the subsequent transmission. If MU-MIMO is not used in the subsequent transmission, step 608 is performed and A-PPDU transmission is performed. If MU-MIMO is used in the subsequent transmission, a sounding procedure is required, so step 606 is performed where the necessary sounding is performed. The A-PPDU transmission in step 608 can be either uplink (UL) or downlink (DL). It is noted that steps 602-608 may cover more than one transmission opportunity (TXOP).

[0038] In 802.11, a sounding procedure is required before transmission to determine the beamforming weights. Figure 7 shows a flow diagram 700 illustrating the HE trigger-based (TB) sounding procedure in 802.11ax. The HE beamformer (AP) transmits an HE Null Data Packet (NDP) Announcement (NDPA) frame and transmits an HE Sounding NDP after short interframe spacing (SIFS). After another SIFS, the HE beamformer transmits a Beamforming Report Poll (BFRP) trigger frame to the HE beamformees 1-n (STAs) to solicit feedback from each HE beamformee. After yet another SIFS, each HE beamformee responds to the trigger frame by transmitting an HE Compressed Beamforming (CBR) / channel quality indicator (CQI) frame. Although the communication of trigger frames and feedback between the HE beamformer and all beamformees in one sequence is shown, the communication between the HE beamformer and all beamformees may be performed in two or more sequences. Note that the HE sounding NDP supports sounding at bandwidths up to 160 MHz.

[0039] FIG. 8 shows a flow diagram 800 illustrating an EHT trigger-based (TB) sounding procedure in 802.11be. The EHT beamformer (AP) transmits an EHT NDPA frame and, after a SIFS, transmits an EHT sounding NDP. After another SIFS, the EHT beamformer transmits a Beamforming Report Poll (BFRP) trigger frame to EHT beamformees 1-n (STAs) to solicit feedback from each EHT beamformee. After yet another SIFS, each EHT beamformee responds to the trigger frame by transmitting an EHT compressed beamforming / CQI frame. Although communication of trigger frames and feedback between the EHT beamformer and all beamformees in one sequence is shown, communication between the EHT beamformer and all beamformees may be performed in two or more sequences.

[0040] In EHT, MU sounding is defined for mixed bandwidth STAs, and the bandwidth of the EHT sounding NDP may exceed the minimum operating bandwidth of the receiver STA. Figure 9 shows the signal fields in the EHT sounding NDP of Figure 8. The EHT sounding NDP includes non-EHT modulated preamble(s) that are orthogonal in frequency domain (i.e., each transmitted in a partial bandwidth), an EHT short training field (STF), and an EHT long training field (LTF). The EHT-STF and EHT-LTF are transmitted in the full bandwidth. The EHT-LTF is used to calculate channel information.

[0041] Please note that beamformy support for receiving an NDP whose bandwidth (BW) is wider than the STA's operating BW is mandatory for STAs with an operating BW of 80 MHz or more, but optional for STAs with an operating BW of 20 MHz.

[0042] It should also be noted that the differences between the HE and EHT sounding sequences include (a) the signaling in the HE NDP announcement frame and the EHT NDP announcement frame, (b) the tone plan in the HE PPDU and the EHT PPDU, and (c) the format of the HE sounding NDP and the EHT sounding NDP, etc. Further details are provided in the following paragraphs.

[0043] FIG. 10 shows the format of an HE NDPA frame 1000. The HE NDPA frame 1000 includes (or consists of) a frame control field, a duration field, a recipient address (RA) field, a transmitter address (TA) field, a sounding dialogue token field, one or more STA information fields, and a frame check sequence (FCS) field. The frame control field, duration field, RA field, and TA field may be grouped as a MAC header. Each STA information field includes (or consists of) an AID11 field, a partial BW information field, a feedback type and Ng field, a disambiguation field, a codebook size field, and a number of columns (Nc) field. The partial BW information field may include (or consist of) an RU start index field and an RU end index field that indicate the first and last 26-tone RUs for which the HE beamformer requests feedback. Upon receiving the HE NDPA frame 1000, the beamformee prepares feedback according to the HE tone plan defined in the 802.11 standard, depending on the subcarriers indicated in the fractional BW information field.

[0044] FIG. 11 illustrates the format of an EHT NDPA frame 1100. The EHT NDPA frame 1100 includes (or consists of) a frame control field, a duration field, a RA field, a TA field, a sounding dialogue token field, one or more STA information fields, and an FCS field. The frame control field, duration field, RA field, and TA field may be grouped as a MAC header. Each STA information field includes (or consists of) an AID11 field, a partial BW information field, an Nc index field, a feedback type and Ng field, a disambiguation field, a codebook size field, and an Nc field. The partial BW information field may further include (or consist of) a resolution field and a feedback bitmap field, which respectively indicate the resolution bandwidth (20 MHz / 40 MHz) of each bit in the bitmap and the subchannel(s) for which the EHT beamformer requests feedback. Upon receiving the EHT NDPA frame 1100, the beamformee prepares feedback according to the EHT tone plan defined in the 802.11 standard, depending on the subcarriers indicated in the partial BW information field.

[0045] The EHT tone plan and RU location for PPDUs above 40 MHz are different from those of HE PHY. Figure 12 and Figure 13 show the tone plan and RU location for EHT and HE 80 MHz PPDUs, respectively. The difference in the tone plan and RU location for EHT and HE is shown by circles 1202, 1204, 1302, 1304. Note that the EHT and HE tone plan for 160 / 320 MHz PPDU is a simple duplicate of the 80 MHz tone plan. Specifically, the subcarrier ranges referenced by the same RU index are different for HE and EHT PPDUs because the tone plans are different. For example, if a 26-tone RU with RU index 28 is indicated in 80 MHz HE and EHT PPDUs, the subcarrier ranges for HE and EHT PPDUs are different.

[0046] Also, the HE sounding NDP and the EHT sounding NDP cannot be aligned in the time domain. Figure 14 shows an HE sounding NDP 1402 and an EHT sounding NDP 1404. The HE sounding NDP 1402 includes or consists of an L-STF, an L-LTF, an L-SIG (signal) field, an RL-SI (signal) field, an HE-SIG-A field, an HE-STF field, an HE-LTF field, and a Packet Extension (PE) field. The guard intervals (GI) of the L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG field, RL-SIG field, HE-SIG-A field, and HE-STF are 8 μs, 8 μs, 4 μs, 4 μs, 8 μs, and 4 μs, respectively, and the HE-LTF includes one or more HE-LTF symbols of 7.2 μs, 8 μs, or 16 μs per symbol. The EHT sounding NDP 1404 includes or consists of an L-STF, an L-LTF, an L-SIG field, a RL-SI field, a U-SIG field, an EHT-SIG field, an EHT-STF field, an EHT-LTF field, and a PE field. The guard intervals (GI) of the L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG field, RL-SIG field, U-SIG field, EHT-SIG field, and EHT-STF are 8 μs, 8 μs, 4 μs, 4 μs, 8 μs, 4 μs, and 4 μs, respectively, and the EHT-LTF includes one or more EHT-LTF symbols of 7.2 μs, 8 μs, or 16 μs per symbol. As shown in FIG. 14, the L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG field, RL-SIG field, HE-SIG-A field, and HE-STF of the HE sounding NDP 1402 may be aligned in the time domain with the L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG field, RL-SIG field, U-SIG field, and EHT-SIG field, although a misalignment in position may occur between the HE and EHT sounding NDPs due to the additional EHT-SIG field.

[0047] Table 1 shows the RU index and the corresponding indication as to whether the subcarrier ranges are the same or different between the 80MHz HE and EHT PPDUs. [Table 1]

[0048] According to 802.11be and current standards, for non-AP STAs whose operating BW is narrower than the entire Basic Service Set (BSS) BW, participating in A-PPDU, and parked on secondary channels, the sounding sequence is not applied. Currently, all PPDU transmissions must not overlap with the primary channel, and non-AP STAs parked on non-primary channels will reject PPDUs with a wider bandwidth. Figure 15 shows a flow diagram 1500 illustrating communication between an AP 1502 and an EHT STA 1504 parked on the primary channel and an EHT STA 1506 parked on the secondary channel. An EHT NDPA frame 1512 is transmitted in full bandwidth (primary channel + secondary channel) to the EHT STA 1504 parked on the primary channel and the EHT STA 1506 parked on the secondary channel, and the EHT STA 1506 does not recognize the EHT NDPA frame 1512, so it rejects the EHT NDPA frame 1512. This can cause problems in communication between the AP 1502 and the EHT STAs 1506 parked on the secondary channels in the absence of sounding. Therefore, a sounding solution is needed for non-AP STAs whose operating BW is less than the entire BSS BW and parked on non-primary channels.

[0049] Previously, to resolve the location mismatch between EHT sounding NDP and HE sounding NDP, a design of EHT sounding NDP without EHT-SIG field was proposed. In addition, it was proposed to use NDPA frame or compressed mode bit to indicate EHT sounding NDP format. However, this raises concerns about keeping NDP format uniform because NDP is a special case of SU transmission (e.g., EHT-SIG field is present in PPDU of SU transmission). Other concerns arise that implicit indication of NDP format using NDPA frame is not safe enough, and explicit indication of compressed mode is not in time for automatic gain control (AGC) setting.

[0050] As mentioned before, before A-PPDU transmission (HE STAs and some EHT STAs park on the primary channel, other EHT STAs park on the secondary channel), trigger-based (TB) sounding procedures of HE STAs and EHT STAs are required. However, according to 802.11be and current standards, trigger-based (TB) sounding procedures can only be performed individually.

[0051] 16 shows a flow diagram 1600 illustrating a conventional sounding procedure between an HE STA 1604 parked on a primary 80 MHz or 160 MHz channel and an EHT STA 1606 parked on a secondary channel prior to A-PPDU transmission. First, the AP 1602 transmits an HE NDPA frame 1612, an HE sounding NDP 1614, and a BFRP trigger frame (TF) 1616 to the HE STA 1604 to request feedback, and after a SIFS, the HE STA 1604 transmits an HE CBR / CQI frame 1618 including the feedback to the AP 1602. Then, the AP 1604 transmits an EHT NDPA frame 1622, an EHT sounding NDP 1624, and a BFRP trigger frame 1626 to the EHT STA 1604 to solicit feedback, and after a SIFS, the EHT STA 1604 transmits an EHT CBR / CQI frame 1628 including feedback to the AP 1602. Then, after a SIFS, the AP 1602 performs an A-PPDU transmission to transmit an HE PPDU 1632 and an EHT PPDU 1634 to the HE STA 1604 and the EHT STA 1606, respectively. Since two rounds of the TB sounding procedure are required and a large overhead is incurred in the procedure, a more efficient sounding procedure is needed.

[0052] According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, an aggregate trigger-based (TB) sounding procedure is performed prior to a synchronous transmission containing multiple PPDUs, allowing TB sounding procedures of different generations of STAs (e.g., HE and EHT STAs) to be performed simultaneously. FIG. 17 shows a flow diagram 1700 illustrating an aggregate TB sounding procedure for an HE STA 1704 and an EHT STA 1706 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The HE STA 1704 is parked on a primary channel (P) and the EHT STA 1706 is parked on a secondary channel (S). The aggregate TB sounding sequence according to various embodiments of the present disclosure begins when the AP 1702 generates and transmits a DL PPDU carrying two or more NDPA frames, in this case one on the primary channel and another on the secondary channel. The type of NDPA frame may be different from the type of transmission following the sounding procedure. After the SIFS, the AP 1702 then generates and transmits an aggregate sounding NDP to the different generation STAs, in this case the HE STA 1704 on the primary channel and the EHT STA 1706 on the secondary channel, simultaneously. The type of sounding NDP may be different from the type of transmission following the sounding procedure. After the SIFS, the AP 1702 generates and transmits a BFRP trigger frame to solicit beamforming report feedback from the different generation STAs simultaneously, in this case the HE STA 1704 on the primary channel and the EHT STA 1706 on the secondary channel. After the SIFS, the solicited STAs respond simultaneously with a TB PPDU containing the beamforming report feedback. The type of beamforming report feedback NDP may be different from the type of transmission following the sounding procedure. This assumes that SST is supported in the BSS, and only non-AP STAs operating at 80 / 160 / 320 MHz can operate in non-primary 80 / 160 MHz channels. Advantageously, this can reduce overhead by 50% compared to the sequential approach described above in FIG.

[0053] 18 illustrates a schematic, partially sectioned diagram of a communication device 1800 according to the present disclosure. The communication device 1800 may be implemented as an AP or a STA.

[0054] As shown in Figure 18, the communication device 1800 may include circuitry 1814, at least one wireless transmitter 1802, at least one wireless receiver 1804, and at least one antenna 1812 (for simplicity, only one antenna is shown in Figure 18 for illustrative purposes). The circuitry 1814 may include at least one controller 1806 for use in software and hardware assisted execution of tasks that the at least one controller 1806 is designed to perform, including control of communications with one or more other communication devices in a MIMO wireless network. The circuitry 1814 may further include at least one transmit signal generator 1808 and at least one receive signal processor 1810.The at least one controller 1806 includes at least one transmit signal generator 1808 for generating MAC frames (e.g., NDP Announcement (NDPA) frames, Sounding NDP, Beamforming Report Poll (BFRP) trigger frames, Compressed Beamforming (CBR) / Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) frames) and PPDUs (e.g., PPDUs used for non-triggered communication or triggered sounding procedures, or PPDUs used for triggered downlink transmissions when the communication device 1800 is an AP, and PPDUs used for triggered uplink transmissions when the communication device 1800 is an STA) to be transmitted to one or more other communication devices via the at least one wireless transmitter 1802, and at least one 18. The at least one transmit signal generator 1808 and the at least one receive signal processor 1810 may be standalone modules of the communication device 1800 that communicate with the at least one controller 1806 for the above-mentioned functions as shown in FIG. 18. The at least one transmit signal generator 1808 and the at least one receive signal processor 1810 may be standalone modules of the communication device 1800 that communicate with the at least one controller 1806 for the above-mentioned functions as shown in FIG. 18. Alternatively, the at least one transmit signal generator 1808 and the at least one receive signal processor 1810 may be included in the at least one controller 1806. It is understandable to those skilled in the art that the arrangement of these functional modules is flexible and may be changed according to actual needs and / or requirements.Data processing, storage, and other associated control devices may be provided on a suitable circuit board and / or within a chipset. In various embodiments, in operation, the at least one wireless transmitter 1802, the at least one wireless receiver 1804, and the at least one antenna 1812 may be controlled by at least one controller 1806.

[0055] In operation, the communication device 1800 provides functionality required for an A-PPDU sounding procedure. For example, the communication device 1800 may be an AP, and the circuit 1814 (e.g., at least one transmit signal generator 1808 of the circuit 1814) may in operation generate at least one signal, where a portion of the at least one signal is configured for a first STA of a first generation (e.g., an HE STA) and another portion of the at least one signal is configured for a second station of a second generation (e.g., an EHT STA) in the sounding procedure. The wireless transmitter 1802 may in operation transmit at least one signal. In one embodiment, at least a portion of the at least one signal includes information regarding the second STA, and the first STA is unaware of the information. In another embodiment, the at least one signal generated by the circuit 1814 and transmitted by the at least one wireless transmitter 1802 includes three different signals: an NDPA frame indicating a sounding sequence of the sounding procedure, a sounding NDP carrying a field for channel estimation, and a trigger frame carrying information for requesting a response signal from the first STA and the second STA.

[0056] The communication device 1800 may be a STA of a certain generation (e.g., an HE STA or an EHT STA), and the at least one wireless receiver 1804 may receive at least one signal in operation, where a portion of the at least one signal is configured for the STA of the generation and another portion of the at least one signal is configured for another STA of another generation in a sounding procedure, and the circuit 1814 (e.g., at least one receiving signal processor 1810 of the circuit 1814) may decode the at least one signal in operation. In one embodiment, at least a portion of the at least one signal includes information about the other STA, and the STA does not recognize the information. In another embodiment, the at least one signal received by the at least one wireless receiver 1804 and decoded by the circuit (e.g., at least one receiving signal processor 1810 of the circuit 1814) includes three different signals: an NDPA frame indicating a sounding sequence of the sounding procedure, a sounding NDP carrying a field for channel estimation, and a trigger frame for carrying information requesting a response signal from the STA.

[0057] FIG. 19 shows a flow diagram 1900 illustrating a communication method implemented by an AP according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In step 1902, a step of generating at least one signal is performed, where a part of the at least one signal is configured for a first STA of a first generation and another part of the at least one signal is configured for a second STA of a second generation in a sounding procedure. In step 1904, a step of transmitting at least one signal is performed. In one embodiment, at least a part of the at least one signal generated by the AP in step 1902 includes information about the second STA, and the first STA does not recognize the information. In another embodiment, the step of generating at least one signal includes consecutively generating three different signals: an NDPA frame indicating a sounding sequence of the sounding procedure, a sounding NDP carrying a field for channel estimation, and a trigger frame carrying information for requesting a response signal from the first STA and the second STA.

[0058] FIG. 20 shows a flow diagram 2000 illustrating a communication method implemented by a STA of a certain generation according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In step 2002, a step of receiving at least one signal is performed, where a part of the at least one signal is configured for the STA in a sounding procedure and another part of the at least one signal is configured for another STA of another generation. In step 2004, a step of decoding at least one signal is performed. In one embodiment, at least a part of the at least one signal received by the STA in step 2002 includes information about other stations, which the STA does not recognize. In another embodiment, the step of receiving at least one signal includes consecutively receiving three different signals: an NDPA frame indicating a sounding sequence of the sounding procedure, a sounding NDP carrying a field for channel estimation, and a trigger frame carrying information for requesting a response signal from the STA.

[0059] In the following paragraphs, a first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in which two or more separate HE sounding sequences are performed simultaneously in different frequency segments to initiate an aggregate TB sounding procedure.

[0060] 21 shows a flow diagram 2100 illustrating an example A-PPDU sounding procedure according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. According to this embodiment, the HE sounding sequence is reused in the aggregated TB sounding procedure, and the AP 2102 carries two or more HE sounding sequences separately but simultaneously in different frequency segments (e.g., primary channel (P) and secondary channel (S)) in which different non-AP STAs (HE STAs 2104, EHT STAs 2106) are respectively located.

[0061] More specifically, the AP 2102 simultaneously transmits a first DL PPDU carrying two separate HE NDPA frames on the primary channel and the secondary channel to initiate an aggregate TB sounding procedure for the HE STA 2104 parked on the primary channel (P) and the EHT STA 2106 parked on the secondary channel (S), respectively. After the SIFS, the AP 2102 simultaneously transmits a second aggregate signal including two separate HE sounding NDPs (HE S. NDPs) to the HE STA 2104 and the EHT STA 2106, respectively. After the SIFS, the AP 2102 transmits a third signal including two separate HE BFRP trigger frames to the HE STA 2104 and the EHT STA 2106 to solicit beamforming report feedback from each. After the SIFS, the requested HE STAs 2104 and EHT STAs 2106 transmit a TB PPDU including HE beamforming report feedback to the AP 2102 in response. The AP 2102 / non-AP STAs 2104, 2106 may then transmit a DL / UL A-PPDU including multiple HE PPDUs, in which case, after the SIFS, the AP 2102 transmits two separate HE PPDUs to the HE STAs 2104 and EHT STAs 2106 simultaneously.

[0062] In this embodiment, participating STAs (e.g., EHT STA2106) located in non-primary frequency segments support transmission / reception of HE PPDUs that do not overlap with the primary channel. Advantageously, this is the simplest solution to the problem, but the transmission efficiency in the secondary may not be as good as EHT PPDUs with different modulation color schemes (MCS) and multi-user resource unit (MRU) usage.

[0063] The following paragraphs describe a second embodiment of the present disclosure in which multiple HE NDP announcement frames and HE BFRP trigger frames are used in an aggregate TB sounding procedure.

[0064] 22 shows a flow diagram 2200 illustrating an exemplary A-PPDU sounding procedure according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. According to this embodiment, the HE NDPA frame and the HE sounding NDP are reused in the aggregated TB sounding procedure.

[0065] More specifically, the AP 2202 transmits one or more DL PPDUs 2212 carrying multiple HE NDPA frames to non-AP STAs via OFDMA transmission to initiate an aggregate TB sounding procedure. After SIFS, the AP 2202 simultaneously transmits multiple aligned HE sounding NDPs to non-AP STAs of different generations, in this case the HE STAs 2204 parked on the primary channel (P) and the EHT STAs 2206 parked on the secondary channel (S). After SIFS, the AP 2202 transmits one or more DL PPDUs 2216 carrying BFRP trigger frames via OFDMA transmission to simultaneously solicit beamforming report feedback from STAs of different generations, namely the HE STAs 2204 and the EHT STAs 2206. After SIFS, the requested HE STAs 2204 and the EHT STAs 2206 simultaneously transmit HE TB PPDUs including HE beamforming report feedback to the AP 2202 in response. The AP 2202 / non-AP STAs 2204, 2206 may then transmit a DL / UL A-PPDU including an EHT PPDU on the secondary channel.

[0066] FIG. 23 illustrates an example format of a DL PPDU 2212 carrying multiple HE NDP announcement frames according to one embodiment of the disclosure. The multiple HE NDP announcement frames are carried in either a non-HT replicated PPDU 2302 or a DL A-PPDU 2304. The non-HT replicated PPDU 2302 includes or consists of a non-HT preamble and an HE NDPA frame. The HE NDPA frames of different generation STAs are carried in the payload of different frequency segments of the non-HT replicated PPDU 2302, and therefore can also be considered as multiple non-HT replicated PPDUs. In this example, the non-HT replicated PPDU 2302 carries the HE NDPA frame of the HE STA 2204 in the primary 80 MHz channel and the HE NDPA frame of the EHT STA 2206 in the secondary channel. If an NDPA frame is carried in a DL A-PPDU 2304, such DL A-PPDU 2304 may include or consist of a preamble and an HE NDPA frame, with the HE NDPA frames of different generation STAs being carried in a PPDU of a corresponding format. In this example, the DL A-PPDU 2304 carries an HE formatted preamble and an HE NDPA frame for the HE STA 2204 on the primary 80 MHz channel and an EHT formatted preamble and an HE NDPA frame for the EHT STA 2206 on the secondary channel.

[0067] Upon receiving an NDPA frame 2212 targeted for 80 / 160 MHz sounding, the subcarrier indexes to which beamforming feedback is returned by the beamformee follow the HE beamforming rules, i.e., the feedback subcarrier indexes are indicated by the first and last 26-tone RU indices indicated in the HE NDPA frame 2212.

[0068] Table 2 shows the subcarrier index for HE / EHT 80 / 160MHz beamforming feedback, where Ng is the grouping number. [Table 2]

[0069] Detailed start and end subcarrier indexes for the 26-tone RU are shown in Tables 4 to 7.

[0070] When the number of groupings (Ng) is 4, the feedback subcarrier indexes of EHT are covered and the performance is the same as EHT sounding; when Ng is 16, the feedback subcarrier indexes are different from EHT, and the estimation results of some of the subcarriers between each feedback subcarrier may not be as accurate as EHT sounding.

[0071] For example, when 80MHz sounding is performed and Ng is 16, the non-AP STA feedback beamforming information follows the HE results with subcarrier indexes [-500:16:-4], [4:16:500] as shown in Table 3, while on the AP side, the results for subcarriers [-260:252], [252:260] are estimated from the feedback subcarriers [-260,-244], [244,260] respectively, which may not be as accurate as EHT sounding. The AP may ignore the inaccuracy or select an appropriate interpolation scheme to eliminate the effect. However, the AP needs to carefully select the RU index indicated in the HE NDPA frame to cover the range of subcarrier indexes required for EHT transmission.

[0072] Table 3 shows the subcarrier index for HE / EHT 80MHz beamforming feedback when the grouping number Ng is 16. [Table 3]

[0073] 24 illustrates an exemplary format of a DL PPDU 2216 carrying multiple BFRP trigger frames according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The BFRP trigger frames can be carried by HE PPDU or A-PPDU when the bandwidth is equal to 160 MHz. In this example, the DL PPDU 2216 is an HE PPDU, which has a preamble in HE format and carries an HE BFRP TF for the HE STA 2204 on the primary 80 MHz channel and an HE BFRP TF for the EHT STA 2206 on the secondary channel, and the DL PPDU 2216 is an A-PPDU consisting of an HE PPDU and an EHT PPDU, which carries an HE format preamble and an HE BFRP TF for the HE STA 2204 on the primary 80 MHz channel, and an EHT PPDU carries an EHT format preamble and an HE BFRP TF for the EHT STA 2206 on the secondary channel. Advantageously, the present disclosure according to the second embodiment minimizes modifications to AP devices and STA devices. The only modifications required are to enable the STA to transmit / receive HE PPDUs that do not cover the primary channel, and to adjust the beamforming feedback at the receiver side. STAs parked on the secondary channel can participate in the sounding procedure without receiving the full-bandwidth PPDU.

[0074] The following paragraphs describe a third embodiment of the present disclosure in which multiple HE NDP announcement frames and EHT BFRP trigger frames are used in an aggregate TB sounding procedure.

[0075] 25 illustrates a flow diagram 2500 illustrating an exemplary A-PPDU sounding procedure according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure. According to this embodiment, the HE NDPA frame and the HE sounding NDP are reused in the aggregated TB sounding procedure.

[0076] More specifically, the AP 2502 transmits one or more DL PPDUs 2512 carrying multiple HE NDPA frames to non-AP STAs by OFDMA transmission to initiate an aggregate TB sounding procedure. After SIFS, the AP 2502 simultaneously transmits multiple aligned HE sounding NDPs to different generation non-AP STAs, in this case, the HE STAs 2504 parked on the primary channel (P) and the EHT STAs 2506 parked on the secondary channel (S). After SIFS, the AP 2502 simultaneously transmits one or more DL PPDUs 2516 carrying different BFRP trigger frames to different generation STAs, i.e., HE BFRP TF to the HE STAs 2504 and EHT BFRP TF to the EHT STAs 2506, to solicit beamforming report feedback from the STAs. After the SIFS, the requested HE STA 2504 and EHT STA 2506 simultaneously transmit corresponding beamforming report feedback in response, i.e., TB PPDUs including HE CBR / CQI frames and EHT CBR / CQI frames, to the AP 2502. The AP 2502 / non-AP STAs 2504, 2506 may then transmit DL / UL A-PPDUs including HE PPDUs on the primary channel and EHT PPDUs on the secondary channel, respectively.

[0077] FIG. 26 illustrates an example format of a DL PPDU 2512 carrying multiple HE NDP announcement frames according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The multiple HE NDP announcement frames are carried in either a non-HT replicated PPDU 2602 or a DL A-PPDU 2604. The non-HT replicated PPDU 2602 includes or consists of a non-HT preamble and an HE NDPA frame. The HE NDPA frames of different generation STAs are carried in the payload of different frequency segments of the non-HT replicated PPDU 2602, and therefore can also be considered as multiple non-HT replicated PPDUs. In this example, the non-HT replicated PPDU 2602 carries the HE NDPA frame of the HE STA 2504 in the primary 80 MHz channel and the HE NDPA frame of the EHT STA 2506 in the secondary channel. If an NDPA frame is carried in a DL A-PPDU 2604, such DL A-PPDU 2604 may include or consist of a preamble and an HE NDPA frame, with the HE NDPA frames of different generations of STAs being carried in a PPDU of a corresponding format. In this example, the DL A-PPDU 2604 carries an HE format preamble and an HE NDPA frame for the HE STA 2504 on the primary 80 MHz channel, and an EHT format preamble and an HE NDPA frame for the EHT STA 2506 on the secondary channel.

[0078] In the third embodiment of the present disclosure, the AP may implicitly (option 1) or explicitly (option 2) indicate the aggregate TB sounding procedure to the HE and subsequent STAs, such as EHT STAs. Specifically, in option 1, the AP transmits a DL PPDU carrying an NDPA frame that does not overlap with the primary channel. This may serve as an implicit indication of the aggregate TB sounding procedure. The STAs parked on the secondary channel recognize the start of the aggregate TB sounding procedure when they receive the HE NDPA frame carried by the PPDU that does not overlap with the primary channel. Alternatively, in option 2, the AP transmits an HE NDPA frame carrying an explicit indication of the aggregate TB sounding procedure. For example, the reserved values ​​of the partial BW information subfield of the HE NDPA frame may be used to indicate the first and last RUs, thereby indicating the aggregate TB sounding procedure. It should be noted that in this case, the default resolution of the RUs indicated in the partial BW information subfield must be greater than 26 tones, for example, 242 tones or 484 tones. When a STA receives an HE NDPA frame using a reserved value in the partial BW information subfield, it recognizes the start of the aggregate TB sounding procedure.

[0079] Upon receiving an HE NDPA frame 2512 initiating aggregate sounding of non-primary 80 / 160 MHz, the subcarrier index to which beamforming feedback is returned by the beamformee follows the HE beamforming rules: if partial feedback is indicated by a 26-tone RU index in the HE NDPA frame 2512, the receiver STA may refer to the corresponding 242 / 484 / 996 / 2x996 tone RUs covered by that range.

[0080] FIG. 27 illustrates an example format of an HE NDP announcement frame 2512 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The HE NDPA frame 2512 may include (or consist of) a Frame Control field, a Duration field, an RA field, a TA field, a Sounding Dialogue Token field, one or more STA Information fields, and a Frame Check Sequence (FCS) field. The Frame Control field, Duration field, RA field, and TA field may be grouped as a MAC header. Each STA Information field may include (or consist of) an AID11 field, a Partial BW Information field, a Feedback Type and Ng field, a Disambiguation field, a Codebook Size field, and an Nc field. The Partial BW Information field may include (or consist of) an RU Start Index field and an RU End Index field indicating the first and last RU for which the beamformer requests feedback. An explicit indication of the aggregated TB sounding procedure may be included in the RU Start Index field of the NDPA frame 2512 using 74-127 (reserved in 802.11ax) to indicate the RU index.

[0081] 28 illustrates an example format of a DL PPDU 2516 carrying an EHT BFRP TF and an HE BFRP TF according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The BFRP trigger frame can be carried by an HE PPDU or an A-PPDU when the bandwidth is equal to 160 MHz. In this example, the DL PPDU 2516 may be an HE PPDU, which has a preamble in HE format and carries an HE BFRP TF for the HE STA 2504 on the primary 80 MHz channel and an EHT BFRP TF for the EHT STA 2506 on the secondary channel, and the DL PPDU 2516 may be an A-PPDU consisting of an HE PPDU and an EHT PPDU, which carries an HE format preamble and an HE BFRP TF for the HE STA 2504 on the primary 80 MHz channel, and the EHT PPDU carries an EHT format preamble and an EHT BFRP TF for the EHT STA 2506 on the secondary channel. Advantageously, compared to the second embodiment, the same sounding performance as the EHT sounding sequence can be achieved, although more changes are required for the AP device and the STA device. No new format of the PPDU for the sounding sequence is required.

[0082] The following paragraphs describe a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure in which an EHT announcement frame and an EHT BFRP trigger frame are used in the aggregate TB sounding procedure.

[0083] 29 illustrates a flow diagram 2900 illustrating an example A-PPDU sounding procedure according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure. According to this embodiment, the HE NDPA frame, the EHT NDPA frame, and the HE sounding NDP are reused in an aggregated TB sounding procedure.

[0084] More specifically, the AP 2902 transmits a DL PPDU 2912 carrying an HE NDP announcement frame and an EHT NDP announcement frame to initiate the aggregate TB sounding procedure. The HE NDP announcement frame is intended for the HE STAs and EHT STAs that are expected to transmit / receive HE PPDUs after the sounding procedure, and the EHT NDP announcement frame is intended for the EHT STAs. After the SIFS, the AP 2902 transmits multiple aligned HE sounding NDPs simultaneously to different generations of non-AP STAs, in this case, the HE STAs 2904 parked on the primary channel (P) and the EHT STAs 2906 parked on the secondary channel (S), respectively. After SIFS, the AP 2902 simultaneously transmits one or more DL PPDUs 2916 carrying different BFRP trigger frames to different generation STAs, i.e., HE BFRP TF to the HE STA 2904 and EHT BFRP TF to the EHT STA 2906, to request beamforming report feedback from the STAs. After SIFS, the requested HE STAs 2904 and EHT STAs 2906 simultaneously transmit corresponding beamforming report feedback, i.e., TB PPDUs including HE CBR / CQI frames and EHT CBR / CQI frames, to the AP 2902 in response. Thereafter, the AP 2902 / non-AP STAs 2904, 2906 may transmit DL / UL A-PPDUs including HE PPDUs on the primary channel and EHT PPDUs on the secondary channel, respectively.

[0085] 30 illustrates an example format of a DL PPDU 2912 carrying HE and EHT NDP announcement frames according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The HE and EHT NDP announcement frames are carried in either a non-HT replicated PPDU 3002 or a DL A-PPDU 3004. Such a non-HT replicated PPDU 3002 includes or consists of a non-HT preamble, an HE NDPA frame, and an EHT NDPA frame. The HE and EHT NDPA frames of different generations of STAs are carried in the payload of different frequency segments of the non-HT replicated PPDU 3002, and therefore may also be considered as multiple non-HT replicated PPDUs. In this example, the non-HT duplicated PPDU 3002 carries HE NDPA frames for the HE STA 2904 (and EHT STA 2906 that is expected to transmit / receive HE PPDUs after the sounding procedure) on the primary 80 MHz channel, and EHT NDPA frames for the EHT STA 2906 on the secondary channel. If NDPA frames are carried in the DL A-PPDU 3004, such DL A-PPDU 3004 may include or consist of a preamble and an HE NDPA frame, and the HE NDPA frames of the different generation STAs are carried in a PPDU of the corresponding format. In this example, the DL A-PPDU 3004 carries a preamble in HE format and an HE NDPA frame for the HE STA 2904 on the primary 80 MHz channel, and an EHT format preamble and an EHT NDPA frame for the EHT STA 2906 on the secondary channel.

[0086] In the fourth embodiment of the present disclosure, the AP may implicitly (option 1) or explicitly (option 2) indicate the aggregate TB sounding procedure to the HE and subsequent STAs, such as EHT STAs. Specifically, in option 1, the AP transmits a DL PPDU carrying an EHT NDPA frame that does not overlap with the primary channel. This can serve as an implicit indication of the aggregate TB sounding procedure according to this embodiment. The STAs parked on the secondary channel recognize the start of the aggregate TB sounding procedure when they receive the EHT NDPA frame carried by the PPDU that does not overlap with the primary channel. Alternatively, in option 2, the AP transmits an EHT NDPA frame carrying an explicit indication of the aggregate TB sounding procedure. For example, one bit of the reserved subfield in the STA information field of the EHT NDPA frame may be used as an explicit indication to indicate the aggregate TB sounding procedure. The STA recognizes the start of the aggregate TB sounding procedure when it receives an EHT NDPA frame indicating the use of one bit of the reserved subfield in the STA information field.

[0087] Upon receiving an EHT NDPA frame 2912 triggering non-primary 80 / 160 MHz aggregate sounding, the subcarrier indexes for which beamforming feedback is returned by the beamformee follow the EHT beamforming rules, and the receiver STA may expect to receive a subsequent HE sounding NDP.

[0088] FIG. 31 illustrates an example format of an EHT NDP announcement frame 2912 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The EHT NDPA frame 2912 may include (or consist of) a Frame Control field, a Duration field, a RA field, a TA field, a Sounding Dialogue Token field, one or more STA Information fields, and an FCS field. The Frame Control field, Duration field, RA field, and TA field may be grouped as a MAC header. Each STA Information field may include (or consist of) an AID11 field, a Partial BW Information field, an Aggregation Flag field, an NC Index field, a Feedback Type and Ng field, a Disambiguation field, a Codebook Size field, and a Spare field. The Partial BW Information field may include (or consist of) a Resolution field and a Feedback Bitmap field, which respectively indicate the resolution bandwidth (20 MHz / 40 MHz) of each bit in the bitmap and the subchannel(s) for which the EHT beamformer requests feedback. An Aggregation Flag field may be used to include an explicit indication of the aggregate TB sounding procedure. Alternatively, or in addition, a spare field after the codebook size field may be used to indicate an aggregate TB sounding procedure.

[0089] 32 illustrates an example format of a DL PPDU 2916 carrying an EHT BFRP TF and an HE BFRP TF according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The BFRP trigger frame can be carried by an HE PPDU or an A-PPDU when the bandwidth is equal to 160 MHz. In this example, the DL PPDU 2916 may be an HE PPDU, which has a preamble in HE format and carries an HE BFRP TF for the HE STA 2904 on the primary 80 MHz channel and an EHT BFRP TF for the EHT STA 2906 on the secondary channel, and the DL PPDU 2916 may be an A-PPDU consisting of an HE PPDU and an EHT PPDU, which carries a preamble in HE format and an HE BFRP TF for the HE STA 2904 on the primary 80 MHz channel, and the EHT PPDU carries a preamble in EHT format and an EHT BFRP TF for the EHT STA 2906 on the secondary channel. Advantageously, although a new sounding sequence needs to be defined compared to the second and third embodiments, the same sounding performance as the EHT sounding sequence may be achieved, and the STA only needs to understand the new sounding sequence, and no new format of the PPDU is required.

[0090] The following paragraphs describe a fifth embodiment of the present disclosure in which an EHT announcement frame, a special EHT sounding NDP, and an EHT BFRP trigger frame are used in the aggregate TB sounding procedure.

[0091] 33 illustrates a flow diagram 3300 illustrating an exemplary A-PPDU sounding procedure according to a fifth embodiment of the present disclosure. According to this embodiment, the HE NDPA frame, the EHT NDPA frame, the HE sounding NDP, and the EHT sounding NDP are reused in an aggregated TB sounding procedure.

[0092] More specifically, the AP 3302 transmits a DL PPDU 3312 carrying an HE NDP announcement frame and an EHT NDP announcement frame to initiate the aggregate TB sounding procedure. The HE NDP announcement frame is intended for the HE STAs and EHT STAs that are expected to transmit / receive HE PPDUs after the sounding procedure, and the EHT NDP announcement frame is intended for the EHT STAs. After the SIFS, the AP 3302 simultaneously transmits the mutually aligned HE sounding NDP and the special EHT sounding NDP 3314 to different generations of non-AP STAs, in this case the HE STAs 3304 parked on the primary channel (P) and the EHT STAs 3306 parked on the secondary channel (S), respectively. After SIFS, the AP 3302 simultaneously transmits one or more DL PPDUs 3316 carrying different BFRP trigger frames to different generation STAs, i.e., HE BFRP TF to the HE STA 3304 and EHT BFRP TF to the EHT STA 3306, to request beamforming report feedback from the STAs. After SIFS, the requested HE STAs 3304 and EHT STAs 3306 simultaneously transmit corresponding beamforming report feedback, i.e., TB PPDUs including HE CBR / CQI frames and EHT CBR / CQI frames, to the AP 3302 in response. Thereafter, the AP 3302 / non-AP STAs 3304, 3306 may transmit DL / UL A-PPDUs including HE PPDUs on the primary channel and EHT PPDUs on the secondary channel, respectively.

[0093] The HE and EHT NDP announcement frames are carried in either a non-HT replicated PPDU or a DL A-PPDU. Such a non-HT replicated PPDU includes or consists of a non-HT preamble, an HE NDPA frame, and an EHT NDPA frame. The HE and EHT NDPA frames of different generation STAs can also be considered as multiple non-HT replicated PPDUs, since they are carried in the payload of different frequency segments of the non-HT replicated PPDU. In this example, the non-HT replicated PPDU carries the HE NDPA frame of the HE STA3304 (and the EHT STA3306 that is expected to transmit / receive HE PPDUs after the sounding procedure) in the primary 80 MHz channel, and the EHT NDPA frame of the EHT STA3306 in the secondary channel. When NDPA frames are carried in DL A-PPDUs, such DL A-PPDUs may include or consist of preambles and HE NDPA frames, with HE NDPA frames of different generation STAs being carried in PPDUs of corresponding formats. In this example, the DL A-PPDU carries HE format preambles and HE NDPA frames for HE STA 3304 on the primary 80 MHz channel, and EHT format preambles and EHT NDPA frames for EHT STA 3306 on the secondary channel.

[0094] The AP may implicitly (option 1) or explicitly (option 2) indicate the aggregate TB sounding procedure to the HE and subsequent STAs, such as EHT STAs. Specifically, in option 1, the AP transmits a DL PPDU carrying an EHT NDPA frame that does not overlap with the primary channel. This can serve as an implicit indication of the aggregate TB sounding procedure according to this embodiment. The STAs parked on the secondary channel recognize the start of the aggregate TB sounding procedure when they receive the EHT NDPA carried by the PPDU that does not overlap with the primary channel. Alternatively, in option 2, the AP transmits an EHT NDPA frame carrying an explicit indication of the aggregate TB sounding procedure. For example, one bit of the reserved subfield in the STA information field of the EHT NDPA frame may be used as an explicit indication to indicate the aggregate TB sounding procedure. The STA recognizes the start of the aggregate TB sounding procedure when it receives an EHT NDPA frame indicating the use of one bit of the reserved subfield in the STA information field.

[0095] Upon receiving an EHT NDPA frame 2912 triggering non-primary 80 / 160 MHz aggregate sounding, the subcarrier indexes for which beamforming feedback is returned by the beamformee follow the EHT beamforming rules, and the receiver STA may expect to receive a subsequent HE sounding NDP.

[0096] In this embodiment, the special EHT sounding NDP in the aggregate TB sounding procedure is aligned with the HE sounding NDP. In this case, the special EHT sounding NDP does not include an EHT-SIG field. This special EHT sounding NDP is a special case of the EHT sounding NDP. Such a special EHT sounding NDP can be implicitly indicated (option 1) or explicitly indicated (option 2).

[0097] 34 illustrates a first exemplary format of a special EHT sounding NDP 3400 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The special EHT sounding NDP 3400 includes information that can be used as an implicit indication of an aggregate TB sounding procedure. The special EHT sounding NDP 3400 includes an L-STF, an L-LTF, an L-SIG field, an RL-SIG field, a U-SIG field, an EHT-STF, an EHT-LTF, and a PE field. The U-SIG field further includes or consists of a PHY version identifier subfield, a BW subfield, a UL / DL subfield, a BSS color subfield, a TXOP subfield, an ignore subfield, a verification subfield, a PPDU type and compressed mode subfield, a spatial reuse + beamforming subfield, a punctured channel information subfield, a GI + LTF size subfield, a number of spatial streams (NSS) subfield, a number of EHT-LTF symbols subfield, and a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) + Tail subfield. The BW subfield includes information BW and position that the receiver STA can check whether it is for aggregate sounding or not, so that the PPDU format is determined early. The GI + LTF size subfield also includes information on the integration of the EHT-SIG field into the U-SIG field.

[0098] 35 illustrates a second exemplary format of a special EHT sounding NDP 3500 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The special EHT sounding NDP 3500 includes an explicit indication of an aggregate TB sounding procedure. The special EHT sounding NDP 3500 includes an L-STF, an L-LTF, an L-SIG field, an RL-SIG field, a U-SIG field, an EHT-STF, an EHT-LTF, and a PE field. The U-SIG field further includes or consists of a PHY version identifier subfield, a BW subfield, a UL / DL subfield, a BSS color subfield, a TXOP subfield, an ignore subfield, a verification subfield, a PPDU type and compressed mode subfield, a spatial reuse + beamforming subfield, a punctured channel information subfield, a GI + LTF size subfield, a number of spatial streams (NSS) subfield, an EHT-LTF symbol number subfield, and a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) + Tail subfield. The PPDU Type and Compression Mode subfields with a value of 3 indicate a sounding NDP without an EHT-SIG field. The GI+LTF Size subfield also contains information about the integration of the EHT-SIG field into the U-SIG field.

[0099] The following paragraphs describe a sixth embodiment of the present disclosure in which an EHT announcement frame, an EHT sounding NDP, and an EHT BFRP trigger frame are used in the aggregate TB sounding procedure.

[0100] 36 illustrates a flow diagram 3600 illustrating an exemplary A-PPDU sounding procedure according to a sixth embodiment of the present disclosure. According to this embodiment, the HE NDPA frame, the EHT NDPA frame, the HE sounding NDP, and the EHT sounding NDP are reused in an aggregated TB sounding procedure.

[0101] More specifically, the AP 3602 starts the aggregate TB sounding procedure by transmitting a DL PPDU 3612 carrying HE and EHT NDP announcement frames. The HE NDP announcement frame is intended for the HE STAs and EHT STAs that are expected to transmit / receive HE PPDUs after the sounding procedure, and the EHT NDP announcement frame is intended for the EHT STAs. After the SIFS, the AP 3602 simultaneously transmits HE sounding NDP 3613 and EHT sounding NDP 3614, which are not aligned orthogonally to each other, to different generations of non-AP STAs, in this case the HE STA 3604 parked on the primary channel (P) and the EHT STA 3606 parked on the secondary channel (S), respectively. After SIFS, the AP 3602 simultaneously transmits one or more DL PPDUs 3616 carrying different BFRP trigger frames to different generation STAs, i.e., HE BFRP TF to the HE STA 3604 and EHT BFRP TF to the EHT STA 3606, to request beamforming report feedback from the STAs. After SIFS, the requested HE STAs 3604 and EHT STAs 3606 simultaneously transmit corresponding beamforming report feedback, i.e., TB PPDUs including HE CBR / CQI frames and EHT CBR / CQI frames, to the AP 3602 in response. Thereafter, the AP 3602 / non-AP STAs 3604, 3606 may transmit DL / UL A-PPDUs including HE PPDUs on the primary channel and EHT PPDUs on the secondary channel, respectively. In this embodiment, the AP 3602 uses two or more Inverse Fast Fourier transform (IFFT) processors to generate multiple PPDUs of different basebands.

[0102] 37 illustrates an exemplary HE sounding NDP 3613 and an exemplary EHT sounding NDP 3614 that are not orthogonally aligned but are transmitted simultaneously in an aggregate trigger based sounding procedure according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The HE sounding NDP 3613 includes a legacy preamble and an HE-SIG-A field in each frequency segment of the primary 80 MHz frequency segment and includes an HE-STF and an HE-LTF throughout the primary 80 MHz frequency segment, and the EHT sounding NDP 3614 includes a legacy preamble, a U-SIG field, and an EHT-SIG field in each frequency segment of the secondary channel and includes an EHT-STF and an EHT-LTF throughout the secondary channel. According to this embodiment, padding bits may be added at the end of the HE sounding NDP and / or the EHT sounding NDP to align the time domain of both NDPs.

[0103] FIG. 38 is a block diagram 3800 illustrating OFDMA transmission using multiple IFFT processors according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, there are two IFFT processors (IFFT processor 1 and IFFT processor 2). IFFT processor 1 is used to generate one or more symbols by the AP under 64 subcarriers, and IFFT processor 2 is used to generate one or more symbols under 128 subcarriers. Using channel sounding such as SST, non-AP STAs can receive unaligned PPDUs. Non-AP STAs only receive PPDUs transmitted on their assigned baseband.

[0104] In the following paragraphs, embodiments of the announcement frame, the sounding NDP, and two other variants of the BFRP trigger frame used in the aggregate TB sounding procedure are described.

[0105] In one embodiment, the aggregated TB sounding sequence may be used in A-PPDU and other types of synchronous transmission of multiple PPDUs (e.g., synchronous multi-link, multi-AP). Figure 39 is a flow diagram 3900 illustrating an example A-PPDU sounding procedure in a multi-link (link 1, link 2) system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the synchronous transmission may include multiple EHT PPDUs. More specifically, the AP 3902 simultaneously transmits two separate EHT DL PPDUs, each carrying an EHT NDP announcement frame, to initiate an aggregated TB sounding procedure across two links. One of the EHT NDP announcement frames is intended for the EHT STAs of link 1, and the other of the EHT NDP announcement frames is intended for the EHT STAs of link 2. After the SIFS, the AP 3902 simultaneously transmits two EHT sounding NDPs to the non-AP STAs of each link. After SIFS, the AP 3902 solicits beamforming report feedback from both link 1 and link 2 STAs by simultaneously transmitting two separate DL PPDUs, each carrying a BFRP trigger frame, to different generation STAs. After SIFS, the solicited EHT STAs 3904, 3606 simultaneously transmit TB PPDUs including corresponding beamforming report feedback, i.e., EHT CBR / CQI frames, to the AP 3902 in response. The AP 3902 / non-AP STAs 3904, 3906 may then transmit DL / UL A-PPDUs including EHT PPDUs to link 1 and link 2, respectively. Advantageously, in this embodiment, there is no need to extend the capability of the STAs to support reception of a wider bandwidth PPDU.

[0106] In other embodiments, the AP transmits a full-bandwidth special HE sounding NDP to both non-AP STAs of different generations. FIG. 40 is a flow diagram 4000 illustrating an exemplary A-PPDU sounding procedure using a full-bandwidth special HE sounding NDP 4014 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. More specifically, the AP 4002 transmits a DL PPDU 4012 carrying an EHT NDP announcement frame to initiate an aggregate TB sounding procedure. The EHT NDP announcement frame is intended for both HE STAs and EHT STAs that are expected to transmit / receive HE PPDUs after the sounding procedure, as well as EHT STAs that are expected to transmit / receive EHT PPDUs after the sounding procedure. After the SIFS, the AP 4002 transmits a full-bandwidth special HE sounding NDP 4014 including the primary channel (P) and secondary channel (S) to non-AP STAs of different generations. After the SIFS, the AP 4002 simultaneously transmits one or more DL PPDUs 3616 carrying an EHT BFRP trigger frame to the HE STA 4004 and the EHT STA 4006 to request beamforming report feedback from the STAs. After the SIFS, the requested HE STA 4004 and the EHT STA 4006 simultaneously transmit corresponding beamforming report feedback, i.e., TB PPDUs including HE CBR / CQI frames and EHT CBR / CQI frames, to the AP 4002 in response. The AP 4002 / non-AP STAs 4004, 4006 may then transmit DL / UL A-PPDUs including HE PPDUs on the primary channel (P) and EHT PPDUs on the secondary channel (S), respectively.

[0107] The special HE sounding NDP 4014 can be a 160 MHz transmission or a 160+160 MHz transmission. The bandwidth information of the preamble of the special HE sounding NDP 4014 of the primary 160 MHz channel should indicate only a 160 MHz transmission, but the bandwidth information of the preamble of the special HE sounding NDP 4014 of the secondary 160 MHz channel may indicate a 160+160 MHz transmission. The HE STA 4004 receiving the HE sounding NDP 4014 will treat it as a 160 MHz transmission, and the EHT STA 4006 receiving the HE sounding NDP 4014 will treat it as a 160+160 MHz transmission.

[0108] FIG. 41 illustrates a configuration of a communication device such as an AP according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Similar to the schematic example of the communication device 1800 illustrated in FIG. 18, the communication device 4100 includes a circuit 4102, at least one wireless transmitter 4110, at least one wireless receiver 4112, and at least one antenna 4114 (for simplicity, only one antenna is illustrated in FIG. 41). The circuit 4102 may include at least one controller 4108 for use in software and hardware-assisted execution of tasks designed for the controller 4108 to perform communications for aggregate signal sounding procedures. The circuit 4102 may further include a transmit signal generator 4104 and a receive signal processor 4106. The at least one controller 4108 may control the transmit signal generator 4104 and the receive signal processor 4106. The transmit signal generator 4104 may include a frame generator 4122, a control signaling generator 4124, and a PPDU generator 4126. The frame generator 4122 may generate a MAC frame, e.g., an HE / EHT NDP announcement frame, an HE / EHT sounding NDP, an HE / EHT special sounding NDP, or an HE / EHT BFRP trigger frame, as described in various embodiments of the present disclosure. The control signaling generator 4124 may generate a control signaling field of the generated PPDU (e.g., an HE / EHT-SIG field of an HE / EHT sounding NDP, or an HE / EHT-SIG field of an HE / EHT PPDU that includes an HE / EHT sounding NDP, an HE / EHT special sounding NDP, or an HE / EHT BFRP trigger frame). The PPDU generator 4126 may generate a PPDU (e.g., an HE / EHT sounding NDP, an HE / EHT special sounding NDP, an HE / EHT sounding NDP, an HE / EHT special sounding NDP, or an HE / EHT PPDU including an HE / EHT BFRP trigger frame).

[0109] The receive signal processor 4106 may include a data demodulator and decoder 4134 that may demodulate and decode a data portion of the received signal (e.g., a data field of an HE / EHT PPDU including an HE / EHT NDP announcement frame, an HE / EHT sounding NDP, or an EHT BFRP trigger frame). The receive signal processor 4106 may further include a control demodulator and decoder 4134 that may demodulate and decode a control signaling portion of the received signal (e.g., an HE / EHT-SIG field of an HE / EHT sounding NDP, or an HE / EHT-SIG field of an HE / EHT PPDU including an HE / EHT compressed beamforming / CQI frame). The at least one controller 4108 may include a control signal analyzer 4142 and a scheduler 4144. The scheduler 4144 may determine RU information, user-specific allocation information regarding allocation of downlink SU or MU transmissions, and trigger information regarding allocation of uplink MU transmissions. The control signal analyzer 4142 may analyze the control signaling portion of the received signal and the trigger information regarding allocation of uplink MU transmissions shared by the scheduler 4144, and assist the data demodulator and decoder 4132 in demodulating and decoding the data portion of the received signal (e.g., the data field of the HE / EHT PPDU including the EHT compressed beamforming / CQI frame).

[0110] FIG. 42 illustrates a configuration of a communication device such as a STA according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Similar to the schematic example of the communication device 1800 illustrated in FIG. 18, the communication device 4200 includes a circuit 4202, at least one wireless transmitter 4210, at least one wireless receiver 4212, and at least one antenna 4214 (for simplicity, only one antenna is illustrated in FIG. 42). The circuit 4202 may include at least one controller 4208 for use in software and hardware assisted execution of tasks designed for the controller 4208 to perform communications for aggregate signal sounding procedures. The circuit 4202 may further include a receive signal processor 4204 and a transmit signal generator 4206. The at least one controller 4208 may control the receive signal processor 4204 and the transmit signal generator 4206. The receive signal processor 4204 may include a data demodulator and decoder 4232 and a control demodulator and decoder 4234. The control demodulator and decoder 4234 may demodulate and decode the control signaling portion of the received signal (e.g., the HE / EHT-SIG field of the HE / EHT sounding NDP, or the HE / EHT-SIG field of the HE / EHT PPDU containing the HE / EHT sounding NDP, HE / EHT special sounding NDP, or HE / EHT BFRP trigger frame). The data demodulator and decoder 4232 may demodulate and decode the data portion of the received signal (e.g., the data field of the HE / EHT PPDU containing the HE / EHT NDP announcement frame, HE / EHT sounding NDP, or EHT BFRP trigger frame) according to the RU information and the user specific allocation information of its allocation.

[0111] At least one controller 4208 may include a control signal analyzer 4242, a scheduler 4244, and a trigger information analyzer 4246. The control signal analyzer 4242 may receive a control signaling portion of a received signal (e.g., an HE / EHT-SIG field of an HE / EHT sounding NDP, or an HE / EHT-SIG field of an HE / EHT PPDU containing an HE / EHT sounding NDP, an HE / EHT special sounding NDP, or an HE / EHT BFRP trigger frame) and assist the data demodulator and decoder 4232 in demodulating and decoding a data portion of the received signal (e.g., a data field of an HE / EHT PPDU containing an HE / EHT NDP announcement frame, an HE / EHT sounding NDP, or an EHT BFRP trigger frame). The trigger information analyzer 4248 may analyze trigger information related to its uplink allocation from a received trigger frame included in the data portion of the received signal. The transmit signal generator 4204 may include a control signaling generator 4224 that may generate a control signaling field of the generated PPDU (e.g., an HE / EHT-SIG field of an HE / EHT sounding NDP, or an HE / EHT-SIG field of an HE / EHT PPDU including an HE / EHT compressed beamforming / CQI frame). The transmit signal generator 4204 may further include a PPDU generator 4226 that generates a PPDU (e.g., an HE / EHT PPDU including an HE / EHT NDP announcement frame, an HE / EHT sounding NDP, or an EHT BFRP trigger frame). The transmit signal generator 4204 may further include a frame generator 4222 that may generate a MAC frame, such as an EHT compressed beamforming / CQI frame.

[0112] As described above, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide an advanced communication system, communication method and communication device for aggregate signal sounding procedures in MIMO WLAN networks, improving the spectral efficiency in MIMO WLAN networks.

[0113] The present disclosure can be realized by software, hardware, or software in cooperation with hardware. Each functional block used in the description of each embodiment above can be partially or completely realized by an LSI such as an integrated circuit, and each process described in each embodiment can be partially or completely controlled by the same LSI or a combination of LSIs. The LSI can be formed individually as a chip, or one chip can be formed to include some or all of the functional blocks. The LSI can include data inputs and outputs coupled thereto. The LSI in this specification can be called an IC, a system LSI, a super LSI, or an ultra LSI depending on the degree of integration. However, the technology for implementing the integrated circuit is not limited to an LSI, and can be realized using a dedicated circuit, a general-purpose processor, or a dedicated processor. Also, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) that can be programmed after the LSI is manufactured, or a reconfigurable processor that can reconfigure the connections and settings of circuit cells arranged in the LSI can be used. The present disclosure can be realized as digital processing or analog processing. If future integrated circuit technology replaces LSI as a result of advances in semiconductor technology or other derived technologies, the functional blocks can be integrated using the future integrated circuit technology. Biotechnology can also be applied.

[0114] The present disclosure may be implemented by any type of apparatus, device or system having communication capabilities, referred to as a communications apparatus.

[0115] Some non-limiting examples of such communication devices include phones (e.g., cellular (cell) phones, smartphones), tablets, personal computers (PCs) (e.g., laptops, desktops, netbooks), cameras (e.g., digital still / video cameras), digital players (digital audio / video players), wearable devices (e.g., wearable cameras, smart watches, tracking devices), game consoles, digital book readers, telehealth / telemedicine (remote health and medicine) devices, and vehicles (e.g., cars, airplanes, ships) that provide communication capabilities, and various combinations thereof.

[0116] Communications devices are not limited to being portable or mobile, but may also include any type of non-portable or fixed equipment, device, or system, such as smart home devices (e.g., appliances, lights, smart meters, control panels), vending machines, and any other "things" in the network of the "Internet of Things" (IoT).

[0117] Communications may include, for example, data exchange via cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, satellite systems, and the like, as well as various combinations thereof.

[0118] A communications apparatus may include devices such as a controller or a sensor coupled to a communications device to perform the communications functions described in this disclosure. For example, a communications apparatus may include a controller or a sensor that generates control or data signals used by the communications device to perform the communications functions of the communications apparatus.

[0119] Communications equipment may also include infrastructure facilities such as base stations, access points, and any other equipment, devices, or systems that communicate with or control equipment such as those in the non-limiting examples above.

[0120] Although certain features of the various embodiments have been described with reference to devices, it will be understood that corresponding features also apply to the methods of the various embodiments, and vice versa.

[0121] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that numerous variations and / or modifications may be made to the present disclosure as illustrated in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure as broadly described. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

[0122] Table 4 shows the start and end subcarrier indexes corresponding to RU indexes 1 to 36 for 4 groups (Ng=4) in an 80 MHz channel. [Table 4]

[0123] Table 5 shows the start and end subcarrier indexes corresponding to RU indexes 1 to 36 for 16 groups (Ng=16) in an 80 MHz channel. [Table 5]

[0124] Table 6 shows the start and end subcarrier indexes corresponding to RU indexes 1 to 73 for 4 groups (Ng = 4) in a 160 MHz channel. [Table 6]

[0125] Table 7 shows the starting and ending subcarrier indexes corresponding to RU indexes 1 to 73 for 16 groups (Ng=16) in a 160 MHz channel. [Table 7]

Claims

1. A circuit for generating at least one signal, wherein in a sounding procedure, a portion of the at least one signal is configured for a first station of a first generation and another portion of the at least one signal is configured for a second station of a second generation; a transmitter for transmitting the at least one signal; A communication device comprising:

2. The circuit generates a first generation NDP announcement (NDPA) frame, a first generation NDP frame, and a second generation NDPA frame; the transmitter transmits one of the first generation NDPA frame and the second generation NDPA frame to a station; transmitting the first-generation NDP frame to the station both when the first-generation NDPA frame is transmitted to the station and when the second-generation NDPA frame is transmitted to the station; The communication device according to claim 1 .

3. The first station does not recognize the second generation NDPA frame; The communication device according to claim 2 .

4. the at least one signal includes a first signal, a second signal, and a third signal, the first signal indicating a sounding sequence of the sounding procedure, the second signal carrying a field for channel estimation, and the third signal carrying information for requesting a response signal, and at least one of the first signal and the second signal is configured for the first station of the first generation; In operation, the transmitter transmits the first signal, the second signal, and the third signal to the second station of the second generation, and requests the second station to send the response signal, and then transmits data to the second station. The communication device according to claim 1 .

5. both the first signal and the second signal are configured for the first station, and the response signal and the data are configured for the second station; The communication device according to claim 4.

6. the first signal, the second signal, and the response signal are configured for the first station, and the data is configured for the second station; The communication device according to claim 4.

7. the first signal, the response signal, and the data are configured for the second station; The communication device according to claim 4.

8. the transmitter transmits the first signal to the second station only on a secondary channel to signal the transmission of the second signal and the third signal on the secondary channel; 8. The communication device according to claim 6 or 7.

9. the first signal includes a signal field, at least a portion of the signal field signaling the transmission of the second signal and the third signal; 8. The communication device according to claim 6 or 7.

10. the first signal includes a bandwidth information field signaling a pair of resource unit indices having an RU size greater than 26 tones, the pair of resource unit indices being associated with a plurality of subcarriers for which the response signal is requested; The communication device according to claim 6.

11. the transmitter further transmits the first signal, the second signal, and the third signal to the second generation third station simultaneously with the transmission of the first signal, the second signal, and the third signal to the second station, and after requesting a second response signal from the third station, the transmitter transmits second data to the third station. The communication device according to claim 7.

12. both the first signal and the second signal are configured for the second station, the first signal includes a first signal field signaling the absence of a second signal field in the second signal, and the circuitry is configured to generate the second signal without the second signal field. The communication device according to claim 4.

13. the first signal, the second signal, and the third signal are configured for the second station, and the at least one signal further includes a fourth signal, a fifth signal, and a sixth signal configured for the first station, wherein the fourth signal indicates a second sounding sequence of the sounding procedure, the fifth signal carries a second field for channel estimation, and the sixth signal carries information for requesting a second response signal; and the transmitter further transmits the fourth signal, the fifth signal, and the sixth signal to the first station simultaneously with the transmission of the first signal, the second signal, and the third signal to the second station, and after requesting a second response signal from the first station, transmits second data to the first station. The communication device according to claim 4.

14. both the first signal and the third signal are configured for the second station, and the at least one signal further includes a fourth signal and a fifth signal configured for the second station, the fourth signal indicating the sounding sequence of the sounding procedure, and the fifth signal carrying information for requesting a second response signal; the transmitter further simultaneously transmits the fourth signal to the first station, the first signal to the second station, and the second signal to both the first station and the second station, and then transmits the fifth signal to the first station and the third signal to the second station to request the second response signal and the response signal, respectively, and then transmits second data to the first station and the data to the second station. The communication device according to claim 4.

15. 1. A communication method implemented by a communication device, comprising: generating at least one signal; transmitting said at least one signal; Including, In a sounding procedure, a portion of the at least one signal is configured for a first station of a first generation, and another portion of the at least one signal is configured for a second station of a second generation. Communication method.

16. An integrated circuit for controlling a communication device, comprising: generating at least one signal; and transmitting the at least one signal. In a sounding procedure, a portion of the at least one signal is configured for a first station of a first generation, and another portion of the at least one signal is configured for a second station of a second generation. Integrated circuit.

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