Link-adaptive control for ultra-high throughput systems

Abstract

To relate to link adaptation for an extremely high throughput (EHT) system, and provide various approaches to enable transmission of link adaptation parameters for single-user multiple-input multiple-output (SU-MIMO) and multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO).SOLUTION: In some embodiments, two Control IDs in an A control subfield are used, one for SU-MIMO and one for MU-MIMO. These can both be reserved Control IDs, or a combination of a reserved Control ID and a Control ID2 normally used for HE link adaptation. In some embodiments, a single Control ID in the A control subfield is used. This can be a reserved Control ID or a Control ID2 normally used for HE link adaptation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This application relates to link adaptation for extremely high throughput (EHT) systems. [Background technology]

[0002] [Cross reference] This application was filed on 20 October 2021 and claims priority to U.S. Nonprovisional Patent Application No. 17 / 506,050, entitled “Link Adaptive Control for Ultra-High Throughput Systems,” the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0003] [background] Link adaptation, including adaptive coding and modulation (ACM) and others (such as power control), is a term used in radio communications to describe adapting modulation, coding, and other signal and protocol parameters to conditions on the radio link (e.g., path loss, interference from signals coming from other transmitters, receiver sensitivity, available transmitter power margin, etc.).

[0004] Link adaptation in wireless local area networks (WLANs) involves transmitting link adaptation parameters from the transmitter to the receiver. Existing methods for transmitting link adaptation parameters, such as for high-throughput (HT), very high-throughput (VHT), and high-efficiency (HE) variants, are not sufficient for use in newer EHT systems. [Overview of the project]

[0005] This application relates to link adaptation for extremely high throughput (EHT) systems. Various approaches are provided to enable the transmission of link adaptation parameters for single-user multiple input multiple output (SU-MIMO) and multi-user multiple input multiple output MU-MIMO. In some embodiments, two control IDs are used in the A control subfield, one for SU-MIMO and the other for MU-MIMO. These can both be spare control IDs, or a combination of a spare control ID and a control ID2 typically used for HE link adaptation. In some embodiments, a single control ID is used in the A control subfield. This can be a spare control ID or a control ID2 typically used for HE link adaptation.

[0006] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided which includes the step of communicating a MAC frame, comprising a media access control (MAC) header, a frame body, and a frame check sequence, using wireless communication equipment. The MAC header has a high-throughput (HT) control subfield, the HT control subfield comprising a control ID value and control information. When the control ID value is set to a first value, the control information is an extremely high-throughput (EHT) link adaptive parameter for EHT communication relating to single-user multiple-input multiple-output (SU-MIMO). When the control ID value is set to a second value, the control information is an EHT link adaptive parameter for EHT communication relating to multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (SU-MIMO).

[0007] In some embodiments, the first value is one of 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14, and the second value is one different of 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14.

[0008] In some embodiments, the first value is 2, and the second value is one of 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14. When the first value is 2, the method further includes the step of communicating at the physical layer an indication that the MAC frame is a frame for the next-generation protocol of the High Efficiency (HE) protocol.

[0009] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method for a wireless communication device that includes the step of communicating a MAC frame, which includes a medium access control (MAC) header, a frame body, and a frame check sequence. The MAC header has a high-throughput (HT) control subfield, the HT control subfield includes a control ID value and control information. If the control ID value is set to a first value, the control information includes EHT link adaptive parameters for EHT communication, and the control information includes a SU / MU-MIMO indication indicating whether the control information is for SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO.

[0010] In some embodiments, the control information includes a bandwidth subfield indicating the recommended bandwidth and a resource unit (RU) allocation / (partial RU allocation, SU / MU-MIMO indication) subfield defined as follows: If the recommended PPDU bandwidth exceeds 20 MHz, the resource unit (RU) allocation / (partial RU allocation, SU / MU-MIMO indication) subfield includes only RU allocations. If the recommended PPDU bandwidth is equal to 20 MHz, the resource unit (RU) allocation / (partial RU allocation, SU / MU-MIMO indication) subfield includes partial RU allocations and SU / MU-MIMO indications.

[0011] In some embodiments, the control information includes a Spontaneous Modulation and Encoding Feedback (MFB) subfield, a bandwidth subfield indicating a recommended PPDU bandwidth, and a Modulation and Encoding Request Sequence Identifier (MSI) / (Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) format, encoding type) / (PPDU format, SU / MU-MIMO indication) subfield defined as follows: If the Spontaneous MFB subfield is 0, MSI / (PPDU format, encoding type) / (PPDU format, SU / MU-MIMO indication) includes the MSI. If the Spontaneous MFB subfield is 1 and the recommended PPDU bandwidth is 20 MHz, MSI / (PPDU format, encoding type) / (PPDU format, SU / MU-MIMO indication) includes the PPDU format and encoding type. If the Spontaneous MFB subfield is 1 and the recommended PPDU bandwidth is greater than 20 MHz, MSI / (PPDU format, encoding type) / (PPDU format, SU / MU-MIMO indication) includes the PPDU format and encoding type.

[0012] In some embodiments, the first value is one of 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14.

[0013] In some embodiments, the first value is 2, and the second value is one of 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14. When the first value is 2, the method further includes the step of communicating at the physical layer an indication that the MAC frame is a frame for the next-generation protocol of the High Efficiency (HE) protocol.

[0014] In some embodiments, the communication step includes transmission by an access point (AP).

[0015] In some embodiments, the communication step includes reception by an access point.

[0016] In some embodiments, the step of communicating includes transmission by a non-access point (AP) station (STA).

[0017] In some embodiments, the step of communicating includes reception by a non-AP station (STA).

[0018] According to another aspect of the present invention, an access point having a processor and a memory is provided. The access point is configured to execute a method including the step of communicating a MAC frame, including a MAC header, a frame body, and a frame check sequence, by the access point. The MAC header has a high throughput (HT) control subfield, and the HT control subfield includes a control ID value and control information. When the control ID value is set to a first value, the control information is an extremely high throughput (EHT) link adaptation parameter for EHT communication related to single-user multiple-input multiple-output (SU-MIMO).

[0019] In some embodiments, the first value is one of 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14, and the second value is a different one of 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14.

[0020] In some embodiments, the first value is 2, and the second value is one of 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14. When the first value is 2, the method further includes the step of communicating, in the physical layer, an indication that the MAC frame is a frame of a next-generation protocol of the high efficiency (HE) protocol.

[0021] According to another aspect of the present invention, a non-AP station having a processor and a memory is provided. The non-AP station is configured to execute a method including communicating a MAC frame, including a media access control (MAC) header, a frame body, and a frame check sequence, by the non-AP station. The MAC header has a high throughput (HT) control subfield, and the HT control subfield includes a control ID value and control information. When the control ID value is set to a first value, the control information is extremely high throughput (EHT) link adaptation parameters for EHT communication related to single user multiple input multiple output (SU-MIMO). When the control ID value is set to a second value, the control information is EHT link adaptation parameters for EHT communication related to multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO).

[0022] In some embodiments, the first value is one of 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14, and the second value is a different one of 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14.

[0023] In some embodiments, the first value is 2 and the second value is one of 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14. When the first value is 2, the method further includes communicating, in the physical layer, an indication that the MAC frame is a frame of a next-generation protocol of the high efficiency (HE) protocol.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0024] Here, an example of an embodiment of the present application is referred to as an example, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0025] [Figure 1A] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a system for extremely high throughput (EHT) communication between a STA and a network. [Figure 1B] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a device suitable for WLAN communication. [Figure 2] FIG. 3 is a diagram depicting the format of an 802.11 media access control (MAC) frame format. [Figure 3A] This diagram illustrates the forms of the HT control field for high-throughput (HT), very high-throughput (VHT), and high-efficiency (HE) variants. [Figure 3B] This is a diagram illustrating the format of the A control subfield. [Figure 4] This table shows the meaning of the control ID subfield values. [Figure 5] This is a diagram illustrating the format for the HLA control subfield. [Figure 6] This diagram illustrates an example format for the control information subfield in EHT LA-SU MIMO. [Figure 7] This diagram illustrates an example format for the control information subfield within EHT LA-MU MIMO. [Figure 8] This flowchart shows how to communicate EHT LA parameters. [Figure 9] This diagram illustrates an example format for the control information subfield within the EHT LA for SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO. [Figure 10A] This diagram illustrates an example format for RU assignment / (partial RU assignment, SU / MU-MIMO) subfields. [Figure 10B] This diagram illustrates an example format for RU assignment / (partial RU assignment, SU / MU-MIMO) subfields. [Figure 11A] This diagram illustrates an example format for the MSI / (PPDU format, encoding type) / (PPDU format, SU / MU-MIMO) subfield. [Figure 11B] This diagram illustrates an example format for the MSI / (PPDU format, encoding type) / (PPDU format, SU / MU-MIMO) subfield. [Figure 11C] This diagram illustrates an example format for the MSI / (PPDU format, encoding type) / (PPDU format, SU / MU-MIMO) subfield. [Figure 12] This flowchart shows another method for communicating EHT LA parameters. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0026] To aid in understanding this disclosure, we first describe an example system that supports wireless communication via an air interface.

[0027] Figure 1A is a schematic diagram showing an exemplary system 100 in which the method described herein may be implemented. The system 100 shown in Figure 1A may support a wireless local area network (WLAN) including an access point (AP) 102 and multiple stations (STAs) 104 within the coverage of AP 102. In the illustrated example, there is only one STA 104 and one AP 102, but there may be multiple STAs 104 and / or multiple APs 102. Each STA 104 may be any suitable device that enables wireless communication, including mobile or stationary devices such as smartphones, laptops, mobile phones, or tablet devices, and the STAs 104 do not have to be the same as one another. STAs 104 may also be called terminals, user devices, user equipment (UEs), or clients, for example. APs 102 may also be called base stations. APs 102 may be implemented as routers, for example. STAs 104 may access the network 106 via APs 102.

[0028] System 100 may support communication between AP102 and each STA104, and direct communication between STA104s (also known as inter-device communication). Using multiple antennas, AP102 may perform multi-user transmission (e.g., simultaneous transmission from AP102 to multiple STA104s) by using multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) spatial reuse techniques. For simplicity, the examples described herein may refer to wireless communication over an air interface between STA104 and AP102, but it should be understood that this disclosure may equally apply to wireless communication over an air interface between two STA104s, multi-user communication (e.g., between AP102 and multiple STA104s), or any other wireless communication over an air interface.

[0029] Figure 1B is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary processing unit 150, e.g., AP102, and / or one or more STA104, which may be used to implement the methods and systems disclosed herein. Other processing units suitable for implementing the disclosure may be used, and these may include components different from those described below. Although Figure 1B shows a single instance of each component, there may be multiple instances of each component in processing unit 150.

[0030] The processing unit 150 includes one or more processing devices 152, such as a processor, microprocessor, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), dedicated logic circuit, or a combination thereof. The processing unit 150 may also include one or more input / output (I / O) interfaces 154, which may enable interfacing to one or more suitable input devices 164 and / or output devices 166. The processing unit 150 includes one or more network interfaces 156 for wired or wireless communication to a network 106 (e.g., an intranet, the Internet, a P2P network, a WAN, a LAN, and / or a wireless access network (RAN)). The network interfaces 156 may include wired links (e.g., Ethernet cables) and / or wireless links for intra-network and / or inter-network communication. The network interfaces 156 may provide wireless communication, for example, via one or more transmitters / receivers or transceiver antennas 168. The antennas 168 may function together as an antenna array, in which case each antenna 168 may be called an antenna element or radiating element of the antenna array. There may be multiple such antenna arrays. The processing unit 150 may also include one or more storage devices 158, which may include mass storage units such as solid-state drives, hard disk drives, magnetic disk drives, and / or optical disk drives.

[0031] The processing unit 150 may include one or more memories 160, which may include volatile memory or non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory, random access memory (RAM), and / or read-only memory (ROM)). The non-temporary memory 160 may store instructions for execution by the processing device 152 (e.g., in the form of software modules) for carrying out the methods described herein. For example, instructions for implementing a logic layer to support an MLA (as further described below) may be stored in the memory 160.

[0032] Mori 160 may include other software instructions, such as those for implementing the operating system and other applications / functions. In some examples, one or more datasets and / or modules may be provided by external memory (e.g., an external drive communicating with the processing unit 150 via wired or wireless means) or by transient or non-transient computer-readable media. Examples of non-transient computer-readable media include RAM, ROM, erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, CD-ROM, or other portable memory storage.

[0033] A bus 162 may exist that provides communication between components of the processing unit 150, including the processing unit 152, I / O interface 154, network interface 156, storage unit 158, and / or memory 160. The bus 162 can be any suitable bus architecture, including, for example, a memory bus, a peripheral bus, or a video bus.

[0034] In Figure 1B, input devices 164 (e.g., keyboard, mouse, microphone, touchscreen, and / or keypad) and output devices 166 (e.g., display, speaker, and / or printer) are shown as external to the processing unit 150. In other examples, one or more of the input devices 164 and / or output devices 166 may be included as components of the processing unit 150. In other examples, neither input devices 164 nor output devices 166 may exist, in which case the I / O interface 154 may not be required.

[0035] AP102 and STA104 may each include a plurality of antenna elements 168 that form an antenna array, and can perform appropriate beamforming and beam steering control (for example, using beam steering circuits and / or beam steering control modules implemented by processing devices 152 and processing units 150) to perform wireless communication via an air interface.

[0036] Figure 2 illustrates the format of the 802.11 Media Access Control (MAC) frame format. The frame format includes a MAC header 200, a frame body 202, and a frame check sequence 204. Among the other fields, the MAC header 200 includes a high-throughput (HT) control field 206.

[0037] The HT control field 206 is present in control wrapper frames, QoS data frames, and QoS null frames, and also in management frames, as determined by the +HTC subfield of the frame control field in the MAC header 200. The format of the HT control field is defined for high-throughput (HT), very high-throughput (VHT), and high-efficiency (HE) variants as shown in Figure 3A. For the HT variant, the field includes the HT control middle, AC (Access Control) constraint, and RDG (Reverse Grant) / Detailed PPDU (PHY Protocol Data Unit). For the VHT variant, the field includes the VHT control middle, AC constraint, and RDG / Detailed PPDU. For the HE variant, the field includes A control.

[0038] The HT control field for VHT and HE variants carries link adaptation (LA) parameters. For HE variants, these are carried in the A control subfield, as detailed below.

[0039] The A control subfield is 30 bits long. The format of the A control subfield is shown in Figure 3B and includes a 4-bit control ID and up to 26 bits of control information.

[0040] Figure 4 is a table showing the meanings of the control ID subfield values ​​as defined in 802.11Be D1.0. The control ID values ​​are shown in column 400, their corresponding meanings in column 402, the length of the control information subfield in column 404, and the content of the subfield in column 406. Different control ID values ​​are assigned to represent 11 different control information subfields.

[0041] The remaining 26 bits beyond the 4-bit control ID are used for the control information in the A control subfield. As can be seen from the length of the control information shown in column 404, some control IDs do not fully utilize all 26 bits of the control information subfield; in this case, the remainder of the control information subfield is padded with zeros. The control ID value "2", which has a 4-bit binary representation "0010", indicates that the control frame contains an HLA control subfield. In this type of control field, all 26 bits are allocated to the control information without zero padding.

[0042] Figure 5 shows the HLA control subfield format specified in 802.11Ax, illustrating how 26 bits are used to indicate HE link adaptation (HLA) parameters. Among the other parameters, the HLA parameters include one parameter indicating the number of spatial streams, i.e., parameter Nss500, and one parameter indicating the modulation and coding scheme (MCS), i.e., parameter HE-MCS502.

[0043] The 30-bit A control subfield in the HT control field is not large enough to carry additional LA parameters for EHT, such as separate Nss parameters for single-user multiple input multiple output (SU-MIMO) and multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO), as well as separate MCS parameters for SU-MIMO and MU-MIMO.

[0044] [EHT Link Adaptation (EHT LA) using two control ID values ​​in the A control subfield of the HE variant HT control field - First Method] According to the first embodiment, as shown in Table 1 below, two preliminary control ID values ​​in the A control subfield are used to indicate two separate control information subfields for EHT LA associated with SU-MIMO and MU-MIMO, respectively. In the example shown in this table, control IDs 11 and 12 are used for this purpose, but more generally, any available preliminary control IDs can be used, for example, two control IDs from a currently unused set including control IDs 9 and 11 through 14. The control information subfield for EHT LA contains 6 bits for either SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO.

[0045] [Table 1]

[0046] [Control information subfield within EHT Link Adaptation (EHT LA)] Examples of the content within the control information subfield in EHT LA SU MIMO and EHT LA-MU MIMO that may be used in this embodiment are illustrated in Figures 6 and 7, respectively. However, it should be understood that these are merely examples, and different LA parameters may be used for one or both of SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO.

[0047] For EHT LA in SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO, a set of example definitions for EHT LA parameters in the control information subfields included in the examples in Figures 6 and 7 is provided below.

[0048] Spontaneous Modulation and Encoding Scheme (MCS) Feedback (MFB) (Spontaneous MFB Indicator): Set to 1 if EHT LA control is spontaneous MFB. Set to 0 if the EHT LA control is an EHT LA Feedback Request Indicator (MRQ) or involuntary MFB.

[0049] MRQ (ETH LA Feedback Request Indicator): Set EHT LA to 1 and Spontaneous MFB to 0 to request EHT LA feedback. Set to 0 in response to the EHT LA request, and also set the spontaneous MFB to 0. If the spontaneous MFB is 1, the MRQ is put on hold.

[0050] NSS for SU-MIMO (Recommended Spatial Stream Count for SU-MIMO): If the spontaneous MFB is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB (defined below) is 0, or if the spontaneous MFB is 0 and the MRQ is 0, the NSS for the SU-MIMO subfield is the recommended spatial stream number N for the PPDU sent to the STA. ss,su-mimo This indicates N ss,su-mimo It is set to -1. N ss,su-mimo The range is from 1 to 16. If the spontaneous MFB is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB is 1, the NSS subfield is the recommended spatial stream number N for the EHT TB PPDU sent from the STA. ss,su-mimo This indicates N ss,su-mimo It is set to -1. Otherwise, this subfield is secondary.

[0051] NSS for MU-MIMO (Recommended Spatial Stream Count for MU-MIMO): If the spontaneous MFB is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB is 0, or if the spontaneous MFB is 0 and the MRQ is 0, the NSS for the MU-MIMO subfield is the recommended spatial stream number N for the PPDU sent to the STA. ss,mu-mimo This indicates N ss,mu-mimo It is set to -1. N ss,mu-mimo The range is 1 to 4. When the spontaneous MFB is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB is 1, the NSS subfield indicates the recommended number of spatial streams N for the EHT TB PPDU transmitted from the STA, and N is set to N - 1. ss,mu-mimo is shown, and N ss,mu-mimo is set to N - 1. Otherwise, this subfield is reserved.

[0052] EHT-MCS for SU-MIMO (Recommended EHT-MCS for SU-MIMO): When the spontaneous MFB subfield is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB subfield is 0, or when the spontaneous MFB is 0 and the MRQ is 0, the EHT-MCS for SU-MIMO indicates the recommended EHT-MCS for the PPDU transmitted to the STA using SU-MIMO and is set to the EHT-MCS index. When the spontaneous MFB is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB subfield is 1, the EHT-MCS for SU-MIMO indicates the recommended EHT-MCS for the EHT TB PPDU transmitted from the STA in SU-MIMO and is set to the EHT-MCS index. Otherwise, this subfield is reserved.

[0053] EHT-MCS for MU-MIMO (Recommended EHT-MCS for MU-MIMO): When the spontaneous MFB subfield is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB subfield is 0, or when the spontaneous MFB is 0 and the MRQ is 0, the EHT-MCS for MU-MIMO indicates the recommended EHT-MCS for the PPDU transmitted to the STA using MU-MIMO and is set to the EHT-MCS index. When the spontaneous MFB is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB subfield is 1, the EHT-MCS for MU-MIMO indicates the recommended EHT-MCS for the EHT TB PPDU transmitted from the STA in MU-MIMO and is set to the EHT-MCS index. Otherwise, this subfield is secondary.

[0054] RU allocation (recommended EHT-MCS / RU / MRU resource units (RU) / multi-unit resource units (MRU)): If the Spontaneous MFB is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB is 0, the RU Assignment subfield indicates the RU / MRU that the Recommended EHT-MCS applies to the PPDU sent to the STA. If the number of spontaneous MFBs is 0 and the number of MRQs is 1, the RU allocation subfield indicates the RU / MRU requested by the MFB requester to obtain feedback. The RU assignment is interpreted as BW and specifies RU / MRU. If the Spontaneous MFB is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB is 1, the RU allocation indicates the RU / MRU that the Recommended EHT-MCS applies to the EHT TB PPDU sent from the STA, and that the actual allocation of RU / MRU can be ignored by the recipient. Otherwise, this subfield is secondary.

[0055] BW (Recommended EHT-MCS bandwidth / Bandwidth specified by the MFB requester to obtain feedback): If the spontaneous MFB is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB is 0, BW indicates the bandwidth that the recommended EHT-MCS applies to the PPDU sent to the STA. If the Spontaneous MFB is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB is 1, then BW indicates the bandwidth that the Recommended EHT-MCS applies to the EHT TB PPDU transmitted from the STA. When the spontaneous MFB is 0 and the MRQ is 1, BW indicates the bandwidth requested by the MFB requester to obtain feedback. Set 20MHz to 0. Set 40MHz to 1. Set 80MHz to 2. Set 160MHz to 3. Set 320-1MHz to 4. Set 320-2MHz to 5. Otherwise, this subfield is secondary.

[0056] MSI / Partial PPDU Parameter (Partial parameter of the measured PPDU / MRQ sequence identifier): If the Spontaneous MFB subfield is 0 and the MRQ subfield is 1, the MSI / Partial PPDU parameter subfield contains a sequence number in the range of 0 to 3 that identifies a specific EHT-MCS feedback request. If the Spontaneous MFB subfield is 0 and the MRQ subfield is 0, the MSI / Partial PPDU parameter subfield contains a sequence number in the range of 0 to 3 in response to a specific Spontaneous EHT-MCS feedback request. If the Spontaneous MFB subfield is 1, the MSI / Partial PPDU parameter subfield includes the PPDU format (1 bit indicating EHT MU PPDU or EHT TB PPDU) and the encoding type (1 bit indicating BCC or LDPC).

[0057] Tx beamforming (transmission type of measured PPDU): If the spontaneous MFB subfield is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB subfield is 0, the Tx beamforming subfield indicates whether the PPDU, for which the spontaneous MFB is estimated, is beamformed or not. Set the non-beamforming PPDU to 0. Set the beamforming PPDU to 1. Otherwise, this subfield is secondary.

[0058] UL EHT TB PPDU MFB (UL EHT Trigger-Based (TB) PPDU MFB Indication): If the Spontaneous MFB subfield is 1, the value 1 in this subfield indicates that the NSS, EHT-MCS, BW, and RU allocation fields represent the recommended MFB for the EHT TB PPDU sent from the STA. Otherwise, this subfield is secondary.

[0059] The advantages of the first embodiment include maintaining the A control format and the definitions for subfields within the A control subfield for HE without changing them by using two preliminary control ID values.

[0060] [EHT Link Adaptation (EHT LA) using two control ID values ​​in the A control subfield of the HE variant HT control field - Second Method] According to the second embodiment, the control information subfields within the EHT LA field for SU-MIMO and MU-MIMO are indicated by a control ID value equal to 2 (for HLA in 802.11Ax) and a preliminary control ID value (e.g., 11) within the A control subfield, respectively. The control information subfield for EHT LA contains 26 bits for the SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO configuration. In this case, control ID 2 is used for both HLA and EHT LA for SU-MIMO. The transmitter and receiver will distinguish between these two cases on some other criterion, such as the length field in the legacy PHY header at the physical (PHY) layer. If this distinction can be made at the PHY layer, the receiver will recognize it by the time the MAC layer processing is performed. More specifically, at the PHY layer, the transmitter and receiver can determine whether the frame is HLA or EHT. In the following example, if the TXVECTOR parameter format (a concrete example of a PHY layer parameter) indicates HE PPDU, this means that the frame is HLA and is interpreted as having control ID 2 HLA LA parameter. On the other hand, if the TXVECTOR parameter format indicates EHT PPDU, this means that the frame is EHT and control ID 2 is interpreted as EHT LA for SU-MIMO. More generally, indications can be communicated at the physical layer that the MAC frame is a frame for the next-generation protocol of the High Efficiency (HE) protocol, with EHT being a concrete example.

[0061] [Table 2]

[0062] Specific examples of the format of the control information subfield in EHT Link Adaptation (EHT LA) are the same as the examples in the first embodiment detailed above, although other formats may be used as alternatives. Examples of the definition of EHT LA parameters in the control information subfield are as described in the first embodiment above.

[0063] The advantages of the second embodiment include maintaining the A control format without modification, using one existing control ID for HLA, and using one backup control ID for EHT LA indication.

[0064] It can be seen that the first and second embodiments share the feature that two control IDs are used for EHT LA. That is, one is used for SU-MIMO (which is either 2 or a spare control ID), and the other is used for MU-MIMO (which is a spare control ID). A flowchart of the method encompassing the first and second embodiments is depicted in Figure 8. The method begins in block 800 with the step of a wireless communication device communicating a MAC frame, which includes a medium access control (MAC) header, a frame body, and a frame check sequence. The MAC header includes a high-throughput (HT) control subfield, which includes a control ID value and control information, as shown in step 802. If the control ID value is set to a first value, the control information is an extremely high-throughput (EHT) link adaptive parameter for EHT communication with respect to single-user multiple input multiple output (SU-MIMO), as shown in step 804. If the control ID value is set to the second value, the control information is EHT link adaptive parameters for EHT communication relating to multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO), as shown in step 806.

[0065] In some embodiments, the first control ID is one of 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14, and the second control ID is a different one of 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14. In some embodiments, the first control ID is 2, and the second control ID is one of 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14. When the first value is 2, the method further includes the step of communicating at the physical layer an indication that the MAC frame is a frame for the next-generation protocol of the High Efficiency (HE) protocol.

[0066] In Figure 8, the communication step may include reception by the access point, or the communication step may include transmission by the access point, or reception by a non-AP station, or transmission by a non-AP station.

[0067] [EHT Link Adaptation (EHT LA) using a single control ID value in the A control subfield of the HE variant HT control field - First Method] In a third embodiment, a single auxiliary control ID value within the A control subfield is used to indicate a single control information subfield that carries EHT LA parameters related to a SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO configuration. The control information subfield for EHT LA contains 26 bits. The 26 bits contain a SU / MU-MIMO indication (e.g., a single SU / MU-MIMO indication bit), which is used to signal whether the EHT LA parameters carried in the control information subfield are related to SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO. The position of the SU / MU-MIMO indication can be varied depending on other factors. A specific example where this applies is provided below. The meaning of the control IDs in this example is described in Table 3 below, where control ID 2 is used conventionally for HE link adaptation, and an auxiliary control ID (11 in this example) is used for EHT link adaptation.

[0068] [Table 3]

[0069] Figure 9 illustrates a specific example of the content of the control information subfield in the EHT LA for SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO.

[0070] Figures 10A and 10B show a detailed breakdown of the RU allocation / (partial RU allocation, SU / MU-MIMO) subfield. The content for a recommended bandwidth of 20 MHz is depicted in Figure 10. In this case, the RU allocation / (partial RU allocation, SU / MU-MIMO indication) subfield includes partial RU allocation and SU / MU-MIMO indication, using 8 bits and 1 bit in the illustrated example.

[0071] Content related to cases where the recommended bandwidth exceeds 20 MHz is depicted in Figure 10B. In this case, RU allocation / (partial RU allocation, SU / M U The MIMO indication subfield contains only the RU allocation and is 9 bits in the illustrated example.

[0072] Figures 11A, 11B, and 11C show a detailed breakdown of the MSI / (PPDU format, encoding type) / (PPDU format, SU / MU-MIMO) subfield, which varies as a function of the spontaneous MFB subfield and the recommended BW subfield.

[0073] The content when the spontaneous MFB subfield is 0 is depicted in Figure 11A. In this case, the MSI / (PPDU format, encoding type) / (PPDU format, SU / MU-MIMO) subfield simply contains MSI. Note that in the case of involuntary MFB, it is not necessary to indicate the SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO configuration, as it means that the STA recognizes the feedback type requested by the requester using the identified specific HE-MCS feedback request, or responds to a specific involuntary HE-MCS feedback request.

[0074] The content for the case where the spontaneous MFB subfield is 1 and the recommended bandwidth is 20 MHz is depicted in Figure 11B. In this case, the subfield includes the PPDU format and encoding type, each using 1 bit in the illustrated example.

[0075] The contents of the subfield when the spontaneous MFB subfield is 1 and the recommended bandwidth exceeds 20 MHz are depicted in Figure 11C. In this case, the subfield includes the PPDU format and the SU / MU-MIMO indicator.

[0076] A specific example of the definition of the EHT LA parameter in the control information subfield related to this embodiment is provided below.

[0077] Spontaneous MFB (Spontaneous MFB Indicator): Set to 1 if EHT LA control is spontaneous MFB. Set to 0 if EHT LA control is MRQ or involuntary MFB.

[0078] MRQ (ETH LA Feedback Request Indicator): Set EHT LA to 1 to request feedback, and set Spontaneous MFB to 0. Set to 0 to respond to the EHT LA request, and set the spontaneous MFB to 0. If the spontaneous MFB is 1, the MRQ is put on hold.

[0079] NSS (Recommended Spatial Stream Count for SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO)

[0080] If the spontaneous MFB is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB is 0, and 1) If the SU / MU-MIMO subfield indicates SU-MIMO, the NSS subfield indicates the recommended number of spatial streams N for the PPDU sent to the STA. ss,su-mimo This indicates N ss,su-mimo It is set to -1. N ss,su-mimo The range is from 1 to 16. 2) If the SU / MU-MIMO subfield indicates MU-MIMO, the NSS subfield indicates the recommended number of spatial streams N for the PPDU sent to the STA.ss,mu-mimo This indicates N ss,mu-mimo It is set to -1. N ss,mu-mimo The range is 1 to 4.

[0081] If the spontaneous MFB is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB is 1, and 1) If the SU / MU-MIMO subfield indicates SU-MIMO, the NSS subfield indicates the recommended spatial stream number N for the EHT TB PPDU sent from the STA. ss,su-mimo This indicates N ss,su-mimo It is set to -1. 2) If the SU / MU-MIMO subfield indicates MU-MIMO, the NSS subfield indicates the recommended spatial stream number N for the EHT TB PPDU sent from the STA. ss,mu-mimo This indicates N ss,mu-mimo It is set to -1. If the spontaneous MFB is 0 and the MRQ is 0, the NSS subfield indicates the recommended number of spatial streams for the PPDU sent to the STA for either SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO, which can be identified by the MSI. Otherwise, this subfield is secondary.

[0082] EHT-MCS (Recommended EHT-MCS for SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO)

[0083] If the spontaneous MFB subfield is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB subfield is 0, and 1) If the SU / MU-MIMO subfield indicates SU-MIMO, the EHT-MCS subfield indicates the recommended EHT-MCS for the PPDU sent to the STA using SU-MIMO and is set in the EHT-MCS index. 2) If the SU / MU-MIMO subfield indicates MU-MIMO, the EHT-MCS subfield indicates the recommended EHT-MCS for the PPDU sent to the STA using MU-MIMO and is set in the EHT-MCS index.

[0084] If the spontaneous MFB is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB subfield is 1, and 1) If the SU / MU-MIMO subfield indicates SU-MIMO, the EHT-MCS subfield indicates the recommended EHT-MCS for the EHT TB PPDU sent from the STA in SU-MIMO and is set in the EHT-MCS index. 2) If the SU / MU-MIMO subfield indicates MU-MIMO, the EHT-MCS subfield indicates the recommended EHT-MCS for the EHT TB PPDU sent from the STA in MU-MIMO and is set in the EHT-MCS index. If the spontaneous MFB is 0 and the MRQ is 0, the EHT-MCS subfield indicates the recommended EHT-MCS for the PPDU sent to the STA for either SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO, which can be identified by the MSI. Otherwise, this subfield is secondary.

[0085] RU assignment / (partial RU assignment, SU / MU-MIMO) (RU of recommended EHT-MCS / RU / MRU and SU / MU-MIMO type specified by the MFB requester to obtain feedback).

[0086] When the BW subfield is set to 0 (indicating a recommended EHT-MCS / RU / MRU PPDU bandwidth of 20 MHz), this subfield includes a partial RU allocation subfield and a SU / MU-MIMO subfield, each containing 8 bits and 1 bit, as described above with reference to Figure 10A.

[0087] The partial RU allocation subfield includes B8-B0 to B7-B0 of the RU allocation subfield specified in the RU allocation subfield in 802.11be D1.1, and can represent all RU / MRUs specified within the 20 MHz PPDU BW.

[0088] The SU / MU-MIMO subfield indicates whether the recommended EHT-MCS with SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO is applied to the PPDU. Set it to 0 to indicate SU-MIMO and to 1 to indicate MU-MIMO.

[0089] If the BW subfield is set to 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 (indicating that the recommended EHT-MCS / RU / MRU PPDU bandwidth is 40, 80, 160, 320-1, or 320-2 MHz), this subfield contains only RU allocations, as described above with reference to Figure 10B, which is specified within the RU allocation subfield in 802.11be D1.1.

[0090] If the Spontaneous MFB is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB is 0, this (partial) RU assignment subfield indicates the RU / MRU that the Recommended EHT-MCS applies to the PPDU sent to the STA.

[0091] If the Spontaneous MFB is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB is 1, this (partial) RU allocation indicates the RU / MRU that the Recommended EHT-MCS applies to the EHT TB PPDU sent from the STA, and that the actual RU / MRU allocation can be ignored by the recipient.

[0092] If the Spontaneous MFB is 0 and the MRQ is 1, this (partial) RU allocation subfield indicates the RU / MRU requested by the MFB requester to obtain feedback.

[0093] The RU assignment is interpreted as PPDU BW and specifies RU / MRU.

[0094] Otherwise, this subfield is secondary.

[0095] BW (Recommended EHT-MCS PPDU bandwidth / PPDU bandwidth specified by the MFB requester to obtain feedback)

[0096] If the spontaneous MFB is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB is 0, BW indicates the bandwidth that the recommended EHT-MCS applies to the PPDU sent to the STA.

[0097] If the Spontaneous MFB is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB is 1, then BW indicates the bandwidth to which the Recommended EHT-MCS applies to the EHT TB PPDU transmitted from the STA.

[0098] If the spontaneous MFB is 0 and the MRQ is 1, BW indicates the PPDU bandwidth requested by the MFB requester to obtain feedback.

[0099] Set 20MHz to 0. Set 40MHz to 1. Set 80MHz to 2. Set 160MHz to 3. Set 320-1MHz to 4. Set 320-2MHz to 5.

[0100] Otherwise, this subfield is secondary.

[0101] Tx beamforming (transmission type of the measured PPDU):

[0102] If the spontaneous MFB subfield is 1 and the UL EHT TB PPDU MFB subfield is 0, the Tx beamforming subfield indicates whether the PPDU, for which the spontaneous MFB is estimated, is beamformed or not.

[0103] For non-beamforming PPDUs, the value is set to 0.

[0104] The beamforming PPDU is set to 1.

[0105] Otherwise, this subfield is secondary.

[0106] UL EHT TB PPDU MFB (UL EHT TB PPDU MFB Indication): If the Spontaneous MFB subfield is 1, a value of 1 in this subfield indicates that the NSS, EHT-MCS, BW, and RU allocation fields represent the recommended MFB for the EHT TB PPDU sent from the STA. Otherwise, this subfield is secondary.

[0107] MSI / (PPDU format, encoding type) / (PPDU format, SU / MU-MIMO)(MRQ sequence identifier / PPDU format, encoding type, and SU / MU-MIMO type of the measured PPDU)

[0108] As shown in Figure 11A, when the spontaneous MFB subfield is 0 and the MRQ subfield is 1, this subfield contains a sequence number in the range of 0 to 3 that identifies a specific EHT-MCS feedback request.

[0109] As shown in Figure 11A, when the spontaneous MFB subfield is 0 and the MRQ subfield is 0, this subfield contains a sequence number in the range of 0 to 3 that responds to a specific involuntary EHT-MCS feedback request.

[0110] If the spontaneous MFB subfield is 1 and the BW subfield is set to 0 (indicating a recommended EHT-MCS / RU / MRU PPDU bandwidth of 20 MHz), then, as shown in Figure 11B, this subfield includes the PPDU format (1 bit) (set to 0 for EHT MU PPDU indications and 1 for EHT TB PPDU) and the encoding type (1 bit) (set to 0 for BCC indications and 1 for LDPC).

[0111] If the Spontaneous MFB subfield is 1 and the BW subfield is set to 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 (indicating that the recommended EHT-MCS / RU / MRU PPDU bandwidth is 40, 80, 160, 320-1, or 320-2 MHz), then, as shown in Figure 11C, this subfield includes the PPDU format (1 bit) (set to 0 for the indication of EHT MU PPDU and to 1 for the indication of EHT TB PPDU) and the SU / MU-MIMO type (1 bit) (set to 0 for the indication of SU-MIMO and to 1 for MU-MIMO).

[0112] The advantage of the third embodiment is that it maintains the A control format without modification and uses only one preliminary control ID for the indication of EHT LA control.

[0113] In the embodiments described above, it can be seen that the position of the SU / MU-MIMO indicator changes depending on the recommended BW and spontaneous MFB. This should be understood as a specific example. More generally, within the 26-bit control information, there is some indicator of whether the EHT LA parameter applies to SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO. In some embodiments, there may be exceptions to the need to include the SU / MU-MIMO indicator in certain cases, such as when the spontaneous MFB subfield is 0 as described above.

[0114] [EHT Link Adaptation (EHT LA) using a single control ID value within the A control subfield of the HE variant HT control field - Second Method] According to the fourth embodiment, a control ID value equal to 2 (for HLA in 802.11ax) is used to indicate the LA parameter for both HE and HLA. The receiver determines which case is relevant based on another basis, such as based on the PHY layer parameters, as described in the second embodiment above. Table 4 below shows the control ID assignments for this embodiment.

[0115] [Table 4]

[0116] In a specific example, the format of the control information subfield in EHT Link Adaptation (EHT LA) is the same as that described earlier in the third embodiment with reference to Figures 9, 10, and 11. Furthermore, an example of the definition of EHT LA parameters within the control information subfield is as described in the third embodiment above.

[0117] The advantage of the fourth embodiment is that it maintains the A control format without modification and reuses the control ID value 2 for EHT LA control indication.

[0118] The third and fourth embodiments share the characteristic that a single ID is used for the EHT LA. This is either a secondary control ID (third embodiment) or control ID 2 (fourth embodiment).

[0119] A flowchart of the method encompassing the third and fourth embodiments is depicted in Figure 12. The method begins in block 1200 with the step of a wireless communication device communicating a MAC frame, which includes a medium access control (MAC) header, a frame body, and a frame check sequence. The MAC header has a high-throughput (HT) control subfield, which includes a control ID value and control information, as shown in step 1202. If the control ID value is set to a first value, the control information includes EHT link adaptive parameters for EHT communication, and as shown in step 1204, the control information includes a SU / MU-MIMO indication indicating whether the control information is for SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO. The first value is 2 in some embodiments and one of 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14 in other embodiments. Many examples of the indication for whether the control information is for SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO have been described above, and any of them can be applied here.

[0120] In Figure 12, the communication step may include reception by the access point, or the communication step may include transmission by the access point, or the communication step may include reception by a non-AP station, or the communication step may include transmission by a non-AP station.

[0121] In some embodiments, a transmitter, which may be, for example, an AP or a non-AP STA, determines EHT LA link adaptation information for EHT transmissions to SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO. Detailed examples of EHT LA parameters are given above. Determining the EHT LA parameters may include performing channel measurements. The transmitter then transmits the EHT LA information using one of the methods described above. Subsequently, data transmission is performed using the updated EHT LA parameters. This continues until the EHT LA parameters are updated again.

[0122] In light of the above teachings, numerous modifications and alterations are possible in this disclosure. Therefore, it should be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, this disclosure may be implemented in ways other than those specifically described herein.

Claims

1. It is a method, A step of communicating an indication at the physical layer by a wireless communication device, wherein the indication indicates whether the initial medium access control (MAC) frame is a frame of a high efficiency (HE) protocol or a frame of a next-generation protocol following the HE protocol. The wireless communication device communicates the first MAC frame, which includes a MAC header, a frame body, and a frame check sequence, The MAC header includes a high-throughput (HT) control subfield, and the HT control subfield includes a control ID value and control information. Steps and Equipped with, If the control ID value included in the HT control subfield is set to 2 and the first MAC frame is an extremely high throughput (EHT) protocol frame, then the control information included in the HT control subfield includes EHT link adaptive parameters for EHT communication, or When the control ID value included in the HT control subfield is set to 2 and the first MAC frame is an HE protocol frame, the control information included in the HT control subfield includes HE link adaptive parameters for HE communication. method.

2. The control information includes a spontaneous modulation and coding scheme feedback (MFB) subfield, a bandwidth subfield indicating the recommended physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) bandwidth, and a modulation and coding scheme request sequence identifier (MSI) / (PPDU format, coding type) subfield, defined as follows: If the spontaneous MFB subfield is 0, the MSI / (PPDU format, encoding type) subfield contains MSI or If the spontaneous MFB subfield is 1, the MSI / (PPDU format, encoding type) subfield includes the PPDU format and encoding type. The method according to claim 1.

3. The step of communicating the indication is: If the first MAC frame is the HE protocol frame, the physical layer communicates the indication that the MAC frame is the HE protocol frame, or If the first MAC frame is the EHT protocol frame, the physical layer communicates the indication that the MAC frame is the EHT protocol frame. The method according to claim 1, including the method described in claim 1.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the HT control subfield includes an HE variant HT control field, the HE variant HT control field includes an A control subfield, and the A control subfield includes the control ID value and the control information.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of communicating the indication and the step of communicating the first MAC frame are output for transmission by an access point (AP).

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of communicating the indication and the step of communicating the first MAC frame include the step of reading them as input at the AP.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of communicating the indication and the step of communicating the first MAC frame are output for transmission by a non-AP station (STA).

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of communicating the indication and the step of communicating the first MAC frame include the step of reading as input in a non-AP STA.

9. An access point comprising a processor and memory, configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

10. A non-access point (AP) comprising a processor and memory, configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

11. A computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores program instructions, and when the program instructions are executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 is executed.

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