Access Point Frame Structure for Flexible RU Allocation
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Solution Overview
Problem
In wireless communications, particularly with the 802.11ax protocol, the existing method for downlink multi-user transmission requires additional operations to balance the lengths of signaling information on odd and even content channels, leading to inefficiencies in resource allocation and increased power consumption.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves an access point generating frames with multiple station information fields, each indicating whether it is the last field for a specific station, allowing for flexible resource allocation and reducing power consumption by enabling stations to identify the end of their allocated information more efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If two content channels are used to transmit HE-SIG B with balanced lengths, then system reliability is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional operations required to balance the lengths
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the station information fields into multiple groups, where each group is assigned to a specific content channel. By dividing the information fields and assigning them to different channels based on group identifiers, the system maintains balanced channel lengths without requiring complex padding operations, thus reducing device complexity while preserving reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-organizing station information fields into groups and assigning them to content channels before transmission. The access point determines the quantity of information fields for each channel in advance and assigns fields accordingly, eliminating the need for complex real-time balancing operations at the transmitting end
2Productivity
If station information fields are extended to allocate multiple RUs, then productivity increases, but loss of time increases due to stations reading unnecessary information fields
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making each station information field contain specific localized information about its associated resource unit, including an end indication field that is tailored to that specific field. This allows stations to quickly identify the end of their allocated information without having to read through entire extended frames, reducing the time and power consumed while maintaining the ability to allocate multiple RUs
Solution Approach 2:
The end indication field acts as an intermediary mechanism within each station information field. This intermediary provides a clear signal to stations about the boundaries of their allocated information, enabling efficient parsing and reducing the time stations need to spend reading unnecessary fields, thus lowering power consumption while maintaining high system capacity
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes: generating, by an access point AP, a first frame, where the first frame includes P station information fields, each of the P station information fields corresponds to one resource unit RU allocated to a first station STA, P is a positive integer greater than 1, each station information field further includes end indication information, and the end indication information is used to indicate whether the station information field is the last station information field in the P station information fields. The AP may allocate P RUs to the first STA, and indicate the P RUs to the first STA through the P station information fields in the first frame. Therefore, a resource allocation manner of the AP can be more flexible, a frequency selective gain of an OFDMA system can be effectively improved, and a system capacity can be increased.