Coordinated Beamforming Sounding for Overlapping Wi‑Fi BSSs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wireless communication networks face challenges in efficiently coordinating beamforming techniques to suppress interference between overlapping basic service sets (BSSs), particularly in Wi-Fi networks, lacking effective methods for group formation, sounding, and coordinated beamforming transmissions.
Innovation Solution
Implementing null data packet announcements (NDPAs) to indicate sounding occasions and common parameters for joint sounding, allowing wireless access points (APs) to transmit and monitor feedback for coordinated beamforming (C-BF) transmissions, including identifiers and sounding dialog tokens to facilitate efficient group formation and C-BF.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple access points transmit simultaneously in overlapping BSSs, then network coverage and capacity are improved, but interference between BSSs increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple access points are merged into a coordinated beamforming group where they jointly transmit to clients. The access points combine their signaling resources to form a unified transmission system, allowing simultaneous operation while coordinating to reduce mutual interference through joint sounding and coordinated beamforming transmissions.
Solution Approach 2:
The interference that naturally occurs between overlapping BSSs is converted into useful information through joint sounding procedures. By having access points transmit null data packets and receive feedback, the system transforms harmful interference into channel state information that enables coordinated beamforming, which then suppresses the interference in a controlled manner.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If coordinated beamforming is implemented without standardized procedures, then interference suppression capability is improved, but system complexity and deployment difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The coordinated beamforming process is segmented into distinct standardized phases: group formation, joint sounding, and coordinated beamforming transmissions. Each phase has specific standardized procedures and frame structures (such as NDPA and NDP frames), which breaks down the complex overall system into manageable, standardized components that reduce deployment complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses parameter changes in standardized frame structures to control the coordinated beamforming process. By modifying parameters such as sounding dialog tokens, null data packet annotations, and beamforming feedback matrices in standardized ways, the system achieves flexible interference suppression while maintaining standardized procedures that reduce complexity.
3Loss of information
If access points perform individual sounding independently, then signaling overhead is reduced, but beamforming coordination accuracy decreases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple access points combine their sounding transmissions into joint sounding procedures where they transmit null data packets simultaneously or in coordinated sequences. This merging of sounding resources allows the system to obtain comprehensive channel state information for all participating access points and clients in a unified process, improving beamforming coordination accuracy while managing signaling overhead efficiently.
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure provides methods, components, devices and systems for techniques for coordinated beamforming (C-BF). Some aspects more specifically relate to C-BF sounding. In some examples, a sharing AP may transmit a null data packet announcement. The null data packet announcement may indicate a sounding occasion and one or more common parameters for a first null data packet transmission for a sounding. The sharing AP may monitor for the sounding feedback associated with the first null data packet transmission during the sounding occasion. The null data packet announcement may include a null data packet announcement variant subfield, a sounding dialog token number subfield and at least a first station information field and a second station information field.