Beamforming Sector Sweep Frames With Hashed Short Addresses
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing IEEE 802.11ad standard's Sector Level Sweep (SLS) procedure for beamforming is inefficient as the length of Sector Sweep (SSW) frames is fixed at 26 octets, leading to increased time for completion with an increasing number of sectors, hindering communication efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A communication apparatus and method that generate shortened SSW frames by scrambling and hashing the source and destination addresses, reducing the frame length and enabling faster sector selection during SLS, even with multiple sectors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the SSW frame length is fixed at 26 octets as per IEEE 802.11ad standard, then the frame structure is simple and standardized, but the time required for SLS increases with the number of sectors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential information from the traditional SSW frame by replacing the full MAC addresses (48 bits each for TA and RA) with shortened address fields (16 bits each). This extraction principle reduces the frame length from 26 octets to 16 octets while maintaining the necessary functionality for beamforming training, thereby decreasing SLS completion time without completely simplifying the frame structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of address field length from the standard 48 bits to 16 bits by introducing a compression algorithm that maps full MAC addresses to shortened representations. This parameter change reduces the overall frame length and transmission time while maintaining address uniqueness through a hashing mechanism that ensures collision-free address assignment.
2Measurement precision
If the number of sectors is increased to improve beamforming accuracy, then the communication quality is improved, but the SLS completion time increases proportionally
Solution Approach 1:
By extracting and transmitting only the essential beamforming training information in a compressed 16-octet frame format, the patent enables faster transmission of sector sweep frames. This allows systems to transmit more sectors within the same time window, effectively increasing the number of sectors that can be evaluated without proportionally increasing the total SLS time, thus maintaining beamforming accuracy while reducing time loss.
3Reliability
If the full MAC addresses are transmitted in SSW frames, then the address identification is accurate and unambiguous, but the frame length and transmission time are increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a compressed copy of the MAC address information by mapping 48-bit addresses to 16-bit shortened addresses using a hashing algorithm. This copied representation maintains the unique identification capability needed for reliable address recognition while occupying only one-third of the original space, thereby reducing transmission time without sacrificing identification accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the address field parameter from 48 bits to 16 bits through a systematic compression scheme. By implementing this parameter change with a well-designed hashing function, the system maintains address identification reliability (avoiding collisions) while significantly reducing the time required to transmit and process address information in SSW frames.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A communication apparatus includes a PHY transmission circuit that generates a PHY frame including either of a short Sector Sweep frame and a Sector Sweep frame; and a transmission array antenna that selects, based on the PHY frame, any sector from among a plurality of sectors and transmits the PHY frame. The PHY transmission circuit generates the short Sector Sweep frame that includes an abbreviated address generated from an address of a source communication apparatus and an address of a destination communication apparatus. The abbreviated address is a value that is obtained by scrambling, based on any field included in the PHY frame, the address of the source communication apparatus and the address of the destination communication apparatus and by performing calculation using a hash function.