Configurable Trigger Frame for Legacy and 802.11be Uplink Scheduling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing IEEE 802.11 wireless communication protocols lack support for enhanced features such as increased bandwidth and spatial streams, necessitating new trigger frame formats to facilitate efficient uplink transmissions in next-generation WLANs.
Innovation Solution
The development of an enhanced trigger frame that can solicit both legacy and non-legacy TB PPDUs, supporting bandwidths up to 320 MHz and 16 spatial streams, while ensuring backward compatibility with existing STAs through configurable formats.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a legacy trigger frame format is used, then backward compatibility with existing STAs is maintained, but support for enhanced features (bandwidth up to 320 MHz and 16 spatial streams) is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The trigger frame is segmented into distinct fields: a common information field containing legacy-compatible elements and an enhanced information field containing new features. This segmentation allows legacy STAs to process only the common field while non-legacy STAs can utilize both fields, resolving the contradiction between backward compatibility and enhanced feature support.
Solution Approach 2:
The enhanced information field is extracted as a separate optional component from the legacy trigger frame structure. Non-legacy STAs can identify and process this extracted field to access enhanced features (320 MHz bandwidth, 16 spatial streams), while legacy STAs simply ignore it, thus maintaining compatibility without requiring all STAs to handle complex enhanced formats.
2Productivity
If a new trigger frame format is developed to support enhanced WLAN features, then bandwidth and spatial stream capabilities are improved, but compatibility with legacy STAs deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The trigger frame is designed with universal compatibility through a common information field that all STAs can process, while simultaneously providing enhanced functionality through an optional enhanced information field. This multi-functionality allows the same frame structure to serve both legacy STAs (basic functionality) and non-legacy STAs (enhanced throughput capabilities), resolving the contradiction between productivity improvement and adaptability maintenance.
3Adaptability or versatility
If configurable trigger frame formats are implemented, then support for multiple IEEE 802.11 standards is enabled, but frame structure complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The trigger frame structure is made dynamic and configurable through a format indicator field that specifies whether the frame follows legacy or enhanced format. Non-legacy STAs use this indicator to dynamically adjust their parsing behavior, allowing the same physical frame to adapt to different standard requirements without requiring multiple fixed frame structures, thus managing complexity while maintaining multi-standard support.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3
AI summary
This disclosure provides methods, devices and systems for generating enhanced trigger frames. Some implementations more specifically relate to trigger frame designs that support gains in data throughput achievable in accordance with the IEEE 802.11be amendment, and future generations, of the IEEE 802.11 standard. In some implementations, an enhanced trigger frame may be used to solicit a non-legacy trigger-based (TB) physical layer protocol convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) from one or more wireless stations (STAs). In some implementations, the enhanced trigger frame may be configurable to support multiple versions of the IEEE 802.11 standard. For example, an enhanced trigger frame may be configured in accordance with a legacy trigger frame format or a non-legacy trigger frame format. Thus, when configured in accordance with the legacy trigger frame format, the enhanced trigger frame can also be used to a legacy TB PPDU from one or more STAs.