Multi-AP WLAN Sounding via Trigger Frames and NDP Feedback
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless local area network (WLAN) systems face challenges in efficiently performing sounding procedures and data transmission with multiple access points (APs), leading to suboptimal performance in high-throughput scenarios.
Innovation Solution
A method where a first type of access point performs a sounding procedure and signal transmission using multiple APs, including receiving trigger frames, transmitting Null Data Packet (NDP) requests, and providing feedback, to facilitate faster data transmission and coordination among multiple APs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a single AP performs sounding procedure and data transmission, then the system is simple to manage, but the data transmission speed and throughput are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the sounding procedure into multiple phases: a first AP transmits NDP request frames to initiate sounding, multiple APs transmit NDP frames simultaneously, and a second AP collects feedback. This segmentation allows parallel operations across multiple APs, increasing throughput while distributing coordination complexity across specialized roles.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary channel sounding before actual data transmission. The first AP sends NDP request frames to trigger NDP transmissions from multiple APs, allowing channel characteristics to be measured and feedback to be collected in advance. This preliminary action enables optimized data transmission across multiple APs without real-time coordination overhead during actual data transfer.
2Productivity
If multiple APs transmit simultaneously, then throughput increases, but interference management becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where receiving stations measure channel quality from NDP frames transmitted by multiple APs and send feedback information back to the transmitting APs. This feedback enables the system to adjust transmissions to minimize interference, allowing multiple APs to operate simultaneously while maintaining signal quality through coordinated resource allocation.
Data Source
AI summary
A method performed in a wireless local area network (LAN) system is presented. Particularly, a first type access point (AP) #1 can receive a trigger frame from a second type AP. The first type AP #1 can transmit a null data packet (NDP) request frame to a first station (STA). The first type AP #1 can receive a first NDP frame from the first STA, and receive a second NDP frame from a second STA. The first type AP #1 can receive a feedback request frame from the second type AP. The first type AP #1 can transmit an NDP feedback frame to the second type AP on the basis of the first and second NDP frames.