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BR-122025009395-A2 - TECHNIQUES FOR BEAM FORMATION

BR122025009395A2BR 122025009395 A2BR122025009395 A2BR 122025009395A2BR-122025009395-A2

Abstract

This disclosure relates to beamforming techniques, in particular for WiFi communication schemes such as IEEE 802.11ax and 802.11be. In particular, the disclosure relates to a beamforming device (110) configured to: transmit a request to a beamforming device (120), the request comprising a set of polling tone indices, the set of polling tone indices indicating tones for which a beamforming information report (121) is requested from the beamforming device (120), wherein the tones are defined according to a first WiFi scheme, wherein the set of polling tone indices is based on a first tone plane (400) defined by the first WiFi scheme for a partial channel bandwidth and on a second tone plane (200) defined by a second WiFi scheme for a full channel bandwidth. The disclosure further relates to a corresponding beamforming device.

Inventors

  • GENADIY TSODIK
  • Shimon Shilo
  • Oded Redlich

Assignees

  • HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD

Dates

Publication Date
20260310
Application Date
20200818

Claims (14)

  1. 1. Beamforming device (110), CHARACTERIZED in that the beamforming device (110) is configured to: transmit a request to a beamforming device (120), the request comprising a set of polling tone indices, the set of polling tone indices indicating tones for which a beamforming information report (121) is requested from the beamforming device (120), wherein the tones are defined according to a first WiFi scheme, wherein the set of polling tone indices is based on a first tone plane (400) defined by the first WiFi scheme for a partial channel bandwidth and on a second tone plane (200) defined by a second WiFi scheme for a full channel bandwidth.
  2. 2. Beamforming device (110), according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that the first WiFi scheme is WiFi 802.11be, and the second WiFi scheme is WiFi 802.11ax.
  3. 3. Beamforming device (110), according to claim 1 or 2, CHARACTERIZED in that the first WiFi scheme is supporting channel bandwidths of 80 MHz, 160 MHz, 80 + 80 MHz, 240 MHz and 320 MHz.
  4. 4. Beamforming device (110), according to one of the preceding claims, CHARACTERIZED in that the second WiFi scheme is supporting a channel bandwidth of 80 MHz.
  5. 5. Beamforming device (110), according to one of the preceding claims, CHARACTERIZED in that the total channel bandwidth is 80 MHz; and the partial channel bandwidth is any subset of the total channel bandwidth.
  6. 6. Beamforming device (110), according to one of the preceding claims, CHARACTERIZED in that the probing tone indices are based on a new set of unified probing indices (500, 600, 700) comprising probing tone indices for both the first tone plane (400) for partial channel bandwidth and the second tone plane (200) for full channel bandwidth.
  7. 7. Beamforming device (110), according to one of claims 1 to 5, CHARACTERIZED in that the sounding tone indices are based on a new set of sounding indices (800, 900, 1000) for the partial channel bandwidth and additional center tone indices for the total channel bandwidth.
  8. 8. Beamforming device (110), according to one of claims 1 to 5, CHARACTERIZED in that the probing tone indices are based on a reuse of the probing tone indices (1100, 1200) defined for second tone plane feature units (200) and a definition of which second tone plane feature units (200) correspond to first tone plane feature units (400).
  9. 9. Beamforming device (110), according to one of claims 6 to 8, CHARACTERIZED in that the set of probing tone indices for a channel bandwidth greater than the total channel bandwidth, in particular for a channel bandwidth of 160 MHz, 80 + 80 MHz, 240 MHz or 320 MHz, is based on a duplication of rules defined for the set of probing tone indices within each segment of the total channel bandwidth.
  10. 10. Beamforming device (110), according to one of the preceding claims, CHARACTERIZED in that the request to the beamforming device (120) indicates a channel bandwidth, the indicated channel bandwidth being a total channel bandwidth defined for the first WiFi scheme.
  11. 11. Beamforming device (110), according to claim 10, CHARACTERIZED in that the indicated channel bandwidth is a total channel bandwidth of 80 MHz, 80 + 80 MHz, 160 MHz, 240 MHz, 320 MHz or any partial bandwidth thereof.
  12. 12. Beamforming device (110), according to one of the preceding claims, CHARACTERIZED in that the set of sounding tone indices is defined by channel bandwidth and by number of tones, Ng, in particular for Ng=4 and Ng=16.
  13. 13. Method (2800) for requesting beamforming information, CHARACTERIZED in that the method comprises: transmitting (2801), by a beamforming device (110), a request to a beamforming device, the request comprising a set of polling tone indices, the set of polling tone indices indicating tones for which a beamforming information report is requested from the beamforming device, wherein the tones are defined according to a first WiFi scheme, wherein the set of polling tone indices is based on a first tone plane defined by the first WiFi scheme for a partial channel bandwidth and on a second tone plane defined by a second WiFi scheme for a full channel bandwidth; and receiving (2802) the beamforming information report from the beamforming device based on the set of polling tone indices.
  14. 14. Beamformee device (120), CHARACTERIZED in that the beamformee device (120) is configured to: transmit a beamforming information report (121) to a beamforming device (110) based on a set of polling tone indices received from the beamforming device (110), wherein the set of polling tone indices is indicating tones for which a beamforming information report is requested from the beamformee device (120), wherein the tones are defined according to a first WiFi scheme, wherein the set of polling tone indices is based on a first tone plane defined by the first WiFi scheme for a partial channel bandwidth and on a second tone plane defined by a second WiFi scheme for a full channel bandwidth.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present disclosure relates to beamforming techniques. The disclosure relates particularly to a beamforming device that transmits a request with a set of sounding tone indices to a beamforming device, and a beamforming device that transmits a beamforming information report to a beamforming device. The disclosure further relates to a beamforming device that receives a beamforming report from a beamforming device. FUNDAMENTALS [0002] Compressed Beamforming Report is part of the polling procedure, defined for transmitting beamforming information from beamformer to beamformer. It is used by the IEEE 802.11n/ac/ax versions of the WiFi standard, also known as 11n, 11ac, 11ax. Compressed Beamforming Report consists of the MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) Control Field which defines various parameter indications (e.g., Nc, Ng, codebook size), general feedback information (e.g., average SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) per stream) and compressed tone data which includes pre-encoder matrix and SNR per tone (for MU (multiple users) feedback type). [0003] Starting with 801.11ax, polling can be performed across the entire bandwidth (BW) or part of the BW (Single or multiple Resource Allocations - RUs (Resource Units)). In this way, a specific set of tone (subcarrier) indices is defined for polling each portion of the supported BW. [0004] IEEE 802.11be, also known as 11be or WiFi6, introduces a higher bandwidth and a larger MIMO size, which requires updated feedback parameters, frame format, and also a precise definition of compressed pre-encoder matrix and SNR. In addition, 802.11be introduces a new tone plane (i.e., a frequency division structure for basic units, RUs) which implies a different tone definition to be applied also for polling. SUMMARY [0005] The objective of this disclosure is to provide techniques for improving beamforming performance in advanced communication schemes, such as WiFi EHT (Extremely High Throughput), for example, in accordance with IEEE 802.11be. [0006] This objective is achieved by the characteristics of the independent claims. Other forms of implementation are evident from the dependent claims, the description, and the figures. [0007] A basic idea of this disclosure is to apply a new index definition to a new tone plan. The disclosure introduces an update to parameters and formats defined by WiFi HE (High Efficiency), for example, according to IEEE 802.11ax, to include new and extended cases introduced by WiFi EHT, for example, according to IEEE 802.11be. [0008] The disclosure provides a new/expanded definition for the following fields and parameters: - New definition of polling indices for BW > 80 MHz; - Extended definition of compressed pre-encoder matrix values; - Extended definition of SNR values. [0009] In particular, the revelation introduces a mechanism for adjusting tone indices for the 802.11be tone plane. [0010] A new tone plan introduced by 802.11be is for partial BW transmission (including punctured BW), while the total 80 MHz BW assigned to a single STA (Station) (or group of STAs) will reuse the 802.11ax tone plan. This new tone plan can be defined in a Partial BW Info Field. [0011] The disclosure presents the following three optional solutions, which will be described in detail below: - Option 1: Introduce a new unified set of polling indices to be used for all options (meaning the new set must cover both a new tone plan and a full BW 802.11ax tone plan); - Option 2: Introduce a new set of polling indices for partial BW polling (by duplicating indices from the 20 MHz portion) and add center tone indices for full BW polling; - Option 3: Reuse the 802.11ax polling index set, but define which polling RUs correspond to the data RU defined by the new tone plan. [0012] An additional idea of the revelation is to define values of the compressed beamforming matrix and part of the general parameters. [0013] In summary, the disclosure defines indices for measurement and reported compressed beamforming pre-encoder matrices for new bandwidth values and a new tone plane introduced by the IEEE 802.11be standard. The disclosure also provides an exact definition of the compressed pre-encoder matrix form for MIMO schemes larger than 8x8 adopted by IEEE 802.11be. [0014] In order to describe the invention in detail, the following terms, abbreviations and notations will be used: BW bandwidth MIMO Multiple Inputs, Multiple Outputs SNR Signal-to-noise ratio MU multiple users SU single user Ng number of tones, tone grouping factor Nc number of spatial streams Na number of angles Nr number of transmitting antennas RU resource unit OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access STA Station according to WiFi notation AP Access point according to WiFi notation S1 to S4 frequency segments NDP Null Data Packet [0015] Resource Unit (RU) is a unit in OFDMA terminology used in WiFi schemes to denote a group of subcarriers (tones) used in both downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) tr