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US-20260129631-A1 - DISTRIBUTED RU IMPROVEMENTS

US20260129631A1US 20260129631 A1US20260129631 A1US 20260129631A1US-20260129631-A1

Abstract

An access point may include a transceiver and a processing device. The transceiver may be operable to communicate with at least on station. The processing device may be operable to determine distributed resource units for the station to use for transmissions with the access point. The processing device may also be operable to estimate a channel between the access point and the at least one station. The processing device may further be operable to determine beamforming coefficients based on the estimated channel. The processing device may also be operable to transmit the beamforming coefficients and an uplink data frame to the at least one station. The processing device may further be operable to obtain a beamforming-triggered distributed resource unit transmission from the at least one station.

Inventors

  • Rainer Strobel
  • Avi Avraham Mansour
  • Ziv Avital
  • Sigurd Schelstraete

Assignees

  • MAXLINEAR, INC.

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20251106

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . An access point (AP), comprising: a transceiver operable to communicate with at least one station (STA); a processing device operable to; determine distributed resource units for the at least one STA to use for transmissions with the AP; estimate a channel between the AP and the at least one STA; determine beamforming coefficients based on the estimated channel; transmit the beamforming coefficients and an uplink data frame to the at least one STA; and obtain a beamforming-triggered distributed resource unit transmission from the at least one STA.
  2. 2 . The AP of claim 1 , wherein the distributed resource units are based on a modulation and coding scheme used by the at least one STA in a wireless local area network.
  3. 3 . The AP of claim 1 , wherein the distributed resource units are assigned in accordance with a tone plan that is constructed on a regular tone grid such that each carrier in a subset of available carriers is spaced by an integer multiple of a spreading factor.
  4. 4 . The AP of claim 3 , wherein the tone plan is distortion optimized such that gaps exist in a distortion spectrum, or a third order intermodulation distortion, based on a distribution of a subset of available carriers.
  5. 5 . The AP of claim 1 , wherein the processing device estimates the channel based on a sounding response obtained from the at least one STA, and the sounding response comprises null data packets (NDPs) from the at least one STA, each NDP including long training field (LTF) symbols for channel estimation.
  6. 6 . The AP of claim 1 , wherein the beamforming-triggered distributed resource unit transmission is obtained from the at least one STA using a full bandwidth of the channel, and the beamforming-triggered distributed resource unit transmission from the at least one STA comprises an orthogonal code that differs from a beamforming transmission from a second STA.
  7. 7 . A method, comprising: determining a modulation and coding scheme used by a transmitter in a wireless local area network (WLAN); in response to a distortion limit based on the modulation and coding scheme, distributing a subset of available carriers to the transmitter as part of a tone plan; and transmitting, by the transmitter, data in the WLAN using the subset of available carriers and according to the tone plan.
  8. 8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the tone plan is constructed on a regular tone grid such that each carrier in the subset of available carriers is spaced by an integer multiple of a spreading factor.
  9. 9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein a particular carrier that is not used is not included in the regular tone grid.
  10. 10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the particular carrier is at least one of a DC carrier or an edge-band carrier.
  11. 11 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the tone plan is distortion optimized such that gaps exist in a distortion spectrum, or a third order intermodulation distortion, based on the distribution of the subset of available carriers.
  12. 12 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the tone plan is arranged such that distortion associated with a second resource unit is not caused by distortion associated with a first resource unit, and where first resource unit and the second resource unit use the same transmit spectrum.
  13. 13 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the subset of available carriers excludes DC carriers and band-edge carriers.
  14. 14 . A method, comprising: transmitting a sounding trigger frame to at least one station (STA) using a channel; obtaining a sounding response from the at least one STA; estimating the channel; determining beamforming coefficients based on the estimated channel; transmitting the beamforming coefficients and an uplink data frame to the at least one STA; and obtaining a beamforming-triggered distributed resource unit transmission from the at least one STA.
  15. 15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the sounding response comprises null data packets (NDPs) from the at least one STA, each NDP including long training field (LTF) symbols for channel estimation.
  16. 16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the LTF symbols are orthogonal frequency division multiplexed symbols and are modulated with an orthogonal code that differs for each transmit antenna.
  17. 17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein a length of the LTF symbols is determined based on a number of antennas associated with the at least one STA.
  18. 18 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the beamforming-triggered distributed resource unit transmission is obtained from the at least one STA using carriers of a subset of distributed resource units.
  19. 19 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the beamforming-triggered distributed resource unit transmission is obtained from the at least one STA using a full bandwidth of the channel, and the beamforming-triggered distributed resource unit transmission from the at least one STA comprises an orthogonal code that differs from a beamforming transmission from a second STA.
  20. 20 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the sounding response from the at least one STA comprises a first NDP at a first time and a second sounding response from a second STA comprises a second NDP at a second time.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This U.S. Patent Application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/717,277, titled “DISTRIBUTED RU IMPROVEMENTS,” and filed on November 6, 2024, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure generally relates to wireless communication, and more specifically, to distributed resource unit improvements. BACKGROUND Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described herein are not prior art to the claims in the present application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.x standards include protocols for implementing various networking techniques, including wireless local area network (WLAN) communications and Wi-Fi. Ultra High Reliability (UHR) is a WLAN capability that aims to improve the reliability of WLAN connectivity. UHR is being developed by the IEEE 802.11 working group, and will form the basis of Wi-Fi 8. The subject matter claimed in the present disclosure is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one example technology area where some implementations described in the present disclosure may be practiced. SUMMARY In an example embodiment, an access point (AP) may include a transceiver and a processing device. The transceiver may be operable to communicate with at least on station (STA). The processing device may be operable to determine distributed resource units for the STA to use for transmissions with the AP. The processing device may also be operable to estimate a channel between the AP and the at least one STA. The processing device may further be operable to determine beamforming coefficients based on the estimated channel. The processing device may also be operable to transmit the beamforming coefficients and an uplink data frame to the at least one STA. The processing device may further be operable to obtain a beamforming-triggered distributed resource unit transmission from the at least one STA. In another embodiment, a method may include determining a modulation and coding scheme used by a transmitter in a wireless local area network (WLAN). The method may also include distributing a subset of available carriers to the transmitter as part of a tone plan in response to a distortion limit based on the modulation and coding scheme. The method may further include transmitting, by the transmitter, data in the WLAN using the subset of available carriers and according to the tone plan. In another embodiment, a method may include transmitting a sounding trigger frame to at least one STA using a channel. The method may also include obtaining a sounding response from the at least one STA. The method may further include estimating the channel. The method may also include determining beamforming coefficients based on the estimated channel. The method may further include transmitting the beamforming coefficients and an uplink data frame to the at least one STA. The method may also include obtaining a beamforming-triggered distributed resource unit transmission from the at least one STA. The objects and advantages of the embodiments will be realized and achieved at least by the elements, features, and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims. Both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are given as examples and are explanatory and not restrictive of the invention, as claimed. DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Example implementations will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail using the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example system for distributed resource unit improvements; FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example modulation and coding scheme and an associated transmit error vector magnitude; FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for transmitter distortion optimized tone plans; FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for uplink beamforming in a wireless local area network; and FIG. 5 illustrates an example computing device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION A distributed resource unit (DRU) for uplink orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (UL-OFDMA) may be a feature to improve range extension in a wireless local area network, such as the IEEE 802.11bn standard. In such instances, the uplink transmit signal may be spread over a wide bandwidth which may contribute to overcoming power spectral density (PSD) mask limitations, which may be provided by regulation including in the 6GHz band. In some instances, multiple uplink transmissions may be interleaved in frequency to avoid a loss of spectral efficiency. The system and methods described herein may contribute to an efficient operation of DRU UL-OFDMA by addressing tran