Systems and Methods for Operation of Wireless User Devices with Cellular and Wi-Fi Interfaces

Abstract

An embodiment method for wireless communication includes grouping a plurality of user equipments (UEs) wirelessly coupled to a cellular base station (BS) into a UE cluster to function as a Wi-Fi virtual station (V-STA), and communicating with an access point (AP) to contend for a Wi-Fi transmission opportunity (TXOP) for the V-STA. In a further embodiment, the cellular BS contends for the TXOP on behalf of the UE cluster using a carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA-CA) procedure. In an alternative embodiment, one UE in the UE cluster is selected as a leader UE to contend for the TXOP on behalf of the UE cluster using a CSMA-CA procedure.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for wireless communications comprising:
 communicating, by an access point (AP), with a leader of a user equipment (UE) cluster contending for a virtual station (V-STA) transmit opportunity (TXOP) on behalf of the UE cluster;   granting, by the AP, the V-STA TXOP to the UE cluster; and   receiving, by the AP, data from the UE cluster within the V-STA TXOP.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein communicating with the leader of the UE cluster comprises communicating with a first UE in the UE cluster. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein communicating with the leader of the UE cluster comprises communicating with a base station (BS) coordinating UEs in the UE cluster. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein communicating with the leader comprises using a carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA-CA) procedure. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a transmission mechanism in the V-STA TXOP is selected from the group consisting of orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), and scheduled multiple access. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising forcing, by the AP, other stations (STAs) not in the UE cluster to be silent during the V-STA TXOP. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein forcing the other STAs to be silent comprises transmission of timing information in a physical (PHY) or media access control (MAC) header to the other STAs to silence the other STAs for a period of time. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising including an identifier of the UE cluster in the PHY or MAC header to instruct the UE cluster to remain active for the V-STA TXOP. 
     
     
         9 . An access point (AP) comprising:
 a non-transitory memory storage comprising instructions; and   one or more processors in communication with the non-transitory memory storage, wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to:   communicate with a leader of a user equipment (UE) cluster contending for a virtual station (V-STA) transmit opportunity (TXOP) on behalf of the UE cluster;   grant the V-STA TXOP to the UE cluster; and   receive data from the UE cluster within the V-STA TXOP.   
     
     
         10 . The AP of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors executing the instructions to communicate with the leader of the UE cluster comprises the one or more processors executing the instructions to communicate with a first UE in the UE cluster. 
     
     
         11 . The AP of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors executing the instructions to communicate with the leader of the UE cluster comprises the one or more processors executing the instructions to communicate with a base station (BS) coordinating UEs in the UE cluster. 
     
     
         12 . The AP of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors executing the instructions to communicate with the leader comprises the one or more processors executing the instructions to use a carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA-CA) procedure. 
     
     
         13 . The AP of  claim 9 , wherein a transmission mechanism in the V-STA TXOP is selected from the group consisting of orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), and scheduled multiple access. 
     
     
         14 . The AP of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to force other stations (STAs) not in the UE cluster to be silent during the V-STA TXOP. 
     
     
         15 . The AP of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more processors executing the instructions to force the other STAs to be silent comprises transmission of timing information in a physical (PHY) or media access control (MAC) header to the other STAs to silence the other STAs for a period of time. 
     
     
         16 . The AP of  claim 15 , wherein the one or more processors executing the instructions to include an identifier of the UE cluster in the PHY or MAC header to instruct the UE cluster to remain active for the V-STA TXOP. 
     
     
         17 . A method for providing cellular wireless transmission in an unlicensed band and coexistent with wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi) devices, comprising:
 performing, by a first user equipment (UE) in conjunction with other UEs in a first group of UEs each supporting both a cellular air interface and a wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi) air interface, first synchronous data transmission in accordance with cellular timing information within a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of a virtual station (V-STA), coordination between the first group of UEs being performed via a cellular control channel in response to one of the first group of UEs being selected as a leader; and   performing, by the first UE in conjunction with other UEs in a second group of UEs each supporting both the cellular air interface and the Wi-Fi air interface, second synchronous data transmission in accordance with the cellular timing information within a TXOP of a V-STA, coordination between the second group of UEs being performed via direct communication between an access point (AP) and a base station (BS) in response to the BS being selected as the leader.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the first UE is the selected leader. 
     
     
         19 . A first user equipment (UE) comprising:
 a non-transitory memory storage comprising instructions; and   one or more processors in communication with the non-transitory memory storage, wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to:
 perform, in conjunction with other UEs in a first group of UEs each supporting both a cellular air interface and a wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi) air interface, first synchronous data transmission in accordance with cellular timing information within a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of a virtual station (V-STA), coordination between the first group of UEs being performed via a cellular control channel in response to one of the first group of UEs being selected as a leader; and 
 perform, in conjunction with other UEs in a second group of UEs each supporting both the cellular air interface and the Wi-Fi air interface, second synchronous data transmission in accordance with the cellular timing information within a TXOP of a V-STA, coordination between the second group of UEs being performed via direct communication between an access point (AP) and a base station (BS) in response to the BS being selected as the leader. 
   
     
     
         20 . The first UE of  claim 17 , wherein the first UE is the selected leader.