Method to negotiate consumed power versus medium occupancy time in MIMO based WLAN systems using admission control

Abstract

A method of selectively providing MIMO transmission/reception in a WLAN system includes using a TSPEC reservation and signaling mechanism to instantiate and tear down, dynamically, multi-channel operation in a WLAN; providing an inference algorithm to determine the minimum number of channels required to establish a TSPEC using a MIMO WLAN system; providing specific channel parameters as parameters to be negotiated in the TSPEC; providing frame exchange sequences to be used in Enhanced Distributed Coordinated Access contention based access and to be used in polled access; and providing a mechanism wherein an access point makes a decision as to whether to admit MIMO functionality on a given link, wherein a “link” is a set of communications between two specific WLAN stations.

1. A method of selectively providing MIMO transmission/reception in a WLAN system, comprising:
 using a TSPEC reservation and signaling mechanism to instantiate and tear down, dynamically, multi-channel operation in a WLAN; 
 providing an inference algorithm to determine the minimum number of channels required to establish a TSPEC using a MIMO WLAN system; 
 providing specific channel parameters as parameters to be negotiated in the TSPEC; 
 providing frame exchange sequences to be used in Enhanced Distributed Coordinated Access contention based access and to be used in polled access; 
 providing a mechanism wherein an access point makes a decision as to whether to admit MIMO functionality on a given link, wherein a “link”is a set of communications between two specific WLAN stations; and 
 using a frame exchange sequence to request MIMO resources, wherein a station's station management entity, as the requestor, is the entity that initiates a MLMEADDMIMO.request primitive, containing the information regarding the station, and the requested receive and transmit resources, triggers an ADDMIMO Request message sent from the non-AP station's MAC to the AP's HC MAC, which triggers an MLMEADDMIMO.indication primitive from the AP'S MAC to the AP's Station Management Entity, which triggers an MLMEMIMO.response primitive, wherein the MLMEMIMO.response primitive contains the information regarding the decision regarding admission of the transmission of receive/transmission for the number of channels, a schedule, if admitted, and alternate resource allocations, and wherein the MLMEADDMIMO.response primitive in turn is sent as an ADDMIMOResponse frame to the requesting station. 
 
     
     
       2. A method of selectively providing MIMO transmission/reception in a WLAN system, comprising:
 using a TSPEC reservation and signaling mechanism to instantiate and tear down, dynamically, multi-channel operation in a WLAN; 
 providing an inference algorithm to determine the minimum number of channels required to establish a TSPEC using a MIMO WLAN system; 
 providing specific channel parameters as parameters to be negotiated in the TSPEC; 
 providing frame exchange sequences to be used in Enhanced Distributed Coordinated Access contention based access and to be used in polled access; 
 providing a mechanism wherein an access point makes a decision as to whether to admit MIMO functionality on a given link, wherein a “link” is a set of communications between two specific WLAN stations; and 
 providing action management frame types, including an Add MIMO Request Frame, which requests a number of channels for transmit and receive; an Add MIMO Response Frame, which is the response the AP makes in response to the request frame, which allows the AP to manage medium occupancy time on the channel; and a Delete MIMO Request Frame, which allows a STA to revert back to one channel for transmit/receive operations. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2  wherein said Add MIMO Request Frame has Information Elements which include: Category, Dialog Token, and MIMO Channel Element, where “Category” is set to “Add.” 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 2  wherein said Add MIMO Response Frame has Information Elements which include: Action, Dialog Token, Status Code, MIMO Delay, MIMO Channel Element, and MIMO Schedule (optional). 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 2  wherein said Delete MIMO Request Frame has Information Elements which include: Category, Dialog Token, and MIMO Channel Element, wherein “Category” is set to “Delete”. 
     
     
       6. A method of selectively providing MIMO transmission/reception in a WLAN system, comprising:
 using a TSPEC reservation and signaling mechanism to instantiate and tear down, dynamically, multi-channel operation in a WLAN; 
 providing an inference algorithm to determine the minimum number of channels required to establish a TSPEC using a MIMO WLAN system; 
 providing specific channel parameters as parameters to be negotiated in the TSPEC; 
 providing frame exchange sequences to be used in Enhanced Distributed Coordinated Access contention based access and to be used in polled access, wherein the frame exchange sequence requests MIMO resources, wherein a stations station management entity, as the requestor, is the entity that initiates a MLMEADDMIMO.request primitive, containing the information regarding the station, and the requested receive and transmit resources, triggers an ADDMIMO Request message sent from the non-AP station's MAC to the AP's HC MAC, which triggers an MLMEADDMIMO.indication primitive from the AP's MAC to the AP's Station Management Entity, which triggers an MLMEMIMO.response primitive, wherein the MLMEMIMO.response primitive contains the information regarding the decision regarding admission of the transmission of receive/transmission for the number of channels, a schedule, if admitted, and alternate resource allocations, and wherein the MLMEADDMIMO.response primitive in turn is sent as an ADDMIMOResponse frame to the requesting station; and 
 providing a mechanism wherein an access point makes a decision as to whether to admit MIMO functionality on a given link, wherein a “link” is a set of communications between two specific WLAN stations. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6  wherein said providing specific channel parameters includes defining the number of required transmit and receive channels. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 6  wherein said providing an inference algorithm includes establishing a MLMEMIMO.response primitive which contains the information to determine admission of the transmission of receive/transmission for the number of channels, a schedule, if admitted, and alternate resource allocations. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 6  which includes adding two four-bit fields to the TSPEC to define the number of transmit channels and the number of receive channels. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 6  which includes action management frame types, including an Add MIMO Request Frame, which requests a number of channels for transmit and receive; an Add MIMO Response Frame, which is the response the AP makes in response to the request frame, which allows the AP to manage medium occupancy time on the channel; and a Delete MIMO Request Frame, which allows a STA to revert back to one channel for transmit/receive operations. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 10  wherein said Add MIMO Request Frame has Information Elements which include: Category, Dialog Token, and MIMO Channel Element, where “Category” is set to “Add;” and wherein said Delete MIMO Request Frame has Information Elements which include: Category, Dialog Token, and MIMO Channel Element, wherein “Category” is set to “Delete”. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 10  wherein said Add MIMO Response Frame has Information Elements which include: Action, Dialog Token, Status Code, MIMO Delay, MIMO Channel Element, and MIMO Schedule (optional). 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 6  wherein a TSPEC Minimum PHY rate is used implicitly to convey traffic information and use the minimum number of channels to cover the Minimum PHY rate. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 6  wherein a management frame exchange sequence separate from the TSPEC negotiation frame exchange sequence is provided to allow for non-QoS Data to be sent. 
     
     
       15. A method of selectively providing MIMO reception of a station in a IEEE802.11 WLAN system, the station having a maximum number of channels available for reception, the method comprising:
 determining whether to initiate or remove MIMO resources in a link between the station and an other station, wherein the link is a set of communications between two specific WLAN stations;   providing channel parameters to be exchanged in the link between the station and the other station; and   initiating a frame exchange sequence, separate from a TSPEC negotiation frame exchange sequence, wherein the frame exchange sequence sets SISO and MIMO resources for the link,
 wherein a primitive sets the number of channels used by the station, 
 wherein the station, as the requestor, initiates a request frame to the other station, the request frame specifying the number of channels for the station to receive with the link in MIMO reception and an indication of whether or not a power save mode is to be used in the link, 
 wherein the number of channels for the station to receive with the link in MIMO reception is less than or equal to the maximum number of channels available for use by the station, 
 wherein the indication of whether or not a power save mode is to be used in the link sets SISO and MIMO resources for the link, 
 wherein setting SISO and MIMO resources for the link determines whether a given reception over the link can use MIMO resources, and 
 wherein the station receives a response from the other station, the response containing information regarding the number of channels specified for reception by the station over the link and whether or not the power save mode is to be used in the link. 
   
     
     
       16. The method of claim 15 wherein the request frame has information elements which include a number of channels. 
     
     
       17. The method of claim 15 wherein the response received by the station has information elements which include a number of channels. 
     
     
       18. The method of claim 15 wherein providing channel parameters includes defining the number of channels for the link. 
     
     
       19. The method of claim 15 wherein the station reverts back to one channel for receive operations after receiving the response. 
     
     
       20. The method of claim 15 wherein the number of channels for the station to receive with the link is no more than one channel. 
     
     
       21. The method of claim 15 wherein the power save mode removes MIMO resources for the link. 
     
     
       22. The method of claim 15 wherein the request frame is a delete MIMO request frame, which allows the station to revert back to SISO. 
     
     
       23. The method of claim 15 wherein the Response frame has Information Elements which include Action, Dialog Token, Status Code, MIMO Delay, and MIMO Channel Element. 
     
     
       24. The method of claim 15 wherein the station comprises an access point. 
     
     
       25. The method of claim 15 wherein the station comprises a non-AP station. 
     
     
       26. The method of claim 15 wherein the other station comprises an access point. 
     
     
       27. The method of claim 15 wherein the other station comprises a non-AP station. 
     
     
       28. A method of selectively providing MIMO reception of a station in a IEEE802.11 WLAN system, comprising:
 determining whether to initiate or remove MIMO resources in a link between the station and an other station, wherein the link is a set of communications between two specific WLAN stations;   providing parameters to be exchanged in the link between the station and the other station, the parameters including a power save mode for the link; and   initiating a frame exchange sequence separate from a TSPEC negotiation frame exchange sequence,
 wherein the frame exchange sequence requests the power save mode for the link, 
 wherein the station, as the requestor, initiates a request frame to the other station, the request frame including an indication of the power save mode to be used in the link, 
 wherein the power save mode sets SISO and MIMO resources for the link, 
 wherein setting the SISO and MIMO resources for the link determines whether a given reception of the station can use one channel or multiple channels, and 
 wherein the station receives a response from the other station over one channel or multiple channels as requested in the request frame. 
   
     
     
       29. The method of claim 28 wherein the station is configured to receive using both MIMO and SISO resources, and the station adds MIMO resources or reverts to SISO resources, for the link, for a given reception. 
     
     
       30. The method of claim 28 wherein the station receives frames over the link using either MIMO or SISO resources as requested in the request frame. 
     
     
       31. The method of claim 28 wherein the number of channels for the station to receive with the link is no more than one channel. 
     
     
       32. The method of claim 28 wherein the power save mode removes MIMO resources for the link. 
     
     
       33. The method of claim 28, wherein the frame exchange sequence includes action management frame types, including an Add MIMO Request Frame, which requests a number of channels for transmit and receive; an Add MIMO Response Frame, which is the response the other station makes in response to the request frame, which allows the other station to manage medium occupancy time on the channel; and a Delete MIMO Request Frame, which allows the station to revert back to one channel for transmit/receive operations. 
     
     
       34. The method of claim 28 wherein the station comprises an access point. 
     
     
       35. The method of claim 28 wherein the station comprises a non-AP station. 
     
     
       36. The method of claim 28 wherein the other station comprises an access point. 
     
     
       37. The method of claim 28 wherein the other station comprises a non-AP station. 
     
     
       38. A method of selectively providing MIMO transmission to a station in a IEEE802.11 WLAN system, the station having a maximum number of channels available for reception, the method comprising:
 determining whether to initiate or remove MIMO resources in a link between the station and an other station, wherein the link is a set of communications between two specific WLAN stations;   communicating in a frame exchange sequence, separate from a TSPEC negotiation frame exchange sequence, wherein the frame exchange sequence sets SISO and MIMO resources for the link,
 wherein the other station receives a request frame from the station, the request frame specifying the number of channels for the station to receive with the link in MIMO reception and an indication of whether or not a power save mode is to be used in the link, 
 wherein the number of channels for the station to receive with the link in MIMO reception is less than or equal to the maximum number of channels available for use by the station, 
 wherein the indication of whether or not a power save mode is to be used in the link sets SISO and MIMO resources for the link, 
 wherein setting SISO and MIMO resources for the link determines whether a given transmission over the link can use MIMO resources, and 
 wherein the other station makes a decision as to whether to admit MIMO functionality on the link; and 
   sending a response to the station, the response containing information regarding the number of channels specified for reception by the station over the link and whether or not the power save mode is to be used in the link.   
     
     
       39. The method of claim 38 wherein the request frame received by the other station has information elements which include a number of channels. 
     
     
       40. The method of claim 38 wherein the response sent to the station has information elements which include a number of channels. 
     
     
       41. The method of claim 38 wherein the other station reverts back to transmitting on one channel for the link, after receiving the response. 
     
     
       42. The method of claim 38 wherein the power save mode removes MIMO resources for the link. 
     
     
       43. The method of claim 38 wherein the station comprises an access point. 
     
     
       44. The method of claim 38 wherein the station comprises a non-AP station. 
     
     
       45. The method of claim 38 wherein the other station comprises an access point. 
     
     
       46. The method of claim 38 wherein the other station comprises a non-AP station. 
     
     
       47. A method of selectively providing MIMO transmission to a station in a IEEE802.11 WLAN system, comprising:
 determining whether to initiate or remove MIMO resources in a link between the station and an other station, wherein the link is a set of communications between two specific WLAN stations;   communicating in a frame exchange sequence separate from a TSPEC negotiation frame exchange sequence,
 wherein the frame exchange sequence sets a power save mode for the link, 
 wherein the other station receives a request frame, the request frame including an indication of a power save mode to be used in the link, 
 wherein the power save mode sets SISO and MIMO resources for the link, 
 wherein setting the SISO and MIMO resources for the link determines whether a given transmission of the other station can use one channel or multiple channels, and 
 wherein the other station makes a decision as to whether to admit MIMO functionality on the link; 
   transmitting, from the other station to the station, a response over one channel or multiple channels as requested in the request frame.   
     
     
       48. The method of claim 47 wherein the other station adds MIMO resources or reverts to SISO resources, for the link, for a given transmission. 
     
     
       49. The method of claim 47 wherein the other station transmits over the link using either MIMO or SISO resources as request in the request frame. 
     
     
       50. The method of claim 47 wherein the number of channels for the other station to transmit with the link is no more than one channel. 
     
     
       51. The method of claim 47 wherein the power save mode removes MIMO resources for the link. 
     
     
       52. The method of claim 47 wherein the response allows the other station to manage medium occupancy time on the channel. 
     
     
       53. The method of claim 47 wherein the station comprises an access point. 
     
     
       54. The method of claim 47 wherein the station comprises a non-AP station. 
     
     
       55. The method of claim 47 wherein the other station comprises an access point. 
     
     
       56. The method of claim 47 wherein the other station comprises a non-AP station. 
     
     
       57. A method of selectively providing MIMO reception of a station in a IEEE802.11 WLAN system, the station having a maximum number of channels available for reception, the method comprising:
 determining whether to initiate or remove MIMO resources in a link between the station and an other station, wherein the link is a set of communications between two specific WLAN stations;   providing channel parameters to be exchanged in the link between the station and the other station; and   initiating a frame sequence, separate from a TSPEC negotiation frame exchange sequence, wherein the frame sequence sets SISO and MIMO resources for the link,
 wherein a primitive sets the number of channels used by the station, 
 wherein the station, as the requestor, initiates a request frame to the other station, the request frame specifying the number of channels for the station to receive with the link in MIMO reception, 
 wherein the number of channels for the station to receive with the link in MIMO reception is less than or equal to the maximum number of channels available for use by the station, and 
 wherein setting SISO and MIMO resources for the link determines whether a given reception over the link can use MIMO resources. 
   
     
     
       58. The method of claim 57 wherein the number of channels for the other station to transmit with the link is no more than one channel. 
     
     
       59. The method of claim 57 wherein the station comprises an access point. 
     
     
       60. The method of claim 57 wherein the station comprises a non-AP station. 
     
     
       61. The method of claim 57 wherein the other station comprises an access point. 
     
     
       62. The method of claim 57 wherein the other station comprises a non-AP station. 
     
     
       63. The method of claim 57 wherein the station receives a response from the other station, the response containing information regarding a number of channels specified for reception by the station over the link.