System and method for interference protection in downlink multi-user multiple-input, multiple-output communication

摘要

An access point includes a packet generation module, a packet detection module, and a downlink control module. The packet generation module is configured to generate a multi-user request-to-send (MU-RTS) packet for transmission to each of N remote nodes, wherein N is an integer greater than one. The packet detection module is configured to detect clear-to-send (CTS) packets received from ones of the N remote nodes. The downlink control module is configured to control a downlink to M of the N remote nodes after M CTS packets are detected, wherein M is based on the MU-RTS packet, and wherein M is an integer less than or equal to N.

主权项

1. An access point comprising:
a packet generation module configured to generate a multi-user request-to-send packet for transmission to each of N remote nodes, wherein
the multi-user request-to-send packet includes a plurality of addresses,each of the plurality of addresses is for a respective one of M of the N remote nodes,N is an integer greater than one, andM is an integer (i) less than or equal to N, and (ii) greater than or equal to 1; a packet detection module configured to detect clear-to-send packets received from ones of the N remote nodes; and a downlink control module configured to, based on the plurality of addresses, control a downlink to the M of the N remote nodes after M clear-to-send packets are detected respectively from the M of the N remote nodes, wherein
a transmission of a first one of the clear-to-send packets begins a short interframe space period after receiving the multi-user request-to-send packet,transmissions of a remainder of the clear-to-send packets are sequential, andstart times of each of the transmissions of the remainder of the clear-to-send packets is based on
a transmission end time of the multi-user request-to-send packet,the short interframe space period, anda product of (i) a number of previously transmitted clear-to-send packets, and (ii) a sum of an amount of time to transmit one of the clear-to-send packets and the short interframe space period.