Packet identification for power saving in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A network coordinator can assign an association identifier (AID) and/or a group identifier (GID) to identify a client station to which a packet is to be transmitted and to enable the client station to determine whether to receive an incoming packet. The network coordinator can determine a base AID that is representative of the network coordinator and can assign at least one AID to client stations to minimize the probability of client stations associated with proximate network coordinators being assigned the same AIDs. The network coordinator can also assign at least one GID to a group of client stations to minimize the probability of groups of client stations associated with the proximate network coordinators being assigned the same GID. The client station can analyze indications of a received AID and/or received GID to determine whether to receive the packet or whether to switch to an inactive power state.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 determining, at a first network coordinator, to assign a subset of a plurality of client devices of a wireless communication network to a common group, wherein the plurality of client devices are associated with the first network coordinator;   determining, at the first network coordinator, a first group identifier for the subset of the client devices based, at least in part, on a group identifier constraint;   assigning the first group identifier to the subset of the client devices; and   in response to determining to transmit a packet to the subset of the client devices, inserting the first group identifier in the packet to identify the subset of the client devices.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 inserting a number of space-time streams associated with each of the subset of the client network devices in the packet.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, the group identifier constraint includes at least one of:
 a predetermined range of group identifiers,   a maximum number of groups of client devices that the first network coordinator is configured to support,   a second group identifier assigned to a group of client devices associated with a second network coordinator that is proximate to the first network coordinator, and   a special group identifier that represents a special communication.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said assigning the first group identifier to the subset of the client devices further comprises:
 for each of a plurality of group identifiers that can be assigned to the subset of the client devices,
 determining whether the group identifier matches a special group identifier that represents a special communication; 
 assigning the group identifier to the subset of the client devices, in response to determining that the group identifier does not match the special group identifier; and 
 determining to not assign the group identifier to the subset of the client devices, in response to determining that the group identifier matches the special group identifier. 
   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the special group identifier includes at least one of:
 a first special group identifier that represents a unicast packet transmitted by one of the plurality of client devices to the first network coordinator, or   a second special group identifier that represents a broadcast packet transmitted by the first network coordinator to the plurality of client devices.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said assigning the first group identifier to the subset of the client devices comprises:
 storing, at the first network coordinator, an indication of the first group identifier assigned to the subset of the client devices; and   transmitting, to at least the subset of the client devices, the indication of the first group identifier assigned to the subset of the client devices.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said inserting the first group identifier in the packet further comprises:
 determining performance measurements associated with a plurality of candidate packets, wherein each of the plurality of candidate packets include a corresponding group identifier assigned to the subset of the client devices;   determining that a first candidate packet including the first group identifier is associated with a preferred performance measurement based, at least in part, on comparing the performance measurements associated with the plurality of candidate packets; and   determining to use the first group identifier to identify the subset of the client devices.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the performance measurement is a peak to average power ratio (PAPR) of the packet. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining performance measurements associated with a plurality of candidate packets, wherein each of the plurality of candidate packets include a corresponding combination of an association identifier assigned to a first client device and a group identifier that indicates that the candidate packet is destined for a single client device;   determining that a first candidate packet including a combination of a first association identifier and a second group identifier is associated with a preferred performance measurement based, at least in part, on comparing the performance measurements associated with the plurality of candidate packets; and   determining to insert the second group identifier and a predefined number of bits of the first association identifier in a unicast packet to be transmitted to the first client device.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining performance measurements associated with a plurality of candidate packets, wherein each of the plurality of candidate packets include a corresponding association identifier assigned to a first client device;   determining that a first candidate packet including a first association identifier is associated with a preferred performance measurement based, at least in part, on comparing the performance measurements associated with the plurality of candidate packets; and   in response to determining to transmit a unicast packet to the first client device, inserting a predefined number of bits of the first association identifier in the unicast packet to identify the client device and inserting a second group identifier that indicates that the unicast packet is destined for a single client device.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first network coordinator comprises an access point of an infrastructure wireless communication network or a group owner of a peer-to-peer wireless communication network. 
     
     
         12 . A method comprising:
 determining, at a first network coordinator, to associate with a client device attempting to join a wireless communication network;   assigning, by the first network coordinator, an association identifier to the client device based, at least in part, on a base association identifier that represents the first network coordinator; and   in response to determining to transmit a packet to the client device, inserting a predefined number of bits of the association identifier in the packet to identify the client device and inserting, in the packet, a group identifier that indicates that the packet is destined for a single client device.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein said assigning the association identifier to the client device further comprises:
 determining a plurality of association identifiers that can be assigned to the client device;   for each of the plurality of association identifiers,
 determining whether a predefined number of bits of the association identifier match a corresponding predefined number of bits of a special association identifier that represents a special communication; 
 assigning the association identifier to the client device, in response to determining that the predefined number of bits of the association identifier do not match the corresponding predefined number of bits of the special association identifier; and 
 determining to not assign the association identifier to the client device, in response to determining that the predefined number of bits of the association identifier match the corresponding predefined number of bits of the special association identifier. 
   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the special association identifier includes at least one of:
 a first special association identifier that represents a unicast transmission from the client device to the first network coordinator,   a second special association identifier that represents a multicast transmission from the first network coordinator to a plurality of client devices associated with the first network coordinator, and   a third special association identifier that represents a broadcast transmission from the first network coordinator to the plurality of client devices.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein said inserting the predefined number of bits of the association identifier to identify the client device and inserting, in the packet, the group identifier that indicates that the packet is destined for the single client device further comprises:
 determining performance measurements associated with a plurality of candidate packets, wherein each of the plurality of candidate packets includes a corresponding association identifier assigned to the client device;   determining that a first candidate packet including a first association identifier is associated with a preferred performance measurement based, at least in part, on comparing the performance measurements associated with the plurality of candidate packets; and   determining to insert the predefined number of bits of the first association identifier to identify the client device.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein said inserting the predefined number of bits of the association identifier to identify the client device and inserting, in the packet, the group identifier that indicates that the packet is destined for the single client device further comprises:
 determining performance measurements associated with a plurality of candidate packets, wherein each of the plurality of candidate packets includes a corresponding combination of an association identifier assigned to the client device and a group identifier that indicates that the candidate packet is destined for the single client device;   determining that a first candidate packet including a first association identifier and a first group identifier is associated with a preferred performance measurement based, at least in part, on comparing the performance measurements associated with the plurality of candidate packets; and   determining to use the predefined number of bits of the first association identifier to identify the client device and determining to use the first group identifier that indicates that the first candidate packet is destined for the single client device.   
     
     
         17 . A network coordinator comprising:
 a processor; and   an identifier processing unit coupled with the processor, the identifier processing unit configured to:
 determine to assign a subset of a plurality of client devices of a wireless communication network to a common group, wherein the plurality of client devices are associated with the network coordinator; 
 determine a first group identifier for the subset of the client devices based, at least in part, on a group identifier constraint; 
 assign the first group identifier to the subset of the client devices; and 
 in response to determining to transmit a packet to the subset of the client devices, insert the first group identifier in the packet to identify the subset of the client devices. 
   
     
     
         18 . The network coordinator of  claim 17 , wherein the identifier processing unit configured to assign the first group identifier to the subset of the client devices further comprises the identifier processing unit configured to:
 for each of a plurality of group identifiers that can be assigned to the subset of the client devices,
 determine whether the group identifier matches a special group identifier that represents a special communication; 
 assign the group identifier to the subset of the client devices, in response to determining that the group identifier does not match the special group identifier; and 
 determine to not assign the group identifier to the subset of the client devices, in response to determining that the group identifier matches the special group identifier. 
   
     
     
         19 . The network coordinator of  claim 17 , wherein the identifier processing unit configured to insert the first group identifier in the packet further comprises the identifier processing unit configured to:
 determine performance measurements associated with a plurality of candidate packets, wherein each of the plurality of candidate packets include a corresponding group identifier assigned to the subset of the client devices;   determine that a first candidate packet including the first group identifier is associated with a preferred performance measurement based, at least in part, on comparing the performance measurements associated with the plurality of candidate packets; and   determine to use the first group identifier to identify the subset of the client devices.   
     
     
         20 . The network coordinator of  claim 17 , wherein the identifier processing unit is further configured to:
 determine performance measurements associated with a plurality of candidate packets, wherein each of the plurality of candidate packets includes a corresponding combination of an association identifier assigned to a first client device and a group identifier that indicates that the candidate packet is destined for a single client device;   determining that a first candidate packet including the combination of a first association identifier and a second group identifier is associated with a preferred performance measurement based, at least in part, on comparing the performance measurements associated with the plurality of candidate packets; and   determining to insert the second group identifier and a predefined number of bits of the first association identifier in a unicast packet to be transmitted to the first client device.   
     
     
         21 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having machine executable instructions stored therein, the machine executable instructions comprising instructions to:
 determine, at a network coordinator, to assign a subset of a plurality of client devices of a wireless communication network to a common group, wherein the plurality of client devices are associated with the network coordinator;   determine a first group identifier for the subset of the client devices based, at least in part, on a group identifier constraint;   assign the first group identifier to the subset of the client devices; and   in response to determining to transmit a packet from the network coordinator to the subset of the client devices, insert the first group identifier in the packet to identify the subset of the client devices.   
     
     
         22 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 21 , wherein said instructions to assign the first group identifier to the subset of the client devices further comprise instructions to:
 for each of a plurality of group identifiers that can be assigned to the subset of the client devices,
 determine whether the group identifier matches a special group identifier that represents a special communication; 
 assign the group identifier to the subset of the client devices, in response to determining that the group identifier does not match the special group identifier; and 
 determine to not assign the group identifier to the subset of the client devices, in response to determining that the group identifier matches the special group identifier. 
   
     
     
         23 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 21 , wherein said instructions to insert the first group identifier in the packet to identify the subset of the client devices further comprise instructions to:
 determine performance measurements associated with a plurality of candidate packets, wherein each of the plurality of candidate packets include a corresponding a group identifier assigned to the subset of the client devices;   determine that a first candidate packet including the first group identifier is associated with a preferred performance measurement based, at least in part, on comparing the performance measurements associated with the plurality of candidate packets; and   determine to use the first group identifier to identify the subset of the client devices.   
     
     
         24 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 21 , wherein said instructions further comprise instructions to:
 determine performance measurements associated with a plurality of candidate packets, wherein each of the plurality of candidate packets include a corresponding combination of an association identifier assigned to a first client device and a group identifier that indicates that the candidate packet is destined for a single client device;   determining that a first candidate packet including the combination of a first association identifier and a second group identifier is associated with a preferred performance measurement based, at least in part, on comparing the performance measurements associated with the plurality of candidate packets; and   determining to insert the second group identifier and a predefined number of bits of the first association identifier in a unicast packet to be transmitted to the first client device.