Group acknowledgement for multiple user communication in a wireless local area network

Abstract

In a method for simultaneously communicating with multiple communication devices in a wireless local area network a first communication device receives a plurality of uplink data units simultaneously transmitted by multiple second communication devices. The first communication device generates an acknowledgement data unit to acknowledge receipt of the multiple data units simultaneously transmitted by multiple second communication devices. The acknowledgement data unit includes (i) an indication that indicates that the acknowledgement data unit is intended for multiple second communication devices and (ii) respective acknowledgement information for the multiple second communication devices. The acknowledgement data unit is transmitted from the first communication device to the multiple second communication devices.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 - 28 . (canceled) 
     
     
         29 . A method for simultaneously communicating with multiple communication devices in a wireless local area network, the method comprising:
 receiving, at a first communication device, a plurality of uplink data units simultaneously transmitted by multiple second communication devices;   generating, at the first communication device, an acknowledgement data unit to acknowledge receipt of the multiple data units simultaneously transmitted by multiple second communication devices, wherein the acknowledgement data unit includes (i) an indication that indicates that the acknowledgement data unit is intended for multiple second communication devices and (ii) respective acknowledgement information for the multiple second communication devices.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein
 the multiple second communication devices are included in a multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) group, and   receiving, at the first communication device, a plurality of uplink data units simultaneously transmitted by multiple second communication devices comprises receiving a plurality of data units transmitted in respective spatial streams respectively allocated to the multiple second communication devices.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein
 the multiple second communication devices are included in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) group, and   receiving, at the first communication device, a plurality of uplink data units simultaneously transmitted by multiple second communication devices comprises receiving a plurality of data units simultaneously transmitted in respective orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) channels allocated to the multiple second communication devices.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the acknowledgement data unit includes a broadcast receiver address, and wherein the broadcast receiver address serves as the indication that the acknowledgement data unit is intended for multiple second communication devices. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the respective acknowledgement information for the multiple second communication devices includes, for each of the multiple second communication devices, (i) a respective identifier associated with the second communication device and (ii) an indication of whether the acknowledgement data unit includes (a) an acknowledgement that acknowledges a single data unit received from the second communication device or (b) a block acknowledgement that acknowledges multiple data units received from the second communication device. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the respective identifier associated with the second communication device is an association identifier (AID) associated with the second communication device. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the respective identifier associated with the second communication device is a partial association identifier (AID) associated with the second communication device. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the respective acknowledgement information for the multiple second communication devices further includes, for at least one of the multiple second communication devices, an indication that the acknowledgement information correspond to the at least one second communication device includes multiple acknowledgements for data units corresponding to multiple traffic identifiers. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising selecting, at the first communication, one or more of (i) a data rate, (ii) modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and (iii) number of spatial streams (Nss) to be used for transmission of the acknowledgement data unit to the second communication devices, wherein the one or more of (i) a data rate, (ii) modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and (iii) number of spatial streams (Nss) are selected without considering corresponding one or more parameters of the received uplink data units. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising, prior to receiving the plurality of uplink data units simultaneously transmitted by multiple second communication devices, transmitting, by the first communication device, a control frame that prompts transmission of the plurality of uplink data units by the second communication devices. 
     
     
         39 . A first communication device, comprising:
 a network interface having one or more integrated circuits configured to   receive a plurality of uplink data units simultaneously transmitted by multiple second communication devices,   generate an acknowledgement data unit to acknowledge receipt of the multiple data units simultaneously transmitted by multiple second communication devices, wherein the acknowledgement data unit includes (i) an indication that indicates that the acknowledgement data unit is intended for multiple second communication devices.   
     
     
         40 . The first communication device of  claim 39 , wherein
 the multiple second communication devices are included in a multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) group, and   the one or more integrated circuits are configured to receive the plurality of data units transmitted in respective spatial streams respectively allocated to the multiple second communication devices.   
     
     
         41 . The first communication device of  claim 39 , wherein
 the multiple second communication devices are included in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) group, and   the one or more integrated circuits are configured to receive the plurality of data units transmitted in respective orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) channels allocated to the multiple second communication devices.   
     
     
         42 . The first communication device of  claim 39 , wherein the acknowledgement data unit includes a broadcast receiver address, and wherein the broadcast receiver address serves as the indication that the acknowledgement data unit is intended for multiple second communication devices. 
     
     
         43 . The first communication device of  claim 39 , wherein the respective acknowledgement information for the multiple second communication devices includes, for each of the multiple second communication devices, (i) a respective identifier associated with the second communication device and (ii) an indication of whether the acknowledgement data unit includes (a) an acknowledgement that acknowledges a single data unit received from the second communication device or (b) a block acknowledgement that acknowledges multiple data units received from the second communication device. 
     
     
         44 . The first communication device of  claim 43 , wherein the respective identifier associated with the second communication device is an association identifier (AID) associated with the second communication device. 
     
     
         45 . The first communication device of  claim 43 , wherein the respective identifier associated with the second communication device is a partial association identifier (AID) associated with the second communication device. 
     
     
         46 . The first communication device of  claim 43 , wherein the respective acknowledgement information for the multiple second communication devices further includes, for at least one of the multiple second communication devices, an indication that the acknowledgement information correspond to the at least one second communication device includes multiple acknowledgements for data units corresponding to multiple traffic identifiers. 
     
     
         47 . The first communication device of  claim 43 , wherein the one or more integrated circuits are further configured to select one or more of (i) a data rate, (ii) modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and (iii) number of spatial streams (Nss) to be used for transmission of the acknowledgement data unit to the second communication devices, wherein the one or more of (i) a data rate, (ii) modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and (iii) number of spatial streams (Nss) are selected without considering corresponding one or more parameters of the received uplink data units. 
     
     
         48 . A method for simultaneously communicating with multiple communication devices in a wireless local area network, the method comprising:
 receiving, at a first communication device, a plurality of uplink data units simultaneously transmitted by multiple second communication devices;   generating, at the first communication device, respective acknowledgment data units to acknowledge respective uplink data units received from the multiple second communication devices; and   generating one of (i) an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data unit that includes the respective acknowledgement data units in respective orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) channels allocated to the multiple second communication devices or (ii) a multi user multiple input multiple output (MUMIMO) data unit that includes the respective acknowledgement data units in respective spatial streams allocated to the multiple second communication devices.