Gigabit Wireless LAN:

Enhancements in 802.11ac
Eldad Perahia, Ph.D., Intel Corporation,
eldad.perahia@intel.com
Robert Stacey, Apple, rstacey@apple.com
Dec 2012
Outline
Introduction
History
Usage models
PAR
Enhancements
Channelization
PHY
Waveform design
Packet structure
PHY Transmitter flow
Downlink multi-user MIMO
Very High Throughput (VHT) waveform Preamble
MAC
Coexistence in wider channels
Channel access in wider channels
Dynamic bandwidth operation
Aggregation
DL MU-MIMO
2
Early History
Very High Throughput Study Group (VHTSG)
Began in May 2007 as a precursor to starting task
group, in which purpose and scope of task group were
defined
Started initially to address Very High Throughput for <
6 GHz IMT-Advanced operation
IMT-Advanced objective was dropped
Focus for < 6 GHz shifted to enhancing 802.11n in 5
GHz band
<6 GHz PAR approved in Sept 2008
3
Wi-Fi Alliance VHT Usage
Models [6]
Category # Usage Model
1. Wireless Display 1a Desktop Storage & Display
1b Projection to TV or Projector in Conf Rom
1c In room Gaming
1d Streaming from Camcorder to Display
1e Broadcast TV Field Pick Up
1f Medical Imaging Surgical Procedure Support
2. Distribution of HDTV 2a Lightly compressed video streaming around home
2b Compr. video streaming in a room / t.o. home
2c Intra Large Vehicle (e.g. airplane) Applications
2d Wireless Networking for Small Office
2e Remote medical assistance
3. Rapid Upload / Download 3a Rapid Sync-n-Go file transfer
3b Picture by Picture viewing
3c Airplane docking
3d Movie Content Download to car
3e Police / Surveillance Car Upload
4. Backhaul 4a Multi-Media Mesh backhaul
4b Point to Point backhaul
5. Outdoor Campus / Auditorium 5a Video demos / telepresence in Auditorium
5b Public Safety Mesh
6. Manufacturing Floor 6a Manufacturing floor automation
4
Compressed Video Streaming
around a House
Pre-Conditions:
User has operational WLAN
network which includes a TV with
wireless capabilities, a DVR with
wireless capabilities, and an AP
associated with the WLAN that is
not in the same room as the game
machine and TV.
Application:
User can display the output of the
DVR wirelessly on the TV using a
video codec like Motion 2000 JPEG
that compresses video.
5
Rapid Sync-and-Go
Pre-Conditions:
User has WLAN connectivity
between a PC, PDA, cell phone, a
camcorder, and a camera.
Application:
User can sync movies to/from the
camcorder and transfer the picture
files. An MPEG4 video file of 1
GByte takes 8 seconds over a
single hop 1Gbps link. 200 jpeg
(picture) files of 10 Mbyte takes less
than 30 seconds over a 1Gbps
single hop link . Jitter and delay are
not critical. Instead, the key metric is
the users time spent to do a
transfer. Less than 1 minute is
acceptable. 1-5 minutes may be
acceptable. More than 5 minutes is
not acceptable.
6
Wireless I/O
Pre-Conditions:
User has operational WLAN network
for Internet access and general data
networking. The wireless network used
for storage and display may or may not
be part of the other operational WLAN
network.
E-Net
E-Net
Wireless Dock
Application:
User can wirelessly display the output of the
computer to monitor or TV using
uncompressed video.
User can wirelessly store data from a
computer to a harddrive. The data being
stored transfers at ~1Gbps, jitter is <
200msec, delay is <200msec, 10E-5 PER.
7
802.11ac Project Authorization
Request (PAR)
PAR requires that the amendment support
single link throughput of at least 500 Mbps
802.11ac must support multi-station
throughput of at least 1 Gbps
Operation in 2.4 GHz is excluded
Must have backward compatibility and
coexistence with legacy IEEE802.11
devices in the 5 GHz unlicensed band
8
Recent History
Task group started Nov 2008
Task group documents
Specification Framework
Functional Requirements & Evaluation Methodology
Amendment to 11n Channel Model
Usage Models
Draft 3.0 approved June 2012, will probably be the version
used for WFA certification
Timeline going forward
Initial Sponsor Ballot: planned for March 2013
Recirculation Sponsor Ballot: planned for May 2013
Final Working Group Approval: planned for November 2013
RevCom& Standards Board Final Approval: planned for February
2014
9
Different Physical Layers
802.11, a, b, g, n, ac
802.1
1
802.11
b
802.11a 802.11g 802.11n 802.11ac
Access
Technology
DSSS DSSS/
CCK
OFDM OFDM SDM /
OFDM
MU+SDM
/ OFDM
Data Rate
(Mbps)
1, 2 Up to
11
Up to
54
Up to
54
Up to
600
Up to
6933
Frequency
Band (GHz)
2.4 2.4 5 2.4 2.4 and 5 5
Channel
Bandwidth
(MHz)
22 22 20 22 20 and
40
20, 40, 80,
160
10
PHY Data Rate Improvement in
802.11
1
10
100
1000
10000
dot11
(2.4 GHz)
11b (2.4
GHz)
11a (5
GHz )/
11g (2.4
GHz)
11n
(2.4/5
GHz)
11ac; 4ss
(5 GHz)
11ac; 8ss
(5 GHz)
20/25 MHz
40 MHz
80 MHz
160 MHz
11
New Features and Enhancements
Proposed for IEEE 802.11ac
Wider bandwidth
80 MHz channel width
160 MHz channel width
Non-contiguous 160 MHz (80 MHz + 80 MHz)
Modulation, coding, and spatial streams
256 QAM, rate = 3/4
256 QAM, rate = 5/6
Up to 8 streams
Downlink Multi-User MIMO (DL MU-MIMO)
Increased aggregate size limits
Enhancement to coexistence mechanisms
12
Mandatory vs. Optional 802.11n
PHY Features
Basic MIMO/SDM
20 MHz; 64 QAM
rate 5/6; 56 tones
1, 2* spatial streams 2*, 3, 4 spatial streams
40 MHz, 114 tones
Transmit Beamforming
Convolutional Code
Low Density Parity Check
Mandatory
Optional
Space Time Block Code
Guard Interval
Mixed Format Preamble Green Field Preamble
Throughput
Enhancement
Interoperability
w/ Legacy
Robustness
Enhancement
*2 spatial streams mandatory for AP only
13
Modifications in 802.11ac to
802.11n Features
STBC
only for 2x1, 4x2, 6x3, 8x4
No 3x2 or 4x3 as in 11n
LDPC
Added block-interleaving of constellation symbols per stream, per
OFDM symbol
Transmit Beamforming
Only Explicit feedback, no implicit feedback
Only Compressed-V feedback, no Uncompressed-V, no CSI
Only NDP sounding, no staggered sounding
No unequal modulation
14
Mandatory vs. Optional 802.11ac
PHY Features
Basic MIMO/SDM
20, 40, 80 MHz
1 spatial stream 2 - 8 spatial streams
160 MHz, 80+80 MHz
Transmit Beamforming
Convolutional Code
Low Density Parity Check
Mandatory
Optional
Space Time Block Code
GI, 256 QAM
VHT Preamble
T
h
r
o
u
g
h
p
u
t

E
n
h
a
n
c
e
m
e
n
t
Interoperability
w/ Legacy
Robustness
Enhancement
DL MU-MIMO
15
Channelization for 20/40/80 MHz
40/80 MHz channelization
Consists of two adjacent IEEE 20/40 MHz
channels
Non-overlapping channelization
1
4
0
1
3
6
1
3
2
1
2
8
1
2
4
1
2
0
1
1
6
1
1
2
1
0
8
1
0
4
1
0
0
1
6
5
1
6
1
1
5
7
1
5
3
1
4
9
6
4
6
0
5
6
5
2
4
8
4
4
4
0
3
6
IEEE channel #
20 MHz
40 MHz
80 MHz
5170
MHz
5330
MHz
5490
MHz
5710
MHz
5735
MHz
5835
MHz
1
4
4
16
Channelization for Contiguous
160 MHz
Apply the same rule as in 40 and 80 MHz channel
construction
Consists of two adjacent IEEE 80 MHz channels
Non-overlapping channelization
Not necessary to come up with coexistence rules for partially
overlapping channels
1
4
0
1
3
6
1
3
2
1
2
8
1
2
4
1
2
0
1
1
6
1
1
2
1
0
8
1
0
4
1
0
0
1
6
5
1
6
1
1
5
7
1
5
3
1
4
9
6
4
6
0
5
6
5
2
4
8
4
4
4
0
3
6
IEEE channel #
20 MHz
40 MHz
80 MHz
5170
MHz
5330
MHz
5490
MHz
5710
MHz
5735
MHz
5835
MHz
160 MHz
1
4
4
17
Noncontiguous 160 MHz
(VHT80+80) BSS
Any two nonadjacent 80 MHz channels may be used in
setting up a noncontiguous 160 MHz (VHT80+80) BSS
Allows VHT80 STA to associate with the VHT80+80 BSS
Allows contiguous-only devices to associate with the VHT80+80 BSS
as a VHT80 STA
1
4
0
1
3
6
1
3
2
1
2
8
1
2
4
1
2
0
1
1
6
1
1
2
1
0
8
1
0
4
1
0
0
1
6
5
1
6
1
1
5
7
1
5
3
1
4
9
6
4
6
0
5
6
5
2
4
8
4
4
4
0
3
6
IEEE channel #
20 MHz
40 MHz
80 MHz
5170
MHz
5330
MHz
5490
MHz
5710
MHz
5735
MHz
5835
MHz
Examples of
VHT80+80 BSS
Setup
1
4
4
18
80 MHz Sub-Carrier Design
14 Null tones: {-128, -123, -1, 0, 1, 123,
127}
242 Populated tones: {-122, -2, 2, 122}
8 Pilot tones: {-103, -75, -39, -11, 11, 39, 75, 103}
234 Data tones: {Populated tones} {Pilot tones}
-128
127
-122
-103 -39 -11
-2 2
11 39 75
122
OFDM sub carrier number
103 -75
19
PHY Transmitter Flow Overview:
Single User, 20-80 MHz
Scrambler same as 11a/n
BCC encoder /
puncturing same as 11a/n
LDPC fully optional
Spatial Mapping same as
11n
Interleaver
(for BCC)
Insert GI
and
Window
Analog
and RF
CSD
CSD
S
t
r
e
a
m

P
a
r
s
e
r
Constellation
mapper
S
T
B
C
Interleaver
(for BCC)
Constellation
mapper
IDFT
S
p
a
t
i
a
l

M
a
p
p
i
n
g
Insert GI
and
Window
Analog
and RF
IDFT
S
c
r
a
m
b
l
e
r
E
n
c
o
d
e
r

P
a
r
s
e
r
append tail (for BCC),
encoding,
puncturing (for BCC)
append tail (for BCC),
encoding,
puncturing (for BCC)
A-MPDU
Append MAC
padding
Append PHY Padding:
0-7 bits
Prepend Service Field:
Scrambler seed, Reserved,
VHT-SIG-B CRC
20
160 MHz Sub-Carrier Design
28 Null tones: {-256, -251,-129,-128, -127, -5,-1,0,1 5, 127, 128,129,251, 255}
484 Populated tones: {-250, -6, 6, 250}
16 Pilot tones: {+/-231, +/-203, +/-167, +/-139, +/-117, +/-89, +/-53, +/-25}
468 Data tones: {Populated tones} {Pilot tones}
-256 -250
-231 -167 -139
-130 -126
-117 -89 -53
-6
OFDM sub carrier number
-25 -203
255
6
25 89 117
126 130
139 167 203
250
231 53
21
PHY Transmitter Flow Overview:
Single User, 160 MHz contiguous
Code across 160 MHz, BCC interleaver per 80 MHz
There may be 1 or more FEC encoders when BCC encoding is used
When using LDPC, BCC interleavers not used
When using BCC, the LDPC tone mappers not used
Interleaver
CSD
S
T
B
C
BCC
Interleaver
S
p
a
t
i
a
l

M
a
p
p
i
n
g
Constellation
mapper
Constellation
mapper
P
H
Y

P
a
d
d
i
n
g
S
c
r
a
m
b
l
e
r
F
E
C

E
n
c
o
d
e
r
Insert GI
and
Window
Analog
and RF
F
E
C

E
n
c
o
d
e
r
E
n
c
o
d
e
r

P
a
r
s
e
r
S
t
r
e
a
m

P
a
r
s
e
r
F
E
C

E
n
c
o
d
e
r
S
e
g
m
e
n
t
P
a
r
s
e
r
IDFT
S
e
g
m
e
n
t
P
a
r
s
e
r
LDPC tone
mapper
BCC
Interleaver
CSD
S
T
B
C
BCC
Interleaver
S
p
a
t
i
a
l

M
a
p
p
i
n
g
Constellation
mapper
Constellation
mapper
IDFT
Insert GI
and
Window
Analog
and RF
LDPC tone
mapper
LDPC tone
mappter
512 pt
IDFT
234
subcarriers
22
PHY Transmitter Flow Overview:
Single User, 80+80 MHz non-contiguous
Interleaver
CSD
S
T
B
C
BCC
Interleaver
S
p
a
t
i
a
l

M
a
p
p
i
n
g
Constellation
mapper
Constellation
mapper
P
H
Y

P
a
d
d
i
n
g
S
c
r
a
m
b
l
e
r
F
E
C

E
n
c
o
d
e
r
F
E
C

E
n
c
o
d
e
r
E
n
c
o
d
e
r

P
a
r
s
e
r
S
t
r
e
a
m

P
a
r
s
e
r
F
E
C

E
n
c
o
d
e
r
S
e
g
m
e
n
t
P
a
r
s
e
r
S
e
g
m
e
n
t
P
a
r
s
e
r
LDPC tone
mappter
BCC
Interleaver
CSD
S
T
B
C
BCC
Interleaver
S
p
a
t
i
a
l

M
a
p
p
i
n
g
Constellation
mapper
Constellation
mapper
LDPC tone
mappter
LDPC tone
mappter
Insert GI
and
Window
Analog
and RF
IDFT
Insert GI
and
Window
Analog
and RF
IDFT
Insert GI
and
Window
Analog
and RF
IDFT
Insert GI
and
Window
Analog
and RF
IDFT
256 pt
IDFT
234
subcarriers
For 80+80 MHz sub-carrier design, each frequency segment follows the 80 MHz
format
23
PPDU overview (SU)
Illustrating 80 MHz bandwidth
Parallel L-TFs, L-SIG, VHT-SIG-A, VHT-STF represents 20
MHz waveform replicated on each sub-channel
MAC provides an A-MPDU that fills the frame to the last byte
for each user
L-SIG length and rate indicate PPDU duration (number of
symbols)
PHY Padding (0 7 bits)
Tail after pad (in 11n, tail before pad)
L-TFs L-SIG VHT-SIG A
Service
Last Symbol
VHT A-MPDU
PHY
Pad
Tail
PPDU Duration (# of symbols)
MAC Pad
L-TFs L-SIG VHT-SIG A
L-TFs L-SIG VHT-SIG A
L-TFs L-SIG VHT-SIG A
VHT-
SIG B
VHT-STF
VHT-STF
VHT-STF
VHT-STF
VHT-LTFs
Freq
24
Preamble Overview
Legacy format the same as 11a/n
VHT-SIG-A replaces HT-SIG
VHT-STF and VHT-LTF similar to HT-STF and HT-LTF
New VHT-SIG-B
L-STF L-LTF
L-
SIG
VHT-SIG-A
VHT-
STF
VHT-
LTF
Data
VHT format PPDU
VHT-
LTF
8s 8s 8s 4s 4s
VHT-LTFs
4s per LTF
VHT-
SIG-B
4s
L-STF L-LTF
L-
SIG
HT-SIG
HT-
STF
HT-
LTF
Data
HT mixed format PPDU
HT-
LTF
8s 8s 8s 4s 4s
HT-LTFs
4s per LTF
25
L-SIG
Same number of subcarriers (data
and pilot) as 11n for 20 MHz and
40 MHz
For 80MHz and 160MHz: same
number of subcarriers and
positions as 11a/n L-SIG in each
20 MHz subchannel
Same rate, length, reserve, parity
and tail format
As in 11n, 20 MHz waveform
replicated in each 20 MHz sub-
channel for 40, 80, and 160 MHz
Major difference from 11n:
Length field in L-SIG used to
convey number of symbols in
VHT packet
No length field in VHT-SIG-A
See next slides
26
L-SIG
Length Conveys Number of Symbols (1/2)
Similar to 11n, use L-SIG spoof rate of 6 Mbps for 11ac packets
3 bytes / symbol
Long GI packet
4 us / symbol
Legacy spoof symbols = L-SIG length / 3 bytes per symbol
VHT payload symbols = Legacy spoof symbols VHT preamble symbols
VHT Payload
legacy spoof symbols = L-SIG length / 3 bytes per symbol
L
preamble
VHT
preamble
L-SIG spoof rate is fixed at 6 Mbps (3 bytes / symbol)
20 usec
VHT payload symbols = legacy spoof symbols VHT preamble symbols
27
L-SIG
Length Conveys Number of Symbols (2/2)
Short GI packet
3.6 us / VHT symbol
End of frame may not be aligned to a 4 us boundary
Legacy devices using L-SIG may find the end of the
packet to occur up to 3.6 usec after the energy on the air
has disappeared
VHT Payload
3.6 * VHT symbols
Legacy spoof time = 4 usec per symbol * legacy spoof symbols
Legacy spoof symbols = L-SIG length / 3
Short GI symbol time= 3.6 usec
L-SIG symbol time = 4.0 usec
Remainder <= 3.6 usec
L
preamble
VHT
preamble
28
L-SIG
Ambiguous End of Short GI Packets
L-SIG can only indicate time in units of 4 us
Two 3.6 us short GI boundaries may map to the same 4 us
normal GI boundary used by L-SIG
Addressed with extra short GI bit in VHT-SIG-A
LSB set to 1 for short GI
MSB set to 1 for short GI AND N
sym
%10 == 9
3.6
3.6
3.6
3.6 3.6 3.6
3.6
4 4 4
Short GI packet with N symbols
Short GI packet with N+1 symbols
L-SIG spoof with M symbols
29
Length & Duration at Tx
Tx MAC computes the number of
OFDM symbols and padding,
which includes
A-MPDU (L)
Service
MAC Padding (to last byte
boundary)
PHY Padding (0-7 bits)
PHY BCC tail (6 bits / encoder)
TXTIME
Covers entire PLCP packet
Short or long GI
L_LENGTH
Similar to 11n
8
service tail ES
SYM STBC
STBC DBPS
L N N N
N m
m N
( + +
=
(
(
8
PAD SYM DBPS service tail ES
N N N L N N N =
( )
_ _
TXTIME for SGI
LEG PREAMBLE L SIG VHT SIG A VHT PREAMBLE
SYMS SYM
VHT SIG B SYM
SYM
T T T T
T N
T T
T


= + + +
(
+ +
(
(
3 3
4
20 TXTIME
L_LENGTH
(
(
(

=
30
Length & Duration at Rx
Compute RXTIME from
L_LENGTH
Compute N
sym
from RXTIME,
N
VHT-LFT
, short GI
Correction factor for SGI
If SGI bits = 11 and STBC=0,
then subtract one from N_sym
If SGI bits = 11 and STBC=1,
then subtract two from N_sym
Full Length in Octets
L_LENGTH 3
RXTIME *4 20
3
+
= +
( )
_
RXTIME
for SGI floor
L STF L LTF L SIG VHT SIG A
VHT STF VHT LTF LTF VHT SIG B
SYM
SYMS
T T T T
T T N T
N
T


+ + + | |

|
+ + +

\ .
=
`


)
PSDU_LENGTH floor
8
SYM DBPS service tail ES
N N N N N
| |
=
|
\ .
31
Example of Short GI Correction
20 MHz, single stream, 64-QAM, r=5/6, GI
PSDU Length
(bytes)
# of 11ac
symbols
TXTIME (usec) LSIG Length
(bytes)
# of 11ac symbols
computed from LSIG
without correction
1232 38 180 117 38
1233 39 184 120 40
1264 39 184 120 40
1265 40 184 120 40
1297 40 184 120 40
1298 41 188 123 41
32
VHT-LTF:
Phase tracking during LTFs
Carrier frequency offset causes EVM degradation at RX
Carrier frequency offset estimation error due to phase noise
Carrier frequency drift
11a/n has pilot tones in data symbols to track phase per
symbol
Compensate residual frequency offset error and phase noise
But no pilot tones in HT-LTF
No phase tracking during HT-LTF
11ac supports max. 8 spatial streams (compared to 4 in
11n)
Much longer VHT-LTF (e.g. 8 VHT-LTF symbols)
More susceptible to phase rotations
Simulation results show significant channel estimation performance degradation
w/o phase tracking during VHT-LTF
11ac requires higher channel estimation quality and EVM
Higher order MIMO, 256-QAM, DL MU-MIMO
33
VHT-LTF:
PER Performance with Frequency Drift
40MHz, NLOS B
2000 bytes / packet
Phase noise added at both TX and
RX (IEEE phase noise model)
Initial carrier frequency offset
estimation using L-LTF
ML MIMO receiver
Phase tracking always enabled for
data symbols
4x4, 4 streams, 64-QAM 5/6
IPN = -36 dBc
Freq. drift = 50 Hz/us
0.0100
0.1000
1.0000
-59 -57 -55 -53 -51 -49
P
E
R
RSSI (dBm)
w/o
tracking
10/771r0, Phase Tracking During VHT-LTF
34
VHT-LTF:
P-Matrix for Pilot Subcarriers
Identical pilot values for all space-time streams
All tones in VHT-LTF symbols, except pilot tones, are multiplied by the
P
VHTLTF
matrix (VHT-LTF mapping matrix) as in 11n
Pilot tones are multiplied by a row-repetition matrix R
VHTLTF
instead
Dimension of R
VHTLTF
= Dimension of P
VHTLTF
(N
STS
x N
LTF
)
All rows in R
VHTLTF
is the same as the 1st row of P
VHTLTF
Avoid spectral line
Allows phase tracking during VHT-LTF w/o MIMO channel
estimation
Simple digital solution to mitigate carrier frequency offset and drift
CSD
x
k
VHTLTF
x
1,
k
VHTLTF
n
A (

| |
STS
k
N
Q
IFFT
IFFT
,
STS
k
VHTLTF
N n
A (

, if is a pilot tone
, otherwise
VHTLTF k
VHTLTF
VHTLTF
R k
A
P

| | X n m X
n m
matrix of column and row in element
,
=
35
VHT-LTF:
Receiver Processing for Pilot Subcarriers
Possible approach
Estimate channel on pilot tones from first
VHT-LTF
Used pilot tones on subsequent VHT-LTFs for
phase tracking
Phase tracking during the VHT-LTFs is not
required
36
VHT-SIG-A Waveform Design
Two symbols (VHT-SIG-A1 and VHT-SIG-A2)
Same number of subcarriers (data and pilot) and
positions as legacy format
For 80MHz and 160MHz: same number of
subcarriers and positions and values as legacy in
each 20 MHz subchannel
CSD and phase rotations same as legacy
Extend 80 MHz preamble to 160 MHz preamble
by simple repetition
37
Auto-detection
VHT
11n MF
11a Data (BPSK 64-QAM)
4us
4us 4us
38
VHT-SIG-A1 Fields and Order
Bit
Inde
x
Field MU bit
allocatio
n
SU bit
allocatio
n
Description
0-1 BW 3 3 B0-B1: Set to 0 for 20 MHz, 1 for 40 MHz, 2
for 80 MHz, 3 for 160 MHz or 80+80 MHz
mode
2 Reserve
d
Reserved for possible expansion of BW
field. Set to 1.
3 STBC 1 1 Set to 1 for STBC, 0 otherwise
4-9 Group
ID
6 6 Set to all ones indicating:
-A single user transmission
-A transmission where the group
membership has not yet been established
-A transmission that needs to bypass a
group (e.g. broadcast)
For MU: used to identify users
Integer fields are transmitted in unsigned binary format, LSB first
39
Bit
Inde
x
Field MU bit
allocatio
n
SU bit
allocatio
n
Description
10-21 N
STS
12 12
For SU:
first 3 bits contain stream allocation, set to
0 for one space time stream, set to 1 for
two space time streams, 7 for eight
space time streams
Remaining 9 bits contain partial AID: being
the 9 LSB bits of AID. For Broadcast and
multicast, these 9 bits are set to 0.
For MU: 3 bits/user with maximum of 4 users
Set to 0 for 0 space time streams
Set to 1 for 1 space time stream
Set to 2 for 2 space time streams
Set to 3 for 3 space time streams
Set to 4 for 4 space time streams
22 No TXOP
PS
1 1
Set to 0 by VHT AP if it allows non-AP VHT STAs in
TXOP power save mode to enter Doze state during a
TXOP.
Set to 1 otherwise.
The bit is reserved and set to 1 in VHT PPDUs transmitted
by a non-AP VHT STA.
23 Reserved 1 1 Set to 1
Total 24 24
40
VHT-SIG-A2 Fields and Order
Bit
Index
Field MU bit
allocatio
n
SU bit
allocatio
n
Description
0-1 Short GI 2 2 B0 set to 1 for short GI
B1 set to 1 for short GI AND N
sym
%10
== 9
2-3 Coding 2 2 B2:
SU: set to 0 for BCC or 1 for LDPC
MU: if the NSTS field for user 1 is
non-zero, then B2 indicates the coding
used for user 1; set to 0 for BCC and 1
for LDPC. If the NSTS field for user 1
is set to 0, then this field is reserved
and set to 1.
B3: set to 1 if LDPC PPDU encoding
process (or at least one LPDC users
PPDU encoding process) results in an
extra OFDM symbol (or symbols). Set
to 0 otherwise.
Integer fields are transmitted in unsigned binary format, LSB first
41
Bit
Index
Field MU bit
allocatio
n
SU bit
allocatio
n
Description
4-7 MCS 0 4 For SU:
MCS index
For MU:
B4: Indicates coding for user 2 if the
N
STS
field for user 2 is non-zero: set to 0
for BCC, 1 for LDPC. If N
STS
for user 2 is
set to 0, then reserved and set to 1.
B5: Indicates coding for user 3 if the
N
STS
field for user 2 is non-zero: set to 0
for BCC, 1 for LDPC. If N
STS
for user 3 is
set to 0, then reserved and set to 1.
B6: Indicates coding for user 4 if the
N
STS
field for user 2 is non-zero: set to 0
for BCC, 1 for LDPC. If N
STS
for user 4 is
set to 0, then reserved and set to 1.
B7 is reserved and set to 1
8 SU-
Beamfor
med
0 1 Set to 1 when packet is a SU-
beamformed packet, 0 otherwise
For MU: reserved and set to 1
42
Bit Index Field MU bit
allocation
SU bit
allocatio
n
Description
9 Reserved 6 1 Set to 1
10-17 CRC 8 8 CRC calculated as in 11n Section
20.3.9.4.4 with C7 in B10
18-23 Tail 6 6 All zeros
Total 24 24
43
MCS Exclusions
For the TGac Tx data flow, the number of data bits per
OFDM symbol (N_dbps) and number of coded bits per
OFDM symbol (N_cbps) must be an integer value for each
BCC encoder
also true for 11a and 11n, but this was always the case for all rates
and MCSs
New conditions in TGac lead to fractional N_dbps and
N_cbps per encoder:
80 MHz with 234 data subcarriers
256-QAM
More than two encoders
Even thought MSC exclusions do not apply to LDPC, for
simplicity same MCSs for LDPC
44
20 MHz MCSs
1 & 2 SS
1 SS, MCS 9 excluded due to BCC fractional bit issue
2 SS, MCS 9 excluded due to BCC fractional bit issue
1 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 6.5 7.2
1 QPSK 1/2 1 13.0 14.4
2 QPSK 3/4 1 19.5 21.7
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 26.0 28.9
4 16-QAM 3/4 1 39.0 43.3
5 64-QAM 2/3 1 52.0 57.8
6 64-QAM 3/4 1 58.5 65.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 1 65.0 72.2
8 256-QAM 3/4 1 78.0 86.7
9
2 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 13.0 14.4
1 QPSK 1/2 1 26.0 28.9
2 QPSK 3/4 1 39.0 43.3
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 52.0 57.8
4 16-QAM 3/4 1 78.0 86.7
5 64-QAM 2/3 1 104.0 115.6
6 64-QAM 3/4 1 117.0 130.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 1 130.0 144.4
8 256-QAM 3/4 1 156.0 173.3
9
45
20 MHz MCSs
3 & 4 SS
3 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 19.5 21.7
1 QPSK 1/2 1 39.0 43.3
2 QPSK 3/4 1 58.5 65.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 78.0 86.7
4 16-QAM 3/4 1 117.0 130.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 1 156.0 173.3
6 64-QAM 3/4 1 175.5 195.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 1 195.0 216.7
8 256-QAM 3/4 1 234.0 260.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 1 260.0 288.9
4 SS, MCS 9 excluded due to BCC fractional bit issue
4 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 26.0 28.9
1 QPSK 1/2 1 52.0 57.8
2 QPSK 3/4 1 78.0 86.7
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 104.0 115.6
4 16-QAM 3/4 1 156.0 173.3
5 64-QAM 2/3 1 208.0 231.1
6 64-QAM 3/4 1 234.0 260.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 1 260.0 288.9
8 256-QAM 3/4 1 312.0 346.7
9
46
20 MHz MCSs
5 & 6 SS
5 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 32.5 36.1
1 QPSK 1/2 1 65.0 72.2
2 QPSK 3/4 1 97.5 108.3
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 130.0 144.4
4 16-QAM 3/4 1 195.0 216.7
5 64-QAM 2/3 1 260.0 288.9
6 64-QAM 3/4 1 292.5 325.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 1 325.0 361.1
8 256-QAM 3/4 1 390.0 433.3
9
6 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 39.0 43.3
1 QPSK 1/2 1 78.0 86.7
2 QPSK 3/4 1 117.0 130.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 156.0 173.3
4 16-QAM 3/4 1 234.0 260.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 1 312.0 346.7
6 64-QAM 3/4 1 351.0 390.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 1 390.0 433.3
8 256-QAM 3/4 1 468.0 520.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 1 520.0 577.8
5 SS, MCS 9 excluded due to BCC fractional bit issue
47
20 MHz MCSs
7 & 8 SS
7 SS
MC
S
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 45.5 50.6
1 QPSK 1/2 1 91.0 101.1
2 QPSK 3/4 1 136.5 151.7
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 182.0 202.2
4 16-QAM 3/4 1 273.0 303.3
5 64-QAM 2/3 1 364.0 404.4
6 64-QAM 3/4 1 409.5 455.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 1 455.0 505.6
8 256-QAM 3/4 2 546.0 606.7
9
8 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 52.0 57.8
1 QPSK 1/2 1 104.0 115.6
2 QPSK 3/4 1 156.0 173.3
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 208.0 231.1
4 16-QAM 3/4 1 312.0 346.7
5 64-QAM 2/3 1 416.0 462.2
6 64-QAM 3/4 1 468.0 520.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 1 520.0 577.8
8 256-QAM 3/4 2 624.0 693.3
9
7 SS, MCS 9 excluded due to BCC fractional bit issue
8 SS, MCS 9 excluded due to BCC fractional bit issue
48
40 MHz MCSs
1 & 2 SS
1 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 13.5 15.0
1 QPSK 1/2 1 27.0 30.0
2 QPSK 3/4 1 40.5 45.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 54.0 60.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 1 81.0 90.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 1 108.0 120.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 1 121.5 135.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 1 135.0 150.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 1 162.0 180.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 1 180.0 200.0
2 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 27.0 30.0
1 QPSK 1/2 1 54.0 60.0
2 QPSK 3/4 1 81.0 90.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 108.0 120.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 1 162.0 180.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 1 216.0 240.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 1 243.0 270.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 1 270.0 300.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 1 324.0 360.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 1 360.0 400.0
49
40 MHz MCSs
3 & 4 SS
3 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 40.5 45.0
1 QPSK 1/2 1 81.0 90.0
2 QPSK 3/4 1 121.5 135.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 162.0 180.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 1 243.0 270.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 1 324.0 360.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 1 364.5 405.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 1 405.0 450.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 1 486.0 540.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 1 540.0 600.0
4 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 54.0 60.0
1 QPSK 1/2 1 108.0 120.0
2 QPSK 3/4 1 162.0 180.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 216.0 240.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 1 324.0 360.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 1 432.0 480.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 1 486.0 540.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 1 540.0 600.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 2 648.0 720.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 2 720.0 800.0
50
40 MHz MCSs
5 & 6 SS
5 SS
MCS
Index
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 67.5 75.0
1 QPSK 1/2 1 135.0 150.0
2 QPSK 3/4 1 202.5 225.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 270.0 300.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 1 405.0 450.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 1 540.0 600.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 2 607.5 675.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 2 675.0 750.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 2 810.0 900.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 2 900.0 1000.0
6 SS
MC
S
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 81.0 90.0
1 QPSK 1/2 1 162.0 180.0
2 QPSK 3/4 1 243.0 270.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 324.0 360.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 1 486.0 540.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 2 648.0 720.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 2 729.0 810.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 2 810.0 900.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 2 972.0 1080.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 2 1080.0 1200.0
51
40 MHz MCSs
7 & 8 SS
8 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R
N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns GI 400ns GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 108.0 120.0
1 QPSK 1/2 1 216.0 240.0
2 QPSK 3/4 1 324.0 360.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 432.0 480.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 2 648.0 720.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 2 864.0 960.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 2 972.0 1080.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 2 1080.0 1200.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 3 1296.0 1440.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 3 1440.0 1600.0
7 SS
MCS
Index
Modulatio
n
R
N
E
S
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 94.5 105.0
1 QPSK 1/2 1 189.0 210.0
2 QPSK 3/4 1 283.5 315.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 378.0 420.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 2 567.0 630.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 2 756.0 840.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 2 850.5 945.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 2 945.0 1050.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 3 1134.0 1260.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 3 1260.0 1400.0
52
80 MHz MCSs
1 & 2 SS
1 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 29.3 32.5
1 QPSK 1/2 1 58.5 65.0
2 QPSK 3/4 1 87.8 97.5
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 117.0 130.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 1 175.5 195.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 1 234.0 260.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 1 263.3 292.5
7 64-QAM 5/6 1 292.5 325.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 1 351.0 390.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 1 390.0 433.3
2 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 58.5 65.0
1 QPSK 1/2 1 117.0 130.0
2 QPSK 3/4 1 175.5 195.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 234.0 260.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 1 351.0 390.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 1 468.0 520.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 1 526.5 585.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 2 585.0 650.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 2 702.0 780.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 2 780.0 866.7
53
80 MHz BCC MCSs
3 & 4 SS
3SS, MCS 6 excluded due to BCC fractional bit issue
3 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 87.8 97.5
1 QPSK 1/2 1 175.5 195.0
2 QPSK 3/4 1 263.3 292.5
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 351.0 390.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 1 526.5 585.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 2 702.0 780.0
6
7 64-QAM 5/6 2 877.5 975.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 2 1053.0 1170.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 3 1170.0 1300.0
4 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1 117.0 130.0
1 QPSK 1/2 1 234.0 260.0
2 QPSK 3/4 1 351.0 390.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 468.0 520.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 2 702.0 780.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 2 936.0 1040.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 2 1053.0 1170.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 3 1170.0 1300.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 3 1404.0 1560.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 3 1560.0 1733.3
54
80 MHz BCC MCSs
5 & 6 SS
5 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 146.3 162.5
1 QPSK 1/2 1 292.5 325.0
2 QPSK 3/4 1 438.8 487.5
3 16-QAM 1/2 2 585.0 650.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 2 877.5 975.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 3 1170.0 1300.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 3 1316.3 1462.5
7 64-QAM 5/6 3 1462.5 1625.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 4 1755.0 1950.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 4 1950.0 2166.7
6 SS
MCS
Index
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 175.5 195.0
1 QPSK 1/2 1 351.0 390.0
2 QPSK 3/4 1 526.5 585.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 2 702.0 780.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 2 1053.0 1170.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 3 1404.0 1560.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 3 1579.5 1755.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 4 1755.0 1950.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 4 2106.0 2340.0
9
6SS, MCS 9 excluded due to BCC fractional bit issue
55
80 MHz BCC MCSs
7 & 8 SS
7 SS, MCS 6 excluded due to BCC fractional bit issue
7 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1 204.8 227.5
1 QPSK 1 409.5 455.0
2 QPSK 3/4 3 614.3 682.5
3 16-QAM 2 819.0 910.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 3 1228.5 1365.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 4 1638.0 1820.0
6
7 64-QAM 5/6 6 2047.5 2275.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 6 2457.0 2730.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 6 2730 3033.3
8 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 234.0 260.0
1 QPSK 1/2 1 468.0 520.0
2 QPSK 3/4 2 702.0 780.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 2 936.0 1040.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 3 1404.0 1560.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 4 1872.0 2080.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 4 2106.0 2340.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 6 2340.0 2600.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 6 2808.0 3120.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 6 3120.0 3466.7
56
160 MHz MCSs
1 & 2 SS
1 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 58.5 65.0
1 QPSK 1/2 1 117.0 130.0
2 QPSK 3/4 1 175.5 195.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 234.0 260.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 1 351.0 390.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 1 468.0 520.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 1 526.5 585.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 2 585.0 650.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 2 702.0 780.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 2 780.0 866.7
2 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 117.0 130.0
1 QPSK 1/2 1 234.0 260.0
2 QPSK 3/4 1 351.0 390.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 1 468.0 520.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 2 702.0 780.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 2 936.0 1040.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 2 1053.0 1170.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 3 1170.0 1300.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 3 1404.0 1560.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 3 1560.0 1733.3
57
160 MHz BCC MCSs
3 & 4 SS
3 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 175.5 195.0
1 QPSK 1/2 1 351.0 390.0
2 QPSK 3/4 1 526.5 585.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 2 702.0 780.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 2 1053.0 1170.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 3 1404.0 1560.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 3 1579.5 1755.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 4 1755.0 1950.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 4 2106.0 2340.0
9
4 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 234.0 260.0
1 QPSK 1/2 1 468.0 520.0
2 QPSK 3/4 2 702.0 780.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 2 936.0 1040.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 3 1404.0 1560.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 4 1872.0 2080.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 4 2106.0 2340.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 6 2340.0 2600.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 6 2808.0 3120.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 6 3120.0 3466.7
3 SS, MCS 9 excluded due to BCC fractional bit issue
58
160 MHz MCSs
5 & 6 SS
6 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 351.0 390.0
1 QPSK 1/2 2 702.0 780.0
2 QPSK 3/4 2 1053.0 1170.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 3 1404.0 1560.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 4 2106.0 2340.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 6 2808.0 3120.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 6 3159.0 3510.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 8 3510.0 3900.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 8 4212.0 4680.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 9 4680.0 5200.0
5 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 292.5 325.0
1 QPSK 1/2 2 585.0 650.0
2 QPSK 3/4 2 877.5 975.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 3 1170.0 1300.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 4 1755.0 1950.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 5 2340.0 2600.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 5 2632.5 2925.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 6 2925.0 3250.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 8 3510.0 3900.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 8 3900.0 4333.3
59
160 MHz MCSs
7 & 8 SS
7 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 409.5 455.0
1 QPSK 1/2 2 819.0 910.0
2 QPSK 3/4 3 1228.5 1365.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 4 1638.0 1820.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 6 2457.0 2730.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 7 3276.0 3640.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 7 3685.5 4095.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 9 4095.0 4550.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 12 4914.0 5460.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 12 5460.0 6066.7
8 SS
MCS
Inde
x
Modulatio
n
R N
ES
Data rate (Mb/s)
800ns
GI
400ns
GI
0 BPSK 1/2 1 468.0 520.0
1 QPSK 1/2 2 936.0 1040.0
2 QPSK 3/4 3 1404.0 1560.0
3 16-QAM 1/2 4 1872.0 2080.0
4 16-QAM 3/4 6 2808.0 3120.0
5 64-QAM 2/3 8 3744.0 4160.0
6 64-QAM 3/4 8 4212.0 4680.0
7 64-QAM 5/6 9 4680.0 5200.0
8 256-QAM 3/4 12 5616.0 6240.0
9 256-QAM 5/6 12 6240.0 6933.3
60
VHT-SIG-B:
Bit encoding
Single stream Data field OFDM symbol format per user w/ BPSK, R=1/2 modulation
In 20 MHz mode, 26 bits are available
For 40/80/160 MHz, repeat bits including tail bits
No frequency repetition of 20 MHz sub-channels into other sub-channels
Provides easy way for receiver to get processing gain by averaging repeated soft values at the decoder
input
For higher BWs, additional bits are available due to extra tones
In 40 MHz, we get 27 bits
In 80/160 MHz, we get 29 bits
20 bits
6 tail
bits
21 bits
6 tail
bits
21 bits
6 tail
bits
23 bits
6 tail
bits
23 bits
6 tail
bits
23 bits
6 tail
bits
23 bits
6 tail
bits
23 bits
6 tail
bits
1 Pad
bit
23 bits
6 tail
bits
23 bits
6 tail
bits
23 bits
6 tail
bits
1 Pad
bit
23 bits
6 tail
bits
23 bits
6 tail
bits
23 bits
6 tail
bits
23 bits
6 tail
bits
1 Pad
bit
20 MHz
40 MHz
80 MHz
160 MHz
80+80 MHz
Repeated
Repeated
Repeated
Repeated
61
VHT-SIG-B:
Bit Allocation
VHT-SIGB Allocation (20/40/80 MHz):
* Additional bits to accommodate large packet sizes in 5.46ms (max
packet duration in LSIG)
160 MHz repeats the 80 MHz VHT-SIG-B twice in frequency
SIGB Fields MU Bit allocation SU Bit allocation
20 MHz 40 MHz 80 MHz 20 MHz 40 MHz 80 MHz
Length (in units of 4 octets) 16 17* 19* 17 19 21
MCS 4 4 4 - - -
RSVD 0 0 0 3 2 2
Tail 6 6 6 6 6 6
Total # bits 26 27 29 26 27 29
62
VHT-SIG-B:
Length
Length in VHT-SIG-B is provided to indicate useful data
in PSDU, which allows receivers to shut-off PHY
processing after receiving useful data thereby saving some
power
L-TFs L-SIG
VHT A-MPDU
VHT-SIG A
PHY
Pad
Tail Service
Last Symbol
VHT A-MPDU
VHT A-MPDU
Service
Service
PHY
Pad
Tail
PHY
Pad
Tail
PPDU Duration (# of symbols)
A-MPDU
subframe 1
A-MPDU
subframe 2
Null
subframe
Null
subframe
A-MPDU
subframe n
Last byte
boundary
Less than
8-bit
MPDU
Length = 0
MPDU
Length = 0
Final
MAC
Pad
0-3
octets
VHT-TFs
VHT-
SIG B
Dword
MAC
Pad
0-3
octets
User
VHT-SIGB Length
63
VHT-SIG-B:
CRC in SERVICE Field
Transmitter shall include VHT-SIG-B CRC in SERVICE field
Transmitter shall compute 8-bit CRC based on SIG B "not including
tail" and insert 8-bit CRC in 8 MSBs of the SERVICE field
Transmitter will not include scrambler seed in computation of CRC bits
CRC defined in 802.11n-2009 section 20.3.9.4.4. C7 of the CRC is
mapped to B8 of the SERVICE field, C6 to B7, , C0 to B15
The resulting SERVICE field and PSDU shall be scrambled, as in 11n
CRC achieves protection of the scrambler init field
Any error in the scrambler init field will result in a corrupted CRC field
after descrambling
Check of the CRC field against the contents of SIG-B will then fail
20 bits in 20MHz
*21 (40MHz) / 23(80MHz) bits
Tail
(6bit)
Scrambler
Seed (7bit)
Rsvd
(1bit)
CRC
(8bit)
VHT-SIG-B Service Field
64
VHT-SIG-B:
Requirements for Single User
Tx
Required to compute and populate DWORD
length, tail, and reserved bits
Required to compute and populate VHT-SIG-B
CRC in SERVICE field
Rx
Optional to process VHT-SIG-B
65
PHY Transmitter Flow:
256 QAM
Normalization factor
00001000 00011000 00111000 00101000 01101000 01111000 01011000 01001000 11001000 11011000 11111000 11101000 10101000 10111000 10011000 10001000
00001001 00011001 00111001 00101001 01101001 01111001 01011001 01001001 11001001 11011001 11111001 11101001 10101001 10111001 10011001 10001001
00001011 00011011 00111011 00101011 01101011 01111011 01011011 01001011 11001011 11011011 11111011 11101011 10101011 10111011 10011011 10001011
00001010 00011010 00111010 00101010 01101010 01111010 01011010 01001010 11001010 11011010 11111010 11101010 10101010 10111010 10011010 10001010
00001110 00011110 00111110 00101110 01101110 01111110 01011110 01001110 11001110 11011110 11111110 11101110 10101110 10111110 10011110 10001110
00001111 00011111 00111111 00101111 01101111 01111111 01011111 01001111 11001111 11011111 11111111 11101111 10101111 10111111 10011111 10001111
00001101 00011101 00111101 00101101 01101101 01111101 01011101 01001101 11001101 11011101 11111101 11101101 10101101 10111101 10011101 10001101
00001100 00011100 00111100 00101100 01101100 01111100 01011100 01001100 11001100 11011100 11111100 11101100 10101100 10111100 10011100 10001100
00000100 00010100 00110100 00100100 01100100 01110100 01010100 01000100 11000100 11010100 11110100 11100100 10100100 10110100 10010100 10000100
00000101 00010101 00110101 00100101 01100101 01110101 01010101 01000101 11000101 11010101 11110101 11100101 10100101 10110101 10010101 10000101
00000111 00010111 00110111 00100111 01100111 01110111 01010111 01000111 11000111 11010111 11110111 11100111 10100111 10110111 10010111 10000111
00000110 00010110 00110110 00100110 01100110 01110110 01010110 01000110 11000110 11010110 11110110 11100110 10100110 10110110 10010110 10000110
00000010 00010010 00110010 00100010 01100010 01110010 01010010 01000010 11000010 11010010 11110010 11100010 10100010 10110010 10010010 10000010
00000011 00010011 00110011 00100011 01100011 01110011 01010011 01000011 11000011 11010011 11110011 11100011 10100011 10110011 10010011 10000011
00000001 00010001 00110001 00100001 01100001 01110001 01010001 01000001 11000001 11010001 11110001 11100001 10100001 10110001 10010001 10000001
00000000 00010000 00110000 00100000 01100000 01110000 01010000 01000000 11000000 11010000 11110000 11100000 10100000 10110000 10010000 10000000
170
1
=
MOD
K
66
MAC
67
Coexistence in Wider Channels
With 11n it is relatively easy to handle overlapping networks:
Easy to avoid overlap by choosing different channel
Choose primary channel that matches neighbor if overlap unavoidable
With 11ac it becomes much harder
More channels used means greater probability of co-channel operation
Harder to choose primary channel common to all overlapping networks
Channels:
36, 40
Channel:
36
Channels:
36, 40, 44, 48
Channels:
36, 40
Channels:
44, 48
802.11n
802.11ac
68
Enhancements to Coexistence
Mechanisms
802.11ac extends the medium access protocol developed in
11n to wider channels
802.11ac improves co-channel operation with the
following:
Enhanced secondary channel CCA
Improved dynamic channel width operation
Operating Mode Notification frame
69
Channel access in wider channels
Basic 11n channel access mechanism is extended to wider bandwidth
Random backoff (AIFS+CW) is based on primary channel activity
Secondary channels must be sensed idle PIFS before transmission
If some of the subchannels are busy, a narrower transmission is permitted
A transmission always includes primary channel
Note that mid-packet signal detect is needed on secondary channel since
packet may start while primary channel transmission is in progress
Secondary channels
Primary channel AIFS CW
80 MHz PPDU
PIFS
PIFS
PIFS
40 MHz PPDU
40 MHz PPDU
AIFS CW
PIFS
40 MHz PPDU
40 MHz PPDU
40 MHz PPDU
Secondary channels
Primary channel
70
Enhanced CCA
802.11n 802.11ac
Primary
channel
Valid signal: -82 dBm
Energy detect: -62 dBm
Valid signal: -82 dBm
Energy detect: -62 dBm
Secondary
channel
Energy detect only:
-62 dBm
Valid signal: -72dBm
Energy detect: -62 dBm
Detecting a valid signal in secondary channel is harder than in primary
channel
Because the STA always transmits in the primary channel, it only needs to
detect start of packet in primary channel
Because a secondary transmission may begin while a primary channel
transmission is in progress, a STA must be able to detect signal in middle
of a packet on secondary channel
71
Improved Dynamic Channel Width Operation
E.g. STA1 receives interference from STA2, but transmission
is not detected by AP1
BW signaling is added to RTS and CTS frames
AP1 sends RTS with BW of intended transmission
STA1 sends CTS response with BW of clear channels
AP1 only sends data on clear channels
AP1:
36,40,44,48
AP2:
44,48
Interference
BA
BA
RTS
RTS
RTS
RTS
CTS
CTS
Interference
Data
Data
STA2
STA1
72
Operating Mode Notification Frame
If the interference in the previous example is strong or
frequent, then STA1 can send a Operating Mode
Notification frame
Operating Mode Notification frame tells AP that the STA
is changing the BW on which it operates
E.g. 80 MHz 40 MHz
AP will then only send data frames occupying the reduced
BW
Operating Mode Notification frame can also be used to
reduce the number of spatial streams that a STA can receive
(enhancement of 11ns SM power save mechanism)
73
Aggregation in 11n
802.11n added two forms of
aggregation:
A-MSDU
Performed at the top of the MAC
Easily done in software
Limited by max A-MSDU size
(approx 8kB)
A-MPDU
Performed at the bottom of the MAC
Done in hardware
Limited by PPDU length field of 64kB
Most 11n implementations only did A-
MPDU
Doing both A-MSDU and A-
MPDU, while permitted, had little
benefit
MSDU MSDU MSDU
MAC
Header F
C
S
A-MSDU
A
-
M
P
D
U
D
e
l
i
m
i
t
e
r
MPDU
A
-
M
P
D
U
D
e
l
i
m
i
t
e
r
MPDU
A
-
M
P
D
U
D
e
l
i
m
i
t
e
r
MPDU
A-MPDU
74
Aggregation in 11ac
With 11ac, both A-MSDU and A-MPDU aggregation are
required to achieve good efficiency at higher data rates
Also, in 11ac all packets required to be A-MPDU
PHY no longer conveys the number of octets in the packet, just number
of OFDM symbols
MPDU only contains duration, not length
Delimiter in A-MPDU contains MPDU length
MSDU MSDU
MSDU MSDU MSDU
MAC
Header F
C
S
A
-
M
P
D
U
D
e
l
i
m
i
t
e
r
MPDU
A
-
M
P
D
U
D
e
l
i
m
i
t
e
r
MPDU
MSDU
A
-
M
P
D
U
D
e
l
i
m
i
t
e
r
MPDU
MSDUs typically 1500B in size
A-MSDU
A-MSDU encapsulated in MPDU
(length limit increased to 11,454B)
Aggregated to form A-MSDU
MPDUs aggregated to form A-MPDU
(length limit increased to 1MB,
BA window limit of 64 remains
unchanged)
75
Aggregation in 11ac
A-MPDU only vs A-MSDU+A-MPDU
Throughput simulation, 1 and 2 spatial streams, 160 MHz
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
0 500 1,000 1,500
M
A
C

E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y
T
h
r
o
u
g
h
p
u
t

(
M
b
p
s
)
PHY Data Rate (Mbps)
Throughput with 10% PER
11,414B A-MSDU Limit
7,935B A-MSDU Limit
3,839B A-MSDU Limit
No A-MSDU
11,414B A-MSDU Limit
7,935B A-MSDU Limit
3,839B A-MSDU Limit
No A-MSDU
Without A-MSDU,
only reach 660 Mbps
With A-MSDU,
reach 1.16 Gbps
At 11n rates,
no benefit from
A-MSDU+A-MPDU
76
Downlink Multi User MIMO
(DL MU-MIMO)
In 11n MIMO, the access point
transmits multiple data streams to a
single station at a time
In 11ac DL MU-MIMO, the access
point simultaneously transmits data
streams to multiple stations
Example:
Access point with 6 antenna
One hand-held client device with
one antenna (STA1)
One laptop client device (STA2)
with two antennas
One TV set top box client device
with two antennas (STA3)
Access point simultaneously
transmits one stream to STA1, two
streams to STA2, and two streams
to STA3
STA1
STA2
STA3
77
PHY Transmitter Flow Overview:
Multi User
.
.
.
.
.
.
S
p
a
t
i
a
l

M
a
p
p
i
n
g
Insert GI
and
Window
Analog
and RF
IDFT
Insert GI
and
Window
Analog
and RF
IDFT
Insert GI
and
Window
Analog
and RF
IDFT
.
.
.
P
H
Y

P
a
d
d
i
n
g
S
c
r
a
m
b
l
e
rB
C
C

E
n
c
o
d
e
r
CSD
S
t
r
e
a
m

P
a
r
s
e
r
Constellation
mapper
S
T
B
C
Constellation
mapper
.
.
.
User N
u
(Using BCC)
BCC
Interleaver
BCC
Interleaver
E
n
c
o
d
e
r

P
a
r
s
e
r
B
C
C

E
n
c
o
d
e
r
CSD
.
.
.
P
H
Y

P
a
d
d
i
n
g
S
c
r
a
m
b
l
e
r
L
D
P
C

E
n
c
o
d
e
r
CSD
S
t
r
e
a
m

P
a
r
s
e
r
Constellation
mapper
S
T
B
C
Constellation
mapper
LDPC
tone
mapper
LDPC
tone
mapper
.
.
.
User 1 (Using LDPC)
.
.
.
78
DL MU-MIMO Parameters
Maximum number of users in a
transmission is 4
Maximum number of spatial streams per
user is 4
Maximum total number of spatial streams
(summed over users) is 8
79
PPDU overview (MU)
Illustrating parallel transmissions to multiple users
Parallel VHT-SIG-B, Service, VHT A-MPDU represents directional transmission to each users
MAC provides an A-MPDU that fills the frame to the last byte for each user
Same preamble structure is used for both SU and MU VHT frames
Require that A-MPDU always be used with both SU and MU VHT frames
Aggregation bit in VHT-SIG is then not needed
Tail: 6 bits per BCC encoder for each user
Reserved
MPDU
length = 0
CRC
Delimiter
Signature
EOF
Octets:
MPDU Delimiter
4
When RX MAC detects
the EOF padding
delimiter, it can inform RX
PHY to stop receiving
VHT A-MPDU
PHY
Pad
Tail
Last Symbol
VHT A-MPDU
VHT A-MPDU
PHY
Pad
Tail
PHY
Pad
Tail
PPDU Duration (# of symbols)
A-MPDU
subframe 1
A-MPDU
subframe 2
Null
subframe
(EOF)
Null
subframe
(EOF)
A-MPDU
subframe n
Last byte
boundary
Less than
8-bit
MPDU
Length = 0
MPDU
Length = 0
Final
MAC
Pad
0-3
octets
Dword
MAC
Pad
MAC Pad
MAC Pad
0-3
octets
Service
Service
Service
VHT-
SIG B
VHT-
SIG B
VHT-
SIG B
L-TFs L-SIG VHT-SIG A
VHT-
STF
VHT-
STF
VHT-
STF
VHT-LTF
VHT-LTF
VHT-LTF
User
80
MU Ack Protocol
Ack protocol is unchanged from 802.11n
MU PPDU may solicit a response from only one STA
Remaining STAs are polled for response
Note: Not to scale; BAR-BA is of much shorter
duration that MU PPDU
RA=STA 1, implicit block ack request
RA=STA 2, block ack
RA=STA 3, block ack
BA
BA
BAR
RA=STA 2
AP
STA 1
STA 2
STA 3
BAR
RA=STA 3
BA
81
Group ID concept
Group
ID
Nsts
Index
0 -
1 -
2 0

63 1
Space-time streams 0, 1
Space-time streams 2, 3
Space-time stream 4
Group
ID
Nsts Table
2 2 0 2 1
STA 1
Group
ID
Nsts
Index
0 0
1 1
2 2

63 3
STA 3
Group
ID
Nsts
Index
0 1
1 2
2 3

63 -
STA 4
Group
ID
Nsts
Index
0 -
1 0
2 1

63 2
STA 2
VHT-SIG-A
To STA 1
To STA 3
To STA 4
Per STA
lookup tables
1. AP transmits MU MIMO
PPDU to a group of
STAs identified by
Group ID
2. STAs use Group
ID to index local
table to identify
its Nsts Index
3. Nsts Index determines
which space-time
streams the STA
demodulates
82
Sounding and Feedback Protocol
1. Sounding feedback sequence starts with AP sending an NDP Announcement frame
followed by an NDP
NDP Announcement identifies the first responder after the NDP and may identify other STAs
which will be polled subsequently
2. STA identified as first by the NDP Announcement sends VHT Compressed Beamforming
report frame SIFS time after the NDP
3. AP polls all remaining STAs using the Beamforming Report Poll frame
Note that in the SU case, the sequence is simply NDP Announcement-NDP-VHT
Compressed Beamforming report frame
83
Acronyms (1/4)
A-MPDU - aggregate MAC protocol data unit
A-MSDU aggregate MAC service data unit
ACK - acknowledgment
AID - association identifier
AIFS - arbitration interframe space
A-MPDU - aggregate MAC protocol data unit
AP access point
BA - Block Acknowledgment
BAR - Block Acknowledgment request
BB baseband
BCC - binary convolutional code
BF - beamforming
BPSK - binary phase shift keying
BW bandwidth
CCA - clear channel assessment
CCK - complementary code keying
CRC - cyclic redundancy code
CSD - cyclic shift diversity
CSI - channel state information
CSMA/CA - carrier sense multiple access with
collision avoidance
CTS - clear to send
CW - contention window
DL - downlink
DSSS - direct sequence spread spectrum
84
Acronyms (2/4)
FFT - Fast Fourier Transform
FEC - forward error correction
FEM front-end module
GI guard interval
HT high throughput
IBSS independent basic service set
ID - identification
Infra-BSS infrastructure basic service set
IMT-Advanced - International Mobile
Telecommunications - Advanced
ISM - industrial, scientific, and medical
LDPC - low-density parity check
L-SIG legacy signal field
L-TF, LTF legacy training field
MAC - medium access control
MCS modulation, coding scheme
MF mixed format
MIB - management information base
MIMO - multiple input, multiple output
MPDU - MAC protocol data unit
MSDU - MAC service data unit
MU multi user
NDP - null data packet
NDPA NDP announcement
85
Acronyms (3/4)
OFDM - orthogonal frequency division
multiplexing
PAR - Project Authorization Request
PAPR - Peak-to-Average Power Ratio
PHY - physical layer
PIFS - point (coordination function) interframe space
PLCP - physical layer convergence procedure
PPDU - PLCP protocol data unit
PS power save
PSDU - PLCP service data unit
QAM - quadrature amplitude modulation
QPSK - quadrature phase shift keying
RFIC radio frequency integrated circuit
RX receive or receiver
RTS - request to send
SC single carrier
SDM spatial division multiplexing
SIFS - short interframe space
SIG signal field
SNR signal to noise ratio
STA station
STBC - space-time block coding
STF short training field
SU single user
TG task group
TX transmit or transmitter
TXOP - transmission opportunity
86
Acronyms (4/4)
VHT very high throughput
WG working group
WLAN wireless local area networking
87
References
1. Perahia, Eldad, and Stacey, Robert, Next Generation Wireless LANs: Throughput,
Robustness, and Reliability in 802.11n, Cambridge University Press, 2008
2. Kim, Youhan, Channelization for 11ac, 11-10/1064r2,
https://mentor.ieee.org/802.11/dcn/10/11-10-1064-02-00ac-channelization-for-11ac.ppt
3. Stacey, Robert, Specification Framework for TGac, 11-09/992r21,
https://mentor.ieee.org/802.11/dcn/09/11-09-0992-21-00ac-proposed-specification-
framework-for-tgac.doc
4. Merlin, Simone, Protocol for SU and MU Sounding Feedback, 11-10/1091,
https://mentor.ieee.org/802.11/dcn/10/11-10-1091-00-00ac-protocol-for-su-and-mu-sounding-
feedback.pptx
5. Merlin, Simone, ACK protocol and backoff procedure for MU-MIMO, 11-10/1092,
https://mentor.ieee.org/802.11/dcn/10/11-10-1092-00-00ac-ack-protocol-and-backoff-
procedure-for-mu-mimo.pptx
6. P802.11ac Draft 4.0
7. Myles, Andrew, and de Vegt, Rolf, Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) VHT Study Group Usage
Models, 11-07/2988r4, https://mentor.ieee.org/802.11/dcn/07/11-07-2988-04-0000-liaison-
from-wi-fi-alliance-to-802-11-regarding-wfa-vht-study-group-consolidation-of-usage-
models.ppt
88