Sounding and Steering Protocols for Wireless Communications

1. A method comprising: transmitting a sounding packet to wireless communication devices; receiving, in response to the sounding packet, feedback packets from the wireless communication devices, wherein the feedback packets are indicative of beamforming matrices, the beamforming matrices being derived from received versions of the sounding packet; determining steering matrices based on the beamforming matrices; generating spatially steered data packets for the wireless communication devices based respectively on the steering matrices and data streams intended respectively for the wireless communication devices; and transmitting, within a frame, the spatially steered data packets to the wireless communications devices, wherein the spatially steered data packets concurrently provide the data streams respectively within the frame to the wireless communication devices via different spatial wireless channels.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the feedback packets respectively comprise compressed versions of the beamforming matrices.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the steering matrices based on the beamforming matrices comprises using a spatial mapping matrix, and wherein the sounding packet is based on the spatial mapping matrix.

4. The method of claim 1 , comprising: transmitting a null data packet (NDP) announcement packet to indicate that two or more NDP based sound packets will be transmitted, wherein transmitting the sounding packet comprises: transmitting a first NDP that is configured to sound a first group of antennas; and transmitting a second NDP that is configured to sound a second group of antennas.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sounding packet comprises training fields, and wherein a quantity of the training fields is included in a signal field of the sounding packet.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sounding packet comprises information for training eight antennas.

7. An apparatus comprising: transceiver electronics to communicate with wireless communication devices; and processor electronics coupled with the transceiver electronics and configured to control a transmission of a sounding packet to the wireless communication devices, receive, in response to the sounding packet, feedback packets from the wireless communication devices, wherein the feedback packets are indicative of beamforming matrices, the beamforming matrices being derived from received versions of the sounding packet, determine steering matrices based on the beamforming matrices, generate spatially steered data packets for the wireless communication devices based respectively on the steering matrices and data streams intended respectively for the wireless communication devices, and control a transmission, within a frame, of the spatially steered data packets to the wireless communications devices, wherein the spatially steered data packets concurrently provide the data streams respectively within the frame to the wireless communication devices via different spatial wireless channels.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the feedback packets respectively comprise compressed versions of the beamforming matrices.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the steering matrices are determined based on a spatial mapping matrix, and wherein the sounding packet is based on the spatial mapping matrix.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the sounding packet is a first null data packet (NDP) that is configured to sound a first group of antennas, and wherein the processor electronics are configured to transmit a NDP announcement packet to indicate that two or more NDP based sound packets will be transmitted, and transmit a second NDP to sound a second group of antennas.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the sounding packet comprises training fields, and wherein a quantity of the training fields is included in a signal field of the sounding packet.

12. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the sounding packet comprises information for training eight antennas.

13. A system comprising: antennas; and an access point communicatively coupled with the antennas and configured to transmit, via the antennas, a sounding packet to wireless communication devices, receive, in response to the sounding packet, feedback packets from the wireless communication devices, wherein the feedback packets are indicative of beamforming matrices, the beamforming matrices being derived from received versions of the sounding packet, determine steering matrices based on the beamforming matrices, generate spatially steered data packets for the wireless communication devices based respectively on the steering matrices and data streams intended respectively for the wireless communication devices, and transmit, within a frame, the spatially steered data packets to the wireless communications devices via the antennas, wherein the spatially steered data packets concurrently provide the data streams respectively within the frame to the wireless communication devices via different spatial wireless channels.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the feedback packets respectively comprise compressed versions of the beamforming matrices.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the steering matrices are determined based on a spatial mapping matrix, and wherein the sounding packet is based on the spatial mapping matrix.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the sounding packet is a first null data packet (NDP) for sounding a first group of the antennas, and wherein the access point is configured to transmit a NDP announcement packet to indicate that two or more NDP based sound packets will be transmitted, and transmit a second NDP for sounding a second group of the antennas.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the sounding packet comprises training fields, and wherein a quantity of the training fields is included in a signal field of the sounding packet.

18. The system of claim 13 , wherein the sounding packet comprises information for training eight antennas.