CN116896790A - WLAN enhancements for coexistence - Google Patents

Abstract

The present application relates to WLAN enhancements for coexistence. The present application provides systems, methods, and mechanisms for WLAN enhancements to facilitate coexistence with other radio access technologies such as bluetooth, 5G NR, and/or UWB. For example, WLAN transmissions may be shortened, e.g., to better accommodate available transmission time. The wireless device may shorten the WLAN transmissions of the peer device by specifying a frame size limit for WLAN communications. The frame size limit may be indicated via a data frame, a management frame, a beacon frame, an association request frame, and/or an association response frame.

Description

WLAN enhancements for coexistence

Technical Field

The present application relates to wireless communications, including techniques for WLAN enhancements to facilitate coexistence with other radio access technologies such as bluetooth.

Description of related Art

The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. In addition, wireless communication technologies have evolved from voice-only communication to also include transmission of data such as the internet and multimedia content. A common short-range/medium-range wireless communication standard is Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). Most modern WLANs are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard (or 802.11 for short) and marketed under Wi-Fi brand names. The WLAN network links one or more devices to a wireless access point, which in turn provides connectivity to the wider area internet.

In 802.11 systems, devices that are wirelessly connected to each other are referred to as "stations," "mobile stations," "user equipment," or simply STAs or UEs. The wireless station may be a wireless access point or a wireless client (or mobile station). An Access Point (AP), also known as a wireless router, acts as a base station for a wireless network. The AP transmits and receives radio frequency signals for communication with the wireless client device. The AP is also typically coupled to the internet in a wired manner. The wireless client operating on the 802.11 network may be any of a variety of devices, such as a laptop, tablet, smart phone, or stationary device, e.g., a desktop computer. A wireless client device is referred to herein as a user equipment (or UE for short). Some wireless client devices are also referred to herein collectively as mobile devices or mobile stations (although as noted above, the wireless client devices may also be stationary devices in general).

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments described herein relate to systems and methods for WLAN enhancements to facilitate coexistence with other radio access technologies, such as bluetooth.

Some embodiments relate to a wireless station that includes one or more antennas, one or more radios, and one or more processors coupled (directly or indirectly) to the radios. The at least one radio is configured to conduct Wi-Fi communications, for example, via a Wi-Fi interface. In addition, at least one radio is configured to perform communication according to another radio access technology, such as bluetooth, 5G NR, and/or Ultra Wideband (UWB). In some cases, the radio may be shared among multiple radio access technologies. The wireless station may be in voice and/or data communication, as well as any or all of the methods described herein.

Some embodiments relate to an access point that includes one or more antennas, one or more radios, and one or more processors coupled (directly or indirectly) to the radios. The at least one radio is configured to conduct Wi-Fi communications, for example, via a Wi-Fi interface. In addition, at least one radio is configured to perform communication according to another radio access technology such as bluetooth, 5G NR and/or UWB. In some cases, the radio may be shared among multiple radio access technologies. The access point may be in voice and/or data communication, as well as any or all of the methods described herein.

In some embodiments, WLAN enhancements may be introduced to facilitate coexistence with other radio access technologies such as bluetooth, 5G NR, and/or UWB. For example, embodiments described herein may shorten WLAN transmissions, e.g., to better accommodate available transmission time. As another example, embodiments described herein may allow a wireless device to shorten WLAN transmissions for a peer device (e.g., another wireless device or access point). Further, embodiments described herein may allow WLAN transmissions to be more compatible with simultaneous bluetooth transmissions, 5G NR transmissions, UWB ranging transmissions, and the like. In some embodiments, the wireless station may request shorter transmissions from the peer device to mitigate and/or alleviate coexistence issues between radio access technologies. In some embodiments, the wireless station may control the use of a Ready To Send (RTS) frame and a Clear To Send (CTS) frame prior to transmission.

In some embodiments, signaling between wireless stations (e.g., between peer wireless stations and/or between a wireless station and an access point) may be introduced to signal frame size limitations. For example, a management frame may be introduced to carry and/or indicate frame size limitation parameters. The management frame may carry multi-link signaling, e.g., the management frame may define a frame size limit for all links and/or multiple links of the multi-link topology, and may not have a frame size limit. As another example, a field may be introduced and/or added to the MAC header of the data frame to carry and/or indicate the frame size limitation parameter. As a further example, fields may be introduced in the beacon frame, association request frame, and/or association response frame to carry and/or indicate frame size limitation parameters.

This summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described in this document. Thus, it should be appreciated that the above-described features are merely examples, and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the claims.

Drawings

A better understanding of the present subject matter may be obtained when the following detailed description of the embodiments is considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example WLAN communication system according to some embodiments.

Fig. 2 illustrates an exemplary simplified block diagram of a WLAN Access Point (AP) according to some embodiments.

Fig. 3 illustrates an example simplified block diagram of a mobile station according to some embodiments.

Fig. 4 illustrates an example of a data frame having parameters indicating a frame size limit according to some embodiments.

Fig. 5 illustrates an example of a parameter indicating a frame size limit according to some embodiments.

Fig. 6 illustrates an example of an access point that uses a longer TXOP but limits the time for transmission to a wireless station to comply with the maximum TXOP duration limit indicated by the wireless station, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 7 illustrates an example of signaling when a wireless station indicates that an RTS frame is required, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 8 illustrates an example in which a peer device transmits multiple times to a wireless station during a longer TXOP while adhering to a minimum TXOP interval indicated by the wireless station, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 9 illustrates an example of a management frame for carrying and/or indicating frame size limitation parameters, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 10 illustrates control parameter fields of a management frame for carrying and/or indicating frame size limitation parameters, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 11 illustrates another field of a management frame for carrying and/or indicating frame size limitation parameters, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 12 illustrates an example of signaling in which a wireless station associated with a peer indicates a frame size limit to the peer in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 13 illustrates an example of signaling in which a wireless station operating as a mobile access point indicates frame size limitations to an associated peer device, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 14 illustrates an example of an infrastructure topology with MLD access points, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 15 illustrates an example of a multilink element according to some embodiments.

Fig. 16 illustrates an example of a per-site profile field according to some embodiments.

Fig. 17 illustrates an example of a site control field according to some embodiments.

Fig. 18 illustrates an example of a NAN topology according to some embodiments.

Fig. 19, 20, 21, and 22 illustrate block diagrams of examples of methods for limiting a frame size of communications between a wireless station and a peer device, in accordance with some embodiments.

While the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims.

Detailed Description

Acronyms

Various acronyms are used throughout this patent application. The most prominent acronyms used that may appear throughout this patent application are defined as follows:

UE: user equipment

AP: access point

DL: downlink (from BS to UE)

UL: uplink (from UE to BS)

TX: transmission/reception

RX: reception of

LAN: local area network

WLAN: wireless LAN

RAT: radio access technology

Terminology

The following is a glossary of terms used in this disclosure:

memory medium-any of various types of non-transitory memory devices or storage devices. The term "memory medium" is intended to include mounting media such as CD-ROM, floppy disk, or magnetic tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, rambus RAM, etc.; nonvolatile memory such as flash memory, magnetic media, e.g., hard disk drives or optical storage devices; registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may also include other types of non-transitory memory or combinations thereof. Further, the memory medium may be located in the first computer system executing the program, or may be located in a connection to a network such as the internet In a second, different computer system of the first computer system. In the latter case, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer for execution. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory media that may reside at different locations in different computer systems connected by, for example, a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., as a computer program) that are executable by one or more processors.

Carrier wave mediumMemory media as described above, as well as physical transmission media such as buses, networks, and/or other physical transmission media that transmit signals such as electrical, electromagnetic or digital signals.

Computer systemAny of a variety of types of computing systems or processing systems, including Personal Computer Systems (PCs), mainframe computer systems, workstations, network appliances, internet appliances, personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), television systems, grid computing systems, or other devices or combinations of devices. In general, the term "computer system" may be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

Mobile device (or mobile station)-any of various types of computer system devices, mobile or portable and performing wireless communication using WLAN communication. Examples of mobile devices include mobile phones or smart phones (e.g., iphones ^TM Android-based ^TM Phone of (a) ^TM 、Samsung Galaxy ^TM Etc. Various other types of devices, if including Wi-Fi or both cellular and Wi-Fi communication capabilities, would fall into this category, such as laptop computers (e.g., macBook ^TM ) Portable game device (e.g. Nintendo DS ^TM 、PlayStation Portable ^TM 、Gameboy Advance ^TM 、iPhone ^TM ) Portable internet devices and other handheld devices, as well as wearable devices such as smartwatches, smart glasses, headphones, pendants, earsPlugs, etc. In general, the term "mobile device" may be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and/or communication device (or combination of devices) that a user facilitates transportation and is capable of wireless communication.

Wireless device (or wireless station)-any of various types of computer system devices that perform wireless communications using WLAN communications. As used herein, the term "wireless device" may refer to a mobile device as defined above or a stationary device such as a stationary wireless client or a wireless base station. For example, the wireless device may be any type of wireless station of an 802.11 system, such as an Access Point (AP) or a client station (STA or UE). Other examples include televisions, media players (e.g., appleTV) ^TM 、Roku ^TM 、Amazon FireTV ^TM 、Google Chromecast ^TM Etc.), refrigerators, washing machines, thermostats, etc.

User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device")Any of various types of computer systems or devices that are mobile or portable and that perform wireless communications. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smart phones (e.g., iphones ^TM Android-based ^TM A phone of (a)), a tablet computer (e.g., an iPad ^TM 、Samsung Galaxy ^TM ) Portable game device (e.g. Nintendo DS ^TM 、PlayStation Portable ^TM 、Gameboy Advance ^TM 、iPhone ^TM ) A wearable device (e.g., smart watch, smart glasses), a laptop computer, a PDA, a portable internet device, a music player, a data storage device, other handheld devices, an automobile and/or motor vehicle, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) (e.g., an unmanned aerial vehicle), a UAV controller (UAC), etc. In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" may be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and/or telecommunications device (or combination of such devices) that is easily transportable by a user and capable of wireless communication.

WLANThe term "WLAN" has its full scope of ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication network or RAT, which is served by WLAN access points and through theseThe entry point provides connectivity to the internet. Most modern WLANs are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and sold under the name "Wi-Fi". WLAN networks are different from cellular networks.

Processing elementRefers to various implementations of digital circuitry that perform functions in a computer system. Furthermore, a processing element may refer to various embodiments of analog or mixed signal (a combination of analog and digital) circuitry that performs a function (or functions) in a computer or computer system. The processing element includes, for example, circuitry (such as an Integrated Circuit (IC), an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), portions or circuits of respective processor cores), an entire processor core, respective processors, programmable hardware devices (such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)), and/or a larger portion of a system including multiple processors.

WI-FIThe term "WI-FI" has its full scope of common meaning and includes at least a wireless communication network or RAT, which is served by Wireless LAN (WLAN) access points and through which connectivity to the internet is provided. Most modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and are marketed under the designation "Wi-Fi". WI-FI (WLAN) networks are different from cellular networks.

Bluetooth (R) ^TM The term "Bluetooth ^TM "has its full scope of ordinary meaning and includes at least any of a variety of implementations of the bluetooth standard, including bluetooth low energy (BTLE) and bluetooth low energy for audio (BTLEA), including future implementations of the bluetooth standard, and so forth.

Personal area networkThe term "personal area network" has its full scope of ordinary meaning and includes at least any of various types of computer networks for data transmission between devices such as computers, telephones, tablet computers, and input/output devices. Bluetooth is an example of a personal area network. PAN is an example of a short-range wireless communication technology.

Automatic machineRefers to a computer system (e.g., software executed by a computer system) or device (e.g., circuitry, programmable hardware elements,ASIC, etc.) performs an action or operation without directly specifying or performing the action or operation via user input. Thus, the term "automatically" is in contrast to operations being performed or specified manually by a user, where the user provides input to directly perform the operation. The automatic process may be initiated by input provided by the user, but the actions performed subsequently "automatically" are not specified by the user, e.g., are not performed "manually", in which case the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user fills in an electronic form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing information, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) to manually fill in the form, even though the computer system must update the form in response to user actions. The form may be automatically filled in by a computer system that (e.g., software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills in the form without any user entering an answer to the specified fields. As indicated above, the user may refer to the automatic filling of the form, but not participate in the actual filling of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify answers to the fields, but they do so automatically). The present description provides various examples of operations that are automatically performed in response to actions that a user has taken.

Concurrence ofBy parallel execution or implementation is meant, wherein tasks, procedures, signaling, messages or programs are executed in an at least partially overlapping manner. Concurrency may be achieved, for example, using "strong" or strict parallelism, in which tasks are executed (at least partially) in parallel on respective computing elements; or use "weak parallelism" to achieve concurrency, where tasks are performed in an interleaved fashion (e.g., by time multiplexing of execution threads).

Is configured toVarious components may be described as "configured to" perform a task or tasks. In such environments, "configured to" is a broad expression that generally means "having" a structure that "performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, even when a component is not currently performing a task, the component can be configured to perform the task (e.g., a set of electrical conductors can beConfigured to electrically connect a module to another module even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, "configured to" may be a broad expression of structure generally meaning "having" circuitry "that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, a component can be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently on. In general, the circuitry forming the structure corresponding to "configured to" may comprise hardware circuitry.

For ease of description, various components may be described as performing one or more tasks. Such descriptions should be construed to include the phrase "configured to". The expression a component configured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended to not refer to an explanation of 35u.s.c. ≡112 (f) for that component.

The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description. As used throughout this disclosure, the term "possible" is used in a permissive sense (e.g., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (e.g., meaning must). The word "comprising" means an open relationship and thus means including but not limited to. Likewise, the word "having" also indicates an open relationship, and thus indicates having, but is not limited to. The terms "first," "second," "third," and the like, as used herein, are used as labels for nouns following them and do not imply any sort of ordering (e.g., spatial, temporal, logical, etc.) unless clearly indicated otherwise. For example, unless otherwise specified, "a third component electrically connected to a module substrate" does not exclude a case in which "a fourth component electrically connected to a module substrate" is connected before the third component. Similarly, unless specified otherwise, a "second" feature does not require that a "first" feature be implemented before a "second" feature.

Fig. 1-WLAN system

Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary WLAN system according to some embodiments. As shown, the exemplary WLAN system includes a plurality of wireless client stations or devices, or User Equipment (UE) 106, configured to communicate with an Access Point (AP) 112 through a wireless communication channel 142. AP 112 may be a Wi-Fi access point. AP 112 may communicate with one or more other electronic devices (not shown) and/or another network 152, such as the internet, via wired and/or wireless communication channels 150. Additional electronic devices, such as remote device 154, may communicate with the components of the WLAN system via network 152. For example, the remote device 154 may be another wireless client site. The WLAN system may be configured to operate in accordance with any of a variety of communication standards, such as various IEEE 802.11 standards. In some embodiments, at least one wireless device 106 is configured to communicate directly with one or more neighboring mobile devices (e.g., via direct communication channel 140) without using access point 112.

In some embodiments, as described further below, the wireless device 106 may be configured to perform method WLAN enhancements to facilitate coexistence with other radio access technologies, such as bluetooth.

Fig. 2-access point block diagram

Fig. 2 shows an exemplary block diagram of Access Point (AP) 112. Note that the block diagram of the AP of fig. 2 is only one example of a possible system. As shown, AP 112 may include a processor 204 that may execute program instructions for AP 112. The processor 204 may also be coupled (directly or indirectly) to a Memory Management Unit (MMU) 240 or other circuit or device, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 204 and translate the addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 260 and Read Only Memory (ROM) 250).

AP 112 may include at least one network port 270. The network port 270 may be configured to couple to a wired network and provide access to the internet for a plurality of devices, such as the mobile device 106. For example, the network port 270 (or an additional network port) may be configured to couple to a local network, such as a home network or an enterprise network. For example, port 270 may be an ethernet port. The local network may provide a connection to additional networks, such as the internet.

AP 112 may include at least one antenna 234, which may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver, and may be further configured to communicate with mobile device 106 via wireless communication circuitry 230. The antenna 234 communicates with the wireless communication circuit 230 via a communication link 232. The communication chain 232 may include one or more receive chains, one or more transmit chains, or both. The wireless communication circuit 230 may be configured to communicate via Wi-Fi or WLAN (e.g., 802.11). For example, where an AP is co-located with a base station in the case of a small cell, or in other cases where it may be desirable for AP 112 to communicate via a variety of different wireless communication technologies, wireless communication circuitry 230 may also or alternatively be configured to communicate via a variety of other wireless communication technologies including, but not limited to, long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), global System for Mobile (GSM), wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), CDMA2000, and the like.

In some embodiments, as described further below, AP 112 may be configured to perform methods for privacy enhanced BSSs, including privacy enhancement for both access points and wireless stations, as well as privacy enhancement for authentication operations, association operations, and discovery operations.

FIG. 3-client site block diagram

Fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary simplified block diagram of a client site 106. Note that the client site block diagram of fig. 3 is merely one example of a possible client site. According to various embodiments, the client station 106 may be a User Equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, and/or a wireless device or wireless station. As shown, client site 106 may include a system on a chip (SOC) 300, which may include portions for various purposes. The SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuitry of the client site 106. For example, the client site 106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 310), a connector interface (I/F) (or docking station) 320 (e.g., for coupling to a computer system, a taskbar, a charging station, etc.), a display 360, cellular communication circuitry 330 (such as for LTE, GSM, etc.), and mid-short range wireless communication circuitry 329 (e.g., bluetooth @) ^TM And WLAN circuitry). The client site 106 may also include one or more smart cards 310 incorporating SIM (subscriber identity module) functionality, such as one or more UICCs (aOne or more universal integrated circuit cards) card 345. The cellular communication circuit 330 may be coupled to one or more antennas, such as antennas 335 and 336 as shown. Short-to-medium range wireless communication circuit 329 may also be coupled to one or more antennas, such as antennas 337 and 338 as shown. Alternatively, short-to-medium range wireless communication circuit 329 may be coupled to antennas 335 and 336 in addition to or instead of antennas 337 and 338. The short-to-medium range wireless communication circuit 329 may include multiple receive chains and/or multiple transmit chains for receiving and/or transmitting multiple spatial streams in, for example, a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) configuration.

As shown, SOC 300 may include one or more processors 302 that may execute program instructions for client site 106 and display circuitry 304 that may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to display 360. The one or more processors 302 may also be coupled to a Memory Management Unit (MMU) 340 and/or other circuits or devices, such as a display circuit 304, a cellular communication circuit 330, a short range wireless communication circuit 329, a connector interface (I/F) 320, and/or a display 360, which may be configured to receive addresses from the one or more processors 302 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read Only Memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310). MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, MMU 340 may be included as part of processor 302.

As described above, the client site 106 may be configured to communicate wirelessly directly with one or more neighboring client sites. The client station 106 may be configured to communicate according to a WLAN RAT for communicating in a WLAN network, as shown in fig. 1. Furthermore, in some embodiments, as described further below, the client station 106 may be configured to perform method WLAN enhancements to facilitate coexistence with other radio access technologies such as bluetooth.

As described herein, the client site 106 may include hardware and software components for implementing the features described herein. For example, the processor 302 of the client site 106 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein, such as by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), the processor 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit). Alternatively (or in addition), the processor 302 of the UE 106 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein in conjunction with one or more of the other components 300, 304, 306, 310, 320, 330, 335, 340, 345, 350, 360.

Further, processor 302 may include one or more processing elements, as described herein. Accordingly, the processor 302 may include one or more Integrated Circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the processor 302. Further, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of one or more processors 204.

Further, as described herein, both the cellular communication circuit 330 and the short-range wireless communication circuit 329 may include one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in cellular communication circuitry 330 or in short-range wireless communication circuitry 329. Thus, each of the cellular communication circuit 330 and the short-range wireless communication circuit 329 may include one or more Integrated Circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the cellular communication circuit 330 and the short-range wireless communication circuit 329, respectively. Further, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of cellular communications circuitry 330 and short-range wireless communications circuitry 329.

WLAN enhancements for coexistence

In the current implementation, bluetooth communications operate in the 2.4GHz band shared with Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), such as Wi-Fi. However, in future implementations, bluetooth communications are intended for operation in the 5GHz band (also shared with Wi-Fi) as well as the 6GHz band. The bluetooth radio transmits and receives data packets using periodic scheduling based on transmission intervals and transmission durations. Furthermore, since bluetooth and WLAN operate at least in part in the 2.4GHz band, devices typically share radio components between bluetooth and WLAN transmissions. Thus, such devices may be capable of performing bluetooth communications (e.g., transmission or reception) or WLAN communications at any given time. Similarly, even if the device has a dedicated radio for bluetooth and WLAN communications, simultaneous transmissions by the dedicated radio may corrupt (e.g., interfere with) the bluetooth transmissions. In addition, interference from bluetooth transmissions may prevent simultaneous reception of WLAN transmissions.

In the current embodiment, the WLAN transmission duration, e.g., the duration of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU), may be determined based at least in part on the frame size, the frame transmission rate, the PPDU header overhead size, e.g., as shown in equation [1 ].

The frame size may depend on the payload, the number of MAC PDUs (MPDUs), the MPDU size, and possibly end of frame (EoF) padding, where the frame size may be limited by the number of MPDUs in the aggregate MPDU (a-MPDU), the MPDU size, and/or whether the aggregate MAC service data unit (a-MSDU) is supported. Further, the frame transmission rate (e.g., the transmission rate of the payload) may be selected by the transmitter based on the transmitter's rate adaptation logic or may be defined by the access point for triggered uplink transmissions. In addition, the PPDU preamble may be of a fixed duration (e.g., in the range of 20 microseconds to 50 microseconds) and may depend on the PPDU type.

In addition, the wireless station may use various mechanisms to adjust the WLAN transmission size and/or duration. For example, the wireless station may adjust the WLAN transmission size and/or duration by adjusting a Block Acknowledgement (BA) window size, supporting MSDU aggregation (a-MSDU), and/or by adjusting a maximum a-MPDU size. However, each of these mechanisms has limitations and/or disadvantages.

For example, the BA window size may limit the size of the transmitted physical layer PDU (PPDU), but adjusting the BA window size across multiple Traffic Identifiers (TIDs) may excessively increase signaling and overhead. Note that an a-MPDU as defined by IEEE 802.11n may include a plurality of MPDUs, and a BA frame as also defined by IEEE 802.11n may individually acknowledge each of the a-MPDUs. Note further that MPDUs have Sequence Numbers (SNs) and Frame Control Sequences (FCS). Accordingly, the reception may calculate FCS on the received frame and check whether the calculated FCS matches the FCS of the MPDU. In addition, the BA has a window size defining the number of SNs that the receiver can acknowledge. Thus, the transmitted a-MPDU should have an SN appropriate for the BA window. Thus, the BA window size may limit the size of the transmitted PPDU. For example, as the BA window size decreases, the number of MPDUs in the PPDU correspondingly decreases. Therefore, reducing the BA window size limits the number of MPDUs in the PPDU. However, BA is both directional and TID-dependent. Thus, BA settings are performed by the transmitter for each TID individually. As an example, if a communication wireless station uses all TIDs to transmit traffic, 16 BA terminations and settings are needed to change all TIDs to operate with smaller (shorter) MPDU sizes. In addition, each BA termination and setting requires 3 management frames that are transmitted separately and acknowledged with acknowledgement frames, resulting in 48 management frames and 48 acknowledgement frames being transmitted to adjust the BA window size to control WLAN transmission size and/or duration. Thus, such a large amount of signaling may result in increased overhead and delay.

As a further example, supporting a-MSDUs and/or adjusting the maximum a-MPDU size may limit WLAN transmission size and/or duration, however, both mechanisms are not particularly effective because a-MSDUs support and maximum a-MPDU size are signaled during association. Thus, to change either parameter, a wireless station needs to re-associate with a peer device (another wireless station or access point). In addition, the reassociation deletes all BAs and quality of service (QoS) signaling, resulting in higher overhead and increased signaling. Further, the supported maximum a-MPDU size may be too large to effectively limit the PPDU duration (e.g., WLAN transmission size and/or duration).

The embodiments described herein provide systems, methods, and mechanisms for WLAN enhancements to facilitate coexistence with other radio access technologies, such as bluetooth. For example, embodiments described herein may provide systems, methods, and mechanisms for shortening WLAN transmissions, e.g., to better accommodate available transmission time. As another example, embodiments described herein may provide systems, methods, and mechanisms that allow a wireless device to shorten WLAN transmissions for a peer device, such as another wireless device or an access point. Further, the embodiments described herein may provide systems, methods, and mechanisms that allow WLAN transmissions to be more compatible with simultaneous bluetooth transmissions, 5G NR transmissions, ultra Wideband (UWB) ranging transmissions, and the like. In some embodiments, a wireless station, such as wireless station 106, may request a shorter transmission from a peer device (e.g., another wireless station or access point) to mitigate and/or alleviate coexistence issues between radio access technologies. In some embodiments, a wireless station, such as wireless station 106, may control the use of a Ready To Send (RTS) frame and a Clear To Send (CTS) frame prior to transmission. It is noted that the embodiments described herein may allow for lower overhead and rapid deployment compared to current solutions. It is further noted that the embodiments described herein may be used in all WLAN topologies.

In some cases, signaling between wireless stations (e.g., between peer wireless stations 106 and/or between wireless stations 106 and access point 112) may be introduced to signal frame size limitations. For example, a management frame may be introduced to carry and/or indicate frame size limitation parameters. The management frame may carry multi-link signaling, e.g., the management frame may define a frame size limit for all links and/or multiple links of the multi-link topology, and may not have a frame size limit. As another example, a field may be introduced and/or added to the MAC header of the data frame to carry and/or indicate the frame size limitation parameter. In some cases, this field may be limited to 29 bits. In some cases, a beacon frame may be used to carry and/or indicate a frame size limitation parameter. In some cases, the signaling may be unicast signaling and/or broadcast signaling. As an example, unicast signaling may be acknowledged by the receiver, and the field size limitation parameter may be applied only to the receiver. As another example, broadcast signaling may set frame size limit parameters for all receivers, e.g., a wireless station such as a mobile access point may limit the frame size of all associated wireless stations. In some cases, the field size limit may have a validity time based at least in part on whether the field size increases (e.g., the field size limit relaxes) or decreases (e.g., the field size limit becomes stricter). For example, if the signaling relaxes the field size restriction, the new field size restriction may not be quickly adopted compared to signaling that further restricts the field size restriction. As another example, if the signaling further constrains the field size limitation, the peer wireless station may employ the new field size limitation within a reasonable time (e.g., within a beacon interval).

For example, fig. 4 illustrates an example of a data frame having parameters (e.g., an a control field) indicating a frame size limit, according to some embodiments. As shown, the data frame may include a frame control field, a duration/ID field, a plurality of address fields (e.g., address fields 1, 2, 3, and 4), a sequence control field, a QoS control field, an a control field, a counter mode CBC-MAC protocol (CCMP) header field, an MPDU field, and/or an FCS field. As shown in fig. 5, the a control field (e.g., a parameter indicating a frame size limitation) may include a required RTS field, a direction field, a maximum PPDU size index field, a minimum Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) rate field, a maximum transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration field, and/or a minimum TXOP interval field. Note that each field may include parameters for controlling/limiting the size of frames transmitted to a wireless station, such as wireless station 106. Therefore, if a plurality of restrictions are set, all conditions must be satisfied, for example, the most stringent restrictions are applied. For example, as shown in fig. 6, an access point, such as access point 112, may use a longer TXOP, but limit the time for transmissions to a wireless station, such as wireless station 106, to adhere to the maximum TXOP duration limit indicated by the wireless station.

The RTS field may be required to be 1 bit. The need RTS field may indicate whether a wireless station requires a peer to send an RTS frame (e.g., an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, and/or a Buffer Status Report Poll (BSRP) frame) before the peer can send a data frame or a management frame. For example, a value of 1 may indicate that a wireless station requires a peer to send an RTS frame (e.g., an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, and/or a Buffer Status Report Poll (BSRP) frame) before the peer can send a data frame or a management frame, while a value of 0 may indicate that such a frame is not required before the peer can send a data frame or a management frame. Alternatively, a value of 0 may indicate that the wireless station requires the peer to send an RTS frame (e.g., an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, and/or a Buffer Status Report Poll (BSRP) frame) before the peer can send a data frame or a management frame, while a value of 1 may indicate that such a frame is not required before the peer can send a data frame or a management frame. Fig. 7 illustrates an example of signaling when a wireless station indicates that an RTS frame is required, in accordance with some embodiments. As shown, when a wireless station (e.g., wireless station 106) indicates that a peer device is required to send an RTS/MU-RTS/BSRP frame (e.g., required to initiate signaling) prior to transmitting data (e.g., data frames) or management frames via a required RTS field of an a control field included in the data frames (e.g., as described with reference to fig. 4 and 5), the peer device may send a frame (e.g., an RTS/MU-RTS/BSRP frame) to initiate communication. The wireless station may then check whether there is an appropriate time to transmit data, e.g., based on the coexistence of the WLAN with other RATs. Note that the wireless station may not respond if, for example, a bluetooth (or other RAT) transmission/interruption would fail a peer-to-peer transmission. Therefore, in this case, only the start-up signaling time is wasted, thereby reducing wasted resources. Further, when the wireless station determines that there is an appropriate time to transmit data, the wireless station may respond with a CTS frame. The peer device may then transmit data and the wireless station may respond with a BA, as shown.

The direction field may be 1 bit. The direction field may indicate uplink triggered transmission or downlink transmission. In other words, the direction field may signal whether a setting is defined for a downlink transmission or for an uplink triggered transmission. For example, the first value may define a transmission control field parameter that controls transmission of the peer device to the wireless station. The second value may then define a transmission control field parameter to control transmission of the wireless station triggered by the peer device. Note that the downlink frames (e.g., to the peer device) and the uplink triggered frames (e.g., from the peer device) may have different limiting parameter values. In addition, if the peer device cannot trigger the wireless station, the peer device may use a multi-user Enhanced Distributed Control Access (EDCA) reset frame to allow the peer STA to use the EDCA parameters. Furthermore, if a peer device "poorly" triggers a wireless station, the wireless station may disable the triggering by using the operation mode indication a control field.

The maximum PPDU size index field may be 4 bits. The maximum PPDU size exponent field may specify that the exponent is octet. The maximum PPDU size index field may limit the PPDU size as defined in equation [2 ].

Maximum PPDU size = 2 ^{(6+ maximum PPDU size index)} [2]

A value of 15 may indicate a physical version specific capability restriction PPDU size for the wireless station.

The minimum MCS rate field may be 8 bits. The minimum MCS rate field may be specified as megabytes per second. The minimum MCS rate field may define a minimum transmission rate that may be used. A value of 0 may indicate that any MCS rate may be used. Note that the minimum MCS rate may be configured to ensure that the peer device does not reduce the transmission rate to unnecessarily low. For example, coexistence issues (e.g., from bluetooth transmissions/interrupts) may be a cause of poor frame reception, but peer devices consider erroneous transmissions to be caused by poor links and thus move to lower MCS rates. However, a poor (e.g., lower) MCS may result in more poor (e.g., reduced) coexistence performance because the transmission requires a longer duration. Thus, by setting the minimum MCS rate, the wireless station may avoid such degradation.

The maximum TXOP duration field may be 8 bits. The maximum TXOP duration field may specify the TXOP duration in 25 microsecond increments. A value of 0 may indicate that the PPDU duration (e.g., TXOP duration) is not limited. The maximum TXOP duration field may define a maximum TXOP duration that a peer device may use to transmit to a wireless station. Note that in some cases, a peer device (e.g., AP 112) may use a longer TXOP, but the time it takes to transmit to a wireless station, such as wireless station 106, is limited to within a maximum TXOP duration limit. Thus, AP 112 may transmit to multiple wireless stations within a TXOP, but limit transmissions to wireless station 106 to only occur during a specified maximum TXOP duration interval. Further, in some cases, for example, as shown in fig. 8, if a peer device such as AP 112 has a longer TXOP, the peer device may transmit multiple times to the wireless station during the longer TXOP. Note that as shown, the peer device may still adhere to the minimum TXOP interval indicated by the wireless station. Further, as shown, a peer device (e.g., AP 112) may transmit to another wireless station (e.g., STA 2) during an interval between transmissions to the wireless station (e.g., STA 1).

The minimum TXOP interval field may be 2 bits. The minimum TXOP interval field may specify how the peer device continues to transmit in the next TXOP. For example, the first value may indicate that transmission may continue after EDCA TXOP is obtained. As another example, the second value may indicate that transmission may continue after EDCA TXOP is obtained or after one or more PPDUs are addressed to other wireless stations. As a further example, the third value may indicate that transmission may continue after EDCA TXOP is obtained or after two or more PPDUs are addressed to other wireless stations. Note that the fourth value may be reserved. Note that the acknowledgement frame (if present) and other immediate control response frames may not be counted as PPDUs. In some cases, the first value may correspond to parameter value "00", the second value may correspond to parameter value "01", the third value may correspond to parameter value "10", and the fourth value may correspond to parameter value "11".

In some cases, a parameter (e.g., an a control field) indicating a frame size limit may control Access Point (AP) triggering. For example, the parameter may control the duration of a triggered high efficiency trigger (HE TB) -based PPDU. In addition, the minimum MCS rate field may indicate a minimum rate of the allocated resource units. Further, the access point may not allocate a larger resource unit than indicated by the maximum PPDU size index. Thus, through these various parameters, a wireless station, such as wireless station 106, may control access point triggers.

In some cases, management frames may be used to carry and/or indicate frame size limitation parameters. The management frame is used as a unicast transmission or a broadcast transmission. In some cases, the management frame may be transmitted multiple times, e.g., to ensure receipt by the peer device. In some cases, a multi-link device (MLD) may broadcast a management frame to each of its links. Further, the management frame may be transmitted at a time when the buffered broadcast data is transmitted, for example, after a Delivery Traffic Indication Message (DTIM) beacon frame.

Fig. 9 illustrates an example of a management frame for carrying and/or indicating frame size limitation parameters, according to some embodiments. The management frame may be a peer to peer transmission control management frame. As shown, the management frame may include an element field, a length field, an element ID extension field, a control parameter field, a minimum MCS rate field, and/or a maximum TXOP duration field. As described above, the minimum MCS rate field may be specified as megabytes per second. The minimum MCS rate field may define a minimum transmission rate that may be used. A value of 0 may indicate that any MCS rate may be used. Note that the minimum MCS rate may be configured to ensure that the peer device does not reduce the transmission rate to unnecessarily low. For example, coexistence issues (e.g., from bluetooth transmissions/interrupts) may be a cause of poor frame reception, but peer devices consider erroneous transmissions to be caused by poor links and thus move to lower MCS rates. However, a poor (e.g., lower) MCS may result in more poor (e.g., reduced) coexistence performance because the transmission requires a longer duration. Thus, by setting the minimum MCS rate, the wireless station may avoid such degradation. The minimum MCS rate field may be 1 octet or 8 bits. In addition, as described above, the maximum TXOP duration field may specify the TXOP duration in 25 microsecond increments. A value of 0 may indicate that the PPDU duration (e.g., TXOP duration) is not limited. The maximum TXOP duration field may define a maximum TXOP duration that a peer device may use to transmit to a wireless station. Note that in some cases, a peer device (e.g., AP 112) may use a longer TXOP, but the time it takes to transmit to a wireless station, such as wireless station 106, is limited to within a maximum TXOP duration limit. Thus, AP 112 may transmit to multiple wireless stations within a TXOP, but limit transmissions to wireless station 106 to only occur during a specified maximum TXOP duration interval. Further, in some cases, for example, as shown in fig. 8, if a peer device such as AP 112 has a longer TXOP, the peer device may transmit multiple times to the wireless station during the longer TXOP. Note that as shown, the peer device may still adhere to the minimum TXOP interval indicated by the wireless station. Further, as shown, a peer device (e.g., AP 112) may transmit to another wireless station (e.g., STA 2) during an interval between transmissions to the wireless station (e.g., STA 1). The maximum TXOP duration field may be 1 octet or 8 bits.

Fig. 10 illustrates control parameter fields of a management frame for carrying and/or indicating frame size limitation parameters, in accordance with some embodiments. The control parameter field may be 1 octet or 8 bits. As shown, the control parameter field may include a required RTS field, a direction field, a minimum TXOP interval field, and/or a maximum PPDU size index field. As described above, the direction field may be 1 bit. The direction field may indicate uplink triggered transmission or downlink transmission. In other words, the direction field may signal whether a setting is defined for a downlink transmission or for an uplink triggered transmission. For example, the first value may define a transmission control field parameter that controls transmission of the peer device to the wireless station. The second value may then define a transmission control field parameter to control transmission of the wireless station triggered by the peer device. Note that the downlink frames (e.g., to the peer device) and the uplink triggered frames (e.g., from the peer device) may have different limiting parameter values. In addition, if the peer device cannot trigger the wireless station, the peer device may use a multi-user (MU) Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) reset frame to allow the peer STA to use EDCA parameters instead of MU-EDCA parameters. The MU-EDCA parameter typically requires a longer duration to obtain a transmission opportunity than the EDCA parameter. Furthermore, if a peer device "poorly" triggers a wireless station, the wireless station may disable the triggering by using the operation mode indication a control field. In addition, the maximum PPDU size index field may be 4 bits. As described above, the maximum PPDU size index field may specify an index size. The maximum PPDU size index field may limit the PPDU size in octets, as defined in equation [2 ]. A value of 15 may indicate a physical version specific capability restriction PPDU size for the wireless station. The minimum TXOP interval field may be 2 bits. As described above, the minimum TXOP interval field may specify how the peer device continues to transmit in the next TXOP. For example, the first value may indicate that transmission may continue after EDCA TXOP is obtained. As another example, the second value may indicate that transmission may continue after EDCA TXOP is obtained or after one or more PPDUs are addressed to other wireless stations. As a further example, the third value may indicate that transmission may continue after EDCA TXOP is obtained or after two or more PPDUs are addressed to other wireless stations. The acknowledgement frame (if present) and other immediate control response frames may not be counted as PPDUs. Note that the fourth value may be reserved. In some cases, the first value may correspond to parameter value "00", the second value may correspond to parameter value "01", the third value may correspond to parameter value "10", and the fourth value may correspond to parameter value "11".

Fig. 11 illustrates another element of a management frame for carrying and/or indicating frame size limitation parameters, in accordance with some embodiments. As shown, the element may include an element field, a length field, an element ID extension field, and/or a link ID bitmap field. The element field may be 1 octet. The length field may be 1 octet. The element ID extension field may be 1 octet. The link ID bitmap field may be 2 octets.

In some cases, the management frame used to carry and/or indicate the frame size limitation parameter may include additional elements or fields, such as category and HE action fields. In this case, the category field may be set to a value of 31 to indicate the protected HE action. Further, the HE action field may be set to a value of 2 to indicate a peer-to-peer transmission management frame (e.g., a management frame to carry and/or indicate a frame size limitation parameter). Further, within the above-described link ID bitmap field, a value of 1 may indicate that the corresponding location has a peer transmission control element present in the management frame. In other words, the link ID bitmap field may indicate that one or more peer transmission control elements are present in the management frame.

As described above, signaling may be introduced between a wireless station 1206/1306 (such as wireless station 106) and a peer device 1204/1304 (such as another wireless station 106) and/or an access point (such as access point 112) to allow the wireless station to indicate a frame size limit to the peer device. Fig. 12 and 13 illustrate examples of signaling for a wireless station to indicate frame size limitations to a peer device in accordance with some embodiments. The signaling shown in fig. 12 and 13 may be used with any of the systems, methods, or devices shown in the figures, among other devices. In various embodiments, some of the signaling shown may be performed concurrently in a different order than shown, or may be omitted. Additional signaling may also be performed as needed.

Turning to fig. 12, an example of signaling is shown in which a wireless station associated with a peer indicates a frame size limit to the peer in accordance with some embodiments. As shown, the signaling may take the following flow. At 1212, wireless station 1206 may transmit a frame to peer device 1204 that includes a parameter (e.g., an a control field or a peer-to-peer transmission control element) indicating a frame size limit. The frame may be a management frame, a beacon frame, an association request frame, an association response frame, and/or a data frame (e.g., qoS null frame), for example, as described herein. At 1214, peer 1204 may send an acknowledgement for the frame. At this point, wireless station 1206 has set a new frame size limit for transmissions from peer 1204. Further, after the timeout period, peer device 1204 may transmit to wireless station 1206 only using the frame size limit set by wireless station 1206.

Note that when parameters indicating frame size limitations (e.g., an a control field or a peer-to-peer transmission control element) are included in the beacon frame, the associated peer devices may receive the beacon frame and the frame size limitations may be link-specific and the associated peer devices may limit their transmissions according to the frame size limitations indicated for their corresponding links to the wireless station. It is further noted that when a parameter (e.g., an a control field or a peer transmission control element) indicating a frame size limit is included in the association request frame and/or the association response frame, the wireless station may set the frame size limit from the point of association with the peer device.

Turning to fig. 13, an exemplary signaling is illustrated in which a wireless station 1306 operating as a mobile access point indicates a frame size limit to an associated peer device 1304, in accordance with some embodiments. As shown, the signaling may take the following flow. At 1312, wireless station 1306 may broadcast a frame including a parameter (e.g., an a control field or a peer-to-peer transmission control element) indicating a frame size limit. The broadcast frames may be management frames, beacon frames, and/or data frames (e.g., qoS null frames), for example, as described herein. At 1314, upon receiving the broadcast frame, peer device 1304 may employ the frame size limit indicated by the broadcast frame, and peer device 1304 may transmit to wireless station 1306 using only the frame size limit set by wireless station 1306. Further, at 1316, wireless device 1306 may employ the frame size limit indicated by the broadcast frame and may transmit to peer device 1304 using only the frame size limit set by wireless station 1306.

In some cases, frame size limit control may be coordinated in various WLAN topologies, such as infrastructure topologies with MLD access points or proximity-aware networking (NAN) (e.g., mesh) topologies. Note that the frame size limit may be set by any device within the WLAN topology and may be on a per link basis.

Fig. 14 illustrates an example of an infrastructure topology with a multi-link device (MLD) access point, according to some embodiments. As shown, an MLD access point, such as MLD AP 1406, may host multiple access points, such as AP 1 1406a, AP 2 1406b, and AP 3 1406c. Note that the MLD AP 1406 may be a mobile MLD AP (e.g., wireless station 106) or a fixed MLD AP (e.g., access point 112). The MLD AP 1406 may have a link 1420 to a non-MLD wireless station such as wireless station 1410 (which may be wireless station 106) and a plurality of links to an MLD wireless station such as wireless station 1412 (which may be wireless station 106). Thus, as shown, a wireless multi-link device (MLD) station 1412 may have a link 1422 between STA 1 1412a and AP 1 1406a and a link 1424 between STA 2 1412b and AP 3 1406c to MLD AP 1406. According to embodiments described herein, any of MLD AP 1406, wireless station 1410, and/or wireless station 1412 may set frame size limits on a per link basis, e.g., by indicating frame size limits via management frames, beacon frames, association request frames, association response frames, and/or data frames (e.g., qoS null frames), e.g., as described herein.

In some cases, when an MLD wireless station (e.g., wireless station 1412) associates with an MLD access point (e.g., MLD AP 1406), the association request frame and the association response frame may specify parameters of other links in the multi-link element, e.g., as shown in fig. 15. As shown, the multilink element may include an element ID field, a length field, an element ID extension field, a multilink control field, a common information field, and/or a link information field. As shown, the link information field may include one or more per-site (per-STA) profile fields (e.g., per-STA profile X field, per-STA profile Y field, etc.) as well as vendor specific information. Further, as shown in fig. 16, the per-station profile field may include a subelement ID field, a length field, a station control (STA control) field, a station information (STA information) field containing various subfields, and/or a station profile (STA profile) field containing various subfields.

In some cases, for example, as shown in fig. 17, the site control field may include various subfields to indicate frame size limit parameters for a corresponding link, in accordance with some embodiments. As shown, the station control field may include a required RTS field, a direction field, a maximum PPDU size index field, an MCS rate field, a maximum TXOP duration field, and/or a minimum TXOP interval field. Note that each field may include parameters for controlling/limiting the size of frames transmitted to a wireless station, such as wireless station 106, and/or the size of frames transmitted to a wireless station over a particular link.

The RTS field may be required to be 1 bit. The need RTS field may indicate whether a wireless station requires a peer to send an RTS frame (e.g., an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, and/or a BSRP frame) before the peer can send a data frame or a management frame. For example, a value of 1 may indicate that a wireless station requires a peer to send an RTS frame (e.g., an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, and/or a Buffer Status Report Poll (BSRP) frame) before the peer can send a data frame or a management frame, while a value of 0 may indicate that such a frame is not required before the peer can send a data frame or a management frame. Alternatively, a value of 0 may indicate that the wireless station requires the peer to send an RTS frame (e.g., an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, and/or a Buffer Status Report Poll (BSRP) frame) before the peer can send a data frame or a management frame, while a value of 1 may indicate that such a frame is not required before the peer can send a data frame or a management frame.

The direction field may be 1 bit. The direction field may indicate uplink triggered transmission or downlink transmission. In other words, the direction field may signal whether a setting is defined for a downlink transmission or for an uplink triggered transmission. For example, the first value may define a transmission control field parameter that controls transmission of the peer device to the wireless station. The second value may then define a transmission control field parameter to control transmission of the wireless station triggered by the peer device. Note that the downlink frames (e.g., to the peer device) and the uplink triggered frames (e.g., from the peer device) may have different limiting parameter values. In addition, if the peer device cannot trigger the wireless station, the peer device may use the EDCA management frame to allow the peer STA to use the EDCA parameters. Furthermore, if a peer device "poorly" triggers a wireless station, the wireless station may disable the triggering by using the operation mode indication a control field.

The maximum PPDU size index field may be 4 bits. The maximum PPDU size exponent field may specify that the exponent is octet. The maximum PPDU size index field may limit the PPDU size as defined in equation [2 ]. A value of 15 may indicate a physical version specific capability restriction PPDU size for the wireless station.

The minimum MCS rate field may be 8 bits. The minimum MCS rate field may be specified as megabytes per second. The minimum MCS rate field may define a minimum transmission rate that may be used. A value of 0 may indicate that any MCS rate may be used. Note that the minimum MCS rate may be configured to ensure that the peer device does not reduce the transmission rate to unnecessarily low. For example, coexistence issues (e.g., from bluetooth transmissions/interrupts) may be a cause of poor frame reception, but peer devices consider erroneous transmissions to be caused by poor links and thus move to lower MCS rates. However, a poor (e.g., lower) MCS may result in more poor (e.g., reduced) coexistence performance because the transmission requires a longer duration. Thus, by setting the minimum MCS rate, the wireless station may avoid such degradation.

The maximum TXOP duration field may be 8 bits. The maximum TXOP duration field may specify the TXOP duration in 25 microsecond increments. A value of 0 may indicate that the PPDU duration (e.g., TXOP duration) is not limited. The maximum TXOP duration field may define a maximum TXOP duration that a peer device may use to transmit to a wireless station. Note that in some cases, a peer device (e.g., AP 112) may use a longer TXOP, but the time it takes to transmit to a wireless station, such as wireless station 106, is limited to within a maximum TXOP duration limit. Thus, AP 112 may transmit to multiple wireless stations within a TXOP, but limit transmissions to wireless station 106 to only occur during a specified maximum TXOP duration interval.

The minimum TXOP interval field may be 2 bits. The minimum TXOP interval field may specify how the peer device continues to transmit in the next TXOP. For example, the first value may indicate that transmission may continue after EDCA TXOP is obtained. As another example, the second value may indicate that transmission may continue after EDCA TXOP is obtained or after one or more PPDUs are addressed to other wireless stations. As a further example, the third value may indicate that transmission may continue after EDCA TXOP is obtained or after two or more PPDUs are addressed to other wireless stations. Note that the fourth value may be reserved. Note that the acknowledgement frame (if present) and other immediate control response frames may not be counted as PPDUs. In some cases, the first value may correspond to parameter value "00", the second value may correspond to parameter value "01", the third value may correspond to parameter value "10", and the fourth value may correspond to parameter value "11".

Fig. 18 illustrates an example of a NAN topology according to some embodiments. As shown, wireless stations 1806a, 1806b, 1806c, and 1806d may have multiple links 1810, 1812, 1814, and 1816 between devices in the NAN topology. According to embodiments described herein, any of the wireless stations 1806a, 1806b, 1806c, and 1806d set a frame size limit on a per-link basis, e.g., as described herein, by indicating a frame size limit via a management frame, beacon frame, association request frame, association response frame, and/or data frame (e.g., qoS null frame).

Fig. 19, 20, 21, and 22 illustrate block diagrams of examples of methods for limiting a frame size of communications between a wireless station and a peer device, in accordance with some embodiments. The methods shown in fig. 19, 20, 21, and 22 may be used in conjunction with any of the systems, methods, or devices shown in the figures, as well as other devices. In various embodiments, some of the illustrated method elements may be performed concurrently in a different order than illustrated, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may also be performed as desired. As shown, these methods may operate as follows.

Turning to fig. 19, at 1902, a wireless station, such as wireless station 106, may transmit an indication of a frame size limit and/or a frame size limit to a peer device (which may be another wireless station 106 or access point 112) via a control element. In some cases, a peer device may be a wireless station and/or an access point. In some cases, the control element may be included in a management frame and/or in a header of a data frame (e.g., a data frame header). In some cases, the control element may be limited to 29 bits.

In some cases, the control elements may include any, any combination, and/or all of a Request To Send (RTS) field, a direction field, a maximum physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) size index field, a minimum Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) rate field, a maximum transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration field, or a minimum TXOP interval field (e.g., one or more of them).

In some cases, the RTS field may be required to be 1 bit. The need RTS field may indicate whether the wireless station requires the peer to send at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a Buffer Status Report Poll (BSRP) frame before the peer to send a data frame or a management frame. In some cases, a need RTS field value of 1 may indicate that the wireless station requires the peer to send at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a BSRP frame before the peer to send the data frame or the management frame, and a need RTS field value of 0 may indicate that at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a BSRP frame is not required before the peer to send the data frame or the management frame. In some cases, a need RTS field value of 0 may indicate that the wireless station requires the peer to send at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a BSRP frame before the peer to send the data frame or the management frame, and a need RTS field value of 1 may indicate that at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a BSRP frame is not required before the peer to send the data frame or the management frame.

In some cases, the direction field may be 1 bit. The direction field may indicate whether the setting is defined for downlink transmission or for uplink triggered transmission. In some cases, the first value of the direction field may define a frame size limit to control transmissions by the peer device to the wireless station, and the second value of the direction field may define a frame size limit to control transmissions by the peer device triggered wireless station.

In some cases, the maximum PPDU size index field may be 4 bits. The maximum PPDU size exponent field may specify the exponent in octets. In some cases, the maximum PPDU size index field limits the PPDU size to maximum PPDU size = 2 ((6+maximum PPDU size index)).

In some cases, the minimum MCS rate field may be 8 bits. The minimum MCS rate field may be specified as megabytes per second. In some cases, the minimum MCS rate field may define a minimum transmission rate to be used for transmissions to the wireless station. In some cases, a minimum MCS rate field value of 0 may indicate that any MCS rate may be used for transmission to the radio station.

In some cases, the maximum TXOP duration field may be 8 bits. The maximum TXOP duration field may specify the TXOP duration in 25 microsecond increments. In some cases, a maximum TXOP duration field value of 0 may indicate that the TXOP duration is not limited. In some cases, the maximum TXOP duration field may define a maximum TXOP duration that a peer device can use to transmit to a wireless station.

In some cases, the minimum TXOP interval field may be 2 bits. In some cases, the minimum TXOP interval field may specify when a peer device can continue transmitting in the next TXOP. In some cases, the first value of the minimum TXOP interval field may indicate that transmission can continue after an Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) TXOP is obtained, the second value of the minimum TXOP interval field may indicate that transmission can continue after an EDCA TXOP is obtained or after one or more PPDUs are addressed to other wireless stations, and the third value of the minimum TXOP interval field may indicate that transmission can continue after an EDCA TXOP is obtained or after two or more PPDUs are addressed to other wireless stations. Note that the acknowledgement frame (if present) and other immediate control response frames may not be counted as PPDUs. In some cases, the first value may correspond to a minimum TXOP interval field value of "00", the second value may correspond to a minimum TXOP interval field value of "01", and the third value may correspond to a minimum TXOP interval field value of "10".

At 1904, the wireless station may receive an acknowledgement of receipt of the frame size limitation and/or an acknowledgement of receipt of an indication of the frame size limitation from the peer device via the control element.

At 1906, the wireless station can perform communication with a peer device based at least in part on the frame size limit.

Turning to fig. 20, at 2002, a peer device (which may be wireless station 106 or access point 112) may receive an indication of a frame size limit and/or frame size limit from a wireless station (such as wireless station 106) via a control element. In some cases, a peer device may be a wireless station and/or an access point. In some cases, the control element may be included in a management frame and/or in a header of a data frame (e.g., a data frame header). In some cases, the control element may be limited to 29 bits.

In some cases, the control elements may include any, any combination, and/or all of a Request To Send (RTS) field, a direction field, a maximum physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) size index field, a minimum Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) rate field, a maximum transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration field, or a minimum TXOP interval field (e.g., one or more of them).

In some cases, the RTS field may be required to be 1 bit. The need RTS field may indicate whether the wireless station requires the peer to send at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a Buffer Status Report Poll (BSRP) frame before the peer to send a data frame or a management frame. In some cases, a need RTS field value of 1 may indicate that the wireless station requires the peer to send at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a BSRP frame before the peer to send the data frame or the management frame, and a need RTS field value of 0 may indicate that at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a BSRP frame is not required before the peer to send the data frame or the management frame. In some cases, a need RTS field value of 0 may indicate that the wireless station requires the peer to send at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a BSRP frame before the peer to send the data frame or the management frame, and a need RTS field value of 1 may indicate that at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a BSRP frame is not required before the peer to send the data frame or the management frame.

In some cases, the direction field may be 1 bit. The direction field may indicate whether the setting is defined for downlink transmission or for uplink triggered transmission. In some cases, the first value of the direction field may define a frame size limit to control transmissions by the peer device to the wireless station, and the second value of the direction field may define a frame size limit to control transmissions by the peer device triggered wireless station.

In some cases, the maximum PPDU size index field may be 4 bits. The maximum PPDU size exponent field may specify the exponent in octets. In some cases, the maximum PPDU size index field limits the PPDU size to maximum PPDU size = 2 ((6+maximum PPDU size index)).

In some cases, the minimum MCS rate field may be 8 bits. The minimum MCS rate field may be specified as megabytes per second. In some cases, the minimum MCS rate field may define a minimum transmission rate to be used for transmissions to the wireless station. In some cases, a minimum MCS rate field value of 0 may indicate that any MCS rate may be used for transmission to the radio station.

In some cases, the maximum TXOP duration field may be 8 bits. The maximum TXOP duration field may specify the TXOP duration in 25 microsecond increments. In some cases, a maximum TXOP duration field value of 0 may indicate that the TXOP duration is not limited. In some cases, the maximum TXOP duration field may define a maximum TXOP duration that a peer device can use to transmit to a wireless station.

In some cases, the minimum TXOP interval field may be 2 bits. In some cases, the minimum TXOP interval field may specify when a peer device can continue transmitting in the next TXOP. In some cases, the first value of the minimum TXOP interval field may indicate that transmission can continue after an Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) TXOP is obtained, the second value of the minimum TXOP interval field may indicate that transmission can continue after an EDCA TXOP is obtained or after one or more PPDUs are addressed to other wireless stations, and the third value of the minimum TXOP interval field may indicate that transmission can continue after an EDCA TXOP is obtained or after two or more PPDUs are addressed to other wireless stations. Note that the acknowledgement frame (if present) and other immediate control response frames may not be counted as PPDUs. In some cases, the first value may correspond to a minimum TXOP interval field value of "00", the second value may correspond to a minimum TXOP interval field value of "01", and the third value may correspond to a minimum TXOP interval field value of "10".

At 2004, the peer device may transmit, via the control element, an acknowledgement of receipt of the frame size restriction and/or an acknowledgement of receipt of the indication of the frame size restriction to the wireless station.

At 2006, the peer device may perform communication with the wireless station based at least in part on the frame size limit.

Turning to fig. 21, a wireless station, such as wireless station 106, may broadcast an indication of a frame size limit and/or a frame size limit via a control element at 2102. In some cases, the control element may be included in a management frame and/or in a header of a data frame (e.g., a data frame header). In some cases, the control element may be limited to 29 bits.

In some cases, the control elements may include any, any combination, and/or all of a Request To Send (RTS) field, a direction field, a maximum physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) size index field, a minimum Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) rate field, a maximum transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration field, or a minimum TXOP interval field (e.g., one or more of them).

In some cases, the RTS field may be required to be 1 bit. The need RTS field may indicate whether the wireless station requires the peer to send at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a Buffer Status Report Poll (BSRP) frame before the peer to send a data frame or a management frame. In some cases, a need RTS field value of 1 may indicate that the wireless station requires the peer to send at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a BSRP frame before the peer to send the data frame or the management frame, and a need RTS field value of 0 may indicate that at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a BSRP frame is not required before the peer to send the data frame or the management frame. In some cases, a need RTS field value of 0 may indicate that the wireless station requires the peer to send at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a BSRP frame before the peer to send the data frame or the management frame, and a need RTS field value of 1 may indicate that at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a BSRP frame is not required before the peer to send the data frame or the management frame.

In some cases, the direction field may be 1 bit. The direction field may indicate whether the setting is defined for downlink transmission or for uplink triggered transmission. In some cases, the first value of the direction field may define a frame size limit to control transmissions by the peer device to the wireless station, and the second value of the direction field may define a frame size limit to control transmissions by the peer device triggered wireless station.

In some cases, the maximum PPDU size index field may be 4 bits. The maximum PPDU size exponent field may specify the exponent in octets. In some cases, the maximum PPDU size index field limits the PPDU size to maximum PPDU size = 2 ((6+maximum PPDU size index)).

In some cases, the minimum MCS rate field may be 8 bits. The minimum MCS rate field may be specified as megabytes per second. In some cases, the minimum MCS rate field may define a minimum transmission rate to be used for transmissions to the wireless station. In some cases, a minimum MCS rate field value of 0 may indicate that any MCS rate may be used for transmission to the radio station.

In some cases, the maximum TXOP duration field may be 8 bits. The maximum TXOP duration field may specify the TXOP duration in 25 microsecond increments. In some cases, a maximum TXOP duration field value of 0 may indicate that the TXOP duration is not limited. In some cases, the maximum TXOP duration field may define a maximum TXOP duration that a peer device can use to transmit to a wireless station.

In some cases, the minimum TXOP interval field may be 2 bits. In some cases, the minimum TXOP interval field may specify when a peer device can continue transmitting in the next TXOP. In some cases, the first value of the minimum TXOP interval field may indicate that transmission can continue after an Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) TXOP is obtained, the second value of the minimum TXOP interval field may indicate that transmission can continue after an EDCA TXOP is obtained or after one or more PPDUs are addressed to other wireless stations, and the third value of the minimum TXOP interval field may indicate that transmission can continue after an EDCA TXOP is obtained or after two or more PPDUs are addressed to other wireless stations. Note that the acknowledgement frame (if present) and other immediate control response frames may not be counted as PPDUs. In some cases, the first value may correspond to a minimum TXOP interval field value of "00", the second value may correspond to a minimum TXOP interval field value of "01", and the third value may correspond to a minimum TXOP interval field value of "10".

At 2104, the wireless station can employ a frame size limit to communicate with the peer device. In some cases, a peer device may be a wireless station and/or an access point.

At 2106, the wireless station can perform communication with the peer device based at least in part on the frame size limit.

Turning to fig. 22, at 2202, a peer device (which may be wireless station 106 or access point 112) may receive a broadcast of a frame size limit and/or an indication of a frame size limit from a wireless station (such as wireless station 106) via a control element. In some cases, a peer device may be a wireless station and/or an access point. In some cases, the control element may be included in a management frame and/or in a header of a data frame (e.g., a data frame header). In some cases, the control element may be limited to 29 bits.

In some cases, the control elements may include any, any combination, and/or all of a Request To Send (RTS) field, a direction field, a maximum physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) size index field, a minimum Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) rate field, a maximum transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration field, or a minimum TXOP interval field (e.g., one or more of them).

In some cases, the RTS field may be required to be 1 bit. The need RTS field may indicate whether the wireless station requires the peer to send at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a Buffer Status Report Poll (BSRP) frame before the peer to send a data frame or a management frame. In some cases, a need RTS field value of 1 may indicate that the wireless station requires the peer to send at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a BSRP frame before the peer to send the data frame or the management frame, and a need RTS field value of 0 may indicate that at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a BSRP frame is not required before the peer to send the data frame or the management frame. In some cases, a need RTS field value of 0 may indicate that the wireless station requires the peer to send at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a BSRP frame before the peer to send the data frame or the management frame, and a need RTS field value of 1 may indicate that at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a BSRP frame is not required before the peer to send the data frame or the management frame.

In some cases, the direction field may be 1 bit. The direction field may indicate whether the setting is defined for downlink transmission or for uplink triggered transmission. In some cases, the first value of the direction field may define a frame size limit to control transmissions by the peer device to the wireless station, and the second value of the direction field may define a frame size limit to control transmissions by the peer device triggered wireless station.

In some cases, the maximum PPDU size index field may be 4 bits. The maximum PPDU size exponent field may specify the exponent in octets. In some cases, the maximum PPDU size index field limits the PPDU size to maximum PPDU size = 2 ((6+maximum PPDU size index)).

In some cases, the minimum MCS rate field may be 8 bits. The minimum MCS rate field may be specified as megabytes per second. In some cases, the minimum MCS rate field may define a minimum transmission rate to be used for transmissions to the wireless station. In some cases, a minimum MCS rate field value of 0 may indicate that any MCS rate may be used for transmission to the radio station.

In some cases, the maximum TXOP duration field may be 8 bits. The maximum TXOP duration field may specify the TXOP duration in 25 microsecond increments. In some cases, a maximum TXOP duration field value of 0 may indicate that the TXOP duration is not limited. In some cases, the maximum TXOP duration field may define a maximum TXOP duration that a peer device can use to transmit to a wireless station.

In some cases, the minimum TXOP interval field may be 2 bits. In some cases, the minimum TXOP interval field may specify when a peer device can continue transmitting in the next TXOP. In some cases, the first value of the minimum TXOP interval field may indicate that transmission can continue after an Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) TXOP is obtained, the second value of the minimum TXOP interval field may indicate that transmission can continue after an EDCA TXOP is obtained or after one or more PPDUs are addressed to other wireless stations, and the third value of the minimum TXOP interval field may indicate that transmission can continue after an EDCA TXOP is obtained or after two or more PPDUs are addressed to other wireless stations. Note that the acknowledgement frame (if present) and other immediate control response frames may not be counted as PPDUs. In some cases, the first value may correspond to a minimum TXOP interval field value of "00", the second value may correspond to a minimum TXOP interval field value of "01", and the third value may correspond to a minimum TXOP interval field value of "10".

At 2204, the peer device may employ a frame size limit to communicate with the wireless station.

At 2206, the peer device may perform communication with the wireless station based at least in part on the frame size limit.

It is well known that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be specified to the user.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be embodied in any of various forms. For example, some embodiments may be implemented as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable memory medium, or a computer system. Other embodiments may be implemented using one or more custom designed hardware devices, such as an ASIC. Other embodiments may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements, such as FPGAs.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable memory medium may be configured such that it stores program instructions and/or data, wherein the program instructions, if executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform a method, such as any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets.

In some embodiments, a wireless device (or wireless station) may be configured to include a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium, wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, wherein the processor is configured to read the program instructions from the memory medium and execute the program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable to cause the wireless device to implement any of the various method embodiments described herein (or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets). The device may be implemented in any of various forms.

Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.

Claims (20)

1. A method for limiting a frame size for communication between a wireless station and a peer device, the method comprising:

the wireless station may be configured to transmit a request to the wireless station,

transmitting an indication of a frame size limit to the peer device via a control element;

Receiving an acknowledgement of receipt of the frame size restriction from the peer device; and

communication with the peer device is performed based at least in part on the frame size limit.

2. The method according to claim 1,

wherein the control element includes two or more of a Request To Send (RTS) field, a direction field, a maximum physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) size index field, a minimum Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) rate field, a maximum transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration field, or a minimum TXOP interval field.

3. The method according to claim 2,

wherein the required RTS field indicates whether the wireless station requires the peer to send at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a Buffer Status Report Poll (BSRP) frame before the peer to send a data frame or a management frame.

4. A method according to claim 3,

wherein a first required RTS field value indicates that the wireless station requires the peer to send at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a BSRP frame before the peer to send a data frame or a management frame; and is also provided with

Wherein the second required RTS field value indicates that at least one of an RTS frame, a multi-user RTS frame, or a BSRP frame is not required before the peer sends a data frame or a management frame.

5. The method according to claim 2,

wherein the direction field indicates whether a setting is defined for a downlink transmission or for an uplink triggered transmission.

6. The method according to claim 5,

wherein a first value of the direction field defines a transmission of the frame size limit control peer to the wireless station; and is also provided with

Wherein a second value of the direction field defines that the frame size limit controls transmission of the wireless station triggered by the peer device.

7. The method according to claim 2,

wherein the maximum PPDU size exponent field specifies an exponent in octets.

8. The method according to claim 7,

wherein the maximum PPDU size index field limits the PPDU size to a maximum PPDU size = 2 ((6 + maximum PPDU size index)).

9. The method according to claim 2,

wherein the minimum MCS rate field defines a minimum transmission rate to be used for transmissions to the wireless station.

10. The method according to claim 2,

wherein the maximum TXOP duration field specifies a TXOP duration in 25 microsecond increments.

11. The method according to claim 2,

Wherein a maximum TXOP duration field value of 0 indicates that the TXOP duration is not limited.

12. The method according to claim 2,

wherein the maximum TXOP duration field defines a maximum TXOP duration that the peer device can use when transmitting to the wireless station.

13. The method according to claim 2,

wherein the minimum TXOP interval field specifies when the peer device can continue transmitting in the next TXOP.

14. The method according to claim 12,

wherein a first value of the minimum TXOP interval field indicates that transmission can continue after an Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) TXOP is obtained;

wherein a second value of the minimum TXOP interval field indicates that transmission can continue after EDCATXOP is obtained or after one or more PPDUs are addressed to one or more other wireless stations; and is also provided with

Wherein a third value of the minimum TXOP interval field indicates that transmission can continue after EDCATXOP is obtained or after two or more PPDUs are addressed to other wireless stations.

15. The method according to claim 14,

wherein the minimum TXOP interval field is 2 bits;

wherein a minimum TXOP interval field value of "00" corresponds to the first value;

Wherein a minimum TXOP interval field value of "01" corresponds to the second value; and

wherein a minimum TXOP interval field value of "10" corresponds to the third value.

16. The method according to claim 1,

wherein the control element is included in a management frame or data frame header.

17. The method according to claim 16,

wherein the control element is limited to 29 bits.

18. The method according to claim 1,

wherein the peer device is an access point.

19. A wireless station, comprising:

at least one antenna;

at least one radio communicatively coupled to the at least one antenna; and

at least one processor in communication with the at least one radio and configured to cause the wireless station to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 18.

20. A computer program product comprising a computer program which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 18.