CN115297568A

CN115297568A - Wireless communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN115297568A
Application number: CN202110950508.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 石镕豪; 吕开颖; 盖伯贝吉可; 易志熹
Original assignee: MediaTek Singapore Pte Ltd
Current assignee: MediaTek Singapore Pte Ltd
Priority date: 2021-05-03
Filing date: 2021-08-18
Publication date: 2022-11-04

Abstract

The invention discloses a wireless communication method and a wireless communication device. A first Station (STA) in a non-access point (non-AP) multi-link device (MLD) having a limitation on simultaneous transmission and reception (TX/RX) on a first link and a second link receives a Physical Layer Convergence Protocol (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) on the first link or the second link. One or more other ones of the plurality of STAs in the non-AP MLD are prohibited from performing operations in response to the PPDU satisfying a condition.

Description

Wireless communication method and device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to wireless communications, and more particularly, to Station (STA) Identifier (ID) indication for restricted multilink operation in wireless communications.

Background

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims set forth below, and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

For the next generation of wireless communication, such as wireless communication in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) according to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, an STA should simultaneously access multiple links to meet very low latency and very high throughput (EHT) requirements. When a STA obtains transmission opportunities (TXOPs) on multiple links, the STA may transmit frames on the multiple links at the same time. Further, while a STA is transmitting a frame, the STA may receive another frame on a different link at the same time. However, when the STA simultaneously transmits and receives a frame, in-device coexistence (IDC) interference may exist. IDC interference is negligible when such simultaneous transmission and reception (TX/RX) operation occurs between the 2.4GHz band and the 5GHz band. However, IDC interference caused by simultaneous TX/RX operation between the 5GHz band and the 6GHz band may be significantly worse depending on some implementation factors such as Radio Frequency (RF) filter performance.

Disclosure of Invention

The following summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. That is, the following summary is provided to introduce concepts, points, benefits and advantages of the novel and non-obvious techniques described herein. Selected implementations are further described in the detailed description below. Thus, the following summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended for use in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

It is an object of the present invention to provide solutions, concepts, designs, techniques, methods and arrangements related to STAID indication for restricted multilink operation in wireless communications. The aforementioned problems can be solved under various proposed solutions according to the present invention.

In one aspect, a method may involve receiving, by a first STA in a non-access point (non-AP) multi-link device (MLD) that has limitations on simultaneous TX/RX on a first link and a second link, a Physical Layer Convergence Protocol (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) on the first link or the second link. The method may further comprise: one or more other ones of the plurality of STAs in the non-AP MLD are prohibited from performing operations in response to the PPDU satisfying the condition.

In another aspect, a method may involve receiving, by a first Access Point (AP) in an AP MLD, a PPDU on a first link or a second link. The method may further comprise: in response to the STA satisfying the condition, one or more other APs of the plurality of APs in the AP MLD are prohibited from scheduling any transmission to the STA.

In yet another aspect, a method may involve setting an STA id field in a physical layer (PHY) header of an EHT PPDU of a receiving STA by: (i) In response to the receiver STA being a single STA, setting the STA id field to a value corresponding to an Association Identifier (AID) associated with the receiver STA; or (ii) in response to the receiving STA being one of the plurality of STAs of the MLD, setting the STA ID field to a predetermined value. The method may also involve transmitting, by an AP in the AP MLD, the EHT PPDU to the recipient STA.

It is worthy to note that although the description provided herein may be in the context of particular Radio access technologies, networks, and network topologies (e.g., wi-Fi), the proposed concepts, schemes, and any variant (s)/derivative(s) may be implemented in and by other types of Radio access technologies, networks, and network topologies, such as, but not limited to, bluetooth, zigBee, fifth Generation (5 Generation, abbreviated as 5G/New Radio (NR), long Term Evolution (Long-Term Evolution, abbreviated as LTE), LTE advanced Pro, internet of Things (Internet of Things, abbreviated as IoT), industrial Internet of Things (Industrial IoT, abbreviated as IIoT), and narrowband (narrowband, abbreviated as NB-IoT), the scope of the present invention is not limited to the examples described herein.

Drawings

The following drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In order to clearly illustrate the inventive concept, some elements may not be shown to scale compared to the dimensions in an actual implementation, and the illustrations are not necessarily drawn to scale.

FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of an example network environment in which various solutions and aspects consistent with the invention may be implemented.

Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of an exemplary communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram of an example process according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram of an example process according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of an example process according to an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

Detailed examples and embodiments of the claimed subject matter are described below. However, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments and implementations are merely illustrative of the claimed subject matter, which can be embodied in various forms. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments and implementations set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments and implementations are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the following description, details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments and implementations.

SUMMARY

Embodiments in accordance with the present invention relate to various techniques, methods, schemes and/or solutions relating to STA ID indication for restricted multilink operation in wireless communications. According to the invention, a plurality of possible solutions can be implemented individually or jointly. That is, although the possible solutions may be described separately below, two or more of the possible solutions may be implemented in one or another combination.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example network environment 100 in which various solutions and schemes according to this invention may be implemented. Fig. 2-5 illustrate examples of implementations of various proposed schemes in a network environment 100 according to the present invention. With reference to fig. 1-5, a description of various proposed schemes is provided below.

Referring to fig. 1, network environment 100 may relate to wireless communication between STA110 and STA120 over multiple links (e.g., link 1, link 2, and link 3) according to one or more Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards, such as IEEE 802.11be and higher. STA110 and STA120 may each function as an MLD. For example, STA110 may operate as a non-AP MLD with multiple virtual STAs (e.g., STA1, STA 2, and STA 3) operating within STA 110. Accordingly, the STA120 may operate as an AP MLD having a plurality of virtual APs (e.g., AP 1, AP 2, and AP 3) operating within the STA 120. Under some limitations caused by IDC interference, each of the plurality of virtual STAs in the non-AP MLD implemented in STA110 and each of the plurality of virtual APs in the AP MLD implemented in STA120 may transmit and receive on one or more of the plurality of links. That is, STA110 may function as a restricted non-AP MLD, while STA120 may function as a restricted AP MLD. Under various proposed schemes according to the present invention, STA110 and STA120 may be configured to perform STA ID indication of restricted multilink operation in wireless communications according to various proposed schemes described herein.

In the context of EHT multilink operation with limited multilink channel access, a limited MLD, interchangeably referred to herein as a non-simultaneous TX/RX (non-STR) MLD, is an MLD in which IDC interference occurs when multiple STAs within the MLD transmit and receive frames on multiple links simultaneously. Therefore, when a STA receives a frame on a first link, the STA of the restricted MLD should not access a second link for transmission in case the STA has restrictions on simultaneous TX/RX operations on the first link and the second link. For PPDU level limited multi-link channel access, when an STA is limited to simultaneous TX/RX operations on a first link and a second link, the STA determines that the second link is unavailable for transmission when the STA is receiving an intra-Basic Service Set (BSS) PPDU on the first link that satisfies one of a plurality of conditions or is receiving an intra-BSS PPDU or an inter-BSS PPDU on the first link that cannot be determined to be an intra-BSS PPDU or an inter-BSS PPDU.

The first of these conditions may be that a receiver vector (RXVECTOR) parameter BSS _ COLOR of the PPDU carrying the frame is a BSS COLOR of a BSS to which the STA belongs, or a BSS COLOR of a direct link setup (TDLS) link of any channel to which the STA belongs in the case where the STA is a high-efficiency (HE) STA associated with a non-HE AP. The second condition may be that the PPDU is a very-high-throughput (VHT) PPDU with an RXVECTOR parameter PARTIAL _ AID equal to a BSS identifier (BSSID) of a BSS [39.47], the BSS being a BSS associated with the STA or any other BSS of the same multi-BSSID set or commonly hosted BSSID set to which the BSS belongs, and the RXVECTOR parameter GROUP _ ID equal to 0. The third condition may be that the PPDU is a VHT PPDU with an RXVECTOR parameter PARTIAL _ AID [5:8] equal to the four Least Significant Bits (LSBs) of the BSS color declared by the BSS to which the STA of dot11PARTIAL bsscolorimpacted equals true (true), an RXVECTOR parameter GROUP _ ID equal to 63 and a PARTIAL BSS color field element of 1 in the most recent HE operation. The fourth condition may be that the frame carried by the PPDU has a Receiver Address (RA), a sender address (TA), or a BSSID field that is equal to the BSSID of the BSS or the BSSID of any BSS associated with other STAs in the same multi-BSSID set or co-hosted (co-hosted) BSSID set to which the BSS belongs, and the individual/group bits in the TA field are forced to a value of 0 prior to the comparison. A fifth condition may be that the control frame carried by the PPDU does not have a TA field or RA field that matches the stored TXOP holder address of the BSS or any BSS that is either any BSS associated with the STA or any other BSS of the same multi-BSSID set or co-hosted BSSID set to which the BSS belongs.

Further, for PPDP level limited multi-link channel access, when the STA has limitations on simultaneous TX/RX operations on the first link and the second link, the STA determines that the second link is available for transmission when the STA receives an inter-BSS PPDU on the first link that satisfies one of a plurality of conditions or when the STA does not receive any PPDU. The first condition may be that the RXVECTOR parameter BSS _ COLOR is not 0 and is not a BSS COLOR of the BSS to which the STA belongs. The second condition may be that the PPDU is a VHT PPDU with an RXVECTOR parameter PARTIAL _ AID equal to a BSS identifier (BSSID) of a BSS [39.47], the BSS being a BSS associated with the STA or any other BSS of the same multi-BSSID set or co-hosted BSSID set to which the BSS belongs, and the RXVECTOR parameter GROUP _ ID equal to 0. The third condition may be that the PPDU is a VHT PPDU whose RXVECTOR parameter PARTIAL _ AID [5:8] is not equal to the four LSBs of the BSS Color declared by the BSS to which the STA of dot11PARTIAL bsscolorimpacted is true (true), and that the RXVECTOR parameter GROUP _ ID is equal to 63 when the PARTIAL BSS Color field of the most recent HE operation element is 1. The fourth condition may be that the PPDU is a VHT multi-user (MU) PPDU or HE MU PPDU with RXVECTOR parameter UPLINK _ FLAG equal to 0, and the STA is an AP. A fifth condition may be that the PPDU carries a frame with a BSSID field that is not the BSSID of the BSS associated with the STA or the BSSID or a wildcard BSSID of any other BSS in the same multi-BSSID set or co-hosting BSSID set to which the BSS belongs. A sixth condition may be that the frame carried by the PPDU has no BSSID field, but has a RA field and a TA field, neither of which has a value equal to the BSSID of the BSS associated with the STA or the BSSID of any other BSS in the same multi-BSSID set or co-hosting BSSID set to which the BSS belongs, and the individual/set of bits in the TA field is forced to be set to 0 prior to the comparison.

It is noted that even if an STA is receiving an in-BSS PPDU or a PPDU that cannot be determined to be an in-BSS PPDU or an inter-BSS PPDU on the first link, in the case that the STA knows that the receiving PPDU is not transmitted to the STA, the STA does not need to decode the remaining PPDUs and, in addition, the STA may access the second link for transmission. For PPDU level restricted multilink channel access, when an STA has restrictions on simultaneous TX/RX on a first link and a second link, the STA determines that the second link is available for transmission when the STA is receiving a PPDU on the first link that satisfies one of a plurality of conditions or when the STA is not receiving any PPDU. The first of these conditions may be that the STA is a non-AP STA and the PPDU is a HE MU PPDU, with the RXVECTOR parameter UPLINK _ FLAG being 0 and the RXVECTOR parameter STA _ ID _ LIST not including an identifier of the STA or one or more broadcast identifiers (broadcast identifiers) for the STA. The second condition may be that the STA is a non-AP STA and the PPDU is an HE MU PPDU, an HE single-user (SU) PPDU, or an HE extended-range (ER) SU PPDU having an RXVECTOR parameter UPLINK _ FLAG of 1. The third condition may be that the STA is a non-AP STA and the PPDU is a HE-based (TB) PPDU. The fourth condition may be that the STA is an AP STA and the PPDU is an HE MU PPDU whose RXVECTOR parameter UPLINK _ FLAG is set to 0, or a VHT MU PPDU. The fifth condition may be that the STA is an AP STA and the PPDU is a VHT PPDU, and the RXVECTOR parameter GROUP _ ID is 0 and the RXVECTOR parameter PARTIAL _ AID is not a BSSID of a BSS with which the STA is associated [39. A sixth condition may be that the PPDU contains at least one Media Access Control (MAC) product data unit (MPDU) whose RA is not an individual MAC address of the STA or a group address of the STA. The seventh condition may be that the PPDU is an inter-BSS PPDU satisfying one of the aforementioned conditions. According to an embodiment, this condition may be modified if a STA needs to update its Network Allocation Vector (NAV) on the first link, since the PPDU is an intra-BSS PPDU that satisfies one of the aforementioned conditions and a valid NAV information acquisition from PPDU or spatial reuse condition is satisfied from the PPDU. Otherwise, the STA determines that the second link is unavailable for transmission if neither condition is satisfied.

For EHT multilink operation with limited multilink packet scheduling, after a transmission opportunity (TXOP) is obtained on the second link, the STA may not transmit one or more frames to the peer STA on the second link if the peer STA with limitations on simultaneous TX/RX on the first and second links is using the first link.

It is noted that when an STA receives an in-BSS PPDU satisfying one of a plurality of conditions or a PPDU that cannot be determined to be an in-BSS PPDU or an inter-BSS PPDU on a first link, the STA that obtains a TXOP on a second link may consider a peer STA having simultaneous TX/RX restrictions on the first link and the second link to be using the first link. The first condition may be that the RXVECTOR parameter BSS _ COLOR of the PPDU carrying the frame is the BSS COLOR of the BSS to which the STA belongs, or the BSS COLOR of any TDLS link to which the STA belongs (in case the STA is an HE STA associated with a non-HE AP). The second condition may be that the PPDU is a VHT PPDU whose RXVECTOR parameter PARTIAL _ AID is equal to the BSSID [39. The third condition may be that the PPDU is a VHT PPDU with an RXVECTOR parameter PARTIAL _ AID [5:8] equal to the four LSBs of the BSS Color declared by the BSS to which the dot11PARTIAL bsscolorimpacted equal true (true) STA belongs, an RXVECTOR parameter GROUP _ ID equal to 63, and a recent HE operation element (HE operation element) PARTIAL BSS Color (PARTIAL BSS Color) field of 1. The fourth condition may be that the RA, TA, or BSSID field of the frame carried by the PPDU is equal to the BSSID of the BSS or the BSSID of any BSS associated with the STA or any BSSID of the same multi-BSSID set to which the BSS belongs or of other BSSs that collectively host the BSSID set, and the individual/group bit in the TA field is forced to a value of 0 prior to the comparison. The fifth condition may be that the control frame carried by the PPDU does not have a TA field or RA field that matches the saved TXOP holder address of the BSS or any BSS associated with the STA or any other BSS of the same multi-BSSID set or co-hosted BSSID set to which the BSS belongs. Otherwise, the STA may not transmit frames to the peer STA on the second link if no condition is satisfied.

It is also worth noting that the STA obtaining the TXOP on the second link may not consider that peer STAs with restrictions on simultaneous TX/RX on the first and second links are using the first link when the STA receives an inter-BSS PPDU on the first link that meets one of a number of conditions or the STA does not receive any PPDU. The first condition may be that the RXVECTOR parameter BSS _ COLOR is not 0 and is not a BSS COLOR of the BSS to which the STA belongs. The second condition may be that the PPDU is a VHT PPDU whose RXVECTOR parameter PARTIAL _ AID is not equal to the BSSID [39 ] of the BSS associated with the STA or any of the BSSIDs of the same multi-BSSID set or other BSSs that commonly host the BSSID set to which the BSS belongs, and the RXVECTOR parameter GROUP _ ID is 0.A third condition may be that the PPDU is a VHT PPDU whose RXVECTOR parameter PARTIAL _ AID [5:8] is not equal to the four LSBs of the BSS Color to which the dot11PARTIAL bsscolorimpacted is equal to true (true) for the STA belongs, and that the RXVECTOR parameter GROUP _ ID is equal to 63 when the PARTIAL BSS Color (PARTIAL BSS Color) field in the most recent HE operation element is 1. The fourth condition may be that the PPDU is a VHT MU PPDU or HE MU PPDU for which RXVECTOR parameter UPLINK _ FLAG is 0, and the STA is an AP. The fifth condition may be that the PPDU carries a frame with a BSSID field that is not the BSSID of the BSS associated with the STA or any BSSID or wildcard BSSID of other BSSs in the same multi-BSSID set or co-hosting BSSID set to which the BSS belongs. A sixth condition may be that the PPDU carries a frame without a BSSID field but with an RA field and a TA field that are neither equal to the BSSID of the BSS associated with the STA or any BSSID of other BSSs in the same multi-BSSID set or co-hosted BSSID set to which the BSS belongs, and the individual/group bit in the TA field is forced to be set to 0 prior to the comparison. In such a case, the STA may transmit one or more frames to the peer STA over the second link.

It is also noteworthy that even if an STA receives an in-BSS PPDU or a PPDU that cannot be determined to be an in-BSS PPDU or an inter-BSS PPDU on a first link, the STA may send one or more frames to a peer STA on a second link in case the STA knows that the receiving PPDU does not originate from the peer STA. When an STA receives a PPDU on a first link that satisfies one of a plurality of conditions, an STA that obtains a TXOP on a second link may consider a peer STA that has limitations on simultaneous TX/RX on the first link and the second link to be using the first link. The first condition may be that the peer STA is an AP associated with the STA and the PPDU is one of: (a) HE TB PPDU, wherein RXVECTOR parameter BSS _ COLOR is a BSS COLOR of a BSS associated with the STA, (b) HE MU PPDU, HE SU PPDU, or HE ER SU PPDU, wherein RXVECTOR parameter BSS _ COLOR is a BSS COLOR of a BSS associated with the STA, and RXVECTOR parameter UPLINK _ FLAG is 1, or (c) VHT PPDU, wherein RXVECTOR parameter PARTIAL _ AID is a BSSID [39. The second condition may be that the peer STA is a non-AP STA of a BSS associated with the STA and the PPDU is a HE MU PPDU, where the RXVECTOR parameter BSS _ COLOR is a BSS COLOR of the BSS associated with the STA, the RXVECTOR parameter STA _ ID _ LIST includes an identifier of the peer STA or one or more broadcast identifiers for the STA. The third condition may be that the PPDU contains at least one MPDU whose RA or TA is an individual MAC address of a peer STA or a group address of the peer STA. In this case, the STA may not transmit one or more frames to the peer STA on the second link.

In view of the above, it is believed that it may be helpful to provide STA ID-related information to assist or otherwise improve limited multi-link operation. For example, in the case where the STA ID information indicates a restricted STA, the AP may still transmit to other restricted STAs. Accordingly, various schemes presented herein relate to the configuration of the STA ID field in an EHT SU PPDU and related MLD behavior. Under various proposed schemes according to the present invention regarding STA ID indication in EHT SIG field in preamble or frame, for EHT PPDU transmitted from AP in AP MLD, STA ID field may be configured as the case may be. For example, if a receiving side of the EHT PDU is a single STA, the STA ID field may be set to a value corresponding to an AID associated with the receiving side STA (e.g., a hash value of the AID or an encoded version of the AID). Otherwise (e.g., when the recipient of the EHT PPDU is a group of STAs), the STA id field may be set to a predetermined value (e.g., 0). For an EHT PPDU transmitted to an AP in an AP MLD, the STA ID field may be configured because the STA ID field may be set to a value corresponding to an AID associated with the STA of the transmitting STA.

Under various proposed schemes according to the present invention, when a STA in a restricted non-AP MLD is receiving an EHT PPDU that satisfies one of certain conditions, other STAs in the same restricted non-AP MLD may not transmit any PPDU or may suspend EDCA (enhanced distributed channel access, EDCA for short) channel access, if any. Such conditions may include, for example, but are not limited to: (1) An Uplink (UL) and/or Downlink (DL) field in the EHT PPDU PHY header indicates or is equal to a DL transmission, and a value in the STA id field in the EHT PPDU PHY header matches a value (e.g., a hash value or a coded version of the AID) associated with the AID associated with the receiving STA in the restricted non-AP MLD; (2) The UL/DL field in the EHT PPDU PHY header indicates or equals a DL transmission and the STAID field in the EHT PPDU PHY header equals a predetermined value (e.g., 0). However, after decoding the MAC header, when a STA in the restricted non-AP MLD determines that it is not the recipient of the EHT PPDU, other STAs in the same restricted non-AP MLD may initiate PPDU transmission or resume EDCA channel access.

Under various proposals according to the present invention, when an AP in an AP MLD is receiving an EHT PPDU, other APs in the same AP MLD may not schedule any PPDU to a particular STA, including STAs in restricted non-AP MLDs where the value corresponding to the AID matches the value in the STA id field in the EHT PPDU PHY header. However, after decoding the MAC header, if the address (e.g., MAC address) or identifier (e.g., BSSID) associated with the STA in the restricted non-AP MLD does not match the RA or TA in the MAC header of the received EHT PPDU, then the STA may be scheduled by other APs in the same AP MLD.

Therefore, the STAID field in the EHT PPDU can be used to solve the IDC interference problem of the restricted MLD. In addition, the STAID field in the EHT PPDU may help to reduce power consumption of the non-AP MLD. This is because, when a plurality of STAs of the MLD are activated, the power consumption of the MLD tends to increase proportionally compared to the conventional single link STA. Therefore, it would be important to reduce power consumption during reception of intra-BSS PPDUs.

Under the first proposed scheme according to the present invention, the EHT SIG field in the preamble or frame may include an STA ID field for identifying the STA, which is configured in one of a variety of ways in different scenarios. In a first scenario, when an STA in the restricted non-AP MLD transmits an EHT PPDU to an AP in the AP MLD (the UL/DL field is set to 1), the STA id field may be set to a value (e.g., a hash value or an encoded version of the AID) associated with the AID associated with the transmitting STA in the restricted non-AP MLD. In a second scenario, when a single link STA or a STA in the non-restricted non-AP MLD transmits an EHT PPDU (UL/DL field set to 1) to an AP in the AP MLD, the STA ID field may be set to a first reserved value (e.g., 0). In a third scenario, when a single link STA or a STA in the non-restricted non-AP MLD transmits an EHT PPDU to a peer STA (the UL/DL field is set to 0), the STA id field may be set to a value corresponding to the AID associated with the receiving peer STA. In a third scenario, the peer STAs may be STAs in a restricted non-AP MLD, single link STAs, or STAs in a non-restricted non-AP MLD. In a fourth scenario, when a STA in the restricted non-AP MLD transmits an EHT PPDU to a peer STA (UL/DL field set to 0), the STA ID field may be set to a first reserved value (e.g., 0). In a fourth scenario, the peer STAs may be STAs in a restricted non-AP MLD, single link STAs, or STAs in a non-restricted non-AP MLD. Fifth scenario, when an AP in the AP MLD transmits an EHT PPDU to other STAs (UL/DL field is set to 0), the STA ID field may be set to a value corresponding to an AID associated with the receiving STA. In a fifth scenario, the other STAs may be STAs in a restricted non-AP MLD, single link STAs, or STAs in a non-restricted non-AP MLD. In a sixth scenario, when an AP in the AP MLD transmits an EHT PPDU addressed to more than one STA (UL/DL field set to 0), the STA ID field may be set to a first reserved value (e.g., 0).

Under a first proposed scheme for EHT PPDU level-restricted multilink channel access, when a STA in a restricted non-AP MLD is receiving an EHT PPDU that satisfies one of a plurality of conditions, other STAs in the same restricted non-AP MLD may not transmit any PPDU or may suspend performing Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA). One of the conditions may be that the RXVECTOR parameter UPLINK _ FLAG is equal to 0 (e.g., the UL/DL field in the PHY header is equal to 0) and that the RXVECTOR parameter STA _ ID of the EHT PPDU matches the corresponding value of the AID associated with the receiving STA in the restricted non-AP MLD. Another condition may be that the RXVECTOR parameter UPLINK _ FLAG is equal to 0 (e.g., UL/DL field in PHY header is equal to 0) and the RXVECTOR parameter STA _ ID of the EHT PPDU is equal to the first reserved value (e.g., 0). However, after decoding the MAC header, when a STA in the restricted non-AP MLD determines that it is not the recipient of the EHT PPDU, other STAs in the same restricted non-AP MLD may initiate PPDU transmission or resume EDCA channel access.

Under a first proposed scheme for EHT PPDU level-limited multi-link packet scheduling, when an AP in an AP MLD is receiving an EHT PPDU, other APs in the same AP MLD may not schedule any PPDU to a particular STA. For example, for a STA that is in a restricted non-AP MLD and whose AID corresponding value matches the RXVECTOR parameter STA _ ID of the EHT PPDU, when an AP in the AP MLD is receiving the EHT PPDU, other APs in the same AP MLD may not schedule any PPDU to the STA. As another example, for STAs in all restricted non-AP MLDs, where the RXVECTOR parameter UPLINK _ FLAG is equal to 0 (e.g., UL/DL field in PHY header is equal to 0) and the RXVECTOR parameter STA _ ID of the EHT PPDU is equal to the first reserved value (e.g., 0), when an AP in an AP MLD is receiving the EHT PPDU, other APs in the same AP MLD may not schedule any PPDU to the STA. Under the proposed scheme, STAs in the restricted non-AP MLD that do not match the RA or TA in the MAC header in the received EHT PPDU may be scheduled by other APs in the same AP MLD except when the MAC header is decoded.

Under the first proposed scheme of the AID hash function for STA IDs, the hash value of the AID may not include the first reserved value. Under the proposed scheme, the hash function may have the following offset values:

Hash(AID)＝AID mod 2^N+Offset

here, N represents the number of bits of the STA ID, and Offset represents the number of reserved values. For example, when N =5 and the first reserved value =0, hash (AID) = AID mod 2^5+1.

Under a second proposed scheme according to the present invention, the EHT SIG field in the preamble or frame may include a STA ID field for identifying the STA, which is configured in one of a variety of ways in different scenarios. In a first scenario, when an STA in the restricted non-AP MLD transmits an EHT PPDU to an AP in the AP MLD (the UL/DL field is set to 1), the STA ID field may be set to a value (e.g., a hash value or an encoded version of the AID) associated with the AID associated with the transmitting STA in the restricted non-AP MLD. In a second scenario, when a single link STA or a STA in the non-restricted non-AP MLD transmits an EHT PPDU (UL/DL field set to 1) to an AP in the AP MLD, the STA ID field may be set to a first reserved value (e.g., 0). In a third scenario, when a single link STA or a STA in the non-restricted non-AP MLD transmits an EHT PPDU to a STA in the restricted non-AP MLD (the UL/DL field is set to 0), the STA id field may be set to a value corresponding to an AID associated with the STA being received in the restricted non-AP MLD. In a fourth scenario, when a STA of a single link STA or a non-restricted non-AP MLD transmits an EHT PPDU to a peer STA (UL/DL field set to 0), the STA ID field may be set to a first reserved value (e.g., 0) or a value corresponding to an AID associated with a receiving peer STA. In a fourth scenario, a peer STA may be a single link STA or a STA in an unrestricted non-AP MLD. In a fifth scenario, when a STA in the restricted non-AP MLD transmits an EHT PPDU to a peer STA (UL/DL field set to 0), the STA ID field may be set to a second reserved value (e.g., 1). In a fifth scenario, a peer STA may be a STA in a restricted non-AP MLD, a single link STA, or a STA in a non-restricted non-AP MLD. In a sixth scenario, when an AP in the AP MLD transmits an EHT PPDU to an STA in the restricted non-AP MLD (the UL/DL field is set to 0), the STA ID field may be set to a value corresponding to an AID associated with the receiving STA in the restricted non-AP MLD. In a seventh scenario, when an AP in an AP MLD transmits an EHT PPDU to a STA (UL/DL field set to 0) in a single link STA or an unrestricted non-AP MLD, the STA ID field may be set to a first reserved value (e.g., 0) or a value corresponding to an AID associated with the STA that is receiving. In an eighth scenario, when an AP in an AP MLD transmits an EHT PPDU addressed to more than one STA (UL/DL field set to 0), the STA ID field may be set to a second reserved value (e.g., 1) or, in case an STA in at least one restricted non-AP MLD is included as a receiving STA, the STA ID field may be set to a second reserved value (e.g., 1) (otherwise, the STA ID field may be set to a first reserved value (e.g., 0)).

Under a second proposed scheme for EHT PPDU level restricted multilink channel access, when a STA in a restricted non-AP MLD is receiving an EHT PPDU that meets one of a plurality of conditions, other STAs in the same restricted non-AP MLD may not transmit any PPDU or may suspend EDCA channel access. One of the conditions may be that the RXVECTOR parameter UPLINK _ FLAG is equal to 0 (e.g., the UL/DL field in the PHY header is equal to 0) and that the RXVECTOR parameter STA _ ID of the EHT PPDU matches the value corresponding to the AID of the STA associated with the receiving STA in the restricted non-AP MLD. Another condition may be that the RXVECTOR parameter UPLINK _ FLAG is equal to 0 (e.g., UL/DL field in PHY header is equal to 0) and the RXVECTOR parameter STA _ ID of the EHT PPDU is equal to the second reserved value (e.g., 1). However, after decoding the MAC header, when an STA in the restricted non-AP MLD determines that it is not the recipient of the EHT PPDU, other STAs in the same restricted non-AP MLD may initiate PPDU transmission or resume EDCA channel access.

Under the second proposed scheme for EHT PPDU level-limited multi-link packet scheduling, when an AP in an AP MLD is receiving an EHT PPDU, other APs in the same AP MLD may not schedule any PPDU to a particular STA. For example, for an STA that is in a restricted non-AP MLD and whose AID corresponds to a value matching the RXVECTOR parameter STA _ ID of the EHT PPDU, when an AP in the AP MLD is receiving the EHT PPDU, other APs in the same AP MLD may not schedule any PPDU to the STA. As another example, for STAs in all restricted non-AP MLDs, where RXVECTOR parameter UPLINK _ FLAG is equal to 0 (e.g., UL/DL field in PHY header is equal to 0) and RXVECTOR parameter STA _ ID of EHT PPDU is equal to a second reserved value (e.g., 1), when an AP in an AP MLD is receiving an EHT PPDU, other APs in the same AP MLD may not schedule any PPDU to the STA. Under the proposed scheme, STAs in the restricted non-AP MLD that do not match the RA or TA in the MAC header in the received EHT PPDU may be scheduled by other APs in the same AP MLD except when the MAC header is decoded.

Under the second proposed scheme of the AID hash function for STA IDs, the hash value of the AID may not include the first reserved value or the second reserved value. Under the proposed scheme, the hash function may have the following offset values:

Hash(AID)＝AID mod 2^N+Offset

here, N represents the number of bits of the STAID, and Offset represents the number of reserved values. For example, N =5, the first reserved value =0, the second reserved value =1, hash (AID) = AID mod 2^5+2.

In the first and second proposed schemes, when an STA in the restricted non-AP MLD transmits an EHT PPDU to a peer STA (UL/DL field is set to 0), the STA ID field may be set to a second reserved value (e.g., 1). Notably, the peer STAs may be STAs in a restricted non-AP MLD, single link STAs, or STAs in a non-restricted non-AP MLD. Under a third proposed solution according to the present invention, the rule can be further extended. For example, when an STA in the restricted non-AP MLD transmits an EHT PPDU to a single link STA or an STA in the non-restricted non-AP MLD (UL/DL field set to 0), the STA ID field may be set to a value (e.g., a hash value or an encoded version of the AID) associated with the AID associated with the transmitting STA in the restricted non-AP MLD. Further, when an STA in the restricted non-AP MLD transmits an EHT PPDU to a peer STA in the restricted non-AP MLD (the UL/DL field is set to 0), the STA ID field may be set to a first reserved value (e.g., 0).

Illustrative embodiments

Fig. 2 illustrates an example system 200 having at least an example apparatus 210 and an example apparatus 220, according to an embodiment of the invention. Each of the apparatus 210 and the apparatus 220 may perform various functions to implement the schemes, techniques, processes, and methods described herein relating to STA ID indication of restricted multilink operation in wireless communications, including the various schemes described above with respect to various proposed designs, the concepts, schemes, systems, and methods described above, and the processes described below. For example, apparatus 210 may be an example implementation of STA110, and apparatus 220 may be an example implementation of STA 120.

Each of the device 210 and the device 220 may be part of an electronic device, which may be a STA or an AP, such as a portable or mobile device, a wearable device, a wireless communication device, or a computing device. Each of apparatus 210 and apparatus 220 may be implemented in a smartphone, a smart watch, a personal digital assistant, a digital camera, or a computing device such as a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a notebook computer. Each of the devices 210 and 220 may also be part of a machine-type device, which may be an IoT device such as a stationary or fixed device, a home device, a wired communication device, or a computing device. For example, each of the device 210 and the device 220 may be implemented in a smart thermostat, a smart refrigerator, a smart door lock, a wireless speaker, or a home control center. When implemented in or as a network device, apparatus 210 and apparatus 220 may be implemented in a network node, such as an AP in a WLAN.

In some embodiments, each of the devices 210 and 220 may be implemented in the form of one or more integrated-circuit (IC) chips, such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more reduced-instruction-set computing (RISC) processors, or one or more complex-instruction-set computing (CISC) processors. In the various aspects described above, each of the apparatus 210 and the apparatus 220 may be implemented as a STA or an AP. Each of the apparatus 210 and the apparatus 220 may include at least some of those elements shown in fig. 2, for example, a processor shown in fig. 2 such as the processor 212 and the processor 222, respectively. Each of the apparatus 210 and the apparatus 220 may further comprise one or more other elements (e.g., an internal power supply, a display device and/or a user interface device) that are not relevant to the proposed solution of the present invention, and therefore, such elements in the apparatus 210 and the apparatus 220 are not shown in fig. 2, nor are they described below for the sake of simplicity and brevity.

In an aspect, each of the processors 212 and 222 may be implemented in the form of one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more RISC processors, or one or more CISC processors. That is, even though the singular term "processor" is used herein to refer to the processor 212 and the processor 222, each of the processor 212 and the processor 222 may include multiple processors in some embodiments and a single processor in other embodiments in accordance with the present invention. In another aspect, each of the processor 212 and the processor 222 may be implemented in hardware (and optionally firmware) with electronic components including, for example, but not limited to, one or more transistors, one or more diodes, one or more capacitors, one or more resistors, one or more inductors, one or more memristors, and/or one or more varactors configured and arranged to achieve certain objectives in accordance with the present disclosure. In other words, in at least some embodiments, each of the processor 212 and the processor 222 is a dedicated machine specifically designed, arranged and configured to perform specific tasks, including those tasks related to STA ID indication for limited multilink operation in wireless communications, in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention.

In some implementations, the apparatus 210 can also include a transceiver 216 coupled to the processor 212. The transceiver 216 is capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data. In some embodiments, the apparatus 220 may also include a transceiver 226 coupled to the processor 222. The transceiver 226 may include a transceiver capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data. Transceiver 216 of apparatus 210 and transceiver 226 of apparatus 220 may communicate with each other over one or more of a plurality of link links 1 through link N, where N >1, e.g., a first link and a second link.

In some embodiments, the device 210 may further include a memory 214 coupled to the processor 212 and capable of being accessed by the processor 212 and storing data therein. In some embodiments, the apparatus 220 may further include a memory 224 coupled to the processor 222 and accessible by the processor 222 and storing data therein. Each of memory 214 and memory 224 may include a random-access memory (RAM), such as Dynamic RAM (DRAM), static RAM (SRAM), thyristor RAM (T-RAM), and/or zero-capacitor RAM (Z-RAM). Alternatively or additionally, each of memory 214 and memory 224 may include a type of read-only memory (ROM), such as mask ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), and/or Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM). Alternatively or additionally, each of memory 214 and memory 224 may include a non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM), such as flash memory, solid-state memory, ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM), magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), and/or phase-change memory.

Each of the device 210 and the device 220 may be a communication entity capable of communicating with each other using various proposed schemes according to the present invention. For illustrative purposes and not limitation, the following provides a description of the capabilities of device 210, which may be a restricted non-AP MLD, as STA110, and device 220, which may be a restricted AP MLD, as STA 120. It is noted that although the example implementations described below are provided in the context of a WLAN, they may be implemented in other types of networks as well.

Under the proposed scheme of STA ID indication for restricted multi-link operation in wireless communications according to the present invention, a first STA in a restricted non-AP MLD implemented in the processor 212 of the apparatus 210 may receive a PPDU on a first link or a second link via the transceiver 216. Further, in response to the PPDU satisfying the condition, the processor 212 may disable one or more other STAs of the plurality of STAs in the non-AP MLD from performing the operation.

In some embodiments, the conditions may include: (a) An UL/DL field in a PHY header of the PPDU indicates DL transmission, and (b) a value in a STA ID field in the PHY header matches a value corresponding to an AID associated with a first STA in the non-AP MLD. The value corresponding to the AID may be a hash value of the AID or an encoded version of the AID.

In some embodiments, the conditions may include: (a) An UL/DL field in a PHY header of the PPDU indicates DL transmission, and (b) an STA ID field in the PHY header is equal to a predetermined value.

In some embodiments, the processor 212 may prohibit one or more other STAs in the non-AP MLD from transmitting any PPDU while prohibiting the one or more other STAs in the non-AP MLD from performing operations.

In some embodiments, the processor 212 may cause one or more other STAs in the non-AP MLD to suspend EDCA from performing while the one or more other STAs in the non-AP MLD are prohibited from performing operations.

In some embodiments, the PPDU may comprise an EHT PPDU.

In some implementations, the processor 212 may perform additional operations. For example, the processor 212 may decode the MAC header of the PPDU. Further, the processor 212 may allow one or more other STAs in the non-AP MLD to initiate or resume operations in response to determining that the first STA is not the recipient of the PPDU as a result of decoding the MAC header. In some embodiments, the processor 212 may initiate PPDU transmission or resume EDCA when allowing one or more other STAs in the non-AP MLD to initiate or resume operations.

In some embodiments, the processor 212 may also receive an EHT PPDU from an AP in an AP MLD via the transceiver 216. In this case, the STAID field in the PHY header of the EHT PPDU may be set to a predetermined value (e.g., 0).

In some embodiments, the processor 212 may also transmit an EHT PPDU to an AP in the AP MLD via the transceiver 216. In this case, the STA ID field in the PHY header of the EHT PPDU may be set to a value corresponding to an AID associated with one of the plurality of STAs in the non-AP MLD transmitting the EHT PPDU. The value corresponding to the AID may be a hash value of the AID or an encoded version of the AID.

Under the proposed scheme for STA ID indication for restricted multilink operation in wireless communications in accordance with the present invention, a first AP in a restricted AP MLD implemented in the processor 222 of the apparatus 220 may receive a PPDU on a first link or a second link via the transceiver 226. Further, in response to the STA satisfying the condition, the processor 222 may prohibit one or more other APs of the plurality of APs in the AP MLD from scheduling any transmission to the STA.

In some embodiments, the conditions may include: (a) The STA is a non-AP MLD STA with limitations on simultaneous TX/RX on the first link and the second link, and (b) the value corresponding to the AID associated with the STA matches the value in the STA ID field in the PHY header of the PPDU. The value corresponding to the AID may be a hash value of the AID or an encoded version of the AID.

In some embodiments, the PPDU may comprise an EHT PPDU.

In some implementations, the processor 222 may perform additional operations. For example, the processor 222 may decode the MAC header of the PPDU. Further, in response to the STA satisfying different conditions, the processor 222 may allow one or more other APs in the AP MLD to schedule transmissions to the STA.

In some embodiments, the different conditions may include: (a) The STA is a non-AP MLD STA with restrictions on simultaneous TX/RX on the first link and the second link, and (b) an address or identifier associated with the STA does not match the RA or TA in the MAC header of the PPDU.

In some embodiments, the processor 222 may also receive an EHT PPDU from a STA via the transceiver 226. In this case, the STA ID field in the PHY header of the EHT PPDU may be set to a value corresponding to the AID associated with the STA. The value corresponding to the AID may be a hash value of the AID or an encoded version of the AID.

In some implementations, the processor 222 may perform additional operations. For example, the processor 222 may set the STA ID field in a PHY header of an EHT PPDU for the receiving STA. Further, the processor 222 may transmit the EHT PPDU to the receiving STA via the transceiver 226.

In some implementations, in setting the STAID field in the PHY header of the EHT PPDU, the processor 222 may: (i) in response to the receiving STA being a single STA; set the STA ID field to a value corresponding to an AID associated with the receiving STA, or (ii) set the STA ID field to a predetermined value in response to the receiving STA being one of the plurality of STAs of the MLD. The value corresponding to the AID may be a hash value of the AID or an encoded version of the AID.

Under the proposed scheme for STA ID indication for restricted multilink operation in wireless communications according to the present invention, a first AP in a restricted AP MLD implemented in the processor 222 of the apparatus 220 may set an STA ID field in a PHY header of a first EHT PPDU for a receiving STA by: (i) In response to the receiving STA being a single STA, setting the STA ID field to a value corresponding to an AID associated with the receiving STA; or (ii) in response to the receiving STA being one of the plurality of STAs of the MLD, setting the STA ID field to a predetermined value. Further, the processor 222 may transmit the first EHT PPDU to the recipient STA via the transceiver 226. The value corresponding to the AID may be a hash value of the AID or an encoded version of the AID.

In some embodiments, the processor 222 may also receive a second EHT PPDU from the transmitting STA via the transceiver 226, wherein a STA ID field in a PHY header of the second EHT PPDU is set to a value corresponding to an AID associated with the transmitting STA. The value corresponding to the AID may be a hash value of the AID or an encoded version of the AID.

Illustrative Process

FIG. 3 illustrates an example process 300 according to an embodiment of the invention. Process 300 may represent one aspect of a design, concept, scheme, system, and method that implements the various proposals described above. More specifically, process 300 may represent one aspect of the proposed concepts and schemes in connection with STA ID indication for restricted multilink operation in wireless communications in accordance with the present invention. Process 300 may include one or more of the operations, actions, or functions illustrated by one or more of

blocks

310 and 320. Although shown as discrete blocks, the various blocks of the process 300 may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. Further, the blocks/sub-blocks of process 300 may be performed in the order shown in fig. 3, or in other orders. Further, one or more blocks/sub-blocks of the process 300 may be performed repeatedly or iteratively. Process 300 may be implemented by or within apparatus 210 and apparatus 220, or any variation thereof. For illustrative purposes only and without limiting scope, process 300 is described below in the context of a device 210 that is a STA110 (e.g., STA or AP) and a device 220 that is a STA120 (e.g., peer STA or AP) in a wireless network (e.g., WLAN) according to one or more IEEE 802.11 standards. Process 300 begins at block 310.

At 310, process 300 may involve a first STA in a non-AP MLD having limitations on simultaneous TX/RX on a first link and a second link and being implemented in processor 212 of apparatus 210, receiving a PPDU on the first link or the second link via transceiver 216. Process 300 may proceed from 310 to 320.

At 320, the process 300 may involve one or more other STAs of the plurality of STAs in the non-AP MLD refraining from performing the operation in response to the PPDU satisfying the condition.

In some implementations, the process 300 may involve the processor 212 refraining from one or more other STAs in the non-AP MLD from transmitting any PPDU when the one or more other STAs in the non-AP MLD are refrained from performing the operation.

In some embodiments, the process 300 may involve the processor 212 causing one or more other STAs in the non-AP MLD to suspend EDCA when the one or more other STAs in the non-AP MLD are prohibited from performing operations.

In some embodiments, the PPDU may comprise an EHT PPDU.

In some implementations, the process 300 may involve the processor 212 performing additional operations. For example, process 300 may involve processor 212 decoding a MAC header of the PPDU. Further, process 300 may involve processor 212 allowing one or more other STAs in the non-AP MLD to initiate or resume operations in response to determining that the first STA is not the recipient of the PPDU as a result of decoding the MAC header. In some embodiments, the process 300 may involve the processor 212 initiating a PPDU transmission or resuming EDCA when one or more other STAs in the non-AP MLD are allowed to initiate or resume operations.

In some implementations, the process 300 may further involve the processor 212 receiving an EHT PPDU from an AP in the AP MLD via the transceiver 216. In this case, the STAID field in the PHY header of the EHT PPDU may be set to a predetermined value (e.g., 0).

In some implementations, the process 300 may further involve the processor 212 transmitting an EHT PPDU to an AP in the AP MLD via the transceiver 216. In this case, the STA id field in the PHY header of the EHT PPDU may be set to a value corresponding to an AID associated with one of the plurality of STAs in the non-AP MLD transmitting the EHT PPDU. The value corresponding to the AID may be a hash value of the AID or an encoded version of the AID.

Fig. 4 illustrates an example process 400 according to an embodiment of the invention. Process 400 may represent one aspect of a design, concept, scheme, system, and method that implements the various proposals described above. More specifically, process 400 may represent one aspect of the proposed concepts and schemes in connection with STA ID indication for restricted multilink operation in wireless communications in accordance with the present invention. Process 400 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as illustrated by one or more of

blocks

410 and 420. Although shown as discrete blocks, the various blocks of process 400 may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. Further, the blocks/sub-blocks of process 400 may be performed in the order shown in fig. 4, or in a different order. Further, one or more of the blocks/sub-blocks of process 400 may be performed repeatedly or iteratively. Process 400 may be implemented by apparatus 210 and apparatus 220 and any of their variations or in apparatus 210 and apparatus 220. For illustrative purposes only and not to limit scope, process 400 is described below in the context of device 210 as STA110 (e.g., STA or AP) and device 220 as STA120 (e.g., peer STA or AP) in a wireless network (e.g., WLAN) according to one or more IEEE 802.11 standards. Process 400 begins at block 410.

At 410, process 400 may involve a first AP in an AP MLD, implemented in processor 222 of apparatus 220, receiving a PPDU over a first link or a second link via transceiver 226. Process 400 may proceed from 410 to 420.

At 420, process 400 may involve one or more other APs of the plurality of APs in the AP MLD refraining from scheduling any transmission to the STA in response to the STA satisfying a condition.

In some embodiments, the PPDU may comprise an EHT PPDU.

In some implementations, the process 400 may involve the processor 222 performing additional operations. For example, process 400 may involve processor 222 decoding a MAC header of a PPDU. Further, process 400 may involve processor 222 allowing one or more other APs in the AP MLD to schedule transmissions to the STA in response to the STA satisfying different conditions.

In some embodiments, the different conditions may include: (a) The STA is a STA of a non-AP MLD with restrictions on simultaneous TX/RX on the first link and the second link, and (b) an address or identifier associated with the STA does not match the RA or TA in the MAC header of the PPDU.

In some embodiments, process 400 may further involve processor 222 receiving an EHT PPDU from the STA via transceiver 226. In this case, the STA ID field in the PHY header of the EHT PPDU may be set to a value corresponding to the AID associated with the STA. The value corresponding to the AID may be a hash value of the AID or an encoded version of the AID.

In some implementations, the process 400 may involve the processor 222 performing additional operations. For example, process 400 may involve processor 222 setting an STA id field in a PHY header of an EHT PPDU for the receiving STA. Further, process 400 may involve processor 222 transmitting the EHT PPDU to the receiver STA via transceiver 226.

In some embodiments, in setting the STA ID field in the PHY header of the EHT PPDU, process 400 may involve processor 222: (i) In response to the receiving STA being a single STA, setting the STA ID field to a value corresponding to an AID associated with the receiving STA; or (ii) in response to the receiving STA being one of the plurality of STAs of the MLD, setting the STA ID field to a predetermined value. The value corresponding to the AID may be a hash value of the AID or an encoded version of the AID.

Fig. 5 illustrates an example process 500 according to an embodiment of the invention. Process 500 may represent one aspect of a design, concept, scheme, system, and method that implements the various proposals described above. More specifically, process 500 may represent one aspect of the proposed concepts and schemes in connection with STA ID indication for restricted multilink operation in wireless communications in accordance with the present invention. Process 500 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as illustrated by one or more of

blocks

510 and 520. Although shown as discrete blocks, the various blocks of the process 500 may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. Further, the blocks/sub-blocks of process 500 may be performed in the order shown in FIG. 5, or in a different order. Further, one or more of the blocks/sub-blocks of process 500 may be performed repeatedly or iteratively. Process 500 may be implemented by apparatus 210 and apparatus 220 and any of their variations or in apparatus 210 and apparatus 220. For illustrative purposes only and without limiting scope, process 500 is described below in the context of device 210 being a STA110 (e.g., STA or AP) and device 220 being a STA120 (e.g., peer STA or AP) in a wireless network (e.g., WLAN) according to one or more IEEE 802.11 standards. Process 500 begins at block 410.

At 510, process 500 may involve an AP in an AP MLD, implemented in processor 222 of apparatus 220, setting a STA ID field in a PHY header of a first EHT PPDU for a receiving STA by: (i) In response to the receiving STA being a single STA, setting the STA ID field to a value corresponding to an AID associated with the receiving STA; or (ii) in response to the receiving STA being one of the plurality of STAs of the MLD, setting the STA ID field to a predetermined value. Process 500 may proceed from 510 to 520. The value corresponding to the AID may be a hash value of the AID or an encoded version of the AID.

At 520, process 500 may involve processor 222 transmitting the first EHT PPDU to the receiving STA via transceiver 226.

In some embodiments, the process 500 may also involve the processor 222 receiving a second EHT PPDU from the transmitting STA via the transceiver 226, a STA ID field in a PHY header of the second EHT PPDU being set to a value corresponding to an AID associated with the transmitting STA. The value corresponding to the AID may be a hash value of the AID or an encoded version of the AID.

Additional description

The subject matter described herein sometimes represents different elements, which are included in or connected to other different elements. It will be understood that the architectures depicted are merely examples, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality, or conceptually, any arrangement of elements which achieve the same functionality is "associated" such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components combined to achieve a particular functionality, regardless of structure or intermediate components, are considered to be "associated with" each other such that the desired functionality is achieved. Likewise, any two associated elements are considered to be "operably connected," or "operably coupled," to each other to achieve the particular functionality. Any two components capable of being associated with each other are also considered to be "operably coupled" to each other to achieve a particular function. Any two components capable of being associated with each other are also considered to be "operably coupled" to each other to achieve a particular function. Specific examples of operable connections include, but are not limited to, physically mateable and/or physically interacting elements, and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting elements, and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable elements.

Furthermore, with respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. Various singular/plural permutations are expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that, in general, terms used in the present disclosure, particularly in the claims, as the subject matter of the claims, are used generically as "open" terms, e.g., "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," "having" should be interpreted as "at least," "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but is not limited to," etc. It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific amount of claim material is intended, it will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such material, it will not be displayed. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following claims may contain usage of the phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of these phrases should not be construed to imply that the use of "a" or "an" is the introduction to the claim recitations, but rather is to be limited to any specific claim. Even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one," the indefinite articles such as "a" or "an" should be construed to mean at least one or more, as such is true for use of the explicit description for introducing a claim. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean the recited number, e.g., "two recitations," without other modifiers, meaning at least two recitations, or two or more recitations. Further, where a convention analogous to "A, B and at least one of C" is used, such a convention is generally such that one skilled in the art would understand the convention, e.g., "a system includes at least one of A, B and C" would include, but not be limited to, a system having a alone, a system having B alone, a system having C alone, a system having a and B, a system having a and C, a system having B and C, and/or a system having A, B and C, among others. It will be further understood by those within the art that any isolated word and/or phrase represented by two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to include one of those terms, or both terms as possible. For example, "a or B" is to be understood as the possibility of "a", or "B", or "a and B".

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various embodiments of the invention have been described for purposes of illustration, and that various modifications may be made without deviating from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, the various embodiments disclosed herein are not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the true scope is indicated by the following claims.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

receiving, by a first station in a non-access point multi-link device having limitations on simultaneous transmission and reception on a first link or a second link, a physical layer convergence protocol data unit; and

in response to the physical layer convergence protocol data unit satisfying a condition, disabling one or more other stations of the plurality of stations in the non-access point multi-link device from performing an operation.

2. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the condition comprises:

an uplink/downlink field in a physical layer header of the physical layer convergence protocol data unit indicates a downlink transmission, an

A station identifier field in the physical layer header matches a value corresponding to an association identifier associated with the first station in the non-access point multi-link device.

3. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the condition comprises:

The station identifier field in the physical layer header is equal to a predetermined value.

4. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein inhibiting the one or more other stations of the plurality of stations in the non-access point multi-link device from performing the operation comprises:

prohibiting the one or more other STAs in the non-access point multilink device from transmitting any physical layer convergence protocol data unit; or

Causing the one or more other stations in the non-access point multi-link device to suspend performing enhanced distributed channel access.

5. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein decoding a medium access control header of the physical layer convergence protocol data unit; and

in response to determining that the first station is not the recipient of the physical layer convergence protocol data unit by decoding the medium access control header, allowing one or more other stations in the non-access point multi-link device to initiate a physical layer convergence protocol data unit transmission or resume enhanced distributed channel access.

6. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a very high throughput physical layer convergence protocol data unit from an access point in an access point multilink device,

wherein a station identifier field in a physical layer header of the very high throughput physical layer convergence protocol data unit is set to a predetermined value.

7. The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: sending a very high throughput physical layer convergence protocol data unit to an access point in an access point multilink device,

wherein a station identifier field in a physical layer header of the very high throughput physical layer convergence protocol data unit is set to a value corresponding to an association identifier associated with one of the plurality of stations in the non-access point multi-link device that sent the very high throughput physical layer convergence protocol data unit.

8. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

receiving, by a first access point of the access point multilink device, a physical layer convergence protocol data unit on the first link or the second link; and

in response to a station satisfying a condition, refraining from one or more other access points of a plurality of access points in the access point multilink device from scheduling any transmissions to the station.

9. The wireless communication method of claim 8, wherein the condition comprises:

the station is a station of a non-access point multi-link device having restrictions on simultaneous transmission and reception on the first link and the second link, an

A station identifier field in a physical layer header of the physical layer convergence protocol data unit matches a value corresponding to an association identifier associated with the station.

10. The wireless communication method of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

decoding a media access control header of the physical layer convergence protocol data unit; and

allowing one or more other access points in the access point multilink device to schedule transmissions to the station in response to the station satisfying different conditions.

11. The wireless communication method of claim 10, wherein the different conditions comprise:

The address or identifier associated with the station does not match a receiver address or a sender address in the medium access control header of the physical layer convergence protocol data unit.

12. The wireless communication method of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises: .

Receiving a very high throughput physical layer convergence protocol data unit from a station,

wherein a station identifier field in a physical layer header of the very high throughput physical layer convergence protocol data unit is set to a value corresponding to an association identifier associated with the station.

13. The wireless communication method of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

setting a station identifier field in a physical layer header of the very high throughput physical layer convergence protocol data unit for a receiver station by any one of:

responsive to the recipient station being a single station, setting the station identifier field to a value corresponding to an association identifier associated with the recipient station; or

Setting the station identifier field to a predetermined value in response to the recipient station being one of a plurality of stations of a multi-link device; and

sending the very high throughput physical layer convergence protocol data unit to the receiver station.

14. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

a transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate over at least a first link and a second link; and

a processor coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform a plurality of operations as a non-access point multi-link device having restrictions on simultaneous transmissions and receptions over the first link and over the second link, the plurality of operations comprising:

receiving, by a first station in the non-access point multi-link device, a physical layer convergence protocol data unit over the first link or the second link through the transceiver; and

disabling one or more other stations of the plurality of stations in the non-access point multi-link device from performing an operation in response to the physical layer convergence protocol data unit satisfying a condition.

15. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 14, wherein the conditions comprise:

16. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 14, wherein the conditions comprise:

17. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 14, wherein in prohibiting the one or more other stations of the plurality of stations in the non-access point multi-link device from performing the operation, the processor is configured to perform:

18. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

decoding a medium access control header of the physical layer convergence protocol data unit; and

19. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receiving, via the transceiver, a very high throughput physical layer convergence protocol data unit from an access point in an access point multilink device,

20. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

sending, via the transceiver, a very high throughput physical layer convergence protocol data unit to an access point in an access point multilink device,

wherein a station identifier field in a physical layer header of the very high throughput physical layer convergence protocol data unit is set to a value corresponding to an association identifier associated with the plurality of stations in the non-access point multi-link device that sent the very high throughput physical layer convergence protocol data unit.