CN116349404A - Limited service period - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure describes systems, methods, and devices related to limited service periods. A device may identify a request frame for a limited Target Wake Time (TWT) received from a first station device (STA). The device may generate a notification frame that includes information associated with the restricted TWT to be shared with a plurality of STAs associated with the AP. The device may assign the first STA as a member of the restricted TWT. The device may assign a plurality of STAs to be non-members of the limited TWT. The apparatus may cause a notification frame to be transmitted to the plurality of STAs.

Description

Limited service period

Cross-reference to related patent applications

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No.63/108,123, filed on 10/30/2020, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for wireless communications, and more particularly to limited service periods.

Background

Wireless devices are becoming widespread and increasingly requesting access to wireless channels. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is developing one or more standards that utilize Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) in channel allocation.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a network diagram illustrating an example network environment for a limited service period in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 depicts an illustrative schematic diagram for a limited service period in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 shows a flowchart of a process for an illustrative limited service period system in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 shows a functional diagram of an exemplary communication station that may be suitable for use as a user equipment in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine on which any one or more techniques (e.g., methods) may be performed, according to one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram of a radio architecture according to some examples.

Fig. 7 illustrates an example front-end module circuit for use in the radio architecture of fig. 6 in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 illustrates an example radio IC circuit for use in the radio architecture of fig. 6 in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 9 illustrates an example baseband processing circuit for use in the radio architecture of fig. 6 in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the disclosure.

Detailed Description

The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrate specific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, algorithm, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in, or substituted for, those of others. The embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims.

Traffic originating from real-time applications running on the device may have stringent latency requirements (e.g., time Sensitive Networking (TSN), augmented Reality (AR), video, etc.). An AP may communicate with multiple station devices (STAs), each of which may have different latency requirements. The STA may be an Extremely High Throughput (EHT) device or a legacy device.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to systems, methods, and devices for limited service periods using a quiescing element.

In one or more embodiments, TWT operations may be used to define restrictions on Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) during certain protected service periods. This particular protected service period may be referred to as a limited TWT. During a limited TWT, communication with an AP may be constrained based on one or more conditions. TWT operation may allow an AP to use a resource reservation mechanism to provide more predictable latency, reduced worst-case latency, and/or reduced jitter, with greater reliability for latency-sensitive traffic.

Extremely High Throughput (EHT) station devices (STAs) associated with an AP advertising a limited TWT may end their transmission opportunity (TXOP) prior to the start of the limited TWT. The EHT STA may negotiate with the AP to establish one or more service periods, which may be limited TWTs.

An EHT STA negotiating with an AP as part/member of a limited TWT may transmit during the limited TWT without limitation, except for rules (specific Traffic Identifier (TID), trigger access, etc.) defined in the limited TWT membership during negotiation. An EHT STA that is not a member of the limited TWT may have to adhere to other limitations, e.g., must not transmit during the duration of the limited TWT period. In one or more embodiments, signaling and negotiations about the TWT mechanism may rely on broadcasting the TWT such that a restricted TWT is advertised by the AP in beacon frames or probe response frames sent to all STAs.

In one or more embodiments, the limited service period system may facilitate alternatives by using a muting element (e.g., an Information Element (IE)), or a mix of TWTs and muting elements, in order to inform one or more STAs of information about the limited TWTs. This mechanism allows the AP to establish restricted TWTs to serve STAs that require a higher level of reliability with respect to their data traffic while ensuring that other STAs adhere to these restricted TWTs in order to minimize access to the channel by other STAs while serving STAs that require a higher level of reliability.

The foregoing description is for the purpose of illustration and is not meant to be limiting. Many other examples, configurations, processes, algorithms, etc., are possible, some of which are described in more detail below. Example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a network diagram illustrating an example network environment for a limited service period according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The wireless network 100 may include one or more user devices 120 and one or more Access Points (APs) 102, which may communicate in accordance with an IEEE 802.11 communication standard. The user device 120 may be a mobile device that is non-stationary (e.g., does not have a fixed location), or may be a stationary device.

In some embodiments, user device 120 and AP 102 may include a computer system similar to the functional diagram of fig. 4 and/or one or more computer systems of the example machine/system of fig. 5.

One or more user devices 120 and/or APs 102 may be operable by one or more users 110. It should be noted that any addressable unit may be a Station (STA). STAs may present a variety of differentEach of which characterizes its function. For example, a single addressable unit may be a portable STA, a quality of service (QoS) STA, a dependent STA, and a hidden STA at the same time. One or more of the illustrative user devices 120 and the AP 102 may be STAs. One or more of the illustrative user devices 120 and/or APs 102 may operate as a Personal Basic Service Set (PBSS) control point/access point (PCP/AP). User device 120 (e.g., 124, 126, or 128) and/or AP 102 may include any suitable processor-driven device, including but not limited to a mobile device or a non-mobile device (e.g., a static device). For example, user device 120 and/or AP 102 may include a User Equipment (UE), a Station (STA), an Access Point (AP), a software-enabled AP (SoftAP), a Personal Computer (PC), a wearable wireless device (e.g., a bracelet, watch, glasses, ring, etc.), a desktop computer, a mobile computer, a laptop computer, a super-book ^TM Computers, notebook computers, tablet computers, server computers, handheld devices, internet of things (IoT) devices, sensor devices, PDA devices, handheld PDA devices, on-board devices, off-board devices, hybrid devices (e.g., combining cellular telephone functionality with PDA device functionality), consumer devices, on-board devices, off-board devices, mobile or portable devices, non-mobile or non-portable devices, mobile phones, cellular phones, PCS devices, PDA devices including wireless communication devices, mobile or portable GPS devices, DVB devices, relatively small computing devices, non-desktop computers, "light-duty" up-arrays, a life-free "(CSLL) device, a mobile device (UMD), a mobile PC (UMPC), a Mobile Internet Device (MID)," origami "device or computing device, a Dynamic Combination Computing (DCC) enabled device, a context aware device, a video device, an audio device, an a/V device, a Set Top Box (STB), a blu-ray disc (BD) player, a BD recorder, a Digital Video Disc (DVD) player, a High Definition (HD) DVD player, a DVD recorder, a HD DVD recorder, a Personal Video Recorder (PVR), a broadcast HD receiver, a video source, an audio source, a video receiver, an audio receiver, a stereo tuner, a broadcast radio receiver, a flat panel display, a Personal Media Player (PMP), a Digital Video Camera (DVC), a digital audio player, Speakers, audio receivers, audio amplifiers, gaming devices, data sources, data receivers, digital cameras (DSC), media players, smart phones, televisions, music players, etc. Other devices, including smart devices (e.g., lights, climate controls, automotive components, household components, appliances, etc.), may also be included in the list.

As used herein, the term "internet of things (IoT) device" is used to refer to any object (e.g., appliance, sensor, etc.) that has an addressable interface (e.g., internet Protocol (IP) address, bluetooth Identifier (ID), near Field Communication (NFC) ID, etc.) and is capable of sending information to one or more other devices via a wired or wireless connection. IoT devices may have passive communication interfaces (e.g., quick Response (QR) codes, radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, NFC tags, etc.), or active communication interfaces (e.g., modems, transceivers, transmitter-receivers, etc.). IoT devices may have a particular set of attributes (e.g., device status or status (e.g., whether the IoT device is on or off, idle or active, available for task execution or busy, etc.), cooling or heating functions, environmental monitoring or recording functions, lighting functions, sounding functions, etc.), which may be embedded in and/or controlled/monitored by a Central Processing Unit (CPU), microprocessor, ASIC, etc., and configured to connect to an IoT network (e.g., a local ad-hoc network or the internet). For example, ioT devices may include, but are not limited to, refrigerators, toasters, ovens, microwave ovens, freezers, dishwashers, tableware, hand tools, washers, dryers, smelters, air conditioners, thermostats, televisions, lights, cleaners, sprinklers, electricity meters, gas meters, etc., provided that the devices are equipped with addressable communication interfaces for communicating with IoT networks. IoT devices may also include cellular telephones, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and the like. Thus, ioT networks may be comprised of "legacy" internet-accessible devices (e.g., laptop or desktop computers, cellular phones, etc.) and devices that typically have no internet connection (e.g., dishwashers, etc.).

The user device 120 and/or the AP 102 may also include, for example, a mesh station in a mesh network in accordance with one or more IEEE 802.11 standards and/or 3GPP standards.

Any user device 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and AP 102 may be configured to communicate with each other wirelessly or by wire via one or more communication networks 130 and/or 135. User devices 120 may also communicate with each other peer-to-peer or directly with or without AP 102. Any of the communication networks 130 and/or 135 may include, but are not limited to, any of a combination of different types of suitable communication networks, such as a broadcast network, a wired network, a public network (e.g., the internet), a proprietary network, a wireless network, a cellular network, or any other suitable proprietary and/or public network. Further, any of communication networks 130 and/or 135 may have any suitable communication range associated therewith, and may include, for example, a global network (e.g., the Internet), a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Local Area Network (LAN), or a Personal Area Network (PAN). Further, any of communication networks 130 and/or 135 may include any type of medium that may carry network traffic including, but not limited to, coaxial cable, twisted pair, fiber optics, hybrid fiber-optic coaxial (HFC) medium, microwave terrestrial transceiver, radio frequency communication medium, white space communication medium, ultra-high frequency communication medium, satellite communication medium, or any combination thereof.

Any of the user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and the AP 102 may include one or more communication antennas. The one or more communication antennas may be any suitable type of antennas corresponding to the communication protocols used by user device 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, and 128) and AP 102. Some non-limiting examples of suitable communication antennas include Wi-Fi antennas, institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards family compatible antennas, directional antennas, non-directional antennas, dipole antennas, folded dipole antennas, patch antennas, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, omni-directional antennas, quasi-omni-directional antennas, and the like. One or more communication antennas may be communicatively coupled to the radio to transmit signals (e.g., communication signals) to user device 102 and/or AP 104 and/or to receive signals from user device 120 and/or AP 102.

Any of the user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and the AP 102 may be configured to perform directional transmission and/or directional reception in connection with wireless communication in a wireless network. Any user device 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and AP 102 may be configured to perform such directional transmission and/or reception using a set of multiple antenna arrays (e.g., DMG antenna arrays, etc.). Each of the plurality of antenna arrays may be used for transmission and/or reception in a particular respective direction or range of directions. Any user device 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and AP 102 may be configured to perform any given directional transmission to one or more defined transmission sectors. Any user device 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and AP 102 may be configured to perform any given directional reception from one or more defined reception sectors.

MIMO beamforming in a wireless network may be implemented using RF beamforming and/or digital beamforming. In some embodiments, in performing a given MIMO transmission, user device 120 and/or AP 102 may be configured to perform MIMO beamforming using all or a subset of its one or more communication antennas.

Any of the user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and the AP 102 may include any suitable radio and/or transceiver for transmitting and/or receiving Radio Frequency (RF) signals in bandwidths and/or channels corresponding to the communication protocols by which any of the user devices 120 and the AP 102 communicate with each other. The radio may include hardware and/or software for modulating and/or demodulating the communication signals according to a pre-established transmission protocol. The radio may also have hardware and/or software instructions to communicate via one or more Wi-Fi and/or Wi-Fi direct protocols standardized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard. In certain example embodiments, a radio in cooperation with a communication antenna may be configured to communicate via a 2.4GHz channel (e.g., 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11 ax), a 5GHz channel (e.g., 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11 ax), or a 60GHz channel (e.g., 802.11ad, 802.11 ay), an 800MHz channel (e.g., 802.11 ah). The communication antenna may operate at 28GHz and 40GHz. It should be appreciated that this list of communication channels according to some 802.11 standards is only a partial list, and that other 802.11 standards (e.g., next generation Wi-Fi or other standards) may be used. In some embodiments, a non-Wi-Fi protocol may be used for communication between devices, such as bluetooth, dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC), ultra High Frequency (UHF) (e.g., IEEE 802.11af, IEEE 802.22), white band frequency (e.g., white space), or other packet radio communication. The radio may include any known receiver and baseband suitable for communication via a communication protocol. The radio may also include a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA), additional signal amplifiers, analog to digital (a/D) converters, one or more buffers, and a digital baseband.

In one embodiment, and referring to fig. 1, ap 102 may facilitate a limited service period 142 with one or more user devices 120.

In one or more embodiments, the limited service period may facilitate limited SPs using TWT mechanisms and/or silence elements.

In one or more embodiments, the limited service period system may facilitate STAs to initiate TWT setup negotiations. The STA may request to establish a restricted SP. The request may be made through a simple 1-bit field set to 1 to request a restricted SP and set to 0 to request an unrestricted SP. The request may include other parameters such as TID allowed only during SP or traffic specification of The Stream (TSPEC).

In one or more embodiments, if the AP responds with a TWT setup response with an ACCEPT, a restricted SP is established for the STA. This may be accepted as a separate or broadcast TWT. The STA becomes a member of a restricted TWT with a TWT ID (TWT stream ID for an individual TWT SP, or broadcast TWT ID for a broadcast TWT).

In one or more embodiments, if a restricted SP is established, the AP may include one or more muting elements and muting channel elements in the beacon frame and/or probe response frame that may be used to correlate timing information with the restricted TWT.

In one or more embodiments, the limited service period system may define a new entry in the quiet channel element in the AP quiet mode for operation with respect to the limited SP. That is, the AP may use these new entries to indicate TWT information established during TWT negotiation.

In one or more embodiments, the limited service period system may facilitate that all STAs may adhere to the quiet channel element rules (e.g., the STA ends its TxOP before the beginning of the quiet period and sets a Network Allocation Vector (NAV) for the duration of the quiet period).

In one or more embodiments, the limited service period system may facilitate allowing only EHT STAs that are members of the limited TWT that overlap with the silence period to not set a NAV for the duration of the silence period. These EHT STAs may also be exempted from ending their txops at the beginning of the mute element. Not setting the NAV means that the STA is not restricted from transmitting during silence. However, if the NAV of some STAs (not members of the limited TWT) is set, this means that the STAs are limited to transmit during the silence period.

Alternatively, a range of entries may be used in the AP silence mode such that the entries correspond to TWT flow IDs or BCST TWT IDs of the restricted TWTs. The entry may be exactly the value of the TWT stream ID or BCST TWT ID, or may be a formula linking the TWT stream ID or BCST TWT ID to the entry (e.g., TWT id+2 so that BCST TWT ID 0 may be signaled by this means). In this way, only STAs that are members of the restricted TWT ID indicated in the AP silence mode are allowed to not set a NAV for the duration of the silence period. These EHT STAs may also be exempted from ending their txops at the beginning of the mute element.

In one or more embodiments, the limited service period system may facilitate the use of the following concepts: the limited TWT is a broadcast TWT and is announced in a beacon frame, and the EHT STA will adhere to the rules and end the TxOP before the start of all announced broadcast limited TWTs.

In one or more embodiments, the limited service period system may facilitate the addition of: the AP may include one or more muting elements and muting channel elements in the beacon frame and probe response frame in the same manner as shown above, with the AP muting mode set.

In one or more embodiments, the limited service period system may facilitate that an AP may include one or more muting elements and muting channel elements in the beacon and probe response, in the same manner as shown above, with an AP muting mode set.

It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive.

Fig. 2 depicts an illustrative schematic diagram for a limited service period in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 2, the AP 202 is shown in communication with a plurality of STAs (e.g., STAs 224, 226, and 228).

In one or more embodiments, STAs (e.g., STAs 224, 226, and 228) may negotiate with the AP 202 to establish one or more service periods, which may be limited TWTs. For example, the AP 202 and STA 224 may perform a restricted TWT negotiation 231 to become part or member of the restricted TWT.

The STA 224 negotiating with the AP 202 as part/member of the limited TWT may transmit during the limited TWT without limitation, except for rules (specific Traffic Identifier (TID), trigger access, etc.) defined in the limited TWT membership during negotiation. STAs that are not members of the limited TWT (e.g., STA 226 and STA 228) may have to adhere to other limitations, e.g., must not transmit during the duration of the limited TWT period. In one or more embodiments, signaling and negotiations about the TWT mechanism may rely on broadcasting the TWT such that a restricted TWT is advertised by the AP in beacon frames or probe response frames sent to all STAs. For example, the AP 202 may advertise limited TWT information 232 and 233 to STAs.

In one or more embodiments, AP 202 may use a muting element (e.g., an Information Element (IE)), or a mix of TWTs and muting elements, in order to inform STAs (e.g., STAs 224, 226, and 228) about restricted TWTs. This mechanism allows the AP 202 to establish restricted TWTs to serve STAs (e.g., STA 224) that require a higher level of reliability with respect to their data traffic while ensuring that other STAs (e.g., STA 226 and STA 228) adhere to these restricted TWTs in order to minimize access to the channel by the other STAs while serving STA 224 that requires a higher level of reliability.

It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive.

Fig. 3 shows a flowchart of an illustrative process 300 for a limited service period system in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

At block 302, a device (e.g., user device 120 and/or AP 102 of fig. 1 and/or service period device 519 of fig. 5) may identify a request frame received from a first station device (STA) for a limited Target Wake Time (TWT). The limited TWT is associated with one or more service periods during which the first STA may transmit its traffic. The limited TWT is associated with low latency traffic of the first STA.

At block 304, the device may generate a notification frame that includes information associated with the restricted TWT to be shared with a plurality of STAs associated with the AP. The notification frame sent to the plurality of STAs indicates to the plurality of STAs to end their transmission opportunity (TXOP) period prior to the start of the limited TWT.

At block 306, the device may assign the first STA as a member of the restricted TWT.

At block 308, the device may assign a plurality of STAs to be non-members of the limited TWT.

At block 310, the device may cause a notification frame to be sent to a plurality of STAs. The notification frame is a beacon frame or a probe response frame. The notification frame includes a silence cell containing timing information overlapping the limited TWT. A first subset of the plurality of STAs supports TWT operation. A second subset of the plurality of STAs supports muting cells.

It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive.

Fig. 4 illustrates a functional diagram of an exemplary communication station 400 in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, fig. 4 illustrates a functional block diagram of a communication station that may be suitable for use as AP 102 (fig. 1) or user device 120 (fig. 1) in accordance with some embodiments. Communication station 400 may also be suitable for use as a handheld device, mobile device, cellular telephone, smart phone, tablet computer, netbook, wireless terminal, laptop computer, wearable computer device, femtocell, high Data Rate (HDR) subscriber station, access point, access terminal, or other Personal Communication System (PCS) device.

Communication station 400 may include communication circuitry 402 and transceiver 410 for transmitting signals to and receiving signals from other communication stations using one or more antennas 401. Communication circuitry 402 may include circuitry that may operate physical layer (PHY) communication and/or Medium Access Control (MAC) communication for controlling access to a wireless medium and/or any other communication layer for transmitting and receiving signals. Communication station 400 may also include processing circuitry 406 and memory 408 arranged to perform the operations described herein. In some embodiments, the communication circuitry 402 and the processing circuitry 406 may be configured to perform the operations detailed in the figures, diagrams, and flows above.

According to some embodiments, the communication circuit 402 may be arranged to: contend for the wireless medium and configure the frame or packet for delivery over the wireless medium. The communication circuit 402 may be arranged to transmit and receive signals. The communication circuit 402 may also include circuitry for modulation/demodulation, up/down conversion, filtering, amplification, and the like. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 406 of the communication station 400 may include one or more processors. In other embodiments, two or more antennas 401 may be coupled to a communication circuit 402 arranged for transmitting and receiving signals. Memory 408 may store information for configuring processing circuitry 406 to perform the operations for configuring and transmitting message frames and performing the various operations described herein. Memory 408 may comprise any type of memory, including non-transitory memory, for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, memory 408 may include computer-readable storage devices, read-only memory (ROM), random Access Memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, and other storage devices and media.

In some embodiments, communication station 400 may be part of a portable wireless communication device (e.g., a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wireless communication capability, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, a smart phone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, an access point, a television, a medical device (e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor, etc.), a wearable computer device, or another device that may receive and/or transmit information wirelessly.

In some embodiments, communication station 400 may include one or more antennas 401. Antenna 401 may include one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some embodiments, instead of two or more antennas, a single antenna with multiple apertures may be used. In these embodiments, each aperture may be considered a separate antenna. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectively separated for spatial diversity and different channel characteristics that may occur between each antenna and the antennas of the transmitting station.

In some embodiments, communication station 400 may include one or more of a keyboard, a display, a non-volatile memory port, multiple antennas, a graphics processor, an application processor, speakers, and other mobile device elements. The display may be an LCD screen including a touch screen.

Although communication station 400 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, two or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may include one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFICs), and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements of communication station 400 may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

Some embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. Other embodiments may also be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device, which may be read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described herein. A computer-readable storage device may include any non-transitory memory mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, computer-readable storage devices may include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, and other storage devices and media. In some embodiments, communication station 400 may include one or more processors and may be configured with instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device.

Fig. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an example of a machine 500 or system on which any one or more techniques (e.g., methods) discussed herein may be performed. In other embodiments, machine 500 may operate as a stand-alone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 500 may operate in the capacity of a server machine, a client machine, or both, in a server-client network environment. In an example, machine 500 may act as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment. Machine 500 may be a Personal Computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a wearable computer device, a network appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine (e.g., a base station). Furthermore, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term "machine" shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), or other computer cluster configurations.

Examples as described herein may include or may operate on logic or multiple components, modules, or mechanisms. A module is a tangible entity (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations when operated on. The modules include hardware. In an example, the hardware may be specifically configured to perform certain operations (e.g., hardwired). In another example, hardware may include configurable execution units (e.g., transistors, circuits, etc.) and computer-readable media containing instructions that configure the execution units to perform particular operations when operated. Configuration may occur under the direction of an execution unit or loading mechanism. Thus, when the device is in operation, the execution unit is communicatively coupled to the computer-readable medium. In this example, the execution unit may be a member of more than one module. For example, in operation, the execution unit may be configured by a first set of instructions to implement a first module at one point in time and reconfigured by a second set of instructions to implement a second module at a second point in time.

The machine (e.g., computer system) 500 may include a hardware processor 502 (e.g., a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory 504, and a static memory 506, some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interconnection link (e.g., bus) 508. The machine 500 may also include a power management device 532, a graphical display device 510, an alphanumeric input device 512 (e.g., keyboard), and a User Interface (UI) navigation device 514 (e.g., mouse). In an example, the graphical display device 510, the alphanumeric input device 512, and the UI navigation device 514 may be touch screen displays. The machine 500 may additionally include a storage device (i.e., a drive unit) 516, a signal generation device 518 (e.g., a speaker), a limited service period device 519, a network interface device/transceiver 520 coupled to an antenna 530, and one or more sensors 528 (e.g., a Global Positioning System (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or other sensor). The machine 500 may include an output controller 534, such as a serial (e.g., universal Serial Bus (USB)) connection, parallel connection, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near Field Communication (NFC), etc.) connection, to communicate with or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., printer, card reader, etc.). Operations according to one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed by a baseband processor. The baseband processor may be configured to generate a corresponding baseband signal. The baseband processor may also include physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry and may also interface with hardware processor 502 for generating and processing baseband signals and controlling the operation of main memory 504, storage device 516, and/or limited service period device 519. The baseband processor may be provided on a single radio card, a single chip or an Integrated Circuit (IC).

The storage device 516 may include a machine-readable medium 522 on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 524 (e.g., software) embodying or used by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. The instructions 524 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 504, within the static memory 506, or within the hardware processor 502 during execution thereof by the machine 500. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor 502, the main memory 504, the static memory 506, or the storage device 516 may constitute a machine-readable medium.

The limited service period device 519 may run or perform any of the operations and processes described and illustrated above (e.g., process 300).

It should be appreciated that the above are only a subset of the actions that the limited service period device 519 may be configured to perform, and that other functions included throughout this disclosure may also be performed by the limited service period device 519.

While the machine-readable medium 522 is shown to be a single medium, the term "machine-readable medium" may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) configured to store the one or more instructions 524.

Various embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part in software and/or firmware. The software and/or firmware may take the form of instructions contained in or on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Those instructions may then be read and executed by one or more processors to enable performance of the operations described herein. The instructions may be in any suitable form, such as, but not limited to, source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, and the like. Such computer-readable media can include any tangible, non-transitory medium for storing information in one or more computer-readable forms, such as, but not limited to, read Only Memory (ROM); random Access Memory (RAM); a magnetic disk storage medium; an optical storage medium; flash memory, etc.

The term "machine-readable medium" can include any medium capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machine 500 and that cause the machine 500 to perform any one or more of the techniques of this disclosure, or any medium capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures used by or associated with such instructions. Non-limiting examples of machine readable media may include solid state memory, optical media, and magnetic media. In an example, a high capacity machine readable medium includes a machine readable medium having a plurality of particles with a stationary mass. Specific examples of a high capacity machine readable medium may include non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM) or electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as built-in hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disk; CD-ROM and DVD-ROM discs.

The instructions 524 may also be transmitted or received over a communication network 526 using a transmission medium via the network interface device/transceiver 520 using any of a variety of transmission protocols (e.g., frame relay, internet Protocol (IP), transmission Control Protocol (TCP), user Datagram Protocol (UDP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks may include a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a packet data network (e.g., the internet), a mobile telephone network (e.g., a cellular network), a Plain Old Telephone (POTS) network, a wireless data network (e.g., referred to as the internet)

Is called +.o.a. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards>

IEEE 802.16 series of standards), IEEE 802.15.4 series of standardsColumn and point-to-point (P2P) networks, etc. In an example, the network interface device/transceiver 520 may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., ethernet jacks, coaxial jacks, or telephone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communications network 526. In an example, the network interface device/transceiver 520 may include multiple antennas to wirelessly communicate using at least one of single-input multiple-output (SIMO), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), or multiple-input single-output (MISO) techniques. The term "transmission medium" shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machine 500, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of such software.

The operations and processes described and illustrated above may be performed or carried out in any suitable order as desired in various implementations. Further, in some implementations, at least a portion of the operations may be performed in parallel. Further, in some implementations, fewer or more operations than those described may be performed.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram of a radio architecture 105A, 105B, which may be implemented in any of the example AP 102 and/or the example STA (e.g., the user equipment 120 of fig. 1), in accordance with some embodiments. The radio architecture 105A, 105B may include radio Front End Module (FEM) circuits 604a-B, radio IC circuits 606a-B, and baseband processing circuits 608a-B. The radio architectures 105A, 105B as shown include Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) functionality and Bluetooth (BT) functionality, but the embodiments are not so limited. In this disclosure, "WLAN" and "Wi-Fi" are used interchangeably.

The FEM circuitry 604a-b may include WLAN or Wi-Fi FEM circuitry 604a and Bluetooth (BT) FEM circuitry 604b. The WLAN FEM circuitry 604a may include a receive signal path including circuitry configured to operate on WLAN RF signals received from one or more antennas 601, amplify the receive signal, and provide an amplified version of the receive signal to the WLAN radio IC circuitry 606a for further processing. BT FEM circuitry 604b may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry configured to operate on BT RF signals received from one or more antennas 601, amplify the receive signals, and provide an amplified version of the receive signals to BT radio IC circuitry 606b for further processing. FEM circuitry 604a may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry configured to amplify the WLAN signal provided by radio IC circuitry 606a for wireless transmission via one or more antennas 601. Further, FEM circuitry 604b may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry configured to amplify the BT signal provided by radio IC circuitry 606b for wireless transmission via one or more antennas. In the embodiment of fig. 6, although FEM 604a and FEM 604b are shown as being different from each other, the embodiment is not limited thereto and includes within their scope: use of FEM (not shown) comprising a transmit path and/or a receive path for both WLAN and BT signals, or use of one or more FEM circuits, wherein at least some FEM circuits share transmit and/or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

The radio IC circuits 606a-b as shown may include a WLAN radio IC circuit 606a and a BT radio IC circuit 606b. The WLAN radio IC circuit 606a may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry for down-converting WLAN RF signals received from the FEM circuit 604a and providing baseband signals to the WLAN baseband processing circuit 608 a. The BT radio IC circuit 606b may also include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry for down-converting the BT RF signal received from the FEM circuit 604b and providing a baseband signal to the BT baseband processing circuit 608 b. The WLAN radio IC circuit 606a may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry for up-converting the WLAN baseband signal provided by the WLAN baseband processing circuit 608a and providing a WLAN RF output signal to the FEM circuit 604a for subsequent wireless transmission via the one or more antennas 601. The BT radio IC circuit 606b may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry for up-converting the BT baseband signal provided by the BT baseband processing circuit 608b and providing a BT RF output signal to the FEM circuit 604b for subsequent wireless transmission via the one or more antennas 601. In the embodiment of fig. 6, although the radio IC circuits 606a and 606b are shown as being different from each other, the embodiment is not limited thereto, and includes within their scope: a radio IC circuit (not shown) comprising a transmit signal path and/or a receive signal path for both WLAN and BT signals is used, or one or more radio IC circuits are used, wherein at least some of the radio IC circuits share a transmit and/or receive signal path for both WLAN and BT signals.

The baseband processing circuits 608a-b may include a WLAN baseband processing circuit 608a and a BT baseband processing circuit 608b. The WLAN baseband processing circuit 608a may include a memory, such as a set of RAM arrays in a fast fourier transform or inverse fast fourier transform block (not shown) of the WLAN baseband processing circuit 608 a. Each of the WLAN baseband circuitry 608a and BT baseband circuitry 608b may also include one or more processors and control logic to process signals received from the corresponding WLAN or BT receive signal paths of the radio IC circuits 606a-b and also generate corresponding WLAN or BT baseband signals for the transmit signal paths of the radio IC circuits 606 a-b. Each of baseband processing circuits 608a and 608b may also include physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry, and may also interface with devices for generating and processing baseband signals and controlling the operation of radio IC circuits 606 a-b.

Still referring to fig. 6, according to the illustrated embodiment, the WLAN-BT coexistence circuit 613 may include logic to provide an interface between the WLAN baseband circuit 608a and the BT baseband circuit 608b to implement a use case requiring WLAN and BT coexistence. Further, a switch 603 may be provided between the WLAN FEM circuitry 604a and the BT FEM circuitry 604b to allow switching between WLAN and BT radio depending on application needs. Further, although antenna 601 is depicted as being connected to WLAN FEM circuitry 604a and BT FEM circuitry 604b, respectively, embodiments include within their scope: one or more antennas are shared between the WLAN and BT FEM, or more than one antenna is provided connected to each FEM 604a or 604 b.

In some embodiments, the front end module circuits 604a-b, the radio IC circuits 606a-b, and the baseband processing circuits 608a-b may be provided on a single radio card (e.g., the wireless radio card 602). In some other embodiments, one or more of the antenna 601, FEM circuitry 604a-b, and radio IC circuitry 606a-b may be provided on a single radio card. In some other embodiments, the radio IC circuits 606a-b and baseband processing circuits 608a-b may be provided on a single chip or Integrated Circuit (IC) (e.g., IC 612).

In some embodiments, wireless radio card 602 may comprise a WLAN radio card and may be configured for Wi-Fi communication, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some of these embodiments, the radio architecture 105A, 105B may be configured to receive and transmit Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) or Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication signals over a multicarrier communication channel. The OFDM or OFDMA signal may include a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

In some of these multi-carrier embodiments, the radio architecture 105A, 105B may be part of a Wi-Fi communication Station (STA) (e.g., a wireless Access Point (AP), a base station, or a mobile device that includes a Wi-Fi device). In some of these embodiments, the radio architecture 105A, 105B may be configured to: signals may be transmitted and received in accordance with a particular communication standard and/or protocol (e.g., any of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards, including 802.11n-2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE 802.11-2016, 802.11n-2009, 802.11ac, 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, and/or 802.11ax standards, and/or specifications set forth for WLANs, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect). The radio architecture 105A, 105B may also be adapted to transmit and/or receive communications in accordance with other techniques and standards.

In some embodiments, the radio architecture 105A, 105B may be configured for high-efficiency Wi-Fi (HEW) communications in accordance with the IEEE 802.11ax standard. In these embodiments, the radio architectures 105A, 105B may be configured to communicate in accordance with OFDMA techniques, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some other embodiments, the radio architecture 105A, 105B may be configured to: the signals may be transmitted using one or more other modulation techniques, such as spread spectrum modulation (e.g., direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) and/or frequency hopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA)), time Division Multiplexing (TDM) modulation, and/or Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) modulation, and the signals transmitted using one or more other modulation techniques, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, as further shown in fig. 6, BT baseband circuit 608b may conform to a Bluetooth (BT) connection standard, such as bluetooth, bluetooth 8.0, or bluetooth 6.0, or any other generation of bluetooth standard.

In some embodiments, the radio architecture 105A, 105B may include other radio cards, such as cellular radio cards configured for cellular (e.g., 5GPP such as LTE, LTE-Advanced, or 7G communications).

In some IEEE 802.11 embodiments, the radio architecture 105A, 105B may be configured for communication over various channel bandwidths, including bandwidths having a center frequency of approximately 900MHz, 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and bandwidths of approximately 2MHz, 4MHz, 5MHz, 5.5MHz, 6MHz, 8MHz, 10MHz, 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz (with continuous bandwidth), or 80+80MHz (160 MHz) (with discontinuous bandwidth). In some embodiments, 920MHz channel bandwidth may be used. However, the scope of the embodiments is not limited to the above center frequencies.

Fig. 7 illustrates a WLAN FEM circuit 604a according to some embodiments. Although the example of fig. 7 is described in connection with WLAN FEM circuit 604a, the example of fig. 7 may be described in connection with example BT FEM circuit 604b (fig. 6), although other circuit configurations may also be suitable.

In some embodiments, FEM circuitry 604a may include TX/RX switch 702 to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. FEM circuitry 604a may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of FEM circuitry 604a may include a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) 706 to amplify the received RF signal 703 and provide an amplified received RF signal 707 as an output (e.g., to radio IC circuitry 606a-b (fig. 6)). The transmit signal path of circuit 604a may include: a Power Amplifier (PA) for amplifying an input RF signal 709 (e.g., provided by radio IC circuits 606 a-b); and one or more filters 712, such as a Band Pass Filter (BPF), a Low Pass Filter (LPF), or other type of filter, for generating an RF signal 715 for subsequent transmission via the example diplexer 714 (e.g., through one or more antennas 601 (fig. 6)).

In some dual-mode embodiments for Wi-Fi communication, FEM circuitry 604a may be configured to operate in the 2.4GHz spectrum or the 5GHz spectrum. In these embodiments, the receive signal path of FEM circuitry 604a may include receive signal path diplexer 704 to separate signals from each spectrum and provide a separate LNA706 for each spectrum, as shown. In these embodiments, the transmit signal path of FEM circuitry 604a may also include a power amplifier 710 and a filter 712 (e.g., a BPF, LPF, or another type of filter) for each spectrum, as well as transmit signal path diplexer 704 to provide signals of one of the different spectrums onto a single transmit path for subsequent transmission through one or more antennas 601 (fig. 6). In some embodiments, BT communication may utilize a 2.4GHz signal path and may utilize the same FEM circuitry 604a as that used for WLAN communication.

Fig. 8 illustrates a radio IC circuit 606a according to some embodiments. The radio IC circuit 606a is one example of a circuit that may be suitable for use as a WLAN or BT radio IC circuit 606a/606b (fig. 6), but other circuit configurations may also be suitable. Alternatively, the example of fig. 8 may be described in connection with example BT radio IC circuit 606 b.

In some embodiments, the radio IC circuit 606a may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the radio IC circuit 606a may include at least a mixer circuit 802 (e.g., a down-conversion mixer circuit), an amplifier circuit 806, and a filter circuit 808. The transmit signal path of radio IC circuit 606a may include at least a filter circuit 812 and a mixer circuit 814 (e.g., an up-conversion mixer circuit). The radio IC circuit 606a may also include a synthesizer circuit 804 for synthesizing a frequency 805 for use by the mixer circuit 802 and the mixer circuit 814. According to some embodiments, mixer circuits 802 and/or 814 may each be configured to provide a direct conversion function. The latter type of circuit presents a much simpler architecture than a standard superheterodyne mixer circuit and can mitigate any flicker noise brought by it by e.g. using OFDM modulation. Fig. 8 shows only a simplified version of the radio IC circuit, and may include (although not shown) embodiments in which each of the depicted circuits may include more than one component. For example, mixer circuits 814 may each include one or more mixers, and filter circuits 808 and/or 812 may each include one or more filters, e.g., including one or more BPFs and/or LPFs, as desired by the application. For example, when the mixer circuits are of the direct conversion type, they may each include two or more mixers.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 802 may be configured to: the RF signal 707 received from FEM circuitry 604a-b (fig. 6) is down-converted based on a synthesized frequency 805 provided by synthesizer circuitry 804. The amplifier circuit 806 may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and the filter circuit 808 may include an LPF configured to: unwanted signals are removed from the down-converted signal to generate an output baseband signal 807. The output baseband signal 807 may be provided to baseband processing circuits 608a-b (fig. 6) for further processing. In some embodiments, output baseband signal 807 may be a zero frequency baseband signal, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 802 may include a passive mixer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, mixer circuit 814 may be configured to: the input baseband signal 811 is up-converted based on the synthesized frequency 805 provided by the synthesizer circuit 804 to generate the RF output signal 709 for the FEM circuits 604 a-b. The baseband signal 811 may be provided by the baseband processing circuits 608a-b and may be filtered by the filter circuit 812. The filter circuit 812 may include an LPF or BPF, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, mixer circuit 802 and mixer circuit 814 may each include two or more mixers, and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and/or up-conversion, respectively, with the aid of synthesizer 804. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 802 and mixer circuit 814 may each include two or more mixers, each configured for image rejection (e.g., hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, mixer circuit 802 and mixer circuit 814 may be arranged for direct down-conversion and/or direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 802 and mixer circuit 814 may be configured for superheterodyne operation, although this is not a requirement.

According to one embodiment, the mixer circuit 802 may include: quadrature passive mixers (e.g., for in-phase (I) and quadrature-phase (Q) paths). In such an embodiment, the RF input signal 707 from fig. 8 may be down-converted to provide I and Q baseband output signals to be sent to the baseband processor.

The quadrature passive mixer may be driven by zero and ninety degree time-varying LO switching signals provided by a quadrature circuit, which may be configured to receive an LO frequency (fLO) from a local oscillator or synthesizer, such as LO frequency 805 of synthesizer 804 (fig. 8). In some embodiments, the LO frequency may be a carrier frequency, while in other embodiments, the LO frequency may be a portion of the carrier frequency (e.g., half of the carrier frequency, one third of the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the zero degree and ninety degree time-varying switching signals may be generated by a synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the LO signal may differ in duty cycle (the percentage of the LO signal that is high in one cycle) and/or offset (the difference between the starting points of the cycles). In some embodiments, the LO signal may have a duty cycle of 85% and an offset of 80%. In some embodiments, each branch of the mixer circuit (e.g., the in-phase (I) and quadrature-phase (Q) paths) may operate at 80% duty cycle, which may result in a significant reduction in power consumption.

The RF input signal 707 (fig. 7) may comprise a balanced signal, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The I and Q baseband output signals may be provided to a low noise amplifier (e.g., amplifier circuit 806 (fig. 8)) or filter circuit 808 (fig. 8).

In some embodiments, output baseband signal 807 and input baseband signal 811 may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, output baseband signal 807 and input baseband signal 811 may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, the radio IC circuit may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuit.

In some dual mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuits may be provided to process signals for each spectrum or other spectrum not mentioned herein, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 804 may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N/n+1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, the synthesizer circuit 804 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase locked loop with a frequency divider. According to some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 804 may include a digital synthesizer circuit. An advantage of using a digital synthesizer circuit is that while it may still include some analog components, its footprint can be reduced to a much smaller footprint than an analog synthesizer circuit. In some embodiments, the frequency input to the synthesizer circuit 804 may be provided by a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO), although this is not a requirement. Baseband processing circuits 608a-b (fig. 6) may further provide divider control inputs depending on the desired output frequency 805. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table (e.g., within a Wi-Fi card) based on the channel number and channel center frequency determined or indicated by the example application processor 610. The application processor 610 may include or otherwise be connected to one of the example security signal converter 101 or the example receive signal converter 103 (e.g., depending on in which device the example radio architecture is implemented).

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 804 may be configured to generate the carrier frequency as output frequency 805, while in other embodiments, output frequency 805 may be a portion of the carrier frequency (e.g., half of the carrier frequency, one third of the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, output frequency 805 may be an LO frequency (fLO).

Fig. 9 illustrates a functional block diagram of baseband processing circuit 608a, according to some embodiments. Baseband processing circuit 608a is one example of a circuit that may be suitable for use as baseband processing circuit 608a (fig. 6), but other circuit configurations may also be suitable. Alternatively, the example BT baseband processing circuit 608b of fig. 6 may be implemented using the example of fig. 8.

Baseband processing circuit 608a may include a receive baseband processor (RX BBP) 902 for processing receive baseband signals 809 provided by radio IC circuits 606a-b (fig. 6) and a transmit baseband processor (TX BBP) 904 for generating transmit baseband signals 811 for radio IC circuits 606 a-b. The baseband processing circuit 608a may also include control logic 906 for coordinating the operation of the baseband processing circuit 608 a.

In some embodiments (e.g., when exchanging analog baseband signals between baseband processing circuits 608a-b and radio IC circuits 606 a-b), baseband processing circuit 608a may include ADC 910 to convert analog baseband signals 909 received from radio IC circuits 606a-b into digital baseband signals for RX BBP 902 processing. In these embodiments, baseband processing circuit 608a may also include a DAC 912 to convert the digital baseband signal from TX BBP 904 to an analog baseband signal 911.

In some embodiments, such as communicating an OFDM signal or an OFDMA signal through baseband processor 608a, transmit baseband processor 904 may be configured to: an OFDM or OFDMA signal suitable for transmission is generated by performing an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT). The receive baseband processor 902 may be configured to: the received OFDM signal or OFDMA signal is processed by performing FFT. In some embodiments, the receive baseband processor 902 may be configured to: the presence of an OFDM signal or an OFDMA signal is detected by performing autocorrelation to detect a preamble (e.g., a short preamble) and by performing cross-correlation to detect a long preamble. The preamble may be part of a predetermined frame structure for Wi-Fi communication.

Referring back to fig. 6, in some embodiments, antennas 601 (fig. 6) may each comprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result. Antennas 601 may each comprise a set of phased array antennas, but embodiments are not limited thereto.

Although the radio architecture 105A, 105B is shown as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, e.g., processing elements including Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may include one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFICs), and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, a functional element may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. The terms "computing device," "user device," "communication station," "handheld device," "mobile device," "wireless device," and "user device" (UE) as used herein refer to a wireless communication device, such as a cellular telephone, smart phone, tablet computer, netbook, wireless terminal, laptop computer, femtocell, high Data Rate (HDR) subscriber station, access point, printer, point-of-sale device, access terminal, or other Personal Communication System (PCS) device. The device may be mobile or stationary.

As used in this document, the term "communication/delivery" is intended to include transmission or reception, or both transmission and reception. This may be particularly useful in the claims when describing the organization of data sent by one device and received by another device, but only requiring the function of one of these devices to infringe the claim. Similarly, when only the function of one of these devices is claimed, the bidirectional exchange of data between two devices (both devices transmitting and receiving during the exchange) may be described as "communication/delivery". The term "communication/delivery" as used herein with respect to wireless communication signals includes transmitting wireless communication signals and/or receiving wireless communication signals. For example, a wireless communication unit capable of communicating wireless communication signals may include a wireless transmitter for transmitting wireless communication signals to at least one other wireless communication unit, and/or a wireless communication receiver for receiving wireless communication signals from at least one other wireless communication unit.

As used herein, unless otherwise indicated, the use of ordinal adjectives "first," "second," "third," etc., to describe a common object, merely indicate that different instances of like objects are being referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner.

The term "access point" (AP) as used herein may be a fixed station. An access point may also be referred to as an access node, a base station, an evolved node B (eNodeB), or some other similar terminology known in the art. An access terminal may also be referred to as a mobile station, user Equipment (UE), wireless communication device, or some other similar terminology known in the art. Embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to wireless networks. Some embodiments may relate to wireless networks operating in accordance with one of the IEEE 802.11 standards.

Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with various devices and systems (e.g., personal Computers (PCs), desktop computers, mobile computers, laptop computers, notebook computers, tablet computers, server computers, handheld devices, personal Digital Assistant (PDA) devices, handheld PDA devices, on-board devices, off-board devices, hybrid devices, in-vehicle devices, off-vehicle devices, mobile or portable devices, consumer devices, non-mobile or non-portable devices, wireless communication stations, wireless communication devices, wireless Access Points (APs), wired or wireless routers, wired or wireless modems, video devices, audio-video (a/V) devices, wired or wireless networks, wireless area networks, wireless Video Area Networks (WVAN), local Area Networks (LANs), wireless LANs (WLANs), personal Area Networks (PANs), wireless PANs (WPANs), etc.).

Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with the following devices: a unidirectional and/or bidirectional radio communication system, a cellular radiotelephone communication system, a mobile telephone, a cellular telephone, a wireless telephone, a Personal Communication System (PCS) device, a PDA device that includes a wireless communication device, a mobile or portable Global Positioning System (GPS) device, a device that includes a GPS receiver or transceiver or chip, a device that includes an RFID element or chip, a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transceiver or device, a single-input multiple-output (SIMO) transceiver or device, a multiple-input single-output (MISO) transceiver or device, a device having one or more internal and/or external antennas, a Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) device or system, a multi-standard radio device or system, a wired or wireless handheld device (e.g., a smart phone), a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) device, and the like.

Some embodiments may be associated with one or more types of wireless communication signals and/or systems (e.g., radio Frequency (RF), infrared (IR), frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM), orthogonal FDM (OFDM), time Division Multiplexing (TDM), time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), spread TDMA (E-TDMA), general Packet Radio Service (GPRS), spread GPRS, code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), CDMA2000, single carrier CDMA, multi-carrier modulation (MDM), discrete Multitone (DMT)), a system that conforms to one or more wireless communication protocols,

Global Positioning System (GPS), wi-Fi, wi-Max, zigBee, ultra Wideband (UWB), global system for mobile communications (GSM), 2G, 2.5G, 3G, 3.5G, 4G, fifth generation (5G) mobile networks, 3GPP, long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced, enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), etc.). Other embodiments may be used in various other devices, systems, and/or networks.

The following examples pertain to further embodiments.

Example 1 may include: an apparatus for an Access Point (AP), comprising processing circuitry coupled to storage, the processing circuitry configured to: identifying a request frame for a limited Target Wake Time (TWT) received from a first station device (STA); generating a notification frame including information associated with the limited TWT to be shared with a plurality of STAs associated with the AP; assigning the first STA as a member of the limited TWT; assigning the plurality of STAs as non-members of the limited TWT; and causing the notification frame to be transmitted to the plurality of STAs.

Example 2 may include: the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the notification frame sent to the plurality of STAs indicates to the plurality of STAs to end their transmission opportunity (TXOP) period prior to a start of the limited TWT.

Example 3 may include: the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the limited TWT may be associated with one or more service periods during which the first STA may transmit its traffic.

Example 4 may include: the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the limited TWT may be associated with low latency traffic of the first STA.

Example 5 may include: the apparatus of example 4 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the notification frame may be a beacon frame or a probe response frame.

Example 6 may include: the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the notification frame includes a silence cell containing timing information that overlaps the limited TWT.

Example 7 may include: the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, wherein a first subset of the plurality of STAs support TWT operation.

Example 8 may include: the apparatus of example 7 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the second subset of the plurality of STAs support muting cells.

Example 9 may include: the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals.

Example 10 may include: the apparatus of example 9 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising an antenna coupled to the transceiver to cause the frame to be transmitted.

Example 11 may include: a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an Access Point (AP), cause performance of operations comprising: identifying a request frame for a limited Target Wake Time (TWT) received from a first station device (STA); generating a notification frame including information associated with the limited TWT to be shared with a plurality of STAs associated with the AP; assigning the first STA as a member of the limited TWT; assigning the plurality of STAs as non-members of the limited TWT; and causing the notification frame to be transmitted to the plurality of STAs.

Example 12 may include: the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 11 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the notification frame sent to the plurality of STAs indicates to the plurality of STAs to end their transmission opportunity (TXOP) period prior to a start of the limited TWT.

Example 13 may include: the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 11 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the limited TWT may be associated with one or more service periods during which the first STA may transmit its traffic.

Example 14 may include: the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 11 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the limited TWT may be associated with low latency traffic of the first STA.

Example 15 may include: the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 14 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the notification frame may be a beacon frame or a probe response frame.

Example 16 may include: the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 11 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the notification frame includes a silence cell containing timing information that overlaps the limited TWT.

Example 17 may include: the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 11 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the first subset of the plurality of STAs support TWT operation.

Example 18 may include: the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 17 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the second subset of the plurality of STAs support muting cells.

Example 19 may include: a method, comprising: identifying, by one or more processors of an Access Point (AP), a request frame for a limited Target Wake Time (TWT) received from a first station device (STA); generating a notification frame including information associated with the limited TWT to be shared with a plurality of STAs associated with the AP; assigning the first STA as a member of the limited TWT; assigning the plurality of STAs as non-members of the limited TWT; and causing the notification frame to be transmitted to the plurality of STAs.

Example 20 may include: the method of example 19 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the notification frame sent to the plurality of STAs indicates to the plurality of STAs to end their transmission opportunity (TXOP) period prior to a start of the limited TWT.

Example 21 may include: the method of example 19 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the limited TWT may be associated with one or more service periods during which the first STA may transmit its traffic.

Example 22 may include: the method of example 19 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the limited TWT may be associated with low latency traffic of the first STA.

Example 23 may include: the method of example 22 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the notification frame may be a beacon frame or a probe response frame.

Example 24 may include: the method of example 19 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the notification frame includes a silence cell containing timing information overlapping the limited TWT.

Example 25 may include: the method of example 19 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the first subset of the plurality of STAs support TWT operation.

Example 26 may include: the method of example 25 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the second subset of the plurality of STAs support muting cells.

Example 27 may include: an apparatus of an Access Point (AP), comprising means for: identifying a request frame for a limited Target Wake Time (TWT) received from a first station device (STA); generating a notification frame including information associated with the limited TWT to be shared with a plurality of STAs associated with the AP; assigning the first STA as a member of the limited TWT; assigning the plurality of STAs as non-members of the limited TWT; and causing the notification frame to be transmitted to the plurality of STAs.

Example 28 may include: the apparatus of example 27 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the notification frame sent to the plurality of STAs indicates to the plurality of STAs to end their transmission opportunity (TXOP) period prior to a start of the limited TWT.

Example 29 may include: the apparatus of example 27 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the limited TWT may be associated with one or more service periods during which the first STA may transmit its traffic.

Example 30 may include: the apparatus of example 27 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the limited TWT may be associated with low latency traffic of the first STA.

Example 31 may include: the apparatus of example 30 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the notification frame may be a beacon frame or a probe response frame.

Example 32 may include: the apparatus of example 27 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the notification frame includes a silence cell containing timing information that overlaps the limited TWT.

Example 33 may include: the apparatus of example 27 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the first subset of the plurality of STAs support TWT operation.

Example 34 may include: the apparatus of example 33 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the second subset of the plurality of STAs support muting cells.

Example 35 may include: one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of the methods described in or related to any one of examples 1-34, or any other method or process described herein.

Example 36 may include: an apparatus comprising logic, modules, and/or circuitry to perform one or more elements of any one of examples 1-34 or any other method or process described herein.

Example 37 may include: a method, technique, or process described in or relating to any one of examples 1-34 or a portion or part thereof.

Example 38 may include: an apparatus, comprising: one or more processors; and one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method, technique, or process described in or related to any one of examples 1-34 or portions thereof.

Example 39 may include: a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

Example 40 may include: a system for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

Example 41 may include: an apparatus for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

Embodiments according to the present disclosure are disclosed in particular in the appended claims directed to methods, storage media, apparatuses and computer program products, wherein any feature mentioned in one claim category (e.g. method) may also be claimed in another claim category (e.g. system). The dependencies or references in the appended claims are chosen for formal reasons only. However, any subject matter resulting from the deliberate reference to any preceding claim (particularly to multiple dependencies) may also be claimed, so that any combination of claims and their features may be disclosed and claimed, regardless of the dependencies selected in the appended claims. The subject matter which may be claimed includes not only the combination of features set forth in the attached claims, but also any other combination of features in the claims, wherein each feature mentioned in the claims may be combined with any other feature or combination of features in the claims. Furthermore, any of the embodiments and features described or depicted herein may be claimed in separate claims and/or in any combination with any of the embodiments or features described or depicted herein or with any of the features of the appended claims.

The foregoing description of one or more implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure are described above with reference to block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of systems, methods, apparatus and/or computer program products according to various implementations. It will be understood that one or more blocks of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, respectively, can be implemented by computer-executable program instructions. Also, some of the blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations may not necessarily need to be performed in the order presented, or may not need to be performed at all, according to some implementations.

These computer-executable program instructions may be loaded onto a special purpose computer or other special purpose machine, processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a particular machine, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing one or more functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement one or more functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks. By way of example, some implementations may provide a computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code or program instructions embodied therein, the computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement one or more functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational elements or steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide elements or steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, blocks of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations support combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, combinations of elements or steps for performing the specified functions, and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based computer systems that perform the specified functions, elements or steps, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

Conditional language such as "capable," "possible," "probable," or "may," etc., is generally intended to convey that certain implementations may include certain features, elements, and/or operations, while other implementations do not include those features, elements, and/or operations, unless specifically stated otherwise or otherwise understood within the context of use. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that one or more implementations require features, elements, and/or operations in any way or that one or more implementations must include logic (with or without user input or prompting) for determining whether to include or perform such features, elements, and/or operations in any particular implementation.

Many modifications and other implementations of the disclosure set forth herein will be apparent from the teaching presented in the foregoing description and associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not to be limited to the specific implementations disclosed and that modifications and other implementations are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

Claims (25)

1. An apparatus for an Access Point (AP), the apparatus comprising processing circuitry coupled to storage, the processing circuitry configured to:

identifying a request frame for a limited Target Wake Time (TWT) received from a first station device (STA);

generating a notification frame including information associated with the limited TWT to be shared with a plurality of STAs associated with the AP;

assigning the first STA as a member of the limited TWT;

assigning the plurality of STAs as non-members of the limited TWT; and

such that the notification frame is sent to the plurality of STAs.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the notification frame sent to the plurality of STAs indicates to the plurality of STAs to end their transmission opportunity (TXOP) period prior to a start of the limited TWT.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the limited TWT is associated with one or more service periods during which the first STA may transmit its traffic.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the limited TWT is associated with low latency traffic of the first STA.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the notification frame is a beacon frame or a probe response frame.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the notification frame comprises a silence cell containing timing information that overlaps the limited TWT.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first subset of the plurality of STAs support TWT operation.

8. The apparatus of any of claims 1-7, wherein the second subset of the plurality of STAs support muting cells.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising an antenna coupled to the transceiver to cause the frame to be transmitted.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an Access Point (AP), cause performance of operations comprising:

Identifying a request frame for a limited Target Wake Time (TWT) received from a first station device (STA);

generating a notification frame including information associated with the limited TWT to be shared with a plurality of STAs associated with the AP;

assigning the first STA as a member of the limited TWT;

assigning the plurality of STAs as non-members of the limited TWT; and

such that the notification frame is sent to the plurality of STAs.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the notification frame sent to the plurality of STAs indicates to the plurality of STAs to end their transmission opportunity (TXOP) period prior to the start of the limited TWT.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the limited TWT is associated with one or more service periods during which the first STA may transmit its traffic.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the limited TWT is associated with low latency traffic of the first STA.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the notification frame is a beacon frame or a probe response frame.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the notification frame includes a silence cell containing timing information overlapping the limited TWT.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the first subset of the plurality of STAs support TWT operation.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 11-17, wherein the second subset of the plurality of STAs support muting cells.

19. A method, comprising:

identifying, by one or more processors of an Access Point (AP), a request frame for a limited Target Wake Time (TWT) received from a first station device (STA);

generating a notification frame including information associated with the limited TWT to be shared with a plurality of STAs associated with the AP;

assigning the first STA as a member of the limited TWT;

assigning the plurality of STAs as non-members of the limited TWT; and

such that the notification frame is sent to the plurality of STAs.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the notification frame sent to the plurality of STAs indicates to the plurality of STAs to end their transmission opportunity (TXOP) period prior to the start of the limited TWT.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the limited TWT is associated with one or more service periods during which the first STA may transmit its traffic.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the limited TWT is associated with low latency traffic of the first STA.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the notification frame is a beacon frame or a probe response frame.

24. The method of claim 19, wherein the notification frame includes a silence cell containing timing information that overlaps the limited TWT.

25. The method of any of claims 19-24, wherein the first subset of the plurality of STAs support TWT operation.

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