CN116391375A - Access Point (AP) multilink device (AP MLD) for signaling non-simultaneous transmit receive (NSTR) capability information - Google Patents

Abstract

An Access Point (AP) multilink device (AP MLD) including a plurality of affiliated access point stations (AP STAs) configured for multilink operation (MLO) sets a link pair between the AP STAs of the AP MLD and corresponding STAs of non-AP MLDs. The AP MLD may encode a management frame for transmission to the non-AP MLD, the management frame requesting non-simultaneous transmission reception (NSTR)/Simultaneous Transmission Reception (STR) capability information from the non-AP MLD. The report frame received from the non-AP MLD may include the requested NSTR/STR capability information including at least a minimum interval for STR operation for a pair of links. In response to receiving the report frame, the AP MLD may specify whether the link pair is operating in STR mode or NSTR mode based on the reported minimum interval.

Description

Access Point (AP) multilink device (AP MLD) for signaling non-simultaneous transmit receive (NSTR) capability information

Priority claim

The present application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/116,071[ reference AD3870-Z ], filed 11/19/2020, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Technical Field

Embodiments relate to wireless communications. Some embodiments relate to IEEE p802.11be and Extremely High Throughput (EHT) networks. Some embodiments are applicable to multi-link device (MLD) operations.

Background

One problem with multi-link device (MLD) operation is cross-link interference leakage between a pair of links that are used simultaneously. Thus, there is a general need to mitigate such cross-link interference.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a radio architecture according to some embodiments.

Fig. 2 illustrates a front-end module circuit for use in the radio architecture of fig. 1, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 3 illustrates a radio IC circuit for use in the radio architecture of fig. 1, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 4 illustrates baseband processing circuitry for use in the radio architecture of fig. 1, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 5 illustrates a WLAN according to some embodiments.

Fig. 6 illustrates a multi-link framework in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 7 illustrates an example frame format of a measurement request field of a non-simultaneous transmission reception (NSTR) capability request, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 8 illustrates a wireless communication device according to some embodiments.

Fig. 9 illustrates a process of multi-link operation (MLO) performed by an Access Point (AP) multi-link device (AP MLD) in accordance with some embodiments.

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, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in, or substituted for, those of others. The embodiments recited in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a radio architecture 100 according to some embodiments. The radio architecture 100 may include radio Front End Module (FEM) circuitry 104, radio IC circuitry 106, and baseband processing circuitry 108. As shown, the radio architecture 100 includes both wireless local area network (Wireless Local Area Network, WLAN) functionality and Bluetooth (BT) functionality, although the embodiments are not so limited. In this disclosure, "WLAN" and "Wi-Fi" are used interchangeably.

The FEM circuitry 104 may include WLAN or Wi-Fi FEM circuitry 104A and Bluetooth (BT) FEM circuitry 104B. The WLAN FEM circuitry 104A may include a receive signal path including the following circuitry: the circuitry is configured to operate on WLAN RF signals received from one or more antennas 101, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to WLAN radio IC circuitry 106A for further processing. BT FEM circuitry 104B may include a receive signal path that may include the following circuitry: the circuitry is configured to operate on BT RF signals received from one or more antennas 101, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to BT radio IC circuitry 106B for further processing. FEM circuitry 104A may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry configured to amplify the WLAN signals provided by radio IC circuitry 106A for wireless transmission by one or more of antennas 101. Further, FEM circuitry 104B may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry configured to amplify the BT signal provided by radio IC circuitry 106B for wireless transmission by one or more antennas. In the embodiment of fig. 1, although FEM 104A and FEM 104B are shown as being distinct from each other, embodiments are not so limited and include within their scope the use of FEM (not shown) that includes transmit and/or receive paths for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more FEM circuits, at least some of which share transmit and/or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

The radio IC circuit 106 may include a WLAN radio IC circuit 106A and a BT radio IC circuit 106B as shown. The WLAN radio IC circuit 106A may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry to down-convert WLAN RF signals received from the FEM circuit 104A and provide baseband signals to the WLAN baseband processing circuit 108A. The BT radio IC circuit 106B may in turn include a receive signal path that may include circuitry to down-convert BT RF signals received from the FEM circuit 104B and provide baseband signals to the BT baseband processing circuit 108B. The WLAN radio IC circuit 106A may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry to upconvert the WLAN baseband signals provided by the WLAN baseband processing circuit 108A and provide a WLAN RF output signal to the FEM circuit 104A for subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 101. BT radio IC circuitry 106B may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry to upconvert the BT baseband signals provided by BT baseband processing circuitry 108B and provide BT RF output signals to FEM circuitry 104B for subsequent wireless transmission by one or more antennas 101. In the embodiment of fig. 1, although the radio IC circuits 106A and 106B are shown as being distinct from each other, the embodiment is not so limited and includes within its scope the use of a radio IC circuit (not shown) that includes a transmit signal path and/or a receive signal path for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more radio IC circuits, with at least some of the radio IC circuits sharing transmit and/or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

The baseband processing circuits 108 may include WLAN baseband processing circuits 108A and BT baseband processing circuits 108B. The WLAN baseband processing circuit 108A 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 108A. Each of the WLAN baseband circuitry 108A and BT baseband circuitry 108B may also include one or more processors and control logic to process signals received from a respective WLAN or BT receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry 106 and also generate a respective WLAN or BT baseband signal for a transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry 106. Each of the baseband processing circuits 108A and 108B may also include physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (medium access control, MAC) circuitry, and may also interface with the application processor 111 for baseband signal generation and processing and control operations of the radio IC circuit 106.

Still referring to fig. 1, according to the illustrated embodiment, the WLAN-BT coexistence circuit 113 may include logic to provide an interface between the WLAN baseband circuit 108A and the BT baseband circuit 108B to implement a use case requiring WLAN and BT coexistence. Further, a switch 103 may be provided between the WLAN FEM circuitry 104A and the BT FEM circuitry 104B to allow switching between WLAN and BT radio depending on application requirements. Further, although antenna 101 is depicted as being connected to WLAN FEM circuitry 104A and BT FEM circuitry 104B, respectively, embodiments include within their scope sharing one or more antennas between WLAN and BT FEM, or providing more than one antenna connected to each of FEM 104A or 104B.

In some embodiments, the front-end module circuitry 104, the radio IC circuitry 106, and the baseband processing circuitry 108 may be provided on a single radio card, such as the wireless radio card 102. In some other embodiments, one or more of antenna 101, FEM circuitry 104, and radio IC circuitry 106 may be provided on a single radio card. In some other embodiments, the radio IC circuit 106 and the baseband processing circuit 108 may be provided on a single chip or integrated circuit (integrated circuit, IC), such as the IC 112.

In some embodiments, wireless radio card 102 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 100 may be configured to receive and transmit orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (orthogonal frequency division multiplexed, OFDM) or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (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 multicarrier embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be part of a Wi-Fi communication Station (STA), such as a wireless Access Point (AP), a base station, or a mobile device that includes a Wi-Fi device. In some of these embodiments, radio architecture 100 may be configured to transmit and receive signals in accordance with particular communication standards and/or protocols, such as any standard of the institute of electrical and electronics engineers (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, IEEE), including IEEE 802.11n-2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE 802.11-2016, IEEE 802.11ac, and/or IEEE 802.11ax standards, and/or proposed specifications for WLANs, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The radio architecture 100 may also be adapted to transmit and/or receive communications in accordance with other techniques and standards.

In some embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured for high-efficiency (HE) Wi-Fi (HEW) communications in accordance with the IEEE 802.11ax standard. In these embodiments, radio architecture 100 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, radio architecture 100 may be configured to transmit and receive signals transmitted using one or more other modulation techniques, such as spread spectrum modulation (e.g., direct sequence code division multiple access (direct sequence code division multiple access, DS-CDMA) and/or frequency hopping code division multiple access (frequency hopping code division multiple access, FH-CDMA)), time-division multiplexing (time-division multiplexing, TDM) modulation, and/or frequency-division multiplexing (frequency-division multiplexing, FDM) modulation, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, as further shown in fig. 1, BT baseband circuitry 108B may conform to a Bluetooth (BT) connectivity standard, such as bluetooth, bluetooth 4.0, or bluetooth 5.0, or any other iteration of the bluetooth standard. In embodiments including BT functionality such as shown in fig. 1, the radio architecture 100 may be configured to establish BT synchronous connection oriented (synchronous connection oriented, SCO) links and/or BT low energy (BT LE) links. In some embodiments including functionality, radio architecture 100 may be configured to establish an extended SCO (eSCO) link for BT communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some of these embodiments including BT functionality, the radio architecture may be configured to engage in BT asynchronous connectionless (Asynchronous Connection-Less, ACL) communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1, the functionality of the BT radio card and the WLAN radio card may be combined on a single radio card, such as single radio card 102, although embodiments are not so limited and include separate WLAN and BT radio cards within their scope.

In some embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may include other radio cards, such as cellular radio cards configured for cellular (e.g., 3GPP, such as LTE, LTE advanced, or 5G communications).

In some IEEE 802.11 embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured for communication over a variety of channel bandwidths, including bandwidths having a center frequency of approximately 900MHz, 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and bandwidths of approximately 1MHz, 2MHz, 2.5MHz, 4MHz, 5MHz, 8MHz, 10MHz, 16MHz, 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz (with continuous bandwidth), or 80+80MHz (160 MHz) (with discontinuous bandwidth). In some embodiments, a 320MHz channel bandwidth may be used. However, the scope of the embodiments is not limited to the center frequency described above.

Fig. 2 illustrates a FEM circuit 200 according to some embodiments. FEM circuit 200 is one example of a circuit that may be suitable for use as WLAN and/or BT FEM circuit 104A/104B (fig. 1), although other circuit configurations may be suitable.

In some embodiments, FEM circuitry 200 may include TX/RX switch 202 to switch between transmit and receive mode operation. FEM circuitry 200 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of FEM circuitry 200 may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) 206 to amplify the received RF signal 203 and provide an amplified received RF signal 207 as an output (e.g., to radio IC circuitry 106 (fig. 1)). The transmit signal path of circuit 200 may include a Power Amplifier (PA) to amplify an input RF signal 209 (e.g., provided by radio IC circuit 106), and one or more filters 212, such as a band-pass filter (BPF), a low-pass filter (LPF), or other types of filters, to generate an RF signal 215 for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of antennas 101 (fig. 1)).

In some dual-mode embodiments for Wi-Fi communication, FEM circuitry 200 may be configured to operate in the 2.4GHz spectrum or the 5GHz spectrum. In these embodiments, the receive signal path of FEM circuitry 200 may include a receive signal path diplexer 204 to separate signals from each spectrum and to provide a separate LNA 206 for each spectrum, as shown. In these embodiments, the transmit signal path of FEM circuitry 200 may also include a power amplifier 210 and a filter 212, such as a BPF, LPF, or another type of filter for each spectrum, and a transmit signal path diplexer 214 to provide signals of one of the different spectrums onto a single transmit path for subsequent transmission by one or more of antennas 101 (fig. 1). In some embodiments, BT communication may utilize a 2.4GHZ signal path and may utilize the same FEM circuitry 200 as used for WLAN communication.

Fig. 3 illustrates a radio IC circuit 300 according to some embodiments. The radio IC circuit 300 is one example of a circuit that may be suitable for use as a WLAN or BT radio IC circuit 106A/106B (fig. 1), although other circuit configurations may be suitable.

In some embodiments, the radio IC circuit 300 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the radio IC circuit 300 may include at least a mixer circuit 302, such as a down-conversion mixer circuit, an amplifier circuit 306, and a filter circuit 308. The transmit signal path of the radio IC circuit 300 may include at least a filter circuit 312 and a mixer circuit 314, such as an up-conversion mixer circuit. The radio IC circuit 300 may also include a synthesizer circuit 304 for synthesizing a frequency 305 for use by the mixer circuit 302 and the mixer circuit 314. According to some embodiments, mixer circuits 302 and/or 314 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 any flicker noise brought by it can be mitigated, for example by using OFDM modulation. Fig. 3 illustrates only a simplified version of the radio IC circuit, and although not shown, may include embodiments in which each of the circuits depicted may include more than one component. For example, mixer circuits 320 and/or 314 may each include one or more mixers, and filter circuits 308 and/or 312 may each include one or more filters, including one or more BPFs and/or LPFs, as desired for the application, for example. 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 302 may be configured to down-convert the RF signal 207 received from the FEM circuit 104 (fig. 1) based on the synthesized frequency 305 provided by the synthesizer circuit 304. The amplifier circuit 306 may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal and the filter circuit 308 may include an LPF configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to generate the output baseband signal 307. The output baseband signal 307 may be provided to baseband processing circuit 108 (fig. 1) for further processing. In some embodiments, output baseband signal 307 may be a zero frequency baseband signal, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 302 may comprise a passive mixer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, mixer circuit 314 may be configured to upconvert input baseband signal 311 based on a synthesized frequency 305 provided by synthesizer circuit 304 to generate RF output signal 209 for FEM circuit 104. The baseband signal 311 may be provided by the baseband processing circuit 108 and may be filtered by the filter circuit 312. The filter circuit 312 may include an LPF or BPF, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, mixer circuit 302 and mixer circuit 314 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 304. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 302 and mixer circuit 314 may each include two or more mixers, each configured for image rejection (e.g., hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, mixer circuit 302 and mixer circuit 314 may be arranged for direct down-conversion and/or direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 302 and mixer circuit 314 may be configured for superheterodyne operation, although this is not a necessary requirement.

According to one embodiment, the mixing circuit 302 may include: quadrature passive mixers (e.g., for in-phase (I) and quadrature-phase (Q) paths). In such an embodiment, the RF input signal 207 from fig. 3 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 that may be configured to receive an LO frequency (f from a local oscillator or synthesizer _LO ) Such as LO frequency 305 of synthesizer 304 (fig. 3). In some embodiments, the LO frequency may be a carrier frequency, while in other embodiments, the LO frequency may be some fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-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 implementedThe scope of the examples 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 25% duty cycle and a 50% offset. In some embodiments, each branch of the mixer circuit (e.g., the in-phase (I) and quadrature-phase (Q) paths) may operate at a 25% duty cycle, which may result in a significant reduction in power consumption.

RF input signal 207 (fig. 2) 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, such as amplifier circuit 306 (fig. 3) or filter circuit 308 (fig. 3).

In some embodiments, output baseband signal 307 and input baseband signal 311 may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, output baseband signal 307 and input baseband signal 311 may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, the radio IC circuit may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuits.

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

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 304 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, synthesizer circuit 304 may be an incremental sum synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase locked loop with a frequency divider. According to some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 304 may comprise a digital synthesizer circuit. One advantage of using a digital synthesizer circuit is that while it may still include some analog components, its footprint may be much reduced compared to that of an analog synthesizer circuit. In some embodiments, the frequency input into the synthesizer circuit 304 may be provided by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), although this is not a requirement. The divider control input may be provided by baseband processing circuit 108 (fig. 1) or application processor 111 (fig. 1) depending on the desired output frequency 305. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table (e.g., within a Wi-Fi card) based on the channel number and channel center frequency determined or indicated by the application processor 111.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 304 may be configured to generate the carrier frequency as output frequency 305, while in other embodiments, output frequency 305 may be some fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-half of the carrier frequency, one-third of the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the output frequency 305 may be an LO frequency (f _LO )。

Fig. 4 illustrates a functional block diagram of a baseband processing circuit 400, according to some embodiments. Baseband processing circuit 400 is one example of a circuit that may be suitable for use as baseband processing circuit 108 (fig. 1), although other circuit configurations may be suitable. Baseband processing circuit 400 may include a receive baseband processor (RX BBP) 402 to process receive baseband signals 309 provided by radio IC circuit 106 (fig. 1) and a transmit baseband processor (TX BBP) 404 to generate transmit baseband signals 311 for radio IC circuit 106. The baseband processing circuit 400 may also include control logic 406 for coordinating the operation of the baseband processing circuit 400.

In some embodiments (e.g., when analog baseband signals are exchanged between baseband processing circuit 400 and radio IC circuit 106), baseband processing circuit 400 may include ADC 410 to convert analog baseband signals received from radio IC circuit 106 to digital baseband signals for processing by RX BBP 402. In these embodiments, baseband processing circuit 400 may also include DAC 412 to convert the digital baseband signals from TX BBP 404 into analog baseband signals.

In some embodiments, where the OFDM signal or OFDMA signal is communicated, for example, by baseband processor 108A, transmit baseband processor 404 may be configured to generate the OFDM or OFDMA signal suitable for transmission by performing an inverse fast fourier transform (inverse fast Fourier transform, IFFT). The receive baseband processor 402 may be configured to process the received OFDM signal or OFDMA signal by performing an FFT. In some embodiments, the receive baseband processor 402 may be configured to detect the presence of an OFDM signal or an OFDMA signal by performing autocorrelation to detect a preamble such as a short preamble and to detect the presence of an OFDM signal or an OFDMA signal 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. 1, in some embodiments, antennas 101 (fig. 1) may each 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 multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, antennas may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and different channel characteristics that may be produced. Antenna 101 may each comprise a set of phased array antennas, although embodiments are not limited in this regard.

Although radio architecture 100 is shown as having several separate functional elements, one or more of these functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (digital signal processor, 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 (application specific integrated circuit, ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (radio-frequency integrated circuit, 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.

Fig. 5 illustrates a WLAN 500 according to some embodiments. WLAN 500 may include a basic service set (basis service set, BSS) that may include an HE Access Point (AP) 502 (which may be an AP), a plurality of high efficiency wireless (e.g., IEEE 802.11 ax) (HE) stations 504, and a plurality of legacy (e.g., IEEE 802.11 n/ac) devices 506.

HE AP 502 may be an AP that transmits and receives using IEEE 802.11. HE AP 502 may be a base station. HE AP 502 may use other communication protocols in addition to IEEE 802.11 protocols. The IEEE 802.11 protocol may be IEEE 802.11ax. The IEEE 802.11 protocols may include using orthogonal frequency division multiple access (orthogonal frequency division multiple-access, OFDMA), time division multiple access (time division multiple access, TDMA), and/or code division multiple access (code division multiple access, CDMA). The IEEE 802.11 protocol may include multiple access techniques. For example, the IEEE 802.11 protocols may include Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA) and/or multiple user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO). There may be more than one HE AP 502 that is part of an extended service set (extended service set, ESS). A controller (not shown) may store information common to more than one HE AP 502.

Legacy device 506 may operate in accordance with one or more of the IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ad/af/ah/aj/ay or another legacy wireless communication standard. Legacy device 506 may be a STA or an IEEE STA. HE STA 504 may be a wireless transmitting and receiving device such as a cellular telephone, portable electronic wireless communication device, smart phone, handheld wireless device, wireless glasses, wireless watch, wireless personal device, tablet device, or another device that may transmit and receive using an IEEE 802.11 protocol such as IEEE 802.11ax or another wireless protocol. In some embodiments, HE STA 504 may be referred to as a High Efficiency (HE) station.

HE AP 502 may communicate with legacy devices 506 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication technology. In an example embodiment, HE AP 502 may also be configured to communicate with HE STA 504 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques.

In some embodiments, the HE frame may be configured to have the same bandwidth as the channel. The HE frame may be a physical layer convergence procedure (physical Layer Convergence Procedure, PLCP) protocol data unit (PLCP Protocol Data Unit, PPDU). In some embodiments, there may be different types of PPDUs, which may have different fields and different physical layers and/or different Medium Access Control (MAC) layers.

The bandwidth of the channel may be 20MHz, 40MHz, or 80MHz, 160MHz, 320MHz contiguous bandwidth, or 80+80MHz (160 MHz) non-contiguous bandwidth. In some embodiments, the bandwidth of the channel may be 1MHz, 1.25MHz, 2.03MHz, 2.5MHz, 4.06MHz, 5MHz, and 10MHz, or a combination thereof, or another bandwidth less than or equal to the available bandwidth may also be used. In some embodiments, the bandwidth of the channel may be based on the number of active data subcarriers. In some embodiments, the bandwidth of the channel is based on 26, 52, 106, 242, 484, 996 or 2x996 active data subcarriers or tones spaced 20MHz apart. In some embodiments, the bandwidth of the channel is 256 tones spaced 20MHz apart. In some embodiments, the channel is a multiple of 26 tones or a multiple of 20 MHz. In some embodiments, a 20MHz channel may include 242 active data subcarriers or tones, which may determine the size of a fast fourier transform (Fast Fourier Transform, FFT). According to some embodiments, the allocation of bandwidth or number of tones or subcarriers may be referred to as Resource Unit (RU) allocation.

In some embodiments, 26-subcarrier RU and 52-subcarrier RU are used in 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, 160MHz, and 80+80MHz OFDMA HE PPDU formats. In some embodiments, 106 subcarrier RUs are used in 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, 160MHz and 80+80MHz OFDMA and MU-MIMO HE PPDU formats. In some embodiments, 242 subcarrier RUs are used in 40MHz, 80MHz, 160MHz and 80+80MHz OFDMA and MU-MIMO HE PPDU formats. In some embodiments, 484-subcarrier RUs are used in 80MHz, 160MHz and 80+80MHz OFDMA and MU-MIMO HE PPDU formats. In some embodiments, 996 subcarrier RUs are used in 160MHz and 80+80MHz OFDMA and MU-MIMO HE PPDU formats.

The HE frame may be configured to transmit several spatial streams, which may be in accordance with MU-MIMOOr may be in accordance with OFDMA. In other embodiments, the HE AP 502, HE STA 504, and/or legacy devices 506 may also implement different technologies, such as code division multiple access (code division multiple access, CDMA) 2000, CDMA 2000X, CDMA 2000 Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), interim Standard 2000 (Interim Standard 2000, IS-2000), interim Standard 95 (Interim Standard 95, IS-95), interim Standard 856 (Interim Standard, IS-856), long term Evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE), global System for Mobile communications (Global System for Mobile communications, GSM), enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution, EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., worldwide interoperability for microwave Access (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, wiMAX)),

Or other techniques.

Some embodiments relate to HE communications. According to some IEEE 802.11 embodiments, e.g., IEEE 802.11ax embodiments, HE AP 502 may operate as a master station that may be arranged to contend for the wireless medium (e.g., during a contention period) to receive exclusive control of the medium during the HE control period. In some embodiments, the HE control period may be referred to as a transmit opportunity (transmission opportunity, TXOP). HE AP 502 may send an HE primary synchronization transmission at the beginning of the HE control period, which may be a trigger frame or an HE control and schedule transmission. HE AP 502 may transmit the duration of the TXOP and the subchannel information. During the HE control period, HE STAs 504 may communicate with the HE AP 502 in accordance with a non-contention-based multiple access technique (e.g., OFDMA or MU-MIMO). This is in contrast to conventional WLAN communications, in which devices communicate according to a contention-based communication technique, rather than a multiple access technique. During the HE control period, HE AP 502 may communicate with HE station 504 using one or more HE frames. During the HE control period, HE STA 504 may operate on subchannels that are less than the operating range of HE AP 502. During the HE control period, legacy stations do not communicate. Legacy stations may need to receive communications from HE AP 502 to defer communications.

According to some embodiments, the HE STA 504 may contend for the wireless medium during the TXOP, while the legacy device 506 is precluded from contending for the wireless medium during the primary synchronization transmission. In some embodiments, the trigger frame may indicate Uplink (UL) UL-MU-MIMO and/or UL OFDMA TXOPs. In some embodiments, the trigger frame may include DL UL-MU-MIMO and/or DL OFDMA, with a schedule indicated in a preamble portion of the trigger frame.

In some embodiments, the multiple access technique used during the HE TXOP may be a scheduled OFDMA technique, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique may be a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technique or a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) technique. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique may be a Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA) technique. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique may be Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA).

HE AP 502 may also communicate with legacy station 506 and/or HE station 504 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques. In some embodiments, HE AP 502 may also be configured to communicate with HE station 504 outside of HE TXOP in accordance with conventional IEEE 802.11 communication techniques, although this is not a requirement.

In some embodiments, HE station 504 may be a "group owner" (GO) of the peer-to-peer mode of operation. The wireless device may be a HE station 502 or a HE AP 502.

In some embodiments, HE station 504 and/or HE AP 502 may be configured to operate in accordance with IEEE 802.11 mc. In an example embodiment, the radio architecture of fig. 1 is configured to implement HE station 504 and/or HE AP 502. In an example embodiment, the front-end module circuitry of fig. 2 is configured to implement HE station 504 and/or HE AP 502. In an example embodiment, the radio IC circuitry of fig. 3 is configured to implement HE station 504 and/or HE AP 502. In an example embodiment, the baseband processing circuit of fig. 4 is configured to implement the HE station 504 and/or the HE AP 502.

In example embodiments, the HE station 504, the HE AP 502, the means of the HE station 504, and/or the means of the HE AP 502 may include one or more of the following: the radio architecture of fig. 1, the front-end module circuit of fig. 2, the radio IC circuit of fig. 3, and/or the baseband processing circuit of fig. 4.

In example embodiments, the radio architecture of fig. 1, the front-end module circuit of fig. 2, the radio IC circuit of fig. 3, and/or the baseband processing circuit of fig. 4 may be configured to perform the methods and operations/functions herein.

In an example embodiment, HE station 504 and/or HE AP 502 are configured to perform the methods and operations/functions described herein. In an example embodiment, the means of HE station 504 and/or the means of HE AP 502 are configured to perform the methods and functions described herein. The term Wi-Fi may refer to one or more of the IEEE 802.11 communication standards. APs and STAs may refer to HE access point 502 and/or HE station 504 as well as legacy devices 506.

In some embodiments, HE AP STAs may refer to HE AP 502 and HE STA 504 operating HE AP 502. In some embodiments, when HE STA 504 does not operate as an HE AP, it may be referred to as an HE non-AP STA or an HE non-AP. In some embodiments, HE STA 504 may be referred to as a HE AP STA or a HE non-AP.

Fig. 6 illustrates a multi-link framework in accordance with some embodiments. The multi-link framework includes an Access Point (AP) multi-link device (access point multi-link device, AP MLD) comprised of a plurality of affiliated access point stations (AP STAs) and a non-AP MLD comprised of a plurality of affiliated non-AP STAs. The AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may perform a multi-link setup procedure to set link pairs between the AP STA of the AP MLD and corresponding non-AP STAs of the non-AP MLD to allow frame communication between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD using a single Medium Access Control (MAC) service access point (service access point, SAP).

Some embodiments are directed to an Access Point (AP) multi-link device (AP MLD) that includes a plurality of accessory access point stations (AP STAs). In these embodiments, for multi-link operation (MLO), the AP MLD is configured to set up and establish link pairs between AP STAs of the AP MLD and corresponding STAs of the non-AP MLD. The AP MLD may also encode the management frame for transmission to the non-AP MLD. The management frame may request non-simultaneous transmit receive (non-simultaneous transmit receive, NSTR)/simultaneous transmit receive (simultaneous transmit receive, STR) capability information from the non-AP MLD. The AP MLD may also decode the report frame received from the non-AP MLD. The report frame may include the requested NSTR/STR capability information. In these embodiments, the NSTR/STR capability information may include at least a minimum interval required for STR operation of a pair of links. In response to receiving the report frame, the AP MLD may designate a link pair set with the non-AP MLD based on a minimum interval reported for each pair of links to operate in the STR mode or the NSTR mode. These embodiments are described in more detail below.

In some embodiments, the minimum spacing comprises a minimum spacing between channels in each operating band. In some embodiments, the minimum spacing may be a spacing between frequency bands, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the AP MLD may designate a pair of links to operate in STR mode when a minimum interval is met for the pair of links. When the minimum interval is not satisfied for a pair of links, the AP MLD may designate the pair of links to operate in the NSTR mode. In some embodiments, a pair of links may include an uplink and a downlink, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the management frame may be a unicast frame sent to the non-AP MLD on any one of the downlinks of the non-AP MLD. In some other embodiments, the management frame may be a broadcast frame transmitted to non-AP STAs of the non-AP MLD in response to information received from the non-AP stations of the non-AP MLD indicating whether the non-AP STAs are capable of reporting NSTR/STR capability information.

In some embodiments, the AP MLD may be configured to maximize the number of links operating in STR mode. In some embodiments, the AP MLD may be configured to minimize the number of links operating in the NSTR mode.

In some embodiments, the management frame requesting NSTR/STR capability information from the non-AP MLD may include a measurement request field for a non-simultaneous transmit receive (NSTR) capability request. In some embodiments, the management frame requesting NSTR/STR capability information from the non-AP MLD may include a measurement request field indicating a measurement mode value of the plurality of measurement mode values. In these embodiments, the measurement mode value requests that the non-AP STA of the non-AP MLD provide one of: the minimum frequency separation between any two STR links, the highest and lowest 20MHz channels that make up an STR link pair, and/or one or more operating class-channel bandwidth pairs that make up an STR link pair.

In some embodiments, a multi-link setup procedure may be performed to set link pairs between respective AP STAs of the AP MLD and non-AP STAs of the non-AP MLD to allow communication of frames between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD using a single Medium Access Control (MAC) Service Access Point (SAP). In these embodiments, the management frame may include an element containing a single MAC address of the AP MLD, and the report frame includes a single MAC address of the non-AP MLD.

Some embodiments are directed to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for execution by processing circuitry of an Access Point (AP) multi-link device (AP MLD) that includes a plurality of affiliated access point stations (AP STAs). In these embodiments, for multi-link operation (MLO), the processing circuitry may configure the AP MLD to set link pairs between AP STAs of the AP MLD and corresponding STAs of the non-AP MLD. The AP MLD may encode the management frame to transmit to the non-AP MLD, request non-simultaneous transmission reception (NSTR)/Simultaneous Transmission Reception (STR) capability information from the AP MLD, and may decode the report frame received from the non-AP MLD. The report frame may include requested NSTR/STR capability information, which may include at least a minimum interval required for STR operation of a pair of links. In response to receiving the report frame, the processing circuitry may specify whether the link pair is operating in STR mode or NSTR mode based on a minimum interval reported for each pair of links. These embodiments are described in more detail below.

Some embodiments are directed to a non-access point (non-AP) multi-link device (non-AP MLD) that includes a plurality of affiliated non-AP Stations (STAs). For multi-link operation (MLO), the non-AP MLD may set a link pair between an AP STA of the AP MLD and a corresponding STA of the non-AP MLD. In these embodiments, the non-AP MLD may encode a report frame for transmission to the AP MLD. The report frame includes non-simultaneous transmission reception (NSTR)/Simultaneous Transmission Reception (STR) capability information. The NSTR/STR capability information may include at least a minimum interval required for STR operation for a pair of links.

In some embodiments, the report frame is sent in response to a management frame received from the AP MLD soliciting NSTR/STR capability information. In some embodiments, the report frame is unsolicited. These embodiments are described in more detail below.

The IEEE 802.11be standard draft defines a multi-link operation (MLO) mechanism in which multiple links can be used to exchange data frames simultaneously. However, due to cross-link interference leakage, when one MLD transmits a frame in one link, it may not be able to receive the frame on the other link. Such a link pair is referred to as an NSTR pair. Otherwise, they are considered STRs.

The AP MLD needs to know whether a pair of links at the associated non-AP MLD are STRs or not in order to schedule transmissions to that MLD in a manner that does not cause self-interference at the receiver. When operating on a pair of NSTR links, the resulting scheduling limitations may result in reduced performance compared to operating on STR links. To optimize overall network performance, the AP MLD will attempt to configure individual link channels and bandwidths to minimize the NSTR pairs in all of its associated non-AP MLDs. Since the various non-AP MLDs are expected to have different cross-link filtering capabilities, the AP MLD will need to know the STR/NSTR limits of all non-AP MLDs over all supported operating bands in order to achieve optimal link configuration.

There is a need to address the problem of how AP and non-AP MLDs can exchange this capability. The embodiments disclosed herein build on an Operation Mode Indication (OMI) to allow non-AP MLD signaling to be transmitted whether it can operate in STR mode or only as NSTR mode for the current configuration.

Other proposed mechanisms only allow the AP to know the current state of each STA, without providing a way for the AP to learn the overall set of constraints, which may limit the intelligent allocation of channels to the MLD AP in the following manner: this approach will maximize the potential for STR operation across associated AP MLD STAs.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to systems, methods, and devices for an enhanced mechanism for signaling NSTR range information.

In one embodiment, the range information signaling system may facilitate the AP MLD requesting the non-AP STA MLD to provide its STR/NSTR capability information in Mgt frames. If the non-AP STA MLD is able to provide this information, it will reply to the AP MLD with the requested information.

In one or more embodiments, the range information signaling system may help the AP optimize its channel plan while also reducing the overhead of such signaling.

In one or more embodiments, the range information signaling system may facilitate the AP MLD to send Mgt frames requesting detailed STR/NSTR capabilities at the non-AP MLD(s). This frame may be a measurement request frame with a new measurement type. It may be unicast or broadcast.

In one or more embodiments, the range information signaling system may facilitate non-AP MLDs to reply with Mgt frames, mgt frames containing information about the band, channel configuration as STR or NSTR. This frame may be a measurement request frame with a new measurement type.

NSTR capability request:

in one embodiment, the AP MLD specifies that it is requesting the minimum frequency spacing required for STR operation between channels and/or between frequency bands in each frequency band.

In one embodiment, the AP MLD specifies a particular frequency band for which it is requesting a minimum frequency interval (above and/or below) required for STR operation with channels in that band. For example, the AP MLD may specify that it is requesting information about the lower 5GHz band.

In one embodiment, the AP MLD specifies a specific (band, channel) combination for which it is soliciting information about the minimum frequency interval (above and/or below) required for STR operation. For example, the AP MLD may specify that it is requesting information for a specified channel in the lower 5GHz band with a given BW.

In one embodiment, the AP MLD specifies a set of (band, channel) combinations or just a set of channels so that the non-AP MLD can respond with the required frequency spacing (above and/or below) required to have STR operation for each channel in the list.

In one embodiment, the AP MLD may simply provide a list of operation categories, channel combinations, and request the non-AP STA MLD to identify which pair of links in the list are STRs or NSTRs.

In one embodiment, the AP MLD may request information about a maximum supported channel in the STR mode in one operation category and a minimum supported channel in the STR mode in a second operation category, where the two operation categories represent adjacent frequency bands, and if the non-AP MLD is requested to operate in at least one channel other than the STR mode, the non-AP MLD will be restricted to operate in the NSTR mode.

In one embodiment, the AP MLD may request such information only if the non-AP MLD indicates during association that it is able to provide such information.

NSTR capability response:

in one embodiment, the non-AP MLD may respond by specifying a minimum spacing between channels and/or between frequency bands in each frequency band required for STR operation. For example, it may provide the highest 20MHz channel in the 5GHz band and the lowest 20MHz channel in the 6GHz band for which STR operation is possible.

In one embodiment, the non-AP MLD may respond by specifying the minimum frequency interval (above and/or below) required to establish an STR link pair for a given operating class and/or channel.

In one embodiment, the non-AP MLD may respond by specifying a minimum frequency interval (above and/or below) required to establish an STR link pair for a set of operating categories and/or channel combinations.

In one embodiment, the non-AP MLD may simply provide a set of operation categories, channel combinations corresponding to STR link pairs.

In one embodiment, the non-AP MLD may simply provide for each queried pair of operational categories the highest channel that the operational category representing the lower frequency band may operate in STR mode with any channel in the operational category representing the higher frequency band, and the lowest channel that the operational category representing the higher frequency band may operate in STR mode with any channel in the operational category representing the lower frequency band.

Table 1 example measurement mode definition for NSTR capability request

Fig. 7 illustrates an example frame format of a measurement request field of an NSTR capability request according to some embodiments. An example measurement request field format of an NSTR capability request is illustrated for different measurement mode values.

Table 2 example measurement mode definitions for NSTR capability report

In one embodiment, the AP MLD may request this information in a broadcast frame, in response to which STAs capable of reporting this information will reply with the requested information.

In one embodiment, a non-STR AP MLD (e.g., soft AP) may provide this information in an unsolicited measurement response frame.

Fig. 8 illustrates a functional block diagram of a wireless communication device in accordance with some embodiments. In one embodiment, fig. 8 illustrates a functional block diagram of a communication Station (STA) that may be suitable for use as an AP STA, a non-AP STA, or other user equipment in accordance with some embodiments. The communication device 800 may also be suitable for use as a handheld device, mobile device, cellular telephone, smart phone, tablet device, netbook, wireless terminal, laptop computer, wearable computer device, femtocell, high Data Rate (HDR) subscriber device, access point, access terminal, or other personal communication system (personal communication system, PCS) device.

The communication device 800 may include communication circuitry 802 and a transceiver 810 for transmitting and receiving signals to and from other communication devices using one or more antennas 801. The communication circuit 802 may include circuitry such as: such circuitry may be operable for physical layer (PHY) communication and/or Medium Access Control (MAC) communication to control access to a wireless medium, and/or any other communication layer for transmitting and receiving signals. The communication device 800 may also include processing circuitry 806 and memory 808 arranged to perform the operations described herein. In some embodiments, the communication circuit 802 and the processing circuit 806 may be configured to perform the operations detailed in the figures, diagrams, and flowcharts described above.

According to some embodiments, the communication circuit 802 may be arranged to compete for the wireless medium and configure frames or packets to communicate over the wireless medium. The communication circuit 802 may be arranged to send and receive signals. The communication circuit 802 may also include circuitry for modulation/demodulation, up/down conversion, filtering, amplification, and so forth. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 806 of the communication device 800 can include one or more processors. In other embodiments, two or more antennas 801 may be coupled to a communication circuit 802 arranged to transmit and receive signals. Memory 808 may store information for configuring processing circuitry 806 to perform operations for configuring and transmitting message frames and performing various operations described herein. Memory 808 may include any type of memory for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer), including non-transitory memory. For example, memory 808 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, the communication device 800 may be part of a portable wireless communication device, such as a personal digital assistant (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, the communication device 800 may include one or more antennas 801. The antenna 801 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, antennas may be effectively separated to obtain spatial diversity and may result in different channel characteristics between each antenna and the antennas of the transmitting device.

In some embodiments, the communication device 800 may include one or more of the following: 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 device 800 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, two or more of these functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (digital signal processor, 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 (application specific integrated circuit, ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (radio-frequency integrated circuit, 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 device 800 may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

Fig. 9 illustrates a process of multi-link operation (MLO) performed by an Access Point (AP) multi-link device (AP MLD) in accordance with some embodiments. In operation 902, the AP MLD may set a link pair between an AP STA of the AP MLD and a corresponding STA of the non-AP MLD. In operation 904, the AP MLD may encode a management frame for transmission to the non-AP MLD, the management frame requesting non-simultaneous transmission reception (NSTR)/Simultaneous Transmission Reception (STR) capability information from the non-AP MLD. In operation 906, the AP MLD may decode the report frame received from the non-AP MLD. The report frame may include NSTR/STR capability information, which may include at least a minimum interval for STR operation for a pair of links. In operation 908, in response to receiving the report frame, the AP MLD may designate a link pair to operate in STR mode or NSTR mode based on a minimum interval reported for each pair of links.

Examples:

example 1 may include an apparatus comprising processing circuitry coupled with a storage device, the processing circuitry configured to: generating a management frame to be transmitted to a non-Access Point (AP) multi-link device (MLD); including in the management frame a request for a Simultaneous Transmit Receive (STR) or non-simultaneous transmit receive (NSTR) capability; and causing the management frame to be sent to the non-AP MLD.

Example 2 may include the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the management frame may be a measurement request frame.

Example 3 may include the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the processing circuitry may be further configured to identify a response frame from the non-AP MLD, wherein the response frame includes information associated with a band and channel configuration associated with STR or NSTR.

Example 4 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 5 may include the apparatus of example 4 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising an antenna coupled with the transceiver to cause the management frame to be transmitted.

Example 6 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause performance of operations comprising: generating a management frame to be transmitted to a non-Access Point (AP) multi-link device (MLD); including in the management frame a request for a Simultaneous Transmit Receive (STR) or non-simultaneous transmit receive (NSTR) capability; and causing the management frame to be sent to the non-AP MLD.

Example 7 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 6 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the management frame may be a measurement request frame.

Example 8 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 6 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the operations further comprise identifying a response frame from the non-AP MLD, wherein the response frame includes information associated with a band and channel configuration associated with STR or NSTR.

Example 9 may include a method comprising: generating, by one or more processors, a management frame to be transmitted to a non-Access Point (AP) multi-link device (MLD); including in the management frame a request for a Simultaneous Transmit Receive (STR) or non-simultaneous transmit receive (NSTR) capability; and causing the management frame to be sent to the non-AP MLD.

Example 10 may include the method of example 9 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the management frame may be a measurement request frame.

Example 11 may include the method of example 9 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising identifying a response frame from the non-AP MLD, wherein the response frame includes information associated with a band and channel configuration associated with STR or NSTR.

Example 12 may include an apparatus comprising means for: generating a management frame to be transmitted to a non-Access Point (AP) multi-link device (MLD); including in the management frame a request for a Simultaneous Transmit Receive (STR) or non-simultaneous transmit receive (NSTR) capability; and causing the management frame to be sent to the non-AP MLD.

Example 13 may include the apparatus of example 12 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the management frame may be a measurement request frame.

Example 14 may include the apparatus of example 12 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising identifying a response frame from the non-AP MLD, wherein the response frame includes information associated with a band and channel configuration associated with STR or NSTR.

Example 15 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, when executed by one or more processors of the electronic device, to perform one or more elements of the methods described in or related to any of examples 1-14 or any other method or process described herein.

Example 16 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, and/or circuitry to perform one or more elements of the methods described in or associated with any of examples 1-14 or any other method or process described herein.

Example 17 may include a method, technique, or process as described in any of examples 1-14 or in connection with any of examples 1-14, or portions thereof.

Example 18 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 as described in any one of examples 1-14 or in connection with any one of examples 1-14, or some portion thereof.

Example 19 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

Example 20 may include a system for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

Example 21 may include an apparatus to provide wireless communication as shown and described herein.

The abstract is provided to comply with section 37c.f.r.1.72 (b), which requires an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. It was submitted under the following understanding: it is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scope or meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.

Claims (20)

1. An apparatus of an Access Point (AP) multi-link device (AP MLD), the apparatus comprising: a processing circuit; and a memory, the AP MLD including a plurality of affiliated access point stations (AP STAs),

wherein for multi-link operation (MLO), the processing circuitry is configured to:

setting a link pair between an AP STA of the AP MLD and a corresponding non-AP STA of the non-AP MLD;

encoding a management frame for transmission to the non-AP MLD, the management frame requesting non-simultaneous transmission reception (NSTR)/Simultaneous Transmission Reception (STR) capability information from the non-AP MLD;

decoding a report frame received from the non-AP MLD, the report frame including the NSTR/STR capability information including at least a minimum interval for STR operation for a pair of links; and is also provided with

In response to receiving the report frame, the processing circuit is configured to specify whether a link pair is operating in STR mode or NSTR mode based on the minimum interval reported for each pair of links.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the minimum interval comprises at least one of:

minimum spacing between channels in the operating frequency band; and

and a minimum interval between the frequency bands.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein when the minimum interval is met for a pair of links, the processing circuit is configured to designate the pair of links to operate in the STR mode, and

when the minimum interval is not satisfied for a pair of links, the processing circuit is configured to designate the pair of links to operate in the NSTR mode.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the management frame is a unicast frame sent to the non-AP MLD.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the management frame is a broadcast frame transmitted to non-AP STAs of the non-AP MLD in response to information received from the non-AP STAs, the information indicating whether the non-AP STAs are capable of reporting the NSTR/STR capability information.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the AP MLD is configured to maximize a number of links operating in the STR mode.

7. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein requesting the management frame of the NSTR/STR capability information from the non-AP MLD comprises: a measurement request field for a non-simultaneous transmit receive (NSTR) capability request.

8. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein requesting the management frame of the NSTR/STR capability information from the non-AP MLD comprises: a measurement request field indicating a measurement mode value of a plurality of measurement mode values, wherein the measurement mode value requests a non-AP STA of the non-AP MLD to provide one of:

A minimum frequency separation between any two STR links;

the highest and lowest 20MHz channels that make up the STR link pair; and

one or more operating class-channel bandwidth pairs that make up an STR link pair.

9. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein for the MLO, a multi-link setup procedure is performed to set a link pair between a respective AP STA of the AP MLD and a non-AP STA of the non-AP MLD to allow communication of frames between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD using a single Medium Access Control (MAC) Service Access Point (SAP), wherein the management frame includes an element including a MAC address of the AP MLD and the report frame includes a MAC address of the non-AP MLD.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processing circuit comprises a baseband processor, and wherein the memory is configured to store the management frame.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for execution by processing circuitry of an Access Point (AP) multi-link device (AP MLD), the AP MLD comprising a plurality of affiliated access point stations (AP STAs),

wherein for multi-link operation (MLO), the processing circuitry is configured to:

setting a link pair between an AP STA of the AP MLD and a corresponding non-AP STA of the non-AP MLD;

Encoding a management frame for transmission to the non-AP MLD, the management frame requesting non-simultaneous transmission reception (NSTR)/Simultaneous Transmission Reception (STR) capability information from the non-AP MLD;

decoding a report frame received from the non-AP MLD, the report frame including the NSTR/STR capability information including at least a minimum interval for STR operation for a pair of links; and is also provided with

In response to receiving the report frame, the processing circuit is configured to specify whether the link pair is operating in STR mode or NSTR mode based on a minimum interval reported for each pair of links.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the minimum interval comprises at least one of:

minimum spacing between channels in the operating frequency band; and

and a minimum interval between the frequency bands.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein, when the minimum interval is met for a pair of links, the processing circuit is configured to designate the pair of links to operate in the STR mode, and

when the minimum interval is not satisfied for a pair of links, the processing circuit is configured to designate the pair of links to operate in the NSTR mode.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the management frame is a unicast frame sent to the non-AP MLD.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the management frame is a broadcast frame transmitted to non-AP STAs of the non-AP MLD in response to information received from the non-AP STAs of the non-AP MLD, the information indicating whether the non-AP STAs are capable of reporting the NSTR/STR capability information.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the AP MLD is configured to maximize a number of links operating in the STR mode and minimize a number of links operating in the NSTR mode.

17. An apparatus of a non-access point (non-AP) multi-link device (non-AP MLD), the apparatus comprising: a processing circuit; and a memory, the non-AP MLD including a plurality of affiliated non-AP Stations (STAs),

wherein for multi-link operation (MLO), the processing circuitry is configured to:

setting a link pair between an AP STA of an AP MLD and a corresponding STA of the non-AP MLD; and is also provided with

A report frame for transmission to an AP MLD is encoded, the report frame including non-simultaneous transmit receive (NSTR)/Simultaneous Transmit Receive (STR) capability information including at least a minimum interval for STR operation for a pair of links.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the report frame is transmitted in response to a management frame received from the AP MLD soliciting the NSTR/STR capability information.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the report frame is unsolicited.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the minimum interval comprises at least one of:

minimum spacing between channels in the operating frequency band; and

and a minimum interval between the frequency bands.

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