CN117221945A

CN117221945A - Association identifier change and confusion in WLAN communications

Info

Publication number: CN117221945A
Application number: CN202310682602.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: J·L·克内科特; C·F·多明格斯; D·R·博尔赫斯; D·达什; E·S·布里格斯; I·埃夫龙; N·鲁文; S·R·撒库; S·K·勇; 伍天宇; U·阿塔; 刘勇
Original assignee: Apple Inc
Current assignee: Apple Inc
Priority date: 2022-06-10
Filing date: 2023-06-09
Publication date: 2023-12-12

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to association identifier changes and confusion in WLAN communications. An electronic device is described. The electronic device may be associated with a second electronic device (such as an access point) in the WLAN. While being associated with or already associated with the second electronic device, the electronic device may receive an AID corresponding to the electronic device from the second electronic device for use in communicating frames in the WLAN. Further, when already associated with the second electronic device, the electronic device may obtain a second AID corresponding to the electronic device for use in communicating a second frame in the WLAN, wherein the associating includes replacing the AID with the second AID. Note that obtaining the second AID may include: the electronic device selecting the second AID from a predefined set of AIDs previously received from the second electronic device; or the electronic device receives the second AID from the second electronic device.

Description

Association identifier change and confusion in WLAN communications

Technical Field

The described embodiments relate generally to wireless communications between electronic devices, including communication techniques for Association Identifier (AID) change and/or confusion in wireless communications in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN).

Background

Many electronic devices communicate with each other using Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), such as those based on communication protocols conforming to an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard such as the IEEE 802.11 standard (sometimes referred to as "Wi-Fi"). However, it may be difficult to protect or enhance the privacy of communications in a WLAN.

Notably, the AID value can be used in a trigger frame provided by an access point (the trigger frame being one type of control frame) to identify one or more triggered clients or stations (which are hereafter referred to as stations) and associated Reservation Units (RUs) to be used by the stations. Further, in a downlink multi-user (MU) Physical Layer Convergence Protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) or MU PPDU, an AID value may be used in a very high throughput/high efficiency/very high throughput (VHT/HE/EHT) preamble to identify one or more stations with one or more assigned reservation units. Further, the AID value may be used in a multi-station Block Acknowledgement (BA) frame to identify one or more stations receiving the BA frame. Note that the AID value may be assigned by the access point in the association response. Further, AID values up to 2007 may be used to identify the associated station. In addition, the minimum AID value may signal or indicate buffered framing. In some implementations, the maximum AID value (up to 2047) may be used to trigger special signaling in the frame.

Further, in the trigger frame, the AID value may signal the trigger station. Alternatively, as in the MU PPDU, the AID value may indicate the receiving station in the VHT/HE/EHT preamble. Further, the AID value may indicate a receiver of the block acknowledgement in a multi-station block acknowledgement. These frames may have strict real-time requirements. Thus, the additional delay may have a significant impact on system performance. Note that triggering of MU PPDU preamble encryption may not be possible due to frame structure and operation delays. In addition, legacy (e.g., compatible with one or more previous IEEE 802.11 standards) and IEEE 802.11bi stations may need to be able to use the same trigger frame and VHT/HE/EHT MU PPDU preamble. Thus, the AID field and frame may need to be backward compatible. In addition, future WLANs are expected to transmit the AID field more frequently. For example, a (multi-user and efficient trigger-based) PPDU introduced in IEEE 802.11be (which is sometimes referred to as "Wi-Fi 7") includes an AID value, and triggered access and multi-user transmission is based at least in part on the AID.

Generally, 11 bits are typically used to specify or indicate an AID in a frame such as a MU PPDU or multi-station block acknowledgement. The exception is that in a trigger frame, the trigger frame assigns 12 bits to the AID subfield, although only 11 of these bits specify or indicate the AID value. Thus, there may be 10 bits to change and/or to be confused.

Disclosure of Invention

In a first set of embodiments, an electronic device is described that obtains a second AID. The electronic device includes: an antenna node communicatively coupled to the antenna; and an interface circuit communicatively coupled to the antenna node. During operation, the interface circuit is associated with a second electronic device in the WLAN, wherein the interface circuit receives an AID corresponding to the electronic device from the second electronic device for use in communicating frames in the WLAN while being or having been associated with the second electronic device. Further, when already associated with a second electronic device, the interface circuit obtains a second AID corresponding to the electronic device for use in communicating a second frame in the WLAN.

In some embodiments, the associating may include replacing the AID with a second AID, and wherein obtaining the second AID includes: selecting a second AID from the predefined set of AIDs; receiving a second AID from a second electronic device; generating a second AID using a predetermined or predefined technique (such as a formula or equation); or receiving the second AID from the third electronic device.

Note that the second electronic device may comprise an access point.

Further, the second AID may be obtained a predetermined or predefined time interval after receiving the AID. More generally, the second AID is obtained after receiving the AID.

Further, a predefined set of AIDs may be received from the second electronic device while being associated with the second electronic device.

In addition, the interface circuit may confuse the current AID used by the electronic device in communicating the frame or the second frame. Note that the current AID may include an AID or a second AID. For example, obfuscation may be performed by adding a value associated with the second electronic device to the current AID. In some embodiments, the value may be varied according to the second time interval. Notably, the second time interval may include a beacon interval of the second electronic device.

Alternatively or in addition, the frame or second frame may indicate that the current AID is obfuscated.

Further, the electronic device may include a non-access point multi-link device (MLD), and current AID is used for multiple links in the WLAN. In some embodiments, the confusion may be MLD specific.

Furthermore, the current AID may be used for only one link in the WLAN. In some embodiments, the confusion may be link-specific.

Other embodiments provide a second electronic device that performs peer-to-peer operations corresponding to at least some of the foregoing operations performed by the electronic device.

Other embodiments provide an integrated circuit (sometimes referred to as a "communication circuit") for use with an electronic device or a second electronic device. The integrated circuit may perform at least some of the foregoing operations or peer-to-peer operations corresponding to at least some of the foregoing operations.

Other embodiments provide a computer-readable storage medium for use with an electronic device or a second electronic device. The program instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium, when executed by the electronic device or the second electronic device, may cause the electronic device or the second electronic device to perform at least some of the aforementioned operations performed by the electronic device or peer-to-peer operations performed by the second electronic device.

Other embodiments provide a method of obtaining or providing a second AID. The method includes at least some of the foregoing operations performed by the electronic device or peer-to-peer operations performed by the second electronic device.

In a second set of embodiments, an electronic device that provides a second AID is described. The electronic device includes: an antenna node communicatively coupled to the antenna; and an interface circuit communicatively coupled to the antenna node. During operation, the interface circuit is associated with a second electronic device in the WLAN, wherein the interface circuit addresses the second electronic device while being associated with the second electronic device to provide an AID corresponding to the second electronic device for use in communicating frames in the WLAN. Further, when already associated with the second electronic device, the interface circuit addresses the second electronic device to provide a second AID corresponding to the second electronic device for use in communicating the second frame in the WLAN, wherein the associating includes replacing the AID with the second AID.

Note that the electronic device may include an access point.

Further, the second AID may be provided a predetermined or predefined time interval after the AID is provided. More generally, the second AID is provided after the AID is provided.

Further, providing the AID may include providing a predefined set of AIDs. Note that adjacent AIDs in a predefined set of AIDs may be unique relative to a corresponding AID in another predefined set of AIDs provided by an electronic device to a third electronic device associated with the electronic device.

Further, the interface circuit may provide the second electronic device with information indicating a value used in obfuscating the AID or the second AID when used to communicate the frame or the second frame, respectively.

In addition, the second electronic device may include a non-access point MLD, and the current AID may be used for multiple links in the WLAN.

In some embodiments, the confusion is MLD-specific.

In a third set of embodiments, an electronic device that transmits frames is described. The electronic device includes: an antenna node communicatively coupled to the antenna; and an interface circuit communicatively coupled to the antenna node. During operation, the interface circuit addresses a second electronic device in the WLAN and transmits frames without a Media Access Control (MAC) address of the electronic device.

Note that the second electronic device may comprise an access point.

Further, the interface circuit is addressable to the second electronic device to provide an association request indicating that the electronic device supports communication of frames without the MAC address of the electronic device.

Further, the interface circuit may receive an association response associated with the second electronic device indicating that the second electronic device supports communication of frames without the MAC address of the electronic device.

In addition, the frame may include a data frame responsive to a trigger frame associated with the second electronic device.

In some implementations, the frame may include: quality of service (QoS) data frames, qoS null frames, management frames, or block acknowledgements.

Note that the frame may include an AID corresponding to the electronic device. The AID may be confused.

Other embodiments provide methods for transmitting or receiving frames. The method includes at least some of the foregoing operations performed by the electronic device or peer-to-peer operations performed by the second electronic device.

In a fourth set of embodiments, an electronic device that transmits frames is described. The electronic device includes: an antenna node communicatively coupled to the antenna; and an interface circuit communicatively coupled to the antenna node. During operation, the interface circuit addresses to a second electronic device in the WLAN and transmits frames without the MAC address of the second electronic device.

Note that the electronic device may include an access point.

Further, the interface circuit may receive an association request associated with the second electronic device, the association request indicating that the second electronic device supports communication of frames that do not have a MAC address of the second electronic device.

Further, the interface circuit is addressable to the second electronic device to provide an association response indicating that the electronic device supports communication of frames without the MAC address of the second electronic device.

In addition, the frames may include trigger frames. In some implementations, the trigger frame may include: a Buffer Status Report (BSR) poll frame, or a multi-user Block Acknowledgement Request (BAR) frame.

The present disclosure is provided for the purpose of illustrating some example embodiments in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the subject matter described herein. Thus, it should be appreciated that the above-described features are merely examples, and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the claims.

Drawings

The drawings are included for illustrative purposes and are merely to provide examples of possible structures and arrangements of the disclosed systems and techniques for intelligently and effectively managing communications between a plurality of associated user devices. The figures in no way limit any changes in form and detail that may be made to the embodiments by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments. This embodiment will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate like structural elements.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of communication between electronic devices.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of communication between electronic devices.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for obtaining a second Association Identifier (AID) using the electronic device of fig. 1 or 2.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for providing a second AID using the electronic device of FIG. 1 or 2.

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of communication between the electronic devices of fig. 1 or 2.

Fig. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for transmitting a frame using the electronic device of fig. 1 or 2.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for transmitting a frame using the electronic device of fig. 1 or 2.

Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of communication between the electronic devices of fig. 1 or 2.

Fig. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of privacy enhancement using the electronic device of fig. 1 or 2.

Fig. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of AID confusion using the electronic device of fig. 1 or 2.

Fig. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of communication between the electronic devices of fig. 1 or 2.

Fig. 12A is an illustration of an example of an infrastructure mode data frame for use during communication between the electronic devices of fig. 1 or 2.

Fig. 12B is an illustration of an example of a privacy enhanced data frame for use during communication between the electronic devices of fig. 1 or 2.

Fig. 13 is an illustration of an example of a management frame format for use during communication between the electronic devices of fig. 1 or 2.

Fig. 14 is an illustration of an example of a frame control field format in an S1G PPDU for use during communication between the electronic devices of fig. 1 or 2 when the type subfield is equal to "0" or "2".

Fig. 15 is a flow chart of a method for operating a station when a trigger frame is received by one of the electronic devices of fig. 1 or 2.

Fig. 16 is an illustration of an example of a multi-station block acknowledgment frame format during communication between the electronic devices of fig. 1 or 2.

Fig. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of communication between the electronic devices of fig. 1 or 2.

Fig. 18 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the electronic device of fig. 1 or 2.

It should be noted that like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the drawings. Further, multiple instances of the same component are referred to by a common prefix that is separated from the instance reference number by a broken line.

Detailed Description

In a first set of embodiments, an electronic device is described that obtains an AID (which is sometimes referred to as an "AID value"). The electronic device may be associated with a second electronic device (such as an access point) in the WLAN. While being or already associated with the second electronic device, the electronic device may receive an AID corresponding to the electronic device from the second electronic device for use in communicating frames in the WLAN. Further, when having associated with the second electronic device, the electronic device may obtain a second AID corresponding to the electronic device for use in communicating the second frame in the WLAN, wherein the associating includes replacing the AID with the second AID. Note that obtaining the second AID may include: selecting a second AID from the predefined set of AIDs; receiving a second AID from a second electronic device; generating a second AID using a predetermined or predefined technique (such as a formula or equation); or receiving the second AID from the third electronic device.

In a second set of embodiments, a second electronic device that provides AID is described. A second electronic device (such as an access point) may be associated with an electronic device in the WLAN. While being or already associated with the electronic device, the second electronic device may address the electronic device and provide an AID corresponding to the electronic device for use in communicating frames in the WLAN. Further, when already associated with the electronic device, the second electronic device may address the electronic device and provide a second AID corresponding to the electronic device for use in communicating the second frame in the WLAN, wherein the associating includes replacing the AID with the second AID.

In a third set of embodiments, an electronic device that transmits frames is described. During operation, the electronic device may address to a second electronic device in the WLAN and transmit a frame without the MAC address of the electronic device.

In a fourth set of embodiments, an electronic device that transmits frames is described. During operation, the electronic device may address to a second electronic device in the WLAN and transmit a frame without the MAC address of the second electronic device.

These communication techniques may facilitate improving security and/or privacy in a WLAN by changing the AID, obfuscating the AID, and/or removing one or more MAC addresses. For example, the communication technique may remove the MAC address from the MU PPDU and the triggered PPDU. Instead of the MAC address, the second AID may be visible to an eavesdropper, for example, in the MU PPDU or trigger frame. By enhancing security and privacy, communication techniques may encourage the use of WLANs. Thus, these communication techniques may improve user experience and customer satisfaction.

Note that communication techniques may be used during wireless communication between electronic devices in accordance with a communication protocol, such as a communication protocol compatible with the IEEE802.11 standard (which is sometimes referred to as Wi-Fi). In some embodiments, the communication technology is used with IEEE802.11 be, IEEE802.11 bi, or IEEE802.11bn, with IEEE802.11 be, IEEE802.11 bi, or IEEE802.11bn being used as illustrative examples in the discussion below. However, these communication technologies may also be used with a wide variety of other communication protocols, and may also be used in electronic devices, such as portable electronic devices or mobile devices, that may incorporate a variety of different Radio Access Technologies (RATs) to provide connectivity through different wireless networks that give different services and/or capabilities.

The electronic device may include hardware and software to support a Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) according to WPAN communication protocols, such as those standardized by the bluetooth special interest group and/or those developed by apples (california, kubi) known as Apple Wireless Direct Link (AWDL). Further, the electronic device may via: wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN), wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN), WLAN, near Field Communication (NFC), cellular telephone or data network (such as using third generation (3G) communication protocols, fourth generation (4G) communication protocols (e.g., long term evolution or LTE, LTE-advanced (LTE-a)), fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, or other current or future developed advanced cellular communication protocols), and/or another communication protocol. In some embodiments, the communication protocol includes peer-to-peer communication techniques.

In some embodiments, the electronic device may also operate as part of a wireless communication system that may include a set of client devices, which may also be referred to as stations or client electronic devices, that are interconnected to an access point, e.g., as part of a WLAN, and/or to each other, e.g., as part of a WPAN and/or an "ad hoc" wireless network such as Wi-Fi direct. In some implementations, the client device may be any electronic device capable of communicating via WLAN technology (e.g., according to a WLAN communication protocol). Further, in some embodiments, the WLAN technology may include a Wi-Fi (or more generally, WLAN) wireless communication subsystem or radio, and the Wi-Fi radio may implement IEEE802.11 technology, such as one or more of the following: IEEE802.11 a; IEEE802.11 b; IEEE802.11 g; IEEE 802.11-2007; IEEE802.11 n; IEEE 802.11-2012; IEEE 802.11-2016; IEEE802.11 ac; IEEE802.11ax, IEEE802.11 ba, IEEE802.11 be, IEEE802.11 me, IEEE802.11 bi, IEEE802.11bn, or other current or future developed IEEE802.11 technologies.

In some embodiments, the electronic device may act as a communication hub that provides access to the WLAN and/or to the WWAN, and thus to a wide variety of services that may be supported by various applications executing on the electronic device. Thus, an electronic device may include an "access point" that communicates wirelessly (such as using Wi-Fi) with other electronic devices and provides access to another network (such as the internet) via IEEE 802.3 (which is sometimes referred to as "ethernet"). However, in other embodiments, the electronic device may not be an access point. As an illustrative example, in the following discussion, an electronic device is or includes an access point.

In addition, it should be appreciated that the electronic devices described herein may be configured as multimode wireless communication devices that are also capable of communicating via different 3G and/or second generation (2G) RATs. In these scenarios, the multimode electronic device or UE may be configured to prefer to attach to an LTE network that gives a faster data rate throughput than other 3G legacy networks that give a lower data rate throughput. For example, in some implementations, the multimode electronic device is configured to fall back to a 3G legacy network, such as an evolved high speed packet access (hspa+) network or a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000 evolution data only (EV-DO) network, when LTE and LTE-a networks are otherwise unavailable. More generally, the electronic devices described herein are capable of communicating with other current or future developed cellular telephone technologies.

According to various embodiments described herein, the terms "wireless communication device," "electronic device," "mobile station," "wireless access point," "station," "access point," and "User Equipment (UE)" may be used herein to describe one or more consumer electronic devices that may be capable of performing the processes associated with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 1 presents a block diagram illustrating an example of an electronic device for wireless communication. Notably, one or more electronic devices 110 (such as a smart phone, a laptop, a notebook, a tablet, or another such electronic device) and access point 112 can communicate wirelessly in a WLAN using IEEE 802.11 communication protocols. Thus, the electronic device 110 may be associated with an access point 112 or may have one or more connections with the access point. For example, the electronic device 110 and the access point 112 may communicate wirelessly: detecting each other by scanning the wireless channel, transmitting and receiving beacons or (equivalently) beacon frames over the wireless channel, establishing a connection (e.g., by transmitting a connection request), and/or transmitting and receiving packets or frames (packets or frames may include a request and/or additional information such as data as a payload). Note that access point 112 may provide access to a network, such as the internet, via an ethernet protocol, and may be a physical access point or a virtual or "software" access point implemented on a computer or electronic device. In the discussion that follows, the electronic device 110 is sometimes referred to as a "recipient electronic device".

As further described below with reference to fig. 18, the electronic device 110 and the access point 112 may include subsystems such as a networking subsystem, a memory subsystem, and a processor subsystem. Further, the electronic device 110 and the access point 112 may include a radio 114 in a networking subsystem. More generally, the electronic device 110 and the access point 112 may comprise (or may be included within) any electronic device with a networking subsystem that enables the electronic device 110 and the access point 112, respectively, to wirelessly communicate with another electronic device. This may include transmitting beacon frames over the wireless channel to enable the electronic devices to make initial contact with each other or detect each other, then exchanging subsequent data/management frames (such as connection requests) to establish a connection, configuring security options (e.g., IPSec), transmitting and receiving packets or frames via the connection, and so forth.

As can be seen in fig. 1, wireless signals 116 (represented by jagged lines) are transmitted by one or more radio components 114-1 and 114-2 in electronic device 110-1 and access point 112, respectively. For example, as previously mentioned, the electronic device 110-1 and the access point 112 may exchange packets or frames using Wi-Fi communication protocols in a WLAN. As further shown below with reference to fig. 2-18, one or more radios 114-1 may receive wireless signals 116 transmitted by one or more radios 114-2 via one or more links between electronic device 110-1 and access point 112. Alternatively, the one or more radios 114-1 may transmit wireless signals 116 that are received by the one or more radios 114-2.

In some embodiments, wireless signals 116 are transmitted by one or more radios 114 in electronic device 110 and access point 112, respectively. For example, one or more radios 114-1 and 114-3 may receive wireless signals 116 transmitted by one or more radios 114-2 via one or more links between electronic devices 110-1 and 110-2 and access point 112.

Note that the one or more radios 114-1 may consume additional power in a higher power mode. If the one or more radios 114-1 remain in a higher power mode even when no packets or frames are transmitted or received, power consumption of the electronic device 110-1 may be unnecessarily increased. As a result, the electronic device 110 may include a wake-up radio (WUR) 118 that listens for and/or receives wake-up frames (and/or other wake-up communications) from, for example, the access point 112. When a particular electronic device, such as electronic device 110-1, receives the wake-up frame, WUR 118-1 may selectively wake-up radio 114-1, for example, by providing a wake-up signal that selectively transitions at least one of the one or more radios 114-1 from a low power mode to a high power mode.

IEEE 802.11 has proposed the use of multiple concurrent links between electronic devices, such as access point 112 and one or more electronic devices 110. For example, as shown in fig. 2, which presents a block diagram illustrating an example of an electronic device for wireless communication, access point 112 may be an access point MLD that includes a plurality of access points 210 co-hosted or co-located in access point 112. In this discussion, 'co-hosted' or 'co-located' means that the access points 210 are physically or virtually implemented in or attached to the same access point MLD. Note that this meaning of "co-hosted" does not mean that access points 210 have the same primary 20MHz channel. The access point 210 may have an associated Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID) 212 and Media Access Control (MAC) and Physical (PHY) layers (including separate radio components that may be included in the same or different integrated circuits). Note that access point 112 may have ML entity 214 with an MLD MAC address, an ML identifier, a Service Set Identifier (SSID), and may provide security for access point 210.

Further, access point 210 may have a different concurrent link 216 (such as link 216-1 in the 2.4Ghz band with link identifier 1, link 216-2 in the 5Ghz band with link identifier 2, and link 216-3 in the 6Ghz band with link identifier 3) in a different frequency band than at least station 218 in electronic device 110-1 (which is a non-access point MLD). These stations may have associated lower MAC and PHY layers (including separate radio components that may be included in the same or different integrated circuits). In addition, the electronic device 110-1 may have an ML entity 220 with an MLD MAC address.

For example, the access point MLD may have three radios. One radio may operate in the 2.4GHz band and the other radio may operate in the 5/6GHz band. The access point MLD may form three access points 210 that operate on a 2.4Ghz channel, a 5Ghz channel, and a 6Ghz channel, respectively. The three access points 210 may operate independently, each having at least one BSS with a different BSSID 212. (while fig. 2 shows an access point MLD having three access points 210, more generally, the access point MLD may include up to 15 access points, with one or more of the access points being in a given frequency band.) furthermore, each access point 210 may accommodate a legacy non-access point station as well as a non-access point MLD station 218. Further, each access point 210 may transmit its own beacon frame using its own BSSID. In addition, the access point MLD may have an ML entity 214 identified by an MLD address (such as an MLD MAC address). The MAC address may be used to pair with an ML entity 220 of an associated non-access point MLD station 218.

Further, a non-access point MLD station (e.g., electronic device 110-1) may have two or three radios. One radio may operate in the 2.4GHz band and the other radio may operate in the 5/6GHz band. When a non-access point MLD establishes an ML association with an access point MLD, it may create up to three stations 218, each station associated with one of the access points 210 within the access point MLD. Each station 218 may have a different air interface MAC address 222. The non-access point MLD may also have an ML entity 220 identified by another MLD address, such as another MLD MAC address. The MLD MAC address may be used to pair with the ML entity 214 of the associated access point MLD.

As previously mentioned, communications including frames corresponding to an AID of an electronic device (such as electronic device 110-1) may lead to security and/or privacy concerns. To address these issues, as further described below with reference to fig. 3-17, AIDs may be changed and/or confused in frames in the communication technology. Notably, in the first set of embodiments, an electronic device (such as electronic device 110-1) obtains the second AID. Notably, while being associated with or already associated with a second electronic device (such as access point 112), electronic device 110-1 may receive an AID corresponding to electronic device 110-1 from access point 112 for use in communicating frames in a WLAN. Further, when having associated with the access point 112, the electronic device 110-1 may obtain a second AID corresponding to the electronic device 110-1 for use in communicating the second frame in the WLAN, wherein the associating includes replacing the AID with the second AID. Note that obtaining the second AID may include: the electronic device 110-1 selects a second AID from a predefined set of AIDs previously received from the access point 112; the electronic device 110-1 receives a second AID from the access point 112; the electronic device 110-1 generates a second AID using a predetermined or predefined technique (such as a formula or equation); or the electronic device 110-1 receives the second AID from the third electronic device.

Further, in a second set of embodiments, a second electronic device (such as access point 112) that provides a second AID is described. Notably, the access point 112 can address the electronic device 110-1 while being associated with or already associated with an electronic device (such as the electronic device 110-1) to provide an AID corresponding to the electronic device 110-1 for use in communicating frames in the WLAN. Further, when already associated with the electronic device 110-1, the access point 112 may address the electronic device 110-1 to provide a second AID corresponding to the electronic device 110-1 for use in communicating the second frame in the WLAN, wherein the associating includes replacing the AID with the second AID.

Further, in a third set of embodiments, an electronic device (such as electronic device 110-1) may transmit a frame. Notably, the electronic device 110-1 can be addressed to a second electronic device in the WLAN (such as the access point 112) and transmit frames without the MAC address of the electronic device 110-1.

Alternatively or in addition, in a fourth set of embodiments, an electronic device (such as electronic device 110-1) may transmit a frame. Notably, the electronic device 110-1 can be addressed to a second electronic device in the WLAN (such as the access point 112) and transmit frames without the MAC address of the access point 112.

In some embodiments of the disclosed communication techniques, a Privacy Enhanced (PE) electronic device may be capable of changing an AID value of an associated privacy enhanced station. As previously mentioned, the AID may have only 11 bits to identify the station. Since the calculation rule for the new AID value may not be possible (e.g., since it may occupy too much space in the frame and/or may consume too much resources), the access point may need to assign the new AID value to the associated station. For example, the access point may change the AID value of the station when the station is associated with the access point. In some implementations, the access point may provide a new AID, for example, every 10 minutes, or may provide a set of AIDs for subsequent use, and may switch the current AID on the set, for example, every 10 minutes.

Alternatively or in addition, the AID values may be obfuscated. For example, an offset of a constant Basic Service Set (BSS) range may be added to the AID value to confuse the AID value. The obfuscated AID value may protect the privacy of the associated station from eavesdroppers. Furthermore, the aliased AID value may change frequently (e.g., once per beacon interval, such as once every 100ms, or once per PPDU), which may complicate station tracking.

In some embodiments, the station MAC header may be removed from MAC Protocol Data Units (MPDUs) transmitted in the triggered reservation unit or in the downlink MU PPDU. Instead, an access point MAC address and AID (such as a confusing AID) may be used. Note that station privacy may be improved if the associated station is identified by AID in the following: a trigger frame, wherein the transmitter address and AID identify the transmitter and receiver; MU PPDUs, wherein BSS color and AID identify the transmitter and receiver; and multi-station block acknowledgements, wherein the transmitter address and AID identify the transmitter and receiver. Although access point MAC addresses may be removed, this may result in more collisions.

In summary, the disclosed communication techniques define AID field usage in address changes. Notably, the AID may be changed and/or confused. This may improve the privacy of MU PPDUs and triggered PPDU transmissions. Further, the disclosed communication techniques provide a mechanism for removing MAC addresses from MU PPDUs and triggered PPDUs. For example, only the transmitter address and AID may be visible to an eavesdropper in the trigger frame. In addition, BSS color and AID may be visible in the MU PPDU. The receiver may decrypt the PPDU before acknowledging receipt of the frame to ensure that it is the correct receiver.

These capabilities may improve security, privacy, and/or communication performance when communicating in a WLAN using electronic devices such as access point 112, electronic device 110-1, and/or legacy electronic devices.

Referring back to fig. 1, access point 112 and one or more electronic devices (such as electronic devices 110-1 and/or 110-2) may be compatible with an IEEE 802.11 standard including trigger-based channel access (such as IEEE 802.11 ax). However, the access point 112 and one or more electronic devices may communicate with one or more legacy electronic devices that are not compatible with the IEEE 802.11 standard (i.e., do not use multi-user trigger based channel access). In some embodiments, access point 112 and the one or more electronic devices use multi-user transmissions (such as orthogonal frequency division multiple access or OFDMA). For example, the one or more radios 114-2 may provide one or more trigger frames to one or more electronic devices. Further, in response to receiving the one or more trigger frames, the one or more radios 114-1 may provide one or more group or block acknowledgements to the one or more radios 114-2. For example, the one or more radios 114-1 may provide one or more group acknowledgements during an associated allocation slot and/or in an allocation channel in one or more group acknowledgements. However, in some embodiments, one or more of the electronic devices 110 may provide confirmation to the one or more radio components 114-2 alone. Thus, the one or more radios 114-1 (and more generally, radios 114 in electronic devices 110-1 and/or 110-2) may provide one or more acknowledgements to the one or more radios 114-2.

In the described embodiment, processing packets or frames in one of the electronic device 110 and the access point 112 includes: receiving a wireless signal 116 encoding a packet or frame; decoding/extracting a packet or frame from the received wireless signal 116 to obtain a packet or frame; and processing the packet or frame to determine information contained in the packet or frame (such as data in a payload).

In general, communications via a WLAN in a communication technology may be characterized by a variety of communication performance metrics. For example, the communication performance metrics may include any/all of the following: RSSI, data rate for successful communication (sometimes referred to as "throughput"), delay, error rate (such as retry rate or retransmission rate), mean square error of the equalized signal relative to the equalization target, inter-symbol interference, multipath interference, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), eye width, ratio of number of bytes successfully transmitted during a predetermined or predefined time interval (such as a time interval between 1 second and 10 seconds, for example) to estimated maximum number of bytes transmittable during the predetermined or predefined time interval (where the latter is sometimes referred to as "capacity" of the communication channel or link), and/or ratio of actual data rate to estimated data rate (sometimes referred to as "utilization").

Although we describe the network environment shown in fig. 1 as an example, in alternative embodiments, there may be different numbers and/or types of electronic devices. For example, some embodiments may include more or fewer electronic devices. As another example, in other embodiments, different electronic devices may transmit and/or receive packets or frames. In some embodiments, multiple links may be used during communication between electronic devices 110. Thus, one of the electronic devices 110 may perform operations in the communication technology.

Fig. 3 presents a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method 300 for obtaining a second AID. The method may be performed by an electronic device, such as electronic device 110-1 in fig. 1. Note that communication between an electronic device and a second electronic device (such as access point 112 in fig. 1) may be compatible with IEEE 802.11 communication protocols.

During operation, the electronic device is associated with a second electronic device in the WLAN (operation 310), wherein the electronic device receives an AID of the electronic device from the second electronic device for use in communicating frames in the WLAN while being or having been associated with the second electronic device (operation 312). Further, the electronic device obtains a second AID of the electronic device for use in communicating a second frame in the WLAN when already associated with the second electronic device (operation 314).

Further, a second AID may be obtained (operation 314) a predetermined or predefined time interval after the AID is received (operation 312).

Further, a predefined set of AIDs may be received from the second electronic device while being or already associated with the second electronic device.

In addition, the electronic device may confuse the current AID used by the electronic device in communicating the frame or the second frame. Note that the current AID may include an AID or a second AID. For example, obfuscation may be performed by adding a value associated with the second electronic device to the current AID. In some embodiments, the value may be varied according to the second time interval. Notably, the second time interval may include a beacon interval of the second electronic device.

Further, the electronic device may include a non-access point MLD, and the current AID may be used for multiple links in the WLAN. In some embodiments, the confusion may be MLD specific.

FIG. 4 presents a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method 400 for providing a second AID. The method may be performed by an electronic device, such as access point 112 in fig. 1. Note that communication between an electronic device and a second electronic device (such as electronic device 110-1 in fig. 1) may be compatible with IEEE 802.11 communication protocols.

During operation, the electronic device may be associated with a second electronic device in the WLAN (operation 410), wherein the electronic device, while being or already associated with the second electronic device, may address the second electronic device to provide an AID of the second electronic device for use in communicating frames in the WLAN (operation 412). Further, when having associated with the second electronic device, the electronic device may address the second electronic device to provide a second AID of the second electronic device for use in communicating the second frame in the WLAN (operation 414), wherein the associating includes replacing the AID with the second AID.

Note that the second AID may be provided (operation 414) a predetermined or predefined time interval after the AID is provided (operation 412).

Further, providing the AID (operation 412) may include providing a predefined set of AIDs. Note that adjacent AIDs in a predefined set of AIDs may be unique relative to a corresponding AID in another predefined set of AIDs provided by an electronic device to a third electronic device associated with the electronic device.

Further, the electronic device may provide information to the second electronic device indicating a value used in obfuscating the AID or the second AID when used to communicate the frame or the second frame, respectively.

In addition, the second electronic device may include a non-access point MLD, and the current AID may be used for multiple links in the WLAN. In some embodiments, the confusion is MLD-specific.

The communication technique is additionally illustrated in fig. 5, which presents a flow chart illustrating an example of communication between the electronic device 110-1 and the access point 112. During operation, one or more interface circuits (or interface circuits) 510 in the electronic device 110-1 may be associated with the access point 112. One of the one or more interface circuits (or interface circuits) 512 in the access point 112 may be addressed to the electronic device 110-1 while being or already associated with the access point 112 to provide the AID 514 of the electronic device 110-1 for use in communicating frames in the WLAN. One of the one or more interface circuits (or interface circuits) 410 may receive the AID 514.

Further, once associated with the access point 112, the one or more interface circuits 510 may obtain the AID 516 of the electronic device 110-1 for use in communicating the second frame in the WLAN, wherein the AID 516 replaces the AID 514. Notably, one or more interface circuits 512 can provide a predefined set of AIDs 518. Then, one of the one or more interface circuits 510 may select an AID 518 from the predefined AID set 516. Alternatively, one of the one or more interface circuits 512 may provide the AID 516 to the electronic device 110-1. The AID 516 may be received by one of the one or more interface circuits 510.

Fig. 6 presents a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method 600 for transmitting a frame. The method may be performed by an electronic device, such as electronic device 110-1 or access point 112 in fig. 1. Note that communication with a second electronic device, such as access point 112 or electronic device 110-1 in fig. 1, may be compatible with IEEE 802.11 communication protocols.

During operation, the electronic device addresses to a second electronic device in the WLAN and transmits a frame without the MAC address of the electronic device (operation 610).

In some embodiments, the electronic device may optionally perform one or more additional operations (operation 612) before, during, or after operation 610.

For example, the electronic device may address to the second electronic device to provide an association request indicating that the electronic device supports communication of frames without the MAC address of the electronic device.

Further, the electronic device may receive an association response associated with the second electronic device indicating that the second electronic device supports communication of frames without the MAC address of the electronic device.

Further, the frame may include a data frame responsive to a trigger frame associated with the second electronic device.

In some implementations, the frame may include: qoS data frames, qoS null frames, management frames, or block acknowledgements.

Fig. 7 presents a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method 700 for transmitting a frame. The method may be performed by an electronic device, such as electronic device 110-1 or access point 112 in fig. 1. Note that communication with a second electronic device, such as access point 112 or electronic device 110-1 in fig. 1, may be compatible with IEEE 802.11 communication protocols.

During operation, the electronic device addresses to a second electronic device in the WLAN and transmits a frame without the MAC address of the second electronic device (operation 710).

In some embodiments, the electronic device may optionally perform one or more additional operations (operation 712), either before, during, or after operation 710.

For example, the electronic device may receive an association request associated with the second electronic device, the association request indicating that the second electronic device supports communication of frames that do not have a MAC address of the second electronic device.

Further, the electronic device is addressable to the second electronic device to provide an association response indicating that the electronic device supports communication of frames without the MAC address of the second electronic device.

Further, the frame may include a trigger frame. In some implementations, the trigger frame may include: BSR poll frames, or multi-user BAR frames.

In some embodiments of method 300 (fig. 3), method 4 (fig. 4), method 6 (fig. 6), and/or method 7, additional or fewer operations may be present. Additionally, one or more different operations may be included. Further, the order of the operations may be altered and/or two or more operations may be combined into a single operation or performed at least partially in parallel.

The communication technique is additionally illustrated in fig. 8, which presents a flow chart illustrating an example of communication between the electronic device 110-1 and the access point 112. During operation, one or more interface circuits (or interface circuits) 810 in electronic device 110-1 may be associated 812 with one or more interface circuits (or interface circuits) 814 in access point 112. In some embodiments, during association 812, at least one of the one or more interface circuits 810 may provide an association request to access point 112 indicating that electronic device 110-1 supports communication of frames without a MAC address of electronic device 110-1. Further, during association 812, at least one of the one or more interface circuits (or interface circuits) 814 may provide an association response indicating that access point 112 supports communication of frames without the MAC address of electronic device 110-1.

One of the one or more interface circuits 810 may then address one of the one or more interface circuits 814 to transmit a frame 816 without the MAC address of the electronic device 110-1 and/or without the MAC address of the access point 112.

Although the communication between the components in fig. 5 and 8 is shown as one-way communication or two-way communication (e.g., lines with single or double arrows), a given communication operation may generally be one-way or two-way.

In some embodiments, using the disclosed communication techniques, a Privacy Enhanced (PE) electronic device may be able to change an AID value of an associated privacy enhanced station. As previously mentioned, the AID may have only 11 bits to identify the station. Since the calculation rule for the new AID value may not be possible (e.g., since it may occupy too much space in the frame and/or may consume too much resources), the access point may need to assign the new AID value to the associated station. For example, the access point may change the AID value of the station when the station is associated with the access point. In some implementations, the access point may provide a new AID, for example, every 10 minutes, or may provide a set of AIDs for subsequent use, and may switch the current AID on the set, for example, every 10 minutes.

Alternatively or in addition, the AID values may be obfuscated. For example, an offset of a constant BSS range may be added to the AID value to confuse the AID value. The obfuscated AID value may protect the privacy of the associated station from eavesdroppers. Furthermore, the aliased AID value may change frequently (e.g., once per beacon interval, such as once every 100ms, or once per PPDU), which may complicate station tracking.

In some embodiments, the station MAC header may be removed from MPDUs transmitted in the triggered reservation unit or in the downlink MU PPDU. Instead, an access point MAC address and AID (such as a confusing AID) may be used. Note that station privacy may be improved if the associated station is identified by AID in the following: a trigger frame, wherein the transmitter address and AID identify the transmitter and receiver; MU PPDUs, wherein BSS color and AID identify the transmitter and receiver; and multi-station block acknowledgements, wherein the transmitter address and AID identify the transmitter and receiver. Although access point MAC addresses may be removed, this may result in more collisions.

Further, as shown in fig. 9, which presents a flowchart showing an example of a method for privacy enhancement, the AID value may have two randomization levels. Notably, in one level, the AID value may be changed as part of the MAC address set change process. For example, the AID value may be assigned by the access point. In some implementations, the access point can signal the AID value for multiple address randomization times at once or simultaneously. Alternatively or in addition, the AID values may be rotated within a set of AID values, or the access point may assign new AID values.

Further, in the second level, AID value confusion may be used. Notably, an access point or BSS specific offset may be added to the AID value transmitted over the air. The AID offset may be updated frequently. For example, the AID offset value may change every beacon period (such as every 100 ms). Alternatively or in addition, the AID offset value may change more frequently than the MAC address. This may make downlink MU PPDUs and trigger-based PPDUs more difficult to track than single user PPDUs.

Thus, the uplink and downlink sequence numbers, packet Numbers (PN), MAC address of Traffic Indication (TID) offsets, and AID changes may define AIDs corresponding to stations (e.g., once every 10 minutes). Then, BSS-specific AID offsets may be applied to obtain the current AID. The BSS-specific AID offset may change, for example, every beacon interval (such as every 100 ms).

As shown in table 1, which presents an example of an AID mapping for two stations, when the AID value changes, the access point may assign a new AID value to the associated station. The AID value may be located closely in a Traffic Indication Map (TIM) bitmap (which may indicate the AID value being used) in order to reduce the beacon frame size. Furthermore, the access point may assign AID values to multiple address changes in one signaling. For example, the access point may assign ten AID values, including the next AID value and the last nine or subsequent address-changed AID values. In some implementations, a station may rotate the AID value in the address change between the AID groups specified by the access point. Notably, if the access point does not assign a new AID value, the station may rotate the assigned AID value. The access point may ensure that it does not assign the same AID to two or more stations in the address set when the address changes.

Address set numbering	AID value of station 1	AID value of station 2
			1	12	10
2	101	14
			3	200	50
4	30	11
			5	58	101

TABLE 1：

Note that different stations may change their AID values at different times, such as when the MAC address changes. An access point may have multiple associated stations and a given associated station may change its AID value at a different time than one or more of the other associated stations. In some embodiments, the associated stations change their AID values at different times from one another. Further, as previously mentioned, the access point may track the AID value to avoid collisions. In some embodiments, adjacent AID values in a set or group of AID values may be unique among associated stations such that a new AID value or a previous AID value does not conflict with the AID values of other stations. This may ensure that the previous AID value in the frame already in the buffer with the AID value changes and that the new AID value does not conflict with any other AID value in use.

Referring to fig. 2, when there are link-specific station and access point MAC addresses, the AID value may be associated with the MLD value or may be link-specific (the air MAC address may be link-specific). Notably, IEEE 802.11 may assign a single AID value for a station, and the same AID value may be used for all links in the station. Using the same AID value may enable tracking of stations in multiple links, e.g., an attacker may detect the link in which a station operates by examining the AID value.

To solve this problem, in the disclosed communication technique, the AID value may be: on the MLD level, for example, the station MLD may have a single AID value used in all links; or at the link level, for example, each link may have a separate AID value. IEEE 802.11bi has proposed link-specific air MAC address changes, so link-specific AID values can be changed simultaneously with MAC addresses. Note that if addresses in all links change at the same time, the MLD-specific AID value may change. Alternatively, an MLD-specific AID value change may be performed when the MAC address on the link is changed, for example, the AID value may be changed when the address of the link 2 is changed. Further, the AID offset may be link-specific or MLD-specific. For example, if a link identifier is included in the calculation formula, the AID offset may be link-specific. Table 2 presents examples of AIDs and AID offsets.

TABLE 2：

Note that an access point may have one or more legacy association stations. A given legacy station may have only a single AID value for all links.

Thus, the AID values and AID confusion may be link-specific, in which case the number of AIDs per station MLD may be equal to the number of links. Alternatively, the AID value may be MLD-specific and the AID confusion may be link-specific, in which case the number of AIDs per station MLD may be one (it may be per link confusion). Further, the AID value and AID confusion may be MLD specific, in which case the number of AIDs per station MLD may be one.

Further, fig. 10 presents a diagram illustrating an example of AID confusion. As shown in table 3, which presents an example of AID values and their use, in AID confusion, the minimum AID value may signal the availability of buffered framing in a beacon frame. The number of bits used for buffered framing availability signaling may depend on the multi-BSSID and access point MLD topologies. In addition, individual station AID values may be used by legacy stations and non-confusing privacy enhancing stations. These AID values may not be confused. Note that the first 10 bits (1024 values) may be assigned to each station AID. Further, bit 11 may be used to indicate whether the AID is obfuscated, and bit 12 may be an additional bit in the trigger frame. In some embodiments, an AID value between 0-47 may be used for buffered group data frame signaling in a beacon frame, an AID value between 48-1023 may be used for individual station AID assignments, an AID value between 1024-2007 may be a confusing AID value (such as a BSS-wide offset or constant value that is added or padded to a station-specific AID value), an AID value between 2008-2047 may be a special reserved value, and an AID value between 2047-4095 may be an additional value for a trigger frame.

AID value	Using
		0-47	Buffered group data frame signaling in beacons
48-1023	Individual station AID assignment
		1 024-2007	Confused AID value
2008-2047	Special reserved value
		2048-4095	Additional value of trigger frame

TABLE 3 Table 3：

As previously mentioned, the obfuscated AID may improve station privacy. Furthermore, the aliased AID may be used in the TIM element of the trigger frame, MU PPDU, multi-station block acknowledgement, and/or beacon frame. Note that the beacon frame may include a non-confusing AID value in the TIM element in order to shorten the beacon frame size.

In addition, the AID offset calculation may be

AID Offset

＝truncate ₁₀ (HMAC-SHA-1-128·(Beacon Serial Number，Link Identifier，AID Obfuscation，SALT _BSS ，SALT _PPDU ) Where the beacon sequence number is the sequence number of the current beacon frame (e.g., a value between 0 and 4095, and the beacon sequence number is incremented at each target beacon transmission time or TBTT such as 102.4 transmission units or TUs), the link identifier is the identifier of the link (e.g., a value between 0 and 14), the AID confusion is text padding，SALT _BSS Is a value assigned by the access point (e.g., 0 and 2 ³² Values between), and SALT _PPDU Is a value defined in the frame (e.g., 0 and 2 ¹⁶ Values in between). Note that special AID value 2042 may be assigned to indicate that the reservation unit assignment information includes SALT _PPDU Values. The AID value may be transmitted as a first reservation unit assignment to maximize the time for the receiver to acquire the value. The AID offset per beacon period may depend on the TBTT value (or TBTT number) and BSS-specific SALT _BSS The values or a function of these values, and the AID offset per PPDU may depend on the PPDU-specific SALT _PPDU Value and BSS specific SALT _BSS Values or a function of these values. Generally, SALT values may include values that make AID offsets more random.

More generally, the AID offset duration per beacon period may include: TBTT value (TBTT number) and BSS-specific SALT _BSS Values. Alternatively or in addition, the AID offset duration per PPDU may include: SALT specific to PPDU _PPDU Value and BSS specific SALT _BSS Values.

Referring to fig. 10, when the access point transmits an aliased AID value, bit 11 (R) may be set to a value of "1". In addition, the lowest 10 bits may be set to (AID _STA +AID _{Offset of} ) Modulo (983), where modulo 983 may be calculated by 2007 (unicast maximum AID value) -210 (1024). Note that 983 may be the maximum number of stations in the access point that may have aliased AIDs. In addition, the station receiving the AID value may check the value of bit 11 (R). If the value is "0", the station may check whether the 10 least significant bits match the AID _STA Values. Alternatively, if the value is "1", the station may check the AID _{Reception of} -AID _{Offset of} Whether or not to match AID _STA Values.

An implementation of removing the MAC address header in the assigned reservation unit will now be discussed. Table 4 presents examples of privacy improvements for different addressing types in a frame. When the addressing type includes only the access point MAC address and the station is identified by the AID, each transmitted MPDU and MAC Management Protocol Data Unit (MMPDU) may include the access point MAC address and the AID may identify the station. Thus, the station MAC address may not be sent over the air. The AID value may be confused/changed more frequently than the MAC address, which may improve the privacy of the station. Alternatively, when the addressing type includes access point and station MAC addresses, each MPDU and MMPDU may include a randomized station and access point identifier. Access point and station MAC address changes may define privacy levels for stations and access points. Note that there may be more collisions when both station and access point MAC addresses are removed.

TABLE 4 Table 4：

Furthermore, the privacy of stations and access points may depend on the frequency of MAC address changes. The access point and station MAC addresses may be changed in each transmitted PPDU by using the SALT value in the MAC address header. In some embodiments, MAC address randomization may not be performed as frequently as AID randomization. In these embodiments, station privacy may be implemented by identifying stations using only randomized AID values. Note that the access point MAC address may be present in the trigger frame and/or the downlink MU PPDU to identify the transmitter of the frame. In addition, in some embodiments, the access point and station MAC addresses may be completely removed from the trigger frame and/or the downlink MU PPDU.

Further, as shown in fig. 11, which presents a diagram illustrating an example of communication between the electronic devices of fig. 1 or 2, the AID value in the trigger frame may identify the associated stations that are allowed to transmit in the assigned reservation unit. Note that the AID value of the trigger station and the Transmitter Address (TA) in the trigger frame may identify the transmitter and the transponder.

To improve station privacy, stations that respond to trigger frames may typically include MAC addresses. Alternatively, the station may rewrite the transmitter address field of the MAC header of the high efficiency trigger-based PPDU. Note that both MAC addresses may be rewritten, or only station MAC addresses may be rewritten. The overwriting may use, for example, a value of "0" or a value specified in the IEEE 802.11bi specification that is easily recognized by the trigger device. In some embodiments, the station may not include a MAC address field in a MAC header of MPDUs transmitted in the efficient trigger-based PPDU, which may reduce transmission overhead.

For example, a trigger frame from an access point may include an access point MAC address, an AID for a station, and one or more reservation units for each trigger station. The trigger station may not transmit the MAC header of MPDUs based on the efficiently triggered PPDUs. The access point may send a multi-station block acknowledgement to the broadcast address. The transmitter address may identify the access point and the AID may identify the station that obtained or received the block acknowledgement bitmap. Note that the aliased AID values may be used in trigger frames and multi-station block acknowledgements. Further, the access point block acknowledgement may include the access point MAC address, the broadcast MAC address, and the AID of the station.

Fig. 12A and 12B present illustrations of examples of data frames in an infrastructure mode and privacy enhanced data frames during communication between the electronic devices in fig. 1 or 2. In privacy-enhanced data frames, the MPDU header may exclude an address field (e.g., the MPDU header may include 6 octets) and may include encrypted primary content. Notably, address 1, 2, and 3 fields may exist in the infrastructure mode. The transmitter may encrypt the data frame in a similar manner as when the MAC header is present. In addition, the transmitter may apply the MLD MAC address in frame encryption, e.g., as specified in the IEEE 802.11be specification. Further, the receiver may determine a transmitter address and a Receiver Address (RA) of the received MU PPDU by using the BSS color field and the AID.

Note that the trigger station may assume that the trigger station has applied the transmitter address and the receiver address in the triggered PPDU. Notably, the receiver may decrypt the frame by assuming that the frame contains a complete set of addresses. The transmitter address and the receiver address of the MAC header may be set to a certain address or an MLD address as described in IEEE 802.11 be.

In addition, the transmitter may include an encrypted a-MAC Service Data Unit (MSDU) header in the frame payload. The a-MSDU header may include a Source Address (SA) and a Destination Address (DA) field. The source address and destination address may be required for final destination detection and so as to be able to respond to the source of the frame. Note that the encrypted a-MSDU header may be transmitted in the payload.

Fig. 13 presents an illustration of an example of a management frame format. Further, fig. 14 presents an illustration of an example of a frame control field format in the S1G PPDU when the type subfield is equal to "0" or "2". Further, table 5 presents an example of a new PPDU type. Notably, there may be new PPDU types without address fields, including QoS data frames without addresses, qoS null frames without addresses, management frames without addresses, and block acknowledgements without addresses. The PPDU types that may carry these MPDUs may include efficient trigger-based PPDUs and/or MU PPDUs.

TABLE 5：

The type and subtype subfields of the frame control subfield of the MAC header field may identify whether the MPDU includes an address field. Data type "10" may have only one currently available data subtype value, so QoS null may use subtype "1101" and may include an encrypted a-control field in the payload. Otherwise, the currently reserved subtype value may be an identifier. Further, the receiver may use the type field and subtype field values to determine whether the MAC header contains an address field. For example, data type "10" with subtype "0111" may specify a QoS null frame without an address, data type "00" with subtype "1111" may specify a management frame without an address, and data type "01" with subtype "1111" may specify a block acknowledgment without an address.

Fig. 15 presents a flow chart of a method for operating a station when a trigger frame is received. Further, table 6 presents an example of trigger frame variants. Notably, the buffer status report poll trigger may seek QoS null frames with a Buffer Status Report (BSR) a-control field when frames are used that do not have addresses with different trigger variants. QoS null frames without address fields may carry buffer status reports for the access point and trigger station. Alternatively, the QoS null frame address field may be punctured (e.g., set to 0 or a special value). Note that a multi-user Block Acknowledgement Request (BAR) trigger frame may seek block acknowledgements. The block acknowledgment frame may not include an address. Alternatively, the block acknowledgement frame address file may be punctured, e.g., set to 0 or a special value. A multi-station block acknowledgement may be used because the multi-station block acknowledgement includes AID. Further, the trigger frame may result in a QoS data frame, qoS null frame, or management frame that is included in the efficient PPDU and does not include an address field.

TABLE 6：

For example, when a station receives a trigger frame, the trigger frame may include the station AID or may include an AID that matches an AID corresponding to the station. If the station and the access point support no address in the MAC header, the station may remove the MAC address from the MAC header. The station may then transmit an efficient trigger-based PPDU in the assigned reservation unit. Next, the station may receive a multi-station block acknowledgement including the same AID as the trigger frame.

In some embodiments, the downlink MU PPDU transmission may not use an address field. Notably, table 7 presents an example of MU PPDUs and multi-station block acknowledgements sought with trigger-response scheduling (TRS), and an illustration of an example of a multi-station block acknowledgement frame format. For example, an AID value in the MU-PPDU frame may identify the station to which the reservation unit has been assigned. If the station and access point are able to use the obfuscated AID values, the AID values may be obfuscated. Further, the access point may include its MAC address in the MPDU, but may remove or set the station MAC address to, for example, zero. The access point may use the TRS a-control field in the MAC header of the MPDU to assign a reservation unit for the block acknowledgement transmission. To hide the MAC address, the station may respond with a multi-station block acknowledgement without address fields (such as receiver address and transmitter address) in the reserved units assigned by the trigger response schedule a-control field. Alternatively, the station may overwrite the address field in the block acknowledgment frame. Note that the AID field in a multi-station block acknowledgement may indicate the transmitter (or station) of the block acknowledgement frame.

TABLE 7：

In a downlink MU PPDU, if an MPDU in a reservation unit (such as in a channel in a frequency band) does not contain a MAC address (e.g., for reservation unit 1), the station may decrypt at least one MPDU before it sends a block acknowledgement to ensure that the station is a receiver. Alternatively, if the MPDU in the reservation unit contains a MAC address (e.g., for reservation unit 4), the station may ensure that it is the receiver of the frame by checking the MAC address.

In some embodiments, the MU PPDU preamble may include a BSS color value (e.g., between 0 and 63). Each access point may attempt to select a unique BSS color value, but the BSS color values may conflict. The transmitter and receiver detection of the MU PPDU may be based at least in part on the BSS color and AID values. Further, the MAC header of the MPDU may be used by the receiver to detect if it should receive the frame. If the MPDU MAC header does not contain an address, the station may receive a frame with matching AID and BSS color values and may stop receiving the reservation unit when decryption of the received MPDU fails. Further, if the access point detects a BSS strike, the access point may signal the BSS strike, e.g., multiple access points may be using the same BSS color value. This signals to the station that BSS color values may conflict. In addition, an access point may transmit a Clear To Send (CTS) to itself or a multi-user Request To Send (RTS)/CTS frame to signal that the access point is a transmitter. If the associated access point is not a transmitter of a CTS frame, the station may immediately cease transmission opportunity (TXOP) reception.

Table 8 presents an example of MU and trigger-based PPDU privacy capability fields, and fig. 17 presents a diagram of communications between the electronic devices of fig. 1 or fig. 2. Notably, table 8 and fig. 17 illustrate capability signaling in multi-user and trigger-based PPDUs, such as in multi-user and trigger-based PPDU privacy and capability fields. The multi-user and trigger-based PPDU privacy and capability fields of the station may be communicated from the station to the access point in the association request frame, and the multi-user and trigger-based PPDU privacy and capability fields of the access point may be communicated from the access point to the station in the association response frame. Thus, association signaling may be used to signal access points and station capabilities for AID confusion and without MAC addresses. Note that the capability may be signaled at the MLD level, e.g., all links may have the same capability value.

TABLE 8：

Further, the support for no address in the high efficiency trigger-based PPDU field may be set to "1" when the station supports no address in the high efficiency trigger-based PPDU, and may be set to "0" otherwise. This field, when transmitted by the non-access point MLD, may indicate that stations in all links are able to transmit an efficient trigger-based PPDU that includes MPDUs without an address field. Further, when transmitted by the access point MLD, this field may indicate that the access point in all links is able to receive an efficient trigger-based PPDU that includes MPDUs without an address field.

Note that the support for unaddressed in the MU PPDU Transmitter (TX) field may be set to "1" when the station supports transmission of MU PPDUs including MPDUs without an address field, and may be set to "0" otherwise. In addition, the support for the unaddressed in the MU PPDU Receiver (RX) field may be set to "1" when the station supports the reception of the MU PPDU including MPDUs without the address field, and may be set to "0" otherwise. Support for the aliased AID field may be set to "1" when the station supports transmission and reception of aliased AID values.

It should be noted that the format of a packet or frame transmitted during a communication technique may include more or fewer bits, subfields, or fields. Alternatively or in addition, the location of the information in these packets or frames may be changed. Thus, the order of subfields or fields may be changed.

While the foregoing embodiments illustrate embodiments of communication techniques using sub-bands, in other embodiments, the communication techniques may involve the simultaneous use of different time slots, and/or combinations of different sub-bands, different frequency bands, and/or different time slots. In some embodiments, these communication techniques may use OFDMA.

Furthermore, while the foregoing embodiments illustrate the use of Wi-Fi during communication techniques, in other embodiments of these communication techniques, bluetooth or bluetooth low energy is used to transfer at least a portion of the information in these communication techniques. Further, information communicated in the communication technology may be communicated in one or more frequency bands, including: 900MHz, 2.4GHz band, 5GHz band, 6GHz band, 60GHz band, citizen broadband radio component services (CBRS) band, frequency bands used by LTE or other data communication protocols, and the like.

As described above, aspects of the present technology may include collecting and using data available from various sources, for example, to improve or enhance functionality. The present disclosure contemplates that in some examples, such collected data may include personal information data that uniquely identifies or may be used to contact or locate a particular person. Such personal information data may include demographic data, location-based data, telephone numbers, email addresses, twitter IDs, home addresses, data or records related to the user's health or fitness level (e.g., vital sign measurements, medication information, exercise information), date of birth, or any other identifying information or personal information. The present disclosure recognizes that the use of such personal information data in the present technology may be used to benefit users.

The present disclosure contemplates that entities responsible for collecting, analyzing, disclosing, transmitting, storing, or otherwise using such personal information data will adhere to established privacy policies and/or privacy practices. In particular, such entities should exercise and adhere to privacy policies and practices that are recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining the privacy and security of personal information data. Such policies should be readily accessible to the user and should be updated as the collection and/or use of the data changes. Personal information from users should be collected for legal and reasonable use by entities and not shared or sold outside of these legal uses. Furthermore, such collection/sharing should only be after receiving user informed consent. In addition, such entities should consider taking any necessary steps to defend and secure access to such personal information data and to ensure that others who have access to personal information data adhere to their privacy policies and procedures. In addition, such entities may subject themselves to third party evaluations to prove compliance with widely accepted privacy policies and practices. In addition, policies and practices should be adjusted to collect and/or access specific types of personal information data and to suit applicable laws and standards including specific considerations of jurisdiction. For example, in the united states, the collection or acquisition of certain health data may be governed by federal and/or state law, such as the health insurance transfer and liability act (HIPAA); while health data in other countries may be subject to other regulations and policies and should be processed accordingly. Thus, different privacy practices should be maintained for different personal data types in each country.

In spite of the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplates embodiments in which a user selectively prevents use or access to personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplates that hardware elements and/or software elements may be provided to prevent or block access to such personal information data. For example, the present technology may be configured to allow a user to selectively participate in "opt-in" or "opt-out" of collecting personal information data during, for example, registration with a service or at any time thereafter. In addition to providing the "opt-in" and "opt-out" options, the present disclosure also contemplates providing notifications related to accessing or using personal information. For example, the user may be notified that his personal information data will be accessed when the application is downloaded, and then be reminded again just before the personal information data is accessed by the application.

Further, it is an object of the present disclosure that personal information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized access or use. Once the data is no longer needed, risk can be minimized by limiting the data collection and deleting the data. In addition, and when applicable, included in certain health-related applications, the data de-identification may be used to protect the privacy of the user. De-identification may be facilitated by removing specific identifiers (e.g., date of birth, etc.), controlling the amount or specificity of stored data (e.g., collecting location data at a city level instead of at an address level), controlling how data is stored (e.g., aggregating data among users), and/or other methods, as appropriate.

Thus, while the present disclosure may broadly cover the use of personal information data to implement one or more of the various disclosed embodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that the various embodiments may be implemented without accessing such personal information data. That is, various embodiments of the present technology do not fail to function properly due to the lack of all or a portion of such personal information data.

Embodiments of the electronic device will now be described. Fig. 18 presents a block diagram of an electronic device 1800 (the electronic device 1800 may be a cellular telephone, a smartwatch, an access point, a wireless speaker, an IoT device, another electronic device, etc.), in accordance with some embodiments. The electronic device includes a processing subsystem 1810, a memory subsystem 1812, and a networking subsystem 1814. The processing subsystem 1810 includes one or more devices configured to perform computing operations. For example, processing subsystem 1810 may include one or more microprocessors, application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), microcontrollers, graphics Processing Units (GPUs), programmable logic devices, and/or one or more Digital Signal Processors (DSPs).

The memory subsystem 1812 includes one or more devices used to store data and/or instructions for the processing subsystem 1810 and/or the networking subsystem 1814. For example, the memory subsystem 1812 may include Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), static Random Access Memory (SRAM), read Only Memory (ROM), flash memory, and/or other types of memory. In some implementations, the instructions for the processing subsystem 1810 in the memory subsystem 1812 include: program instructions or a set of instructions (such as program instructions 1822 or operating system 1824) that may be executed by the processing subsystem 1810. For example, the ROM may store programs, utilities or processes to be executed in a non-volatile manner, and the DRAM may provide volatile data storage and may store instructions related to the operation of the electronic device 1800. Note that the one or more computer programs may constitute a computer program mechanism, a computer readable storage medium, or software. In addition, instructions in the various modules in memory subsystem 1812 may be implemented in the following languages: high-level procedural, object-oriented programming, and/or assembly or machine language. Furthermore, the programming language may be compiled or interpreted, e.g., configurable or configured (both used interchangeably throughout this discussion) to be executed by the processing subsystem 1810. In some embodiments, one or more computer programs are distributed over network-coupled computer systems such that the one or more computer programs are stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

Further, the memory subsystem 1812 may include mechanisms for controlling access to memory. In some implementations, the memory subsystem 1812 includes a memory hierarchy including one or more caches coupled to memory in the electronic device 1800. In some of these embodiments, one or more of the caches are located in the processing subsystem 1810.

In some implementations, the memory subsystem 1812 is coupled to one or more high-capacity mass storage devices (not shown). For example, the memory subsystem 1812 may be coupled to a magnetic or optical disk drive, a solid state drive, or another type of mass storage device. In these embodiments, the memory subsystem 1812 may be used by the electronic device 1800 as a fast access storage for frequently used data, while the mass storage device is used to store less frequently used data.

The networking subsystem 1814 includes one or more devices configured to couple to and communicate (i.e., perform network operations) over wired and/or wireless networks, such as: control logic 1816, one or more interface circuits (or interface circuits) 1818, and a set of antennas 1820 (or antenna elements) in an adaptive array that can be selectively turned on and/or off by control logic 1816 to produce a variety of selectable antenna patterns or "beam patterns". Alternatively, instead of the set of antennas, in some embodiments, the electronic device 1800 includes one or more nodes 1808, e.g., pads or connectors, that can be coupled to the set of antennas 1820. Thus, the electronic device 1800 may or may not include the set of antennas 1820. For example, the networking subsystem 1814 may include Bluetooth ^TM Networking systems, cellular networking systems (e.g., 3G/4G/5G networks such as UMTS, LTE, etc.), universal Serial Bus (USB) networking systems, networking systems based on the standards described in IEEE 802.12 (e.g.,networking system), an ethernet networking system, and/or another networking system.

In some embodiments, the networking subsystem 1814 includes one or more radios, such as a wake-up radio for receiving wake-up frames and wake-up beacons, and a primary radio for transmitting and/or receiving frames or packets during a normal mode of operation. The wake-up radio and the primary radio may be implemented separately (such as using discrete components or separate integrated circuits) or in a common integrated circuit.

The networking subsystem 1814 includes processors, controllers, radios/antennas, jacks/plugs, and/or other devices for coupling to, communicating over, and processing data and events of each supported networking system. Note that mechanisms for coupling to, communicating over, and processing data and events on the network of each network system are sometimes collectively referred to as a 'network interface' for that network system. Furthermore, in some embodiments, a 'network' or 'connection' between electronic devices does not yet exist. Thus, the electronic device 1800 may employ mechanisms within the networking subsystem 1814 for performing simple wireless communications between electronic devices, such as transmitting one or more advertisement frames and/or scanning for advertisement frames transmitted by other electronic devices.

Within the electronic device 1800, the processing subsystem 1810, the memory subsystem 1812, and the networking subsystem 1814 are coupled together using the bus 1828, with the bus 1828 facilitating data transfer between these components. Bus 1828 may include electrical, optical, and/or optoelectronic connections that the subsystems may use to communicate commands and data between each other. Although only one bus 1828 is shown for clarity, different embodiments may include different numbers or configurations of electrical, optical, and/or optoelectronic connections between subsystems.

In some embodiments, the electronic device 1800 includes a display subsystem 1826 for displaying information on a display, which may include a display driver and a display, such as a liquid crystal display, a multi-touch screen, or the like. The display subsystem 1826 may be controlled by the processing subsystem 1810 to display information (e.g., information related to incoming, outgoing, or active communication sessions) to a user.

In addition, the electronic device 1800 may also include a user input subsystem 1830 that allows a user of the electronic device 1800 to interact with the electronic device 1800. For example, user input subsystem 1830 may take a variety of forms, such as: buttons, keypads, dials, touch screens, audio input interfaces, visual/image capture input interfaces, inputs in the form of sensor data, and the like.

The electronic device 1800 may be (or be included in) any electronic device having at least one network interface. For example, the electronic device 1800 may include: cellular or smart phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, notebook computers, personal or desktop computers, netbook computers, mediaVolume player device, wireless speaker, ioT device, electronic book device,Devices, smart watches, wearable computing devices, portable computing devices, consumer electronics devices, vehicles, doors, windows, portals, access points, routers, switches, communicators, testing apparatus, and any other type of electronic computing device having wireless communications capabilities that may include communications via one or more wireless communications protocols.

Although specific components are used to describe electronic device 1800, in alternative embodiments, different components and/or subsystems may be present in electronic device 1800. For example, the electronic device 1800 may include one or more additional processing subsystems, memory subsystems, networking subsystems, and/or display subsystems. In addition, one or more of the subsystems may not be present in the electronic device 1800. Further, in some embodiments, the electronic device 1800 may include one or more additional subsystems not shown in fig. 18. In some embodiments, the electronic device may include an analysis subsystem that performs at least some of the operations in the communication technology. Moreover, although separate subsystems are shown in fig. 18, in some embodiments, some or all of a given subsystem or component may be integrated into one or more of the other subsystems or components in the electronic device 1800. For example, in some embodiments, program instructions 1822 are included in operating system 1824 and/or control logic 1816 is included in one or more interface circuits 1818.

Further, the circuitry and components in the electronic device 1800 may be implemented with any combination of analog and/or digital circuitry, including: bipolar, PMOS and/or NMOS gates or transistors. Further, the signals in these embodiments may include digital signals having approximately discrete values and/or analog signals having continuous values. In addition, the components and circuits may be single ended or differential, and the power source may be unipolar or bipolar.

The integrated circuit may implement some or all of the functionality of the networking subsystem 1814. The integrated circuit may include hardware mechanisms and/or software mechanisms for transmitting wireless signals from the electronic device 1800 and receiving signals from other electronic devices at the electronic device 1800. Other than the mechanisms described herein, radio components are well known in the art and thus are not described in detail. In general, the networking subsystem 1814 and/or integrated circuits may include any number of radio components. It is noted that the radios in the multiple radio embodiments function in a manner similar to the single radio embodiment.

In some embodiments, the networking subsystem 1814 and/or integrated circuit includes a configuration mechanism (such as one or more hardware mechanisms and/or software mechanisms) that configures the radio to transmit and/or receive on a given communication channel (e.g., a given carrier frequency). For example, in some embodiments, the configuration mechanism may be used to switch a radio from monitoring and/or transmitting on a given communication channel to monitoring and/or transmitting on a different communication channel. (note that 'monitoring' as used herein includes receiving signals from other electronic devices, and possibly performing one or more processing operations on the received signals.)

In some embodiments, the output of a process for designing an integrated circuit or a portion of an integrated circuit that includes one or more of the circuits described herein may be a computer readable medium such as, for example, magnetic tape or optical or magnetic disk. The computer-readable medium may be encoded with data structures or other information describing a circuit that may be physically instantiated as an integrated circuit or as part of an integrated circuit. Although various formats may be used for such encoding, these data structures are typically written in the following format: caltech Intermediate Format (CIF), calma GDS II data stream format (GDSII), electronic Design Interchange Format (EDIF), open Access (OA), or Open Artwork System Interchange Standard (OASIS). Such data structures may be developed by those skilled in the art of integrated circuit design from the above detailed description of the types of schematic diagrams and corresponding descriptions, and encoded on computer-readable media. Those skilled in the art of integrated circuit fabrication may use such encoded data to fabricate integrated circuits including one or more of the circuits described herein.

While the foregoing discussion uses Wi-Fi communication protocols as an illustrative example, in other embodiments, a wide variety of communication protocols may be used, and more generally, wireless communication techniques may be used. Thus, communication techniques may be used in a variety of network interfaces. Further, while some of the operations in the foregoing embodiments are implemented in hardware or software, in general, the operations in the foregoing embodiments may be implemented in a wide variety of configurations and architectures. Thus, some or all of the operations in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in hardware, software, or in both hardware and software. For example, at least some of the operations in the communication technology may be implemented using program instructions 1822, operating system 1824 (such as drivers for interface circuitry in networking subsystem 1814), or in firmware in interface circuitry in networking subsystem 1814. Alternatively or in addition, at least some of the operations in the communication technology may be implemented in a physical layer, such as interface circuitry or hardware in interface circuitry in networking subsystem 1814. In some implementations, the communication techniques are implemented at least in part in the MAC layer and/or physical layer in the interface circuitry in the networking subsystem 1814.

It is noted that in one or more embodiments, use of the phrase "capable," "operable," or "configured to" refers to designing some device, logic, hardware, and/or element such that the device, logic, hardware, and/or element can be used in a specified manner.

Although examples of values are provided in the foregoing discussion, different values are used in other embodiments. Accordingly, the numerical values provided are not intended to be limiting.

Furthermore, while the foregoing embodiments illustrate the use of wireless signals in one or more frequency bands, in other embodiments of the communication technology, electromagnetic signals in one or more different frequency bands are used. For example, the signals may be transmitted in one or more frequency bands, including: microwave frequency band, radar frequency band, 900MHz, 2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz, 60GHz, and/or frequency bands used by civilian broadband radio service or LTE.

In the foregoing description, "some embodiments" are mentioned. It is noted that 'some embodiments' describe a subset of all possible embodiments, but the same subset of embodiments is not always specified.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the disclosure, and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements. Furthermore, the foregoing descriptions of embodiments of the present disclosure have been presented for purposes of illustration and description only. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the forms disclosed. Thus, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In addition, the foregoing discussion of embodiments is not intended to limit the present disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising:

an antenna node configured to be communicatively coupled to an antenna; and

an interface circuit communicatively coupled to the antenna node, wherein the interface circuit is configured to:

associated with a second electronic device in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), wherein when being associated with the second electronic device, the interface circuit is configured to receive an Association Identifier (AID) corresponding to the electronic device from the second electronic device for use in communicating frames in the WLAN; and

when having associated with the second electronic device, a second AID corresponding to the electronic device is obtained for use in communicating a second frame in the WLAN, wherein the associating includes replacing the AID with the second AID.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the second electronic device comprises an access point.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the second AID is obtained a predetermined or predefined time interval after receiving the AID.

4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the predefined set of AIDs is received from the second electronic device while being associated with the second electronic device.

5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the interface circuit is configured to obfuscate a current AID used by the electronic device in communicating the frame or the second frame; and

wherein the current AID includes the AID or the second AID.

6. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the obfuscation is performed by adding a value associated with the second electronic device to the current AID.

7. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the value varies according to a second time interval.

8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the second time interval comprises a beacon interval of the second electronic device.

9. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the frame or the second frame indicates that the current AID is obfuscated.

10. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the electronic device comprises a non-access point multi-link device (MLD), and the current AID is for a plurality of links in the WLAN.

11. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the confusion is MLD-specific.

12. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the current AID is for only one link in the WLAN.

13. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein obtaining the second AID comprises: selecting the second AID from a predefined set of AIDs; or receiving the second AID from the second electronic device.

14. A method for obtaining a second Association Identifier (AID) corresponding to an electronic device, comprising:

the electronic equipment comprises:

associated with a second electronic device in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), wherein the electronic device receives an AID corresponding to the electronic device from the second electronic device for use in communicating frames in the WLAN while being associated with the second electronic device; and

when having associated with the second electronic device, obtaining the second AID corresponding to the electronic device for use in communicating a second frame in the WLAN, wherein the associating includes replacing the AID with the second AID.

15. An electronic device, comprising:

an antenna node configured to be communicatively coupled to an antenna; and

associated with a second electronic device in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), wherein when being associated with the second electronic device, the interface circuit is configured to address the second electronic device to provide an Association Identifier (AID) corresponding to the second electronic device for use in communicating frames in the WLAN; and

When already associated with the second electronic device, addressing the second electronic device and providing a second AID corresponding to the second electronic device for use in communicating a second frame in the WLAN, wherein the associating includes replacing the AID with the second AID.

16. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the electronic device comprises an access point.

17. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the second AID is provided a predetermined or predefined time interval after the AID is provided.

18. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein providing the AID comprises providing a predefined set of AIDs.

19. The electronic device of claim 18, wherein adjacent AIDs in the predefined set of AIDs are unique relative to corresponding AIDs in another predefined set of AIDs provided by the electronic device to a third electronic device associated with the electronic device.

20. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the interface circuit is configured to provide the second electronic device with information indicating a value used in obfuscating the AID or the second AID when used to convey the frame or the second frame, respectively.