EP4635253A1

EP4635253A1 - Identification of wireless devices in tdls connection

Info

Publication number: EP4635253A1
Application number: EP22968105.1A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Orhan Okan MUTGAN; Zhijie Yang; Gang Cheng; Yiming Jiang
Original assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2022-12-13
Filing date: 2022-12-13
Publication date: 2025-10-22
Also published as: CN120359807A; WO2024124392A1

Abstract

Various embodiments provide methods and apparatus for identification of wireless devices in Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) connection. In an embodiment, a method performed by a first wireless device comprises: obtaining, during a TDLS procedure between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, at least one of the following: at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device, and at least one TDLS identification information of the second wireless device.

Description

IDENTIFICATION OF WIRELESS DEVICES IN TDLS CONNECTION

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication, and more particularly, to methods and apparatuses for identification of wireless devices in Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) connection.

BACKGROUND

Random and changing MAC (RCM)
In conventional IEEE 802.11 standards, a wireless station (STA) and an access point (AP) use a fixed unencrypted Media Access Control (MAC) address in frame headers, which causes a security concern by allowing others to track the STA and the AP based on their MAC addresses. To prevent the STA and the AP from being tracked and improve the privacy of 802.11 standards, MAC address randomization became a common technique. Within this regard, IEEE 802.11bh and 802.11bi groups focus on identification of STA using Random MAC Address (RMA) without decreasing user privacy.
IEEE 802.11bh focuses on STA identification through MAC Randomization in pre-association phase, that is, the STA does not change its MAC address after the association with the AP (i.e., post-association) . On the other hand, IEEE 802.11bi will address privacy concerns as a part of its work and manage to solve the case where the STA can change its MAC address after the association.
To identify a STA with RMA, there are several proposals [22/187r2, 22/925r2, 22/895r1, 22/888r2, 22/158r3] in 802.11bh and [22/114r3] in 802.11bi. Basically, in the proposed mechanisms, the STA is assigned with device identification information (e.g. an identifier (ID) or RMA) when the STA associates with the AP (e.g. the first association) , then the STA uses the assigned device identification information (e.g. ID or RMA) in later association (s) (e.g. the second association) . FIG. 1 illustrates an existing process for identification of STA in an association procedure. As shown in FIG. 1, the STA uses a MAC address (e.g. public MAC address) in current association (e.g. the first association) . After the STA associates with the AP with the MAC address, the STA is assigned with device identification information (e.g. ID or RMA, depending on the identification method) . After the STA disconnects and associates with the same AP again in a later association, the STA uses the previously assigned (e.g. from the first association) device identification information (e.g. ID or RMA) , and therefore the STA gets identified by the AP.
Note that, the STA might be assigned multiple device identification information (e.g., multiple IDs or multiple RMAs) in one association (e.g., the first association) , and use at least one of them in later association (s) (e.g., the second association) . Herein when referring to “device identification information” , it covers single device identification information and multiple device identification information.
Assignment of the device identification information (ID or RMA) may include: i) the AP assigns ID or RMA to the STA; ii) the STA assigns ID or RMA to itself; or iii) the AP and STA generates ID or RMA at each side through a common procedure (e.g. using ID or RMA generation function) .
Tunneled direct link setup (TDLS)
The Tunneled Direct-Link Setup (TDLS) allows two STAs to establish a direct connection. To achieve that, the STAs shall be associated to the same AP. Direct connection in TDLS means that one STA (e.g. STA1) sends TDLS frames encapsulated in data frames to the AP, and the AP forwards the TDLS frames encapsulated in data frames to the other STA (e.g. STA2) . In other words, two STAs send each other TDLS frames through the AP transparently. To establish a direct link, both STAs should support TDLS. The initiating STA is called an initiator, and the other STA is called a responder.
FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling flow of a TDLS procedure. As shown in FIG. 2, firstly, both STAs, STA1 and STA2, associates with AP through a normal association setup procedure (including probe, authentication, association, 4-way handshake exchanges) . After the association, STA1 and STA2 can establish a TDLS link. Before the TDLS link can be established, STA1, as the initiator, may discover the capabilities of STA 2 which is the responder, by sending a Discovery Request to STA2. If STA2 supports TDLS, it will respond with a Discovery Response that is sent directly (not through AP) to STA1. Then STA1 sends a Setup Request to establish the TDLS link to STA2. STA2 responds with a Setup Response. Afterwards, STA1 sends a Setup Confirm to STA2. Note that the Setup Request/Response/Confirm are all sent through the AP. After the Setup Confirm, data connection can start between STA1 and STA2. If any of the two STAs wants to terminate the TDLS link, they can terminate the link by sending a Teardown message. This Teardown message can both be sent through the AP or directly to the receiving STA. Note that the Teardown message only terminates the TDLS link, not the associations between the STAs and AP. In other words, the STAs may be still associated to the AP after they teardown the TDLS link.
Note that, from the view point of AP, the AP just sees data frames coming from a STA. From the view point of STA, it sees TDLS frames coming from another STA. Also note that the TDLS frames are action frames (part of management frames) (see TDLS Action frame formats in section 9.6 in 802.11REVme_D1.3) . FIG. 3a illustrates the TDLS frame from the view point of AP. In the TDLS procedure, the AP only sees encrypted data in the data frame and just forwards the data frame to the destination STA. FIG. 3b illustrates the TDSL frame from the view point of STA. The STA can decrypt the data frame and sees the TDLS action frame (for example, TDLS Setup Request, TDLS Setup Response etc. ) . As shown, the TDLS action frame is encapsulated in Data Frames, and DA is destination address, SA is source address, and FCS is frame check sequence.
However, the above discussed RCM solutions aim at the identification of the STA by the AP and. For a TDLS link established between two STAs (e.g. STA1 and STA2) , as the AP does not share the device identification information of a STA (e.g. STA1) with another STA (e.g. STA2) , the two STAs involved in the TDLS link cannot identify each other.
Therefore, it is desirable to implement identification between two STAs in a TDLS connection.
SUMMARY
This summary is provided to introduce simplified concepts of identification of wireless devices in a TDLS connection. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.
According to a first aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a first wireless device. The first wireless device comprises at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first wireless device at least to obtain, during a Tunneled Direct Link Setup, TDLS, procedure between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, at least one of the following: at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device, and at least one TDLS identification information of the second wireless device.
According to a second aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a method performed by a first wireless device. The method comprises obtaining, during a Tunneled Direct Link Setup, TDLS, procedure between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, at least one of the following: at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device, and at least one TDLS identification information of the second wireless device.
According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first wireless device. The first wireless device comprises means for performing steps of any method according to the second aspect.
According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, it is provided a computer readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform any method according to the second aspect.
According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, it is provided a computer program product comprising program instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform any method according to the second aspect.
It is to be understood that the summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating identification of STA by AP in an association procedure.;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a signaling flow of a TDLS procedure;
FIG. 3a is a diagram illustrating TDLS frame from the view point of AP;
FIG. 3b is a diagram illustrating TDLS frame from the view point of STA;
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating no identification happens between STAs in a TDLS procedure;
FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary scenario where two STAs in TDLS connection cannot identify each other;
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a process of identification between two STAs in TDSL connection according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG. 7 is a flow chart depicting a method performed by a first wireless device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG. 8a-8f illustrate several ways to obtain TDLS identification information of the first wireless device and the second wireless device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG. 9 illustrates existing TDLS action frames as defined in 802.11REVme_D1.3;
FIG. 10 illustrates a format of TDLS identification information element (TIIE) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary scenario in which TDLS connection cannot be established due to STA2 changing MAC address in the second association;
FIG. 12a, FIG. 12b and FIG. 12c illustrates exemplary TDLS frames used in a discovery process according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary scenario in which some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;
FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary scenario in which some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented; and
FIG. 15 shows a simplified block diagram of an apparatus according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some example embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments are shown. Indeed, the example embodiments may take many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.
In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.
References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment” , “an embodiment” , “an example embodiment” , and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an example embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.
It shall be understood that although the terms “first” and “second” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a” , “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprise” , “comprising” , “have” , “having” , “include” and/or “including” , when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/or combinations thereof.
As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:
(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry) and
(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable) :
(i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit (s) with software/firmware and
(ii) any portions of hardware processor (s) with software (including digital signal processor (s) ) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and
(c) hardware circuit (s) and or processor (s) , such as a microprocessor (s) or a portion of a microprocessor (s) , that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.
This definition of “circuitry” applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term “circuitry” also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term “circuitry” also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.
As used herein, the term “wireless network” refers to a Wi-Fi network following any suitable communication standards, such as 802.11 standards. Furthermore, the communications between a wireless device (e.g. a wireless station (STA) , or an access point (AP) ) and another wireless device (e.g. an access point (AP) , or a wireless station (STA) ) in the wireless network may be performed according to any suitable Wi-Fi communication protocols. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.
As used herein, the term “wireless device” refers to any device that can wirelessly communicate with another device over a wireless network. By way of example and not limitation, the wireless device may refer to a wireless station, or other suitable devices. The wireless device may include, but not limited to, a user equipment (UE) (such as mobile phone, smart phone, tablet, wearable device, etc. ) , electric appliances with wireless capability, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, vehicle-mounted wireless device, etc.
As used herein, the term “access device” refers to a device in a wireless network via which a wireless device accesses to the wireless network. The access device may refer to an access point (AP) .
As mentioned above, currently the STAs in the TDLS connection cannot identify each other because they have no device identification information of the peer STA. FIG. 4 illustrates no identification happens between STAs in a TDLS procedure. As shown in FIG. 4, at (1) , STA1 and STA2 start an association setup procedure (including probe, authentication, association, 4-way handshake exchanges) with the AP, and each of STA1 and STA2 is assigned with unique device identification information (ID or RMA) . Both STA1 and STA2 will use the assigned device identification information in later association (s) . After associating with the AP, STA1 and STA1 establish a TDLS connection and communicate with each other at (2) , where STA1 acts as the initiator, and STA2 acts as the responder. After a while, STA1 and STA2 terminate the TDLS connection at (3) , and then disconnect from the AP at (4) . Later, STA1 and STA2 associate with the AP again at (5) . At this association, STA1 uses its own assigned (from the previous association) device identification information (ID or RMA) , and STA2 uses its own assigned (from previous association) device identification information (ID or RMA) . Since the AP knows STA1’s and STA2’s device identification information, the AP can identify STA1 and STA2 without any problem. Then STA1 establishes a TDLS connection with STA2 again at (6) . In this TDLS procedure, since STA2 does not know STA1’s device identification information, STA2 cannot identify STA1. In other word, STA2 thinks that STA1 is a “new” device, rather than a known device.
FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary scenario where the two STAs in the TDLS connection cannot identify each other. As shown in FIG. 5, assume that STA1 is a user equipment (UE) , and STA2 is a TV.When the UE (STA1) and the TV (STA2) are connected to the same AP at home, and the UE and the TV are assigned with their device identification information in the current association. The UE can establish a TDLS connection with the TV. For instance, a user of the UE plays a movie on the UE and the movie is projected onto the TV. Assume that the user only watches half of the movie and leaves home, and thus the UE terminates the TDLS connection and disconnects from the AP. When the user comes back home and connects to the AP again, the UE uses its device identification information assigned from the previous association. At this point, the AP identifies the UE. However, when the UE establishes a TDLS connection with the TV again, since the TV does not know the UE’s device identification information, the TV does not identify the UE. In this case, if the user wants to continue the movie, the movie cannot start from the half, rather, it starts from the beginning, as the UE is regarded as a “new” device by the TV.
Therefore, it is desirable to have an identification mechanism between STAs in TDLS connection to enable the STAs to identify each other.
As mentioned above, the current proposals to identify STAs with RMA mainly focus on the AP identifying STAs. In the TDLS procedure, TDLS peer STAs with RMA do not identify each other because the TDLS peer STAs are not assigned with device identification information between each other, nor the AP shares a STA’s device identification information with another STA. Embodiments of the present disclosure propose to define a mechanism for identification between two STAs in TDLS connection. Note that the identification between STA and AP is different than the identification between STAs in TDLS connection.
Herein, term “identification between STA and AP” means an identification procedure where device identification information is assigned between STA and AP during the association procedure. The STA uses the assigned device identification information when it enables RMA, and therefore it can be identified by the AP. Term “identification between STAs in TDLS connection” means an identification procedure where device identification information is assigned between two STAs in TDLS connection. A TDLS peer STA uses the assigned device identification information when it enables RMA, and therefore it can be identified by the other TDLS peer STA.
FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary process of identification between two STAs in TDLS connection according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown, at step 1, STA1 and STA2 associate with AP with MAC address (e.g. a public fixed MAC address) . In this association, STA1 is assigned with unique device identification information used between STA1 and AP, and STA2 is assigned with unique device identification information used between STA2 and AP. After the association, at step 2, STA1 initiates a TDLS procedure with STA2, and thus STA1 acts as the initiator and STA2 acts as the responder. During the TDLS procedure, STA1 is assigned with unique device identification information between STA1 and STA2. Herein, in order to differentiate the device identification information between STA and AP and the device identification information between STAs in TDLS connection, term “TDLS identification information” is used to refer to the device identification information between STAs for identifying a STA in TDLS connection. The TDLS identification information may be carried in TDLS identification information element (TIIE) (which will be described later) of a TDLS action frame, for example. After a while, STA1 and STA2 may terminate the TDLS procedure.
At step 3, STA1 disconnects from AP, and associates with same AP again using the previously assigned device identification information between STA1 and AP. Then at step 4, after the successfully association, STA1 starts the TDLS procedure with STA, and uses the previously assigned TDLS identification information. Then STA2 can identify STA1 based on the STA1’s TDLS identification information.
Although only one STA (e.g. STA1) is assigned with the TDLS identification information in the above exemplary process, it will be appreciated that the other STA (e.g. STA2) or both STAs can be assigned with its or their TDLS identification information for the identification between STAs in TDLS connection.
More details of the example embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 7 to FIG. 11.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart depicting a method 1000 performed by a first wireless device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the first wireless device may be a wireless station (STA) in a Wi-Fi network.
As shown in FIG. 7, during a TDLS procedure between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, the first wireless device obtains at least one of the following: at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device, and at least one TDLS identification information of the second wireless device, at block 710. In some embodiments, the second wireless device may be another wireless station (STA) in the Wi-Fi network. As mentioned above, the TDLS identification information of a wireless device may be used to uniquely identify the wireless device in the TDLS procedure.
When a STA in TDLS connection (also referred to as TDLS STA) enables RMA, it is assigned with the TDLS identification information, so that the TDLS STA can be identified by another TDLS STA when the TDLS STA uses the assigned TDLS identification information. In some embodiments, the TDLS identification information may comprise at least one of the following: an identifier, a random MAC address (RMA) , or information related to generation of the identifier and/or the random MAC address.
In some embodiments, the identifier is a unique ID to identify a TDLS STA. Note that this identifier is different than a MAC Address used in a MAC header. This ID is carried in MAC payload. In other words, when the TDLS STA uses an unidentifiable RMA in its MAC header, it sends this ID to be identified by another TDLS STA. In some embodiments, this ID may comprise at least one of: public information, or private information. In some embodiments, the public information may comprise at least one of: a field in MAC header, a public key, a public ID, a public device name, a public MAC address, a random number, time information, or a public signature. In some embodiments, the private information may comprise at least one of: a private key, a private ID, a private device name, a private MAC address, a private signature, or a random number.
In some embodiments, RMA is a unique random MAC address to identify a TDLS STA. This RMA will be used as MAC address in MAC header. This RMA is identifiable because the TDLS STA determines this RMA beforehand.
In some embodiments, the information related to generation of the ID and/or the RMA may be additional information used to generate the ID and/or RMA to identify a TDLS STA. In some embodiments, the additional information may comprise at least one of: public information, or private information. In some embodiments, the public information may comprise at least one of: a field in MAC header, a public key, a public ID, a random number, time information, or a public signature. In some embodiments, the private information may comprise at least one of: a private key, a private ID, a private signature, or a random number.
Note that the ID and/or RMA mentioned above are exact identification information to be used by the TDLS STA. Such additional information is not explicit identification information, rather, it helps to generate the ID and/or RMA. As an example, peer TDLS STAs can exchange a private key to generate an ID and/or RMA. Note that the additional information can be any information carried in MAC payload or in MAC header.
In some embodiments, in the obtaining step at block 710, the first wireless device may assign the at least one TDLS identification information to itself. Then the first wireless device may inform the second wireless device of the assigned at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device, so that when the first wireless device sends its TDLS identification information in later TDLS procedure (s) , the second wireless device can identify the first wireless device. In this case, the first wireless device may be the initiator or the responder in the TDLS procedure. FIGs. 8a and 8b illustrates such the cases. In FIG. 8a, the first wireless device is denoted as STA1 which acts as the initiator, and the second wireless device is denoted as STA2 which acts as the responder. In FIG. 8b, the first wireless device is denoted as STA2 which acts as the responder, and the second wireless device is denoted as STA1 which acts as the initiator.
Alternatively, in some embodiments, in the obtaining step at block 710, the first wireless device may receive the at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device from the second wireless device. That is, the second wireless device assigns the at least one TDLS identification information to the first wireless device, and then transmits the assigned at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device to the first wireless device. The second wireless device can send the assigned TDLS identification information in later TDLS procedure (s) for identification by the first wireless device. In this case, the first wireless device may be the initiator or the responder in the TDLS procedure. FIGs. 8c and 8d illustrates such the cases. In FIG. 8c, the first wireless device is denoted as STA2 which acts as the responder, and the second wireless device is denoted as STA1 which acts as the initiator. In FIG. 8d, the first wireless device is denoted as STA1 which acts as the initiator, and the second wireless device is denoted as STA2 which acts as the responder.
Alternatively, in some embodiments, in the obtaining step at block 710, the first wireless device may receive the at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device from an AP with which both the first wireless device and the second wireless device are associated. Then the first wireless device may transmit the at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device to the second wireless device. In this case, the first wireless device may be the initiator or the responder in the TDLS procedure. FIGs. 8e and 8f illustrates such the cases. In FIG. 8e, the first wireless device is denoted as STA1 which acts as the initiator, and the second wireless device is denoted as STA2 which acts as the responder. In FIG. 8f, the first wireless device is denoted as STA2 which acts as the responder, and the second wireless device is denoted as STA1 which acts as the initiator.
Alternatively, in some embodiments, in the obtaining step at block 710, the first wireless device may receive the at least one TDLS identification information of the second wireless device from the second wireless device. Thus, the first wireless device can identify the second wireless device in later TDLS procedure (s) . In this case, the first wireless device may be the initiator or the responder in the TDLS procedure. When the first wireless device is the initiator, such the case may correspond to the case shown in FIG. 8b or 8f. When the first wireless device is the responder, such the case may correspond to the case shown in FIG. 8a or 8e.
In some embodiments, the TDLS identification information of the wireless device may be same as the device identification information of the wireless device used between the wireless device and the AP. For example, when a STA is assigned with the device identification information by the AP during the association procedure, the device identification information can be reused by the STA as the TDLS identification information during the TDSL procedure.
In some embodiments, the TDLS identification information may be carried in a TDLS action frame for transmission between the first wireless device and the second wireless device. The TDLS procedure utilizes TDLS action frames. In 802.11REVme_D1.3, Section 9.6.12 defines 11 TDLS action frames and Section 9.6.7.12 defines 1 TDLS public action frame, as shown in FIG. 9. Depending on the way to obtain the TDLS identification information as shown in FIGs. 8a-8f, the TDLS action frame that carries the TDLS identification information may change. For example, if an initiator STA assigns the TDLS identification information to itself, it can signal its TDLS identification information to a responder STA in a TDLS setup request. Similarly, if the initiator STA assigns the TDLS identification information to the responder STA, it can signal the TDLS identification information to the responder STA in a TDLS setup confirm. If the responder STA assigns the TDLS identification information to itself, it can signal its TDLS identification information to the initiator STA in a TDLS setup response.
In some embodiments, the TDLS identification information may be carried in TDLS identification IE in the TDLS action frame. Herein, the TDLS identification IE (TIIE) is introduced to carry the TDLS identification information. The current 802.11REVme_D1.3 defines several Information Elements, see Table 9-128-Element IDs in 802.11REVme_D1.3. The TDLS Identification Information Element (TIIE) may be defined as Element ID=255, Element ID Extension=94, Extensible=No, Fragmentable=No. FIG. 10 illustrates a format of the TIIE.
Note that TDLS action frames are encrypted (i.e., encapsulated in data frames) because a TDLS STA is associated with AP and established security keys with the AP for encryption before starting TDLS procedure. Therefore, TDLS Identification Information Element is safe to be carried in any TDLS action frame. In other words, no third party can decrypt TDLS action frames unless it has the key for decryption. The following describes the TDLS Identification Information Element (TIIE) is carried in TDLS Setup Request or TDLS Setup Response, for example.
TDLS identification Information Element (TIIE) in TDLS Setup Request
The current 802.11REVme_D1.3 defines 25 items in TDLS Setup Request frame body (see table 9.497 in 802.11REVme_D1.3) . As shown in Table 1, the order of TDLS Identification Information Element (TIIE) is Order=26. This field carries device identification information for the TDLS procedure, i.e., TDLS identification information.
Table 1
TDLS identification Information Element (TIIE) in TDLS Setup Response
The current 802.11REVme_D1.3 defines 27 items in TDLS Setup Response frame body (see table 9.497 in 802.11REVme_D1.3) . As shown in Table 2, the order of the TDLS Identification Information Element (TIIE) is Order=28. This field carries device identification information for the TDLS procedure, i.e., TDLS identification information.
Table 2
Additionally, in some embodiments, after obtaining the at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device and/or the second wireless device, the first wireless device may transmit one of the at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device to the second wireless device during a next TDLS procedure. Then the second wireless device can identify the first wireless device based on the TDLS identification information of the first wireless device.
Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, after obtaining the at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device and/or the second wireless device, the first wireless device may receive one of the at least one TDLS identification information of the second wireless device from the second wireless device during a next TDLS procedure. Then the first wireless device may identify the second wireless device based on the received TDLS identification information of the second wireless device.
Further, during the TDLS procedure, in particular the subsequent TDLS procedure (s) , there may occur that the TDLS connection cannot be established due to that the initiator TDLS STA does not receive the TDLS Setup Response from the responder TDLS STA. This is because that both the initiator TDLS STA and the responder TDLS STA may randomize their MAC addresses when reassociating with the AP, resulting in that the TDLS Setup Request cannot be sent to the responder TDLS STA. FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary scenario in which the TDLS connection cannot be established due to STA2 changing MAC address in the second association. As shown in FIG. 11, in first association, STA1 and STA2 associate with AP using their MAC addresses (e.g. STA1_MAC, STA2_MAC) . Then STA1 and STA2 start the TDLS procedure. During the TDLS procedure, STA1 assigns to itself STA1_ID1 = 10 as the TDLS identification information and sends it to STA2 in TIIE in TDLS Setup Request. This ID, i.e., STA1_ID1, will be used in second association. STA2 assigns to itself STA2_ID1 = 20 as the TDLS identification information and sends it to STA1 in TIIE in TDLS Setup Response. This ID, i.e., STA2_ID1, will be used in second association. Then STA1 and STA2 continue the TDLS procedure and terminate the TDLS procedure after a while. Then STA1 and STA2 disconnects from AP. In second association, STA1 and STA2 associates with AP again using random MAC addresses (e.g. STA1_RMA1, STA2_RMA1) . Then STA1 wants to start the TDLS procedure with STA2. During the TDLS procedure, STA1 sends the previously assigned (from first association) STA1_ID1 = 10 in TIIE in TDLS Setup Request. When STA1 constructs the TDLS Setup Request, it uses DA= STA2_MAC because STA1_ID1=10 is stored to be used for DA=STA2_MAC. However, STA2_MAC does not exist in the network as STA2 has changed its MAC address to STA2_RMA1, Thus, STA1 will not get a response from STA2, and the TDLS connection will not be established. Therefore, a discovery process is needed for TDLS STAs to discover each other during the TDLS procedure.
In some embodiments, during the TDLS procedure, before transmitting the TDLS identification information of the first wireless device to the second wireless device, the first wireless device may discover the second wireless device using information related to the second wireless device from the previous TDLS procedure/connection.
In some embodiments, to discover the second wireless device, the first wireless device may send the information related to the second wireless device from the previous TDLS procedure/connection in TDLS Discovery Request with broadcast Destination Address (DA) (i.e., DA=FF: FF: FF: FF: FF: FF) . Thus, every STA associated with AP will accept this TDLS Discovery Request. As the information related to the second wireless device is carried in TDLS Discovery Request, only the second wireless device will respond to TDLS Discovery Request. Therefore, the first wireless device may receive TDLS Discovery Response from the second wireless device, thereby obtaining the current device identification information of the second wireless device from Source Address (SA) field in the TDLS Discovery Response.
In some embodiments, the information related to the second wireless device from the previous TDLS procedure/connection may be the TDLS identification information (e.g. ID or RMA) of the second wireless device previously assigned in the previous TDLS procedure. In such case, the TDLS identification information of the second wireless device may be carried in TIIE in TDLS Discovery Request. In the above example in FIG. 11, to discover STA2, STA1 sends the TDLS identification information of STA2 (e.g. STA2_ID1 = 20 previously assigned) in TIIE in TDLS Discovery Request with broadcast DA (i.e. DA=FF: FF: FF: FF: FF: FF) . This means that every STA associated with AP will accept this TDLS Discover Request. However, since TDLS Discovery Request carries STA2’s TDLS identification information, only STA2 will respond to this TDLS Discovery Request, i.e., STA2 will send TDLS Discovery Response with SA = STA2_RMA1 to STA1. At this point, STA1 discovers STA2’s RMA (i.e. STA2_RMA1) and identifies the STA2, hence can construct TDLS Setup Request and start TDLS procedure. FIG. 12a illustrates an example of the TDLS frame used in the discovery process.
Alternatively, in some embodiments, the information related to the second wireless device from the previous TDLS procedure/connection may be the previous device identification information (e.g. MAC address or ID) of the second wireless device. In such case, the device identification information of the second wireless device may be carried in TIIE in TDLS Discovery Request. In the above example in FIG. 11, to discover STA2, STA1 sends the previous device identification information of STA2 (e.g. STA2_MAC used in first association) in TIIE in TDLS Discovery Request with broadcast DA (i.e. DA=FF: FF: FF: FF: FF: FF) . This means that every STA associated with AP will accept this TDLS Discovery Request. However, since TDLS Discovery Request carries STA2’s previous device identification information, only STA2 will respond to this TDLS Discovery Request, i.e., STA2 will send TDLS Discovery Response with SA = STA2_RMA1 to STA1. At this point, STA1 discovers STA2’s RMA (i.e., STA2_RMA1) and identifies the STA2, hence can construct TDLS Setup request frame and start TDLS procedure. Note that in this embodiment, TDLS STAs (e.g. STA1 and STA2 in FIG. 11) need to store the previous device identification information of the responder TDLS STA (e.g. STA2_MAC in FIG. 11) . FIG. 12b illustrates another example of the TDLS frame used in the discovery process.
Alternatively, in some embodiments, the information related to the second wireless device from the previous TDLS procedure/connection may be link identifier IE from the previous TDLS procedure/connection. Link identifier IE is already defined in TDLS connection and it contains MAC Addresses of TDLS peer STAs in TDLS action frames. In the above example in FIG. 11, to discover STA2, STA1 sends the link identifier IE with the MAC addresses of the TDLS STAs from the previous TDLS connection (e.g. initiator TDLS STA MAC address= STA1_MAC or STA1_RMA1, responder TDLS STA MAC address = STA2_MAC) in TDLS Discovery Request with broadcast DA (i.e. DA=FF: FF: FF: FF: FF: FF) . This means that every STA associated with AP will accept this TDLS Discovery Request. However, since TDLS Discovery Request carries STA2’s link identifier IE with responder TDLS STA address (e.g. responder TDLS STA address = STA2_MAC) , only STA2 will respond to this TDLS Discovery Request, i.e., STA2 will send TDLS Discovery Response with SA = STA2_RMA1. At this point, STA1 discovers STA2’s RMA (i.e., STA2_RMA1) and identifies the STA2, hence can construct TDLS Setup request frame and start TDLS procedure. Note that in this embodiment, TDLS STAs (e.g. STA1 and STA2 in FIG. 11) are required to store the link identifier IE from the previous TDLS connection. FIG. 12c illustrates another example of the TDLS frame used in the discovery process.
FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary scenario in which some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. In this exemplary scenario, STA1 is the initiator and STA2 is the responder.
As shown in FIG. 13, in first association, STA1 and STA2 associate with AP using their MAC addresses (e.g. STA1_MAC, STA2_MAC) . Then STA1 and STA2 start the TDLS procedure. During the TDLS procedure, STA1 assigns to itself STA1_ID1 = 10 as the TDLS identification information and sends it to STA2 in TIIE in TDLS Setup Request. This ID, i.e., STA1_ID1, will be used in second association. STA2 assigns to itself STA2_ID1 = 20 as the TDLS identification information and sends it to STA1 in TIIE in TDLS Setup Response. This ID, i.e., STA2_ID1, will be used in second association. Then STA1 and STA2 continue the TDLS procedure and terminate the TDLS procedure after a while. Then STA1 and STA2 disconnects from AP.
In second association, STA1 and STA2 associates with AP using random MAC addresses (e.g. STA1_RMA1, STA2_RMA1) . Then STA1 and STA2 start the TDLS procedure. During the TDLS procedure, STA1 sends the followings in TIIE in TDLS Setup Request: the previously assigned (from first association) STA1_ID1 = 10, and new generated STA1_ID2 = 11 as new TDLS identification information. After receiving the TDLS Setup Request, STA2 identifies STA1 based on STA1_ID1 =10.The new TDLS identification information may be used for identification of STA1 in future TDLS procedure. Also, STA2 sends the followings in TIIE in TDLS Setup Response: the previously assigned (from first association) STA2_ID1 = 20, and new generated STA2_ID2 = 21 as new TDLS identification information. Upon receipt of the TDLS Setup Response, STA1 identifies STA2 based on STA2_ID1 = 20. The new TDLS identification information may be used for identification of STA2 in future TDLS procedure. Then STA1 and STA2 continue the TDLS procedure and terminate the TDLS procedure after a while. Then STA1 and STA2 disconnects from AP.
In third association, STA1 and STA2 associates with AP using other random MAC addresses (e.g. STA1_RMA2, STA2_RMA2) . Then STA1 and STA2 start the TDLS procedure. During the TDLS procedure, STA1 sends the followings in TIIE in TDLS Setup Request: the previously assigned (from first association) STA1_ID2 = 11, and new generated STA1_ID3 = 12 as new TDLS identification information. After receiving the TDLS Setup Request, STA2 identifies STA1 based on STA1_ID2 = 11. The new TDLS identification information may be used for identification of STA1 in future TDLS procedure. Also, STA2 sends the followings in TIIE in TDLS Setup Response: the previously assigned (from first association) STA2_ID2 = 21, and new generated STA2_ID3 = 22 as new TDLS identification information. Upon receipt of the TDLS Setup Response, STA1 identifies STA2 based on STA2_ID2 = 21. The new TDLS identification information may be used for identification of STA2 in future TDLS procedure. Then STA1 and STA2 continue the TDLS procedure and terminate the TDLS procedure after a while. Then STA1 and STA2 disconnects from AP.
FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary scenario in which some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. In this exemplary scenario, STA1 is the initiator and STA2 is the responder, and the TDLS identification information used in the TDLS procedure is same as the device identification information between STA and AP.
As shown in FIG. 14, in first association, STA1 and STA2 associates with AP using their MAC addresses (e.g. STA1_MAC, STA2_MAC) . During the association, AP assigns STA1_RMA1 = AA to STA1 as the device identification information between STA1 and AP, and AP assigns STA2_RMA1 = BB to STA2 as the device identification information between STA2 and AP. Then STA1 and STA2 start the TDLS procedure. During the TDLS procedure, STA1 assigns to itself STA1_RMA1=AA as its TDLS identification information, and sends it to STA2 in TIIE in TDLS Setup Request. This RMA will be used in second association. STA2 assigns to itself STA2_RMA1=BB as its TDLS identification information, and sends it to STA1 in TIIE in TDLS Setup Response. This RMA will be used in second association. Then STA1 and STA2 continue the TDLS procedure and terminate the TDLS procedure after a while. Then STA1 and STA2 disconnects from AP.
In second association, STA1 and STA2 associates with AP using previously assigned (from first association) random MAC addresses (i.e., STA1_RMA1=AA and STA2_RMA1=BB) . Then STA1 and STA2 start the TDLS procedure. During the TDLS procedure, STA1 sends the previously assigned (from first association) STA1_RMA1=AA in MAC Header and/or link identifier IE (which contains MAC Addresses of TDLS peer STAs in TDLS action frames) in TDLS Setup Request. After receiving the TDLS Setup Request, STA2 identifies STA1 based on STA1_RMA1 = AA. Also, STA2 sends the previously assigned (from first association) STA2_RMA1 = BB in MAC Header in TDLS Setup Response. Upon receipt of the TDLS Setup Response, STA1 identifies STA2 based on STA2_RMA1 = BB. Then STA1 and STA2 continue the TDLS procedure and terminate the TDLS procedure after a while. Then STA1 and STA2 disconnects from AP.
Now reference is made to FIG. 15 illustrating a simplified block diagram of an apparatus 1500 that may be embodied as the first wireless device. The apparatus 1500 may comprise at least one processor 1501, such as a data processor (DP) and at least one memory (MEM) 1502 coupled to the at least one processor 1501. The apparatus 1500 may further comprise a sending unit and a receiving unit 1503 coupled to the one or more processors 1501.
The processors 1501 may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples.
The MEM (s) 1502 may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory, as non-limiting examples.
The MEM 1502 stores a program (PROG) 1504. The PROG 1504 may include instructions that, when executed on the associated processor 1501, enable the apparatus 1500 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, for example to perform one of the methods 700 as shown in FIG. 7. A combination of the at least one processor 1501 and the at least one MEM 1502 may form processing circuitry or means 1505 adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.
Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by a computer program executable by one or more of the processors 1501, software, firmware, hardware or in a combination thereof.
In general, the various exemplary embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. For example, some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device, although the invention is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.
As such, it should be appreciated that at least some aspects of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosures may be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit chips and modules. It should thus be appreciated that the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may be realized in an apparatus that is embodied as an integrated circuit, where the integrated circuit may comprise circuitry (as well as possibly firmware) for embodying at least one or more of a data processor, a digital signal processor, baseband circuitry and radio frequency circuitry that are configurable so as to operate in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.
It should be appreciated that at least some aspects of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosures may be embodied in computer-executable instructions, such as in one or more program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types when executed by a processor in a computer or other device. The computer executable instructions may be stored on a computer readable medium, for example, non-transitory computer readable medium, such as a hard disk, optical disk, removable storage media, solid state memory, RAM, etc. As will be appreciated by one of skills in the art, the function of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments. In addition, the function may be embodied in whole or in part in firmware or hardware equivalents such as integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) , and the like.
Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.
The present disclosure includes any novel feature or combination of features disclosed herein either explicitly or any generalization thereof. Various modifications and adaptations to the foregoing exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, any and all modifications will still fall within the scope of the non-limiting and exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.

Claims

A first wireless device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first wireless device at least to:

obtain, during a Tunneled Direct Link Setup, TDLS, procedure between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, at least one of the following: at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device, and at least one TDLS identification information of the second wireless device.
The first wireless device according to claim 1, wherein to obtain at least one of the following: at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device, and at least one TDLS identification information of a second wireless device, the first wireless device is caused to:

assign the at least one TDLS identification information to the first wireless device; and

transmit the at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device to the second wireless device.
The first wireless device according to claim 1, wherein to obtain at least one of the following: at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device, and at least one TDLS identification information of a second wireless device, the first wireless device is caused to:

receive the at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device from the second wireless device.
The first wireless device according to claim 1, wherein to obtain at least one of the following: at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device, and at least one TDLS identification information of a second wireless device, the first wireless device is caused to:

receive the at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device from an access point with which both the first wireless device and the second wireless device are associated; and

transmit the at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device to the second wireless device.
The first wireless device according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein to obtain at least one of the following: at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device, and at least one TDLS identification information of a second wireless device, the first wireless device is caused to:

assign the at least one TDLS identification information to the second wireless device; and

transmit the at least one TDLS identification information of the second wireless device to the second wireless device.
The first wireless device according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein to obtain at least one of the following: at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device, and at least one TDLS identification information of a second wireless device, the first wireless device is caused to:

receive the at least one TDLS identification information of the second wireless device from the second wireless device.
The first wireless device according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first wireless device is further caused to:

transmit one of the at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device to the second wireless device during a next TDLS procedure.
The first wireless device according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first wireless device is further caused to:

receive one of the at least one TDLS identification information of the second wireless device from the second wireless device during a next TDLS procedure; and

identify the second wireless device based on the received TDLS identification information of the second wireless device.
The first wireless device according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the TDLS identification information of the first or second wireless device is same as device identification information of the first or second wireless device used for association between the first or second wireless device and an access point.
The first wireless device according to any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the TDLS identification information comprise at least one of the following: an identifier, a random medium access control, MAC, address, or information related to generation of the identifier and/or the random MAC address.
The first wireless device according to claim 10, wherein the identifier comprises at least one of public information or private information,

wherein the public information comprises at least one of: a field in MAC header, a public key, a public identifier, a public device name, a public MAC address, a random number, time information, or a public signature, and

wherein the private information comprises at least one of: a private key, a private identifier, a private device name, a private MAC address, a private signature, or a random number.
The first wireless device according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the information related to generation of the identifier and/or the random MAC address comprises at least one of public information or private information,

wherein the public information comprises at least one of: a field in MAC header, a public key, a public identifier, a random number, time information, or a public signature, and

wherein the private information comprises at least one of: a private key, a private identifier, a private signature, or a random number.
The first wireless device according to any of claims 1 to 12, wherein the TDLS identification information is carried in a TDLS action frame.
The first wireless device according to claim 13, wherein the TDLS identification information is carried in any of the following: TDLS identification IE in the TDLS action frame, link identifier IE in the TDLS action frame, or a MAC header of a MAC frame including the TDLS action frame.
The first wireless device according to claim 7, wherein the first wireless device is further caused to:

discover the second wireless device using information related to the second wireless device from the previous TDLS procedure.
The first wireless device according to claim 15, wherein to discover the second wireless device, the first wireless device is caused to:

transmit the information related to the second wireless device from the previous TDLS procedure in TDLS Discovery Request with broadcast Destination Address; and

receive TDLS Discovery Response from the second wireless device.
The first wireless device according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the information related to the second wireless device from the previous TDLS procedure comprises one of: the TDLS identification information of the second wireless assigned in the previous TDLS procedure, previous device identification information of the second wireless device, or link identifier IE from the previous TDLS procedure.
The first wireless device according to claim 17, wherein the TDLS identification information of the second wireless assigned in the previous TDLS procedure and the previous device identification information of the second wireless device are carried in TDLS identification IE in TDLS Discovery Request.
The first wireless device according to any of claims 1 to 18, wherein the first wireless device is one of an initiator and a responder in the TDLS procedure, and the second wireless device is the other of the initiator and the responder in the TDLS procedure.
A method performed by a first wireless device, the method comprising:

obtaining, during a Tunneled Direct Link Setup, TDLS, procedure between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, at least one of the following: at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device, and at least one TDLS identification information of the second wireless device.
The method according to claim 20, wherein obtaining at least one of the following: at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device, and at least one TDLS identification information of the second wireless device comprises:

assigning the at least one TDLS identification information to the first wireless device; and

transmitting the at least one first TDLS identification information to the second wireless device.
The method according to claim 20, wherein obtaining at least one of the following: at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device, and at least one TDLS identification information of the second wireless device comprises:

receiving the at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device from the second wireless device.
The method according to claim 20, wherein obtaining at least one of the following: at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device, and at least one TDLS identification information of the second wireless device comprises:

receiving the at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device from an access point with which both the first wireless device and the second wireless device are associated; and

transmitting the at least one first TDLS identification information of the first wireless device to the second wireless device.
The method according to any of claims 20 to 23, wherein obtaining at least one of the following: at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device, and at least one TDLS identification information of the second wireless device comprises:

assigning the at least one TDLS identification information to the second wireless device; and

transmitting the at least one TDLS identification information of the second wireless device to the second wireless device.
The method according to any of claims 20 to 23, wherein obtaining at least one of the following: at least one TDLS identification information of the first wireless device, and at least one TDLS identification information of the second wireless device comprises:

receiving the at least one TDLS identification information of the second wireless device from the second wireless device.
The method according to any of claims 20 to 25, further comprising:

transmitting one of the at least one first TDLS identification information to the second wireless device during a next TDLS procedure.
The method according to any of claims 20 to 26, further comprising:

receiving one of the at least one second TDLS identification information from the second wireless device during a next TDLS procedure; and

identifying the second wireless device based on the received second TDLS identification information.
The method according to any of claims 20 to 27, wherein the TDLS identification information is same as device identification information of the first or second wireless device used for association between the first or second wireless device and an access point.
The method according to any of claims 20 to 28, wherein the TDLS identification information comprise at least one of the following: an identifier, a random medium access control, MAC, address, or information related to generation of the identifier and/or the random MAC address.
The method according to claim 29, wherein the identifier comprises at least one of public information or private information,

wherein the public information comprises at least one of: a field in MAC header, a public key, a public identifier, a public device name, a public MAC address, a random number, time information, or a public signature, and

wherein the private information comprises at least one of: a private key, a private identifier, a private device name, a private MAC address, a private signature, or a random number.
The method according to claim 29 or 30, wherein the information related to generation of the identifier and/or the random MAC address comprises at least one of public information or private information,

wherein the public information comprises at least one of: a field in MAC header, a public key, a public identifier, a random number, time information, or a public signature, and

wherein the private information comprises at least one of: a private key, a private identifier, a private signature, or a random number.
The method according to any of claims 20 to 31, wherein the TDLS identification information is carried in a TDLS action frame.
The method according to claim 32, wherein the TDLS identification information is carried in any of the following: TDLS identification IE in the TDLS action frame, link identifier IE in the TDLS action frame, or a MAC header of a MAC frame including the TDLS action frame.
The method according to claim 26, further comprising:

discovering the second wireless device using information related to the second wireless device from the previous TDLS procedure.
The method according to claim 34, wherein discover the second wireless device comprises:

transmitting the information related to the second wireless device from the previous TDLS procedure in TDLS Discovery Request with broadcast Destination Address; and

receiving TDLS Discovery Response from the second wireless device.
The method according to claim 34 or 35, wherein the information related to the second wireless device from the previous TDLS procedure comprises one of: the TDLS identification information of the second wireless assigned in the previous TDLS procedure, previous device identification information of the second wireless device, or link identifier IE from the previous TDLS procedure.
The method according to claim 36, wherein the TDLS identification information of the second wireless assigned in the previous TDLS procedure and the previous device identification information of the second wireless device are carried in TDLS identification IE in TDLS Discovery Request.
The method according to any of claims 20 to 37, wherein the first wireless device is one of an initiator and a responder in the TDLS procedure, and the second wireless device is the other of the initiator and the responder in the TDLS procedure.
A computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of claims 20 to 38.