EP4670452A1

EP4670452A1 - DEVICES AND PROCEDURES FOR MULTIPLE CONNECTION OPERATIONS

Info

Publication number: EP4670452A1
Application number: EP23923444.6A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Yan Meng; Tao Tao; Zhijie Yang; Jianguo Liu; Wenjian Wang; Mika Kasslin; Wenyi Xu
Original assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2023-02-24
Filing date: 2023-02-24
Publication date: 2025-12-31
Also published as: WO2024174269A1; CN120770202A

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to apparatuses and methods for multi-link operations. An apparatus sets up one or more of at least one first link or at least one second link with a distributed access point (AP) system including a network device associated with a first AP device and a second AP device. The at least one first link is between the apparatus and the first AP device, and the at least one second link is between the apparatus and the second AP device. In this way, a multi-link operation with a distributed multi-link device having multiple AP devices may be enabled. Thus, latency as well as the service interruption due to re-association may be reduced.

Description

APPARATUSES AND METHODS FOR MULTI-LINK OPEARTIONS

FIELD

Various example embodiments relate to the field of telecommunication and, in particular, to apparatuses, methods and computer readable storage media for multi-link operations (MLOs) .

BACKGROUND

Multi-link operation has been identified as an important feature of institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) 802.11be. MLO targets efficient operations in all the available bands, such as 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz, for load balancing, multi-band aggregation, and simultaneous downlink and uplink transmission. For MLO, a multi-link device (MLD) manages communication over multiple links. Whether communication across different frequency bands or channels can occur simultaneously or not may depend on capabilities of both an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD.
SUMMARY
Example embodiments of the present disclosure provide apparatuses, methods and computer readable storage media for multi-link operations (MLOs) .
In a first aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions. The instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: set up one or more of at least one first link or at least one second link with a distributed access point (AP) system including a network device associated with a first AP device and a second AP device, wherein the at least one first link is between the apparatus and the first AP device, and the at least one second link is between the apparatus and the second AP device.
In a second aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions. The instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine that at least one link between an access point (AP) device among a plurality of AP devices associated with the apparatus and a non-AP device is to be enabled; and transmit, to the AP device, an activation signal to activate an upper medium access control (MAC) layer of the AP device for the non-AP device.
In a third aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions. The instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive an activation signal associated with a non-access point (non-AP) device from a network device associated with the apparatus; and based on the received activation signal, activate an upper medium access control (MAC) layer of the apparatus for the non-AP device.
In a fourth aspect, there is provided a system. The system comprises the apparatus according to the above second aspect and a plurality of apparatus of according to the above third aspect.
In a fifth aspect, there is provided a method. The method comprises: setting up, at an apparatus, one or more of at least one first link or at least one second link with a distributed access point (AP) system including a network device associated with a first AP device and a second AP device, wherein the at least one first link is between the apparatus and the first AP device, and the at least one second link is between the apparatus and the second AP device.
In a sixth aspect, there is provided a method. The method comprises: determining, at an apparatus, that at least one link between an access point (AP) device among a plurality of AP devices associated with the apparatus and a non-AP device is to be enabled; and transmitting, to the AP device, an activation signal to activate an upper medium access control (MAC) layer of the AP device for the non-AP device.
In a seventh aspect, there is provided a method. The method comprises: receiving, at an apparatus, an activation signal associated with a non-access point (non-AP) device from a network device associated with the apparatus; and based on the received activation signal, activating an upper medium access control (MAC) layer of the apparatus for the non-AP device.
In an eighth aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises: means for setting up one or more of at least one first link or at least one second link with a distributed access point (AP) system including a network device associated with a first AP device and a second AP device, wherein the at least one first link is between the apparatus and the first AP device, and the at least one second link is between the apparatus and the second AP device.
In a ninth aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises: means for determining that at least one link between an access point (AP) device among a plurality of AP devices associated with the apparatus and a non-AP device is to be enabled; and means for transmitting, to the AP device, an activation signal to activate an upper medium access control (MAC) layer of the AP device for the non-AP device.
In a tenth aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises: means for receiving an activation signal associated with a non-access point (non-AP) device from a network device associated with the apparatus; and means for activating an upper medium access control (MAC) layer of the apparatus for the non-AP device based on the received activation signal.
In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable media comprising program instructions. The program instructions, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method according to any one of the above fourth to sixth aspects.
In a twelfth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions. The instructions, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus at least to: set up one or more of at least one first link or at least one second link with a distributed access point (AP) system including a network device associated with a first AP device and a second AP device, wherein the at least one first link is between the apparatus and the first AP device, and the at least one second link is between the apparatus and the second AP device.
In a thirteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions. The instructions, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus at least to:determine that at least one link between an access point (AP) device among a plurality of AP devices associated with the apparatus and a non-AP device is to be enabled; and transmit, to the AP device, an activation signal to activate an upper medium access control (MAC) layer of the AP device for the non-AP device.
In a fourteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions. The instructions, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus at least to:receive an activation signal associated with a non-access point (non-AP) device from a network device associated with the apparatus; and based on the received activation signal, activate an upper medium access control (MAC) layer of the apparatus for the non-AP device.
In a fifteenth aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises setting-up circuitry configured to set up one or more of at least one first link or at least one second link with a distributed access point (AP) system including a network device associated with a first AP device and a second AP device, wherein the at least one first link is between the apparatus and the first AP device, and the at least one second link is between the apparatus and the second AP device.
In a sixteenth aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises determining circuitry configured to determine that at least one link between an access point (AP) device among a plurality of AP devices associated with the apparatus and a non-AP device is to be enabled; and transmitting circuitry configured to transmit, to the AP device, an activation signal to activate an upper medium access control (MAC) layer of the AP device for the non-AP device.
In a seventeenth aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises receiving circuitry configured to receive an activation signal associated with a non-access point (non-AP) device from a network device associated with the apparatus; and activating circuitry configured to activate an upper medium access control (MAC) layer of the apparatus for the non-AP device based on the received activation signal.
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 implementations will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1A illustrates an example communication network in which some example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;
Fig. 1B illustrates an example of an MLO between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD in related solutions;
Fig. 1C illustrates a data plane architecture of a medium access control (MAC) layer of an AP MLD in related solutions;
Fig. 1D illustrates an example communication network with a distributed access point (D-AP) MLD architecture in which some example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;
Fig. 2A illustrates a schematic diagram chart illustrating an example process in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 2B illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating another example process in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 3 illustrates an example implementation of a D-AP MLD in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 4A illustrates an example implementation of a multi-link setup stage in a D-AP MLD architecture in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 4B illustrates an example implementation of a process for activation signaling transmission in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 4C illustrates an example implementation of a process for TID-to-link mapping transmission in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 4D illustrates an example implementation of a link management stage in a D-AP MLD architecture in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 4E illustrates an example implementation of a process for token transfer in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 4F illustrates an example implementation of a process for transmission of MLD upper MAC information in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 4G illustrates an example implementation of a process for activation signaling transmission in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 4H illustrates an example implementation of a process for TID-to-link mapping transmission in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 5A illustrates an example implementation of a multi-link setup stage in a D-AP MLD architecture in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 5B illustrates an example implementation of a link management stage in a D-AP MLD architecture in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 6 illustrates an example implementation of a process of physical AP registration and configuration in a D-AP MLD architecture in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 7 illustrates a flowchart of an example method implemented at an apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 8 illustrates a flowchart of an example method implemented at another apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 9 illustrates a flowchart of an example method implemented at yet another apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 10 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure; and
Fig. 11 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer readable media in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element, unless otherwise provided.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example implementations. It is to be understood that these implementations are described only for the purpose of illustration and to help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.
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 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 implementations 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 implementations. 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 implementations only and is not intended to be limiting of example implementations. 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 “comprises” , “comprising” , “has” , “having” , “includes” 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 herein, “at least one of the following: <a list of two or more elements>” and “at least one of <a list of two or more elements>” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or” , mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.
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 “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as, but not limited to, fifth generation (5G) systems, Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) , Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) , Wi-Fi and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) communication protocols, and/or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. 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 systems.
As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP) , for example, a node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio header (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a relay, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. A RAN split architecture comprises a gNB-CU (Centralized unit, hosting RRC, SDAP and PDCP) controlling a plurality of gNB-DUs (Distributed unit, hosting RLC, MAC and PHY) . A relay node may correspond to DU part of the IAB node.
The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE) , a Subscriber Station (SS) , a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS) , or an Access Terminal (AT) . The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE) , laptop-mounted equipment (LME) , USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE) , an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD) , a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery) , an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or an automated processing chain contexts) , a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to Mobile Termination (MT) part of the integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node (a.k.a. a relay node) . In the following description, the terms “terminal device” , “communication device” , “terminal” , “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.
Fig. 1A illustrates an example network environment 100 in which some example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The environment 100, which may be a part of a communication network, comprises terminal devices, and network devices. As illustrated in Fig. 1A, the communication network 100 may comprise a terminal device 110 and a network device 120. In some embodiments, the network device120 may be an AP MLD 120 and the terminal device 110 may be a non-AP MLD 110. The AP MLD 120 can manage a coverage area 101. Hereinafter, the non-AP MLD 110 may also be referred to as a non-AP device 110. The non-AP device 110 and the AP MLD 120 can communicate with each other in the coverage area 101.
It is to be understood that the number of devices is only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. The environment 100 may include any suitable number of devices adapted for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Although not shown, it would be appreciated that one or more terminal devices may be located in the coverage area 101.
Communications in the communication system 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol (s) , comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) and the fifth generation (5G) and on the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and/or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) , Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) , Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) , Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) , Time Division Duplex (TDD) , Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) , Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM) , Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and/or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.
Fig. 1B illustrates an example of an MLO between an AP MLD 120 and a non-AP MLD 110 in related solutions. As shown in Fig. 1B, the non-AP MLD 110 has affiliated non-AP stations (STAs) 111, 112 and 113. Hereinafter, a non-AP STA may also be referred to as STA for brevity. The AP MLD 120 has affiliated APs 121, 122 and 123.
The AP 121 operates on 2.4 GHz band, the AP 122 operates on 5 GHz band, and the AP 123 operates on 6 GHz band. Three links on 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz bands can be established for simultaneous communication between the AP MLD 120 and the non-AP MLD 110 after MLD setup or MLD re-setup as described in section 35.3.5 of 802.11be specification.
Fig. 1C illustrates a data plane architecture of a medium access control (MAC) layer 130 of the AP MLD 120 in related solutions. As shown in Fig. 1C, the data path in the MAC layer 130 of the AP MLD 120 can be divided into a MLD upper MAC sublayer 131 and multiple MLD lower MAC sublayers 132. The MLD upper MAC sublayer 131 performs functionalities that are common across all the links. The MLD lower MAC sublayers 132 perform functionalities that are local to each link. In other words, the MLD lower MAC sublayers 132 are relevant to independent operations of each APs affiliated with the AP MLD 120. Some of the functionalities require joint processing of both the MLD upper MAC sublayer 131 and the MLD lower MAC sublayers 132.
For example, the MLD upper MAC sublayer 131 comprises the following blocks in the level of the MLD: an RX/TX MAC service data unit (MSDU) rate limiting block, an aggregation of MADU (A-MSDU) aggregation/de-aggregation block, a PS defer queueing block, a sequence number (SN) assignment block, a packet number (PN) assignment block, a MAC packet data unit (MPDU) encryption/decryption block, a duplicate detection block and a block Ack scoreboarding block. The MLD lower MAC sublayers 132 comprise the following blocks which are associated with a link: an address 1 filtering block, an MPDU header and CRC creation/validation block and an A-MSDU aggregation/de-aggregation block.
In IEEE 802.11be specification, a traffic identifier-to-link (TID-to-link) mapping mechanism allows the AP MLD 120 and the non-AP MLD 110 that perform multi-link setup and determine how the TIDs are mapped to the setup links in DL and UL. A setup link is defined as an enabled link for a non-AP MLD if at least one TID is mapped to that link either in DL or in UL. A setup link is defined as a disabled link if no TIDs are mapped to that link in both DL and UL. Thus the AP MLD 120 can dynamically manage the traffic delivered link for a special non-AP MLD according to the traffic scheduling strategy.
In IEEE 802.11be specification, a Multi-Link (ML) reconfiguration operation is defined which allows the AP MLD 120 to add one or more affiliated APs or remove one or more affiliated APs. If one link is removed or added, the AP MLD 120 may change the TID-to-link strategy to guarantee all TIDs mapping to the remained links.
For MLO, the following open issues still need to be addressed.
First, a service interruption issue would occur during fast basic service set (BSS) transition procedure among AP MLDs as one non-AP MLD is not allowed to associate with two AP MLDs at the same time according to the latest IEEE 802.11be specification. For example, when a non-AP MLD, such as a Wi-Fi 7 cell phone, moves far away from its associated AP MLD and near to a neighbor AP MLD, the non-AP MLD may disconnect the association with the current AP MLD and re-associate with the neighbor AP MLD according to the rule defined by IEEE 802.11be latest draft. In this case, the service interruption issue may happen and cause low latency service (e.g., AR, VR, XR and so on) break issue, which is not a friendly design to the terminal device.
Second, typically, a collocated AP MLD may only have three links operating on the three unlicensed bands accordingly. For example, the AP 121, AP 122 and AP 123 affiliated with the AP MLD 120 operate on 2.4GHz band, 5GHz band and 6GHz band, respectively. It is very hard to have more links due to intra-band interference issue. This may cause the collocated AP 121, AP 122 and AP 123 affiliated with the AP MLD 120 to interfere with each other if the distance of frequency is too short in a physical device. For example, it is assumed that the AP 121 and AP 122 affiliated with the AP MLD 120 operate on channel 120 at 5GHz and channel 149 at 5GHz, respectively. The AP 121 is transmitting a PPDU to an associated STA 111 while the AP 122 stays in a listen mode of clear channel assessment (CCA) status. The transmission power of the AP 121 operating on channel 120 at 5GHz may cause leakage into channel 149 at 5GHz (or vice-versa) due to short frequency distance. This causes the AP 122 to always consider the channel is busy and the AP 122 cannot transmit any frame to the corresponding STA 112.
The coverage area and the supported links for the AP MLD 120 are limited due to collocated deployment of RF components. In addition, due to the limited coverage area of the AP MLD 120, the non-AP MLD 110 may suffer from service interruption when it moves from one place to another.
In view of the above discussions, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for a distributed AP MLD architecture where APs affiliated to the same AP MLD can be deployed on different AP devices.
Fig. 1D illustrates an example communication network 100-1 with a distributed access point (D-AP) MLD architecture in which some example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. It is noted that the communication network 100-1 can be considered as a more specific example of the communication network 100 of Fig. 1A. More particularly, the AP MLD 120 may include a multi-AP manager 150, a first AP device 161 and a second AP device 162 (collectively referred to as AP devices 160) . A first set of APs may be deployed on the first AP device 161 and a second set of APs may be deployed on the second AP device 162. It is to be understood that the number of AP devices in the AP MLD 120 is only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. The AP MLD 120 may include any suitable number of AP devices adapted for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.
Each of the first AP device 161 and the second AP device 162 may have its own wireless system and may include a MLD upper MAC layer to serve non-AP MLDs, a legacy upper MAC layer to serve legacy STAs, at least one radio and at least one radio frequency (RF) chain to transmit and receive physical layer protocol data units (PPDUs) , a central processing unit and a memory storing instructions (e.g. computer program code) thereon. The first AP device 161 can manage a first coverage area 101-1. The non-AP device 110 and the first AP device 161 can communicate with each other in the first coverage area 101-1. The second AP device 162 can manage a second coverage area 101-2. When the non-AP device 110 moves into the second coverage area 101-2, the non-AP device 110 and the second AP device 162 can communicate with each other. The coverage area 110 of the AP MLD 120 may be regarded as a sum of the coverage areas 110-1 and 110-2 of the AP devices 161 and 162. In some embodiments, the first AP device 161 and the second AP device 162 may be located at different physical locations and thus the AP MLD 120 may provide an extended coverage.
The multi-AP manager 150 may be associated with the first AP device 161 and the second AP device 162 and may communicate with the first AP device 161 and the second AP device 162 via Ethernet or wireless network. In some embodiments, the multi-AP manager 150 may be responsible for data distribution, AP registration and configuration, token transfer, etc., in order to facilitate the communication between the AP devices and the non-AP device 110. For example, the multi-AP manager 150 may receive data to be transmitted to the non-AP device 110 from the Internet and distribute the data to the AP device currently communicating with the non-AP device 110. Hereinafter, the AP MLD 120 may be referred to as a D-AP MLD 120 or a D-AP system 120, the multi-AP manager 150 may be referred to as a network device 150, and the first AP device 161 and the second AP device 162 may be referred to as the first physical AP device 161 and the second physical AP device 162, respectively.
Principles and embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to Figs. 2A to 11.
Fig. 2A illustrates a signaling chart illustrating an example process 200-1 in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the process 200-1 will be described with reference to Fig. 1D. The process 200-1 may involve the non-AP device 110 and the D-AP system 120. It would be appreciated that although the process 200-1 has been described in the communication environment 100-1 of Fig. 1D, this process may be likewise applied to other communication scenarios with similar issues.
In the process 200-1, the non-AP device 110 sets up (202) at least one first link with the D-AP system 120 including a network device 150 associated with a first AP device 161 and a second AP device 162. The at least one first link is between the non-AP device 110 and the first AP device 161. Alternatively or additionally, the non-AP device 110 sets up (204) at least one second link with the D-AP system 120. The at least one second link is between the non-AP device 110 and the second AP device 162. In this way, MLO with a D-AP MLD architecture with multiple AP devices may be enabled. Thus, latency as well as the service interruption may be reduced especially in case of mobility.
In some embodiments, when setting up the one or more of at least one first link or the at least one second link, the non-AP device 110 may set up both of the at least one first link and the at least one second link during an initial link setup procedure between the non-AP device 110 and the distributed AP system 120. In some embodiments, the at least one first link may be associated with a first set of STAs deployed on the non-AP device 110 and the at least one second link may be associated with a second set of STAs deployed on the non-AP device 110.
In some embodiments, the non-AP device 110 may further enable the at least one first link and disable the at least one second link based on a first negotiation with the D-AP system 120 during the initial link setup procedure. In some embodiments, the non-AP device 110 may further enable the at least one second link and disable the at least one first link based on a second negotiation with the D-AP system 120 after the first negotiation.
In some embodiments, when setting up the one or more of at least one first link or the at least one second link, the non-AP device 110 may set up the at least one first link without setting up the at least one second link based on a first negotiation with the D-AP system 120 during an initial link setup procedure. In some embodiments, the non-AP device 110 may further set up the at least one second link and delete the at least one first link based on a second negotiation with the D-AP system 120 after the first negotiation.
In some embodiments, the negotiations may be performed between the non-AP device 110 and the network device 150 in the D-AP system 120. Alternatively or additionally, the negotiations may be performed between the non-AP device 110 and a AP device in the D-AP system 120.
In some embodiments, the non-AP device 110 may further determine that the at least one first link is to be enabled and transmit, to the D-AP system 120, an indication that the at least one first link is to be enabled. The D-AP system 120 may receive, from the non-AP device 110, an indication of the at least one first link determined by the non-AP device 110 to be enabled. Such determination and transmission operations may be performed before or during the first negotiation between the non-AP device 110 and the D-AP system 120.
In some embodiments, in order to perform the first negotiation with the D-AP system 120, the non-AP device 110 may perform the first negotiation with the D-AP system 120 based on a location of the non-AP device 110. Alternatively or additionally, the non-AP device 110 may perform the first negotiation with the D-AP system 120 based on a traffic load. Alternatively or additionally, the non-AP device 110 may perform the first negotiation with the D-AP system 120 based on a channel quality.
In some embodiments, the non-AP device 110 may further negotiate, with the D-AP system 120, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one first link. In some embodiments, the non-AP device 110 may further receive, from the D-AP system 120, an indication that the at least one first link is associated with the first AP device 161. Alternatively or additionally, the non-AP device 110 may further receive, from the D-AP system 120, an indication that the at least one second link is associated with the second AP device 162.
In some embodiments, the non-AP device 110 may further receive, from the D-AP system 120, information of the first AP device 161 and information of the second AP device 162. In some embodiments, the non-AP device 110 may further receive, from the D-AP system 120, information of at least one link affiliated to a third AP device registered with the network device 150 and information of the third AP device.
Fig. 2B illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating another example process 200-2 in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the process 200-2 will be described with reference to Fig. 1D. The process 200-2 may involve the network device 150 and an AP device 160 (e.g., the first AP device 161 or the second AP device 162 in Fig. 1D) . It would be appreciated that although the process 200-2 has been described in the communication environment 100-1 of Fig. 1D, this process may be likewise applied to other communication scenarios with similar issues.
In the process 200-2, the network device 150 may determine (206) that at least one link between an AP device 160 among a plurality of AP devices associated with the network device 150 and a non-AP device 110 is to be enabled. The network device 150 may transmit (208) an activation signal 210 to the AP device 160 to activate an upper MAC layer of the AP device 160 for the non-AP device 110. The AP device 160 may receive (212) the activation signal 210 associated with the non-AP device 110. Based on the received activation signal 210, the AP device 160 may activate (214) the upper MAC layer for the non-AP device 110. In this way, a D-AP MLD architecture with multiple AP devices is provided, enabling MLO with reduced latency and service interruption especially in case of mobility.
In some embodiments, the AP device 160 may comprise at least one radio and at least one RF chain. The at least one radio and the at least one RF chain may transmit a transmission to at least one of the non-AP device 110 or the network device 150. Alternatively or additionally, the at least one radio and the at least one RF chain may receive a transmission from at least one of the non-AP device 110 or the network device 150.
In some embodiments, the AP device 160 may be the first AP device 161. The network device 150 may set up at least one first link with the non-AP device 110. The at least one first link is between the non-AP device 110 and the first AP device 161. Alternatively or additionally, the network device 150 may set up at least one second link with the non-AP device 110. The at least one second link is between the non-AP device 110 and the second AP device 162.
In some embodiments, when setting up the one or more of at least one first link or the at least one second link, the network device 150 may set up both of the at least one first link and the at least one second link during an initial link setup procedure between the network device 150 and the non-AP device 110.
In some embodiments, in order to determine that the at least one first link is to be enabled, the network device 150 may determine that the at least one first link is to be enabled and that the at least one second link is to be disabled based on a first negotiation with the non-AP device 110 during the initial link setup procedure. The activation signal may be transmitted to the first AP device 161 by the network device 150 based on the first negotiation.
In some embodiments, the first AP device 161 may enable the at least one first link based on the first negotiation. In some embodiments, based on the first negotiation, the network device 150 may further negotiate, with the non-AP device 110, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one first link and transmit the TID-to-link mapping to the first AP device 161. The network device 150 may further transmit the TID-to-link mapping to other AP devices among the plurality of AP devices in the D-AP MLD 120 (e.g., the second AP device 162) . In some alternative embodiments, based on the first negotiation, the first AP device 161 may further negotiate, with the non-AP device 110, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one first link. The network device 150 may receive the TID-to-link mapping from the first AP device 161 and transmit the TID-to-link mapping to other AP devices in the D-AP MLD 120. Alternatively or additionally, the first AP device 161 may transmit the TID-to-link mapping to other AP devices in the D-AP MLD 120 directly. In some embodiments, the TID-to-link mapping may comprise a specific TID mapping strategy for the at least one first link. The first AP device 161 may enable the at least one first link and the second AP device 162 may disable the at least one second link based on the TID-to-link mapping.
In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further determine that the at least one second link is to be enabled and that the at least one first link is to be disabled based on a second negotiation with the non-AP device 110 after the first negotiation.
In some embodiments, the first AP device 161 may disable the at least one first link based on the second negotiation. In some embodiments, based on the second negotiation, the network device 150 may further negotiate, with the non-AP device 110, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one second link and transmit the TID-to-link mapping to the first AP device 161. The network device 150 may further transmit the TID-to-link mapping to the second AP device 162. In some alternative embodiments, based on the second negotiation, the first AP device 161 may further negotiate, with the non-AP device 110, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one second link. The network device 150 may receive the TID-to-link mapping from the first AP device 161 and transmit the TID-to-link mapping to the second AP device 162. Alternatively or additionally, the first AP device 161 may transmit the TID-to-link mapping to the second AP device 162 directly. In some alternative embodiments, based on the second negotiation, the second AP device 162 may negotiate, with the non-AP device 110, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one second link. The network device 150 may receive the TID-to-link mapping from the second AP device 162 and transmit the TID-to-link mapping to the first AP device 161. Alternatively or additionally, the second AP device 162 may transmit the TID-to-link mapping to the first AP device 161 directly. In some embodiments, the TID-to-link mapping may comprise a specific TID mapping strategy for the at least one second link. The first AP device 161 may disable the at least one first link and the second AP device 162 may enable the at least one second link based on the received TID-to-link mapping.
In some embodiments, when setting up the one or more of at least one first link or the at least one second link, the network device 150 may set up the at least one first link without setting up the at least one second link during an initial link setup procedure between the network device 150 and the non-AP device 110 based on a first negotiation with the non-AP device 110 during an initial link setup procedure.
In some embodiments, in order to determine that the at least one first link is to be enabled, the network device 150 may determine that the at least one first link is to be enabled based on setting up the at least one first link. The activation signal may be transmitted to the first AP device 161 by the network device 150 based on the first negotiation.
In some embodiments, the first AP device 161 may set up the at least one first link between the first AP device 161 and the non-AP device 110 based on the first negotiation and enable the at least one first link. In some embodiments, based on the first negotiation, the network device 150 may further negotiate, with the non-AP device 110, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one first link and transmit the TID-to-link mapping to the first AP device 161. In some alternative embodiments, based on the first negotiation, the first AP device 161 may further negotiate, with the non-AP device 110, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one first link. In some embodiments, the TID-to-link mapping may comprise a specific TID mapping strategy for the at least one first link. The first AP device 161 may enable the at least one first link based on the TID-to-link mapping.
In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further set up the at least one second link and delete the at least one first link based on a second negotiation with the non-AP device 110 after the first negotiation.
In some embodiments, the first AP device 161 may delete the at least one first link based on the second negotiation. The second AP device 162 may set up the at least one second link between the second AP device 162 and the non-AP device 110 based on the second negotiation and enable the at least one second link. In some embodiments, based on the second negotiation, the network device 150 may further negotiate, with the non-AP device 110, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one second link and transmit the TID-to-link mapping to the second AP device 162. In some alternative embodiments, based on the second negotiation, the first AP device 161 may further negotiate, with the non-AP device 110, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one second link. The network device 150 may receive the TID-to-link mapping from the first AP device 161 and transmit the TID-to-link mapping to the second AP device 162. Alternatively or additionally, the first AP device 161 may transmit the TID-to-link mapping to the second AP device 162 directly. In some alternative embodiments, based on the second negotiation, the second AP device 162 may negotiate, with the non-AP device 110, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one second link. In some embodiments, the TID-to-link mapping may comprise a specific TID mapping strategy for the at least one second link. The second AP device 162 may enable the at least one second link based on the TID-to-link mapping.
In some embodiments, based on the second negotiation, the network device 150 may further transmit a message to the first AP device 161 to obtain a token of the non-AP device 110 from the first AP device 161. The first AP device 161 may transmit the token to the network device 150. The network device 150 may receive the token from the first AP device 161 and transmit a message to the second AP device 162 to provide the token to the second AP device 162. In some embodiments, based on the second negotiation, the second AP device 162 may further receive a message from the network device 150 to provide a token of the non-AP device 110 to the second AP device 162. In this way, the non-AP device 110 may be able to gain access to the network via the second AP device 162.
In some embodiments, based on the second negotiation, the first AP device 161 may further transmit upper MAC context information of the non-AP device 110 stored in the MLD upper MAC layer of the first AP device 161 to the network device 150. The upper MAC context information may comprise connection information for the non-AP device 110. For example, the MLD upper MAC context information may include SN, PN, key information, etc. for communication between the non-AP device 110 and the D-AP system 120. The network device 150 may receive the upper MAC context information of the non-AP device 110 from the first AP device 161 and transmit the upper MAC context information to the second AP device 162. In some embodiments, based on the second negotiation, the second AP device 162 may further receive upper MAC context information of the non-AP device 110 from the network device 150. In this way, multiple AP devices in the same D-AP MLD may share the same context information of MLD upper MAC layer for the associated non-AP device. Thus, the non-AP device may communicate with the D-AP MLD when moving from one AP device to another one without a re-association procedure, which may reduce latency as well as the service interruption due to re-association.
In some embodiments, based on the second negotiation, the network device 150 may further transmit a deactivation signal to the first AP device 161 to deactivate the upper MAC layer of the first AP device 161 for the non-AP device 110. The first AP device 161 may deactivate the upper MAC layer for the non-AP device 110 based on the received deactivation signal. In this way, among the plurality of MLD upper MAC layer of the plurality of AP devices in the D-AP MLD 120, only one MLD upper MAC layer for a particular non-AP device will be active at one time instance.
In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further generate upper MAC information for upper MAC layers of the plurality of AP devices in the D-AP MLD 120 and transmit the upper MAC information to the plurality of AP devices. In this way, the upper MAC information may be synchronized among the plurality of AP devices in the D-AP MLD.
In some embodiments, the upper MAC information may include an AP-MLD MAC address associated with the network device 150. Alternatively or additionally, the upper MAC information may include a plurality of MAC addresses associated with respective links affiliated to the network device 150. Alternatively or additionally, the upper MAC information may include a plurality of link identifiers associated with the respective links. Alternatively or additionally, the upper MAC information may include an operating class associated with the respective links. Alternatively or additionally, the upper MAC information may include a plurality of channel identifiers associated with the respective links. Alternatively or additionally, the upper MAC information may include a service set identifier (SSID) of the D-AP MLD 120.
In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further generate information of the plurality of AP devices in the D-AP MLD and transmit the information of the plurality of AP devices to the plurality of AP devices. The AP device 160 may receive information of the plurality of AP devices from the network device 150 and transmit the information of the plurality of AP devices to the non-AP device 110.
In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further update the upper MAC information based on determining that a third AP device is registered with the network device 150. The network device 150 may transmit the updated upper MAC information and information of the third AP device to the plurality of AP devices. The AP device 160 may receive the updated upper MAC information indicative of a third AP device 160 being registered with the network device 150 and transmit, to the non-AP device 110, information of at least one link affiliated to the third AP device 160 and information of the third AP device 160.
In some embodiments, the at least one link may be determined to be enabled based on a location of the non-AP device 110. Alternatively or additionally, the at least one link may be determined to be enabled based on traffic loads on the plurality of AP devices. Alternatively or additionally, the at least one link may be determined to be enabled based on channel qualities of the plurality of AP devices.
In some embodiments, links affiliated to the D-AP MLD may be associated with respective link MAC addresses. In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further transmit, to the non-AP device 110, an indication that the at least one link is associated with the AP device 160. In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further receive, from the non-AP device 110, an indication of at least one link determined by the non-AP device 110 to be enabled.
Through the process flows 200-1 and 200-2, a MLO mechanism with a D-AP MLD architecture may be defined. In this manner, the D-AP MLD architecture may increase throughput of the non-AP device through aggregation of multiple links associated with the multiple physical AP devices. For example, the D-AP MLD may connect with a non-AP device with best links even if the non-AP device moves from one physical AP device to another, which will not result in throughput reduction. In addition, due to the coverage extension, the non-AP device can always be connected to the D-AP MLD with a large coverage area without placing a significant battery drain on the non-AP device and without incurring handoff cost of re-association or re-negotiation of security. In other words, when a non-AP device moves from one place to another, it may always connect to the same AP-MLD via the link status management dynamically without suffering from service interruption issue, which may improve the experience of the end user. In some embodiments, the traffic of a special non-AP device may be moved from one physical AP device to another one without a re-association procedure, which may reduce the effort of traffic rescheduling among different physical AP devices deployed in different places.
Hereinafter, some example implementations of embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to Figs. 3 to 6. Fig. 3 illustrates an example implementation of a D-AP MLD 300 in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that the D-AP MLD 300 can be considered as a more specific example of the MLD system 120 in Fig. 1D. Similarly with the MLD system 120, the D-AP MLD 300 may include a multi-AP manager 350, a first physical AP device 361 and a second physical AP device 362. The multi-AP manager 350, the first physical AP device 361 and the second physical AP device 362 can be considered as more specific examples of the multi-AP manager 150, the first AP device 161 and the second AP device 162 in Fig. 1D, respectively.
As shown in Fig. 3, three APs (e.g., AP1 361-1, AP2 361-2, AP3 361-3) are deployed on the first physical AP device 361 and another three APs (e.g., AP4 362-1, AP5 362-2, AP6 362-3) are deployed on the second physical AP device 362. The AP1-AP6 may operate on same or different channels, e.g., CH1/2.4GHz, CH36/5GHz, CH30/6GHz, CH11/2.4GHz, CH100/5GHz and CH233/6GHz, respectively. The first physical AP device 361 and the second physical AP device 362 may be deployed in different places. Each physical AP device may connect with the multi-AP manager 350 via wireless or wired connection. The multi-AP manager 350 may be responsible for data distribution, AP registration and configuration, token transfer, etc. For example, the multi-AP manager 350 may receive data to be transmitted to the non-AP device from the Internet and distribute the data to the physical AP device currently communicating with the AP device. It is to be understood that the number of physical AP devices in D-AP MLD 300 and the number of APs deployed on each physical AP device are only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. The D-AP MLD 300 may include any suitable number of physical AP devices adapted for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure and the each physical AP device may include any suitable number of APs adapted for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.
In some embodiments, the physical AP devices 361 and 362 may communicate with each other via the multi-AP manager 350. Alternatively or additionally, the physical AP devices 361 and 362 may communicate with each other directly. Although the multi-AP manager 350 is shown to be a different device from the physical AP devices, it is to be understood that, in some embodiments, the multi-AP manager 350 may be implemented in the same device with one of the physical AP devices, e.g., the first physical AP device 361.
Each of the first physical AP device 361 and the second physical AP device 362 may have its own wireless system and may include a MLD upper MAC layer to serve non-AP devices, an upper MAC layer to serve STAs, at least one radio and at least one RF chain to transmit and receive PPDU, a CPU processor and a memory. The physical AP devices associated with the same multi-AP manager may share the same upper MAC context information with each other. For example, in Fig. 3, the first physical AP device 361 may include a MLD upper MAC layer 371 associated with a non-AP MLD and lower MAC layers 381 associated with respective APs (i.e., AP1 361-1, AP2 361-2, AP3 361-3) . The second physical AP device 362 may include a MLD upper MAC layer 372 associated with the same non-AP MLD and lower MAC layers 382 associated with respective APs (i.e., AP4 362-1, AP5 362-2, AP6 362-3) . The D-AP MLD 300 may enable MLO over the physical AP devices 361 and 362.
In the D-AP MLD 300, among the plurality of MLD upper MAC layers of the plurality of physical AP devices, only one MLD upper MAC layer for a particular non-AP MLD will be active at one time instance. For example, at one time instance, only the MLD upper MAC layer 371 may be active a particular non-AP MLD. At another time instance, only the MLD upper MAC layer 372 may be active and the MLD upper MAC layer 371 may be deactivated. The active MLD upper MAC layer may be associated with the enabled links. The links to be enabled can be determined, for example, based on the non-AP MLD location, channel quality (e.g., received signal strength indication (RSSI) measurements) , or traffic load, etc. In other words, the MLD upper MAC layer to be activated can be determined, for example, based on the non-AP MLD location, channel quality, or traffic load, etc.
In this manner, a D-AP MLD architecture with multiple physical AP devices is provided to facilitate multi-link operation, especially in case of mobility. Based on the D-AP MLD architecture, for different physical AP devices, regardless of co-host and co-located AP MLD cases, each physical AP device may have a MLD upper MAC layer. The upper MAC layers deployed on different physical AP devices may have the same AP MLD MAC address and can synchronize with each other. There may be only one active MLD upper MAC layer in a D-AP MLD for an associated non-AP MLD while other MLD upper MAC layers in the D-AP MLD are inactive for the associated non-AP MLD. On the other hand, each physical AP device may have one or more low MAC layers with different link MAC addresses. In some embodiments, link information of each affiliated AP may be advised by the reporting AP within same D-AP MLD in its Beacon, probe response or other management frames.
When the non-AP MLD moves, the active/inactive status of the MLD upper MAC layers of the physical AP devices in the D-AP MLD may be changed in case of token transfer from one physical AP device to another one. Such operation may ensure to transfer the connection with the non-AP MLD to another physical AP device without re-association. In this way, latency as well as the service interruption due to re-association may be reduced.
In some embodiments, a multi-AP manager is introduced in the D-AP MLD. The multi-AP manager may be configured to distribute data to different physical AP devices. For a particular non-AP MLD associated with the D-AP MLD, there may be only one active MLD upper MAC layer among MLD upper MAC layers of different physical AP devices, while other MLD upper MAC layers are inactive. Multiple physical AP devices in the same D-AP MLD may share the same context information of MLD upper MAC layer for the associated non-AP MLD. The active upper MAC layer may be associated with the enabled links. Active/inactive status of the upper MAC layer function may be changed in case of token transfer.
In some embodiments, multiple links may be set up between the non-AP MLD and the D-AP MLD including multiple physical AP devices. When a new physical AP device is registered with the D-AP MLD, the multi-AP manager may add a new physical AP device to the D-AP MLD via ML re-configuration operation. For example, the MLD upper MAC layer of the new physical AP device may be synchronized with the information from the upper MAC layers of other physical AP devices. Information of new links between the new physical AP device and non-AP MLD may be added and advised by the reporting APs in their Beacon frame, probe response frame and other management frames.
In some embodiments, in addition to link management due to channel quality, traffic load, etc., enabled links for an associated non-AP MLD may also be determined based on the location of non-AP MLD since multiple physical AP devices may be deployed in different places. The enabled link of the associated non-AP MLD may be set on the APs affiliated to one physical AP device (e.g., the one close to the non-AP MLD) , and the disabled links may be set on the APs affiliated to other physical AP devices. The enabled links for a non-AP MLD 410 may be switched from one physical AP device to another one when the associated non-AP MLD moves. In some embodiments, TID-to-link mappings may be associated with the enabled links while no TID-to-link mapping may be associated with the disabled links.
In some embodiments, in addition to link management due to channel quality, traffic load, etc., the links between the D-AP MLD and the associated non-AP MLD also can be added and deleted dynamically based on the location of non-AP MLD since multiple physical AP devices may be deployed in different places. The D-AP MLD may negotiate with the associated non-AP MLD 410 to set up links on the APs affiliated to one physical AP device (e.g., the one close to the non-AP MLD) , and delete the links on the APs affiliated to other physical AP devices in a negotiation manner. In some embodiments, TID-to-link mappings may be associated with current existing links in enabled state (i.e., the enabled links) . In this manner, the non-AP MLD does not need to keep the links with all physical AP devices, especially in larger network, which can save the memory cost on non-AP MLD side.
Fig. 4A illustrates an example implementation of a multi-link setup stage 400-1 in a D-AP MLD architecture in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The multi-link setup stage 400-1 of Fig. 4A is depicted and will be described from perspectives of the multi-AP manager 350 and the physical AP devices 361, 362 included in the D-AP MLD 300 in Fig. 3 and a non-AP MLD 410. It is noted that the non-AP MLD 410 can be considered as a more specific example of the non-AP device 110 in Figs. 1A and 1D.
As shown in Fig. 4A, the non-AP MLD 410 has three radios and six affiliated STAs, namely STA1 410-1, STA2 410-2, STA3 410-3, STA4 410-4, STA5 410-5 and STA6 410-6. It is to be understood that the number of STAs and the number of radios in the non-AP MLD 410 are only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. The non-AP MLD 410 may include any suitable number of STAs and any suitable number of radios adapted for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.
In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD 410 may set up six links, namely, Link1 to Link6, with the D-AP MLD in an initial link setup procedure. That is, after the initial link setup procedure, Link1 is set up between the AP1 and the STA1, Link2 is set up between the AP2 and the STA2, Link3 is set up between the AP3 and the STA3, Link4 is set up between the AP4 and the STA4, Link5 is set up between the AP5 and the STA5, and Link6 is set up between the AP6 and the STA6.
Assume that the non-AP MLD 410 is in the coverage of the first physical AP device 361, or the channel quality of the first physical AP device 361 is better than the second physical AP device 362. Based on the location of the non-AP MLD 410 or the channel quality of physical AP devices, the D-AP MLD and the non-AP MLD 410 may negotiate to enable all the setup links (i.e., Link1 to Link3) on the first physical AP device 361, and to disable all the setup links (i.e., Link4 to Link6) on the second physical AP device 362.
Based on the negotiation result, the D-AP MLD may determine to activate the MLD upper MAC layer 371 for the non-AP MLD 410 on the first physical AP device 361, and deactivate the MLD upper MAC layer 372 for the non-AP MLD 410 on the second physical AP device 362. Fig. 4B illustrates an example implementation of a process 400-2 for activation signaling transmission in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the process 400-2 will be described with reference to Fig. 4A. The process 400-2 may involve the multi-AP manager 350 and the physical AP devices 361, 362. It is noted that the process 400-2 can be considered as a more specific example of the process 200-2 of Fig. 2B.
As shown in Fig. 4B, the multi-AP manager 350 may transmit (422) an activation signaling 424 to the first physical AP device 361 to activate the MLD upper MAC layer 371 for the non-AP MLD 410 on the first physical AP device 361. In addition, the multi-AP manager 350 may transmit (426) a deactivation signaling 428 to the second physical AP device 362 to deactivate the MLD upper MAC layer 372 for the non-AP MLD 410 on the second physical AP device 362. In this way, only one MLD upper MAC layer, i.e., the MLD upper MAC layer of the physical AP device associated with the links to be enabled, may be activated for the non-AP MLD.
Turning back to Fig. 4A, the D-AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may negotiate a TID-to-Link mapping strategy for UL and DL traffic on the enabled links (i.e., Link1 to Link3) on the first physical AP device 361. For example, the TID-to-Link mapping strategy may be as follows: TID0-3 mapping to Link1, TID4-5 mapping to Link2 and TID6-7 mapping to Link3. The D-AP MLD may transmit the TID-to-Link negotiation result to all of its physical AP devices. Based on the received TID-to-Link negotiation result, the first physical AP device 361 may enable the Link1, the Link2 and the Link3 and the second physical AP device 362 may disable the Link4, the Link5 and the Link6. In this way, the non-AP MLD 410 can exchange UL/DL traffic as well as other frames on the corresponding enabled Link1 to Link3 via the first physical AP device 361. For example, the multi-AP manager may transmit traffic with TID0-7 to the first physical AP device 361 and the first physical AP device 361 may transmit the traffic with TID0-3, TID4-5 and TID6-7 via the enabled Link1, the enabled Link2 and the enabled Link3 to the non-AP device 410, respectively.
In some embodiments, the negotiation of the TID-to-Link mapping strategy may be performed by the physical AP device with the links to be enabled and the non-AP device and synchronized to other physical AP devices directly or via the multi-AP manager. Fig. 4C illustrates an example implementation of a process 400-3 for TID-to-link mapping transmission in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the process 400-3 will be described with reference to Fig. 4A. The process 400-3 may involve the multi-AP manager 350 and the physical AP devices 361, 362. It is noted that the process 400-3 can be considered as a more specific example of the process 200-2 of Fig. 2B.
As shown in Fig. 4C, the first physical AP device 361 may transmit (432) the negotiated TID-to-Link mapping results 434 to the multi-AP manager 350. The multi-AP manager 350 may transmit (436) the negotiated TID-to-Link mapping results 434 to the second physical AP device 362. Alternatively or additionally, the first physical AP device 361 may synchronize the negotiated TID-to-Link mapping results to the second physical AP device 362 directly. In this way, the data stream may be transmitted between the D-AP MLD and the non-AP device via the enabled links on the physical AP device based on TID-to-Link mapping results.
Turning back to Fig. 4A, in some embodiments, the physical AP devices 361 and 362 may be transparent to the non-AP MLD 410 communicating with the D-AP MLD. For example, the non-AP MLD 410 may not know about information of the APs or information of the physical AP devices in the D-AP MLD. When communicating with the D-AP MLD, the non-AP MLD 410 would not know which physical AP device and which AP it is currently connected to. Thus, the D-AP MLD may be well compatible with legacy non-AP MLD as the physical AP devices are transparent to the non-AP MLD.
In some embodiments, during the initial link setup procedure, the D-AP MLD may advise, to the non-AP device 410, information of the APs located on different physical AP devices. Alternatively or additionally, during the initial link setup procedure, the D-AP MLD may advise, to the non-AP device 410, information of the physical AP devices. In some embodiments, when the D-AP MLD advises information of the APs or information of the physical AP devices, the D-AP MLD may indicate the identifier of specific physical AP device to the non-AP MLD. Thus, the non-AP MLD 410 can know which links are associated to the first physical AP device 361 and which links are associated to the second physical AP device 362. For example, each AP can advise, to the non-AP MLD 410, the physical AP device it belongs to or information of a neighbor physical AP device via the transmitted management or data frame, like Beacon frame, probe response frame or (re) association response frame, etc.
In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD 410 may transmit its suggested/preferred setup links to the D-AP MLD. For example, the non-AP MLD 410 may determine that the channels associated with Link1 to Link3 have better channel quality and thus transmit an indication of preferred Link1 to Link3 to the D-AP MLD. Alternatively, if the non-AP MLD 410 is advised of the information of the physical AP devices, the non-AP MLD 410 may transmit, to the D-AP MLD, an indication of the first physical AP device 361 on which the preferred Link1 to Link3 are deployed. In some embodiments, the D-AP MLD may determine to enable Link1 to Link3 based on the indication received from the non-AP MLD 410. Alternatively or additionally, the D-AP MLD may determine to enable Link1 to Link3 based on other criteria. The indication of preferred links may be transmitted by the non-AP MLD 410 during or before the negotiation of setup links to be enabled.
Fig. 4D illustrates an example implementation of a link management stage 400-4 in a D-AP MLD architecture in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The link management stage 400-4 of Fig. 4D is depicted and will be described from perspectives of the multi-AP manager 350 and the physical AP devices 361, 362 included in the D-AP MLD 300 in Fig. 3 and a non-AP MLD 410. It is noted that the link management stage 400-4 can be considered as a subsequent stage after the multi-link setup stage 400-1 of Fig. 4A.
Assume that the non-AP MLD 410 moves far away from the first physical AP device 361 and close to the second physical AP device 362. In such event, a token transfer from the first physical AP device 361 to the second physical AP device 362 may be triggered. Fig. 4E illustrates an example implementation of a process 400-5 for token transfer in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the process 400-5 will be described with reference to Fig. 4D. The process 400-5 may involve the multi-AP manager 350 and the physical AP devices 361, 362. It is noted that the process 400-5 can be considered as a more specific example of the process 200-2 of Fig. 2B.
As shown in Fig. 4E, the multi-AP manager 350 may transmit (452) a first message 454 to the first physical AP device 361 to obtain the token of the non-AP MLD 410 from the first physical AP device 361. For example, the token of the non-AP MLD 410 may include one or more of an access code, a string of characters, a username, a password, etc. Then, the multi-AP manager 350 may transmit (456) a second message 458 to the second physical AP device 362 to distribute the token of the non-AP MLD 410 obtained from the first physical AP device 361. In this way, the second physical AP device 362 may obtain the token of the non-AP MLD 410, thus enabling the non-AP MLD 410 to gain access to the network via the second physical AP device 362.
Turning back to Fig. 4D, when the token is transferred from the first physical AP device 361 to the second physical AP device 362, the D-AP MLD may also transfer the MLD upper MAC context information for the non-AP MLD 410 from the first physical AP device 361 to the second physical AP device 362. The MLD upper MAC context information may include the connection information for a non-AP MLD 410 stored in the MLD upper MAC layer 371 of the first physical AP device 361. For example, the MLD upper MAC context information may include SN, PN, key information, etc. for communicating with the non-AP MLD 410.
Fig. 4F illustrates an example implementation of a process 400-6 for transmission of MLD upper MAC information in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the process 400-6 will be described with reference to Fig. 4D. The process 400-6 may involve the multi-AP manager 350 and the physical AP devices 361, 362. It is noted that the process 400-6 can be considered as a more specific example of the process 200-2 of Fig. 2B.
As shown in Fig. 4F, the first physical AP device 361 may transmit (462) the MLD upper MAC context information 464 of the non-AP MLD 410 to the multi-AP manager 350. The multi-AP manager 350 may forward (466) the MLD upper MAC context information 464 of the non-AP MLD 410 to the second physical AP device 362. Alternatively or additionally, the first physical AP device 361 may transmit the MLD upper MAC context information 464 of the non-AP MLD 410 to the second physical AP device 362 directly. In this way, the second physical AP device 362 may communicate with the non-AP MLD 410 based on the MLD upper MAC context information 464 of the non-AP MLD 410 without additional procedures to obtain these information from the non-AP MLD 410.
Turning back to Fig. 4D, the D-AP MLD may further renegotiate with the non-AP MLD 410 to enable the Link4 to Link6 affiliated to the second physical AP device 362 and to disable the Link1 to Link3 affiliated to the first physical AP device 361. In other words, the D-AP MLD may renegotiate with the non-AP MLD 410 to move the enabled links from the first physical AP device 361 to the second physical AP device 362.
Based on the negotiation result, the D-AP MLD may determine to activate the MLD upper MAC layer 372 for the non-AP MLD 410 on the second physical AP device 362, and deactivate the MLD upper MAC layer 371 for the non-AP MLD 410 on the first physical AP device 361. Fig. 4G illustrates an example implementation of a process 400-7 for activation signaling transmission in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the process 400-7 will be described with reference to Fig. 4D. The process 400-7 may involve the multi-AP manager 350 and the physical AP devices 361, 362. It is noted that the process 400-7 can be considered as a more specific example of the process 200-2 of Fig. 2B.
As shown in Fig. 4G, the multi-AP manager 350 may transmit (472) an activation signaling 474 to the second physical AP device 362 to activate the MLD upper MAC layer 372 for the non-AP MLD 410 on the second physical AP device 362. In addition, the multi-AP manager 350 may transmit (476) a deactivation signaling 478 to the first physical AP device 361 to deactivate the MLD upper MAC layer 371 for the non-AP MLD 410 on the first physical AP device 361. In this way, only one MLD upper MAC layer, i.e., the MLD upper MAC layer of the physical AP device associated with the links to be enabled, may be activated for the non-AP MLD.
Turning back to Fig. 4D, the D-AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may negotiate a TID-to-Link mapping strategy for UL and DL traffic on the enabled links (i.e., Link4 to Link6) on the second physical AP device 362. For example, the TID-to-Link mapping strategy may be as follows: TID0-3 mapping to Link4, TID0-3 mapping to Link5 and TID4-7 mapping to Link6. The D-AP MLD may configure the TID-to-Link negotiation results to all of its physical AP devices. Based on the received TID-to-Link negotiation result, the first physical AP device 361 may disable the Link1, the Link2 and the Link3 and the second physical AP device 362 may enable the Link4, the Link5 and the Link6. In this way, the non-AP MLD 410 can exchange UL/DL traffic as well as other frames on the corresponding enabled Link4 to Link6 via the second physical AP device 362. For example, the multi-AP manager may transmit traffic with TID0-7 to the second physical AP device 362 and the second physical AP device 362 may transmit the traffic with TID0-3 via the enabled Link4 and Link5 to the non-AP device 410, and transmit the traffic with TID4-7 via the enabled Link6 to the non-AP device 410.
In some embodiments, the negotiation of the TID-to-Link mapping strategy may be performed by the physical AP device with the links to be enabled and the non-AP device and synchronized to other physical AP devices directly or via the multi-AP manager. Fig. 4H illustrates an example implementation of a process 400-8 for TID-to-link mapping transmission in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the process 400-8 will be described with reference to Fig. 4A. The process 400-8 may involve the multi-AP manager 350 and the physical AP devices 361, 362. It is noted that the process 400-8 can be considered as a more specific example of the process 200-2 of Fig. 2B.
As shown in Fig. 4H, the second physical AP device 362 may transmit (482) the negotiated TID-to-Link mapping results 484 to the multi-AP manager 350. The multi-AP manager 350 may transmit (486) the negotiated TID-to-Link mapping results 484 to the first physical AP device 361. Alternatively or additionally, the second physical AP device 362 may synchronize the negotiated TID-to-Link mapping results to the first physical AP device 361 directly. In this way, the data stream may be transmitted between the D-AP MLD and the non-AP device via the enabled links on the physical AP device based on TID-to-Link mapping results.
In some embodiments, the first physical AP device 361 may negotiate the TID-to-Link mapping strategy for UL and DL traffic on the Link4 to Link6 with the non-AP MLD 410 and synchronize the negotiated TID-to-Link mapping results to other physical AP devices directly or via the multi-AP manager 350. The first physical AP device 361 may disable the Link1 to Link3 based on the negotiated TID-to-Link mapping results. The second physical AP device 362 may enable the Link4 to Link6 based on the negotiated TID-to-Link mapping results.
Fig. 5A illustrates an example implementation of a multi-link setup stage 500-1 in a D-AP MLD architecture in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The multi-link setup stage 500-1 of Fig. 5A is depicted and will be described from perspectives of the multi-AP manager 350 and the physical AP devices 361, 362 included in the D-AP MLD 300 in Fig. 3 and a non-AP MLD 510. It is noted that the non-AP MLD 510 can be considered as a more specific example of the non-AP device 110 of Figs. 1A and 1D. The same reference numerals are used to denote the steps or components described in Fig. 5A having the same operations as the steps or components described in Fig. 4A, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.
As shown in Fig. 5A, the non-AP MLD 510 has three radios and three affiliated STAs, namely STA1 510-1, STA2 510-2 and STA3 510-3. It is to be understood that the number of STAs and the number of radios in the non-AP MLD 510 are only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. The non-AP MLD 510 may include any suitable number of STAs and any suitable number of radios adapted for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.
Assume that the non-AP MLD 510 is in the coverage of the first physical AP device 361, or the channel quality of the first physical AP device 361 is better than the second physical AP device 362. In some embodiments, based on the location of the non-AP MLD 510 or the channel quality of physical AP devices, the non-AP MLD 510 may set up all the three enabled links, namely, Link1 to Link3, with the D-AP MLD via first physical AP device 361. That is, after the initial link setup procedure, Link1 is set up between the AP1 and the STA1, Link2 is set up between the AP2 and the STA2 and Link3 is set up between the AP3 and the STA3.
In some embodiments, the D-AP MLD and the non-AP MLD 510 may negotiate a TID-to-Link mapping strategy for UL and DL traffic on the enabled links (i.e., Link1 to Link3) on the first physical AP device 361. For example, the TID-to-Link mapping strategy may be as follows: TID0-3 mapping to Link1, TID4-5 mapping to Link2 and TID6-7 mapping to Link3. Only the MLD upper MAC layer 371 may be active and the MLD upper MAC layer 372 may be deactivated. In this way, the non-AP MLD 510 can exchange UL/DL traffic as well as other frames on the corresponding enabled Link1 to Link3 via the first physical AP device 361.
In some embodiments, the physical AP devices 361 and 362 may be transparent to the non-AP MLD 510 communicating with the D-AP MLD. Alternatively, during the initial link setup procedure, the D-AP MLD may advise, to the non-AP device 510, information of the APs located on different physical AP devices. Alternatively or additionally, during the initial link setup procedure, the D-AP MLD may advise, to the non-AP device 510, information of the physical AP devices. In some embodiments, the information of the physical AP devices may comprise MAC capability information, physical capability information, memory information, and CPU information. Thus, the non-AP MLD 510 can know which physical AP device it is connected to and the association between the links and the APs on the physical AP device.
Fig. 5B illustrates an example implementation of a link management stage 500-2 in a D-AP MLD architecture in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The link management stage 500-2 of Fig. 5B is depicted and will be described from perspectives of the multi-AP manager 350 and the physical AP devices 361, 362 included in the D-AP MLD 300 in Fig. 3 and a non-AP MLD 510. It is noted that the link management stage 500-2 can be considered as a subsequent stage after the multi-link setup stage 500-1 of Fig. 5A. The same reference numerals are used to denote the steps or components described in Fig. 5B having the same operations as the steps or components described in Fig. 4D, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.
Assume that the non-AP MLD 510 moves far away from the first physical AP device 361 and close to the second physical AP device 362. The D-AP MLD may renegotiate with the non-AP MLD 510 to set up enabled links on the second physical AP device 362 and delete all the links from the first physical AP device 361 via multi-link reconfiguration operation. As shown in Fig. 5B, the non-AP MLD 510 may set up three links, namely, Link4 to Link6, with the D-AP MLD via second physical AP device 362. The Link1 to Link3 between the first physical AP device 361 and the non-AP MLD 510 may be deleted. That is, after the multi-link reconfiguration operation, Link1 to Link3 are deleted, Link4 is set up between the AP4 and the STA1, Link5 is set up between the AP5 and the STA2, and Link6 is set up between the AP6 and the STA3.
In some embodiments, a token transfer from the first physical AP device 361 to the second physical AP device 362 may be triggered. The D-AP MLD may also transfer the MLD upper MAC context information for the non-AP MLD 510 from the first physical AP device 361 to the second physical AP device 362. In addition, based on the negotiation result, the D-AP MLD may determine to activate the MLD upper MAC layer 372 for the non-AP MLD 510 on the second physical AP device 362, and deactivate the MLD upper MAC layer 371 for the non-AP MLD 510 on the first physical AP device 361. The example implementations of the processes 400-5, 400-6 and 400-7 for the D-AP MLD in the link management stage 400-4 also apply for the D-AP MLD in the link management stage 500-2, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.
In this way, the non-AP MLD 510 can exchange UL/DL traffic as well as other frames on the corresponding enabled Link4 to Link6 via the second physical AP device 362. The non-AP MLD may set up a plenty of links with the serving physical AP device. During the roaming procedure, the non-AP MLD may reset a plenty of links with another serving physical AP device via multi-link reconfiguration operation, i.e., by adding new links with the new serving physical AP device and deleting the links with the original serving physical AP device. In this manner, the non-AP MLD does not need to keep the links with all physical AP devices, especially in larger network, which can save the memory cost on non-AP MLD side.
Fig. 6 illustrates an example implementation of a process 600 of physical AP registration and configuration in a D-AP MLD architecture in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The example implementation of Fig. 6 is depicted and will be described from perspectives of a multi-AP manager 650, old physical AP devices 660, a new physical AP device 663, and a non-AP device 610. A D-AP MLD may comprise the multi-AP manager 650 and the old physical AP devices 660 associated with the multi-AP manager 650. It is noted that the multi-AP manager 650 can be considered as a more specific example of the multi-AP manager 150 in Fig. 1D and the multi-AP manager 350 in Figs. 3-5B. It is noted that the non-AP MLD 610 can be considered as a more specific example of the non-AP device 110 in Figs. 1A and 1D, the non-AP device 410 in Figs. 4A and 4D and the non-AP device 510 in Figs. 5A and 5B. The old physical AP devices 660 can be considered as a more specific example of the first AP device 161, the second AP device 162 and other possible AP devices (not shown) included in the D-AP MLD 120 in Fig. 1D and the first physical AP device 361, the second physical AP device 362 and other possible physical AP devices (not shown) included in the D-AP MLD 300 in Figs. 3, 4A, 4D and 5A-5B. The similar reference numerals are used to denote the steps or components described in Fig. 6 having the same operations as the steps or components described in Fig. 1D, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.
In some embodiments, the multi-AP manager 650 may add a new physical AP device 663 to the D-AP MLD via a D-AP MLD re-configuration operation. In the D-AP MLD re-configuration operation, the MLD upper layer of the new physical AP device 663 may synchronize the information from the MLD upper layers of other physical AP devices in the D-AP MLD.
For example, in a first step, the multi-AP manager 650 may configure new MLD upper MAC information to the new physical AP device 663 and the old physical AP devices 660 in the D-AP MLD. In some embodiments, the multi-AP manager 650 may update (601) the MLD upper MAC information by adding information of the new physical AP device 663. The multi-AP manager 650 may transmit (603) the updated MLD upper MAC information 602 to the new physical AP device 663. The multi-AP manager 650 may also transmit (604) the updated MLD upper MAC information 602 to the old physical AP devices 660.
In some embodiments, the MLD upper MAC information may comprise an AP-MLD MAC address associated with the D-AP MLD. Alternatively or additionally, the MLD upper MAC information may comprise MAC addresses of the affiliated APs (including APs affiliated to the old physical AP devices 660 and APs affiliated to the new physical AP device 663) and link identifiers associated with respective setup links. Alternatively or additionally, the MLD upper MAC information may comprise respective operating classes and channel identifiers of the old physical AP devices 660 and the new physical AP device 663. Alternatively or additionally, the MLD upper MAC information may comprise service set identifier (SSID) information and other information of the D-AP MLD.
In a second step, all the APs affiliated to the D-AP MLD may advise information of the APs affiliated to the new physical AP device 663 to non-AP MLD 610. Alternatively or additionally, all the APs affiliated to the D-AP MLD may advise information of the new physical AP device 663 to non-AP MLD 610. In some embodiments, these information may be advised by the all the APs to the non-AP MLD 610 through the basic multi-link element or through the reduced neighbor report element in their corresponding Beacon frame, probe response frame or other management frames.
For example, the old physical AP devices 660 may transmit (606) information 605 of new APs affiliated to the new physical AP device 663 to the non-AP MLD 610 in a beacon signal or in a probe response. The new physical AP device 663 may also transmit (607) information 605 of new APs affiliated to the new physical AP device 663 to the non-AP MLD 610 in a beacon signal or in a probe response. In this way, the non-AP MLD 610 may know information of new added links between new physical AP device 663 and non-AP MLD 610.
Fig. 7 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 700 implemented at an apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 700 will be described from the perspective of the non-AP device 110 with reference to Fig. 1D.
At block 710, the non-AP device 110 may set up one or more of at least one first link or at least one second link with a distributed access point (AP) system including a network device associated with a first AP device and a second AP device. The at least one first link is between the non-AP device 110 and the first AP device, and the at least one second link is between the non-AP device 110 and the second AP device.
In some embodiments, in order to set up the one or more of at least one first link or the at least one second link, the non-AP device 110 may set up both of the at least one first link and the at least one second link during an initial link setup procedure between the non-AP device 110 and the distributed AP system.
In some embodiments, the non-AP device 110 may further enable the at least one first link and disable the at least one second link based on a first negotiation with the distributed AP system during the initial link setup procedure, enable the at least one first link. In some embodiments, the non-AP device 110 may further enable the at least one second link and disable the at least one first link based on a second negotiation with the distributed AP system after the first negotiation. In some embodiments, the at least one first link is associated with a first set of stations, STAs, deployed on the non-AP device 110. The at least one second link is associated with a second set of STAs deployed on the non-AP device 110.
In some embodiments, in order to set up the one or more of at least one first link or the at least one second link, the non-AP device 110 may set up the at least one first link without setting up the at least one second link based on a first negotiation with the distributed AP system during an initial link setup procedure. In some embodiments, the non-AP device 110 may further set up the at least one second link and delete the at least one first link based on a second negotiation with the distributed AP system after the first negotiation.
In some embodiments, the non-AP device 110 may further determine that the at least one first link is to be enabled. The non-AP device 110 may transmit, to the distributed AP system, an indication that the at least one first link is to be enabled.
In some embodiments, the non-AP device 110 may perform the first negotiation with the distributed AP system based on a location of the non-AP device 110. Alternatively or additionally, the non-AP device 110 may perform the first negotiation with the distributed AP system based on a traffic load. Alternatively or additionally, the non-AP device 110 may perform the first negotiation with the distributed AP system based on a channel quality.
In some embodiments, the non-AP device 110 may further negotiate, with the distributed AP system, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one first link. In some embodiments, the non-AP device 110 may further receive, from the distributed AP system, one or more of an indication that the at least one first link is associated with the first AP device or an indication that the at least one second link is associated with the second AP device.
In some embodiments, the non-AP device 110 may further receive, from the distributed AP system, information of the first AP device and information of the second AP device. In some embodiments, the non-AP device 110 may further receive, from the distributed AP system, information of at least one link affiliated to a third AP device registered with the network device and information of the third AP device.
Fig. 8 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 800 implemented at another apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 800 will be described from the perspective of the network device 150 with reference to Fig. 1D.
At block 810, the network device 150 may determine that at least one link between an access point (AP) device among a plurality of AP devices associated with the network device 150 and a non-AP device is to be enabled. At block 820, the network device 150 may transmit, to the AP device, an activation signal to activate an upper medium access control (MAC) layer of the AP device for the non-AP device.
In some embodiments, the AP device may be a first AP device, the at least one link may be at least one first link. The network device 150 may further set up at least one first link. Alternatively or additionally, the network device 150 may set up at least one second link with the non-AP device. The at least one first link is between the non-AP device and the first AP device, and the at least one second link is between the non-AP device and a second AP device among the plurality of AP devices.
In some embodiments, in order to set up the one or more of at least one first link or the at least one second link, the network device 150 may set up both of the at least one first link and the at least one second link during an initial link setup procedure between the network device 150 and the non-AP device. In some embodiments, in order to determine that the at least one first link is to be enabled, the network device 150 may determine that the at least one first link is to be enabled and determine that the at least one second link is to be disabled based on a first negotiation with the non-AP device during the initial link setup procedure.
In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further determine that the at least one second link is to be enabled and determine that the at least one first link is to be disabled based on a second negotiation with the non-AP device after the first negotiation.
In some embodiments, in order to set up the one or more of the at least one first link or the at least one second link, the network device 150 may set up the at least one first link without setting up the at least one second link based on a first negotiation with the non-AP device during an initial link setup procedure.
In some embodiments, in order to determine that the at least one first link is to be enabled, the network device 150 may determine that the at least one first link is to be enabled based on setting up the at least one first link. In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further set up the at least one second link and delete the at least one first link based on a second negotiation with the non-AP device after the first negotiation.
In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further transmit a message to the first AP device to obtain a token of the non-AP device from the first AP device based on the second negotiation. The network device 150 may receive the token from the first AP device and transmit a message to the second AP device to provide the token to the second AP device.
In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further receive upper MAC context information of the non-AP device from the first AP device based on the second negotiation and transmit the upper MAC context information to the second AP device. In some embodiments, the upper MAC context information may comprise connection information in the first AP device for the non-AP device.
In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further transmit a deactivation signal to the first AP device to deactivate the upper MAC layer based on the second negotiation. In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further negotiate, with the non-AP device, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one link based on determining that the at least one link is to be enabled. The network device 150 may transmit the TID-to-link mapping to the AP device. In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further receive, from the AP device, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one link based on determining that the at least one link is to be enabled.
In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further receive, from the AP device, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one second link based on determining that the at least one second link is to be enabled. In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further transmit the TID-to-link mapping to other AP devices among the plurality of AP devices. In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further generate upper MAC information for upper MAC layers of the plurality of AP devices and transmit the upper MAC information to the plurality of AP devices.
In some embodiments, the upper MAC information may comprise an AP-MLD MAC address associated with the network device 150. Alternatively or additionally, the upper MAC information may comprise a plurality of MAC addresses associated with respective links affiliated to the network device 150. Alternatively or additionally, the upper MAC information may comprise a plurality of link identifiers associated with the respective links. Alternatively or additionally, the upper MAC information may comprise an operating class associated with the respective links. Alternatively or additionally, the upper MAC information may comprise a plurality of channel identifiers associated with the respective links. Alternatively or additionally, the upper MAC information may comprise a service set identifier.
In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further update the upper MAC information based on determining that a third AP device is registered with the network device 150 and transmit the updated upper MAC information and information of the third AP device to the plurality of AP devices. In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further generate information of the plurality of AP devices and transmit the information of the plurality of AP devices to the plurality of AP devices.
In some embodiments, the at least one link may be determined to be enabled based on a location of the non-AP device. Alternatively or additionally, the at least one link may be determined to be enabled based on a traffic load. Alternatively or additionally, the at least one link may be determined to be enabled based on a channel quality.
In some embodiments, links affiliated to the network device 150 may be associated with respective link MAC addresses. In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further transmit, to the non-AP device, an indication that the at least one link is associated with the AP device. In some embodiments, the network device 150 may further receive, from the non-AP device, an indication of at least one link determined by the non-AP device to be enabled.
Fig. 9 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 900 implemented at yet another apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 900 will be described from the perspective of the AP device 160 (e.g., the first AP device 161 or the second AP device 162) with reference to Fig. 1D.
At block 910, the AP device 160 may receive an activation signal associated with a non-access point (non-AP) device from a network device associated with the AP device 160. At block 920, the AP device 160 may activate an upper MAC layer of the AP device 160 for the non-AP device based on the received activation signal.
In some embodiments, the AP device 160 may further set up at least one link between the AP device 160 and the non-AP device during an initial link setup procedure between the non-AP device and the network device. The AP device 160 may further enable the at least one link based on a first negotiation between the non-AP device and the network device. The activation signal may be transmitted to the AP device 160 by the network device based on the first negotiation. In some embodiments, the AP device 160 may further disable the at least one link based on a second negotiation between the non-AP device and the network device after the first negotiation.
In some embodiments, the AP device 160 may further set up at least one link between the AP device 160 and the non-AP device based on a first negotiation between the non-AP device and the network device and enable the at least one link. The activation signal may be transmitted to the AP device 160 by the network device based on the first negotiation. In some embodiments, the AP device 160 may further delete the at least one link based on a second negotiation between the non-AP device and the network device after the first negotiation.
In some embodiments, the AP device 160 may further receive, from the network device, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one link based on the first negotiation. In some embodiments, the AP device 160 may be a first AP device. The first AP device may negotiate, with the non-AP device, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one link based on the first negotiation and transmit the TID-to-link mapping to at least one of the network device or a second AP device associated with the network device.
In some embodiments, the AP device 160 may be a first AP device and the at least one link may be at least one first link. The first AP device may receive, from the network device, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on at least one second link based on the second negotiation. The at least one second link may be set up between a second AP device associated with the network device and the non-AP device during the initial link setup procedure.
In some embodiments, the AP device 160 may be a first AP device and the at least one link may be at least one first link. The first AP device may negotiate, with the non-AP device, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on at least one second link based on the second negotiation. The at least one second link may be set up between a second AP device associated with the network device and the non-AP device during the initial link setup procedure. The first AP device may transmit the TID-to-link mapping to at least one of the network device or the second AP device.
In some embodiments, the AP device 160 may further receive, from the network device, a first message to provide a token of the non-AP device to the AP device 160 based on the first negotiation. In some embodiments, the AP device 160 may further receive, from the network device, upper MAC context information of the non-AP device based on the first negotiation. In some embodiments, the AP device 160 may further receive a deactivation signal from the network device based on the second negotiation and deactivate the upper MAC layer based on the received deactivation signal.
In some embodiments, the AP device 160 may further receive, from the network device, a second message to obtain a token of the non-AP device from the AP device 160 based on the second negotiation and transmit the token to the network device. In some embodiments, the AP device 160 may further transmit, to the network device, upper MAC context information of the non-AP device based on the second negotiation. In some embodiments, the upper MAC context information may comprise connection information for the non-AP device.
In some embodiments, the AP device 160 may further receive, from the network device, upper MAC information for an upper MAC layer of the AP device 160. The upper MAC information may be synchronized among a plurality of AP devices associated with the network device. The AP device 160 may be one of the plurality of AP devices. In some embodiments, the upper MAC information may comprise an AP-MLD MAC address associated with the network device. Alternatively or additionally, the upper MAC information may comprise a plurality of MAC addresses associated with respective links affiliated to the network device. Alternatively or additionally, the upper MAC information may comprise a plurality of link identifiers associated with the respective links. Alternatively or additionally, the upper MAC information may comprise an operating class associated with the respective links. Alternatively or additionally, the upper MAC information may comprise a plurality of channel identifiers associated with the respective links. Alternatively or additionally, the upper MAC information may comprise a service set identifier.
In some embodiments, the AP device 160 may receive, from the network device, an updated upper MAC information indicative of a third AP device being registered with the network device. The AP device 160 may transmit, to the non-AP device, information of at least one link affiliated to the third AP device and information of the third AP device.
In some embodiments, the AP device 160 may be a first AP device. The first AP device may receive, from the network device associated with the first AP device and a second AP device, information of the second AP device and transmit, to the non-AP device, information of the first AP device and information of the second AP device. In some embodiments, links affiliated to the AP device 160 may be associated with respective link MAC addresses.
In some embodiments, the AP device 160 may comprise at least one radio and at least one RF chain. The at least one radio and the at least one RF chain may transmit a transmission to at least one of the non-AP devices or the network device. Alternatively or additionally, the at least one radio and the at least one RF chain may receive a transmission from at least one of the non-AP device or the network device.
In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 700 (for example, the non-AP device 110) may comprise means for performing the respective steps of the method 700. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for setting up one or more of at least one first link or at least one second link with a distributed access point, AP, system including a network device associated with a first AP device and a second AP device, wherein the at least one first link is between the apparatus and the first AP device, and the at least one second link is between the apparatus and the second AP device.
In some example embodiments, the means for setting up the one or more of at least one first link or the at least one second link may comprise means for setting up both of the at least one first link and the at least one second link during an initial link setup procedure between the apparatus and the distributed AP system. In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for enabling the at least one first link based on a first negotiation with the distributed AP system during the initial link setup procedure; and means for disabling the at least one second link.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for enabling the at least one second link based on a second negotiation with the distributed AP system after the first negotiation; and means for disabling the at least one first link. In some example embodiments, the at least one first link is associated with a first set of stations, STAs, deployed on the apparatus; and the at least one second link is associated with a second set of STAs deployed on the apparatus.
In some example embodiments, the means for setting up the one or more of the at least one first link or the at least one second link may comprise means for setting up the at least one first link without setting up the at least one second link based on a first negotiation with the distributed AP system during an initial link setup procedure. In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for setting up the at least one second link based on a second negotiation with the distributed AP system after the first negotiation; and means for deleting the at least one first link.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for determining that the at least one first link is to be enabled; and means for transmitting, to the distributed AP system, an indication that the at least one first link is to be enabled.
In some example embodiments, the means for performing the first negotiation with the distributed AP system based on at least one of the following: a location of the apparatus, a traffic load, or a channel quality. In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for negotiating, with the distributed AP system, a traffic identifier-to-link, TID-to-link, mapping for traffic on the at least one first link.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for receiving, from the distributed AP system, one or more of an indication that the at least one first link is associated with the first AP device or an indication that the at least one second link is associated with the second AP device. In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for receiving, from the distributed AP system, information of the first AP device and information of the second AP device.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for receiving, from the distributed AP system, information of at least one link affiliated to a third AP device registered with the network device and information of the third AP device.
In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of the method 700. In some embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory including instructions (e.g. computer program code) , the at least one memory and the instructions configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the performance of the apparatus.
In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 800 (for example, the network device 150) may comprise means for performing the respective steps of the method 800. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for determining that at least one link between an access point, AP, device among a plurality of AP devices associated with the apparatus and a non-AP device is to be enabled; and means for transmitting to the AP device, an activation signal to activate an upper medium access control, MAC, layer of the AP device for the non-AP device.
In some example embodiments, the AP device is a first AP device, the at least one link is at least one first link, and the apparatus may further comprise means for setting up one or more of at least one first link or at least one second link with the non-AP device, wherein the at least one first link is between the non-AP device and the first AP device, and the at least one second link is between the non-AP device and a second AP device among the plurality of AP devices.
In some example embodiments, the means for setting up the one or more of the at least one first link or the at least one second link may comprise means for setting up both of the at least one first link and the at least one second link during an initial link setup procedure between the apparatus and the non-AP device.
In some example embodiments, the means for determining that the at least one first link is to be enabled may comprise means for based on a first negotiation with the non-AP device during the initial link setup procedure, determining that the at least one first link is to be enabled; and means for determining that the at least one second link is to be disabled.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for determining that the at least one second link is to be enabled based on a second negotiation with the non-AP device after the first negotiation; and means for determining that the at least one first link is to be disabled.
In some example embodiments, the means for setting up the one or more of the at least one first link or the at least one second link may comprise means for setting up the at least one first link without setting up the at least one second link based on a first negotiation with the non-AP device during an initial link setup procedure.
In some example embodiments, the means for determining that the at least one first link is to be enabled may comprise means for determining that the at least one first link is to be enabled based on setting up the at least one first link. In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for setting up the at least one second link based on a second negotiation with the non-AP device after the first negotiation; and deleting the at least one first link.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for transmitting, to the first AP device, a message to obtain a token of the non-AP device from the first AP device based on the second negotiation; means for receiving the token from the first AP device; and means for transmitting, to the second AP device, a message to provide the token to the second AP device.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for receiving, from the first AP device, upper MAC context information of the non-AP device based on the second negotiation; and means for transmitting, to the second AP device, the upper MAC context information. In some example embodiments, the upper MAC context information comprises connection information in the first AP device for the non-AP device.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for transmitting, to the first AP device, a deactivation signal to deactivate the upper MAC layer based on the second negotiation. In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for negotiating, with the non-AP device, a traffic identifier-to-link, TID-to-link, mapping for traffic on the at least one link based on determining that the at least one link is to be enabled k; and means for transmitting the TID-to-link mapping to the AP device.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for receiving, from the AP device, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one link based on determining that the at least one link is to be enabled.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for receiving, from the AP device, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one second link based on determining that the at least one second link is to be enabled. In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for transmitting the TID-to-link mapping to other AP devices among the plurality of AP devices.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for generating upper MAC information for upper MAC layers of the plurality of AP devices; and means for transmitting the upper MAC information to the plurality of AP devices.
In some example embodiments, the upper MAC information may comprise at least one of the following: an AP-MLD MAC address associated with the apparatus, a plurality of MAC addresses associated with respective links affiliated to the apparatus, a plurality of link identifiers associated with the respective links, an operating class associated with the respective links, a plurality of channel identifiers associated with the respective links, or a service set identifier.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for updating the upper MAC information based on determining that a third AP device is registered with the apparatus; and means for transmitting the updated upper MAC information and information of the third AP device to the plurality of AP devices.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for generating information of the plurality of AP devices; and means for transmitting the information of the plurality of AP devices to the plurality of AP devices. In some example embodiments, the at least one link may be determined to be enabled based on at least one of the following: a location of the non-AP device, a traffic load, or a channel quality.
In some example embodiments, links affiliated to the apparatus are associated with respective link MAC addresses. In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for transmitting, to the non-AP device, an indication that the at least one link is associated with the AP device. In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for receiving, from the non-AP device, an indication of at least one link determined by the non-AP device to be enabled.
In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of the method 800. In some embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory including instructions (e.g. computer program code) , the at least one memory and instructions configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the performance of the apparatus.
In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 900 (for example, the AP device 160, e.g., the first AP device 161 or the second AP device 162) may comprise means for performing the respective steps of the method 900. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for receiving an activation signal associated with a non-access point, non-AP, device from a network device associated with the apparatus; and means for activating an upper medium access control, MAC, layer of the apparatus for the non-AP device based on the received activation signal.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for setting up at least one link between the apparatus and the non-AP device during an initial link setup procedure between the non-AP device and the network device; and means for enabling the at least one link based on a first negotiation between the non-AP device and the network device. The activation signal may be transmitted to the apparatus by the network device based on the first negotiation.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for disabling the at least one link based on a second negotiation between the non-AP device and the network device after the first negotiation. In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for setting up at least one link between the apparatus and the non-AP device based on a first negotiation between the non-AP device and the network device; and means for enabling the at least one link. The activation signal may be transmitted to the apparatus by the network device based on the first negotiation.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for deleting the at least one link based on a second negotiation between the non-AP device and the network device after the first negotiation. In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for receiving, from the network device, a traffic identifier-to-link, TID-to-link, mapping for traffic on the at least one link based on the first negotiation.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus is a first apparatus, and the first apparatus may further comprise means for negotiating, with the non-AP device, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one link based on the first negotiation; and means for transmitting the TID-to-link mapping to at least one of the network device or a second apparatus associated with the network device.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus is a first apparatus, the at least one link is at least one first link, and the first apparatus may further comprise means for receiving, from the network device, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on at least one second link based on the second negotiation, the at least one second link being set up between a second apparatus associated with the network device and the non-AP device during the initial link setup procedure.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus is a first apparatus, the at least one link is at least one first link, and the first apparatus may further comprise means for negotiating, with the non-AP device, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on at least one second link based on the second negotiation, the at least one second link being set up between a second apparatus associated with the network device and the non-AP device during the initial link setup procedure; and means for transmitting the TID-to-link mapping to at least one of the network device or the second apparatus.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for receiving, from the network device, a first message to provide a token of the non-AP device to the apparatus based on the first negotiation. In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for receiving, from the network device, upper MAC context information of the non-AP device based on the first negotiation.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for receiving a deactivation signal from the network device based on the second negotiation; and means for deactivating the upper MAC layer based on the received deactivation signal.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for receiving, from the network device, a second message to obtain a token of the non-AP device from the apparatus based on the second negotiation; and means for transmitting the token to the network device.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for transmitting, to the network device, upper MAC context information of the non-AP device based on the second negotiation. In some example embodiments, the upper MAC context information comprises connection information for the non-AP device.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for receiving, from the network device, upper MAC information for an upper MAC layer of the apparatus, the upper MAC information being synchronized among a plurality of apparatuses associated with the network device, the apparatus being one of the plurality of apparatuses.
In some example embodiments, the upper MAC information may comprise at least one of the following: an AP-MLD MAC address associated with the network device, a plurality of MAC addresses associated with respective links affiliated to the network device, a plurality of link identifiers associated with the respective links, an operating class associated with the respective links, a plurality of channel identifiers associated with the respective links, or a service set identifier.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for receiving, from the network device, an updated upper MAC information indicative of a third apparatus being registered with the network device; and means for transmitting, to the non-AP device, information of at least one link affiliated to the third apparatus and information of the third apparatus.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus is a first apparatus; the first apparatus may further comprise means for receiving, from the network device associated with the first apparatus and a second apparatus, information of the second apparatus; and means for transmitting, to the non-AP device, information of the first apparatus and information of the second apparatus.
In some example embodiments, links affiliated to the apparatus are associated with respective link MAC addresses. In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise at least one radio and at least one radio frequency, RF, chain, configured to perform at least one of the following: transmitting a transmission to at least one of the non-AP device or the network device; or receiving a transmission from at least one of the non-AP device or the network device.
In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of the method 900. In some embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory including instructions (e.g. computer program code) , the at least one memory and the instructions configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the performance of the apparatus.
FIG. 10 is a simplified block diagram of a device 1000 that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 1000 may be provided to implement the communication device, for example the non-AP device 110, the network device 150, the AP devices 160 or the D-AP MLD 120 as shown in Fig. 1D. As shown, the device 1000 includes one or more processors 1010, one or more memories 1020 coupled to the processor 1010, and one or more communication module 1040 coupled to the processor 1010.
The communication module 1040 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 1040 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements.
The processor 1010 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network 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 device 1000 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.
The memory 1020 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a read only memory (ROM) 1024, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM) , a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD) , a digital video disk (DVD) , and other magnetic storage and/or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) 1022 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.
A computer program 1030 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 1010. The program 1030 may be stored in the ROM 1020. The processor 1010 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 1030 into the RAM 1020.
The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 1030 so that the device 1000 may perform any device functionality or any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to Figs. 2 to 11. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.
In some embodiments, the program 1030 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable media which may be included in the device 1000 (such as in the memory 1020) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 1000. The device 1000 may load the program 1030 from the computer readable media to the RAM 1022 for execution. The computer readable media may include any types of tangible non-volatile storage, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. Fig. 11 shows an example of the computer readable media 1100 in form of CD or DVD. The computer readable media has the program 1030 stored thereon.
Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. 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. While various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method 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.
The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage media. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor, to carry out any of the method 700, 800 and 900 as described above with reference to Figs. 7-9. Program modules may include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.
Program code for carrying out the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be instructions stored on a memory and provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.
In the context of the present disclosure, the instructions (e.g. computer program codes) or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable media, and the like.
The computer readable media may be a computer readable signal media or a computer readable storage media. A computer readable media may include but is not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage media would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. The term “non-transitory, ” as used herein, is a limitation of the media itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM) .
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.
Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor; and

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

set up one or more of at least one first link or at least one second link with a distributed access point, AP, system including a network device associated with a first AP device and a second AP device, wherein the at least one first link is between the apparatus and the first AP device, and the at least one second link is between the apparatus and the second AP device.
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to set up the one or more of at least one first link or the at least one second link by:

setting up both of the at least one first link and the at least one second link during an initial link setup procedure between the apparatus and the distributed AP system.
The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on a first negotiation with the distributed AP system during the initial link setup procedure, enable the at least one first link; and

disable the at least one second link.
The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on a second negotiation with the distributed AP system after the first negotiation, enable the at least one second link; and

disable the at least one first link.
The apparatus of any of claims 2-4, wherein:

the at least one first link is associated with a first set of stations, STAs, deployed on the apparatus; and

the at least one second link is associated with a second set of STAs deployed on the apparatus.
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to set up the one or more of the at least one first link or the at least one second link by:

based on a first negotiation with the distributed AP system during an initial link setup procedure, setting up the at least one first link without setting up the at least one second link.
The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on a second negotiation with the distributed AP system after the first negotiation, set up the at least one second link; and

delete the at least one first link.
The apparatus of claim 3 or 6, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

determine that the at least one first link is to be enabled; and

transmit, to the distributed AP system, an indication that the at least one first link is to be enabled.
The apparatus of claim 3 or 6, wherein the apparatus is configured to perform the first negotiation with the distributed AP system based on at least one of the following:

a location of the apparatus,

a traffic load, or

a channel quality.
The apparatus of claim 3 or 6, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

negotiate, with the distributed AP system, a traffic identifier-to-link, TID-to-link, mapping for traffic on the at least one first link.
The apparatus of any of claims 1-10, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

receive, from the distributed AP system, one or more of an indication that the at least one first link is associated with the first AP device or an indication that the at least one second link is associated with the second AP device.
The apparatus of any of claims 1-11, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

receive, from the distributed AP system, information of the first AP device and information of the second AP device.
The apparatus of any of claims 1-12, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

receive, from the distributed AP system, information of at least one link affiliated to a third AP device registered with the network device and information of the third AP device.
An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

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

determine that at least one link between an access point, AP, device among a plurality of AP devices associated with the apparatus and a non-AP device is to be enabled; and

transmit, to the AP device, an activation signal to activate an upper medium access control, MAC, layer of the AP device for the non-AP device.
The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the AP device is a first AP device, the at least one link is at least one first link, and the apparatus is further configured to:

set up one or more of at least one first link or at least one second link with the non-AP device, wherein the at least one first link is between the non-AP device and the first AP device, and the at least one second link is between the non-AP device and a second AP device among the plurality of AP devices.
The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the apparatus is configured to set up the one or more of the at least one first link or the at least one second link by:

setting up both of the at least one first link and the at least one second link during an initial link setup procedure between the apparatus and the non-AP device.
The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the apparatus is configured to determine that the at least one first link is to be enabled by:

based on a first negotiation with the non-AP device during the initial link setup procedure, determining that the at least one first link is to be enabled; and

determining that the at least one second link is to be disabled.
The apparatus of claim 16 or 17, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on a second negotiation with the non-AP device after the first negotiation, determine that the at least one second link is to be enabled; and

determine that the at least one first link is to be disabled.
The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the apparatus is configured to set up the one or more of the at least one first link or the at least one second link by:

based on a first negotiation with the non-AP device during an initial link setup procedure, setting up the at least one first link without setting up the at least one second link.
The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the apparatus is configured to determine that the at least one first link is to be enabled by:

based on setting up the at least one first link, determining that the at least one first link is to be enabled.
The apparatus of claim 19 or 20, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on a second negotiation with the non-AP device after the first negotiation, set up the at least one second link; and

delete the at least one first link.
The apparatus of claim 18 or 21, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on the second negotiation, transmit, to the first AP device, a message to obtain a token of the non-AP device from the first AP device;

receive the token from the first AP device; and

transmit, to the second AP device, a message to provide the token to the second AP device.
The apparatus of claim 18 or 21, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on the second negotiation, receive, from the first AP device, upper MAC context information of the non-AP device; and

transmit, to the second AP device, the upper MAC context information.
The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the upper MAC context information comprises connection information in the first AP device for the non-AP device.
The apparatus of claim 18 or 21, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on the second negotiation, transmit, to the first AP device, a deactivation signal to deactivate the upper MAC layer.
The apparatus of any of claims 14-25, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on determining that the at least one link is to be enabled, negotiate, with the non-AP device, a traffic identifier-to-link, TID-to-link, mapping for traffic on the at least one link; and

transmit the TID-to-link mapping to the AP device.
The apparatus of any of claims 14-26, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on determining that the at least one link is to be enabled, receive, from the AP device, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one link.
The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on determining that the at least one second link is to be enabled, receive, from the AP device, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one second link.
The apparatus of any of claims 26-28, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

transmit the TID-to-link mapping to other AP devices among the plurality of AP devices.
The apparatus of any of claims 14-29, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

generate upper MAC information for upper MAC layers of the plurality of AP devices; and

transmit the upper MAC information to the plurality of AP devices.
The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the upper MAC information comprises at least one of the following:

an AP-multi-link device, AP-MLD, MAC address associated with the apparatus,

a plurality of MAC addresses associated with respective links affiliated to the apparatus,

a plurality of link identifiers associated with the respective links,

an operating class associated with the respective links,

a plurality of channel identifiers associated with the respective links, or

a service set identifier.
The apparatus of claim 30 or 31, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on determining that a third AP device is registered with the apparatus, update the upper MAC information; and

transmit the updated upper MAC information and information of the third AP device to the plurality of AP devices.
The apparatus of any of claims 14-32, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

generate information of the plurality of AP devices; and

transmit the information of the plurality of AP devices to the plurality of AP devices.
The apparatus of any of claims 14-33, wherein the at least one link is determined to be enabled based on at least one of the following:

a location of the non-AP device,

a traffic load, or

a channel quality.
The apparatus of any of claims 14-34, wherein links affiliated to the apparatus are associated with respective link MAC addresses.
The apparatus of any of claims 14-35, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

transmit, to the non-AP device, an indication that the at least one link is associated with the AP device.
The apparatus of any of claims 14-36, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

receive, from the non-AP device, an indication of at least one link determined by the non-AP device to be enabled.
An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor; and

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

receive an activation signal associated with a non-access point, non-AP, device from a network device associated with the apparatus; and

based on the received activation signal, activate an upper medium access control, MAC, layer of the apparatus for the non-AP device.
The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

set up at least one link between the apparatus and the non-AP device during an initial link setup procedure between the non-AP device and the network device; and

based on a first negotiation between the non-AP device and the network device, enable the at least one link,

wherein the activation signal is transmitted to the apparatus by the network device based on the first negotiation.
The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on a second negotiation between the non-AP device and the network device after the first negotiation, disable the at least one link.
The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on a first negotiation between the non-AP device and the network device, set up at least one link between the apparatus and the non-AP device; and

enable the at least one link,

wherein the activation signal is transmitted to the apparatus by the network device based on the first negotiation.
The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on a second negotiation between the non-AP device and the network device after the first negotiation, delete the at least one link.
The apparatus of claim 39 or 41, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on the first negotiation, receive, from the network device, a traffic identifier-to-link, TID-to-link, mapping for traffic on the at least one link.
The apparatus of claim 39 or 41, wherein the apparatus is a first apparatus, the first apparatus is further configured to:

based on the first negotiation, negotiate, with the non-AP device, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on the at least one link; and

transmit the TID-to-link mapping to at least one of the network device or a second apparatus associated with the network device.
The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the apparatus is a first apparatus, the at least one link is at least one first link, and the first apparatus is further configured to:

based on the second negotiation, receive, from the network device, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on at least one second link, the at least one second link being set up between a second apparatus associated with the network device and the non-AP device during the initial link setup procedure.
The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the apparatus is a first apparatus, the at least one link is at least one first link, and the first apparatus is further configured to:

based on the second negotiation, negotiate, with the non-AP device, a TID-to-link mapping for traffic on at least one second link, the at least one second link being set up between a second apparatus associated with the network device and the non-AP device during the initial link setup procedure; and

transmit the TID-to-link mapping to at least one of the network device or the second apparatus.
The apparatus of claim 39 or 41, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on the first negotiation, receive, from the network device, a first message to provide a token of the non-AP device to the apparatus.
The apparatus of claim 39 or 41, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on the first negotiation, receive, from the network device, upper MAC context information of the non-AP device.
The apparatus of claim 40 or 41, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on the second negotiation, receive a deactivation signal from the network device; and

based on the received deactivation signal, deactivate the upper MAC layer.
The apparatus of claim 40 or 41, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on the second negotiation, receive, from the network device, a second message to obtain a token of the non-AP device from the apparatus; and

transmit the token to the network device.
The apparatus of claim 40 or 41, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

based on the second negotiation, transmit, to the network device, upper MAC context information of the non-AP device.
The apparatus of claim 48 or 51, wherein the upper MAC context information comprises connection information for the non-AP device.
The apparatus of any of claims 38-52, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

receive, from the network device, upper MAC information for an upper MAC layer of the apparatus, the upper MAC information being synchronized among a plurality of apparatuses associated with the network device, the apparatus being one of the plurality of apparatuses.
The apparatus of claim 53, wherein the upper MAC information comprises at least one of the following:

an AP-multi-link device, AP-MLD, MAC address associated with the network device,

a plurality of MAC addresses associated with respective links affiliated to the network device,

a plurality of link identifiers associated with the respective links,

an operating class associated with the respective links,

a plurality of channel identifiers associated with the respective links, or

a service set identifier.
The apparatus of claim 53 or 54, wherein the apparatus is further configured to:

receive, from the network device, an updated upper MAC information indicative of a third apparatus being registered with the network device; and

transmit, to the non-AP device, information of at least one link affiliated to the third apparatus and information of the third apparatus.
The apparatus of any of claims 38-55, wherein the apparatus is a first apparatus, the first apparatus is further configured to:

receive, from the network device associated with the first apparatus and a second apparatus, information of the second apparatus; and

transmit, to the non-AP device, information of the first apparatus and information of the second apparatus.
The apparatus of any of claims 38-56, wherein links affiliated to the apparatus are associated with respective link MAC addresses.
The apparatus of any of claims 38-57, further comprising:

at least one radio and at least one radio frequency, RF, chain, configured to perform at least one of the following:

transmitting a transmission to at least one of the non-AP device or the network device; or

receiving a transmission from at least one of the non-AP device or the network device.
A system comprising:

an apparatus of any of claims 14-37; and

a plurality of apparatuses of any of claims 38-58.
A method comprising:

setting up, at an apparatus, one or more of at least one first link or at least one second link with a distributed access point, AP, system including a network device associated with a first AP device and a second AP device, wherein the at least one first link is between the apparatus and the first AP device, and the at least one second link is between the apparatus and the second AP device.
A method comprising:

determining, at an apparatus, that at least one link between an access point, AP, device among a plurality of AP devices associated with the apparatus and a non-AP device is to be enabled; and

transmitting, to the AP device, an activation signal to activate an upper medium access control, MAC, layer of the AP device for the non-AP device.
A method comprising:

receiving, at an apparatus, an activation signal associated with a non-access point, non-AP, device from a network device associated with the apparatus; and

based on the received activation signal, activating an upper medium access control, MAC, layer of the apparatus for the non-AP device.
An apparatus comprising:

means for setting up one or more of at least one first link or at least one second link with a distributed access point, AP, system including a network device associated with a first AP device and a second AP device, wherein the at least one first link is between the apparatus and the first AP device, and the at least one second link is between the apparatus and the second AP device.
An apparatus comprising:

means for determining that at least one link between an access point, AP, device among a plurality of AP devices associated with the apparatus and a non-AP device is to be enabled; and

means for transmitting, to the AP device, an activation signal to activate an upper medium access control, MAC, layer of the AP device for the non-AP device.
An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving an activation signal associated with a non-access point, non-AP, device from a network device associated with the apparatus; and

means for activating an upper medium access control, MAC, layer of the apparatus for the non-AP device based on the received activation signal.
A non-transitory computer readable media comprising program instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method of any of claims 59-62.