WO2019005038A1

WO2019005038A1 - Nan for 60 ghz capable devices

Info

Publication number: WO2019005038A1
Application number: PCT/US2017/039734
Authority: WO
Inventors: Po-Kai Huang; Carlos Cordeiro; Michael Glik; Emily H. Qi; Elad Levy; Ehud Reshef; Elad OREN; Ran Mor; Shani Ben-Haim
Original assignee: Intel Corporation
Priority date: 2017-06-28
Filing date: 2017-06-28
Publication date: 2019-01-03

Abstract

Synchronization in NAN is based on synchronization beacons transmitted in a discovery window. A master devices is selected through a master selection algorithm and the discovery is based on the service discovery frame transmission, such as an unsolicited service publish transmission or an unsolicited service subscribe transmission, which can happen in the DW or other time slots. Each station will announce that station's available time slots to enable communication from other devices and to save power. For NAN 60 GHz only devices, as the number of peer-to-peer like 60 GHz capable devices increases due to the requirements for full high definition video quality transmission, connections for augmented and virtual reality capable devices, or simply requirements for high data rate wireless transmission, one embodiment introduces a synchronization structure to at least enable power efficient transmission for 60 GHz capable devices.

Description

NAN FOR 60 GHZ CAPABLE DEVICES

TECHNICAL FIELD

An exemplary aspect is directed toward communications systems. More specifically an exemplary aspect is directed toward wireless communications systems and even more specifically to wireless networks and Wi-Fi. Even more particularly, an exemplary aspect is directed toward wireless networks and Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN).

BACKGROUND

For example, but not by way of limitation, common and widely adopted techniques used for communication are those that adhere to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards such as the IEEE 802.11η standard, the IEEE 802.1 lax standard and the IEEE 802.11-2016 standard.

A Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN) is related to Wi-Fi communications and is often used with Wi-Fi hotspots and wireless local area networks (WLAN) such as IEEE 802.11 networks.

NAN is a peer-to-peer discovery and communication protocol, which builds synchronized timing and slots among stations such that stations can discover each other, do data communication in specific slots, and minimize power consumption. The synchronization is based on the synchronization beacons transmitted by the master devices in a discovery window (DW).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like parts:

Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary discovery window in accordance with some embodiments; Fig. 2 illustrates an example of how each beacon interval is divided into several periods with different types of transmission in accordance with some embodiments;

Fig. 3 illustrates how an AP (Access Point) can start a cluster and define a cluster offset to define different beacon service periods in accordance with some embodiments; Fig. 4 illustrates how for 60 GHz devices, a STA usually just uses a quasi-omni antenna pattern, and to combat the high path loss degradation, a broadcast transmission like a beacon can be transmitted through different sectors continuously to reach all neighboring devices for services in accordance with some embodiments;

Fig. 5 illustrates various exemplary communications between a solicited publisher and associated cores and an active subscriber and associated cores in accordance with some embodiments;

Fig. 6 illustrates exemplary proxy message flow of the discovery and the data path setup between two 60 GHz-only devices in accordance with some embodiments;

Fig. 7 illustrates exemplary proxy message flow of discovery and data path setup between a 60GHz-only device and multi-band device in accordance with some embodiments;

Fig. 8 illustrates a new exemplary discovery window in accordance with some embodiments;

Fig. 9 illustrates an exemplary ATI interval when option two is used in accordance with some embodiments; Fig. 10 illustrates and exemplary device architecture in accordance with some embodiments;

Fig. 11 illustrates exemplary radio architecture usable with any one or more of the embodiments disclosed herein;

Fig. 12 illustrates exemplary front-end module circuitry for use in the radio architecture of Fig. 11 in accordance with some embodiments;

Fig. 13 illustrates exemplary radio IC circuitry for use in the radio architecture of Fig. 11 in accordance with some embodiments;

Fig. 14 illustrates a baseband processing circuitry for use in the radio architecture of Fig. 11 in accordance with some embodiments; Fig. 15 is a flowchart illustrating NAN device setup for 60 GHz NDP in accordance with some aspects of the technology; and

Fig. 16 is a flowchart illustrating NAN for 60 GHz devices in accordance with some aspects of the technology.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Synchronization in NAN is based on the synchronization beacons transmitted by the master devices in a discovery window (DW). This discovery window is shown in Fig. 1. The master device is selected through a master selection algorithm and the discovery is based on the service discovery frame (SDF) transmission, such as an unsolicited service publish transmission or an unsolicited service subscribe transmission, which can happen in the DW or other time slots as shown in Fig 1. Each station (STA) will announce that station's available time slots to enable communication from other devices and to save power.

IEEE 802.1 lad (Wi-Fi STA in 60 GHz band) is the specification designed for STAs in 60 GHz bands. Since STAs in 60 GHz bands require beamforming to close the link and enable high data rate transmissions, each beacon interval is divided into several periods with different types of transmission as shown in Fig. 2. Specifically, there are four periods BTI (Beacon Transmission Interval), A-BFT (Association Beamforming Training), ATI (Announcement Transmission Interval), and DTT (Data Transfer Time) Interval (DTI). The BTI allows for the discovery of new STAs, the A-BFT is for association beamforming training, the ATI is for an announcement transmission interval, and the DTT is for a data transfer time with a service period (SP) and contention-based access period (CBAP). Note that it is optional to include the A-BFT and ATI fields in a beacon interval.

Clustering for IEEE 802.1 lad (Wi-Fi STA in 60 GHz band) is used to minimize the interference among different BSSs (Basic Service Sets). For clustering, a distributed algorithm is introduced to separate the beacon transmission among different BSSs. Specifically, one AP (Access Point) can start a cluster and define a cluster offset to define different beacon service periods as shown in Fig. 3. A member in the cluster will choose the same beacon interval, an empty beacon service period, and transmit its beacons to start BSS operations. As a result, the beacon transmission is completely separated, and the probability of collision is minimized. For NAN 60 GHz only devices, the current NAN specification is specifically designed for devices with 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz capability. However, as the number of peer-to-peer like 60 GHz capable devices increases due to the requirements for full high definition video quality transmission, connections for augmented and virtual reality capable devices, or simply requirements for high data rate wireless transmission, one embodiment introduces a NAN-like synchronization structure to at least enable power efficient transmission for 60 GHz capable devices.

Some of the shortcomings from above are that the NAN slot design does not have the mechanism to separate beacon like transmission, such as synchronization beacons, unsolicited service publish SDF, or unsolicited service subscribe SDF. The fundamental reason why NAN does not have this careful planning of periods is that the major transmission and reception in NAN is done through an omni antenna pattern, and CSMA/CA (Carrier-Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance) will handle the channel access. However, for 60 GHz devices, a STA usually just uses a quasi-omni antenna pattern, and to combat the high path loss degradation, a broadcast transmission like a beacon could be transmitted through different sectors continuously to reach all neighboring devices for services. An example is shown in Fig. 4. As a result, careful planning has the ability to improve 60 GHz networks.

The NAN slot design also does not have mechanism to efficiently bootstrap beamforming operations like A-BFT. This then can create challenges to directly apply NAN protocols to 60 GHz capable devices. Specifically, the technological improvement should at least separate beacon like transmissions, i.e., broadcast transmissions, and carefully define the periods to bootstrap the beamforming operation.

NAN also allows Wi-Fi devices to enable service discovery in their close proximity. In general, the concept is to form a NAN cluster for devices in proximity, and devices in the same NAN cluster will follow the same awake time schedule, called a discovery window, to facilitate cluster formation and achieve lower power operation.

In the discovery windows, which occur in the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands, the devices may transmit NAN Service Discovery frames to the subscriber or publish the services that the device(s) are interested in or provide. Once the device finds an interested service, the device can setup a NAN Data Path (NDP) with a peer device. The first exchange typically occurs in the social channels, either in 2.4 GHz (channel 6) or 5 GHz (channel 149). The actual channel of the data path is negotiated in the first exchange, and is dependent on what the device supports, what the peer supports, and/or what the service that initiates the process requires.

As mentioned, there is a desire to use NAN technology in the 60 GHz band. Due to 60 GHz's beamforming technology, it is difficult for 60 GHz device to transmit a broadcast frame in the 60 GHz band. A multi-band device that support 60 GHz and 2.4 GHz/5 GHz can use 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz for NAN discovery, and setup a NAN data path in the 60 GHz band. However, for a 60 GHz only device, discoverer could be difficult and/or it could be impossible to discover services in the NAN.

As discussed herein is a technical improvement which introduces a 60 GHz proxy service to assist 60 GHz only devices to discover or be discovered in a NAN, and further setup a NAN data path in the 60 GHz band.

In accordance with one exemplary embodiment, a multi-band NAN device acts as NAN Discovery Proxy Server and functions to provide a proxy service to 60 GHz-only NAN device(s). For example, a 60 GHz-only NAN device contacts the NAN 60 GHz proxy server to register the NAN Discovery Proxy services, including 60 GHz-only service information. The 60 GHz-only service information can include one or more of: a 60 GHz-only indication, a Service ID, a MAC address, and committed NAN Availability. The NAN 60 GHz proxy client can also perform a synchronization function for synchronizing time with its proxy server. The NAN 60 GHz Proxy Server can also publish or subscribe services on behalf of 60 GHz-only devices in the 2.4/5GHz band. When the desired service is discovered in the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz band, the 60 GHz Proxy Server can also forward the discovered 60 GHz-only service information to registered 60 GHz-only proxy client.

The NAN Proxy client device, which is interested in the service and supports the 60 GHz band, can directly communicate with the 60 GHz only devices in its available time slot and channel in the 60 GHz band to start beamforming and exchange additional information, The NAN Proxy client device can further establish a NAN data path. In accordance with one embodiment, the Subscriber device can be the initiator of 60 GHz beamforming.

Optionally, the 60 GHz-only proxy client can also contact its proxy server and exchange 60 GHz discovery information with another 60 GHz-only proxy client. The exemplary 60 GHz discovery information can include when and where to conduct beamforming. After the 60 GHz discovery information exchange, the NAN 60 GHz devices can start beamforming and exchange more information, and further establish a NAN data path.

As mentioned, NAN allows NAN devices to form NAN clusters for devices in proximity. Devices in the same NAN cluster will follow the same awake time schedule (DW) to facilitate cluster formation and achieve low power operation. In the discovery windows in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, the devices may transmit NAN Service Discovery frames to subscribe or publish the services that the devices are interested in acquiring or provide. Once the device finds an interested service, the device can establish a NAN data path (NDP) with a peer device as discussed. The specification defines a NAN Availability Attribute, in which the device can advertise its potential availability (bands, channels and timeslots the device generally supports) and its committed availability, in which a specific channel and timeslots are included. If the device advertises a potential availability, the device can include a band entry, to indicate a supported band. In the current NAN technical specification, the value 5 is reserved for the Band ID of 60 GHz.

If the device advertises a committed availability, the device can include a specific operating class and channel bitmap. In the case when the device needs to advertise committed availability on 60 GHz, the device can use the matching operating class of 60 GHz and matching channel bitmap. The availability attribute is used in the negotiation of a NAN data path, in which the two devices negotiate schedule, accept it and start the data path (data exchange) in the agreed schedule.

The schedule can be started on the 2.4 GHz band, the 5 GHz band, the 60 GHz band or other bands, depending on the negotiated schedule. If the schedule is closed on the 2.4/5 GHz bands, there is a very high probability that the schedule that was closed in the social channel(s) would also succeed in the negotiated channel. This is because when there are Wi-Fi links in channel 6 at 2.4 GHz or channel 149 at 5 GHz (social channels), usually any other channel in the Wi-Fi bands will still have a link (it is highly probable that the devices hear each other).

However, this is not the case in the 60 GHz band. Connectivity in 2.4 GHz/5GHz band does not guarantee connectivity in 60 GHz band, and therefore there is high risk that even if a schedule is closed in the 2.4 GHz/5 GHz band for the 60 GHz band, the actual data exchange would not succeed since there is no connectivity in the 60 GHz band (due to different modulation).

Another exemplary embodiment introduces a technical solution to the above problem to ensure that if the setup is closed (accepted) in the Wi-Fi band, there is high probability that the setup will succeed in the 60 GHz band.

More specifically, one exemplary embodiment adds a new NAN 60 GHz discovery process, which can at least be used for the purpose of checking if connectivity exists between the two 60 GHz NAN devices. This is accomplished by using beamforming. The devices exchange information on the social channel (Wi-Fi channel) including time and channel information that is to be to be used in the 60 GHz band to execute the beamforming, in addition to other information.

After the 60 GHz connectivity check is performed, the devices can use the information to negotiate a "smarter" schedule for the data path which will use the 60 GHz band or Wi-Fi channel, depending on the results of the beamforming stage. If there is no connectivity in the 60 GHz band, the negotiation will allocate the Wi-Fi bands only and the NDP will be started on top of the Wi-Fi channels.

One exemplary advantage associated with this technology is that it overcomes the deficiency that the current techniques do not check if there is connectivity in 60 GHz band and assume that if there is connectivity in the 2.4/5 GHz band there is connectivity in the 60 GHz band (a success oriented approach). If there is no connectivity in the 60 GHz band, the data exchange would fail and the whole process starts again. However, moving to the 60 GHz channel, and only then starting to look for the peer, is very time consuming and could be avoided if the peer(s) know if there is connectivity in the negotiation stage.

A NAN device which is a member of a NAN cluster can publish a service in its Wi-Fi range. If the device supports (or for example an application(s) requires) a data exchange in the 60 GHz band, the device will advertise that the 60 GHz band is supported in, for example, the device capability. In addition, a new bit is defined in the device capability operation mode field which indicates a 60 GHz discovery supported in order to indicate the ability to use the techniques disclosed herein. This new bit can be defined as part of the operation mode field in the device capability attribute seen below: Subfield Size (bits) Value Description

PHY Mode bO Variable 1: VHT

0: HT only

VHT 80+80 bl Variable 1: VHT 80+80 support

0: otherwise

VHT 160 b2 Variable 1: VHT 160 support

0: otherwise

Paging NDL b3 Variable 1: P-NDL supported

Support

0 P-NDL not supported

60 G Hz b4 Variable 0: 60 GHz discovery is not supported

Discovery

Support 1: 60 GHz discovery is supported

Reserved B5-b7 Variable Reserved

Table 1 : Exemplary Operational Field Format

If the subscriber supports the 60 GHz band and the 60 GHz discovery, the subscriber can start the 60 GHz discovery negotiation by sending a 60 GHz discovery request NAF (new NAN Action Frame) with a NAN Availability attribute that includes a committed channel and timeslots (availability entry) in the 60 GHz band for the 60 GHz discovery process.

The subscriber can optionally include another NAN availability attribute(s) that include committed channel and timeslots information for the 2.4/5 GHz band for the discovery exchange in the Wi-Fi channel (in order to expedite the 60 GHz discovery process). This NAF can be sent in the Discovery Window (DW) of the 2.4/5 GHz band or at any other committed time slot of the publisher. The publisher, when receiving a 60 GHz discovery request NAF, will send a 60 GHz discovery response NAF which includes a NAN availability attribute with committed time slots on a 60 GHz channel that are a subset of the FAWs (Further Availability Window) that were included in the 60 GHz discovery NAF. If the responder (publisher) cannot be present during any of the FAWs that are included in the request, the responder can reject the 60 GHz discovery request by setting the status code to reject in the response. In addition to the FAWs, the 60 GHz discovery request and response may include other information that can be helpful for the 60 GHz discovery, such as:

1. A rough direction estimation from a Wi-Fi Angle of Arrival calculation

2. A Line of Sight (LOS) indication - are the devices in the line of sight of one another - Wi-Fi can obtain this information from the channel estimation algorithms

3. A range estimation or accuracy range - Wi-Fi can use the FTM (Fine Time Measurement) to determine the exact range or estimation based on the receive signal strength indicator (RSSI).

4. Rate and other supported capabilities for the discovery 5. Other side band information

The 60 GHz cores can use any of this information in the discovery process to expedite the beamforming methods of the 60 GHz band. After the exchange successfully completes, both 60 GHz cores will be available for the discovery process in the time and channel that were agreed to in the 60 GHz discovery request/response. In this exemplary process, the Wi-Fi core in each device sends the time and channel information to the 60 GHz core in the same device and to synchronize the Wi-Fi core and the 60 GHz core on the same clock. Next, the 60 GHz cores will start the discovery process, which includes at least initial beamforming and probe request/response exchange. This 60 GHz discovery process can end successfully or fail. If the two 60 GHz cores find each other and complete the beamforming process, the process is deemed to have succeeded and a SUCCESS status is returned from the 60 GHz core to the Wi-Fi core in both devices. The subscriber data path engine, upon receiving the SUCCESS indicator from the 60 GHz core in the same device, will start a regular NDP setup with s schedule allocation that uses the 60 GHz as the primary channel for the data exchange. The publisher, when receiving the NDP request from the subscriber, will continue the regular NDP flow, and include FAW slots in the 60 GHz channel. If security is required, the setup will also derive the PTK (pairwise temporal key) in the NDP negotiation in accordance with the NAN specification. After the key is derived, the Wi-Fi core can pass the security key to the 60 GHz core in order for the 60 GHz core to use the key for the subsequent data exchange (and by using this step skip the key generation process in the 60 GHz band (4-way handshake). In addition, the Wi-Fi core can pass the schedule information of the agreed timeslots for the data exchange to the 60 GHz cores, each one in its own side, so the 60 GHz cores will be in synchronization on the time and when to start the data exchange in the 60 GHz channel. Other side band information can also be also passed between the cores and over the Wi-Fi exchange of the NDP which will make the association process in the 60 GHz redundant, and enables the two cores to skip the association process and start the data exchange immediately upon the start of the timeslot.

If the 60 GHz core in the publisher returns a FAIL indication, the subscriber can send a NDP request with FAW that includes a Wi-Fi channel in its schedule proposal, and will not include 60 GHz information since the 60 GHz discovery failed and there is no point to attempt to use the 60 GHz band between the two devices for a data path. The 60 GHz core can optionally provide the Wi-Fi core with more information other than SUCCESS or FAIL, such as the quality (in terms of signal strength or other quality measures) of the connection in the 60 GHz channel, and the devices can negotiate a NDP schedule which is a combination of a Wi- Fi channel and a 60 GHz channel, with more slots allocation in the 60 GHz or in the Wi-Fi channel, depending, for example, on the results and the quality of the 60 GHz discovery process.

Fig. 5 illustrates the above process in greater detail outlining the operation and the various communications between the various cores and the STAUT (solicited publisher) and DUT (active subscriber). In accordance with another exemplary embodiment, a multi-band NAN device can be configured to provide a NAN Discovery Proxy Server function and also optionally offer Proxy Service to 60 GHz-only NAN device(s).

The exemplary message flow of the discovery and the data path setup between two 60 GHz-only devices is descripted in Fig 6. Specifically: Fig. 6 depicts various devices including a publisher proxy client (Device A), proxy server (Device B), proxy server (Device C), subscriber proxy client (Device D), each having an associated ASP (Application Service Platform) and core(s). Each of the devices can have components and architectures similar to those described herein.

Operation of the exemplary proxy service is as follows: 1. The 60 GHz-only devices A and D register for NAN Proxy Service. These devices may register to different NAN Proxy Servers as illustrated. In this case, Device A registers the proxy service with device B as a publisher. And Device D registers the proxy service with Device C as a subscriber. 2. Proxy Service Registration messages can be transmitted in NAN SDF frames or a separate NAN action frame. For example, the message from device A to Device B can include a Proxy Service Registration Request which can specify, as one example, service, device A's MAC and device A's availability. In response, device B can respond with a proxy Service Registration Response that includes, for example, a Status and a Timestamp. Similarly, for example, a message from device D to Device c can include a Proxy Service Registration Request which can specify, as one example, service, and device A's MAC. In response, device C can respond with a proxy Service Registration Response that includes, for example, a Status and a Timestamp.

3. The NAN Proxy Client in accordance with one embodiment can synchronize with its NAN Proxy Service' s timestamp.

4. The NAN Proxy Server Device C next sends a broadcast NAN SDF Subscribe frame in the 2.4 GHz band to look for a service.

5. Device B (another NAN Proxy Server) responds to Device C s Subscribe frame with unicast SDF Publish frame in the 2.4 GHz band with the 60GHz-only service information (e.g., services, A's MAC and A's availability). The 60 GHz-only service information can optionally include one or more of: a 60 GHz-only indication, a Service ID, A's MAC address, and A's committed NAN Availability.

6. The NAN Proxy Server Device C forwards the discovered 60 GHz service information to Device D in the 60 GHz band. This can be transmitted in NAN SDF frames or a separate NAN action frame.

7. Based on the 60 GHz service information, the Device D can start the beamforming with Device A at A's availability slots and channels in the 60 GHz band (e.g., 60 GHz Beamforming Procedure in device A's committed availability). Furthermore, device D can start a NAN Data Path setup (NAN Data Path Request/Response) with Device AD in the 60 GHz band. 8. Optionally, device D can contact its NAN Proxy Servicer-Subscriber with NAN 60 GHz Discovery Request information including its availability for proceeding with the 60 GHz Beamforming. The NAN 60GHz Discovery Request information can be forwarded to Proxy Server-Publisher Device B, and then forwarded/relayed to device A. 60 GHz Discovery Response information will then be transmitted and forwarded from device A to device D. After the 60 GHz Discovery Request/Response exchange, device D can start beamforming and exchange additional information, and further establish a NAN data path.

Fig. 7 depicts various devices including a publisher proxy client (Device A), proxy server (Device B), device subscriber (Device C), each having an associated ASP (Application Service Platform) and core(s). Each of the devices can have components and architectures similar to those described herein.

Operation of the exemplary proxy service in Fig. 7 is similar to the above except that device C, being a multi-band device, is able to communicate directly with the proxy, device B. Thus, device C does not need a proxy and operates in a similar manner to device C as discussed above without the need to serve as a proxy.

In accordance with another exemplary embodiment, and as discussed herein, one technical solution provides a NAN-like synchronization structure to enable power efficient transmission for 60 GHz capable devices.

Some of the exemplary shortcomings discussed herein are that the current NAN slot design is unable to separate beacon-like transmissions, such as synchronization beacons, unsolicited service publish SDF, or unsolicited service subscribe SDF. NAN does not have this scheduling of periods because the maj or transmission and reception in the NAN is done through an omni directional antenna pattern, and CSMA/CA (Carrier-Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance) handles the channel access. For 60 GHz devices, a STA usually just uses a quasi-omni directional antenna pattern and to combat the high path loss degradation, a broadcast transmission similar to a beacon could be transmitted through different sectors continuously to reach all neighboring devices for services as shown in Fig. 4. As a result, planning/scheduling has the ability to improve 60 GHz networks. Existing NAN slot design also is not able to efficiently bootstrap beamforming operations such as an A-BFT. This creates challenges to apply NAN protocols directly to 60 GHz capable devices. Specifically, one exemplary technological improvement at least separates beacon-like transmissions, e.g., broadcast transmissions, and carefully defines the periods to bootstrap the beamforming operation.

One exemplary embodiment at least addresses the above technical challenges by introducing a discovery window into two intervals as shown in Fig. 8. In exemplary Fig. 8, there is a discovery window in the discovery window interval, and the synchronization interval is divided into equally spaced service periods including a synchronization beacon transmission interval and an optional A-BFT. The discovery window can be for SDF/NAF transmission and can be contention-based. While this exemplary embodiment will be described in relation to a contention-based embodiment, a non-contention based solution is also provided. Moreover, while one exemplary embodiment is described to a discovery window in specific intervals, having the discovery window for other interval(s) is also an option. Fig. 8 illustrates one option for a discovery window in two intervals (synchronization interval (SI) and discovery interval (DI)).

The synchronization interval contains one or more slots and is equally divided into multiple service periods as shown in Fig. 8. Stated another way, the synchronization interval is equally divided into multiple service periods, and each service period is comprised of one or more time slots.

Each 60 GHz NAN device that needs to transmit a synchronization beacon chooses a service period with optionally the clustering operation used in IEEE 802. Had and the master selection algorithm used in 2.4/5 GHz NAN being usable in this embodiment.

Each service period includes a synchronization beacon transmission interval and an optional A-BFT, which is a counterpart to the BTI and A-BFT in IEEE 80211 ad networks. The A-BFT is optionally included in each service period, and the synchronization beacon transmission interval is used for transmission of synchronization beacons.

The discovery interval includes one or more slots with the discovery interval being usable for transmission of service discovery frame(s) (SDF) or NAN Action frame(s) (NAF). Transmission inside the interval is contention based and the SDF or NAF can optionally perform sweeping transmissions to attempt to reach every possible neighbor.

The remainder of the time slots can be identified a as Data Transmission Interval (DTI) time slots. As one example, two or more NAN devices can agree on data slots in the DTI to be for data transmission. Beamforming operation can be initiated through Sector sweep (SSW) frame(s).

As shown in Fig. 8, the three periods (sync interval, discovery interval and data transmission interval) repeat for every discovery window interval as shown in Fig 8.

The value of the SI, the DI, the DW interval and the slot duration can be configured in many exemplary ways. As one example, the initiator of the NAN cluster can decide the value of SI, DI, and DW, and then the initiator can include these values in an attribute when transmitting the discovery beacon or synchronization beacon. When another NAN device joins the cluster, they can then follow the value indicated in the discovery beacon or synchronization beacon. As one non-limiting example, the value of the DW interval can be 512TU, which follows the default value of the DW interval defined in the current NAN spec. A non-limiting example for the value of DI is 16TU, which is the same as the discovery window defined in the current NAN spec. A non-limiting example for the value of SI is 48TU, which includes 3 service period with 16TU duration.

As mentioned, there is no existing framework to enable NAN like operation in a 60 GHz only network with synchronization capability and power efficient transmissions. An exemplary embodiment proposes the separation of the transmission of synchronization information and SDF information into two different intervals. This is based taking into consideration that a synchronization beacon is more important than an SDF because synchronization one of the is the fundamental assumptions of NAN network. This is in contrast to a traditional NAN, where the synchronization beacon and SDF are mixed in one interval due to the efficient operation of CSMA/CA and priority allocation based on the tuning contention window for transmission of the synchronization beacon and the SDF.

One exemplary embodiment utilizes the idea of clustering in IEEE 802.1 lad to further divide the SI into different service periods so that interference among different potential transmitters can be further minimized. Unlike the clustering in IEEE 802.1 lad, where only the beacon transmission interval is separated, an exemplar embodiment introduces a level of coordination for the SDF transmission as well for the efficient discovery and power saving operations.

One exemplary embodiment introduces the technology that each service period in SI is a counterpart of the BTI and A-BFT in IEEE 802. Had network so that existing implementations can be utilized and capitalized upon.

Two examples for the operational flow between two devices, such as stations (STA), based on exemplary Fig. 8 are described below.

Example 1 :

STAl wakes up in the DI to perform a sweep transmission of unsolicited publish SDF with a further indication of availability for the time slots in the DTI. STA2 hears the publish SDF from STAl in the DI and STA2 initiates a beamforming operation with the SSW in the available time slots indicated by STAl . After the beamforming operation, STA2 uses direction links to communicate with STAl for soliciting further service information, data path setup, and/or other operations. It is noted that in this example, performance is unregulated which may leave room for enhancing performance even further.

Example 2:

STAl is selected as the device to transmit a synchronization beacon and perform a sweep transmission of synchronization beacons in one of the chosen service periods in the SI. STAl appends service information in the synchronization beacon transmission and further provides an availability indication in the DTI. STA2 hears the synchronization beacon transmission and is interested in the service of STAl . STA2 performs a beamforming transmission in the A-BFT right after the synchronization beacon transmission interval to establish a directional link with STAl . STA2 uses the direction links to communicate with STAl for soliciting further service information, the data path setup, and/or other operations in the availability time slots indicated by STAl in the DTI.

An exemplary embodiment therefore redefines the slots in a discovery window interval into two intervals including SI and DI, and defines the rest of the time slots as DTI. The discovery window interval is therefore the interval between two consecutive Sis. Each interval can include one or more time slots and the initiator of the NAN cluster can determine the following parameters:

The value of the DW interval and slot duration, which can be configured as described herein. The length of the SI and the DI, with these values capable of being of different lengths with the unit capable of being in slots.

The length of the equally divided service period in SI and DI. Note that the service period for these three intervals may have different lengths with the unit also capable of being in slots. These parameters can be indicated in, for example, a cluster attribute or a new attribute such as a NAN parameter attribute or other appropriate location.

Further exemplary details of the three intervals are as follows.

The synchronization interval (SI) in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment: Contains one or more equally divided service periods. Each 60 GHz NAN device that needs to transmit s synchronization beacon chooses a service period. A NAN device first observes all the service periods to listen for existing synchronization beacon transmissions and determines if it is selected to transmit the synchronization beacons. If a NAN device is selected to transmit the synchronization beacons, then the NAN device selects a service period to transmit the synchronization beacons. The NAN device can randomly select one service period for transmission. The NAN device can also optionally select a service period not used by any NAN device, i.e., an empty service period. The NAN device can also optionally select the service period used in the previous DW interval.

Each service period can include a synchronization beacon transmission interval (SBTI) and an A-BFT, which is a counter part of the BTI and A-BFT in IEEE 802.11 ad networks. The A-BFT is optional and can be decided by the initiator of the NAN cluster. The synchronization beacon transmission interval can be used for transmission of synchronization beacons

CSMA/CA can be applied for the transmission of the first synchronization beacon in the SBTI. The NAN device can cancel the synchronization beacon transmission if the NAN device overhears another synchronization beacon transmission. Optionally, there is no CSMA/CA in the A-BFT.

The discovery interval (DI) in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment has two options as outlined below. Option 1:

The DI contains one or more slots. Discovery interval can be used for transmission of a service discovery frame (SDF) and/or a NAN Action frame (NAF). The transmission inside the interval is contention based and the SDF or NAF can go through sweep transmissions to attempt to reach every possible neighbor(s). Option 2:

Option two contains one or more equally divided service periods. Each 60 GHz NAN device that needs to transmit a SDF/NAF chooses a service period. The NAN device can randomly select one service period for transmission. The NAN device can also select a service period not used by any other NAN device, i.e., an empty service period. The NAN device can also select as an option the service period used in the previous DW interval. Each service period includes a SDF/NAF transmission interval and an A-BFT, which is the counter part of the BTI and A-BFT in IEEE 802.1 lad networks as discussed.

The presentation of an A-BFT is optional and can be decided by the initiator of the NAN cluster. The SDF/NAF transmission interval can be used for transmission of the SDF/NAF and the CSMA/CA can be applied to the transmission of the first SDF/NAF.

The NAN device cancels the SDF/NAF transmission in the selected service period if the NAN overhears another SDF/NAF transmission and there is no CSMA/CA in the A-BFT.

The exemplary Data Transmission Interval (DTI) can be determined by two or more NAN devices agreeing on data slots with the DTI in order to have data transmissions therein. As one option for the intervals defined in the discovery window interval, if the DI uses

Option 2 as described above, an ATI-like interval can be included in the design as shown in exemplary Fig. 9.

For example, the Announcement Transmission Interval (ATI) can be configured in the following exemplary manner: The ATI in exemplary Fig. 9 can contain one or more equally divided service periods as shown. Each 60 GHz NAN device that transmits SDF in a Discovery Interval can select a service period in ATI in which to have follow-up transmission(s) using beamforming with the responding STA. The follow-up transmission(s) can include as a non-limiting example, a further service discovery, a data path setup, a data link setup, and the like.

Each 60 GHz NAN device that transmits a synchronization beacon in the SBTI can select a service period in ATI to have follow-up transmission(s) using beamforming with the responding STA. The follow-up transmission(s) can include a further service discovery, a data path setup, a data link setup, and the like. The selected service period in the ATI is indicated in the SDF transmitted in the DI or synchronization beacon transmitted in the SBTI.

One exemplary advantage of this configuration is that separate beamforming may not be required due to the use of the two intervals.

In accordance with the exemplary embodiment, behavior for a STA to perform device or service discovery is that the STA awakens in the SI and the DI to listen for an existing synchronization beacon(s) and performs SDF/NAF transmission(s) for service and device discovery. The synchronization beacon and the SDF/NAF transmission includes an indication for further availability in the DTI. If the STA is interested in the indicated service, the STA goes to the further availability in the DTI for establishing beamforming links, soliciting further service information, data path setup, and/or other operations.

Fig. 10 illustrates an exemplary hardware diagram of a device 1000, such as a wireless device, designated device, mobile device, access point (AP), station (STA), IoT device, NAN device, and/or the like, that is adapted to implement the technique(s) discussed herein. Operation will be discussed in relation to the components in Fig. 10 appreciating that each separate device in a system, e.g., station, AP, proxy server, etc., can include one or more of the components shown in the figure, with the components each being optional and each capable of being collocated or non-collocated. Each of the components in Fig. 10 can optionally be merged with one or more of the other components described herein, or into a new component(s). Additionally, it is to be appreciated that some of the components may have partially overlapping functionality. Similarly, all or a portion of the functionality of a component can optionally be merged with one or more of the other components described herein, or into a new component(s). Additionally, one or more of the components illustrated in Fig. 10 can be optionally implemented partially or fully in, for example, a baseband portion of a wireless communications device such as in an analog and/or digital baseband system and/or baseband signal processor, that is typically in communication with a radio frequency (RF) system. The baseband signal processor could optionally be implemented in one or more FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays).

In addition to well-known componentry (which has been omitted for clarity), the device 1000 includes interconnectable elements (with links 5 generally omitted for clarity - and one or more of the elements being optional) including one or more of: one or more antennas/antenna arrays 1004, an interleaver/deinterleaver 1028, scrambler 1040, an analog front end (AFE) 1012, memory/storage/cache 1048, controller/microprocessor 1056, (Wi- Fi/Bluetooth®/Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE)) MAC module/circuitry 1024, modulator/demodulator 1032, encoder/decoder 1036, GPU 1052, accelerator 1060, a multiplexer/demultiplexer 1044, a Wi-Fi/BT/BLE (Bluetooth®/Bluetooth® Low Energy) PHY module/circuit 1020, transmitter(s) radio circuitry 1008 and receiver(s) radio circuitry 1016.

The device 1000 further includes a device capability manager 1064, a beamformer 1068, a 60 GHz manager 1072, a proxy server manager 1076, discovery window slot manager 1080, sync beacon manager 1084, and sweep manager 1088 which can cooperate with any one or more of the components described herein to perform the functions herein. The various elements in the device 1000 are connected by one or more links (not shown, again for sake of clarity).

The device 1000 can have one more antennas 1004, for use in wireless communications such as multi-input multi-output (MIMO) communications, multi-user multi-input multi- output (MU-MIMO) communications Bluetooth®, LTE, RFID, 4G, 5G, LTE, LWA, LP communications, Wi-Fi, etc. In general, the antenna(s) discussed herein can include, but are not limited to one or more of directional antennas, omnidirectional antennas, monopoles, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas, dipoles, multi-element antennas, and any other antenna(s) suitable for communication transmission/reception. In an exemplary embodiment, transmission/reception using MIMO may require a particular antenna spacing. In another exemplary embodiment, MIMO transmission/reception can enable spatial diversity allowing for different channel characteristics at each of the antennas. In yet another embodiment, MIMO transmission/reception can be used to distribute resources to multiple users.

Antenna(s) 1004 generally interact with the Analog Front End (AFE) 1012, which is needed to enable the correct processing of the received modulated signal and signal conditioning for a transmitted signal. The AFE 1012 can be functionally located between the antenna and a digital baseband system to convert the analog signal into a digital signal for processing and vice-versa.

The device 1000 can also include a controller/microprocessor 1056 and a memory/storage/cache 1048. The device 1000 can interact with the memory/storage/cache 1048 which may store information and operations necessary for configuring and transmitting or receiving the information described herein and/or operating the device as described herein. The memory/storage/cache 1048 may also be used in connection with the execution of application programming or instructions by the controller/microprocessor 1056/GPU 1052, and for temporary or long term storage of program instructions and/or data. As examples, the memory/storage/cache 1048 may comprise a computer-readable device, RAM, ROM, DRAM, SDRAM, and/or other storage device(s) and media.

The controller/microprocessor 1056 may comprise a general purpose programmable processor or controller for executing application programming or instructions related to the device 1000. Furthermore, the controller/microprocessor 1056 can perform operations for configuring and transmitting information as described herein. The controller/microprocessor 1056 may include multiple processor cores, and/or implement multiple virtual processors. Optionally, the controller/microprocessor 1056 may include multiple physical processors. By way of example, the controller/microprocessor 1056 may comprise a specially configured Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) or other integrated circuit, a digital signal processor(s), a controller, a hardwired electronic or logic circuit, a programmable logic device or gate array, a special purpose computer, or the like, to perform the functionality described herein.

The device 1000 can further include a transmitted s) radio circuit 1008 and receiver(s) radio circuit 1016 which can transmit and receive signals, respectively, to and from other wireless devices and/or access points using the one or more antennas 1004. Included in the device 1000 circuitry is the medium access control or MAC module/circuitry 1024. MAC circuitry 1024 provides control for accessing to the wireless medium. In an exemplary embodiment, the MAC circuitry 1024 may be arranged to contend for the wireless medium and configure frames or packets for communicating over the wireless medium as discussed.

The PHY module/circuitry 1020 controls the electrical and physical specifications for device 1000. In particular, PHY module/circuitry 1020 manages the relationship between the device 1000 and a transmission medium. Primary functions and services performed by the physical layer, and in particular the PHY module/circuitry 1020, include the establishment and termination of a connection to a communications medium, and participation in the various process and technologies where communication resources are shared between, for example, multiple STAs. These technologies further include, for example, contention resolution and flow control and modulation/demodulation or conversion between a representation of digital data in user equipment and the corresponding signals transmitted over the communications channel. These signals are transmitted over the physical cabling (such as copper and optical fiber) and/or over a radio communications (wireless) link. The physical layer of the OSI model and the PHY module/circuitry 1020 can be embodied as a plurality of sub components. These sub components and/or circuits can include a Physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) which acts as an adaptation layer. The PLCP is at least responsible for the Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) and building packets for different physical layer technologies. The Physical Medium Dependent (PMD) layer specifies modulation and coding techniques used by the device and a PHY management layer manages channel tuning and the like. A station management sub layer and the MAC circuitry 1024 can also handle co-ordination of interactions between the MAC and PHY layers.

The MAC layer and components, and in particular the MAC circuitry 1024 provide functional and procedural means to transfer data between network entities and to detect and possibly correct errors that may occur in the physical layer. The MAC circuitry 1024 also can provide access to contention-based and contention-free traffic on different types of physical layers, such as when multiple communications technologies are incorporated into the device 1000. In the MAC, the responsibilities are divided into the MAC sub-layer and the MAC management sub-layer. The MAC sub-layer defines access mechanisms and packet formats while the MAC management sub-layer defines power management, security and roaming services, etc. The device 1000 can also optionally contain a security module (not shown). This security module can contain information regarding but not limited to, security parameters required to connect the device to an access point or other device or other available network(s), and can include WEP or WPA/WPA-2 (optionally + AES and/or TKIP) security access keys, network keys, etc. The WEP security access key is a security password used by Wi-Fi networks. Knowledge of this code can enable a wireless device to exchange information with the access point and/or another device. The information exchange can occur through encoded messages with the WEP access code often being chosen by the network administrator. WPA is an added security standard that is also used in conjunction with network connectivity with stronger encryption than WEP.

The accelerator 1060 can cooperate with MAC circuitry 1024 to, for example, perform real-time MAC functions. The GPU 1052 can be a specialized electronic circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of data. GPUs are typically used in embedded systems, mobile phones, personal computers, workstations, and game consoles. GPUs are very efficient at manipulating computer graphics, image processing, and algorithm processing, and their highly parallel structure makes them more efficient than general-purpose CPUs for algorithms where the processing of large blocks of data is done in parallel.

The device 1000 can also optionally contain an interleaver/deinterleaver 1028 that can perform interleaving and/or deinterleaving functions to, for example, assist with error correction. The modulator/demodulator 1032 can perform modulation and/or demodulation functions such as OFDM, QPSK, QAM, etc. The encoder/decoder 1036 performs various types of encoding/decoding of data. The scrambler 1040 can optionally be used for data encoding. The multiplexer/demultiplxer 1044 provides multiplexing and demultiplexing services, such as spatial multiplexing. In accordance with one exemplary operational embodiment of the device 1000, the

NAN 60 GHz discovery process allows for checking if connectivity exists between two 60 GHz NAN devices by using beamforming as discussed herein. The devices exchange information on the social channel (Wi-Fi channel) including time and channel information that is to be to be used in the 60 GHz band to execute the beamforming, in addition to other information. After the 60 GHz connectivity check is performed, the devices can use the information to negotiate a schedule for the data path which will use the 60 GHz band or the Wi-Fi channel, depending on the results of the beamforming stage. If there is no connectivity in the 60 GHz band, the negotiation will allocate the Wi-Fi bands only and the NDP will be started on top of the Wi-Fi channels.

A NAN device, such as device 1000, which is a member of a NAN cluster can publish a service in its Wi-Fi range in cooperation with the device capability manager 1064. If the device supports (or for example an application(s) requires) a data exchange in the 60 GHz band, the device with the device capability manager 1064 will advertise that the 60 GHz band is supported in, for example, the device capability. A data portion is allocated in the device capability operation mode field which indicates whether 60 GHz discovery is supported in order to indicate the ability to use the techniques disclosed herein. This data portion can be defined as part of the operation mode field in the device capability attribute seen in Table 1.

If the subscriber supports the 60 GHz band and the 60 GHz discovery, the subscriber can start the 60 GHz discovery negotiation with the device 1000 in cooperation with the 60 GHz manager 1072 sending a 60 GHz discovery request NAF (new NAN Action Frame) with a NAN Availability attribute that includes a committed channel and timeslots (availability entry) in the 60 GHz band for the 60 GHz discovery process.

The subscriber with the device capability manager 1064 can optionally include another NAN availability attribute(s) that include committed channel and timeslots information for the 2.4/5 GHz band for the discovery exchange in the Wi-Fi channel (in order to expedite the 60 GHz discovery process). This NAF can be sent in the Discovery Window (DW) of the 2.4/5 GHz band or at any other committed time slot of the publisher. The publisher, when receiving a 60 GHz discovery request NAF, will send a 60 GHz discovery response NAF which includes a NAN availability attribute with committed time slots on a 60 GHz channel that are a subset of the FAWs (Further Availability Window) that were included in the 60 GHz discovery NAF. If the responder (publisher) cannot be present during any of the FAWs that are included in the request, the responder can reject the 60 GHz discovery request by setting the status code to reject in the response. In addition to the FAWs, the 60 GHz discovery request and response may include other information that can be helpful for the 60 GHz discovery, such as Wi-Fi Angle of Arrival calculation/estimation, a Line of Sight (LOS) indication, a range estimation or accuracy range, rate and other supported capabilities for the discovery, and other side band information. The 60 GHz cores in the device 1000 can use any of this information in the discovery process to expedite the beamforming methods of the 60 GHz band. After the exchange successfully completes, both 60 GHz cores will be available for the discovery process in the time and channel that were agreed to in the 60 GHz discovery request/response. In this exemplary process, the Wi-Fi core in each device sends the time and channel information to the 60 GHz core in the same device and to synchronize the Wi-Fi core and the 60 GHz core on the same clock (See Fig. 5) . Next, the 60 GHz cores will start the discovery process with the cooperation of the 60 GHz manager 1072, which includes at least initial beamforming and probe request/response exchange. This 60 GHz discovery process can end successfully or fail. If the two 60 GHz cores find each other and complete the beamforming process, the process is deemed to have succeeded and a SUCCESS status is returned from the 60 GHz core to the Wi-Fi core in both devices. The subscriber data path engine, upon receiving the SUCCESS indicator from the 60 GHz core in the same device, will start a regular NDP setup with s schedule allocation that uses the 60 GHz as the primary channel for the data exchange. The publisher, when receiving the NDP request from the subscriber, will continue the regular NDP flow, and include FAW slots in the 60 GHz channel. If security is required, the setup will also derive the PTK (pairwise temporal key) in the NDP negotiation in accordance with the NAN specification. After the key is derived, the Wi-Fi core can pass the security key to the 60 GHz core in order for the 60 GHz core to use the key for the subsequent data exchange (and by using this step skip the key generation process in the 60 GHz band (4 way handshake). In addition, the Wi-Fi core can pass the schedule information of the agreed timeslots for the data exchange to the 60 GHz cores, each one in its own side, so the 60 GHz cores will be in synchronization on the time and when to start the data exchange in the 60 GHz channel. Other side band information can also be also passed between the cores and over the Wi-Fi exchange of the NDP which will make the association process in the 60 GHz redundant, and enables the two cores to skip the association process and start the data exchange immediately upon the start of the timeslot.

If the 60 GHz core in the publisher returns a FAIL indication, the subscriber device 1000 can send a NDP request with FAW that includes a Wi-Fi channel in its schedule proposal, and will not include 60 GHz information since the 60 GHz discovery failed and there is no point to attempt to use the 60 GHz band between the two devices for a data path. The 60 GHz core can optionally provide the Wi-Fi core with more information other than SUCCESS or FAIL, such as the quality (in terms of signal strength or other quality measures) of the connection in the 60 GHz channel, and the devices can negotiate a NDP schedule which is a combination of a Wi-Fi channel and a 60 GHz channel, with more slots allocation in the 60 GHz or in the Wi-Fi channel, depending, for example, on the results and the quality of the 60 GHz discovery process.

In accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the device 1000 acting as a multi- band NAN device as discussed herein, the device 1000 acts as NAN Discovery Proxy Server and functions to provide a proxy service to 60 GHz-only NAN device(s). For example, a 60 GHz-only NAN device contacts the NAN 60 GHz proxy server, and in particular the proxy server manager 1076, to register the NAN Discovery Proxy services, including 60 GHz-only service information. The 60 GHz-only service information can include one or more of: a 60 GHz-only indication, a Service ID, a MAC address, and committed NAN Availability. The NAN 60 GHz proxy client can also perform a synchronization function with the device 1000 for synchronizing time with the device 1000 acting as the client's proxy server. The NAN 60 GHz Proxy Server can also publish or subscribe services with the cooperation of the device capability manager 1064 on behalf of 60 GHz-only devices in the 2.4/5GHz band. When the desired service is discovered in the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz band, the 60 GHz Proxy Server with the cooperation of the proxy server manager 1076 can also forward the discovered 60 GHz-only service information to registered 60 GHz-only proxy client. The NAN Proxy client device, which is interested in the service and supports the 60

GHz band, can directly communicate with the 60 GHz only devices in its available time slot and channel in the 60 GHz band to start beamforming and exchange additional information, The NAN Proxy client device can further establish a NAN data path. Optionally, the 60 GHz- only proxy client can also contact its proxy server 1000 and exchange 60 GHz discovery information with another 60 GHz-only proxy client. After the 60 GHz discovery information exchange with the device capability manager 1064, the NAN 60 GHz devices can start beamforming with the beamformer 1068 and exchange more information, and further establish a NAN data path with the controller 1056 and related components.

As discussed herein, another embodiment introduces a discovery window that is split into two intervals as shown in Fig. 8. With the cooperation of the discovery window slot manager 1080 and related components, a discovery window in the discovery window interval, and the synchronization interval is divided into equally spaced service periods including a synchronization beacon transmission interval and an optional A-BFT. The discovery window can be for SDF/NAF transmission and can be contention-based or non-contention based as discussed. One exemplary discovery window is split into two intervals: a synchronization interval (SI) and discovery interval (DI).

The synchronization interval contains one or more slots with these slots being equally divided into multiple service periods. Each 60 GHz NAN device 1000 that needs to transmit a synchronization beacon by the transmitter radio circuitry 1008 chooses a service period with optionally the clustering operation used in IEEE 802. Had and the master selection algorithm used in 2.4/5 GHz NAN. Each service period includes a synchronization beacon transmission interval and an optional A-BFT, which is a counterpart to the BTI and A-BFT in IEEE 8021 lad networks. The A-BFT is optionally included in each service period, and the synchronization beacon transmission interval is used for transmission of synchronization beacons.

The discovery interval includes one or more slots with the discovery interval being usable for transmission of service discovery frame(s) (SDF) or NAN Action frame(s) (NAF) with the remainder of the time slots identified as Data Transmission Interval (DTI) time slots.

Exemplary operation will be described in relation to Example 2 above, however it is to be appreciated that the components of Fig. 10 are capable of supporting the operation of any of the examples and/or options discussed herein. In operation, device 1000 acting as STA1 is selected as the device to transmit a synchronization beacon with the cooperation of the sync beacon manager 1084 and transmitter radio circuitry 1008 and perform a sweep transmission of synchronization beacons in cooperation with the sweep manager 1088 in one of the chosen service periods in the SI.

STA1 1000 appends service information in the synchronization beacon transmission and further provides an availability indication with the cooperation of the device capability manager 1064 in the DTI. STA2 hears the synchronization beacon transmission and is interested in the service of STA1. STA2, which is equipped in a similar manner to STA1, performs a beamforming transmission with the cooperation of the beamformer 1068 in the A- BFT right after the synchronization beacon transmission interval to establish a directional link with STA1. STA2 uses the direction links to communicate with STA1 for soliciting further service information, the data path setup, and/or other operations in the availability time slots indicated by STA1 in the DTI as discussed herein.

Fig. 11 is a block diagram of a radio architecture 1100 in accordance with some embodiments usable with the technology discussed herein. Any of the functionality described herein can optionally be implemented in one or more portions of the architecture described in Figs. 11-14. As one example, the functionality of one or more of the MACB manager 1164, echo canceller / SIC module 1168, monitoring circuit 1172 and tone plan allocation module 1176 could be implemented in the baseband processing circuitry, and more specifically in the control logic, although the technology is not limited thereto. Radio architecture 1100 may include radio front-end module (FEM) circuitry 1 104, radio IC circuitry 1106 and baseband processing circuitry 1108. Radio architecture 1100 as shown optionally includes both Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) functionality and Bluetooth® (BT) functionality although embodiments are not so limited. In this disclosure, "WLAN" and "Wi-Fi" are used interchangeably. FEM circuitry 1104 may include a WLAN or Wi-Fi FEM circuitry 1104a and a

Bluetooth® (BT) FEM circuitry 1104b. The WLAN FEM circuitry 1104a may include a receive signal path comprising circuitry configured to operate on WLAN RF signals received from one or more antennas 1101, to amplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the WLAN radio IC circuitry 1106a for further processing. The BT FEM circuitry 1104b may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on BT RF signals received from one or more antennas 1102, to amplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the BT radio IC circuitry 1106b for further processing. FEM circuitry 1104a may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify WLAN signals provided by the radio IC circuitry 1106a for wireless transmission by one or more of the antennas 1101. In addition, FEM circuitry 1104b may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify BT signals provided by the radio IC circuitry 1106b for wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 1102. In the embodiment of Fig. 11, although FEM 1104a and FEM 1104b are shown as being distinct from one another, embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scope the use of an FEM (not shown) that includes a transmit path and/or a receive path for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more FEM circuitries where at least some of the FEM circuitries share transmit and/or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

Radio IC circuitry 1106 as shown may include WLAN radio IC circuitry 1106a and BT radio IC circuitry 1106b. The WLAN radio IC circuitry 1106a may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert WLAN RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1104a and provide baseband signals to WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1108a. BT radio IC circuitry 1106b may in turn include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert BT RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1104b and provide baseband signals to BT baseband processing circuitry 1108b. WLAN radio IC circuitry 1106a may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert WLAN baseband signals provided by the WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1108a and provide WLAN RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1104a for subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 1101. BT radio IC circuitry 1106b may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert BT baseband signals provided by the BT baseband processing circuitry 1108b and provide BT RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1104b for subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 1102. In the embodiment of Fig. 11, although radio IC circuitries 1106a and 1106b are shown as being distinct from one another, embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scope the use of a radio IC circuitry (not shown) that includes a transmit signal path and/or a receive signal path for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more radio IC circuitries where at least some of the radio IC circuitries share transmit and/or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

Baseband processing circuity 1108 may include a WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1108a and a BT baseband processing circuitry 1108b. The WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1108a may include a memory, such as, for example, a set of RAM arrays in a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and/or Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) block (not shown) of the WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1108a. Each of the WLAN baseband circuitry 1108a and the BT baseband circuitry 1108b may further include one or more processors and/or control logic to process the signals received from the corresponding WLAN or BT receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry 1106, and to also generate corresponding WLAN or BT baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry 1106. Each of the baseband processing circuitries 1108a and 1108b may further include physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry, and may further interface with application processor 1111 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the radio IC circuitry 1106.

Referring still to Fig. 11, optional WLAN-BT coexistence circuitry 1113 may include logic providing an interface between the WLAN baseband circuitry 1108a and the BT baseband circuitry 1108b to enable use cases that may require WLAN and BT coexistence. In addition, a switch 1103 may be provided between the WLAN FEM circuitry 1104a and the BT FEM circuitry 1104b to allow switching between the WLAN and BT radios according to, for example, application needs. In addition, although the antennas 1101, 1102 are depicted as being respectively connected to the WLAN FEM circuitry 1104a and the BT FEM circuitry 1104b, embodiments include within their scope the sharing of one or more antennas as between the WLAN and BT FEMs, or the provision of more than one antenna connected to each of FEM 1104a or 1104b.

In some embodiments, the front-end module circuitry 1104, the radio IC circuitry 1106, and baseband processing circuitry 1108 may be provided on a single radio card, such as wireless radio card 1107. In some other embodiments, the one or more antennas 1101, 1102, the FEM circuitry 1104 and the radio IC circuitry 1106 may be provided on a single radio card. In some other embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 1106 and the baseband processing circuitry 1108 may be provided on a single chip or integrated circuit (IC), such as IC 1112. In some embodiments, the wireless radio card 1107 may include a WLAN radio card and may be configured for Wi-Fi communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some of these embodiments, the radio architecture 1100 may be configured to receive and transmit orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication signals over a multicarrier communication channel. The OFDM or OFDMA signals may comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

In some of these multicarrier embodiments, radio architecture 1100 may be part of a Wi-Fi communication station (STA) such as a wireless access point (AP), a base station or a mobile device including a Wi-Fi device. In some of these embodiments, radio architecture 1100 may be configured to transmit and receive signals in accordance with specific communication standards and/or protocols, such as any of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards including, IEEE 802.11-2016, IEEE 802.1 ln-2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, 802.11n-2009, 802.1 lac, and/or 802.1 lax standards and/or proposed specifications for WLANs, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. Radio architecture 1100 may also be suitable to transmit and/or receive communications in accordance with other techniques and standards.

In some embodiments, the radio architecture 1100 may be configured for high- efficiency Wi-Fi (HEW) communications in accordance with the IEEE 802.1 lax standard. In these embodiments, the radio architecture 1100 may be configured to communicate in accordance with an OFDMA technique, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some other embodiments, the radio architecture 1100 may be configured to transmit and receive signals transmitted using one or more other modulation techniques such as spread spectrum modulation (e.g., direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) and/or frequency hopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA)), time-division multiplexing (TDM) modulation, and/or frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) modulation, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, as further shown in Fig. 11, the BT baseband circuitry 1108b may be compliant with a Bluetooth® (BT) connectivity standard such as Bluetooth®, Bluetooth® 4.0 or Bluetooth® 5.0, BT Low Energy, or any other iteration of the Bluetooth® Standard. In embodiments that include BT functionality as shown for example in Fig. 11, the radio architecture 1100 may be configured to establish a BT synchronous connection oriented (SCO) link and or a BT low energy (BT LE) link. In some of the embodiments that include this functionality, the radio architecture 1100 may be configured to establish an extended SCO (eSCO) link for BT communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some of these embodiments that include a BT functionality, the radio architecture may be configured to engage in a BT Asynchronous Connection-Less (ACL) communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, as shown in Fig. 11, the functions of a BT radio card and WLAN radio card may be combined on a single wireless radio card, such as single wireless radio card 1177, although embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scope discrete WLAN and BT radio cards. In some embodiments, the radio architecture 1100 may include other radio cards, such as a cellular radio card configured for cellular (e.g., 3 GPP such as LTE, LTE- Advanced, 4G and/or 5G communications).

In some IEEE 802.11 embodiments, the radio architecture 1100 may be configured for communication over various channel bandwidths including bandwidths having center frequencies of about 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and bandwidths of about 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 4 MHz, 5 MHz, 8 MHz, 10 MHz, 16 MHz, 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz (with contiguous bandwidths) or 80+80 MHz (160 MHz) (with non-contiguous bandwidths). In some embodiments, a 320 MHz channel bandwidth may be used. The scope of the embodiments is not limited with respect to any of the above center frequencies.

Fig. 12 illustrates in greater detail the FEM circuitry 1104 in accordance with some embodiments. The FEM circuitry 1104 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the WLAN and/or BT FEM circuitry 1104a/l 104b, although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable. In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 1104 may include a TX/RX switch 1202 to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry 1 104 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 1104 may include one or more low-noise amplifiers (LNA) 1206 to amplify received RF signals 1203 and provide the amplified received RF signals 1207 as an output (e.g., to the radio IC circuitry 1106). The transmit signal path of the circuitry 1104 may include one or more a power amplifiers (PA) to amplify input RF signals 1209 (e.g., provided by the radio IC circuitry 1106), and one or more filters 1212, such as band-pass filters (BPFs), low-pass filters (LPFs) and/or other types of filters, to generate RF signals 1215 for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the antennas 1101/1102). In some dual -mode embodiments for Wi-Fi communication, the FEM circuitry 1104 may be configured to operate in either the 2.4 GHz frequency spectrum and/or the 5 GHz frequency spectrum. In these embodiments, the receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 1104 may include a receive signal path duplexer 1104 to separate the signals from each spectrum as well as provide a separate LNA 1206 for each spectrum as shown. In these embodiments, the transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 1104 may also include a power amplifier 1210 and a filter 1212, such as a BPF, a LPF or another type of filter for each frequency spectrum and a transmit signal path duplexer 1214 to provide the signals of one of the different spectrums onto a single transmit path for subsequent transmission by the one or more of the antennas 1101. In some embodiments, BT communications may utilize the 2.4 GHZ signal paths and may utilize the same FEM circuitry 1104 as the one used for WLAN communications. Fig. 13 illustrates radio IC circuitry 1106 in accordance with some embodiments. The radio IC circuitry 1106 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the WLAN or BT radio IC circuitry 1106a/1106b, although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

In some embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 1106 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry 1106 may include at least mixer circuitry 1302, such as, for example, down-conversion mixer circuitry, amplifier circuitry 1306 and filter circuitry 1308. The transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry 1106 may include at least filter circuitry 1312 and mixer circuitry 1314, such as, for example, up- conversion mixer circuitry. Radio IC circuitry 1106 may also include synthesizer circuitry 1304 for synthesizing a frequency 1305 for use by the mixer circuitry 1302 and the mixer circuitry 1314. The mixer circuitry 1302 and/or 1314 may each, according to some embodiments, be configured to provide direct conversion functionality. The latter type of circuitry presents a much simpler architecture as compared with standard super-heterodyne mixer circuitries, and any flicker noise brought about by the same may be alleviated for example through the use of OFDM modulation. Fig. 13 illustrates only a simplified version of a radio IC circuitry, and may include, although not shown, embodiments where each of the depicted circuitries may include more than one component. For instance, mixer circuitry 1302 and/or 1314 may each include one or more mixers, and filter circuitries 1308 and/or 1312 may each include one or more filters, such as one or more BPFs and/or LPFs according to application needs. For example, when mixer circuitries are of the direct-conversion type, they may each include two or more mixers.

In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 1302 may be configured to down-convert RF signals 1307 received from the FEM circuitry 1104 based on the synthesized frequency 1305 provided by synthesizer circuitry 1304. The amplifier circuitry 1306 may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 1308 may include a LPF configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals 1304. Output baseband signals 1304 may be provided to the baseband processing circuitry 1108 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 1310 may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 1302 may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1314 may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals 1311 based on the synthesized frequency 1305 provided by the synthesizer circuitry 1304 to generate RF output signals 1309 for the FEM circuitry 1104. The baseband signals 1111 may be provided by the baseband processing circuitry 1108 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 1312. The filter circuitry 1312 may include a LPF or a BPF, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1302 and the mixer circuitry 1314 may each include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and/or up- conversion respectively with the help of synthesizer 1304. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1302 and the mixer circuitry 1314 may each include two or more mixers each configured for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1302 and the mixer circuitry 1314 may be arranged for direct down-conversion and/or direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1302 and the mixer circuitry 1314 may be configured for super-heterodyne operation, although this is not a requirement.

Mixer circuitry 1302 may comprise, according to one embodiment: quadrature passive mixers (e.g., for the in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) paths). In such an embodiment, RF input signal 1307 may be down-converted to provide I and Q baseband output signals to be sent to the baseband processor. Quadrature passive mixers may be driven by zero and ninety-degree time-varying LO switching signals provided by a quadrature circuitry which may be configured to receive a LO frequency (fLO) from a local oscillator or a synthesizer, such as LO frequency 1305 of synthesizer 1304. In some embodiments, the LO frequency may be the carrier frequency, while in other embodiments, the LO frequency may be a fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one- half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the zero and ninety-degree time-varying switching signals may be generated by the synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the LO signals may differ in duty cycle (the percentage of one period in which the LO signal is high) and/or offset (the difference between start points of the period). In some embodiments, the LO signals may have a 25% duty cycle and a 50% offset. In some embodiments, each branch of the mixer circuitry (e.g., the in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) path) may operate at a 25% duty cycle, which may result in a significant reduction is power consumption.

The RF input signal 1307 may comprise a balanced signal, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The I and Q baseband output signals may be provided to low-nose amplifier, such as amplifier circuitry 1306 or to filter circuitry 1308.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 1304 and the input baseband signals 1311 may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals 1307 and the input baseband signals 1311 may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the radio IC circuitry may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry.

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

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1304 may be a fractional -N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+l synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 1304 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. According to some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1304 may include digital synthesizer circuitry. An advantage of using a digital synthesizer circuitry is that, although it may still include some analog components, its footprint may be scaled down much more than the footprint of an analog synthesizer circuitry. In some embodiments, frequency input into synthesizer circuity 1304 may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. A divider control input may further be provided by either the baseband processing circuitry 1108 or the application processor 1111 depending on the desired output frequency 1305. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table (e.g., within a Wi-Fi card) based on a channel number and a channel center frequency as determined or indicated by the application processor 1111. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 1304 may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency 1305, while in other embodiments, the output frequency 1305 may be a fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the output frequency 1305 may be a LO frequency (fLO). Fig. 14 illustrates a functional block diagram of baseband processing circuitry 1108 in accordance with some embodiments. The baseband processing circuitry 1108 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the baseband processing circuitry 1108, although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable. The baseband processing circuitry 1108 may include a receive baseband processor (RX BBP) 1402 for processing receive baseband signals 1304 provided by the radio IC circuitry 1106 and a transmit baseband processor (TX BBP) 1404 for generating transmit baseband signals 1311 for the radio IC circuitry 1106. The baseband processing circuitry 1108 may also include control logic 1406 for coordinating the operations of the baseband processing circuitry 1108.

In some embodiments (e.g., when analog baseband signals are exchanged between the baseband processing circuitry 1108 and the radio IC circuitry 1106), the baseband processing circuitry 1108 may include ADC 1410 to convert analog baseband signals received from the radio IC circuitry 1106 to digital baseband signals for processing by the RX BBP 1402. In these embodiments, the baseband processing circuitry 1108 may also include DAC 1412 to convert digital baseband signals from the TX BBP 1404 to analog baseband signals. In some embodiments that communicate OFDM signals or OFDMA signals, such as through baseband processor 1108a, the transmit baseband processor 1404 may be configured to generate OFDM or OFDMA signals as appropriate for transmission by performing an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT). The receive baseband processor 1402 may be configured to process received OFDM signals or OFDMA signals by performing an FFT. In some embodiments, the receive baseband processor 1402 may be configured to detect the presence of an OFDM signal or OFDMA signal by performing an autocorrelation, to detect a preamble, such as a short preamble, and by performing a cross-correlation, to detect a long preamble. The preambles may be part of a predetermined frame structure for Wi-Fi communication.

Referring back to Fig. 11, in some embodiments, the antennas 1101 may each comprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstnp antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result. Antennas 1101 may each include a set of phased-array antennas, although embodiments are not so limited. Although the radio-architecture 1100 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

The radio-architecture 1100, can perform one or more of the functions described herein such as the functionality of the device capability manager 1064, the beamformer 1068, the 60 GHz manager 1072, the proxy server manager 1076, the discovery window slot manager 1080, the sync beacon manager 1084, and the sweep manager 1088. Even more specifically, the radio architecture 1100, and for example instructions in the baseband processing circuitry 1108, can perform one or more of the functions described herein such as the functionality associated with the device capability manager 1064, the beamformer 1068, the 60 GHz manager 1072, the proxy server manager 1076, the discovery window slot manager 1080, the sync beacon manager 1084, and/or the sweep manager 1088 in one device, such as a STA, as well as the complementary receiver functions in a second device which is comparable equipped.

Fig. 15 outlines an exemplary method for enhanced communications. In accordance with one exemplary embodiment, the radio-architecture 1100, and in particular baseband processing circuitry 1108 and associated processors (1402/1404) and control logic 1406, can be programmed to perform any of the methods discussed herein. It is to be appreciated however that other element(s) illustrated within the radio-architecture 100 could also perform one or more of the steps discussed herein.

Control begins in step SI 500 and continues to step SI 504. In step SI 604, a 60 GHz Discovery Request NAF is assembled which can include a NAN Availability Attribute. Next, in step S 1508, the NAF is transmitted in the discovery window. Then, in step S 1512, a 60 GHz Discovery Response NAF is received, with this Discovery Response NAF capable of including a NAN Availability Attribute or similar information. Control then continues to step SI 516.

In step SI 516, the discovery request is accepted if the FAWs coincide. Next, beamforming is performed as discussed herein with in step SI 524 the time and channel information being coordinated. Control then continues to step SI 528 where the 60 GHz discovery process for the 60 GHz cores commences. Control then continues to step SI 532 where the control sequence ends.

Fig. 16 outlines one exemplary method for NAN operation for 60 GHz devices. However, other exemplary embodiments are also described herein. Specifically, control begins in step SI 600 and continues to step SI 604. In step SI 604, STA1 is selected as the device to transmit a synchronization beacon. Next, in step SI 608, STA1 performs sweep transmissions of synchronization beacons in one of the chosen service periods in the SI. Then, in step S1612, STA1 associates service information in the synchronization beacon transmission and further provides an availability indication in the DTI. Control then continues to step S1616.

In step S1616, STA2 detects the synchronization beacon transmission and has a need for the service of STA1. Next, in step SI 620, STA2 performs a beamforming transmission in the A-BFT right after the synchronization beacon transmission interval to establish a directional link with STA1. Then, in step SI 624, STA2 uses the direction links to communicate with STA1 for soliciting further service information, the data path setup, and/or other operations in the availability time slots indicated by STA1 in the DTI. Control then continues to step SI 628 where the control sequence ends.

In the detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of some embodiments. However, it will be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art that some embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, units and/or circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the discussion.

Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with various devices and systems, for example, a User Equipment (UE), a Mobile Device (MD), a wireless station (STA), a Personal Computer (PC), a desktop computer, a mobile computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a server computer, a handheld computer, a handheld device, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, a handheld PDA device, an on-board device, an off- board device, a hybrid device, a vehicular device, a non-vehicular device, a mobile or portable device, a consumer device, a non-mobile or non-portable device, a wireless communication station, a wireless communication device, a wireless Access Point (AP), a wired or wireless router, a wired or wireless modem, a video device, an audio device, an audio-video (A/V) device, a wired or wireless network, a wireless area network, a Wireless Video Area Network (WVAN), a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wireless LAN (WLAN), a Personal Area Network (PAN), a Wireless PAN (WPAN), and the like. Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with devices and/or networks operating in accordance with existing Wireless-Gigabit- Alliance (WGA) specifications (Wireless Gigabit Alliance, Inc. WiGig MAC and PHY Specification Version 1.1, April 2011, Final specification) and/or future versions and/or derivatives thereof, devices and/or networks operating in accordance with existing IEEE 802.11 standards (IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE Standard for Information technology—Telecommunications and information exchange between systems Local and metropolitan area networks—Specific requirements Part 11 : Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications, March 29, 2012; IEEE802.11ac-2013 ("IEEE P802.1 lac-2013, IEEE Standard for Information Technology - Telecommunications and Information Exchange Between Systems - Local and Metropolitan Area Networks - Specific Requirements - Part 11 : Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications - Amendment 4: Enhancements for Very High Throughput for Operation in Bands below 6GHz", December, 2013); IEEE 802. Had ("IEEE P802.11ad-2012, IEEE Standard for Information Technology - Telecommunications and Information Exchange Between Systems - Local and Metropolitan Area Networks - Specific Requirements - Part 11 : Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications - Amendment 3 : Enhancements for Very High Throughput in the 60 GHz Band", 28 December, 2012); IEEE- 802.11 RE Vmc ("IEEE 802.1 l-REVmcTM/D3.0, June 2014 draft standard for Information technology - Telecommunications and information exchange between systems Local and metropolitan area networks Specific requirements; Part 11 : Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specification"); IEEE802. i l -ay (P802.11ay Standard for Information Technology—Telecommunications and Information Exchange Between Systems Local and Metropolitan Area Networks—Specific Requirements Part 11 : Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications— Amendment: Enhanced Throughput for Operation in License-Exempt Bands Above 45 GHz)), IEEE 802.11-2016 and/or future versions and/or derivatives thereof, devices and/or networks operating in accordance with existing Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) Alliance (WFA) Peer-to-Peer (P2P) specifications (Wi-Fi P2P technical specification, version 1.5, August 2014) and/or future versions and/or derivatives thereof, devices and/or networks operating in accordance with existing cellular specifications and/or protocols, e.g., 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and/or future versions and/or derivatives thereof, units and/or devices which are part of the above networks, or operate using any one or more of the above protocols, and the like.

Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with one way and/or two-way radio communication systems, cellular radio-telephone communication systems, a mobile phone, a cellular telephone, a wireless telephone, a Personal Communication Systems (PCS) device, a PDA device which incorporates a wireless communication device, a mobile or portable Global Positioning System (GPS) device, a device which incorporates a GPS receiver or transceiver or chip, a device which incorporates an RFID element or chip, a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) transceiver or device, a Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO) transceiver or device, a Multiple Input Single Output (MISO) transceiver or device, a device having one or more internal antennas and/or external antennas, Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) devices or systems, multi- standard radio devices or systems, a wired or wireless handheld device, e.g., a Smartphone, a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) device, or the like.

Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with one or more types of wireless communication signals and/or systems, for example, Radio Frequency (RF), Infra-Red (IR), Frequency-Division Multiplexing (FDM), Orthogonal FDM (OFDM), Orthogonal Frequency- Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), FDM Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM), Time- Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Multi-User MIMO (MU-MFMO), Spatial Division Multiple Access (SDMA), Extended TDMA (E-TDMA), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), extended GPRS, Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), CDMA 2000, single-carrier CDMA, multi-carrier CDMA, Multi-Carrier Modulation (MDM), Discrete Multi-Tone (DMT), Bluetooth , Global Positioning System (GPS), Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, ZigBee™, Ultra-Wideband (UWB), Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), 2G, 2.5G, 3G, 3.5G, 4G, Fifth Generation (5G), or Sixth Generation (6G) mobile networks, 3GPP, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE advanced, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), or the like. Other embodiments may be used in various other devices, systems and/or networks.

Some demonstrative embodiments may be used in conjunction with a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network), e.g., a Wi-Fi network. Other embodiments may be used in conjunction with any other suitable wireless communication network, for example, a wireless area network, a "piconet", a WPAN, a WVAN, and the like.

Some demonstrative embodiments may be used in conjunction with a wireless communication network communicating over a frequency band of 5GHz and/or 60 GHz. However, other embodiments may be implemented utilizing any other suitable wireless communication frequency bands, for example, an Extremely High Frequency (EHF) band (the millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency band), e.g., a frequency band within the frequency band of between 20GhH and 300GHz, a WLAN frequency band, a WPAN frequency band, a frequency band according to the WGA specification, and the like. While the above provides just some simple examples of the various device configurations, it is to be appreciated that numerous variations and permutations are possible. Moreover, the technology is not limited to any specific channels, but is generally applicable to any frequency range(s)/channel(s). Moreover, and as discussed, the technology may be useful in the unlicensed spectrum. In the detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed techniques. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present techniques may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present disclosure. Although embodiments are not limited in this regard, discussions utilizing terms such as, for example, "processing," "computing," "calculating," "determining," "establishing", "analyzing", "checking", or the like, may refer to operation(s) and/or process(es) of a computer, a computing platform, a computing system, a communication system or subsystem, or other electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform data represented as physical (e.g., electronic) quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories or other information storage medium that may store instructions to perform operations and/or processes.

Although embodiments are not limited in this regard, the terms "plurality" and "a plurality" as used herein may include, for example, "multiple" or "two or more". The terms "plurality" or "a plurality" may be used throughout the specification to describe two or more components, devices, elements, units, parameters, circuits, or the like. For example, "a plurality of stations" may include two or more stations.

It may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this document: the terms "include" and "comprise," as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term "or," is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases "associated with" and "associated therewith," as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, interconnected with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like; and the term "controller" means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation, such a device may be implemented in hardware, circuitry, firmware or software, or some combination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout this document and those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

The exemplary embodiments will be described in relation to communications systems, as well as protocols, techniques, means and methods for performing communications, such as in a wireless network, or in general in any communications network operating using any communications protocol(s). Examples of such are home or access networks, wireless home networks, wireless corporate networks, and the like. It should be appreciated however that in general, the systems, methods and techniques disclosed herein will work equally well for other types of communications environments, networks and/or protocols.

For purposes of explanation, numerous details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present techniques. It should be appreciated however that the present disclosure may be practiced in a variety of ways beyond the specific details set forth herein. Furthermore, while the exemplary embodiments illustrated herein show various components of the system collocated, it is to be appreciated that the various components of the system can be located at distant portions of a distributed network, such as a communications network, node, within a Domain Master, and/or the Internet, or within a dedicated secured, unsecured, and/or encrypted system and/or within a network operation or management device that is located inside or outside the network. As an example, a Domain Master can also be used to refer to any device, system or module that manages and/or configures or communicates with any one or more aspects of the network or communications environment and/or transceiver(s) and/or stations and/or access point(s) described herein. Thus, it should be appreciated that the components of the system can be combined into one or more devices, or split between devices, such as a transceiver, an access point, a station, a Domain Master, a network operation or management device, a node or collocated on a particular node of a distributed network, such as a communications network. As will be appreciated from the following description, and for reasons of computational efficiency, the components of the system can be arranged at any location within a distributed network without affecting the operation thereof. For example, the various components can be located in a Domain Master, a node, a domain management device, such as a MIB, a network operation or management device, a transceiver(s), a station, an access point(s), or some combination thereof. Similarly, one or more of the functional portions of the system could be distributed between a transceiver and an associated computing device/system.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links 5, including the communications channel(s) connecting the elements, can be wired or wireless links or any combination thereof, or any other known or later developed element(s) capable of supplying and/or communicating data to and from the connected elements. The term module as used herein can refer to any known or later developed hardware, circuitry, software, firmware, or combination thereof, that is capable of performing the functionality associated with that element. The terms determine, calculate, and compute and variations thereof, as used herein are used interchangeable and include any type of methodology, process, technique, mathematical operational or protocol.

Moreover, while some of the exemplary embodiments described herein are directed toward a transmitter portion of a transceiver performing certain functions, or a receiver portion of a transceiver performing certain functions, this disclosure is intended to include corresponding and complementary transmitter-side or receiver-side functionality, respectively, in both the same transceiver and/or another transceiver(s), and vice versa.

The exemplary embodiments are described in relation to enhanced communications. However, it should be appreciated, that in general, the systems and methods herein will work equally well for any type of communication system in any environment utilizing any one or more protocols including wired communications, wireless communications, powerline communications, coaxial cable communications, fiber optic communications, and the like.

The exemplary systems and methods are described in relation to IEEE 802.11 and/or Bluetooth® and/or Bluetooth® Low Energy transceivers and associated communication hardware, software and communication channels. However, to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure, the following description omits well-known structures and devices that may be shown in block diagram form or otherwise summarized.

Exemplary aspects are directed toward:

A wireless communications device with 60 GHz communications capability comprising:

a synchronization beacon manager and transmitter radio circuity to transmit a synchronization beacon and perform sweep transmissions of the synchronization beacon in a chosen service period in a synchronization interval;

a device capability manager and controller to associate service information in the synchronization beacon transmission and to insert an availability indication in a data transmission interval; and

a controller, which upon another device indicating a connection service with the wireless communication device, establishes a directional link with the another device.

Any one or more of the above aspects, wherein the directional link allows an exchange of service information and/or a data path setup. Any one or more of the above aspects, wherein the directional link communication occurs in time slots specified in the data transmission interval.

Any one or more of the above aspects, wherein the wireless communications device further includes a proxy server manager to perform proxy services for one or more other devices.

Any one or more of the above aspects, wherein the wireless communications device includes a 60 GHz core and a Wi-Fi core.

Any one or more of the above aspects, wherein the wireless communications device provides the proxy services for a client with a 60 GHz core.

Any one or more of the above aspects, wherein a proxy service registration message is received in a 60 GHz band.

Any one or more of the above aspects, wherein based on an availability, a

beamformer performs beamforming operations during a committed availability period.

Any one or more of the above aspects, wherein a field indicates whether 60 GHz discovery is supported.

Any one or more of the above aspects, wherein the field is part of a device capability attribute.

A non-transitory information storage media having stored thereon one or more instructions, that when executed by one or more processors, cause to be performed in an wireless communication device a method comprising:

transmitting a synchronization beacon;

performing sweeping transmissions of the synchronization beacon in a chosen service period in a synchronization interval;

associating service information in the synchronization beacon transmission; inserting an availability indication in a data transmission interval; and establishing, upon another device indicating a connection service with the wireless communication device, a directional link with the another device.

Any one or more of the above aspects, wherein the directional link allows an exchange of service information and/or a data path setup.

Any one or more of the above aspects, wherein the directional link communication occurs in time slots specified in the data transmission interval. Any one or more of the above aspects, wherein the wireless communications device further includes a proxy server manager to perform proxy services for one or more other devices.

Any one or more of the above aspects, wherein based on an availability, a

Any one or more of the above aspects, wherein:

wherein a field indicates whether 60 GHz discovery is supported, and/or

wherein the field is part of a device capability attribute.

means for transmitting a synchronization beacon;

means for performing sweeping transmissions of the synchronization beacon in a chosen service period in a synchronization interval;

means for associating service information in the synchronization beacon transmission;

means for inserting an availability indication in a data transmission interval; and

means for establishing, upon another device indicating a connection service with the wireless communication device, a directional link with the another device.

Any one or more of the above aspects, wherein the directional link communication occurs in time slots specified in the data transmission interval.

Any one or more of the above aspects, wherein the wireless communications device further includes a proxy server manager to perform proxy services for one or more other devices. Any one or more of the above aspects, wherein the wireless communications device includes a 60 GHz core and a Wi-Fi core.

Any one or more of the above aspects, wherein based on an availability, a

A system, device, means or method for using NAN Proxy Service for 60 GHz only NAN devices to be discovered and discover services in other NAN devices. Any of the above aspects, wherein a multi-band 60 GHz device is NAN Proxy Server and 60GHz-only devices are NAN Proxy Clients.

Any of the above aspects, wherein 60 GHz service information includes Service ID, a 60 GHz indication, a MAC address, committed NAN availability.

Any of the above aspects, wherein s 60 GHz-only device registers s proxy service with a multi-band NAN Proxy Server.

Any of the above aspects, wherein a multi-band NAN Proxy Server publish and subscribe NAN service is sent on behalf of a 60 GHz-only device.

Any of the above aspects, wherein a NAN Proxy Service notifies a 60 GHz-only device when a desired service is found. Any of the above aspects, wherein a proxy service registration message is transmitted in a 60 GHz band.

Any of the above aspects, wherein 60 GHz service information is included in a proxy service registration.

Any of the above aspects, wherein a NAN service discovery frame (SDF) is transmitted in the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz band. Any of the above aspects, wherein 60GHz service information is included in a NAN service discovery frame (SDF).

Any of the above aspects, wherein a search result is transmitted in the 60 GHz band.

Any of the above aspects, wherein 60 GHz service information is included in the service result.

Any of the above aspects, wherein a 60 GHz device can start beamforming with the first 60GHz-only device in first device's committed availability

Any of the above aspects, wherein a 60 GHz device can perform a NAN data path setup with the first 60 GHz-only device in first device's committed availability after the successful beamforming.

Any of the above aspects, wherein the NAN Proxy client is synchronized with a NAN Proxy Server's timestamp.

Any of the above aspects, wherein an Application Service Platform (ASP) is used for communication between the a Wi-Fi Core and a 60 GHz core. A system on a chip (SoC) including any one or more of the above aspects.

One or more means for performing any one or more of the above aspects.

Any one or more of the aspects as substantially described herein.

For purposes of explanation, numerous details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present embodiments. It should be appreciated however that the techniques herein may be practiced in a variety of ways beyond the specific details set forth herein.

Furthermore, while the exemplary embodiments illustrated herein show the various components of the system collocated, it is to be appreciated that the various components of the system can be located at distant portions of a distributed network, such as a communications network and/or the Internet, or within a dedicated secure, unsecured and/or encrypted system. Thus, it should be appreciated that the components of the system can be combined into one or more devices, such as an access point or station, or collocated on a particular node/element(s) of a distributed network, such as a telecommunications network. As will be appreciated from the following description, and for reasons of computational efficiency, the components of the system can be arranged at any location within a distributed network without affecting the operation of the system. For example, the various components can be located in a transceiver, an access point, a station, a management device, or some combination thereof. Similarly, one or more functional portions of the system could be distributed between a transceiver, such as an access point(s) or station(s) and an associated computing device.

While the above-described flowcharts have been discussed in relation to a particular sequence of events, it should be appreciated that changes to this sequence can occur without materially effecting the operation of the embodiment(s). Additionally, the exact sequence of events need not occur as set forth in the exemplary embodiments, but rather the steps can be performed by one or the other transceiver in the communication system provided both transceivers are aware of the technique being used for initialization. Additionally, the exemplary techniques illustrated herein are not limited to the specifically illustrated embodiments but can also be utilized with the other exemplary embodiments and each described feature is individually and separately claimable. The above-described system can be implemented on a wireless telecommunications device(s)/system, such an IEEE 802.11 transceiver, or the like. Examples of wireless protocols that can be used with this technology include IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802. l lg, IEEE 802.11η, IEEE 802.1 lac, IEEE 802.1 lad, IEEE 802.11af, IEEE 802.1 lah, IEEE 802.11ai, IEEE 802.1 laj, IEEE 802.1 laq, IEEE 802.1 lax, Wi-Fi, LTE, 4G, Bluetooth®, WirelessHD, WiGig, WiGi, 3 GPP, Wireless LAN, WiMAX, DensiFi SIG, Unifi SIG, 3 GPP LAA (licensed-assisted access), and the like.

The term transceiver as used herein can refer to any device that comprises hardware, software, circuitry, firmware, or any combination thereof and is capable of performing any of the methods, techniques and/or algorithms described herein. Additionally, the systems, methods and protocols can be implemented to improve one or more of a special purpose computer, a programmed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuit element(s), an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digital signal processor, a hard-wired electronic or logic circuit such as discrete element circuit, a programmable logic device such as PLD, PLA, FPGA, PAL, a modem, a transmitter/receiver, any comparable means, or the like. In general, any device capable of implementing a state machine that is in turn capable of implementing the methodology illustrated herein can benefit from the various communication methods, protocols and techniques according to the disclosure provided herein.

Examples of the processors as described herein may include, but are not limited to, at least one of Qualcomm® Snapdragon® 800 and 801, Qualcomm® Snapdragon® 610 and 615 with 4G LTE Integration and 64-bit computing, Apple® A7 processor with 64-bit architecture, Apple® M7 motion coprocessors, Samsung® Exynos® series, the Intel® Core™ family of processors, the Intel® Xeon® family of processors, the Intel® Atom™ family of processors, the Intel Itanium® family of processors, Intel® Core® Ϊ5-4670Κ and Ϊ7-4770Κ 22nm Haswell, Intel® Core® Ϊ5-3570Κ 22nm Ivy Bridge, the AMD® FX™ family of processors, AMD® FX- 4300, FX-6300, and FX-8350 32nm Vishera, AMD® Kaveri processors, Texas Instruments® Jacinto C6000™ automotive infotainment processors, Texas Instruments® OMAP™ automotive-grade mobile processors, ARM® Cortex™-M processors, ARM® Cortex-A and ARM926EJ-S™ processors, Broadcom® AirForce BCM4704/BCM4703 wireless networking processors, the AR7100 Wireless Network Processing Unit, other industry-equivalent processors, and may perform computational functions using any known or future-developed standard, instruction set, libraries, and/or architecture.

Furthermore, the disclosed methods may be readily implemented in software using object or object-oriented software development environments that provide portable source code that can be used on a variety of computer or workstation platforms. Alternatively, the disclosed system may be implemented partially or fully in hardware using standard logic circuits or VLSI design. Whether software or hardware is used to implement the systems in accordance with the embodiments is dependent on the speed and/or efficiency requirements of the system, the particular function, and the particular software or hardware systems or microprocessor or microcomputer systems being utilized. The communication systems, methods and protocols illustrated herein can be readily implemented in hardware and/or software using any known or later developed systems or structures, devices and/or software by those of ordinary skill in the applicable art from the functional description provided herein and with a general basic knowledge of the computer and telecommunications arts.

Moreover, the disclosed methods may be readily implemented in software and/or firmware that can be stored on a storage medium to improve the performance of: a programmed general-purpose computer with the cooperation of a controller and memory, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, or the like. In these instances, the systems and methods can be implemented as program embedded on personal computer such as an applet, JAVA.RTM. or CGI script, as a resource residing on a server or computer workstation, as a routine embedded in a dedicated communication system or system component, or the like. The system can also be implemented by physically incorporating the system and/or method into a software and/or hardware system, such as the hardware and software systems of a communications transceiver.

It is therefore apparent that there has at least been provided systems and methods for enhancing and improving communications. While the embodiments have been described in conjunction with a number of embodiments, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations would be or are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the applicable arts. Accordingly, this disclosure is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, equivalents and variations that are within the spirit and scope of this disclosure.

Claims

Claims:

1. A wireless communications device with 60 GHz communications capability comprising:

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the directional link allows an exchange of service information and/or a data path setup.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the directional link communication occurs in time slots specified in the data transmission interval.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communications device further includes a proxy server manager to perform proxy services for one or more other devices.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the wireless communications device includes a 60 GHz core and a Wi-Fi core.

6. The device of claim 4, wherein the wireless communications device provides the proxy services for a client with a 60 GHz core.

7. The device of claim 4, wherein a proxy service registration message is received in a 60 GHz band.

8. The device of claim 4, wherein based on an availability, a beamformer performs beamforming operations during a committed availability period.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein a field indicates whether 60 GHz discovery is supported.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the field is part of a device capability attribute.

11. A non-transitory information storage media having stored thereon one or more instructions, that when executed by one or more processors, cause to be performed in an wireless communication device a method comprising:

transmitting a synchronization beacon;

12. The media of claim 11, wherein the directional link allows an exchange of service information and/or a data path setup.

13. The media of claim 12, wherein the directional link communication occurs in time slots specified in the data transmission interval.

14. The media of claim 11, wherein the wireless communications device further includes a proxy server manager to perform proxy services for one or more other devices.

15. The media of claim 14, wherein the wireless communications device includes a 60 GHz core and a Wi-Fi core.

16. The media of claim 14, wherein the wireless communications device provides the proxy services for a client with a 60 GHz core.

17. The media of claim 14, wherein a proxy service registration message is received in a 60 GHz band.

18. The media of claim 14, wherein based on an availability, a beamformer performs beamforming operations during a committed availability period.

19. The media of claim 18, wherein:

wherein a field indicates whether 60 GHz discovery is supported, and/or wherein the field is part of a device capability attribute.

20. A wireless communications device with 60 GHz communications capability comprising:

means for transmitting a synchronization beacon;