WO2023192609A1

WO2023192609A1 - Ieee 802.1cq functionality interactions through ieee 802.11

Info

Publication number: WO2023192609A1
Application number: PCT/US2023/017139
Authority: WO
Inventors: Antonio De La Oliva; Robert Gazda
Original assignee: Interdigital Patent Holdings, Inc.
Priority date: 2022-04-01
Filing date: 2023-03-31
Publication date: 2023-10-05

Abstract

Devices, systems, and methods for wireless station (STA) communications in a pre-association exchange to obtain a local medium access control (MAC) address or address block using block address registration and claiming (BARC) protocols from an access point (AP). The AP indicates support for BARC through generic advertisement service (GAS) Advertisement ID definitions and/or a Local MAC Address Policy field indicator of an access network query protocol (ANQP) GAS exchange. A GAS initial request is transmitted to the AP including a BARC element to request the local MAC address or address block. A GAS response is received from the AP including the assigned local MAC address or address block obtained through a BARC Registrar or Advisor. Additional embodiments, exclusive of, or including ANPQ procedures are disclosed.

Description

IEEE 802.1 CQ FUNCTIONALITY INTERACTIONS THROUGH IEEE 802.11

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/326,542, filed April 1 , 2022 the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Currently, globally unique MAC addresses are assigned to most IEEE 802 end stations and bridge ports. Increasing use of virtual machines and Internet of Things (loT) devices could exhaust the global MAC address space if global MAC addresses are assigned. Certain authorities have proposed a framework referred to as address registration and claiming (ARC) or block address registration and claiming (BARC) to assist in localizing MAC address assignments to reduce the potential of MAC address exhaustion. There is presently no framework defining ARC or BARC use in the context of wireless communications between stations (STAs) and an access point (AP).

SUMMARY

[0003] Embodiments described herein provide devices, systems, and methods for wireless station (STA) communications. In one aspect, a beacon or probe response may be received from an access point (AP) indicating support for BARC functionality using a generic advertisement service (GAS) Advertisement Protocol ID. In other aspects AP support for BARC functionality may be provided in access network query protocol (ANQP) element over GAS exchange using a Local MAC Address Policy ANQP element field. A GAS initial request is transmitted to the AP including a BARC element or BARC request by a STA in pre-association mode. The BARC requests a local MAC address or address block be assigned to the STA. A GAS response may be received from the AP including a BARC element or BARC response indicating the assigned local MAC address or address block. Other aspects are related to BARC request/response ANQP elements and/or simplified BARC exchange ANQP elements.

[0004] According to one aspect a method implemented in a wireless transmit receive unit (WTRU) includes: sending a first block address registration and claiming (BARC) message to an access point (AP) via a generic advertisement service (GAS) initial request, the first BARC message requesting one of a local medium access control (MAC) address or address block be assigned to the WTRU; and receiving a second BARC message via a GAS response from the AP, wherein the second BARC message includes an assigned MAC address or an address block. The GAS response may be initial or delayed depending on network configuration such as the localized availability of a BARC Registrar or Advisor. Prior to the initial GAS request, the STA may determine whether the AP supports BARC functionality by receiving a beacon or probe response from the AP indicating BARC functionality as available in a GAS Advertisement Protocol Identification (ID) field. Alternatively, determining the AP supports BARC functionality may be performed by a GAS exchange including a local MAC Address Policy access network query protocol (ANQP) element received from the AP having a policy field bit indicating BARC functionality is supported.

[0005] In some aspects, the first BARC message comprises a BARC element having a Length field set equal to zero, or a specific value, to indicate that the BARC element is a request. In other embodiments, the first BARC message may include a BARC request element having an Operation field specifying whether the BARC request element is one of a request, a renewal or a withdrawal for the local MAC address or address block. Additional embodiments define the first BARC message as one of a BARC request ANQP element or a BARC exchange ANQP element.

[0006] The second BARC message may be one of a BARC response ANQP element or a BARC exchange ANQP element. The response of the second BARC message may identify the assigned local MAC address or address block, or an indication that it cannot be assigned. In one aspect, the BARC response ANQP element includes a Status field indicating an address has been assigned, and an Address Block field specifying an assigned address. Further, the first BARC message may be a BARC exchange ANQP element having a Length field set equal to zero, or some value, to indicate the BARC exchange ANQP element is a request for a MAC address/block.

[0007] According to some aspects, a wireless transmit receive unit (WTRU) may include a transceiver; and a processor in communication with the transceiver. The processor and transceiver are configured to initially determine that an access point (AP) in wireless communication with the WTRU supports block address registration and claiming (BARC) functionality. Thereafter, the WTRU may send a first BARC message to the AP, via a generic advertisement service (GAS) initial request, the first BARC message requesting an operation for one of a local medium access control (MAC) address or address block for the WTRU. The WTRU may receive a second BARC message via a GAS response from the AP, wherein the second BARC message includes information related to the requested operation of the local MAC address or an address block. The GAS response may be initial or delayed depending on the localize nature of a BARC Registrar or Advisor.

[0008] The operation requested in the first BARC message may be a requested assignment of the local MAC address or address block and the second BARC message including the information related to the requested operation of the local MAC address or address block may be an assigned local MAC address or address block. Other options for the operation and received information may relate to renewing the MAC address/block, withdrawing a request, availability of the requested address, Token field information, etc., as described in greater detail below.

[0009] The processor and transceiver may be configured to determine that the AP supports BARC functionality by receiving a beacon or probe response from the AP indicating BARC functionality as available in a GAS Advertisement Protocol Identification (ID) field. In other embodiments, determining that the AP supports BARC functionality may be performed by receiving a local MAC Address Policy access network query protocol (ANQP) element from the AP including a policy field bit indicating BARC functionality is supported.

[0010] In one WTRU embodiment, the first BARC message comprises a BARC request element including an Operation field specifying the operation as one of a request, a renewal or a withdrawal for the local MAC address or address block. In other embodiments, the first BARC message includes a BARC element having a Length field with a value set to indicate the operation is a request for assignment of the local MAC address or address block.

[0011] The first BARC message may be one of a BARC Exchange ANQP element or a BARC Request ANQP element and the operation is a request for assignment of the local MAC address or address block. Certain embodiments define a WTRU where the first BARC message is the BARC Exchange ANQP element having a Length field or Control field set to a value indicating the operation comprises a request for assignment of the local MAC address.

[0012] Further embodiments relate to a wireless network access station including a transmitter, a receiver and a processor in communication with the transmitter and the receiver and configured to: indicate, to a remote wireless station (STA), support of block address registration and claiming (BARC) functionality by a wireless generic advertising service (GAS) transmission; receive a first BARC message from the STA requesting an operation for a local medium access control (MAC) address or block address by a GAS initial request; and send a second BARC message to the STA including information related to the operation for the local MAC address or block address by a GAS initial response.

[0013] The network access station may indicate support of BARC functionality by a GAS exchange including a local MAC Address Policy access network query protocol (ANQP) element having a policy field bit indicating BARC functionality is supported. In other embodiments, the wireless network access station indicates support of BARC functionality by transmitting a beacon or probe response including a GAS Advertisement protocol identification ID field indicator that BARC functionality is supported.

[0014] The first BARC message of these embodiments may also use a BARC element having a Length field set to a value indicating the BARC element is a request for assignment of the local MAC address or address block, and the information of second BARC message includes an assigned local MAC address or address block obtained from a BARC Register or Advisor. The BARC Register or Advisor may be local to the wireless network access station or remotely accessed via a wired, optical fiber or wireless connection to the network access station.

[0015] In certain aspects, the first BARC message is a GAS Initial Request including either one of a BARC Request ANQP element ora BARC Exchange ANQP element requesting assignment of the local MAC address or block address. The information of the second BARC message may include an assigned local MAC address or address block, a Token address obtained via an ANQP server accessing a BARC Register or Advisor. The ANQP server and/or BARC Register or Advisor may be local, remote or any combination with the AP. [0016] In a further aspect of the wireless network access station, the first BARC message includes a BARC request element having an Operation field specifying the operation as one of a request, a renewal or a withdrawal for the local MAC address or address block. The wireless network access station may be an access point using IEEE 802.11 wireless protocols and IEEE 802.1CQ protocols.

[0017] According to various aspects, a BARC element may include: an Info ID field, a Length field and a variable length Information field. A BARC Request may include an Info ID field, a Length Field, an Operation Field and optionally, an Address Block field and/or Token field. A BARC Response may include an Info ID field, a Length Field, a Status Field, an Address Bock field and a Token field. The BARC element may be configured as a request or a response rather than using specific customized formats of the BARC Request and/or BARC Response.

[0018] In other aspects, a BARC Request ANQP element may include an Info ID field, a Length field, an Operation field and optionally, an Address Block and/or Token field. A BARC Response ANQP element may include an Info Field, a Length field, a Status field, an Address Block field and a T oken Field. A BARC Exchange ANQP element may include an Info ID field, a Length Field, a Control Field and optionally, an Address Block field and/or Token Field. As with previous non-ANQP embodiments the Length field or other fields may be used to designate the nature or purpose of the BARC Exchange ANQP element and a variable Information field may be designated/formatted to provide request/response information as desired. As used herein, BARC refers to any protocol under the ARC umbrella defined in IEEE 802.1CQ (e.g., BARC and MAC address acquisition protocol (MAAP)). Moreover, embodiments enable address assignment to STAs in a preassociated mode.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] A more detailed understanding may be had from the following description, given by way of example in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals in the figures indicate like elements, and wherein:

[0020] FIG. 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communications system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented;

[0021] FIG. 1B is a system diagram illustrating an example wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A according to an embodiment;

[0022] FIG. 1C is a system diagram illustrating an example radio access network (RAN) and an example core network (CN) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A according to an embodiment;

[0023] FIG. 1 D is a system diagram illustrating a further example RAN and a further example CN that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A according to an embodiment;

[0024] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating example M, X, Y and Z blocks of a local MAC address; [0025] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example BARC Element format;

[0026] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example BARC Request BARC-element format;

[0027] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example BARC Response BARC-element format;

[0028] FIG. 6 is a chart illustrating example messaging for example BARC procedures;

[0029] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example BARC Request ANQP Element format;

[0030] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example BARC Response ANQP Element format;

[0031] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example BARC Exchange ANQP Element format; and

[0032] FIG. 10 is a chart illustrating example messaging for example BARC ANQP procedures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an example communications system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communications system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wireless users. The communications system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communications systems 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), singlecarrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail unique-word discrete Fourier transform Spread OFDM (ZT-UW-DFT-S- OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block-filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 1A, the communications system 100 may include wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, a radio access network (RAN) 104, a core network (CN) 106, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112, though it will be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and/or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and/or communicate in a wireless environment. By way of example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, any ofwhich may be referred to as a station (STA), may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals and may include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a subscription-based unit, a pager, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a netbook, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a hotspot or Mi-Fi device, an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and 102d may be interchangeably referred to as a UE. [0035] The communications systems 100 may also include a base station 114a and/or a base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the CN 106, the Internet 110, and/or the other networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be a base transceiver station (BTS), a NodeB, an eNode B (eNB), a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, a next generation NodeB, such as a gNode B (gNB), a new radio (NR) NodeB, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, and the like. While the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and/or network elements.

[0036] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104, which may also include other base stations and/or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, and the like. The base station 114a and/or the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). These frequencies may be in licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide coverage for a wireless service to a specific geographical area that may be relatively fixed or that may change over time. The cell may further be divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one for each sector of the cell. In an embodiment, the base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) technology and may utilize multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit and/or receive signals in desired spatial directions.

[0037] The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over an air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0038] More specifically, as noted above, the communications system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and the like. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 104 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and/or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High-Speed Downlink (DL) Packet Access (HSDPA) and/or High-Speed Uplink (UL) Packet Access (HSUPA). [0039] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and/or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and/or LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro). [0040] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as NR Radio Access , which may establish the air interface 116 using NR.

[0041] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement LTE radio access and NR radio access together, for instance using dual connectivity (DC) principles. Thus, the air interface utilized by WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and/or transmissions sent to/from multiple types of base stations (e.g., an eNB and a gNB).

[0042] In other embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like. [0043] The base station 114b in FIG. 1A may be a wireless router, Home Node B, Home eNode B, or access point, for example, and may utilize any suitable RAT for facilitating wireless connectivity in a localized area, such as a place of business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a roadway, and the like. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In yet another embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR etc.) to establish a picocell or femtocell. As shown in FIG. 1A, the base station 114b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114b may not be required to access the Internet 110 via the CN 106.

[0044] The RAN 104 may be in communication with the CN 106, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications, and/or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. The data may have varying quality ofservice (QoS) requirements, such as differing throughput requirements, latency requirements, error tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, mobility requirements, and the like. The CN 106 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, pre-paid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and/or perform high-level security functions, such as user authentication. Although not shown in FIG. 1A, it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 and/or the CN 106 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104, which may be utilizing a NR radio technology, the CN 106 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) employing a GSM, UMTS, CDMA 2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi radio technology.

[0045] The CN 106 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and/or the other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include circuit-switched telephone networks that provide plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as the transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP) and/or the internet protocol (IP) in the TCP/IP internet protocol suite. The networks 112 may include wired and/or wireless communications networks owned and/or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 or a different RAT.

[0046] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communications system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities (e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links). For example, the WTRU 102c shown in FIG. 1 A may be configured to communicate with the base station 114a, which may employ a cellularbased radio technology, and with the base station 114b, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0047] FIG. 1 B is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU 102. As shown in FIG. 1 B, the WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit/receive element 122, a speaker/microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display/touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and/or other peripherals 138, among others. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0048] The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and the like. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input/output processing, and/or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit/receive element 122. While FIG. 1 B depicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it will be appreciated that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

[0049] The transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signals to, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and/or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be an emitter/detector configured to transmit and/or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. In yet another embodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and/or receive both RF and light signals. It will be appreciated that the transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and/or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0050] Although the transmit/receive element 122 is depicted in FIG. 1 B as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit/receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit/receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116. [0051] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate the signals that are to be transmitted by the transmit/receive element 122 and to demodulate the signals that are received by the transmit/receive element 122. As noted above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers for enabling the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as NR and IEEE 802.11 , for example.

[0052] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to, and may receive user input data from, the speaker/microphone 124, the keypad 126, and/or the display/touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker/microphone 124, the keypad 126, and/or the display/touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory 130 and/or the removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or a home computer (not shown).

[0053] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134, and may be configured to distribute and/or control the power to the other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li- ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, and the like.

[0054] The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and/or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable location-determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0055] The processor 118 may further be coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and/or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality and/or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photographs and/or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser, a Virtual Reality and/or Augmented Reality (VR/AR) device, an activity tracker, and the like. The peripherals 138 may include one or more sensors. The sensors may be one or more of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor; a geolocation sensor, an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, a humidity sensor and the like.

[0056] The WTRU 102 may include a full duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for both the UL (e.g., for transmission) and DL (e.g., for reception) may be concurrent and/or simultaneous. The full duplex radio may include an interference management unit to reduce and or substantially eliminate self-interference via either hardware (e.g., a choke) or signal processing via a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or via processor 118). In an embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for either the UL (e.g., for transmission) or the DL (e.g., for reception)).

[0057] FIG. 1C is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the ON 106 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ an E-UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the ON 106.

[0058] The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNode-B 160a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and/or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0059] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and/or DL, and the like. As shown in FIG. 1C, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with one another over an X2 interface. [0060] The CN 106 shown in FIG. 1C may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (PGW) 166. While the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and/or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0061] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 162a, 162b, 162c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, bearer activation/deactivation, selecting a particular serving gateway during an initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like. The MME 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM and/or WCDMA.

[0062] The SGW 164 may be connected to each of the eNode Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via the S1 interface. The SGW 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to/from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The SGW 164 may perform other functions, such as anchoring user planes during inter-eNode B handovers, triggering paging when DL data is available forthe WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, managing and storing contexts of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like.

[0063] The SGW 164 may be connected to the PGW 166, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0064] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional land-line communications devices. For example, the CN 106 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which may include other wired and/or wireless networks that are owned and/or operated by other service providers.

[0065] Although the WTRU is described in FIGS. 1A-1 D as a wireless terminal, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments that such a terminal may use (e.g., temporarily or permanently) wired communication interfaces with the communication network.

[0066] In representative embodiments, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0067] A WLAN in Infrastructure Basic Service Set (BSS) mode may have an Access Point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have access or an interface to a Distribution System (DS) or another type of wired/wireless network that carries traffic in to and/or out of the BSS. Traffic to STAs that originates from outside the BSS may arrive through the AP and may be delivered to the STAs. Traffic originating from STAs to destinations outside the BSS may be sent to the AP to be delivered to respective destinations. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP, for example, where the source STA may send traffic to the AP and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. The traffic between STAs within a BSS may be considered and/or referred to as peer-to-peer traffic. The peer-to- peer traffic may be sent between (e.g., directly between) the source and destination STAs with a direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use an 802.11e DLS or an 802.11z tunneled DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an Independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have an AP, and the STAs (e.g., all of the STAs) within or using the IBSS may communicate directly with each other. The IBSS mode of communication may sometimes be referred to herein as an “ad-hoc” mode of communication.

[0068] When using the 802.11ac infrastructure mode of operation or a similar mode of operations, the AP may transmit a beacon on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel may be a fixed width (e.g., 20 MHz wide bandwidth) or a dynamically set width. The primary channel may be the operating channel of the BSS and may be used by the STAs to establish a connection with the AP. In certain representative embodiments, Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) may be implemented, for example in 802.11 systems. For CSMA/CA, the STAs (e.g., every STA), including the AP, may sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed/detected and/or determined to be busy by a particular STA, the particular STA may back off. One STA (e.g., only one station) may transmit at any given time in a given BSS.

[0069] High Throughput (HT) STAs may use a 40 MHz wide channel for communication, for example, via a combination of the primary 20 MHz channel with an adjacent or nonadjacent 20 MHz channel to form a 40 MHz wide channel.

[0070] Very High Throughput (VHT) STAs may support 20MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and/or 160 MHz wide channels. The 40 MHz, and/or 80 MHz, channels may be formed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel may be formed by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels, or by combining two noncontiguous 80 MHz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, the data, after channel encoding, may be passed through a segment parser that may divide the data into two streams. Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) processing, and time domain processing, may be done on each stream separately. The streams may be mapped on to the two 80 MHz channels, and the data may be transmitted by a transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the above described operation for the 80+80 configuration may be reversed, and the combined data may be sent to the Medium Access Control (MAC).

[0071] Sub 1 GHz modes of operation are supported by 802.11af and 802.11 ah. The channel operating bandwidths, and carriers, are reduced in 802.11af and 802.11ah relative to those used in 802.11n, and 802.11ac. 802.11af supports 5 MHz, 10 MHz, and 20 MHz bandwidths in the TV White Space (TVWS) spectrum, and 802.11ah supports 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, and 16 MHz bandwidths using non-TVWS spectrum. According to a representative embodiment, 802.11ah may support Meter Type Control/Machine- Type Communications (MTC), such as MTC devices in a macro coverage area. MTC devices may have certain capabilities, for example, limited capabilities including support for (e.g., only support for) certain and/or limited bandwidths. The MTC devices may include a battery with a battery life above a threshold (e.g., to maintain a very long battery life).

[0072] WLAN systems, which may support multiple channels, and channel bandwidths, such as 802.11 n, 802.11 ac, 802.11af, and 802.11ah, include a channel which may be designated as the primary channel. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the largest common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be set and/or limited by a STA, from among all STAs in operating in a BSS, which supports the smallest bandwidth operating mode. In the example of 802.11 ah, the primary channel may be 1 MHz wide for STAs (e.g., MTC type devices) that support (e.g., only support) a 1 MHz mode, even if the AP, and other STAs in the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and/or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and/or Network Allocation Vector (NAV) settings may depend on the status of the primary channel. If the primary channel is busy, for example, due to a STA (which supports only a 1 MHz operating mode) transmitting to the AP, all available frequency bands may be considered busy even though a majority of the available frequency bands remains idle.

[0073] In the United States, the available frequency bands, which may be used by 802.11 ah, are from 902 MHz to 928 MHz. In Korea, the available frequency bands are from 917.5 MHz to 923.5 MHz. In Japan, the available frequency bands are from 916.5 MHz to 927.5 MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802.11 ah is 6 MHz to 26 MHz depending on the country code.

[0074] FIG. 1 D is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ an NR radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0075] The RAN 104 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, gNBs 180a, 108b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and/or receive signals from the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c. Thus, the gNB 180a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and/or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, the gNB 180a may transmit multiple component carriers to the WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on unlicensed spectrum while the remaining component carriers may be on licensed spectrum. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) technology. For example, WTRU 102a may receive coordinated transmissions from gNB 180a and gNB 180b (and/or gNB 180c).

[0076] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with a scalable numerology. For example, the OFDM symbol spacing and/or OFDM subcarrier spacing may vary for different transmissions, different cells, and/or different portions of the wireless transmission spectrum. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframe or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of various or scalable lengths (e.g., containing a varying number of OFDM symbols and/or lasting varying lengths of absolute time).

[0077] The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be configured to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in a standalone configuration and/or a non-standalone configuration. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c without also accessing other RANs (e.g., such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c). In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may utilize one or more of gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c as a mobility anchor point. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using signals in an unlicensed band. In a non-standalone configuration WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with/connect to gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c while also communicating with/connecting to another RAN such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c. For example, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement DC principles to communicate with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c and one or more eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c substantially simultaneously. In the non- standalone configuration, eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may serve as a mobility anchor for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may provide additional coverage and/or throughput for servicing WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0078] Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and/or DL, support of network slicing, DC, interworking between NR and E-UTRA, routing of user plane data towards User Plane Function (UPF) 184a, 184b, routing of control plane information towards Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 182a, 182b and the like. As shown in FIG. 1 D, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may communicate with one another over an Xn interface.

[0079] The CN 106 shown in FIG. 1D may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one Session Management Function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and possibly a Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. While the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and/or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0080] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 104 via an N2 interface and may serve as a control node. For exam pie, the AMF 182a, 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, support for network slicing (e.g., handling of different protocol data unit (PDU) sessions with different requirements), selecting a particular SMF 183a, 183b, management of the registration area, termination of non-access stratum (NAS) signaling, mobility management, and the like. Network slicing may be used by the AMF 182a, 182b in order to customize CN support for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c based on the types of services being utilized WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. For example, different network slices may be established for different use cases such as services relying on ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) access, services relying on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, services for MTC access, and the like. The AMF 182a, 182b may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and/or non-3GPP access technologies such as WiFi.

[0081] The SMF 183a, 183b may be connected to an AMF 182a, 182b in the CN 106 via an N11 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may also be connected to a UPF 184a, 184b in the CN 106 via an N4 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may select and control the UPF 184a, 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPF 184a, 184b. The SMF 183a, 183b may perform other functions, such as managing and allocating UE IP address, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, providing DL data notifications, and the like. A PDU session type may be IP-based, non-IP based, Ethernet-based, and the like.

[0082] The UPF 184a, 184b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 104 via an N3 interface, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPF 184, 184b may perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multi-homed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering DL packets, providing mobility anchoring, and the like.

[0083] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which may include other wired and/or wireless networks that are owned and/or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to a local DN 185a, 185b through the UPF 184a, 184b via the N3 interface to the UPF 184a, 184b and an N6 interface between the UPF 184a, 184b and the DN 185a, 185b.

[0084] In view of FIGs. 1A-1D, and the corresponding description of FIGs. 1A-1 D, one or more, or all, of the functions described herein with regard to one or more of: WTRU 102a-d, Base Station 114a-b, eNode-B 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNB 180a-c, AMF 182a-b, UPF 184a-b, SMF 183a-b, DN 185a-b, and/or any other device(s) described herein, may be performed by one or more emulation devices (not shown). The emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more, or all, of the functions described herein. For example, the emulation devices may be used to test other devices and/or to simulate network and/or WTRU functions.

[0085] The emulation devices may be designed to implement one or more tests of other devices in a lab environment and/or in an operator network environment. For example, the one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being fully or partially implemented and/or deployed as part of a wired and/or wireless communication network in order to test other devices within the communication network. The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being temporarily implemented/deployed as part of a wired and/or wireless communication network. The emulation device may be directly coupled to another device for purposes of testing and/or performing testing using over-the-air wireless communications.

[0086] The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, including all, functions while not being implemented/deployed as part of a wired and/or wireless communication network. For example, the emulation devices may be utilized in a testing scenario in a testing laboratory and/or a non-deployed (e.g., testing) wired and/or wireless communication network in order to implement testing of one or more components. The one or more emulation devices may be test equipment. Direct RF coupling and/or wireless communications via RF circuitry (e.g., which may include one or more antennas) may be used by the emulation devices to transmit and/or receive data.

[0087] Currently, globally unique MAC addresses are assigned to most IEEE 802 end stations and bridge ports. Increasing use of virtual machines and Internet of Things (loT) devices could exhaust the global MAC address space if global MAC addresses are assigned. In some implementations, such applications might use the local MAC address space, however some applications require independent address administration (e.g., virtualization systems and protocol specific address mappings). The IEEE 802c project provides conventions and enables protocols to facilitate multiple stations or servers to automatically configure and use local MAC addresses without conflict when multiple administrations share a local address space. Such protocols may allow virtual machines and loT devices to obtain a local MAC address without centralized local MAC address administration.

[0088] IEEE 802c may provide an optional local MAC address space structure to allow multiple administrations to coexist. This structure will designate a range of local MAC addresses for protocols using a Company ID (CID) assigned by the IEEE Registration Authority. Another range of local MAC addresses will be designated for assignment by local administrators. IEEE 802c will recommend a range of local MAC addresses for use by IEEE 802 protocols.

[0089] IEEE 802c defines a Structured Local Address Plan (SLAP) in which 4-ranges or quadrants of local MAC addresses are defined: Extended Local (ELI); Standard Assigned (SAI); Administratively Assigned (AAI); and Reserved.

[0090] Each quadrant is indicated by one of the possible values represented by 2-bits of the MAC address. Referring to FIG. 2 example address mapping 200, in some implementations, the least and second least significant bits (LSBs) of the initial octet 201 of a MAC address may be referred to as the M bit 202 and X bit 204, respectively. In some implementations, the X bit 204 may also be referred to as the U/L bit, short for Universal/Local, which identifies how the address is administered (e.g., if the X bit 204 =0, the address is universally administered; if=1 , the address is locally administered). In some implementations, the M bit 202 indicates if the address is unicast (=0) or multicast/broadcast (=1). In some implementations, the third and fourth least significant bits of the initial octet 201 in the local MAC address are referred to as the Y bit 206 and Z bit 208, respectively, as illustrated an example 48-bit address 200 (i.e., 6-octets), represented in FIG. 2.

[0091] In some implementations, a local address exists in one of four SLAP quadrants, each identified by a different combination of the Y and Z bits 206, 208, as described in Table 1. Table 1 also indicates the SLAP local identifier type specified for each SLAP quadrant. The SLAP local identifier types are further described below.

TABLE 1

[0092] In some implementations, a SLAP identifier of type “Extended Local” may be referred to as an Extended Local Identifier (ELI). ELIs fall in SLAP Quadrant 01. The X, Y, and Z bits of an ELI are “1 ,0,1” respectively. An ELI may be used as a local MAC address known as an ELI address.

[0093] In some implementations, the IEEE Registration Authority (RA) uniquely assigns a 24-bit identifier, which may be referred to as a Company ID (CID), to identify a company, organization, entity, protocol, etc., e.g., as described in “Guidelines for Use Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI) and Company ID (CID)” (IEEE Standards Association, August 3, 2017). In some implementations, an ELI is based on an assigned Company ID. Two different lengths of ELI are specified - ELI-48 is a 48-bit ELI and ELI-64 is a 64-bit ELI.

[0094] A SLAP identifier of type “Standard Assigned” may be referred to as a Standard Assigned Identifier (SAI). In some implementations, SAIs fall in SLAP Quadrant “11 .” In some implementations, the X, Y, and Z bits of an SAI are “1 ,1,1” respectively. In some implementations, an SAI may be used as local MAC address, and may be referred to as an SAI address. The use of the SAI quadrant for SLAP address assignments may be specified in the future (e.g., in future revisions to IEEE Std 802.1 CQ).

[0095] A SLAP identifier of type “Administratively Assigned” may be referred to as an Administratively Assigned Identifier (AAI). In some implementations, AAls fall in SLAP Quadrant “00.” In some implementations, the X, Y, and Z bits of an SAI are “1 ,0,0” respectively. In some implementations, an AAI may be used as a local MAC address, and may be referred to as an AAI address.

[0096] In some implementations, administrators may assign a local MAC address such as an AAI address, e.g., in order to assign local MAC addresses in an arbitrary fashion (e.g., randomly) and yet maintain compatibility with other assignment protocols operating under the SLAP on the same LAN. [0097] IEEE 802.1 CQ specifies the Address Registration and Claiming (ARC) protocol, providing locally unique assignments of IEEE 802 local and multicast MAC addresses. In some implementations, ARC makes use of Block Address Registration and Claiming (BARC), which provides for the assignment of blocks of local addresses, including both unicast and multicast addresses, e.g., using either claimant-only address claiming or registrar-based address registration. In some implementations, ARC also supports Claimant-only claiming of contiguous address ranges using the MAC Address Acquisition Protocol (MAAP).

[0098] Certain embodiments provide mechanisms for an access point (AP) to provide a client station (STA) MAC addresses or Address Blocks in coordination with the IEEE 802.1CQ protocol. Developments in IEEE 802.1CQ standardization (e.g., ARC protocol and address ranges) may necessitate or benefit from new methods to facilitate 802.1CQ within 802.11 wireless local area networks.

[0099] In IEEE 802.11 a STA uses a MAC address in establishing an association with an AP. In cases where dynamic configuration of a local MAC addresses is desired, the STA may be configured either while in a pre-association state, or the STA may establish an association, reconfigure the MAC address and reassociate, which may be less desirable due to delays to complete the association. In some implementations, ARC is based on the use of multicast transmission to detect nodes that already have been assigned a certain address, and also to reach BARC Registrars or Advisors. In some implementations, not all of this communication can be done by an IEEE 802.11 STA in a pre-association state.

[0100] Accordingly, some embodiments provide methods, systems, and devices for a STA to interact with an 802.1CQ BARC Registrar or Advisor (or any IEEE 802.1CQ defined functionality) that may be located in the same AP to which the STA is connected or connecting, or that may be external to the AP but accessible by the STA through the AP.

[0101] Certain embodiments provide methods, systems, and devices for a STA to interact with IEEE 802.1CQ functional entities (e.g., BARC), via an AP in an associated or non-associated state to obtain a MAC address or block of MAC addresses. In some implementations, this protocol is independent from an access network query protocol (ANQP).

[0102] Some embodiments provide a new advertisement protocol transported by the generic advertisement service (GAS) for an AP to signal to a STA that it supports 802.1 CQ (e.g., BARC). GAS provides for Layer-2 transport of an advertisement protocol's frames between a mobile device and a server in the network prior to authentication. According to some embodiments, GAS is used as a transport protocol for advertisement protocols in 802.11 for MAC addressing as described herein.

[0103] Some embodiments provide methods, systems, and devices, for a STA to interact with 802.1CQ entities via an AP in an associated or non-associated state, via enhancements to access network query protocol (ANQP). ANQP is a query and response protocol for WLAN services and includes information element (lEs) that can be sent from the AP to the client to identify the AP network and service provider. ANQP is an advertisement protocol implemented using the GAS frames allowing any STA to query another STA about ANQP elements even before the association event. As used herein, BARC refers to any protocol under the ARC umbrella defined in IEEE 802.1CQ (e.g., BARC and MAC address acquisition protocol (MAAP)).

[0104] Various embodiments provide pre-association methods, systems, and devices, e.g., for IEEE 802.1CQ BARC over 802.11. For example, some embodiments include a pre-association exchange between a STA and an AP for the STA to gain an Address Block (or single MAC address), e.g., using the IEEE 802.1CQ protocol.

[0105] In some embodiments, a new or enhanced advertisement protocol is provided, e.g., to be used in coordination with general advertising service (GAS). In certain example embodiments, Advertisement Protocol ID definitions are enhanced to include a definition for BARC exchanges described herein. Table 2 below describes example advertisement protocol ID definitions, including an enhanced definition for BARC.

TABLE 2- Advertisement protocol ID definitions

[0106] Referring to FIG. 3, certain embodiments provide Block Address Registration and Claiming (BARC) elements 300. In some implementations, BARC Element 300 may have a common format, e.g., including a 1- octet Info ID field 305, a 1 -octet Length field 310, and a variable length BARC-element-specific Information field 315. In some implementations, each element 300 is assigned a unique Info ID 305. In one example format of BARC element 300 of FIG. 3, the Length field 310 indicates the number of octets in the subsequent Information field 315, and the Information field 315 indicates element-specific information for BARC exchanges.

[0107] In some implementations, each BARC-element 300 is assigned a unique 1 -octet Info ID 305. Table 3 below describes example BARC-element names and valid Info IDs 305 for various example embodiments.

TABLE 3- BARC Element Info ID Definitions

[0108] Certain embodiments may use individual customized BARC request (e.g., FIG. 4, 400) and response (e.g., FIG. 5, 500) BARC element messages, however it is noted that the same or similar functionality may be achieved using a single BARC-element 300 merging operation and status fields, for example, in the information field 315 of element 300 of FIG. 3. In certain example implementations described herein, these may be referred to as an BARC Exchange element or generically as BARC Element.

[0109] As shown in the example embodiment of FIG. 4, a BARC Request 400 is a BARC-element format used to request that the BARC functionality (e.g., BARC Registrar or Advisor) through the AP to assign an Address Block (AB), or individual MAC address, to the STA. In some embodiments, the BARC Request 400 BARC-element is included in a GAS query request. As used herein, depending on the embodiment, a BARC message may be a request, and refer to a BARC element (e.g., 300 of FIG. 3) configured as a request, a BARC Request element (e.g., 400 of FIG. 4), a BARC Request ANQP element (e.g., 700 of FIG. 7) and/or a BARC Exchange ANQP Element (e.g., 900 of FIG. 9) configured as a request.

[01 10] FIG. 4 illustrates an example BARC Request BARC-element format 400. Example Info ID 405 and Length fields 410 are described above regarding FIG. 3. In some implementations, a BARC Request 400 may be a BARC-element with a Length field 410 set=0 to denote that an operation regarding assignment of a MAC Address or Address Block is requested. Length field 410 should always be present, but depicted Operation field 415, Address Block 420 and Token Field 425 may not be present when Length field 410 is set=0. In various embodiments, when Length field 410 is not set=0, a subsequent Operation Field 415 may be used to specify what operation is being requested in BARC Request 400. Table 4 describes example Operation Code field values 415 of various embodiments:

TABLE 4- Operation Field Values [01 11] As shown by the example embodiment of FIG. 4, an Address Block field 420 may be included in BARC request 400 to correspond to a MAC address or an Address Block identifier, e.g., in terms of IEEE 802.1CQ/D0.7. The Address Block field 420 is optionally present when the STA requests a given known Address Block or MAC address (e.g., Operation field set=1) and is present when renewing or withdrawing an already assigned MAC address or Address Block (e.g., Operation field set=2 or 3). It is noted that Address Block field 420 may be omitted, e.g., when Length field 410 is set=0, present with no value, or have a default value, and any of these options meaning that a local MAC address/block has not been referenced.

[01 12] In some embodiments, BARC request 400 may further include a Token field 425 (e.g., a 48-bit field) as a security measure. Token field 425 is optionally present when the STA is renewing a MAC address or Address Block (e.g., Operation field set=2 or 3) and used to match a previous request of an address and/or its renewal or withdrawal, and otherwise is not included. In some implementations, a Token field is not present in a BARC Request 400 that does not include an Address Block field 420. In example operation, element format 400 may be used to request any block of addresses or a specific one. For requesting any block, the Info ID field 405 and Length field 410 may simply be used with “0” in the byte of Length field 410. This is the minimum exchange used to request any address. In the case an address is requested in a known range, Operation field 415 is set=1 and Address Block field 420 may designate the desired range.

[01 13] FIG. 5 illustrates an example BARC Response BARC-element format 500. In some embodiments, a BARC Response 500 may be used to provide a MAC address or Address Block to a STA in response to a BARC Request BARC-element, e.g., BARC Request 400 of FIG. 4. In one example implementation, a BARC Response 500 may be returned in a response to a GAS Query Request.

[01 14] BARC Response 500 may include an Info ID 505 and Length field 510 similarly as those described above regarding FIG. 3. In various embodiments, BARC Response 500 may include a Status field 515 to denote a status or nature of the response. Table 5 below describes example Status field 515 values of example embodiments:

TABLE 5- Status Field Values [01 15] BARC response 500 may also include an Address Block field 520 that corresponds to a MAC address or an Address Block identifier (e.g., in the terms of IEEE 802.1 CQ/D0.7) of a BARC request (e.g., 400 of FIG. 4). In some implementations, the Address Block field 520 is present when the Status field indicates that an assignment has been successfully granted (e.g., Status field set=1 or 2). In cases where address assignment has not been completed, or has failed, Address Block field 520 may be empty, or omitted entirely. [01 16] The Token field 525 is a field (e.g., a 48-bit field) that is optionally present when the Status field 515 indicates that an assignment has been granted (e.g., Status field set=1 or 2) and may be empty or not present otherwise. In some implementations, Token field 525 (or 425 of FIG. 4) may not be included when a respective BARC Request (e.g., 400 of FIG. 4) or BARC Response 500 does not include an Address Block field. Various fields may be added (not shown) or omitted as desired in the disclosed embodiments. Further, as previously mentioned, discrete request/response messages 400/500 are not required as related information may be suitably incorporated within the variable length Information field of a general BARC element (e.g., 300 of FIG. 3). Thus the terms “request” and/or “response” are not limited on a particular format of a BARC element message.

[01 17] Various embodiments disclosed herein include Block Address Registration and Claiming (BARC) procedures.

[01 18] Forexample, in some implementations, a STA using BARC procedures may request a MAC Address or an Address Block (e.g., as Advertisement protocol ID definitions) from a peer STA (e.g., an AP) that is indicating the support of BARC procedures by transmitting an Advertisement Protocol element in a Beacon or Probe Response frame.

[01 19] When a response to an address query is not configured or cannot be provided (e.g., the BARC server is not able to provide a MAC address/block) for a BARC Request, a BARC Response Status field 515 may be set to indicate the failure (see e.g., code value=3 in Table 5).

[0120] The operation of the BARC exchange described next is based on an exchange of BARC Request (e.g., 400 of FIG.4) and BARC Response (e.g., 500 of FIG. 5) BARC-elements. A STA obtaining a local MAC address in a pre-association state, may send a BARC Request BARC-element requesting a MAC address or Address Block to the AP. The AP retrieves (e.g., from BARC functionality such as a Registrar or Advisor internal or external to the AP) a MAC Address or Address Block which is provided to the STA in a BARC Response BARC-element.

[0121] As previously mentioned, in some example implementations, a BARC Request BARC-element with a Length field set=0 indicates the request for the assignment of a MAC Address or Address Block.

[0122] FIG. 6 illustrates and example message sequence chart 600 showing simplified messaging using BARC procedures between a client station (STA) 610 and an access point (AP) 630 in a wireless network using 802.11 protocols. It is noted that FIG. 6 represents an immediate answer via a GAS Initial Response 618 to a GAS Initial Request 614. Delayed operation through the GAS Comeback or GAS Delayed Response (e.g., as defined in 11.22.3.2.1 of IEEE 802.11 -REVme/D 1.1, February 2022.) may also be allowed. While message sequence chart 600 illustrates a separate 802.1CQ entity 650, registration entity 650 and messaging/communication 616 with AP 630 is considered outside the scope the embodiments described herein, but shown for purposes of understanding.

[0123] In the example message sequence chart 600 of FIG. 6, the AP 630 may transmit 612 periodic beacons, or a probe response, indicating BARC capabilities as available through GAS Advertisement Protocol ID. In some embodiments, this is accomplished by including the Advertisement ID of BARC (e.g., as defined in Table 2 above) where the list of supported advertisement protocols supported. The STA 610 may request 614 allocation of a MAC Address or Address Range through a GAS initial request including a BARC Request BARC-element. The AP 630 exchanges signaling 616 (e.g., as defined in another protocol, such as IEEE 802.1CQ) or inter-process communication with IEEE 802.1CQ Local or remote infrastructure 650, and sends 618 a GAS Initial Response including the BARC Response BARC-element to the STA 610. As mentioned previously, a delayed GAS response may also be used.

[0124] Referring to embodiments described in reference to FIGs. 7-10, a local MAC address policy, including BARC capabilities may be defined and/or provided. For example, some implementations provide a (or modify an existing) local access network query protocol (ANQP) ANQP-element to indicate that the BARC Advertisement protocol is available. In some implementations, an AP may use the Local ANQP Policy ANQP- element to notify to the STAs that it supports BARC operation and that the STAs may use BARC extensions (e.g., BARC Advertisement protocol) for IEEE 802.11 (e.g., as described herein) operation to obtain a MAC address (or to obtain a block of addresses) by interacting with the AP.

[0125] Table 6 below describes example Local MAC Address Policy field values, including a BARC capability value of various embodiments.

TABLE 6- Local MAC Address ANQP Policy field bits [0126] The Local MAC Address Policy field of some embodiments, may include a Local ANQP Policy element to indicate that the BARC Advertisement protocol is available. For example, a bit (e.g., Bit-5), when set=1 (for example), indicates that the AP supports the BARC Advertisement Protocol and/or BARC ANQP elements. In some implementations, this indicates to the STA that BARC may be used to obtain a MAC Address and/or Address Block in the SLAP quadrants specified in the Local MAC Address Policy field, e.g., following the operations defined in BARC procedures or in BARC ANQP procedures.

[0127] Certain embodiments may define new ANQP elements for BARC exchanges. For example, in some implementations, a STA has the option of obtaining a MAC address or Address Block using ANQP, instead of the BARC Advertisement Protocol embodiments as described above. Table 7 below describes ANQP elements of example embodiments for BARC Request and BARC Response, where “Q” and “S” indicate query and response, respectively, “R” and “T” indicate receive and transmit, respectively, and

” indicates that it is not supported.

TABLE 7- ANQP request and response elements

[0128] In some embodiments, such as shown in FIG. 9, a single BARC Exchange ANQP element format 900 may be used instead of separate customized Request and Response ANQP elements (e.g., 700 of FIG. 7 and 800 of FIG. 8). An example embodiment using a single ANQP element may be referred to as a BARC exchange ANQP element or BARC exchange ANQP. Table 8 below describes an example BARC exchange ANQP element with similar denotations described for Table 7.

TABLE 8- BARC exchange ANQP element [0129] Referring to FIG. 7, additional embodiments are described detailing examples of BARC Request ANQP element 700. In some implementations, the BARC Request ANQP element 700 is used to request the BARC functionality (e.g., BARC Registrar or Advisor) at the AP, or through the AP, to assign an Address Block (AB) to the STA.

[0130] BARC Request ANQP element 700 may include an Info ID field 705 and Length field 710 similar to those described previously in regard to embodiments of FIG. 3. In some implementations, a BARC Request ANQP element 700 with a Length field 710 set=0 may indicate a request for the assignment of a MAC Address or Address Block. For certain embodiments, BARC Request 700 may include an Operation field 715 to signal a nature of the BARC Request 700 using coded values. Table 9 below describes example potential Operation field 715 values according to various embodiments:

Table 9- Operation Field Values of BARC Request ANQP Element

[0131] BARC Request 700, may include an Address Block field 720 that corresponds to a MAC address or an Address Block identifier, e.g., in terms of IEEE 802.1CQ/D0.7, if applicable. In some implementations, the Address Block field 720 is not present or is empty when requesting a new address or block. Address block field 720 may optionally be present when the STA requests a given known Address Block or MAC address (e.g., Operation field 715 set=1). Further, Address block field 720 may be present when renewing or withdrawing an already assigned local MAC address or Address Block (e.g., Operation field 715 is set=2 or 3). [0132] In certain example embodiments, a Token field 725 is a field (e.g., a 48-bit field) that is optionally present when the STA is renewing or withdrawing a MAC address or Address Block (e.g., Operation field 715 set=2 or 3) and otherwise may not be included. In some implementations, Token field 725 is not present in a BARC Request ANQP element 700 that does not include an Address Block field 720.

[0133] FIG. 8 illustrates an example BARC Response ANQP element 800 according to some embodiments. A BARC Response ANQP element 800 may be used to provide an assigned local MAC address or Address Block to a STA in response to a BARC Request, e.g., BARC Request ANQP element 700 of FIG. 7. [0134] BARC Response ANQP element 800 may include Info ID field 805 and Length field 810 similar to those previously discussed. BARC Response ANQP element 800 may also include a Status field 815 to denote the nature of the response. Table 10 below describes example Status field values according to one example embodiment:

TABLE 10- Status Field Values of BARC Response ANQP Element

[0135] In some implementations of BARC Response ANQP element 800, an Address field 820 may be included to identify a MAC address, or address block, assigned. For example, the Address Block field 820 may correspond to a MAC address or an Address Block identifier, e.g., in the terms of IEEE 802.1CQ/D0.7. In some implementations, the Address Block field 820 is present when the Status field 815 indicates that an assignment has been granted (e.g., Status field 815 is set=1 or 2) and may not be present, left empty, or have a default value, otherwise.

[0136] Certain embodiments of BARC Response ANQP element 800 may also include a Token field 825 if desired. Token field 825 may be a field (e.g., a 48-bit field) that is optionally present when the Status field indicates that an assignment has been granted (e.g., Status field set=1 or 2) and may not be present, left empty or have a default value, otherwise. In some implementations, Token field 825 may not be present in a BARC Response ANQP element 800 that does not include an Address Block field 820.

[0137] As mentioned previously, and referring to FIG. 9, some embodiments may utilize a BARC Exchange ANQP-element 900, rather than separately defined request and/or response elements, e.g., 700 of FIG. 7 and/or 800 of FIG. 8, of embodiments previously discussed. The BARC Exchange ANQP element 900 of these embodiments, may be used to request that the BARC functionality (e.g., through BARC Registrar or Advisor) via the AP and/or assign an Address Block (AB) to the STA. An example BARC Exchange ANQP element 900 format is shown in FIG. 9.

[0138] Example Info ID 905 and Length fields 910 of BARC Exchange ANQP element 900 may be similar to those present in embodiments previously described. In one example, a BARC Exchange ANQP element 900 may include a Length field 910 set=0 (or other indictor value) to indicate that Exchange element 900 includes a request for the assignment of a MAC Address or Address Block. BARC Exchange ANPQ element 900 may additionally, or alternatively, include a Control field 915 to denote an operation for the BARC Exchange ANQP element 900. Table 11 below describes example Control field 915 values according to various embodiments:

TABLE 11- Control Field Values for BARC Exchange ANQP Element

[0139] In some example embodiments, BARC Exchange ANQP element 900 may also include an address field, e.g., Address Block field 920, to identify a MAC address or Address Block identifier relevant to the operation requested as denoted by the Control field 915 (or Length field 910 in some embodiments). The Address Block field 920 may correspond to a MAC address or an Address Block identifier in the terms of IEEE 802.1CQ/D0.7. As with previously described embodiments, the Address Block field 920 may optionally present when the STA requests a given known Address Block or MAC address (e.g., Control field 915 set=1). Address field 920 may not be present, or left empty/to a default value, when an address assignment fails (e.g., Control field set=6). Preferably, Address Block field 920 is present when BARC Exchange ANQP element 900 is assigning, renewing or withdrawing a MAC address or Address Block (e.g., Operation field 915 set=2-5). In various embodiments, when present, Address block 920 may be six octets, and zero when not present.

[0140] BARC Exchange ANQP element 900 may further include a Token field 925. Token field 925 is a field (e.g., a 48-bit field) that is optionally present when the STA is renewing a MAC address or Address Block (e.g., Control field 915 set=2 or 3) or when an address assignment has been successful (e.g., Control field set=4 or 5). In some implementations, the Token field 925 is not present (zero octets), left empty or given a default value, in a BARC Exchange ANQP element 900 that does not include an Address Block field 920.

[0141] According to various embodiments, the BARC Request and Response ANQP-elements or the BARC Exchange ANQP-element described previously, may be used by a non-AP STA to obtain a local MAC address or address block from an ANQP server able to interact with the BARC protocol as defined in IEEE 802.1CQ. Wireless communications with the non-AP STA may utilize one or more of the protocols discussed in reference to FIGs. 1 A-1 D above, or analogous and future related communications protocols where similar advantageous may be suitably derived.

[0142] Referring to FIG. 10, an example method and apparatus for wireless communication illustrated in a messaging sequence chart 1000 is shown. The operation of a BARC exchange process may be based on a wireless exchange of BARC Request and BARC Response ANQP elements (e.g., 700 of FIG. 7 and 800 of FIG. 8) or the BARC Exchange ANQP-element (e.g., 900 of FIG. 9) between a STA 1005 and AP 1030. For example, in some implementations, a STA 1005 willing to obtain a local MAC address in pre-association state, may send a BARC Request ANQP element or a BARC Exchange ANQP element in a GAS Initial Request 1020 to the AP 1030 requesting a local MAC address or address block. In some implementations, the AP 1030 in turn, by contacting an ANQP server 1040 able to communicate with the BARC functionality 1050 (e.g., Registrar or Advisor) of the network, retrieves a local MAC Address or address block which is sent to the STA 1005 in a BARC Response ANQP-element or BARC Exchange ANQP-element included in a GAS Response 1025. While an GAS Initial Response 1025 is shown, a delayed GAS response may also be used.

[0143] In some implementations, if information is not configured or cannot be provided for a BARC Request ANQP-element or a BARC Exchange ANQP-element included in a GAS Request 1020, then a query for that element returns a BARC Response ANQP-element or a BARC Exchange ANQP-element with the Status or Control fields set to Failure (e.g., per Table 10 (Status field values) and Table 11 (Control field values)).

[0144] Optionally, the BARC Response ANQP-element and BARC Exchange ANQP-element include a Token field. In some implementations, if the Token field is provided, the requesting STA 1005 stores the Token indicated by the Token field. In some implementations, the Token is used in cases where a STA 1005 renews a MAC address or address block and the Token is included in the BARC Request ANQP element or BARC Exchange ANQP element included in a GAS Request 1020.

[0145] A BARC Request ANQP-element or a BARC Exchange ANQP-element with a Length field set=0 (or other indicating value) indicates the request for the assignment of a local MAC Address or address block.

[0146] It is noted that FIG. 10 illustrates an immediate answer of the GAS Initial Request 1020. In some implementations, delayed operation through the GAS Comeback Request/Response as defined in 11.22.3.2.1 of IEEE 802.11-REVme/D1.1 , February 2022, is also allowed. Further, in this case, in some implementations, the ANQP Query may be forwarded to a local or remote ANQP server 1040 which in turn may communicate with BARC functionality 1050, via messaging 1032 and 1034 in the network. In some implementations, this may also be done directly by the AP 1030 if the required functionality is included within AP 1030. In some implementations, ANQP is used by STAs to communicate with an ANQP server, which may or may not be local to the AP. In some implementations, the ANQP server 1040 may communicate with BARC functionality 1050 in the network.

[0147] In the example of FIG. 10, a STA 1005 obtains information through ANQP on the possibility of obtaining a Local MAC Address through BARC via a GAS exchange 1010. This may be performed by requesting the Local MAC Address Policy ANQP-element, which may include the bit-5 set= 1 , indicating BARC support as per Table 6 discussed previously. To request for the allocation of a MAC Address or address range (i.e., address block), the STA 1005 sends a GAS initial request 1020 including a BARC request ANQP-element, or BARC exchange ANQP-element. The AP 1030 exchanges signaling (which may be defined elsewhere, e.g., in IEEE 802.1CQ) or inter-process communication with a local or remote ANQP server 1040 (which may include BARC functionality 1050). The local or remote ANQP server 1040 may exchange signaling or inter-process communication with local or remote BARC functionality 1050 to allocate a requested MAC address or block address. The AP 1030 sends the allocated MAC Address or address block by replying to the GAS Initial Request 1020 with a GAS Initial Response 1025 (e.g., using a BARC Response ANQP-element or BARC Exchange ANQP-element) to the STA 1005. As mentioned before, rather than immediate GAS Response 1025, a delayed or comeback response may provide the assigned address/block as well.

[0148] Although features and elements are described above in particular combinations, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with the other features and elements. In addition, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include electronic signals (transmitted over wired or wireless connections) and computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a register, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magnetooptical media, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks, and digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a WTRU, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, or any host computer.

Claims

CLAIMS What is Claimed:

1 . A method for use in a wireless station (STA), the method comprising: sending, to an access point (AP) that the STA is not currently associated with, a first block address registration and claiming (BARC) message in a request using generic advertisement service (GAS), the first BARC message requesting one of a local medium access control (MAC) address or address block be assigned to the STA; and receiving, from the AP that the STA is not currently associated with, a second BARC message in a response using GAS, the second BARC message including an assigned MAC address or an address block.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first BARC message and the second BARC message are access network query protocol (ANQP) elements.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein prior to sending the first BARC message, the method comprises: determining the AP supports BARC functionality by receiving a beacon or probe response from the

AP indicating BARC functionality is available.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein prior to sending the first BARC message, the method comprises: determining the AP supports BARC functionality by receiving a local MAC Address Policy Access Network Query Protocol (ANQP)-element from the AP having a policy field bit indicating BARC functionality is supported.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first BARC message comprises a BARC element having a Length field set equal to zero to indicate the BARC element is a request.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first BARC message comprises a BARC request element including an Operation field specifying whether the BARC request element is one of a request, a renewal or a withdrawal for the local MAC address or address block.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the request comprises a GAS initial request message and the response comprises a GAS initial response message or a GAS delayed response message.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second BARC message comprises one of a BARC response ANQP element or a BARC exchange ANQP element.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the BARC response ANQP element includes a Status field indicating an address has been assigned, and an Address Block field specifying an assigned address.

10. A wireless station (STA) comprising: a transceiver; and a processor in communication with the transceiver and configured to: determine that an access point (AP), the STA is not currently associated with, supports block address registration and claiming (BARC) functionality; send to the AP, a first BARC message in a request using generic advertisement service (GAS), the first BARC message requesting one of a local medium access control (MAC) address or address block be assigned to the STA; and receive from the AP, a second BARC message in a response using GAS, wherein the second BARC message includes an assigned MAC address or an address block.

11. The STA of claim 10, wherein the processor and transceiver are configured to determine the AP supports BARC functionality by receiving a beacon or probe response from the AP indicating BARC functionality as available in a GAS Advertisement Protocol Identification (ID) field.

12. The STA of claim 10, wherein the processor and transceiver are configured to determine the AP supports BARC functionality by receiving a local MAC Address Policy Access Network Query Protocol (ANQP)- element from the AP including a policy field bit indicating BARC functionality is supported.

13. The STA of claim 10, wherein the first BARC message comprises a BARC element including a Length field having a value set to indicate the operation is a request for assignment of the local MAC address or address block.

14. The STA of claim 10, wherein the first BARC message comprises one of a BARC Exchange ANQP element or a BARC Request ANQP element.

15. The STA of claim 10, wherein the request comprises a GAS initial request message and the response comprises a GAS initial response message or a GAS delayed response message.

16. A wireless access point (AP) comprising: a transmitter; a receiver; and a processor in communication with the transmitter and the receiver and configured to: indicate, to a remote wireless station (STA) not associated with the AP, support of block address registration and claiming (BARC) functionality in a wireless generic advertising service (GAS) transmission; receive a first BARC message from the STA as a request using GAS, the first BARC message requesting a local medium access control (MAC) address or block address be assigned to the STA; and send a second BARC message to the STA in a response using GAS, the second BARC message including an assigned local MAC address or block address.

17. The AP of claim 16, wherein the request comprises a GAS initial request message and the response comprises a GAS initial response message or a GAS delayed response messages.

18. The AP of claim 16, wherein the processor and transmit are configured to indicate support of BARC functionality by transmitting a beacon or probe response including a GAS Advertisement protocol identification ID field indicator that BARC functionality is supported.

19. The AP of claim 16, wherein the first BARC message comprises a BARC element having a Length field set to a value indicating the BARC element is a request for assignment of the local MAC address or address block, and wherein the information of second BARC message comprises an assigned local MAC address or address block obtained from a BARC Register or Advisor.

20. The AP of claim 16, wherein the first BARC message comprises one of a BARC Request access network query protocol (ANQP) element or a BARC Exchange ANQP element requesting assignment of the local MAC address or block address, and wherein the information of the second BARC message comprises an assigned local MAC address or address block obtained via an ANQP server accessing a BARC Register or Advisor.