WO2025065166A1

WO2025065166A1 - Aggregated frame transmission

Info

Publication number: WO2025065166A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/121196
Authority: WO
Inventors: Orhan Okan MUTGAN; Gang Cheng; Yiming Jiang
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2023-09-25
Filing date: 2023-09-25
Publication date: 2025-04-03
Anticipated expiration: 2026-03-25

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a device, a method, an apparatus, and a computer readable storage medium for aggregated frame transmission. In the solution, a device uses a time period to capture a channel, and transmits on the channel and to a second device, an aggregated frame. As such, multiple frames may be aggregated into an aggregated frame, and the aggregated frame may be transmitted after capturing a channel by using a time period. Therefore, the overhead for the multiple frames may be reduced, and the network performance may be increased with a higher throughput and reduced latency.

Description

AGGREGATED FRAME TRANSMISSION

FIELD

Example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of communications and in particular, to a device, a method, an apparatus, and a computer readable storage medium for aggregated frame transmission.

BACKGROUND

Recently, the institute of electrical and electronic engineers (IEEE) 802.11 Working Group has formed a new Study Group (SG) to define a project for new physical (PHY) and media access control (MAC) technologies to further increase the reliability and throughput of 802.11 wireless local area networks (WLANs) .

A main mechanism in 802.11 for channel access is based on carrier sense multiple access/collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) . In CSMA/CA, all devices should contend for the medium (channel) , where the devices include an access point station (referred to as AP) and a non-AP station (referred to as STA) . Specifically, each device should first listen to see whether any other device is transmitting; otherwise, the station must wait until the medium is available (this is known as listen-before-talk (LBT) ) .

SUMMARY

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for aggregated frame transmission.

In a first aspect, there is provided a device. The device comprises: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions of a sensing management function, wherein the instructions when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device at least to:use a time period to capture a channel, the time period being associated with an inter-frame spacing and a random backoff value; and transmit, on the channel and to a second device, an aggregated frame, wherein the aggregated frame is generated by aggregating a plurality of frames, and the plurality of frames comprise at least one of a management frame or a control frame.

In a second aspect, there is provided a method. The method comprises: using, at a first device, a time period to capture a channel, the time period being associated with an inter-frame spacing and a random backoff value; and transmitting, on the channel and to a second device, an aggregated frame, wherein the aggregated frame is generated by aggregating a plurality of frames, and the plurality of frames comprise at least one of a management frame or a control frame.

In a third aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises: means for using, at a first device, a time period to capture a channel, the time period being associated with an inter-frame spacing and a random backoff value; and means for transmitting, on the channel and to a second device, an aggregated frame, wherein the aggregated frame is generated by aggregating a plurality of frames, and the plurality of frames comprise at least one of a management frame or a control frame.

In a fourth aspect, there is an apparatus. The apparatus comprises: using circuitry configured to use a time period to capture a channel, the time period being associated with an inter-frame spacing and a random backoff value; and transmitting circuitry configured to transmit, on the channel and to a second device, an aggregated frame, wherein the aggregated frame is generated by aggregating a plurality of frames, and the plurality of frames comprise at least one of a management frame or a control frame.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method in a second aspect.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions, which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus at least the method in a second aspect.

It is to be understood that the summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

FIG. 2A illustrates an example schematic of a distributed coordination function (DCF) ;

FIG. 2B illustrates an example schematic of an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) ;

FIG. 2C illustrates an example schematic of an overhead of a single frame;

FIG. 2D illustrates an example schematic of an aggregate MAC service data unit (A-MSDU) ;

FIG. 2E illustrates an example schematic of an aggregate MAC protocol data unit (A-MPDU) ;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a procedure in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example schematic of a comparison of a transmission of two single frames and a transmission of an aggregated frame of the two signal frames;

FIG. 5A illustrates an example schematic of a comparison of a transmission of two management frames and a transmission of an aggregated frame of the two management frames;

FIG. 5B illustrates an example schematic of a transmission of an aggregated frame of the two management frames;

FIG. 6A illustrates an example schematic of a comparison of a transmission of two control frames and a transmission of an aggregated frame of the two control frames;

FIG. 6B illustrates an example schematic of a transmission of an aggregated frame of the two control frames;

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a device in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing some example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an example of a computer readable medium in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment, ” “an embodiment, ” “an example embodiment, ” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It shall be understood that although the terms “first” and “second” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a” , “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” , “comprising” , “has” , “having” , “includes” and/or “including” , when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/or combinations thereof. As used herein, “at least one of the following: <a list of two or more elements>” and “at least one of <a list of two or more elements>” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or” , mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:

(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry) ;

(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable) :

(i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit (s) with software/firmware, and

(ii) any portions of hardware processor (s) with software (including digital signal processor (s) ) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions; and

(c) hardware circuit (s) and/or processor (s) , such as a microprocessor (s) or a portion of a microprocessor (s) , that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , New Radio (NR) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) , Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) , Non-terrestrial network (NTN) , IoT over NTN, Wi-Fi and so on. Furthermore, the communications in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) , the sixth generation (6G) communication protocols, IEEE 802.11 protocols and/or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP) , for example, a node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a new radio (NR) NB (also referred to as a gNB) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio header (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a relay, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology.

The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE) , a Subscriber Station (SS) , a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS) , or an Access Terminal (AT) . The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE) , laptop-mounted equipment (LME) , USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE) , an Internet of Things (loT) device, a machine type communication (MTC) 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. In the following description, the terms “terminal device” , “communication device” , “terminal” , “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

As mentioned above, a STA or an AP needs to wait until a medium is available, that is, an LBT procedure should be performed to determine that the medium is available. There may be multiple devices (STA or AP) contending, when the medium is available, each device (STA or AP) may start contending for the channel, e.g., by using an inter-frame spacing (IFS) and a random backoff value. Each device should wait for a specific time duration called an IFS; and should choose a random backoff value, i.e., an additional random period of time chosen from a range called a contention window (CW) . One device that finishes the random backoff value first (i.e. finishing the countdown first) captures the channel and is allowed to transmit. This mechanism effectively avoids collision between devices, that is, it is less likely that two devices will choose the same random backoff value therefore start transmitting at the same time.

Each device may also use a timer mechanism known as a network allocation vector (NAV) . When a device is not transmitting, it is listening. If the listening device hears a frame transmission from another device, the listening device looks at a header of the frame, and determines Duration/ID. The listening device then sets its NAV timer to this value, that is, the listening device will then wait for this NAV value for the medium to be available.

There are several IFSs defined for specific frames, such as reduced inter-frame spacing (RIFS) , a short inter-frame spacing (SIFS) , a distributed inter-frame spacing (DIFS) , and an arbitration inter-frame spacing (AIFS) . A specific IFS may be selected depending on the frame (along with PHY layer technology) . In some cases, RIFS has a static length, e.g., 2 micro-second (ms) ; SIFS has a static length, e.g., 10 ms or 16 ms (depending on the PHY layer properties) ; DIFS has a static length, which equals to SIFS plus two slot times, i.e., DIFS = SIFS + 2 *slot time; and AIFS has a dynamic length, which equals to SIFS plus a varying number of slot times, i.e., AIFS = AIFSN (Access Category) *slot time + SIFS. Generally saying, the time duration of the IFS in increasing order can be summarized as: RIFS < SIFS < DIFS < AIFS.

Since an IFS and a random backoff value should be used before a transmission, there may be an overhead of the transmission.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for aggregated frame transmission. In the solution, a device may use a time period to capture a channel; and further use the channel to transmit an aggregated frame which is generated by aggregating multiple frames. As such, the time period may be used for the multiple frames, there is no need for using separate time periods for each frame, therefore, an overhead may be reduced and a transmission efficiency may be guaranteed. Principles and implementations of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the figures.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication system 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The system 100 includes an AP 110, a STA 120-1 and STA 120-2. For ease of description, each or all of the STAs 120-1 and 120-2 may be referred to as a STA 120.

As shown in FIG. 1, the AP 110 may communicate with the STA 120, for example, one or more frames may be transmitted from the AP 110 to the STA 120, or from the STA 120 to the AP 110.

Communications in the communication system 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol (s) , comprising, but not limited to, wireless local network communication protocols such as IEEE 802.11 and the like, cellular communication protocols, and/or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) , Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) , Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) , Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) , Time Division Duplex (TDD) , Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) , Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM) , Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and/or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

It is to be understood that the number of AP 110 and STA 120 and their connections are only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. For example, the STA 120-1 may communicate with the STA 120-2. For example, the system 100 may include any suitable number of AP and STA adapted for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

There are two specific mechanisms for CSMA/CA, namely, Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) and Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) . DCF is defined for non-quality of service (QoS) devices, and EDCA is defined for QoS devices. In non-QoS, all frames are considered equal and therefore all frames go through the same CSMA/CA procedure using the same parameters (i.e., no frame has a priority over any other frame) . In QoS, different frames are regarded differently using different CSMA/CA parameters (i.e., some frames have priority over some other frames) .

DCF is an access method in IEEE 802.11 communications, and the CSMA/CA procedure is a foundation of the DCF. The AP and STA become non-QoS devices by not using IEEE 802.11e. The commonly used IFS in DCF includes the SIFS and DIFS. When a device desires to transmit a data frame or a management frame within the DCF, the duration of the DIFS should be observed after a previous frame’s completion. The non-QoS device uses SIFS for many different frames including: -ACK frames immediately following the receipt of a data frame; -clear to send (CTS) frames sent as a response to request to send (RTS) frames; and -Data frames that immediately follow CTS frames.

In the DCF, a device will perform a random back off after the DIFS, capture the channel, and start transmitting. In the DCF, the frames that use SIFS are critical and should be transmitted as soon as possible, thus a random back off will not be performed after the SIFS. In addition, the CW is the same for all frames. In other words, DCF does not differentiate the frames (for example, a data frame that requires to be transmitted fast has an equal chance to capture the medium as another data frame that does not require to be transmitted fast does) .

FIG. 2A illustrates an example schematic of a DCF 210. As shown in FIG. 2A, it is assumed that a STA transmits a data frame and a management (MGMT) frame to an AP.

The medium is busy in the beginning, e.g., another STA is using the medium, therefore all devices (STA and AP) set NAV. After the medium becomes idle (i.e., NAV reaches to zero) , the STA waits for DIFS, then starts random backoff. Assuming that the STA finishes its random backoff earlier than any other STA, therefore the STA captures the medium and then sends the RTS to the AP. After SIFS, the AP sends the CTS to the STA.

The STA waits for SIFS, then sends its data frame 211. The AP replies ACK to the STA after waiting for SIFS. Then, the STA waits for DIFS, and goes to random backoff again to send its management frame 212.

EDCA may be regarded as an enhanced version of DCF. The AP and STA may become QoS devices by using IEEE 802.11e. The commonly used IFS in EDCA includes the SIFS and AIFS. The QoS device uses SIFS in EDCA for many different frames including: -ACK frames immediately following the receipt of a data frame; -CTS frames sent as a response to RTS frames; and -Data frames that immediately follow CTS frames. The AIFS shall be used by QoS devices to transmit all data frames, all management frames, and the following control frames: -RTS; -CTS (when not transmitted as a response to the RTS) ; -BlockAckReq; and -BlockAck (when not transmitted as a response to the BlockAckReq) .

In the EDCA, a device will perform a random back off after the AIFS, capture the channel, and start transmitting. In the EDCA, a random back off will not be performed after the SIFS.

Comparing with the DCF, a dynamic length of AIFS is used instead of a static length DIFS. Specifically, data frames (along with management frames) are not regarded as the same, but are categorized so that different categories are regarded differently, e.g., with different priorities. For example, some data frames may require to be transmitted faster because of the priority reasons. In addition, different CWs (specifically, CW_min and CW_max) may be used for different categories, where a CW_min value is the starting upper boundary of the contention window. A STA will choose an integer between 0 and CW_min for random backoff value for the first transmission attempt; and if a retry is required, the STA will increase the chosen backoff value until CW_max is reached.

EDCA defines four categories (also called as access categories) for data frames, based on the eight user priorities (Ups) . The four access categories are: -AC_BK (Background) : lowest priority; -AC_BE (Best Effort) : low priority; -AC_VI (Video) : high priority; and -AC_VO (Voice) : highest priority.

FIG. 2B illustrates an example schematic of an EDCA 220. As shown in FIG. 2B, it is assumed that a STA1 transmits a management (MGMT) frame to an AP, and a STA2 transmits a data frame to the AP. It is assumed that the management frame from STA1 has a higher priority than the data frame from STA2.

The medium is busy in the beginning, e.g., another STA is using the medium, therefore all devices (STA1, STA2, and AP) set NAV. After the medium becomes idle (i.e., NAV reaches to zero) , STA1 and STA2 wait for AIFS. In this case, since STA1 has a higher priority frame (e.g., voice data with a category AC_VO) than STA2 has (e.g., video data with a category AC_VI) , the chosen AIFS for STA1 is smaller than the chosen AIFS for STA2. After AIFS, each of the STA1 and STA2 starts random backoff. STA1 finishes its random backoff first, therefore STA1 captures the medium and starts sending its management frame 221. The AP waits for SIFS and sends ACK to STA1.

Each of the STA1 and STA2 waits for AIFS and goes to random backoff again. This time, STA2 finishes its random backoff first, and the STA2 sends its data frame 222. After waiting for SIFS, the AP replies with ACK to STA2.

It is to be understood that the EDCA does not guarantee that frames with higher priority will capture the medium for sure, however, with the EDCA parameters, it is more likely that the frames with a higher priority will capture the medium than other frames with a lower priority.

A random backoff should be performed before initiating a transmission of data frames and most management frames. For example, if a STA wants to transmit a data frame or a management frame, it should first wait for IFS (DIFS in DCF, AIFS in EDCA) , then perform random backoff (except data frames that immediately follow CTS, where data frames wait for SIFS) . However, no random backoff is needed for most control frames. For example, if a STA wants to transmit (some) control frames (e.g. CTS, ACK) , it just waits IFS (such as SIFS) , then sends the appropriate control frame (without performing random backoff) .

When a frame is transmitted, a certain amount of fixed overhead exists because of the following: -Frame Header (MAC and PHY Header) and Trailer; -IFS; -Acknowledgment frame; -Medium contention (as a result of the time required when each frame must contend for the medium) , etc.

FIG. 2C illustrates an example schematic of an overhead 230 of a single frame, such as a data frame or a management frame.

As shown in FIG. 2C, for a transmission of the MAC payload, there are the overhead 231 and the overhead 232. The overhead 231 includes the IFS, the random backoff, the PHY preamble, the PHY header, and the MAC header. The overhead 232 includes the MAC trailer, the IFS, the PHY preamble, the PHY header, and the ACK.

IEEE 802.11 introduces two methods of frame aggregation to help reduce the overhead. Frame aggregation is a method of combining multiple frames into a single frame transmission. The fixed MAC layer overhead is reduced, and the overhead caused by the random backoff timer and IFS during medium contention is also minimized.

FIG. 2D illustrates an example schematic 240 of an aggregate MAC service data unit (A-MSDU) . MSDU is the upper layer data coming to MAC layer. As shown in FIG. 2D, multiple MSDUs (MSDU1, MSDU2, and MSDU3) are aggregated into a single frame A-MSDU for transmission. As shown in FIG. 2D, there is only one MAC header in the A-MSDU, thus the fixed MAC layer overhead is reduced.

FIG. 2E illustrates an example schematic 250 of an aggregate MAC protocol data unit (A-MPDU) . MPDU is an entire frame, including the MAC header, the body (MSDU) , and the trailer. As shown in FIG. 2E, multiple MPDUs (MPDU1, MPDU2, and MPDU3) are aggregated into a single frame A-MPDU for transmission. As shown in FIG. 2E, there is a physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) header in the A-MPDU, which is a PLCP protocol data unit (PPDU) , where the PPDU is the PHY layer frame.

By comparing FIG. 2D and FIG. 2E, it is to be understood that there is only one MAC header in FIG. 2D, and there are multiple MAC headers in FIG. 2E. Therefore, only single acknowledgments are required when using A-MSDU aggregation, and each of the individual MPDUs must be acknowledged when using A-MPDU, e.g., this may be accomplished by using a Block ACK frame.

Reference is further made to FIG. 3, which illustrates an example of a procedure 300 in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The procedure 300 may involve a first device 301 and a second device 302. For example, the first device 301 may be the AP 110 in FIG. 1, and the second device 302 may be the STA 120 in FIG. 1. For example, the first device 301 may be the STA 120 in FIG. 1, and the second device 302 may be the AP 110 in FIG. 1. In some examples, the first device 301 may be regarded as a transmitting device and the second device 302 may be regarded as a receiving device. It would be appreciated that the procedure 300 may be applied to other communication scenarios, which will not be described in detail.

In the procedure 300, the first device 301 uses a time period to capture a channel at 310. In some implementations, the time period may be associated with an IFS (such as DIFS or AIFS) , alternatively, the time period may be further associated with a random backoff value.

In some example embodiments, if the first device 301 is a non-QoS device, e.g., all frames to be transmitted are considered equal by the first device 301, then the first device 301 may determine to use a DCF mechanism for CSMA/CA. In some examples, if the first device 301 is a non-QoS device, or if the DCF is applied, then the first device 301 may determine to use the DIFS. In other words, the DIFS is used for the time period.

In some other example embodiments, if the first device 301 is a QoS device, e.g., some frames to be transmitted have a higher priority than some other frames, then the first device 301 may determine to use an EDCA mechanism for CSMA/CA. In some examples, if the first device 301 is a QoS device, or if the EDCA is applied, then the first device 301 may determine to use the AIFS. In other words, the AIFS is used for the time period.

In some other example embodiments, the SIFS, the RIFS, or another length of IFS may be used for the time period.

In some example embodiments, the first device 301 may determine (choose) a random backoff, e.g., by randomly selecting a value from a CW.

In some examples, one CW may be configured for the first device 301, and the random backoff (or a backoff value) may be chosen from the one CW. In some other examples, multiple CWs may be configured for the first device 301, and the random backoff (or a backoff value) may be chosen from one of the multiple CWs, where the one of the multiple CWs may be corresponding to a category of frames to be transmitted.

In addition or alternatively, the first device 301 may perform a listen before talk procedure to determine that a source (medium) for the channel is available, e.g., before the operation 310.

In some implementations, a NAV may be applied before the operation 310. In some examples, when the NAV reaches zero, the first device 301 may determine that the medium becomes idle, and start using the time period to capture the channel.

In some example embodiments, the first device 301 may wait for IFS (such as DIFS or AIFS) and start the random backoff. If the random backoff is finished, e.g., earlier than any other device, then the first device 301 may determine that the channel is captured by the first device 301, and in addition the first device 301 may transmit frame (s) on the channel. For example, the first device 301 may further perform operation 320 below, e.g., transmitting an aggregated frame which is based on at least one management frame and/or at least one data frame.

In some example embodiments, if each of the multiple frames is a control frame, the first device 301 may wait for IFS (such as DIFS or AIFS) to capture the channel, and the first device 301 may further perform operation 320 below, e.g., transmitting an aggregated control frame which is based on multiple control frames.

In the procedure 300, the first device 301 transmits an aggregated frame to the second device 302 on the channel at 320. In some implementations, if there are multiple frames to be transmitted from the first device 301 to the second device 302, then the first device 301 may aggregate the multiple frames into an aggregated frame.

In some examples, the multiple frames include any combination of: a data frame, a management frame, or a control frame. For example, multiple frames include at least two management frames. For example, multiple frames include at least two control frames. For example, multiple frames include: at least one management frame and at least one control frame, or at least one management frame and at least one data frame. For example, multiple frames include: at least one control frame and at least one data frame. For example, multiple frames include at least one management frame, at least one control frame, and at least one data frame.

In some implementations, the first device 301 may aggregate the multiple frames based on A-MSDU or A-MPDU. For example, there may be only one MAC header in the aggregated frame. For example, there may be one or more MAC headers corresponding to one or more payloads of the multiple frames in the aggregated frame.

In this event, multiple payloads (if available) of the multiple frames may be transmitted to the second device 302 once.

In addition or alternatively, the second device 302 may transmit at least one response frame to the first device 301 at 330. In some implementations, a further time period may be used before the transmission of the at least one response frame. For example, the second device 302 may transmit the at least one response frame after the end of the further time period.

In some examples, the further time period may be associated with the IFS. For example, the further time period may be SIFS. For example, the further time period may be longer or shorter than the SIFS.

In some implementations, the at least one response frame may include a block acknowledgment (BA) , for example, the BA may be used to confirm all payloads in the aggregated frame.

In some implementations, the aggregated frame is generated by aggregating multiple frames by the first device 301, and the second device 302 may determine more than one response for the aggregated frame. For example, the multiple frames include a first, a second, and a third frames, and the second device 302 may determine a first response to the first frame and a second response to the second frame, while no response to the third frame.

In some example embodiments, the at least one response frame may include more than one response frames for the more than one response, each response is associated with one of the multiple frames.

In some other example embodiments, the at least one response frame may include a further aggregated frame which is generated by the second device 302 through aggregating more than one response. In some examples, the aggregating operation (frame aggregation) performed by the second device 302 is similar to that performed by the first device 301.

According to the embodiments with reference to FIG. 3, multiple frames may be aggregated into an aggregated frame, and the aggregated frame may be transmitted after capturing a channel by using a time period. As such, the overhead for the multiple frames may be reduced, and the network performance may be increased with a higher throughput and reduced latency.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example schematic of a comparison 400 of a transmission of two single frames and a transmission of an aggregated frame of the two signal frames. It is assumed that there are two single frames to be transmitted from device 1 (such as STA) to device 2 (such as AP) , and the two single frames include a frame 1 and a frame 2, where the frame 1 may be a management or control frame 1, and the frame 2 may be another management or control frame 2.

As shown at 410, if the frame aggregation is not used, device 1 needs to wait for IFS and perform random backoff to capture the channel. After capturing the channel, device 1 transmits the frame 1 (MGMT/CTRL FRAME1) 411. After the transmission of the frame 1, device 2 waits for IFS and sends ACK 412 to device 1. Afterwards, device 1 further waits for IFS, performs random backoff again to capture the channel, and transmit the frame 2 (MGMT/CTRL FRAME2) 413. And then, device 2 waits for IFS again and sends the ACK 414. It is understood that the overhead at 410 is caused by the IFS, random backoff, and frame header/trailer.

As shown at 420, if the frame aggregation is used, device 1 needs to wait for IFS and perform random backoff to capture the channel. After capturing the channel, device 1 transmits its aggregated frame (Aggregated MGMT/CTRL FRAME) 421 including payload 1 of MGMT/CTRL FRAME1 and payload 2 of MGMT/CTRL FRAME2.

After the transmission of the aggregated frame 421, device 2 waits for IFS and sends BA 422 to device 1. For example, a BA 422 is transmitted by device 2 to confirm each frame separately instead of a single ACK. As such, a low overhead is achieved by the reduced usage of IFS, random backoff, and frame header/trailer.

As defined in IEEE 802.11, a management frame is a management MAC protocol data unit (MMPDU) . A management frame has a MAC header, a frame body (i.e. payload) , and a trailer; however, management frames do not carry any upper-layer information. There is no MSDU encapsulated in the MMPDU frame body, which carries only layer 2 information fields and information elements.

FIG. 5A illustrates an example schematic of a comparison 510 of a transmission of two management frames and a transmission of an aggregated frame of the two management frames. It is assumed that there are two management frames to be transmitted from device 1 (such as STA) to device 2 (such as AP) , and the two management frames include a management frame 1 and a management frame 2, where the management frame 1 has payload 1 and the management frame 2 has payload 2.

As shown at 515, if the frame aggregation is not used, device 1 needs to wait for IFS (such as DIFS or AIFS) and perform random backoff to capture the channel. After capturing the channel, device 1 transmits the management frame 1 (MGMT FRAME1) 511. After the transmission of the management frame 1, device 2 waits for IFS and sends ACK 512 to device 1. Afterwards, device 1 further waits for IFS, performs random backoff again to capture the channel, and transmit the management frame 2 (MGMT FRAME2) 513. And then, device 2 waits for IFS again and sends the ACK 514. It is understood that the overhead at 515 is caused by the IFS, random backoff, and frame header/trailer.

As shown at 518, if the frame aggregation is used, device 1 needs to wait for IFS and perform random backoff to capture the channel. After capturing the channel, device 1 transmits its aggregated management frame (Aggregated MGMT FRAME) 516 including payload 1 of MGMT FRAME1 and payload 2 of MGMT FRAME2.

After the transmission of the aggregated management frame 516, device 2 waits for IFS and sends BA 517 to device 1. For example, a BA 517 is transmitted by device 2 to confirm each frame separately instead of a single ACK. As such, a low overhead is achieved by the reduced usage of IFS, random backoff, and frame header/trailer.

It is to be understood that although BA 517 is transmitted from device 2 for responding the aggregated management frame 516, the present disclosure does not limit this aspect. For example, device 2 may wait for IFS and transmit an ACK for payload 1, and then wait for IFS again and transmit another ACK for payload 2. For example, device 2 may wait for IFS and transmit an aggregated frame including two ACKs for payload 1 and payload 2 respectively.

As a specific example, action frames belong to one type of management frames, for example, a specific action frame is radio measurement (category 4) as defined in IEEE 802.11, which is shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1

FIG. 5B illustrates an example schematic of a transmission 520 of an aggregated frame of the two management frames. It is assumed that device 1 (such as STA) would like to transmit a Radio Measurement Request frame and a Neighbor Report Request frame consecutively to device 2 (such as AP) , where the Radio Measurement Request frame has payload 1 and the Neighbor Report Request frame has payload 2. The frame aggregation may be used by device 1, specifically, device 1 generates an aggregated management frame 521 based on the Radio Measurement Request frame and the Neighbor Report Request frame, for example, the payload of the aggregated management frame 521 includes payload 1 and payload 2.

As shown in FIG. 5B, device 1 waits for IFS and perform random backoff to capture the channel. After capturing the channel, device 1 transmits the aggregated management frame (Aggregated MGMT FRAME) 521 (including payload 1 and payload 2) to device 2. After receiving the aggregated management frame 521, device 2 waits for IFS and sends BA 522 to device 1.

Device 2 waits for IFS and perform random backoff to capture the channel. After capturing the channel, device 2 transmits another aggregated management frame 523 which is generated based on a Radio Measurement Response frame and a Neighbor Report Response frame. After receiving the aggregated management frame 523, device 1 waits for IFS and sends BA 524 to device 2.

As defined in IEEE 802.11, a control frame does not have a frame body (payload) . A control frame has a MAC Header and trailer. Control frames act a bit differently than management frames or data frames. While (unicast) management frames require ACK, control frames do not necessarily need ACK. Control frames can be used to acknowledge each other, and a simple illustration is the RTS-CTS exchange, for example, whenever a device sends the RTS to another device, it expects to receive CTS in return. CTS is considered as ACK in this case, meaning that RTS is received correctly.

FIG. 6A illustrates an example schematic of a comparison 610 of a transmission of two control frames and a transmission of an aggregated frame of the two control frames. It is assumed that there are two control frames to be transmitted from device 1 (such as STA) to device 2 (such as AP) , and the two control frames include a control frame 1 and a control frame 2.

As shown at 615, if the frame aggregation is not used, device 1 needs to wait for IFS (such as DIFS or AIFS) and perform random backoff to capture the channel. After capturing the channel, device 1 transmits the control frame 1 (CTRL FRAME1, such as RTS) 611. After the transmission of the control frame 1, device 2 waits for IFS and sends a control frame 3 (CTRL FRAME3, such as CTS) 612 to device 1. Afterwards, device 1 further waits for IFS, performs random backoff again to capture the channel, and transmit the control frame 2 (CTRL FRAME2) 613. And then, device 2 waits for IFS again and sends a control frame 4 (CTRL FRAME4) 614. It is understood that, at 615, the network experiences a high overhead caused by IFS, random backoff, and excessive frame header/trailer.

As shown at 618, if the frame aggregation is used, device 1 needs to wait for IFS and perform random backoff to capture the channel. After capturing the channel, device 1 transmits its aggregated control frame (Aggregated CTRL FRAME) 616 which is based on the CTRL FRAME1 and CTRL FRAME2. After the transmission of the aggregated control frame 616, device 2 waits for IFS and sends another control frame (Aggregated CTRL FRAME) 617 which is based on the CTRL FRAME3 and CTRL FRAME4 to device 1. Comparing with 615, the overhead at 618 is reduced.

It is to be understood that the random backoff is not necessarily used for control frames, therefore, the random backoff is shown in parenthesis in FIG. 6A.

As a specific example, trigger frames are defined as part of control frames, for example, trigger frames may be used to bring about the necessary frame exchanges for multi-user communications. Several trigger frames are shown in Table 2 below.

Table 2

FIG. 6B illustrates an example schematic of a transmission 620 of an aggregated frame of the two control frames. It is assumed that device 1 (e.g. AP) wants to schedule uplink-orthogonal frequency division multiple access (UL-OFDMA) transmission for device 2 (e.g. STA1) and device 3 (e.g. STA2) , for example, device 1 (such as AP) would like to transmit a BSRP frame and a MU-RTS frame to device 2 (such as STA1) and device 3 (such as STA2) .

As shown in FIG. 6B, device 1 waits for IFS to capture the channel. After capturing the channel, device 1 transmits the aggregated control frame (Aggregated CTRL FRAME) 621 (based on the BSRP and MU-RTS) to device 2 and device 3.

After receiving the aggregated control frame 621, device 2 waits for IFS and sends BSR 622 (for BSRP) to device 1; and waits for IFS again and transmits CTS 623 (for MU-RTS) to device 1.

After receiving the aggregated control frame 621, device 3 waits for IFS and sends BSR 632 (for BSRP) to device 1; and waits for IFS again and transmits CTS 633 (for MU-RTS) to device 1.

After receiving CTS 623/633 from device 2 and device 3, device 1 further waits for IFS to capture the channel, and transmits a basic trigger frame (CTRL FRAME) 624, such as the basic trigger frame, to start the UL-OFDMA transmission.

n this example, only BSRP and MU-RTS is aggregated. If no aggregation is used, these two control frames should be sent separately, and STAs and AP should wait for IFS to process the responses.

As shown in FIG. 6B, BSRP and MU-RTS are aggregated by device 1, BSR and CTS are transmitted separated by device 2 and device 3 without aggregating. However, in some other examples, device 2 may aggregate the BSR and CTS, and device 3 aggregates the BSR and CTS too.

It is to be appreciated that in some embodiments associated with management/control frames are discussed with reference to FIGS. 4-6B, one or more data frames may further be aggregated. For example, a management frame and a data frame may be aggregated, a management frame (or a data frame) and a control frame may be aggregated, a management frame, a data frame, and a control frame may be aggregated, the present disclosure does not limit this aspect.

According to the embodiments with reference to FIGS. 3-6B, a device uses a time period to capture a channel, and transmits on the channel and to a second device, an aggregated frame. As such, multiple frames may be aggregated into an aggregated frame, and the aggregated frame may be transmitted after capturing a channel by using a time period. Therefore, the overhead for the multiple frames may be reduced, and the network performance may be increased with a higher throughput and reduced latency.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method 700 implemented at a device in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 700 will be described from the perspective of the first device 301 with reference to FIG. 3, for example, the first device 301 may be an AP 110 or a STA 120 in FIG. 1.

At block 710, the first device 301 uses a time period to capture a channel, where the time period is associated with an inter-frame spacing and a random backoff value. At block 720, the first device 301 transmits, on the channel and to a second device 302, an aggregated frame, where the aggregate framed is generated by aggregating a plurality of frames, and the plurality of frames comprise at least one of a management frame or a control frame.

In some example embodiments, the first device 301 receives, from the second device 302, a BA of the plurality of frames after an end of a further time period not shorter than the inter-frame spacing.

In some example embodiments, the first device 301 receives, from the second device 302, at least one response of a frame among the plurality of frames after an end of a further time period not shorter than the inter-frame spacing.

In some example embodiments, the first device 301 receives, from the second device 302, a further aggregated frame which is generated by aggregating multiple response frames by the second device.

In some example embodiments, the first device 301 performs a listen before talk procedure to determine that a resource for the channel is available.

In some example embodiments, the first device 301 determines that the inter-frame spacing is an arbitration inter-frame spacing based on a determination that the device is a QoS device. In some example embodiments, the first device 301 determines that the inter-frame spacing is a distributed inter-frame spacing based on a determination that the device is a non-QoS device.

In some example embodiments, the first device 301 determines the random backoff value by randomly selecting one from a contention window.

In some example embodiments, the plurality of frames further comprises at least one of:a further management frame, a further control frame, or a data frame.

In some example embodiments, the first device is an access point and the second device is a station, or the first device is a station and the second device is an access point.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 700 (for example, the first device 301) may comprise means for performing the respective steps of the method 700. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.

The term “means” as used in the description and in the claims may refer to one or more individual elements configured to perform the corresponding recited functionality or functionalities, or it may refer to several elements that perform such functionality or functionalities. Furthermore, several functionalities recited in the claims may be performed by the same individual means or the same combination of means. For example performing such functionality or functionalities may be caused in an apparatus by a processor that executes instructions stored in a memory of the apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for using at a first device, a time period to capture a channel, the time period is associated with an inter-frame spacing and a random backoff value; and means for transmitting, on the channel and to a second device, an aggregated frame, where the aggregated frame is generated by aggregating a plurality of frames, and the plurality of frames comprise at least one of a management frame or a control frame.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for receiving, from the second device, a BA of the plurality of frames after an end of a further time period not shorter than the inter-frame spacing.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for receiving, from the second device, at least one response of a frame among the plurality of frames after an end of a further time period not shorter than the inter-frame spacing.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for receiving, from the second device, a further aggregated frame which is generated by aggregating multiple response frames by the second device.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for performing a listen before talk procedure to determine that a resource for the channel is available.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for determining that the inter-frame spacing is an arbitration inter-frame spacing based on a determination that the device is a QoS device. In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for determining that the inter-frame spacing is a distributed inter-frame spacing based on a determination that the device is a non-QoS device.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for determining the random backoff value by randomly selecting one from a contention window.

In some example embodiments, the plurality of frames further comprises at least one of: a further management frame, a further control frame, or a data frame.

FIG. 8 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device 800 that is suitable for implementing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 800 may be provided to implement the device discussed above, for example the AP 110 and the STA 120 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 800 includes one or more processors 810, one or more memories 820 coupled to the processor 810, and one or more communication modules 840 coupled to the processor 810.

The communication module 840 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 840 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements.

The processor 810 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 800 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

The memory 820 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 824, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM) , a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD) , a digital video disk (DVD) , and other magnetic storage and/or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) 822 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

A computer program 830 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 810. The program 830 may be stored in the ROM 824. The processor 810 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 830 into the RAM 822.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 830 so that the device 800 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIGS. 3-7. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

In some example embodiments, the program 830 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 800 (such as in the memory 820) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 800. The device 800 may load the program 830 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 822 for execution. The computer readable medium may include any types of tangible non-volatile storage, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an example of a computer readable medium 900 in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The computer readable medium 900 has the program 830 stored thereon. It is noted that although the computer readable medium 900 is depicted in form of CD or DVD in FIG. 9, the computer readable medium 900 may be in any other form suitable to carry or hold the program 830.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor, to carry out the method as described above with reference to any of FIGS. 3-7. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

Program code for the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams to be performed. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program codes or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. The term “non-transitory, ” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM) .

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

A device comprising:

at least one processor; and

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

use a time period to capture a channel, the time period being associated with an inter-frame spacing and a random backoff value; and

transmit, on the channel and to a second device, an aggregated frame, wherein the aggregated frame is generated by aggregating a plurality of frames, and the plurality of frames comprise at least one of a management frame or a control frame.
The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the device to:

receive, from the second device, a block acknowledgment -BA-of the plurality of frames after an end of a further time period not shorter than the inter-frame spacing.
The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the device to:

receive, from the second device, at least one response of a frame among the plurality of frames after an end of a further time period not shorter than the inter-frame spacing.
The device of any of claims 1-3, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the device to:

perform a listen before talk procedure to determine that a resource for the channel is available.
The device of any of claims 1-4, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

determine that the inter-frame spacing is an arbitration inter-frame spacing based on a determination that the device is a quality of service -QoS-device; or

determine that the inter-frame spacing is a distributed inter-frame spacing based on a determination that the device is a non-QoS device.
The device of any of claims 1-5, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

determine the random backoff value by randomly selecting one from a contention window.
The device of any of claims 1-6, wherein the plurality of frames further comprises at least one of:

a further management frame,

a further control frame, or

a data frame.
The device of any of claims 1-7, wherein the device is an access point and the second device is a station, or the device is a station and the second device is an access point.
A method comprising:

using, at a first device, a time period to capture a channel, the time period being associated with an inter-frame spacing and a random backoff value; and

transmitting, on the channel and to a second device, an aggregated frame, wherein the aggregated frame is generated by aggregating a plurality of frames, and the plurality of frames comprise at least one of a management frame or a control frame.
The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving, from the second device, a block acknowledgment -BA-of the plurality of frames after an end of a further time period not shorter than the inter-frame spacing.
The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving, from the second device, at least one response of a frame among the plurality of frames after an end of a further time period not shorter than the inter-frame spacing.
The method of any of claims 9-11, further comprising:

performing a listen before talk procedure to determine that a resource for the channel is available.
The method of any of claims 9-12, further comprising:

determining that the inter-frame spacing is an arbitration inter-frame spacing based on a determination that the first device is a quality of service -QoS-device; or

determining that the inter-frame spacing is a distributed inter-frame spacing based on a determination that the first device is a non-QoS device.
The method of any of claims 9-13, further comprising:

determining the random backoff value by randomly selecting one from a contention window.
The method of any of claims 9-14, wherein the plurality of frames further comprises at least one of:

a further management frame,

a further control frame, or

a data frame.
The method of any of claims 9-15, wherein the first device is an access point and the second device is a station, or the first device is a station and the second device is an access point.
An apparatus comprising:

means for using at a first device, a time period to capture a channel, the time period being associated with an inter-frame spacing and a random backoff value; and

means for transmitting, on the channel and to a second device, an aggregated frame, wherein the aggregated frame is generated by aggregating a plurality of frames, and the plurality of frames comprise at least one of a management frame or a control frame.
A computer readable medium comprising program instructions, that when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method of any of claims 9-16.