CN-121985435-A - Method and apparatus for multilink operation MLO

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for multilink operation, MLO, are disclosed. Techniques for handling direct link communications in a multi-link system include transmitting (404) a data frame including a transmitter address field set to an address of a multi-link device, MLD, to a first wireless station via a direct link between the first wireless station and one or more second wireless stations affiliated with the MLD, the address of the MLD being one of a plurality of addresses associated with the MLD and the second wireless stations affiliated with the MLD for multi-link operation. The method also includes communicating (406) with the first wireless station via a direct link.

Inventors

• A.P. Patil
• G. Cheryan
• S.Y.D.He
• A. Astegadi
• SUN YANJUN
• V. Fugite
• BHATTACHARYYA TAPOMAY
• R. JOHAN

Assignees

• 高通股份有限公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20211019

Priority Date

20211018

Claims (20)

1. 1. A first wireless station, comprising: memory, and One or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors and the memory configured to cause the first wireless station to: Receiving a data frame from a first multi-link device, MLD, via a previously established direct link between the first wireless station and at least one of a plurality of second wireless stations affiliated with the first MLD, the data frame including a transmitter address field set to an address of the first MLD, wherein the direct link is between non-access point, AP, stations including the first wireless station and the at least one of the plurality of second wireless stations, wherein the address of the first MLD is different from at least one address of the at least one of the plurality of second wireless stations, and A frame is transmitted to the first MLD via the direct link and after receipt of the data frame, the frame including a receiver address field set to an address of the first MLD.
2. 2. The first wireless station of claim 1, wherein the address of the first MLD comprises a multi-link logical medium access control, MAC, address.
3. 3. The first wireless station of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors and the memory are further configured to cause the first wireless station to receive a request frame associated with the direct link from the first MLD via an access point and before the direct link is established, wherein the request frame includes a link identifier element having a direct link initiator address set to an address of the first MLD.
4. 4. The first wireless station of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors and the memory are further configured to cause the first wireless station to receive a response associated with the direct link from the first MLD and before the direct link is established, wherein the response includes a link identifier element having a direct link responder address set to an address of the first MLD.
5. 5. The first wireless station of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors and the memory are further configured to cause the first wireless station to receive a response associated with the direct link from the first MLD, the response including the transmitter address field set to an address of the first MLD.
6. 6. The first wireless station of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors and the memory are further configured to cause the first wireless station to: stopping reception from the first MLD based on the direct link being operational, the reception being: Via links other than the direct link, and Via the plurality of second wireless stations other than the at least one of the plurality of second wireless stations.
7. 7. The first wireless station of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors and the memory are further configured to cause the first wireless station to: Receiving an indication of an encryption key from the first MLD, and An encrypted frame is communicated with the first MLD based on the encryption key.
8. 8. The first wireless station of claim 7, wherein the encryption key is further based on at least one of an address of an access point MLD or an address of an access point.
9. 9. The first wireless station of claim 1, wherein: The direct link is a tunneling direct link, and The data frame includes a MAC header including the transmitter address field.
10. 10. The first wireless station of claim 9, wherein the first wireless station is affiliated with a second MLD for multilink communication with the first MLD, and the second MLD further has two or more third wireless stations including the first wireless station affiliated with the second MLD for multilink communication with the first MLD.
11. 11. The first wireless station of claim 10, wherein: The direct link comprising a plurality of tunneled direct link sessions, and Each of the plurality of tunneled direct link sessions is associated with a separate link between one of the plurality of second wireless stations and one of the two or more third wireless stations.
12. 12. The first wireless station of claim 10, wherein: the direct link comprising a single tunneling direct link session, and Multiple links between the multiple second wireless stations and the two or more third wireless stations are associated with the single tunneling direct link session.
13. 13. The first wireless station of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors and the memory are further configured to cause the first wireless station to: Receiving an indication from the first MLD to set up the direct link as a multi-link direct link before the direct link is established, wherein the indication includes at least one of: A Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID) field including a value indicating that the direct link is set up as the multilink direct link, or Multiple link elements in a direct link discovery frame or a direct link setup frame, and Communicate with the first MLD via one or more of the multilink direct links based on the indication.
14. 14. The first wireless station of claim 13, wherein the value comprises a link identifier associated with the one or more links.
15. 15. The first wireless station of claim 13, wherein: The first wireless station being affiliated with a second MLD for multilink communication with the first MLD, and the second MLD further having two or more third wireless stations including the first wireless station affiliated with the second MLD for multilink communication with the first MLD, and The multilink element includes: having a first indication of an identifier of the direct link in a station profile subelement associated with the at least one of the plurality of second wireless stations, or A second indication of one or more capabilities of the plurality of second wireless stations associated with links between the plurality of second wireless stations and the two or more third wireless stations.
16. 16. The first wireless station of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors and the memory are further configured to cause the first wireless station to: Transmitting a request associated with the direct link to the first MLD via an access point, wherein the request indicates a first link for communication between the first wireless station and the at least one of the plurality of second wireless stations, wherein the request indicates the first link via a link identifier element having a basic service set identifier, BSSID, field, the BSSID field including a value indicating the first link.
17. 17. The first wireless station of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors and the memory are further configured to cause the first wireless station to: A plurality of requests associated with the direct link are received from the at least one of the plurality of second wireless stations affiliated with the first MLD and before the direct link is established, wherein each of the plurality of requests has a different value for a BSSID field in a link identifier element.
18. 18. The first wireless station of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors and the memory are further configured to cause the first wireless station to: a multi-link element is received from or transmitted to the first MLD, wherein the multi-link element indicates one or more links that include the first link in the request.
19. 19. The first wireless station of claim 18, wherein the multilink element further indicates capability information associated with the first link.
20. 20. The first wireless station of claim 16, wherein: The first wireless station being affiliated with a second MLD for multilink communication with the first MLD, and the second MLD further having two or more third wireless stations including the first wireless station affiliated with the second MLD for multilink communication with the first MLD, and The one or more processors and the memory are further configured to cause the first wireless station affiliated with the second MLD to: receiving a first response in response to the request directly from the first MLD via the first link indicated in the request, and Communicate with the first MLD via the first link indicated in the request.

Description

Method and apparatus for multilink operation MLO The present application is a divisional application of China patent application with the application number 202180070679.X (International application number PCT/US 2021/055629) and the name "method and apparatus for multilink operation MLO" on the application day 2021, 10 and 19. Cross Reference to Related Applications This patent application claims priority from U.S. application Ser. No. 17/503,848, filed on 18 and 10 at 2021, which claims priority from U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 63/094,684, filed on 21 and 10 at 2020, both of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Technical Field Certain aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to various techniques and apparatus for handling direct link communications in a multi-link system. Background In order to solve the problem of the increasing bandwidth requirements required for wireless communication systems, various schemes are being developed to allow multiple wireless stations to communicate with a single access point through shared channel resources while achieving high data throughput. Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology represents one such approach, which has emerged as a popular technique for communication systems. MIMO technology has been employed in several wireless communication standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standard (including its revisions such as 802.11ax, 802.11ay, and 802.11 be). Certain wireless communication standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard (including revisions thereto, such as 802.11ax, 802.11ay, and 802.11 be), have identified a set of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) air interface standards developed by the IEEE 802.11 committee for short range communications (e.g., tens of meters to hundreds of meters). Some wireless networks, such as 802.11be networks (also known as Extremely High Throughput (EHT) networks), enable certain wireless communication devices, which may be referred to as multi-link devices (MLDs), to communicate via two or more wireless communication links simultaneously across the available frequency bands (2.4, 5, and 6 GHz bands), for example, using multi-link operations (MLOs) and/or multi-link aggregation (MLAs). Disclosure of Invention The systems, methods, and devices of the present disclosure each have several aspects, not only any single aspect of which is responsible for its desirable attributes. Without limiting the scope of the present disclosure as expressed by the claims which follow, some features will now be discussed briefly. After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading the section entitled "detailed description" one will understand how the features of this disclosure provide advantages of desired latency and/or throughput due to multi-link operation. Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method of wireless communication by a multi-link device (MLD). The method generally includes transmitting, to a first wireless station via a direct link between the first wireless station and one or more second wireless stations associated with the MLD, a data frame including a transmitter address field set to an address of the MLD, the address of the MLD being one of a plurality of addresses associated with the MLD and the second wireless stations associated with the MLD for multi-link operation. The method also includes communicating with the first wireless station via a direct link. Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wireless communication by an MLD. The method generally includes communicating with a first wireless station via a direct link between the first wireless station and a second wireless station associated with an MLD, wherein the direct link is not operable with the MLD while a third wireless station associated with the MLD is communicating. The method further includes receiving a Request To Send (RTS) frame from an access point requesting to send data to a third wireless station associated with the MLD, and taking one or more actions in response to the RTS frame. Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wireless communication by an access point. The method generally includes receiving, from an MLD, a first indication to enable transmission of an RTS frame prior to transmission from an access point to the MLD. The method further includes transmitting, to the MLD, an RTS frame requesting data to be transmitted to one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD based on the first indication. The method further includes transmitting data to the one or more wireless stations if the access point receives a clear-to-send (CTS) frame from the MLD. Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wireless communication by an MLD. The method generally includes transmitting a first indication