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CN-122002593-A - Wireless communication device and non-primary channel access method for wireless communication device

CN122002593ACN 122002593 ACN122002593 ACN 122002593ACN-122002593-A

Abstract

The invention discloses a wireless communication device and a non-primary channel access method for the wireless communication device. The device detects a first physical layer protocol data unit PPDU on the primary channel. The device determines whether the first PPDU is an internal basic service set, BSS, transmission and is not for itself. If both conditions are met, the device initiates a non-primary channel access NPCA procedure to enable the device to communicate on the idle non-primary channel by transmitting or receiving a second PPDU to avoid contention on the busy primary channel.

Inventors

  • Kang haohua
  • WU ZHENGYING
  • GUO ZHIJUN
  • XU JIANFANG

Assignees

  • 联发科技股份有限公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260508
Application Date
20251031
Priority Date
20251022

Claims (20)

  1. 1. A wireless communication device operating in a basic service set, BSS, the wireless communication device comprising: A transceiver configured to receive and transmit a plurality of physical layer protocol data units PPDUs on a primary channel and a non-primary channel, and A processor coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to: detecting a first PPDU through the primary channel; Determining that the first PPDU is an intra-BSS transmission corresponding to the BSS; Determining that the first PPDU is not intended for the wireless communication device, and In response to determining that the first PPDU is the intra-BSS transmission and not intended for the wireless communication device, the transceiver is controlled to perform a non-primary channel access, NPCA, procedure on the non-primary channel to transmit or receive a second PPDU.
  2. 2. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the first PPDU is a downlink DL PPDU transmitted by an access point AP of the BSS.
  3. 3. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the first PPDU is an uplink UL PPDU transmitted by a first operating station STA in the BSS.
  4. 4. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device is a non-AP station that communicates with a second station STA by tunneling direct setup TDLS.
  5. 5. The wireless communication device of claim 4, wherein the processor is further configured to: Exchanging a list of media access control MAC addresses of a plurality of inter-detectable inter-BSS stations with the second station, and The NPCA procedure is performed only when the sender address TA or the receiver address RA of the first PPDU is commonly identified by the wireless communication device and the second work station.
  6. 6. The wireless communication device of claim 4, wherein the non-primary channel is determined by negotiating with the wireless communication device and the second station.
  7. 7. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device is an access point AP or a non-TDLS operating station of the BSS, and the first PPDU is transmitted by a pair of stations performing TDLS communication.
  8. 8. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the non-primary channel is announced by an access point AP of the BSS.
  9. 9. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the non-primary channel is located outside of an operating bandwidth of the BSS.
  10. 10. A non-primary channel access, NPCA, method for a first wireless communication device, the first wireless communication device and a second wireless communication device operating in a basic service set, BSS, and setting TDLS, communication through a tunnel direct connection, the NPCA method comprising: detecting a first physical layer protocol data unit PPDU on a primary channel; Determining that the first PPDU is an intra-BSS transmission corresponding to the BSS; determining that the first PPDU is not for the first wireless communication device; in response to determining that the first PPDU is the intra-BSS transmission and not intended for the first wireless communication device, switching to a non-primary channel, and Communicate with the second wireless communication device over the non-primary channel.
  11. 11. The non-primary channel access NPCA method of claim 10, further comprising: exchanging a list of media access control, MAC, addresses of a plurality of inter-detectable, inter-BSS stations with the second wireless communication device, and Wherein switching to the non-primary channel is only performed when the sender address TA or the receiver address RA of the first PPDU is commonly identified by the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device.
  12. 12. The NPCA method of claim 10, wherein the first PPDU is transmitted by an access point AP of the BSS.
  13. 13. The NPCA method of claim 10, wherein the first PPDU is transmitted by a non-TDLS operating site in the BSS.
  14. 14. The NPCA method of claim 10, wherein the non-primary channel is declared by an access point AP of the BSS.
  15. 15. The NPCA method of claim 10, wherein the non-primary channel is determined by negotiations of the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device.
  16. 16. A non-primary channel access, NPCA, method for a first wireless communication device operating in a basic service set, BSS, the BSS further comprising a second wireless communication device and a third wireless communication device, wherein the second wireless communication device and the third wireless communication device set TDLS communications through a tunnel direct connection, the NPCA method comprising: Detecting a first physical layer protocol data unit, PPDU, transmitted by the second wireless communication device or the third wireless communication device on a primary channel; Determining that the first PPDU is an intra-BSS transmission corresponding to the BSS; Determining that the first PPDU is not intended for the first wireless communication device, and In response to determining that the first PPDU is the intra-BSS transmission and is not intended for the first wireless communication device, performing an NPCA procedure on a non-primary channel.
  17. 17. The NPCA method of claim 16, wherein the first wireless communication device is an access point AP of the BSS, and the NPCA procedure comprises communicating with a fourth wireless communication device on the non-primary channel.
  18. 18. The NPCA method of claim 16, wherein the first wireless communication device is a non-TDLS workstation.
  19. 19. The NPCA method of claim 16, wherein the non-primary channel is announced by an access point AP of the BSS.
  20. 20. The NPCA method of claim 16, further comprising switching back to the primary channel after the NPCA procedure is completed.

Description

Wireless communication device and non-primary channel access method for wireless communication device Cross reference The present application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 63/714,953, filed on day 1 of 11 in 2024. The content of this application is incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field The present invention relates to wireless communication devices, and more particularly, to wireless communication devices operating in a Basic Service Set (BSS). Background Wireless communication technology has become an integral part of modern life. Among these technologies, wi-Fi ®, which is a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) ELECTRICAL AND Electronics Engineers, for short, a standard of 802.11 series, has been widely adopted in various environments such as home, office, and public places due to its convenience and high-speed transmission characteristics. Wi-Fi ® is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi alliance. In order to improve the readability and conciseness of the present specification, the term "Wi-Fi" will be used hereinafter to refer to its corresponding technology without repeated use of the trademark symbols. This usage is for descriptive purposes only and does not challenge the validity or ownership of the trademark. Consistent with the foregoing, this term will be used for descriptive purposes without repeating the trademark symbol. To increase transmission rates, newer generation Wi-Fi standards (e.g., 802.11ac, 802.11ax, and 802.11 be) employ channel bonding techniques that combine multiple narrower bandwidths (e.g., 20 MHz) into a wider transmission bandwidth (e.g., 80MHz, 160MHz, or 320 MHz). Within the wideband channel, one "primary channel" is typically designated for transmission of competing access and control frames, while the remaining channels are referred to as "non-primary channels" or "secondary channels". In Wi-Fi networks, all wireless devices, including Access Points (APs) and Stations (STAs), must first listen to determine if a channel is idle before transmitting. If it is detected that the channel is in use, transmission must be deferred. However, in a high density deployment environment, the coverage area of one Basic Service Set (BSS) typically overlaps with an "overlapping BSS" (OBSS) established by a different AP. When devices in an OBSS transmit on the primary channel, devices within the current BSS must defer their own transmissions even if the non-primary channel is idle. This is an example of basic service set-to-BSS (inter-BSS) interference, which refers to interference caused by device transmissions in different, overlapping BSSs. This inter-BSS interference significantly reduces the efficiency of bandwidth resource utilization. To address this problem, the IEEE 802.11bn standard formally defines the "non-primary channel access" (NPCA) mechanism as one of the main features of Wi-Fi 8. According to the conventional NPCA mechanism, when an AP or STA within the BSS detects a signal from an OBSS on a primary channel, it may communicate on a pre-negotiated non-primary channel until the OBSS transmission ends, at which point it switches back to the primary channel. This approach allows devices to bypass an occupied primary channel and transmit using an idle non-primary channel, thereby improving channel utilization in the presence of OBSS interference. However, the conventional NPCA mechanism is mainly designed to solve the inter-BSS interference problem, and does not consider bandwidth under-utilization due to intra-basic service set (intra-BSS) interference. Unlike inter-BSS interference, intra-BSS interference originates from other devices operating within the same BSS. Within a BSS, when an AP communicates with a certain STA, it also occupies the primary channel, causing other devices within the BSS to wait. This problem is particularly acute in a network environment using "tunnel direct setup" (TDLS). TDLS allows two non-access point (non-AP) STAs to directly establish a point-to-point (P2P) connection without forwarding through the AP. "non-AP" STAs refer to wireless stations in the network that do not function as Access Points (APs). When an AP communicates with one STA, two STAs participating in TDLS communication are blocked when detecting that the primary channel is busy, and cannot effectively utilize the idle non-primary channel. While TDLS devices may perform off-line channel operations to switch to disparate channels, this process is typically time consuming and interrupts the connection with the AP, making it an inefficient solution. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method that can effectively utilize spectrum resources to solve the problem of intra-BSS interference. Disclosure of Invention One embodiment of the present invention provides a wireless communication device operating in a Basic Service Set (BSS). The wireless communication device includes a tra