CN-122003894-A - Discovery signaling for seamless roaming

Abstract

The present disclosure provides methods, components, devices and systems for discovery signaling for seamless roaming. Some aspects relate more particularly to indicating or advertising information associated with a Single Mobility Domain (SMD) and information associated with an Access Point (AP) device supporting seamless roaming. In some implementations, the AP device or the multi-link device (MLD) may send parameters associated with the SMD MLD to announce the SMD MLD's information. In some implementations, an AP device or MLD may advertise candidate AP devices that may support seamless roaming. A non-MLD device such as a wireless Station (STA) may request additional information of candidate AP devices supporting seamless roaming. The AP device may send a response to the request indicating a portion of the configuration file of the candidate AP device.

Inventors

• A.P. Patil
• NAIK GAAURI
• S.Y.D.He
• G. Cheryan
• A. Asterjadi
• Y.SUN
• A. K. Ajami

Assignees

• 高通股份有限公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260508

Application Date

20240813

Priority Date

20231003

Claims (20)

1. 1. A first device, the first device comprising: a processing system comprising a processor circuit and a memory circuit storing code, the processing system configured to cause the first device to: Transmitting an indication of a first set of parameters associated with a Single Mobile Domain (SMD) multi-link device (MLD), wherein the first set of parameters includes at least an identifier of the SMD MLD and one or more roaming capabilities of the SMD MLD; Transmitting an indication of one or more Access Point (AP) devices attached to the SMD MLD, for which roaming of wireless stations is supported without re-association, and And transmitting context information of the wireless station from a first one of the one or more AP devices to a second one of the one or more AP devices according to the roaming facilitation.
2. 2. The first device of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first device to: A request for information associated with an AP device of the one or more AP devices is received based at least in part on sending the indication of the one or more AP devices.
3. 3. The first device of claim 2, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first device to: A message is sent in response to the request for information associated with the AP device, the message indicating at least a first portion of the first set of parameters associated with the SMD MLD and at least a second portion of a second set of parameters associated with the AP device.
4. 4. The first device of claim 3, wherein to transmit the indication of the one or more AP devices, the processing system is configured to cause the first device to: The message comprising at least the first portion of the first set of parameters and at least the second portion of the second set of parameters is sent to a broadcast address.
5. 5. The first device of claim 3, wherein the second set of parameters includes one or more link identifiers of links established with the AP device, an identifier of the AP device, a Medium Access Control (MAC) address of the AP device, or any combination thereof.
6. 6. The first device of claim 2, wherein the request for information associated with the AP device comprises an identifier of the AP device, a transmitter address of the AP device, a basic service set identifier associated with the AP device, a basic service set color associated with a basic service set of the AP device, or any combination thereof.
7. 7. The first device of claim 2, wherein the request corresponds to all of the one or more AP devices or a subset of the one or more AP devices.
8. 8. The first device of claim 1, wherein the one or more roaming capabilities of the SMD MLD comprise backhaul capabilities of the SMD MLD.
9. 9. The first device of claim 1, wherein to send the indication of the first set of parameters, the processing system is configured to cause the first device to: A management frame, a beacon signal, a probe request, a probe response, an associated request, a re-association request, or a response frame, a multi-link reconfiguration message, a basic service set transition management message, or any combination thereof is sent, including the indication of the first set of parameters associated with the SMD MLD.
10. 10. The first device of claim 1, wherein to send the indication of the first set of parameters, the processing system is configured to cause the first device to: an indication of a configuration file for each of the one or more AP devices attached to the SMD MLD is sent.
11. 11. The first device of claim 10, wherein a configuration file of an AP device of the one or more AP devices affiliated with the SMD MLD includes a media access control address associated with the AP device, an identifier associated with the AP device, one or more AP MLD identifiers, one or more link identifiers of links established with the AP device, a service set identifier associated with the SMD MLD, or any combination thereof.
12. 12. The first device of claim 11, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first device to: an indication of the one or more link identifiers for the link established by the AP device is received from the AP device.
13. 13. The first device of claim 1, wherein to transmit the indication of the one or more AP devices, the processing system is configured to cause the first device to: A reduced neighbor report element, a neighbor report element or a multilink element, or any combination thereof, is transmitted, including the indication of the one or more AP devices attached to the SMD MLD.
14. 14. The first device of claim 1, wherein the indication of the one or more AP devices comprises a basic service set parameter subfield and a MLD parameter subfield of each of the one or more AP devices.
15. 15. The first device of claim 1, wherein the indication of the one or more AP devices indicates whether each of the one or more AP devices is an MLD AP or a non-MLD AP.
16. 16. The first device of claim 1, wherein the context information comprises one or more encryption keys associated with the wireless station, one or more pseudo-random numbers associated with the wireless station, one or more sequence numbers associated with the wireless station, one or more block acknowledgements associated with the wireless station, or any combination thereof.
17. 17. A second device, the second device comprising: A processing system comprising a processor circuit and a memory circuit storing code, the processing system configured to cause the second device to: receiving an indication of a first set of parameters associated with a Single Mobile Domain (SMD) multi-link device (MLD), wherein the first set of parameters includes at least an identifier of the SMD MLD and one or more roaming capabilities of the SMD MLD; Receiving an indication of one or more Access Point (AP) devices attached to the SMD MLD, for which roaming of wireless stations is supported without re-association, and And transmitting context information of the wireless station from a first AP of the one or more AP devices to a second AP device of the one or more AP devices according to the roaming facilitation.
18. 18. The second device of claim 17, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the second device to: A request for information associated with an AP device of the one or more AP devices is transmitted based at least in part on transmitting the indication of the one or more AP devices.
19. 19. The second device of claim 18, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the second device to: A message is received in response to the request for information associated with the AP device, the message indicating at least a first portion of the first set of parameters associated with the SMD MLD and at least a second portion of a second set of parameters associated with the AP device.
20. 20. The second device of claim 19, wherein to receive the indication of the one or more AP devices, the processing system is configured to cause the second device to: The message including at least the first portion of the first set of parameters and at least the second portion of the second set of parameters is received via a broadcast address.

Description

Discovery signaling for seamless roaming Cross reference This patent application claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/480,462, entitled "DISCOVERY SIGNALING FOR SEAMLESS ROAMING (a discovery signaling for seamless roaming)" filed on 3 months 10 of 2023 by PATIL et al, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and expressly incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field The present disclosure relates to wireless communications, and more particularly, to discovery signaling for seamless roaming. Description of related Art A Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) may be formed of one or more wireless Access Points (APs) that provide a shared wireless communication medium for use by a plurality of client devices, also referred to as wireless Stations (STAs). The basic building block of WLANs conforming to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards is the Basic Service Set (BSS) managed by an AP. Each BSS is identified by a Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID) advertised by the AP. The AP periodically broadcasts beacon frames to enable any STA within wireless range of the AP to establish or maintain a communication link with the WLAN. In some WLANs, a STA may roam from one AP (such as a serving AP) to another AP (such as a target AP) based on various conditions including, but not limited to, the location of the STA or the signal strength of the target AP. However, in some implementations, the STA may not be able to exchange data with the target AP until the STA obtains context information from the target AP, which may increase the latency associated with roaming operations. Disclosure of Invention The systems, methods, and devices of the present disclosure each have some innovative aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for the desirable attributes disclosed herein. The innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communication by a first device. The method may include transmitting an indication of a first set of parameters associated with a Single Mobile Domain (SMD) multi-link device (MLD), wherein the first set of parameters includes at least an identifier of the SMD MLD and one or more roaming capabilities of the SMD MLD, transmitting an indication of one or more Access Point (AP) devices affiliated with the SMD MLD for which roaming of a wireless station is supported without re-association, and transmitting context information of the wireless station from a first AP device of the one or more AP devices to a second AP device of the one or more AP devices in accordance with the roaming facilitation. Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a first device for wireless communication. The first device may include a processing system including a processor circuit and a memory circuit storing code. The processing system may be configured to cause the first device to transmit an indication of a first set of parameters associated with an SMD MLD, wherein the first set of parameters includes at least an identifier of the SMD MLD and one or more roaming capabilities of the SMD MLD, to transmit an indication of one or more AP devices affiliated with the SMD MLD for which roaming of a wireless station is supported without re-association, and to transmit context information of the wireless station from a first one of the one or more AP devices to a second one of the one or more AP devices in accordance with the roaming facilitation. Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a first device for wireless communication. The first device may include means for transmitting an indication of a first set of parameters associated with an SMD MLD, wherein the first set of parameters includes at least an identifier of the SMD MLD and one or more roaming capabilities of the SMD MLD, means for transmitting an indication of one or more AP devices affiliated with the SMD MLD, for which roaming of a wireless station is supported without re-association, and means for transmitting context information of the wireless station from a first one of the one or more AP devices to a second one of the one or more AP devices in accordance with the roaming facilitation. Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to transmit an indication of a first set of parameters associated with an SMD MLD, wherein the first set of parameters includes at least an identifier of the SMD MLD and one or more roaming capabilities of the SMD MLD, transmit an indication of one or more AP devices affiliated with the SMD MLD for which roaming of a wireless station is supported without re-association,