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EP-4418636-B1 - CAPABILITY NEGOTIATION IN MULTILINK

EP4418636B1EP 4418636 B1EP4418636 B1EP 4418636B1EP-4418636-B1

Inventors

  • JANG, Insun
  • KIM, JEONGKI
  • CHOI, JINSOO
  • KIM, SUHWOOK
  • PARK, SUNGJIN
  • SONG, Taewon

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20200622

Claims (13)

  1. A method performed in a wireless local area network, WLAN, (200, 205, 240) system, the method comprising: transmitting (S310), by a station, STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2), capability information related to a multi-link to an access point, AP, (110, 225, 230) the capability information including link identifier information of a plurality of links included in the multi-link, number of supported links information related to a total number of links that the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) can support for the multi-link, and supported bandwidth information related to a maximum bandwidth of the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) per band, wherein the capability information is included in a management frame; and in order to setup the multi-link, receiving, by the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2), link selection information from the AP (110, 225, 230) based on the capability information, the link selection information including an identifier of a link operable by the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2).
  2. The method of claim 1, wherein the capability information includes information related to at least one link preferred by the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2).
  3. The method of claim 2, wherein the information related to at least one link preferred by the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) includes information related to at least one link of highest preference of the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2).
  4. The method of claim 1, wherein the supported bandwidth information indicates a first maximum bandwidth for a 5 GHz band and/or a second maximum bandwidth for a 6 GHz band.
  5. The method of claim 4, wherein the multi-link is supported in a 2.4 GHz band, the 5 GHz band, and the 6 GHz band.
  6. A station, STA, (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) used in a wireless local area network, WLAN, (200, 205, 240) system, the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) comprising: a transceiver (123, 630) configured to transmit/receive radio signals; and a processor (121, 610) connected to the transceiver (123, 630), wherein the processor (121, 610) is configured: to transmit capability information related to a multi-link to an access point, AP, (110, 225, 230) the capability information including link identifier information of a plurality of links included in the multi-link, number of supported links information related to a total number of links that the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) can support for the multi-link, and supported bandwidth information related to a maximum bandwidth of the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) per band, wherein the capability information is included in a management frame; and in order to setup the multi-link, to receive link selection information from the AP (110, 225, 230) based on the capability information, the link selection information including an identifier of a link operable by the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2).
  7. The STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) of claim 6, wherein the processor (121, 610) is further configured to carry out the steps of a method according to any one of claims 2 to 5.
  8. A method performed in a wireless local area network, WLAN, (200, 205, 240) system, the method comprising: receiving (S310), by an access point, AP, (110, 225, 230) capability information related to a multi-link from a station, STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2), the capability information including link identifier information of a plurality of links included in the multi-link, number of supported links information related to a total number of links that the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) can support for the multi-link, and supported bandwidth information related to a maximum bandwidth of the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) per band, wherein the capability information is included in a management frame; and in order to setup the multi-link, transmitting, by the AP, (110, 225, 230) link selection information from to STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) based on the capability information, the link selection information including an identifier of a link operable by the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2).
  9. The AP (110, 225, 230) of claim 8, wherein the AP (110, 225, 230) is further configured to carry out the steps of a method according to any one of claims 2 to 5.
  10. An access point, AP, (110, 225, 230) used in a wireless local area network, WLAN, (200, 205, 240) system, the AP (110, 225, 230) comprising: a transceiver (113, 630) configured to transmit/receive radio signals; and a processor (111, 610) connected to the transceiver (113, 630), wherein the processor (111, 610) is configured: to receive (S310) capability information related to a multi-link from a station, STA, (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) the capability information including link identifier information of a plurality of links included in the multi-link, number of supported links information related to a total number of links that the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) can support for the multi-link, and supported bandwidth information related to a maximum bandwidth of the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) per band, wherein the capability information is included in a management frame; and in order to setup the multi-link, to transmit link selection information to the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) based on the capability information, the link selection information including an identifier of a link operable by the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2).
  11. The AP (110, 225, 230) of claim 10, wherein the processor (111, 610) is further configured to carry out the steps of a method according to any one of claims 2 to 5.
  12. At least one computer readable medium, CRM, (122,620) storing instructions that, based on being executed by at least one processor (121, 610) of a station, STA, (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) in a wireless local area network, WLAN, (200, 205, 240) system, perform operations comprising: transmitting (S310) capability information related to a multi-link to an access point, AP, (110, 225, 230) the capability information including link identifier of a plurality of links included in the multi-link, number of supported links information related to a total number of links that the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) can support for the multi-link, and supported bandwidth information related to a maximum bandwidth of the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) per band, wherein the capability information is included in a management frame; and in order to setup the multi-link, receiving link selection information from the AP (110, 225, 230) based on the capability information, the link selection information including an identifier of a link operable by the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2).
  13. An apparatus included in a station, STA, (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) in a wireless local area network, WLAN, (200, 205, 240) system, the apparatus comprising: a memory (122, 620); and a processor (121, 610) operably connected to the memory (122, 620), wherein the processor (121, 610) is configured: to transmit (S310) capability information related to a multi-link to an access point, AP, (110, 225, 230) the capability information including link identifier information of a plurality of links included in the multi-link, number of supported links information related to a total number of links that the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) can support for the multi-link, and supported bandwidth information related to a maximum bandwidth of the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2) per band, wherein the capability information is included in a management frame; and in order to setup the multi-link, to receive link selection information from the AP (110, 225, 230) based on the capability information, the link selection information including an identifier of a link operable by the STA (120, 200-1, S205-1, S205-2).

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Field of the disclosure The present disclosure relates to a capability negotiation methods, station, access point and computer readable medium in a wireless local area network (LAN). Related Art A wireless local area network (WLAN) has been enhanced in various ways. For example, the IEEE 802.11ax standard has proposed an enhanced communication environment by using orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) and downlink multi-user multiple input multiple output (DL MU MIMO) schemes. The present specification proposes a technical feature that can be utilized in a new communication standard. For example, the new communication standard may be an extreme high throughput (EHT) standard which is currently being discussed. The EHT standard may use an increased bandwidth, an enhanced PHY layer protocol data unit (PPDU) structure, an enhanced sequence, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) scheme, or the like, which is newly proposed. The EHT standard may be called the IEEE 802.11be standard. US 2018/0054847 A1 relates to link aggregation between devices. A device may encode a multi-band element for transmission using a first interface of one or more interfaces to a first device. The device may cause to send a first link aggregation setup request to the first device including at least in part the multi-band element. The device may identify a first link aggregation setup response from the first device. The device may cause to establish a multi-band link aggregation session with the first device using the first interface. US 2018/0092039 A1 discloses an apparatus for implementing power control for a radio device that has multiple radio transceivers operating in different bands, including subbands of a single frequency band. The device implements a power control protocol for communications between the device and a similar peer device. The device sets-up the power control protocol by generating a request to use one of the multiple bands to signal power control operations, and to use another one of the multiple bands to transfer data between the device and the peer device. The device sends the request to the peer device and receives a response. Based on the response, the device identifies a control channel band and a data channel band from among the multiple bands. SUMMARY The invention is defined by the independent claims. Features of certain embodiments are defined in the dependent claims. ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS According to an example of the present disclosure, an STA and an AP supporting multi-link can exchange multi-link capability information and can negotiate a link to be used based on the multi-link capability information. Therefore, the AP and the STA can perform multi-link transmission/reception using an optimal link, and thus the effect of increasing communication efficiency can be obtained. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows an example of a transmitting apparatus and/or a receiving apparatus of the present disclosure.FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a structure of a wireless local area network (WLAN).FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a general link setup process.FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a PPDU used in IEEE standards.FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an arrangement of resource units (RUs) used on a 20 MHz band.FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an arrangement of resource units (RUs) used on a 40 MHz band.FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an arrangement of resource units (RUs) used on an 80 MHz band.FIG. 8 shows a structure of an HE-SIG-B field.FIG. 9 shows an example in which a plurality of user STAs are allocated to the same RU through MU-MIMO.FIG. 10 shows an operation according to UL-MU.FIG. 11 shows an example of a trigger frame.FIG. 12 shows an example of a common information field of the trigger frame.FIG. 13 shows an example of subfields included in a per user information field.FIG. 14 illustrates technical features of UORA.FIG. 15 shows an example of channels used/supported/defined in a 2.4 GHz band.FIG. 16 shows an example of channels used/supported/defined in a 5 GHz band.FIG. 17 shows an example of channels used/supported/defined in a 6 GHz band.FIG. 18 shows an example of a PPDU used in the present disclosure.FIG. 19 shows a modified example of a transmitting apparatus and/or a receiving apparatus of the present disclosure.FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of multi-link capabilities of an AP and an STA.FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an embodiment of multi-link capability information.FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an embodiment of multi-link BSS channel information.FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a multi-link capability negotiation method.FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a method for replacing Element C of FIG. 23.FIG. 25 to FIG. 28 are diagrams showing an embodiment of a multi-link capability negotiation method.FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an STA operation.FIG. 30 is a diagram showing an embodiment