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EP-4738924-A1 - ROAMING SIGNALING

EP4738924A1EP 4738924 A1EP4738924 A1EP 4738924A1EP-4738924-A1

Abstract

Embodiments herein describe systems, methods, and apparatuses for roaming operations in Wi-Fi. In some embodiments, a frame formats for the roaming operation include a Multi-link Multi-device (MLMD) link add request and a MLMD link add response. The station (STA) may send the MLMD link add request to an origin Access Point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) to initiate a roaming operation to a target AP MLD. The origin AP MLD may send the STA the MLMD link add response.

Inventors

  • MONAJEMI, POOYA
  • AJAMI, Abdel Karim
  • MEHRNOUSH, MORTEZA
  • KNECKT, JARKKO L.
  • GHOSH, Chittabrata
  • SEOK, YONG HO

Assignees

  • Apple Inc.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20251002

Claims (15)

  1. A method performed by a station, STA, the method comprising: initiating a roaming operation by sending a Multi-link Multi-device, MLMD, link add request to an origin Access Point, AP, multi-link device, MLD, the MLMD link add request comprising a target AP MLD identifier and a configuration field for roaming configurations; receiving a MLMD link add response; and roaming from the origin AP MLD to a target AP MLD.
  2. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration field comprises a control subfield that includes an initiate route switch bit, a revert bit, and one or more bits to indicate a presence of configurations in the configuration field.
  3. The method of claim 2, wherein the roaming configurations in the MLMD link add request comprise a block acknowledgement configuration, a link configuration, and Traffic Identifier, TID, configuration.
  4. The method of claim 3, wherein the block acknowledgement configuration includes sequence number, SN, reset bit that indicates whether a SN should be reset to zero at the target AP MLD, and a transfer option that indicates how buffered data should be handled by the origin AP MLD.
  5. The method of claim 3, wherein the link configuration comprises a link identifier, ID, and a power management, PM, state indicator for the link ID.
  6. The method of claim 3, wherein the TID configuration comprises an indication of how buffered data should be handled per TID.
  7. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the MLMD link add response comprises the target AP MLD identifier, an association identifier, AID, and a parameters field.
  8. The method of claim 7, wherein the parameters field comprises: block acknowledgement parameters with a new buffer size field that indicates the new buffer size at the target AP MLD, an aggregated MAC Service Data Unit, A-MSDU, support indicator, a timeout value, and a starting sequence number for frames from the target AP MLD; or Stream Classification Service, SCS, parameters comprising Stream Classification Service Identifier, SCSID, a service start time, and a service start time link ID.
  9. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising sending a link switch request comprising a second configuration field with an initiate route switch flag indicating to the AP MLD to perform the route switch, wherein the roaming operation is a two-step roam operation and the configuration field of the MLMD link add request indicates the STA does not want to perform a route switch at that time.
  10. A method performed by an Access Point, AP, multi-link device, MLD, the method comprising: receiving a Multi-link Multi-device, MLMD, link add request to an origin Access Point, AP, multi-link device, MLD, initiating a roaming operation to a target AP MLD, the MLMD link add request comprising a target AP MLD identifier and a configuration field for roaming configurations; and sending a MLMD link add response.
  11. The method of claim 10, wherein the configuration field comprises a control subfield that includes an initiate route switch bit, a revert bit, and one or more bits to indicate a presence of configurations in the configuration field.
  12. The method of claim 11, wherein the roaming configurations in the MLMD link add request comprise a block acknowledgement configuration, a link configuration, and Traffic Identifier, TID, configuration.
  13. The method of claim 12, wherein the block acknowledgement configuration includes sequence number, SN, reset bit that indicates whether a SN should be reset to zero at the target AP MLD, and a transfer option that indicates how buffered data should be handled by the origin AP MLD.
  14. An apparatus comprising means to perform the method of any of claim 1 to claim 13.
  15. A computer-readable media comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the electronic device, to perform the method of any of claim 1 to claim 13.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD This application relates generally to wireless communication systems, including signaling and frames for link add request and response. BACKGROUND Wireless communication technology uses various standards and protocols to transmit data between an access point and a wireless communication device. Wireless communication system standards and protocols can include, for example, 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) (e.g., 4G), 3GPP New Radio (NR) (e.g., 5G), and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) (commonly known to industry groups as Wi-Fi®). In the 802.11 standard for WLAN, an access point (AP) is a device that creates a wireless local area network (WLAN), or Wi-Fi® network. It may be connected to a wired network, such as an Ethernet network, and provides wireless access to that network for other devices. A station is a device that is capable of being wirelessly connected to the AP to join the WLAN network. Stations can be laptops, smartphones, tablets, or any other device with a WLAN adapter. APs and stations communicate with each other using the Wi-Fi® protocol. Various protocols have been established to increase security over a wireless communication network. For example, Simultaneous Authentication of Equals is the core authentication protocol of WPA3-Personal, and is mandated to be supported by all Wi-Fi® Alliance certified devices, including both access points (APs) and non-AP stations (STAs). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, the most significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to the figure number in which that element is first introduced. FIG. 1 illustrates an example signal flow diagram of a two-step roaming operation in accordance with some embodiments.FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a multi-link multi device (MLMD) link reconfiguration request frame action field format in accordance with some embodiments.FIG. 3 illustrates an example MLMD reconfiguration configuration field in accordance with some embodiments.FIG. 4A illustrates example UHR Roaming Block ACK configuration parameters that may be included in the Block ACK configuration of the configuration field of a request in accordance with some embodiments.FIG. 4B illustrates example Block ACK transfer options in accordance with some embodiments.FIG. 5A illustrates an example of link configuration parameters and TID configuration parameters that may be included in the configuration field of a request in accordance with some embodiments.FIG. 5B illustrates example TID options that may be indicated in the option parameter in accordance with some embodiments.FIG. 6 illustrates an example MLMD link reconfiguration response action field format in accordance with some embodiments.FIG. 7 illustrates example Block ACK parameters that may be included in the parameters field of a response from an origin AP to a STA in accordance with some embodiments.FIG. 8 illustrates example Stream Classification Service (SCS) parameters that may be included in the parameters field of a response from an origin AP to a STA in accordance with some embodiments.FIG. 9 illustrates an example two-step roaming frame exchange between an STA and an origin AP in accordance with some embodiments.FIG. 10 illustrates an example one-step roaming frame exchange between an STA and an origin AP in accordance with some embodiments.FIG. 11 illustrates a method performed by an STA, according to embodiments herein.FIG. 12 illustrates a method performed by an AP MLD, according to embodiments herein.FIG. 13 illustrates an example system for performing signaling between a wireless device and a network device, according to embodiments disclosed herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Wireless communication technology uses various standards and protocols to transmit data between an access point and a wireless communication device. One standard that is used for wireless communication is Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) (commonly known to industry groups as Wi-Fi®). Wi-Fi® provides a convenient way to establish a network between devices. A device (e.g., a station) may connect to a Wi-Fi® access point to join a network and connect to the internet wirelessly. Wi-Fi® security is important to protect data and devices from unauthorized access. Various embodiments are described with regard to a station (STA) and Access Point (AP). However, reference to a STA and AP is merely provided for illustrative purposes. The example embodiments may be utilized with any electronic component that may establish a connection to a network and is configured with the hardware, software, and/or firmware to exchange information and data with the network. Therefore, the STAs and APs as described herein are used to represent any appropri