EP-4740686-A1 - SETUP AND TEARDOWN FOR RELAY OPERATION IN WI-FI NETWORKS

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for setup, management and use of relay devices in a wireless local area network. A relay device includes a transceiver and a processor operably connected to the transceiver. The transceiver is configured to form a first link with a wireless access point (AP) and a second link with a wireless non-AP station (STA). The processor is configured to determine to perform a relay control action comprising (i) setup of a relay connection by which the relay device will relay traffic between the AP and the STA over the first and second links, (ii) teardown of the relay connection, or (iii) advertisement of a capability of the relay device to support the relay connection, and to generate a control message including an indication of the relay control action. The transceiver is further configured to transmit, to at least one of the AP and the STA, the generated control message.

Inventors

• NAYAK, Peshal
• NG, BOON LOONG
• SADIQ, Bilal
• TONNEMACHER, MATTHEW
• QI, YUE
• SHAFIN, Rubayet
• Ratnam, Vishnu Vardhan
• JEN, Elliot

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date

20260513

Application Date

20240819

Claims (15)

1. A wireless communication relay device comprising: a transceiver; and a processor operably connected to the transceiver and configured to: determine to perform a relay control action comprising setup of a relay connection by which the relay device will relay traffic between a wireless access point (AP) and a wireless non-AP station (STA) over a first link with the AP and a second link with the STA, teardown of the relay connection, or advertisement of a capability of the relay device to support the relay connection, generate a control message including an indication of the relay control action, and control the transceiver to transmit, to at least one of the AP and the STA, the generated control message.
2. The relay device of claim 1, wherein: the processor is further configured to: control the transceiver to receive a relay setup request message from the AP or the STA, determine whether to set up the relay connection based on the relay setup request, based on the determination, the indication of the relay control action in the generated control message is an indication that the relay setup request is either accepted or denied, and control the transceiver to transmit the generated control message to the AP or the STA from which the relay setup request message was received.
3. The relay device of claim 2, wherein: the relay setup request message includes parameters for the relay connection, and the processor is configured to determine whether to set up the relay connection based on whether the relay device can support the parameters.
4. The relay device of claim 1, wherein: the processor is further configured to: control the transceiver to, after the relay connection is set up between the AP and the STA, receive a relay teardown message from the AP or the STA, and stop relaying the traffic between the AP and the STA based on the relay teardown message.
5. The relay device of claim 1, wherein: the processor is further configured to, after the relay connection is set up between the AP and the STA, determine that the relay device will stop relaying the traffic between the AP and the STA, and the indication of the relay control action in the generated control message is an indication that the relay device will stop relaying the traffic between the AP and the STA.
6. The relay device of claim 1, wherein: the processor is further configured to: control the transceiver to receive a relay capability advertisement message from the AP or the STA, and based on the relay capability advertisement message, prepare for a future request to set up the relay connection.
7. The relay device of claim 1, wherein: the processor is further configured to determine parameters of relay connections that the relay device will support, and the generated control message includes the determined parameters.
8. A method of wireless communication performed by a wireless communication relay device, the method comprising: determining to perform a relay control action comprising setup of a relay connection by which the relay device will relay traffic between a wireless access point (AP) and a wireless non-AP station (STA) over a first link with the AP and a second link with the STA, teardown of the relay connection, or advertisement of a capability of the relay device to support the relay connection; generating a control message including an indication of the relay control action; and transmitting, to at least one of the AP and the STA, the generated control message.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving a relay setup request message from the AP or the STA; determining whether to set up the relay connection based on the relay setup request, wherein based on the determination, the indication of the relay control action in the generated control message is an indication that the relay setup request is either accepted or denied; and transmitting the generated control message to the AP or the STA from which the relay setup request message was received.
10. A wireless access point (AP) device comprising: a transceiver; and a processor operably coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to: control the transceiver to form a link with a wireless communication relay device, control the transceiver to receive, from the relay device, a control message including an indication of a relay control action, and determine, from the control message, that the relay control action is one of setup of a relay connection by which the relay device will relay traffic between the AP and a wireless non-AP station (STA) over the link, teardown of the relay connection, or advertisement of a capability of the relay device to support the relay connection.
11. The AP of claim 10, wherein: the processor is further configured to: generate a relay setup request message, control the transceiver to transmit the relay setup request message to the relay device, and the indication of the relay control action in the control message is an indication that the relay setup request is either accepted or denied.
12. The AP of claim 11, wherein: the relay setup request message includes parameters for the relay connection, and the indication that the relay setup request is either accepted or denied is based on whether the relay device can support the parameters.
13. The AP of claim 10, wherein: the processor is further configured to: after the relay connection is set up, determine to stop relaying the traffic to the STA using the relay connection; and generate a relay teardown message based on the determination, and control the transceiver to transmit the relay teardown message to the relay device.
14. The AP of claim 10, wherein: the processor is further configured to: control the transceiver to, after the relay connection is set up, receive a relay teardown message from the relay device, and stop relaying the traffic to the STA using the relay connection based on the relay teardown message.
15. The AP of claim 10, wherein: the processor is further configured to: generate a relay capability advertisement message based on a capability of the AP to support the relay connection, and control the transceiver to transmit the relay capability advertisement message to at least one of the relay device or the STA.

Description

SETUP AND TEARDOWN FOR RELAY OPERATION IN WI-FI NETWORKS This disclosure relates generally to wireless communications systems that include relay devices. Embodiments of this disclosure relate to methods and apparatuses that facilitate setup, management, and use of relay devices for relaying traffic between other devices in a wireless local area network communications system. Wireless local area network (WLAN) technology allows devices to access the internet in the 2.4 gigahertz (GHz), 5GHz, 6GHz, or 60 GHz frequency bands. WLANs are based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards. The IEEE 802.11 family of standards aim to increase speed and reliability and to extend the operating range of wireless networks. The IEEE ultra-high reliability study group (UHR SG), which is the study group for next generation WI-FI standards design, e.g., IEEE 802.11bn, has set a number of objectives for next generation WI-FI network design. The group intends to achieve the ultra-high reliability target by reducing latencies to ultra-low values, increasing throughputs at different signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) levels, enhancing power savings, etc. To meet these objectives, the group intends to develop new protocols and concepts for performance improvement compared to WI-FI 7. Next generation extremely high throughput (EHT) WI-FI systems, e.g., IEEE 802.11be, support multiple bands of operation, called links, over which an access point (AP) and a non-AP device can communicate with each other. Thus, both the AP and non-AP device may be capable of communicating on different bands/links, which is referred to as multi-link operation (MLO). The WI-FI devices that support MLO are referred to as multi-link devices (MLDs). With MLO, it is possible for a non-access point (non-AP) MLD to discover, authenticate, associate, and set up multiple links with an AP MLD. Channel access and frame exchange is possible on each link that is set up between the AP MLD and non-AP MLD. The component of an MLD that is responsible for transmission and reception on one link is referred to as a station (STA). With bandwidth aggregation across multiple channels/bands, MLO offers significant gain in throughput and latency performance compared to single link operation in the previous generation (802.11ax). For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like parts: FIGURE 1 illustrates an example wireless network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure; FIGURE 2A illustrates an example AP according to various embodiments of the present disclosure; FIGURE 2B illustrates an example STA according to various embodiments of this disclosure; FIGURE 3 illustrates an example scenario for use of a WI-FI relay according to embodiments of the present disclosure; FIGURE 4 illustrates an example element format according to embodiments of the present disclosure; FIGURE 5 illustrates an example setup control field format of an element according to embodiments of the present disclosure; FIGURE 6 illustrates an example control frame format according to embodiments of the present disclosure; FIGURE 7 illustrates an example relay setup control field format of a control frame according to embodiments of the present disclosure; FIGURE 8 illustrates an example relay setup information field format of a control frame according to embodiments of the present disclosure; FIGURE 9 illustrates an example element format according to embodiments of the present disclosure; FIGURE 10 illustrates an example response control field format of an element according to embodiments of the present disclosure; FIGURE 11 illustrates an example control frame format according to embodiments of the present disclosure; FIGURE 12 illustrates an example relay setup response control field format of a control frame according to embodiments of the present disclosure; FIGURE 13 illustrates an example relay setup response information field format of a control frame according to embodiments of the present disclosure; FIGURE 14 illustrates an example relay setup procedure initiated by the STA with the AP according to embodiments of the present disclosure; FIGURE 15 illustrates an example relay setup procedure initiated by the STA with the relay according to embodiments of the present disclosure; FIGURE 16 illustrates another example relay setup procedure initiated by the STA with the relay according to embodiments of the present disclosure; FIGURE 17 illustrates an example relay setup procedure initiated by the AP with the relay according to embodiments of the present disclosure; FIGURE 18 illustrates an example element format according to embodiments of the present disclosure; FIGURE 19 illustrates an example control frame format according to embodiments of the present disclosure; FIGUR