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US-12627969-B2 - Multi-link probing enhancements for more seamless roaming

US12627969B2US 12627969 B2US12627969 B2US 12627969B2US-12627969-B2

Abstract

This disclosure provides methods, components, devices and systems for multi-link probing enhancements for more seamless roaming. Some aspects more specifically relate to various formats of multi-link elements via which a non-access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) may request the profile information associated with multiple AP MLDs and via which an AP MLD (or an AP affiliated with the AP MLD) may provide the requested profile information. In some examples, profile information associated with multiple AP MLDs may be requested or provided, or both, via a single multi-link element in accordance with one or more of the various formats. A non-AP MLD or an AP MLD may use such a single multi-link element to request or provide MLD-level information associated with the multiple AP MLDs or to request or provide link-level information associated with the multiple AP MLDs, or any combination thereof.

Inventors

  • Gaurang NAIK
  • Abhishek Pramod PATIL
  • Sai Yiu Duncan Ho
  • George Cherian
  • Alfred Asterjadhi

Assignees

  • QUALCOMM INCORPORATED

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20231102

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A wireless communication device, comprising: a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code, the processing system configured to cause the wireless communication device to: transmit a first frame indicating a request for profile information associated with one or more access point (AP) multi-link devices (MLDs) included in an AP MLD group; receive, in association with transmitting the first frame, a second frame indicating, via one or more multi-link elements of the second frame, at least a portion of the profile information associated with the one or more AP MLDs; and roam, based at least in part on at least the portion of the profile information indicated by the second frame, from a first AP MLD of the AP MLD group to a second AP MLD of the AP MLD group in accordance with a context transfer between the first AP MLD and the second AP MLD, wherein the context transfer between the first AP MLD and the second AP MLD is in accordance with the first AP MLD and the second AP MLD being included in the AP MLD group.
  2. 2 . The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to: include, in a link info field of a multi-link element of the first frame, a plurality of per-MLD profile subelements associated with a plurality of AP MLDs, the plurality of AP MLDs comprising the one or more AP MLDs, wherein a presence of each respective per-MLD profile subelement of the plurality of per-MLD profile subelements indicates a request for respective profile information associated with a respective AP MLD of the plurality of AP MLDs.
  3. 3 . The wireless communication device of claim 2 , wherein, to include the plurality of per-MLD profile subelements in the link info field, the processing system is configured to cause the wireless communication device to: include a first per-MLD profile subelement associated with the second AP MLD in the link info field to indicate a request for first profile information associated with the second AP MLD, the first per-MLD profile subelement including at least a first MLD control field and a first MLD info field.
  4. 4 . The wireless communication device of claim 3 , wherein the first MLD control field includes a first AP MLD identifier subfield identifying the second AP MLD.
  5. 5 . The wireless communication device of claim 3 , wherein: a first MLD profile field of the first per-MLD profile subelement includes one or more first per-station (STA) profile subelements or is absent of first per-STA profile subelements, and wherein inclusion of the one or more first per-STA profile subelements in the first MLD profile field indicates a request for STA-specific profile information associated with each of one or more first APs affiliated with the second AP MLD that are identified by the one or more first per-STA profile subelements, and wherein an absence of the first per-STA profile subelements from the first MLD profile field indicates a request for STA-specific profile information associated with all APs affiliated with the second AP MLD.
  6. 6 . The wireless communication device of claim 3 , wherein a first indication in the first MLD control field indicates whether first MLD-level common information is exclusively requested for the second AP MLD.
  7. 7 . The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to: include, in a multi-link control field or a common info field of a multi-link element of the first frame, an indication of whether the profile information requested by the first frame includes MLD-level profile information or link-level profile information.
  8. 8 . The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to: exclude per-MLD profile subelements from a link info field of a multi-link element of the first frame, wherein an absence of the per-MLD profile subelements indicates a request for profile information associated with all AP MLDs in a candidate AP set.
  9. 9 . The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to: include, in a common info field of a multi-link element of the first frame, a list of the one or more AP MLDs, wherein a presence of the list of the one or more AP MLDs in the common info field indicates the request for the profile information associated with the one or more AP MLDs.
  10. 10 . The wireless communication device of claim 9 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to: include, in a multi-link control field of the multi-link element of the first frame, an indication of a presence of an AP MLD identifier list subfield including the list of the one or more AP MLDs in the common info field.
  11. 11 . The wireless communication device of claim 9 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to: include, as an initial entry in an AP MLD identifier list subfield including the list of the one or more AP MLDs, an indication of a length of the AP MLD identifier list subfield.
  12. 12 . The wireless communication device of claim 9 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to: include, in a field of the common info field, an indication of a length of an AP MLD identifier list subfield including the list of the one or more AP MLDs.
  13. 13 . The wireless communication device of claim 12 , wherein: the field is a dedicated field associated with indicating the length of the AP MLD identifier list subfield or an AP MLD identifier subfield; or the AP MLD identifier subfield is used to indicate the length of the AP MLD identifier list subfield in accordance with the AP MLD identifier list subfield being present in the common info field.
  14. 14 . The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to: include, in a link info field of a multi-link element of the first frame, a list of the one or more AP MLDs, wherein a presence of the list of the one or more AP MLDs in the link info field indicates the request for the profile information associated with the one or more AP MLDs.
  15. 15 . The wireless communication device of claim 14 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to: set a link identifier subfield of a per-station (STA) profile subelement including the list of the one or more AP MLDs to a value to indicate that the per-STA profile subelement includes the list of the one or more AP MLDs and indicates the request for the profile information associated with the one or more AP MLDs.
  16. 16 . The wireless communication device of claim 15 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to: include, in a STA control subfield of the per-STA profile subelement, an indication of a presence of an AP MLD identifier list subfield including the list of the one or more AP MLDs in the per-STA profile subelement.
  17. 17 . The wireless communication device of claim 15 , wherein a subfield of the per-STA profile subelement indicates whether a complete profile of the one or more AP MLDs or a partial profile of the one or more AP MLDs is requested.
  18. 18 . The wireless communication device of claim 15 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to: include, as an initial entry in an AP MLD identifier list subfield including the list of the one or more AP MLDs, an indication of a length of the AP MLD identifier list subfield.
  19. 19 . The wireless communication device of claim 15 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to: include, in a subfield of a STA info field of the per-STA profile subelement, an indication of a length of an AP MLD identifier list subfield including the list of the one or more AP MLDs.
  20. 20 . The wireless communication device of claim 15 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to: include, in a subfield of a STA control field of the per-STA profile subelement, an indication of a length of an AP MLD identifier list subfield including the list of the one or more AP MLDs.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure relates to wireless communication and, more specifically, to multi-link probing enhancements for more seamless roaming. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED TECHNOLOGY A wireless local area network (WLAN) may be formed by one or more wireless access points (APs) that provide a shared wireless communication medium for use by multiple client devices also referred to as wireless stations (STAs). The basic building block of a WLAN conforming to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards is a Basic Service Set (BSS), which is managed by an AP. Each BSS is identified by a Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID) that is advertised by the AP. An AP periodically broadcasts beacon frames to enable any STAs within wireless range of the AP to establish or maintain a communication link with the WLAN. SUMMARY The systems, methods, and devices of this disclosure each have several innovative aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for the desirable attributes disclosed herein. One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a wireless communication device. The wireless communication device may include a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code. The processing system may be configured to cause the wireless communication device to transmit a first frame indicating, via a multi-link element of the first frame, a request for profile information associated with a set of multiple access point (AP) multi-link devices (MLDs) and receive, in association with transmitting the first frame, a second frame indicating, via one or more multi-link elements of the second frame, at least a portion of the profile information associated with the set of multiple AP MLDs. Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communication by a wireless communication device. The method may include transmitting a first frame indicating, via a multi-link element of the first frame, a request for profile information associated with a set of multiple AP MLDs and receiving, in association with transmitting the first frame, a second frame indicating, via one or more multi-link elements of the second frame, at least a portion of the profile information associated with the set of multiple AP MLDs. Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a wireless communication device. The wireless communication device may include means for transmitting a first frame indicating, via a multi-link element of the first frame, a request for profile information associated with a set of multiple AP MLDs and means for receiving, in association with transmitting the first frame, a second frame indicating, via one or more multi-link elements of the second frame, at least a portion of the profile information associated with the set of multiple AP MLDs. Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a wireless communication device. The code may include instructions executable by one or more processors to transmit a first frame indicating, via a multi-link element of the first frame, a request for profile information associated with a set of multiple AP MLDs and receive, in association with transmitting the first frame, a second frame indicating, via one or more multi-link elements of the second frame, at least a portion of the profile information associated with the set of multiple AP MLDs. Some examples of the method, wireless communication devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for including, in a link info field of the multi-link element of the first frame, a set of multiple per-MLD profile subelements associated with the set of multiple AP MLDs, where a presence of each respective per-MLD profile subelement of the set of multiple per-MLD profile subelements indicates a request for respective profile information associated with a respective AP MLD of the set of multiple AP MLDs. In some examples of the method, wireless communication devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, including the set of multiple per-MLD profile subelements in the link info field may include operations, features, means, or instructions for including a first per-MLD profile subelement associated with a first AP MLD in the link info field to indicate a request for first profile information associated with the first AP MLD, the first per-MLD profile subelement including at least a first MLD control field and a first MLD info field. In some examples of the method, wireless communication devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, th