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US-20260129641-A1 - CONTROL CHANNEL FOR WI-FI

US20260129641A1US 20260129641 A1US20260129641 A1US 20260129641A1US-20260129641-A1

Abstract

This disclosure describes systems, methods, and devices related to enhanced channel control. A device may establish a Basic Service Set (BSS) on a first frequency channel serving as a main operating channel. The device may cause to send a management frame on the first frequency channel, wherein the management frame comprises an information element identifying a second frequency channel as a control channel, and wherein the information element specifies that the second frequency channel is restricted to non-user-data frame exchanges. The device may process a control message received on the second frequency channel from a station (STA) associated with the BSS, wherein the control message comprises state information of the STA.

Inventors

  • Laurent Cariou

Assignees

  • INTEL CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20251219

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A device, the device comprising processing circuitry coupled to storage, the processing circuitry configured to: establish a Basic Service Set (BSS) on a first frequency channel serving as a main operating channel; cause to send a management frame on the first frequency channel, wherein the management frame comprises an information element identifying a second frequency channel as a control channel, and wherein the information element specifies that the second frequency channel is restricted to non-user-data frame exchanges; and process a control message received on the second frequency channel from a station (STA) associated with the BSS, wherein the control message comprises state information of the STA.
  2. 2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to restrict access to the second frequency channel by prohibiting contention-based Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) on the second frequency channel and allowing transmission only during scheduled service periods.
  3. 3 . The device of claim 2 , wherein the scheduled service periods are defined using a Target Wake Time (TWT) broadcast schedule included in the management frame.
  4. 4 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the control message received on the second frequency channel comprises at least one of a power management mode transition indication, a buffer status report, a low latency indication, or a radio measurement report associated with the STA.
  5. 5 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the device is an Access Point Multi-Link Device (AP MLD) affiliated with a plurality of links, and wherein the second frequency channel is configured as a dedicated link within the AP MLD for exchanging management and control frames separate from user data traffic links.
  6. 6 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the management frame comprises a Beacon frame, a Probe Response frame, or an Association Response frame, and wherein the information element further indicates an operating class and a channel number for the second frequency channel.
  7. 7 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to transmit a unicast management frame to the STA on the second frequency channel while concurrently transmitting a user data frame to a different STA on the first frequency channel.
  8. 8 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the first frequency channel operates at a bandwidth of 80 MHz or 160 MHz, and the second frequency channel operates at a bandwidth of 20 MHz, wherein the second frequency channel is selected from a frequency pool unused by a frequency-reuse pattern of the BSS.
  9. 9 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the state information indicates that the STA is switching from a doze state to an active state on the first frequency channel.
  10. 10 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions which when executed by one or more processors result in performing operations comprising: establishing a Basic Service Set (BSS) on a first frequency channel serving as a main operating channel; causing to send a management frame on the first frequency channel, wherein the management frame comprises an information element identifying a second frequency channel as a control channel, and wherein the information element specifies that the second frequency channel is restricted to non-user-data frame exchanges; and processing a control message received on the second frequency channel from a station (STA) associated with the BSS, wherein the control message comprises state information of the STA.
  11. 11 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise restricting access to the second frequency channel by prohibiting contention-based Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) on the second frequency channel and allowing transmission only during scheduled service periods.
  12. 12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the scheduled service periods are defined using a Target Wake Time (TWT) broadcast schedule included in the management frame.
  13. 13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the control message received on the second frequency channel comprises at least one of a power management mode transition indication, a buffer status report, a low latency indication, or a radio measurement report associated with the STA.
  14. 14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the device is an Access Point Multi-Link Device (AP MLD) affiliated with a plurality of links, and wherein the second frequency channel is configured as a dedicated link within the AP MLD for exchanging management and control frames separate from user data traffic links.
  15. 15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the management frame comprises a Beacon frame, a Probe Response frame, or an Association Response frame, and wherein the information element further indicates an operating class and a channel number for the second frequency channel.
  16. 16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise transmitting a unicast management frame to the STA on the second frequency channel while concurrently transmitting a user data frame to a different STA on the first frequency channel.
  17. 17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the first frequency channel operates at a bandwidth of 80 MHz or 160 MHz, and the second frequency channel operates at a bandwidth of 20 MHz, wherein the second frequency channel is selected from a frequency pool unused by a frequency-reuse pattern of the BSS.
  18. 18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the state information indicates that the STA is switching from a doze state to an active state on the first frequency channel.
  19. 19 . A method comprising: establishing a Basic Service Set (BSS) on a first frequency channel serving as a main operating channel; causing to send a management frame on the first frequency channel, wherein the management frame comprises an information element identifying a second frequency channel as a control channel, and wherein the information element specifies that the second frequency channel is restricted to non-user-data frame exchanges; and processing a control message received on the second frequency channel from a station (STA) associated with the BSS, wherein the control message comprises state information of the STA.
  20. 20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising restricting access to the second frequency channel by prohibiting contention-based Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) on the second frequency channel and allowing transmission only during scheduled service periods.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/891,421, filed Oct. 1, 2025, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in full. BACKGROUND Wireless devices are becoming more prevalent, necessitating efficient access to wireless channels. Standards are evolving to enhance connectivity, integrating advanced technologies in modern networks. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a network diagram illustrating an example network environment for enhanced channel control, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure. FIGS. 2-3 depict illustrative schematic diagrams for enhanced channel control, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 illustrates a flow of a process for an illustrative enhanced channel control system, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 illustrates a functional diagram of an exemplary communication station that may be suitable for use as a user device, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine upon which any of one or more techniques (e.g., methods) may be performed, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a radio architecture in accordance with some examples. FIG. 8 illustrates an example front-end module circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 7, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 9 illustrates an example radio IC circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 7, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 illustrates an example baseband processing circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 7, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrate specific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, algorithm, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments. Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims. Wi-Fi 8 (IEEE 802.11bn or ultra high reliability (UHR)) is the next generation of Wi-Fi and a successor to the IEEE 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) standard. In line with all previous Wi-Fi standards, Wi-Fi 8 will aim to improve wireless performance in general along with introducing new and innovative features to further advance Wi-Fi technology. A significant portion of time is consumed by control frame exchanges and management frame exchanges lowering the MAC efficiency of 802.11. This overhead increases with the number of associated STAs. The situation is likely going to degrade with the generalization of the use of ICF-ICR exchange before every frame exchange with features defined in 11be and 11bn (for DUO, DPS, eMLSR, DSO, etc.). Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to systems, methods, and devices for control channel for Wi-Fi. In one or more embodiments, it is proposed to define an 802.11 channel as a control channel. In one or more embodiments, it is proposed that an AP operates its BSS with its main operating channel as today and have also a control channel on another 802.11 channel. In one or more embodiments, it is proposed that the AP advertises in the Probe Response, Association Response, and possibly Beacon frames some information to inform the STAs about the control channel, especially some of the following information: Channel and operating class for the Control Channel.Broadcast TWT schedule for the BSS, if the same Control Channel is used by multiple APs.Parameters and restrictions for operation on the control channel. One or more advantages include: Reduction of control frame overhead on the main operating channels, reduced latency, etc. In one or more embodiments, a device or a system may comprise one or more components, which may include one or more of: apparatus, station (STA), access point (AP), and/or other network elements. At its most basic configuration, the device or system includes one or more processors, memory, and instructions. The processor(s) may be implemented using general-purpose microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other suitable computational entities capable of performing calculations or manipulations of information. The memory may include RAM, ROM, flash memory, or other storage media suitable for storing instructions and data necessary for system operation. These components, individually or in combination, enable the execution of processes that facilitate communication an