Power saving for multi-link wireless LAN infrastructure

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method for multi-link communication between a user equipment device (UE) and a wireless access point (AP) via a wireless local area network (WLAN). The UE establishes a connection with an access point via the WLAN, wherein the connection utilizes multiple links. The UE transmits an indication to the access point via a first link of the multiple links, wherein the indication specifies one or more available links of the multiple links that the UE can use to receive downlink (DL) communications from the access point. The UE receives one or more DL communications from the access point via at least one available link of the one or more available links.

Description

[0001] Priority claim

[0002] This patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 873,696, filed on July 12, 2019, entitled “Power Savings for Multi-link Wireless Local Area Network Infrastructure,” the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference as if fully and completely set forth herein. Technical Field

[0003] The present application relates to wireless communications, including techniques and apparatus for improved performance of user equipment devices in a multi-link wireless local area network architecture. Background Art

[0004] The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. In addition, wireless communication technology has evolved from only voice communication to also include the transmission of data (such as the Internet and multimedia content).

[0005] A mobile electronic device or user equipment device (UE) may take the form of a smartphone or tablet computer that is typically carried by a user. Additionally, a UE may be configured to communicate simultaneously over multiple wireless links via a wireless local area network (WLAN). Coordinating the activation and deactivation of multiple wireless links may present challenges in order to obtain the benefits of increased throughput and reduced latency while also reducing power consumption. Therefore, improvements in this area are desired. Summary of the invention

[0006]

[0013] Embodiments of systems, apparatuses, and methods for devices for improved performance of user equipment devices in a multi-link wireless local area network (WLAN) environment are presented herein, among other things.

[0007] A user equipment device (UE) may include one or more antennas, one or more radio components operably coupled to the one or more antennas, and a processor operably coupled to the one or more radio components. The UE may be configured to establish a connection with an access point through a wireless local area network (WLAN) through multiple wireless links. The UE may operate in each of the multiple wireless links using a corresponding radio component in the one or more radio components.

[0008] In some embodiments, the UE may transmit an indication to the access point via a first link of the plurality of links, wherein the indication specifies one or more available links of the plurality of links that the UE may use to receive downlink (DL) communications from the access point. The UE may then receive one or more DL communications from the access point via at least one available link of the one or more available links. In some embodiments, the one or more available links include at least one link different from the first link.

[0009] The techniques described herein may be implemented in and / or used with a number of different types of devices, including, but not limited to, cellular telephones, tablet computers, accessories and / or wearable computing devices, portable media players, cellular base stations and other cellular network infrastructure equipment, servers, and any of a variety of other computing devices.

[0010] This summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the topics described in this document. Therefore, it should be understood that the above features are only examples and should not be interpreted as narrowing the scope or essence of the subject matter described in this invention in any way. Other features, aspects and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent through the following detailed description, drawings and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] A better understanding of the present subject matter may be obtained when the following detailed description of the embodiments is considered in conjunction with the following drawings.

[0012] Figure 1 An exemplary wireless communication system including a user equipment device (UE) according to some embodiments is shown;

[0013] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary UE according to some embodiments;

[0014] Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary network element or access point according to some embodiments;

[0015] Figure 4 is an exemplary frame structure for indicating link availability according to some embodiments;

[0016] Figure 5 is an exemplary frame structure for indicating link parameters according to some embodiments;

[0017] Figure 6 is a communication flow diagram illustrating a dynamic link activation process according to some embodiments;

[0018] Figure 7is another communication flow diagram illustrating a dynamic link activation process according to some embodiments;

[0019] Figure 8 is a communication flow diagram illustrating a sequence of medium access control (MAC) payload data unit (MPDU) transmissions on two links according to some embodiments;

[0020] Fig. 9 is a communication flow diagram illustrating an example of an Unscheduled Automatic Power Save Delivery (U-APSD) service period (SP) configuration in a multi-link Basic Service (BSS) communication between a STA and an AP according to some embodiments;

[0021] Fig.10 is a communication flow diagram illustrating another sequence of MPDU transmission on two links according to some embodiments;

[0022] Fig.11 is a communication flow diagram illustrating utilization of Power Save (PS)-Poll in a multi-link communication session according to some embodiments;

[0023] Fig.12 is a communication flow diagram illustrating alternative PS-Poll utilization in a multi-link communication session according to some embodiments;

[0024] Fig.13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary implementation of a TWT process according to some embodiments;

[0025] Fig.14 is another schematic diagram illustrating another exemplary implementation of a TWT process according to some embodiments; and

[0026] Fig.15 is a flow chart illustrating a method for communicating over a wireless local area network using multiple links according to some embodiments.

[0027] Although the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereof are not intended to limit this document to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the purpose is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives that fall within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] the term

[0029] The following are definitions of terms used in this disclosure:

[0030] Memory medium - any of various types of non-transitory memory devices or storage devices. The term "memory medium" is intended to include installation media, for example, CD-ROM, floppy disk or tape device; computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory such as flash memory, magnetic media, for example, hard disk drive or optical storage device; registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may also include other types of non-transitory memory or a combination thereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in the first computer system executing the program, or may be located in a different second computer system connected to the first computer system via a network such as the Internet. In the latter case, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer for execution. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory media that may reside in different locations in different computer systems connected, for example, via a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., expressed as a computer program) that may be executed by one or more processors.

[0031] Carrier Medium—storage media as described above, and physical transmission media such as a bus, network, and / or other physical transmission media that transport signals such as electrical, electromagnetic or digital signals.

[0032] Programmable hardware element - includes various hardware devices that include multiple programmable function blocks connected via programmable interconnects. Examples include FPGA (field programmable gate array), PLD (programmable logic device), FPOA (field programmable object array), and CPLD (complex PLD). Programmable function blocks can vary from fine-grained (combinational logic unit or lookup table) to coarse-grained (arithmetic logic unit or processor core). Programmable hardware elements may also be referred to as "configurable logic units".

[0033] Computer System - Any of various types of computing or processing systems, including a personal computer system (PC), a mainframe computer system, a workstation, a network appliance, an Internet appliance, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a television system, a grid computing system, or other devices or combinations of devices. In general, the term "computer system" can be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

[0034] User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device") - any of various types of computer system devices that are mobile or portable and that perform wireless communications. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smart phones (e.g., iPhone TM , based on Android TMphones), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS TM , PlayStation Portable TM 、Gameboy Advance TM , iPhone TM ), laptops, wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart glasses), PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices or other handheld devices, etc. In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly defined to cover any electronic device, computing device and / or telecommunication device (or combination of devices) that can be easily transmitted by a user and capable of wireless communication.

[0035] Wireless Device – Any of various types of computer system devices that perform wireless communications. A wireless device may be portable (or mobile), or may be stationary or fixed at a certain location. A UE is an example of a wireless device.

[0036] Communication device - any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform communication, where the communication may be wired or wireless. A communication device may be portable (or mobile), or may be stationary or fixed at a location. A wireless device is an example of a communication device. A UE is another example of a communication device.

[0037] Base Station—The term “base station” (also referred to as “eNB”) has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station installed at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of a wireless cellular communication system.

[0038] Link budget limited – includes the full breadth of its ordinary meaning and includes at least the characteristics of a wireless device (UE) that exhibits limited communication capabilities or limited power relative to a device that is not link budget limited or relative to a device for which a radio access technology (RAT) standard has been developed. A link budget limited UE may experience relatively limited reception and / or transmission capabilities, which may be due to one or more factors, such as device design, device size, battery size, antenna size or design, transmission power, reception power, current transmission medium conditions, and / or other factors. Such devices may be referred to herein as "link budget limited" (or "link budget constrained") devices. Due to the size of the device, battery power, and / or transmission / reception power, a device may be inherently link budget limited. For example, a smart watch that communicates with a base station via LTE or LTE-A may be inherently link budget limited due to its reduced transmission / reception power and / or antenna reduction. Wearable devices such as smart watches are generally link budget limited devices. Alternatively, a device may not be inherently link budget limited, e.g., may have sufficient size, battery power, and / or transmit / receive power for normal communication over LTE or LTE-A, but may be temporarily link budget limited due to current communication conditions, e.g., a smartphone at a cell edge, etc. It is noted that the term "link budget limited" includes or encompasses power limitations, and thus a link-limited device may be considered a link budget limited device.

[0039] Processing element (or processor) - refers to various elements or combinations of elements. Processors include, for example, circuits such as ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, individual processors, programmable hardware devices (such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)), and / or larger portions of systems including multiple processors.

[0040] Automatic—refers to an action or operation performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by a computer system) or a device (e.g., a circuit, a programmable hardware element, an ASIC, etc.) without the need for user input to directly specify or perform the action or operation. Thus, the term "automatic" is in contrast to a user manually performing or specifying an action, where the user provides input to directly perform the action. An automatic process may be initiated by input provided by a user, but subsequent actions performed "automatically" are not specified by the user, i.e., are not performed "manually," where the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing in information, selecting checkboxes, radio selections, etc.) is manually filling out the form, even though the computer system must update the form in response to the user action. The form may be automatically filled out by a computer system, where the computer system (e.g., software executed on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills out the form without any user input specifying the answers to the fields. As indicated above, a user may invoke automatic filling out of a form, but not participate in the actual filling out of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify the answers to the fields but rather they are automatically completed). This specification provides various examples of operations that are automatically performed in response to actions taken by a user.

[0041] Configured to - Various components may be described as being "configured to" perform one or more tasks. In such environments, "configured to" is a broad statement that generally means "having a structure" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, even when the component is not currently performing the task, the component can be configured to perform the task (e.g., a set of electrical conductors can be configured to electrically connect a module to another module even when the two modules are not connected). In some environments, "configured to" can be a broad statement that generally means "having a circuit system that performs one or more tasks during operation." Thus, even when the component is not currently turned on, the component can be configured to perform the task. Typically, the circuitry that forms the structure corresponding to "configured to" may include hardware circuits.

[0042] For ease of description, various components may be described as performing one or more tasks. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including the phrase "configured to". The description of a component being configured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended to not invoke the interpretation of the sixth paragraph of Section 112 of Title 35 of the United States Code on that component.

[0043] Figure 1-Figure 2 —Wireless communication system

[0044] Figure 1 An example of a wireless cellular communication system is illustrated. It should be noted that Figure 1represents one possibility among many, and the features of the present disclosure may be implemented by any of a variety of systems as desired. For example, the embodiments described herein may be implemented in any type of wireless device. The wireless embodiment described below is an exemplary embodiment.

[0045] As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a cellular base station 102 that communicates with one or more wireless devices 106A, 106B, etc. over a transmission medium. Wireless devices 106A and 106B may be user devices, which may be referred to herein as "user equipment" (UE), UE, or UE devices.

[0046] The base station 102 may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or a cell site and may include hardware that enables wireless communication with the UE device 106A and the UE device 106B. The base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with the network 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunications network such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN), and / or the Internet, as well as various possible networks). Thus, the base station 102 may facilitate communication between the UE devices 106 and / or between the UE devices 106 and the network 100. In other specific implementations, the base station 102 may be configured to provide communication through one or more other wireless technologies (such as an access point supporting one or more WLAN protocols), such as 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11be and / or 802.11ax, or LTE in an unlicensed band (LAA).

[0047] The communication area (or coverage area) of the base station 102 may be referred to as a “cell.” The base station 102 and the UE 106 may be configured to communicate over a transmission medium using any of a variety of radio access technologies (RATs) or wireless communication technologies, such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA, TDS-CDMA), LTE, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), 5G NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), Wi-Fi, WiMAX, etc.

[0048] Thus, base station 102 and other similar base stations (not shown) operating according to one or more cellular communication technologies can be provided as a cell network that can provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping service to UE devices 106A-N and similar devices within a geographic area via one or more cellular communication technologies.

[0049] Note that, at least in some cases, the UE device 106 may be able to communicate using any of a variety of wireless communication technologies. For example, the UE device 106 may be configured to communicate using one or more of GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, WLAN, Bluetooth, one or more global navigation satellite systems (GNSS, such as GPS or GLONASS), one and / or more mobile television broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H), etc. Other combinations of wireless communication technologies (including more than two wireless communication technologies) are also possible. Likewise, in some cases, the UE device 106 may be configured to communicate using only a single wireless communication technology.

[0050] As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system also includes a WLAN access point (AP) 104, which communicates with a wireless device 106B via a transmission medium. The WLAN access point, which may be a Wi-Fi AP, also provides a communication connection to the network 100. Thus, according to some embodiments, a wireless device may be able to connect to one or both of the base station 102 (or another cellular base station) and the access point 104 (or another access point) to access the network 100 at a given time.

[0051] UE 106A and UE 106B may include handheld devices such as smart phones or tablets, and / or may include any of various types of devices with cellular communication capabilities. For example, one or more of UE 106A and 106B may be wireless devices intended for fixed or nomadic deployment, such as home appliances, measurement devices, control devices, etc.

[0052] UE 106B may also be configured to communicate with UE 106A. For example, UE 106A and UE 106B may be able to perform direct device-to-device (D2D) communications. D2D communications may be supported by cellular base station 102 (e.g., BS 102 may facilitate discovery, as well as various possible forms of assistance), or may be performed in a manner that is not supported by BS 102.

[0053] UE 106 may include a device or integrated circuit called a cellular modem for facilitating cellular communications. The cellular modem may include one or more processors (processor elements) and various hardware components as described herein. UE106 may perform any of the method implementations described herein by executing instructions on one or more programmable processors. Alternatively or in addition, one or more processors may be one or more programmable hardware elements, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or other circuit configured to perform any of the method implementations described herein or any part of any of the method implementations described herein. The cellular modem described herein may be used in a UE device as defined herein, a wireless device as defined herein, or a communication device as defined herein. The cellular modem described herein may also be used in a base station or other similar network side device.

[0054] UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using two or more wireless communication protocols or radio access technologies. In some embodiments, UE device 106 may be configured to communicate using a single shared radio component. The shared radio may be coupled to a single antenna, or may be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communications. Alternatively, UE device 106 may include two or more radio components, each of which may be configured to communicate via a corresponding wireless link. Other configurations are also possible.

[0055] Figure 2 – Exemplary block diagram of UE device

[0056] Figure 2One possible block diagram of a UE device such as UE device 106 is shown. As shown, UE device 106 may include a system on chip (SOC) 300, which may include parts for various purposes. For example, as shown, SOC 300 may include a processor 302 and a display circuit 304, the processor 302 may execute program instructions for UE device 106, and the display circuit 304 may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to display 360. SOC 300 may also include motion sensing circuit 370, which may detect the motion of UE 106, for example, using any of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and / or various other motion sensing components. One or more processors 302 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 340, which may be configured to receive addresses from one or more processors 302 and convert these addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 306 and read-only memory (ROM) 350, flash memory 310). MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, MMU 340 may be included as part of processor 302 .

[0057] As shown, SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of UE 106. For example, UE 106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 310), a connector interface 320 (e.g., for coupling to a computer system, a docking station, a charging station, etc.), a display 360, and wireless communication circuitry 330 (e.g., for LTE, LTE-A, NR, CDMA2000, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC, GPS, etc.).

[0058] The UE device 106 may include at least one antenna and may include multiple antennas 335a and 335b in some embodiments for performing wireless communications with a base station and / or other devices. For example, the UE device 106 may use antennas 335a and 335b to perform wireless communications. As described above, the UE device 106 may be configured to use multiple wireless communication standards or radio access technologies (RATs) for wireless communications in some embodiments.

[0059] Wireless communication circuitry 330 may include Wi-Fi logic 332, cellular modem 334, and Bluetooth logic 336. Wi-Fi logic 332 is used to enable UE device 106 to perform Wi-Fi or other WLAN communications over an 802.11 network. Bluetooth logic 336 is used to enable UE device 106 to perform Bluetooth communications. Cellular modem 334 may be a cellular modem capable of performing cellular communications according to one or more cellular communication technologies.

[0060] As described herein, the UE 106 may include hardware components and software components for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, one or more components of the wireless communication circuitry 330 (e.g., Wi-Fi logic component 332, cellular modem 334, BT logic component 336) of the UE device 106 may be configured as, for example, a processor executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium), a processor configured as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), and / or using dedicated hardware components that may include an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) to implement part or all of the methods described herein.

[0061] Figure 3 – Block diagram of an access point

[0062] Figure 3 An exemplary block diagram of an access point (AP) 104 according to some embodiments is shown. Note that Figure 3 The AP of is only one example of a possible access point. As shown, the AP 104 may include a processor 404 that may execute program instructions for the AP 104. The processor 404 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 440 or other circuit or device, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 404 and convert these addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450).

[0063] AP 104 may include at least one network port 470. Network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide access to the telephone network described above. Figure 1 Multiple devices of the telephone network described in, such as UE device 106.

[0064] The network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also or alternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, such as a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to multiple devices, such as the UE device 106. In some cases, the network port 470 may be coupled to a telephone network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide a telephone network (e.g., in other UE devices served by the cellular service provider).

[0065] The AP 104 may include one or more radio components 430A-430N and at least one antenna 434 (and may include multiple antennas), each of which may be coupled to a corresponding communication chain. One or more antennas 434 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with the UE device 106 / 107 via the radio component 430. The antennas 434A-N communicate with their corresponding radio components 430A-N via communication chains 432A-N. The communication chain 432 may be a receiving chain, a transmitting chain, or both. The radio components 430A-N may be configured to communicate via various wireless communication standards, including but not limited to LTE, LTE-A, NR, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc. The UE 104 may be configured to operate in multiple wireless links using the one or more radio components 430A-N, wherein each radio component is used to operate in a corresponding wireless link.

[0066] AP 104 may be configured to perform wireless communications using multiple wireless communication standards. In some cases, base station 102 may include multiple radio components, which may enable network entities to communicate according to multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, as one possibility, AP 104 may include an LTE or 5G NR radio component for performing communications according to LTE, and a Wi-Fi radio component for performing communications according to Wi-Fi. In such cases, AP 104 may be able to operate as both an LTE base station and a Wi-Fi access point. As another possibility, AP 104 may include a multimode radio component capable of performing communications according to any one of a plurality of wireless communication technologies (e.g., NR and Wi-Fi, NR and UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.). As another possibility, AP 104 may be configured to be used exclusively as a Wi-Fi access point, for example, without cellular communication capabilities.

[0067] As further described later herein, the AP 104 may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting the implementation of the features described herein. The processor 404 of the access point 104 may be configured to implement or support the implementation of part or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium) to operate multiple wireless links using multiple corresponding radio components. Alternatively, the processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) or a combination thereof. Alternatively (or in addition), in combination with one or more of the other components 430, 432, 434, 440, 450, 460, 470, the processor 404 of the AP 104 may be configured to implement or support the implementation of part or all of the features described herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0069] It is expected that the implementation of the upcoming wireless local area network (WLAN) can be realized in a wireless station (STA) (such as Figure 2 UE 106) and a wireless access point (AP) (such as Figure 3 Multiple links are utilized in either or both uplink and downlink communications during communications between the AP 104 shown. The STA may be any of various types of wireless stations, including but not limited to UE 106, smart phones, tablets, personal computers, smart watches, accessory devices, or any other type of wireless device capable of communicating over a WLAN.

[0070] Although the 802.11ax standard allows STAs and APs to communicate based on, for example, a 5GHz link or a 2.4GHz link, it is expected that 802.11.be may allow STAs and APs to communicate simultaneously over multiple links, including 2.4GHz and 5GHz links and other links (e.g., 6GHz), to improve throughput and reduce communication latency. For example, a single connection between a STA and an AP may utilize multiple wireless links, each operating in the same or different frequency bands. The embodiments herein propose infrastructure power saving mechanisms and other enhancements for STAs operating in multiple links (which may be asynchronous links).

[0071] Operating in multiple links can reduce transmission delays because the associated AP and STA communicate on multiple links simultaneously, and transmissions can be performed over the first available link (e.g., rather than having to wait for a particular link that may be temporarily congested or otherwise unavailable to become available). Thus, a single congested link can be prevented from severely increasing transmission delays, and the duration of transmission delays can be reduced. In addition, multi-link operation introduces power consumption considerations because STA power consumption may vary depending on the number of spatial streams and the size of the operating bandwidth. Depending on the STA configuration, operation on multiple links may consume more power than operation on a single link.

[0072] In order to obtain the delay benefits of multi-link operation while alleviating excessive power consumption, it may be desirable for a STA to be able to quickly activate multiple links and / or all of its links to shorten transmission delays, increase UL and DL throughput, and avoid single link bottlenecks. For example, the selected link may be quickly activated to improve throughput capacity based on the quality of service (QoS) requirements of the application currently running on the STA. In addition, in some embodiments, it may be desirable for some or all available links to be quickly deactivated to enter a "shallow sleep" or low power state when it is no longer necessary to utilize multiple links. In addition, in some embodiments, it may be desirable to avoid a situation where a STA cannot return to a shallow sleep state because it is waiting to receive a transmission through a single poorly performing link. The embodiments herein present devices and mechanisms for solving these and other problems.

[0073] In some embodiments, the STA uses the power management field in the media access control (MAC) header to indicate whether it is in active mode or power saving mode. In active mode, the STA can operate in an awake state, and in power saving (PS) mode, the STA can alternatively operate in an awake state or a light sleep state. When in PS mode, the STA can use various mechanisms such as PS-Poll and / or unscheduled automatic power saving delivery (U-APSD) mechanism to receive buffered downlink (DL) frames from the AP. Alternatively or in addition, in order to receive DL frames in PS mode, the STA can set a separate TWT available on a periodically repeated target wake-up time (TWT) service cycle.

[0074] In some embodiments, a STA may use a single bit in the power management field in the MAC header to indicate whether it is operating in a power saving mode. For example, a STA may set a power mode (PM) indicator PM=0 to indicate that it is in active mode and PM=1 to indicate that it is in power saving mode.

[0075] In some embodiments, the STA may dynamically signal its availability for each link in which the STA is capable of operating, with one bit specified for each link. For example, for each of a plurality of links available for the STA to operate over, the STA may signal a value of zero to indicate that the STA is not currently available to receive DL transmissions in the corresponding link, and may signal a value of one to indicate that the STA is currently available to receive DL transmissions in the corresponding link. Figure 4 An exemplary frame structure for implementing this indication according to some embodiments is shown. As shown, bits 0-3 of the eight-bit frame are used to indicate the availability of four different links, while the remaining four bits 4-7 are reserved.

[0076] In some embodiments, this signaling may be done in a new A-Control subfield called Link Availability Control. In some embodiments, a non-AP STA may have at least one link available at any given time. The AP may transmit DL frames to the STA only on links that are available to the STA, while the STA may be configured to transmit UL frames to the AP in all links, regardless of whether the STA is available for the link.

[0077] In some embodiments, when the STA is in active mode, the STA may be in an awake state in all links available to the STA. When the STA is in power saving mode, the STA may be in an awake state or a light sleep state in all links available to the STA.

[0078] If the STA operates in power saving mode, the STA can use PS-Poll, U-APSD or TWT to obtain DL frames from the AP. For example, if the AP receives a PS-Poll frame from the STA, the AP can transmit a single DL physical payload data unit (PPDU) in any link available to the STA. If the AP receives an automatic power saving delivery (APSD) trigger frame from the STA, the AP can transmit the buffered DL frames in any link available to the STA. The last transmitted DL PPDU may contain an End of Service Period (EOSP) field set to 1 to indicate that it is the last DL PPDU.

[0079] In other embodiments, the STA may signal its availability for each link in which the STA operates by using the Operation Mode Indication field A-Control field. The Operation Mode Indication may include the link number, and the Operation Bandwidth field may have an option for zero MHz channel width. In these embodiments, the link may be set to zero MHz operating channel width to indicate that the link is unavailable.

[0080] The number of spatial streams (NSS), BW, and other parameters for a given link may be changed simultaneously when the link is indicated as available. For example, the A-control field may be used to indicate different channel width values. As an example, a mapping may be utilized where 0 corresponds to a 20 MHz channel width, 1 indicates 40 MHz, 2 indicates 80 MHz, 3 indicates 160 MHz, 4 indicates 240 MHz, 5 indicates 320 MHz, 6 is reserved, and 7 indicates that the link is not in use. Other mappings are possible as desired. The bit frame structures corresponding to these embodiments are described in Figure 5 , where for a particular link, four bits are allocated for a receiver (RX) NSS indication, three bits are used to indicate the channel width of the link, four bits are used to indicate the transmit (TX) number of space-time streams (NSTS), and a single bit is used to indicate whether to disable all UL multi-user (MU) data transmissions in response to a trigger frame and each of all UL MU data transmissions in response to a trigger frame.

[0081] In other embodiments, the AP may have a link-specific PM bit value. In these embodiments, the STA can configure the PM bit value by using the power management field in each link to indicate whether the STA is operating in active mode or power saving mode in the corresponding link. If the link is in active mode, the STA can operate in an awake state for the corresponding link, and if the link is in power saving mode, the STA can receive DL frames using U-APSD or PS-Poll in the link. Each link can follow the PM mode, U-APSD trigger, and PS-Poll frame transmitted in the link. In other words, the power saving mechanism in each link can operate independently. In addition, in some embodiments, the STA can establish a link-specific separate TWT protocol for each link and schedule a TWT service period (SP).

[0082] Figure 6 6 is a communication flow chart illustrating a dynamic link activation process according to some embodiments. As shown, at 602, the STA wakes up and starts communicating on all available links (e.g., as shown, the STA communicates on link 1, link 2, and link 3). At 604, the STA transmits data with PM=0 in link 2. At 606, the AP receives a message with PM=0 in link 2, thereby detecting that the STA is in active mode. Therefore, the AP can send a frame to the STA in any available link. At 608, the STA transmits a PPDU via link 3, where PM=1. When the AP has confirmed the PPDU, the STA can return to a light sleep state, and the AP can avoid transmitting DL frames to the STA via links 1-3.

[0083] Figure 7is another communication flow diagram illustrating a dynamic link activation process according to some embodiments.

[0084] Steps 702 to 706 are similar to those in the above reference. Figure 6 Steps 602 to 606 are similar. At 708, the STA uses the Link Availability Control (LAC) subfield set equal to "101" to signal that it is available in Link 1 and Link 3 but not in Link 2. At 710, when the AP detects that the STA is not available in Link 2, it can avoid incurring a new transmission opportunity (TXOP) to transmit DL frames to the STA over Link 2. At 712, the STA can send another data message with the LAC subfield set to "001", indicating that both Link 1 and Link 2 are unavailable and Link 3 is still available. At 714, upon receiving the LAC subfield, the AP can avoid incurring a new TXOP to transmit DL frames to the STA over Link 1 or Link 2.

[0085] In some embodiments, communications between a STA and an AP over multiple links may each specify a value for the PM field that may be different from one another. In various embodiments, mechanisms may be employed to assist the AP in determining which of several (possibly conflicting) PM values ​​received from a STA should be used to determine the STA's PM mode.

[0086] In some embodiments, the PM field of a message (such as a physical payload data unit (PPDU)) transmitted by a STA and received by an AP whose transmission was most recently started can be used to indicate to the AP whether the STA is in active mode or power save mode. Figure 8 As shown, the AP can use the PM value of the medium access control (MAC) payload data unit (MPDU) in link 1 to determine the PM mode of the STA because the MPDU transmission on link 1 was initiated more recently than the MPDU transmission on link 2.

[0087] In other embodiments, the last PM field value received by the AP can be used to indicate to the AP whether the STA is in active mode or power saving mode. For example, in these embodiments, Figure 8 The communication diagram shown in may enable the AP to determine the PM mode of the STA depending on the PM value of MPDU 6 in link 2, because the last MPDU sent via link 2 (i.e., MPDU 6) is received after the last MPDU sent via link 1 (i.e., MPDU 8).

[0088] In some embodiments, when the AP receives a PM value of 1 from a STA, if the AP is transmitting a frame to the STA in one or more asynchronous links, the AP may complete a transmission opportunity (TXOP) in the one or more links, and the STA may be considered to be in power saving mode after the current TXOP is completed. In these embodiments, after receiving a PM=1 indication, the AP may not initiate a new TXOP in any link.

[0089] In some embodiments, the STA may not be able to control the order of transmission of PPDUs in different links. For example, if one or more links become congested and / or radio conditions are changing, transmissions in the links may occur at dynamically changing intervals, and the order of transmissions on the links may change unpredictably over time. To address these and other complications, some embodiments utilize one or more of the following mechanisms when sending frames that change the value of the PM field. In some embodiments, when the PM field value associated with the first link changes from 1 to 0, all MPDUs transmitted over all active links may have their PM values ​​set to 0 to provide accelerated link activation. On the other hand, if the STA transmits a frame that changes the PM field value from 0 to 1, if the STA knows that the MPDU in the transmission buffer is the last PPDU transmitted, or the STA intends to go to a light sleep state soon, the STA can apply PM=1 to all remaining frames in the transmission buffer. On the other hand, if the STA transmits a frame that changes the PM field value from 0 to 1, and there will be more data to be transmitted after the transmitted frame (i.e., if the application running on the STA may or often generates more traffic, or the QoS requirements do not allow any additional delays), the STA can apply a non-transmission timeout value. Then, if no UL packet is received for transmission during the timeout period, the STA may send a QoS-Null frame in the link and may transition to power saving mode.

[0090] In some embodiments, the AP may receive the PM bit only on a single link, ie, the AP may ignore the PM bit values ​​in all other links except one specific link to avoid confusion about which PM value should take precedence.

[0091] In some embodiments, the links may have a priority order for PM value selection. For example, if link 1 and link 3 are having ongoing transmissions at the same time, the PM bit value in link 1 may be used to define whether the STA is in active mode or in power save mode.

[0092] Fig. 9 –U-APSD service cycle configuration

[0093] Fig. 9is a communication flow chart showing an example of U-APSD service period (SP) configuration in a multi-link basic service (BSS) communication between a STA and an AP. As shown, the STA may wake up at 902, and at 904, it may send a U-APSD trigger frame with PM=0 to trigger a U-APSD SP. When the AP receives the trigger frame, it may consider the STA to be active on all three links 1-3, and may enable transmissions to the STA over these links for the time period shown. Finally, at 908, the STA transmits data with an end of service period (EOSP)=1 indicator, indicating the end of the SP.

[0094] The AP may transmit a frame with EOSP=1 in any link available to the STA. After the AP has transmitted a frame with EOSP=1 to the STA, the AP may complete the ongoing TXOP, and the AP may not initiate a new TXOP with the STA. In some embodiments, if the AP does not receive an acknowledgment or blockAck from a frame with EOSP=1, the AP may retransmit the frame only once in any link available to the STA, but the AP may not retransmit more than once.

[0095] In some embodiments, the AP may treat a frame as a U-APSD trigger frame only if the frame is transmitted in a TXOP initiated after receiving an ACK / BA corresponding to a frame containing an EOSP=1 indication. Fig.10 , where shaded blocks indicate UL transmissions (i.e., transmissions from a STA to an AP, which may be MPDU blocks or ACK messages), and unshaded blocks indicate DL transmissions (i.e., transmissions from an AP to a STA, which may also be MPDU blocks or ACK messages). In some embodiments, a UL MPDU transmission transmitted after a DL ACK may be processed by the AP as a new SP trigger frame. For example, Fig.10 In the embodiment, the UL MPDU transmission received after ACK 4 can be processed by the AP as a new SP trigger frame.

[0096] Alternatively, in other embodiments, the AP may treat the frame as a U-APSD trigger frame only if the PPDU carrying the frame is transmitted after the transmission of the PPDU carrying EOSP=1. Fig.10 , the PPDU carrying DLMPDUs 23 and 24 on link 1 may be considered by the AP as a U-APSD SP trigger frame because it is transmitted after the EOSP=1 indication is transmitted over link 2 (eg, in MPDUs 1-8), thereby starting a new U-APSD SP.

[0097] The PS-Poll power saving mechanism in a BSS with multiple links may adversely affect latency performance. For example, PS-Poll may allow the AP to send only a single DL PPDU, since the STA may need to send a separate PS-Poll frame before transmitting each DL frame. In addition, UL PS-Poll transmission delay may dominate over DL transmission delay, and asynchronous links may not significantly improve DL transmission delay. To address these and other issues, various enhancements may be utilized to control the links on which the AP can send DL data to the STA after having received the PS-Poll, according to various embodiments.

[0098] First, in some embodiments, the AP receiving the PS-Poll can transmit the DLPPDU in any link available to the STA. For example, this is similar to the U-APSD operation in a multi-link BSS. Fig.11 , where the STA wakes up at 1102 and sends a PS-Poll in Link 2 at 1104. The AP receives the PS-Poll at 1106 and sends the PS-Poll over any available link (e.g., Fig.11 Link 1 is shown, but any available link may be used) to send DL data.

[0099] Alternatively, in other embodiments, the AP receiving the PS-Poll frame may transmit the DL PPDU on the same link on which it receives the PS-Poll frame. The STA can control the number of links activated, but the latency and throughput performance of the PS-Poll transmission scheme may be much lower than in the active mode / PS mode transition. Fig.12 , where the STA wakes up at 1202, sends a PS-Poll in link 2 at 1204, and the AP receives the PS-Poll at 1206 and sends DL data over the same link (link 2). In other words, the AP can send a PPDU as a response to the PS-Poll only on the link where it has received the PS-Poll. For example, the STA can communicate on the TXOP in any link from link 1 to link 3. However, after transmitting the PS-Poll over link 2, the STA can operate only over link 2.

[0100] In the current implementation, a separate target wake-up time (TWT), a broadcast TWT, and a scheduled APSD are defined in the WLAN standard to provide a power saving mechanism for STA-AP communication. Among these mechanisms, a separate TWT allows maximum flexibility for non-AP STAs and APs to enable power saving for a specific link at a specific time. When a STA is available for receiving transmissions from an AP, a separate TWT protocol defines a periodically repeated TWT service period (SP). A periodically repeated TWT SP may not provide the best delay performance because the scheduled operation time is repeated periodically and the AP may not be able to transmit to the STA outside the TWT SP. In a separate TWT implementation, a large transmitted PPDU size can be used to maintain transmission efficiency because the AP can aggregate all packets that have arrived during the time when the STA is not available for receiving the PPDU. For example, a separate TWT is very suitable for streaming applications, where the shortest transmission delay is not required for the desired application QoS. Using multiple links in a separate TWT implementation can provide more deterministic delay performance because a single busy channel may not increase transmission delays or prevent frame transmissions in the TWT SP because other channels can be used to avoid potential delays.

[0101] In some embodiments, TWT setup signaling may be performed over any of a plurality of links available to the STA. A TWT identifier (ID) value may identify a specific TWT protocol. For a separate TWT SP, a field in the TWT setup signaling may specify a link over which data is transmitted during the TWT SP.

[0102] In some embodiments, as a first configuration, separate TWT setup signaling can specify the links on which the STA and AP can transmit during the TWTSP, and the TWT setup signaling can configure the STA to be available at all links or only on a subset of the links. Typically, the STA can be available on at least the primary channel of the link, but separate TWT can allow the STA to be configured to receive and transmit in the secondary channels of one or more links.

[0103] In other embodiments, as a second configuration, a separate TWT protocol may specify only the time when a TWT SP occurs. For example, a TWT SP may occur on a link that is available to the STA during the TWT SP. In other words, the STA may use the link availability subfield to configure the link in which the AP may transmit a DL frame.

[0104] In various embodiments, the TWT SP may be configured to be announced or unannounced. For example, for an unannounced TWT SP, the AP may transmit data to the STA immediately when the TWT SP is triggered. Alternatively, other embodiments may utilize an announced TWT SP, where the AP may first receive an announcement frame from the STA before the AP can send data to the STA. If the TWT SP is announced, the AP and the STA can configure the link on which the AP can send a trigger to the STA. In other words, the trigger can be transmitted in the configured link rather than in any available link. Advantageously, the STA can use this option to reduce its power consumption because the STA is initially available only in one link. However, the transmission of the trigger frame on a single link may increase the transmission delay.

[0105] Fig.13 is a schematic diagram showing an exemplary implementation of the TWT process according to some embodiments. As shown, the STA configures link 1, link 2, and link 3 to be used in the TWT protocol with a specified TWT periodicity and TWT SP duration. As shown, each of the three links 1-3 can be activated for a TWT SP duration at intervals separated by a TWT periodicity. Note that if the STA has additional links beyond links 1-3, these links may not be activated during the TWT SP.

[0106] Fig.14 is another schematic diagram showing another embodiment of the TWT process. As shown in the figure, if link 1 is configured as an initiating link, the AP can send a trigger frame on the link to check whether the STA is available. If the STA sends a response to the trigger frame, or if the STA transmits a frame in any link, the AP can continue to transmit on all links included in the TWT protocol for the TWT SP duration (e.g., until Fig.14 The same TWT SP duration can be used in all links of the TWT protocol, and the operations in all links can end at the same time. In both unannounced and announced TWT without triggering a link, all links can be available for the TWT SP duration.

[0107] Fig.15 -flow chart

[0108] Fig.151 is a flow chart illustrating a method for communicating between a wireless station (STA) (such as UE 106) and a wireless access point (AP) (such as AP 104) over a WLAN using multiple wireless links according to some embodiments. In various embodiments, some of the method elements shown may be performed simultaneously in an order different from the order shown, may be replaced by other method elements, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may also be performed as needed. As shown, the method may operate as follows.

[0109] At 1502, the STA may establish a connection with the AP via a wireless local area network (WLAN). According to various embodiments, the UE may establish a connection with the access point using any or all of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, near field communication (NFC), and / or any of a variety of other possible short-range communication protocols. In addition, according to some embodiments, the UE may be capable of performing cellular communications based on 3G, LTE, and / or 5G NR radio access technologies. The connection may utilize multiple links in one or more separate frequency bands (e.g., 2.4 GHz links, 5 GHz links, and / or other wireless links).

[0110] At 1504, the UE may transmit an indication to the access point via a first link of the plurality of links, wherein the indication specifies one or more available links of the plurality of links that the UE may use to receive downlink (DL) communications from the access point. In some embodiments, the one or more available links include at least one link different from the first link.

[0111] The indication may also specify one or more unavailable links of the plurality of links that are not available for the UE to use for receiving downlink communications from the access point. In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to transmit uplink communications to the access point via one or more of the unavailable links. For example, even if the indicated unavailable links are not available for the AP to use for transmitting DL communications, the UE may still use these links for UL communications to improve throughput flexibility. The AP is often plugged into a power source so that reduced energy consumption may not be important to the AP, and the AP may be configured to continuously monitor UL messages on each of the plurality of links, whether they are available or unavailable for DL ​​communications.

[0112] At 1506, the UE may receive one or more DL communications from the access point over at least one of the one or more available links. As described in more detail above, the DL communications may be transmitted according to a power save poll (PS-Poll), an unscheduled automatic power save delivery (U-APSD), or a target wake time (TWT) (e.g., if the UE is in a power save mode), or the DL communications may be transmitted autonomously as needed by the AP (e.g., if the UE is in an active mode).

[0113] In some embodiments, the indication includes a bit field, wherein each bit of the bit field indicates whether a corresponding link in the plurality of links is available for the UE to receive downlink communications from the access point. In some embodiments, the indication also specifies the operating bandwidth of one or more corresponding links in the plurality of links, and the unavailability of a particular link may be indicated by an empty specified bandwidth. In some embodiments, the indication also specifies the duration that one or more available links are available for the UE to receive DL communications from the access point. For example, the indication may specify the duration of a transmission opportunity (TXOP) that is available for one or more available links.

[0114] In some embodiments, the UE may transmit a second indication to the access point that one or more of the available links are no longer available for receiving downlink communications from the access point. For example, based on the current throughput requirements of the UE (e.g., based on current applications or application types running on the UE, quality of service requirements, buffer status, and / or other criteria), the UE may transmit a second indication to indicate the unavailability of one or more links previously indicated as available for DL ​​communications to save power.

[0115] In some embodiments, the UE may also indicate to the AP via one of the multiple links whether the UE is in active mode or power saving mode. This indication, referred to herein as a power mode (PM) indication, may be included as part of a first indication on a first link, or it may be transmitted as a second indication on a first link or another link in the multiple links. In some embodiments, indicating whether the UE is in active mode or power saving mode includes indicating for each corresponding link in the multiple links whether the UE is in active mode or power saving mode for the corresponding link. In other words, the power saving mode may be implemented on a per-link basis.

[0116] In some embodiments, the AP may receive multiple indications from the UE that may conflict with each other indicating whether the UE is in an active mode or a power saving mode, and the AP may implement one of the following methods to determine which indication to rely on to indicate the UE power state mode. In some embodiments, the AP may simply rely on the most recently received PM indication to determine the power state mode of the UE. In other embodiments, the AP may rely on the PM indication received during the most recently induced transmission opportunity to determine the power state mode of the UE. For example, if a first PM indication is received during a first transmission opportunity induced after a second transmission opportunity associated with a second PM indication, the AP may use the first PM indication to determine the power state mode of the UE.

[0117] As described in more detail above, various power saving methods may be implemented while the UE is in power saving mode. For example, as described in more detail above, while the UE is in power saving mode, the UE may be configured to receive DL communications from an access point by utilizing one or more of Power Save Polling (PS-Poll), Unscheduled Automatic Power Save Delivery (U-APSD), or Target Wake Time (TWT) (which may be an announced or unannounced TWT and / or a broadcast or separate TWT). In some embodiments, when the AP receives a PM indication to switch from active mode to power saving mode, the AP may complete transmissions associated with the current transmission opportunity and avoid initiating a new transmission opportunity.

[0118] In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to determine that a first link among a plurality of links has switched from being indicated as being in an active mode to being indicated as being in a power saving mode, or vice versa. In response to this determination, the UE may switch indications of all links to being in a power saving mode or an active mode, respectively. For example, since the order of successful transmissions of different links may change dynamically depending on buffer status and / or transmission failures, a switch in the power mode state of a particular link (e.g., from an active mode to a power saving mode or from a power saving mode to an active mode) may cause the UE to switch indications of all links to the new power mode state of the particular link to ensure that the power mode state change is quickly communicated to the AP.

[0119] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0120] In addition to the exemplary embodiments described above, more embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of forms. For example, some embodiments may be implemented as computer-implemented methods, computer-readable storage media, or computer systems. Other embodiments may be implemented using one or more custom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs. Other embodiments may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs.

[0121] In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be configured such that it stores program instructions and / or data, wherein if the program instructions are executed by a computer system, the computer system is caused to perform a method, such as any one of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein or any combination of such subsets.

[0122] In some embodiments, a device (e.g., UE 106 or 107) may be configured to include a processor (or a group of processors) and a memory medium, wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, wherein the processor is configured to read and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various method implementations described herein (or any combination of the method implementations described herein, or any subset of any method implementations described herein or any combination of such subsets). The device may be implemented in any of various forms.

[0123] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to encompass all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A user equipment device UE, the user equipment device comprising: one or more radio components operably coupled to respective antennas; and a processor operably coupled to the one or more radio components; The UE is configured as follows: establishing a connection to an access point via a wireless local area network (WLAN), wherein the connection utilizes a plurality of links; transmitting an indication to the access point via a first link of the plurality of links, wherein the indication comprises a bit field, wherein a first bit of the bit field indicates that the first link is available for use by the UE to receive downlink (DL) communications from the access point, wherein the bit field comprises a power management (PM) field, wherein when the first bit is set to 0, the first bit indicates that the first link is available for use by the UE to receive DL communications, and when the first bit is set to 1, the first bit indicates that the UE is in a power save mode and the first link is currently unavailable for use by the UE to receive DL communications; as well as One or more DL communications are received from the access point over at least the first link.

2. The UE according to claim 1, The UE is further configured as follows: A second indication is transmitted to the access point indicating that at least one or more available links are no longer available for receiving downlink communications from the access point.

3. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the indication further specifies one or more unavailable links of the plurality of links, wherein the one or more unavailable links are unavailable for use by the UE to receive downlink communications from the access point, and The UE is configured as follows: An uplink communication is transmitted to the access point via at least one unusable link of the one or more unusable links.

4. The UE according to claim 1, The UE is further configured as follows: transmitting a second indication to the access point via one of the plurality of links, indicating whether the UE is in an active mode or a power save mode, in, When the UE is in the power save mode, the UE is configured to receive DL communications from the access point by utilizing one or more of: Power saving polling PS-Poll; Unscheduled Automatic Power Save Delivery U-APSD; or Target wake-up time TWT.

5. The UE according to claim 4, Wherein indicating whether the UE is in the active mode or the power saving mode comprises indicating, for a corresponding link among the plurality of links, whether the UE is in the active mode or the power saving mode for the corresponding link.

6. The UE according to claim 5, The UE is further configured as follows: determining that the first link of the plurality of links has switched from the active mode to the power save mode, and Wherein indicating whether the UE is in the active mode or the power save mode for the corresponding link further comprises indicating each of the plurality of links is in the power save mode based at least in part on determining that the first link of the plurality of links has switched from the active mode to the power save mode.

7. The UE according to claim 5, The UE is further configured as follows: determining that the first link of the plurality of links has switched from the power saving mode to the active mode, and Wherein indicating whether the UE is in the active mode or the power save mode for the corresponding link further comprises indicating that the corresponding link is in the active mode based at least in part on determining that the first link of the plurality of links has switched from the power save mode to the active mode.

8. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the indication specifies an operating bandwidth of one or more corresponding links of the plurality of links, and A blank designated bandwidth indicates unavailability of the corresponding link.

9. The UE according to claim 1, Wherein the indication further specifies a duration during which the first link is available for use by the UE to receive DL communications from the access point.

10. A wireless access point AP, comprising: one or more radio components; and a processor coupled to the one or more radio components, wherein the AP is configured to: Establishing a connection with a user equipment device UE via a wireless local area network WLAN, wherein the connection utilizes a plurality of links; receiving an indication from the UE via a first link of the plurality of links, wherein the indication comprises a bit field, wherein a first bit of the bit field indicates that the first link is available for use by the AP to transmit downlink (DL) communications to the UE, wherein the bit field comprises a power management (PM) field, wherein when the first bit is set to 0, the first bit indicates that the first link is available for use by the UE to receive DL communications, and when the first bit is set to 1, the first bit indicates that the UE is in a power save mode and the first link is currently unavailable for use by the UE to receive DL communications; as well as One or more DL communications are transmitted to the UE via the first link.

11. The AP according to claim 10, wherein the AP is further configured to: A second indication is received from the UE via the first link, indicating whether the UE is in an active mode or a power save mode.

12. The AP according to claim 11, wherein the AP is further configured to: receiving, subsequent to the second indication and over a second link of the plurality of links, a third indication from the UE indicating whether the UE is in the active mode or the power save mode; and A determination is made based on the third indication whether the UE is in the active mode or the power saving mode.

13. The AP according to claim 11, wherein the AP is further configured to: receiving a third indication from the UE via a second link of the plurality of links, indicating that the UE is in the active mode, wherein the third indication is received during a first transmission opportunity after receiving the second indication; and Based on the third indication and in response to receiving the third indication during the first transmission opportunity after receiving the second indication, determining that the UE is in the active mode.

14. The AP according to claim 11, The second indication indicates that the UE is switching from the active mode to the power saving mode, wherein the AP is further configured to: completing at least one transmission associated with a current transmission opportunity based at least in part on receiving the second indication; and Avoid triggering new transmission opportunities.

15. The AP according to claim 10, in, When the UE is in a power save mode, the AP is configured to transmit DL communications by utilizing one or more of: Power saving polling PS-Poll; Unscheduled Automatic Power Save Delivery U-APSD; or Target wake-up time TWT.

16. A method for operating a user equipment device UE to communicate via multiple links, the method comprising: establishing a connection with an access point via a wireless local area network WLAN, wherein the connection utilizes the plurality of links; transmitting an indication to the access point via a first link of the plurality of links, wherein the indication comprises a bit field, wherein a first bit of the bit field indicates that the first link is available for use by the UE to receive downlink (DL) communications from the access point, wherein the bit field comprises a power management (PM) field, wherein when the first bit is set to 0, the first bit indicates that the first link is available for use by the UE to receive DL communications, and when the first bit is set to 1, the first bit indicates that the UE is in a power save mode and the first link is currently unavailable for use by the UE to receive DL communications; as well as One or more DL communications are received from the access point over the first link.

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising: A second indication is transmitted to the access point indicating that the first link is no longer available for receiving downlink communications from the access point.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein the indication further specifies one or more unavailable links of the plurality of links, wherein the one or more unavailable links are unavailable for use by the UE to receive downlink communications from the access point, and The method further comprises: An uplink communication is transmitted to the access point via at least one unusable link of the one or more unusable links.

19. The method according to claim 16, further comprising: transmitting a second indication to the access point via one of the plurality of links, indicating whether the UE is in an active mode or a power save mode, Wherein, when the UE is in the power saving mode, the UE is configured to receive DL communications from the access point by utilizing one or more of the following: Power saving polling PS-Poll; Unscheduled Automatic Power Save Delivery U-APSD; or Target wake-up time TWT.

20. The method according to claim 19, Wherein indicating whether the UE is in the active mode or the power saving mode comprises indicating, for a corresponding link among the plurality of links, whether the UE is in the active mode or the power saving mode for the corresponding link.

21. The method according to claim 20, further comprising: determining that the first link of the plurality of links has switched from the active mode to the power save mode, and Wherein indicating whether the UE is in the active mode or the power save mode for the corresponding link further comprises indicating each of the plurality of links is in the power save mode based at least in part on determining that the first link of the plurality of links has switched from the active mode to the power save mode.

22. The method according to claim 20, further comprising: determining that the first link of the plurality of links has switched from the power saving mode to the active mode, and Wherein indicating whether the UE is in the active mode or the power save mode for the corresponding link further comprises indicating that the corresponding link is in the active mode based at least in part on determining that the first link of the plurality of links has switched from the power save mode to the active mode.

23. The method according to claim 16, wherein the indication specifies an operating bandwidth of one or more corresponding links of the plurality of links, and A blank designated bandwidth indicates unavailability of the corresponding link.

24. The method according to claim 16, Wherein the indication further specifies a duration during which the first link is available for use by the UE to receive DL communications from the access point.

25. A method implemented at a wireless access point (AP), comprising: Establishing a connection with a user equipment device UE via a wireless local area network WLAN, wherein the connection utilizes a plurality of links; receiving an indication from the UE via a first link of the plurality of links, wherein the indication comprises a bit field, wherein a first bit of the bit field indicates that the first link is available for use by the AP to transmit downlink (DL) communications to the UE, wherein the bit field comprises a power management (PM) field, wherein when the first bit is set to 0, the first bit indicates that the first link is available for use by the UE to receive DL communications, and when the first bit is set to 1, the first bit indicates that the UE is in a power save mode and the first link is currently unavailable for use by the UE to receive DL communications; as well as One or more DL communications are transmitted to the UE via the first link.

26. The method according to claim 25, further comprising: A second indication is received from the UE via the first link, indicating whether the UE is in an active mode or a power save mode.

27. The method according to claim 26, further comprising: receiving, after the second indication and via a second link of the plurality of links, a third indication from the UE indicating whether the UE is in the active mode or the power save mode; as well as A determination is made based on the third indication whether the UE is in the active mode or the power saving mode.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising: receiving a third indication from the UE via a second link of the plurality of links, indicating that the UE is in the active mode, wherein the third indication is received during a first transmission opportunity after receiving the second indication; and Based on the third indication and in response to receiving the third indication during the first transmission opportunity after receiving the second indication, determining that the UE is in the active mode.

29. The method according to claim 26, wherein the second indication indicates that the UE is switching from the active mode to the power saving mode, and wherein the method further comprises: completing at least one transmission associated with a current transmission opportunity based at least in part on receiving the second indication; as well as Avoid triggering new transmission opportunities.

30. The method according to claim 25, in, When the UE is in a power save mode, the AP is configured to transmit DL communications by utilizing one or more of: Power saving polling PS-Poll; Unscheduled Automatic Power Save Delivery U-APSD; or Target wake-up time TWT.

31. A device UE for communicating via multiple links, the device comprising: means for establishing a connection with an access point via a wireless local area network WLAN, wherein said connection utilizes said plurality of links; means for transmitting an indication to the access point via a first link of the plurality of links, wherein the indication comprises a bit field, wherein a first bit of the bit field indicates that the first link is available for receiving downlink (DL) communications from the access point, wherein the bit field comprises a power management (PM) field, wherein when the first bit is set to 0, the first bit indicates that the first link is available for the UE to receive DL communications, and when the first bit is set to 1, the first bit indicates that the UE is in a power save mode and the first link is not currently available for the UE to receive DL communications; as well as Means for receiving one or more DL communications from the access point over the first link.

32. A device implemented at a wireless access point AP, comprising: means for establishing a connection with a user equipment device UE via a wireless local area network WLAN, wherein the connection utilizes a plurality of links; means for receiving an indication from the UE over a first link of the plurality of links, wherein the indication comprises a bit field, wherein a first bit of the bit field indicates that the first link is available for use by the AP to transmit downlink (DL) communications to the UE, wherein the bit field comprises a power management (PM) field, wherein when the first bit is set to 0, the first bit indicates that the first link is available for use by the UE to receive DL communications, and when the first bit is set to 1, the first bit indicates that the UE is in a power save mode and the first link is not currently available for use by the UE to receive DL communications; as well as Means for transmitting one or more DL communications to the UE via the first available link.

33. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program which, when executed by a processor of a device, causes the device to perform the method according to any one of claims 16-24.

34. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program which, when executed by a processor of a device, causes the device to perform the method according to any one of claims 25-30.

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