Indicates data for transmission by traffic identifier

Abstract

The present disclosure provides methods, devices, and systems for communicating on multiple links (e.g., indicating buffered units (BUs) for transmission to a multi-link device (MLD) by traffic identifiers (TIDs). One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communication. The method can be performed, for example, by a non-access point (non-AP) MLD. The non-AP MLD can receive an indication of an association identifier (AID) associated with the non-AP MLD, wherein the indication of the AID indicates whether the AP has a BU for the non-AP MLD; determine the one or more links based on a mapping of multiple TIDs including one or more TIDs to multiple links including one or more links associated with the one or more TIDs; and receive a BU associated with the one or more TIDs from the AP on the determined links.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Application No. 17 / 189,840, filed on March 2, 2021, which claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 984,724, filed on March 3, 2020, both of which are assigned to the assignee of this application and are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety as if fully set forth below and for all applicable purposes. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications over multiple links, and more particularly to techniques for indicating buffered data for transmission to a multi-link device (MLD) based on a traffic identifier (TID).

[0004] Related technical description

[0005] A wireless local area network (WLAN) may be formed by one or more wireless access points (APs) that provide a shared wireless communication medium for use by several client devices, also referred to as wireless stations (STAs). The basic building block of a WLAN that complies with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards is a basic service set (BSS) managed by an AP. Each BSS is identified by a basic service set identifier (BSSID) announced by the AP. The AP periodically broadcasts beacon frames to enable any STA within the wireless range of the AP to establish or maintain a communication link with the WLAN.

[0006] In order to solve the problems associated with the increasing bandwidth requirements required by wireless communication systems, different schemes are being developed to allow multiple user terminals to communicate with a single access point while achieving high data throughput by sharing channel resources. Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology represents one such approach, which has emerged as a popular technology for communication systems. MIMO technology has been adopted in several wireless communication standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standard (including its revisions, such as 802.11ax, 802.11ay, and 802.11be). The IEEE 802.11 standard denotes a set of WLAN physical layer and media access control (MAC) standards developed by the IEEE 802.11 committee for short-range communications (e.g., tens of meters to hundreds of meters).

[0007] Some wireless networks, such as 802.11be networks (also known as Extreme High Throughput (EHT) networks), enable devices, which may be referred to as Multi-Link Devices (MLDs), to communicate simultaneously via two or more communication links, for example using Multi-Link Operation (MLO) or Multi-Link Aggregation (MLA). Enabling multi-link communications presents challenges associated with transmission and acknowledgment schemes.

[0008] Overview

[0009] The systems, methods, and devices of the disclosure each have several innovative aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for the desirable attributes disclosed herein.

[0010] One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communication by a non-access point (non-AP) multi-link device (MLD). The method generally includes: receiving an indication of an association identifier (AID) associated with the non-AP MLD, wherein the indication of the AID indicates whether an access point (AP) has a buffered unit (BU) for the non-AP MLD; determining the one or more links based on a mapping of a plurality of traffic identifiers (TIDs) including one or more TIDs to a plurality of links including one or more links associated with the one or more TIDs; and receiving a BU associated with the one or more TIDs from the AP on the determined links.

[0011] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communication by an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD). The method generally includes: transmitting an indication of an association identifier (AID) associated with a non-AP MLD, wherein the indication of the AID indicates whether the AP has a buffered unit (BU) for the non-AP MLD; determining the one or more links based on a mapping of a plurality of TIDs including one or more TIDs to a plurality of links including one or more links associated with the one or more TIDs; and transmitting a BU associated with the one or more TIDs to the non-AP MLD on the determined link.

[0012] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a wireless communication device. The wireless communication device includes at least one modem, at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one modem, and at least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code, the processor-readable code being configured to: receive an indication of an association identifier (AID) associated with a non-access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD), wherein the indication of the AID indicates whether an access point (AP) has a buffered unit (BU) for the non-AP MLD; determine the one or more links based on a mapping of a plurality of traffic identifiers (TIDs) including one or more TIDs to a plurality of links including one or more links associated with the one or more TIDs; and receive BUs associated with the one or more TIDs from the AP on the determined links.

[0013] In some implementations of the methods and wireless communication devices, the indication of the AID includes a traffic indication map (TIM) including a plurality of values, each value in the TIM indicating a respective AID associated with a respective non-AP device and indicating whether the AP has a BU for the respective non-AP device.

[0014]

[0013] In some implementations of methods and wireless communication devices, an indication of one or more traffic identifiers (TIDs) may be received or transmitted.

[0015] In some implementations, the indication of the one or more TIDs includes a bitmap, wherein each value of the plurality of values ​​indicating whether the AP has a BU for a corresponding AID corresponds to an associated TID bitmap indicating the TIDs for which the AP has a BU for the corresponding AID.

[0016] In some implementations of the methods and wireless communication devices, the indication of the one or more TIDs includes a quality of service (QoS) message including a medium access control (MAC) header control field indicating the TIDs, wherein the QoS message includes at least one of a QoS null message or a QoS data message.

[0017] In some implementations of the methods and wireless communication devices, the indication includes a Traffic Indication Map (TIM) field in the message that corresponds to a value indicating an Association Identifier (AID) in a Traffic Indication Map (TIM) bitmap.

[0018] In some implementations of the methods and wireless communication devices, the indication of the one or more TIDs includes an indicator of an association identifier (AID) in a traffic indication map (TIM) bitmap, wherein the AID corresponds to a link matching the indicated TID.

[0019] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a wireless communication device. The wireless communication device includes at least one modem, at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one modem, and at least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code, the processor-readable code being configured to: transmit an indication of an association identifier (AID) associated with a non-access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD), wherein the indication of the AID indicates whether the AP has a buffered unit (BU) for the non-AP MLD; determine the one or more links based on a mapping of a plurality of TIDs including one or more TIDs to a plurality of links including one or more links associated with the one or more TIDs; and transmit a BU associated with the one or more TIDs to the non-AP MLD on the determined link. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The details of one or more implementations of the subject matter described in the present disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the following description. However, the accompanying drawings illustrate only some typical aspects of the present disclosure and are therefore not to be considered to limit its scope. Other features, aspects and advantages will become apparent from the description, drawings and claims.

[0022] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of an example wireless communication network is shown.

[0023] Figure 2 A block diagram of an example wireless communication device is shown.

[0024] Figure 3A A block diagram of an example access point (AP) is shown.

[0025] Figure 3B A block diagram of an example station (STA) is shown.

[0026] Figure 4 The communication between an AP multi-link device (MLD) and a non-AP MLD is shown.

[0027] Figure 5 A flow diagram is shown illustrating an example process for receiving an indication of a buffered unit (BU) by a traffic identifier (TID) according to some implementations.

[0028] Figure 6 An exemplary traffic indication map (TIM) and corresponding bit mapping to TID are shown in accordance with some implementations.

[0029] Figure 7An exemplary TIM and corresponding bit mapping to a single TID is shown in accordance with some implementations.

[0030] Figure 8 A flow chart illustrating an example process for indicating a BU by TID according to some implementations is shown.

[0031] Fig. 9 A block diagram of an example wireless communication device is shown in accordance with some implementations.

[0032] Fig.10 A block diagram of an example wireless communication device is shown in accordance with some implementations.

[0033] Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.

[0034] Detailed Description

[0035] The following description is directed to some specific implementations in order to describe the innovative aspects of the present disclosure. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in many different ways. The described implementations can be implemented in accordance with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, the IEEE 802.15 standard, as defined by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) The described implementations may be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals in accordance with one or more of the Long Term Evolution (LTE), 3G, 4G, or 5G (New Radio (NR)) standards, or the like released by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The described implementations may be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of transmitting and receiving RF signals in accordance with one or more of the following technologies or techniques: code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), single user (SU) multiple input multiple output (MIMO), and multi-user (MU) MIMO. The described implementations may also be implemented using other wireless communication protocols or RF signals suitable for use in one or more of a wireless personal area network (WPAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless wide area network (WWAN), or an Internet of Things (IOT) network.

[0036] Various aspects generally relate to techniques for communicating over multiple links. Specific aspects relate in particular to indicating buffered units (BUs) of data for transmission to a multi-link device (MLD) based on a traffic identifier (TID). Some implementations relate in particular to techniques for mapping each TID of one or more TIDs to a corresponding link or set of links. In some implementations, an access point (AP) may transmit a message including a traffic indication map (TIM). The TIM includes a plurality of bits (or "indicators" or "entries"), each of which is associated with a corresponding association identifier (AID) of an MLD, such as a non-AP station (STA). In some cases, the value of each indicator indicates whether the AP has a BU for a STA associated with the corresponding AID. Each AID may be mapped to one or more of a plurality of links between the AP and the STA.

[0037] In some implementations, the message may further include a TID bit map for each AID associated with the positive indicator in the TIM. Each TID bit map may correspond to multiple TIDs. The STA receiving the message may then use the TID bit map to determine the TID(s) and associated links for which the AP has BUs for delivery to the STA. The STA may then transmit a frame (e.g., a power save poll (PS-Poll)) on the link to indicate to the AP that the STA is in an awake state on the link(s) corresponding to the determined TID(s). In some other implementations, the AP may indicate that the AP has a BU for the first TID by transmitting quality of service (QoS) data or a null frame on another link(s) corresponding to the second TID, thereby allowing the STA to monitor one link and receive an indication of a BU on another link(s). In some other aspects, the AP may transmit a TID field that indicates a TID for each positive indicator in the TIM transmitted by the AP. The receiving STA may then determine, based on the TID field, the TID for which the AP has a BU for delivery to the STA and transmit a frame (eg, QoS or NULL) to the AP to signal that the STA is awake on the link corresponding to the TID.

[0038] Specific implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages. In some implementations, the described techniques enable an AP to efficiently and quickly notify a multi-link STA of a TID for which the AP has a BU ready to be transmitted to the STA. Such implementations also enable the STA to monitor only a single link and, based on an indication of the TID from the AP, quickly determine on which of the multiple links to activate the receiver to receive the BU. For example, in some cases, such implementations enable the AP to indicate BUs on other links on one link, thereby allowing the STA to save power by monitoring only the one link for indications of buffered units on other links.

[0039] Figure 1 A block diagram of an example wireless communication network 100 is shown. According to some aspects, the wireless communication network 100 may be an example of a wireless local area network (WLAN) such as a Wi-Fi network (and will be referred to as WLAN 100 hereinafter). For example, the WLAN 100 may be a network that implements at least one of the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocol standards, such as the standards defined by the IEEE 802.11-2016 specification or an amendment thereof, including but not limited to 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be. The WLAN 100 may include numerous wireless communication devices, such as an access point (AP) 102 and a plurality of stations (STAs) 104. Although only one AP 102 is shown, the WLAN network 100 may also include a plurality of APs 102.

[0040] Each STA 104 may also be referred to as a mobile station (MS), a mobile device, a mobile handset, a wireless handset, an access terminal (AT), a user equipment (UE), a subscriber station (SS), or a subscriber unit, etc. STA 104 may represent a variety of devices, such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), other handheld devices, netbooks, notebook computers, tablet computers, laptops, display devices (e.g., TVs, computer monitors, navigation systems, etc.), music or other audio or stereo equipment, remote control devices (“remote controls”), printers, kitchen or other home appliances, key fobs (e.g., for passive keyless entry and start (PKES) systems), etc.

[0041] A single AP 102 and the associated set of STAs 104 may be referred to as a basic service set (BSS), which is managed by the respective AP 102 . Figure 1Additionally shown is an example coverage area 106 of the AP 102, which may represent a basic service area (BSA) of the WLAN 100. The BSS may be identified to users by a service set identifier (SSID) and may also be identified to other devices by a basic service set identifier (BSSID), which may be a media access control (MAC) address of the AP 102. The AP 102 periodically broadcasts a beacon frame (“beacon”) including the BSSID to enable any STA 104 within the wireless range of the AP 102 to “associate” or re-associate with the AP 102 to establish or maintain a corresponding communication link 108 (hereinafter also referred to as a “Wi-Fi link”) with the AP 102. For example, the beacon may include an identification of a primary channel used by the corresponding AP 102 and a timing synchronization function for establishing or maintaining timing synchronization with the AP 102. The AP 102 may provide access to external networks to various STAs 104 in the WLAN via corresponding communication links 108 .

[0042] To establish a communication link 108 with the AP 102, each STA 104 is configured to perform passive or active scanning operations ("scanning") on frequency channels in one or more frequency bands (eg, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, or 60 GHz bands). To perform a passive scan, the STA 104 listens for beacons transmitted by the corresponding AP 102 at periodic time intervals, referred to as target beacon transmission times (TBTTs), measured in time units (TUs), where one TU may be equal to 1024 microseconds (μs). To perform an active scan, the STA 104 generates probe requests and sequentially transmits these probe requests on each channel to be scanned, and listens for probe responses from the AP 102. Each STA 104 may be configured to identify or select an AP 102 to associate with based on the scan information obtained through passive or active scanning, and perform authentication and association operations to establish a communication link 108 with the selected AP 102. The AP 102 assigns an association identifier (AID) to the STA 104 at the end of the association operation, and the AP 102 uses the AID to track the STA 104.

[0043] As wireless networks become more and more common, STA 104 may have the opportunity to select one of many BSSs within the range of the STA or to select among multiple APs 102 that together form an extended service set (ESS) (including multiple connected BSSs). The extended network station associated with WLAN 100 may be connected to a wired or wireless distribution system that allows multiple APs 102 to be connected in such an ESS. In this way, STA 104 may be covered by more than one AP 102 and may be associated with different APs 102 at different times for different transmissions. Additionally, after associating with AP 102, STA 104 may also be configured to periodically scan its surroundings to find a more suitable AP 102 to associate with. For example, a STA 104 that is moving relative to its associated AP 102 may perform a "roaming" scan to find another AP 102 with more suitable network characteristics (such as a larger received signal strength indicator (RSSI) or a reduced traffic load).

[0044] In some cases, STA 104 may form a network without AP 102 or other equipment other than STA 104 itself. An example of such a network is an ad hoc network (or wireless ad hoc network). An ad hoc network may alternatively be referred to as a mesh network or a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. In some cases, an ad hoc network may be implemented within a larger wireless network (such as WLAN 100). In such an implementation, although STA 104 may be able to communicate with each other through AP 102 using communication link 108, STA 104 may also communicate directly with each other via direct wireless link 110. Additionally, two STA 104 may communicate via direct wireless link 110, regardless of whether the two STA 104 are associated with the same AP 102 and served by the same AP 102. In such an ad hoc system, one or more STA 104 may assume the role played by AP 102 in the BSS. Such STA 104 may be referred to as a group owner (GO) and may coordinate transmissions within the ad hoc network. Examples of direct wireless link 110 include a Wi-Fi Direct connection, a connection established by using a Wi-Fi Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) link, and other P2P group connections.

[0045] The AP 102 and the STA 104 may function and communicate (via corresponding communication links 108) in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocol standards, such as those defined by the IEEE 802.11-2016 specification or its amendments, including but not limited to 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be. These standards define WLAN radio and baseband protocols for the PHY and media access control (MAC) layers. The AP 102 and the STA 104 transmit and receive wireless communications (hereinafter also referred to as "Wi-Fi communications") to and from each other in the form of PHY protocol data units (PPDUs) (or physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) PDUs). The AP 102 and STA 104 in the WLAN 100 may transmit PPDUs on an unlicensed spectrum, which may be a portion of a spectrum that includes frequency bands traditionally used by Wi-Fi technology, such as the 2.4 GHz band, the 5 GHz band, the 60 GHz band, the 3.6 GHz band, and the 900 MHz band. Some implementations of the AP 102 and STA 104 described herein may also communicate in other frequency bands, such as the 6 GHz band, that may support both licensed and unlicensed communications. The AP 102 and STA 104 may also be configured to communicate on other frequency bands, such as shared licensed frequency bands, where multiple operators may have licenses to operate in one or more of the same or overlapping frequency bands.

[0046] Each frequency band may include multiple sub-bands or frequency channels. For example, PPDUs that comply with IEEE 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax, and 802.11be standard amendments may be transmitted on 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, or 6 GHz frequency bands, where each frequency band is divided into multiple 20 MHz channels. In this way, these PPDUs are transmitted on a physical channel with a minimum bandwidth of 20 MHz, but larger channels may be formed by channel bonding. For example, a PPDU may be transmitted on a physical channel with a bandwidth of 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 320 MHz by bonding multiple 20 MHz channels together.

[0047] Each PPDU is a composite structure including a PHY preamble and a payload in the form of a PHY service data unit (PSDU). The information provided in the preamble can be used by the receiving device to decode subsequent data in the PSDU. In an instance where the PPDU is transmitted over a bonded channel, the preamble field can be replicated and transmitted in each of a plurality of component channels. The PHY preamble may include both a legacy portion (or "legacy preamble") and a non-legacy portion (or "non-legacy preamble"). Legacy preambles can be used for packet detection, automatic gain control, and channel estimation, as well as other purposes. Legacy preambles can also generally be used to maintain compatibility with legacy devices. The format, decoding, and information provided therein of the non-legacy portion of the preamble are based on the specific IEEE 802.11 protocol to be used to transmit the payload.

[0048] Figure 2 2 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device 200. In some implementations, the wireless communication device 200 may be used in a STA (such as the above reference Figure 1 In some implementations, the wireless communication device 200 may be an example of a device in an AP (such as one of the STAs 104 described above). Figure 1 The wireless communication device 200 is capable of transmitting and receiving wireless communications, for example, in the form of wireless packets. For example, the wireless communication device can be configured to transmit and receive packets in the form of physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data units (PPDUs) and media access control (MAC) protocol data units (MPDUs) that comply with IEEE 802.11 wireless communication protocol standards (such as those defined by the IEEE 802.11-2016 specification or its amendments, including but not limited to 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be).

[0049] The wireless communication device 200 may be or may include a chip, system on chip (SoC), chipset, package, or device including one or more modems 202 (e.g., Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 compliant) modems). In some implementations, one or more modems 202 (collectively, “modem 202”) additionally include a WWAN modem (e.g., a 3GPP 4G LTE or 5G compatible modem). In some implementations, the wireless communication device 200 also includes one or more processors, processing blocks, or processing elements (collectively, “processor 206”) coupled to the modem 202. In some implementations, the wireless communication device 200 additionally includes one or more radios (collectively, “radio 204”) coupled to the modem 202. In some implementations, the wireless communication device 200 further includes one or more memory blocks or elements (collectively, “memory 208”) coupled to the processor 206 or the modem 202.

[0050] The modem 202 may include an intelligent hardware block or device, such as, for example, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The modem 202 is generally configured to implement the PHY layer, and in some implementations also implements a portion of the MAC layer (e.g., a hardware portion of the MAC layer). For example, the modem 202 is configured to modulate packets and output the modulated packets to the radio 204 for transmission on the wireless medium. Similarly, the modem 202 is configured to obtain modulated packets received by the radio 204 and demodulate the packets to provide demodulated packets. In addition to the modulator and demodulator, the modem 202 may further include a digital signal processing (DSP) circuit system, an automatic gain control (AGC) circuit system, an encoder, a decoder, a multiplexer, and a demultiplexer. For example, when in a transmission mode, data obtained from the processor 206 may be provided to an encoder, which encodes the data to provide encoded bits. Subsequently, the encoded bits may be mapped to a number (N SS ) spatial streams for spatial multiplexing or several (N STS The coded bits in each stream may then be mapped to points in a modulation constellation (using the selected MCS) to provide modulated symbols. The modulated symbols in the corresponding spatial stream or space-time stream may be multiplexed, transformed via an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) block, and then provided to a DSP circuit system (e.g., for Tx windowing and filtering). The digital signal may then be provided to a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The resulting analog signal may then be provided to an upconverter and ultimately to the radio 204. In an implementation involving beamforming, the modulated symbols in the corresponding spatial streams are precoded via a steering matrix before being provided to the IFFT block.

[0051] When in receive mode, the DSP circuit system is configured to acquire a signal including modulated symbols received from the radio 204, for example, by detecting the presence of the signal and estimating initial timing and frequency offset. The DSP circuit system is further configured to digitally condition the signal, for example, using channel (narrowband) filtering and analog impairment conditioning (such as correcting I / Q imbalance), and by applying digital gain to ultimately obtain a narrowband signal. Subsequently, the output of the DSP circuit system may be fed to the AGC, which is configured to use information extracted from the digital signal (e.g., in one or more received training fields) to determine the appropriate gain. The output of the DSP circuit system is also coupled to a demultiplexer that demultiplexes the modulated symbols when multiple spatial streams or space-time streams are received. The demultiplexed symbols may be provided to a demodulator that is configured to extract the symbols from the signal and, for example, calculate a log-likelihood ratio (LLR) for each bit position of each subcarrier in each spatial stream. The demodulator is coupled to a decoder that may be configured to process the LLRs to provide decoded bits. The coded bits may then be descrambled and provided to the MAC layer (processor 206) for processing, evaluation, or interpretation.

[0052] The radio 204 generally includes at least one radio frequency (RF) transmitter (or "transmitter chain") and at least one RF receiver (or "receiver chain"), which may be combined into one or more transceivers. For example, each of the RF transmitter and receiver may include various analog circuit systems, including at least one power amplifier (PA) and at least one low noise amplifier (LNA), respectively. The RF transmitter and receiver may in turn be coupled to one or more antennas. For example, in some implementations, the wireless communication device 200 may include or be coupled to multiple transmit antennas (each having a corresponding transmit chain) and multiple receive antennas (each having a corresponding receive chain). The codewords output from the modem 202 are provided to the radio 204, which then transmits the codewords via the coupled antennas. Similarly, the codewords received via the antennas are obtained by the radio 204, which then provides the codewords to the modem 202.

[0053] The processor 206 may include an intelligent hardware block or device designed to perform the functions described herein, such as, for example, a processing core, a processing block, a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD) (such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA)), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof. The processor 206 processes information received through the radio 204 and the modem 202, and processes information to be output by the modem 202 and the radio 204 for transmission over a wireless medium. For example, the processor 206 may implement a control plane and at least a portion of a MAC layer, which is configured to perform various operations related to the generation, transmission, reception, and processing of MPDUs, frames, or packets. In some implementations, the MAC layer is configured to: generate an MPDU to provide to the PHY layer for encoding, and receive decoded information bits from the PHY layer for processing as an MPDU. The MAC layer may be further configured to allocate time and frequency resources, for example, for OFDMA, and other operations or technologies. In some implementations, the processor 206 may generally control the modem 202 to cause the modem to perform the various operations described above.

[0054] The memory 208 may include a tangible storage medium, such as a random access memory (RAM) or a read-only memory (ROM) or a combination thereof. The memory 208 may also store non-transient processor or computer executable software (SW) code containing instructions that, when executed by the processor 206, cause the processor to perform various operations for wireless communication described herein, including generation, transmission, reception, and interpretation of MPDUs, frames, or packets. For example, the various functions of the various components disclosed herein or the various blocks or steps of the methods, operations, processes, or algorithms disclosed herein may be implemented as one or more modules of one or more computer programs.

[0055] Figure 3A 302 is a block diagram of an example AP 302. For example, the AP 302 may be a reference Figure 1 An example implementation of AP 102 is described. AP 302 includes a wireless communication device (WCD) 310 (although AP 302 itself may also be generally referred to as a wireless communication device, as used herein). For example, wireless communication device 310 may be a wireless communication device (WCD) 310. Figure 2An example implementation of the wireless communication device 200 described. The AP 302 also includes a plurality of antennas 320 coupled to the wireless communication device 310 to transmit and receive wireless communications. In some implementations, the AP 302 additionally includes an application processor 330 coupled to the wireless communication device 310, and a memory 340 coupled to the application processor 330. The AP 302 further includes at least one external network interface 350, which enables the AP 302 to communicate with a core network or a backhaul network to obtain access to an external network including the Internet. For example, the external network interface 350 may include one or both of a wired (e.g., Ethernet) network interface and a wireless network interface (such as a WWAN interface). Components of the aforementioned components may communicate with other components of these components directly or indirectly on at least one bus. The AP 302 further includes a housing that encloses the wireless communication device 310, the application processor 330, the memory 340, and at least portions of the antenna 320 and the external network interface 350.

[0056] Figure 3B 304. For example, STA 304 may be a reference Figure 1 104. STA 304 includes a wireless communication device 315 (although STA 304 itself may also be generally referred to as a wireless communication device, as used herein). For example, wireless communication device 315 may be a wireless communication device. Figure 2 An example implementation of the wireless communication device 200 described. STA 304 also includes one or more antennas 325 coupled to the wireless communication device 315 to transmit and receive wireless communications. STA 304 additionally includes an application processor 335 coupled to the wireless communication device 315, and a memory 345 coupled to the application processor 335. In some implementations, STA 304 further includes a user interface (UI) 355 (such as a touch screen or keyboard) and a display 365, which can be integrated with UI 355 to form a touch screen display. In some implementations, STA304 can further include one or more sensors 375 (such as one or more inertial sensors, accelerometers, temperature sensors, pressure sensors, or altitude sensors, for example). Components in the aforementioned components can communicate directly or indirectly with other components in these components on at least one bus. STA 304 further includes a housing that encloses the wireless communication device 315, the application processor 335, the memory 345, and at least portions of the antenna 325, the UI 355, and the display 365.

[0057] Example Mechanism for Indicating Buffered Units by Traffic Identifier

[0058] In some cases, an access point (AP) may assign a traffic identifier (TID) to a station (STA) so that all TIDs of a STA are mapped to all radio links (or simply "links") on which the STA operates. In such techniques, the AP does not transmit a separate indication for each TID. That is, these techniques enable the STA to be notified that the AP has a BU for the STA. The STA may then wake up and activate the transceiver on any link, send a PS-POLL or other message to the AP to indicate the STA's wake-up state on at least the link, and receive a BU from the AP on at least the link.

[0059] A multi-link device (MLD) generally refers to a single device or equipment that includes two or more STA instances or entities that are implemented in the physical (PHY) layer or the media access control (MAC) layer and configured to communicate on separate wireless links. In some examples, each MLD may include a single higher layer entity, such as a MAC service access point (SAP) that can assign MAC protocol data units (MPDUs) for transmission by separate STA instances.

[0060] like Figure 4 As illustrated in , the AP MLD 402 can communicate with the non-AP MLD 404. As described above, each of the AP MLD 402 and the non-AP MLD 404 may include at least two STA entities (sometimes referred to as STA instances or also simply referred to as STAs in this document), which can communicate with the corresponding STA entities of at least one other of the MLDs. The STA entity (or instance) of the AP MLD 402 is generally an AP (which may be referred to as an AP-STA or a STA acting as an AP), and the STA entity of the non-AP MLD 404 is generally a non-AP STA (which may be simply referred to as a STA). For example, Figure 4 As shown in FIG, AP MLD 402 includes two APs (AP1 and AP2) that can communicate with corresponding STA entities (such as STA1 and STA2) in non-AP MLD. In some cases, MLDs (such as AP MLD 402 and non-AP MLD 404) can use multi-link aggregation (MLA) (including packet-level aggregation) so that MPDUs from the same TID can be sent via two or more links.

[0061] Multi-link operation (MLO) is generally considered to be one of the key features in the upcoming 802.11be standard. In some cases, two types of aggregation may be associated with MLO, such as stream-based aggregation and packet-based aggregation. In stream-based aggregation, an MPDU of a TID may be mapped to a specific link, and different TIDs may be mapped to different links. In packet-based aggregation, an MPDU of a TID may be mapped to more than one link, and the MPDU of the TID may be sent on any link to which the TID is mapped. Power saving is also an important consideration for MLO. When in idle mode, the STA may not need to monitor all links. For example, in some cases, the STA may monitor only one link when operating in idle mode. In such cases, the AP may transmit an indication of buffered units (BUs) on other links on the one link, thereby allowing the STA to monitor only the one link to find indications of buffered units on other links.

[0062] In some cases, using a technique involving per-link BU announcements may not be desirable because the STA may not have the flexibility to select a link for receiving a BU. Alternatively, it may be desirable for the STA to be able to obtain data from any link to which the TID is mapped for power saving and flexibility purposes. That is, it may be advantageous for the network device to transmit a buffered unit indication for each TID, which can save power at the STA and provide the STA with the flexibility to select which link to receive the BU. For example, if a particular TID X is mapped to links 1 and 2 and another TID Y is mapped to links 2 and 3, then under the TID indication scheme, the AP may indicate that there is a BU for TIDs X and Y, thereby allowing the STA to select, for example, link 2 to retrieve the BU for these two TIDs and save power by not having to turn on the radios of link 1 and link 3.

[0063] Various aspects generally relate to techniques for communicating on multiple links. More specifically, such techniques may include indicating BUs for data to be transmitted to an MLD on a TID basis. Some implementations more specifically relate to techniques for mapping each TID in one or more TIDs to a corresponding link or set of links. In some implementations, an AP may transmit a message including a traffic indication map (TIM) and a TID per positive indicator in the TIM to multiple stations (STAs). The STA receiving the message may then use the respective TID bitmaps to determine the TIDs for which the AP has BUs for delivery to the STA. The STA may additionally transmit a frame (e.g., a power save poll (PS-Poll) to indicate to the AP that the STA is awake on the link(s) corresponding to the determined TID(s).

[0064] In some such implementations, the AP may indicate that the AP has a BU for a first TID by transmitting a message (e.g., quality of service (QoS) data or a null frame) on a link corresponding to a second TID. In some other implementations, the AP may transmit a TID bitmap that indicates one TID for each positive indicator in a TIM transmitted by the AP. The receiving STA may then use the respective TID bitmaps to determine the first TID for which the AP has a BU for delivery to the STA and transmit a frame (e.g., QoS null) to indicate to the AP that the STA is awake on the link corresponding to the determined TID. In some such implementations, the AP may map each link to a single association identifier (AID) and transmit an indication TIM that indicates that the AP has a BU for each AID to be delivered to the STA. The STA may then determine which TIDs are associated with the BUs and also determine which links to receive the BUs based on the AIDs indicated in the TIM.

[0065] Particular implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages. In some implementations, the described techniques enable an AP to efficiently and quickly notify a multi-link STA of a TID for which the AP has a BU ready to be transmitted to the STA. Such implementations also enable a STA to monitor a single link and, based on indications of the TIDs from the AP, quickly determine on which links to activate a receiver to receive a BU.

[0066] Figure 5 A flow chart illustrating an example process 500 for indicating a buffered unit (BU) by a traffic identifier (TID) according to some implementations is shown. The operations of process 500 may be implemented by a STA or a component thereof as described herein. For example, process 500 may be implemented by a non-access point (non-AP) multi-link device (MLD) (such as those described above with reference to Figure 1 and 3B One of the STAs 104 and 304 described above, or Figure 2 In some implementations, process 500 may be performed by an AP (such as the wireless communication device 200 described above). Figure 1 and 3A 1 and 302 as described herein).

[0067] In some implementations, in block 502, a non-AP MLD receives an indication of an association identifier (AID) associated with the non-AP MLD, wherein the indication of the AID indicates whether an access point (AP) has a buffered unit (BU) for the non-AP MLD.

[0068] In some implementations, in block 504, the non-AP MLD receives an indication of one or more traffic identifiers (TIDs) associated with a BU for the non-AP MLD.

[0069] In some implementations, in block 506, the non-AP MLD determines the one or more links based on a mapping of a plurality of traffic identifiers (TIDs) including one or more TIDs to a plurality of links including one or more links associated with the one or more TIDs.

[0070] In some implementations, in block 508, the non-AP MLD receives a BU associated with the one or more TIDs from the AP on the determined link.

[0071] In some implementations, the indication in block 502 may include a traffic indication map (TIM) bitmap and the indication in block 504 may include a TID bitmap corresponding to a value in the traffic indication map (TIM) bitmap. Figure 6 As shown in , a STA or non-AP MLD may receive a TIM bitmap 600 that includes a value of 1 in a value or bit position within the TIM bitmap 600 corresponding to an association identifier (AID) such as the AIDs at 602, 604, 606, 608, and 610. In this example, for each value of 1 in the TIM bitmap 600, the non-AP MLD also receives a TID bitmap (as shown at 620, 622, 624, 626, and 628) that indicates which TIDs (corresponding to the AIDs indicated by the TIM bitmap) the non-AP MLD may receive BUs for. In some implementations, the values ​​in the TIM bitmap indicate one or more AIDs, and the TID bitmap indicates one or more TID fields. In some cases, each TID field in the TID bitmap corresponds to one of the AIDs indicated in the TIM bitmap.

[0072] In some implementations, the indication in block 504 includes a quality of service (QoS) message including a media access control (MAC) header control field indicating the TID. In some cases, the QoS message includes at least one of a QoS Null message or a QoS Data message. For example, the AP may transmit TIM signaling indicating the buffered cells for the non-AP MLD, such as in block 502, according to previously known techniques. Since the non-AP MLD does not know the exact TID, the non-AP MLD wakes up the transceiver for any configured link and sends a power save poll (PS-Poll) or equivalent on the configured link. If the AP does not have buffered cells for any TID mapped to the link, but has buffered cells for other TIDs, the AP may send QoS Null with a High Efficiency A (HE-A) control field or any equivalent MAC header control field to indicate the TID for which the AP has buffered cells for the non-AP MLD. If the AP has buffered cells for any TID mapped to the link for which the STA transmitted the PS-poll and also has buffered cells for other TIDs mapped to other links, the AP may deliver the MPDU for the TID(s) mapped to the link and may use the HE-A control field of the MAC header of the MPDU sent to the non-AP MLD, or any equivalent MAC header control field, to include information about the other TIDs for which the AP has buffered cells.

[0073] In some implementations, the AP may transmit a new HE-A control field (e.g., TID Control) that carries a bitmap including 8 bits for signaling the AP for each TID for which it has a BU for non-APMLD. In some cases, each bit in the 8-bit bitmap may correspond to a different TID.

[0074] In some implementations, a device (such as a non-AP MLD) performing the example process 500 may receive a message including a TIM and transmit a poll message in response to the TIM in block 502. In some cases, QoS may be received in response to the poll message. For example, the non-AP MLD may receive a TIM, transmit a PS-poll in response to the TIM, and may then receive a QoS message in response to the PS-poll message.

[0075] In some implementations, receiving the BU in block 508 includes receiving another indication of another TID for which the AP has other BUs for the non-AP MLD. In some cases, the non-AP MLD may receive the other BU from the AP based on the other indication.

[0076] In some implementations, the indication in block 504 includes a TID field in the message corresponding to the AID indicated in the TIM. The signaled TID may be based on criteria, such as a TID with a more stringent latency requirement than other TIDs for which the AP has BUs or a TID for which the AP has a maximum number of BUs. The AP may signal the additional TIDs for which the AP has BUs via the HE Control field in the MAC header (e.g., by extending an existing A-Control subfield or defining a new A-Control type) or other fields. In some implementations, the AP may use three bits to indicate the TID corresponding to the AID signaled in the TIM. For example, Figure 7 As shown in , the non-AP MLD may receive a TIM bitmap 700 that includes a value of 1 in a bit position corresponding to an AID (such as the AIDs at 702, 704, 706, 708, and 710) in the TIM bitmap 700. In this example, for each value of 1 in the TIM bitmap 700, the STA also receives a TID bitmap, as shown at 720, 722, 724, 726, and 728. The TID bitmap may indicate for which TID (corresponding to the AID indicated by the TIM bitmap) the non-AP MLD may receive a BU.

[0077] In some implementations, the indication in block 502 or 504 may include an AID indicated in a TIM bitmap. In such a case, the AID may correspond to a link that matches the indicated TID. That is, the AID may be mapped to a single link or a single TID.

[0078] Figure 8 A flow chart illustrating an example process 800 for indicating a buffered unit (BU) by a traffic identifier (TID) according to some implementations is shown. The process 800 may be performed by an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) (such as the one described above with reference to Figure 2 In some implementations, process 800 may be performed by a STA (such as the wireless communication device 200 described above). Figure 1 and Figure 3B The method may be performed by a wireless communication device operating with or within the STA 104 or one of the STAs 104 and 304 described herein.

[0079] In some implementations, in block 802, the AP MLD transmits an indication of an association identifier (AID) associated with a non-AP MLD, wherein the indication of the AID indicates whether the AP has a buffered unit (BU) for the non-AP MLD.

[0080] In some implementations, in block 804, the AP MLD transmits an indication of one or more traffic identifiers (TIDs) associated with the BU for the non-AP MLD.

[0081] In some implementations, in block 806, the AP MLD determines the one or more links based on a mapping of a plurality of TIDs including the one or more TIDs to a plurality of links including the one or more links associated with the one or more TIDs.

[0082] In some implementations, in block 808, the AP MLD transmits a BU associated with the one or more TIDs to the non-AP MLD on the determined link.

[0083] In some implementations, transmitting the indication in block 802 may include transmitting a TIM bitmap. Additionally, in some cases, transmitting the indication in block 804 includes transmitting a TID bitmap corresponding to a value in the TIM bitmap. Figure 6 As shown in , the AP MLD may transmit a TIM bitmap 600 that includes a value of 1 in a value or bit position corresponding to an AID (such as the AIDs at 602, 604, 606, 608, and 610) within the TIM bitmap 600. In this example, for each value of 1 in the TIM bitmap 600, the AP MLD may also transmit a TID bitmap (such as at 620, 622, 624, 626, and 628) that indicates which TIDs the AP has BUs for (corresponding to the AIDs indicated by the TIM bitmap). In some implementations, the values ​​in the TIM bitmap indicate one or more AIDs, and the TID bitmap includes one or more TID fields. In some implementations, each TID field in the TID bitmap corresponds to one of the AIDs indicated in the TIM bitmap.

[0084] In some implementations, transmitting the indication in block 804 includes transmitting a QoS message including a MAC header control field indicating the TID. In some cases, the QoS message includes at least one of a QoS NULL message or a QoS DATA message. For example, the APMLD may transmit TIM signaling indicating buffered cells for a non-AP MLD according to previously known techniques. Since the non-AP MLD does not know the exact TID, the non-AP MLD may wake up its transceiver for any configured link and send a power save poll (PS-poll) or equivalent. If the AP does not have buffered cells for any TID mapped to the link, but has buffered cells for other TIDs, the AP may send QoS NULL with a High Efficiency A (HE-A) control field or any equivalent MAC header control field to indicate the TID for which the AP has buffered cells for the non-AP MLD. If the AP has buffered units for any TID mapped to the link for which the STA transmitted the PS-poll, and also has buffered units for other TIDs mapped to other links, the AP may pass the MPDU for the TID(s) mapped to the link, and may also include information about the other TIDs for which the AP has buffered units using the HE-A control field of the MAC header of the MPDU sent to the non-AP MLD, or any equivalent MAC header control field.

[0085] In some implementations, the AP MLD may transmit a new HE-A control field (e.g., TID Control) that carries a bitmap including 8 bits to signal the AP for each TID for which it has BUs for non-AP MLDs. In some cases, each bit in the 8-bit bitmap may correspond to a TID.

[0086] In some implementations, a device (such as an AP MLD) performing the example process 800 may transmit a message including a TIM in block 502 and may receive a polling message in response to the TIM. In some cases, transmitting a QoS message may be performed in response to the polling message. For example, the AP MLD may transmit a TIM, receive a PS-poll in response to the TIM, and may then transmit a QoS message.

[0087] In some implementations, transmitting the BU in block 808 includes transmitting another indication of another TID for which the AP MLD has other BUs for the non-AP MLD. The AP MLD may then transmit the other BU to the non-AP MLD.

[0088] In some implementations, the indication in block 804 includes a TID field in the message that corresponds to the value indicating the AID in the TIM bitmap. The signaled TID may be based on criteria, such as a TID that has a more stringent latency requirement than other TIDs for which the AP MLD has a BU or a TID for which the AP MLD has a maximum number of BUs. The AP MLD may signal the additional TIDs for which the AP MLD has a BU via a HE control field or other field in the MAC header. In some implementations, the AP MLD may use three bits to indicate the TID corresponding to the AID signaled in the TIM. For example, Figure 7 As shown in , the APMLD may transmit a TIM bitmap 700 that includes a value of 1 in a bit position corresponding to an AID (such as the AIDs at 702, 704, 706, 708, and 710) in the TIM bitmap. In this example, for each value 1 in the TIM bitmap 700, the AP MLD also transmits a TID bitmap (such as at 720, 722, 724, 726, and 728). The TID bitmap may indicate for which TID (corresponding to the AID indicated by the TIM bitmap) the non-AP MLD may receive a BU.

[0089] In some implementations, the indication in block 802 or 804 includes an AID indicated in a TIM bitmap. In such a case, the AID may correspond to a link matching the indicated TID. That is, the AID may be mapped to a single link or a single TID by the AP MLD.

[0090] Example Wireless Communication Device

[0091] Fig. 9 A block diagram of an example wireless communication device 900 according to some implementations is shown. In some implementations, the wireless communication device 900 is configured to perform the above reference Figure 8 The wireless communication device 900 may be the one described above with reference to Figure 2 The wireless communication device 900 may be an example implementation of the wireless communication device 200 described. For example, the wireless communication device 900 may be a chip, SoC, chipset, package, or device including at least one processor and at least one modem (e.g., a Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) modem or a cellular modem). In some implementations, the wireless communication device 900 may be a processor for use in an AP (such as those described above, respectively). Figure 1 and 3A In some other implementations, the wireless communication device 900 may be an AP including such a chip, SoC, chipset, package or device and at least one transmitter, at least one receiver and at least one antenna.

[0092] As shown, the wireless communication device 900 includes an AID indication transmission module 902, a TID indication transmission module 904, a TID link determination module 906, and a BU transmission module 908. Portions of one or more of the modules 902, 904, 906, and 908 may be implemented at least in part in hardware or firmware. For example, the BU transmission module 908 may be implemented at least in part by a modem (such as the modem 202). In some implementations, at least some of the modules 902, 904, 906, and 908 are at least partially implemented as software stored in a memory (such as the memory 208). For example, portions of one or more of the modules 902, 904, 906, and 908 may be implemented as non-transient instructions (or "codes") that can be executed by a processor (such as the processor 206) to perform the functions or operations of the corresponding modules.

[0093] In some implementations, the AID indication transmitting module 902 is configured to transmit an indication of an AID associated with a non-AP MLD, wherein the indication of the AID indicates whether the AP has a buffered unit (BU) for the non-AP MLD.

[0094] In some implementations, the TID indication transmitting module 904 is configured to transmit an indication of one or more traffic identifiers (TIDs) associated with the BU for the non-AP MLD.

[0095] In some implementations, the TID link determination module 906 is configured to determine the one or more links based on a mapping of a plurality of TIDs including the one or more TIDs to a plurality of links including the one or more links associated with the one or more TIDs.

[0096] In some implementations, the BU transmitting module 908 is configured to transmit the BU associated with the one or more TIDs to the non-AP MLD on the determined link.

[0097] Fig.10 1 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device 1000 according to some implementations. In some implementations, the wireless communication device 1000 is configured to perform the above reference Figure 5 The wireless communication device 1000 may be the one described above with reference to Figure 2 The wireless communication device 1000 may be a chip, SoC, chipset, package, or device including at least one processor and at least one modem (e.g., a Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) modem or a cellular modem). In some implementations, the wireless communication device 1000 may be a STA (such as the STAs described above, respectively). Figure 1 and3B In some other implementations, the wireless communication device 1000 may be a STA including such a chip, SoC, chipset, package or device and at least one transmitter, at least one receiver and at least one antenna.

[0098] The wireless communication device 1000 includes an AID indication receiving module 1002, a TID indication receiving module 1004, a TID link determination module 1006, and a BU receiving module 1008. Portions of one or more of the modules 1002, 1004, 1006, and 1008 may be implemented at least in part in hardware or firmware. For example, the BU receiving module 1008 may be implemented at least in part by a modem (such as the modem 202). In some implementations, at least some of the modules 1002, 1004, 1006, and 1008 are implemented at least in part as software stored in a memory (such as the memory 208). For example, portions of one or more of the modules 1002, 1004, 1006, and 1008 may be implemented as non-transient instructions (or "codes") that may be executed by a processor (such as the processor 206) to perform the functions or operations of the corresponding module.

[0099] In some implementations, the AID indication receiving module 1002 is configured to receive an indication of an association identifier (AID) associated with a non-AP MLD, wherein the indication of the AID indicates whether an access point (AP) has a buffered unit (BU) for the non-AP MLD.

[0100] In some implementations, the TID indication receiving module 1004 is configured to receive an indication of one or more traffic identifiers (TIDs) associated with the BU for the non-AP MLD.

[0101] In some implementations, the TID link determination module 1006 determines the one or more links based on a mapping of a plurality of traffic identifiers (TIDs) including one or more TIDs to a plurality of links including one or more links associated with the one or more TIDs.

[0102] In some implementations, the BU receiving module 1008 is configured to receive a BU associated with the one or more TIDs from the AP on the determined link.

[0103] Sample Clauses

[0104] Various implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0105] Clause 1: A method for wireless communications by a non-access point (non-AP) multi-link device (MLD), comprising: receiving an indication of an association identifier (AID) associated with the non-AP MLD, wherein the indication of the AID indicates whether an access point (AP) has a buffered unit (BU) for the non-AP MLD; determining the one or more traffic identifiers (TIDs) based on a mapping of a plurality of TIDs including one or more TIDs to a plurality of links including one or more links associated with the one or more TIDs; and receiving a BU associated with the one or more TIDs from the AP on the determined links.

[0106] Clause 2: The method of clause 1, further comprising: receiving an indication of the one or more TIDs.

[0107] Clause 3: A method as described in Clause 2, wherein: the indication of the AID includes a traffic indication map (TIM) including multiple values, each value in the TIM indicates a corresponding AID associated with a corresponding non-AP device and indicates whether the AP has a BU for the corresponding non-AP device; and receiving the indication of the one or more TIDs includes: receiving the TIM and identifying a value in the multiple values ​​that corresponds to the AID of the non-AP MLD.

[0108] Clause 4: The method as described in Clause 3 further includes receiving a TID bit map, wherein: each value of the multiple values ​​indicating whether the AP has a BU for the corresponding AID corresponds to an associated TID bit map, and the TID bit map indicates the TID for which the AP has a BU for the corresponding AID; and receiving an indication of the one or more TIDs includes: receiving the TID bit map and identifying the one or more TIDs based on the TID bit map.

[0109] Clause 5: The method of clause 4, wherein each TID in the TID bitmap is mapped to a corresponding link or a corresponding set of links in the one or more links.

[0110] Clause 6: The method of clause 5, wherein each link of the one or more links is associated with at least one TID.

[0111] Clause 7: The method of any of clauses 3-6, wherein the indication of the one or more TIDs is received in a message including a medium access control (MAC) header control field indicating the one or more TIDs.

[0112] Clause 8: The method of clause 7, wherein the MAC header control field comprises a high efficiency (HE) A control field, the HE A control field comprising at least one of a TID bitmap or a TID field indicating the one or more TIDs.

[0113] Clause 9: The method as recited in any of clauses 7-8, wherein each TID is mapped to a link or a set of links in the plurality of links.

[0114] Clause 10: The method of any of clauses 7-9, wherein the message comprises a Quality of Service (QoS) null message or a QoS data message indicating the one or more TIDs.

[0115] Clause 11: The method of clause 10, further comprising: transmitting a polling message to the AP, wherein the QoS Null message or the QoS Data message is received in response to the polling message.

[0116] Clause 12: The method of clause 3, wherein each respective AID indicated in the TIM is mapped to a single respective link in the plurality of links, and wherein receiving an indication of the one or more TIDs comprises determining the one or more TIDs based on the single respective link associated with the AID of the non-APMLD.

[0117] Clause 13: The method of clause 3, further comprising: transmitting a polling message in response to receiving the TIM, wherein the BU is received in response to the polling message.

[0118] Clause 14: The method of any of clauses 2-13, further comprising: receiving another indication of another TID of the AP for which it has other BUs for the non-AP MLD; and determining another link associated with the another TID, wherein receiving the BU comprises: receiving the other BU from the AP on the other link.

[0119] Clause 15: A method of wireless communications by an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD), comprising: transmitting an indication of an association identifier (AID) associated with a non-AP MLD, wherein the indication of the AID indicates whether the AP has a buffered unit (BU) for the non-AP MLD; determining the one or more links based on a mapping of a plurality of TIDs including one or more TIDs to a plurality of links including one or more links associated with the one or more TIDs; and transmitting the BU associated with the one or more TIDs to the non-AP MLD on the determined links.

[0120] Clause 16: The method of clause 16, further comprising: transmitting an indication of the one or more TIDs.

[0121] Clause 17: A method as described in clause 17, wherein: the indication of the AID includes a traffic indication map (TIM) including a plurality of values, each value being associated with a respective AID associated with a respective non-AP device and indicating whether the AP MLD has a BU for the respective non-AP device; and transmitting the indication of the one or more TIDs includes: transmitting in the TIM a value of the plurality of values ​​corresponding to the AID of the non-AP MLD.

[0122] Clause 18: The method of clause 18, further comprising transmitting a TID bit map, wherein: each value of the plurality of values ​​indicating that the AP MLD has a BU for a corresponding AID corresponds to an associated TID bit map, the TID bit map indicating a TID for which the AP MLD has a BU for the corresponding AID; and transmitting an indication of the one or more TIDs comprises: transmitting a TID bit map including values ​​identifying the one or more TIDs.

[0123] Clause 19: The method of clause 19, wherein each TID in the TID bitmap is mapped to a corresponding link or set of links in the plurality of links.

[0124] Clause 20: The method of clause 20, wherein each link of the plurality of links is associated with one or more TIDs.

[0125] Clause 21. The method of Clause 18, wherein transmitting an indication of the one or more TIDs comprises transmitting a message including a medium access control (MAC) header control field indicating the one or more TIDs.

[0126] Clause 22: The method of clause 22, wherein the MAC header control field comprises a high efficiency (HE) A control field, the HE A control field comprising at least one of a TID bitmap or a TID field indicating the one or more TIDs.

[0127] Clause 23: The method of any of clauses 22-23, wherein each TID is mapped to a link or a set of links in the plurality of links.

[0128] Clause 24: The method of any of clauses 22-24, wherein the message comprises a Quality of Service (QoS) null message or a QoS data message indicating the one or more TIDs.

[0129] Clause 25: The method of claim 25, further comprising: receiving a polling message from the non-AP MLD, wherein the QoS Null message or the QoS Data message is transmitted in response to the polling message.

[0130] Clause 26. The method of claim 18, wherein each respective AID indicated in the TIM is mapped to a single respective link of the plurality of links, and wherein transmitting an indication of the one or more TIDs comprises determining the one or more TIDs based on a link associated with the AID of the non-AP MLD.

[0131] Clause 27. The method of claim 18, further comprising: receiving a polling message in response to the TIM, wherein the transmitting BU responds to the polling message.

[0132] Clause 28: The method of any of clauses 17-28, further comprising: transmitting another indication to the APMLD of another TID for which it has other BUs for the non-AP MLD; and determining another link associated with the another TID, wherein transmitting the BU comprises: transmitting the other BU to the non-AP MLD on the other link.

[0133] Clause 29: A wireless communication device comprising: at least one modem, at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one modem, and at least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code, the processor-readable code, when executed by the at least one processor in conjunction with the at least one modem, is configured to: receive an indication of an association identifier (AID) associated with a non-access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD), wherein the indication of the AID indicates whether an access point (AP) has a buffered unit (BU) for the non-AP MLD; determine the one or more links based on a mapping of a plurality of traffic identifiers (TIDs) including one or more TIDs to a plurality of links including one or more links associated with the one or more TIDs; and receive a BU associated with the one or more TIDs from the AP on the determined links.

[0134] Clause 30: A wireless communication device comprising: at least one modem, at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one modem, and at least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code, the processor-readable code, when executed by the at least one processor in conjunction with the at least one modem, configured to: transmit an indication of an association identifier (AID) associated with a non-access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD), wherein the indication of the AID indicates whether the AP has a buffered unit (BU) for the non-AP MLD; determine the one or more links based on a mapping of a plurality of TIDs including one or more TIDs to a plurality of links including one or more links associated with the one or more TIDs; and transmit the BU associated with the one or more TIDs to the non-AP MLD on the determined link.

[0135] Clause 31: An apparatus comprising means for performing the method according to any of clauses 1-28.

[0136] Clause 32: A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a processing system, cause the processing system to perform the method of any of clauses 1-28.

[0137] Clause 33: A computer program product embodied on a computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium comprising code for executing the method according to any of clauses 1-28.

[0138] Additional considerations

[0139] As used herein, the term "determining" may encompass one or more of a wide variety of actions. For example, "determining" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, a database, or another data structure), assuming, and the like. Also, "determining" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), and the like. Also, "determining" may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, and the like.

[0140] As used herein, "or" is intended to be interpreted in an inclusive sense unless otherwise expressly indicated. For example, "a or b" may include only a, only b, or a combination of a and b. As used herein, a phrase that refers to "at least one of" or "one or more of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including individual members. For example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to cover the following possibilities: only a, only b, only c, a combination of a and b, a combination of a and c, a combination of b and c, and a combination of a, b, and c.

[0141] The various illustrative components, logic, logic blocks, modules, circuits, operations, and algorithmic processes described in conjunction with the implementations disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, firmware, software, or a combination of hardware, firmware, or software, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents. This interchangeability of hardware, firmware, and software has been generally described in terms of their functionality and is illustrated in the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and processes described above. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware, firmware, or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0142] Various modifications to the implementations described in this disclosure may be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, and the universal principles defined herein may be applied to other implementations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the implementations shown herein, but should be granted the widest scope consistent with the disclosure, the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

[0143] In addition, various features described in this specification in the context of separate implementations may also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single implementation may also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination. Thus, while features may be described above as functioning in a particular combination and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination may in some cases be removed from the combination, and a claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination, or a variation of a subcombination.

[0144] Similarly, although operations are depicted in a particular order in the accompanying drawings, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the particular order shown or in a sequential order, or to perform all the illustrated operations to achieve the desired result. In addition, the accompanying drawings may schematically depict one or more example processes in the form of a flow chart or a flow diagram. However, other operations that are not depicted may be incorporated into the example processes schematically illustrated. For example, one or more additional operations may be performed before, after, simultaneously or between any illustrated operations. In some environments, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. In addition, the separation of various system components in the implementation described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication by a first non-access point (non-AP) multi-link device (MLD), the first non-AP MLD comprising one or more non-AP stations, the method comprising: A traffic indication map (TIM) is received from an access point (AP) and includes a plurality of values, wherein each value of the TIM: indicating respective association identifiers (AIDs) associated with respective ones of the plurality of non-AP MLDs, including a first AID associated with the first non-AP MLD, and indicating whether the AP has buffered units (BUs) for corresponding non-AP MLDs including the first non-AP MLD; receiving, by a first non-AP station of the one or more non-AP stations affiliated with the first non-AP MLD, a message from the AP including a medium access control (MAC) header control field, the MAC header control field indicating one or more traffic identifiers (TIDs) for a BU of the first non-AP MLD; determining one or more links of the plurality of links associated with the one or more TIDs based on a mapping of a plurality of TIDs to a plurality of links including the one or more TIDs; as well as A BU associated with the one or more TIDs is received from the AP over the determined one or more links.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein: Receiving a message indicating the one or more TIDs includes: receiving a corresponding bitmap for each corresponding AID indicated in the TIM; Each respective bitmap indicates the AP for which it has BUs for the respective AID corresponding to the respective bitmap.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein: Each TID indicated by each respective bitmap is mapped to a respective link or a respective set of links among the one or more links.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein: Each link of the one or more links is associated with at least one TID.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein: The MAC header control field includes a High Efficiency (HE) A control field including at least one of a TID bitmap or a TID field indicating the one or more TIDs.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein: The message comprises a Quality of Service (QoS) null message or a QoS data message.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: A polling message is transmitted to the AP, wherein the QoS Null message or the QoS Data message is received in response to the polling message.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein: Each respective AID indicated in the TIM is mapped to a single respective link of the plurality of links, and wherein receiving an indication of the one or more TIDs comprises determining the one or more TIDs based on the single respective link associated with the AID of the non-AP MLD.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: A polling message is transmitted based on receiving the TIM, wherein the BU is received based on the polling message.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving another indication of another TID for which the AP has other BUs for the non-AP MLD; as well as Another link associated with the another TID is determined, wherein receiving the BU includes receiving the other BU from the AP on the another link.

11. A method for wireless communication by an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD), comprising: A traffic indication map (TIM) is transmitted, comprising a plurality of values, wherein each value of the TIM: indicating respective association identifiers (AIDs) associated with respective non-AP MLDs of the plurality of non-AP MLDs, including a first AID associated with the first non-AP MLD, and indicating whether the AP has buffered units (BUs) for corresponding non-AP MLDs including the first non-AP MLD; transmitting, to a first non-AP station of the one or more non-AP stations affiliated with the first non-AP MLD, a message including a medium access control (MAC) header control field indicating one or more traffic identifiers (TIDs) for a BU of the first non-AP MLD; determining one or more links of the plurality of links associated with the one or more TIDs based on a mapping of a plurality of TIDs to a plurality of links including the one or more TIDs; as well as A BU associated with the one or more TIDs is transmitted to the non-AP MLD over the determined one or more links.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein: Transmitting a message indicating the one or more TIDs comprises: transmitting a respective bitmap for each respective AID indicated in the TIM; and Each respective bitmap indicates a TID for which the AP MLD has a BU for a respective AID corresponding to the respective bitmap.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein: Each TID indicated by each respective bitmap is mapped to a respective link or set of links in the plurality of links.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein: Each link of the plurality of links is associated with one or more TIDs.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein: The MAC header control field includes a High Efficiency (HE) A control field including at least one of a TID bitmap or a TID field indicating the one or more TIDs.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein: The message comprises a Quality of Service (QoS) null message or a QoS data message.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: A polling message is received from the non-AP MLD, wherein the QoS Null message or the QoS Data message is transmitted in response to the polling message.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein: Each respective AID indicated in the TIM is mapped to a single respective link of the plurality of links, and wherein transmitting an indication of the one or more TIDs comprises determining the one or more TIDs based on a link associated with an AID of the non-AP MLD.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising: A polling message is received based on the TIM, wherein transmitting the BU is based on the polling message.

20. The method of claim 11, further comprising: transmitting another indication to the AP MLD of another TID for which it has other BUs for the non-AP MLD; as well as Another link associated with the another TID is determined, wherein transmitting the BU includes transmitting the other BU to the non-AP MLD on the another link.

21. A first non-AP multi-link device (MLD) comprising a plurality of non-access point (non-AP) stations, comprising: at least one modem; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one modem; as well as at least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor in conjunction with the at least one modem, is configured to cause the first non-AP MLD to: A traffic indication map (TIM) is received from an access point (AP) and includes a plurality of values, wherein each value of the TIM: indicating respective association identifiers (AIDs) associated with respective ones of the plurality of non-AP MLDs, including a first AID associated with the first non-AP MLD, and indicating whether the AP has buffered units (BUs) for corresponding non-AP MLDs including the first non-AP MLD; receiving, by a first non-AP station of the one or more non-AP stations affiliated with the first non-AP MLD, a message from the AP including a medium access control (MAC) header control field, the MAC header control field indicating one or more traffic identifiers (TIDs) for a BU of the first non-AP MLD; determining one or more links of the plurality of links associated with the one or more TIDs based on a mapping of a plurality of TIDs to a plurality of links including the one or more TIDs; as well as A BU associated with the one or more TIDs is received from the AP over the determined one or more links.

22. A first non-AP multi-link device (MLD) comprising a plurality of non-access point (non-AP) stations, comprising: at least one modem; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one modem; as well as At least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code, the processor-readable code, when executed by the at least one processor in conjunction with the at least one modem, is configured to cause the first non-AP MLD to perform the method of any one of claims 2-10.

23. An access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD), comprising: at least one modem; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one modem; as well as at least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor in conjunction with the at least one modem, is configured to cause the AP MLD to: A traffic indication map (TIM) is transmitted, comprising a plurality of values, wherein each value of the TIM: indicating respective association identifiers (AIDs) associated with respective non-AP MLDs of the plurality of non-AP MLDs, including a first AID associated with the first non-AP MLD, and indicating whether the AP has buffered units (BUs) for corresponding non-AP MLDs including the first non-AP MLD; transmitting, to a first non-AP station of the one or more non-AP stations affiliated with the first non-AP MLD, a message including a medium access control (MAC) header control field indicating one or more traffic identifiers (TIDs) for a BU of the first non-AP MLD; determining one or more links of the plurality of links associated with the one or more TIDs based on a mapping of a plurality of TIDs to a plurality of links including the one or more TIDs; as well as A BU associated with the one or more TIDs is transmitted to the non-AP MLD over the determined one or more links.

24. An access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD), comprising: at least one modem; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one modem; as well as At least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code, the processor-readable code, when executed by the at least one processor in conjunction with the at least one modem, is configured to cause the AP MLD to perform the method of any one of claims 12-20.

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