Management methods and related devices employed by an ap mld

Abstract

The application provides a management method adopted by an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD), which comprises the following steps: during association between the AP MLD and a non-AP MLD, obtaining a capability indication notified by the non-AP MLD, wherein the capability indication at least comprises a link addition capability indication of the non-AP MLD; and performing resource allocation on links between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD according to at least part of the link addition capability indication. By using the technical scheme, the AP MLD can correctly process resource allocation.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to wireless communications, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for handling resource allocation and / or link addition for an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD). BACKGROUND

[0002] In wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) multi-link operation (MLO), there can be multiple links between two multi-link devices (MLDs), which can include one AP MLD and one non-AP MLD. These links can operate independently to increase overall throughput and / or improve connection stability. An AP MLD can be considered to have multiple APs belonging to the same MLD. A non-AP MLD can be considered to have multiple non-AP stations (STAs) belonging to the same MLD.

[0003] During MLO association between a non-AP MLD and an AP MLD, the non-AP MLD can determine how many links it uses for frame exchange with the AP MLD. The non-AP MLD can not fully use all the links it can support during association. After MLO association, the non-AP MLD can need to add new links to increase throughput or traffic stability, and / or can delete current links due to power saving or resource management. However, for certain AP MLD architectures, certain resources dedicated to the non-AP MLD on each link are determined based on parameters informed from the non-AP MLD during association. When link addition or link deletion occurs after association, it is difficult for them to adjust dynamically.

[0004] In addition, the number of links available to the non-AP MLD depends on the number of available links provided by the AP MLD. The AP MLD can not activate all the links it can support during association, and can activate one or more unavailable links after association.

[0005] Therefore, there is a need for an innovative management scheme to enable the AP MLD to properly handle resource allocation and / or link addition. SUMMARY

[0006] It is an object of the present application to provide an apparatus and method for handling resource allocation and / or link addition for an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD).

[0007] According to a first aspect of the present application, an exemplary management method employed by an AP MLD is disclosed. The exemplary management method comprises: obtaining, during an association between the AP MLD and a non-AP MLD, a capability indication informed by the non-AP MLD, the capability indication comprising at least a link addition capability indication of the non-AP MLD; and performing resource allocation for a link between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD according to at least a portion of the capability indication.

[0008] According to a second aspect of the present application, an exemplary management method employed by an AP MLD is disclosed. The exemplary management method comprises: obtaining, during an association between the AP MLD and a non-AP MLD, a capability indication informed by the non-AP MLD; activating only M links of the AP MLD, wherein the AP MLD is capable of providing service on N links, N being greater than M; and in response to the AP MLD adding a new link to the M links, indicating or suggesting the non-AP MLD to use the new link according to a subset of the capability indication.

[0009] According to a third aspect of the present application, an exemplary management method employed by an AP MLD is disclosed. The exemplary management method comprises: transmitting a management frame to announce whether there is at least one unavailable link allowed to be activated in future.

[0010] According to a fourth aspect of the present application, an exemplary AP MLD is disclosed. The exemplary AP MLD comprises a network interface circuit and a control circuit. The network interface circuit is arranged to obtain, during an association between the AP MLD and a non-AP MLD, a capability indication informed by the non-AP MLD, wherein the capability indication comprises at least a link addition capability indication of the non-AP MLD. The control circuit is configured to perform resource allocation for a link between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD according to at least a portion of the capability indication.

[0011] According to a fifth aspect of the present application, an exemplary AP MLD is disclosed. The exemplary AP MLD comprises a network interface circuit and a control circuit. The control circuit is configured to control the network interface circuit to transmit a management frame to announce whether there is at least one unavailable link allowed to be activated in future.

[0012] Embodiments of the present application enable an AP MLD to correctly handle resource allocation and / or link addition.

[0013] These and other objects of the present application will no doubt become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments that are illustrated in various drawings and accompanying figures. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0015] Figure 2 is a flowchart of a management method for resource allocation used by an AP MLD according to an embodiment of the application.

[0016] Figure 3 is a flowchart of a management method for adding a link used by an AP MLD according to an embodiment of the application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] Certain terms are used throughout the following description and claims to refer to particular components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, electronic equipment manufacturers can refer to a component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but not in function. In the following description and claims, the terms "include" and "comprise" are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean "including, but not limited to...." Also, the term "couple" is intended to mean either an indirect or direct electrical connection. Thus, if one device couples to another device, that connection can be through a direct electrical connection, or through an indirect electrical connection via other devices and connections.

[0018] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system according to an embodiment of the application. The Wi-Fi system 100 has multiple wireless communication devices, including an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) 102 and a non-AP MLD 104, where the AP MLD 102 can be considered to have multiple APs belonging to the same MLD, and the non-AP MLD 104 can be considered to have multiple non-AP stations (STAs) belonging to the same MLD. For brevity, only two wireless communication devices are shown in Figure 1 In practice, the Wi-Fi system 100 is allowed to have more than two wireless communication devices, including an AP MLD and more than one non-AP MLD in the same basic service set (BSS). By way of example and not limitation, the AP MLD 102 and the non-AP MLD 104 can conform to the IEEE 802.11ax standard or the IEEE 802.11be standard.

[0019] In this embodiment, the AP MLD 102 can support i links L1-L i and can support M links L1-L Mcommunicates with the non-AP MLD 104, where M and i are positive integers, i is not less than 2 (i.e., i ≥ 2), and M is not greater than i (i.e., M ≤ i).

[0020] With respect to the AP MLD 102, it can include control circuitry 112 and network interface circuitry 114, where the network interface circuitry 114 can include multiple transceivers (labeled “TX / RX”) 116_1-116_i coupled to multiple antennas 118_1-118_i, respectively. With respect to the non-AP MLD 104, it can include control circuitry 122 and network interface circuitry 124, where the network interface circuitry 124 can include multiple transceivers (labeled “TX / RX”) 126_1-126_j coupled to multiple antennas 128_1-128_j, where j is a positive integer, M is not greater than j (i.e., M ≤ j), and i is not less than j (i.e., i ≥ j).

[0021] The multiple links enabled between the AP MLD 102 and the non-AP MLD 104 can share the same resources. For example, APs or STAs in the same MLD can share some resources, such as memory, antennas, and / or radios. Therefore, during the MLO association between the AP MLD 102 and the non-AP MLD 104, the AP MLD 102 must fully allocate its hardware (HW) resources 120 for the links, and the non-AP MLD 104 must also fully allocate its hardware (HW) resources 130 for the links.

[0022] The transceivers 116_1-116_i of the AP MLD 102 can communicate with some or all of the transceivers 126_1-126_j of the non-AP MLD 104 through the links L1-L M (M ≥ 1) with some or all of the transceivers 126_1-126_j of the non-AP MLD 104. For example, the links L1-L MChannels can be located in different radio frequency (RF) bands, including the 2.4 GHz band, the 5 GHz band, and / or the 6 GHz band. Control circuitry 112 at AP MLD 102 and control circuitry 122 at non-AP MLD 104 are arranged to control wireless communication between AP MLD 102 and non-AP MLD 104. For example, control circuitry 122 controls the STA-side transmit (TX) circuitry to handle uplink (UL) traffic between AP and non-AP STA, and controls the STA-side receive (RX) circuitry to handle downlink (DL) traffic between AP and non-AP STA. Control circuitry 112 also controls the AP-side RX circuitry to handle UL traffic between AP and non-AP STA, and controls the AP-side TX circuitry to handle DL traffic between AP and non-AP STA. In this embodiment, control circuitry 112 also participates in handling resource allocation and / or link addition for AP MLD 102.

[0023] It should be noted that Figure 1 Only components relevant to this invention are shown. In practice, AP MLD 102 may include additional components to achieve the specified function, and non-AP MLD 104 may include additional components to achieve the specified function.

[0024] Please combine Figure 1 refer to Figure 2 . Figure 2 This is a flowchart of a resource allocation management method used by AP MLD 102 according to an embodiment of the present invention. If the results are substantially the same, it is not necessary to follow... Figure 2 These steps are performed in the exact order shown. In step 202, network interface circuitry 114 obtains a capability indication notified by non-AP MLD 104 during MLO association between AP MLD 102 and non-AP MLD 104, and provides the capability indication of non-AP MLD 104 to control circuitry 112. For example, a subset of the notified capability indication may include a link addition capability indication of non-AP MLD 104 and the maximum number of links that non-AP MLD 104 can support. After the capability indication of non-AP MLD 104 becomes available to control circuitry 112, a resource allocation process (step 203) can be initiated.

[0025] In this embodiment, the control circuit 112 allocates resources to the hardware resources 120 based on at least a portion (i.e., partially or entirely) of the capability indication notified by the AP MLD 104. The resource allocation process (step 203) performed by the control circuit 112 may include steps 204, 206, 208, 210, and 212. It is assumed that the AP MLD 102 is capable of accessing N links (e.g., L1-L2). Nwhere N is the number of links supported by the AP MLD 102, and during the MLO association between the AP MLD 102 and the non-AP MLD 104, the non-AP MLD 104 establishes M links (e.g., LI-L M At step 204, the control circuit 112 checks whether M is equal to N. If M is equal to N, the flow proceeds to step 206. At step 206, the control circuit 112 performs resource allocation on the hardware resources 120 for allocating resources for M links without considering the link addition capability indication informed by the non-AP MLD 104. That is, the resource allocation for M links (M=N) is made since the non-AP MLD 104 has enabled all the links supported by the AP MLD 102 during the MLO association, and thus the link addition capability of the non-AP MLD 104 is irrelevant to this resource allocation case, and the AP MLD 102 can reject the link addition request from the non-AP MLD 104 after the MLO association.

[0026] If M is not equal to N (in particular, M is less than N), the flow proceeds to step 208. At step 208, the control circuit 112 checks the link addition capability indication informed from the AP MLD 104 to determine whether the non-AP MLD 104 is capable of adding links. If the link addition capability indication indicates that the non-AP MLD 104 is not capable of adding links, the flow proceeds to step 210. At step 210, the control circuit 112 performs resource allocation on the hardware resources 120 for allocating resources for M links (M

[0027] If the link addition capability indication indicates that the non-AP MLD 104 is capable of adding links, the flow proceeds to step 212. At step 212, the control circuit 112 performs resource allocation on the hardware resources 120 for allocating resources for K links, where K is a positive integer greater than M and not greater than N (i.e., M < K ≤ N). It is assumed that the maximum number of links that the non-AP MLD 104 is capable of supporting is equal to K. Since the non-AP MLD 104 that enables only M links (M < K) during the MLO association is capable of adding one or more new links after the MLO association, the control circuit 112 needs to allocate resources for K links that can be enabled by the non-AP MLD 104 in the future. The resources for (K-M) links allocated by the control circuit 112 can not be used during the lifetime of the non-AP MLD. It is noted that when the maximum number of links that the non-AP MLD 104 is capable of supporting is equal to the number of links that the AP MLD 102 is capable of serving (i.e., K = N), the control circuit 112 allocates resources for all N links available on the AP MLD 102.

[0028] Please refer to Figure 1 Reference Figure 3 . Figure 3 is a flowchart of a management method for link addition used by the AP MLD 102 according to an embodiment of the present application. These steps need not be performed in the exact order shown if the results are substantially the same. Figure 3 At step 302, the control circuit 112 controls the network interface circuit 114 to send a management frame for announcing whether at least one unavailable link is allowed to be activated in the future. For example, the management frame can be a beacon frame, an association response frame, etc.

[0029] At step 304, during the MLO association between the AP MLD 102 and the non-AP MLD 104, the AP MLD 102 does not activate all the links that it is capable of supporting. For example, it is assumed that the AP MLD 102 is capable of serving on N links (e.g., L1-L N where N = i), during the MLO association between the AP MLD 102 and the non-AP MLD 104, only M links (e.g., L1-L MWhere M < N, can be available. Since AP MLD 102 does not activate all the links it is capable of supporting, the above management frame (e.g., a beacon frame or an association response frame) can carry information of the number of unavailable links, and can further carry information of the characteristics of each unavailable link, such as bandwidth, channelization, and / or number of spatial stream (NSS). Moreover, since there are unavailable links on AP MLD 102 that can be used by non-AP MLD 104 in the future, non-AP MLD 104 needs to perform resource allocation on hardware resources 130 during MLO association between AP MLD 102 and non-AP MLD 104 in order to allocate resources for these unavailable links.

[0030] At step 306, during MLO association between AP MLD 102 and non-AP MLD 104, network interface circuit 114 obtains the indicated capability of non-AP MLD 104, and provides the indicated capability of non-AP MLD 104 to control circuit 112. For example, the subset of the indicated capability can include a link addition capability indication of non-AP MLD 104, a link switching capability indication of non-AP MLD 104, and a maximum number of links that non-AP MLD 104 is capable of supporting. The link addition capability indication can indicate whether non-AP MLD 104 is capable of adding a link. The link switching capability indication can indicate whether non-AP MLD 104 is capable of switching a certain link to another link.

[0031] Due to load balancing or other BSS management purposes, AP MLD 102 can add additional links for the associated non-AP MLD 104. That is, one or more unavailable links on AP MLD 102 can be activated and then become available to non-AP MLD 104. At step 308, after MLO association between AP MLD 102 and non-AP MLD 104, AP MLD 102 adds the new links (which were originally declared as unavailable links, and now become available links) to the M links (which are available links).

[0032] At step 310, the control circuit 112 instructs / recommends the non-AP MLD 104 to utilize the new link according to the subset of the capability indications obtained at step 306. Specifically, the control circuit 112 instructs / recommends the non-AP MLD 104 to utilize the new link through the network interface circuit 114. In one exemplary design, when the link addition capability indication indicates that the non-AP MLD 104 is capable of adding a link and the non-AP MLD 104 does not use the maximum number of links supported by the non-AP MLD 104, the control circuit 112 instructs / recommends the non-AP MLD 104 to add a link connection to the new link.

[0033] In another exemplary design, when the link switch capability indication indicates that the non-AP MLD is capable of switching a first link to a second link, the control circuit 112 instructs / recommends the non-AP MLD 104 to switch a current link to the new link, where the current link is the first link indicated by the link switch capability indication and the new link is the second link indicated by the link switch capability indication. In other words, the new link added by the AP MLD 102 is in the subset of links to which the current link is capable of being switched. Where switching the current link to the new link can refer to transferring hardware resources of the current link to the new link, the current link of the non-AP MLD is equal to being cancelled.

[0034] For example, the AP MLD 102 has two active links on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, and the non-AP MLD 104 operates on the 2.4 GHz link and the 5 GHz link. When the AP MLD 102 adds a new active link on 6 GHz, if both the 2.4 GHz link and the 5 GHz link are capable of being switched to another link (i.e., the 6 GHz link), the AP MLD 102 can instruct / recommend one of the 2.4 GHz link and the 5 GHz link to switch to 6 GHz, and if only the 5 GHz link is capable of being switched to another link (i.e., the 6 GHz link), the AP MLD 102 can instruct / recommend the 5 GHz link to switch to 6 GHz.

[0035] Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method can be made while remaining within the teachings of the application. Accordingly, the above disclosure is intended to be illustrative only and not limiting of the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A management method employed by an access point, AP, multi-link device, MLD, characterized in that, comprising: obtaining a capability indication informed by the non-AP MLD during a multi-link operation, MLO, association between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD; and allocating resources for links between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD according to at least a portion of the capability indication; wherein the at least a portion of the capability indication comprises a link addition capability indication of the non-AP MLD; the link addition capability indication of the non-AP MLD indicates whether the non-AP MLD is capable of adding links; the AP MLD is capable of providing services over N links, M links are established by the non-AP MLD during the MLO association between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD, and allocating resources for links between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD according to at least a portion of the capability indication comprises: allocating resources for only the M links when M is less than N and the link addition capability indication indicates that the non-AP MLD is not capable of adding links.

2. The management method according to claim 1, characterized in that, allocating resources for links between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD according to at least a portion of the capability indication further comprises: allocating resources for the M links when M is equal to N, regardless of the link addition capability indication.

3. The management method of claim 1, wherein, allocating resources for links between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD according to at least a portion of the capability indication further comprises: allocating resources for K links when M is less than N and the link addition capability indication indicates that the non-AP MLD is capable of adding links, where K is greater than M and no greater than N.

4. The management method of claim 3, wherein, the K is equal to N.

5. The management method according to claim 1, characterized by, the capability indication further comprises a maximum number of links supported by the non-AP MLD, and the K is equal to the maximum number of links supported by the non-AP MLD.

6. A management method employed by an access point, AP, multi-link device, MLD, characterized in that, comprising: obtaining a capability indication informed by the non-AP MLD during a multi-link operation, MLO, association between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD, and activating only M links of the AP MLD, wherein the AP MLD is capable of providing services over N links, and N is greater than M; and in response to the AP MLD enabling a new link, indicating or suggesting the non-AP MLD to use the new link according to a subset of the capability indication; wherein the subset of the capability indication comprises a link addition capability indication of the non-AP MLD and a maximum number of links supported by the non-AP MLD, and indicating or suggesting the non-AP MLD to use the new link according to the subset of the capability indication comprises: in response to the link addition capability indication indicating that the non-AP MLD is capable of adding links and the non-AP MLD is not using the maximum number of links supported by the non-AP MLD, indicating or suggesting the non-AP MLD to add a link connection to the new link.

7. An access point, AP, multi-link device, MLD, comprising: comprising: obtaining, by a network interface circuit, a capability indication informed by the non-AP MLD during a multi-link operation, MLO, association between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD, wherein the capability indication comprises at least a link addition capability indication of the non-AP MLD; and controlling, by a control circuit, resource allocation for links between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD according to at least part of the capability indication, wherein the at least part of the capability indication comprises the link addition capability indication of the non-AP MLD, and the link addition capability indication of the non-AP MLD indicates whether the non-AP MLD is capable of adding a link; wherein the AP MLD is capable of providing services over N links, M links are established by the non-AP MLD during an MLO association between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD, and the resource allocation for links between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD according to at least part of the capability indication comprises: when M is less than N and the link addition capability indication indicates that the non-AP MLD is not capable of adding a link, allocating resources only for the M links.

8. A computer storage medium, characterized in that, The computer storage medium is configured to store program instructions, which cause a processor to execute the method of any one of claims 1-6.

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