System and method for communicating in network using data request or response

Abstract

The invention relates to a system and method for communicating in a network using a data request or response. Systems and methods use protocols for requests and responses. An apparatus may include circuitry configured to provide at least one frame across a connection to a second apparatus. The frame includes a first field that includes a value indicative of the requested information from the second device. The value may indicate timing information, load information, occupancy level information, target channel information, signal power information, sequence information, neighborhood access point information, or unicast information.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for communicating between an access point (AP) and a client device (e.g., a station (STA)) or between other communication devices. In some embodiments, the present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods related to data request or response, including (but not limited to) on-demand data request and / or response protocols. Background Art

[0002] Over the past few decades, the market for wireless communication devices has grown by several orders of magnitude, driven by the use of portable devices and the increased connectivity and data transfer between various devices. Digital switching technology has facilitated the large-scale deployment of affordable, easy-to-use wireless communication networks. In addition, improvements in digital and radio frequency (RF) circuit manufacturing, as well as advances in circuit integration and other aspects, have made wireless equipment smaller, cheaper and more reliable. Wireless communications can operate according to various standards, such as IEEE 802.11x, Bluetooth, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), etc. With the development of higher data throughput and other changes, new standards are constantly being developed for adoption, such as the progression from IEEE 802.11n to IEEE 802.11ac.

[0003] Some data may not be available under certain protocols, and some data may need to wait for its availability under certain protocols. Data unavailability and waiting for data may cause communication overhead. Summary of the invention

[0004] In one aspect, the present disclosure relates to a first device, comprising: a circuit configured to provide at least one frame to a second device across a connection, the frame comprising a first field, the first field comprising an identification of requested information from the second device, wherein the identification of the requested information comprises an identification of one or more of timing information, load information, occupancy level information, target channel information, signal power information, sequence information, neighborhood access point information, or unicast information.

[0005] In another aspect, the present disclosure relates to a first device, comprising: a circuit configured to provide at least one frame to a second device across a connection, the frame comprising a first field, the first field comprising a value indicating information requested by the second device, wherein the value indicates at least one of timing information, load information, occupancy level information, target channel information, signal power information, sequence information, neighborhood access point information, or unicast information requested by the second device.

[0006] In a further aspect, the present disclosure relates to a method, comprising: providing a first frame from a first device to a second device across a connection, the first frame comprising a first field for indicating two types of requests and two types of responses and a second field comprising a value indicating an identifier of requested information from the second device, wherein the value indicates an identifier of timing information, load information, occupancy level information, target channel information, signal power information, sequence information, neighborhood access point information, or unicast information; and receiving a second frame from the second device at the first device, the second frame comprising a first field, the first field comprising a value indicating the requested information from the second device, wherein the value from the second device indicates the timing information, load information, occupancy level information, target channel information, signal power information, sequence information, neighborhood access point information, or unicast information. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Various objects, aspects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent and better understood by referring to the detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein similar reference characters identify corresponding elements throughout. In the accompanying drawings, similar reference numerals generally indicate identical, functionally similar and / or structurally similar elements.

[0008] Figure 1A is a block diagram depicting a network environment including one or more access points (APs) in communication with one or more devices or stations (STAs) according to some embodiments.

[0009] Figure 1B and 1C is a block diagram depicting a computing device that may be used in conjunction with the methods and systems described herein, according to some embodiments.

[0010] Figure 2A is a block diagram depicting a network including APs and STAs according to some embodiments.

[0011] Figure 2B is configured for data request or response operations according to some embodiments Figure 2A A more detailed block diagram of an AP or STA of the network illustrated in FIG.

[0012] Figure 3 is a block diagram depicting a request frame for a data request operation according to some embodiments.

[0013] Figure 4 is a block diagram depicting a response frame for a data response operation according to some embodiments.

[0014] The details of various embodiments of the method and system are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] The following IEEE standards (including any draft versions of these standards) are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety and are made a part of this disclosure for all purposes: WiFi Alliance standards and IEEE 802.11 standards, including (but not limited to) IEEE 802.11a TM 、IEEE 802.11b TM 、IEEE 802.11g TM 、IEEE 802.11be TM ,IEEEP802.11n TM ;IEEE P802.11ax TM ; and IEEE P802.11ac TM Although the present disclosure may refer to aspects of these standards, the present disclosure is in no way limited to these standards.

[0016] For the purpose of reading the description of the various embodiments below, the following description of the sections of the specification and their corresponding contents may be helpful:

[0017] - Section A describes a network environment and a computing environment that can be used to practice the embodiments described herein; and

[0018] - Section B describes a protocol for data request / response operations and embodiments of methods and apparatus using such a protocol.

[0019] Various embodiments disclosed herein relate to protocols for data request and / or response operations of devices communicating on a network. In some embodiments, protocols for WiFi networks (e.g., IEEE 802.11 networks, etc.), cellular networks, point-to-point communications, or combinations thereof are provided. In some embodiments, the protocol can be used with a Wi-Fi AP to enhance data availability and reduce the time to obtain data. In some embodiments, an on-demand acquisition data request / response (ODGDR) can be provided according to the protocol. In some embodiments, a connected / associated Wi-Fi client (STA) can request or query specific data from the AP to which it is connected as needed. The requested data can be information useful for improving the operation of a client device. In some embodiments, the ODGDR protocol can be used with any device (e.g., all WiFi devices that support protected management frames).

[0020] The amount of data (e.g., statistics, information, or other data) maintained at the AP side of the network is very large. Typically, the data is related to its existing client devices, neighborhood WiFi networks, and / or AP network backbones. The amount of data may be so large that the AP cannot periodically send all the data, and all the data is not necessarily related to every device in the network. In some embodiments, the system and method allow the client device to request and receive specific data from the AP without requesting a large amount of data or data that may be irrelevant to the client device. In some embodiments, the system and method allow the client device to request and receive information provided in a beacon frame or a probe response frame without waiting for the scheduled transmission of such frames. In some embodiments, the ODGDR protocol reduces the importance of receiving a beacon frame or a probe response frame in some cases, and allows the provision of some of the data that is currently unavailable in the existing beacon / probe response. In some embodiments, the use of the ODGDR protocol saves time because data can be obtained without waiting for the next beacon frame, a probe response frame, or other similar frames (e.g., a control or management frame). In some embodiments, the data may include information useful for handoff operations.

[0021] In some embodiments, a handover operation may refer to an operation in which a device is transferred from one AP to another AP. In some embodiments, the device is associated with a first AP (e.g., a connection is formed after discovery, authentication, and association operations), and is associated with a second AP after a handover operation. In some embodiments, a WiFi network may refer to a wireless network with Internet access. In some embodiments, a cellular network may refer to a radio network distributed over land through cells, where each cell includes a transceiver (e.g., a node or base station).

[0022] In some embodiments, systems and methods utilize information from neighbor reports to facilitate handoffs or other network operations to neighboring APs. Neighbor reports are provided from an AP to devices in a basic service set (BSS). A neighbor report may refer to data provided from an AP that indicates APs within the AP's area of ​​operation. A neighbor report may include the AP address, AP availability, channel information, operating band information (e.g., 2G, 5G, 6G, 60G, LTE, etc.), location information, beam steering information, channel quality, etc. for each AP in range (e.g., an AP target). In some embodiments, systems and methods provide an action frame that includes a request or a response to a request.

[0023] In some embodiments, a connection may refer to a communication established between nodes for exchanging data according to a protocol (e.g., wireless communication between nodes). In some embodiments, a three-way or four-way handshake mechanism (via discovery, authentication, and association operations) is used to establish a connection. In some embodiments, a secure connection may refer to a connection that provides data in a format that is not easily available to the other party. Various methods may establish a secure connection, including, but not limited to, data encryption methods. In some embodiments, data encryption employs algorithms for encrypting and decrypting information, including, but not limited to: WPA and WPA2 operations under the 802.11 standard (e.g., Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)). A connection may be a wireless connection to or from a client device (e.g., STA) and an AP, or may be between other types of communication devices. In some embodiments, a wireless network may be an 802.11 WiFi network (e.g., IEEE 802.11be). A client device or AP may be implemented in a device including one or more ICs encapsulated in an integrated circuit (IC) package.

[0024] A traffic indication map (TIM) may refer to a structure used in an 802.11 wireless network management frame to indicate the state of traffic in a network. A TIM may refer to data indicating the state of a device in a network, such as an information element according to Section 7.3.2.6 of the IEEE 802.11-1999 standard in some embodiments. The IEEE 802.11 standard uses a bitmap to indicate to any sleeping STA that the AP has buffered data waiting for it. Because the client device should listen to at least one beacon during the listening interval, the AP periodically sends this bitmap as an information element in its beacon signal or frame. In some embodiments, the TIM is a bit mask containing 2008 bits, each bit representing the associated identifier (AID) of the station. However, in some cases, the AP only has data for a few client devices, so only the portion representing these stations in the bitmap needs to be transmitted. In some embodiments, a portion of the bitmap may be referred to as a virtual bitmap, and the portion actually transmitted is referred to as a partial virtual bitmap. In some embodiments, a field may refer to a portion of a data structure (e.g., a frame) for data having a specific meaning.

[0025] Authentication operations may refer to the process of how a client device gains access to a network. Authentication provides proof of identity to ensure that a client is allowed to access the network. Association operations may refer to the process for a client device that has been authenticated as being associated with an AP. Association allows the network to determine where to send data intended for the client device (e.g., sending data through the AP with which the client device is associated). Typically, a client device is associated with only a single AP.

[0026] In some embodiments, systems and methods reduce discovery operations (e.g., using scanning for beacon signals or probe requests to discover APs). In some embodiments, discovery operations may refer to the communication of frames used to discover the availability and / or identification (ID) of APs or other wireless devices. Discovery operations may involve the communication of probe request frames and probe response frames.

[0027] Some embodiments relate to a first device. The first device includes circuitry configured to provide at least one frame to a second device across a connection. The frame includes a first field that indicates an identification of requested information from the second device. The requested information is one or more of timing information, load information, occupancy level information, target channel information, signal power information, sequence information, neighbor access point information, or unicast information.

[0028] In some embodiments, the identification of the requested information may refer to the type, identity, or other characteristics of the requested information. In some embodiments, the requested information from the second device may refer to information sought by the first device from the second device. In some embodiments, the timing information may refer to data used to synchronize communications between two or more devices. The timing information may include, but is not limited to, low TSF, next TBTT, or next DTIM TBTT under the IEE 802.11 standard, or similar data.

[0029] In some embodiments, load information may refer to data used to determine the amount of communication or available communication between two or more devices. The load information may include, but is not limited to, BSS load, medium occupancy level, my pending load, overall pending load, or BCMC pending load or similar data under the IEE 802.11 standard.

[0030] In some embodiments, occupancy level information may refer to data used to determine the number of devices or services on the network. The occupancy level may include, but is not limited to, the media occupancy level under the IEE 802.11 standard, my pending load, overall pending load, BCMC pending load, the number of WiFi clients, the number of OBSS devices, or the number of neighborhood APs, or similar data.

[0031] In some embodiments, the target channel information may refer to data for indicating a new channel for communication between two or more devices. The target channel information may include, but is not limited to, a desired target channel under the IEE 802.11 standard or similar data.

[0032] In some embodiments, the signal power information may refer to data of signal strength or quality. The signal power information may include (but is not limited to) RSSI, transmission power or interference level or similar data under the IEE 802.11 standard.

[0033] In some embodiments, sequence information may refer to continuous data related to communication between two or more devices. The sequence information may include, but is not limited to, the current sequence of any TID or the current sequence of BCMC or similar data under the IEE 802.11 standard.

[0034] In some embodiments, the neighborhood access point information may refer to data indicating the identity or number of APs in the communication environment. The neighborhood access point information may include, but is not limited to, the number of neighborhood APs under the IEE 802.11 standard or similar data.

[0035] In some embodiments, the unicast information may refer to data indicating a unicast sequence in a communication environment. The unicast information may include, but is not limited to, unicast numbers or similar data under the IEE 802.11 standard.

[0036] The above IEEE terms are further described with reference to Table I below.

[0037] In some embodiments, the frame is provided according to the 802.11 protocol and the connection is established using an association or authentication operation. In some embodiments, the value may indicate timing information, load information, occupancy level information, target channel information, signal power information, sequence information, neighbor access point information, and unicast information.

[0038] In some embodiments, the frame includes a second field for indicating a value of the number of requests. In some embodiments, the frame includes a third field for indicating a value of a get data request or a get data response. In some embodiments, the value may indicate timing information, sequence information, neighborhood access point information, and unicast information. In some embodiments, a get data request may refer to a request for data using an action frame that includes a category field indicating a category of get data. In some embodiments, a get data response may refer to a response that includes the requested data. In some embodiments, a get data response may be an action frame that includes a category field indicating a category of get data.

[0039] In some embodiments, the value is timing information, and the timing information is a low TSF, a next TBTT, or a next DTIMTBTT. In some embodiments, the low TSF may refer to a synchronization parameter, such as a parameter associated with a low TSF under the IEEE 802.11 standard. In some embodiments, the next TBTT may refer to a parameter indicating the time of the next signal, such as a parameter associated with the next TBTT under the IEEE802.11 standard. In some embodiments, the next DTIM TBTT may refer to a parameter indicating the time of the next mapping message, such as a parameter associated with the next DTIM TBTT under the IEEE 802.11 standard. In some embodiments, the value is unicast information, and the unicast information is the number of pending unicast frames. In some embodiments, the circuit is configured to receive at least one frame from a second device across a connection. The frame from the second device includes a first field including a length field and a value field including the requested information. In some embodiments, the second device includes an access point.

[0040] Some embodiments relate to a first device. The first device includes circuitry configured to provide at least one frame to a second device across a connection. The frame includes a first field that includes a value indicating information requested by the second device. The value may indicate one or more of timing information, load information, occupancy level information, target channel information, signal power information, sequence information, neighbor access point information, or unicast information.

[0041] In some embodiments, the frame is an action frame including a field indicating a response type. In some embodiments, the frame includes a second field for indicating a value of a number of requests. In some embodiments, the frame includes a third field for indicating a value of a length. In some embodiments, the frame is provided according to the 802.11 protocol. In some embodiments, the length may refer to the length of the data of the frame. In some embodiments, the action frame may refer to the type of management frame used to trigger the action.

[0042] Some embodiments relate to a method. The method includes providing a first frame from a first device to a second device across a connection. The first frame includes a first field for indicating two types of requests and two types of responses and a second field including a value indicating requested information from the second device. The value may indicate timing information, load information, occupancy level information, target channel information, signal power information, sequence information, neighborhood access point information, or unicast information. The method also includes providing a second frame from the second device to the first device, the second frame including a first field, the first field including a value indicating information requested by the second device. The value may indicate timing information, load information, occupancy level information, target channel information, signal power information, sequence information, neighborhood access point information, or unicast information.

[0043] In some embodiments, the second frame includes a second field for indicating two types of requests and two types of responses. In some embodiments, the value is timing information, and the timing information is low TSF, next TBTT, or next DTIMTBTT. In some embodiments, the value may indicate timing information, load information, occupancy level information, target channel information, signal power information, sequence information, neighborhood access point information, and unicast information. In some embodiments, the first frame includes a third field for indicating a value of length.

[0044] A channel may refer to any portion of the electromagnetic spectrum used to communicate data. Portions may have various bandwidths and may be combined to form a wider bandwidth or channel. In some embodiments, a channel may have a 5 MHz interval around a center frequency and may occupy a frequency band of at least 20 MHz. In some embodiments, the channel is in a 2G, 5G, 6G, or 60G frequency band. In some embodiments, the primary control channel is a common operating channel for all stations (STAs) that are members of a basic service set (BSS). For example, in a 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 80+80 MHz, 320 MHz bandwidth BSS, the primary control channel is a 20 MHz channel. The primary control channel is used to transmit all management frames. The primary control channel may refer to any channel used to send and receive management frames, including but not limited to beacon frames, probe request / response frames, authentication request / response frames, association request / response frames, deauthentication frames, deassociation frames, etc.

[0045] In some embodiments, a frame may refer to a digital data transmission unit. For example, a frame may refer to a container for a single network packet. In some embodiments, a data frame may refer to a frame containing data. In some embodiments, an encrypted frame may refer to a frame that has been encrypted. In some embodiments, a broadcast message or a broadcast frame may refer to a message or a frame sent to more than one device in a BSS connected to an AP or communicating with an AP. In some embodiments, a broadcast message or a broadcast frame is sent to all devices in a BSS connected to an AP. In some embodiments, a unicast message or a unicast frame may refer to a message or a frame with a single destination.

[0046] A. Computing and Network Environment

[0047] Before discussing specific embodiments of the present solution, it may be helpful to describe aspects of the operating environment and associated system components (eg, hardware elements) in conjunction with the methods and systems described herein. Figure 1A, depicting an embodiment of a network environment. In brief overview, the network environment includes a wireless communication system that includes one or more access points (APs) or network devices 106, one or more client devices (e.g., STAs) or wireless communication devices 102, and network hardware components or network hardware 192. The wireless communication device 102 may, for example, include a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a personal computer, and / or a cellular telephone device. Reference Figure 1B and 1C The details of the embodiments of each station or wireless communication device 102 and / or AP or network device 106 are described in more detail. In one embodiment, the network environment may be an ad hoc network environment, an infrastructure wireless network environment, a subnet environment, etc. The network device 106 or AP may be operably coupled to the network hardware 192 via a local area network connection. In some embodiments, the network device 106 is a 5G base station. The network hardware 192, which may include routers, gateways, switches, bridges, modems, system controllers, appliances, etc., may provide a local area network connection for the communication system. Each of the network devices 106 or APs may have an associated antenna or antenna array to communicate with wireless communication devices in its area. The wireless communication device 102 may register with a specific network device 106 or AP to receive services from the communication system (e.g., via SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO configuration). For direct connections (e.g., point-to-point communications), some wireless communication devices may communicate directly via allocated channels and communication protocols. Some of the wireless communication devices 102 may be mobile or relatively stationary relative to the network device 106 or AP.

[0048] In some embodiments, the network device 106 or AP includes a device or module (including a combination of hardware and software) that allows the wireless communication device 102 to connect to a wired network using wireless fidelity (WiFi) or other standards. The network device 106 or AP may sometimes be referred to as a wireless access point (WAP). The network device 106 or AP may be implemented (e.g., configured, designed and / or constructed) for operation in a wireless local area network (WLAN). In some embodiments, the network device 106 or AP may be connected to a router (e.g., via a wired network) as a standalone device. In other embodiments, the network device 106 or AP may be a component of a router. The network device 106 or AP may provide access to a network to multiple devices. The network device 106 or AP may, for example, be connected to a wired Ethernet connection and use a radio frequency link to provide a wireless connection for other devices 102 to utilize the wired connection. The network device 106 or AP may be implemented to support standards for sending and receiving data using one or more radio frequencies. Those standards and the frequencies they use may be defined by IEEE (e.g., IEEE 802.11 standards). The network device 106 or AP may be configured and / or used to support public Internet hotspots and / or to extend the Wi-Fi signal range of the network on the network.

[0049] In some embodiments, the access point or network device 106 may be used for a wireless network (e.g., IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, ZigBee, any other type of radio frequency based network protocol and / or variants thereof) (e.g., in a home, in a car, or in a building). Each of the wireless communication devices 102 may include a built-in radio and / or be coupled to a radio. Such wireless communication devices 102 and / or access points or network devices 106 may operate in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure presented herein to enhance performance, reduce cost and / or size, and / or enhance broadband applications. Each wireless communication device 102 may have the ability to act as a client node seeking access to resources (e.g., data and connections to networked nodes such as servers) via one or more access points or network devices 106.

[0050] The network connection may include any type and / or form of network, and may include any of the following: a point-to-point network, a broadcast network, a telecommunications network, a data communications network, a computer network. The network topology may be a bus, a star, or a ring network topology. The network may be any such network topology known to those of ordinary skill in the art that is capable of supporting the operations described herein. In some embodiments, different types of data may be transmitted via different protocols. In other embodiments, the same type of data may be transmitted via different protocols.

[0051] The communication device 102 and the access point or network device 106 may be deployed as and / or executed on any type and form of computing device, such as a computer, network device, or appliance capable of communicating over any type and form of network and performing the operations described herein. Figure 1B and 1C A block diagram of a computing device 100 is depicted that may be used to practice embodiments of a wireless communication device 102 or a network device 106. Figure 1B and 1C As shown in FIG. 1 , each computing device 100 includes a processor 121 (eg, a central processing unit) and a main memory unit 122. Figure 1B As shown in FIG. 1 , computing device 100 may include storage device 128, installation device 116, network interface 118, I / O controller 123, display devices 124a to 124n, keyboard 126, and pointing device 127 (e.g., mouse). Storage device 128 may include an operating system and / or software. Figure 1C As shown in , each computing device 100 may also include additional optional elements that communicate with the central processing unit or processor 121, such as a memory port 103, a bridge 170, one or more input / output devices 130a to 130n, and a cache 140.

[0052] The central processing unit or processor 121 is any logic circuitry that responds to and processes instructions fetched from the main memory unit 122. In many embodiments, the central processing unit or processor 121 is provided by a microprocessor unit, such as: a microprocessor unit manufactured by Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, California; a microprocessor unit manufactured by International Business Machines of White Plains, New York; or a microprocessor unit manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices of Sunnyvale, California. The computing device 100 may be based on any of these processors or any other processor capable of operating as described herein.

[0053] The main memory unit 122 may be one or more memory chips capable of storing data and allowing any storage location to be directly accessed by the microprocessor or processor 121, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), NAND flash memory, NOR flash memory, and any type or variation of solid-state drive (SSD). The main memory unit 122 may be based on any of the above-mentioned memory chips or any other available memory chip capable of operating as described herein. Figure 1B In the embodiment shown in , processor 121 communicates with main memory unit 122 via system bus 150 (described in more detail below). Figure 1C An embodiment of the computing device 100 is depicted in which the processor communicates directly with the main memory unit 122 via the memory port 103. For example, in Figure 1C In the embodiment, the main memory unit 122 may be a DRDRAM.

[0054] Figure 1C An embodiment is depicted in which the main processor 121 communicates directly with the cache 140 via a secondary bus (sometimes referred to as a backside bus). In other embodiments, the main processor 121 communicates with the cache 140 using the system bus 150. The cache 140 typically has a faster response time than the main memory unit 122 and is provided by, for example, SRAM, BSRAM, or EDRAM. Figure 1C , the processor 121 communicates with various I / O devices 130 via a local system bus (e.g., system bus 150). Various buses may be used to connect the central processing unit or processor 121 to any of the I / O devices 130, such as a VESA VL bus, an ISA bus, an EISA bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, a PCI bus, a PCI-X bus, a PCI-Express bus, or a NuBus. For embodiments in which the I / O device is a video display 124, the processor 121 may communicate with the display 124 using an Advanced Graphics Port (AGP). Figure 1C An embodiment of a computer or computer system 100 is depicted in which the main processor 121 can communicate directly with the I / O device 130b, such as via HYPERTRANSPORT, RAPIDIO, or INFINIBAND communication technology. Figure 1C Also depicted is an embodiment in which local busses and direct communications are mixed: processor 121 communicates with I / O device 130a using a local interconnect bus while communicating directly with I / O device 130b.

[0055] There may be a variety of I / O devices 130a to 130n in the computing device 100. Input devices include keyboards, mice, trackpads, trackballs, microphones, dials, touchpads, touch screens, and drawing tablets. Output devices include video displays, speakers, inkjet printers, laser printers, projectors, and dye sublimation printers. Figure 1B , the I / O devices may be controlled by an I / O controller 123. The I / O controller may control one or more I / O devices, such as a keyboard 126 and a pointing device 127, such as a mouse or an optical pen. In addition, the I / O devices may also provide storage and / or installation media for the computing device 100. In yet other embodiments, the computing device 100 may provide a USB connection (not shown) to accept a handheld USB storage device, such as the USB flash drive series of devices manufactured by Twintech Industry, Inc. of Los Alamitos, California.

[0056] Reference again Figure 1B , the computing device 100 may support any suitable installation device 116, such as a disk drive, a CD-ROM drive, a CD-R / RW drive, a DVD-ROM drive, a flash drive, a tape drive of various formats, a USB device, a hard drive, a network interface, or any other device suitable for installing software and programs. The computing device 100 may further include a storage device, such as one or more hard drives or a redundant array of independent disks, for storing an operating system and other related software and for storing application software programs (e.g., any program or software 120 used to implement (e.g., configured and / or designed for) the systems and methods described herein). Optionally, any of the installation devices 116 may also be used as a storage device. In addition, the operating system and software may be run from a bootable media.

[0057] In addition, the computing device 100 may include a network interface 118 to interface to a network through various connections, including, but not limited to, a standard telephone line, a LAN or WAN link (e.g., 802.11, T1, T3, 56kb, X.25, SNA, DECNET), a broadband connection (e.g., ISDN, Frame Relay, ATM, Gigabit Ethernet, Ethernet-over-SONET), a wireless connection, or some combination of any or all of the above. The connection may be established using various communication protocols (e.g., TCP / IP, IPX, SPX, NetBIOS, Ethernet, ARCNET, SONET, SDH, Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), RS232, IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE802.11ac, IEEE 802.11ad, CDMA, GSM, WiMax, and direct asynchronous connection). In one embodiment, computing device 100 communicates with other computing devices 100' via any type and / or form of gateway or tunneling protocol, such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS). Network interface 118 may include a built-in network adapter, a network interface card, a PCMCIA network card, a card bus network adapter, a wireless network adapter, a USB network adapter, a modem, or any other device suitable for interfacing computing device 100 to any type of network capable of communicating and performing the operations described herein.

[0058] In some embodiments, the computing device 100 may include or be connected to one or more display devices 124a to 124n. Thus, any of the I / O devices 130a to 130n and / or the I / O controller 123 may include any type and / or form of appropriate hardware, software, or combination of hardware and software to support, enable, or provide for connection and use of the display device(s) 124a to 124n by the computing device 100. For example, the computing device 100 may include any type and / or form of video adapter, video card, driver, and / or library to interface, communicate, connect, or otherwise use the display device(s) 124a to 124n with the display device(s) 124a to 124n. In one embodiment, the video adapter may include multiple connectors to interface to the display device(s) 124a to 124n. In other embodiments, the computing device 100 may include multiple video adapters, each of which is connected to the display device(s) 124a to 124n. In some embodiments, any portion of the operating system of the computing device 100 may be configured for use with the multiple display devices 124a to 124n. In further embodiments, the I / O device 130 may be a bridge between the system bus 150 and an external communications bus such as a USB bus, an Apple Desktop bus, an RS-232 serial connection, a SCSI bus, a FireWire bus, a FireWire 800 bus, an Ethernet bus, an AppleTalk bus, a Gigabit Ethernet bus, an Asynchronous Transfer Mode bus, a Fibre Channel bus, a fiber optic bus, a Serial Attached Small Computer System Interface bus, a USB connection, or an HDMI bus.

[0059] Figure 1B and 1CA computing device 100 of the type depicted in the may operate under the control of an operating system that controls the scheduling of tasks and access to system resources. The computing device 100 may run any operating system, such as any version of the MICROSOFT WINDOWS operating system, different versions of the Unix and Linux operating systems, any version of the MAC OS for Macintosh computers, any embedded operating system, any real-time operating system, any open source operating system, any proprietary operating system, any operating system for mobile computing devices, or any other operating system capable of running on a computing device and performing the operations described herein. Typical operating systems include (but are not limited to): Android produced by Google Inc.; WINDOWS 7, 8 and 10 produced by Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Washington; MACOS produced by Apple Computer in Cupertino, California; WebOS produced by Research In Motion (RIM); OS / 2 produced by International Business Machines in Armonk, New York; and Linux, a free-to-use operating system released by Caldera in Salt Lake City, Utah, or any type and / or form of Unix operating system, etc.

[0060] The computer system or computing device 100 may be any workstation, phone, desktop computer, laptop or notebook computer, server, handheld computer, mobile phone or other portable telecommunication device, media playback device, gaming system, mobile computing device, or any other type and / or form of computing, telecommunication or media device capable of communication. In some embodiments, the computing device 100 may have a different processor, operating system, and input device consistent with the device. For example, in one embodiment, the computing device 100 is a smart phone, mobile device, tablet computer, or personal digital assistant. In addition, the computing device 100 may be any workstation, desktop computer, laptop or notebook computer, server, handheld computer, mobile phone, any other computer, or other form of computing or telecommunication device capable of communication and having sufficient processor power and memory capacity to perform the operations described herein.

[0061] Aspects of the operating environment and components described above will become apparent in the context of the systems and methods disclosed herein.

[0062] B. Protocols for data request / response operations and methods and apparatus for using such protocols

[0063] This document discloses systems and methods that can be used in any communication system including (but not limited to) Wi-Fi and LTE networks. The systems and methods can be used with an AP or STA in a communication network (e.g., Figure 1A Although embodiments of data request and / or response operations for communications under the IEEE 802.11 standard are described herein, the systems and methods may be used with other networks (e.g., cellular and satellite networks) and in point-to-point communications.

[0064] refer to Figure 2A , the wireless communication network or system 200 includes client devices or STAs 204, 206, 208, and 224 and APs 212, 214, 216, and 222. The STAs 204, 206, 208, and 224 and the APs 212, 214, 216, and 222 may be referred to in the accompanying drawings. Figure 1A C. Any number of STAs 204, 206, 208, and 224 and APs 212, 214, 216, and 222 may be used in the network or system 200. In some embodiments, a STA or client device may refer to any device for communicating in a communication system, and includes, but is not limited to, a fixed, portable, or mobile laptop, desktop personal computer, personal digital assistant, workstation, wearable device, smart phone, or Wi-Fi phone. In some embodiments, an access point or AP may refer to a device for communicatively coupling one or more non-AP devices (e.g., client devices or STAs) to a network. In some embodiments, an AP may enable non-AP devices to connect to and communicate with a network. In some embodiments, an AP is a wireless access point (WAP) configured to enable wireless communication between non-AP devices. APs include, but are not limited to, mobile, portable, or fixed hotspots, routers, bridges, gNB nodes, eNodeBs, evolved NodeBs, or other communication devices. An AP may provide services to a STA, for example, acting as a connection point to another network.

[0065] STA 204, 206, 208 and 224 and AP 212, 214, 216 and 222 may each include a wireless transceiver and various modules for communicating via a connection. Modules may be software (e.g., firmware), hardware components, and combinations thereof. In some embodiments, each of STA 204, 206, 208 and 224 and AP 212, 214, 216 and 222 includes a media access control (MAC) layer circuit and a physical (PHY) layer interface to a wireless medium that complies with IEEE 802.11, and may be part of a larger device or system. In some embodiments, each of STA 204, 206, 208 and 224 and AP 212, 214, 216 and 222 operates according to other standards other than the IEEE 802.11 standard.

[0066] After the authentication and association operations, a connection for wireless communication may be established between at least one of STAs 204, 206, 208, and 224 and APs 212, 214, 216, and 222. For example, STA 208 has a connection 218 to AP 212. STAs 204, 206, 208, and 224 each include circuitry (e.g., a processor or processing circuit 221), and APs 212, 214, 216, and 226 each include circuitry (e.g., processing circuit 233) for establishing and canceling connection 218 and communicating data across the connection. In another example, STA 204 has a connection 228 to AP 212, and STA 206 has a connection 229 to AP 222. STAs 204, 206, 208, and 224 each include circuitry (e.g., processor or processing circuitry 221), and APs 212, 214, 216, and 222 each include circuitry (e.g., processing circuitry 233) for operating in accordance with data request and response operations as described below. In some embodiments, connections 218, 228, 229, and 226 are wireless connections that are formed using association and / or authorization operations and are cancelled using disassociation and / or deauthentication operations. In some embodiments, connections 218, 228, 229, and 226 may be single-link, multi-link, or dual-link connections associated with APs 212 and 222 and may be secure connections (e.g., using encryption). In some embodiments, connections 218, 228, 229, and 226 provide data communications and control and management communications over one or more channels in 5G, 6G, 60G, or 2G frequency bands.

[0067] In some embodiments, the STAs 204, 206, 208, and 224 and the APs 212, 214, 216, and 222 are configured to use the ODGDR protocol to facilitate communications between the STAs 204, 206, 208, and 224 and the APs 212, 214, 216, and 222. In some embodiments, the requested data may be used to facilitate handover operations, reduce wake-up time of client devices, reduce transitions from sleep modes, reduce time for off-channel / on-channel transitions, and other communication operations.

[0068] In some embodiments, sleep mode may refer to an operating mode in which a device communicating on a network reduces its communications (e.g., to save power). In some embodiments, sleep mode may involve a device being in a mode in which it does not receive or transmit data for a period of time or until further notice in an existing channel. For example, in some embodiments, a STA may be considered to be in sleep mode because it is not communicating on a first channel (e.g., a home channel) even if it is using power to communicate on another channel or perform channel scanning operations on other channels. In some embodiments, periodic sleep mode may refer to a sleep mode that repeats over a period of time.

[0069] refer to Figure 2B According to some embodiments, the device 220 is the AP 212 or the STA 208 ( Figure 2A ) and is configured for the ODGDR protocol. In some embodiments, the device 220 includes a processing circuit 233, a neighbor report module 242, and an ODGDR module 238. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 233 is any circuit system or component that can perform logic and communication processing operations and can include a processor 234 and a memory 236.

[0070] In some embodiments, the processing circuit 230 is implemented as a field programmable gate array, an application specific integrated circuit, hardware, a software execution processor, or a state machine. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 230 is part of a layer (e.g., MAC, network, PHY layer) of an IEEE 802.11 standard device. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 230 may be configured to perform communication operations, frame construction and processing, obtain data request and response operations, discovery operations, association operations, authorization operations, connection establishment, disassociation operations, switching operations, and deauthentication operations. In some embodiments, instructions for the processing circuit 230 are stored in a non-transitory medium (e.g., memory 236). In some embodiments, the processing circuit 221 of the STA 208 and the processing circuit 233 of the AP 212 are similar to the processing circuit 230.

[0071] Memory 236 may be one or more devices (e.g., RAM, ROM, flash memory, hard disk storage) for storing data and / or computer code used to complete and / or facilitate the various processes described herein. Memory 236 may be or include non-transitory volatile memory, non-volatile memory, and non-transitory computer storage media. Memory 236 may include database components, object code components, script components, or any other type of information structure for supporting the various activities and information structures described herein. Memory 236 may be communicatively coupled to processor 234 and include computer code or instructions for executing one or more processes described herein. Processor 234 may be implemented as one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), a set of processing components, software execution processors, state machines, or other suitable electronic processing components. Thus, AP or network device 106 ( Figure 1A ) is configured to execute various modules and / or programs and store associated data in a database in memory 236. Modules (e.g., modules 238 and 242) may be implemented in AP software (e.g., MAC layer or PHY layer software) or STA software (e.g., MAC layer or PHY layer software). In some embodiments, AP 212 or STA 208 ( Figure 2A ) is constructed and used to establish connections to other computing systems and devices (e.g., wireless communication device 102, network hardware 192, other access points or network devices 106) via a network (e.g., a WAN connection, a LAN connection, a WLAN connection, etc.) Figure 1A Connection and switching access to C)).

[0072] In some embodiments, processing circuit 233 includes neighbor reporting module 242. Neighbor reporting module 242 may be configured to communicate with one or more APs 212, 214, 216, and 222 ( Figure 2A ) are communicatively coupled and may be configured to determine which APs 212, 214, 216, and 222 are available for connection to STAs 204, 206, 208, and 224. For example, neighbor report module 242 may generate neighbor reports in response to information received from other STAs.

[0073] In some embodiments, the neighbor report module 242 may be configured to provide a neighbor report in response to a neighbor report request sent from one or more of the STAs 204, 206, 208, and 224 to one or more APs 212, 214, 216, and 222. In some embodiments, the neighbor report includes information about neighboring APs 212, 214, 216, and 222 that are known candidates for the STAs 204, 206, 208, and 224 to reassociate with. The neighbor report provides information about neighboring APs 212, 214, 216, and 222 of the APs currently associated with one or more of the STAs 204, 206, 208, and 224, and this information may be used as an identification of potential candidates for new attachment points when roaming. The neighbor report may reduce the delay associated with scanning for available APs 212, 214, 216, and 222 (reducing active probing of APs or passively listening to each channel for beacon frames). Instead, the STAs 204, 206, 208, and 224 can use neighbor reports to narrow the list of potential APs to known available APs, which is particularly useful in high-density environments where multiple WLANs can be heard by the STAs 204, 206, 208, and 224. In some embodiments, the use of neighbor reports also reduces the power consumption of the STAs 204, 206, 208, and 224 (e.g., due to scanning) and allows for more efficient use of the medium of the STAs 204, 206, 208, and 224.

[0074] In some embodiments, the ODGDR module 238 is configured to provide requests and / or respond to requests for various types of data. For example, in some embodiments, the ODGDR module 238 is configured to cause the device 220 to provide a query after operating off-channel. When the device 220 (e.g., one of the STAs 204, 206, 208, and 224) leaves the channel for scanning or neighbor awareness networking (NAN) and returns to the operating channel associated with the connection to one of the APs 212, 214, 216, and 222, the device 220 determines whether the device 220 can enter a sleep mode or remain awake for data packets from the connection. In some embodiments, the ODGDR module 238 queries for a return of a partial virtual bit IE, the partial virtual bit IE indicating the availability of data from the AP to the device 220 (e.g., a client device). If the partial virtual bit IE indicates that data from the AP is not available to the device 220 (e.g., no data service is available), the device 220 returns to the sleep mode. In some embodiments, the query enables additional power savings for device 220 because device 220 does not need to stay awake for the next beacon frame.A partial dummy bits IE may be provided in a frame (eg, an action frame) and may be a traffic information management IE.

[0075] In some embodiments, the ODGDR module 238 is configured to cause the device 220 to provide a query when there is a drift in the timeline between devices (e.g., between a STA and an AP). For example, when the device 220 (e.g., one of the STAs 204, 206, 208) enters an always-awake state, the device 220 provides a request to obtain information for aligning with the time synchronization function (TSF) (timeline) of the AP. In general, a STA (e.g., one of the STAs 204, 206, 208, and 224) typically does not have information about the amount of drift of the STA's clock from the AP's clock. Without providing a request, the device 220 waits for up to two intervals between beacon frames in the listening mode (to account for potential misses of beacon frames), which results in unnecessary power consumption. Further, without providing a request, when the AP provides irregular beacons and the STA needs to align with the beacon frames, the STA needs to align with the beacon frames. By providing a query for information for clock alignment, the device 220 can synchronize without waiting for two beacon frames. When the clock is aligned, the device may enter sleep mode. The information used for clock alignment may be the current TSF and the next target beacon transmission time (TBTT).

[0076] In some embodiments, the ODGDR module 238 is configured to cause the device 220 to provide a query for information related to broadcast and multicast frames. For example, in some embodiments, when one of the APs 212, 214, 216, and 222 currently associated with one or more of the STAs 204, 206, 208, and 224 has broadcast or multicast packets (BCMC packets) to be transmitted to the device 220 (e.g., one of the STAs 204, 206, and 208) and other client devices, the AP sends those packets after sending a Delivery Traffic Information Map (DTIM) beacon frame (e.g., a beacon frame with a DTIM count of zero). Typically, in most APs, the DTIM period is 3 seconds, and assuming that the beacon interval is 100 timing units (Tus, e.g., 102.4ms), the DTIM beacon frame is sent every 307.2ms. Typically, the listening interval is configured to be 20 beacon intervals, which is 2.048 seconds (assuming 100 TUs as the beacon interval). Therefore, the device 220 can sleep up to 20 beacon intervals, and the AP will buffer unicast packets. In order to receive broadcast or multicast packets (BCMC packets), the device needs to wake up every DTIM beacon interval. If the device 220 enters low power mode and wakes up once every listening interval, the device 220 may lose / miss the BCMC packets.

[0077] According to an example, in some embodiments, BCMC packets are generated with some regular periodicity (e.g., 2.048 seconds), and the AP indicates where the BCMC packets can be expected using an IE in the next DTIM beacon (similar to the next beacon transmission time (TBTT) discussed above). The device 220 can send a request when the STA wants to sleep for the IE indicating when the next BCMC packet can be expected, and wake up once in each listening interval to avoid missing the BCMC packets.

[0078] An example request may include the following IEs listed in Table 1 below. The ODGDR module 238 supports requesting specific information from APs 212, 214, 216, and 222 as needed, rather than waiting for the AP to send the details sought by device 220. The request may be provided in a frame. In some embodiments, a request may refer to a code, message, or frame (e.g., an action code or frame) sent by a client device to an AP or vice versa to request information. In some embodiments, a request is a frame sent by a client device to an AP to request any of the information provided in Table 1 below.

[0079] Table I—Request IE

[0080]

[0081]

[0082] The following discusses operations associated with the IEs listed in Table I. In some embodiments, the IEs may be provided in fields of an action frame.

[0083] In response to the Low TSF IE, the AP returns the least significant bits (LSB) 16 bits of its Low TSF value, which can represent a maximum of 65.6356 milliseconds. This value can be used on the client side to adjust for clock drift, if any.

[0084] In some embodiments, in response to the My RSSI IE, the AP returns a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of the client device at the AP side. In some embodiments, this information assists the client device in determining how well the AP is receiving the client device signal. In some embodiments, the client device can use this information to determine the channel quality or whether it is desirable to transition to another AP.

[0085] In some embodiments, in response to the BSS Load IE, the AP returns the load of the APs within its own BSS. In some embodiments, this information assists the client device in determining how much client activity the AP is loaded with. The determination can be used to determine whether the client device should seek a connection with another AP.

[0086] In some embodiments, in response to the Media Occupancy Level IE, the AP returns a media occupancy level that takes into account its own load, other OBSS loads, and other interference. In some embodiments, this information allows the client device to assess the environment of the AP and how busy the AP is. The determination can be used to determine whether the client device should seek a connection with another AP.

[0087] In some embodiments, in response to my pending load IE, the AP returns how much unicast data is waiting on the AP side to decide to deliver it to the client. In some embodiments, this information is used by the client device to determine whether it should stay awake for more time to obtain its delivered data.

[0088] In some embodiments, in response to the overall pending load IE, the AP returns how much unicast data is waiting on the AP side to decide to deliver to all clients. In some embodiments, this information is used by the client device to determine how much data the AP will deliver to all clients and decide to keep itself awake.

[0089] In some embodiments, in response to the BCMC Pending Load IE, the AP returns how much broadcast / multicast data is waiting on the AP side to be decided to be delivered to the BSS. Therefore, in some embodiments, the client device can stay awake in response to this information.

[0090] In some embodiments, in response to the next TBTT IE, the AP provides the next target beacon transmission time in microseconds. In some embodiments, when the AP skips beacon transmissions, the value may be greater than the beacon interval and allow client devices to determine the time to wake up for the next beacon transmission.

[0091] In some embodiments, in response to the expected target channel IE, if the AP is willing to switch channels, the AP provides the preferred channel. In some embodiments, if the AP is not willing to switch channels, the AP may return to an existing channel or channel 0.

[0092] In some embodiments, the transmit power of the AP in dBm is provided in response to the transmit power IE. In some embodiments, the client device may use this information to determine channel quality or whether to wish to transition to another AP.

[0093] In some embodiments, the interference level (% of non-WiFi signal reception) of the AP is provided in response to the Interference Level IE. In some embodiments, the client device may use this information to determine channel quality or whether to wish to transition to another AP.

[0094] In some embodiments, in response to the Next DTIM TBTT field, the AP provides the time of the next target DTIM beacon transmission time in microseconds. In some embodiments, the client device may use this information to determine when to enter or exit sleep mode.

[0095] In some embodiments, in response to the number of WiFi clients, the AP provides the number of WiFi clients that the AP is currently serving. In some embodiments, the client device can use this information to determine channel quality or whether to wish to transition to another AP.

[0096] In response to the number of OBSS device IEs, the number of WiFi devices sensed by the AP in the same channel is provided, including those devices that are not part of the BSS. In some embodiments, the device may be an AP or a client device. In some embodiments, a client device may use this information to determine channel quality or whether to wish to transition to another AP.

[0097] In some embodiments, in response to the number of neighbor APs IE, the AP provides the number of neighbor APs configured with the same SSID near the AP. In some embodiments, the client device can use this information to determine channel quality or whether to wish to transition to another AP.

[0098] In some embodiments, in response to a current pseudo-random (PN) sequence for a TID-X IE, the AP provides a PN sequence number to be delivered to a client device from a particular traffic identifier.

[0099] In some embodiments, in response to the number of pending unicast TID-Xs, the AP provides a TID-specific number of unicast packets awaiting a decision to deliver at the AP side. In some embodiments, the client device may use this information to determine when to enter or exit sleep mode.

[0100] In some embodiments, a PN sequence number to be delivered to the client device for the BCMC packet is provided in response to the current PN sequence of the BCMC.

[0101] In some embodiments, the request is provided in an IEEE 802.11 action frame format by a device embodied as a WiFi client device to request the AP to provide specific information.

[0102] A device 220 connected to an AP may send an SA-query get data request to the AP at any time when the device 220 needs data from the AP. In some embodiments, this action frame is a protected frame similar to a security association (SA) query. In some embodiments, any unprotected action frame of this type of frame is generally rejected by the AP and is not followed. The existing SA-query action frame has enhanced space that can be used for the requests described above (e.g., get data requests).

[0103] On the AP side, upon receiving the SA-Query Get Data Request frame, upon successful decryption, the AP may respond with the required data using an SA-Query Get Data Response frame. In some embodiments, the SA-Query action frame category is modified to have more than 2 action codes (e.g., more than 0 SA-Query Requests and 1 SA-Query Responses). For example, in some embodiments, the additional action codes may be Get Responses or Requests on Demand (e.g., Query Get Data Requests and / or SA-Query Get Data Responses). In some embodiments, the existing 2 bytes of the Transaction Identifier IE in the conventional SA-Query frame are not required.

[0104] refer to Figure 3 In some embodiments, the SA-query get data request 300 includes a category field 302, an action field 304, a request number field 306, and a request type field 308. In some embodiments, the request type field 308 is a 2-byte field containing the number of request type fields in Table I. In some embodiments, the request number field 306 is a two-byte field indicating the number of request type fields carried by the frame. In some embodiments, the request type fields 306 are appended one after another. For example, in order to request a low TSF and a "next DTIM TBTT", the request type fields are 0x0000 and 0x000c. The frame size is 2+2+2+(N*2)=6+(2*N), where N is an integer.

[0105] refer to Figure 4In some embodiments, the SA-query obtains data response 400 includes a category field 402, an action field 404, a request number field 406, a request type field 408, a length field 410, and a value field 412. The SA-query obtains data response 400 obtains a value corresponding to the request type. By the requested request type number in field 408, the device 220 can easily associate the value when multiple unprocessed single requests are pending. The length of the return value is passed in the length field 410. Fields 408, 410, and 412 will repeat according to the number of requests in fields 306 and 406. In some embodiments, the frame size is 6+variable size according to the number of requests and length fields for each request. In some embodiments, the value 0 in the request number field 306 is invalid and can be ignored by the responder or AP. In some embodiments, the maximum length of the proposed action frame is guided by the 802.11 specification. The value field 412 contains the requested information. In some embodiments, a length of 0 implies that the corresponding value is 0 and therefore the value field 412 will not be present in the frame.

[0106] The category fields 302 and 402 indicate the action frame type. Examples of action frames of different category types include (but are not limited to):

[0107] 0—Spectrum Management

[0108] 1: QoS

[0109] 2: DLS

[0110] 3: Block ACK

[0111] 4: Public

[0112] 5: Radio Measurement

[0113] 6: Fast BSS transition

[0114] 7: High Throughput (HT)

[0115] 8: SA query

[0116] 9: Protected double public action

[0117] 10-125: Reserved / unused

[0118] 126: Protected vendor specific

[0119] 127: Vendor Specific

[0120] 128-255: Error

[0121] The IEEE 802.11 standard defines the above action field types. In addition, in some embodiments, the action field types used for fields 304 and 404 may include codes for SA-Response, SA-Request, SA-Query Get Data Response, or SA-Query Get Data Request. Codes for SA-Response and SA-Request are provided in the 802.11 standard.

[0122] It should be noted that certain paragraphs of the present disclosure may refer to terms associated with a subset of frames, responses, and devices, such as "first" and "second", for the purpose of identifying or distinguishing one from another or others. These terms are not intended to associate entities (e.g., first device and second device) only in time or according to a sequence, but in some cases, these entities may include such a relationship. These terms also do not limit the number of possible entities (e.g., STA, AP, beam former, and / or beam formee) that can operate in a system or environment. It should be understood that the above-mentioned system may provide multiple of any one or each of those components, and these components may be provided on a stand-alone machine, or in some embodiments, on multiple machines in a distributed system. Still further, the bit field position may be changed, and multi-bit words may be used. In addition, the above-mentioned systems and methods may be provided as one or more computer-readable programs or executable instructions embodied on or in one or more articles of manufacture (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, CD-ROM, flash memory card, PROM, RAM, ROM, or tape). The program may be implemented in any programming language (e.g., LISP, PERL, C, C++, C#) or in any bytecode language (e.g., JAVA). The software program or executable instructions may be stored as object code on or in one or more articles of manufacture. A circuit system may refer to any electronic circuit or circuits.

[0123] A circuit system or circuit may refer to any electronic circuit or combination of circuits. To the extent that a device, circuit, processor, or circuit system is described or stated in a claim as performing one or more operations or functions, or being configured to perform one or more operations or functions, the performance of the stated functions or operations may be distributed across two or more devices, circuits, or processors without departing from the scope of the claims, unless the functions or operations are explicitly stated as being performed on a particular single circuit or set of circuits, processor, or device (e.g., using the phrases "on a single circuit," "on a set of circuits comprising," or "on a single device").

[0124] Although the above written description of the method and system enables one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use embodiments thereof, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand and appreciate that there are variations, combinations, and equivalents of the specific embodiments, methods, and examples herein. For example, the specific values ​​of bandwidth, channels, and sub-bands discussed above are exemplary. Therefore, the method and system should not be limited by the above-described embodiments, methods, and examples, but should be limited by all embodiments and methods within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A first device, comprising: Circuitry configured to provide at least one frame to a second device across a connection, the frame comprising a first field, the first field comprising an identification of requested information from the second device, wherein the identification of the requested information comprises an identification of one or more of timing information, load information, occupancy level information, target channel information, signal power information, sequence information, neighbor access point information, or unicast information.

2. The first device of claim 1, wherein the frame is provided according to an 802.11 protocol and the connection is established by using an association or authentication operation.

3. The first device of claim 1, wherein the requested information comprises the timing information, load information, occupancy level information, target channel information, signal power information, sequence information, neighbor access point information, and unicast information. The first device according to claim 1 , wherein the frame comprises a second field for indicating a value of a request number. 5 . The first device of claim 1 , wherein the frame comprises a third field for indicating a value of a get data request or a get data response. 6 . The first device according to claim 1 , wherein the identifier is capable of indicating the timing information, sequence information, neighbor access point information, and unicast information.

7. The first device according to claim 1, wherein the requested information includes the timing information, and the timing information is a low time synchronization function (TSF), a next target beacon transmission time (TBTT), or a next delivery service information map (DTIM) (TBTT).

8. The first device of claim 1, wherein the requested information comprises unicast information, and the unicast information comprises a number of pending unicast frames.

9. The first device of claim 1, wherein the circuit is configured to receive at least one frame from the second device across the connection, the frame from the second device comprising a first field including a length field and a value field, the value field comprising the requested information.

10. The first device of claim 1, wherein the second device comprises an access point.

11. A first device, comprising: Circuitry configured to provide at least one frame to a second device across a connection, the frame comprising a first field, the first field comprising a value indicating information requested by the second device, wherein the value indicates at least one of timing information, load information, occupancy level information, target channel information, signal power information, sequence information, neighbor access point information, or unicast information requested by the second device. 12 . The first device of claim 11 , wherein the frame is an action frame including a field indicating a response type.

13. The first device of claim 11, wherein the frame comprises a second field for indicating a value of a request number. The first device according to claim 11 , wherein the frame comprises a third field for indicating a value of a length.

15. The first device of claim 11, wherein the frame is provided according to an 802.11 protocol.

16. A method comprising: providing a first frame from a first device to a second device across a connection, the first frame including a first field for indicating two types of requests and two types of responses and a second field including a value indicating an identification of requested information from the second device, wherein the value indicates an identification of timing information, load information, occupancy level information, target channel information, signal power information, sequence information, neighbor access point information, or unicast information; and A second frame is received at the first device from the second device, the second frame including a first field, the first field including a value indicating the requested information from the second device, wherein the value from the second device indicates the timing information, load information, occupancy level information, target channel information, signal power information, sequence information, neighborhood access point information, or unicast information. 17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the second frame includes a second field for indicating the two types of requests and the two types of responses.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the value is timing information, and the timing information is a low TSF, a next TBTT, or a next delivery service information map (DTIM TBTT).

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the value from the second device is capable of indicating the timing information, load information, occupancy level information, target channel information, signal power information, sequence information, neighbor access point information, and unicast information.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the first frame includes a third field for indicating a value of a length.

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