Arrangement of link resources for multi-link device

Abstract

The present disclosure provides systems and methods for deploying resources in a wireless network. In some implementations, an apparatus obtains, from a first station (STA) on a first communication link associated with an access point (AP) multilink device (MLD), a request for association with all communication links of the AP MLD, and deploying a single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD for communication with the first STA based on at least one of a latency, an interference level, or a traffic load associated with each of the communication links of the AP MLD. The apparatus generates a frame indicating whether the single communication link or the plurality of communication links of the AP MLD are deployed to the first STA for communication with the AP MLD, and outputs the frame for transmission to the first STA.

Description

[0001] Cross-references

[0002] This patent application claims priority to Indian Patent Application No. 202241032285, filed by KUCHAREWSKI et al. on June 6, 2022, entitled “PROVISIONING LINK RESOURCES OF A MULTI-LINK DEVICE,” which is assigned to the assignee of this application and is expressly incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to selectively provisioning a communication link of a device to one or more clients associated with the device.

[0004] Description of Related Technology

[0005] A wireless local area network (WLAN) may be formed by one or more access points (APs) that provide a shared wireless medium for use by multiple client devices, such as wireless stations (STAs). The basic building block of a WLAN that complies with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards is a basic service set (BSS) managed by an AP. Each BSS is identified by a basic service set identifier (BSSID), which is announced by the AP in a beacon frame periodically broadcast over the wireless medium, so that STAs within the wireless range of the AP can associate with the AP. An AP multi-link device (MLD) may include multiple APs that can operate independently on multiple corresponding communication links. Each AP may establish a BSS on a corresponding communication link, and a wireless communication device associated with an AP MLD may send data to or receive data from the AP MLD on one or more of the communication links associated with the AP MLD.

[0006] Some wireless communication devices may be associated with low-latency applications that have stringent end-to-end latency, throughput, and timing requirements for data traffic. Example low-latency applications include, but are not limited to, real-time gaming applications, video communications, and augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications (collectively referred to as extended reality (XR) applications). Such low-latency applications may specify various latency, throughput, and timing requirements for wireless communication systems that provide connectivity for these applications. Therefore, it is desirable to ensure that a WLAN including an MLD can meet the various latency, throughput, and timing requirements of such low-latency applications. Summary of the invention

[0007] A simplified summary of one or more aspects is presented below to provide a basic understanding of these aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is neither intended to identify key or important elements of all aspects, nor to describe the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description presented later.

[0008] An innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented as a device for wireless communication. The device may include a processing system and an interface. In some specific implementations, the interface obtains a request for association with an AP MLD on a first communication link associated with an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) from a first station (STA) on a first communication link and on each of one or more second communication links of the AP MLD. The processing system is configured to allocate a single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD for communication between the first STA and the AP MLD based on at least one of the latency, interference level, or traffic load associated with each of the first communication link and one or more second communication links of the AP MLD. The processing system is configured to generate a first frame indicating whether a single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD is allocated to the first STA for communication with the AP MLD. The interface is further configured to output a first frame for sending to the first STA on the first communication link.

[0009] In various specific implementations, the first communication link is associated with a first AP of the AP MLD, one or more second communication links are associated with one or more corresponding second APs of the AP MLD, and the first STA is associated with a STA MLD including one or more second STAs associated with the one or more corresponding second communication links of the AP MLD. In some instances, the first frame also indicates whether a single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD are allocated to one or more second STAs of the STA MLD for communication with the AP MLD. In some other instances, the first frame includes a service identifier (TID) to link mapping (T2LM) element, which indicates, for each of the multiple TIDs, one or more communication links of the AP MLD allocated for the service associated with the corresponding TID. In some aspects, the request is obtained via a multilink association request frame or a multilink probe request frame, and the first frame is a multilink association response frame in response to the multilink association request frame or a multilink probe response frame in response to the multilink probe request frame.

[0010] In some specific implementations, the first frame indicates that a single communication link of the AP MLD is allocated to the first STA for communication with the AP MLD, the interface is further configured to obtain one or more TIDs associated with a traffic flow sent to or received from the first STA, and the processing system is further configured to map the one or more TIDs only to the allocated single communication link of the AP MLD. In some aspects, the interface is further configured to obtain a first indication that at least one of a latency, an interference level, or a traffic load associated with the allocated single communication link is at least equal to a corresponding latency threshold, an interference threshold, or a traffic load threshold, and the processing system is further configured to switch the communication between the first STA and the AP MLD from the allocated single communication link of the AP MLD to another single communication link of the AP MLD based on the first indication. In some instances, switching the communications includes remapping one or more TIDs from the allocated single communication link of the AP MLD to another single communication link of the AP MLD. In some aspects, the processing system is further configured to generate a second frame including a T2LM element indicating a remapping of one or more TIDs from the provisioned single communication link of the AP MLD to another single communication link of the AP MLD, and the interface is further configured to output the second frame for transmission to the first STA over the provisioned single communication link.

[0011] In other instances, the interface is further configured to obtain a second indication that at least one of a latency, an interference level, or a traffic load associated with another single communication link is at least equal to a corresponding latency threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold, and the processing system is further configured to switch communications between the first STA and the AP MLD from another single communication link of the AP MLD to all communication links of the AP MLD based on the second indication. In some instances, switching the communications includes remapping one or more TIDs from another single communication link of the AP MLD to all communication links of the AP MLD. In some aspects, the processing system is further configured to generate a third frame including a T2LM element indicating a remapping of one or more TIDs from another single communication link of the AP MLD to all communication links of the AP MLD, and the interface is further configured to output the third frame for transmission to the first STA on another single communication link.

[0012] In other specific implementations, the first frame indicates that multiple communication links of the AP MLD are allocated to the first STA for communication with the AP MLD, the interface is further configured to obtain one or more TIDs associated with a traffic flow sent to or received from the first STA, and the processing system is further configured to map the one or more TIDs only to the multiple communication links allocated by the APMLD. In various aspects, the interface is further configured to obtain an indication that at least one of the latency, interference level, or traffic load associated with one or more of the multiple communication links allocated is at least equal to a corresponding latency threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold, and the processing system is further configured to switch the communication between the first STA and the AP MLD from the multiple communication links allocated by the AP MLD to a single communication link of the APMLD based on the indication. In some instances, switching the communications includes remapping one or more TIDs from the multiple communication links allocated by the AP MLD to the single communication link of the AP MLD. In some aspects, the processing system is further configured to generate a second frame including a T2LM element indicating a remapping of one or more TIDs from the provisioned plurality of communication links of the AP MLD to a single communication link of the AP MLD, and the interface is further configured to output the second frame for transmission to the first STA on at least one communication link of the provisioned plurality of communication links.

[0013] In various specific implementations, the processing system is further configured to reserve a first communication link of the AP MLD or one of the one or more second communication links for delay-sensitive services, and maintain the delay, interference level, and traffic load associated with the reserved communication link below the corresponding delay threshold, interference threshold, and traffic load threshold. In some instances, the interface is further configured to obtain an indication that at least one of the delay, interference level, or traffic load associated with the reserved communication link is at least equal to the corresponding delay threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold, and the processing system is further configured to switch the communication between the AP MLD and one or more other STAs from the reserved communication link to one or more other communication links of the AP MLD based on the indication. In some aspects, the interface is further configured to obtain one or more service level agreement (SLA) parameters associated with the first STA, wherein the provisioning of the single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD is further based on the one or more SLA parameters associated with the first STA.

[0014] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented as a method for wireless communication. In various specific implementations, the method may be performed by an AP MLD. In some specific implementations, the method includes: obtaining a request for association with the AP MLD on the first communication link and on each of the one or more second communication links from a first STA on the first communication link of the APMLD; allocating a single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD for communication between the first STA and the AP MLD based on at least one of the latency, interference level, or traffic load associated with the first communication link of the AP MLD and each of the one or more second communication links; generating a first frame indicating whether a single communication link or multiple communication links of the APMLD is allocated to the first STA for communication with the AP MLD, and outputting the first frame for sending to the first STA on the first communication link.

[0015] In some specific implementations, the first communication link is associated with a first AP of the AP MLD, one or more second communication links are associated with one or more corresponding second APs of the AP MLD, and the first STA is associated with a STA MLD including one or more second STAs associated with the one or more corresponding second communication links of the AP MLD. In some instances, the first frame further indicates whether a single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD are allocated to one or more second STAs of the STA MLD for communication with the AP MLD. In some other instances, the first frame includes a T2LM element, which indicates, for each of a plurality of TIDs, one or more communication links of the AP MLD allocated for a service associated with the corresponding TID. In some aspects, the request is obtained via a multilink association request frame or a multilink probe request frame, and the first frame is a multilink association response frame in response to the multilink association request frame or a multilink probe response frame in response to the multilink probe request frame.

[0016] In some specific implementations, the first frame indicates that a single communication link of the AP MLD is allocated to the first STA for communication with the AP MLD, and the method further includes: obtaining one or more TIDs associated with a traffic flow sent to or received from the first STA, and mapping the one or more TIDs only to the allocated single communication link of the AP MLD. In some aspects, the method further includes: obtaining a first indication that at least one of a latency, an interference level, or a traffic load associated with the allocated single communication link is at least equal to a corresponding latency threshold, an interference threshold, or a traffic load threshold, and switching the communication between the first STA and the AP MLD from the allocated single communication link of the AP MLD to another single communication link of the AP MLD based on the first indication. In some instances, switching the communications includes remapping one or more TIDs from the allocated single communication link of the APMLD to another single communication link of the AP MLD. In some aspects, the method further includes generating a second frame including a T2LM element indicating a remapping of one or more TIDs from the provisioned single communication link of the AP MLD to another single communication link of the AP MLD, and outputting the second frame for transmission to the first STA over the provisioned single communication link.

[0017] In other instances, the method further includes: obtaining a second indication that at least one of a latency, an interference level, or a traffic load associated with another single communication link is at least equal to a corresponding latency threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold, and switching communications between the first STA and the AP MLD from the other single communication link of the AP MLD to all communication links of the AP MLD based on the second indication. In some aspects, switching the communications includes: remapping one or more TIDs from the other single communication link of the AP MLD to all communication links of the AP MLD, and the method further includes: outputting a third frame for transmission to the first STA on the other single communication link, the third frame including a T2LM element indicating the remapping of one or more TIDs from the other single communication link of the AP MLD to all communication links of the AP MLD.

[0018] In other specific implementations, the first frame indicates that multiple communication links of the AP MLD are allocated to the first STA for communication with the AP MLD, and the method further includes: obtaining one or more TIDs associated with traffic flows sent to or received from the first STA, and mapping the one or more TIDs only to the multiple communication links allocated by the AP MLD. In various aspects, the method further includes: obtaining an indication that at least one of the latency, interference level, or traffic load associated with one or more of the multiple communication links allocated is at least equal to a corresponding latency threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold, and switching the communication between the first STA and the AP MLD from the multiple communication links allocated by the AP MLD to a single communication link of the AP MLD based on the indication. In some instances, switching the communications includes remapping one or more TIDs from the multiple communication links allocated by the AP MLD to the single communication link of the AP MLD. In some aspects, the method further includes generating a second frame including a T2LM element indicating a remapping of one or more TIDs from the provisioned plurality of communication links of the APMLD to a single communication link of the AP MLD, and outputting the second frame for transmission to the first STA on at least one of the provisioned plurality of communication links.

[0019] In various specific implementations, the method further includes: reserving the first communication link of the AP MLD or one of the one or more second communication links for delay-sensitive services, and maintaining the delay, interference level, and traffic load associated with the reserved communication link below the corresponding delay threshold, interference threshold, and traffic load threshold. In some instances, the delay, interference level, and traffic load are maintained by: obtaining an indication that at least one of the delay, interference level, or traffic load associated with the reserved communication link is at least equal to the corresponding delay threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold, and switching the communication between the AP MLD and one or more other STAs from the reserved communication link to one or more other communication links of the AP MLD based on the indication. In some aspects, the method further includes: obtaining one or more SLA parameters associated with the first STA, wherein the provisioning of the single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD is further based on the one or more SLA parameters associated with the first STA.

[0020] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented as a device for wireless communication. The device may include a processing system and an interface. In some specific implementations, the processing system is configured to assign each of the multiple STAs to one of the multiple communication links based at least in part on the traffic volume on the multiple communication links associated with the AP MLD. The processing system is configured to map one or more TIDs of the traffic stream associated with each of the multiple STAs to the communication link assigned to the corresponding STA. The processing system is configured to generate a first frame indicating the assigned communication link and the mapping for the corresponding STA for each of the multiple STAs. The interface is configured to output these first frames for sending to multiple STAs on one or more communication links in the multiple communication links.

[0021] In some implementations, the first frames include T2LM elements indicating mappings for the corresponding plurality of STAs. In some instances, each of the plurality of communication links is associated with a corresponding AP of the AP MLD and occupies one of a 2.4 GHz band, a 5 GHz band, a 6 GHz band, or a 60 GHz band. In some instances, the first frames include T2LM elements indicating mappings for the corresponding plurality of STAs.

[0022] In various specific implementations, the interface is further configured to obtain, from each of the plurality of STAs, an indication of support for each of the plurality of communication links associated with the AP MLD, wherein the first frames are output for transmission to the plurality of STAs based on the indications of support. In some instances, the indications of support are obtained via an association request frame or a probe request frame, and the first frames are multilink association response frames in response to the corresponding association request frames or multilink probe response frames in response to the corresponding probe request frames.

[0023] In some embodiments, the interface is further configured to obtain a first indication that a traffic load on a first communication link among the plurality of communication links is greater than a traffic load on a second communication link among the plurality of communication links by at least a threshold amount, and the processing system is further configured to reassign at least one STA from the first communication link to the second communication link based on the first indication. In some aspects, the first communication link is reserved for delay-sensitive traffic. In some instances, the processing system is further configured to maintain STAs associated with delay-sensitive traffic on the first communication link while switching communications with non-delay-sensitive STAs from the first communication link to the second communication link.

[0024] In some other specific implementations, the interface is further configured to obtain a first indication that the traffic load on at least one of the communication links associated with the AP MLD is at least equal to a load threshold, and the processing system is further configured to deploy all communication links associated with the AP MLD to at least some of the STAs previously assigned to the at least one communication link based on the first indication. The processing system is further configured to remap one or more TIDs associated with at least some STAs to all communication links associated with the AP MLD, and generate a second frame indicating the remapping for the corresponding STA for each of at least some STAs. The interface is further configured to output these second frames for transmission to at least some STAs. In some aspects, each of these second frames can be a directional action frame indicating the remapping for the corresponding STA. In other aspects, the interface is further configured to obtain a load threshold from a network entity. In some instances, each of at least some STAs is associated with at least one of the following: the throughput of the corresponding STA is less than the first threshold, or the load associated with the corresponding STA is at least equal to the second threshold. In other examples, each of at least some of the STAs is associated with the STA group based on at least one of a combined throughput or a combined load of the STA group.

[0025] In some specific implementations, the interface is further configured to obtain a second indication that the traffic load on each of the communication links associated with the AP MLD is at least equal to a load threshold, and the processing system is further configured to allocate all the communication links associated with the AP MLD to each of the plurality of STAs based on the second indication. In some instances, the processing system is further configured to remap one or more TIDs associated with the plurality of STAs to all the communication links associated with the AP MLD, and generate a second frame for each of the plurality of STAs indicating the remapping for the corresponding STA. The interface is further configured to output the second frames for transmission to the corresponding plurality of STAs.

[0026] In various specific implementations, the interface is further configured to obtain an indication that at least one STA assigned to a reserved communication link among the plurality of communication links violates one or more SLA parameters, and the processing system is further configured to reassign one or more other STAs from the reserved communication link to at least one other communication link among the plurality of communication links based on the indication. In some aspects, the reserved communication link is associated with a delay-sensitive service, and the one or more other STAs are not associated with the delay-sensitive service. In some instances, the processing system is configured to reassign the one or more other STAs by generating, for each of the one or more other STAs, a second frame indicating a T2LM for the corresponding other STA, and the interface is further configured to output the second frames for transmission to the one or more other STAs.

[0027] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented as a method for wireless communication. In various specific implementations, the method may be performed by an AP MLD. In some specific implementations, the method includes: assigning each of the STAs to one of the multiple communication links based at least in part on the traffic volume on the multiple communication links of the AP MLD, and mapping one or more TIDs of the traffic stream associated with each of the multiple STAs to the communication link assigned to the corresponding STA. The method includes: generating a first frame indicating the assigned communication link and the mapping for the corresponding STA for each of the multiple STAs, and outputting these first frames for transmission to multiple STAs on one or more of the multiple communication links.

[0028] In some implementations, the first frames include T2LM elements indicating mappings for the corresponding plurality of STAs. In some instances, each of the plurality of communication links is associated with a corresponding AP of the AP MLD and occupies one of a 2.4 GHz band, a 5 GHz band, a 6 GHz band, or a 60 GHz band. In some instances, the first frames include T2LM elements indicating mappings for the corresponding plurality of STAs.

[0029] In various specific implementations, the method includes obtaining, from each of the plurality of STAs, an indication of support for each of the plurality of communication links associated with the AP MLD, wherein the first frames are output for transmission to the plurality of STAs based on the indications of support. In some instances, the indications of support are obtained via an association request frame or a probe request frame, and the first frames are multilink association response frames in response to the corresponding association request frames or multilink probe response frames in response to the corresponding probe request frames.

[0030] In some embodiments, the method further includes: obtaining a first indication that a traffic load on a first communication link among the plurality of communication links is greater than a traffic load on a second communication link among the plurality of communication links by at least a threshold amount, and reassigning at least one STA from the first communication link to the second communication link based on the first indication. In some aspects, the first communication link is reserved for delay-sensitive traffic. In some instances, the method further includes maintaining STAs associated with delay-sensitive traffic on the first communication link while switching communications with non-delay-sensitive STAs from the first communication link to the second communication link.

[0031] In some other specific implementations, the method further includes: obtaining a first indication that the traffic load on at least one of the communication links associated with the AP MLD is at least equal to a load threshold, and all communication links associated with the AP MLD are deployed to at least some of the STAs previously assigned to the at least one communication link based on the first indication. In some instances, the method includes remapping one or more TIDs associated with at least some STAs to all communication links associated with the AP MLD. The method includes generating a second frame indicating the remapping for the corresponding STA for each of at least some STAs. The method includes outputting the second frames for transmission to at least some STAs. In some aspects, each of the second frames can be a directional action frame indicating the remapping for the corresponding STA. In other aspects, the method also includes obtaining a load threshold from a network entity. In some instances, each of the at least some STAs is associated with at least one of the following: the throughput of the corresponding STA is less than the first threshold, or the load associated with the corresponding STA is at least equal to the second threshold. In other instances, each of the at least some STAs is associated with the STA group based on at least one of the combined throughput or combined load of the STA group.

[0032] In some specific implementations, the method further includes: obtaining a second indication that the traffic load on each of the communication links associated with the AP MLD is at least equal to a load threshold, and allocating all the communication links associated with the AP MLD to each of the multiple STAs based on the second indication. In some instances, the method includes remapping one or more TIDs associated with the multiple STAs to all the communication links of the AP MLD. The method includes generating, for each of the multiple STAs, a second frame indicating the remapping for the corresponding STA. The method includes outputting the second frames for transmission to the corresponding multiple STAs.

[0033] In various specific implementations, the method further includes: obtaining an indication that at least one STA assigned to a reserved communication link among the plurality of communication links violates one or more SLA parameters, and reassigning one or more other STAs from the reserved communication link to at least one other communication link among the plurality of communication links based on the indication. In some aspects, the reserved communication link is associated with a delay-sensitive service, and the one or more other STAs are not associated with the delay-sensitive service. In some instances, the method further includes: generating, for each of the one or more other STAs, a second frame indicating a T2LM for the corresponding other STA, and outputting the second frames for transmission to the one or more other STAs.

[0034] Details of one or more specific implementations of the subject matter described in the present disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the following description. Other features, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the specification, drawings, and claims. Note that the relative dimensions in the drawings may not be drawn to scale. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0035] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of an example wireless communication network is shown.

[0036] Figure 2A Example protocol data units (PDUs) that may be used for communications between an access point (AP) and one or more wireless stations (STAs) are shown.

[0037] Figure 2B Shows Figure 2A Example fields in a PDU.

[0038] Figure 3 An example physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) that may be used for communication between an AP and multiple STAs is shown.

[0039] Figure 4 A block diagram of an example wireless communication device is shown.

[0040] Figure 5A A block diagram of an example access point (AP) is shown.

[0041] Figure 5B A block diagram of an example station (STA) is shown.

[0042] Figure 6 An example communication system including an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) and a non-AP MLD is shown according to some implementations.

[0043] Figure 7 A block diagram of another example wireless communication device is shown in accordance with some implementations.

[0044] Figure 8 A block diagram of an example resource manager suitable for use in the wireless communication devices disclosed herein is shown.

[0045] Fig. 9 A block diagram of an example link telemetry device suitable for use in the wireless communication devices disclosed herein is shown.

[0046] Fig. 10A A sequence diagram depicting example wireless communications that support selective provisioning of a communication link associated with an AP MLD to one or more STAs is shown in accordance with some implementations.

[0047] Fig. 10B A sequence diagram depicting another example wireless communication that supports selective provisioning of a communication link associated with an AP MLD to one or more STAs is shown in accordance with some implementations.

[0048] Fig.11 A sequence diagram depicting example wireless communications that supports selective assignment of one or more STAs to a communication link associated with an APMLD is shown in accordance with some implementations.

[0049] Figures 12 to 22 A flow chart illustrating example operations for supporting wireless communications of selectively provisioning a communication link of an AP MLD to one or more STAs in accordance with some implementations is shown.

[0050] Figures 23 to 30 A flow chart illustrating example operations for supporting wireless communications to selectively assign one or more STAs to a communication link associated with an AP MLD is shown in accordance with some implementations.

[0051] Fig.31 A conceptual data flow diagram illustrating the flow of data between different parts / components in an example apparatus is shown.

[0052] Fig.32 Diagrams illustrating examples of hardware implementations for apparatus employing a processing system are shown.

[0053] Fig.33A Example multilink elements that may be used for multilink communications are shown.

[0054] Fig.33B Shows Fig.33A Example Multilink Control field of a Multilink element.

[0055] Fig.33C Shows Fig.33A Example common information fields for a multilink element.

[0056] Fig.33D Shows Fig.33C Example MLD Capability subfield of the Common Information field.

[0057] Fig.33E Shows Fig.33A An example of the Link Information field of the Multilink element of the Per-STA Profile sub-element.

[0058] Fig.33F Shows Fig.33E Example of a per-STA profile sub-element of the STA Control field.

[0059] Figure 33G Shows Fig.33E Example STA Information field of each STA Profile sub-element.

[0060] Like reference numbers and designations refer to like elements throughout the various drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0061] The following description is directed to some specific implementations in order to describe the innovative aspects of the present disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in a variety of different ways. The described implementations can be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of sending and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals according to one or more of the following: Long Term Evolution (LTE), 3G, 4G, or 5G (New Radio (NR)) standards issued by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, the IEEE 802.15 standard, or as defined by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). Standards, etc. The described implementations may be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of sending and receiving RF signals according to one or more of the following technologies or techniques: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), Single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), Single User (SU) Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), and Multi-User (MU) MIMO. The described implementations may also be implemented using other wireless communication protocols or RF signals suitable for use in one or more of a wireless wide area network (WWAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), or an Internet of Things (IOT) network.

[0062] Various aspects of the subject matter disclosed herein relate generally to resource allocation in a wireless network, and more specifically, to selecting a single-link operation mode or a multi-link operation mode for communicating with one or more STAs associated with the AP MLD based at least in part on link metrics obtained for communication links of the AP MLD. The link metrics may include, but are not limited to, one or more of latency, interference level, traffic load, or congestion associated with the corresponding communication links, among other examples. In some specific implementations, the AP MLD may receive a request for association from the corresponding STA on all communication links, and may determine or obtain a link metric for each of the communication links of the AP MLD. In some instances, the AP MLD may allocate these communication links to the corresponding STA when the congestion level on each of the communication links in the communication link pair is less than a first threshold, or may allocate a single communication link to the corresponding STA for communicating with the AP MLD when the congestion level on each of the communication links is at least equal to the first threshold. In some aspects, the AP MLD may allocate all communication links to the corresponding STA for communication with the AP MLD when the congestion level on each of the communication links is at least equal to a second threshold value greater than the first threshold value. The AP MLD may map a traffic identifier (TID) of a traffic flow associated with the corresponding STA to one or more allocated communication links, and may determine or obtain a TID to link mapping (T2LM) element, which TID to link mapping (T2LM) element indicates which of the communication links can be used to communicate the traffic flow associated with the corresponding STA for the TID of the traffic flow associated with the corresponding STA. The AP MLD may transmit a frame including the T2LM element to the corresponding STA, and the corresponding STA may use the T2LM element to determine which (or which) communication links are to be used to communicate the traffic flow associated with the corresponding STA.

[0063] In some specific implementations, the AP MLD may continuously or periodically monitor the link metrics of the communication link to determine whether one or more other communication links of the AP MLD can provide lower latency, lower interference levels, or lower traffic loads. For example, when the corresponding STA communicates with the AP MLD on the first communication link and the second communication link, the AP MLD may obtain a first indication that the congestion on the first communication link and the second communication link is at least equal to a first threshold, and may reassign the corresponding STA from the first communication link and the second communication link to the single communication link based on the first indication. In this way, various aspects of the present disclosure may implement single-link operation of the corresponding STA when the latency and throughput associated with the single communication link are similar to the corresponding latency and throughput achieved by using both the first communication link and the second communication link of the AP MLD. The AP MLD may then obtain a second indication that the congestion on the single communication link is at least equal to a second threshold, and may reassign the corresponding STA from the single communication link to all communication links of the AP MLD based on the second indication. In this manner, aspects of the present disclosure may enable multi-link operation of a corresponding STA when latency and throughput associated with using all communication links are respectively lower and higher than latency and throughput achieved by a single communication link using an AP MLD.

[0064] The 802.11be amendment to the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication standards allows a non-AP STA to request association with an AP MLD on all communication links of the AP MLD. Therefore, when the AP MLD receives a probe request or an association request indicating support for all communication links from the STA, the AP MLD can automatically associate with the STA on all communication links associated with the AP MLD. In this way, the AP MLD can reduce latency and increase throughput of data transmission to or from the STA by allowing queued packets of a service flow associated with the STA to be sent on the first available communication link of the AP MLD. However, automatically allocating all communication links to the STA for communication with the AP MLD may not always provide the lowest latency or highest throughput for the services associated with the STA.

[0065] Aspects of the present disclosure recognize that randomly sending packets of a service flow to associated STAs over multiple communication links may not always be necessary to meet the latency and throughput requirements associated with the service flow. Conversely, allocating multiple communication links of an AP MLD to associated STAs may crowd the wireless medium and increase network congestion in some instances. Specifically, aspects of the subject matter disclosed herein may achieve similar latency and throughput using a single communication link of an AP MLD instead of using multiple communication links of an AP MLD when congestion on the multiple communication links is at least equal to a first threshold.

[0066] Aspects of the present disclosure also recognize that when congestion on individual communication links of the AP MLD is at least equal to a second threshold, or when the OBSS interference level on the communication link is at least equal to the interference threshold, none of the communication links of the AP MLD, when deployed as a single communication link to the corresponding STA, may be able to provide lower latency or higher throughput than the corresponding latency and throughput achieved by using all communication links associated with the AP MLD. Therefore, aspects of the subject matter disclosed herein may achieve lower latency and higher throughput using all communication links of the AP MLD rather than a single communication link of the AP MLD when congestion on individual communication links is at least equal to the second threshold, or when the OBSS interference level on the communication link is at least equal to the interference threshold.

[0067] Specific implementations of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages. By reassigning a corresponding STA from multiple communication links (e.g., a communication link pair) to a single communication link when congestion on the communication link is at least equal to a first threshold or when the OBSS interference level is at least equal to an interference threshold, aspects of the subject matter disclosed herein may reduce traffic and congestion on unassigned communication links while using only a single communication link to achieve similar latency and throughput. In addition, when a corresponding STA is provisioned with a single communication link for communication with an AP MLD, power consumption of the corresponding STA may be reduced, thereby extending the battery life of the corresponding STA, because the corresponding STA may no longer need to listen to each of the multiple communication links of the AP MLD to obtain an indication of queued DL data. In addition, the ability to dynamically reassign STAs between communication links associated with an AP MLD may allow the AP MLD to reserve one of the communication links for certain services or for certain users. For example, in some implementations, the AP MLD may establish an advanced communication link that may be reserved for delay-sensitive services and / or for STAs associated with delay-sensitive services.

[0068] Figure 1A block diagram of an example wireless communication network 100 is shown. According to some aspects, the wireless communication network 100 may be an example of a wireless local area network (WLAN) such as a Wi-Fi network (and will be referred to as WLAN 100 hereinafter). For example, the WLAN 100 may be a network that implements at least one of the IEEE 802.11 family of standards such as those defined by the IEEE 802.11-2016 specification or amendments thereof, including but not limited to 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be. The WLAN 100 may include numerous wireless communication devices such as an access point (AP) 102 and a plurality of stations (STAs) 104. Although only one AP 102 is shown, the WLAN 100 may also include a plurality of APs 102.

[0069] Each of the STAs 104 may also be referred to as a mobile station (MS), a mobile device, a mobile phone, a wireless phone, an access terminal (AT), a user equipment (UE), a subscriber station (SS), or a subscriber unit, among other possibilities. The STAs 104 may represent a variety of devices, such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), other handheld devices, netbooks, notebook computers, tablet computers, laptop computers, display devices (e.g., TVs, computer monitors, navigation systems, etc.), music or other audio or stereo equipment, remote control devices (“remote controls”), printers, kitchen or other home appliances, key fobs (e.g., for passive keyless entry and start (PKES) systems), among other possibilities.

[0070] A single AP 102 and the associated set of STAs 104 may be referred to as a basic service set (BSS), which is managed by the corresponding AP 102 . Figure 1Additionally shown is an example coverage area 106 of the AP 102, which may represent a basic service area (BSA) of the WLAN 100. The BSS may be identified to users by a service set identifier (SSID) and may also be identified to other devices by a basic service set identifier (BSSID), which may be a medium access control (MAC) address of the AP 102. The AP 102 periodically broadcasts a beacon frame (“beacon”) including the BSSID to enable any STA 104 within the wireless range of the AP 102 to “associate” or re-associate with the AP 102 to establish or maintain a corresponding communication link 108 (also referred to as a “Wi-Fi link” hereinafter) with the AP 102. For example, the beacon may include an identification of a primary channel used by the corresponding AP 102 and a timing synchronization function for establishing or maintaining timing synchronization with the AP 102. The AP 102 may provide various STAs 104 in the WLAN with access to external networks via respective communication links 108 .

[0071] To establish a communication link 108 with the AP 102, each STA 104 is configured to perform passive or active scanning operations ("scanning") on frequency channels in one or more frequency bands (eg, 2.4 GHz, 5.0 GHz, 6.0 GHz, or 60 GHz bands). To perform passive scanning, the STA 104 listens for beacons transmitted by the corresponding AP 102 at periodic time intervals, referred to as target beacon transmission time (TBTT), measured in time units (TUs), where one TU may be equal to 1024 microseconds (μs). To perform active scanning, the STA 104 generates probe requests and transmits them sequentially on each channel to be scanned, and listens for probe responses from the AP 102. Each STA 104 may be configured to identify or select an AP 102 to associate with based on the scanning information obtained through passive or active scanning, and perform authentication and association operations to establish a communication link 108 with the selected AP 102. The AP 102 assigns an association identifier (AID) to the STA 104 at the end of the association operation, and the AP 102 uses the association identifier (AID) to track the STA 104.

[0072] As wireless networks become more and more common, STA 104 may have the opportunity to select one of many BSSs within the range of the STA or to select among multiple APs 102 that together form an extended service set (ESS) (including multiple connected BSSs). Extended network stations associated with WLAN 100 can be connected to a wired or wireless distribution system that allows multiple APs 102 to be connected in such an ESS. Therefore, STA 104 can be covered by more than one AP 102 and can be associated with different APs 102 at different times for different transmissions. Additionally, after associating with AP 102, STA 104 can also be configured to periodically scan its surroundings to find a more appropriate AP 102 to associate with. For example, a STA 104 that is moving relative to its associated AP 102 can perform a "roaming" scan to find another AP 102 with more suitable network characteristics (such as a larger received signal strength indicator (RSSI) or a reduced traffic load).

[0073] In some cases, STA 104 may form a network without AP 102 or other equipment other than STA 104 itself. An example of such a network is an ad hoc network (or wireless ad hoc network). An ad hoc network may alternatively be referred to as a mesh network or a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. In some cases, an ad hoc network may be implemented within a larger wireless network (such as WLAN 100). In such a specific implementation, although STA 104 may be able to communicate with each other through AP 102 using communication link 108, STA 104 may also communicate directly with each other via direct communication link 110. Additionally, two STA 104 may communicate via direct communication link 110, regardless of whether the two STA 104 are associated with the same AP 102 and served by the same AP. In such an ad hoc system, one or more STA 104 may assume the role played by AP 102 in the BSS. Such STA 104 may be referred to as a group owner (GO) and may coordinate the transmission within the ad hoc network. Examples of direct communication link 110 include a Wi-Fi direct connection, a connection established by using a Wi-Fi Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) link, and other P2P group connections.

[0074] The AP 102 and the STA 104 may operate and communicate (via corresponding communication links 108) in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, such as those defined by the IEEE 802.11-2016 specification or amendments thereof, including, but not limited to, 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be. These standards define WLAN radio and baseband protocols for the PHY and medium access control (MAC) layers. The AP 102 and the STA 104 send and receive wireless communications (hereinafter also referred to as "Wi-Fi communications") to and from each other in the form of physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data units (PPDUs). The AP 102 and STA 104 in the WLAN 100 may send PPDUs on an unlicensed spectrum, which may be a portion of a spectrum that includes frequency bands traditionally used by Wi-Fi technology, such as the 2.4 GHz band, the 5.0 GHz band, the 60 GHz band, the 3.6 GHz band, and the 900 MHz band. Some specific implementations of the AP 102 and STA 104 described herein may also communicate in other frequency bands, such as the 6.0 GHz band, that may support both licensed and unlicensed communications. The AP 102 and STA 104 may also be configured to communicate on other frequency bands, such as shared licensed frequency bands, where multiple operators may have licenses to operate in one or more of the same or overlapping frequency bands.

[0075] Each of the frequency bands may include multiple sub-bands or frequency channels. For example, PPDUs that comply with the IEEE 802.11n, 802.11ac, and 802.11ax standard amendments may be sent on the 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz frequency bands, where each frequency band is divided into multiple 20 MHz channels. Therefore, these PPDUs are sent on a physical channel with a minimum bandwidth of 20 MHz, but larger channels may be formed through channel bonding. For example, by bonding multiple 20 MHz channels together, a PPDU may be sent over a physical channel with a bandwidth of 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 320 MHz.

[0076] Each PPDU is a composite structure including a PHY preamble and a payload in the form of a PLCP service data unit (PSDU). The information provided in the preamble can be used by the receiving device to decode subsequent data in the PSDU. In an instance where the PPDU is sent on a bound channel, the preamble field can be copied and sent in each component channel of a plurality of component channels. The PHY preamble may include both a legacy part (or "legacy preamble") and a non-legacy part (or "non-legacy preamble"). Legacy preambles can be used for other purposes such as packet detection, automatic gain control, and channel estimation. Legacy preambles can also be used to maintain compatibility with legacy devices. The format, decoding, and information provided therein of the non-legacy part of the preamble are based on the specific IEEE 802.11 protocol to be used to send the payload.

[0077] Figure 2A An example protocol data unit (PDU) 200 that can be used for wireless communication between an AP 102 and one or more STAs 104 is shown. For example, the PDU 200 can be configured as a PPDU. As shown, the PDU 200 includes a PHY preamble 202 and a payload 204. For example, the preamble 202 can include a legacy portion, which itself includes a legacy short training field (L-STF) 206 that can consist of two BPSK symbols, a legacy long training field (L-LTF) 208 that can consist of two BPSK symbols, and a legacy signal field (L-SIG) 210 that can consist of two BPSK symbols. The legacy portion of the preamble 202 can be configured according to the IEEE 802.11a wireless communication protocol standard. The preamble 202 may also include a non-legacy portion including one or more non-legacy fields 212 that comply with, for example, an IEEE wireless communication protocol such as IEEE 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11be, or a later wireless communication protocol.

[0078] The L-STF 206 generally enables the receiving device to perform automatic gain control (AGC) and coarse timing and frequency estimation. The L-LTF 208 generally enables the receiving device to perform fine timing and frequency estimation, and can also perform initial estimation of the wireless channel. The L-SIG 210 generally enables the receiving device to determine the duration of the PDU and use the determined duration to avoid sending over the PDU. For example, the L-STF 206, L-LTF 208 and L-SIG 210 can be modulated according to a binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation scheme. The payload 204 can be modulated according to a BPSK modulation scheme, an orthogonal BPSK (Q-BPSK) modulation scheme, an orthogonal amplitude modulation (QAM) modulation scheme, or another suitable modulation scheme. The payload 204 may include a PSDU including a data field (DATA) 214, which in turn may carry higher layer data, for example, in the form of a medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU) or an aggregated MPDU (A-MPDU).

[0079] Figure 2B Shows Figure 2A 2. An example L-SIG 210 in a PDU 200 of FIG. 200. The L-SIG 210 includes a data rate field 222, a reserved bit 224, a length field 226, a parity bit 228, and a tail field 230. The data rate field 222 indicates the data rate (note that the data rate indicated in the data rate field 222 may not be the actual data rate of the data carried in the payload 204). The length field 226 indicates the length of the packet, for example, in symbols or bytes. The parity bit 228 can be used to detect bit errors. The tail field 230 includes tail bits that can be used by a receiving device to terminate the operation of a decoder (e.g., a Viterbi decoder). The receiving device can use the data rate and length indicated in the data rate field 222 and the length field 226 to determine the packet duration, for example, in microseconds (μs) or other time units.

[0080] Figure 3An example PPDU 300 is shown that may be used for communication between an AP 102 and a plurality of STAs 104. As discussed, each PPDU 300 includes a PHY preamble 302 and a PSDU 304. Each PSDU 304 may carry one or more MAC protocol data units (MPDUs), such as, for example, an aggregate MPDU (A-MPDU) 306 including a plurality of MPDU subframes 308. Each MPDU subframe 308 may include a MAC delimiter 312 and a MAC header 314, preceding an accompanying frame body 316 (which includes a data portion or "payload" of the MPDU subframe 308). The frame body 316 may carry one or more MAC service data units (MSDUs), such as, for example, an aggregate MSDU (A-MSDU) 322 including a plurality of MSDU subframes 324. Each MSDU subframe 324 includes a corresponding MSDU 326, which includes a subframe header 328, a frame body 330, and one or more padding bits 332.

[0081] Referring to the A-MPDU subframe 306, the MAC header 314 may include a plurality of fields containing information defining or indicating characteristics or attributes of the data encapsulated within the frame body 316. The MAC header 314 also includes a plurality of fields indicating addresses for the data encapsulated within the frame body 316. For example, the MAC header 314 may include a combination of a source address, a transmitter address, a receiver address, or a destination address. The MAC header 314 may include a frame control field containing control information. The frame control field specifies the frame type, for example, a data frame, a control frame, or a management frame. The MAC header 314 may also include a duration field indicating a duration extending from the end of the PPDU until the end of the acknowledgement (ACK) of the last PPDU to be sent by the wireless communication device (e.g., a block ACK (BA) in the case of an A-MPDU). The use duration field is used to reserve the wireless medium for the indicated duration, thereby establishing a NAV. Each A-MPDU subframe 408 may also include a frame check sequence (FCS) field 418 for error detection. For example, the FCS field 418 may include a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) and may be followed by one or more padding bits 420 .

[0082] As discussed, the AP 102 and the STA 104 may support multi-user (MU) communications. That is, concurrent transmissions from one device to each of multiple devices (e.g., multiple simultaneous downlink (DL) communications from the AP 102 to the corresponding STAs 104), or concurrent transmissions from multiple devices to a single device (e.g., multiple simultaneous uplink (UL) transmissions from the corresponding STAs 104 to the AP 102). To support MU transmissions, the AP 102 and the STA 104 may utilize multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) and fractional bandwidth (BW) MU-MIMO techniques.

[0083] In a partial BW MU-MIMO scheme, the available spectrum of a wireless channel may be divided into multiple resource units (RUs), each of which includes multiple different frequency subcarriers ("tones"). Different RUs may be allocated or assigned to different STAs 104 by AP 102 at a specific time. The size and distribution of RUs may be referred to as RU allocation. In some implementations, RUs may be allocated at 2MHz intervals, and thus, the minimum RU may include 26 tones consisting of 24 data tones and 2 pilot tones. Therefore, in a 20MHz channel, up to 9 RUs (such as 2MHz, 26-tone RUs) may be allocated (because some tones are reserved for other purposes). Similarly, in a 160MHz channel, up to 74 RUs may be allocated. Larger RUs of 52 tones, 106 tones, 242 tones, 484 tones, and 996 tones may also be allocated. Adjacent RUs may be separated by nulled subcarriers, such as a DC subcarrier, for example, to reduce interference between adjacent RUs, reduce receiver DC offset, and avoid transmit center frequency leakage.

[0084] For UL MU transmissions, the AP 102 may send a trigger frame to initiate and synchronize UL partial BW MU-MIMO or UL MU-MIMO transmissions from multiple STAs 104 to the AP 102. Such a trigger frame may thereby enable multiple STAs 104 to transmit UL traffic concurrently in time to the AP 102. The trigger frame may address one or more STAs 104 by a corresponding association identifier (AID), and may assign one or more RUs to each AID (and thus each STA 104) that may be used to transmit UL traffic to the AP 102. The AP may also specify one or more random access (RA) RUs for which unscheduled STAs 104 may contend.

[0085] Figure 4 4 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device 400. In some implementations, the wireless communication device 400 may be a STA (such as a reference Figure 1In some implementations, the wireless communication device 400 may be an example of a device in an AP (such as a STA in the STA 104 described above). Figure 1 The wireless communication device 400 is an example of a device in the AP 102 described herein. The wireless communication device 400 is capable of sending (or outputting for sending) and receiving wireless communications (e.g., in the form of wireless packets). For example, the wireless communication device 400 may be configured to send and receive packets in the form of physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data units (PPDUs) and medium access control (MAC) protocol data units (MPDUs) that comply with the IEEE 802.11 standard (such as the standard defined by the IEEE 802.11-2016 specification or its amendments, including but not limited to 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be).

[0086] The wireless communication device 400 may be or may include a chip, system on chip (SoC), chipset, package, or device including one or more modems 402 (e.g., Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 compatible) modems). In some implementations, one or more modems 402 (collectively, “modems 402”) additionally include a WWAN modem (e.g., a 3GPP 4G LTE or 5G compatible modem). In some implementations, the wireless communication device 400 also includes one or more radio components 404 (collectively, “radio components 404”). In some implementations, the wireless communication device 400 also includes one or more processors, processing blocks, or processing elements (collectively, “processor 406”) and one or more memory blocks or elements (collectively, “memory 408”).

[0087] The modem 402 may include an intelligent hardware block or device, such as, for example, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and other possibilities. The modem 402 is configured to implement the PHY layer. For example, the modem 402 is configured to modulate packets and output the modulated packets to the radio component 404 for transmission over a wireless medium. Similarly, the modem 402 is configured to obtain the modulated packets received by the radio component 404 and demodulate the packets to provide demodulated packets. In addition to the modulator and demodulator, the modem 402 may also include a digital signal processing (DSP) circuit, an automatic gain control (AGC), a decoder, a decoder, a multiplexer, and a demultiplexer. For example, when in a transmit mode, the data obtained from the processor 406 is provided to a decoder, which encodes the data to provide the encoded bits. The encoded bits are then mapped to points in the modulation constellation (using the selected MCS) to provide the modulated symbols. The modulated symbols can then be mapped to a number N SS spatial streams or the number N STS The modulated symbols in the corresponding spatial stream or space-time stream may then be multiplexed, transformed via an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) block, and then provided to the DSP circuit for Tx windowing and filtering. The digital signal may then be provided to a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The resulting analog signal may then be provided to an upconverter and provided to the radio component 404. In a specific implementation involving beamforming, the modulated symbols in the corresponding spatial stream are pre-decoded via a steering matrix before being provided to the IFFT block.

[0088] When in receive mode, a digital signal received from the radio component 404 is provided to a DSP circuit configured to acquire the received signal, for example, by detecting the presence of the signal and estimating the initial timing and frequency offset. The DSP circuit is further configured to digitally condition the digital signal to obtain a narrowband signal, for example, using channel (narrowband) filtering, analog impairment conditioning (such as correcting I / Q imbalance), and applying digital gain. The output of the DSP circuit may then be fed to an AGC configured to use information extracted from the digital signal (e.g., in one or more received training fields) to determine an appropriate gain. The output of the DSP circuit is also coupled to a demodulator configured to extract the modulated symbols from the signal and, for example, calculate a log-likelihood ratio (LLR) for each bit position of each subcarrier in each spatial stream. The demodulator is coupled to a decoder, which may be configured to process the LLRs to provide decoded bits. Subsequently, the decoded bits from all spatial streams are fed to a demultiplexer for demultiplexing. The demultiplexed bits may then be descrambled and provided to the MAC layer (processor 406) for processing, evaluation, or interpretation.

[0089] The radio 404 includes at least one radio frequency (RF) transmitter (or "transmitter chain") and at least one RF receiver (or "receiver chain"), which can be combined into one or more transceivers. For example, the RF transmitter and receiver may include various DSP circuits, including at least one power amplifier (PA) and at least one low noise amplifier (LNA), respectively. The RF transmitter and receiver may in turn be coupled to one or more antennas. For example, in some implementations, the wireless communication device 400 may include or be coupled to multiple transmit antennas (each with a corresponding transmit chain) and multiple receive antennas (each with a corresponding receive chain). The symbols output from the modem 402 are provided to the radio 404, which then transmits the symbols via the coupled antennas. Similarly, the symbols received via the antennas are obtained by the radio 404, which then provides the symbols to the modem 402.

[0090] The processor 406 may include an intelligent hardware block or device designed to perform the functions described herein, such as, for example, a processing core, a processing block, a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD) (such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA)), a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof. The processor 406 processes information received through the radio component 404 and the modem 402, and processes information to be output by the modem 402 and the radio component 404 to be sent through the wireless medium. For example, the processor 406 may implement a control plane and a MAC layer, which are configured to perform various operations related to the generation and transmission of MPDUs, frames, or packets. The MAC layer is configured to perform or facilitate other operations or techniques such as coding and decoding of frames, spatial multiplexing, space-time block coding (STBC), beamforming, and OFDMA resource allocation. In some specific implementations, the processor 406 may control the modem 402 to cause the modem to perform various operations described herein.

[0091] The memory 408 may include a tangible storage medium, such as a random access memory (RAM) or a read-only memory (ROM) or a combination thereof. The memory 408 may also store non-transitory processor executable or computer executable software (SW) code containing instructions that, when executed by the processor 406, cause the processor to perform various operations for wireless communication described herein, including generation, transmission, reception, and interpretation of MPDUs, frames, or packets. For example, the various functions of the components disclosed herein or the various blocks or steps of the methods, operations, processes, or algorithms disclosed herein may be implemented as one or more modules of one or more computer programs.

[0092] Figure 5A 5 shows a block diagram of an example AP 502. For example, AP 502 may be a reference Figure 1 The AP 102 is described as an example implementation. The AP 502 includes a wireless communication device (WCD) 510. For example, the wireless communication device 510 may be a reference Figure 4 The example implementation of the wireless communication device 400 described. The AP 502 also includes a plurality of antennas 520 coupled to the wireless communication device 510 to send and receive wireless communications. In some implementations, the AP 502 additionally includes an application processor 530 coupled to the wireless communication device 510 and a memory 540 coupled to the application processor 530. The AP 502 also includes at least one external network interface 550 that enables the AP 502 to communicate with a core network or a backhaul network to gain access to an external network including the Internet. For example, the external network interface 550 may include one or both of a wired (e.g., Ethernet) network interface and a wireless network interface (such as a WWAN interface). Components of the above components may communicate directly or indirectly with other components of the components via at least one bus. The AP 502 also includes a housing that encloses the wireless communication device 510, the application processor 530, the memory 540, and at least portions of the antenna 520 and the external network interface 550.

[0093] Figure 5B 5 shows a block diagram of an example STA 504. For example, STA 504 may be a reference Figure 1 The example implementation of STA 104 is described. STA 504 includes a wireless communication device 515. For example, the wireless communication device 515 may be a reference Figure 4An example implementation of the wireless communication device 400 described. The STA 504 also includes one or more antennas 525 coupled to the wireless communication device 515 to send and receive wireless communications. The STA 504 additionally includes an application processor 535 coupled to the wireless communication device 515 and a memory 545 coupled to the application processor 535. In some implementations, the STA 504 also includes a user interface (UI) 555 (such as a touch screen or keyboard) and a display 565, which can be integrated with the UI 555 to form a touch screen display. In some implementations, the STA 504 may also include one or more sensors 575, such as, for example, one or more inertial sensors, accelerometers, temperature sensors, pressure sensors, or altitude sensors. Components of the above components can communicate directly or indirectly with other components of the components via at least one bus. The STA 504 also includes a housing that contains the wireless communication device 515, the application processor 535, the memory 545, and at least portions of the antenna 525, the UI 555, and the display 565.

[0094] Figure 6 An example communication system 600 is shown that includes an AP MLD 610 and a non-AP MLD 620. In some implementations, the AP MLD 610 may be Figure 1 AP 102 Figure 4 The wireless communication device 400 or Figure 5A The non-AP MLD 620 may be an example of any of the APs 502. Figure 1 STA 104 Figure 4 The wireless communication device 400 or Figure 5B An example of any one of STA 504.

[0095] AP MLD 610 includes a plurality of APs 611-613 associated with (or operating on) corresponding communication links 601-603. Figure 6 In the example of FIG. 6 , the AP MLD 610 is shown as including only three APs 611-613. In other specific implementations, the AP MLD 610 may include Figure 6 601-603. Although APs 611-613 may share a common association context (through AP MLD 610), each of APs 611-613 may establish a respective BSS on the AP's associated communication link. APs 611-613 may also establish their respective communication links 601-603 on different frequency bands. For example, AP 611 may operate on a 2.4 GHz band, AP 612 may operate on a 5 GHz band, and AP 613 may operate on a 6 GHz band.

[0096] The non-AP MLD 620 includes a plurality of STAs 621-623 that may be configured to communicate on communication links 601-603, respectively. Thus, STA 621 may operate on the 2.4 GHz band, STA 622 may operate on the 5 GHz band, and STA 623 may operate on the 6 GHz band. Figure 6 In the example of FIG. 6 , the non-AP MLD 620 is shown as including only three STAs. However, in some implementations, the non-AP MLD 620 may include Figure 6 The IEEE 802.11be amendment to the IEEE 802.11 standard defines several modes in which a non-AP MLD can operate. The various operating modes depend on the number of radio devices associated with the non-AP MLD and the ability of the non-AP MLD to communicate (such as by sending or receiving) concurrently on multiple communication links.

[0097] In some implementations, the non-AP MLD 620 may include a single radio component or may otherwise be capable of communicating on only one link at a time. In such implementations, the non-AP MLD 620 may operate in a multi-link single radio (MLSR) mode or an enhanced MLSR (EMLSR) mode. A non-AP MLD operating in the EMLSR mode may concurrently listen to a particular type of communication (such as a buffer status report poll (BSRP) frame or a multi-user request to transmit (MU-RTS) frame) on multiple communication links, but may only be able to send or receive on one communication link at any given time. For example, STAs 621 and 622 may concurrently listen to their respective links 601 and 602 during a listening interval. However, if STA 621 detects a BSRP frame on link 601, the non-AP MLD 620 then tunes each of the antennas of the non-AP MLD (including the antenna used by STA 622 during the listening interval) to operate on link 601. In contrast, a non-AP MLD operating in MLSR mode can only listen to one communication link and can only transmit or receive on one communication link at any given time.For example, STA 621 must be in power save mode at any time during which STA 622 is active.

[0098] In some other implementations, the non-AP MLD 620 may include multiple radio components and may be capable of concurrent communication on each of the links 601-603. In such implementations, the non-AP MLD 620 may operate in a multi-link multi-radio (MLMR) simultaneous transmit and receive (STR) mode or a multi-link multi-radio non-STR (NSTR) mode. A non-AP MLD operating in the MLMR STR mode may transmit and receive simultaneously (or concurrently) on multiple communication links. For example, STA 621 may transmit or receive on link 601, while STA 622 asynchronously transmits or receives concurrently on link 602. In contrast, a non-AP MLD operating in the MLMR NSTR mode may transmit and receive concurrently on multiple communication links only if such communications are synchronous. For example, STAs 622 and 623 may transmit concurrently on links 602 and 603, and may receive concurrently on links 602 and 603. However, while STA 623 is receiving on link 603 , STA 622 cannot transmit on link 602 .

[0099] Furthermore, a non-AP MLD may include multiple radio components, but may be capable of concurrent communication on only a subset of links. In such specific implementations, the non-AP MLD 620 may operate in an enhanced MLMR (EMLMR) mode or a hybrid EMLSR mode. A non-AP MLD operating in EMLMR mode supports MLMR STR operation between certain pairs of communication links. For example, STAs 621 and 622 may communicate concurrently on their respective links 601 and 602 according to the MLMR STR operation mode.

[0100] As described above, various aspects of the subject matter disclosed herein generally relate to transmission modes for sending multiple service flows via a wireless medium, and more specifically, relate to selecting or adjusting the transmission mode based on feedback information obtained from one or more wireless networks, one or more attributes of the service flows, one or more SLA parameters of the service flows, or any combination thereof.

[0101] Figure 7 1 shows a system 700 for a hierarchical control loop for wireless communication according to some implementations. The example system 700 includes an operator cloud 710 and an AP MLD 720. In some implementations, the AP MLD 720 may be Figure 6 An example of an AP MLD 610, and each AP of the AP MLD 720 may be Figure 1 AP 102 Figure 4 The wireless communication device 400 or Figure 5AThe operator cloud 710 may represent an example of an AP 502 via an external network interface (such as, for example Figure 6 The external network interface 650 of A is communicatively coupled to the backhaul network of the AP MLD 720. Although not shown for simplicity, the operator cloud 710 may include a network controller or any combination of hardware or software configured to control or manage various operations of the AP MLD 720.

[0102] In some specific implementations, the network entity 740 may be able to communicate with the AP MLD 720 via the operator cloud 710. The network entity 740 may represent any person, group, company, or other organization that may be interested in improving the performance and reliability of the communication link associated with the AP MLD 720. In some instances, the network entity 740 may provide or configure various settings and thresholds associated with selecting a multi-link communication mode or a single-link communication mode for one or more associated STAs (such as other examples such as latency thresholds, interference thresholds, or traffic load thresholds). In some aspects, the network entity 740 may dynamically adjust one or more of the various settings and thresholds associated with allocating a communication link to a STA or reassigning one or more of the STAs from one communication link (or communication link group) to another communication link (or communication link group). In this way, the network entity 740 can dynamically adjust or change the link allocation mechanism described herein via an over-the-air (OTA) update.

[0103] AP MLD 720 is shown to include a resource manager 722, a kernel 724, a firmware component 726, and a hardware component 728. Firmware component 726 and hardware component 728 represent wireless communication devices such as, for example, Figure 4 Various components of a wireless communication device 400). Figure 4 , hardware component 728 may include one or more components of modem 402 or radio 404, and firmware component 726 may include one or more components of processor 406 or memory 408. In some examples, hardware component 728 may implement various PHY and MAC layer functionalities associated with sending packets over wireless medium 730.

[0104] Resource manager 722 represents a resource manager such as Figure 5AThe resource manager 722 may include software executed by a host processor of the application processor 530 of the AP MLD 720. In some instances, the resource manager 722 may include instructions stored in the memory 540, which may be executed by the application processor 530 to control various operations of the AP MLD 720. For example, the resource manager 722 may obtain link metrics of the communication link of the APMLD 720 and / or SLA parameters of one or more associated STAs from the operator cloud 710. In some instances, the resource manager 722 may use one or more of the link metrics or SLA parameters to allocate a single communication link or multiple communication links to the STA for communication with the AP MLD 720. In other instances, the resource manager 722 may use one or more of the link metrics or SLA parameters to assign the STA to a single communication link, and then reassign the STA from the single communication link to another single communication link or multiple communication links associated with the AP MLD 720. In some other examples, the resource manager 722 may use one or more of the link metrics or SLA parameters to assign a STA to a pair of communication links and subsequently reassign the STA from the pair of communication links to a single communication link associated with the AP MLD 720 .

[0105] In various specific implementations, the resource manager 722 may deploy a single communication link to the STA during the association and authentication procedures, and maintain the STAs on their respective deployed single communication links for as long as possible. That is, rather than automatically deploying all communication links for which the STA indicates support, the resource manager 722 may use the load balancing techniques described herein to dynamically reassign one or more STAs between the communication links to achieve similar link metrics for each of the communication links. In this way, the resource manager 722 may increase the length of time during which the STA communicates with the AP MLD 720 in a single link operation mode.

[0106] In some specific implementations, the resource manager 722 monitors or obtains link metrics of the communication link at certain times or intervals, and uses one or more link metrics in the link metrics to determine whether any of the communication links violates one or more of the delay threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold. In some aspects, the resource manager 722 monitors or obtains link metrics at intervals between 5 seconds and 10 seconds. For example, after the first communication link is deployed to the first STA, the resource manager 722 may receive or obtain a first indication that at least one of the delay, interference level, or traffic load associated with the first communication link is at least equal to the corresponding delay threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold. In some instances, the resource manager 722 may switch the communication with the first STA from the first communication link to another single communication link based on the first indication. The resource manager 722 may then receive or obtain a second indication that at least one of the delay, interference level, or traffic load associated with another single communication link is at least equal to the corresponding delay threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold. In some aspects, the resource manager 722 may switch the communication with the first STA to another single communication link based on the second indication. In other aspects, the resource manager 722 may switch communication with the first STA to a plurality of communication links or all communication links based on the second indication.

[0107] In some other specific implementations, the resource manager 722 may obtain the MAC address or device ID of the STA requesting to be associated with the AP MLD 720, and determine one or more types of traffic flows that have been recently or most frequently associated with the STA. In some instances, the resource manager 722 may consider the recent or most frequent types of traffic flows when allocating a single communication link or multiple communication links to the STA. For example, if a particular STA has been historically associated with latency-sensitive traffic, the resource manager 722 may allocate a communication link with higher capacity or lower latency to the particular STA than a communication link allocated to a non-latency-sensitive STA.

[0108] In various aspects, the resource manager 722 can provide a multi-link operation (MLO) mode indication, link allocation information, and / or STA link assignment to the firmware component 726. In some implementations, the resource manager 722 provides an indication of a single link operation mode or a multi-link operation mode for a given STA to the firmware 726 and / or the hardware 728. The firmware 726 and / or the hardware 728 can use the indication to allocate a single communication link or multiple communication links to the given STA for communication with the AP MLD 720.

[0109] The kernel 724 may facilitate the interaction between the hardware and software components of the AP MLD 720. For example, the kernel 724 may control various hardware resources of the AP MLD 720 via device drivers, may arbitrate conflicts between hardware resources, and may optimize the utilization of shared resources (such as processor execution cycles, cache memory allocations, file systems, and network sockets). Although not described in detail for simplicity, the kernel 724 may be used to control the various hardware resources of the AP MLD 720 via device drivers, may arbitrate conflicts between hardware resources, and may optimize the utilization of shared resources (such as processor execution cycles, cache memory allocations, file systems, and network sockets). Figure 7 , but the kernel 724 may include a host driver, one or more application programming interfaces (APIs), and a MAC sublayer management entity (MLME). In some other aspects, one or more of the host driver, API, or MLME may be implemented in the resource manager 722.

[0110] In some specific implementations, the system 700 may provide hierarchical control levels for various aspects of wireless communication through the AP MLD 720. For example, the hardware component 728 may implement one or more "fast" control loops 702 based on feedback provided by the firmware component 726 and / or instructions provided by the resource manager 722. The fast control loop 702 may control various link deployments, STA link assignments, and multi-link operation (MLO) mode decisions that require fast convergence. Examples of the fast control loop 702 may include just-in-time (JIT) scheduling, intelligent enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) adjustment, lazy or aggressive rate control, switching between single-link operation mode and multi-link operation mode, STA grouping, and suspension or non-suspension of traffic identifiers (TIDs), among other examples. For example, when implementing the fast control loop 702 associated with the single-link operation mode, the hardware component 728 may receive an indication from the resource manager 722 to deploy a single communication link to the corresponding STA (or STA group). In response to the indication, the hardware component 728 may select the single-link operation mode for communication with the corresponding STA (or STA group). As another example, when the fast control loop 702 associated with the multi-link operation mode is implemented, the hardware component 728 may receive an indication from the resource manager 722 to allocate multiple communication links to the corresponding STA (or STA group). In response to the indication, the hardware component 728 may select the multi-link operation mode for communicating with the corresponding STA (or STA group).

[0111] The resource manager 722 and the kernel 724 may implement one or more “intermediate” control loops 704 that determine whether a corresponding STA is to be provisioned with a single communication link of the AP MLD 720 or multiple communication links of the AP MLD 720 based at least in part on link metrics associated with the communication links of the AP MLD 720. In some instances, the intermediate control loop 704 may control various link provisioning, STA link assignments, and MLO mode decisions that have slower convergence requirements than those associated with the fast control loop 702. Examples of the intermediate control loop 704 may include MLO link provisioning, STA link assignments (and reassignments), activating or deactivating communication links of the AP MLD 720, enabling or disabling MU communication, enabling or disabling fast rate control, configuring rate control loop constants, configuring maximum data rates, enabling or disabling power saving operations, and configuring uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) throttling limits, among other examples. For example, when implementing the intermediate control loop 704 associated with wireless communication, the resource manager 722 can indicate whether a single communication link or multiple communication links are to be provisioned for communication with the AP MLD 720. In this way, the intermediate control loop 704 can provide a dynamic execution range for the fast control loop 702.

[0112] The operator cloud 710 may implement one or more "slow" control loops 706 to obtain link metrics, SLA parameters, and other attributes or characteristics of the communication links and / or STAs associated with the AP MLD 720. In some instances, the slow control loop 706 may control various link provisioning, STA link assignment, and MLO mode decisions with convergence requirements that are slower than those associated with the intermediate control loop 704. Examples of the slow control loop 706 may include setting thresholds for obtaining or otherwise determining link congestion thresholds, link latency thresholds, link throughput thresholds, traffic load thresholds, and other thresholds that can be used to provision links to one or more STAs in a manner that achieves optimal utilization of wireless resources associated with the communication links of the AP MLD 720. For example, when implementing the slow control loop 706 associated with wireless communication, the operator cloud 710 may provide the link metrics of the communication links of the AP MLD 720 as feedback to the resource manager 722. For another example, when implementing the slow control loop 706 associated with wireless communication, the operator cloud 710 may provide one or more of a link congestion threshold, a link delay threshold, a link traffic load threshold, an interference threshold, or other thresholds as feedback to the resource manager 722, or adjust one or more of these thresholds. In this way, the slow control loop 706 may configure and / or manage one or more decision thresholds of the intermediate control loop 704.

[0113] In some implementations, the fast control loop 702 may be configured to make MLO mode decisions for some aspects of wireless communications that require a response between approximately 1 millisecond and 100 milliseconds, the intermediate control loop 704 may be configured to make MLO mode decisions for other aspects of wireless communications that require a response between approximately 1 second and 5 seconds, and the slow control loop 706 may be configured to make MLO mode decisions for some other aspects of wireless communications that require a response between approximately 10 seconds and 60 seconds.

[0114] In various implementations, the operator cloud 710 may monitor interference levels, channel delay spread values ​​(or other indicators of multipath), throughput levels, latency, and traffic loads on each of the communication links associated with the AP MLD 720, and may provide the resulting monitored information as feedback to the resource manager 722. In some instances, the operator cloud 710 may also monitor the number of active STAs, the number or percentage of active STAs supporting multi-link communication, one or more service level parameters, and SLA parameters of the STAs associated with the AP MLD 720, and may provide the resulting monitored information as feedback to the resource manager 722. In some implementations, the resource manager 722 may consider one or more of the SLA parameters of the corresponding STA when determining whether to provision a single communication link or multiple communication links to the corresponding STA. In some other implementations, the resource manager 722 may consider one or more of the SLA parameters of the corresponding STA when determining whether to switch communication with the corresponding STA from one communication link (or communication link group) to another communication link (or communication link group). In some aspects, the SLA parameters may specify a minimum data rate for one or more associated service flows, a delay bound for one or more associated service flows, a service interval for one or more associated service flows, a burst size for one or more associated service flows, a burst interval for one or more associated service flows, and throughput requirements for one or more associated service flows, among other examples.

[0115] In some implementations, the resource manager 722 may reserve one of the communication links associated with the AP MLD 720 for certain traffic flows or certain STAs. For example, in some instances, the resource manager 722 may reserve a selected communication link of the AP MLD 720 for delay-sensitive traffic, and may maintain the latency, throughput, and traffic load on the reserved communication link within or within a configurable threshold or range. In this way, the resource manager 722 may ensure that the STAs associated with the AP MLD 720 are able to meet the strict timing, throughput, and latency requirements associated with the delay-sensitive traffic flows.

[0116] Figure 8FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an apparatus 800 associated with a slow control loop 801, an intermediate control loop 802, and a fast control loop 803 of a wireless device according to some implementations. In some implementations, the apparatus 800 may be an APMLD, such as Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 In various aspects, the slow control loop 801 can be associated with one or more application programming interfaces (APIs) 810 of the device 800 and, in some instances, can also be associated with a reference Figure 7 The depicted operator cloud 710 is associated. The intermediate control loop 802 may be associated with a resource manager 820 of the device 800 , and the fast control loop 803 may be associated with a firmware and hardware (FW / HW) component 830 of the device 800 .

[0117] API 810 may provide a resource manager 820 with a Figure 7 The API 810 may also provide an interface through which the resource manager 820 may obtain one or more thresholds associated with link provisioning decisions and STA link assignment decisions regarding the device 800. In some aspects, the API 810 may be a reference to Figure 6 An example of an API described. For example, API 810 may include other examples such as MLME API, MU API, resource manager telemetry API, T2LM API, and one or more deployment APIs. In some instances, one or more deployment APIs may be used independently of or in conjunction with resource manager 820 to select or adjust one or more thresholds for link deployment and STA link assignment decisions. In other instances, one or more deployment APIs may be used independently of or in conjunction with resource manager 820 to provide an indication of whether one or more corresponding STAs are to be deployed with a single communication link or multiple communication links for communication with AP MLD.

[0118] In some implementations, the resource manager 820 may instruct the provisioning API to configure various aspects of the firmware and hardware components 830 based on the intermediate control loop 802. For example, the resource manager 820 may instruct the provisioning API to select or adjust the MLO mode used by the corresponding STA to communicate with the AP MLD (e.g., between a single-link operation mode and a multi-link operation mode), to determine which communication link to provision to the STA when in a single-link operation mode, to determine which communication link pair or which communication link group to provision to the STA when in a multi-link operation mode, or to select a multi-link profile for one or more associated STAs. Example multi-link operation profiles may include an enhanced multi-link multi-radio (EMLMR) profile, an enhanced multi-link single radio (EMLSR) profile, a non-simultaneous transmit and receive (NSTR) profile, and other examples. The multi-link profile may be used by the resource manager 820 during link provisioning to determine whether multiple communication links can be provisioned to a particular STA for communication with the AP MLD 720. In some examples, resource manager 820 may also instruct the orchestration API to indicate a single-link mode of operation or a multi-link mode of operation for DL ​​packets queued for delivery in the AP MLD.

[0119] Resource manager 820 (which may be Figure 7 824, and a link reservation component 826. The link allocation component 822 may be responsible for allocating communication links to STAs associated with the AP MLD. In some specific implementations, the link allocation component 822 may allocate the communication links to the corresponding STAs for communication with the AP MLD when the congestion or traffic load on the communication link pair is less than a first threshold, and may allocate a single communication link to the corresponding STA for communication with the AP MLD when the congestion or traffic load on the communication link pair is at least equal to the first threshold. As discussed, when the congestion on the communication link pair is at least equal to the first threshold, one of the communication links in the communication link pair is generally able to achieve latency and throughput similar to the corresponding latency and throughput achieved using the two communication links. Thus, by provisioning a single communication link to a STA when congestion or traffic load is at least equal to a first threshold, the link provisioning component 822 can achieve latency and throughput similar to those achieved with multiple communication links without provisioning another communication link in the pair. In some aspects, the link provisioning component 822 can maintain the STAs on their respective provisioned single communication links as long as possible. In this way, aspects of the subject matter disclosed herein can not only save wireless resources associated with the AP MLD, but also reduce power consumption of the STAs provisioned with a single communication link.

[0120] In some examples, when the congestion or traffic load is at least equal to a second threshold value greater than the first threshold value, or when the OBSS interference level on the communication link is at least equal to the interference threshold value, the link provisioning component 822 can provision all communication links to the respective STA. As discussed, when the respective STA is provisioned on all communication links of the AP MLD, the link diversity between the communication links can reduce the latency and packet error rate (PER) associated with transmission to the respective STA to a level less than the respective latency and PER achieved by a single communication link or a pair of communication links of the AP MLD. In this way, when the congestion or traffic load on the communication link is at least equal to the second threshold value, or when the OBSS interference level on the communication link is at least equal to the interference threshold value, the link provisioning component 822 can reduce latency and / or increase throughput (compared to conventional methods).

[0121] The load balancing component 824 can achieve load balancing between the communication links of the AP MLD by dynamically reassigning one or more associated STAs between the various communication links based on changes in one or more of the delay, interference level, or traffic load associated with the various communication links of the AP MLD. For example, in some instances, when at least one of the delay, interference level, or traffic load associated with a single communication link allocated to the STA is at least equal to the corresponding delay threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold, the load balancing component 824 can reassign the STA to another single communication link of the AP MLD. When at least one of the delay, interference level, or traffic load associated with another single communication link is at least equal to the corresponding delay threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold, the load balancing component 824 can reassign the STA to another single communication link until all communication links have been allocated to the STA, or until the OBSS interference level is at least equal to the interference threshold.

[0122] In other examples, when at least one of the delay, interference level, or traffic load associated with the multiple communication links allocated to the STA is at least equal to the corresponding delay threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold, the load balancing component 824 may reassign the STA to a single communication link of the AP MLD. In some other examples, when at least one of the delay, interference level, or traffic load on the reserved communication link is at least equal to the corresponding delay threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold, the load balancing component 824 may maintain at least some STAs associated with delay-sensitive traffic on the reserved communication link while reassigning one or more other STAs (which are not associated with delay-sensitive traffic) from the reserved communication link to one or more other communication links of the AP MLD.

[0123] The load balancing component 824 can seamlessly switch STAs that support multi-link operation from one communication link to another communication link based on the multi-link profile, for example, without disassociating and then reassociating with these STAs. The load balancing component 824 can switch "legacy" STAs that do not support multi-link operation from a first communication link to a second communication link by disassociating with the legacy STA on the first communication link and then reassociating with the legacy STA on the second communication link. In some aspects, the load balancing component 824 can transmit a message compatible with the 802.11AR standard to provide information associated with STA link reassignment to the legacy STA.

[0124] The link reservation component 826 may be responsible for establishing one of the communication links of the AP MLD as a reserved link. In some instances, the reserved communication link may be used for delay-sensitive services and may occupy one or more wireless channels in the 6 GHz frequency band (although in other specific implementations, the reserved communication link may be in another suitable frequency band).

[0125] In various implementations, one or more of the link provisioning component 822, the load balancing component 824, or the link reservation component 826 may obtain an indication of the traffic load on each of the communication links associated with the AP MLD from the firmware and hardware component 830 (or other components of the fast loop 803).

[0126] Firmware and hardware components 830 (which may be referenced Figure 7 The described examples of firmware components 726 and hardware components 728 are shown to include a packet scheduler 832, an MLO mode selection component 834, a TID to link (T2LM) component 836, and a packet queue 838. The packet scheduler 832 can obtain feedback information and link indications from the resource manager 820 based on the intermediate control loop 802, and use the feedback information and link indications to schedule the transmission of packets associated with different service flows to the intended STAs of these packets using one or more of the communication links associated with the AP MLD. For example, in some instances, the packet scheduler 832 can use the indication of the single link operation mode or the multi-link operation mode when determining which communication links of the AP MLD's communication links can be used to send the corresponding packets.

[0127] The MLO mode component 834 can enable single-link communication or multi-link communication of one or more corresponding STAs using the single-link and multi-link operation mode indications provided by the resource manager 820. In some examples, the MLO mode component 834 can configure various MAC and PHY components of the AP MLD to enable single-link communication or multi-link communication with each of the corresponding STAs.

[0128] The T2LM component 836 may be responsible for mapping the TID of the service flow associated with the corresponding STA to one or more communication links allocated to the corresponding STA for communication with the AP MLD. Specifically, the T2LM component 836 may be responsible for remapping the TID of the service flow associated with the STA to which the communication link is reassigned. For example, when the link allocation component 822 switches the communication with the corresponding STA from the first communication link to the second communication link, the T2LM component 836 may remap the TIDs of all service flows associated with the corresponding STA from the first communication link to the second communication link. For another example, when the link allocation component 822 switches the communication with the corresponding STA from a single communication link to multiple communication links of the AP MLD, the T2LM component 836 may remap the TIDs of all service flows associated with the corresponding STA from the single communication link to each of the multiple communication links.

[0129] In some implementations, the T2LM component 836 may also be responsible for (or at least assist in) creating or formatting T2LM elements sent to STAs following the link provisioning or STA link reassignment procedures described herein. As discussed, in the event that there is a change in the communication link used by the corresponding STA, the TIDs of the traffic flows associated with the corresponding STA are remapped from one or more previous communication links to one or more new communication links. Thus, in some aspects, the T2LM component 836 may update the TID mapping included in the T2LM elements sent to the STAs.

[0130] The packet queue 838 may be responsible for queuing DL packets for delivery to one or more associated STAs over one or more communication links of the AP MLD. In some examples, the packet queue 838 may be implemented as Figure 7 In some other examples, the packet queue 838 may be implemented as Figure 7The packet queue 838 may include any suitable number of individual queues or FIFO memories and may be assigned to different access categories or TIDs. Although not shown for simplicity, the packet queue 838 may be associated with one or more channel access mechanisms capable of implementing EDCA or other channel access technologies. In some specific implementations, the packet queue 838 may obtain T2LM information and the MLO mode indicated for the corresponding service flow, and ensure that the queued packets associated with the corresponding service flow are only sent to the destination STA on one or more communication links allocated to the destination STA. For example, when all communication links are allocated to the corresponding STA, the queued packets belonging to the service flow associated with the corresponding STA may be sent to the corresponding STA on any communication link in the communication link of the AP MLD. Therefore, these queued packets may be randomly output for transmission on the first available communication link. For example, when a single communication link is allocated to the corresponding STA, the queued packets belonging to the service flow associated with the corresponding STA may be sent to the corresponding STA only on a single communication link allocated to the corresponding STA. Therefore, these queued packets may not be randomly output for transmission on the first available communication link.

[0131] Fig. 9 FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example link telemetry device 900 suitable for use in a wireless communication device disclosed herein. In some implementations, the link telemetry device 900 may be used with reference to FIG. Figure 8 For example, in some examples, the link telemetry device 900 may be included or implemented in the reference Figure 8 The hardware / hardware components 830 described herein and referenced Figure 7The described hardware 726 and / or hardware 728. Link telemetry device 900 is shown as including three telemetry devices 910-1, 910-2 and 910-3 associated with three respective communication links of the APMLD. Each of telemetry devices 910-1, 910-2 and 910-3 may be associated with multiple peer devices 920 operating on the respective communication links. For example, in some instances, telemetry device 910-1 may be associated with a first communication link occupying one or more channels in the 2.4 GHz frequency band, telemetry device 910-2 may be associated with a second communication link occupying one or more channels in the 5 GHz frequency band, and telemetry device 910-3 may be associated with a third communication link occupying one or more channels in the 6 GHz frequency band. Thus, in some aspects, a peer device 920 associated with telemetry device 910-1 may operate on a first communication link in the 2.4 GHz band, a peer device 920 associated with telemetry device 910-2 may operate on a second communication link in the 5 GHz band, and a peer device 920 associated with telemetry device 910-3 may operate on a third communication link in the 6 GHz band. In various aspects, a peer device 920 capable of multi-link operation (e.g., a non-AP MLD) may be associated with more than one of telemetry devices 910-1, 910-2, and 910-3.

[0132] Each peer device 920 may be associated with one or more peer level metrics such as, but not limited to, peer telemetry 921 and peer capabilities 922. Peer capabilities 922 may include peer MAC address, MLD MAC address, link identifier (ID), per-link MAC address, bandwidth, and operating channel. The peer MAC address is the MAC address of the corresponding peer device 920, and the MLD MAC address is the MAC address of the corresponding AP MLD. The link ID is a value that uniquely identifies the communication link on which the corresponding peer device 920 operates, and the per-link MAC address is the MAC address assigned to the corresponding communication link. The bandwidth indicates the current bandwidth configuration of the corresponding peer device 920, and the operating channel indicates the wireless channel currently used by the corresponding peer device 920. In some instances, the peer capabilities 922 may be stored in a reference MAC address. Figure 8 The host controller described herein may send a T2LM to the peer device 920 after each association procedure and / or after each change in the T2LM of the peer device 920. Figure 8 The resource manager 820 provides peer-to-peer capabilities 922.

[0133] The peer telemetry 921 may include Tx air time values, Rx air time values, Tx retry values, Tx frame values, Rx retry values, Rx frame values, and RSSI values, among other examples. The Tx air time value indicates the percentage or portion of the time period that the corresponding peer device 920 spends sending UL data to the AP MLD. The Rx air time value indicates the percentage or portion of the time period that the corresponding peer device 920 spends receiving DL data from the AP MLD. In some examples, the Tx air time value and the Rx air time value may be referenced by Figure 7 The described host controller determines or obtains. In some aspects, the Tx air time value may be referred to as a transmit air time consumption percentage, and the Rx air time value may be referred to as a receive air time consumption percentage.

[0134] The Tx Retry value indicates the number of frame transmission failures associated with the corresponding peer device 920 during the time period, and the Tx Frame value indicates the total number of frames transmitted by the corresponding peer device 920 during the time period. The Rx Retry value indicates the number of frame reception failures associated with the corresponding peer device 920 during the time period, and the Rx Frame value indicates the total number of frames received by the corresponding peer device 920 during the time period. The RSSI value indicates the average RSSI value of frames received from the corresponding peer device 920 during the time period. In some aspects, the RSSI value may be obtained by referring to Figure 7 The host controller described determines or obtains.

[0135] In some examples, peer telemetry 921 may also include an M1 value and an M2 value, wherein the M1 value indicates a ratio of a Tx retry value to a Tx frame value, and the M2 value indicates a ratio of an Rx retry value to an Rx frame value. Thus, the M1 value may indicate a percentage of frames sent by the respective peer device 920 that resulted in a transmission failure, and the M2 value may indicate a percentage of frames transmitted to the respective peer device 920 that resulted in a reception failure. In this manner, the M1 value may be used to monitor UL transmissions from the respective peer device 920 during the time period, and the M2 value may be used to monitor DL ​​transmissions from the respective peer device 920 during the time period.

[0136] In various specific implementations, each of telemetry devices 910-1, 910-2, and 910-3 may be associated with a corresponding link telemetry 911, which includes an available air time value, a contention time value, a Tx frame failure value, and a total Tx frame value for the corresponding communication link of the AP MLD. The available air time value indicates the percentage of the time period during which the corresponding communication link can be used for transmission to or from the AP MLD. In some instances, the time period may have a duration of approximately five seconds (other durations may be used in other instances). In various aspects, the available air time value may also be an indication of the percentage of the time period during which OBSS interference makes the corresponding communication link busy (and therefore unavailable to the corresponding peer device 920). The contention time value indicates the average or average amount of time that packets queued for transmission wait for access to the corresponding communication link during the time period. The Tx frame failure value indicates the number of frame transmission failures on the corresponding communication link during the time period, and the total Tx frame value indicates the total number of frames sent on the corresponding communication link during the time period.

[0137] In some examples, link telemetry 911 may also include an M3 value indicating the sum of contention time values ​​across all access categories for the corresponding communication link and an M4 value indicating the ratio of the Tx frame failure value to the total Tx frame value for the corresponding communication link. Thus, the M3 value may indicate the average amount of time that queued packets waited for link access across all access categories during the time period, and the M4 value may indicate the percentage of frames sent on the corresponding communication link during the time period that resulted in a transmission failure. In this way, the M3 value may be used to monitor DL ​​transmissions on the corresponding communication link during the time period, and the M4 value may be used to monitor UL transmissions on the corresponding communication link during the time period.

[0138] In various implementations, peer devices 920-1, 920-2, and 920-3 may provide their respective available air time, M3 values, and M4 values ​​to the reference Figure 8 The fast loop 803 described. In some examples, reference Figure 8 The depicted host controller may aggregate the available air time, M3 value, and M4 value received from respective peer devices 920-1, 920-2, and 920-3 along with the Tx air time, Rx air time, M1 value, M2 value, and RSSI value to form per-link peer telemetry 912. Fig. 9 As shown, per-link peer telemetry 912 includes a Tx air time value, an Rx air time value, a response rate value, an available air time value, and an RSSI value. In some examples, the host controller may use the values ​​of M1-M4 to determine or obtain a response rate value, which may indicate an average response time of peer devices 920-1, 920-2, and 920-3. In various aspects, Figure 7AP MLD720 or Figure 8 The apparatus 800 may be configured to provide communication links to peer devices 920-1, 920-2, and 920-3 and / or in conjunction with Figure 7 AP MLD 720 or Figure 8 The per-link peer telemetry 912 is used when reassigning peer devices 920 - 1 , 920 - 2 , and 920 - 3 between associated communication links of the apparatus 800 .

[0139] Fig. 10A A sequence diagram depicting an example wireless communication 1000A that supports selectively deploying a communication link of an AP MLD to one or more associated STAs according to some implementations is shown. The wireless communication 1000A may be performed between an AP MLD 1010 and at least a first station (STA1). The AP MLD 1010 may be any wireless device capable of multi-link operation. In some examples, the AP MLD 1010 may be a Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 STA1 may be any suitable wireless station, client device, user equipment (UE), or device implementing STA. In some examples, STA1 may be Figure 1 STA 104 Figure 4 The wireless communication device 400 or Figure 5B In some other examples, STA1 may be Figure 6 For example, in some aspects, STA1 may be included in a non-AP MLD that also includes one or more other STAs that may also be associated with one or more communication links of the AP MLD 1010. Fig. 10A The example shows one station STA1 communicating with the AP MLD 1010, but in other specific implementations, the AP MLD 1010 may communicate with other number of STAs.

[0140] exist Fig. 10AIn the example of , AP MLD 1010 is associated with a first communication link (Link1), a second communication link (Link2), and a third communication link (Link3). In some instances, Link1 can be one or more wireless channels in the 2.4 GHz band, Link2 can be one or more wireless channels in the 5 GHz band, and Link3 can be one or more wireless channels in the 6 GHz band. In other specific implementations, Link1-Link3 can be associated with other suitable frequency bands. In some other instances, AP MLD 1010 can be associated with other numbers of communication links (not shown for simplicity).

[0141] In various implementations, the AP MLD 1010 may obtain one or more link metrics for each of Link1-Link3. The link metrics for the corresponding communication links may include latency, interference level, or traffic load, among other examples. In some examples, the AP MLD 1010 may obtain the link metrics from a STA (or other client device) operating on one or more of Link1-Link3. In other examples, the AP MLD 1010 may obtain the link metrics from a reference STA (or other client device). Figures 7 and 8 The depicted operator cloud 710 obtains link metrics. In some aspects, the AP MLD 1010 may use one or more of the obtained link metrics when provisioning a communication link to STA1.

[0142] The AP MLD 1010 may also obtain one or more SLA parameters associated with the traffic flow on Link1-Link3. For example, in some instances, the AP MLD 1010 may obtain SLA parameters for STA1 based on a service level agreement (SLA) or a QoS agreement. Other examples of SLA parameters may include minimum data rate, maximum delay bound, service interval, burst size, or throughput requirements. In some aspects, when the communication link is allocated to STA1 for communication with the AP MLD 1010, the AP MLD 1010 may use one or more of the SLA parameters associated with STA1.

[0143] exist Fig. 10AIn the example of , STA1 transmits a request for association (REQ) to the AP MLD 1010 on Link1. The request may indicate whether STA1 supports operations on each of Link1-Link3, and may indicate whether STA1 operates as an EMLMR device or an EMLSR device (or as an NSTR device). In some aspects, the request may be included in a multi-link association request frame or a multi-link probe request frame. The multi-link association request frame and the multi-link probe request frame may include MLD capabilities, operating channels, operating parameters, and other multi-link information about STA1. Fig. 10A In the example of FIG. 1 , STA1 requests association with AP MLD 1010 on all Link1 - Link3 .

[0144] The AP MLD 1010 receives the request and may determine which links of Link1-Link3 are supported by STA1, and may exclude communication links not supported by STA1 from link allocation. For example, if STA1 does not support operation on the 6 GHz band, the APMLD 1010 may not allocate Link3 to STA1, thereby leaving Link1 and Link2 as candidates for allocating communication links to STA1. For another example, if STA1 supports operation on all Link1-Link3, the AP MLD 1010 may allocate any link (or all links) of Link1-Link3 to STA1 for communication with the AP MLD 1010.

[0145] In various specific implementations, the AP MLD 1010 uses at least one of the latency, interference level, or traffic load associated with each of Link1-Link3 to determine whether to allocate a single communication link or multiple communication links to STA1 for communication with the AP MLD 1010. For example, if the latency and interference levels on Link2 and Link3 are at least equal to the corresponding latency and interference thresholds, and the latency and interference levels on Link1 are less than the corresponding latency and interference thresholds, the AP MLD 1010 may allocate only Link1 to STA1 for communication with the AP MLD 1010. In this way, the AP MLD 1010 may direct STA1 to the communication link associated with the lowest latency or the least amount of interference (or the lowest traffic load). As another example, if the latency and interference levels on each of Link1-Link3 are greater than the corresponding latency and interference thresholds (thereby indicating relatively poor channel quality or relatively high latency), the AP MLD 1010 may allocate all of Link1-Link3 to STA1 for communication with the AP MLD 1010. By allowing STA1 to use any one or more of Link1-Link3 to communicate with the AP MLD 1010 when each of Link1-Link3 is associated with relatively poor channel quality or relatively high latency, aspects of the present disclosure may increase the likelihood that STA1 meets certain latency and throughput requirements. In some aspects, the AP MLD 1010 may also use one or more of the SLA parameters associated with STA1 to determine whether to allocate a single communication link or multiple communication links to STA1 for communication with the AP MLD 1010.

[0146] In some implementations, one or more of the latency threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold may be determined, for example, via Figures 7 and 8 The cloud operator 710 of STA1 obtains the information from the network entity. In some examples, the network entity may dynamically adjust or reconfigure one or more of the latency threshold, the interference threshold, or the traffic load threshold. In this way, the network entity may dynamically adjust the conditions (or parameters) under which the AP MLD 1110 allocates a single communication link or multiple communication links to STA1.

[0147] exist Fig. 10AIn the example of , AP MLD 1010 allocates Link1 as a single communication link to STA1 based on at least one of the link metrics. AP MLD 1010 may determine or obtain the TID of the service flow associated with STA1, and map the TID of the service flow to Link1. AP MLD 1010 may also determine or obtain the TID of the service flow associated with one or more other STAs, and may map the TID of the service flow to the corresponding communication link. In some instances, AP MLD1010 may generate a service identifier (TID) to link mapping (T2LM) element, which indicates, for each of a plurality of TIDs, one or more communication links on which the service flow of the corresponding TID may be sent.

[0148] Specifically, the AP MLD 1010 generates a first frame indicating that a single communication link (Link1) is allocated to STA1. The first frame may include a T2LM element indicating that the TID of the service flow associated with STA1 is mapped to Link1. In some aspects, the T2LM element may also indicate the specific communication link to which each of the multiple TIDs associated with other service flows is mapped. In some instances, the first frame may be a multi-link association response frame in response to an association request frame obtained from STA1, or may be a multi-link probe response frame in response to a probe request frame obtained from STA1. The multi-link association response frame and the multi-link probe response frame may include MLD capabilities, operating channels, operating parameters, and other discovery information for establishing multi-link operations with the AP MLD 1010. In some aspects, the first frame may be a directional action frame indicating a TID mapping for STA1.

[0149] AP MLD 1010 sends a first frame to STA1 on Link1. STA1 receives the first frame, decodes the T2LM element included in the first frame, and determines that the TID of the service flow associated with STA1 is mapped to Link1 (thereby allocating Link1 to STA1 for communication with AP MLD 1010). In various aspects, STA1 can associate with AP MLD 1010 on Link1 and authenticate to AP MLD 1010 using the discovery information, MLD capabilities, MLD parameters, and other multi-link information included in the first frame. Then, STA1 can communicate with AP MLD 1010 on Link1.

[0150] exist Fig. 10AIn the example of , the AP MLD 1010 obtains a first indication that at least one of a latency, an interference level, or a traffic load associated with Link1 is at least equal to a corresponding latency threshold, an interference threshold, or a traffic load threshold. In various aspects, the first indication may signal that Link1 is associated with greater latency and lower throughput than Link2 or Link3. Therefore, in some instances, the AP MLD 1010 may switch communication with STA1 from Link1 to one of Link2 or Link3, for example, to reduce latency and increase throughput associated with transmission of traffic flows to or from STA1.

[0151] exist Fig. 10A In the example of , AP MLD 1010 switches communication with STA1 from Link1 to Link2 based on the first indication. Specifically, AP MLD 1010 remaps the TID of the service flow associated with STA1 from Link1 to Link2 and updates the T2LM element. In some instances, AP MLD 1010 generates a second frame including the updated T2LM element and sends the second frame to STA1 on Link1. In some aspects, the second frame may be a directional action frame indicating TID remapping for STA1.

[0152] STA1 receives the second frame, decodes the T2LM element included in the second frame, and determines that the TID of the service flow associated with STA1 is remapped to Link2 (thereby allocating Link2 to STA1 for communication with the AP MLD 1010). Therefore, STA1 switches the operation from Link1 to Link2, and then, STA1 can communicate with the AP MLD 1010 on Link2.

[0153] exist Fig. 10A In the example of , AP MLD 1010 obtains a second indication that at least one of the latency, interference level, or traffic load associated with Link2 is at least equal to the corresponding latency threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold. In various aspects, the second indication may signal that Link2 is not associated with lower latency or greater throughput than Link1, and enabling multi-link communication with STA1 may result in lower latency and / or greater throughput than single-link communication with STA1. Therefore, in some instances, AP MLD 1010 may allocate all communication links (Link1-Link3) to STA1 based on the second indication.

[0154] Specifically, the AP MLD 1010 remaps the TID of the service flow associated with STA1 from Link1 to each of Link1-Link3, and updates the T2LM element with the new TID mapping. In some examples, the AP MLD 1010 generates a third frame including the updated T2LM element, and sends the third frame to STA1 on Link2. STA1 receives the third frame, decodes the T2LM element included in the third frame, and switches the association of STA1 with the AP MLD 1010 from Link1 to all Link1-Link3 without disassociating or reassociating with the AP MLD 1010.

[0155] Therefore, instead of allocating another single link to STA1 based on the second indication, AP MLD 1010 can reduce the latency associated with traffic flows sent to or from STA1 and / or increase the throughput associated with these traffic flows by enabling STA1 to operate on any one or more of Link1-Link3. For example, when multi-link communication is enabled for STA1, DL packets queued in AP MLD 1010 can be sent to STA1 on the first available communication link associated with AP MLD 1010. Similarly, UL packets queued in STA1 can be sent to AP MLD 1010 on the first available communication link.

[0156] In some specific implementations, the AP MLD 1010 may reserve one of Link1-Link3 for delay-sensitive services. For example, in some instances, the AP MLD 1010 reserves Link3 for delay-sensitive services, which Link3 occupies one or more wireless channels in the 6 GHz frequency band. In some aspects, the AP MLD 1010 maintains the latency, interference level, and traffic load associated with the reserved Link3 below the corresponding latency threshold, interference threshold, and traffic load threshold. In some other aspects, the AP MLD 1010 ensures that at least a certain capacity or bandwidth of Link3 remains available for delay-sensitive services. In this way, the APMLD 1010 can advertise Link3 as an advanced or original communication link over which delay-sensitive services can be sent without violating the strict end-to-end latency and throughput requirements associated with such delay-sensitive services.

[0157] In some instances, the AP MLD 1010 may obtain an indication that at least one of a latency, an interference level, or a traffic load associated with the reserved communication link is at least equal to a corresponding latency threshold, an interference threshold, or a traffic load threshold. In some aspects where STA1 is associated with latency-sensitive traffic, the AP MLD 1010 may switch communications between the AP MLD 1010 and one or more other STAs (not shown for simplicity) from the reserved communication link to one or more other communication links of the AP MLD 1010 based on the indication. In this way, STA1 remains on the reserved communication link, and the AP MLD 1010 reduces latency and traffic load on the reserved communication link by moving one or more other STAs from the reserved communication link to the one or more other communication links.

[0158] Fig. 10B A sequence diagram depicting another example wireless communication 1000 that supports selectively provisioning a communication link of an AP MLD to one or more associated STAs according to some implementations is shown. The wireless communication 1000 may be referenced at Fig. 10A The described AP MLD 1010 is performed between STA1. As discussed, the AP MLD 1010 may obtain one or more link metrics for each of Link1-Link3, and may also obtain one or more SLA parameters associated with the traffic flow on Link1-Link3. In some examples, the AP MLD 1010 may use at least one of the link metrics when provisioning a communication link to STA1 (and one or more other associated STAs, not shown for simplicity).

[0159] In some implementations, one or more of the latency threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold may be determined, for example, via Figures 7 and 8 The cloud operator 710 of STA1 obtains the information from the network entity. In some examples, the network entity may dynamically adjust or reconfigure one or more of the latency threshold, the interference threshold, or the traffic load threshold. In this way, the network entity may dynamically adjust the conditions (or parameters) under which the AP MLD 1110 allocates a single communication link or multiple communication links to STA1.

[0160] exist Fig. 10BIn the example of , STA1 transmits a request for association on Link1 to AP MLD 1010. The request may indicate whether STA1 supports operations on each of Link1-Link3, and may indicate whether the STA operates as an EMLMR device or an EMLSR device (or an NSTR device). In some aspects, the request may be included in a multi-link association request frame or a multi-link probe request frame. The multi-link association request frame and the multi-link probe request frame may include MLD capabilities, operating channels, operating parameters, and other multi-link information about STA1. Fig. 10B In the example of FIG. 1 , STA1 requests association with AP MLD 1010 on all Link1 - Link3 .

[0161] AP MLD 1010 receives the request and determines which links of Link1-Link3 are supported by STA1. As discussed, AP MLD 1010 may use at least one of the latency, interference level, or traffic load associated with each of Link1-Link3 to determine whether to allocate a single communication link or multiple communication links to STA1 for communication with AP MLD 1010. Fig. 10B In the example of , AP MLD 1010 allocates Link1 and Link2 as multiple communication links for STA1 to communicate with AP MLD1010. AP MLD 1010 can determine or obtain the TID of the service flow associated with STA1, and map the TID of the service flow to each of Link1 and Link2. AP MLD 1010 can also determine or obtain the TID of the service flow to or from one or more other STAs (not shown for simplicity), and map the TIDs of these service flows to one or more corresponding communication links allocated by AP MLD 1010. In some examples, AP MLD 1010 generates a T2LM element indicating which links of Link1-Link3 can be used to send (or receive) the service flow associated with each of these TIDs.

[0162] In some specific implementations, the AP MLD 1010 generates a first frame indicating that multiple communication links (Link1 and Link2) of the AP MLD 1010 are allocated to STA1. The first frame may include a T2LM element indicating that the TID of the service flow associated with STA1 is mapped to each of Link1 and Link2. In some aspects, the T2LM element may also indicate the specific communication link to which each of the multiple TIDs associated with other service flows is mapped. In some instances, the first frame may be a multi-link association response frame in response to an association request frame obtained from STA1, or may be a multi-link probe response frame in response to a probe request frame obtained from STA1. The multi-link association response frame and the multi-link probe response frame may include MLD capabilities, operating channels, operating parameters, and other discovery information for establishing multi-link operations with the AP MLD 1010. In some aspects, the first frame may be a directional action frame indicating TID mapping for STA1.

[0163] AP MLD 1010 sends a first frame to STA1 on Link1. STA1 receives the first frame, decodes the T2LM element included in the first frame, and determines that the TID of the service flow associated with STA1 is mapped to Link1 and Link2 (thereby Link1 and Link2 are provisioned to STA1 for communication with AP MLD 1010). As discussed, STA1 can associate with and authenticate to AP MLD 1010 on Link1 and Link2 using the discovery information, MLD capabilities, MLD parameters, and other multi-link information included in the first frame. In this way, STA1 can establish a multi-link association with AP MLD 1010 on Link1 and Link2.

[0164] exist Fig. 10B In the example of , AP MLD 1010 obtains an indication that at least one of the latency, interference level, or traffic load associated with one or both of Link1 and Link2 is at least equal to the corresponding latency threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold. In some instances, the indication may signal that Link1 and Link2 are associated with higher latency and / or lower throughput than Link3. Therefore, in some aspects, AP MLD 1010 may switch STA1 from multi-link communication to single-link communication based on the indication. In this way, aspects of the present disclosure may reduce latency and increase throughput of traffic flows associated with STA1.

[0165] exist Fig. 10BIn the example of , AP MLD 1010 allocates Link3 to STA1 based on the indication. Specifically, APMLD 1010 remaps the TID of the service flow associated with STA1 from multi-link operation on Link1-Link2 to single-link operation on Link3, and updates the T2LM element. In some instances, AP MLD 1010 generates a second frame including the updated T2LM element, and sends the second frame to STA1 on one or both of Link1 and Link2. In some aspects, the second frame may be a directional action frame indicating TID remapping for STA1. STA1 receives the second frame, decodes the T2LM element, and switches from multi-link operation on Link1 and Link2 to single-link operation on Link3 based on the T2LM element included in the second frame. In this way, AP MLD 1010 can switch communication with STA1 from multiple communication links to a single communication link without disassociating or reassociating with STA1.

[0166] In some specific implementations, the AP MLD 1010 may reserve one of Link1-Link3 for delay-sensitive services. For example, in some instances, the AP MLD 1010 reserves Link3 for delay-sensitive services, which Link3 occupies one or more wireless channels in the 6 GHz frequency band. In some aspects, the AP MLD 1010 maintains the latency, interference level, and traffic load associated with the reserved Link3 below the corresponding latency threshold, interference threshold, and traffic load threshold. In some other aspects, the AP MLD 1010 ensures that at least a certain capacity or bandwidth of Link3 remains available for delay-sensitive services. In this way, the APMLD 1010 can advertise Link3 as an advanced or original communication link over which delay-sensitive services can be sent without violating the strict end-to-end latency and throughput requirements associated with such delay-sensitive services.

[0167] In some instances, the AP MLD 1010 may obtain an indication that at least one of a latency, an interference level, or a traffic load associated with the reserved communication link is at least equal to a corresponding latency threshold, an interference threshold, or a traffic load threshold. In some aspects where STA1 is associated with latency-sensitive traffic, the AP MLD 1010 may switch communications between the AP MLD 1010 and one or more other STAs (not shown for simplicity) from the reserved communication link to one or more other communication links of the AP MLD 1010 based on the indication. In this way, STA1 remains on the reserved communication link, and the AP MLD 1010 reduces latency and traffic load on the reserved communication link by moving one or more other STAs from the reserved communication link to the one or more other communication links.

[0168] Fig.11 A sequence diagram depicting an example wireless communication 1100 that supports selective assignment (and reassignment) of one or more STAs to a communication link associated with an MLD according to some implementations is shown. The wireless communication 1100 may be performed between an AP MLD 1110 and stations STA1-STA3. In some examples, the AP MLD 1100 may be Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 In some other examples, the AP MLD 1100 may be Fig. 10A or Fig. 10B Example of APMLD 1010. Fig.11 In the example of FIG. 1 , AP MLD 1110 is associated with Link1, Link2, and Link3, as shown in FIG. Fig. 10A Stations STA1-STA3 may be any suitable wireless station, client device, UE, or device implementing STA. In some examples, stations STA1-STA3 may be Figure 1 STA 104 Figure 4 The wireless communication device 400 or Figure 5B In some other examples, stations STA1-STA3 may be Figure 6 For example, in some aspects, each of the stations STA1-STA3 may be included in a corresponding non-AP MLD that also includes one or more other STAs that may be associated with one or more communication links of the AP MLD 1110. Fig.11 The example shows three stations STA1-STA3 communicating with the APMLD 1110, but in other specific implementations, the APMLD 1110 can communicate with other numbers of STAs.

[0169] As discussed, the AP MLD 1110 may obtain one or more link metrics for each of Link1-Link3, and may also obtain one or more SLA parameters associated with a traffic flow on Link1-Link3. In some instances, the APMLD 1110 may use at least one of the link metrics when assigning each of STA1-STA3 to one or more communication links of the AP MLD 1110. In some implementations, the AP MLD 1110 may obtain from each of STA1-STA3 (and other associated STAs, not shown for simplicity) an indication of whether the respective STA supports operations on each of Link1-Link3.

[0170] In some aspects, the AP MLD 1110 may use the indication of link support when assigning each of STA1-STA3 to one or more of the communication links. For example, if STA1 indicates support for operation in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, and does not indicate support for operation in the 6 GHz band, the AP MLD 1110 may not assign STA1 to Link3 (which includes one or more wireless channels in the 6 GHz band, as shown in FIG. Fig. 10A As discussed above). For another example, if STA2 indicates support for each of Link1-Link3, the AP MLD 1110 may assign STA2 to any one or more of Link1-Link3. In some examples, these indications may be included in a multi-link association request frame or a multi-link probe request frame sent to the AP MLD 1110. As discussed above, the multi-link association request frame and the multi-link probe request frame may include MLD capabilities, operating channels, operating parameters, and other multi-link information about the corresponding stations STA1-STA3.

[0171] exist Fig.11In an example of , AP MLD 1110 assigns each of STA1-STA3 to a single communication link based at least in part on the traffic volume on each of the communication links. Specifically, AP MLD 1110 assigns STA1 to Link1, STA2 to Link2, and STA3 to Link3. AP MLD 1110 may map one or more TIDs of a traffic flow associated with each of STA1-STA3 to Link1-Link3, respectively. MLD 1110 generates a first frame indicating the assigned communication link and TID mapping for each of STA1-STA3, and sends the first frame to STA1-STA3 on Link1-Link3, respectively. Each of the first frames may include a T2LM element indicating the TID mapping for a corresponding one of STA1-STA3. In some instances, the first frame may be a multi-link association response frame sent in response to an association request frame obtained from the corresponding station STA1-STA3. In other examples, the first frame may be a multilink probe response frame sent in response to a probe request frame obtained from the respective stations STA1-STA3. In some aspects, the first frame may be a directional action frame indicating TID remapping for the respective stations STA1-STA3.

[0172] Each of STA1-STA3 receives the corresponding first frame, decodes the T2LM element included in the corresponding first frame, and uses the decoded T2LM element to determine the communication link to which the corresponding STA is assigned. As discussed, STA1 is assigned to Link1, STA2 is assigned to Link2, and STA3 is assigned to Link3. Stations STA1-STA3 can use the discovery information, MLD capabilities, MLD parameters, and other multi-link information included in the corresponding first frame to associate with and authenticate to AP MLD 1110 on Link1-Link3, respectively. Then, STA1 can communicate with AP MLD 1110 on Link1, STA2 can communicate with AP MLD 1110 on Link2, and STA3 can communicate with AP MLD 1110 on Link3.

[0173] In some implementations, AP MLD 1110 may continuously or periodically obtain link metrics associated with each of Link1-Link3. Fig.11In the example of FIG. 1 , AP MLD 1110 obtains a first indication that the traffic load on Link 1 is greater than the traffic load on Link 3 by at least a threshold amount. The threshold amount may correspond to a particular load imbalance between Link 1 and Link 3, may correspond to a particular latency or interference level of Link 1 relative to Link 3, or may be any other suitable amount or value. In some examples, the threshold amount may be determined, for example, via Figures 7 and 8 The cloud operator 710 obtains the STA from the network entity. In this way, the network entity can dynamically adjust the conditions (or parameters) under which the AP MLD 1110 reassigns the STA from one communication link to another communication link.

[0174] exist Fig.11 In the example of , AP MLD 1110 reassigns STA1 from Link1 to Link3 based on the first indication. Specifically, AP MLD 1110 remaps the TID of the service flow associated with STA1 from Link1 to Link3, updates the T2LM element to include the TID mapping to Link3, and generates a second frame including the updated T2LM element. Although not shown for simplicity, AP MLD 1110 may also reassign one or more other STAs from Link1 to Link3 (or Link2), remap their corresponding TIDs to Link3 (or Link2), and generate one or more other second frames including the corresponding updated T2LM elements. AP MLD 1110 sends the second frame to STA1 on Link1. In some instances, the second frame may be a directional action frame indicating the TID remapping for STA1.

[0175] STA1 receives the second frame, decodes the T2LM element included in the second frame, and determines that the TID of the service flow associated with STA1 is remapped from Link1 to Link3 (thereby reassigning STA1 from Link1 to Link3). STA1 switches operation from Link1 to Link3, and then communicates with AP MLD 1110 on Link3.

[0176] As reference Fig. 10BAs discussed, the AP MLD 1110 may reserve Link3 for delay-sensitive services, which Link3 occupies one or more wireless channels in the 6 GHz frequency band. In some specific implementations, the AP MLD 1110 maintains the delay, interference level, and traffic load associated with the reserved Link3 below the corresponding delay threshold, interference threshold, and traffic load threshold. In some instances, the AP MLD 1110 may ensure that at least a certain capacity or bandwidth of Link3 remains available for delay-sensitive services. For example, in some aspects, the AP MLD 1110 maintains STAs associated with delay-sensitive services on Link3 while switching communications with non-delay-sensitive STAs from Link3 to Link1 or Link2. In this way, the AP MLD 1110 may maintain Link3 as an advanced or original communication link over which delay-sensitive services may be sent without violating the strict end-to-end delay and throughput requirements associated with such delay-sensitive services.

[0177] exist Fig.11 In the example of , AP MLD 1110 obtains a second indication that the traffic load on Link3 is at least equal to a load threshold. The load threshold may correspond to a specific load imbalance between Link3 and one or both of Link1-Link2, may correspond to a specific delay or interference level of Link1 relative to one or both of Link1-Link2, or may be any other suitable quantity or value. In some examples, the load threshold may be determined, for example, via Figures 7 and 8 The cloud operator 710 obtains the STA from the network entity. In this way, the network entity can dynamically adjust the conditions (or parameters) under which the AP MLD 1110 reassigns the STA from one communication link to another communication link.

[0178] In some specific implementations, the AP MLD 1110 may deploy all Link1-Link3 to at least some of the STAs originally assigned to Link3 based on the second indication. In some instances, the AP MLD 1110 deploys all Link1-Link3 to each STA on Link3 having a throughput less than the first threshold or associated with a traffic load at least equal to the second threshold. In other instances, the AP MLD 1110 may form a STA group operating on Link3 based on the combined throughput of the grouped STAs, and deploy all Link1-Link3 to each STA in the group. In some other instances, the APMLD 1110 may form a STA group operating on Link3 based on the combined load of the grouped STAs, and deploy all Link1-Link3 to each STA in the group.

[0179] exist Fig.11 In the example of , the AP MLD 1110 allocates each of Link1-Link3 to STA1, for example, by reassigning STA1 from Link3 to each of Link1-Link3 based on the second indication. Specifically, the AP MLD 1110 remaps the TID of the service flow associated with STA1 from Link3 to each of Link1-Link3, updates the T2LM element to include the TID mapping to each of Link1-Link3, and generates a third frame including the updated T2LM element. Although not shown for simplicity, the AP MLD 1110 may also reassign one or more other STAs from Link3 to each of Link1-Link3 based on the second indication. The AP MLD 1110 sends the third frame to STA1 on Link3. In some instances, the third frame may be a directional action frame indicating the TID remapping for STA1.

[0180] STA1 receives the third frame, decodes the T2LM element included in the third frame, and determines that the TID of the service flow associated with STA1 is remapped from Link3 to each of Link1-Link3 (thereby reassigning STA1 to each of Link1-Link3). STA1 switches operation from Link3 to all Link1-Link3, and then, can communicate with AP MLD 1110 on any one or more of Link1-Link3.

[0181] exist Fig.11In the example of , AP MLD 1110 obtains a third indication that the traffic load on each of the communication links is at least equal to the load threshold, and allocates all the communication links to each STA associated with AP MLD 1110. Specifically, AP MLD 1110 remaps the TID of the traffic flow associated with STA2 from Link2 to each of Link1-Link3, and remaps the TID of the traffic flow associated with STA3 from Link3 to each of Link1-Link3. AP MLD 1110 updates the T2LM elements associated with STA2 and STA3 to include their respective TID remappings to each of Link1-Link3, and generates a corresponding fourth frame including the respective updated T2LM elements. Although not shown for simplicity, AP MLD 1110 may also reassign other associated STAs from Link3 to each of Link1-Link3 based on the third indication. AP MLD 1110 sends the fourth frame to STA2 and STA3 on Link2 and Link3, respectively. In some examples, the fourth frame may be a directional action frame indicating respective TID remapping for STA2 and STA3.

[0182] STA2 receives the fourth frame on Link2, decodes the T2LM element included in the fourth frame, and determines that the TID of the service flow associated with STA2 is remapped from Link2 to each of Link1-Link3 (thereby reassigning STA2 to each of Link1-Link3). STA2 switches operation from Link2 to all Link1-Link3, and then, can communicate with the AP MLD 1110 on any one or more of Link1-Link3. Similarly, STA3 receives the fourth frame on Link3, decodes the T2LM element included in the fourth frame, and determines that the TID of the service flow associated with STA3 is remapped from Link3 to each of Link1-Link3 (thereby reassigning STA3 to each of Link1-Link3). STA3 switches operation from Link3 to all Link1-Link3, and then, can communicate with the AP MLD 1110 on any one or more of Link1-Link3.

[0183] In some other specific implementations, the AP MLD 1110 may obtain an indication that at least one STA assigned to the reserved Link3 violates one or more SLA parameters. In some instances, the AP MLD 1110 reassigns one or more other STAs from Link3 to one or both of Link1 or Link2 based on the indicated SLA violation. For example, the AP MLD 1110 may obtain an indication that STA1 violates the latency or throughput requirements of the associated SLA, and reassigns STA3 from Link3 to Link2 based on the indication. Specifically, the AP MLD 1110 remaps the TID of the service flow associated with STA3 from Link3 to Link2, updates the T2LM element to include the TID mapping to Link2, and generates a fifth frame (not shown for simplicity) including the updated T2LM element. The AP MLD 1110 sends the fifth frame to STA3 on Link3, and STA3 switches operation from Link3 to Link2. In some instances, the fifth frame may be a directional action frame indicating the TID remapping for STA3. By moving traffic associated with STA3 from Link3 to Link2, AP MLD 1110 may reduce traffic on Link3, which in turn may reduce latency and / or increase throughput associated with STA1.

[0184] Fig.12 FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 1200 for supporting wireless communications for selectively allocating a communication link of an AP MLD to one or more associated STAs according to some implementations. Operations 1200 may be performed by, for example, a reference Figure 4 In some implementations, the operations 1200 may be performed by an apparatus of the wireless communication device 400 described herein. Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 The AP MLD 720 is executed by the AP MLD.

[0185] For example, at 1202, the AP MLD obtains a request from a first station (STA) on a first communication link of the AP MLD for association with the AP MLD on the first communication link and on each of the one or more second communication links of the AP MLD. At 1204, the AP MLD allocates a single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD for communication between the first STA and the AP MLD based on at least one of a delay, an interference level, or a traffic load associated with the first communication link of the AP MLD and each of the one or more second communication links. At 1206, the AP MLD generates a first frame indicating whether a single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD is allocated to the first STA for communication with the AP MLD. At 1208, the AP MLD outputs a first frame for transmission to the first STA on the first communication link.

[0186] In various specific implementations, the first communication link is associated with a first AP of the AP MLD, one or more second communication links are associated with one or more corresponding second APs of the AP MLD, and the first STA is associated with a STA MLD including one or more second STAs associated with the one or more corresponding second communication links of the AP MLD. In some instances, the first frame further indicates whether a single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD are allocated to one or more second STAs of the STA MLD for communication with the AP MLD.

[0187] In some instances, the request is obtained via a multilink association request frame or a multilink probe request frame, and the first frame includes a multilink association response frame in response to the multilink association request frame or a multilink probe response frame in response to the multilink probe request frame. In some aspects, the first frame includes a T2LM element that indicates, for a corresponding TID among the plurality of TIDs, one or more communication links of the AP MLD allocated for traffic associated with the corresponding TID.

[0188] Fig.13 FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating another example operation 1300 for supporting wireless communications for selectively allocating a communication link of an AP MLD to one or more associated STAs according to some implementations. Operation 1300 may be performed by, for example, a reference Figure 4 In some implementations, the operations 1300 may be performed by an apparatus of the wireless communication device 400 described herein. Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 The operations 1300 may be performed by the AP MLD 720 of the AP MLD. Fig.12The AP MLD at 1204 allocates a single communication link to the first STA for communication with the AP MLD. For example, at 1302, the AP MLD obtains one or more TIDs associated with a traffic flow sent to or received from the first STA. At 1304, the AP MLD maps the one or more TIDs to only the allocated single communication link of the AP MLD.

[0189] Fig.14 FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating another example operation 1400 for supporting wireless communications for selectively allocating a communication link of an AP MLD to one or more associated STAs according to some implementations. Operation 1400 may be performed by, for example, a reference Figure 4 The operations 1400 may be performed by the apparatus of the wireless communication device 400 described herein. In some implementations, the operations 1400 may be performed by, for example, Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 The operations 1400 may be performed by the AP MLD 720 of the AP MLD. Fig.12 For example, at 1402, the AP MLD obtains a first indication that at least one of a latency, an interference level, or a traffic load associated with a single communication link is at least equal to a corresponding latency threshold, an interference threshold, or a traffic load threshold. At 1404, the AP MLD switches the communication between the first STA and the AP MLD from the provisioned single communication link of the APMLD to another single communication link of the AP MLD based on the first indication.

[0190] In some implementations, switching communications includes remapping one or more TIDs from the provisioned single communication link of the AP MLD to another single communication link of the AP MLD. In some examples, operations 1400 continue at 1406, where the AP MLD generates a second frame including a TID to link mapping (T2LM) element indicating a remapping of one or more TIDs from the provisioned single communication link of the AP MLD to another single communication link of the AP MLD. At 1408, the AP MLD outputs the second frame for transmission to the first STA over the provisioned single communication link.

[0191] Fig.15 FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating another example operation 1500 for supporting wireless communications for selectively allocating a communication link of an AP MLD to one or more associated STAs according to some implementations. Operation 1500 may be performed by, for example, a reference Figure 4 The operations 1500 may be performed by the apparatus of the wireless communication device 400 described herein. In some implementations, the operations 1500 may be performed by, for example, Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 The operations 1500 may be performed by the AP MLD 720 of the AP MLD. Fig.14 For example, at 1502, the AP MLD obtains a second indication that at least one of a delay, an interference level, or a traffic load associated with another single communication link is at least equal to a corresponding delay threshold, an interference threshold, or a traffic load threshold. At 1504, the AP MLD switches the communication between the first STA and the AP MLD from the another single communication link of the AP MLD to all communication links of the AP MLD based on the second indication.

[0192] In some implementations, switching communications includes remapping one or more TIDs from another single communication link of the AP MLD to all communication links of the AP MLD. In some instances, operations 1500 continue at 1506, where the AP MLD generates a third frame including a T2LM element indicating the remapping of the one or more TIDs from another single communication link of the AP MLD to all communication links of the AP MLD. At 1508, the AP MLD outputs the third frame for transmission to the first STA on another single communication link.

[0193] Fig.16 FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating another example operation 1600 for supporting wireless communications for selectively allocating a communication link of an AP MLD to one or more associated STAs according to some implementations. Operation 1600 may be performed by, for example, a reference Figure 4 In some implementations, the operations 1600 may be performed by an apparatus of the wireless communication device 400 described herein. Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 The operation 1600 may be performed by the AP MLD 720 of the AP MLD. Fig.12 The AP MLD at 1204 allocates multiple communication links to the first STA. For example, at 1602, the APMLD obtains one or more traffic identifiers (TIDs) associated with traffic flows sent to or received from the first STA. At 1604, the AP MLD maps the one or more TIDs to only the single communication link allocated by the AP MLD.

[0194] Fig.17 FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating another example operation 1700 for supporting wireless communications for selectively allocating a communication link of an AP MLD to one or more associated STAs according to some implementations. Operation 1700 may be performed by, for example, a reference Figure 4 The operations 1700 may be performed by the apparatus of the wireless communication device 400 described herein. In some implementations, the operations 1700 may be performed by, for example, Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 The operation 1700 may be performed by the AP MLD 720 of the AP MLD. In some examples, the operation 1700 may be performed by the AP MLD 720 of ... Fig.12 An example of the deployment at 1204.

[0195] For example, at 1702, the AP MLD obtains an indication that at least one of a delay, an interference level, or a traffic load associated with one or more of the multiple communication links deployed is at least equal to a corresponding delay threshold, an interference threshold, or a traffic load threshold. At 1704, the AP MLD switches the communication between the first STA and the AP MLD from the multiple communication links deployed by the AP MLD to the single communication link of the AP MLD based on the indication. In some instances, the single communication link of the AP MLD is different from the multiple communication links deployed by the AP MLD. In some other instances, the single communication link of the AP MLD may also be one of the multiple communication links deployed by the AP MLD.

[0196] Fig.18 FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating another example operation 1800 for supporting wireless communications for selectively allocating a communication link of an AP MLD to one or more associated STAs according to some implementations. Operation 1800 may be performed by, for example, a reference Figure 4 The wireless communication device 400 described herein may be performed by an apparatus. In some implementations, the operations 1800 may be performed by, for example, Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 The operation 1800 may be performed by the AP MLD 720 of the AP MLD. In some examples, the operation 1800 may be performed by the AP MLD 720 of ... Fig.17 1704 of the present invention. For example, at 1802, the AP MLD remaps one or more TIDs from the AP MLD's provisioned multiple communication links to the AP MLD's single communication link. At 1804, the AP MLD generates a second frame including a TID to link mapping (T2LM) element indicating the remapping of the one or more TIDs from the AP MLD's provisioned multiple communication links to the AP MLD's single communication link. At 1806, the APMLD outputs a second frame for transmission to the first STA on at least one of the provisioned multiple communication links.

[0197] Fig.19FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating another example operation 1900 for supporting wireless communications for selectively allocating a communication link of an AP MLD to one or more associated STAs according to some implementations. Operation 1900 may be performed by, for example, a reference Figure 4 The wireless communication device 400 described herein may be performed by an apparatus. In some implementations, the operations 1900 may be performed by, for example, Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 The operation 1900 may be performed by the AP MLD 720 of the AP MLD. Fig.12 The example operations 1200 are performed before, during, or after. For example, at 1902, the AP MLD reserves a first communication link or one of the one or more second communication links of the AP MLD for a delay-sensitive service. At 1904, the APMLD maintains a delay, an interference level, and a traffic load associated with the reserved communication link below a corresponding delay threshold, an interference threshold, and a traffic load threshold.

[0198] Fig. 20 FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating another example operation 2000 for supporting wireless communications for selectively allocating a communication link of an AP MLD to one or more associated STAs according to some implementations. Operation 2000 may be performed by, for example, a reference Figure 4 The wireless communication device 400 described herein may be performed by an apparatus. In some implementations, the operations 2000 may be performed by, for example, Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 The operation 2000 may be performed by the AP MLD 720 of the AP MLD. In some examples, the operation 2000 may be performed by the AP MLD 720 of ... Fig.19 The example of maintaining the delay, interference level, and traffic load associated with the reserved communication link at 1904 is shown in FIG. 1904. For example, at 2002, the AP MLD obtains an indication that at least one of the delay, interference level, or traffic load associated with the reserved communication link is at least equal to a corresponding delay threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold. At 2004, the AP MLD switches the communication between the AP MLD and one or more other STAs from the reserved communication link to one or more other communication links of the AP MLD based on the indication.

[0199] Fig.21 FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating another example operation 2100 for supporting wireless communications for selectively allocating a communication link of an AP MLD to one or more associated STAs according to some implementations. Operation 2100 may be performed by, for example, a reference Figure 4 In some implementations, operation 2100 may be performed by an apparatus of the wireless communication device 400 described herein. Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 The operations 2100 may be performed by the AP MLD 720 of the AP MLD. In some examples, the operations 2100 may be performed in conjunction with Fig.12 For example, at 2102, the AP MLD obtains one or more service level agreement (SLA) parameters associated with the first STA, wherein provisioning of the single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD is further based on the one or more SLA parameters associated with the first STA.

[0200] Fig. 22 A flow chart illustrating example operations 2200 for wireless communications to support selective assignment of STAs to communication links of an AP MLD according to some implementations is shown. Operations 2200 may be performed by, for example, a reference Figure 4 In some implementations, operation 2200 may be performed by an apparatus of the wireless communication device 400 described herein. Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 The APMLD 720 is executed by the AP MLD.

[0201] For example, at 2202, the AP MLD assigns each of a plurality of stations (STAs) to one of the plurality of communication links based at least in part on the traffic on the plurality of communication links of the AP MLD. At 2204, the AP MLD maps one or more traffic identifiers (TIDs) of a traffic flow associated with each of the plurality of STAs to a communication link assigned to the corresponding STA. At 2206, the AP MLD generates a first frame indicating the assigned communication link and the mapping for the corresponding STA for each of the plurality of STAs. At 2208, the AP MLD outputs the first frame for transmission to the plurality of STAs on one or more of the plurality of communication links. In various specific implementations, the first frame includes a TID to link mapping (T2LM) element indicating the mapping for the corresponding plurality of STAs. In some instances, each of the plurality of communication links is associated with a corresponding AP of the AP MLD and occupies one of the 2.4 GHz band, the 5 GHz band, the 6 GHz band, or the 60 GHz band.

[0202] Fig.23 A flow chart illustrating another example operation 2300 for wireless communication to support selective assignment of STAs to a communication link of an AP MLD according to some implementations is shown. Operation 2300 may be performed by, for example, a reference Figure 4 In some implementations, operation 2300 may be performed by an apparatus of the wireless communication device 400 described herein. Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 In some examples, operation 2300 may be performed in conjunction with AP MLD 720. Fig. 22 The example operation 2200 is performed.

[0203] For example, at 2302, the AP MLD obtains an indication of support for each of a plurality of communication links associated with the AP MLD from each of a plurality of STAs, wherein a first frame is output for transmission to the plurality of STAs based on the indication of support. In some implementations, the indication of support is obtained via an association request frame or a probe request frame, and the first frame is a multilink association response frame in response to the corresponding association request frame or a multilink probe response frame in response to the corresponding probe request frame.

[0204] Fig.24 A flow chart illustrating another example operation 2400 for wireless communication to support selective assignment of STAs to communication links of an AP MLD according to some implementations is shown. Operation 2400 may be performed by, for example, a reference Figure 4 The wireless communication device 400 described herein may be performed by an apparatus. In some implementations, the operations 2400 may be performed by, for example, Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 The operation 2400 may be performed by the AP MLD 720 of the AP MLD. Fig. 22 Executed after the assignment of STA at 2202.

[0205] For example, at 2402, the AP MLD obtains a first indication that a traffic load on a first communication link among a plurality of communication links is greater than a traffic load on a second communication link among the plurality of communication links by at least a threshold amount. At 2404, the APMLD reassigns at least one STA from the first communication link to the second communication link based on the first indication. In some specific implementations, the first communication link is reserved for delay-sensitive traffic. At least one STA may be associated with at least one of the following: the throughput of at least one STA is less than a first threshold, or the load associated with at least one STA is at least equal to a second threshold. In some instances, the AP MLD maintains the STA associated with the delay-sensitive traffic on the first communication link, while switching the communication with the non-delay-sensitive STA from the first communication link to the second communication link.

[0206] Fig.25 A flow chart illustrating another example operation 2500 for wireless communication to support selective assignment of STAs to communication links of an AP MLD according to some implementations is shown. Operation 2500 may be performed by, for example, a reference Figure 4In some implementations, operations 2500 may be performed by, for example, Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 The operations 2500 may be performed by the AP MLD 720 of the AP MLD. Fig. 22 Executed after the assignment of STA at 2202.

[0207] For example, at 2502, the AP MLD obtains a first indication that a traffic load on at least one of the communication links associated with the AP MLD is at least equal to a load threshold. At 2504, the AP MLD allocates all communication links associated with the AP MLD to at least some of the STAs previously assigned to the at least one communication link based on the first indication.

[0208] Fig.26 A flow chart illustrating another example operation 2600 for wireless communication to support selective assignment of STAs to communication links of an AP MLD according to some implementations is shown. Operation 2600 may be performed by, for example, a reference Figure 4 In some implementations, operation 2600 may be performed by an apparatus of wireless communication device 400 as described. Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 The operation 2600 may be performed by the AP MLD 720 of the AP MLD. Fig. 22 The AP MLD may be configured to perform after the assigned STA at 2202 of the present invention. For example, at 2602, the AP MLD remaps one or more TIDs associated with at least some of the STAs to all communication links associated with the AP MLD. At 2604, the AP MLD generates a second frame indicating the remapping for the corresponding STA for each of the at least some of the STAs. At 2606, the AP MLD outputs the second frame for transmission to the at least some of the STAs. In some instances, each of the second frames may be a directional action frame indicating the remapping for the corresponding STA.

[0209] In some implementations, each of at least some of the STAs is associated with at least one of: a throughput of the corresponding STA is less than a first threshold, or a load associated with the corresponding STA is at least equal to a second threshold. In some other implementations, each of at least some of the STAs is associated with the STA group based on at least one of a combined throughput or a combined load of the STA group. In some aspects, the load threshold may be a configured parameter obtained from a network entity.

[0210] Fig. 27A flow chart illustrating another example operation 2700 for wireless communication to support selective assignment of STAs to a communication link of an AP MLD according to some implementations is shown. Operation 2700 may be performed by, for example, a reference Figure 4 In some implementations, operations 2700 may be performed by, for example, Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 The operations 2700 may be performed by the AP MLD 720 of the AP MLD. Fig. 22 For example, at 2702, the AP MLD obtains a second indication that the traffic load on each of the communication links associated with the AP MLD is at least equal to a load threshold. At 2704, the AP MLD allocates all communication links associated with the AP MLD to each of the multiple STAs based on the second indication.

[0211] Fig.28 A flow chart illustrating another example operation 2800 for wireless communication to support selective assignment of STAs to a communication link of an AP MLD according to some implementations is shown. Operation 2800 may be performed by, for example, a reference Figure 4 In some implementations, operation 2800 may be performed by an apparatus of wireless communication device 400 as described. Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 The operations 2800 may be performed by the AP MLD 720 of the AP MLD. Fig. 27 The example operation 2700 is performed after. For example, at 2802, the AP MLD remaps one or more TIDs associated with multiple STAs to all communication links associated with the AP MLD. At 2804, the AP MLD generates a second frame indicating the remapping for the corresponding STA for each STA in the multiple STAs. At 2806, the AP MLD outputs the second frame for transmission to the corresponding multiple STAs.

[0212] Fig.29 A flow chart illustrating another example operation 2900 for wireless communication to support selective assignment of STAs to communication links of an AP MLD according to some implementations is shown. Operation 2900 may be performed by, for example, a reference Figure 4 In some implementations, operation 2900 may be performed by an apparatus of the wireless communication device 400 described herein. Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 In some examples, operation 2900 may be performed by: Fig. 22The example operation 2200 is performed after. For example, at 2902, the AP MLD obtains an indication that at least one STA assigned to a reserved communication link among the plurality of communication links violates one or more service level agreement (SLA) parameters. At 2904, the AP MLD reassigns one or more other STAs from the reserved communication link to at least one other communication link among the plurality of communication links based on the indication.

[0213] Fig.30 A flow chart illustrating another example operation 3000 for wireless communication to support selective assignment of STAs to communication links of an AP MLD according to some implementations is shown. Operation 3000 may be performed by, for example, a reference Figure 4 The wireless communication device 400 described herein may be performed by an apparatus. In some implementations, the operations 3000 may be performed by, for example, Figure 6 AP MLD 610 or Figure 7 The operations 3000 may be performed by the AP MLD 720 of the AP MLD. Fig.29 The example operation 2900 is performed after. For example, at 3002, the AP MLD generates a second frame indicating a TID to link mapping (T2LM) for each STA in the one or more other STAs. At 3004, the AP MLD outputs the second frame for transmission to the one or more other STAs.

[0214] Fig.31 3100 is a conceptual data flow diagram illustrating the data flow between different parts and / or components of an example apparatus 3102. In some implementations, the apparatus 3102 may be implemented within an AP. The apparatus 3102 includes a receiving component 3104 that receives data packets from other wireless devices 3150. In some aspects, the receiving component 3104 may also receive or obtain a request for association with an AP MLD from one or more nearby STAs, one or more TIDs associated with a traffic flow sent to or received from a corresponding STA, one or more SLA parameters associated with the corresponding STA, and one or more link metrics for each of the communication links associated with the AP MLD. The apparatus 3102 also includes a resource manager 3106, a kernel 3108, a firmware component 3110, a hardware component 3112, and a sending component 3114.

[0215] In some specific implementations, the resource manager 3106 may determine whether to deploy a single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD for the corresponding STA for communication between the corresponding STA and the AP MLD based on at least one link metric associated with each of the communication links of the AP MLD, wherein the link metrics include other examples such as latency, interference level, or traffic load associated with the corresponding communication link. In some aspects, at least some of the link metrics may be determined by the operator cloud based on a reference Figure 7 The described slow control loop 706 provides. In other specific implementations, the resource manager 3106 can assign each of the plurality of STAs to a single communication link associated with the AP MLD based at least in part on the traffic on all communication links associated with the AP MLD.

[0216] The kernel 3108 may facilitate the interaction between the hardware and software components of the device 3102. In some implementations, the firmware component 3110 may generate a frame indicating whether a single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD are allocated to the corresponding STA for communication with the AP MLD. In other implementations, the firmware component 3110 may generate a frame indicating the assigned communication links and the mapping for the corresponding STA.

[0217] The hardware component 3112 may include a processing and communication core that controls various aspects of the sending component 3114. In some aspects, the hardware component 3112 may be based on a reference Figure 7 A fast control loop 702 is described.

[0218] The sending component 3114 is coupled to the resource manager 3106 and the hardware component 3112, and can be used to send frames or packets provided by the hardware component 3112 to other wireless communication devices such as STA 3160. The sending component 3114 may include PHY components, such as transceivers, which are responsible for sending packets of the service flow to the intended receiving devices of these packets through the wireless medium. In some specific implementations, the sending component 3114 may send a frame indicating whether a single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD are allocated to the corresponding STA for communication with the AP MLD. In other instances, the sending component 3114 may send a frame indicating whether a single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD are allocated to the corresponding STA for communication with the AP MLD.

[0219] In some implementations, the means 3102 may include executing a reference Figures 12 to 22 Each box in the box of the described operation has additional components. Therefore, Figures 12 to 22Each block in the flowchart of can be performed by a component, and the device 3102 may include one or more of those components. In other specific implementations, the device 3102 may include executing the reference Figures 23 to 30 Each box in the box of the described operation has additional components. Therefore, Figures 23 to 30 Each block in the flowchart of can be performed by a component, and the device 3102 may include one or more of those components. These components can be one or more hardware components that are specifically configured to perform the described process / algorithm, implemented by a processor configured to perform the described process / algorithm, stored in a computer-readable medium for implementation by a processor, or some combination thereof.

[0220] Fig.32 3200 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus 3102' employing a processing system 3214. The processing system 3214 may be implemented with a bus architecture, generally represented by a bus 3224. The bus 3224 may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges, depending on the specific application of the processing system 3214 and the overall design constraints. The bus 3224 links together various circuits including one or more processors and / or hardware components represented by the processor 3204, components 3104, 3106, 3108, 3110, 3112, and 3114, and computer readable media / memory 3206. The bus 3224 may also link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further.

[0221] The processing system 3214 may be coupled to the transceiver 3210. The transceiver 3210 is coupled to one or more antennas 3220. The transceiver 3210 provides components for communicating with various other devices through a transmission medium. The transceiver 3210 receives signals from one or more antennas 3220, extracts information from the received signals, and provides the extracted information to the processing system 3214 (specifically, the receiving component 3104). In addition, the transceiver 3210 receives information from the processing system 3214 (specifically, the transmitting component 3114), and based on the received information, generates a signal to be applied to one or more antennas 3220. The processing system 3214 includes a processor 3204 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 3206. The processor 3204 is responsible for general processing, including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium / memory 3206. The software, when executed by the processor 3204, causes the processing system 3214 to perform the various functions described above for any particular device. The computer-readable medium / memory 3206 may also be used to store data manipulated by the processor 3204 when executing software. The processing system 3214 also includes at least one of components 3104, 3106, 3108, 3110, and 3112. These components may be software components running in the processor 3204, resident / stored in the computer-readable medium / memory 3206, one or more hardware components coupled to the processor 3204, or some combination thereof.

[0222] In certain configurations, the device 3102 / 3102' for wireless communication may include components for all of the component limitations described herein. The aforementioned components may be the modem 402, the radio component 404, the processor 406, the memory 408, and one or more of the aforementioned components of the device 3102 configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned components and / or the processing system 3214 of the device 3102'. The aforementioned components may be one or more of the aforementioned components of the device 3202 configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned components and / or the processing system 3214 of the device 3102'. As described above, the processing system 3214 may include Figure 4 modem 402 , radio component 404 , processor 406 , and memory 408 .

[0223] In some examples, the means for obtaining, from the first STA on the first communication link of the AP MLD, a request for association with the AP MLD on the first communication link and on each of the one or more second communication links may include: Figure 4 The modem 402 and the radio component 404, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Hardware 728, Figure 8 Hardware / firmware 830, or Fig.32 transceiver 3210 and antenna 3220 .

[0224] In some examples, the means for adjusting a single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD for communication between the first STA and the AP MLD based on at least one of a latency, an interference level, or a traffic load associated with the first communication link of the AP MLD and each of the one or more second communication links may include: Figure 4 processor 406 and memory 408, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Explorer 722, Figure 8 Explorer 820, or Fig.32 processor 3204 and computer readable medium / memory 3206.

[0225] In some examples, the means for generating a first frame indicating whether a single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD are allocated to the first STA for communication with the AP MLD may include: Figure 4 processor 406 and memory 408, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Firmware 726, Figure 8 Firmware / hardware 830, or Fig.32 processor 3204 and computer readable medium / memory 3206.

[0226] In some examples, the means for outputting a first frame for transmission to a first STA over a first communication link may include: Figure 4 The modem 402 and the radio component 404, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Hardware 728, Figure 8 Hardware / firmware 830, or Fig.32 transceiver 3210 and antenna 3220 .

[0227] In some examples, components for obtaining one or more TIDs may include Figure 4 The modem 402 and the radio component 404, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Hardware 728, Figure 8 Hardware / firmware 830, or Fig.32 transceiver 3210 and antenna 3220 .

[0228] In some examples, means for mapping one or more TIDs to only a single provisioned communication link may include Figure 4 processor 406 and memory 408, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Explorer 722, Figure 8 Explorer 820, or Fig.32 processor 3204 and computer readable medium / memory 3206.

[0229] In some examples, means for obtaining a first indication of at least one of a latency, an interference level, or a traffic load associated with a single communication link may include: Figure 4 The modem 402 and the radio component 404, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Hardware 728, Figure 8 Hardware / firmware 830, or Fig.32 transceiver 3210 and antenna 3220 .

[0230] In some examples, means for switching communications from a single communication link provisioned by the AP MLD to another single communication link may include Figure 4 The modem 402 and the radio component 404, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Hardware 728, Figure 8 Hardware / firmware 830, or Fig.32 transceiver 3210 and antenna 3220 .

[0231] In some examples, means for obtaining an indication of at least one of a latency, an interference level, or a traffic load associated with one or more of the provisioned plurality of communication links may include: Figure 4 The modem 402 and the radio component 404, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Hardware 728, Figure 8 Hardware / firmware 830, or Fig.32 transceiver 3210 and antenna 3220 .

[0232] In some examples, the means for switching communications from another single communication link of the AP MLD to all communication links may include Figure 4 The modem 402 and the radio component 404, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Hardware 728, Figure 8Hardware / firmware 830, or Fig.32 transceiver 3210 and antenna 3220 .

[0233] In some examples, means for remapping one or more TIDs from another single communication link of the AP MLD to all communication links may include: Figure 4 processor 406 and memory 408, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Explorer 722, Figure 8 Explorer 820, or Fig.32 processor 3204 and computer readable medium / memory 3206.

[0234] In some examples, means for outputting for transmission a second frame including a TID-to-link map (T2LM) element indicating a remapping of one or more TIDs may include: Figure 4 The modem 402 and the radio component 404, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Hardware 728, Figure 8 Hardware / firmware 830, or Fig.32 transceiver 3210 and antenna 3220 .

[0235] In some examples, the means for outputting for transmission a third frame including a T2LM element indicating a remap of one or more TIDs may include Figure 4 The modem 402 and the radio component 404, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Hardware 728, Figure 8 Hardware / firmware 830, or Fig.32 transceiver 3210 and antenna 3220 .

[0236] In some examples, components for reserving a communication link may include Figure 4 processor 406 and memory 408, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Explorer 722, Figure 8 Explorer 820, or Fig.32 processor 3204 and computer readable medium / memory 3206.

[0237] In some examples, the means for switching the communication between the AP MLD and one or more other STAs from the reserved communication link to one or more other communication links may include: Figure 4 The modem 402 and the radio component 404, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Hardware 728, Figure 8 Hardware / firmware 830, or Fig.32 transceiver 3210 and antenna 3220 .

[0238] In other examples, means for assigning each of the plurality of STAs to one of the plurality of communication links based at least in part on the traffic on the plurality of communication links associated with the AP MLD may include Figure 4 processor 406 and memory 408, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Explorer 722, Figure 8 Explorer 820, or Fig.32 processor 3204 and computer readable medium / memory 3206.

[0239] In other examples, means for mapping one or more TIDs of a traffic flow associated with each of a plurality of STAs may include: Figure 4 The modem 402 and the radio component 404, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Hardware 728, Figure 8 Hardware / firmware 830, or Fig.32 transceiver 3210 and antenna 3220 .

[0240] In other examples, the means for generating a first frame indicating the assigned communication links and mappings for the corresponding STAs may include: Figure 4 processor 406 and memory 408, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Firmware 726, Figure 8 Firmware / hardware 830, or Fig.32 processor 3204 and computer readable medium / memory 3206.

[0241] In some examples, the means for outputting a first frame for transmission to a plurality of STAs may include: Figure 4 The modem 402 and the radio component 404, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Hardware 728, Figure 8 Hardware / firmware 830, or Fig.32 transceiver 3210 and antenna 3220 .

[0242] In some examples, means for obtaining a first indication of a traffic load on a first communication link may include Figure 4 The modem 402 and the radio component 404, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Hardware 728, Figure 8 Hardware / firmware 830, or Fig.32 transceiver 3210 and antenna 3220 .

[0243] In other examples, means for reassigning at least one STA from a first communication link to a second communication link may include Figure 4 processor 406 and memory 408, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Firmware 726, Figure 8 Firmware / hardware 830, or Fig.32 processor 3204 and computer readable medium / memory 3206.

[0244] In other examples, the means for reassigning all communication links associated with the AP MLD to at least some of the STAs previously assigned to at least one communication link may include Figure 4 processor 406 and memory 408, Figure 5A A wireless communication device 510 and an antenna 520, Figure 7 Firmware 726, Figure 8 Firmware / hardware 830, or Fig.32 processor 3204 and computer readable medium / memory 3206.

[0245] Fig.33A An example multilink element 3300 that can be used for multilink communication is shown. In some implementations, the multilink element 3300 can be a reference FIG. 10A to FIG. 10B An example implementation of the basic multilink element 1040 described. In some instances, the multilink element 3300 may be included in a frame such as (but not limited to) a beacon frame, a probe response frame, an association response frame, or a reassociation response frame sent from the NSTR soft AP MLD. For ease of explanation, some information elements of the multilink element 3300 may be referred to as "fields", "subfields", "elements", or "sub-elements", which may be considered interchangeable terms for the purposes of discussion herein.

[0246] The multilink element 3300 includes an element ID field 3301, a length field 3302, an element ID extension field 3303, a multilink control field 3304, a common information field 3305, and a link information field 3306. The element ID field 3301 and the element ID extension field 3303 carry values ​​indicating that the element 3300 is a multilink element and indicates the type of the multilink element. The length field 3302 carries a value indicating the length of the multilink element 3300. The multilink control field 3304 carries information indicating the presence of various fields and subfields in the common information field 3305. The common information field 3305 carries information common to one or more non-primary links associated with the AP MLD. The link information field 3306 carries information specific to each non-primary link in the non-primary links associated with the AP MLD. In some instances, the link information field 3306 includes one or more per-STA profile sub-elements that can carry or indicate a complete profile of one or more corresponding non-primary links of the AP MLD (such as an NSTR soft AP MLD).

[0247] Fig.33B An example multi-link control field 3310 is shown. In some examples, the multi-link control field 3310 may be Fig.33A 3304 of the multilink element 3300. As shown, the multilink control field 3310 includes a type field 3311, a reserved field 3312, and a presence bitmap field 3313. The type field 3311 is used to distinguish between variants of the multilink element 3300 (such as a basic multilink element and a probe request multilink element). The reserved field 3312 includes one or more reserved or unused bits. The presence bitmap field 3313 is used to indicate the presence of various subfields in the common information field 3305 of the multilink element 3300. For example, the presence bitmap field 3313 may indicate the presence of an MLD MAC address field, a link ID information field, a BSS parameter change count field 3323, a medium synchronization delay information field, an enhanced multilink (EML) capability field, and an MLD capability field in the common information field 3305 of the multilink element 3300.

[0248] Fig.33C An example common information field 3320 is shown. In some examples, the common information field 3320 may be Fig.33A3300. As shown, the common information field 3320 may include a common information subfield 3321, an MLD MAC address subfield 3322, a link ID information subfield 3323, a BSS parameter change count subfield 3324, a medium synchronization delay information subfield 3325, an enhanced multilink (EML) capability subfield 3326, or an MLD capability subfield 3327. The common information subfield 3321 carries a value indicating the length of the common information field 3320. The MLD MAC address subfield 3322 carries the MAC address of the MLD (such as the NSTR soft AP MLD). The link ID information subfield 3323 includes a link ID subfield carrying a link identifier of the AP sending the multilink element 3300. The BSS parameter change count subfield 3324 carries an unsigned integer initialized to 0, which is incremented when a critical update occurs to the operating parameters of the AP sending the basic multilink element. The link ID information subfield 3323 and the BSS parameter change count subfield 3324 are present in the common information field 3320 of the basic multilink element carried in the beacon frame, the probe response frame, and the (re)association response frame.

[0249] The medium synchronization delay information subfield 3325 carries a value indicating the duration of the MediumSyncDelay timer. The EML capability subfield 3326 contains multiple subfields for advertising the capabilities of EML single radio (SR) operation and EML multi radio (MR) operation. The MLD capability subfield 3327 indicates various capabilities of the MLD. In some instances, the MLD capability subfield 3327 may indicate the maximum number of links that support simultaneous transmission or reception of frames, whether the MLD supports reception of frames carrying the SRS control subfield, whether the MLD supports TID to link mapping negotiation, and the minimum frequency gap between any two links recommended by the non-AP MLD for STR operation.

[0250] Fig.33D An example MLD capability subfield 3330 is shown. In some instances, the MLD capability subfield 3330 may be Fig.33C3330 of the common information field 3320 of the MLD capability subfield 3330. As shown in the figure, the MLD capability subfield 3330 includes a maximum number of simultaneous links subfield 3331, an SRS subfield 3332, a TID to link mapping (T2LM) subfield 3333, a frequency separation subfield 3334 for STR / AP MLD type indication, an AAR support subfield 3335, and a reserved subfield 3336. The maximum number of simultaneous links subfield 3331 indicates the maximum number of STAs associated with the MLD that support simultaneous transmission or reception of frames on the corresponding link. The SRS subfield 3332 indicates support for receiving frames carrying the SRS control subfield. The TID to link mapping (T2LM) subfield 3333 supports TID to link mapping negotiation. The frequency separation subfield 3334 for STR / AP MLD type indication indicates the minimum frequency gap between any two links recommended by the non-AP MLD for STR operation. The AAR support subfield 3335 indicates support for receiving frames with the AAR control subfield.

[0251] Fig.33E An example per-STA profile sub-element 3340 is shown. In some instances, the per-STA profile sub-element 3340 may be Fig.33A 3306 of the multilink element 3300. As shown in the figure, the per-STA profile sub-element 3340 may include a sub-element ID field 3341, a length field 3342, a STA control field 3343, a STA information field 3344, and a STA profile field 3345. The sub-element ID field 3341 carries a value indicating the type of the per-STA profile sub-element 3340. The length field 3342 carries a value indicating the length of the per-STA profile sub-element 3340. The STA control field 3343 carries information indicating the presence (or absence) of various fields and sub-fields in the STA profile field 3345. The STA information field 3344 carries information about the AP corresponding to the per-STA profile sub-element 3340. The STA profile field 3345 carries information indicating the complete profile of the AP corresponding to the per-STA profile sub-element 3340.

[0252] Fig.33F An example STA Control field 3350 is shown. In some instances, the STA Control field 3350 may be Fig.33E3350. As shown, the STA control field 3350 includes a link ID subfield 3351, a complete profile subfield 3352, a STA MAC address presence subfield 3353, a beacon interval presence subfield 3354, a TSF offset presence subfield 3355, a DTIM information presence subfield 3356, an NSTR link pair presence subfield 3357, an NSTR bitmap size subfield 3358, a BSS parameter change count presence subfield 3359, and a reserved subfield 3360. The link ID subfield 3351 carries a value that uniquely identifies a communication link associated with the AP corresponding to the per-STA profile subelement 3340. The complete profile subfield 3352 carries a value indicating whether the per-STA profile subelement 3340 carries a complete profile or a partial profile of the corresponding AP.

[0253] The STA MAC address exists subfield 3353 indicates that the STA MAC address subfield exists in the STA information field 3344 of the multilink element 3300, and if the STA MAC address subfield exists in the STA information field, the STA MAC address exists subfield 3353 is set to 1, otherwise it is set to 0. When the multilink element 3300 carries a complete profile of the corresponding communication link, the STA sets the STA MAC address exists subfield 3353 to 1.

[0254] The beacon interval existence subfield 3354 indicates that the beacon interval subfield exists in the STA information field 3344, and if the beacon interval subfield exists in the STA information field 3344, the beacon interval existence subfield 3354 is set to 1, otherwise it is set to 0. The non-AP STA sets the beacon interval existence subfield to 0 in the transmitted basic multilink element. When the multilink element 3300 carries a complete profile of the corresponding communication link, the AP sets the beacon interval existence subfield 3354 to 1. The AP associated with the NSTR mobile AP MLD and operating on the non-primary link sets the beacon interval existence subfield 3354 to 0.

[0255] The TSF offset present subfield 3355 indicates that the TSF offset subfield exists in the STA information field 3344, and if the TSF offset subfield exists in the STA information field, the TSF offset present subfield 3355 is set to 1, otherwise it is set to 0. The non-AP STA sets the TSF offset present subfield to 0 in the transmitted basic multilink element. When the multilink element 3300 carries a complete profile of the corresponding communication link, the AP sets the TSF offset present subfield 3355 to 1.

[0256] The DTIM information exists subfield 3356 indicates that the DTIM information subfield exists in the STA information field 3344, and if the DTIM information subfield exists in the STA information field 3344, the DTIM information exists subfield 3356 is set to 1, otherwise it is set to 0. The non-AP STA sets the DTIM information exists subfield to 0 in the transmitted basic multilink element. When the multilink element 3300 carries a complete profile of the corresponding communication link, the AP sets the DTIM information exists subfield 3356 to 1. The AP associated with the NSTR mobile AP MLD and operating on the non-primary link sets the DTIM information exists subfield 3356 to 0.

[0257] The NSTR Link Pair Exists field 3357 carries a value indicating whether the Per-STA Profile sub-element 3340 carries information about the communication link pair associated with the NSTR Soft-AP MLD. The NSTR Bitmap Size sub-field 3358 carries an indication of the value included in the Fig.33E The NSTR in the per-STA profile sub-element 3340 indicates the value of the size of the bitmap field.

[0258] The BSS parameter change count present subfield 3359 indicates that the BSS parameter change count subfield exists in the STA information field, and if the BSS parameter change count subfield exists in the STA information field, the BSS parameter change count present subfield 3359 is set to 1, otherwise it is set to 0. The non-AP STA sets the BSS parameter change count present subfield to 0 in the transmitted basic multilink element. If the basic multilink element carries a complete profile and is carried in a (re)association response frame, the AP sets the BSS parameter change count present subfield 3359 to 1. Otherwise, the AP sets the BSS parameter change count present subfield 3359 to 0.

[0259] Figure 33G An example STA information field 3360 is shown. In some instances, the STA information field 3360 may be Fig.33E3360. As shown in the figure, the STA information field 3360 includes a MAC address field 3361, a beacon interval field 3362, a DTIM field 3363, an NSTR link pair field 3364, and an NSTR bitmap field 3365. The MAC address field 3361 carries the MAC address of the AP corresponding to the per-STA profile sub-element 3340. The beacon interval field 3362 carries information indicating the beacon interval of the AP corresponding to the per-STA profile sub-element 3340. The DTIM field 3363 carries information indicating the DTIM count and DTIM period of the AP corresponding to the per-STA profile sub-element 3340. The NSTR link pair field 3364 carries information identifying the communication link pair associated with the AP corresponding to the per-STA profile sub-element 3340. The NSTR bitmap field 3365 carries the NSTR bitmap of the AP corresponding to the per-STA profile sub-element 3340.

[0260] Example aspects

[0261] Aspect 1: A method for performing wireless communications at an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD), comprising: obtaining from a first station (STA) on a first communication link of the AP MLD a request for association with the AP MLD on the first communication link and on each of one or more second communication links; allocating a single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD for communication between the first STA and the AP MLD based on at least one of a delay, an interference level, or a traffic load associated with the first communication link and each of the one or more second communication links of the APMLD; generating a first frame indicating whether the single communication link or the multiple communication links of the AP MLD is allocated to the first STA for communication with the AP MLD, and outputting the first frame for sending to the first STA on the first communication link.

[0262] Aspect 2: A method according to Aspect 1, wherein the first communication link is associated with a first AP of the AP MLD, the one or more second communication links are associated with one or more corresponding second APs of the AP MLD, and the first STA is associated with a STA MLD including one or more second STAs associated with one or more corresponding second communication links of the AP MLD.

[0263] Aspect 3: A method according to any one or more of Aspects 1 to 3, wherein the first frame further indicates whether the single communication link or the multiple communication links of the AP MLD are allocated to the one or more second STAs of the STA MLD for communication with the AP MLD.

[0264] Aspect 4: A method according to any one or more of Aspects 1 to 3, wherein the request is obtained via a multi-link association request frame or a multi-link detection request frame; and the first frame includes a multi-link association response frame in response to the multi-link association request frame or a multi-link detection response frame in response to the multi-link detection request frame.

[0265] Aspect 5: A method according to any one or more of Aspects 1 to 4, wherein the first frame includes a service identifier (TID) to link mapping (T2LM) element, wherein the service identifier (TID) to link mapping (T2LM) element indicates, for a corresponding TID among a plurality of TIDs, one or more communication links of the AP MLD allocated for a service associated with the corresponding TID.

[0266] Aspect 6: A method according to any one or more of Aspects 1 to 5, wherein the first frame indicates that the single communication link of the AP MLD is allocated to the first STA for communication with the AP MLD, and the method further includes: obtaining one or more service identifiers (TIDs) associated with a service flow sent to or received from the first STA; and mapping the one or more TIDs only to the allocated single communication link of the AP MLD.

[0267] Aspect 7: The method according to Aspect 6 also includes: obtaining a first indication that at least one of the delay, the interference level, or the traffic load associated with the single communication link is at least equal to the corresponding delay threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold; and switching the communication between the first STA and the AP MLD from the allocated single communication link of the AP MLD to another single communication link of the AP MLD based on the first indication.

[0268] Aspect 8: The method according to aspect 7, wherein switching the communication comprises: remapping the one or more TIDs from the provisioned single communication link of the AP MLD to the another single communication link of the AP MLD.

[0269] Aspect 9: The method according to aspect 8 also includes: generating a second frame including a TID to link mapping (T2LM) element, wherein the TID to link mapping (T2LM) element indicates the remapping of the one or more TIDs from the provisioned single communication link of the AP MLD to the other single communication link of the AP MLD; and outputting the second frame for transmission to the first STA on the provisioned single communication link.

[0270] Aspect 10: The method according to any one or more aspects of Aspects 7 to 8 also includes: obtaining a second indication that at least one of the delay, the interference level or the traffic load associated with the other single communication link is at least equal to the corresponding delay threshold, interference threshold or traffic load threshold; and switching the communication between the first STA and the AP MLD from the other single communication link of the AP MLD to all communication links of the AP MLD based on the second indication.

[0271] Aspect 11: The method according to aspect 10, wherein switching the communication comprises: remapping the one or more TIDs from the other single communication link of the AP MLD to all the communication links of the AP MLD.

[0272] Aspect 12: The method according to any one or more aspects of Aspects 10 to 11 further includes: generating a third frame including a T2LM element, wherein the T2LM element indicates the remapping of the one or more TIDs from the other single communication link of the AP MLD to all the communication links of the AP MLD; and outputting the third frame for transmission to the first STA on the other single communication link.

[0273] Aspect 13: A method according to any one or more of Aspects 1 to 5, wherein the first frame indicates that the multiple communication links of the AP MLD are allocated to the first STA for communication with the AP MLD, and the method further includes: obtaining one or more service identifiers (TIDs) associated with a service flow sent to or received from the first STA; and mapping the one or more TIDs only to the allocated multiple communication links of the AP MLD.

[0274] Aspect 14: The method according to Aspect 13 also includes: obtaining an indication that at least one of the delay, the interference level, or the traffic load associated with one or more of the multiple communication links arranged is at least equal to the corresponding delay threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold; and switching the communication between the first STA and the AP MLD from the multiple communication links arranged by the AP MLD to a single communication link of the AP MLD based on the indication.

[0275] Aspect 15: The method according to any one or more of aspects 13 to 14, wherein the single communication link of the AP MLD is different from the multiple communication links provisioned by the AP MLD.

[0276] Aspect 16: The method according to any one or more of aspects 13 to 15, wherein switching the communication comprises: remapping the one or more TIDs from the provisioned multiple communication links of the AP MLD to the single communication link of the APMLD.

[0277] Aspect 17: The method according to aspect 16 also includes: generating a second frame including a TID to link mapping (T2LM) element, wherein the TID to link mapping (T2LM) element indicates the remapping of the one or more TIDs from the multiple communication links of the AP MLD to the single communication link of the AP MLD; and outputting the second frame for transmission to the first STA on at least one communication link of the multiple communication links.

[0278] Aspect 18: The method according to any one or more aspects of Aspects 1 to 17, further comprising: reserving the first communication link of the AP MLD and one of the one or more second communication links for delay-sensitive services; and maintaining the delay, the interference level and the traffic load associated with the reserved communication link below the corresponding delay threshold, interference threshold and traffic load threshold.

[0279] Aspect 19: A method according to Aspect 18, wherein the maintenance includes: obtaining an indication that at least one of the delay, the interference level, or the traffic load associated with the reserved communication link is at least equal to the corresponding delay threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold; and switching the communication between the AP MLD and one or more other STAs from the reserved communication link to one or more other communication links of the AP MLD based on the indication.

[0280] Aspect 20: The method according to any one or more aspects of Aspects 1 to 19 further includes: obtaining one or more service level agreement (SLA) parameters associated with the first STA, wherein the provisioning of the single communication link or the multiple communication links of the AP MLD is further based on the one or more SLA parameters associated with the first STA.

[0281] Aspect 21: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising means for performing the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 20.

[0282] Aspect 22: A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the device to perform one or more operations according to any one of aspects 1 to 20.

[0283] Aspect 23: An access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD), comprising at least one transceiver; and a processing system, the processing system comprising a memory and one or more processors. The processing system is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory and cause the AP MLD to perform the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 20, wherein the at least one transceiver is configured to send a first frame indicating whether a single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD is allocated to a STA for communication with the AP MLD.

[0284] Aspect 24: A method for performing wireless communications at an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD), comprising: assigning each of a plurality of stations (STA) to one of a plurality of communication links based at least in part on the traffic volume on the plurality of communication links of the AP MLD; mapping one or more traffic identifiers (TIDs) of a traffic flow associated with each of the plurality of STAs to the communication link assigned to the corresponding STA; generating, for each of the plurality of STAs, a first frame indicating the assigned communication link and the mapping for the corresponding STA; and outputting the first frame for transmission to the plurality of STAs on one or more of the plurality of communication links.

[0285] Aspect 25: The method according to aspect 24, wherein each of the plurality of communication links is associated with a corresponding AP of the AP MLD and occupies one of a 2.4 GHz frequency band, a 5 GHz frequency band, a 6 GHz frequency band, or a 60 GHz frequency band.

[0286] Aspect 26: The method according to any one or more aspects of Aspects 24 to 25, further comprising: obtaining an indication of support for each of the multiple communication links associated with the AP MLD from each of the multiple STAs, wherein the first frame is output based on the indication of support for sending to the multiple STAs.

[0287] Aspect 27: A method according to Aspect 26, wherein the indication of support is obtained via an association request frame or a probe request frame; and the first frame includes a multilink association response frame in response to the corresponding association request frame or a multilink probe response frame in response to the corresponding probe request frame.

[0288] Aspect 28: The method according to any one or more of aspects 24 to 27, wherein the first frame includes a TID-to-link mapping (T2LM) element indicating the mapping for the corresponding plurality of STAs.

[0289] Aspect 29: The method according to any one or more aspects of Aspects 24 to 28 further includes: obtaining a first indication that the traffic load on a first communication link among the multiple communication links is greater than the traffic load on a second communication link among the multiple communication links by at least a threshold amount; and reassigning at least one STA from the first communication link to the second communication link based on the first indication.

[0290] Aspect 30: The method according to Aspect 29, wherein the first communication link is reserved for delay-sensitive services.

[0291] Aspect 31: A method according to any one or more of Aspects 29 to 30, wherein the at least one STA is associated with at least one of the following: the throughput of the at least one STA is less than a first threshold, or the load associated with the at least one STA is at least equal to a second threshold.

[0292] Aspect 32: The method according to any one or more aspects of Aspects 29 to 31 further includes: maintaining the STA associated with the delay-sensitive service on the first communication link, and switching the communication with the non-delay-sensitive STA from the first communication link to the second communication link.

[0293] Aspect 33: The method according to any one or more aspects of Aspects 24 to 28 further includes: obtaining a first indication that the traffic load on at least one of the communication links associated with the AP MLD is at least equal to a load threshold; and based on the first indication, all of the communication links associated with the AP MLD are deployed to at least some of the STAs previously assigned to the at least one communication link.

[0294] Aspect 34: The method according to Aspect 33 also includes: remapping the one or more TIDs associated with the at least some STAs to all the communication links associated with the AP MLD; generating a second frame indicating the remapping for the corresponding STA for each of the at least some STAs; and outputting the second frame for transmission to the at least some STAs.

[0295] Aspect 35: The method according to aspect 34, wherein each of the second frames includes a directional action frame indicating the remapping for the corresponding STA.

[0296] Aspect 36: The method according to any one or more of aspects 34 to 35, wherein the load threshold is a configured parameter obtained from a network entity.

[0297] Aspect 37: A method according to any one or more of Aspects 34 to 36, wherein each of the at least some STAs is associated with at least one of the following: the throughput of the corresponding STA is less than a first threshold, or the load associated with the corresponding STA is at least equal to a second threshold.

[0298] Aspect 38: A method according to any one or more of Aspects 34 to 36, wherein each of the at least some STAs is associated with the STA group based on at least one of a combined throughput or a combined load of the STA group.

[0299] Aspect 39: The method according to any one or more aspects of Aspects 33 to 38 further includes: obtaining a second indication that the traffic load on each of the communication links associated with the AP MLD is at least equal to the load threshold; and allocating all of the communication links associated with the AP MLD to each of the multiple STAs based on the second indication.

[0300] Aspect 40: The method according to Aspect 39 further includes: remapping the one or more TIDs associated with the multiple STAs to all the communication links associated with the AP MLD; generating a second frame indicating the remapping for the corresponding STA for each STA in the multiple STAs; and outputting the second frame for transmission to the corresponding multiple STAs.

[0301] Aspect 41: The method according to any one or more aspects of Aspects 24 to 40 further includes: obtaining an indication that at least one STA assigned to a reserved communication link among the multiple communication links violates one or more service level agreement (SLA) parameters; reassigning one or more other STAs from the reserved communication link to at least one other communication link among the multiple communication links based on the indication; and outputting a second frame for sending to the one or more other STAs, each frame in the second frame indicating a TID to link mapping (T2LM) for a corresponding STA among the one or more other STAs.

[0302] Aspect 42: The method according to Aspect 41 also includes: generating a second frame indicating a TID to link mapping (T2LM) for a corresponding STA in the one or more other STAs for each STA in the one or more other STAs; and outputting the second frame for sending to the one or more other STAs.

[0303] Aspect 43: The method according to Aspect 42, wherein the reserved communication link is associated with a delay-sensitive service, and the one or more other STAs are not associated with the delay-sensitive service.

[0304] Aspect 44: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising means for performing the method according to any one of aspects 24 to 43.

[0305] Aspect 45: A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the device to perform one or more operations according to any one of aspects 24 to 43.

[0306] Aspect 46: An access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD), comprising at least one transceiver; and a processing system, the processing system comprising a memory and one or more processors. The processing system is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory and cause the AP MLD to perform the method according to any one of aspects 24 to 43, wherein the at least one transceiver is configured to send a first frame indicating an assigned communication link and the TID-to-link mapping for each STA of a plurality of STAs.

[0307] As used herein, a phrase referring to "at least one of" or "one or more of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. For example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to cover the following possibilities: only a, only b, only c, a combination of a and b, a combination of a and c, a combination of b and c, and a combination of a, b, and c. As used herein, "based on" is intended to be interpreted in an inclusive sense, unless otherwise expressly indicated. For example, "based on" can be used interchangeably with "based at least in part on," unless otherwise expressly indicated. Specifically, unless the phrase in the context refers to "based only on 'one'" or an equivalent, whether it is "based on 'one'" or "based at least in part on 'one'" can be based on "one" alone or on a combination of "one" and one or more other factors, conditions, or information.

[0308] The various illustrative components, logic, logic blocks, modules, circuits, operations, and algorithmic processes described in conjunction with the specific implementations disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, firmware, software, or a combination of hardware, firmware, or software, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents. The interchangeability of hardware, firmware, and software has been generally described with respect to functionality and is illustrated in the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and processes described. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware, firmware, or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0309] Various modifications to the specific implementations described in this disclosure will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other specific implementations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the claims are not intended to be limited to the specific implementations shown herein, but are to be consistent with the broadest scope consistent with the disclosure, the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

[0310] Additionally, various features described in this specification in the context of separate implementations may also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, individual features described in the context of a single implementation may also be implemented in multiple implementations individually or in any suitable subcombination. Thus, although features may be described as functioning in a particular combination, and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination may in some cases be deleted from the combination, and a claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or a variation of a subcombination.

[0311] Similarly, although operations are depicted in a specific order in the figure, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the specific order shown or in a sequential order, or to perform all illustrated operations to achieve the desired result. In addition, the accompanying drawings can schematically depict one or more example processes in the form of a flow chart or a flow diagram. However, other operations not depicted can be incorporated into the example process schematically illustrated. For example, one or more additional operations can be performed before, after, simultaneously or between any operation in the illustrated operation. In some environments, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. In addition, the separation of various system components in the described specific implementation should not be understood as requiring such separation in all specific implementations, and it should be understood that the described program components and system can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

Claims

1. A device for wireless communication, comprising: interface, the interface being configured as: obtaining, from a first station (STA) on a first communication link associated with an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD), a request to associate with the AP MLD on the first communication link and on each of one or more second communication links of the AP MLD; and A processing system, the processing system being configured to: provisioning a single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD for communication between the first STA and the AP MLD based on at least one of a latency, an interference level, or a traffic load associated with the first communication link and each of the one or more second communication links of the AP MLD; as well as generating a first frame indicating whether the single communication link or the plurality of communication links of the AP MLD is allocated to the first STA for communication with the AP MLD; and The interface is further configured as: The first frame is output for transmission to the first STA over the first communication link.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first communication link is associated with a first AP of the APMLD, the one or more second communication links are associated with one or more corresponding second APs of the APMLD, and the first STA is associated with a STA MLD including one or more second STAs associated with one or more corresponding second communication links of the AP MLD.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first frame further indicates whether the single communication link or the multiple communication links of the APMLD are allocated to the one or more second STAs of the STAMLD for communication with the AP MLD.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein: The request is obtained via a multilink association request frame or a multilink detection request frame; and The first frame includes a multilink association response frame in response to the multilink association request frame or a multilink detection response frame in response to the multilink detection request frame.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first frame comprises a traffic identifier (TID) to link mapping (T2LM) element, the traffic identifier (TID) to link mapping (T2LM) element indicating, for each of a plurality of TIDs, one or more communication links of the APMLD allocated for traffic associated with the corresponding TID.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein: The first frame indicates that the single communication link of the AP MLD is allocated to the first STA for communication with the AP MLD; The interface is further configured to obtain one or more traffic identifiers (TIDs) associated with traffic flows sent to or received from the first STA; and The processing system is further configured to map the one or more TIDs to only the provisioned single communication link of the AP MLD.

7. The device according to claim 6, wherein: The interface is further configured to obtain a first indication that at least one of the latency, the interference level, or the traffic load associated with the provisioned single communication link is at least equal to a corresponding latency threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold; and The processing system is further configured to switch the communication between the first STA and the AP MLD from the provisioned single communication link of the AP MLD to another single communication link of the AP MLD based on the first indication.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein switching the communication comprises: The one or more TIDs are remapped from the provisioned single communication link of the AP MLD to the another single communication link of the AP MLD.

9. The device according to claim 8, wherein: The processing system is further configured to generate a second frame including a TID-to-link mapping (T2LM) element indicating the remapping of the one or more TIDs from the provisioned single communication link of the AP MLD to the another single communication link of the AP MLD; and The interface is further configured to output the second frame for transmission to the first STA over the provisioned single communication link.

10. The device according to claim 7, wherein: The interface is further configured to obtain a second indication that at least one of the latency, the interference level, or the traffic load associated with the other single communications link is at least equal to the corresponding latency threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold; and The processing system is further configured to switch the communication between the first STA and the AP MLD from the other single communication link of the AP MLD to all communication links of the AP MLD based on the second indication.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein switching the communication comprises: The one or more TIDs are remapped from the other single communication link of the AP MLD to all of the communication links of the AP MLD.

12. The device according to claim 11, wherein: The processing system is further configured to generate a third frame including a TID-to-link mapping (T2LM) element indicating the remapping of the one or more TIDs from the another single communication link of the AP MLD to all of the communication links of the AP MLD; and The interface is further configured to output the third frame for transmission to the first STA over the other single communication link.

13. The device according to claim 1, wherein: The first frame indicates that the plurality of communication links of the AP MLD are allocated to the first STA for communication with the AP MLD; The interface is further configured to obtain one or more traffic identifiers (TIDs) associated with traffic flows sent to or received from the first STA; and The processing system is further configured to map the one or more TIDs only to the provisioned plurality of communication links of the AP MLD.

14. The device according to claim 13, wherein: The interface is further configured to obtain an indication that at least one of the latency, the interference level, or the traffic load associated with one or more of the provisioned plurality of communication links is at least equal to the corresponding latency threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold; and The processing system is further configured to switch the communication between the first STA and the AP MLD from the provisioned multiple communication links of the AP MLD to the single communication link of the AP MLD based on the indication.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the single communication link of the AP MLD is different from the provisioned plurality of communication links of the APMLD.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein switching the communication comprises: The one or more TIDs are remapped from the provisioned plurality of communication links of the AP MLD to the single communication link of the AP MLD.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein: The processing system is further configured to generate a second frame including a TID-to-link mapping (T2LM) element indicating the remapping of the one or more TIDs from the provisioned plurality of communication links of the AP MLD to the single communication link of the AP MLD; and The interface is further configured to output the second frame for transmission to the first STA over at least one communication link of the provisioned plurality of communication links.

18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to: reserving the first communication link of the AP MLD or one of the one or more second communication links for delay-sensitive services; and The latency, the interference level, and the traffic load associated with the reserved communication link are maintained below the respective latency threshold, interference threshold, and traffic load threshold.

19. The device according to claim 18, wherein: The interface is further configured to obtain an indication that at least one of the latency, the interference level, or the traffic load associated with the reserved communication link is at least equal to the corresponding latency threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold; and The processing system is further configured to switch communication between the AP MLD and one or more other STAs from the reserved communication link to one or more other communication links of the AP MLD based on the indication.

20. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the interface is further configured to: One or more service level agreement (SLA) parameters associated with the first STA are obtained, wherein the provisioning of the single communication link or the multiple communication links of the AP MLD to the first STA is further based on the one or more SLA parameters associated with the first STA.

21. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: A transceiver is configured to transmit the first frame to the plurality of STAs, wherein the apparatus is configured as the AP MLD.

22. A method for wireless communication at an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD), comprising: obtaining, from a first station (STA) on a first communication link of the AP MLD, a request for association with the AP MLD on the first communication link and on each of one or more second communication links; provisioning a single communication link or multiple communication links of the AP MLD for communication between the first STA and the AP MLD based on at least one of a latency, an interference level, or a traffic load associated with the first communication link and each of the one or more second communication links of the AP MLD; generating a first frame indicating whether the single communication link or the multiple communication links of the AP MLD is allocated to the first STA for communication with the AP MLD; as well as The first frame is output for transmission to the first STA over the first communication link.

23. A method according to claim 22, wherein the first communication link is associated with a first AP of the APMLD, the one or more second communication links are associated with one or more corresponding second APs of the APMLD, and the first STA is associated with a STA MLD including one or more second STAs associated with one or more corresponding second communication links of the AP MLD.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the first frame further indicates whether the single communication link or the multiple communication links of the APMLD are allocated to the one or more second STAs of the STAMLD for communication with the AP MLD.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein: The request is obtained via a multilink association request frame or a multilink detection request frame; and The first frame includes a multilink association response frame in response to the multilink association request frame or a multilink detection response frame in response to the multilink detection request frame.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the first frame comprises a traffic identifier (TID) to link mapping (T2LM) element, the traffic identifier (TID) to link mapping (T2LM) element indicating, for each of a plurality of TIDs, one or more communication links of the APMLD allocated for traffic associated with the corresponding TID.

27. The method according to claim 22, wherein the first frame indicates that the single communication link of the AP MLD is allocated to the first STA for communication with the AP MLD, the method further comprising: Obtain one or more traffic identifiers (TIDs) associated with traffic flows sent to or received from the first STA; as well as The one or more TIDs are mapped to only the provisioned single communication link of the AP MLD.

28. The method according to claim 27, further comprising: obtaining a first indication that at least one of the latency, the interference level, or the traffic load associated with the provisioned single communication link is at least equal to a corresponding latency threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold; as well as The communication between the first STA and the AP MLD is switched from the provisioned single communication link of the AP MLD to another single communication link of the AP MLD based on the first indication.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein switching the communication comprises: The one or more TIDs are remapped from the provisioned single communication link of the AP MLD to the another single communication link of the AP MLD.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising: generating a second frame including a TID-to-link mapping (T2LM) element indicating the remapping of the one or more TIDs from the provisioned single communication link of the AP MLD to the another single communication link of the AP MLD; as well as The second frame is output for transmission to the first STA over the provisioned single communication link.

31. The method of claim 28, further comprising: obtaining a second indication that at least one of the latency, the interference level, or the traffic load associated with the other single communications link is at least equal to the corresponding latency threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold; as well as The communication between the first STA and the AP MLD is switched from the other single communication link of the AP MLD to all communication links of the AP MLD based on the second indication.

32. The method of claim 31 , wherein switching the communication comprises: The one or more TIDs are remapped from the other single communication link of the AP MLD to all of the communication links of the AP MLD.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising: generating a third frame including a T2LM element indicating said remapping of said one or more TIDs from said another single communication link of said AP MLD to all said communication links of said APMLD; as well as The third frame is output for transmission to the first STA over the other single communication link.

34. The method according to claim 22, wherein the first frame indicates that the plurality of communication links of the AP MLD are allocated to the first STA for communication with the AP MLD, the method further comprising: Obtain one or more traffic identifiers (TIDs) associated with traffic flows sent to or received from the first STA; as well as The one or more TIDs are mapped only to the provisioned plurality of communication links of the AP MLD.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising: obtaining an indication that at least one of the latency, the interference level, or the traffic load associated with one or more of the provisioned plurality of communication links is at least equal to the corresponding latency threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold; as well as The communication between the first STA and the AP MLD is switched from the provisioned multiple communication links of the AP MLD to the single communication link of the AP MLD based on the indication.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the single communication link of the AP MLD is different from the provisioned plurality of communication links of the APMLD.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein switching the communication comprises: The one or more TIDs are remapped from the provisioned plurality of communication links of the AP MLD to the single communication link of the AP MLD.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising: generating a second frame including a TID-to-link mapping (T2LM) element indicating the remapping of the one or more TIDs from the provisioned plurality of communication links of the AP MLD to the single communication link of the AP MLD; as well as The second frame is output for transmission to the first STA on at least one communication link of the provisioned plurality of communication links.

39. The method of claim 22, further comprising: Reserving the first communication link of the AP MLD or one of the one or more second communication links for delay-sensitive services; as well as The latency, the interference level, and the traffic load associated with the reserved communication link are maintained below the respective latency threshold, interference threshold, and traffic load threshold.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein said maintaining comprises: obtaining an indication that at least one of the latency, the interference level, or the traffic load associated with the reserved communication link is at least equal to the corresponding latency threshold, interference threshold, or traffic load threshold; as well as The communication between the AP MLD and one or more other STAs is switched from the reserved communication link to one or more other communication links of the AP MLD based on the indication.

41. The method of claim 22, further comprising: One or more service level agreement (SLA) parameters associated with the first STA are obtained, wherein the provisioning of the single communication link or the multiple communication links of the AP MLD to the first STA is further based on the one or more SLA parameters associated with the first STA.

42. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: A processing system, the processing system being configured to: assigning each of a plurality of stations (STAs) to one of the plurality of communication links based at least in part on a traffic volume on the plurality of communication links associated with an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD); mapping one or more traffic identifiers (TIDs) of traffic flows associated with each of the plurality of STAs to the communication link assigned to the corresponding STA; as well as generating, for each of the plurality of STAs, a first frame indicating the assigned communication link and the mapping for the corresponding STA; and An interface is configured to output the first frame for transmission to the plurality of STAs on one or more of the plurality of communication links.

43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein each of the plurality of communication links is associated with a corresponding AP of the APMLD and occupies one of a 2.4 GHz frequency band, a 5 GHz frequency band, a 6 GHz frequency band, or a 60 GHz frequency band.

44. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the interface is further configured to: obtaining, from each of the plurality of STAs, an indication of support for each of the plurality of communication links associated with the AP MLD, wherein: The first frame is output for transmission to the plurality of STAs based on the indication of support.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein: The indication of support is obtained via an association request frame or a probe request frame; and The first frame includes a multilink association response frame in response to the corresponding association request frame or a multilink probe response frame in response to the corresponding probe request frame.

46. ​​The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the first frame comprises a TID-to-Link Map (T2LM) element indicating the mapping for the respective plurality of STAs.

47. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein: The interface is further configured to obtain a first indication that a traffic load on a first communication link of the plurality of communication links is greater than a traffic load on a second communication link of the plurality of communication links by at least a threshold amount; and The processing system is further configured to reassign at least one STA from the first communication link to the second communication link based on the first indication.

48. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the first communication link is reserved for delay-sensitive traffic.

49. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the at least one STA is associated with at least one of: a throughput of the at least one STA is less than a first threshold, or a load associated with the at least one STA is at least equal to a second threshold.

50. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the processing system is further configured to: STAs associated with delay-sensitive services are maintained on the first communication link, while communications with non-delay-sensitive STAs are switched from the first communication link to the second communication link.

51. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein: The interface is further configured to obtain a first indication that a traffic load on at least one of the communication links associated with the AP MLD is at least equal to a load threshold; and The processing system is further configured to relocate all of the communication links associated with the APMLD to at least some of the STAs previously assigned to the at least one communication link based on the first indication.

52. The apparatus of claim 51, wherein: The processing system is further configured to: remapping the one or more TIDs associated with the at least some STAs to all of the communication links associated with the AP MLD; as well as generating, for each of the at least some STAs, a second frame indicating the remapping for the corresponding STA; and The interface is further configured to output the second frame for transmission to the at least some of the STAs.

53. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein each of the second frames comprises a directional action frame indicating the remapping for the corresponding STA.

54. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein the interface is further configured to obtain the load threshold from a network entity.

55. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein each of the at least some STAs is associated with at least one of: a throughput of the corresponding STA is less than a first threshold, or a load associated with the corresponding STA is at least equal to a second threshold.

56. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein each of the at least some STAs is associated with the STA group based on at least one of a combined throughput or a combined load of the STA group.

57. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein: The interface is further configured to obtain a second indication that the traffic load on each of the communication links associated with the AP MLD is at least equal to the load threshold; and The processing system is further configured to allocate all of the communication links associated with the APMLD to each STA of the plurality of STAs based on the second indication.

58. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein: The processing system is further configured to: remapping the one or more TIDs associated with the plurality of STAs to all the communication links of the AP MLD; as well as generating, for each STA of the plurality of STAs, a second frame indicating the remapping for the corresponding STA; and The interface is further configured to output the second frame for transmission to the corresponding plurality of STAs.

59. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein: The interface is further configured to obtain an indication that at least one STA assigned to a reserved communication link among the plurality of communication links violates one or more service level agreement (SLA) parameters; and The processing system is further configured to reassign one or more other STAs from the reserved communication link to at least one other communication link of the plurality of communication links based on the indication.

60. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein the reserved communication link is associated with a delay-sensitive service, and the one or more other STAs are not associated with a delay-sensitive service.

61. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein: The processing system is configured to reassign the one or more other STAs by generating, for each of the one or more other STAs, a second frame indicating a TID-to-link mapping (T2LM) for the corresponding other STA; and The interface is further configured to output the second frame for transmission to the one or more other STAs.

62. The apparatus of claim 42, further comprising: A transceiver is configured to transmit the first frame to the plurality of STAs, wherein the apparatus is configured as the AP MLD.

63. A method for wireless communication at an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD), comprising: assigning each of a plurality of stations (STAs) to a communication link of the plurality of communication links of the AP MLD based at least in part on traffic on the plurality of communication links; mapping one or more traffic identifiers (TIDs) of traffic flows associated with each of the plurality of STAs to the communication link assigned to the corresponding STA; generating, for each of the plurality of STAs, a first frame indicating the assigned communication link and the mapping for the corresponding STA; as well as The first frame is output for transmission to the plurality of STAs over one or more of the plurality of communication links.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein each of the plurality of communication links is associated with a corresponding AP of the APMLD and occupies one of a 2.4 GHz frequency band, a 5 GHz frequency band, a 6 GHz frequency band, or a 60 GHz frequency band.

65. The method of claim 63, further comprising: obtaining, from each of the plurality of STAs, an indication of support for each of the plurality of communication links associated with the AP MLD, wherein: The first frame is output for transmission to the plurality of STAs based on the indication of support.

66. The method of claim 65, wherein: The indication of support is obtained via an association request frame or a probe request frame; and The first frame includes a multilink association response frame in response to the corresponding association request frame or a multilink probe response frame in response to the corresponding probe request frame.

67. The method of claim 63, wherein the first frame includes a TID-to-Link Map (T2LM) element indicating the mapping for the corresponding plurality of STAs.

68. The method of claim 63, further comprising: obtaining a first indication that a traffic load on a first communication link of the plurality of communication links is greater than a traffic load on a second communication link of the plurality of communication links by at least a threshold amount; as well as At least one STA is reassigned from the first communication link to the second communication link based on the first indication.

69. The method of claim 68, wherein the first communication link is reserved for delay-sensitive traffic.

70. The method of claim 68, wherein the at least one STA is associated with at least one of: a throughput of the at least one STA is less than a first threshold, or a load associated with the at least one STA is at least equal to a second threshold.

71. The method of claim 68, further comprising: STAs associated with delay-sensitive services are maintained on the first communication link, while communications with non-delay-sensitive STAs are switched from the first communication link to the second communication link.

72. The method of claim 63, further comprising: obtaining a first indication that a traffic load on at least one of the communication links associated with the AP MLD is at least equal to a load threshold; as well as All of the communication links associated with the AP MLD are deployed to at least some of the STAs previously assigned to the at least one communication link based on the first indication.

73. The method of claim 72, further comprising: remapping the one or more TIDs associated with the at least some STAs to all of the communication links associated with the AP MLD; generating, for each of the at least some STAs, a second frame indicating the remapping for the corresponding STA; as well as The second frame is output for transmission to the at least some STAs.

74. The method of claim 73, wherein each of the second frames comprises a directional action frame indicating the remapping for the corresponding STA.

75. The method of claim 72, wherein the load threshold is a configured parameter obtained from a network entity.

76. The method of claim 72, wherein each of the at least some of the STAs is associated with at least one of: a throughput of the corresponding STA is less than a first threshold, or a load associated with the corresponding STA is at least equal to a second threshold.

77. The method of claim 72, wherein each of the at least some of the STAs is associated with the STA group based on at least one of a combined throughput or a combined load of the STA group.

78. The method of claim 72, further comprising: obtaining a second indication that the traffic load on each of the communication links associated with the AP MLD is at least equal to the load threshold; as well as All of the communication links associated with the AP MLD are allocated to each STA of the plurality of STAs based on the second indication.

79. The method of claim 78, further comprising: remapping the one or more TIDs associated with the plurality of STAs to all of the communication links associated with the AP MLD; generating, for each STA of the plurality of STAs, a second frame indicating the remapping for the corresponding STA; as well as The second frame is output for transmission to the corresponding plurality of STAs.

80. The method of claim 63, further comprising: obtaining an indication that at least one STA assigned to a reserved communication link among the plurality of communication links violated one or more service level agreement (SLA) parameters; as well as One or more other STAs are reassigned from the reserved communication link to at least one other communication link of the plurality of communication links based on the indication.

81. The method of claim 80, further comprising: generating, for each of the one or more other STAs, a second frame indicating a TID-to-link mapping (T2LM) for a corresponding STA of the one or more other STAs; as well as The second frame is output for transmission to the one or more other STAs.

82. The method of claim 80, wherein the reserved communication link is associated with a delay-sensitive service, and the one or more other STAs are not associated with a delay-sensitive service.

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