Multi-link operation (MLO) in mesh network

Abstract

In one embodiment, the disclosure includes a multilink device (MLD) transmitting a frame on a first communication link associated with a first device of the MLD, the frame carrying a plurality of addresses of a respective plurality of peer devices associated with a mesh basic service set (MBSS), each address of the plurality of addresses is associated with one of a per-link address of the first communication link of the MLD or a medium access control (MAC) address of the MLD. In some instances, the addresses include a first address and a second address that indicate respective receiver and transmitter addresses of a peer instance, and include a third address and a fourth address that indicate respective MBSS egress and MBSS ingress points of the peer instance. The first address and the second address are associated with the per-link address of the first communication link, and the third address and the fourth address are associated with the MLD MAC address.

Description

[0001] Cross-references

[0002] This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. patent application No. 17 / 839,818, entitled “MULTI-LINK OPERATION (MLO) IN A MESH NETWORK,” filed by HUANG et al. on June 14, 2022, 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 enabling multi-link operations (MLO) in mesh networks. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. A wireless local area network (WLAN) may be formed by one or more access points (APs) that provide a shared wireless communication medium for use by several client devices, also referred to as stations (STAs). The basic building block of a WLAN that complies with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards is a basic service set (BSS) managed by an AP. Each BSS is identified by a basic service set identifier (BSSID) announced by the AP. The AP periodically broadcasts beacon frames to enable any STA within the wireless range of the AP to establish or maintain a communication link with the WLAN.

[0005] Mesh networks can be used in a variety of environments, including home entertainment systems, home automation, factory automation, etc. In a mesh network, wireless devices operating as mesh nodes can be connected to each other via mesh links in a non-hierarchical network topology, and can cooperate with each other to efficiently route data from a source to a destination using one or more nodes and their corresponding mesh links. For example, an intermediate mesh node that receives a message from an upstream mesh node can broadcast or forward the message to one or more downstream mesh nodes via a corresponding mesh link until the message reaches the destination. In this way, a mesh network can extend the effective radio range of wireless devices acting as mesh nodes in the mesh network.

[0006] The throughput of a mesh network may be based at least in part on the channel width of mesh links interconnecting between mesh nodes associated with the mesh network. Increasing the channel width of mesh links may not be feasible, particularly in environments that include other wireless networks operating on the same or similar frequencies as the mesh network. Summary of the invention

[0007] The systems, methods, and devices of the disclosure each have several innovative aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for the desirable attributes disclosed herein.

[0008] An innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a multi-link device (MLD). The MLD may include a processing system and an interface coupled to the processing system. The interface may be configured to output a frame on a first communication link associated with a first device of the MLD, the frame including a media access control (MAC) header carrying a plurality of addresses associated with a mesh basic service set (MBSS), each of the plurality of addresses being associated with one of a per-link address of the first communication link of the MLD or a MAC address of the MLD. In some specific implementations, the plurality of addresses may include a first address and a second address, the first address and the second address indicating a corresponding receiver address and a transmitter address of a peer instance on the first communication link, and may include a third address and a fourth address, the third address and the fourth address indicating a corresponding MBSS exit point and an MBSS entry point of the peer instance on the first communication link. In some instances, the first address and the second address may be associated with the per-link address of the first communication link, and the third address and the fourth address may be associated with an MLD MAC address. In some other implementations, the plurality of addresses may further include a fifth address and a sixth address indicating a destination and a source, respectively, of the peer instance, the fifth address and the sixth address being associated with the MLD MAC address. In some aspects, the frame may include an indication that the per-link address is based on a domain of the first device of the MLD.

[0009] In some specific implementations, the frame may be one of a hybrid wireless mesh protocol (HWMP) mesh path selection frame, a mesh peer open frame, a mesh peer confirmation frame, a mesh peer close frame, or a mesh data frame. In some instances, the frame may include a multilink element indicating discovery information for the first communication link of the MLD and discovery information for each of the one or more second communication links associated with one or more corresponding second devices of the MLD. In some other instances, the frame may include a traffic identifier (TID) to link mapping (T2LM) element indicating, for each of a plurality of TIDs, on which of the first communication link or the one or more second communication links a mesh data frame belonging to the corresponding TID is allowed. In some aspects, the frame may include an extremely high throughput (EHT) capability element indicating one or more capabilities of the first device of the MLD and one or more capabilities of each of the one or more second devices of the MLD. In some other aspects, the frame may include an EHT operation element indicating one or more operating parameters for the first communication link of the MLD and one or more operating parameters for each of the one or more corresponding second communication links of the MLD.

[0010] In some specific implementations, the frame may be a mesh peer open frame output on the first communication link to one or more candidate peer devices associated with the MBSS. The mesh peer open frame may include a request to establish a peer instance on each of the first communication link of the MLD and the one or more second communication links of the MLD. In some instances, the interface may also be configured to obtain a mesh peer confirmation frame from the corresponding candidate peer device on the first communication link, the mesh peer confirmation frame indicating whether the requested peer instance is accepted or rejected by the corresponding candidate peer device. The processing system may also be configured to associate with the candidate peer device on the first communication link of the MLD based on the mesh peer open frame and the mesh peer confirmation frame.

[0011] In some other instances, the mesh peer open frame may indicate the MLD capabilities of the first device and the one or more second devices of the MLD. In some aspects, the interface may be configured to obtain a mesh peer confirmation frame from at least one candidate peer device on the first communication link, the at least one candidate peer device including a corresponding station (STA) or access point (AP) associated with the first communication link of the MLD and each of the one or more second communication links of the MLD, the mesh peer confirmation frame indicating the MLD capabilities of the corresponding STA or AP of the at least one candidate peer device. The processing system may be configured to: in response to the MLD capabilities of the at least one candidate peer device, associate the first device of the MLD with the first STA or AP of the at least one candidate peer device on the first communication link, and associate the one or more second devices of the MLD with the one or more corresponding second STAs or APs of the at least one candidate peer device on the one or more corresponding second communication links.

[0012] In some specific implementations, the interface may also be configured to obtain a request for a traffic identifier (TID) to link mapping negotiation operation, a target wake time (TWT) operation, or a restricted TWT (r-TWT) operation on a peer instance associated with the first communication link from a peer MLD associated with the MBSS. In some instances, the processing system may also be configured to assign a link identifier (ID) to the requested operation. In various aspects, the assignment of the link ID to the requested operation may be associated with one of: the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the MLD, the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the peer MLD, or an agreement or negotiation between the MLD and the peer MLD, the agreement or negotiation indicating one of the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the MLD or the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the peer MLD.

[0013] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented as a method for wireless communication by an MLD. In some implementations, the method includes: sending a frame on a first communication link associated with a first device of the MLD, the frame including a MAC header carrying a plurality of addresses associated with an MBSS, each of the plurality of addresses being associated with one of a per-link address of the first communication link of the MLD or a MAC address of the MLD. In some implementations, the plurality of addresses may include a first address and a second address, the first address and the second address indicating a corresponding receiver address and a transmitter address of a peer instance on the first communication link, and may include a third address and a fourth address indicating a corresponding MBSS exit point and an MBSS entry point of the peer instance on the first communication link. In some instances, the first address and the second address may be associated with the per-link address of the first communication link, and the third address and the fourth address may be associated with an MLD MAC address. In some other implementations, the plurality of addresses may further include a fifth address and a sixth address indicating a destination and a source, respectively, of the peer instance, the fifth address and the sixth address being associated with the MLD MAC address. In some aspects, the frame may include an indication that the per-link address is based on a domain of the first device of the MLD.

[0014] In some specific implementations, the frame may be one of a HWMP mesh path selection frame, a mesh peer open frame, a mesh peer confirmation frame, a mesh peer close frame, or a mesh data frame. In some instances, the frame may include a multilink element indicating discovery information for the first communication link of the MLD and discovery information for each of the one or more second communication links associated with one or more corresponding second devices of the MLD. In some other instances, the frame may include a T2LM element indicating, for each of a plurality of TIDs, on which of the first communication link or the one or more second communication links a mesh data frame belonging to the corresponding TID is allowed. In some aspects, the frame may include an EHT capability element indicating one or more capabilities of the first device of the MLD and one or more capabilities of each of the one or more second devices of the MLD. In some other aspects, the frame may include an EHT operation element indicating one or more operating parameters for the first communication link of the MLD and one or more operating parameters for each of the one or more corresponding second communication links of the MLD.

[0015] In some specific implementations, the frame may be a mesh peer open frame sent on the first communication link to one or more candidate peer devices associated with the MBSS. The mesh peer open frame may include a request to establish a peer instance on the first communication link of the MLD and each of the one or more second communication links of the MLD. In some instances, the method may also include: obtaining a mesh peer confirmation frame from the corresponding candidate peer device on the first communication link, the mesh peer confirmation frame indicating whether the requested peer instance is accepted or rejected by the corresponding candidate peer device. The method may also include: associating with the candidate peer device on the first communication link of the MLD based on the mesh peer open frame and the mesh peer confirmation frame.

[0016] In some other instances, the mesh peer open frame may indicate the MLD capabilities of the first device and the one or more second devices of the MLD. In some aspects, the method may also include: receiving a mesh peer confirmation frame from at least one candidate peer device on the first communication link, the at least one candidate peer device including a corresponding STA or AP associated with the first communication link of the MLD and each of the one or more second communication links of the MLD, the mesh peer confirmation frame indicating the MLD capabilities of the corresponding STA or AP of the at least one candidate peer device. The method may also include: in response to the MLD capabilities of the at least one candidate peer device, associating the first device of the MLD with the first STA or AP of the at least one candidate peer device on the first communication link, and associating the one or more second devices of the MLD with the one or more corresponding second STAs or APs of the at least one candidate peer device on the one or more corresponding second communication links.

[0017] In some specific implementations, the method may also include: obtaining a request for a TID to link mapping negotiation operation, a TWT operation, or an r-TWT operation on a peer instance associated with the first communication link from a peer MLD associated with the MBSS. In some instances, the method may also include: assigning a link ID to the requested operation. In various aspects, the assignment of the link ID to the requested operation may be associated with one of: the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the MLD, the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the peer MLD, or an agreement or negotiation between the MLD and the peer MLD, the agreement or negotiation indicating one of the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the MLD or the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the peer MLD.

[0018] 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

[0019] Figure 1 An example system for wireless communications is shown.

[0020] Figure 2 A block diagram illustrating example paths that may be established in a mesh network.

[0021] Figure 3 A block diagram illustrating another example path that may be established in a mesh network.

[0022] Figure 4 A block diagram illustrating another example path that may be established in a mesh network.

[0023] Figure 5A Example protocol data units (PDUs) that can be used for communications between an access point (AP) and one or more wireless stations (STAs) are shown.

[0024] Figure 5B Shows Figure 4 Example fields in an A PDU.

[0025] Figure 6 An example physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) that can be used for communication between an AP and several STAs is shown.

[0026] Figure 7 A block diagram of an example wireless communication device is shown.

[0027] Fig. 8A A block diagram of an example AP is shown.

[0028] Figure 8B A block diagram of an example STA is shown.

[0029] Fig. 9 An example communication system including an AP multi-link device (MLD) and a non-AP MLD is shown.

[0030] Fig.10 An example multi-link mesh network including multiple peer MLDs and multi-link peer instances is shown.

[0031] Fig.11 An example media access control (MAC) header address format that may be used in a multi-link mesh network is shown.

[0032] Figure 12-16A flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communications supporting multi-link operations in a mesh network is shown.

[0033] Fig.17A Example multi-link elements capable of being used for multi-link operations in a mesh network are shown.

[0034] Fig. 17B An example multilink control field of a multilink element is shown.

[0035] Fig. 17C Example common information fields for a multilink element are shown.

[0036] Fig.17D An example MLD capability field carried in the common information field of a multilink element is shown.

[0037] Fig.17E An example Per-STA Profile sub-element carried in the Link Information field of a Multilink element is shown.

[0038] Fig.17F An example STA Control field carried in a Per-STA Profile sub-element of a Multilink element is shown.

[0039] Figure 17G An example STA Information field carried in a Per-STA Profile sub-element of a Multilink element is shown.

[0040] Fig.18 Example traffic identifier (TID) to link mapping elements that can be used for multi-link operation in a mesh network are shown.

[0041] Fig.19A An example Reduced Neighbor Report (RNR) element that may be used to support multi-link operation in a mesh network is shown.

[0042] Fig.19B An example Target Beacon Transmit Time (TBTT) information header field carried in the TBTT Information Set field of an RNR element is shown.

[0043] Fig.19C An example TBTT information field carried in the TBTT information set field of the RNR element is shown.

[0044] Fig. 20 A block diagram of an example wireless communication device is shown.

[0045] The same reference numbers and designations in different drawings indicate similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0046] 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 published by the 3rd 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.

[0047] Various implementations relate generally to mesh networks, and specifically to enabling multi-link operations (MLO) in mesh networks. In various implementations, multiple multi-link devices (MLDs) operating as mesh nodes or peer devices may form a multi-link mesh network by establishing multi-link peer instances with each other as part of a mesh basic service set (MBSS). In some implementations, each peer MLD associated with the mesh network may include a first device associated with a first communication link of the mesh network, and may include one or more second devices associated with one or more corresponding second communication links of the mesh network. For example, in some instances, the first device of the corresponding peer MLD may include a first STA and a first AP, and each of the one or more second devices of the corresponding peer MLD may include a corresponding second STA and a corresponding second AP. The first STA of the corresponding peer MLD may be configured to communicate with one or more previous-hop peer MLDs and one or more next-hop peer MLDs on the first communication link, and the one or more second STAs of the corresponding peer MLD may be configured to communicate with one or more previous-hop peer MLDs and one or more next-hop peer MLDs on the one or more corresponding second communication links. The first AP of the corresponding peer MLD may establish a first BSS on the first communication link and communicate with one or more first client devices associated with the first BSS on the first communication link. Each of the one or more second APs of the corresponding peer MLD may establish a corresponding second BSS on the corresponding second communication link and communicate with one or more associated second client devices on the corresponding second communication link.

[0048] Aspects of the present disclosure recognize that employing MLDs as nodes in a mesh network may be associated with the exchange of multilink protocol frames or elements on mesh links established between the MLDs. Although multilink operation is supported in infrastructure WLANs as defined in the 802.11be revision of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, currently in mesh networks operating according to the 802.11REVme revision of the IEEE 802.11 standard and in mesh networks operating according to the Wi-Fi EasyMesh protocol published by the Wi-Fi Alliance, the multilink protocol is not supported. TM Multilink operation is not supported in a mesh network that operates in a standard manner. In addition, mesh protocol frames and messages communicated on a mesh network use a different address format than multilink protocol frames and packets exchanged between MLDs on one or more communication links. For example, while mesh protocol frames and messages use a mesh address associated with the mesh network, multilink protocol frames and packets use a multilink address based on a per-link address and an MLD address.

[0049] Aspects of the present disclosure recognize that multi-link operation can be enabled in a mesh network by replacing a mesh protocol address associated with a media access control (MAC) header of a mesh protocol frame with a corresponding multi-link address based on a per-link receiver address and a per-link transmitter address and an MLD source address and an MLD destination address. For example, in some instances, the multi-link protocol address may include per-link addresses that indicate a per-link receiver address and a per-link transmitter address of a corresponding peer instance, and may include MLD addresses that indicate respective MBSS exit points and MBSS entry points of the corresponding peer instance. In some aspects, the multi-link protocol address may also include MLD addresses that indicate source addresses and destination addresses associated with paths established in the mesh network.

[0050] In some implementations, a peer MLD operating as a node in a mesh network may determine, calculate, ascertain, or obtain a mapping between a mesh protocol address and its corresponding multilink protocol address, and may use the mapping to populate a MAC header of a mesh protocol frame with the multilink protocol address. The mesh protocol frame populated with the multilink protocol address may include a hybrid wireless mesh protocol (HWMP) mesh path selection frame, a mesh peer open frame, a mesh peer acknowledgement frame, a mesh peer close frame, or a mesh data frame, among others. In some instances, the multilink context may allow the peer MLDs to discover and associate with each other on all communication links of the mesh network based on discovery information, capabilities, or parameters received or otherwise obtained on a first communication link. The multilink context may also allow the peer MLDs to establish a common security context, a common encryption key, a common acknowledgement (BA) session, and a traffic identifier (TID) to link mapping on all communication links of the mesh network based on frame exchanges on the first communication link.

[0051] In various specific implementations, a mesh protocol frame communicated on a multi-link peer instance of a mesh network may include a multi-link element indicating discovery information for each of the communication links associated with the mesh network. The multi-link element may also indicate one or more MLD capabilities shared by the communication links of the mesh network. In some other instances, the mesh protocol frame may also include a reduced neighbor report (RNR) element indicating channel information, operating parameters, and MLD parameters of one or more second communication links of the mesh network. In some other instances, the mesh protocol frame may also include a TID to link mapping element indicating, for each of a plurality of TIDs, on which of the plurality of communication links a mesh data frame belonging to the corresponding TID is allowed.

[0052] Specific implementations of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages. When mapping a mesh address included in a MAC header of a mesh protocol frame to a multilink protocol address indicating at least a per-link receiver address and a per-link transmitter address as well as an MLD source address and an MLD destination address, aspects of the present disclosure may allow mesh protocol frames and messages carrying multilink protocol elements (such as multilink elements and TID to link mapping elements, etc.) to be propagated across a mesh network by peer MLDs. In this manner, mesh protocol frames may be used to establish a multilink peer instance between peer MLDs, and discover one or more multilink paths between a source device and a destination device on the multilink peer instance. The multilink peer instance and multilink path established by the peer MLDs may allow mesh protocol data frames to be propagated across a mesh network concurrently on multiple communication links, thereby increasing the effective bandwidth of a mesh peer instance or mesh link (such as compared to a conventional single-link mesh network). By increasing the effective bandwidth of a mesh peer instance or mesh link, implementations of the subject matter disclosed herein may reduce latency and increase throughput associated with a mesh network.

[0053] Figure 1 A block diagram of an example wireless communication system 100 is shown. According to some aspects, the wireless communication system 100 may include a WLAN 110, a gateway 120, and a mesh network 130. In some implementations, the WLAN 110 may be a network that implements at least one of the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication standards, such as the standards defined by the IEEE 802.11-2016 specification or its revisions, including but not limited to 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be. The WLAN 110 may include an access point (AP) 112 and a plurality of wireless stations (STAs) 114. Although not shown for simplicity in FIG. Figure 1 Only one AP 112 is shown in FIG. 1 , but in other implementations, the WLAN 110 may include multiple APs 112 .

[0054] Each of the STAs 114 may also be referred to as a mobile station (MS), a mobile device, a mobile handset, a wireless handset, an access terminal (AT), a user equipment (UE), a subscriber station (SS), or a subscriber unit, etc. The STAs 114 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), etc.

[0055] A single AP 112 and the associated set of STAs 114 may be referred to as a basic service set (BSS), which is managed by the respective AP 112 . Figure 1 Also shown is an example coverage area 118 of the AP 112, which may represent a basic service area (BSA) of the WLAN 110. The BSS may be identified to users by a service set identifier (SSID) and to other devices by a basic service set identifier (BSSID), which may be a medium access control (MAC) address of the AP 112. The AP 112 periodically broadcasts a beacon frame including the BSSID to enable any STA 114 within the wireless range of the AP 112 to associate or reassociate with the AP 112 and establish a corresponding communication link 116 with the AP 112. In some instances, the beacon frame carries or indicates an operating channel of a communication link used by the AP to advertise discovery information of the AP 112, and may include a timing synchronization function (TSF) for establishing or maintaining timing synchronization with the AP 112. The AP 112 may also provide access to external networks to the respective STAs 114 in the WLAN 110 backhaul connection (not shown for simplicity).

[0056] To establish a communication link 116 with the AP 112, each of the STAs 114 may be configured to perform passive or active scanning operations on frequency channels in one or more frequency bands (eg, the 2.4 GHz, 5.0 GHz, 6.0 GHz, or 60 GHz bands). To perform passive scanning, the STA 114 listens to beacon frames transmitted by the AP 112 at periodic time intervals, referred to as target beacon transmission times (TBTTs), measured in time units (TUs), where one TU may be equal to 1024 microseconds (μs). To perform active scanning, the STA 114 generates and sequentially transmits a probe request for each channel to be scanned, and listens for probe responses for the corresponding channels from the AP 112. Each STA 114 may be configured to identify or select an AP 112 to associate with based on the scanning information obtained through passive or active scanning, and perform association and authentication operations to establish a communication link 116 with the AP 112. The AP 112 assigns an association identifier (AID) to each STA 114 at the end of the association operation, and the AP 112 uses the association identifier (AID) to track the STA 114.

[0057] As wireless networks become more and more common, STA 114 may have the opportunity to select one of many BSSs within the range of STA 114 or multiple APs 112 that together form an extended service set (ESS) (including multiple connected BSSs) to select. Extended network stations associated with WLAN 110 may be connected to a wired or wireless distributed system that allows multiple APs (such as AP 112) to be connected to each other in such ESS. Thus, STA 114 may be covered by more than one AP 112 and may be associated with different APs 112 at different times for different transmissions. Additionally, after associating with AP 112, STA 114 may also be configured to periodically scan its surroundings to find a more appropriate AP 112 to associate with. For example, a STA 114 that is moving relative to the STA's associated AP 112 may perform a "roaming" scan to find another AP with a more suitable network characteristic (such as a larger received signal strength indicator (RSSI) or a reduced traffic load).

[0058] In some instances, STA 114 may form a network without AP 112 or equipment other than STA 114 itself. An example of such a network is an ad hoc network. An ad hoc network may also be referred to as a mesh network or a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. As used herein, a mesh network may also include or refer to a P2P network, a personal area network (PAN), and a neighbor awareness network (NAN), etc. In some aspects, two STAs in STA 114 may communicate with each other via a direct communication link (not shown for simplicity), regardless of whether both STAs 114 are associated with AP 112. Examples of direct wireless links include Wi-Fi direct connections, connections established by using a Wi-Fi tunneling direct link setup (TDLS) link, and other P2P group connections.

[0059] The AP 112 and the STA 114 may operate on a corresponding communication link 116 and communicate with each other according to the IEEE 802.11 family of standards. These standards define WLAN radio and baseband protocols for the PHY and medium access control (MAC) layers. The AP 112 and the STA 114 send and receive wireless communications to and from each other in the form of a physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU). The AP 112 and the STA 114 in the WLAN 110 may send the PPDU on an unlicensed spectrum, which may be a portion of a spectrum including frequency bands traditionally used by Wi-Fi technology, such as the 2.4 GHz band, the 3.6 GHz band, the 5 GHz band, the 60 GHz band, and the 900 MHz band. In some implementations, the AP 112 and the STA 114 described herein may also communicate with each other in other frequency bands, such as the 6 GHz band, that may support both licensed and unlicensed communications. The AP 112 and STA 114 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.

[0060] Each frequency band may include multiple channels (which may be used as subchannels of a larger bandwidth channel as described herein). For example, PPDUs compliant with IEEE 802.11n, 802.11ac, and 802.11ax standard revisions may be sent on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands, where each frequency band is divided into multiple 20 MHz channels. In this way, 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, a PPDU may be sent on a physical channel with a bandwidth of 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 320 MHz by bonding multiple 20 MHz channels (which may be referred to as subchannels) together.

[0061] 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 first part (or "legacy preamble") and a second part (or "non-legacy preamble"). The first part can be used for packet detection, automatic gain control and channel estimation, and other purposes. The first part can also be used to maintain compatibility with legacy devices and non-legacy devices. The format, decoding, and information provided therein of the second part of the preamble are based on the specific IEEE 802.11 protocol to be used to send the payload.

[0062] The gateway 120 is communicatively coupled to the WLAN 110 and the mesh network 130, and may provide an interface by which devices associated with the mesh network 130 may connect to a core network (or some other remote network) via the WLAN 110 and the AP 112. Specifically, the gateway 120 may forward frames or packets received from one or more devices associated with the mesh network 130 to the AP 112 for delivery to one or more of the associated STAs 114, or for delivery to other networks (not shown for simplicity) via the AP 112 and various backhaul connections associated with the AP 112 (not shown for simplicity). Similarly, the gateway 120 may forward frames or packets received from the associated STAs 114 or the core network via the AP 112 for delivery to one or more of the devices associated with the mesh network 130. The gateway 120 may include any suitable number of radios and associated transceiver chains that allow the gateway 120 to communicate with the mesh network 130 concurrently over multiple communication links. In some other implementations, AP 112 may perform the functionality of gateway 120, which may be omitted.

[0063] The mesh network 130 may include multiple peer devices 132a-132k configured to operate as mesh devices or "nodes" that can transmit, receive, broadcast or forward messages and frames to each other on peer instances 134. As used herein, the term "peer device 132" may refer to a plurality of peer devices 132a-132k configured to operate as mesh devices or "nodes" that can transmit, receive, broadcast or forward messages and frames to each other on peer instances 134. Figure 1132a-132k, and the term "peer instance" may refer to a mesh link or other wireless communication link established between neighboring peer devices 132. In some instances, messages and frames may be broadcast on a shared wireless medium associated with the mesh network 130, and each peer device 132 that receives a broadcast message or frame may forward the message or frame to one or more neighboring peer devices 132. Each of the one or more neighboring peer devices 132 may forward the message or frame to one or more other neighboring peer devices 132, and so on, until the message or frame reaches its destination. Thus, each peer device 132 may be any suitable device capable of transmitting, receiving, broadcasting, and forwarding messages or frames to other peer devices 132 within the radio range of the corresponding peer device 132. Example peer devices 132 may include, but are not limited to, mobile stations (STAs), laptops, personal computers (PCs), desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellular phones, smart phones, satellite radios, global positioning systems, multimedia devices, video devices, digital audio players, cameras, game consoles, tablet computers, smart devices, wearable devices (such as smart watches or wireless headphones), vehicles, electric meters, gas pumps, ovens, thermostats, hearing aids, body-worn blood glucose units, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, Industrial IoT (IIoT) devices, or any other similarly functional devices. In various aspects, peer devices 132 may be capable of sending or receiving messages and frames based on one or more of the Bluetooth specification, the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) specification, the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication standards, or the Wi-Fi Alliance specification.

[0064] In some implementations, the peer devices 132 may operate according to a wireless mesh protocol that allows the peer devices 132 to establish peer instances 134 between each other using a mesh path selection process. Specifically, the peer instances 134 established between a source device and a destination device may form a mesh path over which messages or frames may be propagated from the source device to the destination device by one or more peer devices 132 operating as intermediate nodes of the mesh network 130. In some aspects, the peer devices 132 may discover each other using path discovery messages, and may use discovery information and capability information carried in the path discovery messages to determine whether a neighboring peer device 132 is an appropriate candidate to establish a peer instance 134 with. For example, in some instances, the peer device 132a may broadcast a path request (PREQ) message or a mesh peer open frame that includes a request to establish a peer instance 134 with the peer device 132a. The PREQ message or mesh peer-to-peer open frame may also indicate capabilities, supported data rates, supported channels, supported classes of operation, mesh information, and other parameters associated with the peer device 132a.

[0065] Neighboring candidate peer devices 132b and 132c may receive the PREQ message or mesh peer open frame, and may forward the PREQ message or mesh peer open frame to one or more other peer devices 132, and so on, until the PREQ message or mesh peer open frame reaches the destination device. Candidate peer devices 132b and 132c may also transmit a path reply (PREP) message or mesh peer confirmation frame to peer device 132a, indicating whether the corresponding candidate peer device 132b or 132c accepts or rejects the request to establish a peer instance 134 with peer device 132a. The PREQ message or mesh peer confirmation frame may also indicate capabilities, supported data rates, supported channels, supported operating categories, mesh parameters, and other information related to the corresponding candidate peer device 132b or 132c. Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , after exchanging corresponding PREQ messages and PREP messages or mesh peer open frames and mesh peer confirmation frames, a peer instance 134ac is established between the peer device 132a and the candidate peer device 132c. In this way, the wireless mesh protocol can be used to extend the range at which individual peer devices 132 can communicate with each other by forming an ad hoc wireless network having a coverage area 138 that is larger than the radio range of the corresponding peer device 132.

[0066] The frames exchanged during path discovery may carry or indicate one or more link metrics for each peer instance 134 along the discovered path. Each of the peer devices 132 may maintain a forwarding table that stores link metrics associated with one or more "previous hops" and one or more "next hops" traversed by the frame, as well as identification information of one or more upstream peer devices 132 associated with the previous hop and one or more downstream peer devices 132 associated with the next hop. For example, when the corresponding peer device 132 receives a PREQ message from an upstream peer device, the corresponding peer device 132 may update the corresponding forwarding table using the link metrics and identification information carried or indicated by the PREQ message, and may forward the PREQ message to one or more downstream peer devices. Similarly, when the corresponding peer device 132 receives a PREP message from a downstream peer device, the corresponding peer device 132 may update the corresponding forwarding table using the link metrics and identification information carried or indicated by the PREP message, and may forward the PREP message to one or more upstream peer devices. Link metrics obtained during path discovery may be used to select the most appropriate path from the source device to the destination device on peer instance 134. In various aspects, the most appropriate path may refer to one or more of the shortest path, the lowest cost path, or the path associated with the highest link quality.

[0067] Figure 2A block diagram of an example path 200 that may be established in a mesh network is shown. Path 200 extends between a source device 210 and a destination device 220 through one or more intermediate mesh nodes 231-233 associated with the mesh network. Path 200 may be associated with a forward path 201 from an upstream peer device to a downstream peer device toward destination device 220 on a peer instance 240, along which messages and frames may be transmitted. Path 200 may also be associated with a reverse path 202 from a downstream peer device to an upstream peer device toward source device 210 on a peer instance 240, along which messages and frames may be transmitted. Although Figure 2 The example of FIG. 200 shows three intermediate mesh nodes 231-233 and four peer instances 240, but in some other implementations, path 200 may include other numbers of intermediate mesh nodes and peer instances. In some examples, the HWMP path selection protocol according to the 802.11REVme revision of the IEEE 802.11 wireless standard may be used to select the paths in the wireless network. Figure 1 A path 200 is established in the mesh network 130 .

[0068] The source device 210 may be any suitable device capable of initiating path discovery in a mesh network, and the destination device 220 may be any suitable device capable of receiving a message or frame from the source device 210. In some instances, the source device 210 may be a mesh device associated with the mesh network. In some other instances, the source device 210 may be a mesh device that is external to or not associated with the mesh network. In some other instances, the source device 210 may be a device associated with another network (such as a Figure 1 Similarly, destination device 220 may be a mesh device associated with a mesh network, may be a mesh device located outside of or not associated with a mesh network, or may be a device associated with another network (such as a STA associated with a wireless WLAN 110). Figure 1 one of the STAs 114 associated with the WLAN 110).

[0069] The intermediate mesh nodes 231-233 may be any suitable device capable of propagating a message or frame received from a first mesh node to one or more second mesh nodes on the peer instance 240. For example, in some instances, each of the intermediate mesh nodes 231-233 may receive a discovery message or frame from one or more previous-hop mesh nodes, update a corresponding forwarding table with discovery information, capability information, and node identification information obtained from the received discovery message or frame, and forward the discovery message or frame to one or more next-hop mesh nodes along a forward path 201 toward the destination device 220. Similarly, each of the intermediate mesh nodes 231-233 may receive a discovery message or frame from one or more next-hop mesh nodes, update a corresponding forwarding table with discovery information, capability information, and node identification information obtained from the received discovery message or frame, and forward the discovery message or frame to one or more previous-hop mesh nodes along a reverse path 202 toward the source device 210.

[0070] For example, during path discovery, the source device 210 may broadcast a PREQ message on a shared wireless medium associated with the mesh network. Each of the intermediate mesh nodes 231-233 that receives the PREQ message updates a corresponding forwarding table and forwards the PREQ message to one or more next-hop mesh nodes, which in turn forward the PREQ message to one or more other next-hop mesh nodes closer to the destination device 220, and so on, until the one or more PREQ messages arrive at the destination device 220. The intermediate mesh nodes 231-233 may also update the link metric carried in the PREQ message received from the previous hop mesh node to include the link metric of the corresponding peer instance 240.

[0071] The destination device 220 may respond to receiving the PREQ message by broadcasting a PREP message on a shared wireless medium associated with the mesh network. The intermediate mesh nodes 231-233 receive the PREP message, update their corresponding forwarding tables, and forward the PREP message to one or more previous hop mesh nodes, which in turn forward the PREP message to one or more other previous hop mesh nodes closer to the source device 210, and so on, until one or more PREP messages reach the source device 210. When the source device 210 receives the PREP message, the path 200 may be established between the source device 210 and the destination device 220 along the peer instances 240 traversed by the PREP message and the corresponding PREQ message. In some instances, the destination device 220 may subsequently receive additional PREQ messages indicating a better link metric than the established path 200, and may transmit updated path information to the source device 210. In some aspects, source device 210 may establish a new path to destination device 220 based on the updated path information, eg, to achieve one or more of lower latency, higher throughput, or lower cost.

[0072] Figure 3 A block diagram of an example path 300 that may be established in a mesh network 310 is shown. In some examples, the mesh network 310 may be Figure 1 Path 300 extends from source device 320 to destination device 330 along mesh link 340 and intermediate mesh nodes 311 and 312. In some examples, mesh link 340 may be a reference Figure 2 Path 300 may be associated with a forward path 301 on which messages and frames may be propagated from a source device 320 to a destination device 330 on a mesh link 340 by intermediate mesh nodes 311-312. Path 300 may also be associated with a reverse path 302 on which messages and frames may be propagated from a destination device 330 to a source device 320 on a mesh link 340 by intermediate mesh nodes 311-312. In some examples, intermediate mesh nodes 311-312 may be as described in reference Figure 1 described mesh devices or peer devices. Although Figure 3 The example of FIG. 3 shows two intermediate mesh nodes 311 - 312 and three mesh links 340 , but in some other implementations, the path 300 may include other numbers of intermediate mesh nodes or mesh links.

[0073] exist Figure 3In the example of , source device 320 and destination device 330 are both mesh devices associated with mesh network 310. Thus, path 300 may be a mesh path corresponding to end-to-end communication between source device 320 and destination device 330, and therefore, frames and messages may be exchanged between source device 320 and destination device 330 via mesh link 340 without the presence or assistance of other wireless networks. Frames and messages that may be exchanged between source device 320 and destination device 330 on mesh link 340 without the assistance of other wireless networks may use the four-address MAC header specified in the 802.11REVme revision of the IEEE 802.11 standard.

[0074] For example, in some instances, Figure 3 Frames or messages exchanged between a source device 320 and a destination device 330 may include a MAC header 350 including a distributed system (DS) address field 352 and a quad address field 354 specified in the 802.11REVme revision of the IEEE 802.11 standard. The DS address field 352 includes a to DS address carrying a value of 1 and includes a from DS address carrying a value of 1. The quad address field 354 includes an Addr1 field carrying a mesh receiver address (RA), an Addr2 field carrying a mesh transmitter address (TA), an Addr3 field carrying a mesh destination address (DA), and an Addr4 field carrying a mesh source address (SA). Figure 3 In the example of , the Addr1 field may indicate the MAC address of the intermediate mesh node 311 , the Addr2 field may indicate the MAC address of the intermediate mesh node 312 , the Addr3 field may indicate the MAC address of the destination device 330 , and the Addr4 field may indicate the MAC address of the source device 320 .

[0075] Figure 4 A block diagram of another example path 400 that may be established in a mesh network 410 is shown. In some examples, the mesh network 410 may be Figure 1 Path 400 extends from source device 420 to destination device 430 along mesh link 440 and intermediate mesh nodes 421-424. In some examples, mesh link 440 may be a reference Figure 2 An example of a peer instance 240 is depicted. Path 400 may be associated with a forward path 401 on which messages and frames may travel from a source device 420 to a destination device 430 on a mesh link 440, and may be associated with a reverse path 402 on which messages and frames may travel from a destination device 430 to a source device 420 on a mesh link 440. Although Figure 4The example of FIG. 4 shows four intermediate mesh nodes 421 - 424 and three mesh links 440 , but in some other implementations, the path 400 may include other numbers of intermediate mesh nodes or mesh links.

[0076] exist Figure 4 In the example of , source device 420 and destination device 430 are not part of (nor associated with) mesh network 410. That is, although Figure 4 The end-to-end communication in the example of FIG. 4 extends between source device 420 and destination device 430, but the mesh path established on mesh link 440 is terminated at a mesh entry point (M) associated with first intermediate mesh node 421. INGRESS ) and the mesh exit point (M) associated with the last intermediate mesh node 424 EGRESS Thus, frames and messages cannot be exchanged between source device 420 and destination device 430 via mesh link 440 without the assistance of other nearby wireless networks or distributed systems that can provide an interface between mesh network 410 and each of source device 420 and destination device 430.

[0077] exist Figure 4 In the example of FIG. 4 , a first gateway device 451 is coupled to the mesh network 410 and is configured to use a first distributed system (DS) 480 as a source device 420 and a mesh entry point (M INGRESS ) and a second gateway device 452 is coupled to the mesh network 410 and is configured to use the second DS 490 as an interface between the destination device 430 and the mesh exit point (M EGRESS ) The frames and messages exchanged between the source device 420 and the destination device 430 over the mesh link 440 and other wireless networks or distributed systems may use the six-address MAC header specified in the 802.11REVme revision of the IEEE 802.11 standard.

[0078] For example, in some instances, Figure 4 The frames or messages exchanged between the source device 420 and the destination device 430 may include a MAC header 470, which includes a reference Figure 3 DS address field 352, reference Figure 3The four address fields 354 and the extension field 472 including the Addr5 field and the Addr6 field are depicted. The four address fields 354 and the two address extension fields 472 together form the six address fields 474 specified by the 802.11REVme revision of the IEEE 802.11 standard. The Addr5 field may carry or indicate a destination address (DA) associated with the destination device 430, and the Addr6 field may carry or indicate a source address (SA) associated with the source device 420. Figure 4 In the example of FIG. 4 , the Addr1 field may indicate the MAC address of the intermediate mesh node 423 (as a receiving mesh node on the mesh link), the Addr2 field may indicate the MAC address of the intermediate mesh node 422 (as a sending mesh node on the mesh link), the Addr3 field may indicate the MAC address of the mesh node 424 (as a destination mesh node), the Addr4 field may indicate the MAC address of the mesh node 421 (as a source mesh node), the Addr5 field may indicate the MAC address of the destination device 430 (as a destination), and the Addr6 field may indicate the MAC address of the source device 420 (as a source). In some other examples, the Addr3 field may indicate the MAC address of the mesh exit point M. EGRESS The MAC address of the mesh entry point M INGRESS MAC address.

[0079] Figure 5A An example protocol data unit (PDU) 500 that can be used for wireless communication between an AP 112 and one or more STAs 114 is shown. For example, the PDU 500 can be configured as a PPDU. As shown, the PDU 500 includes a PHY preamble 502 and a payload 504. For example, the preamble 502 can include a legacy portion, which itself includes a legacy short training field (L-STF) 506 that can consist of two BPSK symbols, a legacy long training field (L-LTF) 508 that can consist of two BPSK symbols, and a legacy signal field (L-SIG) 510 that can consist of two BPSK symbols. The legacy portion of the preamble 502 can be configured according to the IEEE 802.11a wireless communication protocol standard. The preamble 502 may also include a non-legacy portion including, for example, one or more non-legacy fields 512 that comply with an IEEE wireless communication protocol, such as IEEE 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11be, or a later wireless communication protocol.

[0080] L-STF 506 generally enables the receiving device to perform automatic gain control (AGC) and coarse timing and frequency estimation. L-LTF 508 generally enables the receiving device to perform fine timing and frequency estimation, and can also perform initial estimation of the wireless channel. L-SIG 510 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, L-STF 506, L-LTF 508 and L-SIG 510 can be modulated according to a binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation scheme. Payload 504 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 appropriate modulation scheme. Payload 504 may include a PSDU including a data field (DATA) 514, which in turn may carry, for example, a medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU) or higher layer data in the form of an aggregated MPDU (A-MPDU).

[0081] Figure 5B Shows Figure 5A 500. The L-SIG 510 includes a data rate field 522, a reserved bit 524, a length field 526, a parity bit 528, and a tail field 530. The data rate field 522 indicates the data rate (note that the data rate indicated in the data rate field 522 may not be the actual data rate of the data carried in the payload 504). The length field 526 indicates the packet length, for example, in symbols or bytes. The parity bit 528 can be used to detect bit errors. The tail field 530 includes a tail bit 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 522 and the length field 526 to determine the packet duration, for example, in microseconds (μs) or other time units.

[0082] Figure 6An example PPDU 600 is shown that can be used for communication between an AP 112 and a number of STAs 114. As described, each PPDU 600 includes a PHY preamble 602 and a PSDU 604. Each PSDU 604 may carry one or more MAC protocol data units (MPDUs), such as, for example, an aggregate MPDU (A-MPDU) 606 including multiple MPDU subframes 608. Each MPDU subframe 608 may include a MAC delimiter 612 and a MAC header 614 before an accompanying frame body 616 (which includes the data portion or "payload" of the MPDU subframe 608). The frame body 616 may carry one or more MAC service data units (MSDUs), such as, for example, an aggregate MSDU (A-MSDU) 622 including multiple MSDU subframes 624. Each MSDU subframe 624 contains a corresponding MSDU 626, which includes a subframe header 628, a frame body 630, and one or more padding bits 632.

[0083] Referring to the A-MPDU 606, the MAC header 614 may include: several fields containing information defining or indicating characteristics or attributes of the data encapsulated in the frame body 616. The MAC header 614 also includes several fields indicating addresses for the data encapsulated in the frame body 616. For example, the MAC header 614 may include a combination of a source address, a transmitter address, a receiver address, or a destination address. The MAC header 614 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 614 may also include a duration field, which indicates the duration extending from the end of the PPDU to the end of the acknowledgement (ACK) of the last PPDU to be sent by the wireless communication device (for example, 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 608 may also include a frame check sequence (FCS) field 618 for error detection. For example, the FCS field 618 may include a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) and may be followed by one or more padding bits 620 .

[0084] As described, the AP 112 and the STAs 114 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 112 to the corresponding STAs 114), or concurrent transmissions from multiple devices to a single device (e.g., multiple simultaneous uplink (UL) transmissions from the corresponding STAs 114 to the AP 112). To support MU transmissions, the AP 112 and the STAs 114 may utilize multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) and fractional bandwidth (BW) MU-MIMO techniques.

[0085] In a partial BW MU-MIMO scheme, the available spectrum of a wireless channel may be divided into multiple resource units (RUs), each including several different frequency subcarriers ("tones"). Different RUs may be allocated or assigned to different STAs 114 by AP 112 at a specific time. The size and distribution of RUs may be referred to as RU allocation. In some implementations, RUs may be allocated in 2MHz intervals, and thus, the minimum RU may include 26 tones including 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 52-tone, 106-tone, 242-tone, 484-tone, and 996-tone RUs 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.

[0086] Figure 7 1 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device 700. In some implementations, the wireless communication device 700 may be a STA (such as a reference Figure 1 In some implementations, the wireless communication device 700 may be an example of a device in an AP (such as one of the STAs 114 described above). Figure 1The wireless communication device 700 is an example of a device in the AP 112 described herein. The wireless communication device 700 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 700 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 revisions, including but not limited to 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be).

[0087] The wireless communication device 700 may be or may include a chip, a system on chip (SoC), a chipset, a package, or a device including one or more modems 702 (e.g., a Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 compliant) modem). In some implementations, the one or more modems 702 (collectively, “modems 702”) additionally include a WWAN modem (e.g., a 3GPP 4G LTE or 5G compatible modem). In some implementations, the wireless communication device 700 also includes one or more radio components 704 (collectively, “radio components 704”). In some implementations, the wireless communication device 700 also includes one or more processors, processing blocks, or processing elements (collectively, “processor 706”) and one or more memory blocks or elements (collectively, “memory 708”).

[0088] The modem 702 may include an intelligent hardware block or device, such as, for example, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or the like. The modem 702 is configured to implement the PHY layer. For example, the modem 702 is configured to modulate packets and output the modulated packets to the radio component 704 for transmission over a wireless medium. Similarly, the modem 702 is configured to obtain the modulated packets received by the radio component 704 and demodulate the packets to provide demodulated packets. In addition to the modulator and demodulator, the modem 702 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 706 is provided to a decoder, which encodes the data to provide coded bits. The coded bits are mapped to points in the modulation constellation (using the selected MCS) to provide modulated symbols. The modulated symbols may be mapped to a number N SS The number of spatial streams or N is STSThe modulated symbols in the corresponding spatial stream or space-time stream may be multiplexed, transformed via an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) block, and provided to the DSP circuit for Tx windowing and filtering. The digital signal may be provided to a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The resulting analog signal may be provided to an upconverter and provided to the radio component 704. 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.

[0089] When in receive mode, a digital signal received from the radio component 704 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, for example, using channel (narrowband) filtering, analog impairment conditioning (such as correcting I / Q imbalance), and applying digital gain to obtain a narrowband signal. The output of the DSP circuit may be fed to an AGC, which is 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, which is 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. The decoded bits from all spatial streams are fed to a demultiplexer for demultiplexing. The demultiplexed bits may be descrambled and provided to the MAC layer (processor 706) for processing, evaluation, or interpretation.

[0090] The radio component 704 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 be further coupled to one or more antennas. For example, in some specific implementations, the wireless communication device 700 may include or be coupled to multiple transmit antennas (each transmit antenna has a corresponding transmit chain) and multiple receive antennas (each receive antenna has a corresponding receive chain). The symbols output from the modem 702 are provided to the radio component 704, which transmits the symbols via the coupled antenna. Similarly, the symbols received via the antenna are obtained by the radio component 704, which provides the symbols to the modem 702.

[0091] The processor 706 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 706 processes information received through the radio component 704 and the modem 702, and processes information to be output by the modem 702 and the radio component 704 to be sent through the wireless medium. For example, the processor 706 may implement a control plane and a MAC layer, which is 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 the decoding and decoding of frames, spatial multiplexing, space-time block decoding (STBC), beamforming, and OFDMA resource allocation and other operations or techniques. In some specific implementations, the processor 706 may control the modem 702 to cause the modem to perform various operations described herein.

[0092] The memory 708 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 708 may also store non-transitory processor or computer executable software (SW) code containing instructions that, when executed by the processor 706, cause the processor to perform various operations described herein for wireless communication, including generation, transmission, reception, and interpretation of MPDUs, frames, or packets. For example, the various functions of the various components disclosed herein or the various blocks or steps of the methods, operations, processes, or algorithms disclosed herein may be implemented as one or more modules of one or more computer programs.

[0093] Fig. 8A 802 is a block diagram of an example AP 802. For example, AP 802 may be a reference Figure 1 The AP 112 is described in detail with reference to an example implementation. The AP 802 includes a wireless communication device (WCD) 810. For example, the wireless communication device 810 may be a wireless communication device (WCD) 810. Figure 7The example implementation of the wireless communication device 700 described above. The AP 802 also includes a plurality of antennas 820 coupled to the wireless communication device 810 to send and receive wireless communications. In some implementations, the AP 802 additionally includes an application processor 830 coupled to the wireless communication device 810 and a memory 840 coupled to the application processor 830. The AP 802 also includes at least one external network interface 850 that enables the AP 802 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 850 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 802 also includes a housing that surrounds the wireless communication device 810, the application processor 830, the memory 840, and at least portions of the antennas 820 and the external network interface 850. In some implementations, the application processor 830 and the memory 840 may be components of the processing system. A processing system may generally refer to a system or series of machines or components that receive inputs and process those inputs to produce a set of outputs that may be delivered to other systems or components of the AP 802. For example, the processing system of the AP 802 may refer to a system that includes various other components or subcomponents of the AP 802.

[0094] The processing system of AP 802 may interface with other components of AP 802, and may process information (such as input or signals) received from other components, output information to other components, etc. For example, a chip or modem of AP 802 may include a processing system, a first interface for receiving or obtaining information, and a second interface for outputting or sending information. In some instances, the first interface may refer to an interface between a processing system of the chip or modem and a receiver, so that AP 802 may receive information or signal input, and the information may be passed to the processing system. In some instances, the second interface may refer to an interface between a processing system of the chip or modem and a transmitter, so that AP 802 may send information output from the chip or modem. One of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the second interface may also obtain or receive information or signal input, and the first interface may also output, send, or provide information.

[0095] Figure 8B 804. For example, STA 804 may be a reference Figure 1 114. STA 804 includes a wireless communication device 815. For example, the wireless communication device 815 may be a reference Figure 7The example implementation of the wireless communication device 700 described above. The STA 804 also includes one or more antennas 825 coupled to the wireless communication device 815 to send and receive wireless communications. The STA 804 additionally includes an application processor 835 coupled to the wireless communication device 815 and a memory 845 coupled to the application processor 835. In some implementations, the STA 804 also includes a user interface (UI) 855 (such as a touch screen or keyboard) and a display 865, which can be integrated with the UI 855 to form a touch screen display. In some implementations, the STA 804 may also include one or more sensors 875, 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 through at least one bus. The STA 804 also includes a housing that surrounds the wireless communication device 815, the application processor 835, the memory 845, and at least portions of the antenna 825, the UI 855, and the display 865. In some implementations, the application processor 835 and the memory 845 can be components of the processing system. A processing system may generally refer to a system or series of machines or components that receives inputs and processes those inputs to produce a set of outputs that may be passed to other systems or components of STA 804. For example, a processing system of STA 804 may refer to a system that includes various other components or subcomponents of STA 804.

[0096] The processing system of STA 804 may interface with other components of STA 804, and may process information (such as input or signal) received from other components, output information to other components, etc. For example, a chip or modem of STA 804 may include a processing system, a first interface for receiving or obtaining information, and a second interface for outputting or sending information. In some instances, the first interface may refer to an interface between a processing system of a chip or modem and a receiver, so that STA 804 may receive information or signal input, and the information may be passed to the processing system. In some instances, the second interface may refer to an interface between a processing system of a chip or modem and a transmitter, so that STA 804 may send information output from a chip or modem. Those of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the second interface may also obtain or receive information or signal input, and the first interface may also output, send, or provide information.

[0097] Fig. 9 An example communication system 900 is shown that includes an AP MLD 910 and a non-AP MLD 920. In some aspects, the APMLD 910 may be Figure 1 AP 112 Figure 7 The wireless communication device 700 or Fig. 8AThe non-APMLD 920 may be an example of an AP 802. Figure 1 STA 114 Figure 7 The wireless communication device 700 or Figure 8B 804 of the present invention. In various specific implementations, one or both of the AP MLD 910 and the STA MLD 920 can be used as peer devices in a self-organizing wireless network (such as a mesh network). Specifically, multiple AP MLDs 910, STA MLDs 920, or other MLDs can be configured to establish multi-link peer instances between each other, and use these multi-link peer instances to discover the most suitable path from the source device to the destination device. In this way, at least in some aspects, the MLDs can operate as mesh nodes that can receive mesh protocol discovery messages and frames from one or more previous hop mesh devices, update their corresponding forwarding tables with discovery information and link metrics obtained from the mesh protocol discovery messages or frames, and forward the mesh protocol discovery messages or frames to one or more next hop mesh devices.

[0098] AP MLD 910 includes a plurality of APs 911-913 associated with (or operating on) corresponding communication links 901-903. Fig. 9 In the example of FIG. 1 , AP MLD 910 is shown as including three APs 911-913. In other specific implementations, AP MLD 910 may include Fig. 9 901-903. Although APs 911-913 may share a common association context (via AP MLD 910), each of APs 911-913 may establish a respective BSS on the AP's associated communication link. APs 911-913 may also establish their respective communication links 901-903 on different frequency bands. For example, AP 911 may operate on a 2.4 GHz band, AP 912 may operate on a 5 GHz band, and AP 913 may operate on a 6 GHz band.

[0099] The non-AP MLD 920 includes a plurality of STAs 921-923 that may be configured to communicate on communication links 901-903, respectively. Thus, STA 921 may operate on the 2.4 GHz band, STA 922 may operate on the 5 GHz band, and STA 923 may operate on the 6 GHz band. Fig. 9 In the example of FIG. 1 , the non-AP MLD 920 is shown as including only three STAs. However, in some implementations, the non-AP MLD 920 may include Fig. 9The IEEE 802.11be revision of 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.

[0100] In some implementations, the non-AP MLD 920 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 920 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 921 and 922 may concurrently listen to their respective links 901 and 902 during a listening interval. However, if STA 921 detects a BSRP frame on link 901, the non-AP MLD 920 then tunes each of the antennas of the non-AP MLD (including the antenna used by STA 922 during the listening interval) to operate on link 901. 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, when STA 922 is in an active state, STA 921 must be in a power save mode.

[0101] In some other implementations, the non-AP MLD 920 may include multiple radio components and may be capable of concurrent communication on each of the links 901-903. In such implementations, the non-AP MLD 920 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 921 may transmit or receive on link 901, while STA 922 asynchronously transmits or receives concurrently on link 902. In contrast, a non-AP MLD operating in the MLMR NSTR mode may transmit and receive simultaneously on multiple communication links, provided that such communications are synchronous. For example, STAs 922 and 923 may transmit concurrently on links 902 and 903, and may receive concurrently on links 902 and 903. However, when STA 923 is receiving on link 903, STA 922 cannot transmit on link 902.

[0102] Furthermore, a non-AP MLD may include multiple radio components, but may be capable of concurrent communication only on a subset of links. In such specific implementations, the non-AP MLD 920 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 communication link pairs. For example, STAs 921 and 922 may communicate concurrently on their respective links 901 and 902 according to the MLMR STR operation mode.

[0103] Fig.10 A block diagram of a wireless mesh network 1000 supporting multi-link operations is shown. The mesh network 1000 may include multiple peer multi-link devices (MLDs) 1011-1016 operating as mesh nodes that may transmit, receive, forward, and broadcast mesh protocol messages and frames to each other on a multi-link peer instance 1035. As used herein, the terms "peer instance" and "mesh link" refer to communication links established between mesh nodes or devices associated with the mesh network during path discovery operations. Therefore, the terms "peer instance" and "mesh link" are interchangeable with each other in this disclosure. Although Fig.10 The example of FIG. 1 shows six peer MLDs 1011 - 1016 , but in some other implementations, the mesh network 1000 may include other numbers of peer MLDs.

[0104] Peer MLDs 1011-1016 may be any suitable wireless communication devices capable of establishing multi-link peer instances 1035 between each other to form an ad hoc network operating concurrently over multiple communication links. In some examples, peer MLDs 1011-1016 may be reference Fig. 9 An example of one or both of the described AP MLD 910 and the non-AP MLD 920. In various implementations, each of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 may include a first device associated with a first communication link of the mesh network 1000, and may include one or more second devices associated with one or more respective second communication links of the mesh network 1000. In some aspects, each of the plurality of communication links may include one or more wireless channels in a respective frequency band of the 2.4 GHz frequency band, the 5 GHz frequency band, the 6 GHz frequency band, or the 60 GHz frequency band.

[0105] For example, although not shown here for simplicity Fig.10 As shown in FIG. 1 , a first device of a corresponding one of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 may include a first STA and a first AP, and each of the one or more second devices of the corresponding peer MLD may include a corresponding second STA and a corresponding second AP. In various aspects, each of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 may include or implement a reference on a first interface of the corresponding peer MLD. Fig. 9 The AP MLD 910 described above may include or implement reference to the second interface of the corresponding peer MLD. Fig. 9The non-AP MLD 920 described. The first interface of the corresponding peer MLD can operate as an AP MLD, with which one or more nearby peer MLDs 1011-1016 can associate and authenticate on multiple communication links (such as on the multi-link peer instance 1035), and the second interface of the corresponding peer MLD can operate as a non-AP MLD, which can request association and authentication with other nearby peer MLDs 1011-1016. For example, in some instances, a first STA of the corresponding peer MLD can communicate with one or more previous-hop peer MLDs on a first communication link, and a first AP of the corresponding peer MLD can communicate with one or more next-hop peer MLDs on the first communication link. Each of the one or more second STAs of the corresponding peer MLD can communicate with the one or more previous-hop peer MLDs on one or more corresponding second communication links, and each of the one or more second APs of the corresponding peer MLD can communicate with the one or more next-hop peer MLDs on the first communication link. In some other instances, the first STA of the corresponding peer MLD may communicate with one or more next-hop peer MLDs on the first communication link, and the first AP of the corresponding peer MLD may communicate with one or more previous-hop peer MLDs on the first communication link. Each of the one or more second STAs of the corresponding peer MLD may communicate with one or more next-hop peer MLDs on the one or more corresponding second communication links, and each of the one or more second APs of the corresponding peer MLD may communicate with one or more previous-hop peer MLDs on the first communication link.

[0106] exist Fig.10In the example of , the first AP of the peer MLD 1011 may operate a first basic service set (BSS1) on the first communication link, and may communicate with associated stations STA7 and STA8 on the first communication link. The first AP of the peer MLD 1012 may operate a second basic service set (BSS2) on the first communication link, and may communicate with associated stations STA4 and STA5 on the first communication link. The first AP of the peer MLD 1013 may operate a third basic service set (BSS3) on the first communication link, and may be associated with stations STA1 and STA3. The first AP of the peer MLD 1014 may operate a fourth basic service set (BSS4) on the first communication link, and may be associated with station STA6. The first AP of the peer MLD 1015 may operate a fifth basic service set (BSS5) on the first communication link, and may be associated with stations STA9 and STA10. The first AP of the peer MLD 1016 may operate a sixth basic service set (BSS6) on the first communication link and may be associated with stations STA2 and STA11. Although not shown in the figure for simplicity, Fig.10 , but each of the one or more second APs of each of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 may operate a corresponding secondary BSS on a corresponding second communication link and may communicate with one or more corresponding client devices on the corresponding second communication link.

[0107] The wireless network associated with each of BSS1-BSS6 may be indicated to a user by a corresponding service set identifier (SSID), and may be indicated to other devices by a basic service set identifier (BSSID), which may be a MAC address of the corresponding peer multi-link device. In some examples, each of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 broadcasts a beacon frame including the BSSID of the corresponding BSS to enable STAs or other client devices within wireless range of the corresponding peer multi-link device to associate or re-associate with the corresponding peer multi-link device.

[0108] As discussed, aspects of the present disclosure recognize that multi-link operation can be enabled in a mesh network by replacing a mesh protocol address carried in a media access control (MAC) header of a mesh protocol frame with a corresponding multi-link address based on a per-link MAC address and an MLD MAC address. In various specific implementations, each of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 can include a layer-2 MAC addressing that includes a per-link MAC address identifying a corresponding communication link associated with the peer MLD, and an MLD MAC address identifying the peer MLD. In some instances, the per-link MAC address can indicate a receiver address or a transmitter address of a corresponding peer instance 1035, and the MLD MAC address can indicate a corresponding MBSS exit point or MBSS entry point of a mesh path established in the mesh network 1000. Specifically, in some examples, the MAC header of the mesh protocol frame communicated on the peer instance 1035 of the mesh network 1000 may be populated with multi-link protocol addresses, which include a first address and a second address indicating the respective per-link receiver address and per-link transmitter address of the peer instance 1035 on the first communication link, and include a third address and a fourth address indicating the respective MLD path destination address and MLD path source address. In some aspects, the MAC header of the mesh protocol frame may also include a fifth address and a sixth address indicating the MLD MAC addresses associated with the destination and the source, respectively.

[0109] In some specific implementations, each of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 that receives the mesh protocol frame from the previous hop peer MLD or the next hop peer MLD may replace the mesh protocol address in the MAC header of the mesh protocol frame with the multilink protocol address based on the mapping between the mesh protocol address and the multilink protocol address. For example, in some instances, the mesh receiver address and the mesh transmitter address carried in the Addr1 field and the Addr2 field of the MAC header may be mapped to the per-link receiver address and the per-link transmitter address, respectively, and the mesh STA destination address and the mesh STA source address carried in the Addr3 field and the Addr4 field of the MAC header may be mapped to the MAC address of the peer MLD associated with the mesh path destination address and the mesh path source address, respectively. In some aspects, the destination address and the source address carried in the Addr5 field and the Addr6 field of the MAC header may be mapped to the MAC address of the peer MLD associated with the destination and the source, respectively.

[0110] In various specific implementations, the peer MLDs 1011-1016 may learn the mapping between the mesh protocol address and the multilink protocol address based on the routing or forwarding addresses associated with the frames received from the previous hop peer MLD and the next hop peer MLD. For example, when the corresponding peer MLD receives the mesh protocol frame from the previous hop peer MLD or the next hop peer MLD, the corresponding peer MLD may extract the mesh protocol address from the MAC header of the mesh protocol frame, and search the forwarding table associated with the corresponding peer MLD to find the multilink protocol address corresponding to the extracted mesh protocol address. Specifically, when the corresponding multilink protocol address is stored in the forwarding table (based on the address mapping), the peer MLD replaces the mesh protocol address in the received mesh protocol frame with the corresponding multilink protocol address retrieved from the forwarding table, and forwards the mesh protocol frame to one or more other peer MLDs based on the corresponding multilink protocol address. Conversely, when the corresponding multilink protocol address is not stored in the forwarding table, the peer MLD may determine or obtain the multilink protocol address corresponding to the extracted mesh protocol address, and may create or modify the corresponding entry in the forwarding table using the determined or obtained multilink protocol address. In this way, the corresponding peer MLD may implement a MAC address mapping learning operation.

[0111] In some examples, a multi-link context associated with the mesh network 1000 may allow peer MLDs 1011-1016 to discover, associate with, and authenticate each other on all communication links of the mesh network 1000 based on one or more of discovery information, capabilities, or operating parameters received or otherwise obtained on one of the communication links of the mesh network 1000. The multi-link context may also allow the peer MLDs 1011-1016 to establish a common security context, common encryption keys, common acknowledgement (BA) sessions, and traffic identifier (TID) to link mappings on all communication links based on frame exchanges on one of the communication links.

[0112] Specifically, in some implementations, one or more of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 may broadcast one or more mesh protocol frames on a first communication link, the one or more mesh protocol frames carrying or indicating discovery information, capabilities, and operating parameters for each of a plurality of communication links associated with the mesh network 1000. For example, in some instances, the mesh protocol frame may include a multilink element indicating discovery information for each of the communication links of the mesh network 1000. The multilink element may also indicate one or more MLD capabilities common to each of the communication links of the mesh network 1000. In some instances, the mesh protocol frame may also include a reduced neighbor report (RNR) element indicating channel information, operating parameters, and MLD parameters of one or more second APs associated with one or more corresponding second communication links of the mesh network 1000. In some aspects, the mesh protocol frame may further include one or both of an EHT capability element indicating one or more capabilities of the first device and one or more second devices of the corresponding peer MLD or an EHT operation element indicating one or more operation parameters for each of the first communication link and one or more second communication links of the mesh network 1000. In some other examples, the mesh protocol frame may further include a TID-to-link mapping element indicating, for each of a plurality of TIDs, on which of a plurality of communication links established between the peer MLDs 1011-1016 a mesh data frame belonging to the corresponding TID is allowed.

[0113] Each of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 that receives the broadcast mesh protocol frame on the first communication link may use one or more of the indicated discovery information, capabilities, or parameters to discover, associate with, and authenticate with another peer MLD on all communication links associated with the mesh network 1000. In some examples, each of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 may also use one or more of the discovery information, capabilities, or parameters indicated by the broadcast mesh protocol frame to determine whether any of the discovered peer MLDs is a suitable candidate with which to establish a peer instance 1035 during path selection.

[0114] The value carried in the link ID subfield of the per-STA profile subelement carried in the multi-link element of the mesh protocol frame sent by the AP of the corresponding peer MLD can be unique for each AP associated with the corresponding peer MLD. In some aspects, the link ID value assigned to the communication link by the AP of the corresponding peer MLD can be a representation of a tuple consisting of an operating category, an operating channel, and a BSSID associated with the AP. When the peer MLDs 1011-1016 are configured to operate as mesh nodes within the mesh network 1000, a pair of peer MLDs 1011-1016 can assign different link IDs to the same communication link during multi-link setup operations, TID to link mapping negotiations, and target wake time (TWT) setup operations, etc.

[0115] For example, during a multi-link setup procedure for establishing peer instance 1035B between peer MLDs 1013 and 1014, peer MLD 1013 may initiate TID-to-link mapping negotiation by including a TID-to-link mapping element in an association request frame transmitted to peer MLD 1014. Peer MLD 1014 may respond by transmitting an association response frame to initiator peer MLD 1013, the association response frame including a TID-to-link mapping element indicating whether the proposed TID-to-link mapping is accepted, rejected, or modified. However, the TID-to-link mapping element carried in the association request frame may include a first link ID selected by initiator peer MLD 1013, and the TID-to-link mapping element carried in the association response frame may include a second link ID selected by responder MLD 1014. When the first link ID and the second link ID assigned by the respective peer MLDs 1013 and 1014 are not identical, the peer MLDs 1013 and 1014 may not be able to successfully negotiate a TID-to-link mapping.

[0116] Aspects of the subject matter disclosed herein recognize that, while multi-link operations are unidirectional in an infrastructure BSS (such as because each MLD typically operates as either an AP MLD or a non-AP MLD), multi-link operations performed by peer MLDs 1011-1016 associated with mesh network 1000 are bidirectional because each of peer MLDs 1011-1016 can concurrently operate as an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD. For example, when peer MLDs 1011-1016 associate with each other or establish peer instances 1035 between each other using mesh peer open frames and mesh peer confirm frames, a requesting peer MLD can assign a first link ID to a respective peer instance 1035, and a responding peer MLD can assign a second link ID to a respective peer instance 1035. The requesting peer MLD may include the first link ID in a mesh peer open frame transmitted to the responding peer MLD, and the responding peer MLD may include the second link ID in a mesh peer confirm frame transmitted to the requesting peer MLD. Conflicting link IDs assigned by the requesting peer MLD and the responding peer MLD may preclude successful completion of multi-link operations in the mesh network 1000.

[0117] Implementations of the subject matter disclosed herein may reconcile conflicting link IDs assigned by different peer MLDs by indicating the mesh domain to which each assigned link ID is referenced, and using the link ID associated with the indicated mesh domain when requesting or establishing certain multi-link operations between peer MLDs on established peer instances 1035, such as TID to link mapping negotiation, TWT setup operations, or r-TWT setup operations, etc. For example, in some instances, each peer MLD requesting a configuration operation on a multi-link peer instance 1035 associated with a link ID uses the link ID assigned by the responding peer MLD. In some other instances, the responding peer MLD uses the link ID assigned by the requesting peer MLD. In some other implementations, the peer MLDs associated with the requested configuration operation may determine, negotiate, or otherwise agree on the link ID to be used for the configuration operation.

[0118] In some implementations, the peer MLDs 1011-1016 may discover each other and establish peer instances 1035 between each other based on the HWMP path selection process specified by the 802.11s revision of the IEEE 802.11 standard. As discussed, HWMP is a mesh path selection protocol that combines the flexibility of on-demand path selection with proactive topology tree expansion to select a path from a source device to a destination device along one or more nodes or "hops" in a mesh network. For example, in some instances, a source device may discover a multi-link path to a destination device through the mesh network 1000 by broadcasting a PREQ message to one or more of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 of the mesh network 1000. Each of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 that receives the PREQ message may forward the PREQ message to one or more downstream peer MLDs or "next hop" peer MLDs that are closer to the destination device. When the PREQ message reaches the destination device, at least one path may be discovered between the source device and the destination device through the mesh network 1000 .

[0119] The validity of the discovered path may be confirmed by broadcasting a PREP message along the reverse path from the destination device to the source device via the mesh network 1000. In some instances, the destination device may broadcast the PREP message to one or more of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 associated with the forward path extending from the source device to the destination device. Each of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 that receives or obtains the PREP message updates the forwarding information, link identifiers, and link metrics in the forwarding table of the corresponding MLD, and forwards the PREP message to one or more upstream peer MLDs or “previous hop” peer MLDs that are closer to the source device. When one or more of the PREP messages arrive at the source device, the source device may verify the validity of the discovered path through the mesh network 1000.

[0120] In some implementations, the path discovery messages propagated through the mesh network 1000 during the path selection process may carry or indicate one or more link metrics of the peer instances 1035 traversed by the corresponding messages. Specifically, in some examples, each of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 that receive the PREQ message updates the link metric associated with the previous hop peer instance 1035 with the link metric of the peer instance associated with the corresponding peer MLD, and stores the accumulated link metric for each discovered path in the forwarding table of the corresponding MLD. The accumulated link metrics may be used by the peer MLDs 1011-1016 to select candidate peer MLDs as intermediate mesh nodes along one or more discovered paths from the source device to the destination device. Along the reverse path, each of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 that broadcast the PREP message may update the link metric of the next-hop peer instance 1035 with the link metric of the peer instance associated with the corresponding peer MLD, and may store the accumulated link metric associated with the reverse path in the forwarding table of the corresponding MLD. In some aspects, the reverse path link metric may be used by one or more of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 to send a unicast PREP message to the peer MLD associated with the source device.

[0121] In some implementations, peer MLDs 1011-1016 may use link metrics obtained during path discovery to select the most suitable path between a source device and a destination device. In some instances, the most suitable path may refer to one or more of the shortest path, the lowest cost path, or the path associated with the highest link quality. Peer MLDs 1011-1016 may also use link metrics to improve network performance, for example, by selecting a path associated with low latency and high throughput.

[0122] exist Fig.10In the example of , peer MLDs 1011-1016 discover a multi-link path from a source within or associated with STA1 to a destination within or associated with STA2. The multi-link path includes peer instances 1035A-1035E and passes through peer MLDs 1013-1016 of the mesh network 1000. In some implementations, the multi-link path may be discovered using the HWMP path selection protocol. For example, during path discovery, STA1 may broadcast a mesh peer open frame on a first communication link of the mesh network 1000, the mesh peer open frame including a request to establish a peer instance 1035 between the respective peer MLDs 1011-1016 on any one or more of the communication links of the mesh network 1000. In some aspects, the mesh peer open frame may include one or more of a multi-link element, a TID to link mapping element, an EHT capability element, an EHT operation element, or an RNR element. The Multilink element may indicate discovery information for each of the communication links associated with the mesh network 1000, and may indicate an MLD capability common to one or more second communication links of the mesh network 1000. The TID-to-Link Mapping element may indicate which of the communication links of the mesh network 1000 are provisioned or allocated to a traffic flow belonging to each of the plurality of TIDs. The EHT Capability element may indicate one or more capabilities of each of the first device and one or more second devices of the corresponding peer MLD, and the EHT Operation element may indicate one or more operating parameters for each of the first communication link and one or more second communication links of the mesh network 1000. The RNR element may indicate channel information, operating parameters, and MLD parameters of one or more second communication links of the mesh network 1000.

[0123] Each of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 that receives the mesh peer open frame may forward the mesh peer open frame to one or more downstream peer MLDs, which in turn may forward the mesh peer open frame to one or more other downstream peer MLDs that are closer to STA2, and so on, until at least one mesh peer open frame reaches the destination at STA2. Each of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 that receives the mesh peer open frame may also transmit a mesh peer confirmation frame to one or more upstream peer MLDs, which in turn may forward the mesh peer confirmation frame to one or more other peer MLDs that are closer to STA1, and so on, until at least one mesh peer confirmation frame reaches STA2. The mesh peer confirmation frame may indicate whether the requested peer instance is accepted or rejected by the corresponding peer MLD.

[0124] After a multi-link path from STA1 to STA2 is established through the mesh network 1000, STA1 may transmit a mesh protocol data frame or message to STA2 using one or more of the plurality of communication links associated with the mesh network 1000. For example, in some instances, STA1 obtains a payload from a source, encapsulates the payload in a mesh protocol data frame, and transmits the mesh protocol data frame to the peer MLD 1013 over a first communication link of the peer instance 1035A for delivery to a destination within or associated with STA2. The MAC header of the mesh protocol data frame transmitted by STA1 may carry a multi-link address including a per-link receiver address and a per-link transmitter address as well as an MLD path source address and an MLD path destination address.

[0125] exist Fig.10 In the example of FIG. 1 , STA1 is not associated with the mesh network 1000 or the first STA of the peer MLD 1013, and therefore the multilink address carried in the mesh protocol data frame transmitted by STA1 uses the reference Figure 3 The four address fields 354 are described. For example, in some aspects, the Addr1 field may carry or indicate the per-link address of the peer MLD 1013, the Addr2 field may carry or indicate the per-link address of STA1, the Addr3 field may carry or indicate the MLD MAC address of STA2, and the Addr4 field may carry or indicate a null value.

[0126] The mesh protocol data frame is received by the first AP of the peer MLD 1013 on the peer instance 1035A and is passed to the first STA of the peer MLD 1013 for communication to the destination by the peer MLDs 1014-1016 on the corresponding peer instances 1035B-1035D. The first STA of the peer MLD 1013 determines or obtains a multilink address indicating STA1 as the source device, STA2 as the destination device, and indicating the peer instance 1035B and the next hop peer MLD 1014. Fig.10 In the example of FIG. 1 , peer MLD 1013 is located within and associated with mesh network 1000, and thus mesh protocol frames transmitted from a first STA of peer MLD 1013 use reference Figure 4Described are six address fields 474. For example, in some aspects, the Addr1 field may carry or indicate a per-link address of peer MLD 1014, the Addr2 field may carry or indicate a per-link address of peer MLD 1014, the Addr3 field may carry or indicate an MLD MAC address of peer MLD 1016, the Addr4 field may carry or indicate an MLD MAC address of peer MLD 1013, the Addr5 field may carry or indicate an MLD MAC address of STA2, and the Addr6 field may carry or indicate an MLD MAC address of STA1.

[0127] The first STA of peer MLD 1013 forwards the mesh protocol data frame including the multilink address on the first communication link associated with peer instance 1035B to the next hop peer MLD 1014. The first STA of peer MLD 1014 receives the mesh protocol data frame and determines or obtains the multilink address associated with the next hop on peer instance 1035C based on, for example, a mesh-to-MLD address mapping.

[0128] The first STA of peer MLD 1014 forwards the mesh protocol data frame including the multilink address on the first communication link associated with peer instance 1035C to next-hop peer MLD 1015. The first STA of peer MLD 1015 receives the mesh protocol data frame and determines or obtains the multilink address associated with next-hop peer instance 1035D based on the mesh-to-MLD address mapping.

[0129] The first STA of the peer MLD 1015 forwards the mesh protocol data frame including the multi-link address on the first communication link associated with the peer instance 1035D to the next-hop peer MLD 1016. The mesh protocol data frame communicated on the peer instance 1035D is received by the first STA of the peer MLD 1016 and passed to the first AP of the peer MLD 1016. The first AP of the peer MLD 1016 determines or obtains the multi-link address associated with STA2 based on the mesh-to-MLD address mapping and forwards the mesh protocol data frame including the multi-link address to STA2 on the first communication link associated with the peer instance 1035E.

[0130] exist Fig.10 In the example of FIG. 1 , STA2 is not associated with the mesh network 1000 or is not associated with the first STA of the peer MLD 1016, and therefore the multilink address carried in the mesh protocol data frame transmitted to STA2 uses the reference Figure 3The four address fields 354 are described. For example, in some aspects, the Addr1 field may carry or indicate the per-link address of STA2, the Addr2 field may carry or indicate the per-link address of the peer MLD 1016, the Addr3 field may carry or indicate the MLD MAC address of STA1, and the Addr4 field may carry or indicate a null value.

[0131] Fig.11 Example address fields 1110, 1120, 1130, 1140, and 1150 are shown, which may be in Fig.10 The MAC header of the mesh protocol frame communicated from STA1 to STA2 on the peer instances 1035A-1035E of the mesh network 1000 is used. Fig.11 In the example of the present invention, each of the address fields 1110, 1120, 1130, 1140 and 1150 includes at least a reference Figure 4 The described distributed system (DS) field and four address fields. The DS field includes a to DS address field and a from DS address field, and the four address fields include an Addr1 field, an Addr2 field, an Addr3 field, and an Addr4 field. As discussed, the Addr1 field carries a per-link receiver address (RA) that can be mapped to a mesh STA receiver address, the Addr2 field carries a per-link transmitter address (TA) that can be mapped to a mesh STA transmitter address, the Addr3 field carries a path destination MLD MAC address that can be mapped to a mesh STA destination address (DA), and the Addr4 field carries a path source MLD MAC address that can be mapped to a mesh STA source address (SA). Each of the address fields 1120, 1130, and 1140 also includes an Addr5 field that carries a destination MLD MAC address that can be mapped to a mesh destination address (DA), and includes an Addr6 field that carries a source MLD MAC address that can be mapped to a mesh source address (SA).

[0132] In some implementations, the address field 1110 may be included in a MAC header of a mesh protocol frame transmitted from STA1 to the peer MLD 1013 on the peer instance 1035A of the mesh network 1000. Specifically, in some instances, the To DS Address field carries a value of 1 to indicate that the mesh protocol frame is to be delivered to a destination not associated with the mesh network 1000, and the From DS Address field carries a value of 0 to indicate that the mesh protocol frame is not received from the DS. The Addr1 field carries or indicates a per-link address of the peer MLD 1013 (as a mesh RA), the Addr2 field carries or indicates a per-link address of STA1 (as a mesh TA), the Addr3 field carries or indicates an MLD MAC address of STA2 (as a destination), and the Addr4 field may indicate a null value.

[0133] The address field 1120 may be provided in a MAC header of a mesh protocol frame transmitted from peer MLD 1013 to peer MLD 1014 on peer instance 1035B. Specifically, in some instances, the To DS Address field carries a value of 1 to indicate that the mesh protocol frame is to be delivered to a destination not associated with mesh network 1000, and the From DS Address field carries a value of 1 to indicate that the mesh protocol frame is received from a distributed system or gateway. The Addr1 field carries or indicates the per-link address of the peer MLD 1014 (as the mesh RA), the Addr2 field carries or indicates the per-link address of the peer MLD 1013 (as the mesh TA), the Addr3 field carries or indicates the MLD MAC address of the peer MLD 1016 (as the mesh DA), the Addr4 field carries or indicates the MLD MAC address of the peer MLD 1013 (as the mesh SA), the Addr5 field carries or indicates the MLD MAC address of STA2 (as the destination), and the Addr6 field carries or indicates the MLD MAC address of STA1 (as the source).

[0134] The address fields 1130 may be provided in a MAC header of a mesh protocol frame transmitted from peer MLD 1014 to peer MLD 1015 on peer instance 1035C. The To DS and From DS address fields carry or indicate a value of 1, the Addr1 field carries or indicates a per-link address of peer MLD 1015 (as mesh RA), the Addr2 field carries or indicates a per-link address of peer MLD 1014 (as mesh TA), the Addr3 field carries or indicates an MLD MAC address of peer MLD 1016 (as mesh DA), the Addr4 field carries or indicates an MLD MAC address of peer MLD 1013 (as mesh SA), the Addr5 field carries or indicates an MLD MAC address of STA2 (as destination), and the Addr6 field carries or indicates an MLD MAC address of STA1 (as source).

[0135] An address field 1140 may be provided in a MAC header of a mesh protocol frame transmitted from peer MLD 1015 to peer MLD 1016 on peer instance 1035D. The To DS and From DS address fields carry or indicate a value of 1, the Addr1 field carries or indicates a per-link address of peer MLD 1016 (as a mesh RA), the Addr2 field carries or indicates a per-link address of peer MLD 1015 (as a mesh TA), the Addr3 field carries or indicates an MLD MAC address of peer MLD 1016 (as a mesh DA), the Addr4 field carries or indicates an MLD MAC address of peer MLD 1013 (as a mesh SA), the Addr5 field carries or indicates an MLD MAC address of STA2 (as a destination), and the Addr6 field carries or indicates an MLD MAC address of STA1 (as a source).

[0136] The address fields 1150 may be provided in a MAC header of a mesh protocol frame transmitted from the peer MLD 1016 to STA2. The To DS Address field carries or indicates a value of 0, and the From DS Address field carries or indicates a value of 1. The Addr1 field carries or indicates a per-link address of STA2 (as a mesh RA), the Addr2 field carries or indicates a per-link address of the peer MLD 1016 (as a mesh TA), the Addr3 field carries or indicates a MLD MAC address of STA1 (as a mesh DA), and the Addr4 field carries or indicates a null value.

[0137] Fig.12 A flow chart illustrating example operations 1200 for wireless communications supporting multi-link operations in a mesh network is shown. Operations 1200 may be performed by a wireless device, such as Figure 1 peer device 132, Figure 2The intermediate mesh nodes 231-233, Figure 3 Mesh nodes 311-312, Figure 4 Mesh nodes 421-424, Figure 7 A wireless communication device 700, Fig. 9 APMLD 910 and non-AP MLD 920, or reference Fig.10 One of the described peer MLDs 1011-1016. In various aspects, operations 1200 may be performed by an MLD configured to operate as a mesh device associated with a mesh basic service set (MBSS).

[0138] In some specific implementations, operation 1200 may be performed by an MLD that includes a first device associated with a first communication link of the MLD and includes one or more second devices associated with one or more corresponding second communication links of the MLD. In some instances, the first device may be associated with a first STA of the MLD and a first AP of the MLD. The first STA of the MLD may be configured to communicate with one of a previous hop peer MLD or a next hop peer MLD on the first communication link of the MLD, and the first AP of the MLD may be configured to communicate with the other of the previous hop peer MLD or the next hop peer MLD on the first communication link of the MLD. In some other instances, each of the one or more second devices of the MLD may be associated with a corresponding second STA of the MLD and a corresponding second AP of the MLD. The second STA of the MLD can be configured to communicate with one of the previous hop peer MLD or the next hop peer MLD on one or more corresponding second communication links of the MLD, and each second AP of the one or more second APs can be configured to communicate with the other of the previous hop peer MLD or the next hop peer MLD on one or more corresponding second communication links of the MLD.

[0139] For example, at 1202, the MLD sends a frame on a first communication link, the frame including a media access control (MAC) header carrying a plurality of addresses associated with an MBSS, each of the plurality of addresses being associated with one of a per-link address of the first communication link or a MAC address of the MLD. In some instances, the plurality of addresses may include a first address and a second address indicating a respective receiver address and a transmitter address of a peer instance on the first communication link, and may include a third address and a fourth address indicating a respective MBSS exit point and an MBSS entry point of the peer instance on the first communication link. The first address and the second address may be associated with a per-link MAC address, and the third address and the fourth address may be associated with an MLD MAC address. In some aspects, the plurality of addresses may also include a fifth address and a sixth address indicating a destination and a source of the peer instance, respectively, wherein each of the fifth address and the sixth address may be associated with an MLD MAC address.

[0140] In some specific implementations, the frame may be one of a hybrid wireless mesh protocol (HWMP) mesh path selection frame, a mesh peer open frame, a mesh peer confirmation frame, a mesh peer close frame, or a mesh data frame. In some instances, the frame may include a multilink element indicating discovery information for the first communication link and discovery information for each of the one or more second communication links. In some other instances, the frame may also include a traffic identifier (TID) to link mapping element indicating, for each of the plurality of TIDs, which of the first communication link or the one or more second communication links the mesh data frame belonging to the corresponding TID is allowed. In some other instances, the frame may also include an EHT capability element indicating one or more capabilities of the first device of the MLD and one or more capabilities of the one or more second devices of the MLD, or an EHT operation element indicating one or more operating parameters for the first communication link and one or more operating parameters for each of the one or more second communication links.

[0141] Fig.13 A flow chart illustrating example operations 1300 for wireless communications supporting multi-link operations in a mesh network is shown. Operations 1300 may be performed by a wireless device, such as Figure 1 peer device 132, Figure 2 The intermediate mesh nodes 231-233, Figure 3 Mesh nodes 311-312, Figure 4 Mesh nodes 421-424, Figure 7 A wireless communication device 700, Fig. 9APMLD 910 and non-AP MLD 920, or reference Fig.10 One of the described peer MLDs 1011-1016. In some examples, operation 1300 may be performed by reference Fig.12 The MLD implementation described.

[0142] In some aspects, operation 1300 may be performed at Fig.12 The method of claim 1202 is performed after sending a mesh peer open frame on the first communication link. The mesh peer open frame may include a request to establish a peer instance on each of the first communication link and one or more second communication links of the MLD. For example, at 1302, the MLD receives a mesh peer confirmation frame from a corresponding candidate peer device on the first communication link, and the mesh peer confirmation frame indicates whether the requested peer instance is accepted or rejected by the corresponding candidate peer device. At 1304, the MLD associates with the candidate peer device on the first communication link based on the exchange of the mesh peer open frame and the mesh peer confirmation frame.

[0143] Fig.14 A flow chart illustrating example operations 1400 for wireless communications supporting multi-link operations in a mesh network is shown. Operations 1400 may be performed by a wireless device, such as Figure 1 peer device 132, Figure 2 The intermediate mesh nodes 231-233, Figure 3 Mesh nodes 311-312, Figure 4 Mesh nodes 421-424, Figure 7 A wireless communication device 700, Fig. 9 APMLD 910 and non-AP MLD 920, or reference Fig.10 One of the described peer MLDs 1011-1016. In some examples, operation 1400 may be performed by reference Fig.12 The MLD implementation described.

[0144] In some aspects, operation 1400 may be performed at Fig.12 The MLD may be executed after sending the frame at 1202. For example, at 1402, the MLD sends a mesh link metric report frame to a next-hop peer device associated with the MBSS, the mesh link metric report frame carrying a mesh link metric report element, the mesh link metric report element indicating a cumulative link metric of each of a first communication link and one or more second communication links of the MLD, the first communication link and the one or more second communication links being provided as peer instances between the previous-hop peer device and the MLD.

[0145] Fig.15A flow chart illustrating example operations 1500 for wireless communications supporting multi-link operations in a mesh network is shown. Operations 1500 may be performed by a wireless device, such as Figure 1 peer device 132, Figure 2 The intermediate mesh nodes 231-233, Figure 3 Mesh nodes 311-312, Figure 4 Mesh nodes 421-424, Figure 7 A wireless communication device 700, Fig. 9 APMLD 910 and non-AP MLD 920, or reference Fig.10 One of the described peer MLDs 1011-1016. In some examples, operation 1500 may be performed by reference Fig.12 The MLD implementation described.

[0146] In some aspects, operation 1500 may be performed at Fig.12 The method of claim 1202 is performed after sending a mesh peer open frame on the first communication link. The mesh peer open frame may indicate the MLD capabilities of the first device of the MLD and each of the one or more second devices. For example, at 1502, the MLD receives a mesh peer confirmation frame from at least one candidate peer device on the first communication link, the at least one candidate peer device including a corresponding station (STA) or access point (AP) associated with the first communication link and each of the one or more second communication links of the MLD, the mesh peer confirmation frame indicating the MLD capabilities of the corresponding STA or AP of the at least one candidate peer device. At 1504, in response to the MLD capabilities of the at least one candidate peer device, the MLD associates the first device of the MLD with the first STA or AP of the candidate peer device on the first communication link.

[0147] Fig.16 A flow chart illustrating example operations 1600 for wireless communications supporting multi-link operations in a mesh network is shown. Operations 1600 may be performed by a wireless device, such as Figure 1 peer device 132, Figure 2 The intermediate mesh nodes 231-233, Figure 3 Mesh nodes 311-312, Figure 4 Mesh nodes 421-424, Figure 7 A wireless communication device 700, Fig. 9 APMLD 910 and non-AP MLD 920, or reference Fig.10 One of the peer MLDs 1011-1016 described above. In some implementations, operation 1600 may be performed by reference to Fig.12 The MLD implementation described.

[0148] In some specific implementations, it can be combined with Fig.12 Operation 1600 may be performed by performing operation 1200. In some other examples, operation 1600 may be performed by performing operation 1200. Fig.12 1202 of the MLD. For example, at 1602, the MLD receives a request for a traffic identifier (TID) to link mapping negotiation operation, a target wake time (TWT) operation, or a restricted TWT (r-TWT) operation on a peer instance associated with a first communication link from a peer MLD associated with the MBSS. At 1604, the MLD assigns a link identifier (ID) to the requested operation. In some specific implementations, the assignment of the link ID to the requested operation may be associated with one of: the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the MLD, the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the peer MLD, or an agreement or negotiation between the MLD and the peer MLD, the agreement or negotiation indicating one of the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the MLD or the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the peer MLD.

[0149] Fig.17A An example multilink element 1700 is shown that can be used to support multilink operations in a mesh network. In some instances, the multilink element 1700 can be included in a WLAN management frame, such as (but not limited to) a beacon frame, a probe request frame, a probe response frame, an association request frame, an association response frame, a reassociation request frame, or a reassociation response frame. In some aspects, the multilink element 1700 can also be included in a mesh protocol frame, such as (but not limited to) a HWMP mesh path selection frame, a mesh peer open frame, a mesh peer acknowledgement frame, a mesh peer close frame, or a mesh data frame.

[0150] The multilink element 1700 includes an element ID field 1701, a length field 1702, an element ID extension field 1703, a multilink control field 1704, a common information field 1705, and a link information field 1706. The element ID field 1701 and the element ID extension field 1703 carry values ​​indicating that the element is a multilink element and indicating the type of the multilink element. The length field 1702 carries a value indicating the length of the multilink element 1700. The multilink control field 1704 carries information indicating the presence of various fields and subfields in the common information field 1705. The common information field 1705 carries information common to one or more non-primary links associated with the AP MLD. The link information field 1706 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 1706 includes one or more per-STA profile sub-elements that carry or indicate a complete profile or a partial profile of one or more corresponding non-primary links of the AP MLD.

[0151] Fig. 17B An example multi-link control field 1710 that can be used to support multi-link operations in a mesh network is shown. In some examples, the multi-link control field 1710 can be Fig.17A 1704 of a multilink element 1700. As shown, the multilink control field 1710 includes a type field 1711, a reserved field 1712, and a presence bitmap field 1713. The type field 1711 is used to distinguish between variants of the multilink element 1700, such as a basic multilink element and a probe request multilink element. The reserved field 1712 includes one or more reserved bits or unused bits. The presence bitmap field 1713 is used to indicate the presence of various subfields in the common information field 1705 of the multilink element 1700. For example, the presence bitmap field 1713 may indicate the presence of the following in the common information field 1705 of the multilink element 1700: an MLD MAC address field, a link ID information field, a BSS parameter change count field, a medium synchronization delay information field, an enhanced multilink (EML) capability field, and an MLD capability field.

[0152] Fig. 17C An example common information field 1720 that can be used to support multi-link operation in a mesh network is shown. In some examples, the common information field 1720 can be Fig.17A 1700. As shown, the common information field 1720 includes a common information length subfield 1721, an MLD MAC address subfield 1722, a link ID information subfield 1723, a BSS parameter change count subfield 1724, a medium synchronization delay information subfield 1725, an EML capability subfield 1726, and an MLD capability subfield 1727. The common information length subfield 1721 indicates the number of octets in the common information field 1720. The MLD MAC address subfield 1722 carries the MAC address of the MLD. The link ID information subfield 1723 carries the link identifier of the AP sending the multilink element 1700. The BSS parameter change count subfield 1724 carries an unsigned integer initialized to 0, which is incremented when a critical update occurs to the operating parameters of the AP used to send the basic variant multilink element.

[0153] In some examples, the MLD MAC address subfield 1722 may carry or indicate a reference Fig.10 The MAC address of the peer MLD described, and the link ID information subfield 1723 may carry or indicate a reference Fig.10 The MAC address of the corresponding peer instance 1035 is described.

[0154] The Medium Sync Delay Information subfield 1725 carries a value indicating the duration of the MediumSyncDelay timer. The EML Capability subfield 1726 contains several subfields for announcing the capabilities of EML single radio (SR) operation and EML multi radio (MR) operation. The MLD Capability subfield 1727 indicates various capabilities of the MLD. For example, the MLD Capability subfield 1727 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.

[0155] Fig.17D An example MLD capability subfield 1730 that can be used to support multi-link operation in a mesh network is shown. In some examples, the MLD capability subfield 1730 can be Fig. 17C 1730 of the common information field 1720 of FIG. 1731. As shown in the figure, the MLD capability subfield 1730 includes a maximum number of simultaneous links subfield 1731, an SRS subfield 1732, a TID to link mapping negotiation supported subfield 1733, a frequency separation subfield 1734 indicated by the STR / AP MLD type, an AAR support subfield 1735, and a reserved subfield 1736. The maximum number of simultaneous links subfield 1731 indicates the maximum number of STAs belonging to the MLD that support simultaneous transmission or reception of frames on the corresponding link. The SRS subfield 1732 indicates support for receiving frames carrying the SRS control subfield. The TID to link mapping negotiation supported subfield 1733 indicates support for TID to link mapping negotiation. The frequency separation subfield 1734 indicated by the STR / AP MLD type indicates the minimum frequency gap between any two links recommended by the non-AP MLD for STR operation. The AAR support subfield 1735 indicates support for receiving frames with the AAR control subfield.

[0156] Fig.17E An example per-STA profile sub-element 1740 that can be used to support multi-link operation in a mesh network is shown. In some examples, the per-STA profile sub-element 1740 can be Fig.17A1706 of the multilink element 1700 of FIG. 1700. As shown, the per-STA profile sub-element 1740 may include a sub-element ID field 1741, a length field 1742, a STA control field 1743, a STA information field 1744, and a STA profile field 1745. The sub-element ID field 1741 carries a value indicating the type of the per-STA profile sub-element 1740. The length field 1742 carries a value indicating the length of the per-STA profile sub-element 1740. The STA control field 1743 carries information indicating the presence (or absence) of various fields and sub-fields in the STA profile field 1745. The STA information field 1744 carries information about the AP corresponding to the per-STA profile sub-element 1740. The STA profile field 1745 carries information indicating a complete profile or a partial profile of the AP corresponding to the per-STA profile sub-element 1740.

[0157] Fig.17F An example STA control field 1750 that can be used to support multi-link operation in a mesh network is shown. In some examples, the STA control field 1750 can be Fig.17E 1750. As shown, the STA control field 1743 includes a link ID subfield 1751, a complete profile subfield 1752, a STA MAC address present subfield 1753, a beacon interval present subfield 1754, a TSF offset present subfield 1755, a DTIM information present subfield 1756, an NSTR link pair present subfield 1757, an NSTR bitmap size subfield 1758, a BSS parameter change count present subfield 1759, and a reserved subfield 1760. The link ID subfield 1751 carries a value that uniquely identifies a communication link associated with the AP corresponding to the per-STA profile subelement 1740. The complete profile subfield 1752 carries a value indicating whether the per-STA profile subelement 1740 carries a complete profile or a partial profile of the corresponding AP.

[0158] The STA MAC address exists subfield 1753 indicates the presence of the STA MAC address subfield in the STA information field 1744 of the multilink element 1700, and if the STA MAC address subfield exists in the STA information field, the STA MAC address exists subfield 1753 is set to 1, otherwise the STA MAC address exists subfield 1753 is set to 0. When the multilink element 1700 carries a complete profile of the corresponding communication link, the STA sets the STA MAC address exists subfield 1753 to 1.

[0159] The beacon interval existence subfield 1754 indicates the existence of the beacon interval subfield in the STA information field 1744, and is set to 1 if the beacon interval subfield exists in the STA information field 1744, otherwise the beacon interval existence subfield 1754 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 1700 carries a complete profile of the corresponding communication link, the AP sets the beacon interval existence subfield 1754 to 1. The AP belonging to the NSTR mobile AP MLD and operating on the non-primary link sets the beacon interval existence subfield 1754 to 0.

[0160] The TSF offset present subfield 1755 indicates the presence of the TSF offset subfield in the STA information field 1744, and is set to 1 if the TSF offset subfield is present in the STA information field, otherwise the TSF offset present subfield 1755 is set to 0. The non-AP STA sets the TSF offset present subfield to 0 in the transmitted basic multilink element. The AP sets the TSF offset present subfield 1755 to 1 when the multilink element 1700 carries a complete profile of the corresponding communication link.

[0161] The DTIM information exists subfield 1756 indicates the existence of the DTIM information subfield in the STA information field 1744 and is set to 1 if the DTIM information subfield exists in the STA information field 1744, otherwise the DTIM information exists subfield 1756 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 1700 carries a complete profile of the corresponding communication link, the AP sets the DTIM information exists subfield 1756 to 1. The AP belonging to the NSTR mobile AP MLD and operating on the non-primary link sets the DTIM information exists subfield 1756 to 0.

[0162] NSTR Link Pair Exists subfield 1757 carries a value indicating whether the Per-STA Profile subelement 1740 carries information about the communication link pair associated with the NSTR Soft-AP MLD. NSTR Bitmap Size subfield 1758 carries a value indicating whether the per-STA profile subelement 1740 carries information about the communication link pair associated with the NSTR Soft-AP MLD. Fig.17E The NSTR in the per-STA profile sub-element 1740 indicates the value of the size of the bitmap field.

[0163] The BSS parameter change count present subfield 1759 indicates the presence of the BSS parameter change count subfield in the STA information field, and is set to 1 if the BSS parameter change count subfield is present in the STA information field, otherwise the BSS parameter change count present subfield 1759 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 1759 to 1. Otherwise, the AP sets the BSS parameter change count present subfield 1759 to 0.

[0164] Figure 17G An example STA information field 1770 that can be used to support multi-link operation in a mesh network is shown. In some examples, the STA information field 1770 can be Fig.17E 1740 . As shown, the STA information field 1770 includes a MAC address field 1771, a beacon interval field 1772, a DTIM field 1773, an NSTR link pair field 1774, and an NSTR bitmap field 1775. The MAC address field 1771 carries the MAC address of the AP corresponding to the per-STA profile sub-element 1740. The beacon interval field 1772 carries information indicating the beacon interval of the AP corresponding to the per-STA profile sub-element 1740. The DTIM field 1773 carries information indicating the DTIM count and DTIM period of the AP corresponding to the per-STA profile sub-element 1740. The NSTR link pair field 1774 carries information identifying the communication link pair associated with the AP corresponding to the per-STA profile sub-element 1740. The NSTR bitmap field 1775 carries the NSTR bitmap of the AP corresponding to the per-STA profile sub-element 1740.

[0165] Fig.18 An example traffic identifier (TID) to link mapping element 1800 that can be used for multi-link operation in a mesh network is shown. As shown, the TID to link mapping element 1800 may include an element ID field 1801, a length field 1802, an element ID extension field 1803, a TID to link mapping control field 1804, and one or more optional TID to link mapping fields 1805 (0) -1805 (7). The element ID field 1801 and the element ID extension field 1803 carry values ​​indicating that the element 1800 is a TID to link mapping element and indicating the type of the TID to link mapping element. The length field 1802 indicates the length (in octets) of the TID to link mapping element 1800.

[0166] The TID to link mapping control field 1804 may include a direction subfield and a default link mapping subfield (not shown for simplicity). For example, if the TID to link mapping element 1800 provides TID to link mapping information for frames sent on the downlink, the direction subfield is set to 0, if the TID to link mapping element 1800 provides TID to link mapping information for frames sent on the uplink, the direction subfield is set to 1, and if the TID to link mapping element 1800 provides TID to link mapping information for frames sent on both the downlink and the uplink, the direction subfield is set to 2. If the TID to link mapping element indicates a default TID to link mapping, the default link mapping subfield is set to 1, otherwise it is set to 0.

[0167] Each of the link map fields 1805(0)-1805(7) of the TID indicates one or more links on which frames belonging to the corresponding TID are allowed to be transmitted. In some examples, each of the link map fields 1805(0)-1805(7) of the TID carries a bitmap of links to which the corresponding TID is mapped. For example, a value of 1 in bit position i (where i=0, 1, 2, ..., 14) indicates that the corresponding TID is mapped to a link associated with link ID i for the direction specified in the direction subfield, and a value of 0 in bit position i indicates that the corresponding TID is not mapped to a link associated with link ID i.

[0168] Fig.19A An example RNR element 1900 that may be used to support multi-link operations in a mesh network is shown. In some instances, the RNR element 1900 may be included in a WLAN management frame, such as, but not limited to, a beacon frame, a probe request frame, a probe response frame, an association request frame, an association response frame, a reassociation request frame, or a reassociation response frame. In some other instances, the RNR element 1900 may be included in a mesh protocol frame, such as, but not limited to, a HWMP mesh path selection frame, a mesh peer open frame, a mesh peer acknowledgement frame, a mesh peer close frame, or a mesh data frame.

[0169] The RNR element 1900 may be used to indicate channel information, parameters, and other information associated with one or more second APs that are associated with the reference AP. Fig.10As shown, the RNR element 1900 includes an element ID field 1902, a length field 1904, and one or more neighbor AP information fields 1906. The element ID field 1902 carries a value that identifies the RNR element 1900. The length field 1904 carries a value that indicates the length of the RNR element 1900. Each neighbor AP information field 1906 carries information indicating the timing reference, operating category, channel number, and other parameters of the corresponding second AP of the peer MLD.

[0170] The neighbor AP information field 1906 includes a TBTT information header 1911, an operation category field 1912, a channel number field 1913, and a TBTT information set field 1914. The TBTT information header 1911 carries general information about the corresponding AP. The operation category field 1912 indicates the channel starting frequency, which together with the channel number field 1913 indicates the primary channel of the BSS of the AP associated with the neighbor AP information field. The channel number field 1913 indicates the last known primary channel of the AP associated with the neighbor AP information field. The TBTT information set field 1914 contains one or more TBTT information fields that carry TBTT information, operation parameters, and MLD parameters for the AP associated with the neighbor AP information field.

[0171] Fig.19B An example TBTT information header 1920 that can be used to support multi-link operation in a mesh network is shown. In some examples, the TBTT information header 1920 can be Fig.19A 19. As shown, the TBTT information header 1920 includes a TBTT information field type subfield 1921, a filtered neighbor AP subfield 1922, a reserved subfield 1923, a TBTT information count subfield 1924, and a TBTT information length subfield 1925. The TBTT information field type subfield 1921 carries a value indicating the type or format of the TBTT information field.

[0172] The Filtered Neighbor AP subfield 1922 is retained except when the Reduced Neighbor Report Element 1900 is carried in a Probe Response frame sent by an EHT AP. The Reserved subfield 1923 includes one or more reserved bits or unused bits. The TBTT Information Count subfield 1924 indicates the number of TBTT information fields included in the TBTT Information Set field 1914 of the Neighbor AP Information field 1906 minus one. The TBTT Information Length subfield 1925 indicates the length of each TBTT information field included in the TBTT Information Set field of the Neighbor AP Information field.

[0173] Fig.19CAn example TBTT information field 1930 that can be used to support multi-link operation in a mesh network is shown. In some examples, the TBTT information field 1930 can be Fig.19A 1930. As shown, the TBTT information field 1930 includes a neighbor AP TBTT offset subfield 1931, an optional BSSID subfield 1932, an optional short SSID subfield 1933, a BSS parameter subfield 1934, a 20MHz PSD subfield 1935, and an MLD parameter subfield 1936. The neighbor AP TBTT offset subfield 1931 indicates the offset (in TUs) of the next TBTT of the reported AP from the immediately previous TBTT of the reporting AP. The optional BSSID subfield 1932 carries the BSSID of the reported AP. The optional short SSID subfield 1933 carries the shortened SSID of the reported AP. The BSS parameter subfield 1934 indicates one or more BSS parameters of the reported AP, such as (but not limited to) the OCT recommendation subfield, the same SSID subfield, the multiple BSSID subfield, the sent BSSID subfield, the ESS member subfield, the unsolicited probe response activity subfield, and the co-located AP subfield. The 20MHz PSD subfield 1935 indicates the maximum transmit power of the corresponding AP on the primary 20MHz channel. In some instances, the neighbor AP TBTT offset subfield 1931, the short SSID subfield 1933, the BSS parameter subfield 1934, and the 20MHz PSD subfield 1935 can be omitted from the TBTT information field 1930.

[0174] The MLD parameter subfield 1936 may include an MLD ID subfield 1941, a link ID subfield 1942, a BSS parameter change count subfield 1943, and a reserved subfield 1944. The MLD ID subfield 1941 indicates an identifier of the AP MLD to which the reported AP belongs. If the reported AP belongs to the same MLD as the reporting AP that transmitted the frame carrying the RNR element, the MLD ID subfield 1941 is set to 0. If the reported AP belongs to the same MLD as the untransmitted BSSID, which is in the same multi-BSSID set as the reporting AP that transmitted the frame carrying the RNR element, the MLD ID subfield 1941 is set to the same value as the BSSID index field in the multi-BSSID index element in the untransmitted BSSID profile corresponding to the untransmitted BSSID.

[0175] The Link ID subfield 1942 indicates the link identifier of the reported AP within the AP MLD to which the reported AP belongs. If the reported AP is not part of the AP MLD, or if the reporting AP does not have this information, the Link ID subfield is set to 15.

[0176] The BSS Parameter Change Count subfield 1943 is an unsigned integer initialized to 0 and incremented when a critical update to the beacon frame of the reported AP occurs. If the reported AP is not part of the AP MLD, or if the reporting AP does not have information related to the critical update, the BSS Parameter Change Count subfield 1943 is set to 255.

[0177] The Include All Updates subfield 1944 indicates whether the updated element corresponding to the most recent critical update that generated a change to the value carried in the AP's BSS Parameter Change Count subfield is included in the frame carrying the RNR element 1900. If all updated elements are included, the Include All Updates subfield 1944 is set to 1, otherwise it is set to 0. The Reserved subfield 1945 includes one or more reserved or unused bits.

[0178] Fig. 20 2 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device 2000. In some implementations, the wireless communication device 2000 can be configured to perform respective references to Fig.12 , Fig.13 , Fig.14 and Fig.15 The described operations 1200, 1300, 1400 and 1500. The wireless communication device 2000 may be Figure 1 peer device 132, Figure 2 The intermediate mesh nodes 231-233, Figure 3 Mesh nodes 311-312, Figure 4 Mesh nodes 421-424, Figure 7 A wireless communication device 700, Fig. 9 MLD 910 and 920, or reference Fig.10 Example implementations of any of the described peer-to-peer MLDs. More specifically, the wireless communication device 2000 may be a chip, SoC, chipset, package, or device that includes at least one processor and at least one modem (e.g., a Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) modem or a cellular modem).

[0179] The wireless communication device 2000 includes a receiving component 2010, a communication manager 2020, and a sending component 2030. The communication manager 2020 includes a multi-link operation component 2021, a mesh protocol component 2022, and a TID to link mapping component 2023. Portions of one or more of the components 2021-2023 may be implemented at least in part in hardware or firmware. In some specific implementations, one or more of the components 2021-2023 are implemented at least in part as stored in a memory (such as Figure 7 For example, parts of one or more of components 2021-2023 may be implemented as software that can be executed by a processor such as Figure 7 The processor 706 of the device 700 executes non-transitory instructions (or "code") to perform the functions or operations of the corresponding components.

[0180] The receiving component 2010 is configured to receive RX signals from one or more other wireless communication devices, and the transmitting component 2030 is configured to transmit TX signals to one or more other wireless communication devices. The communication manager 2020 is configured to manage wireless communications with one or more other wireless communication devices.

[0181] The multi-link operation component 2021 can establish or set up multi-link operations on peer instances or mesh links associated with the mesh network. In some instances, the multi-link operation component 2021 can also map a mesh address carried in a MAC header of a mesh protocol frame or message to one of a per-link address of a corresponding peer instance or a MAC address of a corresponding MLD.

[0182] The mesh protocol component 2022 can find peer devices associated with the mesh network and within the radio range of the wireless communication device 2000, and can determine whether any of the discovered peer devices is a candidate suitable for establishing a peer instance or a mesh link. In some instances, the mesh protocol component 2022 can also establish a peer instance or a mesh link with a suitable candidate peer device in the mesh network. In some other instances, the mesh protocol component 2022 can also find the path between the source device and the destination device on one or more of the established peer instances or mesh links. In some aspects, the mesh protocol component 2022 can use the HWMP path selection technology described herein to establish a peer instance or a mesh link, and find the most suitable path from the source device to the destination device.

[0183] The TID to link mapping component 2023 can determine or obtain a mapping between a TID of a traffic flow associated with a respective device and a communication link of an MLD provided or allocated to the respective device. In some instances, the TID to link mapping component 2023 can also update the mapping based on a change in the communication link provided or allocated to the respective device.

[0184] Specific implementation examples are described in the following example aspects:

[0185] 1. A multi-link device (MLD), comprising:

[0186] Processing systems; and

[0187] An interface coupled to the processing system, the interface being configured to:

[0188] A frame is output on a first communication link associated with a first device of the MLD, the frame including a medium access control (MAC) header carrying a plurality of addresses associated with a mesh basic service set (MBSS), each of the plurality of addresses being associated with one of a per-link address of the first communication link of the MLD or a MAC address of the MLD.

[0189] 2. The MLD of aspect 1, wherein the frame includes an indication that the per-link address is based on a domain of the MLD.

[0190] 3. The MLD according to any one or more of aspects 1 to 2, wherein the plurality of addresses comprises:

[0191] a first address and a second address, the first address and the second address indicating respective receiver and transmitter addresses of a peer instance on the first communications link, the first address and the second address being associated with the per-link address of the first communications link; and

[0192] A third address and a fourth address, the third address and the fourth address indicating a respective MBSS exit point and MBSS entry point of the peer instance on the first communication link, the third address and the fourth address being associated with the MLD MAC address.

[0193] 4. The MLD according to aspect 3, wherein the plurality of addresses further comprises:

[0194] A fifth address and a sixth address, the fifth address and the sixth address indicating a respective destination and source of the peer instance, the fifth address and the sixth address being associated with the MLD MAC address.

[0195] 5. The MLD of any one or more of aspects 1 to 4, wherein the frame comprises a hybrid wireless mesh protocol

[0196] (HWMP) One of a mesh path selection frame, a mesh peer open frame, a mesh peer acknowledgement frame, a mesh peer close frame, or a mesh data frame.

[0197] 6. The MLD of aspect 5, wherein the frame comprises a multilink element indicating discovery information for the first communication link of the MLD and discovery information for one or more second communication links associated with one or more respective second devices of the MLD.

[0198] 7. The MLD according to any one or more of aspects 5 to 6, wherein the frame carries a traffic identification (TID) to link mapping element, the traffic identification (TID) to link mapping element indicating, for each of a plurality of TIDs, on which of the communication links associated with the MLD a mesh data frame belonging to the corresponding TID is allowed.

[0199] 8. The MLD of any one or more of aspects 5 to 7, wherein the frame comprises one or both of:

[0200] an extremely high throughput (EHT) capability element indicating one or more capabilities of the first device of the MLD and one or more capabilities of each of one or more second devices of the MLD; or

[0201] An EHT operation element indicating one or more operating parameters for the first communication link of the MLD and one or more operating parameters for each of one or more second communication links associated with the one or more corresponding second devices of the MLD.

[0202] 9. The MLD of any one or more of aspects 1 to 8, wherein the frame comprises a mesh peer open frame output on the first communication link of the MLD to one or more candidate peer devices associated with the MBSS, the mesh peer open frame comprising a request to establish a peer instance on each of the first communication link of the MLD and one or more second communication links associated with one or more corresponding second devices of the MLD.

[0203] 10. The MLD of aspect 9, wherein:

[0204] The interface is further configured to obtain a mesh peer confirmation frame from a corresponding candidate peer device over the first communication link, the mesh peer confirmation frame indicating whether the requested peer instance is accepted or rejected by the corresponding candidate peer device; and

[0205] The processing system is further configured to associate with the candidate peer device over the first communication link of the MLD based on the mesh peer open frame and the mesh peer confirm frame.

[0206] 11. The MLD of aspect 9, wherein the mesh peer open frame indicates MLD capabilities of the first device and the one or more second devices of the MLD, and wherein:

[0207] The interface is further configured to obtain a mesh peer confirmation frame from at least one candidate peer device on the first communication link, the at least one candidate peer device comprising a respective station (STA) or access point (AP) associated with the first communication link of the MLD and each of the one or more second communication links of the MLD, the mesh peer confirmation frame indicating MLD capabilities of the respective STA or AP of the at least one candidate peer device; and

[0208] The processing system is further configured to, in response to the MLD capabilities of the at least one candidate peer device, associate the first device of the MLD with a first STA or AP of the at least one candidate peer device on the first communication link, and simultaneously associate the one or more second devices of the MLD with one or more corresponding second STAs or APs of the at least one candidate peer device on the one or more corresponding second communication links.

[0209] 12. The MLD according to any one or more of aspects 1 to 11, wherein the interface is further configured to:

[0210] A mesh link metric report frame is output to a next-hop peer device associated with the MBSS, the mesh link metric report frame carrying a mesh link metric report element, the mesh link metric report element indicating accumulated link metrics of the first communication link and one or more second communication links of the MLD, the first communication link and the one or more second communication links being provided as peer instances between a previous-hop peer device associated with the MBSS and the MLD.

[0211] 13. The MLD of aspect 12, wherein:

[0212] The interface is associated with a first station (STA) of the MLD and a first access point (AP) of the MLD, the first STA of the MLD being configured to communicate with the next-hop peer device over the first communication link of the MLD, and the first AP of the MLD being configured to communicate with the previous-hop peer device over the first communication link of the MLD; and

[0213] The interface is further associated with one or more second STAs of the MLD and one or more second APs of the MLD, the one or more second STAs of the MLD being configured to communicate with the next-hop peer device on the one or more corresponding second communication links of the MLD, and each of the one or more second APs of the MLD being configured to communicate with the previous-hop peer device on the one or more corresponding second communication links of the MLD.

[0214] 14. The MLD of any one or more of aspects 12 to 14, wherein the accumulated link metric is associated with one of:

[0215] a data rate associated with said communications link provided as a peer instance; or

[0216] The latency associated with the communication link provided as a peer instance.

[0217] 15. The MLD of any one or more of aspects 12 to 15, wherein the mesh link metrics reporting element further comprises one or more link metrics for all communication links provided by peer instances of the MLD as between mesh path sources and mesh path destinations.

[0218] 16. The MLD according to any one or more of aspects 1 to 16, wherein:

[0219] The interface is further configured to obtain, from a peer MLD associated with the MBSS, a request for a traffic identifier (TID) to link mapping negotiation operation, a target wake time (TWT) operation, or a restricted TWT (r-TWT) operation on a peer instance associated with the first communication link; and

[0220] The processing system is further configured to assign a link identifier (ID) to the requested operation.

[0221] 17. The MLD of clause 16, wherein assigning the link ID to the requested operation is associated with one of:

[0222] the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the MLD;

[0223] the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the peer MLD; or

[0224] An agreement or negotiation between the MLD and the peer MLD, the agreement or negotiation indicating one of the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the MLD or the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the peer MLD.

[0225] 18. A method for wireless communication by a multi-link device (MLD), comprising:

[0226] A frame is sent on a first communication link associated with a first device of the MLD, the frame including a medium access control (MAC) header carrying a plurality of addresses associated with a mesh basic service set (MBSS), each of the plurality of addresses being associated with one of a per-link address of the first communication link of the MLD or a MAC address of the MLD.

[0227] 19. The method of clause 18, wherein the plurality of addresses comprises:

[0228] a first address and a second address, the first address and the second address indicating respective receiver and transmitter addresses of a peer instance on the first communications link, the first address and the second address being associated with the per-link address of the first communications link; and

[0229] A third address and a fourth address, the third address and the fourth address indicating a respective MBSS exit point and MBSS entry point of the peer instance on the first communication link, the third address and the fourth address being associated with the MLD MAC address.

[0230] 20. The method of aspect 19, wherein the plurality of addresses further comprises:

[0231] A fifth address and a sixth address, the fifth address and the sixth address indicating a respective destination and source of the peer instance, the fifth address and the sixth address being associated with the MLD MAC address.

[0232] 21. A method according to any one or more of aspects 18 to 20, wherein the frame comprises one of a hybrid wireless mesh protocol (HWMP) mesh path selection frame, a mesh peer open frame, a mesh peer confirmation frame, a mesh peer close frame, or a mesh data frame.

[0233] 22. A method according to aspect 21, wherein the frame includes a multilink element, the multilink element indicating discovery information for the first communication link of the MLD and discovery information for each of one or more second communication links associated with one or more corresponding second devices of the MLD.

[0234] 23. A method according to any one or more of aspects 20 to 21, wherein the frame carries a traffic identification (TID) to link mapping element, the traffic identification (TID) to link mapping element indicating, for each TID of a plurality of TIDs, on which of the communication links associated with the MLD a mesh data frame belonging to the corresponding TID is allowed.

[0235] 24. A method according to any one or more of clauses 20 to 23, wherein the frame comprises one or both of:

[0236] an extremely high throughput (EHT) capability element indicating one or more capabilities of the first device of the MLD and one or more capabilities of each of one or more second devices of the MLD; or

[0237] An EHT operation element indicating one or more operating parameters for the first communication link of the MLD and one or more operating parameters for each of one or more second communication links associated with the one or more corresponding second devices of the MLD.

[0238] 25. A method according to any one or more of aspects 18 to 24, wherein the frame includes a mesh peer open frame sent on the first communication link to one or more candidate peer devices associated with the MBSS, the mesh peer open frame including a request to establish a peer instance on each of the first communication link of the MLD and one or more second communication links associated with one or more corresponding second devices of the MLD.

[0239] 26. The method according to aspect 25, further comprising:

[0240] receiving a mesh peer confirmation frame from a corresponding candidate peer device on the first communication link, the mesh peer confirmation frame indicating whether the requested peer instance is accepted or rejected by the corresponding candidate peer device; and associating with the candidate peer device on the first communication link of the MLD based on the mesh peer open frame and the mesh peer confirmation frame.

[0241] 27. The method of any one or more of aspects 25 to 26, wherein the mesh peer open frame indicates MLD capabilities of the first device and the one or more second devices of the MLD, the method further comprising:

[0242] receiving a mesh peer confirmation frame from at least one candidate peer device on the first communication link, the at least one candidate peer device comprising a corresponding station (STA) or access point (AP) associated with the first communication link of the MLD and each of the one or more second communication links of the MLD, the mesh peer confirmation frame indicating MLD capabilities of the corresponding STA or AP of the at least one candidate peer device; and in response to the MLD capabilities of the at least one candidate peer device, associating the first device of the MLD with a first STA or AP of the at least one candidate peer device on the first communication link, and associating the one or more second devices of the MLD with one or more corresponding second STAs or APs of the at least one candidate peer device on the one or more corresponding second communication links.

[0243] 28. The method according to any one or more of aspects 18 to 27, further comprising:

[0244] A mesh link metric report frame is sent to a next-hop peer device associated with the MBSS, the mesh link metric report frame carrying a mesh link metric report element, the mesh link metric report element indicating accumulated link metrics of the first communication link of the MLD and one or more second communication links of the MLD, the first communication link and the one or more second communication links being provided as peer instances between a previous-hop peer device associated with the MBSS and the MLD.

[0245] 29. The method according to any one or more of aspects 18 to 29, further comprising:

[0246] receiving, from a peer MLD associated with the MBSS, a request for a traffic identifier (TID) to link mapping negotiation operation, a target wake time (TWT) operation, or a restricted TWT (r-TWT) operation on a peer instance associated with the first communications link; and

[0247] A link identifier (ID) is assigned to the requested operation.

[0248] 30. The method of clause 29, wherein assigning the link ID to the requested operation is associated with one of:

[0249] the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the MLD;

[0250] the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the peer MLD; or

[0251] An agreement or negotiation between the MLD and the peer MLD, the agreement or negotiation indicating one of the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the MLD or the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the peer MLD.

[0252] 31. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising means for performing the method of any one or more of aspects 18 to 30.

[0253] 32. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processing system of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the operations of any one or more of aspects 18 to 30.

[0254] 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.

[0255] 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. This interchangeability of hardware, firmware, and software has been generally described in terms of functionality and is exemplified in the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and processes described herein. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware, firmware, or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0256] 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.

[0257] 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 herein 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 the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variations of the subcombination.

[0258] 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 may schematically depict one or more example processes in the form of a flow chart or a flow diagram. However, other operations not depicted may be incorporated into the example processes schematically illustrated. For example, one or more additional operations may be performed before, after, simultaneously or between any operations in the illustrated operations. In some environments, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. In addition, the separation of various system components in the specific implementation described herein should not be understood as requiring such separation in all specific implementations, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems generally can be integrated together in a single software product or encapsulated in multiple software products.

Claims

1. A multi-link device (MLD), comprising: Processing systems; and An interface coupled to the processing system, the interface being configured to: A frame is output on a first communication link associated with a first device of the MLD, the frame including a medium access control (MAC) header carrying a plurality of addresses associated with a mesh basic service set (MBSS), each of the plurality of addresses being associated with one of a per-link address of the first communication link of the MLD or a MAC address of the MLD.

2. The MLD of claim 1, wherein the frame includes an indication that the per-link address is based on a domain of the first MLD.

3. The MLD of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of addresses comprises: a first address and a second address, the first address and the second address indicating respective receiver and transmitter addresses of a peer instance on the first communications link, the first address and the second address being associated with the per-link address of the first communications link; and A third address and a fourth address, the third address and the fourth address indicating a respective MBSS exit point and MBSS entry point of the peer instance on the first communication link, the third address and the fourth address being associated with the MLDMAC address.

4. The MLD of claim 3, wherein the plurality of addresses further comprises: A fifth address and a sixth address, the fifth address and the sixth address indicating a respective destination and source of the peer instance, the fifth address and the sixth address being associated with the MLD MAC address.

5. The MLD of claim 1, wherein the frame comprises one of a Hybrid Wireless Mesh Protocol (HWMP) mesh path selection frame, a mesh peer open frame, a mesh peer acknowledgement frame, a mesh peer close frame, or a mesh data frame.

6. The MLD of claim 5, wherein the frame includes a multilink element indicating discovery information for the first communication link of the MLD and discovery information for one or more second communication links associated with one or more corresponding second devices of the MLD.

7. The MLD of claim 5 , wherein the frame carries a traffic identification (TID) to link mapping element, the traffic identification (TID) to link mapping element indicating, for each of a plurality of TIDs, on which of the communication links associated with the MLD a mesh data frame belonging to the corresponding TID is allowed.

8. The MLD of claim 5, wherein the frame comprises one or both of: an extremely high throughput (EHT) capability element indicating one or more capabilities of the first device of the MLD and one or more capabilities of each of one or more second devices of the MLD; or An EHT operation element indicating one or more operating parameters for the first communication link of the MLD and one or more operating parameters for each of one or more second communication links associated with the one or more corresponding second devices of the MLD.

9. The MLD of claim 1 , wherein the frame comprises a mesh peer open frame output on the first communication link of the MLD to one or more candidate peer devices associated with the MBSS, the mesh peer open frame comprising a request to establish a peer instance on each of the first communication link of the MLD and one or more second communication links associated with one or more respective second devices of the MLD.

10. The MLD of claim 9, wherein: The interface is further configured to obtain a mesh peer confirmation frame from a corresponding candidate peer device over the first communication link, the mesh peer confirmation frame indicating whether the requested peer instance is accepted or rejected by the corresponding candidate peer device; and The processing system is further configured to associate with the candidate peer device over the first communication link of the MLD based on the mesh peer open frame and the mesh peer confirm frame.

11. The MLD of claim 9, wherein the mesh peer open frame indicates MLD capabilities of the first device and the one or more second devices of the MLD, wherein: The interface is further configured to obtain a mesh peer confirmation frame from at least one candidate peer device on the first communication link, the at least one candidate peer device comprising a respective station (STA) or access point (AP) associated with the first communication link of the MLD and each of the one or more second communication links of the MLD, the mesh peer confirmation frame indicating MLD capabilities of the respective STA or AP of the at least one candidate peer device; and The processing system is further configured to, in response to the MLD capabilities of the at least one candidate peer device, associate the first device of the MLD with a first STA or AP of the at least one candidate peer device on the first communication link, and simultaneously associate the one or more second devices of the MLD with one or more corresponding second STAs or APs of the at least one candidate peer device on the one or more corresponding second communication links.

12. The MLD of claim 1, wherein the interface is further configured to: A mesh link metric report frame is output to a next-hop peer device associated with the MBSS, the mesh link metric report frame carrying a mesh link metric report element, the mesh link metric report element indicating accumulated link metrics of the first communication link and one or more second communication links of the MLD, the first communication link and the one or more second communication links being provided as peer instances between a previous-hop peer device associated with the MBSS and the MLD.

13. The MLD of claim 12, wherein: The interface is associated with a first station (STA) of the MLD and a first access point (AP) of the MLD, the first STA of the MLD being configured to communicate with the next-hop peer device over the first communication link of the MLD, and the first AP of the MLD being configured to communicate with the previous-hop peer device over the first communication link of the MLD; and The interface is further associated with one or more second STAs of the MLD and one or more second APs of the MLD, the one or more second STAs of the MLD being configured to communicate with the next-hop peer device on the one or more corresponding second communication links of the MLD, and each of the one or more second APs of the MLD being configured to communicate with the previous-hop peer device on the one or more corresponding second communication links of the MLD.

14. The MLD of claim 12, wherein the accumulated link metric is associated with one of: a data rate associated with said communications link provided as a peer instance; or The latency associated with the communication link provided as a peer instance.

15. The MLD of claim 12, wherein the mesh link metrics reporting element further comprises one or more link metrics for all communication links provided by a peer instance of the MLD as between a mesh path source and a mesh path destination.

16. The MLD of claim 1, wherein: The interface is further configured to obtain, from a peer MLD associated with the MBSS, a request for a traffic identifier (TID) to link mapping negotiation operation, a target wake time (TWT) operation, or a restricted TWT (r-TWT) operation on a peer instance associated with the first communication link; and The processing system is further configured to assign a link identifier (ID) to the requested operation.

17. The MLD of claim 16, wherein assigning the link ID to the requested operation is associated with one of: the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the MLD; the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the peer MLD; or An agreement or negotiation between the MLD and the peer MLD, the agreement or negotiation indicating one of the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the MLD or the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the peer MLD.

18. A method for wireless communication by a multi-link device (MLD), the method comprising: A frame is sent on a first communication link associated with a first device of the MLD, the frame including a medium access control (MAC) header carrying a plurality of addresses associated with a mesh basic service set (MBSS), each of the plurality of addresses being associated with one of a per-link address of the first communication link of the MLD or a MAC address of the MLD.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the plurality of addresses comprises: a first address and a second address, the first address and the second address indicating respective receiver and transmitter addresses of a peer instance on the first communications link, the first address and the second address being associated with the per-link address of the first communications link; and A third address and a fourth address, the third address and the fourth address indicating a respective MBSS exit point and MBSS entry point of the peer instance on the first communication link, the third address and the fourth address being associated with the MLDMAC address.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the plurality of addresses further comprises: A fifth address and a sixth address, the fifth address and the sixth address indicating a respective destination and source of the peer instance, the fifth address and the sixth address being associated with the MLD MAC address.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the frame comprises one of a Hybrid Wireless Mesh Protocol (HWMP) mesh path selection frame, a mesh peer open frame, a mesh peer acknowledgement frame, a mesh peer close frame, or a mesh data frame.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the frame comprises a multilink element indicating discovery information for the first communication link of the MLD and discovery information for each of one or more second communication links associated with one or more corresponding second devices of the MLD.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the frame carries a traffic identification (TID) to link mapping element, the traffic identification (TID) to link mapping element indicating, for each of a plurality of TIDs, on which of the communication links associated with the MLD a mesh data frame belonging to the corresponding TID is allowed.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the frame comprises one or both of: an extremely high throughput (EHT) capability element indicating one or more capabilities of the first device of the MLD and one or more capabilities of each of one or more second devices of the MLD; or An EHT operation element indicating one or more operating parameters for the first communication link of the MLD and one or more operating parameters for each of one or more second communication links associated with the one or more corresponding second devices of the MLD.

25. The method of claim 18, wherein the frame comprises a mesh peer open frame sent over the first communication link to one or more candidate peer devices associated with the MBSS, the mesh peer open frame comprising a request to establish a peer instance over each of the first communication link of the MLD and one or more second communication links associated with one or more corresponding second devices of the MLD.

26. The method according to claim 25, further comprising: receiving a mesh peer confirmation frame from a corresponding candidate peer device over the first communications link, the mesh peer confirmation frame indicating whether the requested peer instance was accepted or rejected by the corresponding candidate peer device; as well as Associating with the candidate peer device on the first communication link of the MLD based on the mesh peer open frame and the mesh peer confirm frame.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the mesh peer open frame indicates MLD capabilities of the first device and the one or more second devices of the MLD, the method further comprising: receiving a mesh peer confirmation frame from at least one candidate peer device on the first communication link, the at least one candidate peer device comprising a respective station (STA) or access point (AP) associated with the first communication link of the MLD and each of the one or more second communication links of the MLD, the mesh peer confirmation frame indicating MLD capabilities of the respective STA or AP of the at least one candidate peer device; as well as In response to the MLD capabilities of the at least one candidate peer device, the first device of the MLD is associated with a first STA or AP of the at least one candidate peer device on the first communication link, and the one or more second devices of the MLD are associated with one or more corresponding second STAs or APs of the at least one candidate peer device on the one or more corresponding second communication links.

28. The method according to claim 18, further comprising: A mesh link metric report frame is sent to a next-hop peer device associated with the MBSS, the mesh link metric report frame carrying a mesh link metric report element, the mesh link metric report element indicating accumulated link metrics of the first communication link of the MLD and one or more second communication links of the MLD, the first communication link and the one or more second communication links being provided as peer instances between a previous-hop peer device associated with the MBSS and the MLD.

29. The method according to claim 18, further comprising: receiving, from a peer MLD associated with the MBSS, a request for a traffic identifier (TID) to link mapping negotiation operation, a target wake time (TWT) operation, or a restricted TWT (r-TWT) operation on a peer instance associated with the first communications link; and A link identifier (ID) is assigned to the requested operation.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein assigning the link ID to the requested operation is associated with one of: the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the MLD; the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the peer MLD; or An agreement or negotiation between the MLD and the peer MLD, the agreement or negotiation indicating one of the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the MLD or the link ID assigned to the peer instance by the peer MLD.

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