Transmission opportunity handling for multi-link communications

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to techniques for managing multi-link communications. Some aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for configuring data units and control response transmissions on multiple links. These data units and control responses may be configured such that control response transmissions do not overlap with data unit receptions at stations that do not have simultaneous transmission and reception capabilities.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of a patent application with an international application date of March 11, 2021, an international application number of PCT / US2021 / 021811, a Chinese national application date of March 11, 2021, an application number of 202180018996.7, and an invention name of "Transmission Opportunity Handling for Multi-Link Communication".

[0002] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0003] This application claims priority to U.S. Application No. 17 / 197,747, filed on March 10, 2021, which claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 988,247, filed on March 11, 2020, both of which are assigned to the assignee of this application and are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth below and for all applicable purposes. Technical Field

[0004] Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications and, more particularly, to multilink communications.

[0005] Related technical description

[0006] Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. These wireless networks may be multiple-access networks capable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available network resources. Examples of such multiple-access networks include code division multiple access (CDMA) networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, and single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks.

[0007] In order to address the growing bandwidth requirements required for wireless communication systems, different schemes are being developed to allow multiple user terminals to communicate with a single access point by sharing channel resources while achieving high data throughput. Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology represents one such approach that has emerged as a popular technology for communication systems. MIMO technology has been adopted in several wireless communication standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards. IEEE 802.11 designates a set of wireless local area network (WLAN) air interface standards developed by the IEEE 802.11 committee for short-range communications, such as tens to hundreds of meters.

[0008] Overview

[0009] The systems, methods and devices of the present disclosure each have several innovative aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for the desirable attributes disclosed herein.Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications and, more particularly, to techniques for link management for managing multi-link communications.

[0010] An innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a device for wireless communication. The device generally includes: a first interface, the first interface is configured to: obtain a first data unit on a first link and obtain a second data unit on a second link; and a processing system, the processing system is configured to: generate a first control response for the first data unit for transmission on the first link; and generate a second control response for the second data unit for transmission on the second link, wherein generating the second control response includes: configuring one or more parameters of the second control response according to one or more parameters of the first control response; and the first interface or the second interface is configured to: output the first control response for transmission on the first link and output the second control response for transmission on the second link.

[0011] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a device for wireless communication. The device generally includes: a first interface, the first interface is configured to: output a first data unit for transmission on a first link and output a second data unit for transmission on a second link; the first interface or the second interface is configured to: obtain a first control response for the first data unit and obtain a second control response for the second data unit; and a processing system, the processing system is configured to: generate a third data unit for transmission on the first link after receiving the first control response; and generate a fourth data unit for transmission on the second link after receiving the second control response, wherein the processing system is further configured to: postpone the transmission of the fourth data unit so that the start of the transmission of the fourth data unit coincides with the start of the transmission of the third data unit; and further, wherein the first interface or the second interface is further configured to: output the third data unit for transmission on the first link and output the fourth data unit for transmission on the second link.

[0012] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communication. The method generally includes: obtaining a first data unit on a first link and obtaining a second data unit on a second link; generating a first control response for the first data unit for transmission on the first link; generating a second control response for the second data unit for transmission on the second link, wherein generating the second control response includes: configuring one or more parameters of the second control response according to one or more parameters of the first control response; and outputting the first control response for transmission on the first link and outputting the second control response for transmission on the second link.

[0013] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communication. The method generally includes: outputting a first data unit for transmission on a first link and outputting a second data unit for transmission on a second link; obtaining a first control response for the first data unit and a second control response for the second data unit; generating a third data unit for transmission on the first link after receiving the first control response; generating a fourth data unit for transmission on the second link after receiving the second control response; postponing the transmission of the fourth data unit so that the start of the transmission of the fourth data unit coincides with the start of the transmission of the third data unit; and outputting the third data unit for transmission on the first link and outputting the fourth data unit for transmission on the second link.

[0014] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a device for wireless communication. The device generally includes: a device for obtaining a first data unit on a first link and obtaining a second data unit on a second link; a device for generating a first control response for the first data unit for transmission on the first link; a device for generating a second control response for the second data unit for transmission on the second link, wherein generating the second control response includes: configuring one or more parameters of the second control response according to one or more parameters of the first control response; and a device for outputting the first control response for transmission on the first link and outputting the second control response for transmission on the second link.

[0015] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in an apparatus for wireless communication. The apparatus generally includes: a device for outputting a first data unit for transmission on a first link and a second data unit for transmission on a second link; a device for obtaining a first control response for the first data unit and a second control response for the second data unit; a device for generating a third data unit for transmission on the first link after receiving the first control response; a device for generating a fourth data unit for transmission on the second link after receiving the second control response; a device for postponing transmission of the fourth data unit so that the start of transmission of the fourth data unit coincides with the start of transmission of the third data unit; and a device for outputting the third data unit for transmission on the first link and the fourth data unit for transmission on the second link.

[0016] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a wireless node. The wireless node generally includes: a receiver, the receiver is configured to: receive a first data unit on a first link and receive a second data unit on a second link; a processing system, the processing system is configured to: generate a first control response for the first data unit for transmission on the first link; and generate a second control response for the second data unit for transmission on the second link, wherein generating the second control response includes: configuring one or more parameters of the second control response according to one or more parameters of the first control response; and a transmitter, the transmitter is configured to: transmit the first control response on the first link and transmit the second control response on the second link.

[0017] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a wireless node. The wireless node generally includes: a transmitter configured to transmit a first data unit on a first link and a second data unit on a second link; a receiver configured to receive a first control response for the first data unit and a second control response for the second data unit; and a processing system configured to generate a third data unit for transmission on the first link after receiving the first control response; and generate a fourth data unit for transmission on the second link after receiving the second control response; wherein the processing system is further configured to postpone the transmission of the fourth data unit so that the start of the transmission of the fourth data unit coincides with the start of the transmission of the third data unit; and further, wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit the third data unit on the first link and transmit the fourth data unit on the second link.

[0018] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a computer-readable medium for wireless communication. The computer-readable medium generally includes instructions that can be executed to perform the following operations: obtain a first data unit on a first link and obtain a second data unit on a second link; generate a first control response for the first data unit for transmission on the first link; generate a second control response for the second data unit after receiving the second data unit for transmission on the second link, wherein generating the second control response includes: configuring one or more parameters of the second control response according to one or more parameters of the first control response; and output the first control response for transmission on the first link and output the second control response for transmission on the second link.

[0019] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a computer-readable medium for wireless communication. The computer-readable medium generally includes instructions that can be executed to perform the following operations: output a first data unit for transmission on a first link and output a second data unit for transmission on a second link; obtain a first control response for the first data unit and a second control response for the second data unit; generate a third data unit for transmission on the first link after receiving the first control response; generate a fourth data unit for transmission on the second link after receiving the second control response; postpone the transmission of the fourth data unit so that the start of the transmission of the fourth data unit coincides with the start of the transmission of the third data unit; and output the third data unit for transmission on the first link and output the fourth data unit for transmission on the second link.

[0020] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in an apparatus for wireless communication. The apparatus generally includes: a first interface, the first interface is configured to: output a first data unit for transmission on a first link and output a second data unit for transmission on a second link; the first interface or the second interface is configured to: obtain a first control response for the first data unit on the first link; and obtain a second control response for the second data unit on the second link, wherein the second control response is configured with one or more parameters according to one or more parameters of the first control response; and a processing system, the processing system is configured to: process the first control response and the second control response.

[0021] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communication. The method generally includes: outputting a first data unit for transmission on a first link and outputting a second data unit for transmission on a second link; obtaining a first control response for the first data unit on the first link; obtaining a second control response for the second data unit on the second link after outputting the second data unit for transmission, wherein the second control response is configured with one or more parameters in accordance with one or more parameters of the first control response; and processing the first control response and the second control response.

[0022] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in an apparatus for wireless communication. The apparatus generally includes: means for outputting a first data unit for transmission on a first link and outputting a second data unit for transmission on a second link; means for obtaining a first control response for the first data unit on the first link; means for obtaining a second control response for the second data unit on the second link, wherein the second control response is configured with one or more parameters in accordance with one or more parameters of the first control response; and means for processing the first control response and the second control response.

[0023] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a wireless node. The wireless node generally includes: a transmitter configured to transmit a first data unit on a first link and a second data unit on a second link; a receiver configured to receive a first control response for the first data unit on the first link; and receive a second control response for the second data unit on the second link, wherein the second control response is configured with one or more parameters in accordance with one or more parameters of the first control response; and a processing system configured to process the first control response and the second control response.

[0024] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a computer-readable medium for wireless communication. The computer-readable medium generally includes instructions that can be executed to perform the following operations: output a first data unit for transmission on a first link and output a second data unit for transmission on a second link; obtain a first control response for the first data unit on the first link; obtain a second control response for the second data unit on the second link, wherein the second control response is configured with one or more parameters according to one or more parameters of the first control response; and process the first control response and the second control response.

[0025] Details of one or more implementations of the subject matter described in the present disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the following description. Other features, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the description, drawings, and claims. It should be noted that the relative sizes of the following drawings may not be drawn to scale. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] In order to understand in detail the manner in which the above-stated features of the present disclosure are used, a more particular description of the content briefly summarized above may be made with reference to various aspects, some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It should be noted, however, that the accompanying drawings illustrate only certain typical aspects of the present disclosure and are not to be considered limiting of its scope, as the description may admit to other equally effective aspects.

[0028] Figure 1 A diagram of an example wireless communication network is shown in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 2 Block diagrams of example access points and example user terminals are shown in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0030] Figure 3 An example wireless device in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0031] Figure 4 An example multi-link device (MLD) communicating over a wireless link is illustrated in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0032] Figure 5 An example scenario is shown in which soliciting a control response on a first link interferes with reception on a second link.

[0033] Figure 6 A flowchart illustrating example operations for wireless communications in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0034] Figure 7 A flowchart illustrating example operations for wireless communications in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0035] Figure 8 Illustrated are example communications of data units and control responses in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0036] Fig. 9 A flowchart illustrating example operations for wireless communications in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0037] Fig.10 Example techniques for deferring transmission of data units in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure are shown.

[0038] Fig.11 Example components capable of performing the operations of the present disclosure are shown.

[0039] Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements. Detailed Description

[0041] The following description is directed to certain implementations in order to describe the innovative aspects of the present disclosure. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in many different ways. Some examples in the present disclosure are based on wireless and wired local area network (LAN) communications in accordance with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 wireless standards, the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard, and the IEEE 1901 Power Line Communication (PLC) standard. However, the described implementations can be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of transmitting and receiving RF signals in accordance with any of the following wireless communication protocols: any of the IEEE 802.11 standards, Standard, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), GSM / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), 1xEV-DO, EV-DO Revision A, EV-DO Revision B, High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Evolved High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA+), Long Term Evolution (LTE), AMPS, or other known signals for communicating within a wireless network, cellular network, or Internet of Things (IoT) network (such as, a system utilizing 3G, 4G or 5G or further implementations thereof).

[0042] Certain aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications, and more particularly to techniques for link management of multi-link communications with stations (STAs) that are not capable of receiving and transmitting simultaneously (also referred to herein as non-simultaneous transmit receive (non-STR) stations). For example, a non-STR station may simultaneously receive first and second data units from another station on multiple links during a transmission opportunity (TXOP), and simultaneously transmit first and second control responses for the data units on the multiple links. As used herein, simultaneous reception or transmission generally refers to reception or transmission that is at least partially overlapped in the time domain. Once a control response is received, the other station may transmit another data unit on each link. In some aspects of the present disclosure, one or more parameters of a control response may be configured in accordance with one or more parameters of another control response. For example, the lengths of each control response may be configured to match to avoid interfering with the reception of a data unit at a non-STR station. The length of each control response may be set based on an indication from another station. In order to match the lengths of each control response, the length of one control response may be adjusted by adding padding to the control response.

[0043] In some aspects, the lengths of the control responses may be different. For example, the length of the second control response may be shorter than the length of the first control response. In this case, data units transmitted in response to the first and second control responses may be transmitted simultaneously by another station by deferring data units transmitted in response to the second control response.

[0044] Particular implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages. For example, aspects of this disclosure may prevent interference that may be caused to non-STR stations (or at least reduce the likelihood of interference). In some aspects, a station transmitting a data unit may be the owner of a TXOP. Configuring the lengths of each control response to be the same may allow a TXOP owner to maintain ownership of the TXOP.

[0045] The various aspects of the present disclosure are described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure can be implemented in many different forms and should not be interpreted as being limited to any specific structure or function given throughout the present disclosure. On the contrary, these aspects are provided to make the present disclosure thorough and complete, and it will fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. Based on the teachings herein, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover any aspect of the present disclosure disclosed herein, whether it is implemented independently or in combination with any other aspect of the present disclosure. For example, any number of aspects set forth herein can be used to implement a device or practice method. In addition, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover such devices or methods practiced using supplements or other other structures, functionality, or structures and functionality as the various aspects of the present disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the present disclosure disclosed herein can be implemented by one or more elements of the claims.

[0046] The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects.

[0047] Although specific aspects are described herein, numerous variations and permutations of these aspects fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Although some benefits and advantages of preferred aspects are mentioned, the scope of the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to specific benefits, uses or objectives. Specifically, various aspects of the present disclosure are intended to be broadly applicable to different wireless technologies, system configurations, networks, and transmission protocols, some of which are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings and the following description of preferred aspects. The detailed description and drawings merely illustrate the present disclosure and do not limit the present disclosure, and the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the attached claims and their equivalent technical solutions.

[0048] The following list of acronyms may be used herein, consistent with generally accepted usage in the wireless communications art. Other acronyms may also be used herein, and if not defined in the following list, are defined at the place of first appearance in this document.

[0049] ACK................Acknowledgement

[0050] A-MPDU..........Aggregate Media Access Control Protocol Data Unit

[0051] AP....................Access Point

[0052] BA......................Block ACK

[0053] BAR.................Block ACK Request

[0054] CRC.................Cyclic Redundancy Check

[0055] DIFS...................Distributed Inter-Frame Space

[0056] EHT.................Extremely high throughput

[0057] EOF.................End of frame

[0058] EIFS................Extended Interframe Space

[0059] FCS.....................Frame Check Sequence

[0060] HE....................High Efficiency

[0061] HT....................High Throughput

[0062] ID.....................Identifier

[0063] IEEE................Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

[0064] LTF...................Long Training Field

[0065] MAC.................Media Access Control

[0066] MSB..................Most Significant Bit

[0067] MIMO...Multiple Input Multiple Output

[0068] MPDU.....MAC Protocol Data Unit

[0069] MU....................Multi-User

[0070] MU-MIMO......Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output

[0071] NDP...................Null Data Packet

[0072] OFDM...Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

[0073] OFDMA............Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

[0074] PHY..................Physical Layer

[0075] PLCP...................Physical Layer Convergence Protocol

[0076] PPDU................PLCP protocol data unit

[0077] PSDU...................PLCP Service Data Unit

[0078] QoS...Quality of Service

[0079] RDG.....Reverse Direction Grant

[0080] S1G…………Sub-1-GHz

[0081] SDMA.....Space Division Multiple Access

[0082] SIFS.....................Short Interframe Space

[0083] SIG...................signal

[0084] STA..................Station

[0085] STBC...................Space-Time Block Coding

[0086] STF...................Short Training Field

[0087] SU.....................Single User

[0088] TCP...................Transmission Control Protocol

[0089] VHT..................Very High Throughput

[0090] WLAN...............Wireless Local Area Network

[0091] The technology described herein can be used in various broadband wireless communication systems, including communication systems based on orthogonal multiplexing schemes. Examples of such communication systems include space division multiple access (SDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, etc. SDMA systems can use sufficiently different directions to simultaneously transmit data belonging to multiple user terminals. TDMA systems can allow multiple user terminals to share the same frequency channel by dividing the transmission signal into different time slots, each time slot being assigned to a different user terminal. OFDMA systems use orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), which is a modulation technique that divides the entire system bandwidth into multiple orthogonal subcarriers. These subcarriers may also be referred to as frequency modulation, frequency slots, etc. Under OFDM, each subcarrier can be independently modulated with data. SC-FDMA systems can transmit on subcarriers distributed across the system bandwidth using interleaved FDMA (IFDMA), on blocks of adjacent subcarriers using localized FDMA (LFDMA), or on blocks of multiple adjacent subcarriers using enhanced FDMA (EFDMA). In general, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain under OFDM and in the time domain under SC-FDMA.

[0092] The teachings herein may be incorporated into (such as implemented within or performed by) various wired or wireless devices (such as nodes). In some aspects, a wireless node implemented in accordance with the teachings herein may comprise an access point or an access terminal.

[0093] An access point ("AP") may include, be implemented as, or be referred to as a Node B, a radio network controller ("RNC"), an evolved Node B (eNB), a base station controller ("BSC"), a base transceiver station ("BTS"), a base station ("BS"), a transceiver function ("TF"), a radio router, a radio transceiver, a basic service set ("BSS"), an extended service set ("ESS"), a radio base station ("RBS"), or some other terminology.

[0094] An access terminal ("AT") may include, be implemented as, or be referred to as a subscriber station, a subscriber unit, a mobile station (MS), a remote station, a remote terminal, a user terminal (UT), a user agent, a user device, a user equipment (UE), a user station, or other terms. In some implementations, an access terminal may include a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol ("SIP") phone, a wireless local loop ("WLL") station, a personal digital assistant ("PDA"), a handheld device with wireless connection capability, a station ("STA"), or some other suitable processing device connected to a wireless modem. Therefore, one or more aspects of teaching herein may be incorporated into a phone (such as a cellular phone or a smart phone), a computer (such as a laptop), a tablet device, a portable communication device, a portable computing device (such as a personal data assistant), an entertainment device (such as a music or video device, or a satellite radio), a global positioning system (GPS) device, or any other suitable device configured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium. In some aspects, a node is a wireless node. Such a wireless node may provide connectivity for or to a network, such as a wide area network (such as the Internet) or a cellular network, for example, via a wired or wireless communication link.

[0095] Example Wireless Communication System

[0096] Figure 1 A multiple access multiple input multiple output (MIMO) system 100 is illustrated with access points and user terminals. Figure 1 Only one access point 110 is shown in the figure. An access point is generally a fixed station that communicates with each user terminal, and may also be referred to as a base station or some other terminology. A user terminal may be fixed or mobile, and may also be referred to as a mobile station, a wireless device, or some other terminology. An access point 110 may communicate with one or more user terminals 120 on a downlink and an uplink at any given moment. The downlink (i.e., forward link) is a communication link from an access point to a user terminal, and the uplink (i.e., reverse link) is a communication link from a user terminal to an access point. A user terminal may also communicate peer to peer with another user terminal. A system controller 130 couples to each access point and provides coordination and control of the access points.

[0097] System 100 employs multiple transmit antennas and multiple receive antennas for data transmission on downlink and uplink. Access point 110 is equipped with N ap antennas and represents multiple-input (MI) for downlink transmissions and multiple-output (MO) for uplink transmissions.

[0098] For a TDD system, the downlink and uplink share the same frequency band. For an FDD system, the downlink and uplink use different frequency bands. The MIMO system 100 may also utilize a single carrier or multiple carriers for transmission. Each user terminal may be equipped with a single antenna (such as to suppress costs) or multiple antennas (such as where the additional cost can be supported).

[0099] Figure 2 A block diagram of an access point 110 and two user terminals 120m and 120x in a MIMO system 100 is illustrated. The access point 110 and the user terminals 120m and 120x may be implemented for communications using OFDMA. OFDMA is a multi-user version of OFDM that enables concurrent AP communications (uplink and downlink) with multiple clients by assigning subsets of subcarriers, referred to as resource units (RUs), to individual clients. 802.11ax uses OFDMA technology to obtain efficient access. OFDMA allows multiple users with different bandwidth requirements to be served simultaneously. OFDMA divides the spectrum and allocates the spectrum to multiple different users when necessary.

[0100] Instead of the conventional implementation where users contend with each other to send data in the uplink, 802.11ax schedules these users so that users do not collide with each other. This managed approach results in better resource utilization and increased efficiency. The main benefit of OFDMA is that it allows the AP to assign a channel to a single user at a time or the AP can divide the channel to serve multiple users simultaneously. OFDMA is ideal for low-bandwidth applications and results in better frequency reuse, reduced latency, and improved efficiency.

[0101] In some aspects, access point 110 is equipped with N t The user terminal 120m is equipped with N antennas 224a to 224t. ut,m antennas 252ma to 252mu, and user terminal 120x is equipped with N ut,x The access point 110 is a transmitting entity for the downlink and a receiving entity for the uplink. Each user terminal 120 is a transmitting entity for the uplink and a receiving entity for the downlink. As used herein, a "transmitting entity" is an independently operated device or apparatus capable of transmitting data via a wireless channel, and a "receiving entity" is an independently operated device or apparatus capable of receiving data via a wireless channel. In the following description, the subscript "dn" indicates a downlink, the subscript "up" indicates an uplink, and N up user terminals are selected for simultaneous transmission on the uplink, N dn user terminals are selected for simultaneous transmission on the downlink, N upCan be equal to or not equal to N dn , and N up and N dn It may be a static value or may change for each scheduling interval.Beam steering or some other spatial processing technique may be used at the access point and user terminal.

[0102] On the uplink, at each user terminal 120 selected for uplink transmission, a transmit (TX) data processor 288 receives traffic data from a data source 286 and control data from a controller 280. TX data processor 288 processes (e.g., encodes, interleaves, and modulates) the traffic data for that user terminal based on the coding and modulation scheme associated with the rate selected for that user terminal and provides a data symbol stream. TX spatial processor 290 performs spatial processing on the data symbol stream and transmits the data symbol stream to N ut,m The antennas provide N ut,m Each transmitter unit (TMTR) 254 receives and processes (such as converting to analog, amplifying, filtering, and frequency upconverting) a corresponding transmit symbol stream to generate an uplink signal. ut,m The transmitter unit 254 provides N ut,m Uplink signals for N ut,m Antenna 252 transmits toward the access point.

[0103] N up UEs may be scheduled for simultaneous transmission on the uplink. Each of these user terminals performs spatial processing on its data symbol stream and transmits its set of transmit symbol streams on the uplink to the access point.

[0104] At access point 110, N ap The antennas 224a through 224ap transmit on the uplink from all N up Each antenna 224 provides a received signal to a respective receiver unit (RCVR) 222. Each receiver unit 222 performs processing complementary to that performed by transmitter unit 254 and provides a received symbol stream. RX spatial processor 240 processes the N signals from the N antennas 224 and provides a received symbol stream. ap N of the receiver units 222 ap The received symbol streams perform receiver spatial processing and provide N upReceiver spatial processing is performed based on channel correlation matrix inversion (CCMI), minimum mean square error (MMSE), soft interference cancellation (SIC), or some other technique. Each recovered uplink data symbol stream is an estimate of the data symbol stream transmitted by the respective user terminal. RX data processor 242 processes (such as demodulating, deinterleaving, and decoding) the recovered uplink data symbol stream according to the rate used for each recovered uplink data symbol stream to obtain decoded data. The decoded data for each user terminal may be provided to data sink 244 for storage or to controller 230 for further processing.

[0105] On the downlink, at access point 110, TX data processor 210 receives from data source 208 a signal for N scheduled for downlink transmission. dn The TX data processor 210 processes (e.g., encodes, interleaves, and modulates) the traffic data for each user terminal based on the rate selected for that user terminal. The TX data processor 210 is configured to process (e.g., encode, interleave, and modulate) the traffic data for each user terminal. dn The user terminals provide N dn TX spatial processor 220 processes N dn The downlink data symbol streams are spatially processed (such as precoding or beamforming, as described in the present disclosure) and are N ap The antennas provide N ap Each transmitter unit 222 receives and processes its own corresponding transmit symbol stream to generate a downlink signal. ap The transmitter units 222 provide N ap downlink signal for N ap Antenna 224 transmits to the user terminals.

[0106] In each user terminal 120, N ut,m The antenna 252 receives N signals from the access point 110. ap Each receiver unit 254 processes the received signal from an associated antenna 252 and provides a received symbol stream. RX spatial processor 260 processes the received signal from N ut,m N of the receiver units 254 ut,mThe RX data processor 270 performs receiver spatial processing on the received symbol stream and provides a recovered downlink data symbol stream for the user terminal. The receiver spatial processing is performed based on CCMI, MMSE, or some other technique. The RX data processor 270 processes (e.g., demodulates, deinterleaves, and decodes) the recovered downlink data symbol stream to obtain decoded data for the user terminal.

[0107] At each user terminal 120, a channel estimator 278 estimates the downlink channel response and provides a downlink channel estimate, which may include a channel gain estimate, an SNR estimate, a noise variance, etc. Similarly, a channel estimator 228 estimates the uplink channel response and provides an uplink channel estimate. The channel estimates may facilitate communications using multi-link aggregation, as described in more detail herein.

[0108] Figure 3 Various components that may be utilized in a wireless device 302 that may be employed within the MIMO system 100 are illustrated. The wireless device 302 is an example of a device that may be configured to implement the various methods described herein. The wireless device 302 may be an access point 110 or a user terminal 120.

[0109] The wireless device 302 may include a processor 304 that controls the operation of the wireless device 302. The processor 304 may also be referred to as a central processing unit (CPU). A memory 306, which may include both a read-only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM), provides instructions and data to the processor 304. A portion of the memory 306 may also include a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM). The processor 304 typically performs logical and arithmetic operations based on program instructions stored in the memory 306. The instructions in the memory 306 may be executed to implement the methods described herein.

[0110] The wireless device 302 may also include a housing 308, which may contain a transmitter 310 and a receiver 312 to allow transmission and reception of data between the wireless device 302 and a remote location. The transmitter 310 and the receiver 312 may be combined into a transceiver 314. A single or multiple transmit antennas 316 may be attached to the housing 308 and electrically coupled to the transceiver 314. The wireless device 302 may also include (not shown) multiple transmitters, multiple receivers, and multiple transceivers.

[0111] The wireless device 302 may also include a signal detector 318, which may be used in an effort to detect and quantify the signal level received by the transceiver 314. The signal detector 318 may detect signals such as total energy, energy per symbol per subcarrier, power spectral density, and other signals. The wireless device 302 may also include a digital signal processor (DSP) 320 for processing signals.

[0112] The various components of the wireless device 302 may be coupled together by a bus system 322, which may include a power bus, a control signal bus, and a status signal bus in addition to a data bus.

[0113] Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to apparatus and techniques for implementing multi-link communications. For example, certain aspects provide techniques for managing data streams across multiple links of a multi-link (ML) device (MLD). Multiple frequency bands may be implemented for a wireless device. For example, a wireless device may be able to support at least one of a 2.4 GHz band, a 5 GHz band, or a 6 GHz band and operate on more than one link spread across these frequency bands. With multi-link communications, data streams may be transmitted across multiple wireless links that may be associated with different frequency bands.

[0114] Certain aspects of the present disclosure implement logical entities to facilitate multi-link communications. For example, MLD may be implemented in a processing system of a physical device (such as a router). MLD generally refers to a logical entity including one or more stations (STAs) (such as virtual STAs). STA may be an AP STA or a non-AP STA. The AP STA of an AP MLD may be a virtual AP (VAP) operating on a link. The AP of an AP MLD may be part of a plurality of basic service set (BSS) identifier (BSSID) sets (such as a BSSID set configured on a link). As used herein, a STA may refer to a logical entity that is a single addressable instance of a media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) interface to a wireless medium (WM). A wireless link generally refers to a path of a WM that can be used to transfer a MAC service data unit (MSDU) between two STAs.

[0115] Figure 4 An example MLD communicating over a wireless link in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. As illustrated, MLD 402 may include multiple virtual STAs (such as APs or non-AP STAs). For example, STA 11 and STA 12 are part of MLD 402, where STA 11 manages link 1 and STA 12 manages link 2. MLD 402 may be in communication with a non-simultaneous transmit-receive (non-STR) device 404 (also referred to as a non-STR station). In other words, non-STR device 404 may not be able to transmit and receive simultaneously on links 1 and 2. Non-STR device 404 may include virtual STA 21 that may manage link 1 and virtual STA 22 that may manage link 2.

[0116] Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to techniques for facilitating communication with non-STR STAs. For example, some problems arise due to transmission and reception defects of non-STR STAs. Certain aspects introduce a communication protocol that facilitates exchanging frames with non-STR STAs while maintaining a transmission opportunity (TXOP), as described in more detail herein. MLD 402 can be a TXOP holder and can be capable of maintaining the same end time of the PPDU that MLD 402 is transmitting.

[0117] In certain aspects, an MLD that exchanges frames with a non-STR STA on multiple links may perform certain actions to ensure that the exchange of frames does not cause interference to the non-STR STA. For example, the MLD may ensure that control frames solicited from the non-STR STA on multiple links end at the same time, as described in more detail herein. For example, if a common interframe spacing (such as a short interframe spacing (SIFS)) is used across the links, the same PPDU length may be used for control responses on multiple links. In addition, the MLD may ensure that soliciting a control response on one link does not conflict with reception(s) on another link.

[0118] Figure 5 An example scenario is illustrated in which soliciting a control response on link 1 interferes with reception on link 2. For example, STA 11 and STA 12 may transmit respective data units 502, 504 on links 1 and 2, as illustrated. The data unit 502, such as a physical protocol data unit (PPDU), may trigger a first control response 506, such as a block acknowledgment (BA), from STA 21 on link 1, and the data unit 504 may trigger a second control response 508 from STA 22 on link 2. As illustrated, the length 512 of the second control response 508 may be less than the length 514 of the first control response 506. In addition, STA 12 may be configured to transmit a data unit 510 after a configured interframe space that begins at the end of receiving the control response 508. Thus, STA 21 may be transmitting the first control response 506 when STA 12 begins transmitting the data unit 510. Thus, data unit 510 may interfere with the transmission of first control response 506 because, as described herein, STA 21 and STA 22 are part of a non-STR STA (such as non-STR device 404) that is not capable of transmitting and receiving on multiple links simultaneously.

[0119] Figure 6 6 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 600 for wireless communications in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. Operations 600 may be performed, for example, by a wireless node (such as a non-STR STA) such as a user terminal (such as UT 120 in wireless communication network 100) or an access point (such as AP 110 in wireless communication network 100).

[0120] The wireless node acquires a first data unit on a first link and acquires a second data unit on a second link at block 602 of operation 600. In some aspects, the first link may include at least one of a 2.4 GHz link, a 5 GHz link, or a 6 GHz link, and the second link may include at least one of a 2.4 GHz link, a 5 GHz link, or a 6 GHz link.

[0121] At block 604, the wireless node generates a first control response to the first data unit for transmission on the first link.

[0122] At block 606, the wireless node generates a second control response for the second data unit for transmission on the second link. In some aspects, generating the second control response includes configuring one or more parameters (such as a length) of the second control response in accordance with one or more parameters (such as a length of the first control response) of the first control response. For example, configuring the length of the second control response in accordance with the length of the first control response may involve matching the lengths of the first control response and the second control response.

[0123] At block 608, the wireless node outputs the first control response for transmission on the first link and outputs the second control response for transmission on the second link.

[0124] Figure 7 7 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 700 for wireless communication in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. Operations 700 may be performed, for example, by a wireless node such as a TXOP owner, such as a user terminal such as UT 120 in wireless communication network 100 or an access point such as AP 110 in wireless communication network 100. Operations 700 may be complementary operations performed by the TXOP owner to operations 600 performed by a non-STR STA.

[0125] At block 702 of operation 700, the wireless node outputs a first data unit for transmission on a first link and outputs a second data unit for transmission on a second link. In some aspects, the first link comprises at least one of a 2.4 GHz link, a 5 GHz link, or a 6 GHz link, and the second link comprises at least one of a 2.4 GHz link, a 5 GHz link, or a 6 GHz link.

[0126] At block 704, the wireless node obtains a first control response for the first data unit on the first link.

[0127] At block 706, the wireless node receives a second control response for the second data unit on the second link.In some aspects, the second control response is configured with one or more parameters (such as its length) in accordance with one or more parameters (such as its length) of the first control response.

[0128] At block 708, the wireless node processes the first control response and the second control response.

[0129] Figure 8 Illustrated are example communications of data units 502 , 504 and control responses 506 , 508 in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 8 The data units 502, 504, 510 and control responses 506, 508 may correspond to Figure 5 508. The data units 502, 504, 510 and control responses 506, 508 of FIG. 504 may be referred to herein as solicited data units because they solicit (such as trigger) the transmission of control responses 506, 508. As illustrated, the length of the second control response 508 may be configured in accordance with the length of the first control response 506. For example, the length of the second control response 508 may be configured to match the length of the first control response 506 (such as using padding). In this way, the transmission of the data units 510, 804 may begin simultaneously.

[0130] In some aspects, the data unit may include a trigger or a trigger response scheduling (TRS) control to solicit a control response on one or more constrained links. For example, the control response may be a trigger (TB) based physical protocol data unit (PPDU) (such as a high efficiency (HE) PPDU). In this way, a non-STR STA may include a control response (such as a BA) in a TB PPDU having a predetermined length. For example, in some aspects, the length of the control response (such as the first control response 506 and the second control response 508) may be determined based on an explicit indication in the solicited data unit (such as data unit 502 and data unit 504), or the length of each control response may be previously negotiated. In other words, the control response length may be negotiated or explicitly indicated in the solicited MPDU (such as data unit 502 or data unit 504).

[0131] Explicitly indicating the length of the control response may include explicitly indicating the length of the control response or indicating parameters associated with the control response. For example, the request data unit may indicate a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and a bitmap associated with the control response, which are parameters that establish the length of the control response.

[0132] As described, the length of the control response may be negotiated. For example, the length of the control response (such as an explicit length or a parameter that establishes the length) may be communicated using a management frame (such as during establishment of a connection between STAs). In this way, a non-STRSTA may send a control response (e.g., BA) in a PPDU with a specified length / parameter as negotiated.

[0133] The explicit indication of the length in the request data unit can be performed using various techniques. For example, the length of the PPDU that will carry the control response frame (such as control response 508) may be indicated in the MAC header of the MPDU contained in the PPDU of the request response (such as data unit 504). This can be accomplished by overloading the existing control information subfield of the A-Control field. For example, the TRS control field may have a length subfield that can be overloaded to indicate the length of the control response (or a parameter that establishes the length). A bit toggle in the control information subfield may indicate that the new functionality of the field is to indicate the length. In some aspects, the new control information field may be used to indicate the length in the request PPDU.

[0134] In certain aspects, the duration / identifier (ID) field of a request data unit (such as an MPDU) may be used to indicate the length. The duration / ID field may also be used for the wireless node to set its network allocation vector (NAV). NAV is a timer mechanism that maintains a prediction of future traffic on the medium based on duration value information observed in previous frame transmissions. When a wireless node is not transmitting, the wireless node listens for frames from other stations. If a wireless node senses a frame, the wireless node reads the header of the frame and determines the duration / ID contained therein. The wireless node sets its NAV timer and postpones any transmission on the medium to avoid interfering with the communications of other stations.

[0135] In some cases, the duration / ID field may be used to indicate the length of the control response for the MPDU included in the HE or EHT PPDU, because the HE or EHT PPDU may also include the TXOP duration in the SIG-A field. For example, instead of the duration / ID field indicating the duration of the entire TXOP, the duration / ID field may indicate the duration of the period including the transmission of the solicited data unit and the transmission of the control response, thereby allowing the non-STR STA to determine the length of the control response to be used from the duration / ID field. A peer STA (such as a non-STR STA) may understand that the duration / ID field is providing additional functionality (such as indicating the length of the control response to be used) based on negotiation or based on the difference in the values ​​of the duration / ID field and the TXOP duration in the SIG-A field. Other STAs may still set the NAV based on the maximum of the values ​​of the duration / ID field and the TXOP duration in the SIG-A field to avoid interfering with the communication of the TXOP owner.

[0136] In some aspects, one or more parameters (such as length) of the second control response 508 may be configured according to the length of the first control response 506 by using padding. For example, padding 802 may be used to match the length of the first control response 506 and the second control response 508. When a control response (such as a BA) is sent in a high throughput (HT), very high throughput (VHT), high efficiency (HE), or extremely high throughput (EHT) PPDU, aggregate MPDU (A-MPDU) level padding may be used to provide an appropriate requested length. In some aspects, to extend the control response, the extension may be performed by repeating one or more fields in the control response.

[0137] In some aspects, a non-STR STA may use a multi-(M) BA format for a control response, wherein one or more additional BA information fields may be added to the BA so that the requested length is reached. In some aspects, a new variant of a BA format with padding attributes may be used (such as in a manner similar to a trigger frame). In some cases, the L-Length field of a non-HTPPDU carrying an ACK / BA frame may be set to a value greater than 14 or 32 octets. In other words, the length indicated by the L-Length field may be increased to match the lengths of the first control response 506 and the second control response 508. Although increasing the length of the control response is backward compatible (such as because a legacy STA that is not the intended recipient of the control response only needs to check the recipient address (RA), duration, and frame check sequence (FCS)), it may not be compatible with all implementations.

[0138] Fig. 9 900 for wireless communications in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. Operations 900 may be performed, for example, by a wireless node such as a TXOP owner, such as a user terminal such as UT 120 in wireless communication network 100 or an access point such as AP 110 in wireless communication network 100.

[0139] At block 902 of operation 900, the wireless node outputs a first data unit for transmission on a first link and outputs a second data unit for transmission on a second link. In some aspects, the first link comprises at least one of a 2.4 GHz link, a 5 GHz link, or a 6 GHz link, and the second link comprises at least one of a 2.4 GHz link, a 5 GHz link, or a 6 GHz link.

[0140] At block 904, the wireless node receives a first control response for the first data unit and a second control response for the second data unit.

[0141] At block 906, the wireless node generates a third data unit for transmission on the first link after receiving the first control response.

[0142] At block 908, the wireless node generates a fourth data unit for transmission on the second link after receiving the second control response.

[0143] At block 910, the wireless node may defer transmission of the fourth data unit to coincide with the start of transmission of the fourth data unit.

[0144] At block 912, the wireless node outputs the third data unit for transmission on the first link and outputs the fourth data unit for transmission on the second link. In other words, a TXOP holder may not initiate transmissions that would otherwise interfere with transmissions initiated by non-STRSTAs in other constrained links.

[0145] Fig.10 Techniques for deferring data unit transmission according to certain aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated. As illustrated, the length of the first control response 506 may be greater than the length of the second control response 508. As illustrated, in order to prevent the data unit 510 from interfering with the reception of the first control response 506, the STA 12 may defer the transmission of the data unit 510. For example, the STA 12 may defer the transmission of the data unit 510 so that the transmission of the data units 510, 804 begins at the same time. By suspending the transmission of the data unit 510, the link 2 may remain idle, thereby allowing the STA of the overlapping basic service set (OBSS) to obtain ownership of the TXOP. Fig.10 The data units 502, 504, 510 and control responses 506, 508 may correspond to Figure 5 The data units 502, 504, 510 and the control responses 506, 508. In addition, the data unit 804 may correspond to Figure 8 data unit 804.

[0146] The various operations of the methods described above may be performed by any suitable device capable of performing the corresponding functions. These devices may include various hardware or software components or modules, including but not limited to circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or processors. In general, where there are operations illustrated in the accompanying drawings, these operations may have corresponding paired device-plus-function components with similar numbers. Fig.11 The following describes operations that may include being configured to perform the techniques disclosed herein (such as Figure 6 , 79 and 10 . The communication device 1100 includes a processing system 1102 coupled to a transceiver 1108 (such as a transmitter or a receiver). The transceiver 1108 is configured to transmit and receive signals for the communication device 1100 (such as the various signals described herein) via an antenna 1110. The processing system 1102 can be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 1100, including processing signals received or to be transmitted by the communication device 1100.

[0147] The processing system 1102 includes a processor 1104 coupled to a computer readable medium / memory 1112 via a bus 1106. In some aspects, the computer readable medium / memory 1112 is configured to store programs that, when executed by the processor 1104, cause the processor 1104 to execute Figure 6 , 7 9 or instructions (such as computer executable code) for performing the operations explained in the present invention or other operations for configuring various techniques for beamforming discussed herein. In some aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 1112 stores code 1114 for acquisition (such as an example of an apparatus for acquisition); code 1116 for generation (such as adding padding) (such as an example of an apparatus for generation); and code 1118 for output (such as an example of an apparatus for output); code 1120 for postponement (such as an example of an apparatus for postponement); and code 1121 for processing (such as an example of an apparatus for processing) may be optionally used. In some aspects, the processor 1104 has a circuit system configured to implement the code stored in the computer-readable medium / memory 1112.

[0148] In certain aspects, processor 1104 has circuitry configured to implement code stored in computer-readable medium / memory 1112. Processor 1104 includes circuitry 1122 for acquiring (such as an example of means for acquiring); circuitry 1124 for generating (such as adding padding) (such as an example of means for generating); circuitry 1126 for outputting (such as an example of means for outputting); circuitry 1128 for optionally deferring (such as an example of means for deferring); and circuitry 1129 for optionally processing (such as an example of means for processing).

[0149] The transceiver 1108 may provide a means for receiving information, such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (such as control channels, data channels, etc.). The information may be communicated to other components of the device 1100. The transceiver 1108 may be a reference Figure 2Examples of various aspects of the described transceiver 254. Antenna 1110 may correspond to a single antenna or a collection of antennas. Transceiver 1108 may provide a means for transmitting signals generated by the other components of device 1100.

[0150] For example, means for transmitting (or means for outputting for transmission) may include Figure 2 10, or the transmitter unit 254 or the antenna(s) 252 of the station 120. The means for receiving (or the means for acquiring) may include Figure 2 10, or a receiver (such as receiver unit 222) or antenna(s) 224 of access point 110, or a receiver unit 254 or antenna(s) 252 of station 120 as illustrated in FIG. 10. Means for communicating may include a transmitter, a receiver, or both. Means for generating, means for deferring, means for obtaining, means for outputting, means for configuring, means for matching, means for determining, means for adding, means for using, means for processing, and means for supporting may include a processing system, which may include one or more processors, such as Figure 2 1. The RX data processor 242, TX data processor 210, TX spatial processor 220, or controller 230 of the access point 110, or the RX data processor 270, TX data processor 288, TX spatial processor 290, or controller 280 of the station 120 illustrated in FIG.

[0151] In some cases, the device may not actually transmit a frame, but may have an interface (means for outputting) for outputting a frame for transmission. For example, a processor may output a frame to a radio frequency (RF) front end via a bus interface for transmission. Similarly, a device may not actually receive a frame, but may have an interface (means for obtaining) for obtaining a frame received from another device. For example, a processor may obtain (or receive) a frame from an RF front end via a bus interface for reception. In some cases, the interface for outputting a frame for transmission and the interface for obtaining a frame (which may be referred to as the first and second interfaces in this article) may be the same interface.

[0152] Example aspects

[0153] Aspect 1. A method for wireless communication, comprising: acquiring a first data unit on a first link and acquiring a second data unit on a second link; generating a first control response for the first data unit for transmission on the first link after receiving the first data unit; generating a second control response for the second data unit for transmission on the second link after receiving the second data unit, wherein generating the second control response comprises: configuring one or more parameters of the second control response according to one or more parameters of the first control response; and outputting the first control response for transmission on the first link and outputting the second control response for transmission on the second link.

[0154] Aspect 2. The method of aspect 1, wherein the first link comprises at least one of a 2.4 GHz link, a 5 GHz link, or a 6 GHz link, and the second link comprises at least one of a 2.4 GHz link, a 5 GHz link, or a 6 GHz link.

[0155] Aspect 3. The method as described in any one of aspects 1-2, wherein configuring one or more parameters of the second control response according to one or more parameters of the first control response comprises: matching the length of the first control response with the length of the second control response.

[0156] Aspect 4. The method of any one of aspects 1-3, wherein the second data unit includes an indication for triggering transmission of the second control response, and wherein the second control response includes a trigger-based data unit output for transmission in response to the indication.

[0157] Aspect 5. The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 4 further comprises: obtaining a management frame having an indication of one or more parameters of the first control response and one or more parameters of the second control response.

[0158] Aspect 6. The method as described in any one of aspects 1-5 further comprises: determining one or more parameters of the first control response and one or more parameters of the second control response based on an indication in at least one of the first data unit or the second data unit.

[0159] Aspect 7. The method of aspect 6, wherein the indication is part of a control information field in the at least one of the first data unit or the second data unit.

[0160] Aspect 8. The method according to aspect 7, wherein the control information field comprises a trigger response scheduling (TRS) control field.

[0161] Aspect 9. The method as described in any one of aspects 1-8 further includes: determining one or more parameters of at least one of the first control response or the second control response based on a duration field in each of at least one of the first data unit or the second data unit.

[0162] Aspect 10. The method of aspect 9, wherein the duration field indicates a duration from an end of the first data unit or the second data unit to an end of the first control response or the second control response, respectively.

[0163] Aspect 11. The method of any one of aspects 1-10, wherein the one or more parameters of the first control response include a length of the first control response, and wherein the one or more parameters of the second control response include a length of the second control response.

[0164] Aspect 12. The method of any one of aspects 1-11, wherein generating the second control response comprises: adding padding to the second control response to configure one or more parameters of the second control response in accordance with one or more parameters of the first control response.

[0165] Aspect 13. The method of any one of aspects 1-2, wherein generating the second control response comprises: using a multi-block acknowledgement (BA) format to configure one or more parameters of the second control response in accordance with one or more parameters of the first control response.

[0166] Aspect 14. The method of any one of aspects 1-13, wherein generating the second control response comprises: configuring a number of octets associated with a length field in the second control response to configure one or more parameters of the second control response in accordance with one or more parameters of the first control response.

[0167] Aspect 15. The method of any one of aspects 1-14, further comprising: supporting transmission and reception associated only with non-overlapping time periods.

[0168] Aspect 16. A method for wireless communication, comprising: outputting a first data unit for transmission on a first link and outputting a second data unit for transmission on a second link; obtaining a first control response for the first data unit and a second control response for the second data unit; generating a third data unit for transmission on the first link after receiving the first control response; generating a fourth data unit for transmission on the second link after receiving the second control response; postponing transmission of the fourth data unit so that the start of transmission of the fourth data unit coincides with the start of transmission of the third data unit; and outputting the third data unit for transmission on the first link and outputting the fourth data unit for transmission on the second link.

[0169] Aspect 17. The method of aspect 16, wherein the first link comprises at least one of a 2.4 GHz link, a 5 GHz link, or a 6 GHz link, and the second link comprises at least one of a 2.4 GHz link, a 5 GHz link, or a 6 GHz link.

[0170] Aspect 18. The method of aspect 16, wherein the second control response has a longer duration than the first control response.

[0171] Aspect 19. The method of aspect 16, wherein deferring the transmission of the fourth data unit comprises deferring the transmission of the fourth data unit at least until the end of the reception of the first control response.

[0172] Aspect 20. The method of aspect 16, wherein each of the first control response and the second control response comprises a block acknowledgement (BA).

[0173] Aspect 21. A method for wireless communication, comprising: outputting a first data unit for transmission on a first link and outputting a second data unit for transmission on a second link; obtaining a first control response for the first data unit on the first link; obtaining a second control response for the second data unit on the second link, wherein the second control response is configured with one or more parameters in accordance with one or more parameters of the first control response; and processing the first control response and the second control response.

[0174] Aspect 22. The method of aspect 21, wherein the first link comprises at least one of a 2.4 GHz link, a 5 GHz link, or a 6 GHz link, and wherein the second link comprises at least one of a 2.4 GHz link, a 5 GHz link, or a 6 GHz link.

[0175] Aspect 23. The method according to Aspect 21 or 22, wherein configuring one or more parameters of the second control response according to one or more parameters of the first control response comprises: matching the length of the first control response with the length of the second control response.

[0176] Aspect 24. The method of any one of Aspects 21-23, wherein the second data unit includes an indication for triggering transmission of the second control response, and the second control response includes a trigger-based data unit acquired in response to the indication.

[0177] Aspect 25: The method as described in any one of Aspects 21-24 further comprises: outputting a management frame for transmission, the management frame having an indication of one or more parameters of the first control response and one or more parameters of the second control response.

[0178] Aspect 26. The method of any one of Aspects 21-25, wherein at least one of the first data unit or the second data unit includes an indication of one or more parameters of the first control response and one or more parameters of the second control response.

[0179] Aspect 27. The method of aspect 26, wherein the indication is part of a control information field in the at least one of the first data unit or the second data unit.

[0180] Aspect 28. The method of aspect 27, wherein the control information field comprises a trigger response scheduling (TRS) control field.

[0181] Aspect 29. A method as described in any one of Aspects 21-28, wherein the duration field of each of at least one of the first data unit or the second data unit indicates at least one of the one or more parameters of the first control response or the one or more parameters of the second control response.

[0182] Aspect 30. The method of aspect 29, wherein the duration field indicates a duration from an end of the first data unit or the second data unit to an end of the first control response or the second control response, respectively.

[0183] Aspect 31. The method of any one of Aspects 21-30, wherein the one or more parameters of the first control response include a length of the first control response, and the one or more parameters of the second control response include a length of the second control response.

[0184] Aspect 32. The method of any one of Aspects 21-32, wherein the second control response includes padding added to make one or more parameters of the second control response conform to one or more parameters of the first control response.

[0185] Aspect 33. The method of any one of aspects 21-33, wherein the second control response comprises a multi-block acknowledgement (BA) format such that one or more parameters of the second control response are configured in accordance with one or more parameters of the first control response.

[0186] Aspect 34. The method of any of Aspects 21-33, wherein a number of octets associated with a length field in the second control response is configured to cause one or more parameters of the second control response to conform to one or more parameters of the first control response.

[0187] Aspect 35. An apparatus comprising means for executing the method of any one of Aspects 1 to 34.

[0188] Aspect 36. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor, the at least one processor being configured to perform the method of any one of Aspects 1 to 34.

[0189] Aspect 37. A computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable code for wireless communication, the computer executable code when executed by at least one processor causing an apparatus to perform the method of any one of aspects 1 to 34.

[0190] As used herein, the term "determining" encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, "determining" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, searching (such as searching in a table, a database, or another data structure), ascertaining, and the like. Additionally, "determining" may include receiving (such as receiving information), accessing (such as accessing data in a memory), and similar actions. Furthermore, "determining" may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, and the like.

[0191] As used herein, a phrase referring to "at least one of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to cover: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, and abc.

[0192] The various illustrative logics, logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic processes described in conjunction with the implementations disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. This interchangeability of hardware and software has been generally described in terms of their functionality and illustrated in the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and processes described above. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0193] The hardware and data processing apparatus for implementing the various illustrative logics, logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or executed with a general purpose single-chip or multi-chip processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in cooperation with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. In some implementations, specific processes and methods may be performed by circuit systems dedicated to a given function.

[0194] In one or more aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, digital electronic circuitry, computer software, firmware (including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents), or in any combination thereof. Implementations of the subject matter described in this specification may also be implemented as one or more computer programs, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a computer storage medium for execution by a data processing apparatus or for controlling the operation of a data processing apparatus.

[0195] If implemented in software, each function can be stored on a computer-readable medium or transmitted therethrough as one or more instructions or codes. The process of the method or algorithm disclosed herein can be implemented in a processor executable software module that can reside on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that can be implemented to transfer a computer program from one place to another. Storage media can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. As an example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer. Any connection may also be appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. As used herein, disks and discs include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks and blue-ray discs, wherein disks often reproduce data magnetically and discs reproduce data optically with lasers. The above combination should also be included in the scope of computer-readable media. Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and instructions on a machine-readable medium and a computer-readable medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.

[0196] Various modifications to the implementations described in this disclosure may be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the universal principles defined herein may be applied to other implementations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the implementations shown herein, but should be granted the widest scope consistent with the disclosure, the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

[0197] Certain features described in this specification in the context of separate implementations may also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single implementation may also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination. Furthermore, while features may be described above as functioning in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination may in some cases be removed from the combination, and a claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination, or variations of a subcombination.

[0198] Similarly, although operations are depicted in a particular order in the accompanying drawings, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the particular order shown or in a sequential order, or to perform all the operations described in order 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. However, other operations not depicted may be incorporated into the schematically illustrated example process. For example, one or more additional operations may be performed before, after, simultaneously or between any illustrated operations. In some environments, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. In addition, the separation of various system components in the implementation described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products. Additionally, other implementations also fall within the scope of the appended claims. In some cases, the actions described in the claims may be performed in different orders and still achieve the desired result.

Claims

1. A device for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory, the at least one memory comprising computer executable instructions; as well as one or more processors configured to execute the computer-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to: outputting a first data unit for transmission on a first link, wherein the first data unit includes a first control field; outputting a second data unit for transmission on a second link, wherein the second data unit includes a second control field, and wherein at least one of the first control field or the second control field provides information to align an end of a first control response with an end of a second control response; obtaining the first control response on the first link after outputting the first data unit for transmission, the first control response being responsive to the first data unit; and The second control response is obtained on the second link after outputting the second data unit for transmission, the second control response being responsive to the second data unit.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein: The first control field includes a first duration field; and The second control field includes a second duration field, at least one of the first duration field or the second duration field providing the information to align an end of the first control response with an end of the second control response.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein: The first duration field indicates a first duration from an end of the first data unit to an end of the first control response; and The second duration field indicates a second duration from an end of the second data unit to an end of the second control response.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein: The information comprises a first value to be indicated in the first control field and a second value to be indicated in the second control field; and The one or more processors are configured to execute the computer-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to: determine the first value and the second value such that an end of the first control response is aligned with an end of the second control response.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein: The first value comprises a first duration value to be indicated in a first duration field of the first control field; and The second value comprises a second duration value to be indicated in a second duration field of the second control field.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein: The second control response includes padding configured to align an end of the first control response with an end of the second control response according to the second control field.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein: The first link comprises a first non-simultaneous transmit receive (non-STR) link; and The second link comprises a second non-STR link.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein: The first control field is carried within a Media Access Control (MAC) header of the first data unit, and wherein the second control field is carried within a MAC header of the second data unit.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein: To align an end of the first control response with an end of the second control response, the first control field and the second control field are configured to match a length of the first control response with a length of the second control response.

10. A method for wireless communication, comprising: outputting a first data unit for transmission on a first link, wherein the first data unit includes a first control field; outputting a second data unit for transmission on a second link, wherein the second data unit includes a second control field, and wherein at least one of the first control field or the second control field provides information to align an end of a first control response with an end of a second control response; obtaining the first control response on the first link after outputting the first data unit for transmission, the first control response being responsive to the first data unit; and The second control response is obtained on the second link after outputting the second data unit for transmission, the second control response being responsive to the second data unit.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein: The first control field includes a first duration field; and The second control field includes a second duration field, at least one of the first duration field or the second duration field providing the information to align an end of the first control response with an end of the second control response.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein: The first duration field indicates a first duration from an end of the first data unit to an end of the first control response; and The second duration field indicates a second duration from an end of the second data unit to an end of the second control response.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein: The information comprises a first value to be indicated in the first control field and a second value to be indicated in the second control field; and The method further includes determining the first value and the second value such that an end of the first control response is aligned with an end of the second control response.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein: The first value comprises a first duration value to be indicated in a first duration field of the first control field; and The second value comprises a second duration value to be indicated in a second duration field of the second control field.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein: The second control response includes padding for aligning an end of the first control response with an end of the second control response according to the second control field.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein: The first link comprises a first non-simultaneous transmit receive (non-STR) link; and The second link comprises a second non-STR link.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein: The first control field is carried within a Media Access Control (MAC) header of the first data unit, and wherein the second control field is carried within a MAC header of the second data unit.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein: Aligning an end of the first control response with an end of the second control response includes matching a length of the first control response with a length of the second control response via the information in at least one of the first control field and the second control field.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: outputting a first data unit for transmission on a first link, wherein the first data unit includes a first control field; outputting a second data unit for transmission on a second link, wherein the second data unit comprises a second control field, and wherein, at least one of the first control field or the second control field provides information to align an end of a first control response with an end of a second control response; obtaining the first control response on the first link after outputting the first data unit for transmission, the first control response being responsive to the first data unit; as well as The second control response is obtained on the second link after outputting the second data unit for transmission, the second control response being responsive to the second data unit.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein: The first control field includes a first duration field; and The second control field includes a second duration field, at least one of the first duration field or the second duration field providing the information to align an end of the first control response with an end of the second control response.

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