Method and apparatus for p2p group communication between non AP multi-link devices

Abstract

A transmission method in a wireless network, the method comprising: configuring a first affiliated non-AP station of a non-access point (non-AP) multilink device (MLD) as a peer-to-peer (P2P) station for communicating with peer-to-peer stations in a first basic service set (BSS), thereby forming a P2P group; and configuring at least one second affiliated non-AP station of the non-AP MLD as a station for communication with the AP in the second BSS.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention generally relates to communication networks, and more particularly to a peer-to-peer (P2P) communication method and corresponding apparatus in a wireless network, the wireless network including a plurality of stations aggregated into a plurality of multi-link entities, one of the multi-link entities acting as an access point and the other multi-link entities being connected to the access point.

[0002] The present invention is particularly applicable to access in 802.11be / uhr / bn standard networks. Background Art

[0003] Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcasting, etc. These wireless networks can be multi-access networks capable of supporting multiple users by sharing available network resources. Examples of such multi-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.

[0004] To address the problem of increased bandwidth and reduced latency requirements in wireless communication systems in high-density environments, multi-user (MU) schemes are being developed to allow a single access point (AP) to schedule MU transmissions in a wireless network, i.e., multiple simultaneous transmissions to or from non-AP stations. For example, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) adopted one of such MU schemes in the draft version 3.0 (D3.0) of the 802.11ax standard in June 2018.

[0005] Due to the MU feature, stations have the opportunity to obtain access to the wireless medium via two access schemes: the MU scheme and the conventional enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) (single user (SU)) scheme.

[0006] However, the SU and MU schemes directly compete with each other to obtain access to the wireless medium (by the AP for the MU scheme and by non-AP stations for the SU scheme). In high-density environments, this competition generates a large number of unwanted conflicts, thereby reducing latency and overall useful data throughput. Therefore, some mechanisms that favor the MU scheme over the SU scheme have been introduced.

[0007] As a successor to 802.11ax, the 802.11be standard (i.e., EHT representing "extremely high throughput") is considering a feature called multi-link operation (MLO), where a single device can support multiple links and the data of the device can be transferred to another device through multiple links. The multi-link feature can increase the peak / average throughput of the device. The multi-link capabilities are negotiated during the initial association between a non-AP station and an intended AP.

[0008] A multi-link device is a station that includes a number of associated stations. Each associated station is dedicated to handling one link for that station. An access point multi-link device (AP MLD) is a multi-link device where each associated station (STA) within the MLD is an AP. A non-AP multi-link device (non-AP MLD) is a multi-link device where each associated station within the MLD is a non-AP STA. The associated STAs provide link-specific lower medium access protocol (MAC) services within the MLD.

[0009] Multi-link operation is not applicable to bandwidth-demanding communication services between two non-AP stations, such as video-based services like gaming, virtual reality, streaming applications, etc. This is because all communication passes through the AP in addition to any (one or more) links being used, doubling the airtime used for transmission and also doubling the number of medium accesses, thus doubling the medium access time.

[0010] In fact, efficiently using the resources of a wireless local area network (WLAN) is important for providing bandwidth and acceptable response times to the users of the WLAN. In the context of bandwidth-demanding communication services between two non-AP stations, the duration of the association of the two non-AP stations is also an issue and should be kept as short as possible. Summary of the Invention

[0011] The present invention aims to address one or more of the foregoing problems.

[0012] The present invention relates to a non-AP multi-link device (MLD) that can configure one of its associated stations as a peer-to-peer (P2P) station to form a P2P group while other associated stations remain operating in the WLAN.

[0013] According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for transmission in a wireless network is provided, the method comprising:

[0014] Configuring a first associated non-AP station of a non-access point (non-AP) multi-link device (MLD) as a peer-to-peer (P2P) station for communicating with a peer station in a first basic service set (BSS), thereby forming a P2P group; and

[0015] Configuring at least one second associated non-AP station of the non-AP MLD as a station for communicating with an AP in a second BSS.

[0016] In some embodiments, the second associated non-AP station of the non-AP MLD is configured to communicate with a corresponding associated AP station of an AP MLD.

[0017] In some embodiments, once the first affiliated non-AP station is configured to communicate in the P2P group, it stops transmitting to the AP MLD.

[0018] In some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0019] Before configuring the first affiliated non-AP station as a P2P station, de-associate the first affiliated non-AP station from the affiliated AP station of the AP MLD.

[0020] In some embodiments, the first affiliated non-AP station is configured to communicate with the peer station on the first channel of the first BSS, and the at least one second affiliated non-AP station is configured to communicate with the AP on at least one second channel of the second BSS. The method includes:

[0021] Report the P2P group and the first channel to the AP MLD by the at least one second affiliated non-AP station of the non-AP MLD.

[0022] In some embodiments, reporting the P2P group includes: transmitting a P2P information element (IE).

[0023] In some embodiments, the P2P IE is transmitted in a P2P invitation request frame, and the P2P invitation request frame is transmitted by the at least one second affiliated non-AP station on the second channel to the AP MLD for transmission to other stations connected to the AP MLD.

[0024] In some embodiments, the P2P IE is transmitted in the multi-link IE of a probe request frame.

[0025] In some embodiments, the probe request frame further includes, in addition to the multi-link IE having information of the group owner (GO) of the P2P group, a reduced neighbor report (RNR) IE for identifying the first affiliated non-AP station operating as the GO. And wherein, the RNR IE and the ML IE include an MLD ID sub-field and a link ID sub-field, and the MLD ID sub-field and the link ID sub-field are respectively set to the same value different from the corresponding sub-field values for the second BSS.

[0026] In some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0027] Transmit the P2P IE by the AP MLD in a probe response frame or a beacon frame on the second channel.

[0028] In some embodiments, the P2P IE is included in each STA profile of the first basic multi-link IE.

[0029] In some embodiments, in addition to including the first basic multi-link IE, the beacon frame or the probe response frame further includes:

[0030] RNR IE, which is used to identify the associated AP stations of the AP MLD and the associated non-AP stations operating as the group owner (GO) of the P2P group;

[0031] A second basic multi-link IE, which includes information of the associated AP stations of the AP MLD, and

[0032] wherein the MLD ID sub-field in the RNR IE and the basic multi-link IE is used to indicate whether the reported AP belongs to the first BSS or the second BSS.

[0033] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product for a programmable device, the computer program product including an instruction sequence that, when loaded into and executed by the programmable device, implements the method according to the present invention.

[0034] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions of a computer program for implementing the method according to the present invention.

[0035] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program that, when executed, causes the method according to the present invention to be performed.

[0036] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a non-access point (non-AP) multi-link device (MLD), which includes a first associated non-AP station and at least one second associated non-AP station, wherein the non-AP MLD is capable of configuring the first associated non-AP station as a peer-to-peer (P2P) station for communicating with peer stations in a first basic service set (BSS) to form a P2P group, and at the same time configuring the second associated non-AP station as a station for communicating with an access point in a second BSS.

[0037] In some embodiments, the first BSS and the second BSS are not part of the same extended service set (ESS).

[0038] In some embodiments, the second associated non-AP stations are configured as stations for respectively communicating with the associated AP stations of the AP MLD.

[0039] In some embodiments, the second associated non-AP stations are configured as stations for communicating with non-MLD AP stations.

[0040] In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD includes:

[0041] An upper MAC sublayer (424a), which is common to the first affiliated non-AP station and the second affiliated non-AP station;

[0042] A first dedicated entity, which includes a first lower MAC sublayer (424b) and a first PHY layer (423), and the first dedicated entity is dedicated to the first affiliated non-AP station; and

[0043] A second dedicated entity, which includes a second lower MAC sublayer (424b) and a second PHY layer (423), and the second dedicated entity is dedicated to each second affiliated non-AP station among the second affiliated non-AP stations.

[0044] In some embodiments, a single service access point (SAP) is provided to the upper layer.

[0045] In some embodiments, the data streams of the first BSS and the data streams of the second BSS are independently processed in the upper MAC sublayer.

[0046] In some embodiments, the upper MAC sublayer is configured to receive an indication from the SAP that an incoming data stream belongs to the first BSS, and is configured to isolate the incoming data stream according to the indication, and the indication is one of the following:

[0047] The value of a priority field;

[0048] A traffic identifier;

[0049] A flow classification service identifier (SCSID) for identifying an SCS flow characterized by a TCLAS element and / or a TCLAS processing element;

[0050] A local index determined by the SAP; and

[0051] The address of the first affiliated non-AP station.

[0052] In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD includes:

[0053] A first upper MAC sublayer, which is dedicated to the first affiliated non-AP station;

[0054] A second upper MAC sublayer, which is common to the second affiliated non-AP stations;

[0055] A first dedicated entity, which includes a first lower MAC sublayer (424b) and a first PHY layer (423), and the first dedicated entity is dedicated to the first affiliated non-AP station; and

[0056] A second dedicated entity, which includes a second lower MAC sublayer (424b) and a second PHY layer (423), and the second dedicated entity is dedicated to each second associated non-AP station among the second associated non-AP stations.

[0057] In some embodiments, the first BSS and the second BSS operate on different channels.

[0058] In some embodiments, the first BSS is a Wi-Fi BSS.

[0059] In some embodiments, the Wi-Fi BSS runs the Wi-Fi Direct specification, and wherein, the P2P group identifier of the Wi-Fi BSS takes the value of the station association identifier (STAAID) of the first associated non-AP station acting as the group owner.

[0060] In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD is configured to provide a multi-link information element to the AP, and the multi-link information element provides capability information for a station to join the P2P group.

[0061] In some embodiments, the first associated non-AP station is configured to communicate with the peer station on a first channel of the first BSS, and the at least one second associated non-AP station is configured to communicate with the AP on at least one second channel of the second BSS, and the non-AP MLD is configured for:

[0062] Reporting the P2P group and the first channel by the at least one second associated non-AP station of the non-AP MLD to the AP MLD.

[0063] In some embodiments, reporting the P2P group includes: transmitting a P2P information element (IE).

[0064] In some embodiments, the P2P IE is transmitted in a P2P invitation request frame, and the P2P invitation request frame is transmitted by the at least one second associated non-AP station on the second channel to the AP MLD for being transmitted to other stations connected to the AP MLD.

[0065] In some embodiments, the P2P IE is transmitted in a multi-link IE of a probe request frame.

[0066] In some embodiments, the probe request frame, in addition to including the multi-link IE having information of the group owner (GO) of the P2P group, further includes a reduced neighbor report (RNR) IE for identifying the first affiliated non-AP station operating as the GO, and wherein the RNR IE and the MLE IE include an MLD ID sub-field and a link ID sub-field, and the MLD ID sub-field and the link ID sub-field are respectively set to the same value different from the corresponding sub-field values for the second BSS.

[0067] In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD is further configured to:

[0068] Receive the P2P IE from the AP MLD in a probe response frame or a beacon frame on the second channel.

[0069] In some embodiments, the P2P IE is included in each STA profile of the first basic multi-link IE.

[0070] In some embodiments, the beacon frame or the probe response frame, in addition to including the first basic multi-link IE, further includes:

[0071] An RNR IE for identifying the affiliated AP station of the AP MLD and the affiliated non-AP station operating as the group owner (GO) of the P2P group;

[0072] A second basic multi-link IE including information of the affiliated AP station of the AP MLD, and

[0073] wherein the MLD ID sub-field in the RNR IE and the basic multi-link IE is used to indicate whether the reported AP belongs to the first BSS or the second BSS.

[0074] At least a part of the method according to the present invention can be computer-implemented. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects, and the hardware aspects can generally be referred to as "circuits", "modules" or "systems" herein. In addition, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in any tangible expression medium having computer-usable program code embodied in the medium.

[0075] Since the present invention can be implemented in software, the present invention can be embodied as computer-readable code for providing to a programmable device on any suitable carrier medium. The tangible non-transitory carrier medium may include storage media such as floppy disks, CD-ROMs, hard disk drives, magnetic tape devices, or solid-state memory devices, etc. The transitory carrier medium may include signals such as electrical signals, electronic signals, optical signals, acoustic signals, magnetic signals, or electromagnetic signals, such as microwave or RF signals. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0076] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the following drawings, in which:

[0077] Figure 1 Illustrates a typical wireless communication system in which embodiments of the present invention can be implemented;

[0078] Figure 2 Illustrates an example of a multi-link arrangement according to 802.11be;

[0079] Figure 3a Illustrates the process of forming a P2P group;

[0080] Figure 3b Illustrates such a P2P concurrent device having a first MAC entity operating as a WLAN-STA and a second MAC entity operating as a P2P device;

[0081] Figure 4a Illustrates a schematic diagram of a non-AP H-MLD communication device in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0082] Figure 4b Schematically illustrates Figure 4a the architecture of the communication device;

[0083] Figure 5 Illustrates an example of a block diagram of a multi-link arrangement according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0084] Figure 6 Illustrates another exemplary wireless connectivity;

[0085] Figure 7a Illustrates a possible implementation for advertising the P2P device operation of a non-AP H-MLD device;

[0086] Figure 7b Illustrates an alternative embodiment of the MLO link information element;

[0087] Figure 8 Illustrates the main steps of a method for configuring a link for Wi-Fi direct communication for operation by a P2P affiliated station of an H-MLD in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0088] Figure 9 and Figure 10 discloses an apparatus architecture representing two reference models of a non-AP H-MLD 400 that can be used in embodiments of the present invention;

[0089] Figures 11a to 11c illustrates a process for a P2P invitation procedure for hybrid MLD according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0090] Figures 12a to 12f illustrates a process for advertising a P2P group via an infrastructure BSS according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0091] Figure 13 illustrates a format of a reduced neighbor report (RNR) information element used in embodiments of the present invention. Detailed Description

[0092] The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of specific non-limiting exemplary embodiments.

[0093] The techniques 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) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, and single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems. An SDMA system can utilize different directions to simultaneously transmit data belonging to multiple user terminals. A TDMA system can allow multiple user terminals to share the same frequency channel by dividing the transmission signal into different time slots or resource units, where each time slot is allocated to a different user terminal. An OFDMA system utilizes orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), which is a modulation technique that divides the entire system bandwidth into multiple orthogonal subcarriers or resource units. These subcarriers can also be referred to as frequency tones, bins, etc. Using OFDM, each subcarrier can be independently modulated with data. An SC-FDMA system can utilize interleaved FDMA (IFDMA) for transmission over subcarriers distributed across the system bandwidth, localized FDMA (LFDMA) for transmission over a block of adjacent subcarriers, or enhanced FDMA (EFDMA) for transmission over multiple blocks of adjacent subcarriers.

[0094] The teachings herein can be incorporated into various devices (e.g., stations) (e.g., implemented within or performed by various devices). In some aspects, a wireless device or station implemented in accordance with the teachings herein can include a non-access point station (so-called non-AP station).

[0095] Although examples are described in the context of a WiFi (RTM) network, the present invention may be used in any type of wireless network, such as a mobile phone cellular network that implements very similar mechanisms.

[0096] An AP may include, be implemented as, or be known as Node B, Radio Network Controller (“RNC”), evolved Node B (eNB), Base Station Controller (“BSC”), Base Station Transceiver Station (“BTS”), Base Station (“BS”), Transceiver Function (“TF”), wireless router, radio transceiver, Basic Service Set (“BSS”), Extended Service Set (“ESS”), Radio Base Station (“RBS”), or some other term.

[0097] A non-AP station may include, be implemented as, or be known as a subscriber station, subscriber unit, mobile station (MS), remote station, remote terminal, user terminal (UT), user agent, user device, user equipment (UE), user station, or some other term. In some implementations, a non-AP station may include a cellular phone, cordless phone, Session Initiation Protocol (“SIP”) phone, Wireless Local Loop (“WLL”) station, personal digital assistant (“PDA”), handheld device with wireless connectivity, or some other suitable processing device connected to a wireless modem. Thus, one or more aspects taught herein may be incorporated into a telephone (e.g., a cellular phone or a smart phone), a computer (e.g., a laptop computer), a tablet computer, a portable communication device, a portable computing device (e.g., a personal data assistant), an entertainment device (e.g., 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 medium. In some aspects, a non-AP station may be a wireless node. Such a wireless node may provide connectivity to a network (e.g., a wide area network such as the Internet or a cellular network) for example to or from the network via a wired or wireless communication link.

[0098] An AP manages a set of stations that organize their access to the wireless medium together for communication purposes. These stations (including the AP) form a service set, hereinafter referred to as a Basic Service Set (BSS) (although other terms may be used). The same physical station acting as an access point may manage two or more BSSs (and thus the corresponding WLANs): thus each BSS is uniquely identified by a specific Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID) and is managed by a separate virtual AP implemented in the physical AP.

[0099] The 802.11 standard family defines various Medium Access Control (MAC) mechanisms to drive access to the wireless medium.

[0100] As shown in the IEEE P802.11be / D2.2 draft of October 2022, the current discussions in Task Group 802.11be introduce Multi-Link Operation (MLO) when it comes to MAC layer operations. MLO allows a multi-link device to establish or set up multiple links and operate these links simultaneously.

[0101] A multi-link device (MLD) is a logical entity and has more than one attached (AP or non-AP) station (STA), and has a single Medium Access Control (MAC) service access point (SAP) for the Logical Link Control (LLC) which includes one MAC data service. In addition, the MLD also includes a single address associated with an interface which can be used to communicate on the Distributed System Medium (DSM).

[0102] The stations forming the same MLD can be partially or fully co-located within the same device or geographically dispersed.

[0103] An Access Point Multi-Link Device (AP MLD) corresponds to an MLD where each of the stations (STA) attached to the MLD is an AP (hereinafter referred to as "attached AP").

[0104] A Non-Access Point Multi-Link Device (non-AP MLD) corresponds to an MLD where each of the stations (STA) attached to the MLD is a non-AP station (referred to as "attached non-AP station").

[0105] When referring to an AP MLD or non-AP MLD hereinafter, the general term "station MLD" can be used.

[0106] According to the literature, "multi-link device", "ML device" (MLD), "multi-link logical entity", "ML logical entity" (MLE), "multi-link set" and "ML set" are synonyms representing the same type of ML device.

[0107] Then, multiple attached non-AP STAs of the non-AP MLD can set up communication links with multiple attached APs of the AP MLD, thus forming a multi-link channel. This is done, for example, through the regular association process: ML discovery, which includes passive scanning (ML beacon) or active scanning (ML probe request and corresponding response); followed by ML authentication; and finally ML setup, where the non-AP MLD associates with the AP MLD (and thus obtains an association identifier (AID)), and sets up an ML link for its attached non-AP STAs with the APs attached to the AP MLD.

[0108] The link established for MLD (or "enabled link") is theoretically independent, which means that the channel access process (to the communication medium) and communication are carried out independently on each link. Therefore, different links can have different data rates (e.g., due to different bandwidths, number of antennas, etc.), and can be used to communicate different types of information (each on a specific link).

[0109] Therefore, a communication link or "link" corresponds to a given channel (e.g., 20 MHz, 40 MHz, etc.) in a given frequency band (e.g., 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz) between an AP attached to an AP MLD and a non-AP STA attached to a non-AP MLD.

[0110] The attached AP and non-AP STA operate on their respective channels according to one or more of the IEEE 802.11 standards (a / b / g / n / ac / ad / af / ah / aj / ay / ax / be) or other wireless communication standards.

[0111] Due to multi-link aggregation, the traffic associated with a single MLD can theoretically be transmitted across multiple parallel communication links, thereby increasing network capacity and maximizing the utilization of available resources.

[0112] As used herein, the terms "traffic" and / or "(one or more) traffic flows" are defined as data streams and / or flows between wireless devices.

[0113] Figure 1 An example of a wireless communication system is illustrated, in which several communication station devices 101 - 107, 110 exchange data frames on a radio transmission channel 100 of a wireless local area network (WLAN) under the management of a central station (i.e., an access point device (AP) 110). Direct communication between STAs (known as Ad-hoc mode) can also be achieved without using an access point. The wireless transmission channel 100 is defined by an operating frequency band consisting of a single channel, multiple channels forming a composite channel, or multiple different channels (links) forming multi-link operation.

[0114] In the following description, the term "station" or "STA" can be used to describe a non-AP station operating on a given link 100, which can be an independent non-AP station or an attached non-AP station entity of a non-AP MLD device. Similarly, the term "AP" describes an AP station operating on a given link, which can be an independent AP station or an attached AP station entity of an AP MLD device.

[0115] Exemplary scenarios of direct communication corresponding to the current increasing trend include between non-AP stations (e.g., as Figure 1There is a point-to-point (P2P, also known as direct link or "DiL") transmission between the illustrated STAs 102 and 104). Technologies that support P2P transmission are, for example, WiFi-Miracast (RTM) or wireless display scenarios, or tunneled direct link setup (TDLS). Note that even though the number of P2P flows is usually small, the amount of data per flow can be large (usually low-compressed video from 1080p60 up to 8K UHD resolution).

[0116] Each of the STAs 101-107 registers with the AP 110 during the association process. During the association process, the AP 110 assigns a specific association identifier (AID) to the requesting STA. For example, the AID is a 16-bit value that uniquely identifies the STA. When the AP and the non-AP STA are the attached AP of the ML AP device and the attached non-AP of the ML non-AP device, respectively, they establish an ML association, where a unique AID is assigned to the entire non-AP MLD: all attached non-AP STAs are identified by the same AID value on their respective operating links.

[0117] The stations 101-107, 110 can use EDCA (Enhanced Distributed Channel Access) contention to compete with each other for access to the wireless medium for a given link, thereby being granted a transmission opportunity (TXOP) and then transmitting (single-user (SU)) data frames. The stations can also use a multi-user (MU) scheme, in which a single station (usually the AP 110) is allowed to schedule MU transmissions in the wireless network, i.e., multiple simultaneous transmissions to or from other stations. For example, an implementation of such an MU scheme has been adopted in the IEEE standard 802.11ax-2021 standard as the multi-user uplink and downlink OFDMA (MU UL and DLOFDMA) process.

[0118] Figure 2 An example block diagram of a multi-link arrangement according to 802.11be is illustrated.

[0119] A multi-link logical entity or device can be regarded as a collection of two or more than two STAs; each STA operates on a specific link (frequency band) and has its own link-specific PHY and lower MAC layer.

[0120] An "AP multi-link device" (AP MLD) is a multi-link device in which each attached STA is an AP. A client STA multi-link device (non-AP MLD) is a multi-link device in which each attached STA is a non-AP STA.

[0121] Note that in some descriptions herein, the term "multi-link set" may be used, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited by this term. In some cases, other terms may be used, including but not limited to: multi-link logical entity (MLE), multi-link AP logical entity (MLE AP), multi-link non-AP logical entity (MLE STA or non-AP MLE STA), multi-link device (MLD), multi-link AP device (MLD AP), multi-link non-AP device (MLD STA or non-AP MLD STA), and / or others.

[0122] As Figure 2 shown, multiple APs 110 are included in the multi-link AP logical entity or device 210. Additionally, multiple STAs 230 are included in the multi-link non-AP logical entity or device 220.

[0123] APs 110-x, 110-y, 110-z, and / or STAs 230-x, 230-y, 230-z operate according to one or more of the IEEE 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ad / af / ah / aj / ay, EHT, or other wireless communication standards.

[0124] In some embodiments, the affiliated AP 110 may be configured to operate in a frequency band different from that of at least one of the other affiliated APs 110 among the multiple APs. In some embodiments, the affiliated AP 110 may be co-located with at least one of the other affiliated APs 110 among the multiple affiliated APs encapsulated in the MLE AP 210.

[0125] In some embodiments, multiple affiliated APs 110 are juxtaposed in the AP device 210 that supports simultaneous operation of one or more non-AP devices 220. Between the AP 210 device and one non-AP device 220, there are different interfaces related to the links 201, 202, 203.

[0126] The AP MLD 210 may also communicate with other systems (e.g., a distributed system (DS) such as a local area network and / or a broadband network) via an interface 120 such as a backhaul interface (usually an Ethernet link).

[0127] In MLD operation, simultaneous transmit and receive (STR) operation may be allowed. That is, when one link is transmitting, another link is receiving. The non-AP MLD may be STR or non-STR (NSTR).

[0128] Recently, 802.11be introduced the concept of a non-simultaneous transmit and receive (NSTR) soft access point (soft AP) multi-link device (MLD). The term NSTR mobile AP MLD is also used. Generally, a soft AP refers to a software-enabled AP and means that software enables a device that is not specifically made as a router to become a wireless AP. IEEE 802.11be defines in version 1 (R1) the mechanisms to support the operation of non-STR AP MLDs. These mechanisms are limited to instantiating a non-STR non-AP MLD as a soft AP that can utilize all its links under AP-like operation: if a non-AP MLD intends to operate as an AP MLD, the device becomes a soft AP MLD. However, when the non-AP MLD is a non-STR MLD defined in IEEE 802.11TGbe, due to the constraint that the non-AP MLD cannot transmit and receive simultaneously on non-STR link pairs, it poses some problems for soft AP MLD operation. The soft AP MLD is located in a mobile device that is typically battery-powered. A soft AP is a mechanism that allows a non-AP MLD station to temporarily switch to adopting AP functionality. Compared with a conventional AP, a soft AP usually has limited capabilities. The limitations can involve bandwidth, the number of stations that can be connected to the soft AP. In a non-ML context, an example of a soft AP is the connection sharing feature of a modern smart phone. Note that a soft AP MLD makes all its attached stations adopt AP behavior.

[0129] Figure 3a and Figure 3b illustrates the Wi-Fi Direct operation mode.

[0130] Wi-Fi Direct is a direct communication technology that enables devices to easily connect to each other without the need for an AP that is essentially required in a conventional WLAN system. According to Wi-Fi Direct, devices can connect to each other without a complex setup process (device-to-device connectivity). Wi-Fi Direct enables Wi-Fi devices to directly connect to each other, making printing, sharing, synchronizing, playing games, and displaying content for another device simple and convenient. Wi-Fi Direct devices connect to each other without the need to join a traditional home, office, or public network. Devices can make one-to-one connections, or several groups of devices can connect simultaneously.

[0131] In contrast to the soft access point (AP) mode previously discussed in the context of 802.11 (where a mobile electronic device acts as an AP, allowing other clients to access), the Wi-Fi operation peer-to-peer (P2P) mode refers to a mode in which all parties have equal capabilities and either party can initiate a communication session. More generally, a P2P device is a Wi-Fi Direct device that can act as both a P2P group owner and a P2P client. The P2P client role implements the non-AP STA functionality. The P2P group owner has a role similar to the AP role, which provides the BSS functionality and services for the associated clients (P2P clients or legacy clients).

[0132] In the original IEEE 802.11 standard, direct device-to-device connectivity has been possible through the ad-hoc operation mode. However, due to several drawbacks or limitations in the requirements, such as the lack of efficient power-saving support or extended QoS capabilities, this ad-hoc mode has not been able to establish its presence in the market.

[0133] Wi-Fi Direct devices have been designed in the context of 802.11a, g, or n. Therefore, Wi-Fi Direct does not benefit from the latest 802.11be technologies, such as multi-link operation, etc.

[0134] Figure 3a The process of forming a P2P group is illustrated. Wi-Fi direct connection is mainly carried out through three processes including device discovery, service discovery, and group establishment.

[0135] Device discovery: When Wi-Fi P2P devices (e.g., a first P2P device and a second P2P device (301, 302)) recognize each other to configure a connection to establish a Wi-Fi P2P group, a device discovery process 300 is required. At this stage, the devices will alternate between the listening state and the scanning state. The first P2P device repeatedly performs a channel scan of the IEEE 802.11 channels by listening to the social channels defined as channels 1, 6, and 11 in the 2.4 GHz band, and searches these channels for a predetermined period of time to search for neighboring Wi-Fi P2P devices. The basic operation of the device discovery process performed during Wi-Fi P2P group establishment is achieved by exchanging probe request messages and probe response messages of the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol. These exchanges enable P2P stations to discover each other in the nearby environment.

[0136] Service discovery: After device discovery processing, service discovery 310 is performed to provide a function for exchanging information about services that each P2P device can support. That is, each P2P device can identify supported service protocols, services, etc. by exchanging request messages and response messages (346). Therefore, P2P devices exchange queries to discover the set of available services and decide whether to continue group formation based on this.

[0137] Group generation: The GO negotiation process 311 is performed through a three-way exchange of a GO negotiation request, a GO negotiation response, and a GO negotiation confirmation frame 345, whereby two devices agree on which device will act as the P2P GO, the other device will act as the client of the GO, and the channel on which the group will operate, which can be, for example, in the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz band.

[0138] Secure provisioning 347 starts after discovery has occurred and after the corresponding roles have been negotiated if necessary when forming a group.

[0139] Once a P2P group is established, a new P2P device can use an active or passive scanning mechanism, such as the mechanism used in a traditional Wi-Fi network, to discover and join the group. Like a traditional AP, the P2P GO advertises itself via a beacon (360) and must support a power-saving service for its associated clients. The P2P GO also needs to run a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server to provide IP addresses to P2P clients (not shown in the figure).

[0140] When a Wi-Fi direct connection is successfully set up between devices, the devices attempt to establish an audio-video session 312. Communication within the established P2P group should use WPA2-Personal security.

[0141] The AV control session (steps 341 - 342) initiates a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection, where, regarding the AV data stream, one of the P2P devices in the P2P devices acts as the P2P sink (e.g., 302) and the second P2P device acts as the P2P source (e.g., 301). The P2P source usually plays the role of a TCP server. The protocol running on the control port is the Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP).

[0142] According to the standard, the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) or the Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP) can be used as the data path for the AV data session 343; and the RTSP can be used as the control path for the AV control session. The audio / video elementary stream generated by the P2P source will be packed using the MPEG2-TS container format and encapsulated with an RTP / UDP / IP header before being packed and transmitted over 802.11.

[0143] Some devices certified according to the Wi-Fi Direct program support simultaneous connection to an infrastructure network and a Wi-Fi Direct group (e.g., a laptop can support infrastructure connection while also belonging to a Wi-Fi Direct certified group). Simultaneous connection to a Wi-Fi Direct group and an infrastructure network is an optional feature. To achieve this, instead of using only one interface for wireless communication, the Wi-Fi chip uses a dual-MAC product that supports two interfaces.

[0144] Figure 3b An example of such a P2P concurrent device is shown, which has one MAC entity operating as a WLAN-STA and a second MAC entity operating as a P2P device. The P2P group can operate in the same or different operating classes and channels as the concurrently operating WLAN BSS.

[0145] The implementation of multiple MAC functions is outside the scope of the Wi-Fi P2P specification. In fact, as mentioned above, using two 802.11 / Wi-Fi chip sets is an expensive and static architecture. Currently, P2P is likely mainly used for semi-static communication such as remote printing, photo sharing, screen mirroring, etc.

[0146] However, due to the popularity of Wi-Fi devices and location-based services, the availability of P2P is gradually increasing. The P2P devices that make up a Wi-Fi Direct group may change at any time due to the movement of the P2P devices and may dynamically generate new Wi-Fi Direct groups or be deleted within a short period of time.

[0147] The Wi-Fi Direct standard lacks a method to dynamically implement concurrent links on the latest chip sets such as 802.11be chip sets.

[0148] With the increase in the number of operating bands / channels, including the latest 6GHz band, the traditional scanning (active or passive) of channels takes too much time.

[0149] In addition, specific to Wi-Fi Direct, once a P2P group is established, the P2P GO usually stays on the operating channel of its P2P group. This means that it becomes complex for new P2P devices to discover and thus join the P2P group due to the failure to switch back to the social channel.

[0150] Known discovery mechanisms are not sufficient to provide efficient network communication in wireless networks, especially not sufficient to discover ad-hoc networks including P2P groups to facilitate direct device-to-device connectivity.

[0151] Figure 4aThe non-AP H-MLD communication device 400 schematically illustrates a plurality of non-AP stations 110 embedded in the radio network NETW, which is configured to implement at least one embodiment of the present invention. The communication device 400 may preferably be a device such as a microcomputer, a workstation, or a lightweight portable device. The communication device 400 includes a communication bus 413, and the communication bus 413 is preferably connected to:

[0152] A central processing unit 401 labeled as CPU, such as a processor;

[0153] A memory 403 for storing executable code of a method or method steps according to an embodiment of the present invention, and registers suitable for recording variables and parameters required to implement the method; and

[0154] At least one communication interface 402, which is connected to a wireless communication network via a transmission and reception antenna 404, for example, a communication network according to one of the IEEE 802.11 standard family and / or the Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) specification.

[0155] Preferably, the communication bus provides communication and interoperability between various elements included in or connected to the communication device 400. The representation of the bus is not restrictive, and in particular, the central processing unit is operable to communicate instructions to any element of the communication device 400 directly or by means of other elements of the communication device 400.

[0156] The executable code may be stored in the memory, which may be read-only, a hard disk, or a removable digital medium (such as a disk). According to an alternative variant, the executable code of the program may be received via the interface 402 by means of a communication network and stored in the memory of the communication device 400 before being executed.

[0157] In an embodiment, the device is a programmable device that uses software to implement an embodiment of the present invention. However, alternatively, embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in whole or in part in hardware (e.g., in the form of an application-specific integrated circuit or ASIC).

[0158] Figure 4b Is a block diagram schematically illustrating the architecture of the communication device 400 suitable for at least partially executing some embodiments of the present invention. As shown, the device 400 includes a physical (PHY) layer block 423, a MAC layer block 422, and an application layer block 421.

[0159] The PHY layer block 423 (here are multiple 802.11 standardized PHY layer modules) has the tasks of formatting, modulating on any 20 MHz channel or composite channel, or demodulating from any 20 MHz channel or composite channel. Thus, the PHY layer transmits or receives frames on the radio medium NETW, such as 802.11 frames, etc. These frames can be, for example, medium access trigger frames for reserving transmission time slots, 20 MHz width-based MAC data and management frames for interacting with legacy 802.11 stations and legacy Wi-Fi Direct specifications, and OFDMA type MAC data frames with a width less than 20 MHz (usually 2 or 5 MHz) to / from the radio medium.

[0160] The MAC layer block or controller 422 preferably includes a multi-link MAC 802.11 layer 424 that implements conventional 802.11 MAC operations. The MAC layer block or controller 422 may include additional blocks 425 for at least partially performing embodiments of the present invention. The MAC layer block 422 may optionally be implemented in software, which is loaded into the RAM 403 and executed by the CPU 401. The ML MAC 802.11 layer 424 may implement the upper MAC stack and a series of lower MAC modules.

[0161] Preferably, an additional block 425 called the P2P management module for multi-link operation of P2P traffic flows implements a part of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0162] This block operates according to the role of the communication device 400, the P2P device client, or the group owner peer. Figures 5 to 13 the operations of the method shown.

[0163] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the MAC 802.11 layer 424 and the P2P link management module 425 interact with each other to establish a P2P link between multiple MLD non-AP stations forming a P2P group and accurately handle communications on the P2P link. The MAC 802.11 layer 424 may include a single upper MAC sublayer 424a that disposes of multiple lower MAC layer modules 424b.

[0164] At Figure 4b the upper part of, the application layer block 421 runs applications for generating and receiving data packets (e.g., data packets such as video streams). The application layer block 421 represents all stack layers above the MAC layer according to ISO standardization.

[0165] Figure 5A block diagram example of a multi-link arrangement according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. This generally illustrates a communication method in a wireless network including a multi-link access point AP MLD 210, and the wireless network includes at least a first non-AP MLD 320 and a second non-AP station 330, and the second non-AP station 330 may be a legacy station, for example.

[0166] The method includes:

[0167] - Establishing a first connection shown by two links 201 and 202 between the first non-AP MLD 320 and the AP MLD 210;

[0168] - Establishing a second connection shown by link 303 between the first non-AP MLD 320 and the second STA 330;

[0169] - Transmitting data between the first non-AP MLD 320 and the AP MLD 210 through an infrastructure BSS established on the first connection; and

[0170] - Transmitting data between the first non-AP MLD 320 and the second STA 330 through a P2P group established on the second link.

[0171] It should be noted that the establishment of the first connection and the second connection can be carried out in any order or simultaneously.

[0172] In summary, in an embodiment of the present invention, an enhancement of 802.11be multi-link operation is provided in that "P2P device" operation is enabled over the associated STA 530 of the non-AP MLD 320, and other associated STAs are retained as non-AP STAs. Therefore, the non-AP MLD STA 320 is associated with two different networks, one of which is a P2P group. Each associated STA is associated with one of these two networks. In other words, some of the associated stations are connected to different networks, thus forming a P2P group, while other associated stations are connected to a conventional BSS (an infrastructure BSS supervised by the AP MLD).

[0173] According to an embodiment, the term hybrid MLD (H-MLD) is used to identify the device 320, where the associated STAs are linked to two or more different BSS entities. This means that the associated STAs of the H-MLD do not communicate with the associated STAs of the same MLD, and they belong to different networks and operating bands. As further disclosed, data communication is separated between these different P2P and infrastructure networks.

[0174] As will become apparent, P2P connections can be dynamically created by the hybrid MLD without the support from the AP MLD. In an embodiment, more than one P2P connection can be established, which means that one associated station is connected to the first P2P group while another associated station is connected to the second P2P group. According to a second aspect, the AP MLD can more easily discover such "P2P communication groups".

[0175] This figure illustrates the non-AP STA 330 as a multi-link station. This is not restrictive as it can be a traditional non-AP station, an 802.11be non-AP MLD with more than one associated non-AP STA, or any H-MLD device 400 according to an embodiment.

[0176] Figure 6 Another exemplary wireless connectivity is illustrated.

[0177] Traditionally, a non-AP STA associates with an AP to start its operation: 802.11be provides a multi-link setup between the multi-link non-AP STA 220 and the AP MLD 210 to implement the function of "traditional association" under the new multi-link framework. The capabilities of different bi-directional links (such as the configuration of the links), AP capabilities, and non-AP STA capabilities can be exchanged through the multi-link setup.

[0178] As a result, at least one link 201 is established between the non-AP MLD 1 220 and its AP MLD 210.

[0179] Regarding the H-MLDs 320 (H-MLD 1 and H-MLD 2), at least one link 201 is also established between each H-MLD and the AP MLD 210. Additionally, according to an embodiment, at least one P2P link 303 is also established between each of the H-MLDs 1 and 2 forming a P2P group outside the management of the AP MLD 210.

[0180] Among the set of established links, the links 201 and 202 are for infrastructure operations, and the link 303 is for direct P2P operations.

[0181] In some embodiments, the links 201 and 303 can share the same frequency operation.

[0182] Advantageously, the link 303 does not interfere with the links 201 and 202: the medium access is separated, and there are no problems caused by heavy P2P traffic. In addition, since this link operates outside the network infrastructure, the AP MLD is liberated from the management of P2P flows.

[0183] In some variants, the Hybrid MLD can be associated with any single-link AP (that is, non-multi-link capable, such as prior art before 802.11be). The H-MLD 320 is still able to instantiate a P2P link in this context.

[0184] Figure 7a Illustrates a possible implementation of P2P device operation for advertising a non-AP H-MLD device 400 in a management frame such as a beacon frame or a probe response frame. As shown, a dedicated information element (IE) is used for advertising. Information elements are widely used, which means that dedicated IEs can supplement existing IEs in the management frame.

[0185] An information element or IE is a type length value (TLV) entry. Of course, any combination of one or more of these parts is possible. For example, if the length value is fixed and known to all partners, the length value can be omitted.

[0186] The element ID subfield 701 identifies the IE as providing P2P device activation requirements. This field can take a value in the range [245 - 254], reserved so far in the 802.11 standard. For illustrative purposes, the value 247 can be selected in some embodiments.

[0187] The length subfield 702 indicates the number of bytes forming the IE including the element ID subfield and the length subfield.

[0188] Bit 703 advertises whether the non-AP station is capable of activating a P2P device as a supplement to a traditional infrastructure BSS (e.g., with a value set to 1) or not capable of activating the P2P device (e.g., with a value set to 0).

[0189] The link ID bitmap subfield 704 indicates the link to which the P2P device operation for the STA attached to the non-AP MLD is applied.

[0190] Preferably, as shown below, the indicated links of the bitmap correspond to the links of the AP MLD. However, this is not restrictive, and the H-MLD device 400 can instantiate links different from the AP MLD.

[0191] Figure 9 Illustrates a reference model for the Hybrid MLD. It will be described in detail later. Now in conjunction with Figure 9 Describe some aspects of the 802.11 management layer structure.

[0192] The MAC layer and the PHY layer conceptually include management entities respectively called the MAC sublayer management entity 901 (MLME) and the physical layer management entity 902 (PLME). These entities provide layer management service interfaces for operating layer management functions.

[0193] In addition, an SME 900 (Station Management Entity) exists within each 802.11 device. The SME is a layer-independent entity and can be considered to reside in a separate management plane.

[0194] The MLME and the SME interact in various ways. For example, the entities can interact by exchanging GET / SET primitives. A primitive refers to a collection of elements or parameters related to a specific object. The "XX-GET.request" primitive is used to request the value of a given Management Information Base (MIB) attribute. If the status is "success", the "XX-GET.confirm" primitive is used to return the appropriate MIB attribute value; otherwise, an error indication is returned in the status field. The "XX-SET.request" primitive is used to request that the indicated MIB attribute be set to a given value. If the MIB attribute implies a specific action, the action is requested. Also, the "XX-SET.confirm" primitive is used such that if the status is "success", this confirms that the indicated MIB attribute has been set to the requested value; otherwise, an error condition is returned in the status field. If the MIB attribute implies a specific action, it is confirmed that the action has been taken.

[0195] In addition, the MLME and the SME can exchange various MLME_GET / SET primitives through the MLME service access point 911 (MLME_SAP). In addition, various PLME_GET / SET primitives can be exchanged between the PLME and the SME through the PLME_SAP 912, and various PLME_GET / SET primitives can be exchanged between the MLME and the PLME through the MLME-PLME_SAP 913.

[0196] After correlation of lower-layer MLME and PLME events, the SME can synthesize the indication to a higher-layer entity through the SME SAP 910. Other aspects of the reference model shown will be described in detail later. Figure 9 Other aspects of the reference model shown.

[0197] Figure 8 Illustrates the main steps of a method in an embodiment of the present invention for configuring a link for Wi-Fi direct communication for operation of a P2P affiliated station by an H-MLD.

[0198] In step 810, the Hybrid MLD 400 notifies the AP MLD of the activation of the P2P device capabilities of the affiliated non-AP station and closes the corresponding link to the AP MLD.

[0199] Like most WLAN-connected devices, the Hybrid Non-AP MLD includes a Management Information Base for storing a set of parameters that play a role in the behavior of the device. Embodiments provide specific capabilities specified in the dot11StationConfigTable in the Local Management Information Base (MIB) of the H-MLD that serves as an upper-layer configuration interface.

[0200] As an example, the Hybrid Non-AP MLD is a Non-AP MLD that sets dot11P2PDeviceMLDImplemented to true. This attribute, when true, indicates the ability of an EHT STA to support P2P device multi-link operation on one of its associated stations for multi-link operation. If the attribute is false, the station does not support P2P device multi-link operation.

[0201] This information must also be advertised over the wireless medium.

[0202] As an example, the EHT capability element contains multiple fields for advertising the EHT capabilities of an EHT STA. Generally, according to embodiments, the included EHT MAC capability information fields can be modified to support P2P devices. The subfield "P2P Device in MLD Support" indicates whether an associated STA of a Non-AP MLD that is supported can be activated as a P2P device. This capability is reserved for AP MLDs. For Non-AP MLD STAs, when setting the previous MIB entry, the subfield is set to 1 to indicate that the Non-AP MLD STA is capable of making at least one of its associated STAs act as a P2P device. Otherwise, it is set to 0.

[0203] In a manner that allows the AP to decide whether to authorize or reject a requested association based on the declared capabilities, the modified EHT capability element is further declared by the station during the association process with an infrastructure BSS. This can allow the central AP MLD to determine which stations have P2P device capabilities and direct these stations to operate on the same link to facilitate the discovery process among them.

[0204] Other options provide specific P2P device capabilities (refer to Element 700 of Figure 7a ) to indicate the link ID for establishment.

[0205] Via Figures 11a to 11c and the following figures, further options are provided.

[0206] To activate P2P device operation, the MLME-START.request requests the MAC entity to start a new P2P device service via the EHT capability element or P2P device capabilities and link ID indication.

[0207] The link ID indicated by the non-AP STA and specified in the context of the AP MLD provides the channel (referred to as the listening channel) on which P2P device discovery will occur.

[0208] In addition, the H-MLD device 400 must perform an ML reconfiguration operation to close the link corresponding to the link ID with respect to infrastructure usage (AP MLD). One possibility lies in the multi-link (re)setup process between the non-AP MLD 400 and the AP MLD accomplished through the exchange of (re)association request and (re)association response frames. Other simpler and more dynamic possibilities are to remove what may lie in updating the TID-to-link mapping without a TID being mapped to the intended link.

[0209] Note that the AP MLD freely maintains or does not maintain its own activity on the indicated link for P2P operation.

[0210] In step 820, the H-MLD device performs discovery on the dedicated link. The P2P devices enable the "P2P discovery" phase to quickly find each other and form a P2P connection on the intended link. Figures 11a to 11c And the following figures provide enhancements to P2P discovery according to an embodiment. Briefly, these enhancements address the ability to operate P2P communication and the rapid discovery of the intended link.

[0211] A main action in this phase is device discovery, which exchanges device information on the desired link using probe request and probe response frames.

[0212] Compared to normal P2P discovery, there is no need to scan on several channels because the link ID specifies the channel to be used, which serves as a common channel for enabling communication.

[0213] In step 830, the step of group formation occurs.

[0214] When a P2P device 400 discovers another P2P device 400 it intends to connect to, the group formation process can be started on the intended link ID.

[0215] Typically, group owner negotiation is performed by sending a "GO negotiation request" frame. In this frame, among the interesting parameters, the channel list attribute should only indicate the channel of the link corresponding to the link ID as the single operating channel of the P2P group.

[0216] Additionally, for Wi-Fi Direct specification, the P2P group owner shall assign a globally unique P2P group ID for each P2P group when the P2P group is formed, and this shall be maintained the same during the lifetime of the P2P group. Therefore, the embodiment contemplates using the station AID (obtained by the non-AP MLD during association with the AP MLD) as the P2P group ID.

[0217] This is also advantageous because, contrary to the individual MAC addresses of the respective associated stations of the device 400 (such MAC addresses that can be used as the BSSID of the group owner BSS), the station AID is already known to the other stations of the infrastructure BSS.

[0218] When the P2P direct link is being established, the P2P device acting as a client will directly enter step 860, while the group owner performs step 840 for sending beacon frames and other P2P devices may be permitted to enter step 850 into the P2P group.

[0219] For the beacon frame issued by the GO, the TSF timer to be set for the P2P link is preferably the same as the value indicated in the beacon frame received from the AP MLD for the infrastructure link.

[0220] Note that the search P2P device discovers the P2P group owner during the scan phase through the received beacon or probe response frame. Since the link used for the P2P group is (preferably) the link specified by the AP MLD, the search device 400 operating in the link ID should know, due to these received beacon frames, that the P2P group owner has started its operation and can thus attempt to join the P2P BSS.

[0221] In step 860, communication within the P2P group can begin.

[0222] The P2P device can communicate by using the direct link session of the link, for example, by streaming content. In the embodiments disclosed below, as Figure 9 shown, before the data communication begins, rules for traffic separation can be exchanged between the two peers. In a variant, as Figure 10 shown, all traffic between the peers is via the P2P group link.

[0223] According to the proposed embodiment, the H-MLD 400 is configured to simultaneously transmit different MSDU units to the client stations of different extended service sets (ESSs), the stations in the P2P group, or the AP MLD. This is because all APs attached to the same AP MLD are members of the same ESS and are connected to the same distributed system. Therefore, all APs attached to the same AP MLD will advertise the same SSID.

[0224] In contrast, the P2P group is separate from the ESS of the AP MLD, and the SSID field has a single SSID prefixed with "DIRECT-" and provides a security domain.

[0225] Figure 9 and Figure 10 Apparatus architectures representing two reference models of a non-AP H-MLD 400 that can be used in embodiments of the present invention are disclosed.

[0226] It is intended that these two architectures be compatible with Wi-Fi Direct or an upgrade of Wi-Fi Direct. An upgrade may be necessary because the current version of Wi-Fi Direct is specified based on 802.11n and does not consider newer multi-link devices. The reference models presented below provide fully independent and simultaneous P2P group and WLAN operations.

[0227] For simplicity, Figure 9 a reference model including two links (one P2P and one infrastructure) is illustrated, while typically, the MLD can support more than two infrastructure links, and the H-MLD 400 can support more than one P2P link.

[0228] In this reference model, the SME coordinates the management of multiple MAC sublayers and the corresponding PHY layers. Preferably, this model maintains the classical 802.11be reference model, where a common MAC SAP and MLME SAP (SAP stands for Service Access Point) are used to control the common upper MAC and various lower MAC and PHY entities forming the associated STAs.

[0229] When instantiated by the SME, the P2P associated STA 530 will activate several block features for P2P traffic differentiation above the upper MAC component 950 but still within the H-MLD 400.

[0230] In the current case, the H-MLD device 400 still operates in the infrastructure BSS, but a P2P group is instantiated for improved communication towards P2P peers. Thus, for both P2P data traffic and WLAN data traffic, the incoming data traffic is addressed to the same receiving device and should belong to the same VLAN ID when passed through the MAC SAP.

[0231] The low-level mechanisms that allow operation on multiple links and that occur in the MLD upper MAC sublayer 424a, the MLD lower MAC sublayer 424b, and the PHY sublayer 423 are still standard. Recall that the MLD upper MAC sublayer performs functions common to all links, and the MLD lower MAC sublayer performs functions local to each link (usually medium access).

[0232] There is also a new block called the P2P device proxy 531, which is designed to allow a pair of H-MLDs 400 to discover, synchronize, (de-)authenticate, (re-)associate, disassociate, and manage resources with each other on the target P2P link. The proxy can be partially (as discussed later) or fully part of the P2P attached STA 530, and can be activated through the SME SAP 910 to control the data plane.

[0233] During transmission, the MSDU from the MAC SAP passes through the P2P frame mapping block 532 before being stored in the appropriate transmit or receive buffer 533 (a new buffer dedicated to P2P data) or 543 (a traditional buffer). This advantageously has an independent block acknowledgment session to regulate the transmission, on one hand for P2P transmission and on the other hand for WLAN transmission.

[0234] The P2P frame mapping 532 captures the MSDU directly from the upper layer in order to then route it to the appropriate buffer and provide proper sequencing.

[0235] Individually addressed data or management frames are intended for a given attached STA for wireless transmission, so the traffic between the intended attached STAs must be distinguished. Various non-limiting means can be envisioned to perform in-traffic separation:

[0236] Using the traffic identifier (TID) to link mapping is the first possibility to distinguish incoming traffic between P2P traffic and WLAN traffic. IEEE 802.11be defines a direction-based TID to link mapping mechanism between the setup links of the MLD. This mechanism allows mapping a TID to one or more than one link. Frames belonging to the TID are sent on the mapped (one or more) links. Such traffic separation can help latency-sensitive traffic flows by allocating high-capacity, latency-tolerant traffic flows to a subset of the links while allocating latency-sensitive flows to all links. This is the role of the "link mapping (tx) and merge (rx)" block within the MAC 424a on the MLD.

[0237] The P2P frame mapping 532 provides a new use for the TID to link mapping, which is designed to separate infrastructure and P2P UL / DL flows.

[0238] By default, after multi-link setup, all TIDs are mapped to all setup links. Dedicated TID values can be reserved for P2P data. When both MLDs support TID to link mapping, the P2P link setup should include TID to link mapping renegotiation.

[0239] Optionally, a higher set of TID values can be dedicated to P2P traffic (e.g., 8 - 15 for P2P traffic). Such values are referred to as "Traffic Stream Identifier" (TSID) values defined in the 802.11e standard. The traffic specified by such a TSID value can be characterized in the TSPEC element included within the ADDTS request / response frame. In other words, the peer performs admission control on the traffic entering the P2P group based on this TSID. It should be noted that the admission control can be limited to the identification of a given traffic and not limited to its QoS characteristics (such as minimum data rate, average data rate, and latency bounds).

[0240] Another possibility is to use the Stream Classification Service (SCS) mechanism, which allows a non - AP MLD to define and advertise to an AP MLD local traffic streams identified by SCS identifiers (SCSIDs). In short, the SCS mechanism is designed to distinguish between separate traffic streams within the same access category or the same TID. According to 802.11be, the TCLAS element and the TCLAS processing element describe the criteria for traffic classification to be applied to identify the data or MSDUs that form the corresponding SCS streams. Thus, a P2P device proxy can establish an SCS stream with its peer non - AP MLD, thereby indicating traffic separation rules for differentiating the data transmitted over the P2P group on a given link.

[0241] Another mechanism that can be used is a QoS mapping element (e.g., QoS mapping configuration frame) transmitted between peers and providing a mapping of higher - layer quality - of - service constructs to user priorities for transmission. This element maps the higher - layer priorities in the DSCP field used with the Internet Protocol to user priorities. This mechanism is enabled by the TID assignment that allows identification of P2P traffic.

[0242] In an embodiment, the link mapping / merging block of MAC 424a on the MLD can be enhanced to support link switching based on SCSID and TID. In a variant, any MMPDU issued from the P2P device proxy 531 or a data frame stored in the P2P - dedicated transmission buffer 533 includes an MLO link information element 750 (as Figure 7b shown), which identifies the intended link(s) for transmission.

[0243] According to the 802.11be specification, the MLO link information element identifies the intended link(s) of the MMPDU carrying the element. This element can also apply to data frames. In the current case, the Link ID bitmap field 754 only indicates one link on which the intended peer STA is operating, i.e., the P2P link.

[0244] In an embodiment, the P2P device proxy 531 and the P2P frame mapping 532 may be implemented in part in a higher layer above the MAC layer, typically the logical link control (LLC) sublayer (not illustrated). These can be considered software implementations in the network stack and interact via the SME SAP to activate the modules 531 / 532 in the MAC layer. Regarding the P2P frame mapping 532, the tagging function can be easily performed at the LLC layer by tagging (TID, SCSID) the data before sending it to the MAC SAP interface.

[0245] Figure 10 Another example of a reference model illustrating the architecture of the H-MLD device is shown. In this method, the P2P device functionality is performed by a virtual P2P STA.

[0246] The H-MLD device 400 sets up at least one virtual P2P client. In the current case, a new upper MAC 1030 is instantiated for this purpose. It is different from the upper MAC (424a) common to different attached non-AP STAs attached to the AP MLD.

[0247] The virtual P2P device is made possible by a combination of software and hardware. For example, in addition to other attached STAs acting as regular non-AP STAs, a software module can control one of the low network interfaces to act as a P2P device.

[0248] The device 330 is configured as a virtual P2P device 1030 linked to a traditional low MAC / PHY 1040. In an embodiment, as shown by the fork 1050, the lower entity (given the name of the lower MAC sublayer and its associated PHY layer herein) 1040 is separated from infrastructure operations to dedicate the P2P link to the P2P group.

[0249] As shown, each MAC sublayer (the MAC sublayer dedicated to the P2P virtual station and the MAC sublayer dedicated to regular WLAN operations) has a separate MAC SAP and SME SAP 910. The MAC SAP and its corresponding MLME SAP are identified by a dedicated MAC address. This means that the H-MLD has a dedicated MAC address for the P2P virtual station, which is different from the MAC address used in the WLAN.

[0250] In a non-illustrated variant, the same SME SAP is used to control the entire MAC device, but independent MLMEs are connected to the new virtual MAC. In this case, the SME SAP is capable of handling several MAC addresses.

[0251] In another unillustrated variant, the virtual MAC-SAP and SME-SAP can be implemented via a common MAC-SAP and SME-SAP, but with a local index identifying the respective P2P SAP.

[0252] Optionally, Figure 10 the architecture can provide the advantage of concurrent operation to the WLAN BS on the same link. In this case, the connection 1050 can be dynamically maintained or not maintained on the "P2P" link for traditional (one or more) associated STAs. This mode of operation allows co-located stations for the H-MLD to use the same primary channel, that is, the same lower MAC and PHY pair is shared by the P2P group and the WLAN.

[0253] However, the present method using virtual stations requires the MSDU of the peer STA to be directly routed to the appropriate MAC SAP. Due to the different MAC addresses of the P2P virtual station and the BSS station, this must be performed by layer 2 bridging external to the H-MAC.

[0254] In more details regarding addressing, the V-MAC SAP exports the MAC address of the lower layer PHY 1040 as the P2P interface address. If concurrent operation is performed on 1040, the P2P associated STA determines a new MAC address applied to P2P operation on 1040, which is different from the MAC address used for infrastructure operation, and this address is also used by the V-MAC SAP for interactions within the P2P group.

[0255] When the virtual P2P associated station 1030 is deactivated, the P2P SAP interface expires at the end of the P2P group session.

[0256] According to a second aspect, the present invention aims to provide a new mechanism that improves the discovery of such "P2P communication groups" formed by associated stations configured as P2P group owners.

[0257] According to an embodiment, a second associated station (230) operating in the WLAN sends a P2P discovery frame indicating that the first associated station (530) is a P2P group owner, as Figures 11a to 11c shown. In some embodiments, the second associated station operating in the WLAN can report on the P2P group to the AP of the infrastructure BSS to allow the existing AP to advertise the communication group on its operating channel, as Figures 12a to 12f shown.

[0258] Then, stations operating on the same one or more channels or one or more links as the existing AP MLD know the P2P group without having to scan multiple channels. These stations can then decide to join the P2P group by switching to the corresponding operating channel and establish a new (P2P) link on that channel.

[0259] The operating link of the P2P GO of the Hybrid MLD can be operated by the infrastructure AP or may not be operated by the infrastructure AP. Thus, the link ID value used to identify the P2P link can be independent of the link ID advertised by the infrastructure AP. This means that the embodiments provide support for different channels or links for P2P and infrastructure operations, which is more efficient for data communication.

[0260] Thanks to this assistance for advertising P2P communication groups, the average time required for stations to discover a group is shorter. Thus, the initial link setup time for establishing a communication link between, for example, a P2P device and a soft AP (P2P GO) is significantly reduced.

[0261] Figures 11a to 11c Illustrated is the processing of a P2P invitation procedure for a Hybrid MLD according to an embodiment. This embodiment is advantageous when the Hybrid MLD wants to invite a known remote device to join a P2P hosted by one of its associated stations. The known device intended here refers to a station of an infrastructure BSS that has provided the ability information 703 for joining a P2P group as described above regarding Figure 7a as described.

[0262] The P2P invitation procedure is an optional procedure that the P2P group owner typically uses to invite a P2P device to become a P2P client in its P2P group.

[0263] To signal P2P attributes in the exchanged management frames, P2P protocol communication is based on the use of a so-called P2P information element (P2P IE, 1180) as depicted in Figure 11a which is based on the vendor-specific information element defined in IEEE standard 802.11-2012, where the element ID 1181 is set to 0xDD to signal the P2P IE, the length field 1182 indicates the length of the IE in bytes, the WFA OUI field 1183 indicates the WFA-specific organization identifier, and the OUI type field 1184 indicates the P2P version. WFA refers to the Wi-Fi Alliance, and OUI refers to the organization unique identifier.

[0264] Multiple P2P attributes 1190 are defined. A single P2P IE can carry one or more than one P2P attribute 1190. The P2P attribute 1190 is defined to have a common general format consisting of a 1-octet P2P attribute ID field, a 2-octet length field, and a variable-length attribute-specific information field.

[0265] The P2P invitation request / response frame is a common action frame (1100) as Figure 11b depicted.

[0266] The category field 1101 takes the value 4 to identify IEEE 802.11 common action use.

[0267] The common action field 1102 in the octet immediately following the category field differentiates different common action frame formats: the value 9 represents vendor-specific use.

[0268] The organization identifier (OUI) field 1103 is 3 octets in length and takes the hexadecimal value "50 6F 9A" for the Wi-Fi Alliance-specific OUI.

[0269] The OUI subtype identifies the type of the P2P common action frame (for the previously specified OUI): the value 3 is for P2P invitation requests and the value 4 is for P2P invitation responses.

[0270] The dialogue token 1106 is set to a non-zero value to identify the request / response transaction.

[0271] The element field 1107 is variable in length and includes P2P IEs (1180) or any information elements defined in IEEE802.11-2020.

[0272] The P2P invitation request frame transmitted by the associated station 230 co-located with the P2P group owner in the hybrid MLD to the AP MLD shall include the P2P group ID, the P2P group BSSID, the channel list, the operating channel, and the configuration timeout attribute in the P2P IE corresponding to the P2P group (in element 1107).

[0273] The operating channel attribute indicates the operating channel of the P2P group operated by the GO, which corresponds to the channel of the link where the GO is located. The channel list attribute generally indicates the channels and operating classes that the P2P device can support. Therefore, it is restricted to the values taken by the operating channel attribute of the P2P group because channel negotiation is not intended.

[0274] The P2P group ID attribute (Attribute ID = 15) contains the unique P2P group identifier of the P2P group, which is formed, for example, by the pair of {P2P device address of the P2P group owner, SSID}. As has been disclosed, the P2P group identifier takes the value of the station association identifier (STAAID) of the first subordinate non-AP station acting as the group owner.

[0275] The P2P device information attribute (Attribute ID = 13) contains information about the P2P device (device address, configuration method, device name, etc.).

[0276] The client configuration timeout field in the configuration timeout attribute should be set to 0.

[0277] The invitation flag attribute contains flags used in the P2P invitation process and intended to distinguish between uses of P2P invitation requests. Currently, only bit 0 is used: set this bit to 1 to indicate a P2P invitation request for re-invoking a PersistentGroup, or set this bit to 0 to indicate a P2P invitation request for joining an active P2P group. Value 0 should be used.

[0278] Additionally, bit 1 (currently reserved, meaning not used) can be considered to indicate that the invitation is provided by a device that is not a member of the P2P group (such as 230 in the context of a hybrid MLD).

[0279] Figure 11c Illustrated is the transmission of a P2P invitation request / response frame according to an embodiment. The P2P invitation request frame 1110 is transmitted by the non-AP STA2 230-y of device 320 towards device 1130. This device can be a legacy device (such as Figure 5 device 330), or a hybrid MLD 1130 as Figure 11c shown. In the latter case, device 1130 can use the information (i.e., P2P attributes) in the P2P element of the received P2P invitation frame to set up the subordinate station 1130-z on link 3, where channel "z" corresponds to the operating channel of the P2P group.

[0280] Specifically, since the two non-AP MLDs 320 / 1130 have performed multi-link setup with the same AP MLD 210, the path of the P2P invitation request frame 1110 passes through the AP MLD to further reach device 1130.

[0281] The frame passing through the intermediate AP MLD is sent or received by the non-AP STA attached to the non-AP MLD 1130. As shown, the P2P invitation request frame is transmitted by the non-AP MLD 320 through the subordinate station 230-y on link 2 to the MLD1130 through the subordinate station 1130-y.

[0282] The addressing of the P2P invitation request frame (1110) is as follows:

[0283] The value of the Address 1 (DA / RA) field in the MAC header of the frame is the MAC address of the receiving STA affiliated with the MLD corresponding to this link, which is the MAC address of station 1130-y in the example.

[0284] The value of the Address 2 (TA / SA) field in the MAC header of the frame is the MAC address of the transmitting STA affiliated with the MLD corresponding to this link, which is the MAC address of station 230-y in the example.

[0285] The value of the Address 3 field (BSSID) in the MAC header of the frame is set to the BSSID of the AP affiliated with the AP MLD corresponding to this link, which is the BSSID of AP2 110-y in the example.

[0286] Then, preferably, the P2P invitation response frame is transmitted on the direct link 303. The initiating non-AP MLD 1130 can determine the link on which the peer STA or non-AP MLD is operating: all the information within the P2P element in the request is useful for this determination.

[0287] The P2P invitation response frame 1120 uses the P2P common action frame format.

[0288] Therefore, the dialogue token field 1106 is set to the non-zero value received in the P2P invitation request frame to identify the request / response transaction. Note that this token is set by the second affiliated station 230 in the P2P invitation request frame and received by the P2P GO 530 in the P2P invitation response frame, so this value must be internally exchanged between the two affiliated stations of the non-AP MLD 320.

[0289] The element field in the P2P invitation response frame contains the P2P IE, and this P2P IE includes: a status attribute used to signal status information in the response frame of the invitation request-response transaction. If the invitation is accepted, the value can be 0 (success), otherwise the status attribute is set to an appropriate failure code, such as: 2 (failure; incompatible parameters), 7 (failure; no common channel) when there is no common link between the two peers; the configuration timeout attribute remains the value 0; the operating channel attribute remains the same value as the equivalent attribute in the request; the P2P group BSSID attribute remains the same value as the equivalent attribute in the request; and the channel list attribute remains the same value as the equivalent attribute in the request.

[0290] The addressing of the P2P invitation request frame (1110) is as follows: The values of the Address 1 (DA / RA) field and the Address 3 field (BSSID) in the MAC header of the frame take the BSSID of the intended P2P GO; the value of the Address 2 (TA / SA) field in the MAC header of the frame is the MAC address of the transmitting STA attached to the MLD corresponding to the link, which is the MAC address of station 230-y in the example.

[0291] For each bit 1 of the invitation flag attribute, if the addressing indicates that the recipient of the invitation response is not a P2P device of the intended P2P group, then the response must be addressed to the P2P GO.

[0292] Therefore, the exchange of P2P invitation frames can be regarded as a new out-of-band device discovery using the associated stations of the hybrid MLD.

[0293] Then, the invited device can listen on the link for management frames from the P2P GO to associate with it.

[0294] Figures 12a to 12f Illustrated is the process of advertising a P2P group via an infrastructure BSS according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0295] The following description relates to the multi-link process in such a way that beacons and probe frames contain multi-link information elements introduced by 802.11be. Traditional devices (i.e., devices using standards prior to 802.11be) can still understand these frames but will ignore the ML information elements.

[0296] The management frames exchanged during the ML discovery and ML setup processes contain new information elements specific to multi-link operation (MLO) (referred to as basic multi-link elements), which convey a description of the associated STA entities of the MLD transmitting the frame other than the transmitting associated STA entity known as the "reporting STA". More precisely, the profile of the reporting STA is provided in an information element (IE) outside the basic multi-link element of the frame. The basic multi-link element carries one or more Per-STAProfile subelements corresponding to the respective additional associated STAs (known as "reported STAs") within the same MLD. The ML discovery process allows a non-AP MLD to discover the wireless communication network 100, i.e., the various links to the AP MLD provided by multiple associated APs. Therefore, the ML discovery process seeks to advertise the various associated APs of the AP MLD and the corresponding network information, such as including all or part of the capabilities and operating parameters.

[0297] In active scanning, a non-AP STA transmits a probe request frame (with a wildcard SSID) and waits for a probe response frame from an AP. Thus, the active discovery process mainly relies on the exchange of probe request and probe response frames between the AP and the non-AP. For ML discovery, the discovery process can be carried out by using the probe request / response frame exchange for each link or a single ML probe request / response frame exchange on one of the available links that carries all the information of various APs attached to an AP MLD.

[0298] The current 802.11be revision also defines a specific multi-link element for the probe request frame to which an AP MLD can send a probe response frame (the so-called probe request multi-link element). The probe request multi-link element is used to request a reporting AP to provide information (complete or partial profiles) of other APs (reported APs) attached to the same AP MLD as the reporting AP. The probe request multi-link element includes a per-STA profile field for each of the requested reported APs.

[0299] Figure 12a Schematically illustrated is a probe request frame 1210 according to IEEE 802.11be, where the probe request multi-link element 1215 includes common information and a per-STA profile for each of the requested reported APs.

[0300] Since the address 1 field or the address 3 field of the multi-link probe request is set to the MAC address of the responding AP operating on the same link as the multi-link probe request is sent on, the AP MLD ID subfield should be present in the probe request multi-link element of the multi-link probe request such that the target AP MLD is identified by the AP MLD ID subfield, which is set to the same AP MLD ID value as the AP MLD ID value used by the AP in the beacon frame.

[0301] If the probe request multi-link element in the multi-link probe request does not include any per-STA profiles, all APs attached to the same AP MLD as the AP identified in the address 1 or address 3 field or the AP MLD ID of the multi-link probe request are the requested APs.

[0302] As shown in the figure, the AP MLD ID is set to the exemplary value "j", as advertised by the AP MLD in the beacon frames transmitted on various configured links.

[0303] Figure 12b Schematically illustrated is the content of a multi-link probe request frame 1220 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0304] The ML Probe Request frame 1220 adds new elements 1240 and 1250 to the original frame 1210.

[0305] Element 1240 is a conventional Reduced Neighbor Report (RNR) information element, even though it is not envisioned to insert such an element into an ML Probe Request frame according to the IEEE802.11 standard. Element 1250 is a new multi-link element that only carries information related to the AP indicated in the RNR 1240 such as the ML Probe Request 1220. In an embodiment, the multi-link element 1250 is based on the format of the basic ML element.

[0306] As already discussed, the multi-link probe request allows a non-AP STA attached to a non-AP MLD to request that an AP attached to an AP MLD include a complete or partial set of capabilities, parameters, and operation elements (identified by 1215) of the (one or more) APs attached to the target AP MLD. This new format of the multi-link probe request 1220 allows a second non-AP STA attached to a non-AP MLD to inform the AP MLD via the attached AP on the link of the existence of a complete or partial set of capabilities, parameters, and operation elements of a P2P Go / softAP operated by the first attached station of the hybrid MLD.

[0307] Traditionally, the multi-link probe response is transmitted in response to a received multi-link probe request and includes a probe response frame with a basic multi-link element that can carry, based on the solicitation request, a (one or more) complete or partial profile for each of the (one or more) requested APs attached to the target AP MLD. Thus, only the APs related to the probe request ML element 1215 will be carried in the ML probe response (that is, the ML probe response will not carry any information related to 1250).

[0308] The AP MLD ID for infrastructure AP MLD operation takes the value advertised by the AP MLD, such as the value "j".

[0309] As a result, the AP MLD IDs in the RNR 1240 and the ML element 1250 will be set to different values; for example, the value "i" to indicate that these elements are not related to the infrastructure BSS.

[0310] Figure 13 Illustrates the format of the Reduced Neighbor Report (RNR) information element 1300.

[0311] When the RNR 1300 is the RNR 1240 included in the ML Probe Request frame 1220, specific values will be provided.

[0312] The RNR element 1300 contains channel and other information related to neighbor APs, where the neighbor APs include the "reported APs" in the context of a multi-link environment.

[0313] The element ID field 1301 equals the value 101 to indicate that the information element is an RNR element. The length field 1302 specifies, in octets, the length of the information element including the neighbor AP information field 1303.

[0314] The neighbor AP information field 1303 contains a set of one or more (in the shown example, "n") neighbor AP information fields 1320, where each field provides element or network information about a neighbor or "reported" AP different from the reporting AP (the AP sending the information element). Specifically for RNR 1240, n equals 1 because there is only one P2P GO as a simple link in the hybrid MLD. Of course, more than one P2P GO can be envisioned in a hybrid MLD, each P2P GO on a given link (and thus different operating classes and channels: each element 1321 must be considered).

[0315] Each neighbor AP information field 1320 includes a Target Beacon Transmission Time (TBTT) in time units (TU), an information header subfield 1321, an operating class subfield 1322, a channel number subfield 1323, and a TBTT information set subfield 1324, all of which are related to a given reported AP.

[0316] The TBTT information header subfield 1321 contains several fields that indicate how many TBTT information fields 1330 are present in the TBTT information set subfield 1324 (e.g., the TBTT information count, which indicates the number of TBTT information fields included in 1324) and their length type (for 802.11 devices operating in a band greater than 1 MHz, the TBTT information field type has a value of 0 or 1). Multiple reported APs with the same operating channel are reported in the same TBTT information set subfield 1324 (in the shown example, "p"). Specifically for RNR 1240, p equals 1 because only the P2P GO is to be reported.

[0317] The operating class field 1322 indicates the channel start frequency, which, together with the channel number field 1323, defines the primary (and thus operating) channel of the BSS of the (one or more) reported APs corresponding to this neighbor AP information field 1320. Specifically for RNR 1240, these fields correspond to the operating link of the P2P GO of the hybrid MLD.

[0318] Each TBTT information field 1330 includes various fields, which include a neighbor AP TBTT offset subfield 1331, a BSS parameter subfield 1340, and possibly an MLD parameter subfield 1350.

[0319] The neighbor AP TBTT offset subfield 1331 indicates the offset in TUs from the immediately preceding TBTT of the reporting AP that transmitted the element to the next TBTT of the BSS of the reported AP, rounded down to the nearest TU. A value of 254 indicates an offset of 254 or more TUs. A value of 255 indicates an unknown offset value. RNR 1240 may consider using 255, in fact, the TBTT is the same as the TBTT of the infrastructure BSS.

[0320] The BSS parameter subfield 1340 includes various fields, which include:

[0321] - OCT recommendation subfield 1341, which is set to 1 to indicate a tunnel over the recommended channel (OCT) to exchange MMPDUs with the reported AP identified in the TBTT information field (otherwise set to 0). RNR 1240 may consider using the value 0.

[0322] - Same SSID subfield 1342, which is set to 1 to indicate that the reported AP has the same SSID as the reporting AP (otherwise set to 0). RNR 1240 may consider using the value 0.

[0323] - Multiple BSSID subfield 1343, which is set to 1 to indicate that the reported AP is part of a multiple BSSID set (otherwise set to 0). RNR 1240 may consider using the value 0.

[0324] - Transmitted BSSID subfield 1344, which is set to 1 to indicate that the reported AP is the transmitted BSSID (otherwise set to 0). RNR 1240 may consider using the value 0.

[0325] - Member of ESS with co-located AP at 2.4 / 5 GHz subfield 1345, which indicates whether the reported AP is part of an ESS that does not have an AP operating only at 6 GHz (possibly detected by the STA that received the frame). This means that all APs operating in the 6 GHz band (as part of the ESS that may be detected by the STA that received the frame) can be found in the 2.4 GHz and / or 5 GHz bands. RNR 1240 may consider using the value 0.

[0326] - Unsolicited Probe Response Activity Sub - field 1346, which is set to 1 to indicate that the reported AP is part of an ESS where all APs are transmitting unsolicited probe response frames every 20 TUs or fewer (which is used for scanning operations in 6 GHz), otherwise set to 0. RNR 1240 may consider using the value 0.

[0327] - Co - located AP Sub - field 1347, which is set to 1 to indicate when the reported AP is in the same co - located AP set as the transmitting / reporting AP, otherwise set to 0. RNR 1240 may consider using the value 1 because the P2P GO is co - located with the stations associated with the AP MLD. This bit easily helps the receiving device determine that the reported neighbor AP is in a hybrid MLD.

[0328] The MLD Parameter Field 1350 contains information about the link associated with the reported AP, particularly including the AP MLDID Sub - field 1351, the Link ID Sub - field 1352, the BSS Parameter Change Count Sub - field 1353, the Include All Updates Sub - field 1354, and the Disabled Link Indicator Sub - field 1355.

[0329] The AP MLD ID Sub - field 1351 specifies the identifier of the AP MLD to which the reported AP belongs. It should be noted that the RNR is typically sent by an AP, rather than by a non - AP station as in the case of this embodiment of the present invention. If the reported AP belongs to the same MLD as the reporting AP, the MLD ID Sub - field 1351 is set to 0. Otherwise, if the reported AP is part of another AP MLD, the AP MLD ID Sub - field 351 is set to a value higher than 0. According to an embodiment, the AP MLD ID Sub - field is set to a value selected by the reporting non - AP station (e.g., 230 - y) to uniquely identify the MLD of the reported P2P GO (regarding Figure 12b , the AP MLD ID in the RNR 1240 and the ML Element 1250 is set to the value "i"). Preferably, the MLD ID value is selected considering the existing values used in the infrastructure BSS: when the infrastructure AP sets multiple BSSIDs, the value to be used is higher than 2 n - 1 and lower than 255 (n corresponds to the value of the MaxBSSID indicator of the infrastructure AP).

[0330] The Link ID sub - field 1352 is the unique identifier (within the MLD) of the link corresponding to the reported AP. If the reported AP is not part of the AP MLD, or if the reporting AP does not have the information, the Link ID sub - field 1352 is set to 15. The RNR 1240 can consider using any value as long as it is unique in the context of the new MLD ID. As an alternative, the Link ID value of the link of the P2P GO is set to the same value as that identifying the same link by the Infrastructure AP MLD (if it exists), for example, corresponding to Link 2 as shown in Figure 12f as shown.

[0331] The BSS Parameter Change Count sub - field 1353 contains a counter that increments modulo 255 each time a critical parameter of the BSS managed by the reported AP is updated in the beacon frame. In the case of an update, the Include All Updates sub - field 1354 indicates whether all updated elements are present in the current RNR report. Thus, it is set to 0 in the RNR 1240.

[0332] If the reported AP is operating on a disabled link being advertised and the reported AP and the reporting AP are attached to the same AP MLD, the Disabled Link Indicator sub - field 1355 is set to 1. Thus, it is set to 0 in the RNR 1240.

[0333] As thus defined, the MLD Parameter field 1350 allows a link (through the Link ID sub - field 1352 and the MLD ID 1351) to be established between the Neighbor AP Information field 1320 defining the reported AP in the RNR element 1240 (format 1300) and the corresponding per - STA profile sub - element for the same reported AP in the Multi - Link element 1250. This is shown, for example, by the arrow in Figure 12b as shown.

[0334] Returning to Figure 12b , the ML element 1250 consists of a common information field and per - STA profiles. Either can carry the P2P IE 1180.

[0335] Preferably, the P2P IE 1180 includes the P2P Group ID, P2P Group BSSID, Channel List, Operating Channel, and Configuration Timeout Attribute in the P2P IE corresponding to the P2P group. These are a subset of the P2P elements required to locate and identify the P2P group. Of course, this subset can even be reduced by omitting the Channel List and the Operating Channel element as already disclosed in the Operating Class 1322 and Channel Number 1323 of the RNR.

[0336] Figure 12cIllustrates the format of a beacon or ML probe response frame 1260 sent by the infrastructure AP MLD 210 once one of the associated APs of the infrastructure AP MLD 210 (e.g., 110-y) has received the ML probe request frame 1220.

[0337] Since the AP MLD 210 is multi-link, RNR can be used to provide information (complete or partial profiles) of other reported APs attached to the same AP MLD: Elements 1320b and 1320c refer to the per-STA profile for each reported AP in the basic multi-link element 1216.

[0338] The shown RNR 1241 embeds this information (1320b, 1320c) and adds new reported APs outside the AP MLD 210. Based on the RNR 1240 received in the Figure 12b ML probe request frame 1220, a new neighbor AP information field 1320a is inserted and the details present in the multi-link element 1250 are forwarded. Due to the dedicated MLD ID, the RNR1320a identifies the ML element 1250 and the per-STA profile including the P2P IE 1180.

[0339] Since these elements will be retransmitted by the AP MLD in the beacon or ML probe response frame 1260, having a reduced set of P2P attributes in the frame 1220 aims to avoid management frame expansion regarding the ML probe response 1260.

[0340] Alternatively, the P2P IE 1180 can include all P2P elements (P2P capabilities, P2P device ID, listening channels, extended listening timing, P2P device information, operating channels, service hash) that can be obtained via beacon frames on the target link. This helps the receiving non-AP station intending to join a P2P group to directly send a probe request frame (as shown by the example frame 1270 in Figure 12d ).

[0341] Figure 12e Illustrates alternative embodiments of the ML probe response. These embodiments can also be used in beacons transmitted by the softAP / GO.

[0342] These embodiments stipulate that in addition to the information about the P2P group provided in the P2P IE 1180, the soft AP (P2PGO) can also notify at least one of its co-located associated stations in its beacon / probe response frame 1280 that it is operating with an AP of the infrastructure BSS. Thus, a device willing to operate as a P2P device of a P2P link can more easily select a P2P group embedded in the GO that is associated with the intended infrastructure BSS in the hybrid MLD.

[0343] This can be supported by inserting at least one of the following Neighbor Report (NR) elements:

[0344] The neighbor element can be, for example, Figure 12d the RNR 1281 as shown, which includes a number of neighbor AP information fields 1320a and 1320b, each neighbor AP information field indicating the reported AP of the infrastructure AP MLD. Additionally, it is envisioned that the MLD parameter subfield format 1350 provides one of its reserved bits (B22 - B23) to indicate the "P2P concurrent device" capability. This bit informs the receiving peer that the attached non - AP STA of the hybrid MLD operates on this link as a P2P concurrent device (in other words, as specified by the RNR element, the GO can operate concurrently on the first link with a WLAN STA in the second link for the infrastructure WLAN).

[0345] The neighbor element can be formed by a number of neighbor report elements 1282a and 1282b according to the IEEE802.11 format, each neighbor report element corresponding to the reported AP of the infrastructure AP MLD. Similar to the modified RNR, it is envisioned that the capability subfield provides one of its reserved bits (B4 - B5) as the capability of the attached non - AP STA of the hybrid MLD to indicate the "P2P concurrent device" mode.

[0346] The neighbor element can be formed by a number of multi - band elements 1283a and 1283b according to the IEEE802.11 - 2020 format, each multi - band element corresponding to the reported non - AP STA of the hybrid MLD. The band ID field provides the identification of the band associated with the provided operation class and channel number fields, so that the attached STA is clearly identified. The STA role subfield (in the multi - band control field) specifies the role played by the transmitting STA on the channel of the operation class indicated in this multi - band element. Possibly, new values for the STA role are envisioned in Table 9 - 265 of IEEE802.11 - 2020 to indicate the "hybrid MLD" role (in other words, the P2P concurrent device operation of this attached STA within the hybrid MLD). It should be noted that this multi - band information is not intended for fast BSS switching as a traditional multi - band element. In this embodiment, this allows P2P devices with multi - band capabilities to signal support for more than one band for WLAN concurrent operation (the BSSID field specifies the BSSID of the infrastructure BSS operating on the channel and band indicated by the channel number and band ID fields).

[0347] Figure 12f Illustrates the link positions of the various management frames 1220, 1260, 1270, and 1280 described with respect to the previous figures according to an embodiment.

[0348] The management frame 1220 is a probe request frame sent by an associated non-AP STA according to an embodiment of the present invention to report a P2P group to an AP MLD.

[0349] The management frame 1260 is a beacon frame or a probe response frame sent by an AP MLD to a station and reporting a P2P group to a station of an infrastructure BSS according to an embodiment of the present invention. The reported information corresponds to the information received in the probe request 1220.

[0350] The management frame 1270 is a classic probe request frame that contains P2P attributes (1180) and is transmitted to a P2P GO on an operation link 3 of the P2P GO.

[0351] The management frame 1280 is sent by a softAP / GO on link 3 in response to a probe request 1270 according to an embodiment of the present invention and reports an associated AP station of an AP MLD and / or an associated non-AP station of a hybrid MLD according to Figure 12e an embodiment of.

[0352] Any step of the algorithm of the present invention can be implemented in software by a programmable computer machine (such as a PC ("personal computer"), a DSP ("digital signal processor") or a microcontroller) executing a set of instructions or a program; or implemented in hardware by a machine or a dedicated component (such as an FPGA ("field programmable gate array") or an ASIC ("application specific integrated circuit")).

[0353] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to specific embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments, and those skilled in the art will understand various modifications within the scope of the present invention.

[0354] When referring to the foregoing illustrative embodiments, those skilled in the art will envision many further modifications and variations, which are given only by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention determined solely by the appended claims. In particular, where appropriate, different features from different embodiments may be interchanged.

[0355] The various embodiments of the present invention described above can be implemented separately or as a combination of multiple embodiments. In addition, where necessary or where a combination of elements or features from various embodiments is beneficial in a single embodiment, features from different embodiments can be combined.

[0356] In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. The fact that different features are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these features cannot be used advantageously.

Claims

1. A method for transmission in a wireless network, the method comprising: Configuring a first affiliated non-AP station of a non-access point multi-link device, i.e., a non-AP MLD, as a peer-to-peer station, i.e., a P2P station, for communicating with peer stations in a first basic service set, i.e., a first BSS, thereby forming a P2P group; And Configuring at least one second affiliated non-AP station of the non-AP MLD as a station for communicating with an AP in a second BSS.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The second affiliated non-AP station of the non-AP MLD is configured to communicate with a corresponding affiliated AP station of an AP MLD.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein, Once configured to communicate in the P2P group, the first affiliated non-AP station stops transmitting to the AP MLD.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The method further comprises: Before configuring the first affiliated non-AP station as a P2P station, disassociating the first affiliated non-AP station from the affiliated AP station of the AP MLD.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The first affiliated non-AP station is configured to communicate with the peer stations on a first channel of the first BSS, and the at least one second affiliated non-AP station is configured to communicate with the AP on at least one second channel of the second BSS. The method comprises: Reporting, by the at least one second affiliated non-AP station of the non-AP MLD, the P2P group and the first channel to the AP MLD.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein, Reporting the P2P group includes: transmitting a P2P information element, i.e., a P2P IE.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein, The P2P IE is transmitted in a P2P invitation request frame, and the P2P invitation request frame is transmitted by the at least one second affiliated non-AP station on the second channel to the AP MLD for being transmitted to other stations connected to the AP MLD.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein The P2P IE is transmitted in a multi-link IE of a probe request frame.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein The probe request frame further includes, in addition to the multi-link IE having information of a group owner, i.e., a GO, of the P2P group, a reduced neighbor report IE, i.e., an RNR IE, for identifying the first affiliated non-AP station operating as the GO, and wherein, The RNR IE and the ML IE include an MLD ID sub-field and a link ID sub-field, and the MLD ID sub-field and the link ID sub-field are respectively set to the same value different from the corresponding sub-field values for the second BSS.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, further comprising: Transmitting, by the AP MLD, the P2P IE in a probe response frame or a beacon frame on the second channel.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein, The P2P IE is included in each STA profile of a first basic multi-link IE.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein, The beacon frame or the probe response frame further includes, in addition to the first basic multi-link IE: An RNR IE for identifying the affiliated AP station of the AP MLD and the affiliated non-AP station operating as the group owner, i.e., the GO, of the P2P group; A second basic multi-link IE, which includes information of the affiliated AP station of the AP MLD, and Among them, the MLD ID sub-fields in the RNR IE and the basic multi-link IE are used to indicate whether the reported AP belongs to the first BSS or the second BSS.

13. A computer program product for a programmable device, the computer program product comprising an instruction sequence that, when loaded into and executed by the programmable device, implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

14. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of a computer program for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

15. A computer program that, when executed, causes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12 to be performed.

16. A non-access point multi-link device, namely a non-AP MLD, includes a first attached non-AP station and at least one second attached non-AP station, wherein, The non-AP MLD can configure the first attached non-AP station as a peer-to-peer station (i.e., a P2P station) for communicating with peer stations in the first basic service set (i.e., the first BSS), thereby forming a P2P group, and at the same time configure the second attached non-AP station as a station for communicating with an access point in the second BSS.

17. The non-AP MLD according to claim 16, wherein, The first BSS and the second BSS are not part of the same extended service set (i.e., the same ESS).

18. The non-AP MLD according to claim 16, wherein, The second attached non-AP stations are configured as stations for communicating with the attached AP stations of the AP MLD respectively.

19. The non-AP MLD according to claim 16, wherein, The second attached non-AP stations are configured as stations for communicating with non-MLD AP stations.

20. The non-AP MLD according to claim 16, wherein The non-AP MLD includes: An upper MAC sublayer (424a), which is common to the first attached non-AP station and the second attached non-AP station; A first dedicated entity, which includes a first lower MAC sublayer (424b) and a first PHY layer (423), and the first dedicated entity is dedicated to the first attached non-AP station; and A second dedicated entity, which includes a second lower MAC sublayer (424b) and a second PHY layer (423), and the second dedicated entity is dedicated to each of the second attached non-AP stations in the second attached non-AP stations.

21. The non-AP MLD according to claim 20, wherein, Provide a single service access point (i.e., SAP) to the upper layer.

22. The non-AP MLD according to claim 20 or 21, wherein, Dispose of the data streams of the first BSS and the data streams of the second BSS independently in the upper MAC sublayer.

23. The non-AP MLD according to claim 21, wherein, The upper MAC sublayer is configured to receive an indication from the SAP that an incoming data stream belongs to the first BSS, and is configured to isolate the incoming data stream according to the indication, and the indication is one of the following: The value of the priority field; A traffic identifier; A flow classification service identifier (i.e., SCSID) for identifying an SCS flow characterized by a TCLAS element and / or a TCLAS processing element; A local index determined by the SAP; and The address of the first attached non-AP station.

24. The non-AP MLD according to claim 16, wherein, The non-AP MLD includes: A first upper MAC sublayer, which is dedicated to the first attached non-AP station; A second upper MAC sublayer, which is common to the second attached non-AP stations; A first dedicated entity, which includes a first lower MAC sublayer (424b) and a first PHY layer (423), and the first dedicated entity is dedicated to the first attached non-AP station; and A second dedicated entity, which includes a second lower MAC sublayer (424b) and a second PHY layer (423), and the second dedicated entity is dedicated to each second associated non-AP station among the second associated non-AP stations.

25. The non-AP MLD according to claim 16, wherein The first BSS and the second BSS operate on different channels.

26. The non-AP MLD according to claim 16, wherein, The first BSS is a Wi-Fi BSS, i.e., a wireless fidelity BSS.

27. The non-AP MLD according to claim 26, wherein, The Wi-Fi BSS runs the Wi-Fi Direct specification, and wherein the P2P group identifier of the Wi-Fi BSS takes the station association identifier value of the first associated non-AP station acting as the group owner, i.e., the STA AID value.

28. The non-AP MLD according to claim 16, wherein, The non-AP MLD is configured to provide a multi-link information element to the AP, and the multi-link information element provides capability information for a station to join the P2P group.

29. The non-AP MLD according to claim 16, wherein, The first associated non-AP station is configured to communicate with the peer station on a first channel of the first BSS, and the at least one second associated non-AP station is configured to communicate with the AP on at least one second channel of the second BSS, and the non-AP MLD is configured for: Reporting the P2P group and the first channel by the at least one second associated non-AP station of the non-AP MLD to the AP MLD.

30. The non-AP MLD according to claim 29, wherein Reporting the P2P group includes: transmitting a P2P information element, i.e., a P2P IE.

31. The non-AP MLD according to claim 30, wherein, The P2P IE is transmitted in a P2P invitation request frame, and the P2P invitation request frame is transmitted by the at least one second associated non-AP station on the second channel to the AP MLD for transmission to other stations connected to the AP MLD.

32. The non-AP MLD according to claim 30, wherein, The P2P IE is transmitted in the multi-link IE of a probe request frame.

33. The non-AP MLD according to claim 32, wherein In addition to including the multi-link IE having information of the group owner, i.e., the GO, of the P2P group, the probe request frame further includes a reduced neighbor report IE, i.e., an RNR IE, for identifying the first associated non-AP station operating as the GO, and wherein The RNR IE and the ML IE include an MLD ID subfield and a link ID subfield, and the MLD ID subfield and the link ID subfield are respectively set to the same value different from the corresponding subfield values for the second BSS.

34. The non-AP MLD according to claim 32 or 33 is further configured for: Receiving the P2P IE from the AP MLD in a probe response frame or a beacon frame on the second channel.

35. The non-AP MLD according to claim 34, wherein, The P2P IE is included in each STA profile of the first basic multi-link IE.

36. The non-AP MLD according to claim 35, wherein, In addition to including the first basic multi-link IE, the beacon frame or the probe response frame further includes: An RNR IE for identifying the associated AP station of the AP MLD and the associated non-AP station operating as the group owner, i.e., the GO, of the P2P group; A second basic multi-link IE, which includes information of the associated AP station of the AP MLD, and Among them, the MLD ID sub-fields in the RNR IE and the basic multi-link IE are used to indicate whether the reported AP belongs to the first BSS or the second BSS.

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