Enhanced trigger frame and variants thereof

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method performed by a first station (STA), the method may include receiving a multi-user request to send (MU-RTS) transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing (TXS) trigger frame from an access point (AP) having a transmission opportunity (TXOP) established with a second STA, where the MU-RTS TXS trigger frame includes: (i) an indication that the AP is sharing the TXOP established with the second STA with the first STA; and (ii) an indication of the duration of the shared TXOP; and in response to the MU-RTS TXS trigger frame, transmitting one or more uplink (UL) frames for the duration of the shared TXOP indicated by the MU-RTS TXS trigger frame.

Description

[0001] This application is a Divisional of application having a filing date of March 30, 2022, application number 202280031328.2, and having the title “Enhanced Trigger Frames and Variations Thereof.”

[0002] Cross Reference to Related Applications

[0003] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 168,035, filed March 30, 2021, U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 170,918, filed April 5, 2021, U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 178,716, filed April 23, 2021, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 317,840, filed March 8, 2022, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. BACKGROUND

[0004] IEEE 802.11 Extremely High Throughput (EHT) or 802.11be supports larger bandwidths (BW), multiple Resource Unit (RU) allocations, enhanced Modulation and Coding Schemes (MCS), and larger number of spatial streams. The main use cases and applications addressed include high throughput and low latency applications such as video, augmented reality, and virtual reality over WLAN. Specifically, the list of features provided by 802.11be can include Multi-AP, Multi-band / Multi-Link, 320MHz bandwidth, 16 spatial streams, Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ), Access Point (AP) coordination, and / or new design for 6GHz channel access. The current Trigger Frame (TF) design needs to be modified to signal resource allocations from the AP and to signal new or additional fields for these enhanced features. SUMMARY

[0005] Methods and apparatuses for enhanced trigger frames and variations thereof are described herein. A method performed by a first station (STA) can include receiving, from an access point (AP) having a transmission opportunity (TXOP) established with a second STA, a multi-user request to send (MU-RTS) transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing (TXS) trigger frame, wherein the MU-RTS TXS trigger frame includes: (i) an indication that the AP is sharing the TXOP established with the second STA with the first STA; and (ii) an indication of a duration of the shared TXOP; and transmitting, in response to the MU-RTS TXS trigger frame, one or more uplink (UL) frames within the duration of the shared TXOP indicated by the MU-RTS TXS trigger frame.

[0006] The one or more UL frames can include one or more non-trigger-based (non-TB) physical layer protocol data units (PPDUs). The non-TB PPDUs of the one or more TB PPDUs transmitted by the first STA can include a clear to send (CTS) frame. The MU-RTS TXS trigger frame can include one or more user info fields associated with the first STA. The MU-RTS TXS trigger frame can include a special user info field. The STA can transmit the one or more UL frames to the AP in response to the TXOP share mode field of the MU-RTS TXS trigger frame having a value of 1. The STA can transmit the one or more UL frames to another STA in response to the TXOP share mode field of the MU-RTS TXS trigger frame having a value of 2. The MU-RTS TXS trigger frame can include an indication that the AP is sharing the TXOP established with the second STA with multiple STAs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0007] A more detailed understanding can be had from the following description, given by way of example in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

[0008] FIG. 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communications system, in which one or more disclosed embodiments can be implemented;

[0009] FIG. 1B is a system diagram illustrating an example wireless access network (WAN) and an example core network (CN) that can be used within the communications system shown in FIG. 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) that can be used within the communications system shown in

[0010] FIG. 1C is a system diagram illustrating an example radio access network (RAN) and an example core network (CN) that can be used within the communications system shown in FIG. 1A

[0011] FIG. 1D is a system diagram illustrating another example RAN and another example CN that can be used within the communications system shown in FIG. 1A

[0012] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example trigger frame format;

[0013] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example common info field in a trigger frame;

[0014] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example user info field in a trigger frame;

[0015] ​​FIG. 5 FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example control information field format in a buffer status report (BSR) control subfield;

[0016] FIG. 6 FIG. 2 is an illustration of an example user information field format in a null data packet (NDP) report poll (NFRP) trigger frame;

[0017] FIG. 7 FIG. 3 is an illustration of an example trigger frame for aggregated physical layer (PHY) protocol data units (A-PPDUs); and

[0018] FIG. 8 FIG. 4 is an illustration of an example buffer status report (BSR) control field in an A control field; and

[0019] FIG. 9 FIG. 5 is an illustration of an example spatial reuse operation based on overlapping basic service set preamble detection (OBSS-PD). DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] FIG. 1A FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example communication system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments can be implemented. The communication system 100 can be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wireless users. The communication system 100 can enable multiple wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communication system 100 can employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail unique-word discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (ZT-UW-DFT-S-OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block-filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.

[0021] As FIG. 1AAs shown, the communication system 100 can include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, a radio access network (RAN) 104, a core network (CN) 106, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112, though it will be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d can be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. By way of example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d (any of which can be referred to as a station (STA)), can be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals, and can include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a subscription-based unit, a pager, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a netbook, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a hotspot or Mi-Fi device, an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain environment), a consumer electronics, a device operating on a commercial and / or industrial wireless network, and the like. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d can be interchangeably referred to as a UE.

[0022] The communication system 100 can also include a base station 114a and / or a base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b can be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the CN 106, the Internet 110, and / or the other networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b can be a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B, an eNode B (eNB), a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, a next generation NodeB, such as a gNode B (gNB), a new radio (NR) NodeB, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, and the like. While the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b can include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0023] The base stations 114a can be part of a RAN 104 that also can include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. The base stations 114a and / or the base stations 114b can be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies. The base stations 114a and / or 114b can be referred to as cells (not shown). These frequencies can be in the licensed spectrum, the unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of the licensed and unlicensed spectrums. A cell can provide wireless service to a particular geographic area that can be relatively fixed or can change over time, depending on the station's configuration and program. The cell can further be divided into cell sectors (not shown). For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a can be divided into three sectors. Thus, in embodiments, the base station 114a can include three transceivers, one for each sector of the cell. In embodiments, the base station 114a can employ Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) techniques and can utilize multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell. For example, beamforming can be used to transmit and / or receive signals in desired spatial directions.

[0024] The base stations 114a, 114b can communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over an air interface 116, which can be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 can be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0025] More specifically, as noted above, the communications system 100 can be a multiple access system and can employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and the like. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in the RAN 104 can implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which can establish the air interface 116 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA can include communication protocols such as High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA can include High-Speed Downlink (DL) Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High-Speed Uplink (UL) Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0026] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c can implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which can establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and / or LTE-A Pro.

[0027] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c can implement a radio technology such as NR Radio Access, which can establish the air interface 116 using NR.

[0028] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c can implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c can implement LTE wireless access using a dual connectivity (DC) principle. Thus, the air interface utilized by WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c can be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions sent to / from multiple types of base stations (e.g., an eNB and a gNB).

[0029] In other embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c can implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 IX, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like.

[0030] FIG. 1AThe base station 114b in the embodiment can be, for example, a wireless router, Home Node B, Home eNode B, or access point, and can utilize any suitable RAT for facilitating wireless connectivity access by the WTRUs 102c, 102d within a local area. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d can implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d can implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In yet another embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d can utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, etc.) to establish a picocell or femtocell. As shown, the base station 114b can be directly connected to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114b can not be required to access the Internet 110 via the CN 106. FIG. 1A

[0031] The RAN 104 can be in communication with the CN 106, which can be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications, and / or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. The data can have varying quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as differing throughput requirements, latency requirements, error tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, mobility requirements, and the like. The CN 106 can provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, pre-paid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or perform high-level security functions, such as user authentication. Although not shown in FIG. 1A Although not shown in FIG. 1A, it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 and / or the CN 106 can be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104, which can employ NR radio technology, the CN 106 can also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) employing 5G, GSM, UMTS, CDMA 2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi radio technology.

[0032] ​The CN 106 can also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or the other networks 112. The PSTN 108 can include circuit-switched telephone networks that provide infrastructure for the provision of voice telephony. The Internet 110 can include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as the transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP) and / or the internet protocol (IP) in the TCP / IP internet protocol suite. The networks 112 can include wired and / or wireless communications networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks 112 can include another CN connected to one or more RANs, which can employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 or a different RAT.

[0033] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communications system 100 can include multi-mode capabilities, e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d can include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links. For example, FIG. 1A The WTRU 102c shown in Figure 1A can be configured to communicate with the base station 114a using a cellular-based radio technology and can be configured to communicate with the base station 114b using an IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0034] FIG. 1B is a system diagram of an example WTRU 102. As shown in FIG. 1B The WTRU 102 can include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and / or other peripherals 138, among others. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 can include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0035] The processor 118 can be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGAs), any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and / or the like. The processor 118 can perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 can be coupled to the transceiver 120, which can be coupled to the transmit / receive element 122. WhileFIG. 1B The processor 118 and the transceiver 120 are depicted as separate components, but it is to be understood that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 can be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

[0036] The transmit / receive element 122 can be configured to transmit signals to, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 can be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 can be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. In yet another embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 can be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF and light signals. It will be appreciated that the transmit / receive element 122 can be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0037] Although the transmit / receive element 122 is depicted in the WTRU 102 FIG. 1B In one embodiment, the WTRU 102 can include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) to enable MIMO technology. Thus, the WTRU 102 can

[0038] The transceiver 120 can be configured to modulate the signals that are to be transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122 and to demodulate the signals that are received by the transmit / receive element 122. As noted above, the WTRU 102 can have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 can include multiple transceivers for enabling the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as NR and IEEE 802.11, for example.

[0039] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 can be coupled to, and can receive user input data from, the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 can also output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 118 can access information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory 130 and / or the removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 can include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 can include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like. In other embodiments, the processor 118 can access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or a home computer (not shown).

[0040] The processor 118 can receive power from the power source 134 and can be configured to distribute and / or control the power to the other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 can be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 can include one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, and the like.

[0041] The processor 118 can also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which can be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 can receive location information over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and / or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 can acquire location information by way of any suitable location-determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0042] The processor 118 can further be coupled to other peripherals 138, which can include one or more software and / or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 can include an accelerometer, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photographs or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands-free headset, a Bluetooth® The peripheral device 138 can include one or more sensors. The sensors can be one or more of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, a compass sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor; a geo-location sensor, an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, a humidity sensor, etc.

[0043] The WTRU 102 can include a full duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for both the UL (e.g., for transmission) and DL (e.g., for reception) can be concurrent and / or simultaneous. The full duplex radio can include an interference management unit to reduce and / or substantially eliminate self-interference and / or cross- interference by utilizing hardware (e.g., a choke) or signal processing via a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or via processor 118). In embodiments, the WTRU 102 can include a half duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for either the UL (e.g., for transmission) or the DL (e.g., for reception)).

[0044] FIG. 1C is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to an embodiment. As

[0045] The RAN 104 can include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 can include any number of eNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c can each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In an embodiment, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c can implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNode-B 160a, for example, can use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and / or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0046] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c can be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and can be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, and the like. As shown, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c can communicate with one another over an X2 interface. FIG. 1C

[0047] FIG. 1C The CN 106 can include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (PGW) 166. While the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be appreciated that any of these elements can be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0048] The MME 162 can be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 162a, 162b, 162c in the RAN 104 via an SI interface and can serve as a control node. For example, the MME 162 can be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, bearer activations / deactivations, selecting a particular serving gateway during an initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like. The MME 162 can provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM and / or WCDMA.

[0049] The SGW 164 can be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via the S1 interface. The SGW 164 can generally route and forward user data packets to / from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The SGW 164 can perform other functions, such as anchoring user planes during inter-eNode B handovers, triggering paging when DL data is available for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, managing and storing contexts of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like.

[0050] The SGW 164 can be connected to the PGW 166, which can provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0051] ​The CN 106 can facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 can provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional landline communications devices. For example, the CN 106 can include, or can communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 can provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which can include other wired and / or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0052] Although WTRUs are described in FIGS. 1A-1D representative embodiments as wireless terminals, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments such a terminal can (e.g., temporarily or permanently) use a wired communication interface to communicate with a communication network.

[0053] In representative embodiments, the other network 112 can be a WLAN.

[0054] A WLAN in Infrastructure Basic Service Set (BSS) mode can have an access point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP can have an access or an interface to a Distribution System (DS) or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic in to and / or out of the BSS. Traffic to STAs that is carried by the DS can be transmitted from the AP. Traffic from STAs that is carried by the DS can be transmitted to the AP. The AP can transmit traffic to the DS and can receive traffic from the DS. The AP can also transmit and receive traffic directly to and from STAs. The AP can coordinate scheduling of wireless distribution of traffic. The AP can also function as a base station of a cellular network.

[0055] When using an 802.11 ac infrastructure mode of operation or similar mode of operation, an AP can transmit beacons on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel can be a fixed width (e.g., 20 MHz wide bandwidth) or a dynamically set width. The primary channel can be the operating channel of the BSS and can be used by STAs to establish a connection with the AP. In certain representative embodiments, carrier sense multiple access / collision avoidance (CSMA / CA) can be implemented, for example, in 802.11 systems. For CSMA / CA, a STA (e.g., each STA), including the AP, can listen to the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed / detected as busy by a particular STA, the particular STA can back off. Only one STA can transmit in a given BSS at any given time.

[0056] High Throughput (HT) STAs can use 40 MHz wide channels to communicate, for example, via a combination of the primary 20 MHz channel with an adjacent or nonadjacent 20 MHz channel to form a 40 MHz wide channel.

[0057] Very High Throughput (VHT) STAs can support 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and / or 160 MHz wide channels. 40 MHz and / or 80 MHz channels can be formed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel can be formed by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels, or by combining two noncontiguous 80 MHz channels, which can be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, after channel encoding, the data can be parsed by a segment parser that can divide the data into two streams. Each stream can be independently subjected to inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) processing and time domain processing. The streams can be mapped to the two 80 MHz channels, and the data can be transmitted by a transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the above-described operations for the 80+80 configuration can be reversed, and the combined data can be sent to the medium access control (MAC).

[0058] 802.11af and 802.11ah support sub-1 GHz modes of operation. The channel operating bandwidth and carriers are reduced in 802.11af and 802.11ah relative to those used in 802.11η and 802.1 lac. 802.11af supports 5 MHz, 10 MHz, and 20 MHz bandwidths in the television white space (TVWS) spectrum, and 802.11ah supports 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, and 16 MHz bandwidths using non-TVWS spectrum. According to representative embodiments, 802.11ah can support meter type control / machine type communication (MTC) such as MTC devices in a macro coverage area. MTC devices can have certain capabilities, e.g., limited capabilities, including support for (e.g., only support for) certain bandwidths and / or limited bandwidth. MTC devices can include a battery with a battery life above a threshold (e.g., to maintain a very long battery life).

[0059] WLAN systems that can support multiple channels and channel bandwidths such as 802.11η, 802.1 lac, 802.11af, and 802.11ah include a channel that can be designated as a primary channel. The primary channel can have a bandwidth equal to the largest common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in a BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel can be set and / or limited by a STA from all STAs operating in the BSS that supports the smallest bandwidth operating mode. In the example of 802.11ah, for a STA (e.g., MTC type device) that supports (e.g., only supports) a 1 MHz mode, the primary channel can be 1 MHz wide even though other STAs in the AP and BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and / or network allocation vector (NAV) settings can depend on the status of the primary channel. If the primary channel is busy, e.g., due to a STA (only supporting a 1 MHz operating mode) transmitting to the AP, the entire available frequency band can be considered busy even though most of the available frequency band remains idle.

[0060] In the United States, the available frequency bands for 802.11ah to use are 902 MHz to 928 MHz. In Korea, the available frequency bands are 917.5 MHz to 923.5 MHz. In Japan, the available frequency bands are 916.5 MHz to 927.5 MHz. The total bandwidth available to 802.11ah is 6 MHz to 26 MHz depending on the country code.

[0061] FIG. 1D is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 can employ an NR radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 can also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0062] The RAN 104 can include gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c, although it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 can include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c can each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c can implement MIMO technology. For example, gNBs 180a, 108b can utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c. Thus, the gNB 180a, for example, can use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and / or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c can implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, the gNB 180a can transmit multiple component carriers to the WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers can be on unlicensed spectrum while the remaining component carriers can be on licensed spectrum. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c can implement Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) technology. For example, WTRU 102a can receive coordinated transmissions from gNB 180a and gNB 180b (and / or gNB 180c).

[0063] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c can use transmission associated with scalable numerology to communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c. For example, OFDM symbol spacing and / or OFDM subcarrier spacing can vary from different transmissions, from different cells, and / or from different portions of the wireless transmission spectrum. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c can use subframe or transmission time interval (TTI) of various or scalable lengths (e.g., containing different number of OFDM symbols and / or lasting varying lengths of absolute time) to communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c.

[0064] gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c can be configured to communicate with WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c in standalone and / or non-standalone configurations. In standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c without accessing other RANs (e.g., evolved Node Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c). In standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can use one or more of gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c as mobility anchors. In standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c using signals in unlicensed frequency bands. In a non-standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can communicate or connect to gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c, and also communicate or connect to other RANs (such as evolved Node Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c). For example, WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can implement DC principles to communicate substantially simultaneously with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c and one or more evolved Node Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c. In a non-standalone configuration, evolved Node Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c can be used as mobility anchors for WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c, and gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c can provide additional coverage and / or throughput for serving WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c.

[0065] Each of gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c can be associated with a specific cell (not shown) and can be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, user scheduling in UL and / or DL, network slicing support, interoperability between DC, NR, and E-UTRA, routing of user plane data to User Plane Functions (UPF) 184a and 184b, routing of control plane information to Access and Mobility Management Functions (AMF) 182a and 182b, etc. FIG. 1D As shown, gNB180a, 180b, and 180c can communicate with each other via the Xn interface.

[0066] FIG. 1DThe CN 106, as shown in FIG. 1C, can include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one Session Management Function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and possibly a Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. While the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be appreciated that any of these elements can be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0067] The AMF 182a, 182b can be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 104 via an N2 interface and can serve as a control node. For example, the AMF 182a, 182b can be responsible for authenticating the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, supporting for different

[0068] The SMF 183a, 183b can be connected to the AMF 182a, 182b in the CN 106 via an N11 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b can also be connected to the UPF 184a, 184b in the CN 106 via an N4 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b can select and control the UPF 184a, 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPF 184a, 184b. The SMF 183a, 183b can perform other functions, such as managing and allocating UE IP address, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, providing DL data notifications, and the like. A PDU session type can be IP-based, non-IP based, Ethernet-based, and the like.

[0069] The UPF 184a, 184b can be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 104 via an N3 interface, which can provide WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet- switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPF 184, 184b can perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting host multi-homed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering DL packets, providing mobility anchoring, and the like.

[0070] The CN 106 can facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 can include, or can communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. Further, the CN 106 can provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which can include other wired and / or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c can be connected to a DN 185a, 185b through the UPF 184a, 184b via the N3 interface between the UPF 184a, 184b and the N6 interface between the UPF 184a, 184b and the DN 185a, 185b.

[0071] In view of FIGS. 1A-1D And FIGS. 1A-1D In view of the corresponding description of the above, one or more or all of the functions described herein with reference to one or more of the WTRUs 102a-d, base stations 114a-b, eNode-Bs 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNBs 180a-c, AMF 182a-b, UPF 184a-b, SMF 183a-b, DN 185a-b, and / or any other device described herein can be performed by one or more emulation devices (not shown). An emulation device can be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more or all of the functions described herein. For example, emulation devices can be used to test other devices and / or to simulate network and / or WTRU functionality.

[0072] The one or more emulation devices can perform one or more, including all, functions while not implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, the emulation devices can be utilized in a testing lab and / or a non-deployed (e.g., testing) wired and / or wireless communication network to implement testing of one or more components. The one or more emulation devices can be test equipment. Direct RF coupling and / or wireless communications, via RF circuitry (e.g., which can include one or more antennas) can be used by the emulation devices to transmit and / or receive data.

[0073] The one or more emulation devices can perform one or more, including all, functions while not implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, the emulation devices can be utilized in a testing lab and / or a non-deployed (e.g., testing) wired and / or wireless communication network to implement testing of one or more components. The one or more emulation devices can be test equipment. Direct RF coupling and / or wireless communications, via RF circuitry (e.g., which can include one or more antennas) can be used by the emulation devices to transmit and / or receive data.

[0074] A WLAN in Infrastructure Basic Service Set (BSS) mode has an access point (AP) which provides access to a distribution system (DS) or to another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic to and from the BSS. Traffic to STAs that originates from outside the BSS arrives through the AP and is delivered to the STAs. Traffic originating from STAs is sent to the AP to be delivered to the intended destination outside the BSS. Traffic between STAs within the BSS can also be sent through the AP, where the source STA sends traffic to the AP and the AP delivers the traffic to the destination STA. The AP and STAs in the BSS communicate on the wireless

[0075] When using the 802.11 ac infrastructure mode of operation, the AP can transmit beacons on a fixed channel, typically the primary channel. This channel can be 20 MHz wide and is the operating channel of the BSS. This channel is also used by STAs to establish a connection with the AP. The basic channel access mechanism in 802.11 systems is Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA / CA). In this mode of operation, each STA, including the AP, will sense the primary channel. If the channel is detected to be busy, the STA "backs off." Thus, only one STA can transmit in a given BSS at any given time.

[0076] In 802.11η, High Throughput (HT) STAs can also communicate using 40 MHz wide channels. This is accomplished by combining the primary 20 MHz channel with an adjacent 20 MHz channel to form a 40 MHz wide contiguous channel.

[0077] In 802.11ac, Very High Throughput (VHT) STAs can support 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and 160 MHz wide channels. The 40 MHz and 80 MHz channels are formed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels similar to the 802.11η described above. The 160 MHz channel can be formed by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels, or by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz channels, which can also be referred to as the 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, after channel coding, the data is passed through a segment parser that separates the data into two streams. The IFFT and time domain processing is done on each stream separately. The streams are then mapped to the two channels, and the data is transmitted. At the receiver, the mechanism is reversed, and the combined data is sent to the MAC.

[0078] To improve spectral efficiency, 802.11ac introduced the concept of downlink multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) transmissions to multiple STAs in the same symbol timeframe, e.g., during a downlink OFDM symbol. The possibility of using downlink MU-MIMO is currently also being considered for 802.11ah. Since downlink MU-MIMO, when used in 802.11ac, uses the same symbol timing for multiple STAs, interference of the waveform transmission for multiple STAs is not an issue. However, all STAs involved in a MU-MIMO transmission with the AP can use the same channel or frequency band, which limits the operating bandwidth to the smallest channel bandwidth supported by the STAs included in the MU-MIMO transmission with the AP.

[0079] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example Trigger frame format that can be used in 802.11ax or later. The Trigger frame can be used to allocate resources and trigger single-user or multi-user access. As FIG. 2As shown, the trigger frame can include a frame control field 202, a duration field 204, a RA field 206, a TA field 208, a user info field 212, a user info field 214, a padding field 216, and a FCS field 218. The frame control field 202 can have a length of 2 octets. The duration field 204 can have a length of 2 octets. The RA field 206 can have a length of 6 octets. The TA field 208 can have a length of 6 octets. The common info field 210 can have a length of 5 or more octets. The user info field 214 can have a length of 5 or more octets. The padding field 216 can have a length of variable octets. The FCS field can have a length of 4 octets.

[0080] It is noted that the control information subfield in the trigger response scheduling (TRS) control subfield in the A control subfield of the HE variant HT control field can contain trigger response scheduling (TRS) information for requesting an EHT TB PPDU after the EHT MU PPDU carrying the control subfield. In one method, the PPDU type and compression mode subfields in the U-SIG of the EHT MU PPDU carrying the TRS control subfield can be set to 0, such that the RU allocation subfield can be present in the EHT MU PPDU carrying the TRS. In one method, the TRS control subfield can not be included in the EHT MU PPDU having the PPDU type and compression mode subfields in the U-SIG set to any value other than 0. In one method, the TRS control subfield can not be included in the EHT MU PPDU not carrying the RU allocation subfield in the EHT-SIG field.

[0081] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary common info field 210 in a trigger frame. The common info field 210 can have a trigger type subfield 302, an uplink length subfield 304, a more trigger frames field 306, a CS required subfield 308, a GI and HE-LTF subfield 312, a MU-MIMO HE-LTF mode subfield 314, a HE-LTF symbol number and midamble periodicity subfield 316, an uplink STBC field 318, an LDPC extra symbol segment subfield 320, an AP transmit power subfield 322, an FEC pre-padding factor subfield 324, a PE disambiguation subfield 326, an uplink spatial reuse subfield 328, a Doppler subfield 330, an uplink HE-SIG-A2 reserved subfield 332, a reserved subfield 334, and a trigger related common info subfield 336.

[0082] The trigger type subfield 302 can be 4 bits. The uplink length subfield 304 can be 12 bits. The more trigger frames subfield 306 can be 1 bit. The CS required subfield 308 can be 1 bit. The uplink bandwidth subfield 310 can be 2 bits. The GI and HE-LTF type subfield 312 can be 2 bits. The MU-MIMO HE-LT mode subfield 314 can be 1 bit. The HE-LTF symbol number and midamble periodicity subfield 316 can be 3 bits. The uplink STBC field 318 subfield can be 1 bit. The LDPC extra symbol segment subfield 320 can be 1 bit. The AP transmit power subfield 322 subfield can be 6 bits. The FEC pre-padding factor subfield 324 can be 2 bits. The PE disambiguation subfield 326 can be 1 bit. The uplink spatial reuse subfield 328 subfield can be 16 bits. The Doppler subfield 330 can be 1 bit. The uplink HE-SIG-A2 reserved subfield 332 can be 9 bits. The reserved subfield 334 can be 1 bit. The trigger related common information subfield 336 can be variable bits.

[0083] FIG. 4 An exemplary user information field is shown for all trigger types except for null data packet (NDP) feedback report poll (NFRP) trigger. The user information field can include an AID 12 subfield 402, a RU allocation subfield 404, a UL FEC encoding type subfield 406, a UL HE-MCS subfield 408, a UL DCM subfield 410, a SS allocation / RA-RU information subfield 412, a UL target receive power subfield 414, a reserved subfield 418, and a trigger related user information subfield 420. The AID 12 subfield can be 12 bits. The RU allocation subfield 404 can be 8 bits. The UL FEC encoding type subfield 406 can be 406 bits. The UL HE-MCS subfield 408 can be 4 bits. The UL DCM subfield 410 can be 1 bit. The SS allocation / RA-RU information subfield 412 can be 6 bits. The UL target receive power subfield 414 can be 7 bits. The reserved subfield 418 can be 1 bit. The trigger related user information field 420 can be variable bits.

[0084] The trigger type subfield in the common information field can include the possible values for the trigger type as shown in Table 1.

[0085]

[0086] Table 1 - Trigger Type Subfield

[0087] A multi-user request to send (MU-RTS) frame (or MU-RTS trigger frame), for example in 802.11ax, can be used to trigger a clear to send (CTS) frame from one or more STAs. A resource unit (RU) allocation subfield in a user info field can indicate whether the CTS frame is transmitted on a primary 20 MHz channel, a primary 40 MHz channel, a primary 80 MHz channel, a 160 MHz channel, or an 80+80 MHz channel.

[0088] FIG. 5 is an illustration showing an example control information subfield format in a buffer status report (BSR) control subfield. As FIG. 5 shown, the control information subfield can include an ACI bitmap subfield 502, an increment TID subfield 504, an ACI high subfield 506, a scaling factor subfield 508, a queue size high subfield 510, and a queue size full subfield 512. The ACI bitmap subfield 502 can be 4 bits. The increment TID subfield 504 can be 2 bits. The ACI subfield 506 can be 2 bits. The scaling factor subfield 508 can be 2 bits. The queue size high subfield 510 can be 8 bits. The queue size full subfield can be 8 bits.

[0089] An AP can transmit a buffer status report poll (BSRP) frame (or BSRP trigger frame). For example, in 802.11ax, to trigger a buffer status report (BSR). As FIG. 5 shown, the BSR can be carried in a BSR control field in a MAC header.

[0090] FIG. 6 is an illustration showing an example user info field format in a null data packet (NDP) report poll (NFRP) trigger frame, for example in 802.11ax. The user info field can include a starting AID subfield 602, a reserved subfield 604, a feedback type subfield 606, a reserved subfield 608, a UL target receive power subfield 610, and a multiplexing flag subfield 612. The starting AID subfield can be 12 bits. The reserved subfield 604 can be 9 bits. The feedback type subfield 606 can be 4 bits. The reserved subfield 608 can be 7 bits. The UL target receive power subfield can be 7 bits. The multiplexing flag subfield 612 can be 1 bit.

[0091] A feedback type subfield set to a value of 0 can indicate a resource request. The remaining values can be reserved. An N STA = 18 x 2 BW x (MultiplexingFlag + 1) can be used to calculate a total number N STA of STAs scheduled to respond to the NFRP trigger frame. The STAs have a range of [starting AID, starting AID + N STASTAs with AID values between 1] can be eligible to respond to the NFRP trigger frame.

[0092] IEEE 802.11 Extremely High Throughput (EHT) can be considered as the next major revision to the IEEE 802.11 standard following 802.11ax. EHT can explore the possibility of further increasing peak throughput as well as improving the efficiency of IEEE 802.11 networks. The main use cases and applications addressed include high throughput and low latency applications such as video, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) over WLAN. The list of features to be implemented in EHT and / or 802.11be to achieve the goal of peak throughput increase as well as efficiency improvement includes, but is not limited to, multi-AP, multi-band / multi-link, 320MHz bandwidth, 16 spatial streams, HARQ, AP coordination, and new design for 6GHz channel access.

[0093] EHT supports larger BW, multiple RU allocation, enhanced MCS, and larger number of spatial streams. Trigger frame design can need to be modified to signal allocations from the AP for these enhanced features, and to signal new fields of the U-SIG of the TB-PPDU. EHT-TB-PPDU can be used for RU allocation in the trigger frame. In addition, EHT can define frequency domain aggregation of aggregated PPDUs. The aggregated PPDUs can include multiple PPDUs. The PPDU format combinations can be limited to EHT and HE. Other combinations are also possible. For PPDUs using HE format, the PPDU BW can be determined. The number of PPDUs can be determined. The A-PPDU can be an R2 feature.

[0094] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary trigger frame for an aggregated physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (A-PPDU). As FIG. 7 shown, A-PPDUs in the UL from multiple STAs supporting different modifications can require a backward compatible trigger frame.

[0095] 802.11be can also support multi-link operation (MLO), where a STA can perform independent EDCA or trigger access on each link if it supports simultaneous transmit and receive (STR). Due to performing independent access, in MLO, trigger frames and MLO can be related to trigger frame transmission to non-simultaneous transmit and receive (NSTR) non-AP multi-link devices (MLDs).

[0096] 802.11be can support the following trigger frame transmission rules in MLO. An AP in an AP MLD can not send a trigger frame with the CS required subfield set to 1 to a STA in a non-STR non-AP MLD when at least one PPDU from other STAs affiliated with the same non-STR non-AP MLD is scheduled for transmission after the PPDU containing the trigger frame has expired (aSIFSTime + aSignalExtention - aRxTxTurnaroundTime). In the above, it is noted that aRxTxTurnaroundTime can be 4μs. It is noted that the end time of the first PPDU carrying the frame of the request immediate response frame cannot be more than aRxTxTurnaroundTime earlier than the end time of the second PPDU containing the trigger frame with the CS required subfield set to 1. It is noted that the AP STA can still follow the CS required rules defined in 802.11ax.

[0097] 802.11be can support the following trigger frame transmission rules in MLO in R1. When an AP MLD triggers TB PPDUs from more than one STA affiliated with the same non-STR non-AP MLD and allows the frames in the TB PPDUs to request control response frames from the AP MLD, then the UL length subfield value in the request trigger frame can be set to the same value.

[0098] 802.11be can support that the padding procedure of 802.11ax can be used to extend the frame length when transmitting a trigger frame to meet the end time requirement of the PPDU carrying the trigger frame in MLO.

[0099] Communications between multiple APs (MAPs) can be done over the air and a trigger frame can be used as a possible frame for the exchange of frames. However, an AP can not be aware of the operating bandwidth, primary channel, etc. of another AP. Furthermore, since there is no association procedure between APs, an association ID (AID) cannot be assigned from one AP to another. Furthermore, AIDs can be used in a trigger frame to identify the triggered devices.

[0100] In 802.11be, an AP and a STA can use a MU-RTS / CTS exchange to enable the STA to start transmission and communication with another STA. Such operation can be different from the legacy RTS / CTS and MU-RTS / CTS exchange in terms of NAV setting and medium reservation protocol. Procedures to provide such NAV setting and medium reservation protocol (as appropriate) can be needed.

[0101] A STA can use an enhanced buffer status report poll (BSRP) operation to report its buffer status so that an AP can schedule its uplink transmissions accordingly. Existing BSR mechanisms allow a STA to report the buffer status of one or all access categories. 802.11be supports traffic transmission with low latency requirements. However, traffic with low latency requirements can not have a one-to-one mapping to existing access categories. Thus, the current BSR mechanism can not support low latency traffic transmission well.

[0102] Enhanced NDP feedback report poll operations can be discussed herein. EHT can support up to 320MHz channel bandwidth, up to 16 spatial streams, and different puncturing modes. The number of scheduled STAs in response to a NFRP trigger frame, the starting spatial stream number (STARTING_SS_NUM), and the index of the allocated tone set (RU_TONE_SET_INDEX) are all functions of the bandwidth. To signal 320MHz channel bandwidth, a bandwidth extension field can be added. Thus, the equations used to calculate STARTING_SS_NUM and RU_TONE_SET_INDEX can be updated to account for 320MHz bandwidth. Furthermore, the different puncturing modes that are possible can affect the effective bandwidth that can be used to transmit a STA’s feedback. Thus, these equations can be updated to account for the puncturing mode used.

[0103] Future 802.11 (e.g., 802.11be or higher) can have new features compared to existing 802.11 standards (e.g., 802.11ax). An enhanced trigger frame can be used to trigger STAs with new features and be backward compatible with STAs with existing features at the same time. When using an enhanced trigger frame, design is needed to enable legacy STAs to operate and for new STAs to understand the new features.

[0104] Since 802.11be allows for preamble puncturing in an EHT TB PPDU, there can be a need to specify how to normalize the transmit power of a PSRT PPDU when there are punctured sub-channels present. Normalization of TxPwr_PSRT, PSR, and RPL can be performed on a 20MHz basis regardless of the BW field of the EHT TB PPDU. However, the formula used to determine TxPwr_PSRT cannot be directly extended to the case when punctured sub-channels are present in an EHT trigger frame or EHT TB-PPDU. Thus, an accurate definition is needed to show the transmit power limit of a PSRT PPDU, especially when there is preamble puncturing in an EHT TB PPDU, or when a trigger frame contains punctured sub-channels.

[0105] Furthermore, there is no clear definition on how an EHT STA performs OBSS PD based spatial reuse. In EHT operation, not only static puncturing is allowed, but also dynamic puncturing is allowed (which enables additional puncturing on the punctured sub-channels indicated by the not allowed sub-channel bitmap subfield in the EHT operation element). This makes it more challenging to accurately measure the received signal strength of a PPDU. Furthermore, OBSS STAs can have different reception capabilities from the STA transmitting the PPDU. In view of these obstacles, there is a need for a clear and accurate definition on how OBSS PD based spatial reuse can be performed without interfering with OBSS STAs.

[0106] In the case of multi-AP transmission, frame exchange between APs can be done over the air. Some MAC frames can use an association ID to identify devices within a BSS. An AID is an identification assigned by an AP to a STA when the STA is associated with the AP. A MAP AID can enable APs to communicate with each other.

[0107] A sharing AP is an AP that can be an owner of a TXOP. A sharing AP can determine to share a TXOP with other APs. In other words, a sharing AP can be an AP that can coordinate MAP transmissions. A shared AP is an AP that can share a TXOP with a sharing AP. In other words, a shared AP can be an AP that is a participating AP.

[0108] A MAP AID can be an AID used by a sharing AP to reference a shared AP. A MAP AID can be used in a same or similar manner as an AID.

[0109] In one embodiment, some AID values can be reserved to identify APs. For example, AID values 2008 to 2044 and 2047 to 2094 can be reserved. A subset of these values can be used for APs in MAP transmissions.

[0110] In one embodiment, a sharing AP can use a MAP AID to trigger a transmission from a shared AP by using an enhanced trigger frame. For example, 12 bits from a MAP AID can be used in an AID 12 subfield in a user info field of an enhanced trigger frame (e.g., an EHT variant user info field). An unintended STA can check the AID 12 field and note that the trigger frame can trigger a response frame from another AP.

[0111] In one embodiment, when a sharing AP starts negotiating MAP transmission, the sharing AP can assign a MAP AID to the shared AP. In one embodiment, the MAP AID can have a lifetime that can be predetermined in the system or assigned by the sharing AP. When the lifetime is reached, the MAP AID value can be freely assigned to other APs without any tear down procedure. In one embodiment, a MAP tear down procedure can be defined and the assigned / used MAP AID can be set to free by using the MAP tear down procedure.

[0112] In one embodiment, one or more special AID values can be used to indicate that the receiver can be an AP and the frame exchange can be conducted between APs. For example, when one or more special AID values are present in the user info field of the enhanced trigger frame, the intended receiver of the user info field can be an AP and the AP can transmit back to the sharing AP using the resources allocated in the user info field.

[0113] In one embodiment, an explicit MAP indication can be carried in the common info field and / or special user info field and / or user info field of the enhanced trigger frame so that both intended and unintended STAs can notice that the upcoming trigger-based transmission can involve transmission from an AP. In one example, a new value of the trigger type subfield can be used to indicate a MAP trigger. Alternatively (or in addition), the presence of a MAP AID in the special user info field and / or user info field can be used as an implicit indication of a MAP trigger.

[0114] Embodiments for operating channel information in a MAP trigger frame are described herein. A subset of BSS level information can be included in the MAP trigger frame. Examples of the subset of BSS level information can include, but are not limited to, primary channel that can indicate the location of the primary 20MHz channel, primary 40MHz channel, primary 80MHz channel, primary 160MHz channel, and channel center frequency segment.

[0115] This information can help other APs and OBSS STAs locate the primary 20MHz channel, primary 40MHz channel, and primary 80MHz channel, etc. of the transmitting AP. If the MAP trigger is defined as a new trigger type, this information can be carried in the trigger-related common info field or trigger-related user info field. Alternatively or in addition, this information can be carried in a newly added special user info field identified by AID 12 = x, where x is a pre-defined value.

[0116] In 802.11ax, the RU allocation subfield in the user info field of the trigger frame can indicate whether the CTS frame is transmitted on the primary 20MHz channel, primary 40MHz channel, primary 80MHz channel, 160MHz channel, or 80+80MHz channel.

[0117] In 802.11be, the RU local subfield can be modified to support CTS transmission on primary 160MHz or 320MHz channels. Several new values of the RU allocation subfield can be used to indicate them: (1) XI if the primary 80MHz channel is the only 80MHz channel or the lowest frequency 80MHz channel in the primary 160MHz channel; (2) X2 if the primary 80MHz channel is the second lowest frequency 80MHz channel in the primary 160MHz channel; (3) X3 if the primary 160MHz channel is the only 160MHz channel or the lowest frequency 160MHz channel in the 320MHz channel; (4) X4 if the primary 160MHz channel is the second lowest frequency 160MHz channel in the 320MHz channel; and / or (5) X5 if it is a 320MHz channel.

[0118] In 802.11be, the RU allocation subfield can be redesigned to allow CTS frame transmission on non-primary channels.

[0119] In one embodiment, with SST, A-PPDU, A-MAP transmission, the STA / AP can be allowed to transmit TB PPDU in non-primary channels. In one embodiment, the enhanced MU-RTS trigger frame to trigger CTS or enhanced CTS transmission with SST or A-PPDU or MAP transmission can have an explicit or implicit indication in the enhanced trigger frame. Here, the indication can be an implicit indication which can indicate that the TB PPDU can have SST, A-PPDU or MAP transmission. Alternatively or in addition to, the indication can be an explicit indication which enables the enhanced MU-RTS to trigger CTS transmission on both primary and non-primary subchannels. The STA / AP receiving the enhanced MU-RTS trigger frame can know that the RU allocation subfield can allocate CTS transmission on the primary and / or non-primary subchannels.

[0120] The RU allocation subfield can be modified using one or more embodiments described below.

[0121] In one example, the table and each entry can define possible resource allocation for CTS transmission. For example, the CTS transmission can have a bandwidth equal to or greater than 20MHz, then each entry in the table can allocate a subchannel with at least 20MHz bandwidth.

[0122] In another example, the RU allocation table defined for the enhanced trigger frame can be used, but the intended / receiving STA can interpret slightly different RU allocation. For example, if a 242-tone RU is allocated, the STA can be allowed to transmit CTS frame on the subchannel corresponding to the 242-tone RU.

[0123] An AP can use a MU-RTS to request a single STA and have the STA share a TXOP to communicate with the AP or another STA. Such a MU-RTS frame can be referred to as a MU-RTS TXS (TXOP sharing) frame. An AP can transmit a MU-RTS TXS frame or another TXS frame to request one or more STAs (e.g., a sharing AP or a sharing non-AP STA) to share a TXOP. The MU-RTS TXS frame or other TXS frame can include an indication that the frame or MU-RTS frame is a MU-RTS TXS frame or a TXS frame. In one example, if a MU-RTS TXS is used to request a particular STA to share a TXOP, the MU-RTS frame is addressed to the STA.

[0124] In another example, a MU-RTS frame or TXS frame can be addressed to a broadcast address or to another ID, such as a BSSID. The MU-RTS TXS frame or frame can include a user info field in its frame body. The MU-RTS TXS frame or TXS frame can include two user info fields in its frame body, one of which is a special user info field that can be used to indicate that the MU-RTS TXS is intended to trigger an EHT PPDU. The MU-RTS frame can also be used by an AP to share a TXOP with one or more APs. The MU-RTS TXS frame can also contain an indication that it is a frame to start a shared TXOP. The MU-RTS frame or other frame can include different indications whether the frame is to start a shared TXOP with an AP, or with a non-STA, or with one or more APs, or one or more non-STA APs, or within a set of multiple APs (MAP). The MU-RTS TXS frame or TXS frame can include an indication of the duration of the shared TXOP granted to one or more STAs. Alternatively or in addition, the MU-RTS TXS or TXS frame can include a sharing schedule for one or more STAs that indicates an allocated duration of the shared TXOP and / or a start time (or an implicit start time) of the shared TXOP for each of the one or more STAs.

[0125] If a STA receives a MU-RTS TXS frame or a TXS frame (which can include an indication that the frame is used to start a shared TXOP), or if the MU-RTS TXS or TXS frame includes only one user info field in its frame body, or if the MU-RTS TXS or TXS frame includes only two user info fields in its frame body (one of which is a special user info field), and the frame is not addressed to it or the frame does not include a user info field that the STA can associate with (such as it includes an AID 12 or other identifier of the STA), then the STA can not reset the NAV updated by the MU-RTS trigger frame if, starting when the MAC receives the PHY-RXEND.indication primitive corresponding to the detection of the MU-RTS TXS trigger frame, no PHY-RXSTART.indication primitive is received from the PHY during a period of duration 2 x aSIFSTime + CTS_Time + aRxPHYStartDelay + 2 x aSlotTime.

[0126] If a STA receives a MU-RTS TXS frame or a TXS frame (which can include an indication that the frame is used to start a shared TXOP), or if the MU-RTS TXS or TXS frame includes only one user info field in its frame body, or if the MU-RTS TXS or TXS frame includes only two user info fields in its frame body (one of which is a special user info field), and the frame is not addressed to it or the frame does not include a user info field that the STA can associate with (such as it includes an AID 12 or other identifier of the STA), then the STA can not reset the NAV updated by the MU-RTS TXS or TXS frame if, starting when the MAC receives the PHY-RXEND.indication primitive corresponding to the detection of the MU-RTS TXS or TXS frame, no PHY-RXSTART.indication primitive is received from the PHY during a period of duration aSIFSTime + aRxPHYStartDelay + 2 x aSlotTime.

[0127] If a STA receives a MU-RTS TXS frame or a TXS frame (which can include an indication that the frame is used to start a shared TXOP), or if a MU-RTS TXS or TXS frame includes only one user info field in its frame body (which can not be a special user info field), and the frame is addressed to it or the frame includes a user info field that can be associated with the STA (such as it includes an AID 12 or other identifier of the STA), it can respond to the MU-RTS TXS or TXS frame with a CTS frame or a CTS TXS frame. The STA can transmit the CTS or CTS TXS frame on the indicated RU as included in the MU-RTS TXS or TXS frame. The STA can then continue the shared TXOP by transmitting frames to the AP in the uplink or to one or more STAs (e.g., to a peer non-AP STA) or to one or more APs (e.g., APs within the same MAP set as the AP the STA is associated with), e.g., by providing feedback for channel measurements, reporting interference, or sending data and management frames. After a STA or AP has completed its exchange within the shared TXOP, it can transmit a CF-End frame to truncate the shared TXOP, provided that there is sufficient duration left in the granted shared TXOP to transmit the CF-End frame. The CF-End can include an indication that the CF-end frame will truncate the shared TXOP. The RA address can be set to the broadcast address or to the MAC address of the sharing AP. The BSSID field can be set to the MAC address of the sharing AP or AP MLD or to the address of the transmitting STA.

[0128] After transmitting a MU-RTS TXS frame or a TXS frame and after a sharing AP has requested a shared TXOP for the duration of the granted shared TXOP, if the AP receives a CF-End frame, e.g., from a STA that is sharing the TXOP, or a CF-End frame carried in a PPDU within the BSS, or a CF-End frame that can be identified as coming from the same BSS, the AP can transmit another CF-End frame to announce the end of the shared TXOP and to reset the NAV of its BSS.

[0129] After transmitting a MU-RTS TXS frame or a TXS frame and after a sharing AP has requested a shared TXOP for the duration of the granted shared TXOP, if the AP does not receive a response frame from one or more of the intended recipient STAs of the MU-RTS frame or TXS frame, the AP can send a CF-End frame.

[0130] After sending the MU-RTS TXS frame or TXS frame and after the sharing APs that have requested to share the TXOP have been granted the duration of the shared TXOP, the AP can send a CF-End frame if no PHY RXSTART.indication primitive is received from the PHY during the period of time of 2 x aSIFSTime + aRxPHYStartDelay + CTS-Time + 2 x aSlotTime from the end of the transmitted MU-RTS TXS or TXS frame. Also, after sending the MU-RTS TXS frame or TXS frame and after the sharing APs that have requested to share the TXOP have been granted the duration of the shared TXOP, the AP can send a CF-End frame if no PHY RXSTART.indication primitive is received from the PHY during the period of time of aSIFSTime + aRxPHYStartDelay + 2 x aSlotTime from the end of the MU-RTS TXS or TXS frame. After sending the MU-RTS TXS frame or TXS frame and after the sharing APs that have requested to share the TXOP have been granted the duration of the shared TXOP, the AP can transmit another MU-RTS TXS or TXS frame to one or more STAs to share the remaining TXOP with the one or more STAs or APs if the AP receives a CF-End frame, e.g., from a STA that is sharing the TXOP, or a CF-End frame carried in a BSS-internal PPDU, or a CF-End frame that can be identified as coming from the same BSS.

[0131] The term "sharing AP" can refer to an AP that requests other STAs or APs to share one or more TXOPs that the AP has obtained. Other terms can be used to refer to the same AP.

[0132] Buffer Status Reports are typically sent in uplink to help its associated AP to allocate UL resources. With solicited BSR, the AP can send a BSRP trigger frame to explicitly request a BSR from a STA. With unsolicited BSR, a non-AP STA can send a BSR to an AP through the QoS Control field or the BSR Control subfield. In this implementation, a modified / enhanced BSR can be used to carry low latency traffic buffer reports.

[0133] If a non-AP STA supports modified / enhanced BSR trigger reception and / or modified / enhanced BSR transmission, it can set the modified / enhanced BSR support subfield in the EHT (or future version) Capabilities element to 1.

[0134] If an AP STA supports modified / enhanced BSR trigger transmission and / or modified / enhanced BSR reception, it can set the modified / enhanced BSR support subfield in the EHT (or future version) capability element to 1.

[0135] In one embodiment, low latency traffic can correspond to multiple TIDs. An enhanced BSRP trigger frame can be used to request buffer status report for one or more TIDs. A TID bitmap can be included in the enhanced BSRP frame. The size of the TID bitmap can be the number of valid TIDs defined in the system. For example, it can be 8 bits or 16 bits long. A 1 in the bitmap can indicate that the buffer status corresponding to that TID is requested. In one embodiment, the TID bitmap can be included in the trigger related common information field. In one embodiment, the TID bitmap can be included in the trigger related user information field.

[0136] A STA requested by an enhanced BSRP trigger frame can respond with the existing BSR control field or an enhanced BSR control field.

[0137] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example buffer status report (BSR) control field in the A control field. The BSR control field can include an ACI bitmap subfield 802, an increment TID subfield 804, an ACI high subfield 806, a scaling factor subfield 808, a queue size high subfield 810, and a queue size full subfield 812. The ACI bitmap subfield 802 can be 4 bits. The increment TID subfield 804 can be 2 bits. The ACI high subfield 806 can be 2 bits. The scaling factor subfield 808 can be 2 bits. The queue size high subfield 810 can be 8 bits. The queue size full subfield 812 can be 8 bits.

[0138] With the existing BSR control field, one or more subfields can have new meanings. As FIG. 8 shown, the highlighted subfields (i.e., the ACI bitmap, the increment TID, and the queue size full subfields) can have new meanings. A special value combination of the ACI bitmap subfield and the increment TID subfield can be used to indicate the buffer status of all TIDs related to low latency traffic, and / or the TIDs indicated in the TID bitmap carried in the trigger frame can be included in the BSR report. For example, the ACI bitmap subfield is all 0s, and the increment TID subfield is a value between 0 and 2, can be used to indicate the buffer status of low latency traffic, and / or the TIDs indicated in the TID bitmap carried in the trigger frame can be included in the BSR report. In one embodiment, a STA can report the total queue size of low latency TIDs and / or the requested TIDs by using the queue size full subfield. It is noted that the embodiments mentioned herein can be used for requested BSR and unrequested BSR of low latency traffic.

[0139] With the enhanced BSR control field, a new control ID value can be used to identify the enhanced BSR control field. In one embodiment, a STA can report the queue size status of multiple TIDs. In one embodiment with a requested BSR, a STA can report the queue size of the TIDs requested in the BSRP trigger frame. In one embodiment, a STA can report the queue size of the TIDs related to low latency traffic. In one embodiment, a STA can report the queue size of the TIDs they want to report. In one embodiment, the enhanced BSR control field can carry one or more subfields, such as TID bitmap, scaling factor, TID high, queue size high, queue size low latency, queue size full, per TID queue size, etc., as described below.

[0140] In the TID bitmap, the bitmap size M can be equal to the number of TIDs active / supported in the system. For example, 8 bits or 16 bits long. This subfield can be used to indicate which buffer status reports are included.

[0141] The scaling factor subfield can indicate the unit SF of the queue size high, queue size low latency, per TID queue size, and queue size full. The encoding of this subfield can be explicitly defined, which can or can not be the same encoding table as defined in 802.11ax.

[0142] The TID high subfield can indicate the TID index whose queue size is indicated in the queue size high subfield. The queue size high subfield can indicate the queue size corresponding to the TID high. The queue size low latency subfield can indicate the total queue size of the low latency traffic. The queue size full subfield can indicate the total queue size.

[0143] The per TID queue size subfield can carry N TID queue size subfields, and each TID queue size subfield can carry the queue size for a single TID. In one embodiment, N can be equal to the number of TIDs active / supported in the system M. In one embodiment, N can be the total number of 1s in the TID bitmap.

[0144] The punctured channels can be indicated in the enhanced NFRP trigger frame in different ways. In one example, the 16 reserved bits (B12-B20 and B25-B31) in the user info field of the NFRP trigger frame can be used to signal the punctured channels:

[0145] In one embodiment, the punctured channels can be indicated as a 4-bit bitmap, which tells the 20MHz channels that are punctured in the corresponding 80MHz sub-block. For 320MHz bandwidth, up to 16 bits are needed.

[0146] In another embodiment, a 3-bit lookup table will be used to indicate the puncturing pattern in each 80MHz sub-block. In one example, 7 puncturing patterns 0111, 1011, 1101, 1110, 0011, 1100, 1001 can be allowed, which can fit into a 3-bit lookup table (i.e., Table 2). Here, 12 bits out of 16 reserved bits in the user info field of the enhanced NFRP trigger frame can be used.

[0147] In another example, the puncturing channel can be signaled in the trigger-related common info subfield in the special user info field using either Method 1 or Method 2 explained above.

[0148] In another example, the puncturing channel can be signaled in the trigger-related user info subfield in the common info field using any of the above embodiments.

[0149] In another example, the puncturing channel can be signaled in 3 reserved bits of the special user info field (B37-B39). In this embodiment, a 3-bit lookup table can be used to signal the puncturing pattern of 80MHz corresponding to the NFRP trigger frame carrying this special user info field. The NFRP trigger frame can be sent for each 80MHz sub-block. In this method, different NFRP trigger frames can be sent through different 80MHz sub-blocks.

[0150] Entry Truncation pattern 000 Reserved 001 0111 010 1011 011 1101 100 1110 101 0011 110 1001 111 1100

[0151] Table 2: 3-bit lookup table for indicating the puncturing pattern in the trigger frame

[0152] In 802.11ax, several equations characterizing the behavior of non-AP STAs to the NFRP trigger frame are a function of the UL bandwidth indication in the common info field. These equations can include the number of scheduled STAs, the starting spatial stream number, and the index of the allocated tone set in response to the NFRP trigger.

[0153] N STA = 18 x 2 BW x (MultiplexingFlag + 1)

[0154]

[0155] RU TONE SET INDEX = 1 + ((AID - Start AID) mod (18 x 2 BW ))

[0156] The enhanced NFRP trigger frame can be used to trigger NDP feedback from EHT STAs. The UL bandwidth subfield can only signal up to 160MHz bandwidth, and a bandwidth extension subfield is proposed in the special user info field to signal 320MHz. The above equations that can be used by STAs that respond with EHT NDP feedback can be modified to include 320MHz bandwidth as follows:

[0157] Based on both uplink bandwidth and uplink bandwidth extension subfield (BWE values are given in column 3 of Table 3)

[0158]

[0159] Based on both uplink bandwidth and uplink bandwidth extension subfield

[0160]

[0161]

[0162]

[0163] Table 3: Existing UL BW and UL WB extension table

[0164] In the case of puncturing, the above equations can be updated to take into account the puncturing channel. Here, the effective bandwidth can refer to the total bandwidth utilized (i.e., bandwidth minus puncturing channel bandwidth).

[0165] Considering the 4-bit bitmap approach, a puncturing pattern on an 80MHz channel can be indicated as a bit sequence (b1b2b3b4), where b1 applies to the lowest frequency 20MHz channel and b4 applies to the highest frequency 20MHz channel. A value of 0 for a bit can indicate that the corresponding 20MHz channel is punctured, otherwise a value of 1 can be used. In the lookup table approach, a sequence of 3 bits can indicate some entry in lookup table 3. Similarly, the corresponding puncturing pattern corresponding to the 3-bit entry can be indicated as a 4-bit puncturing pattern (b1b2b3b4).

[0166] Number of non-punctured channels in the jth 80MHz sub-block The count can be done by simply counting the 1s in each sequence.

[0167]

[0168] Then, the total effective bandwidth (non-punctured channels) of the entire bandwidth can be expressed as:

[0169]

[0170] Thus, the enhanced NFRP trigger frame equation can be rewritten as:

[0171] NSTA = 18 x N 20 x (MultiplexingFlag + 1)

[0172]

[0173] For RU_TONE_SET_INDEX, the un-punctured case index can be calculated as follows, and then mapped to the punctured case index per 80MHz:

[0174]

[0175]

[0176] Table 4 - Un-punctured case index mapped to punctured case index per 80MHz

[0177] In A-PPDU case, the effective bandwidth can refer to the effective bandwidth used by one type of TB PPDU. For example, an AP can acquire a 320MHz channel and allocate a primary 160MHz for HE TB PPDU transmission and a secondary 160MHz for EHT TB PPDU transmission. An enhanced NFRP trigger frame can be used to trigger both HE TB PPDUs and EHT TB PPDUs. For EHT transmission on the secondary 160MHz channel, the effective bandwidth can refer to up to 160MHz bandwidth according to the preamble puncturing scenario.

[0178] 802.11be has two releases: R1 and R2. R1 carries baseline features and R2 carries advanced features. R2 feature related information can be carried in the enhanced trigger frame and / or EHT TB PPDU.

[0179] The R1 / R2 indication bit can be carried in the enhanced trigger frame. In one embodiment, the R1 / R2 bit can be carried in the common information field of the enhanced trigger frame. In one embodiment, the R1 / R2 bit can be carried in a special user information field. For example, the special user information field of AID 12 = 2007. In one embodiment, the R1 / R2 bit can be carried in a user information field so that a single trigger frame can be used to trigger users with and without R2 features. In one embodiment, the R1 / R2 bit can be reserved in 11be release 1 with a fixed value.

[0180] In one embodiment, the EHT TB PPDUs for R2 can be different from the EHT TB PPDUs for R1. For example, the U-SIG field of the EHT TB PPDUs for R1 and R2 can carry different subfields. In this case, the intended recipients of the trigger frame can need to know the TB PPDU format in order to respond. Together with the existing HE / EHT P160 subfield in the public information field of the trigger frame and the PS160 subfield in the user info field, the STA can use the following Table 5 to determine the TB PPDU format. In this table, the first three columns show different combinations of the three subfields. The TB PPDU column can indicate the type of TB PPDU used for the response. The STA capability column can indicate the STA capability of supporting 11ax, 11be version 1, and / or 11be version 2. The intended STA can need to indicate the capability in the association phase. The AP can need to know the capability of each intended STA before it transmits the trigger frame to the STA. Based on the STA capability, the AP can set the HE / EHT P160 subfield, the PS160 subfield, and the R1 / R2 subfield.

[0181]

[0182] Table 5: Use three bits in the trigger frame to determine the response TB PPDU format

[0183] In one embodiment, the EHT TB PPDUs for R2 can be the same as the EHT TB PPDUs for R1. For example, the U-SIG field of the EHT TB PPDUs for R1 and R2 can carry the same subfields. The trigger frame can carry more information about R2. In one embodiment, some of the reserved fields in the public information field, the special user info field with AID = 2007, and the user info field can carry R2 related features. In one embodiment, one or more special user info fields can be defined to carry R2 related features. The special user info field can be identified by the disclosed special AID value and / or the R1 / R2 subfield. For example, if the R1 / R2 subfield can be set to a non-reserved value, then the STA supporting 11be R2 can expect the existence of R2 related special user info field, and / or the reserved bit in R1 can have a meaning in R2. In one embodiment, the R1 / R2 bit can be carried in the first special user info field with AID = 2007.

[0184] Aggregated PPDU (A-PPDU) transmission can be supported in 802.11be, which allows different types of PPDUs to be aggregated in the frequency domain. For example, an AP can acquire a 320MHz channel and can allocate 160MHz sub-channels for HE PPDU transmission and other 160MHz sub-channels for EHT PPDU transmission. For trigger-based UL A-PPDU transmission, one trigger frame can be used to trigger multiple types of PPDUs in UL. Note that the trigger frame can carry information about both types of PPDUs.

[0185] In one embodiment, an A-PPDU subfield can be explicitly signaled in the trigger frame. The subfield can be in the common information field, special user information field, or user information field. The field that can be used to indicate the triggered transmission can use the A-PPDU format. In one embodiment, a combination of bits in the common information field, special user information field, and / or user information field can be used together to indicate the presence of A-PPDU.

[0186] Embodiments of parameterized spatial reuse (PSR) for EHT PPDUs are described herein. The described embodiments can be used in PSR of HE PPDUs or any other PPDUs with PSR operation.

[0187] The expected transmit power of an EHT parameterized spatial reuse transmission (PSRT) PPDU is as follows, with the following values:

[0188]

[0189] is the transmit power of a PSRT PPDU on the parameterized spatial reuse reception (PSRR) PPDU bandwidth (BW), ESR i is the PSR subfield in the U-SIG of a TB PPDU or the PSR subfield in the special user information field of an EHT trigger frame. The received power level (RPL) in dBm can be obtained at an OBSS STA that can transmit a PSRT PPDU by averaging over all antennas used to receive the PPDU during the non-high efficiency (non-HE) portion of the PPDU preamble of the trigger PPDU, measuring the combined received power at the receive antenna connector over the entire PSRR PPDU bandwidth or the bandwidth where the PSRR PPDU channel and the PSRT PPDU channel overlap. PSRT and eBW PSRR are the effective bandwidths in MHz of the PSRT PPDU and the PSRR PPDU, respectively, with only un-truncated sub-channels. Their values can be obtained in Table 7 and Table 8 as BW Effective eBW PSRRIt can also be the effective bandwidth of the intersection of the PSRT PPDU and PSRR PPDU channels with the uncensored subchannel. eBW PSRR This can be carried in the trigger frame. f(ESR1, ESR2) is a function of ESR1 and ESR2. For example, an option could be f(ESR1, ESR2) = min(ESR1, ESR2); or

[0190] or

[0191] Among them RPL 20MHz It is the received signal power at the receiving antenna connector in dBm / 20MHz, that is, the average power received in the uncropped 20MHz subchannel within the overlapping bandwidth of PSRRPPDU and PSRTPPDU.

[0192] In one implementation, the transmit power of the PSRT PPDU It can be determined by the following equation:

[0193]

[0194] Among them RPL PSRT It is the total received power level measured over the PSRT PPDU channel bandwidth at the STA that will transmit the PSRT PPDU, or RPL. PSRT BW represents the total received power level measured on the STA operating channel overlapping with the PSRR PPDU. PSRR It is the PSRR PPDU bandwidth; ESR1′, ESR2′ are ESR values ​​based on ratios. Among them eBW STA-PSRR α is the effective channel bandwidth of the unpruned subchannel in the PSRRPPDU transmission channel that overlaps with the PSRTPPDU transmission channel, or it represents the effective channel bandwidth of the STA operating channel that overlaps with a PSRRPPDU that only has unpruned subchannels. α can be calculated at the OBSS STA transmitting the PSRTPPDU if detailed or coarse pruning information (e.g., an indication of pruning per 40MHz or 80MHz subblock) is available in the trigger frame of the PSRRPPDU. PSRT This refers to the effective bandwidth of the PSRT PPDU, which includes only the uncensored subchannel. For example, the total bandwidth (BW) of a PSRT or PSRR PPDU is 80MHz. It includes a censored 20MHz subchannel. The effective bandwidth of a PSRT or PSRR PPDU is 60MHz.

[0195] Table 6 below shows an example where each PSR value in the first column can be represented for calculation. The upper limit of different ESR values depends on the value of The possible values of (shown as 0, -1.2, and -3.0 in Table 6) can need to be signaled in the trigger frame carried in the PSRR PPDU so that OBSS STAs can decode the PSR value with the appropriate ESP value indicated in the last three columns of Table 6. As shown in Table 6, such signaling can require 2 bits in the trigger frame. For example, an EBW ratio subfield can be added in the common info field or special user info field or user info field of the trigger frame. An EBW ratio field set to 0 can indicate An EBW ratio field set to 1 can indicate An EBW ratio field set to 2 can indicate

[0196]

[0197] Table 6 - EHT Spatial Reuse (ESR) field encoding

[0198] In another embodiment, when the AP transmits a PSRR PPDU, it can calculate PSR INPUT by including the factors of: i.e. where TX PWR AP is the total power in dBm at the antenna connector for this 20 MHz subchannel of a 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 320 MHz PPDU for all antennas used to transmit the PSRR PPDU containing the trigger frame; acceptable receiver interference level AP is the value in dBm for this 20 MHz subchannel of a 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 320 MHz PPDU and should be set as follows:

[0199] Assuming is the expected received signal power for the HE portion of the HE TB PPDU transmitted on the allocated RU indicated in the trigger frame, measured at the antenna connector of the AP and averaged over the antennas. Let be the minimum SNR value that produces < 10% PER for the MCS of the RU. Then, the acceptable receiver interference level in dBm for the 20 MHz covered by the RU is:

[0200] where

[0201] Then, the AP transmitting the PSRR PPDU can determine the value of the UL spatial reuse subfield of the common info field of the trigger frame for each 20 MHz subchannel by selecting the row in Table 1 with the highest value less than or equal to the value of PSR INPUT. The row in the table with the value in the column can be used to determine the value of the UL spatial reuse subfield of the common info field of the trigger frame for each 20 MHz subchannel, which is the highest value less than or equal to the value of PSR INPUT.

[0202] Alternatively or in addition, the expected transmit power of the EHT PSRT PPDU can have the following value:

[0203]

[0204] and are the number of non-truncated 20 MHz subchannels in the PSRT PPDU and PSRR PPDU, respectively. It can also be the number of non-truncated 20 MHz subchannels in the intersection of the PSRT PPDU and PSRR PPDU channels. It can be carried on the trigger frame. and Exemplary definitions of N S and BW s can be shown in Table 6 and Table 7 as N Effective , respectively.

[0205] Alternatively or in addition, the expected transmit power of the EHT PSRT PPDU can have the following value:

[0206]

[0207] where BW STA-PSRR is the channel bandwidth of the subchannels in the PSRR PPDU transmission channel that overlap with the PSRT PPDU transmission channel. It can also represent the channel bandwidth of the STA operating channel that overlaps with the PSRR PPDU. It can include the truncated subchannels. This transmit power calculation can be performed at the STA side without additional signaling from the AP other than the PSR value.

[0208] To further simplify the calculation of TxPower PSRT , the following expression can be used to calculate the upper bound

[0209]

[0210] where C is a constant that can be predefined to represent the minimum value 10log 10 γ (e.g., 3 dB) or the average value 10log 10 γ.

[0211] In one embodiment, N s or BW Effective One example is to use 4 bits to represent different BWs (20MHz to 320MHz) and puncturing patterns. The mapping table shown in Table 9 can be used to map different values of N s or BW Effective to 4 bits. Note that the normalization of ESR, RPL can be performed on the basis of 20MHz channels as described above. It can also be performed for other BW values.

[0212]

[0213] Table 7: Exemplary definitions of BW Effective or Ns in non-OFDMA case

[0214]

[0215] Table 8: Exemplary definitions of BW Effective or Ns in OFDMA case

[0216]

[0217] Table 9: Exemplary mapping table of BW Effective or Ns

[0218] In another embodiment, the effective bandwidth can be signaled in 8 bits, where 2 bits are signaled for each 80MHz sub-block of the effective bandwidth. The leftmost 2 bits can map to the lowest 80MHz sub-block, and the rightmost 2 bits can map to the highest 80MHz sub-block. Table 10 shows the mapping of each 2 bits to the corresponding effective bandwidth.

[0219] Bit map Effective bandwidth (MHz) 00 Reserved 01 40 10 60 11 80

[0220] Table 10 - Bit mapping to effective bandwidth

[0221] Accordingly, the effective bandwidth of each 80MHz sub-block can be read from the table by mapping 2 bits to the corresponding effective bandwidth. The total effective bandwidth can be represented as:

[0222]

[0223] ​In the case of 20MHz and 40MHz channels, an all-zero sequence (00000000) can be used to signal this case. In one example, the sequence 11010000 can indicate a 160MHz channel where the effective bandwidth in the first 80MHz sub-block is 11 = 80MHz and the effective bandwidth in the second 80MHz sub-block is 01 = 40MHz, where the total effective bandwidth is 120MHz. In another example, the sequence 00000000 can check the UL bandwidth field and the effective bandwidth can be the UL bandwidth of the common field in the trigger frame. In another example, the sequence 10010111 can indicate a 320MHz channel where the effective bandwidth in the first 80MHz sub-block is 10 = 60MHz, the effective bandwidth in the second 80MHz sub-block is 01 = 40MHz, the effective bandwidth in the third 80MHz sub-block is 01 = 40MHz, the effective bandwidth in the fourth 80MHz sub-block is 11 = 80MHz, and the total effective bandwidth is 220MHz.

[0224] The effective bandwidth or the number of non-punctured 20MHz sub-channels can be signaled in the trigger-related common information subfield in the common field of the trigger frame or the trigger-related user information subfield of the special user information field in the trigger frame.

[0225] In other embodiments, enhanced OBSS PD spatial reuse operations are described. These embodiments can apply to any PPDU (e.g., HE STA, EHT STA, or other STA) performing OBSS PD based SR operations. In these embodiments, an OBSS STA can check that the received signal strength level measured from the L-STF field or the PHY SYNC field, short SYNC field, or long PHY SYNC field of a PPDU is below the OBSS PD level, whichever is present and used to determine the PHY-CCA. The measured channel can be equal to the bandwidth of the PPDU to be transmitted. For example, if an OBSS STA wants to transmit a PPDU on an 80MHz channel containing sub-channel 1, sub-channel 2, sub-channel 3, and sub-channel 4, the OBSS STA can measure the received signal strength level on all of these 4 sub-channels. The transmit power can be the same across the sub-channels used for transmission, or the transmit power can be different from one sub-channel to another.

[0226] Adjustment of OBSS PD and transmit power for EHT devices will now be described. The OBSS PD level used by an EHT device to determine whether a wireless channel is clear in combination with the transmit power is given by one of the following equations:

[0227]

[0228] where N_nonpunc refers to the number of non-punctured sub-channels within the received PPDU, or alternatively, N_nonpunc refers to the number of non-punctured sub-channels within the transmitted PPDU.

[0229] In Equation 1, the transmit power or OBSS_PDlevel can be the same across the bandwidth within the received PPDU.

[0230] Alternatively, the OBSS PD level of each sub-channel (e.g., 20 MHz) used by the EHT device to determine whether the wireless channel is clear, in combination with the transmit power, is given by the following equation:

[0231]

[0232] where is the OBSS PD level for the i-th sub-channel, is TX PWR ref, which is the reference transmit power on the i-th sub-channel, and TX PWR,i is the transmit power on the i-th sub-channel.

[0233] Equation 3, shown below, is the transmit power for the portion that utilizes OBSS-PD based spatial reuse, where N_nonpunc refers to the number of non-punctured sub-channels within the intersection of the received PPDU and the transmitted PPDU.

[0234]

[0235] where i = 1, 2,.., is the number of sub-channels within the transmitted PPDU.

[0236]

[0237] where i = 1, 2,.., is the number of sub-channels within the intersection (or union) of the received PPDU and the transmitted PPDU.

[0238]

[0239] where i = 1, 2,.., is the number of sub-channels within the received PPDU.

[0240] In Equation 2, the transmit power or OBSS_PDlevel can be different from one sub-channel to another within the defined bandwidth. The total transmit power of the Tx PPDU can follow “Error! Reference source not found.” The OBSS PD level for CCA determination is defined in Equation 4, Equation 5, and Equation 6.

[0241] FIG. 9Exemplary OBSS-PD based spatial reuse operations are shown when the transmitted PPDU is equal to 80 MHz but the bandwidth of the receiver PPDU varies. In the various cases depicted, STA1 associated with AP1 transmits a PPDU and allows OBSS-PD based spatial reuse. OBSS STA (STA2) associated with AP2 can want to perform OBSS-PD based spatial reuse. Each of the four cases is described in more detail below.

[0242] In case 1 where the bandwidth of the received PPDU and the bandwidth of the transmitted PPDU are the same and OBSS_STA2 fully utilizes sub-channels 1-4 occupied by the PPDU sent from STA1, the adjustment of the OBSS PD level and the transmit power of OBSS_STA2 can follow Equation 1.

[0243] Case 2 indicates that the PPDU sent by STA1 has a smaller bandwidth than the PPDU transmitted from OBSS_STA2. In this example, sub-channels 1-2 are allowed to have OBSS-PD based spatial reuse while sub-channels 3-4 do not use OBSS-PD based spatial reuse. The adjustment of the OBSS PD level and the transmit power of OBSS_STA2 in sub-channel 1 and / or sub-channel 2 can follow Equation 2. The total transmit power of OBSS_STA2 in sub-channel 1 and sub-channel 2 can follow Equation 3. The transmit power of OBSS_STA2 in sub-channel 3 and sub-channel 4 can be different than the total transmit power of OBSS_STA2 in sub-channel 1 and sub-channel 2. Alternatively, the transmit power of OBSS_STA2 in sub-channel 3 and sub-channel 4 can be the same as the total transmit power of OBSS_STA2 in sub-channel 1 and sub-channel 2. The OBSS PD level of sub-channel 1 and sub-channel 2 can follow Equation 5 or Equation 6.

[0244] Case 3 indicates that the PPDU sent by STA1 has a larger bandwidth than the PPDU transmitted from OBSS_STA2. In this example, sub-channels 1-8 are allowed to have OBSS-PD based spatial reuse. However, OBSS_STA2 can only operate up to an 80 MHz channel and can use sub-channels 1-4. In this example, the adjustment of the OBSS PD level and the transmit power of OBSS_STA2 in sub-channels 1 to 4 can follow Equation 1 where N_nonpunc refers to the number of non-punctured sub-channels within the transmitted PPDU.

[0245] Case 4 indicates that the PPDU transmitted by STA1 has the same bandwidth as the PPDU transmitted from OBSS_STA2. However, STA1 has one punctured subchannel, i.e., subchannel 3 is punctured, within its transmitted PPDU. In this example, subchannels 1-4 can be allowed to use OBSS-PD based spatial reuse. The adjustment of OBSS level and transmit power in each 20MHz subchannel can follow Equations 2 and 3 independently. If the same transmit power is applied on all 20MHz subchannels, the total transmit power of the PPDU transmitted from OBSS_STA2 with OBSS-PD based spatial reuse is based on the following Equation 7.

[0246] TX PWR = 4TW PWR0 , where TX PWR0 ≤

[0247] min(TX PWR_max1 , TX PWR_max2 , TX PWR_max3 , TX PWR_max4 ). Equation 7

[0248] Different transmit powers can be applied in different subchannels. Similarly, different OBSS_PD levels can be applied in different subchannels.

[0249] In other embodiments, OBSS PD SR transmit power can be limited. If a STA starts an OBSS PD transmit power limit period at a selected OBSS_PD level on one 20MHz subchannel, the upper limit of TX_PWR on the corresponding 20MHz subchannel of the transmitted PPDU can follow the following Equation 8:

[0250]

[0251] where i = 1, 2,... is the number of non-punctured subchannels of the transmitted PPDU.

[0252] The actual transmit power of a STA on the transmitted PPDU can follow the following Equation 9 or Equation 10:

[0253]

[0254] where N_nonpunc is the number of non-punctured subchannels of the transmitted PPDU, is the maximum allowable transmit power on the ith subchannel.

[0255]

[0256] where N_nonpunc is the number of non-punctured subchannels of the transmitted PPDU, Pmax(i) refers to the maximum allowable transmit power on the ith subchannel, and Pactual(i) refers to the actual transmit power on the ith subchannel.

[0257] f(TX_PWR ref ) = 0 dBm. One example of f(TX_PWR where N_nonpunc is the number of non-punctured subchannels in the transmitted PPDU. For example, TX_PWR ref is 21 dBm for a non-AP STA. TX_PWR ref is 21 dBm or 25 dBm for an AP. In the above statement, the transmitted subchannels of the transmitted PPDU can be the same or different from the received PPDU transmitted from the OBSS STA. It is noted that if TX PWR_max_i is not constrained, the STA can comply with the transmit power limits of other rules.

[0258] If the STA satisfies the constraint in each subchannel given in Equation 8, the STA can also set different transmit powers on different subchannels. Thus, the OBSS_PDlevel in different subchannels can also be different.

[0259] Although features and elements are described above in particular combinations, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with the other features and elements. In addition, the implementations described herein can be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer- readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer- readable media include electronic signals (optical, electrical or electromagnetic) that are transmittable over a wire or wirelessly and computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, removable storage disks, hard drives, RAM, ROM, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, other memory devices, and data transmission devices. Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. The processor, or processors, can be implemented as one or more physical processors or as one or more virtual processors running on a virtual machine. A processor can also be implemented as a combination of physical and virtual processors. The processor can further be implemented as a combination of processors, virtual or physical, or combinations thereof.

Claims

1. A station (STA), comprising: The receiver is configured to receive a parameterized spatial multiplexing (PSR) receive (PSRR) frame from another STA in the Overlapping Basic Service Set (OBSS), the PSRR frame including PSR parameters; The processor is configured to determine the power level of the PSRR frames received at the STA on each 20MHz channel in which the PSRR frames are received; The processor is also configured to determine the transmission power of a PSR transmission (PSRT) frame to be transmitted by the STA to the associated access point (AP), wherein the determined transmission power of the PSRT frame is based on received PSR parameters, the determined power level of PSRR frames received at the STA on each 20MHz channel for receiving the PSRR frame, and the effective bandwidth of the PSRT frame. as well as The transmitter is configured to transmit the PSRT frame at the determined transmission power.

2. The STA according to claim 1, wherein, The effective bandwidth of the PSRR frame is the ratio of the uncropped 20MHz channel used to transmit the PSRT frame to the total number of 20MHz channels in the STA operating bandwidth.

3. The STA according to claim 1, wherein, The PSRR frame is a triggered Physical Layer Convergence Protocol (PLCP) Packet Data Unit (PPDU) or trigger frame.

4. The STA according to claim 3, wherein, The PSRR frame is based on a triggered PPDU, and the PSR parameters are included in the PSR subfield of the U-SIG field.

5. The STA according to claim 1, wherein, The PSRR frame is a trigger frame, and the PSR parameters are included in a special user information field.

6. The STA according to claim 1, wherein, Determining the transmission power of the PSRT frame based on the received PSR parameters includes determining the minimum value of one or more PSR parameters, or a function that determines one or more PSR parameters.

7. The STA according to claim 1, wherein, The other STA in the OBSS is an Access Point (AP).

8. A method for a station (STA), the method comprising: Receive a parameterized spatial multiplexing (PSR) receive (PSRR) frame from another STA in the Overlapping Basic Service Set (OBSS), the PSRR frame including PSR parameters; Determine the power level of the PSRR frames received at the STA on each 20MHz channel in which the PSRR frames are received; The transmission power of a PSR transmission (PSRT) frame to be transmitted from the STA to the associated access point (AP) is determined, wherein the determined transmission power of the PSRT frame is based on the received PSR parameters, the determined power level of the PSRR frames received at the STA on each 20MHz channel that receives the PSRR frames, and the effective bandwidth of the PSRT frame. as well as The PSRT frame is transmitted at the determined transmission power.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein, The effective bandwidth of the PSRR frame is the ratio of the uncrunted 20MHz channel used to transmit the PSRT frame to the total number of 20MHz channels in the STA operating bandwidth.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein, The PSRR frame is a triggered Physical Layer Convergence Protocol (PLCP) Packet Data Unit (PPDU) or trigger frame.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein, The PSRR frame is based on a triggered PPDU, and the PSR parameters are included in the PSR subfield of the U-SIG field.

12. The method according to claim 8, wherein, The PSRR frame is a trigger frame, and the PSR parameters are included in a special user information field.

13. The method according to claim 8, wherein, Determining the transmission power of the PSRT frame based on the received PSR parameters includes determining the minimum value of one or more PSR parameters, or a function that determines one or more PSR parameters.

14. The method according to claim 8, wherein, The other STA in the OBSS is an Access Point (AP).

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