Channel scanning in multiple service periods

Abstract

Various aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications. In some aspects, a wireless communication device may scan a first channel for an access point during a first non-extended personal area network (non-XPAN) service period. The wireless communication device may scan the first channel in one or more additional non-XPAN service periods. Numerous other aspects are described.

Description

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This patent application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 18 / 463,773, filed September 8, 2023, entitled “CHANNEL SCAN IN MULTIPLESERVICE PERIODS,” which is assigned to the assignee of this patent application. The disclosure of the earlier application is considered part of this patent application and is incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The various aspects of this disclosure relate generally to wireless communication, and specifically to techniques and apparatus associated with scanning channels during multiple service periods. Background Technology

[0004] A Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) is a short-range wireless network typically established by a user to interconnect various personal devices, sensors, and / or appliances located within a certain distance or area of ​​the user. For example, based on communication protocols such as Bluetooth... ® (BT) protocol, Bluetooth Low Energy protocol or Zigbee ® WPAN (Wireless PAN Protocol) can provide wireless connectivity to peripheral devices within a specific distance (e.g., 5 meters, 10 meters, 20 meters, 100 meters) from each other. Bluetooth is a short-range wireless communication protocol that supports WPAN between a central device (such as a host device or source device) and at least one peripheral device (such as a client device or receiving device). However, the power consumption associated with Bluetooth communication, which operates at the Basic Rate (BR) and / or Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) physical layers, may make WPAN communication impractical in some applications.

[0005] Therefore, to address the power consumption challenges associated with Bluetooth BR / EDR (sometimes referred to as Bluetooth Classic or Bluetooth Legacy), Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) (also referred to herein as WPAN LE) was developed and is used in a variety of applications where data transmission is relatively infrequent and / or to implement WPAN communication with low power consumption. For example, BLE saves power by utilizing infrequent data transmissions through low duty cycle operation and by putting one or both of the central device and peripheral devices into sleep mode between data transmissions. Example applications using BLE include battery-powered sensors and actuators in a variety of medical, industrial, consumer, and fitness applications. BLE can also be used for connecting devices such as BLE-enabled smartphones, tablets, laptops, earphones, etc. While legacy Bluetooth and BLE offer certain advantages, there is a need for further improvements to Bluetooth and BLE technologies. For example, legacy Bluetooth and BLE have limited range, limited data throughput, and are susceptible to interference from other devices communicating in the same frequency band, such as via wireless local area networks (WLANs). Summary of the Invention

[0006] Some aspects described herein relate to a method of wireless communication performed by a wireless communication device. The method may include scanning a first channel for an access point during a first non-extended personal area network (non-XPAN) service period. The method may also include scanning the first channel during one or more additional non-XPAN service periods.

[0007] Some aspects described herein relate to an apparatus for performing wireless communication at a wireless communication device. The apparatus may include one or more memories and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories. The one or more processors may be configured to scan a first channel for an access point during a first non-XPAN service period. The one or more processors may be configured to scan the first channel during one or more additional non-XPAN service periods.

[0008] Some aspects described herein relate to a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions for wireless communication by a wireless communication device. When executed by one or more processors of the wireless communication device, the set of instructions enables the wireless communication device to scan a first channel for an access point during a first non-XPAN service period. When executed by one or more processors of the wireless communication device, the set of instructions enables the wireless communication device to scan the first channel during one or more additional non-XPAN service periods.

[0009] Some aspects described herein relate to an apparatus for wireless communication. The apparatus may include components for scanning a first channel for an access point during a first non-XPAN service period. The apparatus may also include components for scanning the first channel during one or more additional non-XPAN service periods.

[0010] The aspects generally include methods, apparatus, systems, computer program products, non-transitory computer-readable media, user equipment, base stations, network entities, network nodes, central equipment, peripheral equipment, wireless communication equipment, access points, mobile stations, and / or processing systems as generally described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings and description.

[0011] The features and technical advantages of the examples according to this disclosure have been summarized rather extensively above in order to better understand the detailed description below. Additional features and advantages will be described below. The disclosed concepts and specific examples can be readily utilized as the basis for modifying or designing other structures for achieving the same purpose of this disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. The characteristics of the concepts disclosed herein, in both their organization and manner of operation, and the associated advantages, will be better understood by considering the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Each figure in the drawings is provided for illustrative and descriptive purposes and not as a limitation of the definitions in the claims.

[0012] While aspects are described herein by way of example, those skilled in the art will understand that such aspects can be implemented in many different arrangements and scenarios. The techniques described herein can be implemented using different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and / or package arrangements. For example, some aspects can be implemented via integrated chip implementations or other devices based on non-modular components (e.g., end-user equipment, vehicles, communication equipment, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail / shopping devices, medical devices, and / or artificial intelligence devices). Aspects can be implemented in chip-level components, modular components, non-modular components, non-chip-level components, device-level components, and / or system-level components. Devices incorporating the described aspects and features may include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described aspects. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals may include one or more components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antennas, radio frequency (RF) chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders, and / or summers). The aspects described herein are intended to be practiced in a wide variety of devices, components, systems, distributed arrangements, and / or end-user equipment of various sizes, shapes, and configurations. Attached Figure Description

[0013] To gain a full understanding of the foregoing features of this disclosure, a more specific description of the invention, briefly outlined above, can be obtained by referring to various aspects, some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. However, it should be noted that the drawings illustrate only certain typical aspects of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered as limiting its scope, as other equally valid aspects are permissible in this description. The same reference numerals in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements.

[0014] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) according to the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication device according to the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a protocol stack according to this disclosure.

[0017] Figure 4 This is an illustration of an example of data packets being transmitted from a wireless communication device to a peripheral device via a WPAN connection according to this disclosure.

[0018] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication device according to the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 6 This is a diagram illustrating an example of an extended PAN (XPAN) topology according to this disclosure.

[0020] Figure 7 This is a diagram illustrating an example of Target Wake Time (TWT) information according to this disclosure.

[0021] Figure 8 This is a diagram illustrating an example of XPAN association according to this disclosure.

[0022] Figure 9 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a service period according to this disclosure.

[0023] Figure 10 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a scanning channel according to this disclosure.

[0024] Figure 11 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a scan time according to this disclosure.

[0025] Figure 12 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a scan time according to this disclosure.

[0026] Figure 13 This is a diagram illustrating an example process performed, for example, at a wireless communication device or an apparatus of a wireless communication device, according to the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 14 This is a diagram of an example device for wireless communication according to the present disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0028] In a Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) such as a Bluetooth (BT) network or a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) network, wireless audio can be streamed from a central device (e.g., a handheld device, smartphone) to multiple peripheral devices (e.g., a left earbud and a right earbud). These devices can operate as part of an Extended Personal Area Network (XPAN) that provides whole-house coverage (WHC), where devices can connect to each other and work throughout the home or office. In an XPAN, the Wi-Fi feature of an Access Point (AP) can be used to extend the connection between the handheld device and the earbuds beyond Bluetooth range for better WHC. For example, the handheld device can send audio data to the AP, and the AP will then send audio data to the earbuds. This means a user can leave the handheld device on a table in one room and hear the audio from the earbuds (or continue a phone call) in another room, outside of normal Bluetooth range (but within AP range). In this way, users do not need to carry the handheld device at home or the office to use wireless earbuds.

[0029] In some examples, XPAN soft APs (SAPs) can operate on handheld devices. A TWT session can be established with a peripheral device (e.g., an earphone), and the handheld device may expect to enter an XPAN channel based on a TWT service segment. The handheld device can use a non-XPAN service segment to switch to any external channel (non-XPAN channel). However, when the handheld device expects to enter an XPAN channel based on a TWT service segment, scanning results may be affected, and the handheld device 810 may not have the opportunity to remain on the scanning channel for the expected amount of time. Therefore, scanning must only be performed on non-XPAN service segments. If the non-XPAN service segment duration is short, the handheld device may have less time to scan on a given channel. This can lead to low scanning results because the handheld device may not be able to scan all available APs on the channel. If the handheld device spends less time scanning the channel, it may miss probe responses from APs when entering or switching to an XPAN channel. The handheld device may have difficulty remaining on the channel for a sufficient amount of time to receive beacons from APs. If the handheld device loses AP beacons after scanning different channels, the handheld device may not connect to an AP or may connect to a suboptimal AP. This can lead to increased latency and degraded traffic, which may waste signaling resources.

[0030] Based on the various aspects described herein, a handheld device can scan the same channel on multiple consecutive non-XPAN SPs. The handheld device can scan the same channel multiple times, thus covering the entire 102ms beacon interval. If the device can cover the entire non-overlapping 102ms time period relative to the beacon interval, the handheld device has a 100% chance of obtaining a scan result. If the scan result is successful, the optimal AP can be used and communication is likely to succeed. Successful communication reduces latency and saves signaling resources.

[0031] The detailed description below, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, is intended as a description of various configurations and not as representing the only configuration in which the concepts described herein can be practiced. To provide a thorough understanding of the various concepts, the detailed description includes specific details. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts can be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring such concepts.

[0032] Various apparatuses and methods will now be used to present several aspects of a telecommunications system. These apparatuses and methods will be described in detail below and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, components, circuits, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively, “elements”). These elements can be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the system as a whole.

[0033] As an example, an element, any part of an element, or any combination of elements may be implemented as a “processing system” including one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, graphics processing units (GPUs), central processing units (CPUs), application processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, system-on-a-chip (SoCs), baseband processors, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gate logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functionalities described throughout this disclosure. One or more processors in a processing system may execute software. Whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or other names, software should be broadly interpreted as meaning instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subroutines, software components, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc.

[0034] Therefore, in one or more example embodiments, the described functionality may be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functionality may be stored or encoded as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes computer storage media. Storage media can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage devices, combinations of computer-readable media of the foregoing types, or any other medium capable of storing computer-executable code having instructions or data structures accessible by a computer.

[0035] Figure 1 This is an illustration of an example of a WPAN 100 according to some specific implementations. Within the WPAN 100, a central device 102 (which may be referred to herein as a source device or using other suitable terms) can connect to one or more peripheral devices and establish a communication link 116 with one or more peripheral devices, such as a smartwatch 104, a Bluetooth portable speaker 106, a wireless headset 108, a tablet 110, a wireless earbud 112, and a smart appliance 114 using the BLE protocol or a modified BLE protocol (which may be referred to herein as a destination device or using other suitable terms). The BLE protocol is part of the BT core specification and enables radio frequency communication operating within the globally accepted 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band.

[0036] In some aspects, as described herein, the central device 102 may include suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces, processors, and / or code that can be used to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and / or 114 using the BLE protocol or a modified BLE protocol. In some aspects, the central device 102 may operate as an initiator to request the establishment of a link layer (LL) connection with the intended peripheral device 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and / or 114. In some aspects, a link manager may be used to control the operation between the WPAN application controller in the central device 102 and the WPAN application controller in each of the intended peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and / or 114.

[0037] In some respects, after establishing a requested LL connection, the central device 102 can become a host device, and selected or anticipated peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and / or 114 can be paired with the central device 102 through the established LL connection. As a host device, the central device 102 can support multiple concurrent LL connections with various peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and / or 114 operating as client devices. For example, the central device 102 can manage various aspects of data packet communication in LL connections with one or more associated peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and / or 114. For example, the central device 102 can determine the operation scheduling in LL connections with one or more peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and / or 114. The central device 102 can also initiate LL Protocol Data Unit (PDU) exchange sequences through the LL connection. The LL connection can be configured to operate periodic connection events in a dedicated data channel. LL data PDU transmissions between the central device 102 and one or more peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and / or 114 can occur within the connection event.

[0038] In some aspects, the central device 102 may be configured to send a first LL data PDU to the intended peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and / or 114 in each connection event. Additionally or alternatively, in some aspects, the central device 102 may use a polling scheme to poll the intended peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and / or 114 for LL data PDU transmission during a connection event. The intended peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and / or 114 may send the LL data PDU upon receiving a packet carrying the LL data PDU from the central device 102. In some other aspects, the peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and / or 114 may send the LL data PDU to the central device 102 without first receiving the LL data PDU from the central device 102.

[0039] Examples of central device 102 may include cellular phones, smartphones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, mobile stations (STA), laptops, personal computers (PCs), desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), satellite radios, global positioning systems, multimedia devices, video devices, digital audio players, cameras, game consoles, tablets, smart devices, wearable devices (such as smartwatches or wireless headphones), vehicles, vehicle infotainment systems or in-vehicle kits, electricity meters, gas pumps, ovens, thermostats, hearing aids, wearable blood glucose units, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, etc.

[0040] Examples of one or more peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and / or 114 may include cellular phones, smartphones, SIP phones, STAs, laptops, PCs, desktop computers, PDAs, satellite radios, GPS devices, multimedia devices, video devices, digital audio players, cameras, game consoles, tablets, smart devices, wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches, wireless headphones, or wireless in-ear headphones), vehicles, vehicle infotainment systems or in-vehicle kits, electric meters, gas pumps, ovens, thermostats, hearing aids, wearable blood glucose meters, IoT devices, etc. While central device 102 is in Figure 1 The central device 102 is exemplified as communicating with six peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112 and 114 in WPAN 100, but it should be understood that, without departing from the scope of this disclosure, the central device 102 may communicate with more than six or fewer peripheral devices in WPAN 100.

[0041] In some aspects, a device implementing the BT protocol (e.g., central device 102) may operate according to a first radio mode (e.g., a Basic Rate (BR) / Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) radio mode), and a device implementing the BLE protocol may operate according to a second radio mode (e.g., a BLE radio mode). In some aspects, central device 102 may be configured with dual radio modes, and thus may be able to operate according to either the BR / EDR mode or the BLE mode, for example, based on the type of short-range wireless communication that central device 102 may participate in.

[0042] For example, in some aspects, the central device 102 may operate according to BR / EDR mode for continuous data streaming, for broadcast networks, for mesh networks, and / or for some other applications where relatively higher data rates may be more suitable. Additionally or alternatively, the central device 102 may operate according to BLE mode for short burst data transmissions (such as for some other applications where power savings and / or relatively lower data rates may be acceptable). Additionally or alternatively, in some aspects, the central device 102 may operate according to one or more other radio modes, such as proprietary radio modes. Examples of other radio modes may include high-speed radio modes, low-power radio modes, and / or isochronous radio modes, etc.

[0043] In some respects, as described in more detail elsewhere herein, the auxiliary wireless device (e.g., among peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and 114) can track a first retransmission metric based on the number of retransmitted packets received by the auxiliary wireless device from a source device (such as central device 102). The auxiliary wireless device can receive an acknowledgment assistance request from the destination wireless device (e.g., among peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and 114) indicating a second retransmission metric for the destination wireless device. The auxiliary wireless device can send a response to the acknowledgment assistance request to the destination wireless device based on the corresponding values ​​of the first and second retransmission metrics. Additionally or alternatively, the auxiliary wireless device can perform one or more other operations described herein.

[0044] In some respects, as described in more detail elsewhere herein, the destination wireless device (e.g., among peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and 114) may track a first retransmission metric based on the number of retransmitted packets received by the destination wireless device from a source device (such as central device 102). The destination wireless device may send an acknowledgment assistance request to an auxiliary wireless device (e.g., among peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and 114) indicating the first retransmission metric tracked by the destination wireless device. The destination wireless device may receive a response to the acknowledgment assistance request from the auxiliary wireless device based on corresponding values ​​of the first retransmission metric tracked by the destination wireless device and a second retransmission metric tracked by the auxiliary wireless device. Additionally or alternatively, the destination wireless device may perform one or more other operations described herein.

[0045] As indicated above, Figure 1 This is provided as an example. Other examples are available with reference to [the relevant information]. Figure 1 The examples described are different.

[0046] Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication device 200 according to the present disclosure. In some aspects, the wireless communication device 200 may be... Figure 1 The example shown is a central device 102. Additionally or alternatively, the wireless communication device 200 may be... Figure 1 Examples of one or more of the peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, or 114 illustrated herein. In some aspects, the wireless communication device 200 may be a Bluetooth-enabled device (such as a BLE device).

[0047] like Figure 2As shown, the wireless communication device 200 may include processing elements, such as a processor 202 capable of executing program instructions for the wireless communication device 200. The wireless communication device 200 may also include a display 242 capable of performing graphics processing and presenting information to a user. The processor 202 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 240, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 202 and translate these addresses into locations in memory (such as memory 206, ROM 208, or flash memory 210) and / or address locations in other circuitry or devices (such as display circuitry 204, radio components 230, connector interface 220, and / or display 242). The MMU 240 may also be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some aspects, the MMU 240 may be included as part of the processor 202.

[0048] Processor 202 may be coupled to other circuitry of wireless communication device 200. For example, wireless communication device 200 may include various memory types, a connector interface 220 through which wireless communication device 200 can communicate with a computer system, and a wireless communication subsystem capable of sending data to and receiving data from other devices based on one or more wireless communication standards or protocols. For example, in some aspects, the wireless communication subsystem may include (but is not limited to) a wireless local area network (WLAN) subsystem, a WPAN subsystem, and / or a cellular subsystem (such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) or New Radio (NR) subsystem). Wireless communication device 200 may include multiple antennas 235a, 235b, 235c, and / or 235d for performing wireless communication with wireless communication devices, such as those in a WPAN. In some aspects, the WPAN may be an XPAN.

[0049] Wireless communication device 200 may be configured to implement some or all of the techniques described herein by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (such as a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium) and / or by hardware or firmware operation. In other embodiments, the techniques described herein may be implemented at least in part by programmable hardware elements (such as FPGAs and / or application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs)).

[0050] In some aspects, radio component 230 may include a separate controller configured to control communications for various corresponding radio access technology (RAT) protocols. For example, such as Figure 2As shown, the radio component 230 may include a WLAN controller 250 for managing WLAN communications, a WPAN controller 252 for managing Bluetooth, BLE, and / or other suitable WPAN communications, and a WWAN controller 256 for managing wide area network (WWAN) communications. In some aspects, the wireless communication device 200 may store and execute WLAN software drivers for controlling WLAN operations performed by the WLAN controller 250, WPAN software drivers for controlling WPAN operations performed by the WPAN controller 252, and / or WWAN software drivers for controlling WWAN operations performed by the WWAN controller 256.

[0051] In some aspects, a first coexistence interface 254 (such as a wired interface) may be used to transmit information between the WLAN controller 250 and the WPAN controller 252. Additionally or alternatively, in some aspects, a second coexistence interface 258 may be used to transmit information between the WLAN controller 250 and the WWAN controller 256. Additionally or alternatively, in some aspects, a third coexistence interface 260 may be used to transmit information between the WPAN controller 252 and the WWAN controller 256.

[0052] In some respects, one or more of the WLAN controller 250, WPAN controller 252 and / or WWAN controller 256 may be implemented as hardware, software, firmware or any suitable combination thereof.

[0053] In some configurations, WLAN controller 250 may be configured to use one or more, some, or all of antennas 235a, 235b, 235c, and 235d to communicate with a second device in the WPAN using a WLAN link. In other configurations, WPAN controller 252 may be configured to use one or more, some, or all of antennas 235a, 235b, 235c, and 235d to communicate with at least one second device in the WPAN. In other configurations, WWAN controller 256 may be configured to use one or more, some, or all of antennas 235a, 235b, 235c, and 235d to communicate with a second device in the WPAN. WLAN controller 250, WPAN controller 252, and / or WWAN controller 256 may be configured to adjust the wake-up time interval and downtime of wireless communication device 200.

[0054] Short-range wireless communication protocols (such as BT, BLE, and / or BR / EDR) may include and / or use one or more other communication protocols, for example, to establish and maintain communication links. See also: Figure 1Wireless communication device 200 can establish a communication link 116 with one or more peripheral devices, such as wireless headset 112, according to at least one communication protocol for short-range wireless communication. In some aspects, communication link 116 may include a communication link conforming to protocols included and / or used together, such as BT, BLE, BR / EDR, etc. In one aspect, communication link 116 may include asynchronous connection-oriented logic (ACL) transmission, sometimes referred to as an ACL link. When operating as an ACL link, communication link 116 may allow central device 102 (e.g., a source device) to connect or "pair" with peripheral devices such as headset 112. This connection is asynchronous because the two devices may not need to synchronize their data communication with each other in time to allow data packet communication via communication link 116.

[0055] In some aspects, the Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP) can be implemented in the BT protocol stack (for simplicity, see below). Figure 2 (Not shown in the image) is used within the context of an L2CAP connection. An L2CAP connection can be established after an ACL link has been established. References to L2CAP in this disclosure can be further applied to Enhanced L2CAP (EL2CAP), which may be an enhanced version of the L2CAP protocol that allows multiple logical data channels to be multiplexed over a single radio connection.

[0056] In some aspects, communication link 116 may include an Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) link. For example, an A2DP link may provide a point-to-point link between a source device (such as central device 102) and a destination device (such as headset 112). Using an A2DP link, data packets, including audio, may be transmitted on an ACL channel, and other information (e.g., for controlling the audio stream) may be transmitted on a separate control channel. Data packets may occur non-periodically.

[0057] In some aspects, communication link 116 may support synchronous logical transmission mechanisms between source devices (such as central device 102) and peripheral devices (such as headset 112). For example, communication link 116 may include a Synchronous Connection-Oriented (SCO) link, which uses time slots reserved for BT communication to provide a symmetrical point-to-point link between the source device and the peripheral device. In some aspects, the SCO link may not support retransmission of data packets, which may be unsatisfactory in audio streaming and / or voice call use cases where dropped audio or voice packets can degrade the user experience quality.

[0058] In some aspects, communication link 116 may include an extended SCO (eSCO) link. The eSCO link can provide a symmetric or asymmetric point-to-point link between the source device and peripheral devices using time slots reserved for BT communication, and can also provide a retransmission window after the reserved time slots. Because a retransmission window can be used to facilitate retransmission, the eSCO link is suitable for audio streaming and / or voice call use cases, as dropped audio or voice packets can be retransmitted, thus increasing the probability of successfully receiving data packets.

[0059] In some respects, Figure 1 The communication link 116 shown may include an isochronous (ISO) link. When operating as an ISO link, communication link 116 may combine some features of both synchronous and asynchronous links. For example, a stream on an ISO link can begin with a start packet, and then data packets can be sent asynchronously. On an ISO link, the number of retransmission attempts by the transmitting device can be limited. Therefore, if the receiving device cannot decode a data packet within a limited number of retransmission attempts, the data packet can be discarded, and the receiving device can continue receiving the stream without any data from the discarded data packet.

[0060] In some aspects, the central device (e.g., central device 102, handheld device, user equipment (UE), AP, STA, peripheral device, earphone, wearable device, portable speaker) includes: components for scanning a first channel for the access point during a first non-extended personal area network (non-XPAN) service period; and components for scanning the first channel in one or more additional non-XPAN service periods. Components enabling the central device to perform the operations described herein may include one or more of, for example, antennas 235a-235d, WPAN controller 252, radio component 230, and / or processor 202, etc.

[0061] As indicated above, Figure 2 This is provided as an example. Other examples are available with reference to [the relevant information]. Figure 2 The examples described are different.

[0062] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating example 300 of a protocol stack (e.g., WPAN and / or Bluetooth protocol stack) according to this disclosure. In some aspects, protocol stack 300 can be used in wireless communication devices (such as...) Figure 1 This can be implemented in one or more of the central device 102 or peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, or 114. For example, the protocol stack 300 can be implemented by... Figure 2It may be implemented using one or more of the processor 202, memory 206, flash memory 210, ROM 208, radio component 230, and / or WPAN controller 252 illustrated herein. In some aspects, the protocol stack 300 may be organized into three layers, including an application layer 310, a host layer 320, and a controller layer 330.

[0063] In some aspects, application layer 310 may be a user application layer that interfaces with other blocks and / or layers of protocol stack 300. In some aspects, application layer 310 may include one or more applications 312 and one or more Bluetooth profiles 314 that allow one or more applications 312 to use Bluetooth and / or BLE communication. Host layer 320 may include upper layers of protocol stack 300 and may use host controller interface (HCI) 340 to communicate with controllers in wireless communication devices (such as…). Figure 2 The host layer 320 may communicate with the WPAN controller 252. In some aspects, the host layer 320 may include a host stack 321, which may be used for application layer interface management to allow application 312 to access WPAN communication.

[0064] The controller layer 330 may include lower layers of the protocol stack 300. In some aspects, the controller layer 330 can be used for hardware interface management, link establishment, and link management. Figure 3 As shown, the controller layer 330 may include a link manager (LM) 332, a link layer 334, and a physical (PHY) layer 336. The PHY layer 336 may include, for example, radio components and / or a baseband processor. In some aspects, the PHY layer 336 may define mechanisms for transmitting bit streams via physical links or channels connecting WPAN devices. The bit stream may be encoded into codewords or symbols and may be converted into data packets for transmission over a wireless transmission medium. The PHY layer 336 may provide electrical, mechanical, and / or procedural interfaces to the wireless transmission medium. The PHY layer 336 may be responsible for modulating data into radio frequency (RF) signals for over-the-air transmission and demodulating data. The PHY layer 336 may describe the physical characteristics of transmitters / receivers (or transceivers) included in wireless communication devices. Physical characteristics may include modulation characteristics, RF tolerance, and / or sensitivity levels, etc.

[0065] In some aspects, link layer 334 is responsible for low-level communication on top of PHY layer 336. Link layer 334 manages the sequencing and timing of data packets for sending and receiving, and uses the LL protocol to communicate with other devices regarding connection parameters and data flow control. Link layer 334 also provides gatekeeping functionality for limiting exposure and data exchange with other devices. If filtering is configured, link layer 334 maintains a list of allowed devices and can ignore all requests for data exchange from devices not on the allowed list. Link layer 334 also reduces power consumption. In some aspects, link layer 334 may include proprietary LLs that can be used to discover peer devices and establish secure communication channels with them. In some aspects, link layer 334 may be responsible for transmitting data packets between devices in a WPAN. Each data packet may include an access address that specifies the type of logical transport used to carry the data packet. Logical transports can exist between master and slave devices. Additionally, some logical transports may carry multiple logical links.

[0066] The link manager 332 is responsible for establishing and configuring links, as well as managing power change requests and other tasks. Each type of logical link (such as ACL links, A2DP links, SCO links, eSCO links, ISO links, etc.) can be associated with a specific packet type. For example, an SCO link can provide reserved channel bandwidth for communication between a central device and a peripheral device and can support periodic exchange of data packets without retransmissions. An eSCO link can provide reserved channel bandwidth for communication between a source device and a peripheral device and can support periodic exchange of data packets with retransmissions. An ACL link can exist between a source device and a peripheral device from the beginning of establishing a connection, and the data packets of an ACL link can include encoded information in addition to the payload.

[0067] Link Manager 332 can communicate with Host Layer 320 using HCI 340. In some respects, Link Manager 332 can translate commands associated with HCI 340 into controller-level operations, such as baseband-level operations. HCI 340 can act as a boundary between lower layers, such as between Controller Layer 330, Host Layer 320, and Application Layer 310. The BT specification can define a standard HCI to support BT systems implemented across two independent processors. For example, a BT system on a computer can use the processor of the BT system to implement the lower layers of Protocol Stack 300 (such as PHY Layer 336, Link Layer 334, and / or Link Manager 332), and can use the processor of the BT components to implement other layers of Protocol Stack 300 (such as Host Layer 320 and Application Layer 310).

[0068] exist Figure 3In this diagram, host layer 320 is shown as including a Generic Access Profile (GAP) 322, a Generic Attribute Protocol (GATT) 324, a Security Manager (SM) 326, an Attribute Protocol (ATT) 328, and an L2CAP layer 329. GAP 322 provides an interface for application 312 to initiate, establish, and manage connections with other WPAN (e.g., BT or BLE) devices. GATT 324 provides a service framework for using the Attribute Protocol to discover services and to read and write attribute values ​​on peer devices. GATT 324 can interface with application 312, for example, through a profile that can define sets of attributes and any permitted attributes required for use in BT or BLE communication.

[0069] Security Manager 326 is responsible for device pairing and key distribution. The Security Manager protocol implemented by Security Manager 326 defines how communication with the corresponding BLE device's Security Manager is performed. Security Manager 326 provides additional cryptographic functions that can be used by other components of the protocol stack 300. The architecture of Security Manager 326 used in WPAN communication is designed to minimize recourse requirements to peripheral devices by offloading work to a potentially more robust central device. BLE uses a pairing mechanism for key distribution. Security Manager 326 provides mechanisms for encrypting data and for providing data authentication.

[0070] The ATT 328 includes a client / server protocol based on attributes associated with BLE devices configured for a specific purpose. Examples may include monitoring heart rate, temperature, broadcasting announcements, etc. Attributes can be discovered, read, and written by peer devices. The set of operations performed on the ATT 328 may include error handling, server configuration, finding information, read operations, write operations, and / or queuing writes. The ATT 328 can form the basis for data exchange between BT devices and BLE devices.

[0071] L2CAP layer 329 can be implemented above HCI 340 and can communicate with controller layer 330 via HCI 340. L2CAP layer 329 can be responsible for establishing connections across one or more existing logical links and for requesting additional links (if none exist). L2CAP layer 329 can also enable multiplexing between different higher-layer protocols, for example to allow different applications to use a single link, such as a logical link, including ACL links. In some implementations, L2CAP layer 329 can encapsulate multiple protocols from the upper layers into a data packet format (and vice versa). L2CAP layer 329 can also decompose packets from the upper layers with large data payloads into multiple packets with data payloads segmented into smaller data payloads that fit the maximum payload size on the sending side (e.g., twenty-seven (27) bytes).

[0072] In some standards and protocols such as BLE and / or BR / EDR, the central device 102 can detect errors and / or dropped / missing / unreceived packets by using Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) verification and by using Message Integrity Code (MIC) verification. MIC verification can be used when packets are encrypted. For example, a CRC verification failure can indicate one or more errors in a received packet, and a MIC verification failure can indicate that another packet has not yet been received (but a CRC verification failure can also indicate that another packet has not yet been received, and / or a MIC verification failure can also indicate one or more errors in a received packet).

[0073] CRC verification and MIC verification can be based on: generating CRC values ​​and MICs respectively based on the received packets, and comparing these generated CRC values ​​and MICs respectively with the CRC values ​​and MICs included in the received packets. Specifically, a receiving device such as headset 112 that receives packets can first generate a CRC value or CRC checksum based on the received packets (such as based on the payload and (if applicable) MIC included in the received packets). The receiving device can compare the generated CRC value with the CRC value included in the received packets. If the generated CRC value matches the CRC value included in the received packets, the received packets can be verified against the CRC. The CRC-verified received packets can then be decrypted. However, if the generated CRC value does not match the CRC value included in the received packets, the receiving device can determine that the received packets failed CRC verification. If the receiving device determines that the received packets failed CRC verification, the received packets may contain errors and / or may be corrupted. In one configuration, the receiving device can discard received packets that failed CRC verification. Alternatively, in another configuration, the receiving device may attempt to recover the received packets, for example, using one or more error correction techniques.

[0074] If the received packet is encrypted and verified by CRC, the receiving device can decrypt the received packet to obtain the decrypted payload and the decrypted MIC. For MIC verification, the receiving device can generate a MIC based on the decrypted payload and compare the generated MIC with the MIC obtained from the decrypted received packet. If the generated MIC matches the decrypted MIC, the receiving device can determine that the received packet has been successfully decrypted. When the received packet is successfully decrypted, the decoded and decrypted payload of the received packet can be provided to another layer of the receiving device, such as the receiving device's decoder-decoder (decoder-decoder), which can output the payload data of the received packet as, for example, audio by the receiving device through the speaker of the headset 112.

[0075] If the generated MIC does not match the decryption MIC of the received packet, the receiving device can determine that the received packet has not been successfully decrypted. When a received packet is not successfully decrypted, it may be that a different packet is missing, or that the received packet may be erroneous or otherwise corrupted. In one configuration, the receiving device may discard received packets that failed MIC verification. Alternatively, in another configuration, the receiving device may attempt to recover the received packets.

[0076] As indicated above, Figure 3 This is provided as an example. Other examples are available with reference to [the relevant information]. Figure 3 The examples described are different.

[0077] Figure 4 This is an illustration of an example transmission 400 of data packets from source device 410 to destination device 420 over a WPAN connection 430 according to this disclosure. In some aspects, source device 410 may be... Figure 1 Central equipment 102 and / or Figure 2 One example of a wireless communication device 200, and the receiving device 420 may be... Figure 1 Examples of one or more peripheral devices among peripheral devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, or 114. In some aspects, the receiving device 420 may be a wireless earphone, a pair of wireless earphones, a wireless portable speaker, or another suitable device. The WPAN connection 430 may be any suitable Bluetooth or BLE connection or link. In some aspects, the WPAN connection 430 may be one or more of an ACL link, an L2CAP link, an A2DP link, an SCO link, or an ISO link.

[0078] like Figure 4As shown, source device 410 may include encoder 412 and transmit buffer 414. Encoder 412 may be configured to encode data (such as audio or video data) using a specified bit rate. Transmit buffer 414 may be configured to queue data packets to be transmitted over WPAN connection 430 to destination device 420. In some implementations, data packets to be transmitted over WPAN connection 430 may have a predefined size, for example, based on the type of WPAN connection 430 and / or the channel conditions associated with WPAN connection 430. In some aspects, data encoded by encoder 412 may be packetized into data packets of a predefined size. Source device 410 may dequeue data packets from transmit buffer 414 and transmit data packets over WPAN connection 430 to destination device 420.

[0079] like Figure 4 As further shown, the destination device 420 may include a receive buffer 422 and a decoder 424. Data packets received by the destination device 420 on the WPAN connection 430 may be queued or otherwise stored in the receive buffer 422. Data packets may be output from the receive buffer 422 and forwarded to the decoder 424. In some aspects, the decoder 424 may decode the data (such as audio and / or video data) carried in the payload of the queued data packets and forward the decoded data to the upper layers of the protocol stack for processing and playback to the user. In some specific implementations, the encoder 412 may use a first bit rate to encode a first encoder / decoder (codec) frame and forward the first codec frame to the transmit buffer 414 for packetization for transmission to the destination device 420 on the WPAN connection 430. The destination device 420 may queue received data packets in the receive buffer 422 and may forward a first portion of the first codec frame to the decoder 424 for decoding.

[0080] As indicated above, Figure 4 This is provided as an example. Other examples are available with reference to [the relevant information]. Figure 4 The examples described are different.

[0081] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating an example 500 of a wireless communication device 500 according to the present disclosure. In some aspects, the wireless communication device 500 may be... Figure 1 Central equipment 102 Figure 2 Wireless communication device 200 or Figure 4 Example of source device 410. In example 500, wireless communication device 500 is depicted as having a... Figure 4 The established WPAN connection 430 (e.g., Bluetooth communication connection) of the host device 420.

[0082] The wireless communication device 500 may include an application processing subsystem 510, an audio subsystem 520, a WPAN subsystem 530, and an HCI 540. It can be used with... Figure 3 The application processing subsystem 510, corresponding to at least some portions of the application layer 310 and host layer 320 of the protocol stack 300, is shown as including a media player 511, an application layer 512, a WPAN stack 513, and an audio interface 514. The media player 511 can be any suitable device or component capable of generating or receiving multimedia content, including, for example, real-time audio streams, real-time video streams, real-time game streams, and / or latency-sensitive traffic. Figure 3 One specific implementation of application layer 310 includes application layer 512, which includes at least one Bluetooth profile defining attribute collection and associated permissions to be used in Bluetooth or BLE communication. In some aspects, application layer 512 may include processing resources, including, for example... Figure 2 The memory 206, ROM 208, and / or flash memory 210. The WPAN stack 513 can be... Figure 3 This is a specific implementation of the protocol stack 300.

[0083] In some aspects, such as Figure 5 As shown, the application processing subsystem 510 may include a WPAN transport driver 516, which may include an audio splitting and packetization module (not shown for simplicity) that can packetize data (such as audio and / or video data) into Bluetooth frames that can be transmitted to the destination device 420 using Bluetooth and / or BLE protocols. In some aspects, the WPAN transport driver 516 may be connected to the audio subsystem 520 via an audio and control link 550. In some aspects, the audio and control link 550 may be used to transmit encoded audio / video data and control signals between the WPAN transport driver 516 and the audio / video DSP within the audio subsystem 520. The WPAN transport driver 516 is also connected to a Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter (UART) controller 518, which provides control over information transmission via the WPAN connection 430.

[0084] The audio subsystem 520 may include an encoder / decoder 522, one or more DSPs 524, and one or more codecs 526. The encoder / decoder 522 may be used to sample audio / video data extracted from one or more packets received from another wireless communication device. The extracted audio / video data may be processed in the application processing subsystem 510, at least in part, based on a Bluetooth profile. In some implementations, the encoder / decoder 522 may segment the sampled audio / video data into payloads that can be embedded within one or more Bluetooth packets for transmission from the WPAN connection 430 to the destination device 420. In some cases, the DSP 524 and / or codec 526 may combine sampling of the audio data to employ one or more encoding or decoding algorithms.

[0085] WPAN subsystem 530 may include baseband component 532 (e.g., Bluetooth baseband component), firmware component 534, A2DP component 536, and PHY component 538. Baseband component 532 and firmware component 534 can be used to generate baseband signals for constructing and deconstructing data frames based on Bluetooth or BLE protocols. Baseband component 532 and firmware component 534 can also be used to generate carrier signals for up-converting baseband signals during data transmission and for down-converting received data signals to baseband. A2DP component 536 can be used to control or manage the A2DP link between wireless communication device 500 and destination device 420. Specifically, when WPAN subsystem 530 is in receive mode, PHY component 538 can be used to receive, demodulate, and down-convert data packets received on WPAN connection 430, and forward these data packets to application processing subsystem 510. When the WPAN subsystem 530 is in transmit mode, the PHY component 538 can be used to encapsulate data provided from the upper layer into one or more Bluetooth frames or packets for transmission to the destination device 420 over the WPAN connection 430.

[0086] As indicated above, Figure 5 This is provided as an example. Other examples are available with reference to [the relevant information]. Figure 5 The examples described are different.

[0087] Figure 6 These are illustrations of examples 600, 602, 604 and 606 of the XPAN topology according to this disclosure.

[0088] Wireless communication devices such as handheld (HS) devices or STAs (e.g., telephones) can operate as part of an XPAN providing WHC. In an XPAN, the upper layers of the Bluetooth protocol stack are reused, and the transport stream for sending audio packets from the Bluetooth controller to the Wi-Fi controller can be altered, allowing the handheld device to connect to peripheral devices (e.g., earbuds) via an AP. By connecting to the AP, Wi-Fi features can be used to extend the connection between the handheld device and the earbuds beyond Bluetooth range for better WHC. For example, the handheld device can send audio data to the AP, which then sends audio data to the earbuds. This means a user can leave the handheld device on a table in one room and hear audio from the earbuds (or continue a phone call) in another room outside normal Bluetooth range (but within AP range). In this way, users can use wireless earbuds without carrying the handheld device at home or the office.

[0089] Example 600 illustrates an XPAN topology where a handheld device can communicate with peripherals (e.g., earbuds (EB)) or other STAs as part of a peer-to-peer (P2P) link using a low-power (LE) protocol (e.g., BLE). Utilizing P2P, the handheld device transmits Wi-Fi information to the earbuds via BLE, and the earbuds can use the Wi-Fi. The handheld device provides communication between the peripheral and the access point (AP). The handheld device has a direct Wi-Fi link to the AP. There may not be any direct EB measurements, so the handheld device can infer such EB statistics. There may be Layer 1 to Layer 2 (1L2) or Layer 1 to Layer 4 (1L4) flows in the uplink or downlink. Communication can be based on Target Wake-up Time (TWT) with synchronized end-to-end (E2E) timing. TWT involves scheduling the use of wake-ups for communication and power-downs to save power. This XPAN topology achieves optimal power and concurrency performance.

[0090] Example 602 illustrates an XPAN topology where communication between the handheld device and the earphones occurs via an access point (AP). Control information or switching requests may be sent using Wi-Fi via Control Protocol (TCP) or Glink. Audio and earphone latency statistics are available over a direct Wi-Fi link, and direct earphone statistics collection may also occur. 1L2 or Layer 2 to Layer 4 (2L4) streams may be present. E2E timing may be out of sync.

[0091] Example 604 illustrates an XPAN topology involving AP-AP links, where the APs may use the same subnet or different subnets. Handheld devices and earphones can communicate through two or more APs. The earphones can roam, and the APs manage the links in a mesh network. E2E timing is asynchronous. This XPAN topology may have higher latency and consume more power compared to other XPAN topologies.

[0092] Example 606 illustrates an XPAN topology involving a link from the application server to the earphone via a handheld device (STA) or access point (AP). The link from the application server to the handheld device... a 1 It can be Wi-Fi or cellular. A P2P link from the handheld device to the earphone. a 2 It can be Wi-Fi 6G / 5G / 2G or BLE. The link from the handheld device to the access point (AP). b 1 It can be Wi-Fi or cellular. Link b 2 and b 3 It can be 6G / 5G / 2G.

[0093] When neither the central device (e.g., a handheld device, AP) nor the earbuds support TWT, the earbuds can use power management signals to save power. The central device can receive power management (PM) signals (e.g., PM0) instructing the earbuds to be ready to power on, activate, or wake up, and PM signals (e.g., PM1) instructing the earbuds to power off. When the earbuds wake up to retrieve traffic from the central device, they are unaware of the end of the traffic burst accumulated at the central device. Therefore, the earbuds can implement an inactivity timeout (ITO) mechanism. ITO is the period of time during which the earbuds are expected to be active when receiving packets from the central device. ITO can increase the earbuds' power consumption and thus reduce their battery life, resulting in a poor user experience.

[0094] As indicated above, Figure 6 This is provided as an example. Other examples are available with reference to [the relevant information]. Figure 6 The examples described are different.

[0095] Figure 7 These are illustrations of examples 700 and 702 illustrating TWT information according to this disclosure.

[0096] STAs can use TWT scheduling to conserve battery power and avoid uplink access contention. TWT allows a central device (such as an AP) to manage activity in the Basic Service Set (BSS) to minimize contention between STAs and reduce the amount of time required for STAs utilizing power management modes to wake up. The AP can schedule the TWT duration for STAs to be in a woken state and / or have uplink access to the wireless network. Otherwise, the STA is in a sleep state and / or does not have uplink access to the network.

[0097] The AP can transmit TWT information so that the STA can follow the TWT schedule. Figure 7 Examples 700 and 702 of TWT information are shown. Example 700 illustrates the TWT element format, which includes an element identifier (ID) 704, a length 706, control information 708, and variable TWT parameter information 710. Example 702 illustrates the TWT Information Element (IE) control field, which includes a Null Data Packet (NDP) paging indicator 712, a responder power management (PM) mode 714, a negotiation type 716, a TWT information frame disable indicator 718, a wake-up duration unit 720, and a reservation field 722. For broadcast TWTs, the negotiation type is set to 1. For single TWTs, the negotiation type is set to 0. An AP (or SAP) can announce a broadcast TWT, requesting its associated clients to join an existing TWT session.

[0098] As indicated above, Figure 7 This is provided as an example. Other examples are available with reference to [the relevant information]. Figure 7 The examples described are different.

[0099] Figure 8 This is an illustration of an example 800 associated with XPAN according to this disclosure.

[0100] XPAN communication can involve communication between a central device (such as a handheld device (e.g., UE, XPANSAP)) and a peripheral device (e.g., an earphone) during the XPAN time window, and communication between the handheld device and another device (e.g., an AP, a network entity) during the infrastructure time window. When the handheld device and infrastructure interface form a multi-channel concurrent (MCC) connection, the XPAN and infrastructure link authorizations are time-division multiplexed. Example 800 illustrates an XPAN time window 802 and an infrastructure time window 804. The XPAN time window 802 can be of length SP 806, and the lengths of both the XPAN and infrastructure time windows can be SI 808.

[0101] The earphone 820 may seek to establish or synchronize a TWT schedule, enabling it to send or receive data (in frames) to or from the handheld device 810 during the TWT wake-up time. To synchronize the TWT, the earphone 820 sends an authentication message 822 and receives an authentication response 824. The earphone 820 then associates with the handheld device 810 by sending an association message 826 and receiving an association response 828 if the association message 826 is received (R) by the handheld device 810. The earphone 820 then sends a TWT establishment message 830 and, if received, receives a TWT confirmation message 832. The TWT is then synchronized.

[0102] In some XPAN technologies, the handheld device 810 does not indicate the availability of the XPAN time window 802 and does not trigger unicast frames from the earpiece 820 during the infrastructure time window 804. If the earpiece 820 sends a message during the infrastructure time window, the handheld device 810 will not receive the message when it is able to communicate with another device (e.g., an AP, gNB), and the message is wasted. For example, association messages 834 and 836 are sent during the infrastructure time window and are therefore wasted. The TWT setup message 838 is also sent during the infrastructure time window and is wasted. Wasted messages waste power and signaling resources.

[0103] Some XPAN technologies also utilize CTS2Self messages for traffic shaping before the TWT session is established between the handheld device and the earpiece. The earpiece 820 (in these earpieces) can send a Request to Transmit (RTS) message so that the handheld device can transmit a Allow to Transmit (CTS) message, which silences nearby STAs, allowing the sender of the RTS message to transmit. CTS2Self messages involve CTS messages without an RTS message. A CTS2Self message can be a special frame with the same destination and source addresses. Using CTS2Self messages, a maximum of 32 milliseconds (ms) can be protected. If the channel grant for the infrastructure link is greater than 32 ms, no additional duration is protected on the XPAN channel. Any earpiece association or TWT setup message during this duration will result in failure and subsequent retries, wasting power and signaling resources.

[0104] As indicated above, Figure 8 This is provided as an example. Other examples are available with reference to [the relevant information]. Figure 8 The examples described are different.

[0105] Figure 9 This is a diagram illustrating example 900 of a service period according to this disclosure.

[0106] In some examples, the XPAN SAP can run on a handheld device such as handheld device 810. A TWT session can be established with a peripheral device (e.g., an earphone), and the handheld device may expect to enter an XPAN channel based on a TWT SP. Handheld device 810 can use a non-XPAN SP to switch to any external channel (non-XPAN channel). However, when handheld device 810 expects to enter an XPAN channel based on a TWT service area, the scanning results may be affected, and handheld device 810 may not have the opportunity to stay on the scanned channel for the expected amount of time. Therefore, scanning must only be performed in non-XPAN SPs. Example 900 shows XPAN SP 902, followed by non-XPAN SP 904. Example 900 also shows non-XPAN SP 908 and non-XPAN SP 912. Handheld device 810 can scan channels in non-XPAN SPs, which are separated by XPAN SP 906, XPAN SP 910, and XPAN SP 914. XPAN SP 902 and non-XPAN SP 904 form service area (SI) 916, and there is some channel handover overhead at the beginning of the non-XPAN SP.

[0107] If the non-XPAN SP duration is short, the handheld device 810 may have less time to scan on a given channel. This can lead to low scan results because the handheld device 810 may not be able to scan all available APs in the channel. If the handheld device 810 spends less time scanning the channel, it may miss probe responses from APs when it enters or switches to an XPAN channel. Example 900 shows a handheld device scanning channel X in non-XPAN SP 904, but losing beacons from AP1 and AP2 during XPAN SP 906. The handheld device 810 may scan channel Y and send probe requests during non-XPAN SP 908. The handheld device may receive a beacon from AP 3, but misses a probe response in XPAN SP 910. In other words, because the handheld device 810 scans different channels in the non-XPAN window, it may have difficulty staying on the channel for a sufficient amount of time to receive beacons from APs.

[0108] Furthermore, since the use of non-XPAN SPs affects XPAN traffic, the duration of non-XPAN SPs cannot be increased significantly. Passive channels may have a greater impact because the handheld device 810 may not maintain the minimum beacon interval time (approximately 102 milliseconds) in a passive channel to passively scan all APs. If the handheld device 810 loses an AP beacon after scanning different channels, it may not connect to an AP or may connect to a suboptimal AP. This could lead to increased latency and degraded traffic, potentially wasting signaling resources.

[0109] As indicated above, Figure 9 This is provided as an example. Other examples are available with reference to [the relevant information]. Figure 9 The examples described are different.

[0110] Figure 10 This is a diagram illustrating Example 1000 of a scanning channel according to this disclosure. Example 1000 shows SPs for a handheld device 1010 (e.g., wireless communication device 200), including XPAN SP 1012, non-XPAN SP 1014, XPAN SP 1016, non-XPAN SP 1018, XPAN SP 1020, non-XPAN SP 1022, and XPAN SP 1024. Non-XPAN SP 1014 is the first non-XPAN SP. Non-XPAN SP 1018 and non-XPAN SP 1022 can be considered as additional non-XPAN SPs. In Example 1000, SI is 130 ms, or 65 ms for each SP.

[0111] Based on the various aspects described herein, the handheld device 1010 can scan the same channel on multiple consecutive non-XPAN SPs. The handheld device 1010 can scan the same channel multiple times, thus covering the entire 102ms beacon interval. If the device can cover the entire non-overlapping 102ms time period relative to the beacon interval, the handheld device 1010 has a 100% chance of obtaining a scan result. If the scan result is successful, the optimal AP can be used and communication is likely to succeed. Successful communication reduces latency and saves signaling resources.

[0112] Example 1000 illustrates a handheld device 1010 scanning a channel (e.g., channel X). In some aspects, as indicated by reference numeral 1030, the handheld device 1010 may request a TWT SI size. This may include sending a request for an interval size 1032 to a TWT module configuring the handheld device 1010, and receiving an interval configuration 1034. This will be combined with... Figure 11 and Figure 12 Further discussion on SI size.

[0113] As shown by reference numeral 1035, handheld device 1010 may scan channel X against an AP during non-XPAN SP 1014. This scan may begin 7.5 ms after the start of non-XPAN SP 1014 (due to channel switching delay) and end 64.5 ms after the start of non-XPAN SP 1014 (if the total SI is 130 ms). Handheld device 1010 may not receive any beacons during non-XPAN SP 1014. Example 1000 shows beacon 1036 being transmitted during XPAN SP 1016 and not received by handheld device 1010. Beacon 1038 being transmitted during XPAN SP 1020 and not received. As shown by reference numeral 1040, handheld device 1010 may scan channel X during non-XPAN SP 1022, which is the third consecutive non-XPAN SP (non-XPAN SP 1018 is an infrastructure SP used for communication with the network or with another device). The handheld device 1010 can scan channel X from 63.5 ms to 102 ms across the entire beacon interval. As indicated by reference numeral 1045, the handheld device 1010 can receive beacon 1042 on channel X. While scanning the same channel X, the entire 102 ms beacon interval is covered and beacons are received.

[0114] Handheld device 1010 can use channel X. As indicated by reference numeral 1050, handheld device 1010 can transmit communication 1052 on channel X during XPAN SP1024. Handheld device 1010 can successfully communicate with AP on channel X.

[0115] As indicated above, Figure 10 This is provided as an example. Other examples are available with reference to [the relevant information]. Figure 10 The examples described are different.

[0116] Figure 11 These are illustrations of examples 1100, 1102 and 1104 of the scanning time according to this disclosure.

[0117] In some respects, the TWT SI may not be 130ms. If the SI is shorter (such as 70ms), the scan time is shorter (35ms). With a 7.5ms channel switching delay, there may only be 20ms to scan the channel per iteration (non-XPAN SP). Example 1100 shows the start and end times for scanning with a 70ms SI.

[0118] In some respects, the number of iterations used to scan the same channel is at least partially based on XPAN SI. Even when scanning the same channel... NFurthermore, coverage of the entire beacon interval cannot always be guaranteed within certain SI intervals. Example 1102 illustrates the scan amount for a 102ms beacon interval for different numbers of iterative scans, including additional non-XPAN SPs (XS). For example, handheld device 1010 may scan six non-XPAN SPs to increase the chance of receiving a beacon during the 102ms beacon interval. Even so, the amount of beacon interval scanned by handheld device 1010 is only 78ms of the 102ms. Example 1104 illustrates beacon interval scan amounts for other SIs, such as 120ms, 110ms, 100ms, and 90ms.

[0119] As indicated above, Figure 11 This is provided as an example. Other examples are available with reference to [the relevant information]. Figure 11 The examples described are different.

[0120] Figure 12 These are illustrations of examples 1200 and 1202 of the scan times according to this disclosure.

[0121] Example 1200 illustrates a scan time of 130 ms for the TWT SI. Example 1202 enhances the effectiveness of 130 ms by providing a channel scan over the full 102 ms of the beacon interval with three or more iterations (two or more additional non-XPAN SPs). If the SI is less than 130 ms (or at least closer to 130 ms), the handheld device 1010 can request a 130 ms SI.

[0122] In some aspects, the handheld device 1010 can scan a 5G active channel, a 6G Master Synchronization Code (PSC) channel, or a 6G non-PSC channel as a single non-XPAN SP (approximately 60ms) in just one iteration, which may be sufficient to cover the default dwell time. In other aspects, the handheld device 1010 can scan passive channels in the absence of a connection. If the same channel is scanned three times (XS1 XS1 XS1), the handheld device 1010 can cover the entire 102ms. A second non-XPAN SP can be used to scan the channel instead of the infrastructure.

[0123] In some respects, during connected scanning, the handheld device 1010 can enter both the STA home channel and the XPAN+ scanning channel. The handheld device 1010 can enter the STA home channel after each scan iteration (XS1 XH XS1). A second non-XPANSP can be used for the infrastructure to enable the resumption of data transmission and reception. Since received data from the AP can be present at any point in time, and the STA can be expected to be in its home channel to receive data, using a second non-XPAN SP for the infrastructure may be preferable. In this way, the entire 102ms beacon interval can be covered with minimal impact on the STA interface. If the TWT SI is not 130ms, the scanning module of the handheld device 1010 can request the TWT module to renegotiate the TWT SI to 130ms until the scan is complete, achieving good scanning results.

[0124] As indicated above, Figure 12 This is provided as an example. Other examples are available with reference to [the relevant information]. Figure 12 The examples described are different.

[0125] Figure 13 This is a diagram illustrating an example process 1300 performed, for example, at a wireless communication device or a device of a wireless communication device according to this disclosure. Example process 1300 is an example in which a device or wireless communication device (e.g., wireless communication device 200) performs operations associated with channel scanning in a plurality of SPs.

[0126] like Figure 13 As shown, in some aspects, processing 1300 may include scanning a first channel for the access point during a first non-XPAN service period (block 1310). For example, a wireless communication device (e.g., using...) Figure 14 The communication manager 1406 described herein can scan a first channel for the access point during the first non-XPAN service period, as described above.

[0127] like Figure 13 As further shown, in some aspects, process 1300 may include scanning a first channel during one or more additional non-XPAN service periods (box 1320). For example, a wireless communication device (e.g., using...) Figure 14 The communication manager 1406 depicted herein can scan the first channel in one or more additional non-XPAN SPs, as described above.

[0128] Process 1300 may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere in this document.

[0129] In a first aspect, process 1300 includes receiving a beacon for the AP on a first channel in at least one of one or more additional non-XPAN SPs.

[0130] In a second aspect, either alone or in combination with the first aspect, process 1300 includes sending communication to the access point on the first channel.

[0131] In the third aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first and second aspects, no beacon for the AP was received in the first non-XPAN SP.

[0132] In the fourth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to third aspects, the second non-XPAN SP is an infrastructure SP, and scanning the first channel in one or more additional non-XPAN SPs includes scanning the first channel in a third non-XPAN SP.

[0133] In the fifth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fourth aspects, the first non-XPAN SP, the second non-XPAN SP, and the third non-XPAN SP are consecutive non-XPAN SPs.

[0134] In the sixth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fifth aspects, the first XPAN SP is between the first non-XPAN SP and the second non-XPAN SP, and the second XPAN SP is between the second non-XPAN SP and the third non-XPAN SP.

[0135] In the seventh aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to sixth aspects, the number of one or more additional non-XPAN SPs is based at least in part on the SI size of each of the one or more additional non-XPAN SPs.

[0136] In the eighth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to seventh aspects, the SI size is 130ms, and the number of one or more additional non-XPAN SPs is one.

[0137] In the ninth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to eighth aspects, process 1300 includes sending a request for the SI size.

[0138] In the tenth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to ninth aspects, the SI size is 130 ms.

[0139] In the eleventh aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to tenth aspects, the SI size is less than 130 milliseconds, and the number of one or more additional non-XPAN SPs is greater than one.

[0140] In the twelfth aspect, scanning the first channel in one or more additional non-XPAN SPs, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to eleventh aspects, includes scanning the first channel in a second non-XPAN SP.

[0141] although Figure 13 An example box of process 1300 is shown, but in some respects, process 1300 may include... Figure 13 The boxes depicted may be fewer, different, or arranged differently compared to additional boxes. Alternatively, two or more boxes in process 1300 may be executed in parallel.

[0142] Figure 14 This is a diagram of an example device 1400 for wireless communication according to the present disclosure. Device 1400 may be a wireless communication device, or a wireless communication device may include device 1400. In some aspects, device 1400 includes a receiving component 1402, a transmitting component 1404, and / or a communication manager 1406 that can communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses and / or one or more other components). In some aspects, the communication manager 1406 is combined with... Figure 2 The WPAN controller 252 is described. As shown, device 1400 can communicate with another device 1408 (such as an AP, peripheral device, or TWT module) using receiving component 1402 and transmitting component 1404.

[0143] In some respects, device 1400 can be configured to perform the functions described herein. Figures 1 to 12 One or more operations described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the apparatus 1400 may be configured to perform one or more processes described herein, such as Figure 13 The process is 1300. In some respects, Figure 14 The illustrated device 1400 and / or one or more components may include a combination Figure 2 One or more components of the described wireless communication device. Additionally or alternatively, Figure 14 One or more components shown can be combined Figure 2Implementation within one or more of the described components. Additionally or alternatively, one or more components in the set of components may be implemented at least partially as software stored in one or more memories. For example, a component (or a portion thereof) may be implemented as instructions or code stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium and executable by one or more controllers or one or more processors to perform the function or operation of the component.

[0144] Receiver 1402 may receive communications from device 1408, such as reference signals, control information, data communications, or combinations thereof. Receiver 1402 may provide the received communications to one or more other components of device 1400. In some aspects, receiver 1402 may perform signal processing on the received communications (such as filtering, amplification, demodulation, analog-to-digital conversion, demultiplexing, deinterleaving, demapping, equalization, interference cancellation, or decoding, etc.) and may provide the processed signals to one or more other components of device 1400. In some aspects, receiver 1402 may include combinations of... Figure 2 The described wireless communication device includes one or more antennas, one or more modems, one or more demodulators, one or more multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) detectors, one or more receiver processors, one or more controllers / processors, one or more memories, or combinations thereof.

[0145] Transmitting component 1404 may transmit communications, such as reference signals, control information, data communications, or combinations thereof, to device 1408. In some aspects, one or more other components of device 1400 may generate communications and provide the generated communications to transmitting component 1404 for transmission to device 1408. In some aspects, transmitting component 1404 may perform signal processing (such as filtering, amplification, modulation, digital-to-analog conversion, multiplexing, interleaving, mapping, or encoding, etc.) on the generated communications and may transmit the processed signals to device 1408. In some aspects, transmitting component 1404 may include combinations of... Figure 2 The described wireless communication device includes one or more antennas, one or more modems, one or more demodulators, one or more transmit MIMO processors, one or more transmit processors, one or more controllers / processors, one or more memories, or combinations thereof. In some aspects, the transmit component 1404 may co-located with the receive component 1402 in one or more transceivers.

[0146] The communication manager 1406 may support the operation of the receiving component 1402 and / or the transmitting component 1404. For example, the communication manager 1406 may receive information associated with configuring the reception of communications by the receiving component 1402 and / or the transmission of communications by the transmitting component 1404. Additionally or alternatively, the communication manager 1406 may generate control information and / or provide control information to the receiving component 1402 and / or the transmitting component 1404 to control the reception and / or transmission of communications.

[0147] The communication manager 1406 can scan the first channel for the access point during the first non-XPAN SP. The communication manager 1406 can scan the first channel in one or more additional non-XPAN SPs.

[0148] The receiving component 1402 can receive beacons for the access point on the first channel in at least one of one or more additional non-XPAN SPs. The transmitting component 1404 can transmit communications to the access point on the first channel. The transmitting component 1404 can send a request for SI size.

[0149] Figure 14 The number and arrangement of components shown are provided as an example. In reality, they can exist in... Figure 14 The components shown are compared to additional components, fewer components, different components, or components arranged in a different manner. Furthermore, Figure 14 The two or more components shown can be implemented within a single component, or Figure 14 The single component shown can be implemented as multiple distributed components. Additionally or alternatively, Figure 14 The collection of (one or more) components shown is executable and described as being composed of Figure 14 Another set of components shown performs one or more functions.

[0150] The following provides an overview of some aspects of this disclosure: Aspect 1: A method of wireless communication performed by a wireless communication device, the method comprising: scanning a first channel for an access point during a first non-extended personal area network (non-XPAN) service period; and scanning the first channel during one or more additional non-XPAN service periods.

[0151] Aspect 2: According to the method of aspect 1, the method further includes receiving a beacon for the access point on the first channel during at least one of the one or more additional non-XPAN service periods.

[0152] Aspect 3: According to the method of aspect 2, the method further includes sending communication to the access point on the first channel.

[0153] Aspect 4: The method according to aspect 2, wherein the beacon for the access point is not received during the first non-XPAN service period.

[0154] Aspect 5: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 4, wherein the second non-XPAN service period is an infrastructure service period, and wherein scanning the first channel in the one or more additional non-XPAN service periods includes scanning the first channel in a third non-XPAN service period.

[0155] Aspect 6: According to the method described in aspect 5, the first non-XPAN service period, the second non-XPAN service period, and the third non-XPAN service period are consecutive non-XPAN service periods.

[0156] Aspect 7: According to the method of aspect 6, wherein the first XPAN service period is between the first non-XPAN service period and the second non-XPAN service period, and wherein the second XPAN service period is between the second non-XPAN service period and the third non-XPAN service period.

[0157] Aspect 8: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 7, wherein the number of the one or more additional non-XPAN service periods is based at least in part on the service area size of each of the one or more additional non-XPAN service periods.

[0158] Aspect 9: According to the method of aspect 8, the service interval size is 130 milliseconds, and the number of the one or more additional non-XPAN service periods is one.

[0159] Aspect 10: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 9, the method further includes sending a request for the size of the service interval.

[0160] Aspect 11: The method according to aspect 10, wherein the service interval size is 130 milliseconds.

[0161] Aspect 12: The method according to aspect 10, wherein the service interval size is less than 130 milliseconds, and wherein the number of the one or more additional non-XPAN service periods is greater than one.

[0162] Aspect 13: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 12, wherein scanning the first channel during one or more additional non-XPAN service periods includes scanning the first channel during a second non-XPAN service period.

[0163] Aspect 14: An apparatus for wireless communication at a device, the apparatus comprising one or more processors; one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors; and instructions stored in the one or more memories and executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to perform the method according to one or more of aspects 1 to 13.

[0164] Aspect 15: An apparatus for wireless communication at a device, the apparatus comprising one or more memories and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors being configured to cause the device to perform the method according to one or more of aspects 1 to 13.

[0165] Aspect 16: An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising at least one component for performing the method according to one or more of aspects 1 to 13.

[0166] Aspect 17: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication, said code including instructions executable by one or more processors to perform the methods described in accordance with one or more of aspects 1 to 13.

[0167] Aspect 18: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions for wireless communication, the set of instructions including, when executed by one or more processors of a device, causing the device to perform one or more of the methods described in one or more of aspects 1 to 13.

[0168] Aspect 19: A device for wireless communication, the device including a processing system comprising one or more processors and one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors, the processing system being configured to cause the device to perform the method according to one or more of aspects 1 to 13.

[0169] Aspect 20: An apparatus for wireless communication at a device, the apparatus comprising one or more memories and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors being individually or collectively configured to cause the device to perform the method according to one or more of aspects 1 to 13.

[0170] While the foregoing disclosure provides examples and descriptions, it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit aspects to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations can be made based on the foregoing disclosure, or from various aspects of practice.

[0171] As used herein, the term "component" is intended to be interpreted broadly as hardware and / or a combination of hardware and software. Whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or other names, "software" should be interpreted broadly as meaning instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subroutines, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, and / or functions, etc. As used herein, a "processor" is implemented in hardware and / or a combination of hardware and software. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the systems and / or methods described herein can be implemented in various forms of hardware and / or combinations of hardware and software. The actual dedicated control hardware or software code used to implement these systems and / or methods is not limiting in any way. Therefore, no specific software code is referenced in this document to describe the operation and behavior of the systems and / or methods, as those skilled in the art will understand that the software and hardware can be designed, at least in part, based on the descriptions herein, to implement the systems and / or methods.

[0172] As used in this article, depending on the context, "meeting the threshold" can mean a value greater than the threshold, greater than or equal to the threshold, less than the threshold, less than or equal to the threshold, equal to the threshold, not equal to the threshold, etc.

[0173] Although specific combinations of features are set forth in the claims and / or disclosed in the specification, these combinations are not intended to limit the disclosure of various aspects. Many of these features may be combined in ways not specifically set forth in the claims and / or not disclosed in the specification. The disclosure of various aspects includes each dependent claim in combination with each other claim in the claim set. As used herein, the phrase referring to “at least one of” in the list of entries means any combination of these entries, including a single member. As an example, “at least one of a, b, or c” is intended to cover: a, b, c, a+b, a+c, b+c, and a+b+c, as well as any combination having multiple identical elements (e.g., a+a, a+a+a, a+a+b, a+a+c, a+b+b, a+c+c, b+b, b+b+b, b+b+c, c+c, and c+c+c, or any other ordering of a, b, and c).

[0174] No element, action, or instruction used herein should be construed as essential or necessary unless explicitly stated otherwise. Additionally, as used herein, the articles “a” and “an” are intended to include one or more items and are interchangeable with “one or more.” Furthermore, as used herein, the article “described” is intended to include one or more items mentioned in connection with the article “described” and is interchangeable with “one or more.” Furthermore, as used herein, the terms “group” and “cluster” are intended to include one or more items and are interchangeable with “one or more.” If only one item is desired, the phrase “only one” or similar terminology will be used. Additionally, as used herein, the terms “having” and the like are intended to be open-ended terms that do not limit the elements they modify (e.g., an element “having” A may also have B). Furthermore, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “at least partially based on” unless otherwise explicitly stated. Additionally, as used herein, the term “or” is intended to be open-ended when used in a series and is interchangeable with “and / or” unless otherwise explicitly stated (e.g., if used in conjunction with “any” or “only one”).

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication performed by a wireless communication device, the method comprising: During the first non-extended personal area network (non-XPAN) service period, scan the first channel for the access point; as well as Scan the first channel during one or more additional non-XPAN service periods.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a beacon for the access point on the first channel during at least one of the one or more additional non-XPAN service periods.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising sending communication to the access point on the first channel.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein no beacon for the access point is received during the first non-XPAN service period.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second non-XPAN service period is an infrastructure service period, and wherein scanning the first channel during the one or more additional non-XPAN service periods includes scanning the first channel during a third non-XPAN service period.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the first non-XPAN service period, the second non-XPAN service period, and the third non-XPAN service period are consecutive non-XPAN service periods.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first XPAN service period is between the first non-XPAN service period and the second non-XPAN service period, and wherein the second XPAN service period is between the second non-XPAN service period and the third non-XPAN service period.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of said one or more additional non-XPAN service periods is based at least in part on the service interval size of each of said one or more additional non-XPAN service periods.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the service interval size is 130 milliseconds, and wherein the number of the one or more additional non-XPAN service periods is one.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a request for the size of the service interval.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the service interval size is 130 milliseconds.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the service interval size is less than 130 milliseconds, and wherein the number of the one or more additional non-XPAN service periods is greater than one.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein scanning the first channel during the one or more additional non-XPAN service periods includes scanning the first channel during a second non-XPAN service period.

14. An apparatus for performing wireless communication at a wireless communication device, the apparatus comprising: One or more memory units; and One or more processors, said one or more processors being coupled to said one or more memories and being individually or collectively configured to enable the wireless communication device to: During the first non-extended personal area network (non-XPAN) service period, scan the first channel for the access point; as well as Scan the first channel during one or more additional non-XPAN service periods.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to cause the wireless communication device to receive a beacon for an access point on the first channel during at least one of the one or more additional non-XPAN service periods.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to cause the wireless communication device to transmit communication to the access point on the first channel.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the beacon for the access point is not received during the first non-XPAN service period.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the second non-XPAN service period is an infrastructure service period, and wherein, in order to scan the first channel during the one or more additional non-XPAN service periods, the one or more processors are configured to scan the first channel during a third non-XPAN service period.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the first non-XPAN service period, the second non-XPAN service period, and the third non-XPAN service period are consecutive non-XPAN service periods.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the first XPAN service period is between the first non-XPAN service period and the second non-XPAN service period, and wherein the second XPAN service period is between the second non-XPAN service period and the third non-XPAN service period.

21. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the number of said one or more additional non-XPAN service periods is based at least in part on the service interval size of each of said one or more additional non-XPAN service periods.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the service interval size is 130 milliseconds, and wherein the number of the one or more additional non-XPAN service periods is one.

23. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are individually or jointly configured to cause the wireless communication device to send a request for a service area size.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the service interval size is 130 milliseconds.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the service interval size is less than 130 milliseconds, and wherein the number of the one or more additional non-XPAN service periods is greater than one.

26. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein, in order to scan the first channel during the one or more additional non-XPAN service periods, the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to cause the wireless communication device to scan the first channel during a second non-XPAN service period.

27. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing an instruction set for wireless communication, the instruction set comprising: One or more instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors of a wireless communication device, cause the wireless communication device to: During the first non-extended personal area network (non-XPAN) service period, scan the first channel for the access point; as well as Scan the first channel during one or more additional non-XPAN service periods.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the one or more instructions further cause the wireless communication device to receive a beacon for an access point on the first channel during at least one of the one or more additional non-XPAN service periods.

29. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: A component for scanning a first channel for an access point during a first non-extended personal area network (non-XPAN) service period; and A component for scanning the first channel during one or more additional non-XPAN service periods.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, further comprising means for receiving a beacon for an access point on the first channel during at least one of the one or more additional non-XPAN service periods.

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