Devices, methods, apparatuses and media for transmission opportunity sharing group

Abstract

To provide terminal devices, network devices, methods, apparatuses and storage media for communication for transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing based on a TXOP sharing group.SOLUTION: A network device transmits, to a second network device, a first announcement message notifying that a TXOP of the network device can be shared. The network device and the second network device are within one TXOP sharing group. The network device receives, from the second network device, a first request message requesting to share the TXOP. The network device transmits, to the second network device, a first response message granting or rejecting to share the TXOP. A sharing network device can efficiently know with which other network device(s) it shares the TXOP based on the TXOP sharing group, and thus improves transmission efficiency.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of communications, and more particularly to a terminal device, a network device, a method, an apparatus, and a computer-readable medium associated with a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing group. [Background technology]

[0002] A communication network can be considered as a facility that enables communication between two or more communication devices or provides communication devices access to a data network. A mobile or wireless communication network is an example of a communication network.

[0003] Such communication networks operate according to standards such as those published by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the IEEE, or the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Examples of such standards include the so-called 5th Generation (5G) standards or other standards published by 3GPP. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Generally, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide terminal devices, network devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for communication, e.g., for TXOP sharing, particularly for TXOP sharing based on TXOP sharing groups.

[0005] In a first aspect, a network device is provided, the network device may include at least one processor and at least one memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device to perform at least the following steps: sending a first broadcast message to at least one second network device informing that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the network device is available for sharing, where the network device and the at least one second network device are in a TXOP sharing group; receiving at least one first request message from the at least one second network device requesting to share the TXOP; and sending at least one first response message to the at least one second network device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0006] In a second aspect, a network device is provided, the network device may include at least one processor and at least one memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device to perform at least the following steps: receiving a first broadcast message from a second network device notifying that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the second network device is available for sharing, where the network device and the second network device are in a TXOP sharing group; sending a first request message to the second network device requesting to share the TXOP; and receiving a first response message from the second network device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0007] In a third aspect, a method is provided, which may include: sending a first broadcast message to at least one second network device notifying the network device that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the network device is available for sharing, where the network device and the at least one second network device are in a TXOP sharing group; receiving at least one first request message from the at least one second network device requesting to share the TXOP; and sending at least one first response message to the at least one second network device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0008] In a fourth aspect, a method is provided, which may include receiving a first broadcast message from a second network device notifying that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the second network device is available for sharing, where the network device and the second network device are in a TXOP sharing group, sending a first request message to the second network device requesting to share the TXOP, and receiving a first response message from the second network device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0009] In a fifth aspect, an apparatus is provided, which may include: means for transmitting a first broadcast message to at least one second network device notifying the at least one second network device that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the network device is available for sharing, where the network device and the at least one second network device are in a TXOP sharing group; means for receiving at least one first request message from the at least one second network device requesting to share the TXOP; and means for transmitting at least one first response message to the at least one second network device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0010] In a sixth aspect, an apparatus is provided, which may include: means for receiving a first broadcast message from a second network device notifying that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the second network device is available for sharing, where the network device and the second network device are in a TXOP sharing group; means for transmitting a first request message to the second network device requesting to share the TXOP; and means for receiving a first response message from the second network device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0011] In a seventh aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform a method according to at least the third to fourth aspects.

[0012] In an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the steps of: sending a first notification message to at least one second network device notifying that a transmission opportunity (TXOP) of the network device is available for sharing, wherein the network device and the at least one second network device are in a TXOP sharing group; receiving at least one first request message from the at least one second network device requesting to share the TXOP; and sending at least one first response message to the at least one second network device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0013] In a ninth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the steps of receiving a first notification message from a second network device notifying that a transmission opportunity (TXOP) of the second network device is available for sharing, where the network device and the second network device are in a TXOP sharing group; sending a first request message to the second network device requesting to share the TXOP; and receiving a first response message from the second network device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0014] In a tenth aspect, a network device is provided. The network device may include: a transmitting circuit configured to transmit a first broadcast message to at least one second network device notifying the at least one second network device that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the network device is available for sharing, where the network device and the at least one second network device are in a TXOP sharing group; a receiving circuit configured to receive at least one first request message from the at least one second network device requesting to share the TXOP; and a transmitting circuit configured to transmit at least one first response message to the at least one second network device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0015] In an eleventh aspect, a network device is provided. The network device may include: a receiving circuit configured to receive a first broadcast message from a second network device notifying that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the second network device is available for sharing, where the network device and the second network device are in a TXOP sharing group; a transmitting circuit configured to transmit a first request message to the second network device requesting to share the TXOP; and a receiving circuit configured to receive a first response message from the second network device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0016] In a twelfth aspect, a device is provided, the device may include at least one processor and at least one memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform at least the following steps: transmitting a first broadcast message to at least one terminal device notifying that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the device is available for sharing, where the device and the at least one terminal device are in a TXOP sharing group and the at least one terminal device has low-latency traffic; receiving at least one first request message from the at least one terminal device requesting to share the TXOP; and transmitting at least one first response message to the at least one terminal device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0017] In a thirteenth aspect, a terminal device is provided, the terminal device may include at least one processor and at least one memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the terminal device to perform at least the following steps: receiving, from the device, a first broadcast message notifying the device that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the device is available for sharing, where the device and the terminal device are in a TXOP sharing group and the terminal device has low-latency traffic; sending, to the device, a first request message requesting to share the TXOP; and receiving, from the device, a first response message granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0018] In a fourteenth aspect, a method is provided, which may include: transmitting a first broadcast message to at least one terminal device notifying the device that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the device is available for sharing, where the device and the at least one terminal device are in a TXOP sharing group, and the at least one terminal device has low-latency traffic; receiving at least one first request message from the at least one terminal device requesting to share the TXOP; and transmitting at least one first response message to the at least one terminal device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0019] In a fifteenth aspect, a method is provided, which may include receiving, from a device, a first broadcast message notifying that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the device is available for sharing, where the device and a terminal device are in a TXOP sharing group and the terminal device has low-latency traffic, sending a first request message to the device requesting to share the TXOP, and receiving, from the device, a first response message granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0020] In a sixteenth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus may include: means for transmitting a first broadcast message to at least one terminal device notifying the device that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the device is available for sharing, where the device and the at least one terminal device are in a TXOP sharing group and the at least one terminal device has low-latency traffic; means for receiving at least one first request message from the at least one terminal device requesting to share the TXOP; and means for transmitting at least one first response message to the at least one terminal device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0021] In a seventeenth aspect, an apparatus is provided, the apparatus may include: means for receiving, from a device, a first broadcast message notifying that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the device is available for sharing, where the device and the terminal device are in a TXOP sharing group and the terminal device has low-latency traffic; means for sending, to the device, a first request message requesting to share the TXOP; and means for receiving, from the device, a first response message granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0022] In an eighteenth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform a method according to at least the fourteenth or fifteenth aspects.

[0023] In a nineteenth aspect, a computer program is provided comprising instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the steps of: sending a first notification message to at least one terminal device notifying that a transmission opportunity (TXOP) of the device is available for sharing, where the device and the at least one terminal device are in a TXOP sharing group and the at least one terminal device has low-latency traffic; receiving at least one first request message from the at least one terminal device requesting to share the TXOP; and sending at least one first response message to the at least one terminal device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0024] In a twentieth aspect, a computer program is provided comprising instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the steps of receiving a first notification message from the device notifying that a transmission opportunity (TXOP) of the device is available for sharing, where the device and the terminal device are in a TXOP sharing group and the terminal device has low-latency traffic; sending a first request message to the device requesting to share the TXOP; and receiving a first response message from the device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0025] In a twenty-first aspect, a device is provided, the device may include: a transmitting circuit configured to transmit a first broadcast message to at least one terminal device notifying that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the device is available for sharing, where the device and the at least one terminal device are in a TXOP sharing group, and the at least one terminal device has low-latency traffic; a receiving circuit configured to receive at least one first request message from the at least one terminal device requesting to share the TXOP; and a transmitting circuit configured to transmit at least one first response message to the at least one terminal device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0026] In a twenty-second aspect, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device may include: a receiving circuit configured to receive, from a device, a first broadcast message notifying that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the device is available for sharing, where the device and the terminal device are in a TXOP sharing group and the terminal device has low-latency traffic; a transmitting circuit configured to send, to the device, a first request message requesting to share the TXOP; and a receiving circuit configured to receive, from the device, a first response message granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0027] It should be understood that this Summary of the Invention section is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will be readily apparent from the following description.

[0028] Some exemplary embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0029] [Figure 1]1 is an example illustrating an application scenario in which some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 illustrates an example signaling process for TXOP sharing based on a TXOP sharing group between a network device and another network device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 illustrates an example signaling process for TXOP sharing based on a TXOP sharing group between a first access point (AP1) and a second access point (AP2), in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] 1 illustrates an example structure of a multi-user request to send (MU-RTS) frame format for signaling a TXOP that is shareable, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] 1 illustrates an example signaling process for an access point (AP) requesting to join a TXOP sharing group, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 illustrates an example signaling process for TXOP sharing based on a TXOP sharing group between a network device and a terminal device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] 1 illustrates an example signaling process for TXOP sharing based on TXOP sharing groups between an AP and low latency stations (LL-STAs), in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] 1 illustrates an example signaling process for a low latency station (LL-STA) requesting to join a TXOP sharing group, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] 1 is a flowchart illustrating an example method implemented in a network device, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 10]1 is a flowchart illustrating an example method implemented in a network device, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 11] 1 is a flowchart illustrating an example method implemented in a network device, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 12] 1 is a flowchart illustrating an example method implemented in a terminal device, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 13] FIG. 1 is an exemplary simplified block diagram of a device suitable for practicing embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 14] 1 is an exemplary block diagram of an exemplary computer-readable medium according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0030] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers represent the same or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0031] The principles of the present disclosure will be explained with reference to some exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are set forth for illustrative purposes only, to assist those skilled in the art in understanding and practicing the present disclosure, but do not imply any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

[0032] In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0033] References in this disclosure to "one embodiment," "embodiment," "exemplary embodiment," etc. indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not all embodiments need include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, it is submitted that when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with one embodiment, it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments, whether or not explicitly described.

[0034] While the terms "first," "second," "third," "fourth," etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, it should be understood that these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element could be referred to as a first element, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0035] The terms used herein are for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and are not intended to limit example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Furthermore, it will be understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "includes," and / or "including," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components, etc., but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof. As used herein, "at least one of " and "at least one of " and similar phrases, where a list of two or more elements is joined by "and" or "or," mean at least one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all of the elements.

[0036] As used in this application, the term "circuit" may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) Hardware-only circuit implementation (e.g., implementation using only analog and / or digital circuits) (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software (where applicable); (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuitry and software / firmware; (ii) Any portion of a hardware processor (including a digital signal processor) with software, software, and memory that cooperates to cause a device, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions. (c) A hardware circuit and / or processor, such as a microprocessor or portion of a microprocessor, that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but when not required for operation, the software may not be present.

[0037] This definition of circuit applies to all uses of the term in this application, including any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuit also encompasses simply a hardware circuit or processor (or processors), or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor, as well as its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware implementations. The term circuit also encompasses, for example, a baseband or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or network device, if applicable to certain claim elements.

[0038] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network conforming to any suitable communication standard, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), or Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT). Furthermore, communications between terminal devices and network devices in a communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocol, including, but not limited to, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth-generation (5G) communication protocols, sixth-generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or beyond. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to various communication systems. Given the rapid development of communications, there will naturally be future types of communication technologies and systems in which the present disclosure may be embodied. This should not be understood as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned systems.

[0039] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network through which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. A network device may be referred to depending on the terminology and technology applied, such as a base station (BS) or access point (AP), e.g., a Node B (NodeB or NB), evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), NR NB (also referred to as gNB), transmit / receive point (TRP), remote radio unit (RRU), radio header (RH), remote radio head (RRH), low-power nodes such as relay, femto, pico, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) nodes, non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-terrestrial network devices such as satellite network devices, low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites and geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) satellites, airborne network devices, etc. In some exemplary embodiments, a radio access network (RAN) split architecture comprises a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU) at an IAB donor node. An IAB node comprises a mobile terminal (IAB-MT) portion that behaves like a UE towards a parent node, and a DU portion of the IAB node that behaves like a base station towards a next-hop IAB node.

[0040] The term "terminal device" refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile station (MS), or access terminal (AT). Terminal devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, voice-over-IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback equipment, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPE), Internet of Things (loT) devices, watches or other wearables, head-mounted displays (HMD), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in industrial and / or automated processing chain contexts), consumer electronics devices, commercially operating devices, relay nodes, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) nodes, and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. In the following description, the terms “terminal device,” “communications device,” “terminal,” “user equipment,” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

[0041] As used herein, the terms "resource," "transmission resource," "resource block," "physical resource block" (PRB), "uplink (UL) resource," or "downlink (DL) resource" may refer to any resource for performing communication, e.g., communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in the time domain, a resource in the frequency domain, a resource in the spatial domain, a resource in the code domain, a resource in a combination of multiple domains, or any other resource that enables communication. Hereinafter, resources in the time domain (such as subframes) are used as examples of transmission resources to describe some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0042] In communication technology, one issue of concern is reducing latency for Wi-Fi stations (STAs) to support applications such as virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), and augmented reality (AR), which require low-latency connections. There are many applications that require low-latency connections. Another example is IoT sensors that report events that require low-latency responses, and the arrival of such events is not deterministic. IEEE 802.11be introduced the concept of transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing. It defines a multi-user request-to-transmit (MU-RTS) frame that allows APs to share TXOPs. IEEE 802.11be defines a triggered TXOP sharing mode subfield. A value of "0" in the Triggered TXOP Sharing Mode subfield indicates that the MU-RTS will not initiate a triggered TXOP sharing procedure. A value of "1" in the Triggered TXOP Sharing Mode subfield indicates that the MU-RTS will initiate a triggered TXOP sharing procedure in which only the scheduled STA can transmit a message protocol data unit (MPDU) addressed to its associated AP. A value of "2" in the Triggered TXOP Sharing Mode subfield indicates that the MU-RTS will initiate a triggered TXOP sharing procedure in which the scheduled STA can transmit an MPDU addressed to its associated AP or to another STA. A value of "3" in the Triggered TXOP Sharing Mode subfield is reserved. An MU-RTS triggered frame with the Triggered TXOP Sharing Mode subfield set to a non-zero value is called an MU-RTS transmission trigger frame. It has been proposed in IEEE 802.11bn to extend the triggered TXOP sharing mode from STAs associated with a shared AP to another AP, and it has been discussed that the MU-RTS transmission trigger frame could be used by a shared AP to assign a duration to a single shared AP.

[0043] As can be seen, existing TXOP sharing procedures only allow an AP (also called a sharing AP) to share a TXOP with another AP (also called a sharing AP), and assume that the sharing AP sharing the TXOP knows which sharing AP it will share the TXOP with. A sharing AP with STAs that have low-latency traffic (e.g., in the downlink) should take over the TXOP. However, a sharing AP with associated STAs that have low-latency uplink traffic may be unknown to the sharing AP. The sharing AP may not know which AP is selected to share the TXOP, and low-latency STAs (LL-STAs) may not be able to transmit their uplink traffic or receive latency-critical downlink traffic. The inventors of the present application consider the question of how to inform the sharing AP with which other APs it should share the TXOP. Furthermore, the inventors of the present application believe that TXOP sharing between an AP and LL-STAs or TXOP sharing between LL-STAs may be necessary. Therefore, it is also necessary to consider a method for informing a sharing device (AP or LL-STA) with which LL-STA it will share the TXOP.

[0044] Accordingly, the present disclosure provides the concept of a TXOP sharing group. Some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for sharing a TXOP between network devices based on a TXOP sharing group. According to these embodiments of the present disclosure, a network device (e.g., a sharing AP) transmits a first broadcast message to at least one second network device (e.g., at least one sharing AP) notifying that a transmission opportunity (TXOP) of the network device is available for sharing, and the network device and the at least one second network device are in a TXOP sharing group. Thereafter, the network device receives at least one first request message from the at least one second network device requesting to share the TXOP. The network device then transmits at least one first response message to the at least one second network device, granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0045] Some other example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for sharing a TXOP between a network device and a terminal device based on a TXOP sharing group. According to these embodiments of the present disclosure, a device (e.g., a sharing AP or a sharing LL-STA) transmits a first broadcast message to at least one terminal device (e.g., a sharing LL-STA) notifying the at least one terminal device that the device's transmission opportunity (TXOP) is available for sharing, where the device and the at least one terminal device are in a TXOP sharing group, and the at least one terminal device has low-latency traffic. The device then receives at least one first request message from the at least one terminal device requesting to share the TXOP. The device then transmits at least one first response message to the at least one terminal device, granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0046] It is understood that the above procedure steps may function together partially or independently of each other in the operation flow described below. By implementing the embodiments of the present disclosure, a sharing AP can efficiently know which other APs or LL-STAs to share a TXOP with based on the TXOP sharing group, and a sharing LL-STA can also efficiently know which APs or other LL-STAs to share a TXOP with based on the TXOP sharing group, thereby enhancing TXOP usage and improving transmission efficiency.

[0047] For illustrative purposes, the principles and exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure of event-triggered beam reporting are described below with reference to Figures 1 to 14. However, it should be noted that these embodiments are provided to enable those skilled in the art to understand the inventive concepts of the present disclosure and implement the solutions proposed herein, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application in any way.

[0048] 1 illustrates an example of an application scenario 100 in which some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The network environment 100, which may be part of a communications network, includes a network device 102-1, a network device 102-2, a terminal device 104-1, and a terminal device 104-2. The terminal device 104-1 and the terminal device 104-2 may have low-latency traffic. The network device 102-1 may be associated with the terminal device 104-1, and the network device 102-2 may be associated with the terminal device 104-2. The network devices 102-1 and 102-2 may be collectively referred to as network devices 102, and the terminal devices 104-1 and 104-2 may be collectively referred to as terminal devices 104.

[0049] As shown in FIG. 1, the network device 102 may also be referred to as an AP or TRP, and the terminal device 104 may also be referred to as a user equipment 104 or UE 104. The network device 102-1 may perform uplink / downlink transmission with the terminal device 104-1, and the network device 102-2 may perform uplink / downlink transmission with the terminal device 104-2. The network device 102-1 may share a TXOP with the network device 102-2 associated with the low-latency terminal device 104-2, or may be a TXOP-sharing AP that can share a TXOP with the low-latency terminal device 104-2. The low-latency terminal device 104-1 may share a TXOP with the network device 102-2 associated with the low-latency terminal device 104-2, or may be a TXOP-sharing terminal device that can share a TXOP with the low-latency terminal device 104-2. In such a case, the network device 102-2 may also be referred to as a sharing network device, and the low-latency terminal device 104-2 may also be referred to as a shared low-latency terminal device. It should be noted that the terms "shared" or "shared network device" or "terminal device" herein are for illustrative purposes only, and that not only can one network device act as a shared network device, but also as a terminal device. A shared network device or terminal device refers to a network device or terminal device that holds a TXOP, and a shared network device or terminal device refers to a network device or terminal device that receives a TXOP.

[0050] In some exemplary embodiments, a low-latency terminal device may have a low-latency data session such as XR (e.g., VR, MR, AR, etc.), which typically has stringent latency requirements of several milliseconds. Alternatively or additionally, the low-latency terminal device may have low-latency data packets in a buffer, such as sensor readings, that need to be reported with a short latency (e.g., several milliseconds). Alternatively or additionally, the low-latency terminal device may have buffered data with a deadline to be transmitted within several milliseconds.

[0051] FIG. 2 illustrates an example signaling process 200 for TXOP sharing based on a TXOP sharing group between a network device 202-1 (e.g., an AP 202-1 or a TRP 202-1) and another network device 202-2 (e.g., an AP 202-2 or a TRP 202-2) in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The network device 202-2 may be associated with a low-latency terminal device 204-2 (e.g., a terminal device 204-2 or a UE 204-2). The network devices 202-1 and 202-2 may refer to the network devices 102-1 and 102-2, respectively, in FIG. 1. Although the network device 202-2 in FIG. 2 is shown as only one unit, such a network device 202-2 may represent a type of network device that includes multiple network devices. For ease of understanding, FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3-5.

[0052] At 210, network device 202-1 may send a first broadcast message to at least one second network device 202-2 notifying it that it can share a transmission opportunity (TXOP) of network device 202-1. Network device 202-1 and at least one second network device 202-2 are in a TXOP sharing group. At the same time, network device 202-2 may receive a first broadcast message from network device 202-1 notifying it that its TXOP is shareable. At 220, network device 202-1 may receive at least one first request message from at least one second network device 202-2 requesting to share a TXOP. At the same time, at least one second device 202-2 may send at least one first request message to network device 202-1 to share a TXOP. At 230, the network device 202-1 may transmit at least one first response message to at least one second network device 202-2, granting or denying the TXOP sharing. At the same time, the at least one second network device 202-2 may receive the first response message from the network device 202-1, granting or denying the TXOP sharing. The network device 202-1 may function as a sharing network device that holds the TXOP and grants the TXOP to the network device 202-2. The network device 202-2 may operate as a sharing network device that needs to share the TXOP. In this manner, the network device 202-1 and the at least one second network device 202-2 are organized as a TXOP sharing group.

[0053] 3 illustrates an example signaling process 300 for TXOP sharing based on a TXOP sharing group between a first access point AP1 302-1 and a second access point AP2 302-2 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Considering FIG. 3 as an example relative to FIG. 2, it can be seen that FIG. 3 includes AP1 302-1, AP2 302-2, and AP3 302-3. AP1 302-1 serves as a shared AP and may correspond to network device 202-1 in FIG. 2. AP2 302-2 serves as a shared AP and may correspond to network device 202-2 in FIG. 2. AP1 302-1, AP2 302-2, and AP3 302-3 are in one TXOP group. AP1 302-1 sends a broadcasted TXOP sharing offer message to other TXOP group members (e.g., AP2 302-2 and AP3 302-3) (310) indicating a willingness to share the TXOP. AP2 302-2 then sends a TXOP sharing request message to AP1 302-1 requesting to share the TXOP (320), but AP3 302-3 does not send a request to AP1 302-1 requesting to share the TXOP for some reason. AP1 302-1 then sends a TXOP sharing response message to AP2 302-2 to grant or deny the TXOP to AP2 302-2 (330).

[0054] Referring again to FIG. 2, in some example embodiments, before sending at least one first response message authorizing or denying sharing of the TXOP, network device 202-1 may determine to authorize or deny each of at least one second network device 202-2 to share the TXOP.

[0055] In some exemplary embodiments, each of the first broadcast message, the first request message, and the first response message may be included in a control or action frame. The first broadcast message may be included in a broadcast control or action frame. In some embodiments, the first broadcast message, the first request message, and the first response message may be transmitted over a wired connection or within a wireless mesh network.

[0056] In some exemplary embodiments, the first broadcast message may be included in a first multi-user request to send (MU-RTS) transmission frame, the first request message may be included in a multi-user clear to send (MU-CTS) frame, and the first response message may be included in a second MU-RTS transmission frame. In this way, the MU-RTS transmission frame is a broadcast frame and can address multiple APs with a TXOP sharing group, and the MU-RTS transmission frame may be used for TXOP sharing group-based TXOP sharing, avoiding the introduction of new signaling or increasing additional signaling overhead. In some exemplary embodiments, the shared network device may transmit a CTS to self transmission frame in response to the second MU-RTS transmission frame.

[0057] In some exemplary embodiments, the first broadcast message may carry at least one ID of the at least one second network device 202-2, and each second network device of the at least one second network device 202-2 has a distinct ID within one TXOP sharing group.

[0058] Referring to FIG. 3, a TXOP sharing offer message may be transmitted in a first MU-RTS transmission frame indicating an offer or denial to share the TXOP, a TXOP sharing request may be transmitted in an MU-CTS frame requesting to share the TXOP, and a TXOP sharing response may be transmitted in a second MU-RTS transmission frame granting or denying to share the TXOP.

[0059] FIG. 4 illustrates an example structure 400 of a multi-user request-to-transmit (MU-RTS) frame format for signaling a TXOP that is sharable, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The MU-RTS transmission frame described above may have structure 400 as shown in FIG. 4. Structure 400 may comprise an association ID (AID) 12 field (e.g., bits B0-B11), a resource unit (RU) allocation field (e.g., bits B12-B19), an allocation duration field (e.g., bits B20-B28), a reserved field (e.g., bits B29-B38), and a PS 160 field (e.g., bit B39). When a TXOP sharing offer message is included in a first MU-RTS transmission frame, the AID 12 field of the first MU-RTS transmission frame may carry the ID of AP2 302-2 instead of the AID of AP1 302-1. The ID of shared AP1 302-1 may start with AID1000 0000 0000, and the first MU-RTS transmission frame may carry AID1000 0000 0001 for AP2 302-2. The AID12 field may comprise multiple IDs for multiple shared APs, each with its own RU allocation. The allocation duration may be set to the remainder of the TXOP.

[0060] 2 , in some exemplary embodiments, the network device 202-1 may be configured to authorize at least one of the second network devices 202-2 to share the TXOP, and the first response message may comprise the ID of the one second network device 202-2. Alternatively or additionally, the network device 202-1 may be configured to authorize a plurality of the at least one second network device 202-2 to share the TXOP, and the network device 202-1 may allocate a portion of the frequency bandwidth or a portion of the duration of the TXOP to one of the plurality of the at least one second network device 202-2. This allows for flexible allocation of the TXOP to one shared AP or multiple shared APs.

[0061] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first broadcast message may comprise a frame type information element indicating TXOP sharing. Alternatively or additionally, the first broadcast message may comprise a TXOP sharing type information element indicating that the first broadcast message is used to notify that the TXOP of the network device 202-1 is shareable. Alternatively or additionally, the first broadcast message may comprise at least one ID of the at least one second network device 202-2, where the at least one ID is followed by a resource unit (RU), an allocation information element, and an allocation duration information element.

[0062] In some demonstrative embodiments, each of the at least one first request message may comprise a frame type information element indicating TXOP sharing. Alternatively or additionally, each of the at least one first request message may comprise a TXOP sharing type information element indicating that the first request message is used to request TXOP sharing. Alternatively or additionally, each of the at least one first request message may comprise an ID of the network device 202-1. Alternatively or additionally, each of the at least one first request message may comprise at least one bit indicating the presence of low-latency traffic. Alternatively or additionally, each of the at least one first request message may comprise a buffer status report.

[0063] In some demonstrative embodiments, each of the at least one first response message may comprise a frame type information element indicating TXOP sharing. Alternatively or additionally, each of the at least one first response message may comprise a TXOP sharing type information element indicating that the first response message is used to permit or deny TXOP sharing. Alternatively or additionally, each of the at least one first response message may comprise at least one ID of the at least one second network device 202-2, each of the at least one ID followed by a resource unit (RU), an allocation information element, and an allocation duration information element.

[0064] 3, AP2 302-2 may respond to AP1 302-1 with an MU-CTS frame indicating that it will take over the TXOP. Considering that multiple APs may respond to AP1 302-1 with an MU-CTS frame, AP1 302-1 may need to select an AP to take over the TXOP. AP1 302-1 may be configured to authorize a single AP to take over the TXOP, and AP1 302-1 may send a second MU-RTS transmission frame containing only the ID of the authorized AP, i.e., AP1 302-1, and then AP1 302-1 takes over the TXOP. Alternatively, assuming that the APs in the TXOP sharing group can operate on non-primary channels or durations, AP1 302-1 may be configured to allow multiple APs to take over the TXOP, and AP1 302-1 may transmit a second MU-RTS transmission frame including the IDs of the multiple APs, and the multiple APs then take over the TXOP on different frequency bandwidth portions or durations. For example, assuming that AP1 302-1 operates on a 160 MHz frequency bandwidth, if both AP2 302-2 and AP3 302-3 request a TXOP, AP1 302-1 may allocate the lower 80 MHz frequency bandwidth portion to AP2 302-2 and the upper 80 MHz frequency bandwidth portion to AP3 302-3 via the second MU-RTS transmission frame.

[0065] In some demonstrative embodiments, each of the TXOP sharing offer message, TXOP sharing request message, and TXOP sharing response message may be transmitted in a newly defined control frame or action frame. The newly defined control frame or action frame may include a frame type information element indicating TXOP sharing. Alternatively or additionally, the newly defined control frame or action frame may include a TXOP sharing type information element indicating whether the control frame or action frame includes a TXOP sharing offer message, a TXOP sharing request message, or a TXOP sharing response message. The TXOP sharing type information element may be indicated, for example, by three bits. If the control frame or action frame includes a TXOP sharing offer message or a TXOP sharing response message, the newly defined control frame or action frame may include the ID of the sharing AP followed by the RU allocation and allocation duration. If the control frame or action frame includes a TXOP sharing request message, the newly defined control frame or action frame may include the ID of AP1 302-1 offering to share the TXOP, an additional bit indicating the presence of low-latency traffic, and / or a buffer status report.

[0066] Referring again to FIG. 2 , in some exemplary embodiments, network device 202-1 may determine to initiate a TXOP sharing group and select a TXOP sharing group ID for the TXOP sharing group that is not being used by other TXOP sharing groups. In this manner, a TXOP sharing group for facilitating TXOP sharing may be formed. In some exemplary embodiments, network device 202-1 may broadcast a second broadcast message announcing the existence of the TXOP sharing group. Simultaneously, at least one second network device 202-2 may receive the second broadcast message from network device 202-1 announcing the existence of the TXOP sharing group. The second broadcast message may be included in a beacon message, a broadcast control frame, or a probe response frame. In some exemplary embodiments, the second broadcast message may comprise a TXOP sharing group ID for the TXOP sharing group that is not being used by other TXOP sharing groups. In this manner, devices receiving the second broadcast message become aware of the existence of the TXOP sharing group. Alternatively or additionally, the second broadcast message may comprise the number of members currently in a TXOP sharing group. Alternatively or additionally, the second broadcast message may comprise at least one ID of at least one member currently in a TXOP sharing group. Alternatively or additionally, the second broadcast message may comprise an indication of whether a new member can join the TXOP sharing group.

[0067] In some exemplary embodiments, network device 202-1 may receive a second request message from a network device not in the TXOP sharing group requesting participation in the TXOP sharing group and may transmit a second response message to the network device granting or denying participation in the TXOP sharing group. In this manner, a network device outside the TXOP sharing group may be added to the TXOP sharing group. In some exemplary embodiments, the second request message may include a TXOP sharing group ID for a TXOP sharing group that is not being used by other TXOP sharing groups. In this manner, shared network device 202-1 may know which TXOP sharing group the network device outside the TXOP sharing group is requesting to be added to. Alternatively or additionally, the second request message may include at least one bit indicating that the network device has at least one terminal device associated with low-latency traffic. In this manner, shared network device 202-1 may preferentially share TXOPs with other network devices that have associated low-latency terminal devices. Alternatively or additionally, the second request message may include an indicator related to the traffic load of the network device. In this way, the shared network device 202-1 can preferentially share the TXOP with other network devices with high traffic loads. Alternatively or additionally, the second request message may include information that a network device can operate on a non-primary channel. In this way, the shared network device 202-1 can later assign different frequency bandwidth portions of the TXOP to other network devices. Alternatively or additionally, the second request message may include the channel bandwidth on which one network device operates. In this way, the shared network device 202-1 can allocate frequency bandwidth portions of the TXOP to other network devices based on the received channel bandwidth information.For example, if the second request message includes a channel bandwidth of 40 MHz, shared network device 202-1 knows that another network device is requesting 40 MHz and can allocate 40 MHz to the other network device.

[0068] In some exemplary embodiments, the second response message may comprise the ID of the one network device. In some exemplary embodiments, network device 202-1 may determine the ID used in the TXOP sharing group by the one network device that is not in the TXOP sharing group and send the ID used in the TXOP sharing group to the one network device. In this way, the one network device obtains the ID used in the TXOP sharing group.

[0069] In some exemplary embodiments, network device 202-1 may receive a third request message from another network device already in the TXOP sharing group requesting to leave the TXOP sharing group and may transmit a third response message to the other network device permitting or denying the other network device from leaving the TXOP sharing group. In some exemplary embodiments, network device 202-1 may determine to remove another network device already in the TXOP sharing group from the TXOP sharing group based on a predetermined time period and transmit an instruction to the other network device to remove the other network device from the TXOP sharing group. In this manner, the other network device may be removed from the TXOP sharing group if the other network device's membership in the TXOP sharing group expires after a certain time period.

[0070] In some demonstrative embodiments, network device 202-1 may increase the number of members currently in a TXOP sharing group by one in response to another network device joining the TXOP sharing group. For example, if there is another network device joining the TXOP sharing group, the other network device may increase the number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group by one and send a third broadcast message to network device 202-1 including the number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group. The other network device may obtain an ID based on the updated number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group. Then, after receiving the third broadcast message, network device 202-1 may update the number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group by one. The third broadcast message may be included in a beacon message, a broadcast control frame, or an action frame. When there are multiple other network devices joining the TXOP sharing group and multiple third broadcast messages simultaneously sent to network device 202-1, network device 202-1 may update the number of members currently in a TXOP sharing group as the highest number value derived from the multiple third broadcast messages. In this way, when there is no TXOP sharing group owner in a TXOP sharing group and the network devices in the TXOP sharing group are hidden from each other, each network device may obtain an ID based on the number of members currently in a TXOP sharing group, join the TXOP sharing group, and implicitly obtain an ID.

[0071] 5 illustrates an example signaling process 500 for an AP (e.g., AP2 502-2) requesting to join a TXOP sharing group, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Considering FIG. 5 as the example of FIG. 2, as can be seen, FIG. 5 includes AP1 502-1 and AP2 502-2. AP1 502-1 serves as a shared AP and may correspond to network device 202-1 in FIG. 2. AP2 502-2 serves as a shared AP and may correspond to network device 202-2 in FIG. 2.

[0072] In some demonstrative embodiments, AP1 502-1 may decide to start a new TXOP sharing group and select an ID for the TXOP sharing group that is not being used by other TXOP sharing groups. AP1 502-1 may broadcast a broadcast message (i.e., a second broadcast message) announcing the existence of the new TXOP sharing group. The message may be included in a beacon message, a separate control frame, or a probe response frame. The message may include a (new) information field accompanied by an information element, where the information element includes at least one of a TXOP sharing group ID (e.g., 1 byte) that is not being used by other TXOP sharing groups, the number of members currently in the new TXOP sharing group (e.g., 1 byte), at least one ID of at least one member currently in the new TXOP sharing group, or an indication of whether new members can join the TXOP sharing group (e.g., a bit having a value “1” indicating that the new member can join the TXOP sharing group and a value “0” indicating that the new member cannot join the TXOP sharing group).

[0073] After receiving the broadcast message from AP1 502-1, AP2 502-2 may decide to join the new TXOP sharing group and send a TXOP sharing group join request (i.e., a second request message) to AP1 502-1 (510). The TXOP sharing group join request may include at least one of a TXOP sharing group ID for one TXOP sharing group, at least one bit indicating that AP2 502-2 has at least one STA associated with low-latency traffic, an indicator related to the traffic load of AP2 502-2, or capability information of AP2 502-2 (e.g., information that AP2 502-2 can operate on a non-primary channel, the channel bandwidth on which AP2 502-2 operates, or other types of capability information).

[0074] In some exemplary embodiments, AP1 502-1 serves as the TXOP sharing group owner of the TXOP sharing group. In such embodiments, in response to receiving the TXOP sharing group join request, AP1 502-1 may send a TXOP sharing group join response to AP2 502-2 to grant or deny AP2 502-2's request to join the TXOP sharing group. AP1 502-1 may assign AP2 502-2 an ID to be used in the TXOP sharing group. After AP2 502-2 has been a member of the TXOP sharing group for a period of time, AP2 502-2's membership in the TXOP sharing group may expire. AP2 502-2 may send a leave request message to AP1 502-1 requesting to leave the TXOP sharing group, and AP1 502-1 may send a response message to AP2 502-2 to grant or deny AP2 502-2's leave request. Alternatively, AP1 502-1 may first send a leave notification message to AP2 502-2 informing AP2 502-2 that AP2 502-2 should be removed from the TXOP sharing group. In some demonstrative embodiments, AP1 502-1 may signal AP2 502-2 to assign a new ID to AP2 502-2 after a period of time. In this manner, AP1 502-1 is the TXOP sharing group owner that manages the TXOP sharing group, and AP2 502-2 can explicitly join the TXOP sharing group via request and response messages when it receives an announcement message from AP1 502-1, which provides a robust TXOP sharing group joining scheme.

[0075] In some other exemplary embodiments, a TXOP sharing group may not have a TXOP sharing group owner. In such embodiments, AP1 502-1 may still decide to start a new TXOP sharing group, select an ID for the TXOP sharing group that is not being used by another TXOP sharing group, and broadcast a broadcast message (i.e., a second broadcast message) announcing the existence of the new TXOP sharing group, similar to the above. Additionally, in such embodiments, the number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group is used to determine the ID to be used in the TXOP sharing group for the sharing AP. For example, AP1 502-1 may start a new TXOP sharing group with ID 1000 0000, AP2 502-2 joining the TXOP sharing group may increment the number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group by one to obtain ID 1000 0001, and then AP2 502-2 may broadcast another broadcast message (e.g., a dedicated control frame, a beacon message, or a probe response frame) including the updated number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group. Similarly, other APs that receive the broadcast message from AP1 502-1 increment the number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group on their own side and broadcast another broadcast message containing the updated number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group. If AP1 502-1 receives multiple broadcast messages from different APs, it updates the number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group as the highest value derived from the multiple broadcast messages. In this way, AP2 502-2 can join the TXOP sharing group and implicitly obtain the ID used in the TXOP sharing group, which applies to scenarios where the area is large and APs are hiding each other.

[0076] In some exemplary embodiments, AP2 502-2 may be turned off if it is a member of a TXOP sharing group, which may contain inactive members after a period of time. To address this, the members of the TXOP sharing group may be updated periodically, for example, once a day, to ensure that members in the TXOP sharing group are active.

[0077] FIG. 6 illustrates an example signaling process 600 for TXOP sharing based on a TXOP sharing group between a network device (e.g., network device 602-1, AP 602-1, or TRP 602-1) and a terminal device (e.g., terminal device 604-2 or UE 604-2) in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Terminal device 604-2 may be associated with network device 602-2 (not shown). Network devices 602-1 and 602-2 may refer to network devices 102-1 and 102-2, respectively, of FIG. 1. Terminal device 604-2 may refer to terminal device 104-2 of FIG. 1. Although only one network device 602-1 and one terminal device 604-2 are present in FIG. 6, network device 602-1 may represent a type of network device that comprises multiple network devices, and terminal device 604-2 may represent a type of terminal device that comprises multiple terminal devices. For ease of understanding, FIG. 6 will be explained with reference to FIGS.

[0078] FIG. 6 differs from FIG. 2 primarily in that the TXOP sharing group is expanded to include low-latency terminal devices as TXOP sharing group members. FIG. 6 applies to a scenario in which a network device may not know which of its associated terminal devices has low-latency traffic to transmit. Typically, low-latency traffic requires data packets to be transmitted within a few milliseconds. Assume that a sharing network device holds a TXOP for 5 ms. It is highly likely that a low-latency terminal device associated with another network device in the TXOP sharing group will receive low-latency traffic during that time. However, the network device associated with that low-latency terminal device may not know about it and will not respond to the sharing AP's TXOP sharing offer message. Therefore, FIG. 6 provides a solution for enabling low-latency terminal devices to utilize the TXOP sharing offer message.

[0079] At 610, the network device 602-1 may send a first broadcast message to at least one terminal device 604-2 notifying that the network device 602-1's transmit opportunity (TXOP) is available for sharing. The network device 602-1 and the at least one terminal device 604-2 are in a TXOP sharing group. The at least one terminal device 604-2 has low-latency traffic. At the same time, the terminal device 604-2 may receive a first broadcast message from the network device 602-1 notifying that the network device 602-1's TXOP is available for sharing. At 620, the network device 602-1 may receive at least one first request message from the at least one terminal device 604-2 requesting to share the TXOP. At the same time, at least one second device 604-2 may send at least one first request message to share the TXOP to the network device 602-1. At 630, the network device 602-1 may transmit at least one first response message to the at least one terminal device 604-2, granting or denying the TXOP to be shared. At the same time, the at least one terminal device 604-2 may receive the first response message from the network device 602-1, granting or denying the TXOP to be shared. The network device 602-1 may function as a sharing network device that holds the TXOP and grants the TXOP to the terminal device 604-2. The terminal device 604-2 may act as a sharing terminal device that needs to share the TXOP. In this manner, the network device 602-1 and the at least one terminal device 604-2 are organized as a TXOP sharing group. The TXOP sharing group may also comprise other network devices. In some exemplary embodiments, the TXOP sharing device may be a terminal device (e.g., a low-latency terminal device).In other words, a network device or a low-latency terminal device can act as a TXOP sharing device, and another network device or another low-latency terminal device can act as a TXOP sharing device. A network device holding a TXOP can share the TXOP with another network device or a low-latency terminal device associated with a low-latency terminal device. A low-latency terminal device holding a TXOP can also share the TXOP with another low-latency terminal device or a network device associated with another low-latency terminal device.

[0080] FIG. 7 illustrates an example signaling process 700 for TXOP sharing based on a TXOP sharing group between APs 702-1, 702-2, and LL-STA 704-2, in accordance with some other embodiments of the present disclosure. Considering FIG. 7 as an example of FIG. 6, it can be seen that FIG. 7 includes AP1 702-1, AP2 702-2, and LL-STA2 704-2. AP1 702-1 serves as a shared AP and may correspond to network device 102-1 in FIG. 1. AP2 702-2 serves as a shared AP and may correspond to network device 102-2 in FIG. 1. LL-STA2 704-2 serves as a shared STA and may correspond to terminal device 104-2 in FIG. 1. AP1 702-1, AP2 702-2, and LL-STA2 704-2 are in one TXOP group. AP1 702-1 sends a broadcast TXOP sharing offer message to other TXOP group members (e.g., AP2 702-2 and LL-STA2 704-2) (710) to indicate its willingness to share the TXOP. AP2 702-2 then sends a TXOP sharing request message to AP1 702-1 requesting to share the TXOP (720a), and LL-STA2 704-2 then sends a TXOP sharing request message to AP1 702-1 requesting to share the TXOP (720b). AP1 702-1 then sends a TXOP sharing response message to AP2 702-2 to grant or deny the TXOP to AP2 702-2 (730a), and sends a TXOP sharing response message to LL-STA2 704-2 to grant or deny the TXOP to LL-STA2 704-2 (730b).

[0081] Referring again to FIG. 6, in some exemplary embodiments, before transmitting at least one first response message permitting or denying TXOP sharing, network device 602-1 may determine whether to permit or deny each of at least one terminal device 604-2 to share the TXOP.

[0082] In some exemplary embodiments, each of the first broadcast message, the first request message, and the first response message may be included in a control frame or an action frame. The first broadcast message may be included in a broadcast control frame or an action frame.

[0083] In some exemplary embodiments, the first broadcast message may be included in a first multi-user request to transmit (MU-RTS) transmission frame, the first request message may be included in a multi-user clear to transmit (MU-CTS) frame, and the first response message may be included in a second MU-RTS transmission frame. In this way, the MU-RTS transmission frame is a broadcast frame and can address multiple APs and LL-STAs with a TXOP sharing group, and the MU-RTS transmission frame may be used for TXOP sharing group-based TXOP sharing, avoiding the introduction of new signaling or increasing additional signaling overhead.

[0084] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first broadcast message may carry at least one ID of at least one terminal device 604-2, each of the at least one terminal device 604-2 having a distinct ID within one TXOP sharing group.

[0085] In some exemplary embodiments, the at least one first request message may be transmitted in response to at least one ID selected by the at least one terminal device 604-2 from a plurality of IDs reserved for devices with low-latency traffic that is the same as at least one ID carried by the first broadcast message. In this manner, if the terminal device 604-2 randomly selects an ID from the plurality of reserved IDs and finds that the selected ID is the same as an ID carried by the first broadcast message, the terminal device 604-2 transmits a first request message requesting to share a TXOP. In some exemplary embodiments, the plurality of IDs reserved for devices with low-latency traffic may be specified by a protocol. Alternatively or additionally, the plurality of IDs reserved for devices with low-latency traffic may be determined based on a starting ID and an ID size carried by the first broadcast message.

[0086] 7, a TXOP Share Offer message may be sent in a first MU-RTS transmission frame indicating an offer or denial to share the TXOP (710), a TXOP Share Request message may be sent in an MU-CTS frame requesting to share the TXOP, and a TXOP Share Response may be sent in a second MU-RTS transmission frame granting or denying to share the TXOP. The MU-RTS transmission frame may have a structure 400 as shown in FIG.

[0087] When a TXOP sharing response message is included in an MU-RTS transmission frame, the AID12 field of the MU-RTS transmission frame can carry the IDs of AP2 702-2 and LL-STA2 704-2 instead of the AID of AP1 702-1. The IDs of shared AP1 702-1 may start with AID1000 0000 0000, AIDs 0000 0000 0000 through 0111 1111 1111 may be reserved for normal AIDs, and AIDs greater than 1000 0000 0000 may be reserved for LL-STAs to be used in the TXOP sharing group.

[0088] In some exemplary embodiments, the IDs reserved for LL-STAs are specified by a protocol or standard. For example, AIDs 1000 0001 0000 through 1000 0001 0111 may be defined as reserved for LL-STAs, i.e., seven AIDs may be reserved for LL-STAs. Alternatively or additionally, the IDs reserved for LL-STAs may be determined based on the starting ID and ID size carried by the first MU-RTS transmission frame. For example, the starting ID may be AID 1000 0000 0000, and the ID size may be 4 bits. In this manner, shared AP1 702-1 can flexibly increase or decrease the ID size for LL-STAs, thereby allowing a larger ID size to be used when there are many LL-STAs within the coverage area of ​​the TXOP sharing group, thereby avoiding collisions between LL-STAs.

[0089] If LL-STA704-2 randomly selects an ID from the IDs reserved for LL-STA704-2 and finds that the selected ID is the same as the ID carried by the first MU-RTS transmission frame, LL-STA704-2 may send a first request message requesting to share the TXOP (720b) ​​and receive a TXOP sharing response message from AP1 702-1 to allow or deny joining the TXOP sharing group (730b).

[0090] Referring back to FIG. 6 , in some exemplary embodiments, the network device 602-1 may be configured to authorize one of the at least one terminal device 604-2 to share the TXOP, and the first response message may include the ID of the one terminal device 604-2. Alternatively or additionally, the network device 602-1 may be configured to authorize a plurality of at least one terminal device 604-2 to share the TXOP, and the network device 602-1 may allocate a portion of the frequency bandwidth or a portion of the duration of the TXOP to one of the plurality of at least one terminal device 604-2. In other words, the network device 602-1 may allocate different frequency bandwidth portions or different durations of the TXOP to different terminal devices. In this manner, the TXOP may be flexibly assigned to one sharing low-latency terminal device or multiple low-latency terminal devices.

[0091] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first broadcast message may comprise a frame type information element indicating TXOP sharing. Alternatively or additionally, the first broadcast message may comprise a TXOP sharing type information element indicating that the first broadcast message is used to notify that the TXOP of the network device 602-1 is shareable. Alternatively or additionally, the first broadcast message may comprise at least one ID of the at least one terminal device 604-2, where the at least one ID is followed by a resource unit (RU), an allocation information element, and an allocation duration information element.

[0092] In some demonstrative embodiments, each of the at least one first request message may comprise a frame type information element indicating TXOP sharing. Alternatively or additionally, each of the at least one first request message may comprise a TXOP sharing type information element indicating that the first request message is used to request TXOP sharing. Alternatively or additionally, each of the at least one first request message may comprise an ID of the network device 602-1. Alternatively or additionally, each of the at least one first request message may comprise at least one bit indicating the presence of low-latency traffic. Alternatively or additionally, each of the at least one first request message may comprise a buffer status report.

[0093] In some demonstrative embodiments, each of the at least one first response message may comprise a frame type information element indicating TXOP sharing. Alternatively or additionally, each of the at least one first response message may comprise a TXOP sharing type information element indicating that the first response message is used to allow or deny TXOP sharing. Alternatively or additionally, each of the at least one first response message may comprise at least one ID of the at least one terminal device 604-2, each of the at least one ID followed by a resource unit (RU), an allocation information element, and an allocation duration information element.

[0094] 7, AP2 702-2 can respond to AP1 702-1 with an MU-CTS frame by sending a TXOP Share Request message (720a) indicating that it will take over the TXOP, and LL-STA2 704-2 can respond to AP1 702-1 with an MU-CTS frame by sending a TXOP Share Request message (720b) ​​indicating that it will take over the TXOP. Considering that there may be multiple devices responding to AP1 702-1 with an MU-CTS frame, AP1 702-1 may need to select a device to take over the TXOP. AP1 702-1 may be configured to authorize a single LL-STA2 704-2 to take over the TXOP, and AP1 702-1 may transmit a second MU-RTS transmission frame including only the ID of the authorized LL-STA, i.e., LL-STA2 704-2, and then LL-STA2 704-2 takes over the TXOP. Alternatively, assuming that devices in the TXOP sharing group can operate on non-primary channels or durations, AP1 702-1 may be configured to authorize multiple devices to take over the TXOP, and AP1 702-1 may transmit a second MU-RTS transmission frame including the IDs of the multiple devices, and then the multiple devices take over the TXOP on different frequency bandwidth portions or durations. For example, assuming AP1 702-1 operates on a 160 MHz frequency bandwidth, if both AP2 702-2 and LL-STA2 704-2 request a TXOP, AP1 702-1 may allocate the lower 80 MHz frequency bandwidth portion to AP2 702-2 and the upper 80 MHz frequency bandwidth portion to LL-STA2 704-2 via a second MU-RTS transmission frame.

[0095] In some demonstrative embodiments, each of the TXOP sharing offer message, TXOP sharing request message, and TXOP sharing response message may be transmitted in a newly defined control frame or action frame. The newly defined control frame or action frame may include a frame type information element indicating TXOP sharing. Alternatively or additionally, the newly defined control frame or action frame may include a TXOP sharing type information element indicating whether the control frame or action frame includes a TXOP sharing offer message, a TXOP sharing request message, or a TXOP sharing response message. The TXOP sharing type information element may be indicated, for example, by three bits. If the control frame or action frame includes a TXOP sharing offer message or a TXOP sharing response message, the newly defined control frame or action frame may include the ID of the sharing AP followed by the RU allocation and allocation duration. If the control frame or action frame includes a TXOP sharing request message, the newly defined control frame or action frame may include the ID of AP1 702-1 offering to share the TXOP, an additional bit indicating the presence of low-latency traffic, and / or a buffer status report.

[0096] Referring again to FIG. 6 , in some exemplary embodiments, the network device 602-1 may determine to initiate a TXOP sharing group and select a TXOP sharing group ID for the TXOP sharing group that is not being used by other TXOP sharing groups. In this manner, a TXOP sharing group for facilitating TXOP sharing may be formed. In some exemplary embodiments, the network device 602-1 may broadcast a second broadcast message announcing the existence of the TXOP sharing group. Simultaneously, at least one terminal device 604-2 may receive the second broadcast message announcing the existence of the TXOP sharing group from the network device 602-1. The second broadcast message may be included in a beacon message, a broadcast control frame, or a probe response frame. In some exemplary embodiments, the second broadcast message may comprise a TXOP sharing group ID for the TXOP sharing group that is not being used by other TXOP sharing groups. In this manner, devices receiving the second broadcast message become aware of the existence of the TXOP sharing group. Alternatively or additionally, the second broadcast message may comprise the number of members currently in a TXOP sharing group. Alternatively or additionally, the second broadcast message may comprise at least one ID of at least one member currently in a TXOP sharing group. Alternatively or additionally, the second broadcast message may comprise an indication of whether a new member can join the TXOP sharing group. Alternatively or additionally, the second broadcast message may comprise an indication of whether a terminal device with low-latency traffic can participate in TXOP sharing. Alternatively or additionally, the second broadcast message may comprise an indication of whether a terminal device with low-latency traffic can explicitly join a TXOP sharing group.

[0097] In some exemplary embodiments, the network device 602-1 may receive a second request message from one terminal device that is not in the TXOP sharing group and has the capability to transmit low-latency traffic, requesting participation in the TXOP sharing group, and may transmit a second response message to the one terminal device, granting or denying participation in the TXOP sharing group. In this manner, a low-latency terminal device outside the TXOP sharing group can be added to the TXOP sharing group. In some exemplary embodiments, the second request message may include a TXOP sharing group ID for one TXOP sharing group that is not used by other TXOP sharing groups. In this manner, the sharing network device can know which TXOP sharing group the low-latency terminal device outside the TXOP sharing group is requesting to be added to. Alternatively or additionally, the second request message may include at least one bit indicating that one terminal device has low-latency traffic. In this manner, the sharing network device 602-1 may preferentially share TXOPs with terminal devices that have associated low-latency terminal devices. Alternatively or additionally, the second request message may include an indicator associated with the traffic load of the one terminal device. This allows the shared network device to preferentially share the TXOP with a terminal device with a high traffic load. Alternatively or additionally, the second request message may include information that one terminal device can operate on a non-primary channel. In this way, the shared network device 602-1 can allocate different frequency bandwidth portions of the TXOP to different TXOP group members. Alternatively or additionally, the second request message may include the channel bandwidth on which the one terminal device operates. In this way, the shared network device 602-1 can allocate the frequency bandwidth portions of the TXOP to one terminal device based on the received channel bandwidth information.For example, if the second request message includes a channel bandwidth of 40 MHz, the shared network device 602-1 can know that one terminal device is requesting 40 MHz and can allocate 40 MHz to the one terminal device.

[0098] In some exemplary embodiments, the second response message may include the ID of one terminal device. In some exemplary embodiments, the network device 602-1 may determine the ID used in the TXOP sharing group by one terminal device that is not in the TXOP sharing group and send the ID used in the TXOP sharing group to the one terminal device. In this way, the terminal device obtains the ID used in the TXOP sharing group.

[0099] In some exemplary embodiments, network device 602-1 may receive a third request message from a terminal device already in the TXOP sharing group requesting to leave the TXOP sharing group and may transmit a third response message to the terminal device permitting or denying the terminal device from leaving the TXOP sharing group. In some exemplary embodiments, network device 602-1 may determine to remove a terminal device already in the TXOP sharing group from the TXOP sharing group based on a predetermined time period and transmit an instruction to the terminal device to remove the terminal device from the TXOP sharing group. In this manner, if the terminal device's membership in the TXOP sharing group expires after a certain time period, the terminal device may be removed from the TXOP sharing group.

[0100] In some demonstrative embodiments, the network device 602-1 may increase the number of members currently in a TXOP sharing group by one in response to another device (a network device or a terminal device) joining the TXOP sharing group. For example, if there is another device joining the TXOP sharing group, the other device may increase the number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group by one and send a third broadcast message to the network device 602-1 including the number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group. The other device may obtain its ID based on the updated number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group. Then, after receiving the third broadcast message, the network device 602-1 may update the number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group by one. The third broadcast message may be included in a beacon message, a broadcast control frame, or an action frame. When there are multiple other devices joining the TXOP sharing group and multiple third broadcast messages sent to the network device 602-1 at the same time, the network device 602-1 can update the number of members currently in a TXOP sharing group as the highest number value derived from the multiple third broadcast messages. In this way, when there is no TXOP sharing group owner in a TXOP sharing group and the devices in the TXOP sharing group are hidden from each other, each device can obtain an ID based on the number of members currently in a TXOP sharing group and implicitly join the TXOP sharing group.

[0101] FIG. 8 shows an example signaling process 800 for an LL-STA (e.g., LL-STA 804-2) requesting to join a TXOP sharing group, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Considering FIG. 8 as the example of FIG. 6, as can be seen, FIG. 8 includes AP1 802-1, AP2 802-2, and LL-STA2 804-2. AP1 802-1 serves as a shared AP and may correspond to network device 102-1 in FIG. 1. AP2 802-2 serves as a shared AP and may correspond to network device 102-2 in FIG. 1. LL-STA2 804-2 serves as a shared LL-STA and may correspond to terminal device 104-2 in FIG. 1.

[0102] In some demonstrative embodiments, AP1 802-1 may decide to start a new TXOP sharing group and select an ID for the TXOP sharing group that is not being used by other TXOP sharing groups. AP1 802-1 may broadcast a broadcast message (i.e., a second broadcast message) announcing the existence of the new TXOP sharing group. The message may be included in a beacon message, a separate control frame, or a probe response frame. The message may include a (new) information field with an information element, where the information element may include a TXOP sharing group ID (e.g., 1 byte) that is not being used by other TXOP sharing groups, the number of members (e.g., 1 byte) that are currently in the new TXOP sharing group, at least one ID of at least one member (including APs and / or STAs) that is currently in the new TXOP sharing group, an indication of whether the new member can join the TXOP sharing group (e.g., a value “1” in 1 bit indicating that the new member can join the TXOP sharing group, and an ID of the new member (including APs and / or STAs) that is not being used by other TXOP sharing groups). or an indication of whether the LL-STA can participate in sharing of a TXOP (e.g., one bit having a value of "1" indicating that the LL-STA can participate in TXOP sharing and a value of "0" indicating that the LL-STA cannot participate in TXOP sharing), or an indication of whether the LL-STA can explicitly join a TXOP sharing group (e.g., one bit having a value of "1" indicating that the LL-STA can explicitly join a TXOP sharing group and a value of "0" indicating that the LL-STA cannot explicitly join a TXOP sharing group).

[0103] After receiving the broadcast message from AP1 802-1, LL-STA2 804-2 may decide to join the new TXOP sharing group and may send a TXOP sharing group join request (i.e., a second request message) to AP1 802-1 (810b). The TXOP sharing group join request may include at least one of a TXOP sharing group ID for one TXOP sharing group, at least one bit indicating that LL-STA2 804-2 has low-latency traffic, an indicator related to the traffic load of LL-STA2 804-2, or capability information of LL-STA2 804-2 (e.g., information that LL-STA2 804-2 can operate on a non-primary channel, the channel bandwidth on which LL-STA2 804-2 operates, or other types of capability information). Similarly, AP2 802-2 may decide to join a new TXOP sharing group and send a TXOP sharing group join request (ie, a second request message) to AP1 802-1 (810a).

[0104] In some demonstrative embodiments, AP1 802-1 acts as a TXOP sharing group owner for the TXOP sharing group. In such embodiments, in response to receiving the TXOP sharing group join request, AP1 802-1 may send a TXOP sharing group join response to AP2 802-2 to grant or deny AP2 802-2's request to join the TXOP sharing group (820a), and AP1 802-1 may send a TXOP sharing group join response to LL-STA2 804-2 to grant or deny LL-STA2 804-2's request to join the TXOP sharing group (820b). AP1 802-1 may assign an ID to AP2 802-2 or LL-STA2 804-2 to be used in the TXOP sharing group. After AP2 802-2 or LL-STA2 804-2 has been a member of the TXOP sharing group for a period of time, AP2 802-2's or LL-STA2 804-2's membership in the TXOP sharing group may expire. AP2 802-2 or LL-STA2 804-2 can send a leave request message to AP1 802-1 requesting to leave the TXOP sharing group, and AP1 802-1 can send a response message to grant or deny AP2 802-2's or LL-STA2 804-2's leave request. Alternatively, AP1 802-1 can first send a leave notification message to AP2 802-2 or LL-STA2 804-2 informing them that AP2 802-2 or LL-STA2 804-2 will be removed from the TXOP sharing group. In some demonstrative embodiments, AP1 802-1 may signal AP2 802-2 or LL-STA2 804-2 to assign a new ID to AP2 802-2 or LL-STA2 804-2 after a period of time.In this way, AP1 802-1 is the TXOP sharing group owner that manages the TXOP sharing group, and AP2 802-2 or LL-STA2 804-2 can explicitly join the TXOP sharing group via request and response messages when receiving a broadcast message from AP1 802-1, which provides a robust TXOP sharing group joining scheme.

[0105] In some exemplary embodiments, a TXOP sharing group may not have a TXOP sharing group owner. In such embodiments, AP1 802-1 may still decide to start a new TXOP sharing group, select an ID for the TXOP sharing group that is not being used by another TXOP sharing group, and broadcast a broadcast message (i.e., a second broadcast message) announcing the existence of the new TXOP sharing group, as described above. Additionally, in such embodiments, the number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group is used to determine the ID to be used in the TXOP sharing group for the sharing AP. For example, AP1 802-1 can start a new TXOP sharing group with ID 1000 0000, and AP2 802-2 or LL-STA2 804-2 joining the TXOP sharing group can increase the number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group by one and obtain ID 1000 0001. AP2 802-2 or LL-STA2 804-2 can then broadcast another broadcast message (e.g., a dedicated control frame, a beacon message, or a probe response frame) including the updated number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group. Similarly, other APs receiving the broadcast message from AP1 802-1 can increase the number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group on their own side and broadcast another broadcast message including the updated number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group. If AP1 802-1 receives multiple broadcast messages from different APs, it updates the number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group as the highest value derived from the multiple broadcast messages. In this way, AP2 802-2 or LL-STA2 804-2 can join the TXOP sharing group and implicitly obtain an ID to be used within the TXOP sharing group, which applies to wide-area scenarios where APs are hidden from each other.

[0106] In some exemplary embodiments, AP2 802-2 or LL-STA2 804-2 may be switched off when it is a member of a TXOP sharing group, and the TXOP sharing group may contain inactive members after a period of time. To address this, the members of the TXOP sharing group may be updated periodically, for example, once a day, to ensure that members in the TXOP sharing group are active.

[0107] By implementing the embodiments described with reference to Figures 1 to 8, a sharing AP can efficiently know which other APs or LL-STAs to share a TXOP with based on the TXOP sharing group, and a sharing LL-STA can also efficiently know which APs or other LL-STAs to share a TXOP with based on the TXOP sharing group, thereby enhancing TXOP usage and improving transmission efficiency.

[0108] 9 shows a flowchart of an example method 900 implemented in a network device (e.g., network device 102-1, 202-1, 302-1, 502-1, 602-1, 702-1, or 802-1) in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For ease of understanding, method 900 will be described from the perspective of network device 202-1 with reference to FIG.

[0109] At block 910, the network device transmits a first broadcast message to at least one second network device informing the at least one second network device that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the network device is available for sharing, and the network device and the at least one second network device are in a TXOP sharing group. At block 920, the network device receives at least one first request message from the at least one second network device requesting to share the TXOP. At block 930, the network device transmits at least one first response message to the at least one second network device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0110] In some exemplary embodiments, each of the first broadcast message, the first request message, and the first response message is included in a control frame or an action frame.

[0111] In some exemplary embodiments, the first broadcast message is included in a first multi-user request to transmit (MU-RTS) transmission frame, the first request message is included in a multi-user clear to transmit (MU-CTS) frame, and the first response message is included in a second MU-RTS transmission frame.

[0112] In some exemplary embodiments, the first broadcast message carries at least one ID of the at least one second network device, and each second network device of the at least one second network device has a distinct ID within one TXOP sharing group.

[0113] In some demonstrative embodiments, the network device is configured to authorize at least one of the second network devices to share the TXOP, and the first response message includes an ID of the one second network device.

[0114] In some demonstrative embodiments, the network device is configured to allow a plurality of at least one second network device to share the TXOP, and the network device allocates a portion of the frequency bandwidth or a portion of the duration of the TXOP to one of the plurality of second network devices.

[0115] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first broadcast message comprises at least one of a frame type information element indicating TXOP sharing, a TXOP sharing type information element indicating the first broadcast message is used to notify that a TXOP of the network device is shareable, or at least one ID of at least one second network device, where the at least one ID is followed by a resource unit (RU), an allocation information element, and an allocation duration information element.

[0116] In some demonstrative embodiments, each of the at least one first request message includes at least one of a frame type information element indicating TXOP sharing, a TXOP sharing type information element indicating that the first request message is used to request TXOP sharing, an ID of the network device, at least one bit indicating the presence of low latency traffic, or a buffer status report.

[0117] In some demonstrative embodiments, each of the at least one first response message includes at least one of a frame type information element indicating TXOP sharing, a TXOP sharing type information element indicating that the first response message is used to allow or deny TXOP sharing, or at least one ID of the at least one second network device, each of the at least one ID followed by a resource unit (RU), an allocation information element, and an allocation duration information element.

[0118] In some exemplary embodiments, the network device is further configured to perform the steps of determining to initiate one TXOP sharing group and selecting, for the one TXOP sharing group, a TXOP sharing group ID that is not being used by other TXOP sharing groups.

[0119] In some exemplary embodiments, the network device is further configured to perform the step of broadcasting a second advertisement message advertising the existence of one TXOP sharing group.

[0120] In some exemplary embodiments, the second broadcast message is included in a beacon message, a broadcast control frame, or a probe response frame.

[0121] In some demonstrative embodiments, the second notification message includes at least one of a TXOP sharing group ID of a TXOP sharing group that is not being used by another TXOP sharing group, the number of members currently in the TXOP sharing group, at least one ID of at least one member currently in the TXOP sharing group, or an indication of whether new members can join the TXOP sharing group.

[0122] In some exemplary embodiments, the network device is further configured to perform the steps of receiving a second request message from one network device not in the TXOP sharing group requesting participation in the TXOP sharing group, and sending a second response message to the one network device granting or denying participation in the TXOP sharing group.

[0123] In some demonstrative embodiments, the second request message includes at least one of a TXOP sharing group ID of one TXOP sharing group that is not used by other TXOP sharing groups, at least one bit indicating one network device that has at least one terminal device associated with low-latency traffic, an indicator related to the traffic load of the one network device, information that the one network device is capable of operating on a non-primary channel, or a channel bandwidth on which the one network device operates.

[0124] In some exemplary embodiments, the second response message includes the ID of one network device.

[0125] In some exemplary embodiments, the network device is further configured to perform the steps of determining, by one network device that is not in the TXOP sharing group, an ID to be used in the TXOP sharing group, and transmitting the ID to be used in the TXOP sharing group to the one network device.

[0126] In some exemplary embodiments, the network device is further configured to perform the step of increasing the number of members currently in a TXOP sharing group by one in response to other network devices joining the TXOP sharing group.

[0127] 10 is a flowchart of an exemplary method implemented in a network device (e.g., network device 102-2, 202-2, 302-2, 502-2, 702-2, or 802-2) in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For ease of understanding, method 1000 will be described from the perspective of network device 202-2 with reference to FIG.

[0128] At block 1010, a network device receives a first broadcast message from a second network device notifying the second network device that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the second network device is available for sharing, and the network device and the second network device are in a TXOP sharing group. At block 1020, the network device sends a first request message to the second network device requesting to share the TXOP. At block 1030, the network device receives a first response message from the second network device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0129] In some example embodiments, when the network device is not in the TXOP sharing group, the network device sends a second request message to a second network device requesting that it join the TXOP sharing group, and receives a second response message from the second network device granting or denying the network device from joining the TXOP sharing group.

[0130] In some exemplary embodiments, the network device is further configured to perform, if the network device is participating in a TXOP sharing group, the steps of: incrementing the number of members currently in a TXOP sharing group by one; and sending an announcement message to a second network device, the announcement message including the number of members currently in a TXOP sharing group.

[0131] It should be noted that the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 9 may also be applied to or combined with the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 10, which is omitted here for brevity.

[0132] In some demonstrative embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing method 900 (e.g., network device 202-1) may comprise means for performing each step of method 900. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuit or a software module.

[0133] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus includes: means for transmitting a first broadcast message to at least one second network device notifying the at least one second network device that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the network device is available for sharing, where the network device and the at least one second network device are in a TXOP sharing group; means for receiving at least one first request message from the at least one second network device requesting to share the TXOP; and means for transmitting at least one first response message to the at least one second network device granting or denying the TXOP sharing. In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus may comprise means for performing other embodiments described with reference to FIG.

[0134] In some demonstrative embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing method 1000 (e.g., network device 202-2) may comprise means for performing each step of method 1000. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuit or a software module.

[0135] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus includes means for receiving a first broadcast message from a second network device notifying that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the second network device is available for sharing, where the network device and the second network device are in a TXOP sharing group, means for transmitting a first request message to the second network device requesting to share the TXOP, and means for receiving a first response message from the second network device granting or denying the TXOP sharing. In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus may comprise means for performing other embodiments described with reference to FIG.

[0136] 11 shows a flowchart of an example method 1100 implemented in a device (e.g., network device 102-1, 202-1, 302-1, 502-1, 602-1, 702-1, or 802-1, or terminal device 104-1 or 104-2) in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For ease of understanding, method 1100 will be described from the perspective of network device 602-1 with reference to FIG.

[0137] In block 1110, the device transmits a first broadcast message to at least one terminal device informing the at least one terminal device that the device's transmit opportunity (TXOP) is available for sharing, the device and the at least one terminal device are in a TXOP sharing group, and the at least one terminal device has low-latency traffic. In block 1120, the device receives at least one first request message from the at least one terminal device requesting to share the TXOP. In block 1130, the device transmits at least one first response message to the at least one terminal device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0138] In some exemplary embodiments, the first broadcast message is included in a first multi-user request to transmit (MU-RTS) transmission frame, the first request message is included in a multi-user clear to transmit (MU-CTS) frame, and the first response message is included in a second MU-RTS transmission frame.

[0139] In some exemplary embodiments, the first broadcast message carries at least one ID of the at least one terminal device, and each terminal device of the at least one terminal device has a distinct ID within one TXOP sharing group.

[0140] In some demonstrative embodiments, the device is configured to allow one of the at least one terminal device to share the TXOP, and the first response message includes an ID of the one terminal device.

[0141] In some demonstrative embodiments, the device is configured to allow multiple terminal devices of at least one terminal device to share the TXOP, and the device is further configured to perform a step in which a portion of the frequency bandwidth or a portion of the duration of the TXOP is allocated to one terminal device.

[0142] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first broadcast message includes at least one of a frame type information element indicating TXOP sharing, a TXOP sharing type information element indicating that the first broadcast message is used to notify that the TXOP of the device is shareable, or at least one ID of at least one terminal device, where the at least one ID is followed by a resource unit (RU), an allocation information element, and an allocation duration information element.

[0143] In some demonstrative embodiments, each of the at least one first request message includes at least one of a frame type information element indicating TXOP sharing, a TXOP sharing type information element indicating that the first request message is used to request TXOP sharing, an ID of the device, at least one bit indicating the presence of low latency traffic, or a buffer status report.

[0144] In some demonstrative embodiments, each of the at least one first response message includes at least one of a frame type information element indicating TXOP sharing, a TXOP sharing type information element indicating that the first response message is used to allow or deny TXOP sharing, or at least one ID of the at least one terminal device, where the at least one ID is followed by a resource unit (RU), an allocation information element, and an allocation duration information element.

[0145] In some exemplary embodiments, the device is further configured to perform the steps of determining to initiate one TXOP sharing group and selecting, for the one TXOP sharing group, a TXOP sharing group ID that is not being used by other TXOP sharing groups.

[0146] In some exemplary embodiments, the device is further configured to perform the steps of receiving a second request message from one terminal device that is not in the TXOP sharing group and has the capability to transmit low-latency traffic, requesting to join the TXOP sharing group, and the one terminal device participating in the TXOP sharing and explicitly being able to join one TXOP sharing group, and sending a second response message to the one terminal device that allows or denies participation in the TXOP sharing group.

[0147] In some demonstrative embodiments, the second request message includes at least one of a TXOP sharing group ID of one TXOP sharing group that is not used by other TXOP sharing groups, at least one bit indicating that one terminal device has low latency traffic, an indicator related to the traffic load of one terminal device, information that one terminal device can operate on a non-primary channel, or a channel bandwidth on which one terminal device operates.

[0148] In some exemplary embodiments, the second response message includes the ID of one terminal device.

[0149] In some exemplary embodiments, the device is further configured to perform the steps of determining an ID that a terminal device of low latency traffic that is not in the TXOP sharing group will use in the TXOP sharing group, and transmitting the ID to be used in the TXOP sharing group to one of the terminal devices.

[0150] In some exemplary embodiments, the device is further configured to perform the step of increasing the number of members currently in a TXOP sharing group by one in response to another device joining the TXOP sharing group.

[0151] In some demonstrative embodiments, the at least one first request message is transmitted in response to at least one ID selected by the at least one terminal device from a plurality of IDs reserved for devices with low-latency traffic that is the same as the at least one ID carried by the first broadcast message.

[0152] In some exemplary embodiments, the device is a network device or a terminal device.

[0153] It should be noted that the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 9 or FIG. 10 may also be applied to or combined with the embodiment described with reference to FIG.

[0154] 12 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary method 1200 implemented in a terminal device (e.g., terminal device 104-1, 104-2, 604-2, 704-2, or 804-2) in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For ease of understanding, method 1200 will be described from the perspective of terminal device 604-2 with reference to FIG.

[0155] In block 1210, the terminal device receives a first broadcast message from a device notifying that the device's transmit opportunity (TXOP) is available for sharing, the device and the terminal device are in a TXOP sharing group, and the terminal device has low-latency traffic. In block 1220, the terminal device sends a first request message to the device requesting to share the TXOP. In block 1230, the terminal device receives a first response message from the device granting or denying the TXOP sharing.

[0156] In some exemplary embodiments, the first broadcast message is included in a first multi-user request to transmit (MU-RTS) transmission frame, the first request message is included in a multi-user clear to transmit (MU-CTS) frame, and the first response message is included in a second MU-RTS transmission frame.

[0157] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first request message includes at least one of a frame type information element indicating TXOP sharing, a TXOP sharing type information element indicating that the first request message is used to request TXOP sharing, an ID of the first network device, at least one bit indicating the presence of low latency traffic, or a buffer status report.

[0158] In some exemplary embodiments, the terminal device is further configured to perform the step of receiving, from the device, a second broadcast message informing of the existence of one TXOP sharing group.

[0159] In some exemplary embodiments, the terminal device is further configured to perform the steps of: if the terminal device is not in a TXOP sharing group and can participate in TXOP sharing to explicitly join one TXOP sharing group, sending a second request message to the apparatus requesting participation in the TXOP sharing group; and receiving a second response message from the device permitting or denying participation in the TXOP sharing group.

[0160] In some exemplary embodiments, the terminal device is further configured to perform, if the terminal device joins a TXOP sharing group, the steps of: increasing the number of members currently in a TXOP sharing group by one; and sending an announcement message to the device including the number of members currently in a TXOP sharing group.

[0161] It should be noted that the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 11 may also be applied to or combined with the embodiment described with reference to FIG.

[0162] In some demonstrative embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing method 1100 (e.g., network device 602-1) may comprise means for performing each step of method 1100. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuit or a software module.

[0163] In some demonstrative embodiments, the apparatus may comprise means for transmitting a first broadcast message to at least one terminal device notifying that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the device is available for sharing, where the device and the at least one terminal device are in a TXOP sharing group and the at least one terminal device has low-latency traffic, means for receiving at least one first request message from the at least one terminal device requesting to share the TXOP, and means for transmitting at least one first response message to the at least one terminal device granting or denying the TXOP sharing. In some demonstrative embodiments, the apparatus may comprise means for performing other embodiments described with reference to FIG.

[0164] In some demonstrative embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing method 1200 (e.g., terminal device 604-2) may comprise means for performing each step of method 1200. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuit or a software module.

[0165] In some demonstrative embodiments, the apparatus may comprise means for receiving a first broadcast message from a device notifying that a transmit opportunity (TXOP) of the device is available for sharing, where the device and the terminal device are in a TXOP sharing group and the terminal device has low latency traffic, means for sending a first request message to the device requesting to share the TXOP, and means for receiving a first response message from the device granting or denying the TXOP sharing. In some demonstrative embodiments, the apparatus may comprise means for performing other embodiments described with reference to FIG.

[0166] 13 shows an exemplary simplified block diagram of a device 1300 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 1300 may be provided to implement a communications device or network element, such as a terminal device 104, 604, 704, or 804, or a network device 102, 202, 302, 502, 602, 702, or 802, as shown in FIGS. 1-3 through 5-8. As shown, the device 1300 includes one or more processors 1310, one or more memories 1320 that can be coupled to the processor 1310, and one or more communication modules 1340 that can be coupled to the processor 1310.

[0167] The communication module 1340 is for bidirectional communication. The communication module 1340 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface necessary for communication with other network elements; for example, the communication interface may be a wireless or wired, or software-based interface for communication to other network elements.

[0168] The processor 1310 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may include, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. The device 1300 may have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips that are time-slaved to a clock that synchronizes the main processor.

[0169] The memory 1320 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memory include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 1324, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disks, compact disks (CDs), digital video disks (DVDs), and other magnetic and / or optical storage. Examples of volatile memory include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 1322 and other volatile memory that does not persist during power-down durations. The memory 1320 may store instructions that, when executed by the processor 1310, cause the device 1300 to perform any of the methods disclosed herein.

[0170] The computer program 1330 includes computer-executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 1310. The program 1330 may be stored in the ROM 1324. The processor 1310 may load the program 1330 into the RAM 1322 to perform any appropriate actions and processes.

[0171] The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by a program such that the device 1300 may execute any process of the present disclosure, such as those discussed with reference to Figures 1 to 12. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

[0172] In some demonstrative embodiments, the program 1330 may be tangibly contained in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in the device 1300 (such as memory 1320) or other storage device accessible by the device 1300. The device 1300 may load the program 1330 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 1322 for execution. The computer-readable medium may include any type of tangible non-volatile storage, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. Figure 14 shows an example of a computer-readable medium 1400 in the form of a CD or DVD. The computer-readable medium has the program 1330 stored thereon.

[0173] In general, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. While some aspects may be implemented in hardware, other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. While various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it should be understood that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in, by way of non-limiting example, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller, or other computing device, or some combination thereof.

[0174] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, that execute on a device on a target real processor or target virtual processor to perform methods 200, 300, and 500-1200, as described above with reference to Figures 2, 3, and 5-12. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or divided among program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed in local or distributed devices. In distributed devices, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0175] Program codes for carrying out the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, so that when executed by the processor or controller, the program code implements the functions / acts specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams. The program code may run entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partially on the machine, partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0176] In the context of the present disclosure, computer program code or associated data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus, or processor to perform the various processes and operations as described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer-readable media, etc.

[0177] The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof. As used herein, the term "non-transitory" refers to the medium itself (i.e., tangible rather than signal), as opposed to a data storage persistence (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0178] Furthermore, while operations are shown in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the particular order shown, or in sequential order, or that all of the shown operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In some situations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, while some specific implementation details are included in the above description, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Some features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

[0179] Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure, as defined by the appended claims, is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device to perform at least: sending a first broadcast message to at least one second network device informing the network device that a transmission opportunity (TXOP) of the network device is available for sharing, the network device and the at least one second network device being in a TXOP sharing group; receiving at least one first request message from the at least one second network device requesting to share the TXOP; and transmitting at least one first response message to the at least one second network device granting or denying sharing of the TXOP.

2. The network device according to claim 1 , wherein each of the first broadcast message, the first request message, and the first response message is included in a control frame or an action frame.

3. 3. The network device of claim 1, wherein the first broadcast message is included in a first multi-user request-to-send (MU-RTS) transmission frame, the first request message is included in a multi-user clear-to-send (MU-CTS) frame, and the first response message is included in a second MU-RTS transmission frame.

4. 2. The network device of claim 1, wherein the first broadcast message carries at least one ID of the at least one second network device, each of the at least one second network device having a distinct ID within the one TXOP sharing group.

5. 2. The network device of claim 1, wherein the network device is configured to authorize one of the at least second network devices to share the TXOP, and the first response message includes an ID of one second network device.

6. The network device is configured to allow a plurality of at least one second network device to share the TXOP, and the network device further comprises:

2. The network device of claim 1, configured to perform the step of allocating a portion of the frequency bandwidth or a portion of the duration of the TXOP to one of the plurality of the at least one second network devices.

7. The first notification message includes: A frame type information element indicating TXOP sharing; a TXOP sharing type information element indicating that the first broadcast message is used to notify that the TXOP of the network device is shareable; or at least one ID of the at least one second network device, the at least one ID being followed by a resource unit (RU), an allocation information element, and an allocation duration information element; Each of the at least one first request message includes: A frame type information element indicating TXOP sharing; a TXOP sharing type information element indicating that the first request message is used to request sharing of the TXOP; the identity of the network device; At least one bit indicating the presence of low latency traffic, or buffer status reporting; Each of the at least one first response message comprises: A frame type information element indicating TXOP sharing; a TXOP sharing type information element indicating that the first response message is used to grant or deny sharing of the TXOP; or 2. The network device of claim 1, including at least one ID of the at least one second network device, each of the at least one ID followed by a resource unit (RU), an allocation information element, and an allocation duration information element.

8. The network device further comprises: determining to start one TXOP sharing group; 2. The network device according to claim 1, wherein the network device is configured to perform the steps of: selecting, for the one TXOP sharing group, a TXOP sharing group ID that is not used by another TXOP sharing group;

9. The network device further comprises:

2. The network device of claim 1, further configured to perform the step of broadcasting a second announcement message announcing the existence of the one TXOP sharing group.

10. The second notification message includes: a TXOP sharing group ID of said one TXOP sharing group that is not used by another TXOP sharing group; the number of members currently in said one TXOP sharing group; At least one ID of at least one member currently in said one TXOP sharing group; or 10. The network device of claim 9, further comprising at least one of: an indication of whether new members may join the TXOP sharing group;

11. The network device further comprises:

11. The network device of claim 10, configured to perform the step of increasing the number of members currently in a TXOP sharing group by one in response to another network device joining the TXOP sharing group.

12. at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device to perform at least: receiving a first broadcast message from a second network device informing that a transmission opportunity (TXOP) of the second network device is available for sharing, the network device and the second network device being in a TXOP sharing group; sending a first request message to the second network device requesting to share the TXOP; and receiving a first response message from the second network device granting or denying sharing of the TXOP.

13. sending a first broadcast message to at least one second network device informing the network device that a transmission opportunity (TXOP) of the network device is available for sharing, the network device and the at least one second network device being in a TXOP sharing group; receiving at least one first request message from the at least one second network device requesting to share the TXOP; and transmitting at least one first response message to the at least one second network device granting or denying sharing of the TXOP.

14. receiving a first broadcast message from a second network device informing that a transmission opportunity (TXOP) of the second network device is available for sharing, the network device and the second network device being in a TXOP sharing group; sending a first request message to the second network device requesting to share the TXOP; and receiving a first response message from the second network device granting or denying sharing of the TXOP.

15. A computer readable medium having stored thereon program instructions for carrying out the method of claim 13 or 14.

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