Signaling for Multi-AP Operation

Abstract

The present disclosure describes systems, methods, and devices related to multi-AP operation. A device is capable of generating a trigger frame that includes one or more fields for carrying information associated with supporting signaling for multi-access point (AP) operation. The device encodes the trigger frame with a time allocation for one or more devices, where the time allocation is based on information associated with supporting signaling for multi-access point (AP) operation. The device is capable of causing the trigger frame to be transmitted to one or more devices.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for wireless communication, and more particularly, to signaling for multi - access point (AP) operation.

Background Art

[0002] Wireless devices are becoming increasingly popular and are increasingly in need of access to the wireless channel. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has developed one or more standards that utilize orthogonal frequency - division multiple access (OFDMA) in channel allocation.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0003]

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[0004] The following description and drawings illustrate embodiments that are sufficiently specific for those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, algorithmic, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in or substituted for those of other embodiments. The embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims.

[0005] Multi-AP operation involves multiple physically distinct access points (APs) that cooperate to communicate with each other, and one of these multiple APs is selected to control the other APs. Multi-AP operation is expected to be the basis for WiFi-8. Based on discussions from WiFi-7, the group is likely to consider the following (non-exhaustive) modes of multi-AP: - Coordinated TDMA (C-TDMA): AP-1 obtains a TXOP and sequentially allocates the time within the TXOP to other APs within the BW obtained with the TXOP.

[0006] - Coordinated OFDMA (C-OFDMA): AP-1 obtains a TXOP and allocates different RUs to different APs within the obtained TXOP.

[0007] - Coordinated special reuse (C-SR): AP-1 acquires a TXOP and allocates a part of the acquired TXOP to multiple APs, where the allocated APs operate on the same BW and time window.

[0008] The 802.11be triggered TXOP sharing (TXS) procedure is very similar to the multi-AP C-TDMA function. However, the signaling is only defined for the associated STAs that acquire the AID. Therefore, it cannot be used as it is to support multi-AP.

[0009] In one or more embodiments, a multi-AP operation system may encourage extending the trigger frames of IEEE 802.11ax ("11ax") and IEEE 802.11be ("11be") to support the signaling for the above modes.

[0010] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to systems, methods, and devices for signaling of multi-AP operation.

[0011] In the present disclosure, several options are provided for signaling the following parameters using either a new trigger frame (TF) or a modified version of the MU-RTS trigger frame: - Allocated time - Multi-AP mode - Distinction between multi-AP and P2P procedures - Tx power limit in the case of C-SR - PPDU alignment in the case of C-OFDMA or C-SR - Whether the allocated STA is allowed / required to return unused time. In one or more embodiments, the multi-AP operation system can utilize an existing trigger mechanism to solve the signaling problem for multi-AP.

[0012] The above description is for illustrative purposes and is not intended to be limiting. There may be numerous other examples, configurations, processes, algorithms, etc., some of which will be described in more detail below. Exemplary embodiments are described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0013] FIG. 1 is a network diagram showing an exemplary network environment of multi-AP operation according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The wireless network 100 may include one or more user devices 120 and one or more access points (APs) 102 capable of communicating according to the IEEE 802.11 communication standard. The user device 120 may be a mobile device that is non-fixed (e.g., does not have a fixed location), or may be a fixed device. In some embodiments, the user device 120 and the AP 102 may include one or more computer systems similar to those of the functional diagram of FIG. 7 and / or the exemplary apparatus / system of FIG. 8.

[0014] One or more exemplary user devices 120 and / or APs 102 can be operated by one or more users 110. It should be noted that any addressable unit may be a station (STA). An STA can assume multiple different characteristics, each of which forms its function. For example, a single addressable unit can simultaneously be a portable STA, a quality of service (QoS) STA, a dependent STA, and a hidden STA. One or more exemplary user devices 120 and APs 102 may be STAs. One or more exemplary user devices 120 and / or APs 102 can operate as a personal basic service set (PBSS) control point / access point ((PBSS) control point / access point, PCP / AP). User device 120 (e.g., 124, 126, or 128) and / or AP 102 can include any suitable processor-driven device, including but not limited to mobile devices or non-mobile, e.g., static devices.

[0015] For example, the user device 120 and / or the AP 102 may be a user equipment (UE), a station (STA), an access point (AP), a software access point (SoftAP), a personal computer (PC), a wearable wireless device (e.g., a bracelet, a wristwatch, glasses, a ring, etc.), a desktop computer, a mobile computer, a laptop computer, an Ultrabook (registered trademark) computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a server computer, a handheld computer, a handheld device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a sensor device, a PDA device, a handheld PDA device, an on-board device, an off-board device, a hybrid device (e.g., one that combines a cellular phone function with a PDA device function), a consumer device, a vehicle device, a non-vehicle device, a mobile or portable device, a non-mobile or portable device, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a PCS device, a PDA device incorporating a wireless communication device, a mobile or portable GPS device, a DVB device, a relatively small computing device, a non-desktop computer, a "carry small live large",A CSLL device, an ultra-mobile device (UMD), an ultra-mobile PC (UMPC), a mobile Internet device (MID), an "origami" device or computing device, a device that supports dynamically constructible computing (DCC), a context-aware device, a video device, an audio device, an A / V device, a set-top box (STB), a Blu-ray Disc (BD) player, a BD recorder, a digital video disc (DVD) player, a high-definition (HD) DVD player, a DVD recorder, an HD DVD recorder, a personal video recorder (PVR), a broadcast HD receiver, a video source, an audio source, a video sink, an audio sink, a stereo tuner, a broadcast radio receiver, a flat panel display, a personal media player (PMP), a digital video camera (DVC), a digital audio player, a speaker, an audio receiver, an audio amplifier, a gaming device, a data source, a data sink, a digital still camera (DSC), a media player, a smartphone, a television, a music player, or the like. Other devices including smart devices such as lamps, environmental controls, automotive parts, household parts, and consumer electronics may also be included in this list.,

[0016] When used in this document, the term "Internet of Things (IoT) device" is used to refer to any object (e.g., appliance, sensor, etc.) that has an addressable interface (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP) address, Bluetooth® identifier (ID), Near Field Communication (NFC) ID, etc.) and is capable of transmitting information to one or more other devices via a wired or wireless connection. IoT devices may have a passive communication interface such as a Quick Response (QR) code, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag, NFC tag or the like, or an active communication interface such as a modem, transceiver, transmitter-receiver. IoT devices can be incorporated into and / or controlled / monitored by a central processing unit (CPU), microprocessor, ASIC or the like, and are configured to connect to an IoT network such as a local ad-hoc network or the Internet, and may have a set of specific attributes (e.g., the state or status of the device such as whether the IoT device is on or off, open or closed, idle or active, available for task execution or busy, etc., cooling or heating function, environmental monitoring or recording function, lighting function, sound emitting function, etc.). For example, IoT devices can include, but are not limited to, refrigerators, toasters, ovens, microwave ovens, freezers, dishwashers, dishes, hand tools, washing machines, clothes dryers, heaters, air conditioners, thermostats, TVs, lighting fixtures, vacuum cleaners, sprinklers, electricity meters, gas meters, etc., as long as the device is equipped with an addressable communication interface for communicating with the IoT network. Also, IoT devices can include cellular phones, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), etc.Thus, the IoT network may typically be composed of a combination of devices that typically do not have an Internet connection (e.g., a dishwasher, etc.) and "legacy" Internet-accessible devices (e.g., a laptop or desktop computer, a cell phone, etc.).

[0017] User device 120 and / or AP 102 may also be capable of including, for example, a mesh station in a mesh network, in accordance with one or more IEEE 802.11 standards and / or 3GPP (registered trademark) standards.

[0018] Any user device 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and the AP 102 may also be configured to communicate with each other wirelessly or wired through one or more communication networks 130 and / or 135. The user devices 120 may also communicate peer-to-peer or directly with each other with or without using the AP 102. Any communication network 130 and / or 135 may include, for example, a broadcast network, a cable network, a public network (e.g., the Internet), a private network, a wireless network, a cellular network, or any other suitable combination of different types of appropriate communication networks, but is not limited thereto. Further, any communication network 130 and / or 135 may have some appropriate communication range associated therewith, and may also include, for example, a global network (e.g., the Internet), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), or a personal area network (PAN). Further, any communication network 130 and / or 135 may include any type of medium through which network traffic may be carried, and the medium may include coaxial cable, twisted pair, optical fiber, hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) medium, microwave terrestrial transceiver, radio frequency communication medium, white space communication medium, extremely high frequency communication medium, satellite communication medium, or any combination thereof, but is not limited thereto.

[0019] Any user device 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and the AP 102 may also include one or more communication antennas. The one or more communication antennas can be any suitable type of antenna corresponding to the communication protocol used by the user device 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, and 128) and the AP 102. Some non-limiting examples of suitable communication antennas include Wi-Fi antennas, antennas compliant with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard family, directional antennas, omnidirectional antennas, dipole antennas, folded dipole antennas, patch antennas, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, omni-directional antennas, quasi-omni-directional antennas, and the like. The one or more communication antennas may be communicatively coupled to a radio component to transmit and / or receive signals such as communication signals to and / or from the user device 120 and / or the AP 102.

[0020] Any user device 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and the AP 102 may also be configured to perform directional transmission and / or directional reception in connection with wireless communication in a wireless network. Any user device 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and the AP 102 may also be configured to perform such directional transmission and / or reception using a set of multiple antenna arrays (e.g., a DMG antenna array, etc.). Each of the multiple antenna arrays may be used for transmission and / or reception in a particular respective direction or range of directions. Any user device 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and the AP 102 may also be configured to perform any given directional transmission towards one or more defined transmission sectors. The user device 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and the AP 102 may also be configured to perform any given directional reception from one or more defined reception sectors.

[0021] MIMO beamforming in a wireless network can be achieved using RF beamforming and / or digital beamforming. In some embodiments, when performing a given MIMO transmission, user device 120 and / or AP 102 may be configured to use all or a portion of its one or more communication antennas to perform MIMO beamforming.

[0022] Any user device 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and AP 102 may include any suitable radio and / or transceiver for transmitting and / or receiving radio frequency (RF) signals in a bandwidth and / or channel corresponding to a communication protocol used by some user device 120 and AP 102 to communicate with each other. The wireless component may include hardware and / or software for modulating and / or demodulating communication signals according to a pre-established transmission protocol. The wireless component may further have hardware and / or software instructions for communicating via one or more Wi-Fi and / or Wi-Fi Direct protocols as standardized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards. In certain exemplary embodiments, the wireless component, in cooperation with a communication antenna, 2.4 GHz channels (e.g., 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ax), 5 GHz channels (e.g., 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11be, etc.), 6 GHz channels (e.g., 802.11ax, 802.11be, etc.), 60 GHz channels (e.g., 802.11ad, 802.11ay), or 800 MHz channels (e.g., 802.11ah) It may be configured to communicate via. The communication antenna may operate at 28 GHz and 40 GHz. This list of communication channels according to a certain 802.11 standard is only a partial list, and it should be understood that other 802.11 standards (e.g., next-generation Wi-Fi, or other standards) may be used. In some embodiments, non-Wi-Fi protocols such as Bluetooth®, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), ultra-high frequency (UHF) (e.g., IEEE 802.11 af, IEEE 802.22), white-band frequencies (e.g., white space), or other packetized wireless communications may be used for communication between devices. The wireless component may include any known receiver and baseband suitable for communicating via a communication protocol. The wireless component may further include a low-noise amplifier (LNA), additional signal amplifiers, analog-to-digital (A / D) converters, one or more buffers, and a digital baseband.

[0023] In one embodiment, with reference to FIG. 1, the user device 120 may communicate with one or more APs 102. For example, one or more APs 102 may implement a multi-AP operation 142 with one or more user devices 120. It is understood that the above description is for illustrative purposes and is not intended to be limiting.

[0024] It is understood that the above description is for illustrative purposes and is not intended to be limiting.

[0025] FIG. 2 shows an exemplary schematic diagram for multi-AP operation according to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0026] The AP that wins the TXOP (referred to as the Primary AP in the remainder of this disclosure) is assumed to be able to use one of the following options to address another designated AP (referred to herein as the Secondary AP): (a) An AP-ID (less than 13 bits) for signaling to the Secondary AP that is in the same AID space as (and does not conflict with) the AID assigned by the Primary AP to a non-AP STA. In this case, since the AID is unique, the Primary AP can assign the TXOP to the Secondary AP without ambiguity and not to another STA. Note that if the Secondary AP is collocated with the interface associated with the Primary AP, the AP-ID may be exactly that AID assigned by the Primary AP to that interface.

[0027] (b) An AP-ID (less than 13 bits) for signaling to the Secondary AP that is in a different AID space from the AID assigned by the Primary AP to a non-AP STA (and thus may conflict). In this case, the AP needs to rely on additional signaling or a new variant of the TF to prevent a STA with AID x from misusing an assignment targeted at the Secondary AP with AP-ID x (and vice versa).

[0028] The signaling defined for the Secondary AP may be extended to cover non-AP STAs that are not associated.

[0029] In one or more embodiments, the multi-AP operation system can facilitate signaling in multi-AP mode while distinguishing between multi-AP mode and P2P mode.

[0030] In one embodiment, the primary AP may use different modes of MU-RTS TXS to signal (or notify) various flavors of the multi-AP mode (e.g., C-TDMA, C-OFDMA, or C-SR). Note that if the above (a) is true, it may not be necessary to distinguish between non-AP STAs and APs for any C-TDMA, C-OFDMA, and C-SR variants. For example, bits B34 - B35 and B20 - B21 (TXOP sharing mode) can be used together to encode the multi-AP protocol type as shown in Table 1: Table 1 - Multi-AP Mode Signaling for MU-RTS

[0031] [Table 1] In one embodiment, the encoding may be similar to Table 1, except that C-TDMA is signaled using TXOP sharing mode = 2 and B34, B35 = 0.

[0032] In one embodiment, the multi-AP type may be signaled using a new Special User Info field.

[0033] In one embodiment, the primary AP may define a new trigger frame variant and define subtypes in the trigger-dependent common information (e.g., a common information field containing information common to the triggered devices). There is also a user information field containing information unique to each of the triggered devices.

[0034] Referring to Figure 2, the trigger-dependent common information field format for Trigger Type = 8 is shown. The value of the multi-AP mode can be set to 0 for C-TDMA, 1 for C-OFDMA, and 2 for C-SR; other values may be reserved.

[0035] To signal different multi-AP modes, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, it is possible to set the trigger type = 8 to signal a multi-AP trigger frame and create trigger-dependent user information.

[0036] In one embodiment, the primary AP can define a new trigger frame variant to be used for some multi-AP (and P2P) type (e.g., C-OFDMA), while for other types (e.g., C-SR), signaling is performed using a new or existing variant of the TXS frame.

[0037] In one embodiment, especially when assumption 1b is true, the AP signals C-OFDMA, C-TDMA, and C-SR for the secondary AP using a new trigger frame type and an existing or new variant of the TXS frame for non-AP STAs.

[0038] In one embodiment, especially when assumption 1b is true, the AP signals C-OFDMA, C-TDMA, and C-SR using an existing or new variant of the TXS frame, except when the signaling is targeted at the AP, and then it is signaled by setting a bit to 1 in the common information or special user information.

[0039] In one or more embodiments, the multi-AP operation system can facilitate signaling at the allocated time.

[0040] In one embodiment, the allocated time may be signaled using one or more fields within the common information for some multi-AP trigger type (including all types). For example, the UL length field can be used to signal the time allocated for the case of C-SR in units of 16 μs.

[0041] In one embodiment, the allocated time may be signaled using one or more fields in some common information for any multi-AP trigger type (including all types) and / or a new special user information field. For example, in the case of C-OFDMA that requires precise time alignment of PPDUs transmitted on different RUs, the UL length field and the field of special user information can signal the time allocated to each PPDU, i.e., the UL length signal duration of PPDU-1, the first subfield in the new special user information signal duration of PPDU-2, and so on.

[0042] In one embodiment, the allocated time may be signaled using user information and / or special user information for some multi-AP trigger type (including all types). For example, C-TDMA for one or more secondary APs may be signaled using the allocated duration and the time offset field subfield within each user information field.

[0043] In one or more embodiments, a multi-AP operation system can facilitate signaling of other parameters.

[0044] In one embodiment, the primary AP can use a field within the user information to signal the maximum / recommended Tx power used in the case of C-SR and / or C-OFDMA or C-TDMA. If there are not enough bits within the user information, an additional user information field may be allocated to the same STA.

[0045] In one embodiment, the primary AP can use a field within the common information or special user information to signal the maximum / recommended Tx power to be used in the case of C-SR and / or C-OFDMA or C-TDMA.

[0046] In one embodiment, the primary AP can use a field in the common information or special user information to signal whether PPDU alignment is required. This may be valid only for some multi-AP types (e.g., C-OFDMA and / or C-SR), or only when special user information is included.

[0047] In one embodiment, the primary AP can use a bit in the user information or common information to signal whether an assigned STA or AP needs to return any unused time. This bit may be invalid or reserved for some multi-AP protocol types (e.g., C-OFDMA or C-SR).

[0048] In one embodiment, the primary AP can use a field in the user information to specify additional scheduling information (e.g., to which STA the addressed STA should send, whether the STA is permitted to send a TF, etc.) for the STA addressed in that user information.

[0049] In one embodiment, the above signaling regarding transmission power limitation may be used to control the transmission power at the P2P STA when the trigger frame allocates resources to the P2P STA.

[0050] In one or more embodiments, the multi-AP operation system can facilitate CTS transmission rules for different allocation types.

[0051] In one embodiment, when a variant of the MU-RTS frame is used to signal a C-TDMA or C-OFDMA or C-SR allocation, the first transmission at the assigned time by each STA may be a CTS frame transmitted in the assigned RU.

[0052] In one embodiment, when a variant of the MU-RTS frame is used to signal C-TDMA allocations for a plurality of STAs, only the first transmission at the allocated time for the first STA may be the CTS frame transmitted on the allocated RU.

[0053] In one embodiment, when a variant of the MU-RTS frame is used to signal TDMA or C-OFDMA or C-SR allocations or wifi-8 STAs, the first transmission at the allocated time does not need to be a CTS frame.

[0054] In one embodiment, the primary AP can control which STA is required to transmit a CTS frame as the first frame at the allocated time. For example, bits within user information may be used to signal whether the STA addressed within that user information is required to transmit a CTS. Bits within common information can be used to signal whether the STA addressed within that TF is required to transmit a CTS.

[0055] In one embodiment, a secondary AP may not be required to transmit a CTS frame, while a non-AP STA may be required to do so.

[0056] In one embodiment, a secondary AP or a non-AP STA can negotiate with the primary AP during an exchange of capability information to determine whether it is required to transmit a CTS as the first frame at the allocated time for all or some of the allocation types.

[0057] Figures 3A - 3B, Figures 4A - 4C, and Figures 5A - 5B show exemplary trigger - frame formats when signaling for different allocation types is performed by extending the TXS frame variant.

[0058] Figures 3A - 3B show exemplary signaling for CTDMA using the modified MU - RTS variant. For example, Figure 3A shows the high - efficiency (HE) variant common - information - field format for TXS using C - TDMA. Figure 3B shows the user - information - field format for TXS using C - TDMA.

[0059] Figures 4A - 4C show exemplary signaling for C - OFDMA using the modified MU - RTS variant. For example, Figure 4A shows the HE variant common - information - field format for TXS using C - OFMA. Figure 4B shows the user - information - field format for TXS using C - OFDMA. Figure 4C shows the special - user - information - field format for TXS using C - OFDMA.

[0060] Figures 5A - 5B show exemplary signaling for C - SR using the modified MU - RTS variant. For example, Figure 5A shows the HE variant common - information - field format for TXS using C - SR. Figure 5B shows the user - information - field format for TXS using C - SR.

[0061] It is understood that the above description is for illustrative purposes and is not intended to be limiting.

[0062] Figure 6 shows a flowchart of an exemplary process 600 for a multi - AP operation system according to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0063] In block 602, a device (e.g., user device 120 and / or AP 102 of FIG. 1 and / or multi-AP operation device 819 of FIG. 8) can generate a trigger frame including one or more fields for carrying information related to supporting signaling for multi-access point (AP) operation.

[0064] In block 604, the device can encode the trigger frame along with time allocations for one or more devices, and the time allocations are based on information related to supporting signaling for multi-access point (AP) operation.

[0065] In block 606, the device can cause the trigger frame to be transmitted to one or more devices.

[0066] In one or more embodiments, the one or more fields include information associated with an allocated time, a multi-AP mode, a distinction between multi-AP and P2P, a transmission power limit for coordinated special reuse (C-SR), or whether an allocated device is permitted or required to return an idle time.

[0067] In one or more embodiments, multi-AP operation includes coordinated TDMA, coordinated OFDMA, or coordinated special reuse.

[0068] In one or more embodiments, time allocations are sequentially assigned to one or more devices.

[0069] In one or more embodiments, the time allocation is four different resource units (RUs) within the same bandwidth covered by the trigger frame.

[0070] In one or more embodiments, the time allocation is granted to one or more devices within the same bandwidth and time covered by the trigger frame.

[0071] In one or more embodiments, at least one multi-AP mode field of one or more fields of the trigger frame includes a transmit opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode sub-field set to 3, and bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 0 and 1, respectively, to specify the multi-AP mode of coordinated OFDMA (C-OFDMA).

[0072] In one or more embodiments, at least one multi-AP mode field of one or more fields of the trigger frame includes a transmit opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode sub-field set to 3, and bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 1 and 0, respectively, to specify the multi-AP mode of coordinated spatial reuse (C-SR).

[0073] In one or more embodiments, at least one multi-AP mode field of one or more fields of the trigger frame includes a transmit opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode sub-field set to 3, and bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 0 and 0, respectively, to specify the multi-AP mode of coordinated time division multiple access (C-TDMA).

[0074] It is understood that the above description is for illustrative purposes and is not intended to be limiting.

[0075] FIG. 7 shows a functional diagram of an exemplary communication station 700 according to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, FIG. 7 shows a functional block diagram of a communication station that may be suitable for use as an AP 102 (FIG. 1) or a user device 120 (FIG. 1) according to some embodiments. The communication station 700 may also be suitable for use as a handheld device, a mobile device, a cellular phone, a smartphone, a tablet, a netbook, a wireless terminal, a laptop computer, a wearable computer device, a femtocell, a high data rate (HDR) subscriber station, an access point, an access terminal, or other personal communication system (PCS) device.

[0076] Communication station 700 may include a transceiver 710 and a communication circuit 702 for transmitting and receiving signals to and from other communication stations using one or more antennas 701. The communication circuit 702 may include circuits capable of operating physical layer (PHY) communication and / or media access control (MAC) communication for controlling access to the wireless medium, and / or any other communication layer for transmitting and receiving signals. The communication station 700 may also include a processing circuit 706 and a memory 708 configured to perform the operations described herein. In some embodiments, the communication circuit 702 and the processing circuit 706 may be configured to perform the operations detailed in the above drawings, diagrams, and flows. According to some embodiments, the communication circuit 702 may be configured to compete for the wireless medium and construct frames or packets for communicating over the wireless medium. The communication circuit 702 may be configured to transmit and receive signals. The communication circuit 702 may include circuits for modulation / demodulation, up-conversion / down-conversion, filtering, amplification, etc. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 706 of the communication station 700 may include one or more processors. In other embodiments, two or more antennas 701 may be coupled to a communication circuit 702 configured to transmit and receive signals. The memory 708 can store information for configuring the processing circuit 706 to perform operations for constructing and transmitting message frames, and information for performing various operations described herein. The memory 708 may include any type of memory (including non-transitory memory) for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, the memory 708 may include computer-readable storage devices, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, and other storage devices and media.

[0077] In some embodiments, communication station 700 may be part of a portable wireless communication device such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer having wireless communication capabilities, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, a smartphone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, an access point, a television, a medical device (e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor, etc.), a wearable computer device, or other device capable of receiving and / or transmitting information wirelessly.

[0078] In some embodiments, communication station 700 may include one or more antennas 701. The antennas 701 may include one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas, or other types of antennas suitable for transmitting RF signals. In some embodiments, instead of two or more antennas, a single antenna having multiple apertures may be used. In these embodiments, each aperture may be considered an individual antenna. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectively separated for spatial diversity and for various channel characteristics that may occur between each of the antennas and the antennas of the transmitting station.

[0079] In some embodiments, communication station 700 may include one or more of a keyboard, a display, a non-volatile memory port, multiple antennas, a graphics processor, an application processor, a speaker, and other mobile device elements. The display may be an LCD screen including a touch screen.

[0080] Although communication station 700 is shown as having several distinct functional elements, two or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by a software building element such as a processing element including a digital signal processor (DSP), and / or a combination of other hardware elements. For example, some elements may include one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), and combinations of various hardware and logic circuits for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements of communication station 700 may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[0081] Certain embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. Other embodiments may also be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device that may be loaded and executed by at least one processor for performing the operations described herein. A computer-readable storage device may include any non-transitory memory mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a machine, e.g., a computer. For example, a computer-readable storage device may include read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, and other storage devices and media. In some embodiments, communication station 700 may include one or more processors and may be configured using instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device.

[0082] FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of an example of a machine (or apparatus) 800 or system in which any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methods) described herein may be performed. In other embodiments, machine 800 may operate as a stand-alone device or may be connected (e.g., network-connected) to other machines. In a networked arrangement, machine 800 may operate in the capacity of a server machine, a client machine, or both, in a server-client network environment. In one example, machine 800 may operate as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment. Machine 800 may be a personal computer (PC), tablet PC, set-top box (STB), personal digital assistant (PDA), mobile telephone, wearable computer device, web appliance, network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequentially or otherwise) that specify operations to be performed by that machine, such as a base station. Further, although only a single machine is shown, the term "machine" shall also be construed to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methods described herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), or other computer cluster configurations.

[0083] Examples as described herein may include logic, or may include or operate on some components, modules, or mechanisms. A module is a tangible entity (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations when operating. A module includes hardware. In one example, the hardware may be specifically configured (e.g., wired) to perform a particular operation. In another example, the hardware may include a buildable execution unit (e.g., transistors, circuits, etc.) and a computer-readable medium containing instructions that build the execution unit to perform a particular operation during operation. Building may occur under the direction of the execution unit or loading mechanism. Thus, the execution unit is communicatively coupled to the computer-readable medium when the device is operating. In this example, the execution unit may be a member of more than one module. For example, during operation, the execution unit may be built by a first set of instructions to implement a first module at one point in time and rebuilt by a second set of instructions to implement a second module at a second point in time.

[0084] A machine (e.g., a computer system) 800 may include a hardware processor 802 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory 804, and a static memory 806, some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interlink (e.g., a bus) 808. The machine 800 may further include a power management device 832, a graphics display device 810, an alphanumeric input device 812 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 814 (e.g., a mouse). In one example, the graphics display device 810, the alphanumeric input device 812, and the UI navigation device 814 may be a touch screen display. The machine 800 may further include a storage device (i.e., a drive unit) 816, a signal generation device 818 (e.g., a speaker), a multi-AP operation device 819, a network interface device / transceiver 820 coupled to an antenna 830, and one or more sensors 828 such as, for example, a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, a compass, an accelerometer, or other sensors. The machine 800 may include an output controller 834 for communicating with or controlling one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, a card reader, etc.) such as, for example, a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connection). Operations according to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed by a baseband processor. The baseband processor may be configured to generate a corresponding baseband signal.The baseband processor may further include physical layer (PHY) and media access control layer (MAC) circuitry and may interface with the hardware processor 802 to generate and process baseband signals and to control the operation of main memory 804, storage device 816, and / or multi-AP operation device 819. The baseband processor may be provided on a single radio card, a single chip, or an integrated circuit (IC).

[0085] Storage device 816 may include a machine-readable medium 822 storing one or more sets of data structures or instructions 824 (e.g., software) that implement or are utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. The instructions 824 may be wholly or at least partially present in main memory 804, static memory 806, or hardware processor 802 during execution thereof by machine 800. In one example, one or any combination of hardware processor 802, main memory 804, static memory 806, or storage device 816 may constitute a machine-readable medium.

[0086] The multi-AP operation device 819 is capable of performing or implementing any of the operations and processes shown and described above (e.g., process 600).

[0087] It is understood that the foregoing are only a subset of the operations that the multi-AP operation device 819 may be configured to perform and that other functions included throughout this disclosure may also be performed by the multi-AP operation device 819.

[0088] The machine-readable medium 822 is shown as a single medium, but the term "machine-readable medium" can include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and / or associated caches and servers) configured to store one or more instructions 824.

[0089] Various embodiments may be implemented fully or partially in software and / or firmware. This software and / or firmware can take the form of instructions contained in or on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. These instructions can then be read and executed by one or more processors to enable performance of the operations described herein. The instructions can be in any suitable form such as source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, etc., but are not limited thereto. Such a computer-readable medium can include, but is not limited to, any tangible non-transitory medium for storing information in a form readable by one or more computers, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory.

[0090] The term "machine-readable medium" can include any medium that can store, encode, or carry instructions for execution by a machine 800, that causes the machine 800 to execute any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, or that can store, encode, or carry a data structure used by or associated with such instructions. Examples of non-limiting machine-readable media can include solid-state memory, as well as optical and magnetic media. In one example, a massed machine-readable medium includes a machine-readable medium having a plurality of particles with rest mass. Specific examples of massed machine-readable media can include non-volatile memory such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and, can include CD-ROM and DVD ROM disks.

[0091] Command 824 may further be transmitted or received over communication network 826 using a transmission medium via a network interface device / transceiver 820 that utilizes any one of several transfer protocols (e.g., Frame Relay, Internet Protocol (IP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), etc.). Exemplary communication networks can include, among others, Local Area Networks (LANs), Wide Area Networks (WANs), packet data networks (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellular networks), Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) networks, wireless data networks (e.g., the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard family known as Wi-Fi (registered trademark), the IEEE 802.16 standard family known as WiMax (registered trademark), the IEEE 802.15.4 standard family, and peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. In one example, network interface device / transceiver 820 can include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet (registered trademark), coaxial, or telephone jacks) or one or more antennas for connecting to communication network 826. In one example, network interface device / transceiver 820 can include multiple antennas for wireless communication using at least one of single input multiple output (SIMO), multiple input multiple output (MIMO), or multiple input single output (MISO) techniques. The term "transmission medium" is to be construed to include any non-transitory medium capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by machine 800 and includes digital or analog communication signals or other non-transitory media for facilitating such software communication.

[0092] The operations and processes described and illustrated above may be implemented or executed in any suitable order as desired in various implementations. Further, in some implementations, at least some of the operations may be executed in parallel. Still further, in certain implementations, fewer or more operations than those described may be executed.

[0093] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of wireless architectures 105A, 105B according to some embodiments that may be implemented in any one of the exemplary AP 102 and / or exemplary STA 120 of FIG. 1. The wireless architectures 105A, 105B can include wireless front-end module (FEM) circuits 904a-b, wireless IC circuits 906a-b, and baseband processing circuits 908a-b. The wireless architectures 105A, 105B as illustrated include both wireless local area network (WLAN) functionality and Bluetooth (R) (BT) functionality, but embodiments are not so limited. In the present disclosure, "WLAN" and "Wi-Fi" are used interchangeably.

[0094] The FEM circuits 904a-b may include a WLAN or Wi-Fi FEM circuit 904a and a Bluetooth (R) (BT) FEM circuit 904b. The WLAN FEM circuit 904a may include a receive signal path including a circuit configured to operate on a WLAN RF signal received from one or more antennas 901, amplify the received signal, and provide the amplified version of the received signal to the WLAN wireless IC circuit 906a for further processing. The BT FEM circuit 904b may include a receive signal path including a circuit configured to operate on a BT RF signal received from one or more antennas 901, amplify the received signal, and provide the amplified version of the received signal to the BT wireless IC circuit 906b for further processing. The FEM circuit 904a may also include a transmit signal path that may include a circuit configured to amplify a WLAN signal provided by the wireless IC circuit 906a for wireless transmission by one or more of the antennas 901. Further, the FEM circuit 904b may also include a transmit signal path that may include a circuit configured to amplify a BT signal provided by the wireless IC circuit 906b for wireless transmission by one or more antennas. In the embodiment of FIG. 9, the FEMs 904a and 904b are shown as being distinguishable from each other, but the embodiments are not so limited and include the use of a FEM (not shown) including transmit and / or receive paths for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more FEM circuits in which at least a portion of the FEM circuit shares transmit and / or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals within their scope.

[0095] As shown, the wireless IC circuits 906a - b may include a WLAN wireless IC circuit 906a and a BT wireless IC circuit 906b. The WLAN wireless IC circuit 906a may include a receive signal path that can include circuitry for down - converting the WLAN RF signal received from the FEM circuit 904a and providing a baseband signal to the WLAN baseband processing circuit 908a. The BT wireless IC circuit 906b may include a receive signal path that can include circuitry for down - converting the BT RF signal received from the FEM circuit 904b and providing a baseband signal to the BT baseband processing circuit 908b.

[0096] The WLAN wireless IC circuit 906a may also include a transmit signal path that can include circuitry for up - converting the WLAN baseband signal provided by the WLAN baseband processing circuit 908a and providing a WLAN RF output signal to the FEM circuit 904a for subsequent wireless transmission by one or more antennas 901. The BT wireless IC circuit 906b may also include a transmit signal path that can include circuitry for up - converting the BT baseband signal provided by the BT baseband processing circuit 908b and providing a BT RF output signal to the FEM circuit 904b for subsequent wireless transmission by one or more antennas 901.

[0097] In the embodiment of FIG. 9, the wireless IC circuits 906a and 906b are shown as separate from each other, but the embodiments are not so limited and include within their scope the use of a wireless IC circuit (not shown) that includes transmit signal paths and / or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more wireless IC circuits in which at least a portion of the wireless IC circuits share transmit and / or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

[0098] The baseband processing circuits 908a-b may include a WLAN baseband processing circuit 908a and a BT baseband processing circuit 908b. The WLAN baseband processing circuit 908a may include memory, such as a set of RAM arrays in a fast Fourier transform or inverse fast Fourier transform block (not shown) of the WLAN baseband processing circuit 908a. Each of the WLAN baseband circuit 908a and the BT baseband circuit 908b may further include one or more processors and control logic for processing signals received from the corresponding WLAN or BT receive signal path of the wireless IC circuits 906a-b and generating corresponding WLAN or BT baseband signals for the transmit signal paths of the wireless IC circuits 906a-b. Each of the baseband processing circuits 908a and 908b may further include a physical layer (PHY) and a media access control layer (MAC) circuit and may interface with a device for generating and processing baseband signals and for controlling the operation of the wireless IC circuits 906a-b.

[0099] Referring further to FIG. 9, according to the illustrated embodiment, the WLAN-BT coexistence circuit 913 may include logic that provides an interface between the WLAN baseband circuit 908a and the BT baseband circuit 908b to enable use cases that require coexistence of WLAN and BT. Further, a switch 903 may be provided between the WLAN FEM circuit 904a and the BT FEM circuit 904b to enable switching between the WLAN radio and the BT radio according to the needs of the application. Further, although the antenna 901 is shown as being connected to the WLAN FEM circuit 904a and the BT FEM circuit 904b respectively, embodiments include sharing of one or more antennas, such as between the WLAN and the BT FEM, or providing more than one antenna connected to each of the FEMs 904a or 904b, within the scope of the embodiments.

[0100] In some embodiments, the front-end module circuits 904a-b, the wireless IC circuits 906a-b, and the baseband processing circuits 908a-b may be provided on a single wireless card, such as the wireless radio card 902. In some other embodiments, one or more antennas 901, the FEM circuits 904a-b, and the wireless IC circuits 906a-b may be provided on a single wireless card. In some other embodiments, the wireless IC circuits 906a-b and the baseband processing circuits 908a-b may be provided on a single chip or integrated circuit (IC), such as IC 912.

[0101] In some embodiments, the wireless radio card 902 may include a WLAN wireless card and may be configured for Wi-Fi communication, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited thereto. In some of these embodiments, the wireless architectures 105A, 105B may be configured to receive and transmit orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication signals via a multi-carrier communication channel. The OFDM or OFDMA signal may be capable of including a plurality of orthogonal sub-carriers.

[0102] In some of these multi-carrier embodiments, the wireless architectures 105A, 105B may be part of a Wi-Fi communication station (STA), such as a wireless access point (AP), a base station, or a mobile device including a Wi-Fi device. In some of these embodiments, the wireless architectures 105A, 105B may be configured to transmit and receive signals according to any of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards including the 802.11n-2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE 802.11-2016, 802.11n-2009, 802.11 ac, 802.11 ah, 802.11 ad, 802.11 ay, and / or 802.11 ax standards, and / or any specific communication standard and / or protocol such as a specification proposed for WLAN, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited thereto. The wireless architectures 105A, 105B may be suitable for transmitting and / or receiving communications according to other technologies and standards.

[0103] In some embodiments, the wireless architectures 105A, 105B may be constructed for high-efficiency Wi-Fi (HEW) communication according to the IEEE 802.11 ax standard. In these embodiments, the wireless architectures 105A, 105B may be configured to communicate according to OFDMA technology, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited thereto.

[0104] In some other embodiments, the wireless architectures 105A, 105B may be configured to transmit and receive signals transmitted using one or more other modulation techniques such as spread spectrum modulation (e.g., direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) and / or frequency hopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA)), time division multiplexing (TDM) modulation, and / or frequency division multiplexing (FDM) modulation, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited thereto.

[0105] In some embodiments, as further shown in FIG. 6, the BT baseband circuit 908b can comply with the Bluetooth® (BT) connection standard, such as Bluetooth®, Bluetooth 8.0, or Bluetooth 6.0, or any other version (iteration) of the Bluetooth standard.

[0106] In some embodiments, the wireless architectures 105A, 105B may include other wireless cards, such as cellular wireless cards built for cellular (e.g., 5GPP such as LTE, LTE Advanced, or 7G communication).

[0107] In some IEEE 802.11 embodiments, the wireless architectures 105A, 105B may be constructed for communication in various channel bandwidths, including bandwidths with center frequencies of approximately 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and bandwidths of approximately 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 5 MHz, 5.5 MHz, 6 MHz, 8 MHz, 10 MHz, 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz (having a continuous bandwidth), or 80 + 80 MHz (160 MHz) (having a discontinuous bandwidth). In some embodiments, a 920 MHz channel bandwidth may be used. However, the scope of the embodiments is not limited with respect to the above center frequencies.

[0108] FIG. 10 shows a WLAN FEM circuit 904a according to some embodiments. The example of FIG. 10 is described in relation to the WLAN FEM circuit 904a, but the example of FIG. 10 may also be described in relation to an exemplary BT FEM circuit 904b (FIG. 9), and other circuit configurations may be suitable.

[0109] In some embodiments, the FEM circuit 904a may include a TX / RX switch 1002 to switch between transmit mode operation and receive mode operation. The FEM circuit 904a may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuit 904a may include a low noise amplifier (LNA) 1006 to amplify the received RF signal 1003 and provide the amplified received RF signal 1007 as an output (e.g., to the wireless IC circuits 906a-b (FIG. 9)). The transmit signal path of the circuit 904a may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify an input RF signal 1009 (e.g., provided by the wireless IC circuits 906a-b), and one or more filters 1012, such as a band pass filter (BPF), a low pass filter (LPF), or other types of filters, for generating an RF signal 1015 for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the antennas 901 (FIG. 9)) via an exemplary duplexer 1014.

[0110] In some dual-mode embodiments for Wi-Fi communication, the FEM circuit 904a may be configured to operate in either the 2.4 GHz frequency spectrum or the 5 GHz frequency spectrum. In these embodiments, the receive signal path of the FEM circuit 904a may include a receive signal path duplexer 1004 to separate signals from each spectrum, and further may provide separate LNAs 1006 for each spectrum as shown. In these embodiments, the transmit signal path of the FEM circuit 904a may include a power amplifier 1010, filters 1012 such as BPFs, LPFs, or other types of filters for each frequency spectrum, and a transmit signal path duplexer 1004 for providing a signal of one of the various spectrums onto a single transmit path for subsequent transmission by one or more of the antennas 901 (FIG. 9). In some embodiments, BT communication may utilize the 2.4 GHz signal path and it may be possible to utilize the same FEM circuit 904a as that used for WLAN communication.

[0111] FIG. 11 shows a wireless IC circuit 906a according to some embodiments. The wireless IC circuit 906a is an example of a circuit that may be suitable for use as a WLAN or BT wireless IC circuit 906a / 906b (FIG. 9), although other circuit configurations may be suitable. Alternatively, the example of FIG. 11 may be described in connection with an exemplary BT wireless IC circuit 906b.

[0112] In some embodiments, the wireless IC circuit 906a may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the wireless IC circuit 906a may include at least a mixer circuit 1102, such as a down-conversion mixer circuit, an amplifier circuit 1106, and a filter circuit 1108. The transmit signal path of the wireless IC circuit 906a may include at least a filter circuit 1112 and a mixer circuit 1114, such as an up-conversion mixer circuit. The wireless IC circuit 906a may also include a synthesizer circuit 1104 for synthesizing a frequency 1105 for use by the mixer circuit 1102 and the mixer circuit 1114. According to some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1102 and / or 1114 may each be configured to provide a direct conversion function. The latter type of circuit presents a much simpler architecture compared to a standard superheterodyne mixer circuit, and any flicker noise it incurs can be reduced, for example, by using OFDM modulation. FIG. 11 shows only a simplified version of the wireless IC circuit, and embodiments in which each of the illustrated circuits may include more than one component are not shown but may be included. For example, the mixer circuit 1114 may each include one or more mixers, and the filter circuits 1108 and / or 1112 may each include one or more filters, such as one or more BPFs and / or LPFs, depending on the needs of the application. For example, if the mixer circuits are of the direct conversion type, they may each include two or more mixers.

[0113] In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1102 may be configured to down-convert RF signal 1007 received from FEM circuits 904a-b (FIG. 9) based on the synthesized frequency 1105 provided by synthesizer circuit 1104. Amplifier circuit 1106 can be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and filter circuit 1108 may include an LPF configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to generate output baseband signal 1107. Output baseband signal 1107 can be provided to baseband processing circuits 908a-b (FIG. 9) for further processing. In some embodiments, output baseband signal 1107 may be a zero-frequency baseband signal, but this is not essential. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1102 may comprise a passive mixer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited thereto.

[0114] In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1114 can be configured to up-convert input baseband signal 1111 based on the synthesized frequency 1105 provided by synthesizer circuit 1104 to generate an RF output signal 1009 for FEM circuits 904a-b. Baseband signal 1111 can be provided by baseband processing circuits 908a-b and may be filtered by filter circuit 1112. Filter circuit 1112 may include an LPF or a BPF, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited thereto.

[0115] In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1102 and mixer circuit 1114 may each include more than two mixers and may each be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and / or up-conversion with the assistance of synthesizer 1104. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1102 and mixer circuit 1114 may each include more than two mixers configured for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1102 and mixer circuit 1114 may each be arranged for direct down-conversion and / or direct up-conversion. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1102 and mixer circuit 1114 may be configured for superheterodyne operation, but this is not essential.

[0116] According to one embodiment, mixer circuit 1102 may include a quadrature passive mixer (e.g., for in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) paths). In such an embodiment, the RF input signal 1007 from FIG. 11 can be down-converted to provide I and Q baseband output signals to be sent to the baseband processor.

[0117] The quadrature passive mixer may be driven by 0-degree and 90-degree time-varying LO switching signals provided by a quadrature circuit configured to receive an LO frequency (fLO), such as the LO frequency 1105 of synthesizer 1104 (FIG. 11), from a local oscillator or synthesizer. In some embodiments, the LO frequency may be the carrier frequency, but in other embodiments, the LO frequency may be a fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., half of the carrier frequency, one-third of the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the 0-degree and 90-degree time-varying switching signals may be generated by the synthesizer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited thereto.

[0118] In some embodiments, the LO signal may differ in duty cycle (the percentage of the LO signal that is high within one period) and / or offset (the difference between the start points of the periods). In some embodiments, the LO signal may have a duty cycle of 85% and an offset of 80%. In some embodiments, each branch of the mixer circuit (e.g., the in-phase (I) path and the quadrature (Q) path) can operate at an 80% duty cycle, which may result in a significant reduction in power consumption.

[0119] The RF input signal 1007 (FIG. 10) may have a balanced signal, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited thereto. The I and Q baseband output signals may be provided to a low-noise amplifier such as the amplifier circuit 1106 (FIG. 11) or to the filter circuit 1108 (FIG. 11).

[0120] In some embodiments, the output baseband signal 1107 and the input baseband signal 1111 may be analog baseband signals, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited thereto. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal 1107 and the input baseband signal 1111 may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, the wireless IC circuit may include an analog / digital converter (ADC) and a digital / analog converter (DAC) circuit.

[0121] In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate wireless IC circuit may be provided to process signals for each spectrum or for other spectra not mentioned herein, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited thereto.

[0122] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 1104 may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited thereto as other types of frequency synthesizers may be appropriate. For example, synthesizer circuit 1104 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. According to some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 1104 may include a digital synthesizer circuit. The advantage of using a digital synthesizer circuit is that although it may still include some analog components, its footprint may be much smaller than that of an analog synthesizer circuit. In some embodiments, the frequency input to synthesizer circuit 1104 may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), but this is not essential. The divider control input may be further provided by any of baseband processing circuits 908a-b (FIG. 9) according to the desired output frequency 1105. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table (e.g., within a Wi-Fi card) based on the channel number and channel center frequency determined or specified by an exemplary application processor 910. The application processor 910 may include one of exemplary secure signal converter 101 or exemplary received signal converter 103 (e.g., depending on which device the exemplary wireless architecture is implemented in), or may be connected thereto in another way.

[0123] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 1104 may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as output frequency 1105, while in other embodiments, output frequency 1105 may be a fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., half of the carrier frequency, one-third of the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, output frequency 1105 may be the LO frequency (fLO).

[0124] FIG. 12 shows a functional block diagram of a baseband processing circuit 908a according to some embodiments. The baseband processing circuit 908a is an example of a circuit that may be suitable for use as the baseband processing circuit 908a (FIG. 9), although other circuit configurations may be suitable. Alternatively, the example of FIG. 11 may be used to implement the exemplary BT baseband processing circuit 908b of FIG. 9.

[0125] The baseband processing circuit 908a may include a receive baseband processor (RX BBP) 1202 for processing the received baseband signal 1109 provided by the wireless IC circuits 906a-b (FIG. 9), and a transmit baseband processor (TX BBP) 1204 for generating a transmit baseband signal 1111 for the wireless IC circuits 906a-b. The baseband processing circuit 908a may include control logic 1206 for regulating the operation of the baseband processing circuit 908a.

[0126] In some embodiments (e.g., when analog baseband signals are exchanged between the baseband processing circuits 908a-b and the wireless IC circuits 906a-b), the baseband processing circuit 908a includes an ADC 1210 and is capable of converting the analog baseband signal 1209 received from the wireless IC circuits 906a-b into a digital baseband signal for processing by the RX BBP 1202. In these embodiments, the baseband processing circuit 908a includes a DAC 1212 and is capable of converting the digital baseband signal from the TX BBP 1204 into an analog baseband signal 1211.

[0127] In some embodiments of communicating OFDM signals or OFDMA signals via a baseband processor 908a, etc., the transmit baseband processor 1204 can be configured to generate an OFDM signal or an OFDMA signal suitable for transmission by performing an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT). The receive baseband processor 1202 can be configured to process the received OFDM signal or OFDMA signal by performing an FFT. In some embodiments, the receive baseband processor 1202 can be configured to detect the presence of an OFDM signal or an OFDMA signal by performing autocorrelation, detect a preamble such as a short preamble, and also detect a long preamble by performing cross-correlation. The preamble may be part of a predetermined frame structure for Wi-Fi communication.

[0128] Returning to the reference of FIG. 9, in some embodiments, each of the antennas 901 (FIG. 9) may include one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, such as, for example, a dipole antenna, a monopole antenna, a patch antenna, a loop antenna, a microstrip antenna, or other types of antennas suitable for the transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas can be effectively separated to utilize spatial diversity and the resulting different channel characteristics. Each of the antennas 901 may include a set of phased array antennas, but the embodiments are not limited thereto.

[0129] The wireless architectures 105A, 105B are shown as having several distinct functional elements, but one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by a software component such as a processing element including a digital signal processor (DSP), and / or a combination of other hardware elements. For example, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), and combinations of various hardware and logic circuits for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements may refer to one or more processes operating in one or more processing elements.

[0130] As used herein, the term "exemplary" is used to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. As used herein, the terms "computing device", "user device", "communication station", "station", "handheld device", "mobile device", "wireless device", and "user equipment" (UE) refer to a wireless communication device such as a cellular phone, smartphone, tablet, netbook, wireless terminal, laptop computer, femtocell, high data rate (HDR) subscriber station, access point, printer, point of sale device, access terminal, or other personal communication system (PCS) device. The device may be either mobile or stationary.

[0131] As used in this specification, the term "communicate" is intended to include transmitting, or receiving, or both transmitting and receiving. This may be particularly useful in claims when describing the arrangement of data transmitted by one device and received by another device, although only one function of those devices is a claimed limitation. Similarly, a two-way exchange of data between two devices (both devices transmitting and receiving during the interaction) may be described as "communicating" when only one function of those devices is being claimed. The term "communicate" as used herein with respect to wireless communication signals includes transmitting a wireless communication signal and / or receiving a wireless communication signal. For example, a wireless communication unit capable of communicating a wireless communication signal can include a wireless transmitter for transmitting the wireless communication signal to at least one other wireless communication unit and / or a wireless communication receiver for receiving the wireless communication signal from at least one other wireless communication unit.

[0132] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the use of ordinal adjectives such as "first", "second", "third", etc. to describe a common object merely indicates that different instances of like objects are being referred to, and is not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given order, whether temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other way.

[0133] The term "access point" (AP) used herein may be a fixed station. The access point may be referred to as an access node, a base station, an evolved Node B (eNodeB), or any other similar term known in the art. The access terminal may be referred to as a mobile station, a user equipment (UE), a wireless communication device, or any other similar term known in the art. The embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to wireless networks. Some embodiments may relate to wireless networks operating in accordance with one of the IEEE 802.11 standards.

[0134] Some embodiments may be used in connection with various devices and systems such as personal computers (PCs), desktop computers, mobile computers, laptop computers, notebook computers, tablet computers, server computers, handheld computers, handheld devices, personal digital assistant (PDA) devices, handheld PDA devices, on-board devices, off-board devices, hybrid devices, vehicle devices, non-vehicle devices, mobile or portable devices, consumer devices, non-mobile or non-portable devices, wireless communication stations, wireless communication devices, wireless access points (APs), wired or wireless routers, wired or wireless modems, video devices, audio devices, audio-video (A / V) devices, wired or wireless networks, wireless area networks, wireless video area networks (WVANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless LANs (WLANs), personal area networks (PANs), wireless PANs (WPANs), etc.

[0135] Some embodiments may be used in connection with one-way and / or two-way wireless communication systems, cellular radiotelephone communication systems, mobile telephones, cellular telephones, wireless telephones, personal communication system (PCS) devices, PDA devices incorporating wireless communication devices, mobile or portable global positioning system (GPS) devices, devices incorporating GPS receivers or transceivers or chips, devices incorporating RFID elements or chips, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transceivers or devices, single-input multiple-output (SIMO) transceivers or devices, multiple-input single-output (MISO) transceivers or devices, devices having one or more internal and / or external antennas, digital video broadcast (DVB) devices or systems, multi-standard wireless devices or systems, wired or wireless handheld devices such as, for example, smartphones, wireless application protocol (WAP) devices, etc.

[0136] One embodiment may be used in connection with one or more types of wireless communication signals and / or systems that comply with one or more wireless communication protocols, such as radio frequency (RF), infrared (IR), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), orthogonal FDM (OFDM), time division multiplexing (TDM), time division multiple access (TDMA), extended TDMA (E-TDMA), general packet radio service (GPRS), extended GPRS, code division multiple access (CDMA), wideband CDMA (WCDMA (registered trademark)), CDMA 2000, single-carrier CDMA, multi-carrier CDMA, multi-carrier modulation (MDM), discrete multi-tone (DMT), Bluetooth (registered trademark), global positioning system (GPS), Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, ZigBee, ultra-wideband radio (UWB), global system for mobile communications (GSM (registered trademark)), 2G, 2.5G, 3G, 3.5G, 4G, fifth generation (5G) mobile networks, 3GPP, long term evolution (LTE), LTE advanced, enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), etc. Other embodiments may be used in various other devices, systems, and / or networks.

[0137] The following examples relate to further embodiments.

[0138] Example 1 can include a device having a processing circuit coupled to storage, the processing circuit configured to: generate a trigger frame including one or more fields for carrying information associated with supporting signaling for multi-access point (AP) operations; encode the trigger frame with a time allocation for one or more devices, the time allocation being based on information associated with supporting signaling for multi-access point (AP) operations; and transmit the trigger frame to one or more devices.

[0139] Example 2 can include the devices of Example 1 and / or any other example in this case, and one or more fields include information associated with the assigned time, the mode of multi-AP, the distinction between multi-AP and P2P, the transmission power limit for cooperative spatial reuse (C-SR), or the possibility that the assigned device is allowed or required to return the idle time.

[0140] Example 3 can include the devices of Example 1 and / or any other example in this case, and the multi-AP operation includes cooperative TDMA, cooperative OFDMA, or cooperative spatial reuse.

[0141] Example 4 can include the devices of Example 1 and / or any other example in this case, and the time allocation is sequentially assigned to one or more devices.

[0142] Example 5 can include the devices of Example 1 and / or any other example in this case, and the time allocation is four different resource units (RUs) within the same bandwidth covered by the trigger frame.

[0143] Example 6 can include the devices of Example 1 and / or any other example in this case, and the time allocation is assigned to one or more devices within the same bandwidth and time covered by the trigger frame.

[0144] Example 7 can include the devices of Example 1 and / or any other example in this case, and at least one multi-AP mode field of one or more fields of the trigger frame can include a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode subfield that can be set to 3, and bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 0 and 1 respectively to specify the multi-AP mode of cooperative OFDMA (C-OFDMA).

[0145] Example 8 can include the devices of Example 1 and / or any other example in this case, and at least one multi-AP mode field of one or more fields of the trigger frame can include a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode sub-field that can be set to 3, and bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 1 and 0 respectively to specify the multi-AP mode of coordinated spatial reuse (C-SR).

[0146] Example 9 can include the devices of Example 1 and / or any other example in this case, and at least one multi-AP mode field of one or more fields of the trigger frame can include a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode sub-field that can be set to 3, and bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 0 and 0 respectively to specify the multi-AP mode of coordinated spatial reuse (C-TDMA).

[0147] Example 10 can include a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, result in performing a process, the process including: generating a trigger frame including one or more fields for carrying information associated with supporting signaling of multi-access point (AP) operations; encoding the trigger frame with a time allocation for one or more devices, the time allocation being based on information associated with supporting signaling of multi-access point (AP) operations; and transmitting the trigger frame to one or more devices.

[0148] Example 11 can include a non-transitory computer-readable medium of Example 10 and / or any other example in this case, and one or more fields include information associated with an assigned time, a multi-AP mode, a distinction between multi-AP and P2P, a transmission power limit for cooperative spatial reuse (C-SR), or whether an assigned device is permitted or required to return an idle time.

[0149] Example 12 can include a non-transitory computer-readable medium of Example 10 and / or any other example in this case, and the multi-AP operation includes cooperative TDMA, cooperative OFDMA, or cooperative spatial reuse.

[0150] Example 13 can include a non-transitory computer-readable medium of Example 10 and / or any other example in this case, and the time allocation is sequentially given to one or more devices.

[0151] Example 14 can include a non-transitory computer-readable medium of Example 10 and / or any other example in this case, and the time allocation is four different resource units (RUs) within the same bandwidth covered by a trigger frame.

[0152] Example 15 can include a non-transitory computer-readable medium of Example 10 and / or any other example in this case, and the time allocation is given to one or more devices within the same bandwidth and time covered by a trigger frame.

[0153] Example 16 can include a non-transitory computer-readable medium of Example 10 and / or any other example in this case, and at least one multi-AP mode field of one or more fields of the trigger frame can include a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode subfield that can be set to 3, and bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 0 and 1 respectively to specify the multi-AP mode of cooperative OFDMA (C-OFDMA).

[0154] Example 17 can include a non-transitory computer-readable medium of Example 10 and / or any other example in this case, and at least one multi-AP mode field of one or more fields of the trigger frame can include a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode subfield that can be set to 3, and bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 1 and 0 respectively to specify the multi-AP mode of cooperative spatial reuse (C-SR).

[0155] Example 18 can include a non-transitory computer-readable medium of Example 10 and / or any other example in this case, and at least one multi-AP mode field of one or more fields of the trigger frame can include a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode subfield that can be set to 3, and bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 0 and 0 respectively to specify the multi-AP mode of cooperative spatial reuse (C-TDMA).

[0156] Example 19 may include a method, which includes: generating a trigger frame including one or more fields for carrying information associated with supporting signaling of multi - access point (AP) operations; encoding the trigger frame with a time allocation for one or more devices, where the time allocation is based on information associated with supporting signaling of multi - access point (AP) operations; and transmitting the trigger frame to one or more devices.

[0157] Example 20 may include the method of Example 19 and / or any other example herein, and the one or more fields include information associated with an assigned time, a multi - AP mode, a distinction between multi - AP and P2P, a transmission power limit for cooperative spatial reuse (C - SR), or the possibility that an assigned device is allowed or required to return an idle time.

[0158] Example 21 may include the method of Example 19 and / or any other example herein, and the multi - AP operation includes cooperative TDMA, cooperative OFDMA, or cooperative spatial reuse.

[0159] Example 22 may include the method of Example 19 and / or any other example herein, and the time allocation is sequentially assigned to one or more devices.

[0160] Example 23 may include the method of Example 19 and / or any other example herein, and the time allocation is four different resource units (RUs) in a given bandwidth that is the same as that covered by the trigger frame.

[0161] Example 24 can include the method of Example 19 and / or any other example in this case, and the time allocation is given to one or more devices within the same bandwidth and time covered by the trigger frame.

[0162] Example 25 can include the method of Example 19 and / or any other example in this case. At least one multi-AP mode field of one or more fields of the trigger frame can include a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode subfield that can be set to 3, and bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 0 and 1 respectively to specify the multi-AP mode of coordinated OFDMA (C-OFDMA).

[0163] Example 26 can include the method of Example 19 and / or any other example in this case. At least one multi-AP mode field of one or more fields of the trigger frame can include a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode subfield that can be set to 3, and bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 1 and 0 respectively to specify the multi-AP mode of coordinated spatial reuse (C-SR).

[0164] Example 27 can include the method of Example 19 and / or any other example in this case. At least one multi-AP mode field of one or more fields of the trigger frame can include a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode subfield that can be set to 3, and bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 0 and 0 respectively to specify the multi-AP mode of coordinated spatial reuse (C-TDMA).

[0165] Example 28 may include an apparatus, the apparatus comprising: generating a trigger frame including one or more fields for carrying information associated with supporting signaling for multi - access point (AP) operation; encoding the trigger frame with a time allocation for one or more devices, the time allocation being based on information associated with supporting signaling for multi - access point (AP) operation; and means for transmitting the trigger frame to one or more devices.

[0166] Example 29 may include the apparatus of Example 28 and / or any other example herein, wherein the one or more fields include information associated with an assigned time, a multi - AP mode, a distinction between multi - AP and P2P, a transmission power limit for cooperative spatial reuse (C - SR), or whether an assigned device is allowed or required to return an idle time.

[0167] Example 30 may include the apparatus of Example 28 and / or any other example herein, wherein the multi - AP operation includes cooperative TDMA, cooperative OFDMA, or cooperative spatial reuse.

[0168] Example 31 may include the apparatus of Example 28 and / or any other example herein, wherein the time allocation is sequentially assigned to one or more devices.

[0169] Example 32 may include the apparatus of Example 28 and / or any other example herein, wherein the time allocation is four different resource units (RUs) within a given bandwidth that is the same as that covered by the trigger frame.

[0170] Example 33 can include the apparatus of Example 28 and / or any other example in the present case, and the time allocation is given to one or more devices within the same bandwidth and time covered by the trigger frame.

[0171] Example 34 can include the apparatus of Example 28 and / or any other example in the present case. At least one multi-AP mode field of one or more fields of the trigger frame can include a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode sub-field that can be set to 3. Bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 0 and 1 respectively to specify the multi-AP mode of coordinated OFDMA (C-OFDMA).

[0172] Example 35 can include the apparatus of Example 28 and / or any other example in the present case. At least one multi-AP mode field of one or more fields of the trigger frame can include a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode sub-field that can be set to 3. Bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 1 and 0 respectively to specify the multi-AP mode of coordinated spatial reuse (C-SR).

[0173] Example 36 can include the apparatus of Example 28 and / or any other example in the present case. At least one multi-AP mode field of one or more fields of the trigger frame can include a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode sub-field that can be set to 3. Bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 0 and 0 respectively to specify the multi-AP mode of coordinated spatial reuse (C-TDMA).

[0174] Example 37 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media containing instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to execute one or more examples of the methods described in any of Examples 1-36 or any other method or process described herein or related thereto.

[0175] Example 38 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, and / or circuitry that execute one or more elements of the methods described in any of Examples 1-36 or any other method or process described herein or related thereto.

[0176] Example 39 may include a method, technique, or process as described in any of Examples 1-36 or a portion or part thereof or related thereto.

[0177] Example 40 may include an apparatus comprising one or more computer-readable media containing instructions and one or more processors, which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to execute a method, technique, or process as described in any of Examples 1-36 or a portion or part thereof or related thereto.

[0178] Example 41 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as illustrated or described herein.

[0179] Example 42 may include a system for performing wireless communication as illustrated or described herein.

[0180] Example 43 may include a device for performing wireless communication as illustrated or described herein.

[0181] Embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure are disclosed, in particular, in the appended claims directed to methods, storage media, devices, and computer program products, where any features recited in one claim category, such as a method, can equally be claimed in another claim category, such as a system. The dependencies or references in the appended claims are selected only for formal reasons. However, any subject matter resulting from an intentional reference to any preceding claim (especially in the case of multiple dependencies) can equally be claimed, such that any combination of claims and their features is disclosed and can be claimed regardless of the dependencies selected in the appended claims. The subject matter that can be claimed includes not only combinations of features recited in the appended claims, but also any other combination of features in the claims, and each feature recited in a claim can be combined with any other feature or combination of features in the claim. Further, any of the embodiments and features described or illustrated herein can be claimed in a separate claim and / or in any combination with any other embodiment or feature described or illustrated herein, or with any feature of any of the appended claims.

[0182] The foregoing description of one or more implementations has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the implementations to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various implementations.

[0183] Certain aspects of the present disclosure have been described above with reference to block diagrams and flow diagrams of systems, methods, apparatuses, and / or computer program products according to various implementations. It will be understood that one or more blocks of the block diagrams and flow diagrams, as well as combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flow diagrams, may each be implemented by computer-executable program instructions. Similarly, some blocks of the block diagrams and flow diagrams may not necessarily be executed in the order presented, or may not necessarily be executed at all, depending on some implementations.

[0184] These computer-executable program instructions may be loaded onto a special-purpose computer or other particular machine, processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a particular machine, such that the instructions executed on the computer, processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing one or more of the functions specified in one or more blocks of the flowchart. These computer program instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or memory and can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium produce a product that includes instruction means for implementing one or more of the functions specified in one or more blocks of the flowchart. As an example, a given implementation can provide a computer program product having a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code or program instructions embodied therein, the computer-readable program code being adapted to be executed to implement one or more of the functions specified in one or more blocks of the flowchart. The computer program instructions may also cause a series of operation elements or steps to be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a computer-implemented process to occur, such that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide elements or steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more blocks of the flowchart.

[0185] Accordingly, the blocks of the block diagrams and flowcharts support a combination of means for performing the specified functions, a combination of elements or steps for performing the specified functions, and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowcharts, as well as combinations of blocks of the block diagrams and flowcharts, may be implemented by a dedicated hardware-based computer system for performing the specified functions, elements, or steps, or by a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

[0186] In particular, conditional language such as "is capable of", "was capable of", "may be", or "may be" generally conveys that a given implementation may include a given feature, element, and / or operation, while other implementations do not, unless specifically stated otherwise or understood in the context in which it is used. Accordingly, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that a feature, element, and / or operation is required in any way in one or more implementations, or that one or more implementation forms necessarily include logic for determining whether these features, elements, and / or operations are to be included in or performed by a particular implementation, with or without user input or prompting.

[0187] It will be apparent that many modifications and other implementations of the disclosure described herein will benefit from the teachings presented in the foregoing description and the associated drawings. Accordingly, the disclosure is not limited to the specific implementations disclosed, and it is to be understood that modifications and implementations are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Specific terms are used herein, but they are used in a general and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

Claims

1. A device having a processing circuit coupled to a storage, wherein the processing circuit: generates a trigger frame including one or more fields for carrying information associated with supporting signaling of multi-access point (AP) operations; encodes the trigger frame with a time allocation for one or more devices, wherein the time allocation is based on information associated with supporting signaling of multi-access point (AP) operations; and transmits the trigger frame to the one or more devices; A device configured to perform the above.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the one or more fields include information associated with an assigned time, a multi-AP mode, a distinction between multi-AP and P2P, a transmission power limit for coordinated spatial reuse (C-SR), or whether an assigned device is allowed or required to return an idle time.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the multi-AP operation includes coordinated TDMA, coordinated OFDMA, or coordinated spatial reuse.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the time allocation is sequentially assigned to the one or more devices.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the time allocation is four different resource units (RUs) in a given bandwidth that is the same as that covered by the trigger frame.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the time allocation is assigned to the one or more devices within the same bandwidth and time as that covered by the trigger frame.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein at least one multi-AP mode field of the one or more fields of the trigger frame includes a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode subfield set to 3, and bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 0 and 1 respectively to specify a multi-AP mode of coordinated OFDMA (C-OFDMA).

8. The device according to claim 1, wherein at least one multi-AP mode field of the one or more fields of the trigger frame includes a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode subfield set to 3, and bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 1 and 0, respectively, to specify a multi-AP mode of coordinated spatial reuse (C-SR).

9. The device according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein at least one multi-AP mode field of the one or more fields of the trigger frame includes a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode subfield set to 3, and bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 0 and 0, respectively, to specify a multi-AP mode of coordinated time division multiple access (C-TDMA).

10. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a result of executing a process, the process comprising: generating a trigger frame including one or more fields for carrying information associated with supporting signaling of multi-access point (AP) operations; encoding the trigger frame with a time allocation for one or more devices, the time allocation being based on information associated with supporting signaling of multi-access point (AP) operations; and transmitting the trigger frame to the one or more devices; A computer-readable storage medium comprising the above steps.

11. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein the one or more fields include information associated with an allocated time, a multi-AP mode, a distinction between multi-AP and P2P, a transmission power limit for coordinated spatial reuse (C-SR), or whether an allocated device is permitted or required to return an idle time.

12. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein the multi-AP operation includes coordinated TDMA, coordinated OFDMA, or coordinated spatial reuse.

13. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein the time allocation is sequentially assigned to the one or more devices, the storage medium.

14. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein the time allocation is four different resource units (RUs) in a given bandwidth that is the same as that covered by the trigger frame, the storage medium.

15. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein the time allocation is assigned to the one or more devices within the same bandwidth and time as that covered by the trigger frame, the storage medium.

16. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein at least one multi-AP mode field of the one or more fields of the trigger frame includes a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode subfield set to 3, and bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 0 and 1, respectively, to specify the multi-AP mode of coordinated OFDMA (C-OFDMA), the storage medium.

17. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein at least one multi-AP mode field of the one or more fields of the trigger frame includes a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode subfield set to 3, and bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 1 and 0, respectively, to specify the multi-AP mode of coordinated spatial reuse (C-SR), the storage medium.

18. The computer-readable storage medium according to any one of claims 10-17, wherein at least one multi-AP mode field of the one or more fields of the trigger frame includes a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode subfield set to 3, and bits 34 and 35 of the multi-AP mode field are set to 0 and 0, respectively, to specify the multi-AP mode of coordinated spatial reuse (C-TDMA), the storage medium.

19. One or more processors generate a trigger frame including one or more fields for carrying information associated with supporting signaling of multi - access point (AP) operations; Encoding the trigger frame along with time allocations for one or more devices, wherein the time allocations are based on information associated with supporting signaling of multi - access point (AP) operations; and Transmitting the trigger frame to the one or more devices; A method comprising.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the one or more fields include information associated with an allocated time, a multi - AP mode, a distinction between multi - AP and P2P, a transmission power limit for coordinated spatial reuse (C - SR), or whether an allocated device is permitted or required to return an idle time.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein the multi - AP operation includes coordinated TDMA, coordinated OFDMA, or coordinated spatial reuse.

22. The method according to claim 19, wherein the time allocations are sequentially assigned to the one or more devices.

23. The method according to claim 19, wherein the time allocations are four different resource units (RUs) in a given bandwidth that is the same as that covered by the trigger frame.

24. The method according to claim 19, wherein the time allocations are assigned to the one or more devices within the same bandwidth and time as that covered by the trigger frame.

25. In the method according to any one of claims 19 - 24, at least one multi - AP mode field of the one or more fields of the trigger frame includes a transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing mode sub - field set to 3, and bits 34 and 35 of the multi - AP mode field are set to 0 and 1 respectively to specify a multi - AP mode of coordinated OFDMA (C - OFDMA).

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