Multi-band receiving device and communication method

Abstract

To provide a device for a multiband communication, and provide a method.SOLUTION: A multiband reception device comprises: a reception part that receives a plurality of MAC layer protocol data units (MPDUs) that belong to a single traffic identifier (TID) that is transmitted from a multiband transmission device in a plurality of frequency bands; and a transmission part that transmits a multiband block confirmation response frame indicating a reception state of each of the plurality of MPDUs containing one or more MPDUs transmitted in a certain frequency band on a first frequency band that is different from the frequency band. The transmission part transmits the block confirmation response frame in each band indicating a reception state of only MPDU transmitted in one frequency band in the plurality of frequency bands of the plurality of MPDUs belonging to the single TID in the one frequency band.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This embodiment generally relates to communication devices, and more particularly, to methods and devices for multi-band communication with multi-band traffic streams.

Background Art

[0002] In today's world, communication devices are expected to operate wirelessly with capabilities equivalent to those of wired computing devices. For example, a user expects to be able to seamlessly view high-definition videos streamed to the user's wireless communication device. This presents challenges to both the communication device and the access point to which the communication device wirelessly connects.

[0003] In recent years, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 group has formed an Extreme High Throughput (EHT) study group to address the above issues. Multi-band operation in the 2.4 GHz frequency band, 5 GHz frequency band, and 6 GHz frequency band is regarded as a candidate technology that is the key to such communication. Multi-channel aggregation across multiple bands is a natural way to increase the communication data throughput by several times. In current IEEE 802.11 devices, when admission control for an access category (AC) by an access point (AP) is mandatory (for example, through one or more Admission Control Mandatory (ACM) sub-fields in the Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) parameter set element), a communication device (STA) needs to set up a traffic stream (TS) for the AC with the AP (through an Add Traffic Stream (ADDTS) request / response exchange). A Block Ack agreement for the corresponding TID also needs to be performed (through an Add Block Ack (ADDBA) request / response exchange). Summary of the Invention

[0004] A non-limiting and exemplary embodiment contributes to providing a multi-band communication device including at least a plurality of transceiver units and a media access control (MAC) circuit. Each of the plurality of transceiver units transmits a signal frame in a different frequency band among a plurality of frequency bands during operation. The MAC circuit is coupled to the transceiver unit and receives, during operation, a multi-band block acknowledgment frame that performs an acknowledgment of signal frames transmitted in a plurality of frequency bands in one of the plurality of frequency bands.

[0005] Another non-limiting and exemplary embodiment includes a plurality of transceiver units and a media access control (MAC) circuit. The MAC circuit generates, during operation, a multi-band block acknowledgment frame that performs an acknowledgment of signal frames received in a plurality of frequency bands, and transmits the multi-band block acknowledgment frame in one of the plurality of frequency bands, contributing to providing a multi-band communication device.

[0006] Note that a general embodiment or a specific embodiment can be implemented as a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, a storage medium, or any optional combination thereof. Further benefits and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will become apparent from the present specification and the drawings. These benefits and / or advantages can be obtained individually by various embodiments and features of the present specification and the drawings. However, it is not necessary to provide all of these features in order to obtain one or more of such benefits and / or advantages.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0008] In the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals refer to the same or functionally similar elements throughout the different figures, and together with the following detailed description, are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate various embodiments, and serve to explain the various principles and advantages of the present embodiments. Those skilled in the art will understand that the elements in the figures are clearly and plainly shown and are not necessarily drawn to scale.

[0009] The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the embodiments or the application and use of the embodiments. Furthermore, no limitation is intended by any theory presented in the foregoing background art or in this detailed description. The existing IEEE802.11 traffic stream (TS) and Block Ack (BA) mechanisms for a particular TID are recognized to be limited to a single band. The object of the present embodiments is to present TS and BA mechanisms that operate across multiple bands in order to fully realize the throughput gain of multi-band aggregation. Further, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the following detailed description and the appended claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the background art of the present disclosure.

[0010] Referring to FIG. 1, an example of an overview of an 802.11 wireless network 100, also known as a basic service set (BSS), is shown. The 802.11 wireless network 100 includes an access point (AP) 102 that is a single redistribution point and a plurality of communication devices (STAs) 104 connected to the AP 102. The current IEEE 802.11 BSS operates in a single frequency band using a multi-band compatible AP that operates as an independent AP in each frequency band. Most current 802.11 STAs are single-band (single-band) devices, while future 802.11 communication devices (e.g., extremely high throughput (EHT) communication devices) are expected to be able to operate simultaneously in multiple frequency bands. Such a future AP 102 may set up a BSS in the 2.4 GHz frequency band, 5 GHz frequency band, or 6 GHz frequency band as a separate BSS, as in an existing 802.11 system. In this case, it is assumed that the STA 104 participates in the BSS in three frequency bands according to the legacy procedures of authentication and association. Alternatively, a future AP 102 may operate a unified / virtual BSS that operates in multiple frequency bands (i.e., the 2.4 GHz frequency band 106, 5 GHz frequency band 108, and 6 GHz frequency band 110), as shown in the BSS 100. In this case, it is assumed that the STA 104 participates in the unified / virtual BSS 100 in all three frequency bands via individual authentication and association requests / responses in each frequency band, or via multi-band authentication and association requests / responses in any one of these frequency bands.

[0011] Figure 2 shows an example 200 of the communication of video file 202 from AP102 to STA104. To fully realize the throughput gain of multi-band aggregation, mechanisms for traffic streams (TS) and block acknowledgements (BA) operating across multiple bands are desired. Such multi-band TS and BA can help increase device throughput many times by enabling the aggregation of traffic across multiple bands (e.g., 2.4 GHz band 204, 5 GHz band 206, and 6 GHz band 208). Streaming of high-resolution video 202 (e.g., high-definition (HD) or 4K or 8K video) may require such multi-band transmission. In the Internet Protocol (IP) layer 210 of AP102, the video file 202 is split into small IP packets. The 802.11 media access control (MAC) layer 212 of AP102 converts the IP packets into 802.11 MAC layer protocol data units (MPDUs), sends them to the MAC TX queue 214, and then the MAC TX queue 214 provides the MPDUs to the transmit / receive units 216, 218, 220 in the lower MAC layer 212 and the physical layer (PHY) 222 for simultaneous transmission in the 2.4 GHz frequency band 204, 5 GHz frequency band 206, and 6 GHz frequency band 208. In this way, MPDU 224 is transmitted to the receiving device STA104 via the 2.4 GHz frequency band 204, MPDU 226 is transmitted via the 5 GHz frequency band 206, and MPDU 228 is transmitted via the 6 GHz frequency band 208.

[0012] At the receiving device, MPDUs 224, 226, and 228 are received by transceivers 230, 232, and 234 in the PHY layer 236 and the lower MAC layer 238. MPDUs 224, 226, and 228 are collected by the MAC layer 238 and reordered into their original order as necessary before being passed to the MAC RX queue 240 and before being passed to the IP layer 242 where IP packets are combined to form the original video file 202.

[0013] In current 802.11 communication devices, admission control is typically required to maintain the quality of service (QoS) level for high-priority traffic such as video (AC_VO) or voice (AC_VI). When admission control for an access category (AC) is required by the AP (e.g., via the admission control mandatory (ACM) subfield in the extended distributed channel access (EDCA) parameter set element), the STA needs to set up the traffic stream (TS) for the access category (AC) with the AP via a traffic stream add (ADDTS) request / response exchange. The traffic specification (TSPEC) elements in the ADDTS request frame and the ADDTS response frame define various parameters related to the TS, including the traffic stream identifier (TSID), direction, MSDU size, minimum and maximum interval ranges, and minimum data rate, average data rate, and peak data rate.

[0014] Also, a block Ack agreement for the corresponding TID needs to be made via a block Ack add (ADDBA) request / response exchange. The traffic stream and the block Ack agreement may be set up for different frequency bands by including the multi-band element in each of the ADDTS and ADDBA request / response exchanges or via on-channel tunneling (OCT).

[0015] If new high-priority traffic is added to the wireless network without management, it may negatively affect the QoS of existing traffic. Therefore, the AP usually requires admission control for such traffic. If there is a large amount of existing traffic, the AP may reject the STA's request to set up a traffic stream for its access category (AC).

[0016] To achieve multi-band transmission according to this embodiment, since the current TS and BA setups are set up between the MAC layers of specific bands, changes to the operations of TS and BA are required. Referring to FIG. 3, example 300 shows a traffic stream (TS) and a Block Ack (BA) agreement for a traffic identifier (TID) set up between a transmitter (TX) communication device 302 and a receiver (RX) communication device 304 according to this embodiment. The TS and BA agreements are usually set up as a pair, and the BA agreement is set up in the direction opposite to the TS direction. TSs 306, 308, 310 are set up between the TX MAC layers 318, 320, 322 of each band and the corresponding RX MAC layers 324, 326, 328 of each band for data transmission from the transmitter 302 to the receiver 304. On the other hand, BA agreements 312, 314, 316 are set up in the opposite direction between the RX MAC layers 324, 326, 328 and the TX MAC layers 318, 320, 322 for the transmission of BAs from the receiver to the transmitter to respectively perform acknowledgment responses for the data transmissions corresponding to TSs 306, 308, 310.

[0017] On the transmitter side, the TX upper layer 330 and the TX Logical Link Control (LLC) layer 332 determine which band to use for transmission to a specific TID. The MPDUs of each TS306, 308, 310 are generated in the TX MAC layer (MAC layers 318, 320, 322) of each band and are addressed to the peer RX MAC layer (MAC layers 324, 326, 328) of the same band. On the receiver side, the RX LLC layer 334 rearranges the MAC Service Data Units (MSDUs) received in different bands and passes them to the RX upper layer 336. A Block Ack (BA) corresponding to the MPDU of each TS306, 308, 310 is generated in the RX MAC layer (MAC layers 324, 326, 328) of the same band and is addressed to the peer TX MAC layer (MAC layers 318, 320, 322) of each band. If the BA is not received, or if the acknowledgment response for the MPDU is not made in the BA bitmap (the bit corresponding to the MPDU set to 0), it is determined that the transmission has failed for the MPDU for which the acknowledgment response was not made. The retransmission of the MAC layer of the MPDU for which the acknowledgment response was not made is performed in the same frequency band (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz) as the failed transmission, as shown in FIG. 4.

[0018] Figure 4 shows a communication flow 400 between a multi-band AP 102 and a multi-band STA 104 for TS and BA setup and subsequent communication according to current multi-band communication. If an EDCA parameter set element received in a beacon frame in any band has an admission control mandatory (ACM) bit set for any access category (AC), the STA needs to set up a traffic stream (TS) for the corresponding TID with the AP before transmitting a data frame belonging to the corresponding TID / AC in that band. The TS setup 410 for a specific TID is performed separately for each band by exchanging ADDTS request / response frames in each band, for example, for downlink data transmission (i.e., transmission from the AP to a non-AP device). The ADDTS request is always initiated by the non-AP STA regardless of the direction of the actual data transmission. Similarly, the BA setup 420 for a specific TID is performed separately for each band by exchanging ADDBA request / response frames in each band. The ADDBA request is initiated by the transmitter device of the corresponding TS (in this case, the AP). Once the TS and BA are set up in each band, data transmission and the corresponding BA transmission may be performed in each band (e.g., transmission 430 in the 6 GHz band, transmission 440 in the 5 GHz band, and transmission 450 in the 2.4 GHz band may be performed). The BlockAck frames for data transmission 430, 440, 450 in each band are requested via BlockAckReq frames, and the requested BlockAck frames are transmitted in the same band. Since transmissions 430, 440, 450 are performed in different bands, these transmissions may be performed simultaneously or at overlapping times, thereby achieving multi-band transmission.

[0019] If it is determined that the transmission of a data frame has failed (e.g., in data transmission 452, as indicated in the BlockAck frame), the data frame is retransmitted in the same band (e.g., retransmission 454).

[0020] Multi-band transmission can be achieved with this approach, but scheduling, band selection, retransmission, and other responsibilities are delegated to the upper layers 330, 336 (Figure 3), and these upper layers may not have the information of the PHY layers 317, 319, 321, 323, 325, 327 necessary to make such decisions. Since the MAC layer has better information / control of the PHY layer, it would be better for the multi-band transmission decision to be made in the MAC layers 318, 320, 322, 324, 326, 328.

[0021] Figure 5 shows the communication flow between the multi-band AP 102 and the multi-band STA 104 for the TS and BA setup and subsequent communication according to this embodiment. The multi-band capable STA 104 can choose to listen for beacon frames transmitted in a single band to save power. Separate from the legacy EDCA parameter set element, the beacon frame 502 in the primary band (e.g., 5 GHz band) can carry a multi-band EDCA parameter set element to indicate the EDCA parameters for the bands other than the band in which the beacon frame 502 is transmitted. If the ACM bit in the beacon frame 502 is set to "1" for any AC in any band, the STA 104 needs to set up a traffic stream (TS) for the TID in that band before transmitting a data frame belonging to the TID / AC corresponding to that AC in the indicated band. Alternatively, the STA 104 may receive beacon frames separately in each band using the legacy EDCA parameter set element carrying the ACM bit set to "1".

[0022] When both the transmitter and the receiver support multi-band TS and multi-band BA and indicate capabilities within a multi-band capability element (the multi-band capability element including the multi-band TS and Block Ack fields, which is discussed in more detail in FIG. 10), a multi-band TS setup 510 (e.g., a setup for downlink traffic) for a particular TID applicable to a multi-band (e.g., three bands of 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz) may be performed according to this embodiment using a single frame exchange (e.g., on a channel in the primary band). Similarly, a multi-band BA setup 520 for a TID applicable to a multi-band (e.g., three bands of 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz) may be performed according to this embodiment using a single frame exchange (e.g., on a channel in the primary band). Multi-band ADDTS request frame 512 and multi-band ADDTS response frame 514 are used to negotiate a TS setup 516 for a TID across multiple bands. Similarly, multi-band ADDBA request 522 and multi-band ADDBA response 524 are used to negotiate a BA setup 526 for a TID across multiple bands. In this example of downlink traffic, the multi-band ADDBA request 522 is transmitted by AP102 to STA104. If the multi-band TS setup 510 is for uplink traffic, the multi-band ADDBA request is transmitted in the opposite direction, i.e., by STA104 to AP102.

[0023] When the multi-band TS516 and the multi-band BA526 are set up in multiple bands, the AP102 can proceed to initiate a multi-band transmission 530 to the STA104. The multi-band transmission 530 includes simultaneously transmitting, in three bands respectively, frames belonging to the same TS (TID / AC) within the QoS data A-MPDUs 536a, 536b, and 536c to the STA104.

[0024] When the multi-band transmission 530 is completed, the AP102 may transmit a multi-band BlockAckReq 532 requesting a multi-band block Ack for acknowledging the frames 536a, 536b, 536c received in the three bands, to the STA104 in any one of these bands (e.g., the primary band). When the STA104 receives the multi-band BlockAckReq 532, the STA transmits a multi-band block Ack 534 indicating that the STA has successfully received the QoS data A-MPDUs 536a and 536b but has failed to receive the QoS data A-MPDU 536c transmitted in the 2.4 GHz band, in the same band in which the multi-band BlockAckReq 532 was received. To improve the success rate of retransmission by using frequency diversity, the AP102 can, according to this embodiment, select to retransmit the QoS data A-MPDU 538 in the 6 GHz band instead of the 2.4 GHz band used for the original transmission.

[0025] Thereafter, AP102 transmits a multi-band BlockAckReq542 that carries an integrated BA bitmap for performing an acknowledgment response for a frame received in the 6 GHz band to STA104 in a different band (e.g., the primary band). Therefore, according to this embodiment, it can be seen that a traffic stream is set up across multiple bands using a single multi-band ADDTS frame exchange 512, 514 in any one band. Also, block Acks are set up across multiple bands using a single multi-band ADDBA frame exchange 522, 524 in any one band. Further, according to this embodiment, an integrated multi-band block Ack frame 534 may be used to perform an acknowledgment response for transmission by multi-band aggregation, and a multi-band block Ack frame 544 may be used to perform an acknowledgment response for transmission in another band, and a failed frame 536c may be retransmitted (538) in a different band.

[0026] Therefore, according to this embodiment, a multi-band communication device (e.g., AP102) includes a plurality of transceivers 216, 218, 220, and each of these transceivers transmits signal frames 536c, 536a, 536b in different frequency bands among a plurality of frequency bands 204, 206, 208 during operation. The multi-band communication device also includes a media access control (MAC) circuit 212 coupled to the plurality of transceivers 216, 218, 220. The MAC circuit 212 generates a multi-band block acknowledgment request frame 532 to request a multi-band block acknowledgment frame 534 during operation and transmits the MAC multi-band block acknowledgment request frame 532 in one of the plurality of frequency bands 206. Thereafter, the media access control (MAC) circuit 212 receives a multi-band block acknowledgment frame 534 that performs an acknowledgment response for signal frames 536a, 536b, 536c transmitted in a plurality of frequency bands in one of the plurality of frequency bands 206.

[0027] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, a multi-band communication device (e.g., STA104) includes a plurality of transceivers 230, 232, 234 coupled to a MAC circuit 238. Each of the plurality of transceivers 230, 232, 234 receives signal frames 536a, 536b, 536c in different bands among the plurality of frequency bands 204, 206, 208 during operation. When the MAC circuit 238 receives a multi-band block acknowledgment request frame 532 in one of the plurality of frequency bands 206 during operation, it generates a multi-band block acknowledgment frame 534 for performing an acknowledgment response for the signal frames 536a, 536b, 536c received in the plurality of frequency bands 204, 206, 208, and transmits the multi-band block acknowledgment frame 534 in one of the plurality of frequency bands 206.

[0028] FIG. 6 shows an example 600 of a multi-band EDCA parameter set element 610 within a beacon frame 402 (FIG. 4) according to this embodiment. The multi-band EDCA parameter set element 610 indicates EDCA parameters for bands other than the band in which the beacon frame 402 is transmitted. The applicable bands are indicated by a Band ID field 612. The format of each Parameter Record field 620 for a specific AC is shown. If the ACM bit 622 is set to "1" for any AC in any band, the STA needs to set up a traffic stream (TS) for the TID corresponding to the AC in the indicated band before transmitting a data frame belonging to the TID / AC corresponding to the AC in the indicated band. Alternatively, the STA may receive separately in each band a beacon frame including a legacy EDCA parameter set element carrying the ACM bit 622 set to "1".

[0029] FIG. 7 shows an example 700 of a multi-band ADDTS request frame 710 and a multi-band ADDTS response frame 720 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 8 shows an example 800 of a multi-band ADDBA request frame 810 and a multi-band ADDBA response frame 820 according to the present embodiment. The multi-band ADDTS request frame 710 and the multi-band ADDTS response frame 720 are used to negotiate TS setup for TIDs across multiple bands according to information within one or more multi-band elements 750 in each of the multi-band ADDTS request frame 710 and the multi-band ADDTS response frame 720. Similarly, the multi-band ADDBA request frame 810 and the multi-band ADDBA response frame 820 are used to negotiate BA setup for TIDs across multiple bands according to information within one or more multi-band elements 750 in each of the multi-band ADDBA request frame 810 and the multi-band ADDBA response frame 820.

[0030] Referring to FIG. 9, an example 900 shows a multi-band element 750 according to the present embodiment. The multi-band element 750 indicates an additional band to which TS or BA agreement applies (separate from the band in which transmission occurs). The multi-band element 750 may also include the MAC address used in that band.

[0031] The multi-band element 750 includes a multi-band control field 910 along with several fields, and the multi-band control field 910 includes several fields including an inter-band field 920. The inter-band field 920 is used to distinguish multi-band elements for use in multi-band TS and BA setups. When the inter-band field 920 is set to "1", this indicates that in addition to the band in which the frame carrying the element is transmitted, the corresponding setup is applied to the band indicated in the band ID field 930. Thus, the inter-band field 920 helps to distinguish that the multi-band element 750 according to this embodiment is included for multi-band ADDTS and multi-band ADDBA setups, from the use for conventional ADDTS and ADDBA setups performed in different bands.

[0032] In FIGS. 7 and 8, each of the multi-band ADDTS request frame 710, the multi-band ADDTS response frame 720, the multi-band ADDBA request frame 810, and the multi-band ADDBA response frame 820 includes two multi-band elements 750, in which the inter-band field 920 is set to "1", in the first multi-band element 750, the band ID field 930 is set to 2.4 GHz, and in the second multi-band element 750, the band ID field 930 is set to 6 GHz. Since the frame is transmitted in the 5 GHz band, this indicates a multi-band setup in three bands.

[0033] In this example, the multi-band ADDBA request 810 is sent by the AP102 to the STA104. However, if the multi-band TS setup 510 is for uplink traffic, the multi-band ADDBA request would be sent by the STA104 to the AP102. When the TS and BA are set up in a multi-band manner, the AP102 can proceed to initiate a multi-band transmission 530 to the STA104. The multi-band transmission 530 includes the simultaneous transmission of frames belonging to the same TS (TID / AC) to the STA104 across three bands.

[0034] Figure 10 shows an example 1000 of a multi-band capability element 1010 according to this embodiment. When both the transmitter and the receiver support multi-band TS and multi-band BA and indicate the capabilities in the multi-band TS and block Ack fields 1020 within the multi-band capability element 1010, the multi-band TS setup 510 (downlink traffic) and the multi-band BA setup 520 for a specific TID applicable to the multi-band may be performed, for example, using a single frame exchange on a channel in the primary band. The multi-band TS and block Ack fields 1020 also indicate whether the AP102 and the STA104 support the multi-band TS and multi-band BA functions, and the Supported Bands field 1030 indicates the frequency bands supported by the AP102 and the STA104.

[0035] Figure 11 shows an example of a multi-band BlockAckReq frame 1100 and a multi-band BlockAck frame 1150 according to the first modification of the present embodiment. When the multi-band transmission 530 is completed, the AP 102 can transmit the multi-band BlockAckReq frame 1100 to the STA in any band (for example, the primary band) to request the multi-band BlockAck frame 1150. The multi-band BlockAck frame 1150 includes an integrated BA bitmap in the BA Information field 1152 and performs an acknowledgment response for the frames received in three bands. The Multi-Band field 1110 and the multi-band field 1160 distinguish the multi-band BlockAckReq frame 1100 and the multi-band BlockAck frame 1150 from the prior art single-band BlockAckReq frame and the prior art single-band BlockAck frame, respectively.

[0036] The integrated BA bitmap in the multi-band BlockAck frame 1150 indicates that the receiver has failed to receive the QoS data A-MPDU 536c transmitted in the 2.4 GHz band. In order to improve the retransmission success rate by using frequency diversity, the AP 102 can select to retransmit the QoS data A-MPDU 538 in the 6 GHz band instead of the 2.4 GHz band used for the original transmission.

[0037] Thereafter, the AP 102 transmits the multi-band BlockAckReq frame 1100 to the STA 104 in a different band (for example, the primary band) to request the multi-band BlockAck frame 1150 carrying the integrated BA bitmap that performs an acknowledgment response for the frames received in the 6 GHz band.

[0038] The Receiver Address (RA) field and the Transmitter Address (TA) field are set as the MAC addresses of the wireless radio interfaces for each band. However, regardless of the contents of the RA field and the TA field, when the multi-band field 1110 is set to "1", the BlockAckReq frame 1100 is interpreted as requesting a multi-band BlockAck frame that performs an acknowledgment response for frames belonging to the TID indicated in the TID_INFO field 1112 regardless of the band in which the frame is received. Similarly, regardless of the contents of the RA field and the TA field, when the multi-band field 1160 is set to "1", the multi-band BlockAck frame 1150 carries an integrated BA bitmap in the BA Information field 1152 that performs an acknowledgment response for frames belonging to the TID indicated in the TID_INFO field 1162 regardless of the band in which the frame is received.

[0039] Therefore, according to this embodiment, traffic belonging to the same TID may be split across multiple bands. Further, block Acks for multiple bands may be integrated and transmitted in a different band. This capability is provided for existing block Ack request types such as the Compressed block Ack request type, the Multi-TID block Ack request type, the Multi-STA block Ack request type, and the GroupCast with Retry (GCR) block Ack request type with retry according to this embodiment.

[0040] FIG. 12 shows an example 1200 of the architecture of traffic streams and block Acks according to the present embodiment. The MAC layers 318, 320, 322, 324, 326, 328 are divided into a unified upper MAC (UMAC) layer 1202, 1204 independent of the bandwidth and lower MAC (LMAC) layers 1206, 1208, 1210, 1212, 1214, 1216 specific to the bandwidth. The multi-band traffic stream agreements 1220, 1222, 1224 and multi-band block Ack agreements 1230, 1232, 1234 for the TIDs are set up between the respective MAC layers of each band.

[0041] The upper layer 330 and the LLC layer 332 may communicate with the unified UMAC layer 1202, and the upper layer 336 and the LLC layer 334 may communicate with the unified UMAC layer 1204. On the transmitter 302 side, the unified UMAC layer 1202 performs multi-band aggregation of TS data across the three TS data paths 1240, 1242, 1244 (i.e., aggregation of frames belonging to a specific traffic stream (TS) may be performed across different bands), and determines which band to use for transmission and retransmission. The actual band used for transmission may be transparent to the upper layer. The unified UMAC 1204 of the receiver 304 is responsible for de-aggregation (i.e., rearrangement of frames belonging to a specific traffic stream (TS) received from different bands) and recording the reception in the integrated block Ack scorecard.

[0042] The unified UMAC 1204 of the receiver 304 is also responsible for generating and transmitting multi-band block Acks (BA) of multi-band BA along the multi-band BA path 1250 in the selected frequency band (2.4 GHz in this example). The transmitter 302 may request multi-band BA in any band by transmitting a multi-band block Ack request. The receiver 304 generates and transmits a multi-band block Ack in response to receiving a multi-band block Ack request frame or in response to an implicit request to generate a multi-band block Ack frame. The multi-band BlockAck frame is transmitted in the same band in which each request was received.

[0043] FIG. 13 shows an example 1300 of a first exemplary multi-band transmission according to the present embodiment, showing transmission in a first frequency band 1302 (e.g., 2.4 GHz), a second frequency band 1304 (e.g., 5 GHz), and a third frequency band 1306 (e.g., 6 GHz), assuming that the TS and BA setup for the TID is completed in that band. The bandwidth of the channels in each of the bands 1302, 1304, 1306 can vary according to the channel state and availability (e.g., 20 MHz in the 2.4 GHz band 1302, 80 MHz in the 5 GHz band 1304, and 160 MHz in the 6 GHz band 1306). Band 1 (1302) (e.g., 2.4 GHz band) may be mainly used to exchange management frames and control frames such as multi-band block Ack request frames 1308 and multi-band block Ack frames 1310, and is known as the primary band, while band 2 (1304) (e.g., 5 GHz band) and band 3 (1306) (e.g., 6 GHz band) may be mainly used to exchange data frames 1312 (e.g., downlink (DL) PPDUs), and are known as secondary bands or supplementary bands.

[0044] After obtaining access to the channels in each band, AP102 starts a multi-band transmission 1300 composed of a downlink PPDU 1312a in band 3 (1306), a downlink PPDU 1312b in band 2 (1304), and a downlink PPDU 1312c in band 1 (1302). Each PPDU may include an aggregated MPDU (A-MPDU), each of which has several frames.

[0045] AP102 sets the Ack policy in the QoS Control field of each frame to Block Ack, indicating that there should be no immediate Ack in each band, assigns the transmission of BAR and BA in the low-rate band (e.g., 2.4 GHz band 1302), and leaves the high-rate band (e.g., band 2 (1304) and band 3 (1306)) for data transmission. Further, to ensure that the sequence numbers (SNs) of the transmitted frames do not overlap across bands, the same sequence number counter is used for each STA, TID pair across multiple bands. In this example, frames with SN1, SN2, and SN3 are transmitted in band 1 (1302) in PPDU 1312c, frames with SN4, SN5, and SN6 are transmitted in band 2 (1304) in PPDU 1312b, and frames with SN7, SN8, and SN9 are transmitted in band 3 (1306) in PPDU 1312a. STA104 (i.e., the receiver) maintains a separate BlockAck bitmap for each band at the network interface (NIC), but when receiving a multi-band BlockAckReq frame, it integrates the separate BlockAck bitmaps into a single BlockAck bitmap 1314. The multi-band BA frame 1310 includes an integrated bitmap 1314 that acknowledges the frames received in the three bands (in the integrated bitmap 1314, a bit set to "1" indicates successful reception of the frame with the SN corresponding to that bit, and "0" indicates failed reception of the frame with the SN corresponding to that bit).

[0046] In exemplary transmission 1300, the multi-band aggregated DL PPDU frame transmission includes frame 1312a transmitted in band 3 (1306), frame 1312b transmitted in band 2 (1304), and frame 1312c transmitted in band 1 (1302), and the transmission of the frame of SN2 in band 1 (1302) and the transmission of the frames of SN5 and SN6 in band 2 (1304) have failed. When the multi-band transmission is completed, AP102 transmits a multi-band BlockAckReq frame 1308a to request a multi-band BA for acknowledging the frames transmitted in the three bands 1302, 1304, and 1306. The multi-band BA1310a integrates the BlockAck bitmaps from the three bands into an integrated BlockAck bitmap 1314a. Bits 2, 5, and 6 corresponding to SN2, SN5, and SN6 are set to "0" indicating reception failure of the frames of SN2, SN5, and SN6 in the integrated BlockAck bitmap 1314a, while the remaining bits are set to "1" indicating reception success. Since there is a transmission failure in band 2 (1304) and band 1 (1302) and no failure in band 3 (1306), AP102 can determine that the channel state in band 3 is better and choose to retransmit the failed frames in PPDU1312d in band 3 (1306). Then, a multi-band BlockAckReq frame 1308b is transmitted in band 1 (1302) to request a multi-band BA1310b that carries an acknowledgment response for the frames carried in PPDU1312d transmitted in band 3 (1306). This time, the reception of all three retransmitted frames is successful, and STA104 transmits a multi-band BA1310b in which the corresponding bits in the BA bitmap are set to 1.

[0047] FIG. 14 shows an example 1400 of an exemplary reference model for multi-band block Ack implementation according to the present embodiment. In a wireless communication device, the wireless interface (I / F) for each band is typically implemented as an independent module (e.g., 1410, 1420, 1430 for the 2.4 GHz band, 5 GHz band, and 6 GHz band respectively (e.g., the transceiver units 216, 218, 220 (FIG. 2))). All of the modules 1410, 1420, 1430 are connected to a host system 1405 which may be a CPU. Time-critical MAC functions within the physical layer (PHY) modules (e.g., 317, 319, 321 (FIG. 12)) and the lower MAC layer 1402 (e.g., 1206, 1208, 1210 (FIG. 12)) may be implemented in the wireless I / Fs 216, 218, 220, and the remaining MAC functions (i.e., the upper MAC layer 1404 (e.g., 1202 (FIG. 12)) may be implemented in the host system 1405.

[0048] Since BA corresponding to BAR needs to be generated with low latency (since generation within the short frame - to - frame space (SIFS) from the end of BAR is required), the block Ack score card for a specific band is implemented using high - speed but expensive on - chip memory within each radio I / F. However, maintaining a BA score card that persists throughout the duration of all active block Ack sessions (known as full state Block Ack) increases the memory requirement load for receiver implementation. Therefore, in most implementations, the on - chip memory is reused for multiple block Ack sessions. The memory functions as a cache to store the state of the last active block Ack session (also referred to as partial state Block Ack). The in - band BA score cards 1412, 1422, 1432 are examples of on - chip memory used as BA score cards to record the reception status of frames received in the 2.4 GHz band, 5 GHz band, and 6 GHz band respectively. Partial state Block Ack saves memory but increases the risk that the block Ack score card can be overwritten by another block Ack session at the next transmission opportunity (TXOP), so special processing is required to prevent data loss.

[0049] To implement multi - band block Ack operation, a multi - band BA score card 1406 is maintained in the host system 1405. Since the memory in the host system 1405 is generally inexpensive, the multi - band BA score card 1406 may be implemented as a full state block Ack score card (i.e., the score card persists throughout the duration of the multi - band block Ack session).

[0050] According to this embodiment, as shown in Example 1400, the frames received in each band are analyzed by Rx parsers 1414, 1424, 1434 and processed according to the frame type. The correctly received data frames 1415, 1425, 1435 that are correctly addressed to the receiver are recorded in the in-band BA scorecards 1412, 1422, 1432 according to the sequence number (SN) of the data frame before being passed to the receive buffer 1408. The contents of the receive buffer 1408 may be periodically sorted according to the data frame SN.

[0051] In the conventional single-band block Ack operation, when the TXOP (for implicit block Ack) is completed or when a legacy block Ack request (BAR) frame (for explicit block Ack) is received, the lower MAC copies the BA bitmap from the in-band BA scorecard and generates a block Ack frame for immediate transmission. However, in the case of the multi-band block Ack operation, explicit block Ack may be used. When the TXOP in each band is completed, the multi-band BA scorecard 1406 is updated with the contents of the in-band scorecards 1412, 1422, 1432 from their respective radio I / Fs. By the end of the multi-band transmission opportunity (TXOP), the multi-band BA scorecard 1406 may integrate the BA bitmaps of all the in-band BA scorecards 1412, 1422, 1432.

[0052] Finally, when the multi-band BAR frame 1416 is received in any of the bands, the upper MAC 1404 copies the BA bitmap from the multi-band BA scorecard 1406 and generates a multi-band BlockAck frame for transmission (1407). At the same time, the reception of the multi-band BAR frame 1416 triggers the upper MAC to reconstruct complete MSDUs (all complete MSDUs having SNs smaller than the starting sequence number (SSN) carried in the multi-band BAR frame 1416) from the frames in the receive buffer 1408 and transfer them to the upper layer in order. In example 1400, the reception of the multi-band BAR frame 1416 and the transmission of the multi-band BA frame 1820 are shown in the 2.4 GHz band, but it will be understood that the process is the same for other frequency bands.

[0053] FIG. 15 shows an example 1500 of a second exemplary multi-band transmission according to this embodiment. This second exemplary multi-band transmission is similar to the first exemplary multi-band transmission (FIG. 13), except that band 2 (5 GHz band 1304) and band 3 (6 GHz band 1306) are reserved for high-bandwidth data transmission, while band 1 (2.4 GHz band 1302) is reserved for low-bandwidth control frames, and it is assumed that the TS and BA setup for the TID are complete in all relevant bands. Such a type of frequency division can result in an overall increase in system throughput by reducing the channel access delay in the high-bandwidth frequency band since the control frames are transmitted exclusively in the low-bandwidth frequency band.

[0054] After obtaining access to the channels in each band, a multi-band transmission composed of a downlink PPDU 1512a in band 3 (1306) and a downlink PPDU 1512b in band 2 (1304) is initiated by the AP 102. To ensure that the sequence numbers do not overlap across bands, the same sequence number counter is used for each STA, TID pair across multiple bands. Similar to the first exemplary multi-band transmission 1300, in the second exemplary multi-band transmission 1500, the receiver STA 104 maintains separate BlockAck bitmaps for each band in the network interface (NIC), but when receiving a multi-band BlockAckReq frame 1508a in band 1 (1302), integrates the separate BlockAck bitmaps into a single BlockAck bitmap 1514a. To indicate the first SN for which an acknowledgment response is made, a start sequence number (SSN) is included in the multi-band BAR frame 1508a. The SSN triggers such that all frames in the receive buffer 1408 (FIG. 14) with SN smaller than the SSN are transferred to the upper layer. During this multi-band transmission, frames with SN1 and SN2 are successfully received by the STA 104, but the reception of frames with SN3 and SN4 has failed. Bits 3 and 4 are set to "0" indicating the reception failure of frames with SN3 and SN4 in the integrated BlockAck bitmap 1514a, while bits 1 and 2 are set to "1" indicating the successful reception of frames with SN1 and SN2.

[0055] During this period, AP102 continues to perform multi-band aggregated DL PPDU frame transmission, including PPDU1512c transmitted in band 3 (1306) and frame PPDU1512d transmitted in band 2 (1304). During this transmission, the transmission of frames of SN7 and SN8 in band 2 (1304) fails. The multi-band BlockAckReq frame 1508b, which requests multi-band BA for the frames transmitted in the two bands 1304 and 1306, is transmitted in band 1 (1302). The multi-band BA1510b integrates the BlockAck bitmaps from the two bands 1304 and 1306 into the integrated BlockAck bitmap 1514b.

[0056] In the integrated BlockAck bitmap 1514b, bit 7 and bit 8 are set to '0' indicating the reception failure of the frames of SN7 and SN8, while bit 5 and bit 6 are set to '1' indicating the successful reception of the frames of SN5 and SN6. Note that bit 1 and bit 2 are shown in the integrated BlockAck bitmap 1514a as successful receptions, and these bits are not shown in the integrated BlockAck bitmap 1514b for the sake of simplicity. Since there was a failed transmission in band 2 (1304) but not in band 3 (1306), the transmitter can choose to integrate the failed frames of SN3 and SN4 and retransmit them as PPDU1512e in band 3 (1306), while the failed frames of SN7 and SN8 are retransmitted as PPDU1512f in band 3 (1306). The multi-band BlockAckReq frames 1508c and 1508d are transmitted in band 1 (1302) to request the multi-band BAs 1510c and 1510d that carry the acknowledgment responses for the frames carried in the PPDUs 1512e and 1512f transmitted in band 3 (1306), respectively.

[0057] For retransmission, instead of normal retransmission, Hybrid Automatic Repeat request (HARQ) retransmission may be used, and by transmitting in different bands, the benefits of frequency diversity can be obtained. The acknowledgments for PPDUs 1512a and 1512b are made in the multi-band BlockAck frame 1510a, the acknowledgments for PPDUs 1512c and 1512d are made in the multi-band BlockAck frame 1510b, the acknowledgment for PPDU 1512e is made in the multi-band BlockAck frame 1510c, and the acknowledgment for PPDU 1512f is made in the multi-band BlockAck frame 1510d. Instead of retransmitting exact copies of the frames of failed SN3, SN4, SN7, and SN8, the transmitter can choose to perform HARQ retransmission of the failed frames (either as Chase Combing or Incremental Redundancy). Since the failed frames are retransmitted in a frequency band different from the original transmission, HARQ retransmission can achieve additional gains due to frequency diversity.

[0058] FIG. 16 shows an example 1600 of a multi-band BlockAckReq frame 1610 according to this embodiment, in which the multi-band frame variant type is defined according to this embodiment. When the multi-band transmission 530 is completed, the multi-band BlockAckReq frame 1600 is transmitted to request a multi-band BlockAck frame and includes a BAR Control field 1612 and a BAR information field 1614.

[0059] The BAR control field 1612 includes, among other things, a BAR Type field 1620 and a TID_INFO field 1622. The TID_INFO field 1622 indicates the number of bands (TID_INFO + 1) present in the BAR. The table 1630 shows the BAR type 1632 that can be indicated in the BAR type field 1620 and the corresponding BAR frame variants 1634 such as a compressed BAR type, a multi-TID BAR type, a multi-STA BAR type, and a GCR BAR type. According to this embodiment, the BAR type 1636 is defined for a multi-band BAR. Similarly, a corresponding new BA type is defined for a multi-band BA. The format is more flexible and may be used to request a BA for each specific band, each specific TID, and each specific BA start sequence control (which may vary for each band).

[0060] According to this embodiment, the BAR information field 1614 includes a Per Band Info field 1640 and a Block Ack Starting Sequence Control field 1641 for each frequency band for which a confirmation response is requested by the multi-band BlockAckReq frame 1610. The Per Band Info field 1640 carries information specific to the frequency band. The frequency band is identified by a Band ID field 1642. The Band ID field may follow the same encoding as the Band ID field 612 in FIG. 6. If different MAC addresses are used for different bands and the RA and TA can be specified for each band, the Receiver Address (RA) and Transmitter Address (TA) fields 1644 are optionally present. A TID Value field 1646 identifies the TID for which a block Ack is requested in the band. The RA and TA fields 1644 may be omitted in the Per Band Info field 1640 for the band in which the BAR is transmitted.

[0061] FIG. 17 shows an example 1700 of a multi-band BlockAck frame 1702, in which a variant of the BA information field 1710 is defined according to the present embodiment. The multi-band BlockAck frame 1702 is transmitted in response to the multi-band BlockAckReq frame 1600 and includes a BA Control field 1704 and a BA information field 1710. The multi-band BlockAck frame 1702 is identified by a BA Type field 1706 set to "multi-band" 1636 and may be used to return block Acks for each specific band, each specific TID, and each specific BA start sequence control that may vary in each band. The BA information field 1710 includes not only the per-band information field 1640 for each frequency band, but also a block Ack start sequence control field 1641 and a block Ack bitmap 1720 for each frequency band, and the frequency bands are identified by a band ID field 1730. When different MAC addresses are used for different bands and the RA and TA for each band can be specified, the Receiver Address (RA) and Transmitter Address (TA) fields 1644 are optionally present. The TID value field 1646 identifies the TID for which block Acks are reported in the band. The RA and TA fields 1644 may be omitted in the per-band information field 1640 for the band for which the BAR is transmitted. The per-band block Ack bitmap 1720 performs an acknowledgment response only for the frames received in the band identified by the band ID field 1730 within the per-band information field 1640. Therefore, when acknowledgment responses for the frames received in three frequency bands are performed, the multi-band BlockAck frame 1702 carries three block Ack bitmap fields 1720, one for each frequency band. When the transmitter receives the multi-band BlockAck frame 1702, it can integrate these band-specific bitmaps into a single bitmap.

[0062] FIG. 18 shows an example 1800 of a variation of an exemplary reference model for multi-band block Ack implementation of FIG. 14 according to the present embodiment. According to the multi-band block Ack implementation shown in example 1800, a separate multi-band BA scorecard 1406 may not be maintained in the host system 1805. The reception of a multi-band BAR frame in any band triggers the generation (1810) and transmission (1820) of a multi-band BA, and a bitmap of the requested band is copied from the in-band BA scoreboard of the corresponding radio I / F and used to generate (1830) and transmit (1832) a block Ack for the requested band. At the same time, the reception of the multi-band BAR frame 1610 triggers the upper MAC to reconstruct complete MSDUs (all complete MSDUs having SNs smaller than the start sequence number (SSN)) from the frames in the receive buffer 1408 and transfer those complete MSDUs to the upper layer in sequence. In FIG. 18, the reception of the multi-band BAR frame 1610 and the transmission of the multi-band BA frame 1820 are shown in the 2.4 GHz band, but it will be understood that the process is the same for other frequency bands.

[0063] Multi-band BA is generated (1810) without an integrated bitmap, so the transmission (1820) of multi-band BA requires more time and may thus require a delayed block Ack scheme. FIG. 19 shows an example 1900 of a delayed multi-band block Ack scheme as a third exemplary multi-band transmission according to this embodiment. In the delayed multi-band block Ack scheme, Ack frames 1902a, 1902c are transmitted in response to multi-band block Ack request frames 1308a, 1308b. The multi-band block Ack frames are not transmitted immediately after the reception of the multi-band block Ack request frames 1308a, 1308b, but are transmitted as delayed block Ack frames 1904a, 1904b (followed by Ack frames 1902b, 1902d thereafter) to give the receiver time to copy the band-specific BA bitmap from the radio I / F of each band. Thus, the multi-band block Ack frames 1904a, 1904b carry block Ack information 1906a, 1906b including bitmaps specific to each band, and these bitmaps are not integrated.

[0064] FIG. 20 shows an example 2000 of the purpose of an architecture of traffic streams and block Acks defined to handle multi-band transmission and multi-band block Acks according to this embodiment. The multi-band traffic stream and multi-band block Ack agreement for a TID is set up between the respective unified MAC addresses of the unified upper MAC layers 2002, 2012 of each device, is independent of the band, and thus much easier to manage. The multi-band traffic stream and multi-band block Ack agreement are identified by unified MAC addresses rather than by band-specific MAC addresses (i.e., multi-band transmission is addressed to a unified MAC address regardless of the band used).

[0065] On the transmitter 302 side, the unified UMAC layer 2002 passes the traffic stream (TS) to the Multi-band Adaption sublayer 2004. The Multi-band Adaption sublayer performs multi-band aggregation of the TS data across the three TS data paths 1240, 1242, 1244, and determines which (one or more) bands to use for transmission and retransmission. The Multi-band Adaption sublayer 2014 of the receiver 304 is responsible for de-aggregating the multi-band (i.e., rearranging the frames belonging to the TS received on the three TS data paths 1240, 1242, 1244) before passing the TS to the unified upper MAC layer 2012 of the receiver.

[0066] Figure 21 shows an example 2100 of a multi-band BlockAckReq frame 2110 and a multi-band BlockAck frame 2120 according to the second modification of the present embodiment. The RA field 2112 and TA field 2114 of the multi-band BlockAckReq frame 2110 carry the unified MAC address of the unified upper MAC layer 2012 regardless of the band used for transmitting the multi-band BlockAckReq frame 2110. Similarly, the RA field 2122 and TA field 2124 of the multi-band BlockAck frame 2120 carry the unified MAC address of the unified upper MAC layer 2002 regardless of the band used for transmitting the multi-band BlockAck frame 2120.

[0067] The multi-band BlockAckReq frame 2110 indicates the requested band 2135 in the Band Info field 2130 of the BlockAck Request Control field 2116. Similarly, the multi-band BlockAck frame 2120 indicates the band 2145 in which the acknowledgment response was made in the Band Info field 2140 of the Block Ack Control field 2126.

[0068] Furthermore, if the band information field 2116 does not exist within the multi-band BlockAckReq frame 2110, or if all three bands are indicated by the band information field 2116 within the multi-band BlockAckReq frame 2110, the block Ack information field 2128 includes an integrated block Ack bitmap across the requested bands. Otherwise, the block Ack information field 2128 includes a block Ack bitmap for the single band when a particular single band is indicated in the band information field 2116.

[0069] FIG. 22 shows a second variation example 2200 of an exemplary reference model for the multi-band block Ack implementation of FIG. 14 according to this embodiment. With the advancement of semiconductor technology, when multiple radio I / Fs 2210, 2220, 2230 are implemented as a single system on chip (SOC), or when the connection between the radio I / Fs 2210, 2220, 2230 and the host system 1405 is fast enough, a single integrated multi-band BA scoreboard 1406 may be maintained for each TID, and the in-band BA score cards 1412, 1422, 1432 (FIG. 4) may not be maintained. Also, to support reporting of band-specific block Ack (e.g., reporting upon reception of a legacy (single-band) BlockAckReq frame, or a multi-band BlockAckReq frame 2110 (FIG. 21) having a band information field 2130 indicating one or two bands), a separate band-specific scoreboard may be maintained in the cache memory in the host system 1405. Thus, reception of frames in any band is recorded directly in the MB BA score card 1406. This second variation of the exemplary reference model for the multi-band block Ack implementation can help reduce the on-chip memory requirements for the multi-band block Ack scheme.

[0070] FIG. 23 shows Example 2300 of an implicit multi-band block Ack request scheme as a fourth exemplary multi-band transmission according to this embodiment. In multi-band transmission, the PHY header of the PPDU in each band (e.g., in one of the SIG fields) carries a multi-band PPDU indication 2305 indicating that this PPDU is part of a multi-band PPDU.

[0071] In the case of implicit multi-band block Ack requests and explicit multi-band block Ack requests, the Ack policy bits (e.g., bits 5 and 6) within the QoS control field (i.e., the Frame Control field of the MAC header) may be overloaded with the redefined values "00" and "11" for the frames carried in the multi-band PPDU. As shown in Table 1, "00" indicates an implicit multi-band block Ack request (i.e., there is no block Ack request frame and the receiver is expected to immediately transmit a multi-band block Ack), and "3" (i.e., "11") indicates an explicit multi-band block Ack request (i.e., an explicit multi-band block Ack request or an implicit multi-band block Ack request is expected in the same band or any other band in the future).

Table 1

[0072] For example, the multi-band PPDU indication 2305 is set in the DL PPDUs 2310a, 2310b, 2310c to indicate that three PPDUs are part of a multi-band DL transmission. Bits 5 and 6 of the QoS control fields of PPDU 2310a and PPDU 2310b are set to "1" and "1" indicating an explicit multi-band block Ack request, in which case the receiver can expect a multi-band BlockAckReq frame or an implicit block Ack request in the future. Therefore, the receiver does not need to send block Ack frames in band 1306 and band 1304. Bits 5 and 6 of the QoS control field of PPDU 2310c are set to "0" and "0" indicating an implicit multi-band block Ack request, in which case the receiver is expected to immediately send a multi-band block Ack without waiting for a block Ack request frame. Therefore, the multi-band block Ack 1310a carrying the multi-band BA bitmap 1314a for acknowledging the frames received in all three bands is sent by the receiver within the short frame space (SIFS) after the end of PPDU 2310c without waiting for a multi-band block Ack request frame.

[0073] FIG. 24 is a simplified block diagram 2400 of a multi-band communication device 2402 (e.g., AP 102 or STA 104 (FIG. 1)) according to this embodiment. The multi-band communication device 2402 can function simultaneously as either a transmitter 302 or a receiver 304 or both. Of course, the AP 102 may have simultaneous TS sessions and BA sessions with multiple non-AP STAs 104 (see FIG. 1), and thus becomes more complex. On the other hand, the non-AP STA 104 has TS sessions and BA sessions only with the AP 102.

[0074] The multi-band communication device 2402 includes a plurality of transceiver units 2410, 2420, 2430. Each of these transceiver units transmits a signal frame in a different frequency band among a plurality of frequency bands from its respective antenna 2412, 2422, 2432 in a transmitter operation, and receives a signal frame in a different frequency band among a plurality of frequency bands via its respective antenna 2412, 2422, 2432 in a receiver operation. Each of the transceiver units 2410, 2420, 2430 includes an RF / analog front end 2414, 2424, 2434 having one end coupled to a corresponding one of the antennas 2412, 2422, 2432 and the other end coupled to a corresponding one of the physical layer (PHY) processing modules 2416, 2426, 2436. Also, each of the PHY processing modules 2416, 2426, 2436 is coupled to a corresponding one of the lower MAC processing modules 2418, 2428, 2438.

[0075] The data paths from the plurality of transceiver units 2410, 2420, 2430 are coupled to the upper MAC circuit 2440. The upper MAC circuit 2440 (or upper MAC processing layer) includes a multi-band scheduler 2442, a multi-band aggregation / de-aggregation block 2444, a multi-band block Ack generation block 2446, and a multi-band block Ack scoreboard block 2448. The multi-band block Ack generation block 2446 and the multi-band block Ack scoreboard block 2448 are used only when the multi-band communication device 2402 is operating as a receiver. When operating as a transmitter, the multi-band scheduler 2442 records the status / capabilities of different bands in the receiver STA, sets up the multi-band TS and multi-band BA, and determines the bands used for transmitting / resending the multi-band block Ack and the bands used for the multi-band block Ack request. When operating as a transmitter, the multi-band aggregation / de-aggregation block 2444 performs aggregation of traffic streams across one or more selected bands, and when operating as a receiver, it performs de-aggregation of traffic streams originating from different bands to form a single stream. When operating as a receiver, the multi-band aggregation / de-aggregation block 2444 also updates the multi-band block Ack scoreboard block 2448. When operating as a receiver, the multi-band block Ack generation block 2446 is coupled to the multi-band scheduler 2442 and the multi-band block Ack scoreboard block 2448, and generates the multi-band block Ack.

[0076] FIG. 25 shows a detailed block diagram 2500 of a multi-band communication device 2502 according to the present embodiment. Each of the plurality of wireless I / Fs 2510, 2520, 2530 implements both a corresponding one of the physical layer (PHY) processing modules 2416, 2426, 2436 and a corresponding one of the lower MAC function modules 2512, 2522, 2532. The upper MAC function may be implemented as software in a central processing unit (CPU) 2540 that may be coupled to a memory 2542 that may be used to store a multi-band BA scoreboard during operation, a secondary storage device 2544, and a wired communication I / F 2546 for communicating with an external network or another AP 102. A power supply 2548 supplies power to the AP 2502.

[0077] The present disclosure can be implemented in any type of device, apparatus, system having a communication function (collectively referred to as a communication device).

[0078] The communication device can include a transceiver and a processing / control circuit. The transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter and / or may function as a receiver and a transmitter. The transceiver may include an RF (Radio Frequency) module as a transmitter and a receiver. The RF module may include an amplifier, an RF modulator / demodulator or the like, and one or more antennas.

[0079] Non-limiting examples of communication devices include telephones (such as mobile phones, smartphones, etc.), tablets, personal computers (PCs) (such as laptops, desktops, notebooks, etc.), cameras (such as digital still cameras / video cameras, etc.), digital players (such as digital audio players / video players, etc.), wearable devices (such as wearable cameras, smartwatches, tracking devices, etc.), game consoles, digital book readers, telehealth / telemedicine (remote healthcare / medical prescription) devices, vehicles with communication functions (such as automobiles, airplanes, ships, etc.), and combinations of the various devices described above.

[0080] The communication device is not limited to being portable or movable, and includes all kinds of devices, devices, systems that are not portable or fixed, for example, smart home devices (such as household appliances, lighting devices, smart meters, control panels, etc.), vending machines, and all "Things" that can exist on other IoT (Internet of Things) networks.

[0081] Communication includes data communication by cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, communication satellite systems, etc., as well as data communication by combinations of these.

[0082] In addition, the communication device also includes devices such as controllers and sensors that are connected or linked to a communication device that executes the communication function described in the present disclosure. For example, it includes controllers and sensors that generate control signals and data signals used by the communication device that executes the communication function of the communication device.

[0083] In addition, the communication device also includes infrastructure facilities, such as base stations, access points, and all other devices, devices, systems that communicate with or control the various non-limiting devices described above.

[0084] Thus, it can be seen that this embodiment provides a communication device and method for operating over a plurality of frequency bands in order to fully realize the throughput gain of multi-band aggregation.

[0085] 1. A multi-band communication device comprising: a plurality of transceivers, each of the plurality of transceivers transmitting a signal frame in a different frequency band among a plurality of frequency bands during operation; and a media access control (MAC) circuit coupled to the plurality of transceivers and receiving, during operation, a multi-band block acknowledgment frame for performing an acknowledgment response of the signal frames transmitted in the plurality of frequency bands in one of the plurality of frequency bands.

[0086] 2. The multi-band communication device, wherein the MAC circuit generates a multi-band block acknowledgment request frame for requesting the multi-band block acknowledgment frame during operation and transmits the multi-band block acknowledgment request frame in the one of the plurality of frequency bands.

[0087] 3. The multi-band communication device, wherein all of the signal frames transmitted in the plurality of frequency bands belong to a single traffic identifier (TID).

[0088] 4. The multi-band communication device, wherein the multi-band block acknowledgment frame is implicitly requested in any one of the transmitted signal frames.

[0089] 5. In response to the MAC circuit determining that reception of one or more signal frames has failed in a first frequency band among the plurality of frequency bands, the MAC circuit provides the one or more signal frames to one of the plurality of transceiver units that transmits a signal frame in a second frequency band among the plurality of frequency bands different from the first frequency band among the plurality of frequency bands, and retransmits the one or more signal frames in the second frequency band among the plurality of frequency bands. A multiband communication device.

[0090] 6. The one or more signal frames retransmitted in the second frequency band among the plurality of frequency bands are transmitted in the same format as the one or more signal frames transmitted in the first frequency band among the plurality of frequency bands. A multiband communication device.

[0091] 7. The one or more signal frames to be retransmitted are retransmitted as hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retransmissions. A multiband communication device.

[0092] 8. During operation, the MAC circuit executes setup of a multiband traffic stream (TS) in the plurality of frequency bands by exchanging a multiband traffic stream add (ADDTS) request frame and a multiband ADDTS response frame in one of the plurality of frequency bands. A multiband communication device.

[0093] 9. Each of the multiband ADDTS request frame and the multiband ADDTS response frame includes information regarding the plurality of frequency bands for the multiband TS and a MAC address used by the MAC circuit in each of the plurality of frequency bands. A multiband communication device.

[0094] 10. The setup of the multi-band TS enables the transmission of signal frames belonging to a traffic stream (TS) in any one of the plurality of frequency bands, for the multi-band communication device according to 8.

[0095] A multi-band communication device, wherein two or more of the plurality of frequency bands include all of the plurality of frequency bands.

[0096] A multi-band communication device, wherein all of the plurality of frequency bands are frequency bands above 2 GHz.

[0097] 11. A method for multi-band communication, including the steps of transmitting signal frames in different frequency bands among a plurality of frequency bands, and receiving a multi-band block acknowledgment frame in one of the plurality of frequency bands.

[0098] 12. A multi-band communication device including a plurality of transceivers, each of the plurality of transceivers receiving signal frames in different frequency bands among a plurality of frequency bands during operation, and a media access control (MAC) circuit coupled to the plurality of transceivers, generating a multi-band block acknowledgment frame for performing an acknowledgment response to the signal frames received in the plurality of frequency bands during operation, and transmitting the multi-band block acknowledgment frame in one of the plurality of frequency bands.

[0099] 13. The MAC circuit transmits the multi-band block acknowledgment frame in response to receiving a multi-band block acknowledgment request frame in the one of the plurality of frequency bands during operation, for the multi-band communication device.

[0100] 14. The multi-band block acknowledgment frame includes an integrated bitmap for performing an acknowledgment response to the signal frames received in the plurality of frequency bands, for the multi-band communication device.

[0101] 15. The multi-band block acknowledgment response frame transmitted in one of the plurality of frequency bands includes a bitmap for performing acknowledgment responses of signal frames received in each of the plurality of frequency bands, a multi-band communication device.

[0102] 16. The multi-band block acknowledgment response frame transmitted in one of the plurality of frequency bands includes a bitmap for performing acknowledgment responses of signal frames received in another one of the plurality of frequency bands, a multi-band communication device.

[0103] 17. The MAC circuit, during operation, transmits a multi-band block acknowledgment add (ADDBA) request frame in one of the plurality of frequency bands, and then receives a multi-band ADDBA response frame in the one of the plurality of frequency bands, thereby starting the setup of a multi-band block acknowledgment (BA) in the plurality of frequency bands, a multi-band communication device.

[0104] 18. Each of the multi-band ADDBA request frame and the multi-band ADDBA response frame includes information regarding the plurality of frequency bands for the agreement of the multi-band BA and the MAC addresses used by the MAC circuit in each of the plurality of frequency bands, a multi-band communication device.

[0105] Two or more of the plurality of frequency bands include all of the plurality of frequency bands, a multi-band communication device.

[0106] All of the plurality of frequency bands are frequency bands above 2 GHz, a multi-band communication device.

[0107] A method for multi-band communication, comprising: receiving a signal frame in different frequency bands among a plurality of frequency bands; and transmitting a multi-band block acknowledgment frame for performing an acknowledgment response of the signal frame received in the plurality of frequency bands in one of the plurality of frequency bands.

[0108] Although exemplary embodiments have been presented in the foregoing detailed description of the present embodiment, it should be understood that there are a vast number of variations. It should be further understood that the exemplary embodiments are examples and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, operation, or configuration of the present disclosure in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description provides a convenient roadmap for those skilled in the art to implement the exemplary embodiments, and various changes may be made to the functions and arrangements of the steps and operating methods described in the exemplary embodiments, as well as to the modules and structures of the devices described in the exemplary embodiments, without departing from the scope of the subject matter described in the appended claims.

Claims

1. a receiving unit that receives a plurality of MAC layer protocol data units (MPDUs) belonging to a single traffic identifier (TID) transmitted from a multi-band transmission device in a plurality of frequency bands; a transmitting unit that transmits a multi-band block acknowledgment response frame indicating a reception state of each of the plurality of MPDUs including one or more MPDUs transmitted in a certain frequency band on a first frequency band different from the frequency band; comprising the transmitting unit transmits, on the one frequency band, a per-band block acknowledgment response frame indicating a reception state of only the MPDUs transmitted in one of the plurality of frequency bands among the plurality of MPDUs belonging to the single TID; a multi-band receiving device.

2. forming a single multi-band block acknowledgment agreement for the TID by exchanging a traffic stream addition (ADDT S) request frame and a traffic stream addition (ADDT S) response frame with the multi-band receiving device; The multi-band receiving device according to claim 1.

3. the receiving unit transmits a per-band block acknowledgment indicating a reception state of some of the MPDUs transmitted in a certain frequency band among the plurality of MPDUs on another frequency band; The multi-band receiving device according to claim 1.

4. the plurality of MPDUs may be transmitted in any of the plurality of frequency bands; The multi-band receiving device according to claim 1.

5. after transmitting a multi-band block acknowledgment response frame indicating that reception of a first MPDU transmitted in a first frequency band among the plurality of frequency bands has failed, the receiving unit receives the first MPDU retransmitted in a second frequency band among the plurality of frequency bands different from the first frequency band; The multi-band receiving device according to claim 1.

6. the receiving unit receives a multi-band block acknowledgment request frame including one or more per-band information fields, and each of the one or more per-band information fields includes a TID value field indicating the TID for which a block acknowledgment response is requested in the frequency band; The multi-band receiving device according to claim 5.

7. A communication method for a multi-band receiving device, Receiving a plurality of MAC layer protocol data units (MPDUs) belonging to a single traffic identifier (TID) transmitted from a multi-band transmission device in a plurality of frequency bands, Transmitting a multi-band block acknowledgment response frame indicating the reception status of each of the plurality of MPDUs including one or more MPDUs transmitted in a certain frequency band on a first frequency band different from the frequency band, Transmitting, in the one frequency band, a per-band block acknowledgment response frame indicating the reception status of only the MPDUs transmitted in one of the plurality of frequency bands among the plurality of MPDUs belonging to the single TID, Communication method.

8. Forming a single multi-band block acknowledgment agreement for the TID by exchanging a traffic stream addition (ADDTS) request frame and a traffic stream addition (ADDTS) response frame with the multi-band receiving device, The communication method according to claim 7.

9. Transmitting a per-band block acknowledgment indicating the reception status of some of the plurality of MPDUs transmitted in a certain frequency band in another frequency band, The communication method according to claim 7.

10. The plurality of MPDUs may be transmitted in any of the plurality of frequency bands, The communication method according to claim 7.

11. After transmitting a multi-band block acknowledgment response frame indicating that reception of a first MPDU transmitted in a first frequency band among the plurality of frequency bands has failed, receiving the first MPDU retransmitted in a second frequency band among the plurality of frequency bands different from the first frequency band, The communication method according to claim 7.

12. Receiving a multi-band block acknowledgment request frame including one or more per-band information fields, each of the one or more per-band information fields including a TID value field indicating the TID for which a block acknowledgment response is requested in the frequency band, The communication method according to claim 11.

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