Method and device for multi-link operation (MLO) - Patent Application 20070122997

Abstract

1. A technique for handling direct link communications within a multi-link device (MLD), comprising: establishing (1008) a direct link between a first wireless station and a second wireless station associated with the MLD; communicating (1010) with the first wireless station via the direct link; and transmitting (1012) an indication of a status associated with the MLD or one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD that the direct link is inoperative to the MLD while a third wireless station associated with the MLD is communicating.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 094,684, filed October 21, 2020, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 17 / 503,856, filed October 18, 2021, both of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties into this specification.

[0002]

[0002] Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to various techniques and apparatus for handling direct link communication in a multi-link system. [Background technology]

[0003]

[0003] To address the challenges of increasing bandwidth requirements placed on wireless communication systems, various schemes have been developed to enable multiple wireless stations to communicate with a single access point by sharing channel resources while achieving high data throughput.

[0004]

[0004] Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology represents one such approach that has emerged as a popular technique for communication systems. MIMO techniques have been adopted in several wireless communication standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standard (including amendments thereto, such as 802.11ax, 802.11ay, and 802.11be). Some wireless communication standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard (including amendments thereto, such as 802.11ax, 802.11ay, and 802.11be), refer to wireless local area network (WLAN) air interface standards developed by the IEEE 802.11 committee for short-range communications (e.g., tens of meters to hundreds of meters).

[0005]

[0005] Some wireless networks, such as 802.11be networks (also called very high throughput (EHT) networks), allow some wireless communication devices (sometimes called multi-link devices (MLDs)) to communicate simultaneously across two or more wireless communication links across available bands (2.4, 5 and 6 GHz bands), for example, using multi-link operation (MLO) and / or multi-link aggregation (MLA). Summary of the Invention

[0006]

[0006] The systems, methods, and devices of the present disclosure each have several aspects, no single aspect of which is solely responsible for its desirable attributes. Without limiting the scope of the present disclosure as expressed by the following claims, certain features will now be briefly described. After considering this description, and particularly after reading the section entitled "Detailed Description of the Invention," one will understand how the features of the present disclosure provide advantages in achieving desired latency and / or throughput through multi-link operation.

[0007] Some aspects of the present disclosure provide a method of wireless communication with a multi-link device (MLD). The method generally includes transmitting, via a direct link between a first wireless station and one or more second wireless stations associated with the MLD, a data frame to the first wireless station, the data frame including a transmitter address field set to an address of the MLD, the address being one of multiple addresses associated with the MLD, the second wireless station being associated with the MLD for multi-link operation. The method also includes communicating with the first wireless station via the direct link.

[0008] Some aspects of the present disclosure provide a method of wireless communication via an MLD. The method generally includes communicating with a first wireless station via a direct link between the first wireless station and a second wireless station, where the direct link is inoperative with respect to the MLD while the second wireless station is associated with the MLD and a third wireless station associated with the MLD is communicating. The method further includes receiving a request-to-send (RTS) frame from an access point requesting to send data to the third wireless station associated with the MLD, and taking one or more actions in response to the RTS frame.

[0009] Some aspects of the present disclosure provide a method of wireless communication by an access point. The method generally includes receiving a first indication from an MLD to enable transmission of an RTS frame prior to a transmission from the access point to the MLD. The method further includes transmitting an RTS frame to the MLD based on the first indication, requesting that one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD send data. The method also includes transmitting the data to the one or more wireless stations when a clear-to-send (CTS) frame is received by the access point from the MLD.

[0010] Some aspects of the present disclosure provide a method of wireless communication via an MLD. The method generally includes transmitting a first indication to an access point that a first wireless station associated with the MLD is in a power save mode. The method also includes, after transmitting the first indication, communicating with the second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station, where the third wireless station is associated with the MLD and the direct link is inoperable for the MLD while the first wireless station is communicating.

[0011] Some aspects of the present disclosure provide a method of wireless communication via an MLD. The method generally includes transmitting an instruction to an access point to disable a link to a first wireless station associated with the MLD. The method also includes, after transmitting the instruction, communicating with a second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station, where the third wireless station is associated with the MLD and the direct link is inoperative for the MLD while the first wireless station is communicating.

[0012] Some aspects of the present disclosure provide a method of wireless communication by a first MLD. The method generally includes communicating with a second MLD via a dynamic link set including a plurality of links between first access points associated with the second MLD and first wireless stations associated with the first MLD. The method further includes transmitting a first instruction to one or more of the first access points to remove links in the dynamic link set between one or more of the first access points and one or more of the first wireless stations. The method also includes, after transmitting the first instruction, communicating with the second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station associated with the first MLD, wherein the direct link is inoperable for the first MLD while the one or more of the first wireless stations are communicating.

[0013] Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method of wireless communication by a first MLD. The method generally includes receiving, from a second MLD via a first access point associated with the first MLD, one or more first frames related to establishing a direct link between the second MLD and a first wireless station, where the first wireless station does not support multi-link operation. The method further includes relaying, via the first access point, the one or more first frames to the first wireless station, where the one or more first frames include a source address field set to an address of the second wireless station associated with the second MLD.

[0014] Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method of wireless communication by a first wireless station. The method generally includes transmitting, via an access point, a request to a second wireless station to discover a second wireless station for direct link communication between the first wireless station and the second wireless station, the request indicating a link for communication between the first wireless station and the second wireless station. The method also includes directly communicating with the second wireless station via the link indicated in the request.

[0015] Some aspects of the present disclosure provide a first multi-link device (MLD). The MLD generally includes a memory and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor and the memory are configured to: transmit, via a direct link between the first wireless station and at least one of a plurality of second wireless stations affiliated with the first MLD, a data frame including a transmitter address field set to an address of the first MLD, the address being one of a plurality of addresses associated with the first MLD, to the first wireless station, where the second wireless station is associated with the first MLD for multi-link operation; and communicate with the first wireless station via the direct link.

[0016] Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method of wireless communication by a first multi-link device (MLD). The method generally includes transmitting, via a direct link between the first wireless station and at least one of a plurality of second wireless stations associated with the first MLD, a data frame to the first wireless station, the data frame including a transmitter address field set to an address of the first MLD, the address being one of a plurality of addresses associated with the first MLD, the second wireless station being associated with the first MLD for multi-link operation; and communicating with the first wireless station via the direct link.

[0017] Some aspects of the present disclosure provide a multi-link device (MLD). The MLD generally includes a memory and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor and the memory are configured to establish a direct link between a first wireless station and a second wireless station associated with the MLD, and to communicate with the first wireless station via the direct link, where the direct link is inoperative for the MLD while a third wireless station associated with the MLD is communicating.

[0018] Some aspects of the present disclosure provide an access point. The access point generally includes a memory and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor and the memory are configured to receive from a multi-link device (MLD) an indication of a state associated with the MLD or one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD, transmit a first frame to the MLD requesting that the MLD send data associated with the MLD to the one or more wireless stations based on the state, and transmit data to the one or more wireless stations if the access point receives a second frame from the MLD granting permission to send the data.

[0019] Some aspects of the present disclosure provide a multi-link device (MLD). The MLD generally includes a memory and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor and the memory are configured to: transmit a first instruction associated with a first wireless station associated with the MLD to an access point or access point (AP) MLD; and, after transmitting the first instruction, communicate with the second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station, where the third wireless station is associated with the MLD and the direct link is inoperable for the MLD while the first wireless station is communicating.

[0020] Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method of wireless communication by a first multi-link device (MLD), generally including establishing a direct link between a first wireless station and a second wireless station associated with the MLD, and communicating with the first wireless station over the direct link, wherein the direct link is inoperative for the MLD while a third wireless station associated with the MLD is communicating.

[0021] To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the various aspects may be employed, and the description is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.

[0022]

[0022] So that the above-described features of the present disclosure may be understood in detail, a more detailed description briefly summarized above may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. However, since this description may lead to other equally effective embodiments, it should be noted that the accompanying drawings illustrate only some typical embodiments of the present disclosure and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0023] [Figure 1]

[0023] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication network in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2]

[0024] 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example access point (AP) and wireless station (STA) design in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 3]

[0025] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of multi-link operation between multi-link devices (MLDs), in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 4]

[0026] 1 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communication over MLD, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 5A]

[0027] 1 illustrates an MLD initiating a direct link setup with a legacy STA and communicating with the legacy STA via the direct link, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 5B]

[0028] 1 illustrates a legacy STA initiating a direct link setup with an MLD and communicating with the MLD over the direct link, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 6]

[0029] 1 illustrates an example link identifier information element format in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 7A]

[0030] 1 illustrates a first MLD initiating a direct link setup with a second MLD and communicating with the second MLD over the direct link, in accordance with certain aspects of the disclosure. [Figure 7B]

[0031] 1 illustrates a second MLD initiating a direct link setup with a first MLD and communicating with the first MLD over the direct link, in accordance with certain aspects of the disclosure. [Figure 8]

[0032] 1 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communication with MLD (e.g., AP MLD) in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 9A]

[0033] 1 illustrates an AP MLD relaying direct link messages from a non-AP MLD to a legacy STA, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 9B]

[0034] 1 illustrates an AP MLD relaying a direct link message from a legacy STA to a non-AP MLD in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 10A]

[0035] 1 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communication with MLD (e.g., non-AP MLD) in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 10B] 1 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communication with MLD (e.g., non-AP MLD) in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 11]

[0036] 1 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communication with MLD (e.g., AP MLD) in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 12]

[0037] 1 is a signaling flow diagram illustrating example signaling of a Ready-To-Send / Clear-To-Send frame according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 13A]

[0038] 1 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communication with MLD (e.g., non-AP MLD) in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 13B] 1 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communication with MLD (e.g., non-AP MLD) in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 14]

[0039] 4 is a signaling flow diagram illustrating example signaling of a power saving mode according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 15]

[0040] 1 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communication with MLD (e.g., non-AP MLD) in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 16]

[0041] 1 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communication with MLD (e.g., non-AP MLD) in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 17]

[0042] 10 is a signaling flow diagram illustrating example signaling for disabling / removing a link according to an aspect of the disclosure. [Figure 18]

[0043] 1 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communication by a wireless station in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 19]

[0044] FIG. 10 illustrates an example multilink information element format, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 20]

[0045] 1 is a signaling flow diagram illustrating example signaling of discovery request cross-over, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 21]

[0046] FIG. 1 illustrates a communications device (e.g., a non-AP MLD or wireless station) that may include various components configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 22]

[0047] FIG. 1 illustrates a communications device (e.g., AP MLD) that may include various components configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0024]

[0048] For ease of understanding, where possible, like reference numerals have been used to designate like elements common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one embodiment may be advantageously utilized in other embodiments without specific recitation.

[0025]

[0049] Aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus, method, processing system, and computer-readable medium for handling direct link communications in multi-link operation (MLO).

[0026]

[0050] In some cases, wireless stations (STAs) may communicate with each other via a direct wireless link, such as a Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) link. During the establishment of a direct link, STAs may exchange messages (e.g., TDLS frames) through an access point (AP). When an AP relays a frame to another associated STA on behalf of one associated STA, the AP may set the A3 field (e.g., the source address (SA) field) to the MAC address of the initiator STA. In the case of a non-AP multilink device (MLD), the AP sets the SA field to the MAC address of the non-AP MLD. That is, in MLO, the SA field is the MLD MAC address for frames relayed by the AP from the non-AP MLD. In TDLS, discovery and setup frames may be sent through the AP, during which the sent frames are exchanged directly between STAs after the setup is successful and the TDLS direct link is established. The AP may process TDLS discovery and setup frames as data without the assistance of setting up a TDLS between the STAs. For frames sent directly between STAs, the receiver address (RA) or transmitter address (TA) field in the frame may be set to the link address (e.g., the MAC address of the STA entity associated with the MLD (e.g., STA entity 310, 312)). STAs that do not support MLO may be unable to make an association between the MLD MAC address and the link MAC address, resulting in a TDLS link failure. Furthermore, under some 802.11 standards (e.g., 802.11be), when a non-AP MLD STA sends a TDLS discovery response frame, there may be ambiguity regarding the value of the TA field.

[0027]

[0051] Aspects of the present disclosure provide various techniques and devices for handling direct link communication in an MLO. For example, a non-AP MLD STA participating in a TDLS connection may set the TA field to the non-AP MLD MAC address for frames sent directly to a TDLS peer STA. A non-AP MLD STA may set the TDLS initiator STA address to the non-AP MLD MAC address in the link identifier information element (IE) in a TDLS (discovery / setup) request frame. A non-AP MLD STA may set the TDLS responder STA address to the non-AP MLD MAC address in the link identifier information element (IE) in a TDLS (discovery / setup) response frame sent in response to a TDLS (discovery / setup) request frame received from a TDLS peer STA. A non-AP MLD STA may have the capability to process frames with the RA field set to MLD MAC. A non-AP MLD STA may use the MLD MAC address during the Tunneled Peer Key (TPK) handshake and encryption key generation for a TDLS session. In some cases, other STAs in the non-AP MLD may not be allowed to transmit frames toward a peer STA with which another STA in the non-AP MLD has performed TDLS setup. As used herein, legacy STA or legacy station may refer to a wireless station that does not support MLO or is not MLO capable, such as a wireless station that supports 802.11 standards defined before 802.11be.

[0028]

[0052] Various techniques and devices for handling direct link communication in an MLO may enable direct link communication between an MLD and a legacy STA or another MLD. Direct link communication may enable desired latency and / or throughput, for example, for communication without an intermediate device (e.g., an access point).

[0029]

[0053] Various aspects of the present disclosure are described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to any specific structure or function presented throughout this disclosure. Rather, these aspects are intended so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. Based on the teachings herein, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the scope of the present disclosure encompasses any aspect of the present disclosure disclosed herein, whether implemented independently or in combination with any other aspect of the present disclosure. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects described herein. In addition, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to encompass such apparatuses or methods practiced using other structure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to or other than the various aspects of the disclosure described herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the present disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of a claim.

[0030]

[0054] The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects.

[0031]

[0055] While particular aspects are described herein, many variations and permutations of these aspects fall within the scope of the present disclosure. While some benefits and advantages of the preferred aspects are described, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to particular benefits, uses, or objectives. Rather, aspects of the present disclosure are intended to be broadly applicable to different wireless technologies, system configurations, networks, and transmission protocols, some of which are illustrated by way of example in the figures and the following description of the preferred aspects. The detailed description and drawings are merely illustrative of the present disclosure, rather than limiting, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0032]

[0056] The techniques described herein may be used for various broadband wireless communication systems, including communication systems based on orthogonal multiplexing. Examples of such communication systems include spatial division multiple access (SDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, and single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems. SDMA systems may utilize sufficiently different directions to simultaneously transmit data belonging to multiple user terminals. TDMA systems allow multiple user terminals to share the same frequency channel by dividing the transmission signal into different time slots, each time slot assigned to a different user terminal. OFDMA systems utilize orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), a modulation technique that partitions the entire system bandwidth into multiple orthogonal subcarriers. These subcarriers may also be referred to as tones, bins, etc. With OFDM, each subcarrier may be independently modulated with data. An SC-FDMA system may utilize Interleaved FDMA (IFDMA) for transmitting on subcarriers distributed across the system bandwidth, Localized FDMA (LFDMA) for transmitting on blocks of adjacent subcarriers, or Enhanced FDMA (EFDMA) for transmitting on multiple blocks of adjacent subcarriers. In general, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDMA. The techniques described herein may be utilized in any type of system, including single-carrier (SC) and SC multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems.

[0033]

[0057] The teachings herein may be incorporated into (e.g., implemented within or performed by) various wired or wireless devices (e.g., nodes). In some aspects, a wireless node implemented in accordance with the teachings herein may comprise an access point or an access terminal.

[0034]

[0058] An access point ("AP") may comprise, be implemented as, or be known as a Node B, Radio Network Controller ("RNC"), Evolved Node B (eNB), Base Station Controller ("BSC"), Base Transceiver Station ("BTS"), Base Station ("BS"), Transceiver Function ("TF"), Wireless Router, Wireless Transceiver, Basic Service Set ("BSS"), Extended Service Set ("ESS"), Radio Base Station ("RBS"), or some other terminology.

[0035]

[0059] An access terminal (“AT”) may comprise, be implemented as, or be known as a subscriber station, subscriber unit, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, user terminal, user agent, user device, user equipment, user station, or some other terminology. In some implementations, an access terminal may comprise a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (“SIP”) telephone, a Wireless Local Loop (“WLL”) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (“PDA”), a handheld device with wireless connectivity, a wireless station (“STA”), or some other suitable processing device connected to a wireless modem. Accordingly, one or more aspects taught herein may be incorporated into a telephone (e.g., a cellular phone or smartphone), a computer (e.g., a laptop), a portable communication device, a portable computing device (e.g., a personal digital assistant), an entertainment device (e.g., a music or video device, or satellite radio), a global positioning system device, or any other suitable device configured to communicate over a wireless or wired medium. In some aspects, the node is a wireless node. Such a wireless node may, for example, provide connectivity for or to a network (e.g., a wide area network such as the Internet or a cellular network) via a wired or wireless communications link.

[0036]

[0060] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 100 with an access point and wireless stations. As shown in FIG. 1, access point (AP) 110 includes a link manager 112 that may perform an RTS / CTS exchange and / or set the SA field when relaying frames between legacy STAs and non-AP MLDs in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Wireless station (STA) 120a includes a link manager 122 that sets the TA field to a specific address to enable direct link communication between wireless station 120a and legacy stations (e.g., wireless station 120g) in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, and that takes various actions to prevent or mitigate simultaneous transmit / receive (STR) conditions for specific STA entities. In aspects, wireless station 120a may be a multi-link device (MLD) as further described herein with respect to FIG. 3.

[0037]

[0061] For simplicity, only one access point 110 is shown in FIG. 1 . An access point is generally a fixed station that communicates with wireless stations and may also be referred to as a base station or some other terminology. The wireless stations may be fixed or mobile and may also be referred to as mobile stations, wireless devices, or some other terminology. The access point 110 may communicate with one or more wireless stations 120 at any given moment on the downlink and uplink. The downlink (i.e., forward link) is the communication link from the access point to the wireless stations, and the uplink (i.e., reverse link) is the communication link from the wireless stations to the access point. A wireless station may also communicate peer-to-peer with another wireless station via a direct link, such as, for example, a tunneled direct link setup (TDLS). A system controller 130 may be in communication with the access points and may provide coordination and control for the access points.

[0038]

[0062] Although portions of the disclosure that follow describe wireless stations 120 capable of communicating via spatial division multiple access (SDMA), in some aspects wireless stations 120 may also include some wireless stations that do not support SDMA. Thus, for such aspects, access point (AP) 110 may be configured to communicate with both SDMA and non-SDMA wireless stations. This approach can advantageously extend the useful life of older version wireless stations (“legacy” stations), allowing newer SDMA wireless stations to be introduced as appropriate.

[0039]

[0063] System 100 employs multiple transmit antennas and multiple receive antennas for data transmission on the downlink and uplink. ap The set of k selected wireless stations 120 collectively represents the multiple-input (MI) for downlink transmissions and the multiple-output (MO) for uplink transmissions. In the case of pure SDMA, if the data symbol streams for the K wireless stations are not multiplexed in code, frequency, or time by any means, then the N ap ≥ K ≤ 1. If the data symbol streams can be multiplexed using TDMA techniques, different code channels in the case of CDMA, disjoint sets of subbands in the case of OFDM, etc., then K can be N ap Each selected wireless station may transmit user-specific data to the access point and / or receive user-specific data from the access point. Generally, each selected wireless station may be connected to one or more antennas (i.e., N st a≧1). The K selected wireless stations may have the same number of antennas or different numbers of antennas.

[0040]

[0064] The system 100 may be a time division duplex (TDD) system or a frequency division duplex (FDD) system. In a TDD system, the downlink and uplink share the same frequency band. In an FDD system, the downlink and uplink use different frequency bands. The MIMO system 100 may also utilize a single carrier or multiple carriers for transmission. Each wireless station may be equipped with a single antenna or multiple antennas. The system 100 may also be a TDMA system when the wireless stations 120 share the same frequency channel by dividing transmission / reception into different time slots, with each time slot assigned to a different wireless station 120.

[0041]

[0065] 2 shows a block diagram of access point 110 and two wireless stations 120m and 120x in MIMO / MLO system 100. In some aspects, access point 110 and / or wireless stations 120m and 120x may implement various techniques for handling direct link communications between wireless stations in an MLO, e.g., as further described herein with respect to FIGS. 4-20. For example, access point 110 and / or wireless stations 120m and 120x may include respective link managers as described herein with respect to FIG.

[0042]

[0066] The access point 110 is ap The wireless station 120m may be equipped with N antennas 224a to 224ap. sta,m The wireless station 120x has 252ma~252mu antennas. sta,xThe access point 110 includes antennas 252xa through 252xu. The access point 110 is a transmitting entity for the downlink and a receiving entity for the uplink. Each wireless station 120 is a transmitting entity for the uplink and a receiving entity for the downlink. As used herein, a "transmitting entity" is an independently operated apparatus or device capable of transmitting data over a wireless channel, and a "receiving entity" is an independently operated apparatus or device capable of receiving data over a wireless channel. The term communication generally refers to transmission, reception, or both. In the following description, the subscript "DL" refers to downlink, the subscript "UL" refers to uplink, and the subscript "UL" refers to N. UL N wireless stations are selected for simultaneous transmission on the uplink, DL N wireless stations are selected for simultaneous transmission on the downlink, UL is N DL may or may not be equal to N UL and N DL may be a static value or may vary for each scheduling interval. Beam-steering or some other spatial processing technique may be used at the access point and the wireless station.

[0043]

[0067] On the uplink, at each wireless station 120 selected for uplink transmission, a TX data processor 288 receives traffic data from a data source 286 and control data from controller 280. TX data processor 288 processes (e.g., encodes, interleaves, and modulates) the traffic data for the wireless station based on a coding and modulation scheme associated with a rate selected for the wireless station and provides a data symbol stream. TX spatial processor 290 performs spatial processing on the data symbol stream and provides Ns ta,m N antennas sta,mEach transceiver (TMTR) 254 receives and processes (e.g., converts to analog, amplifies, filters, and frequency upconverts) a respective transmit symbol stream to generate an uplink signal. sta,m The transceivers 254 are sta,m N for transmission from antennas 252 sta,m provides uplink signals to the access point.

[0044]

[0068] N UL wireless stations may be scheduled for simultaneous transmission on the uplink, each performing spatial processing on its data symbol stream and transmitting its set of transmit symbol streams on the uplink to the access point.

[0045]

[0069] At the access point 110, N ap The antennas 224a through 224ap transmit all N UL 254. The RX spatial processor 240 receives uplink signals from N wireless stations. Each antenna 224 provides a received signal to a respective transceiver (RCVR) 222. Each transceiver 222 performs processing complementary to that performed by transceiver 254 and provides a received symbol stream. The RX spatial processor 240 ap N transceivers 222 ap performs receiver spatial processing on the N received symbol streams; ULThe Rx data processor 242 provides recovered uplink data symbol streams. The receiver spatial processing is performed in accordance with channel correlation matrix inversion (CCMI), minimum mean square error (MMSE), soft interference cancellation (SIC), or some other technique. Each recovered uplink data symbol stream is an estimate of a data symbol stream transmitted by a respective wireless station. The Rx data processor 242 processes (e.g., demodulates, deinterleaves, and decodes) each recovered uplink data symbol stream in accordance with the rate used for that stream to obtain decoded data. The decoded data for each wireless station may be provided to a data sink 244 for storage and / or to the controller 230 for further processing.

[0046]

[0070] On the downlink, at access point 110, TX data processor 210 processes N data signals scheduled for downlink transmission. DL TX data processor 210 receives traffic data for N wireless stations from data source 208, control data from controller 230, and possibly other data from scheduler 234. Various types of data may be sent on different transport channels. TX data processor 210 processes (e.g., encodes, interleaves, and modulates) the traffic data for each wireless station based on the rate selected for that wireless station. TX data processor 210 processes (e.g., encodes, interleaves, and modulates) the traffic data for N wireless stations based on the rate selected for that wireless station. DL N downlink data symbol streams DL The TX spatial processor 220 provides N DL performing spatial processing (such as precoding or beamforming, as described in this disclosure) on the N downlink data symbol streams; ap N transmit symbol streams ap Each transceiver 222 receives and processes a respective transmit symbol stream to generate a downlink signal. ap The transceivers 222 areap N for transmission from antennas 224 ap The downlink signal is provided to the wireless station.

[0047]

[0071] In the wireless station 120, N sta,m The antennas 252 are connected to the access point 110 via N ap Each transceiver 254 processes the received signal from an associated antenna 252 and provides a received symbol stream. The RX spatial processor 260 receives N downlink signals. sta,m N transceivers 254 sta,m The RX data processor 270 performs receiver spatial processing on the received symbol streams and provides recovered downlink data symbol streams to the wireless station. The receiver spatial processing is performed in accordance with CCMI, MMSE, or some other technique. The RX data processor 270 processes (e.g., demodulates, deinterleaves, and decodes) the recovered downlink data symbol streams to obtain decoded data for the wireless station.

[0048]

[0072] At each wireless station 120, a channel estimator 278 estimates the downlink channel response and provides a downlink channel estimate, which may include a channel gain estimate, an SNR estimate, a noise variance, etc. Similarly, a channel estimator 228 estimates the uplink channel response and provides an uplink channel estimate. The controller 280 for each wireless station typically calculates the downlink channel response matrix H for that wireless station. dn,m The controller 230 derives a spatial filter matrix for the wireless station based on the effective uplink channel response matrix H up,effThe controller 230 and 280 may also control the operation of various processing units at the access point 110 and the wireless station 120, respectively.

[0049]

[0073] In some wireless communication networks (e.g., 802.11be networks), a multilink device (MLD) may be a wireless communication device with multiple associated APs or STAs. The MLD may have a single medium access control (MAC) service access point (SAP) for the logical link control (LLC) layer. The MLD may have a MAC address that uniquely identifies the MLD management entity. The MLD may support various multilink operations (MLOs). In aspects, the MLO may include multi-band aggregation, in which two or more channels in different bands (e.g., the 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz bands) are combined to achieve higher transmission rates. In aspects, the 6 GHz band may include the 5.925-7.125 GHz frequency band. For example, a single frame may be split and transmitted simultaneously through different channels in different bands to reduce frame transmission time or facilitate transmission of larger aggregate frames. MLO may include multi-band and multi-channel full-duplex communication achieved by simultaneously transmitting and receiving on different channels (within the same or different bands). MLO may include separation of the data plane and control plane into different channels (within the same or different bands). In some aspects, MLO may be implemented in a multi-link single radio (MLSR) architecture, where multiple associated APs or STAs of an MLD may be logical devices under a single radio.

[0050]

[0074] 3 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary multilink operation between MLDs according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As shown, the AP MLD 302 may communicate with the non-AP MLD 304 via multilink communication, such as multi-band aggregation. The AP MLD 302 may also be in communication with other systems (e.g., distributed systems (DS) such as local area networks and / or wide area networks) via an interface 318, such as a backhaul interface. The AP MLD 302 may include at least two STA entities 306, 308 (sometimes referred to as STA instances, also simply referred to herein as STAs) that may communicate with associated STA entities 310, 312 of the non-AP MLD 304. The STA entity (or instance) of the AP MLD is generally the AP (sometimes referred to as an AP-STA, or an STA serving as an AP), and the STA entity of the non-AP MLD is generally a non-AP STA (sometimes simply referred to as an STA). MLD may use multi-link operations such as multi-link aggregation (MLA) (including packet-level aggregation), in which MAC protocol data units (MPDUs) from the same traffic ID (TID) may be sent over two or more links 314, 316.

[0051]

[0075] In an aspect, the STA entities 306, 308 may each communicate on a separate band (e.g., the 2.4, 5, and GHz bands), and similarly, the STA entities 310, 312 may each communicate on a separate band (e.g., the 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz bands). For example, the STA entities 306, 310 may communicate with each other on a first link 314 via a first band (e.g., the 5 GHz band), and the STA entities 308, 312 may communicate with each other on a second link 316 via a second band (e.g., the 6 GHz band). The aggregated links 314, 316 may enable desired throughput and latency between the AP MLD 302 and the non-AP MLD 304. In aspects, the STA entities (306, 308 or 310, 312) of the MLD may be implemented as separate devices or RF transceiver chips of the MLD, or the STA entities may be integrated into the same device or RF transceiver chip. In some aspects, a link may refer to a physical path having one traversal of a wireless medium (WM) that can be used to transfer various packets, messages, or frames (such as MAC service data units (MSDUs)) between two stations (STAs).

[0052] Example Direct Link Communications in Multi-Link Operations

[0076] In some cases, STAs may communicate with each other via a direct wireless link, such as a tunneled direct link setup (TDLS) link. During the establishment of a direct link, STAs may exchange messages (e.g., TDLS frames) through an AP. When an AP relays a frame to another associated STA on behalf of one associated STA, the AP may set the A3 field (e.g., the source address (SA) field) to the MAC address of the initiator STA. In the case of non-AP MLD, the AP sets the SA field to the MAC address of the non-AP MLD. That is, in MLO, the SA field is the MLD MAC address for frames relayed by the AP from the non-AP MLD. In TDLS, discovery and setup frames may be sent through the AP, while frames sent after setup are exchanged directly between STAs. For frames sent directly between STAs, the receiver address (RA) or transmitter address (TA) field in the frame may be set to the link address (e.g., the MAC address of the STA entity (e.g., STA entity 310, 312) associated with the MLD). STAs that do not support MLO may be unable to make an association between the MLD MAC address and the link MAC address, resulting in a TDLS link failure. Furthermore, under some 802.11 standards (e.g., 802.11be), when a non-AP MLD STA sends a TDLS discovery response frame, there may be ambiguity regarding the value of the TA field.

[0053]

[0077] Aspects of the present disclosure provide various techniques and devices for handling direct link communication in an MLO. For example, a non-AP MLD STA participating in a TDLS connection may set the TA field to the non-AP MLD MAC address for frames sent directly to a TDLS peer STA. A non-AP MLD STA may set the TDLS initiator STA address to the non-AP MLD MAC address in the link identifier information element (IE) in a TDLS (discovery / setup) request frame. A non-AP MLD STA may set the TDLS responder STA address to the non-AP MLD MAC address in the link identifier information element (IE) in a TDLS (discovery / setup) response frame sent in response to a TDLS (discovery / setup) request frame received from a TDLS peer STA. A non-AP MLD STA may have the capability to process frames with the RA field set to MLD MAC. A non-AP MLD STA may use the MLD MAC address during the tunneled peer key (TPK) handshake and encryption key generation for the TDLS session. In some cases, other STAs in the non-AP MLD may not be allowed to send frames toward a peer STA with which another STA in the non-AP MLD has performed TDLS setup. Various techniques and devices for handling direct link communication in MLO may enable direct link communication between MLDs and STAs that do not support MLO.

[0054]

[0078] 4 illustrates example operations 400 for wireless communication according to some aspects of the present disclosure. The operations 400 may be performed, for example, by an MLD (e.g., the STA 120a or the non-AP MLD 304). The operations 400 may be implemented as software components executed and operated on one or more processors (e.g., the controller 280 of FIG. 2). In some aspects, transmission and / or reception of signals by the MLD may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., the controller 280) that acquire and / or output signals. Furthermore, transmission and reception of signals by the MLD may be enabled, for example, by one or more antennas and / or transceivers (e.g., the antenna 252 or the transceiver 254 of FIG. 2).

[0055]

[0079] The operations 400 may begin at 402, where a first MLD performs TDLS setup with a first wireless station (e.g., STA 120g), for example, as further described herein with respect to FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B. At 404, the first MLD may transmit a data frame to the first wireless station via a direct link between the first wireless station and at least one of a plurality of second wireless stations (e.g., STAs 310, 312) associated (e.g., associated) with the first MLD, the second wireless station being associated (associated) with the first MLD for MLO. At 406, the first MLD may communicate with the wireless station via the direct link. As used herein, a wireless station associated with an MLD may refer to a wireless station associated with an MLD.

[0056]

[0080] In some aspects, the transmission at 404 may be a transmission sent directly to the TDLS peer STA (e.g., the first wireless station) without the AP relaying the data frame to the TDLS peer STA. In 404, the first MLD may have established a TDLS link with the first wireless station, and the transmission at 404 may be via the TDLS link. In other words, the direct link may include a tunneled direct link, such as a TDLS link. In aspects, the first MLD may communicate with the TDLS peer STA via one or more of the STA entities (e.g., STA entities 310, 312) over the direct link. For example, the first MLD may communicate with the TDLS peer STA via a second wireless station, which may be associated with the first MLD. In aspects, the address of the first MLD may include a MAC address, such as a multilink logical MAC address. The multilink logical MAC address of the first MLD may be a MAC address that uniquely identifies an MLD entity (e.g., MLD 302) that manages an STA entity (e.g., STA entities 310, 312). In an aspect, the multilink logical MAC address of the first MLD may be referred to as an MLD MAC address, and the MLD MAC address may be a non-AP MLD MAC address. The MLD MAC address may be a globally unique MAC address or a MAC address that is the same as one of the peer link MAC addresses (e.g., per STA or per AP for MLD). In other words, the TA field in 404 may be set to the multilink logical MAC address of the first MLD. The multiple addresses associated with the first MLD may include the multilink logical MAC address and a MAC address associated with (each of) a second wireless station (e.g., STA entity 310, 312), where the second wireless station associates with the first MLD for multilink operation. For example, the second wireless station may enable the first MLD to simultaneously communicate with another MLD (eg, AP MLD 302) over separate bands (eg, the 5 and 6 GHz bands).

[0057]

[0081] In some aspects, the first MLD may set the initiator or responder address in a link identifier element of a particular TDLS frame (e.g., a TDLS discovery or setup frame) to the MLD MAC address. An example link identifier IE format is further described herein with respect to FIG. 6. At 402, performing TDLS setup may include the first MLD exchanging TDLS discovery or setup frames with the first wireless station, e.g., as further described herein with respect to FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B.

[0058]

[0082] In aspects, the initiator address of the link identifier IE may be set to the MLD MAC address in a TDLS request frame (such as a TDLS discovery request frame and / or a TDLS setup request frame from a TDLS initiator station). In some aspects, a request, request frame, or initiator frame associated with a direct link (e.g., a TDLS) may include a TDLS discovery request frame and / or a TDLS setup request frame. For example, a first MLD may send (at 402) a request to a first wireless station via an access point (e.g., AP 110 or AP MLD 302) to discover a peer wireless station (e.g., the first wireless station) for a direct link. In other words, the first MLD may send a request to an AP that relays the request to the first wireless station. The request may include a link identifier element with the direct link initiator address (e.g., the TDLS initiator STA address) set as the address (e.g., the MLD MAC address) of the first MLD. In an aspect, the request may include a TDLS discovery request frame according to the 802.11 standard. As an example, the first MLD may send (at 402) a request to set up a direct link to the first wireless station via an access point, and the request may include a link identifier element having a direct link initiator address set as the address of the first MLD (e.g., an MLD MAC address). In an aspect, the request may include a TDLS setup request frame according to the 802.11 standard.

[0059]

[0083] In aspects, the responder address of the link identifier IE may be set to the MLD MAC address in a TDLS response frame (such as a TDLS discovery response frame and / or a TDLS setup response frame from a TDLS responder station). In some aspects, the response, response frame, or responder frame associated with the direct link may include a TDLS discovery response frame and / or a TDLS setup response frame. For example, a first MLD may send a response to the first wireless station (at 402) responding to a request to discover a peer wireless station (such as the first MLD) for a direct link, and the response may include a link identifier element with the direct link responder address set as the address of the first MLD (e.g., the MLD MAC address). In aspects, the first MLD may send the response directly to the first wireless station. The response may include a TDLS discovery response frame according to the 802.11 standard. As an example, the first MLD may send a response to the request to set up a direct link to the first wireless station via the access point (at 402), where the response may include a link identifier element having a direct link responder address set as the address of the first MLD (e.g., the MLD MAC address). The response may include a TDLS setup request frame according to the 802.11 standard.

[0060]

[0084] In some aspects, the first MLD may set the TA field to the MLD MAC address for the discovery response sent to the first wireless station. Performing TDLS setup in 402 may, for example, involve the first wireless station initiating discovery of a peer wireless station (e.g., the first MLD), e.g., the first wireless station sending a TDLS discovery request frame to the first MLD via an AP. In such a case, the first MLD may respond to the TDLS discovery request frame with a TDLS discovery response frame sent directly to the first wireless station. The first MLD may set the TA field to the MLD MAC address in the TDLS discovery response frame. For example, the first MLD may receive a request from the first wireless station to discover a peer wireless station (e.g., the first MLD) for a direct link via an access point. In an aspect, the request may include a TDLS discovery request frame. The first MLD may send (at 402) a discovery response to the first wireless station including a TA field set to the address of the first MLD (e.g., the MLD MAC address), and the transmission of the discovery response may be in response to the request.

[0061]

[0085] At 406, the first MLD may support receiving frames directly from the TDLS peer STA with a receiver address (RA) field set to the MLD MAC address. For example, at 406, communicating with the first wireless station over the direct link may include the first MLD receiving frames from the first wireless station over the direct link, the frames including a receiver address field set to the address of the first MLD (e.g., the MLD MAC address).

[0062]

[0086] In some aspects, a header of a frame may include a TA / RA field as described herein. For example, a MAC header of a data frame or a TDLS frame may include a TA / RA field. For operation 400, the data frame may include a MAC header that includes a TA field, and the data frame received at 406 may include a MAC header that includes an RA field.

[0063]

[0087] In aspects, the STA entity of the first MLD may use the MLD MAC address during TPK handshake (e.g., a four-way handshake) and encryption key generation for the TDLS session. For example, the first MLD may use the MLD MAC address to generate a security key for the TDLS session. At 402, the first MLD may generate an encryption key based at least in part on the address of the first MLD and send an indication of the encryption key (e.g., parameters used to generate the encryption key at the first wireless station) to the first wireless station. In some aspects, the encryption key generation may be further based on the AP MLD MAC address and / or the AP MAC address. In some cases, when both wireless stations involved in the TDLS setup include a TDLS variant multilink element carrying an AP MLD MAC address field in frames exchanged during the TDLS setup phase, the TDLS TPK generation may include the AP MLD MAC address in addition to the MAC address of the associated AP with which the TDLS direct link is established. The AP MLD MAC address may be used to generate an encryption key when the MLD in the TDLS is a non-AP MLDS for a single link or multi-link TDLS between MLDs. Communicating with the first wireless station at 406 may include the first MLD communicating encrypted frames with the first wireless station based on the encryption key.

[0064]

[0088] In some aspects, other STA entities of the first MLD may not be enabled to transmit frames directed to the TDLS peer STA. For example, one of the second wireless stations of the first MLD (e.g., STA 310) may communicate with the TDLS peer STA via a direct link, and another second wireless station of the first MLD (e.g., STA 312) may transmit frames to the access point without directing the frames to the TDLS peer STA. After a TDLS direct link is successfully established between a TDLS STA associated with a non-AP MLD and a TDLS peer STA at the other end of the TDLS direct link, the STAs associated with the non-AP MLD may stop transmitting packets to the TDLS peer at the other end through their associated AP associated with the AP MLD for which the non-AP MLD performed multilink setup. In some cases, the first MLD may stop transmission to the first wireless station via the second wireless stations, except for one of the second wireless stations associated with the direct link, based on the direct link being operational.

[0065]

[0089] In an aspect, an access point that assists in relaying TDLS discovery and setup frames may be an MLD. For example, at 402, a first MLD may exchange TDLS discovery and setup frames with an access point that is an MLD (e.g., AP MLD 302).

[0066]

[0090] 5A illustrates an MLD (MLD_S) initiating a TDLS setup with a legacy STA (STA_3) and communicating with the legacy STA over a TDLS link, according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As shown, STA_1 of the MLD_S may send a TDLS discovery request frame to AP_1 of the MLD_A with the TA field set to the STA_1 MAC address. AP_1 relays the TDLS discovery request frame to STA_3 with the SA field set to the MLD_S MAC address (e.g., the MAC address of the MLD entity). From STA_3's perspective, STA_3 is unaware of the STA entities (STA_1 and STA_2) of the MLD_S. Therefore, STA_3 sends a TDLS discovery response frame directly to STA_1 of the MLD_S with the RA field set to the MLD_S MAC address. STA_1 of the MLD_S may support receiving frames with the RA field set to the MLD_S MAC address.

[0067]

[0091] STA_1 in MLD_S may send a TDLS setup request frame to AP1 with the TA field set to the STA_1 MAC address, and AP1 may relay the TDLS setup request frame with the SA field set to the MLD_S MAC address to STA_3. STA_3 may send a TDLS setup response frame to AP1 with the destination address (DA) field set to the MLD_S MAC address, and AP1 may relay the TDLS setup response frame to STA_1 in MLD_S with the RA field set to the STA_1 MAC address. Upon completion of the TDLS process, STA_1 and STA_3 in MLD_S may communicate with each other via the TDLS link. STA_1 in MLD_S may send a data frame directly to STA_3 with the TA field set to the MLD_S MAC address, which will allow STA_3 to receive the data frame and communicate with STA_1 because STA_3 does not know about the STA_1 MAC address. STA_3 may send data frames directly to STA_1 in MLD_S with the RA field set to the MLD_S MAC address. As previously explained, STA_1 in MLD_S may support receiving frames with the RA field set to the MLD_S MAC address, which allows STA_1 in MLD_S to receive TDLS data frames from STA_3 because STA_3 does not know about the STA_1 MAC address.

[0068]

[0092] FIG. 5B illustrates a legacy STA (STA_3) initiating TDLS setup with an MLD (MLD_S) and communicating with the MLD over a TDLS link, according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As shown, the signaling exchange between STA_3 and MLD_S follows a signaling flow similar to that described herein with reference to FIG. 5A. For example, a TDLS frame relayed from AP1 to STA_3 has the SA field set to the MLD_S MAC address, and a TDLS frame relayed from AP1 to STA_1 has the RA field set to the STA_1 MAC address. In this example, STA_1 of MLD_S sends a TDLS discovery response frame directly to STA_3 with the TA field set to the MLD_S MAC address, which will allow STA_3 to communicate with STA_1 because STA_3 does not know about the STA_1 MAC address. After the TDLS process is completed, STA_1 and STA_3 may transmit data frames with the RA / TA fields set as described herein with reference to FIG. 5A.

[0069]

[0093] 6 is a diagram illustrating an example link identifier IE format according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As shown, the link identifier IE format may have an element identifier (ID) field (identifying an element as a link identifier), a length field, a basic service set identifier (BSSID) field, a TDLS initiator STA address field, and a TDLS responder STA address field. The initiator STA may be the STA that sends the TDLS discovery / setup request frame, and the responder STA may be the STA that is requested to respond (respond) to the TDLS discovery / setup request frame. As described herein with respect to operation 400, the first MLD may set the TDLS initiator STA address field to its MLD MAC address for TDLS request frames (e.g., TDLS discovery / setup request frames), and the first MLD may set the TDLS responder STA address field to its MLD MAC address for TDLS response frames (e.g., TDLS discovery / setup response frames).

[0070]

[0094] Aspects of the present disclosure provide various techniques for handling direct link communication between MLDs. In some cases, MLDs may set up and communicate with each other over multiple links via multiple STA entities. That is, a separate TDLS session may be established for each STA entity pair between TDLS MLO STA peers. In some aspects, MLDs may set up and communicate with each other over multiple links via multiple STA entities. That is, a single TDLS session may be established between TDLS MLO STA peers, and the TDLS MLO STA peers may communicate with each other over multiple STA entities at each TDLS peer. A single TDLS session may enable a common block acknowledgment session over which packets may be sent on any of the links between the STA entities, which may be useful for duplicate detection. To set up one or more multilink TDLS sessions, multilink support or a request for multilink TDLS may be indicated by: providing MLD's multilink capabilities and / or constraints (e.g., n-STR link / STA) for each link associated with the STA entity; identifying the links associated with the STA entity via the link identifier (ID) field in the per-STA profile subfield; including a multilink element during TDLS discovery and / or setup exchange; or by the BSSID field in the link identifier element set to a wildcard value or a specific value. MLD may coordinate transmissions on n-STR links that are part of a TDLS session.

[0071]

[0095] Various techniques for handling direct link communication between MLDs may enable direct link communication with desired latency and data throughput, for example, through multi-band aggregation and / or other features of the MLO.

[0072]

[0096] In some aspects, the TDLS peer STA of the direct link in operations 400 may be part of an MLD. For example, a first wireless station may be associated with a second MLD for multi-link communication with the first MLD, the second MLD further having two or more third wireless stations associated for multi-link communication with the first MLD.

[0073]

[0097] With respect to operation 400, the direct link may include multiple tunneled direct link sessions, each associated with a separate link between one of the second wireless stations and one of the third wireless stations. In some aspects, the direct link may include a single tunneled direct link session, with multiple links between the second wireless station and the third wireless station associated with the single tunneled direct link session.

[0074]

[0098] In some aspects, the first MLD may indicate that it will set up a direct link with multi-link capability (such as MLO / MLA capability). In aspects, the first MLD may transmit an instruction to a legacy STA or another MLD to set up a direct link with multi-link capability. For example, the first MLD may transmit an instruction to the first wireless station to set up the direct link as a multi-link direct link. Communicating with the first wireless station over the direct link at 406 may include the first MLD communicating with the first wireless station over one or more links of the multi-link direct link based on the instruction. The instruction may include at least one of a BSSID field or a multi-link element in a direct link discovery frame or a direct link setup frame that includes a value indicating that the direct link is to be set up as a multi-link direct link. An example multi-link IE format is described further herein with respect to FIG. 19. The value may be set to a link identifier associated with the link. The multilink element may include a first indication with an identifier of a direct link in a station profile sub-element associated with at least one of the second wireless stations, or a second indication of one or more capabilities of a second wireless station associated with a link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station. As an example, the capabilities may indicate whether the wireless station is an STR or n-STR. The capability information may be included as one or more fields in the per-STA profile sub-element.

[0075]

[0099] FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating an MLD_S initiating a TDLS setup with an MLD_R and communicating with the MLD_R over a TDLS link, according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As shown, the signaling exchange between the MLD_R and the MLD_S follows a signaling flow similar to that described herein with respect to FIG. 5A. In some aspects, the RA, TA, SA, and DA fields may be set to the respective MLD MAC addresses (e.g., the MLD_S MAC address or the MLD_R MAC address). For example, after establishing one or more TDLS links, the MLD_S may send data frames directly to the MLD_R with the RA field set to the MLD_R MAC address and the TA field set to the MLD_S MAC address. In aspects, a TDLS discovery response frame may use the MLD MAC address. For example, the MLD_R may send a TDLS discovery response frame directly to the MLD_S with the RA field set to the MLD_S MAC address and the TA field set to the MLD_R MAC address.

[0076]

[0100] 7B is a diagram illustrating an MLD_R initiating a TDLS setup with an MLD_S and communicating with the MLD_S over a TDLS link, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. As shown, the signaling exchange between the MLD_R and the MLD_S follows a signaling flow similar to that described herein with respect to FIG. 5A. In some aspects, the RA, TA, SA, and DA fields may be set to the respective MLD MAC addresses (e.g., the MLD_S MAC address or the MLD_R MAC address), for example, as described herein with respect to FIG. 7A.

[0077]

[0101] Some aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for enabling an AP to map the address of a non-AP MLD when relaying messages between a legacy STA and a non-AP MLD. For example, when an AP of an AP MLD relays a frame initiated by any STA of a non-AP MLD to a legacy non-AP STA on a particular link, the AP may set the SA field to the MAC address of the non-AP STA associated with the non-AP MLD on that link instead of the MAC address of the non-AP MLD. The MAC address of the STA associated with the non-AP MLD may enable the legacy STA to communicate with the non-AP MLD over a direct link. An advantage of some aspects may be that no changes are required on the client side (e.g., a non-AP wireless station) so that multilink TDLS exchanges are handled at the AP to facilitate mapping the correct MAC address (e.g., the MAC address of the STA associated with the non-AP MLD) to the legacy STA.

[0078]

[0102] 8 illustrates example operations 800 for wireless communication according to some aspects of the present disclosure. The operations 800 may be performed, for example, by an MLD (e.g., AP MLD 302). The operations 800 may be implemented as software components executed and operated on one or more processors (e.g., controller 230 of FIG. 2). In some aspects, transmission and / or reception of signals by the MLD may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., controller 230) that acquire and / or output signals. Furthermore, transmission and reception of signals by the MLD may be enabled, for example, by one or more antennas and / or transceivers (e.g., antenna 224 or transceiver 222 of FIG. 2).

[0079]

[0103] The operations 800 may begin at 802, where a first MLD (e.g., the AP MLD 302 of FIG. 3 or the MLD_A of FIGS. 5A and 5B) receives one or more first frames related to establishing a direct link between a second MLD and a first wireless station (e.g., STA3 of FIGS. 5A and 5B) from a second MLD (e.g., the non-AP MLD 304 of FIG. 3 or the MLD_S of FIGS. 5A and 5B) via a first access point (e.g., the AP 306) associated with the first MLD, where the first wireless station does not support multi-link operation. At 804, the first MLD may relay the one or more first frames to the first wireless station via the first access point, where the first frames include a source address (SA) field set to an address of the second wireless station associated with the second MLD. At 806, the first MLD may receive one or more second frames from the first wireless station via the access point related to the establishment of the direct link. At 808, the first MLD may relay the second frames to the second MLD, where the second frames include a destination address (DA) field set to the address of the second wireless station.

[0080]

[0104] In an aspect, the frame related to establishing the direct link may include a TDLS discovery / setup frame. For example, the first MLD may receive a TDLS discovery request frame and / or a TDLS setup request / response frame as the first frame. The first MLD may receive a TDLS discovery request frame and / or a TDLS setup request / response frame as the third frame. At 804 and 808, the first MLD may relay the first frame and / or the second frame to the first wireless station or the second MLD. In other words, the relayed frame may be a copy or duplicate of the received frame with modifications to the MAC header fields, such as the RA field and / or the SA field.

[0081]

[0105] In an aspect, the first MLD may map the address of the second MLD (e.g., the MLD MAC address of the second MLD) or the address of the STA entity of the second MLD to the address of the second wireless station based on the first wireless station not supporting MLO, e.g., as described herein with respect to FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B. For example, the first frame may include a TA field set to the address of the second wireless station. Because the first MLD may default to setting the SA field to the MLD MAC address when relaying frames between wireless stations, the first MLD may identify that the first wireless station does not support MLO while the second MLD supports MLO; in such a case, the first MLD may relay the frame with the SA field set to the address of the second wireless station instead of the address of the second MLD based on the mapping between the address of the second MLD and the address of the second wireless station.

[0082]

[0106] In some aspects, the address of the second wireless station may be a MAC address of the second wireless station, the MAC address of the second wireless station may be an address separate from the address of the second MLD, such as an MLD MAC address of the second MLD, or the MAC address of the second wireless station may be the same as the MAC address of the second MLD.

[0083]

[0107] 9A is a diagram illustrating an AP MLD (MLD_A) relaying TDLS messages from a non-AP MLD (MLD_S) to a legacy STA (STA_3) in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. As shown, MLD_A may receive frames from STA entities (e.g., STA_1 and / or STA_2) of MLD_S, with the TA field set to the STA entities' respective MAC addresses. MLD_A may relay these frames to STA_3, and instead of using the MLD MAC address as the SA field, MLD_A transmits the relayed frames with the SA field set to the STA_1 MAC address. With the SA field set to the STA_1 MAC address, STA_3 may be able to communicate directly with STA_1 without the MLD MAC address of MLD_S.

[0084]

[0108] 9B is a diagram illustrating an AP MLD (MLD_A) relaying TDLS messages from a legacy STA (STA_3) to a non-AP MLD (MLD_S) in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. As shown, MLD_A may receive frames from STA_3 with the DA field set to the MAC address of one of the STA entities in MLD_S. MLD_A may relay these frames to STA_1 or STA_2 with the RA field set to the MAC address of STA_1 or STA_2.

[0085]

[0109] In some cases, a non-AP-MLD may not be able to support simultaneous transmission and reception (SRT) through two or more of the STA entities. Such STAs in an MLD may be referred to as non-SRT (n-SRT) STAs or links. That is, a non-AP MLD may not be able to transmit and receive simultaneously on two or more links in separate bands (e.g., the 5 and 6 GHz bands). For example, the non-AP MLD 304 may not be able to support simultaneous transmission through the STA 310 while the STA 312 is receiving data from the AP MLD 302, or vice versa (e.g., the STA 310 cannot receive while the STA 312 is transmitting). A non-AP MLD may not be able to simultaneously transmit (Tx / Tx) or receive (Rx / Rx) through STA entities on separate bands (e.g., the 5 and 6 GHz bands). If a non-AP MLD establishes a TDLS on one of the n-STR links, the non-AP MLD may encounter interference when an STR condition occurs on the n-STR link. For example, a non-AP MLD may encounter undesirable interference when the TDLS link is busy and an AP in the AP MLD transmits downlink data to the non-AP MLD on a link that is an n-STR to the TDLS link of the non-AP MLD.

[0086]

[0110] Aspects of the present disclosure provide various techniques for preventing or mitigating STR conditions between n-STR links in an MLD. In aspects, various techniques for preventing or mitigating STR conditions between n-STR links in an MLD may be specific to one or more links between one or more STA entities and one or more AP entities in a multilink context (i.e., MLO / MLA). A non-AP MLD may indicate temporarily suspending communication between the STA entity and the AP entity on the TDLS link and the link that is an n-STR. In some aspects, transmissions on the TDLS link may be considered as causing deafness on other links in a non-AP MLD. Various deaf restoration rules may be applied to reception of frames from a peer TDLS STA. In some cases, DL transmissions may be allowed on the TDLS link and on any other links in a non-AP MLD with which the TDLS link is an STR. Various techniques for preventing or mitigating STR conditions may enable communication in an MLD with desired latency and data throughput, with desired signal quality achieved while preventing or mitigating the STR condition.

[0087]

[0111] In some aspects, the AP and non-AP MLD may exchange request-to-send (RTS) and clear-to-send (CTS) frames before any DL transmission on a link that is an n-STR with a TDLS link to prevent or mitigate an STR condition. For example, an AP MLD may have two or more APs operating on separate channels / bands (e.g., in the 5 GHz band and the 6 GHz band). STAs (e.g., STA1 and STA2) of the non-AP MLD may form links with each of the APs associated with the AP MLD. When STA1 of the non-AP MLD forms a TDLS connection with another wireless station on a first link, the non-AP MLD may send a request to the AP MLD to send an RTS on the second link when the AP MLD sends a frame to STA2 associated with the non-AP MLD on the second link, and send a request to the AP MLD to send a DL frame only if the AP MLD receives a CTS response from the non-AP MLD.

[0088]

[0112] 10A illustrates example operations 1000A for wireless communication in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. The operations 1000A may be performed, for example, by an MLD (e.g., a non-AP MLD 304).

[0089]

[0113] The operations 1000A may start at 1002, where an MLD may communicate with a first wireless station (e.g., STA 120g in FIG. 1, STA_3 in FIGS. 5A and 5B, or MLD_R in FIGS. 7A and 7B) via a direct link between the first wireless station and a second wireless station (e.g., STA 310), where the second wireless station is associated with the MLD and the direct link is inoperable for the MLD while a third wireless station (e.g., STA 312) associated with the MLD is communicating, or another link associated with the third wireless station is inoperable while the second wireless station is communicating on the direct link. The inoperable state of the direct link or another link may refer to n-STR capability of the MLD. At 1004, the MLD may receive an RTS frame from an access point (e.g., AP 110, or MLD_A in FIGS. 5A, 5B, 7A, or 7B) requesting to send data to the third wireless station. At 1006, the MLD may take one or more actions in response to the RTS frame.

[0090]

[0114] In aspects, the second wireless station may communicate on a band (e.g., a 5 GHz band) that is separate from the band (e.g., 6 GHz) on which the third wireless station communicates. In aspects, an inoperable direct link may refer to when there is no communication between TDLS peers on the direct link or when the direct link is no longer set up between the TDLS peers (e.g., the TDLS teardown process is completed).

[0091]

[0115] At 1006, the MLD can either respond to the RTS frame from the access point or not respond to the RTS frame. For example, taking one or more actions at 1006 may include the MLD transmitting a CTS frame to the access point indicating that the access point is free to transmit data to the MLD. The MLD may receive data from the access point via a third wireless station based on the transmission of the CTS frame. In some cases, the MLD may ignore the RTS frame if the second wireless station is communicating with the first wireless station.

[0092]

[0116] In some aspects, the RTS / CTS exchange may be specific to one or more links between one or more STA entities and one or more AP entities in a multi-link context. For example, the RTS / CTS exchange may be performed for a TDLS link and a link that is an n-STR. With respect to operation 1000A, the third wireless station may be an n-STR with the second wireless station.

[0093]

[0117] In an aspect, the MLD may transmit an instruction to the access point to enable or disable RTS / CTS exchange for the n-STR link. As an example, the instruction to enable or disable RTS / CTS exchange for the n-STR link may be indicated via a station associated with the MLD and / or a wireless station in the MLD. In some cases, the state may include that the MLD has a constraint on the wireless station (e.g., an n-STR link), that the wireless station is temporarily unavailable to receive frames, or that the MLD has set up a direct link with another wireless station. For example, the MLD may transmit a first instruction to the access point to enable transmission of RTS frames before transmission from the access point to the MLD. The MLD may transmit a second instruction to the access point to disable transmission of RTS frames before transmission from the access point to the MLD, for example, when a TDLS session is not active. In an aspect, the second instruction may be an update to a state associated with the wireless station. For example, the updated state may include that the wireless station is able to receive frames or that the direct link has been disabled or torn down. The first or second indication may be transmitted via a control field of a MAC frame, such as, for example, an aggregate control field (A-control) defined in the 802.11ax standard. The control field may be a separate control field (e.g., RTS-request or RTS-enable) dedicated to enabling or disabling RTS / CTS exchange between the AP and the MLD. One or more A-control fields may be carried within a (High Efficiency) (HE) control variant of a high-throughput (HT) control field in the MAC header. In some aspects, the MAC frame carrying the first or second indication may include a public action frame. The first or second indication may be transmitted via a control field of the MAC header of a frame, a management frame, or a control frame.

[0094]

[0118] 10B illustrates example operations 1000B for wireless communication in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. The operations 1000B may be performed, for example, by an MLD (e.g., a non-AP MLD 304).

[0095]

[0119] Operations 1000B may begin at 1008, where the MLD establishes a direct link between a first wireless station and a second wireless station associated with the MLD, e.g., as described herein with respect to FIG. 4. At 1010, the MLD may communicate with the first wireless station (which may be associated with another MLD) via the direct link, with the direct link being inoperative for the MLD while a third wireless station associated with the MLD is communicating. At 1012, the MLD may send an indication of the state associated with the MLD or one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD to the AP MLD (or access point associated with the AP MLD) with which the MLD performed association, e.g., as described herein with respect to operation 1000A. In some aspects, operation 1000B may continue when, in response to the indication of the state as described herein with respect to operation 1000A, the AP receives a first frame (e.g., an RTS frame) from an access point associated with the MLD requesting that the AP send data to a third wireless station associated with the MLD, and takes one or more actions in response to the first frame.

[0096]

[0120] The MLD may receive a first frame via a third wireless station on a channel on which an access point associated with the AP MLD is communicating with the third wireless station. The MLD may transmit a second frame (e.g., a CTS frame) to the access point associated with the AP MLD indicating that the access point associated with the AP MLD is free to transmit data to the MLD. The MLD may receive data from the access point associated with the AP MLD via the third wireless station based on the transmission of the second frame. The MLD may transmit an update to its state to the access point or the AP MLD indicating that it will disable transmission of the first frame prior to transmission from the AP MLD to the third wireless station associated with the MLD.

[0097]

[0121] 11 illustrates example operations 1100 for wireless communication according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. The operations 1100 may be performed, for example, by an access point (e.g., the AP 110 of FIG. 1, the AP 306 associated with the AP MLD 302, the AP MLD 302 of FIG. 3). The operations 1100 may be complementary to operations 1000A and / or 1000B performed by a non-AP MLD.

[0098]

[0122] The operations 1100 may begin at 1102, where an access point may receive a first indication from an MLD (e.g., a non-AP MLD 304) to enable transmission of an RTS frame prior to transmission from the access point to the MLD. For example, the first indication may include a state associated with the MLD and / or a wireless station in the MLD, such as a state indicating that the MLD has set up a direct link with another wireless station. At 1104, the access point may transmit an RTS frame to the MLD based on the first indication, requesting one or more wireless stations (e.g., STAs 310, 312) associated with the MLD to send data. At 1106, the access point may receive a CTS frame from the MLD indicating that the access point is free to transmit data to the MLD in response to the RTS frame. At 1108, the access point may transmit data to one or more wireless stations if the CTS frame is received by the access point from the MLD.

[0099]

[0123] In an aspect, the access point may receive a second instruction from the MLD to disable transmission of the RTS frame prior to transmission from the access point to the MLD. For example, the second instruction may include an update to a state associated with the wireless station, such as that a direct link in the MLD is disabled or torn down. The first or second instruction may be transmitted, for example, via a control field of a MAC frame, as described herein with respect to operation 1000.

[0100]

[0124] 12 is a signaling flow diagram illustrating example signaling of RTS / CTS frames to prevent or mitigate an STR condition according to an aspect of the present disclosure. As shown, at 1202, a first wireless station 120a associated with a non-AP MLD 304 may transmit a first instruction to the access point 110 to enable transmission of an RTS frame prior to transmission from the access point 110 to the first wireless station 120a. At 1204, a second wireless station 120b associated with the non-AP MLD 304 may communicate with a third wireless station 120c (which may be associated with a non-AP MLD or may be a legacy STA) via a direct link, such as a TDLS link. At 1206, the first wireless station 120a may receive an RTS frame from the access point 110. At 1208, the first wireless station 120a may transmit a CTS frame to the access point 110 if the direct link is inactive or inoperable. At 1210, the first wireless station 120a may receive DL data from the access point 110 based on the CTS frame. In some aspects, the direct link may be busy, the non-AP MLD 304 may ignore the RTS frame, and the second wireless station 120b may communicate with the third wireless station 120c via the direct link at 1212. At 1214, the first wireless station 120a may transmit a second instruction to the access point 110 to disable transmission of the RTS frame prior to transmission from the access point 110 to the first wireless station 120a.

[0101]

[0125] In some aspects, the non-AP MLD may indicate to the AP MLD that the non-AP MLD has entered power saving (PS) mode on the n-STR link when a TDLS session is active to prevent or mitigate an STR condition.

[0102]

[0126] 13A illustrates example operations 1300A for wireless communication in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. The operations 1300A may be performed, for example, by an MLD (e.g., a non-AP MLD 304).

[0103]

[0127] The operations 1300A may begin at 1302, where the MLD may transmit a first indication to an access point (e.g., AP 110, or MLD_A of FIGS. 5A, 5B, 7A, or 7B) that a first wireless station (e.g., STA 310) associated with the MLD is in a power save mode. At 1304, after transmitting the first indication, the MLD may communicate with a second wireless station (e.g., STA 120g of FIG. 1, STA_3 of FIGS. 5A and 5B, or MLD_R of FIGS. 7A and 7B) via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station (e.g., STA 312), the third wireless station associated with the MLD, and the direct link is inoperative for the MLD while the first wireless station is communicating, or the first wireless station is inoperative while the direct link is operational.

[0104]

[0128] In an aspect, the MLD may re-enable communication with the access point. For example, the MLD may transmit a second indication to the access point that the first wireless station is in an active mode (e.g., out of a power save mode and available for communication) after terminating communication with the second wireless station, and in some cases, the MLD may communicate with the access point via the first wireless station after transmitting the second indication.

[0105]

[0129] In some aspects, the power save mode may be specific to one or more links between one or more STA entities and one or more AP entities in a multi-link context. For example, at 1302, the power save mode indication may be associated with a TDLS link and a link that is an n-STR. With respect to operation 1300A, the first wireless station may be an n-STR with a third wireless station.

[0106]

[0130] Communication with the second wireless station via the third wireless station may occur when the first wireless station is not communicating, and communication with the access point via the first wireless station may occur when the third wireless station is not communicating.

[0107]

[0131] 13B illustrates example operations 1300B for wireless communication in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. The operations 1300B may be performed, for example, by an MLD (e.g., a non-AP MLD 304).

[0108]

[0132] The operations 1300B may begin at 1306, where the MLD may transmit a first instruction to an access point or AP MLD associated with a first wireless station associated with the MLD. At 1308, the MLD may communicate with a second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station after transmitting the first instruction, where the third wireless station is associated with the MLD and the direct link is inoperative for the MLD while the first wireless station is communicating.

[0109]

[0133] The first indication may include at least one of an indication that the first wireless station is in a power save mode, e.g., as described herein with respect to operation 1300A, an instruction to disable a first link to the first wireless station, e.g., as further described herein with respect to operation 1500, or an instruction to remove a second link in a dynamic link established for the first wireless station, e.g., as further described herein with respect to operation 1600. If the first indication indicates that the first wireless station is in a power save mode, the MLD may send a second indication that the first wireless station is in an active mode to the access point or AP MLD after termination of communication with the second wireless station, e.g., as described herein with respect to operation 1300A. The first indication may be sent via a control field in a MAC header of a frame, a management frame, or a control frame, e.g., as described herein with respect to operation 1000A.

[0110]

[0134] 14 is a signaling flow diagram illustrating example signaling of a power save mode for preventing or mitigating an STR condition according to an aspect of the present disclosure. As shown, at 1402, a first wireless station 120a may transmit a first indication to the access point 110 that the first wireless station 120a is in a power save mode. At 1404, a second wireless station 120b may communicate with a third wireless station 120c (which may be associated with a non-AP MLD or may be a legacy STA) via a direct link. At 1406, the first wireless station 120a may transmit a second indication to the access point 110 that the first wireless station is in an active mode after the communication between the second wireless station 120b and the third wireless station 120c terminates. At 1408, the first wireless station 120a may receive DL data from the access point 110 after transmitting the second indication.

[0111]

[0135] In some aspects, non-AP MLD may disable DL aggregation (synchronous PPDU operation) on the n-STR link when a TDLS is established to one of the n-STRs to prevent or mitigate an STR condition.

[0112]

[0136] 15 illustrates example operations 1500 for wireless communication in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. The operations 1500 may be performed, for example, by an MLD (e.g., the non-AP MLD 304).

[0113]

[0137] The operations 1500 may begin at 1502, where the MLD may transmit an instruction to an access point (e.g., AP 110, or MLD_A of FIGS. 5A, 5B, 7A, or 7B) to disable a link to a first wireless station (e.g., STA 310) associated with the MLD. At 1504, after transmitting the instruction, the MLD may communicate with a second wireless station (e.g., STA 120g of FIG. 1, STA_3 of FIGS. 5A and 5B, or MLD_R of FIGS. 7A and 7B) via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station (e.g., STA 312), where the third wireless station is associated with the MLD and the direct link is inoperative for the MLD while the first wireless station is communicating, or the first wireless station is inoperative while the direct link is operational. Communication with the second wireless station via the third wireless station may occur when the first wireless station is not communicating.

[0114]

[0138] In an aspect, the indication may be transmitted via a control field of a MAC frame, for example, as described herein with respect to operation 1000A. The control field may be a separate control field dedicated to enabling or disabling a link in a multilink context between an AP and an MLD.

[0115]

[0139] In some aspects, the non-AP MLD may remove a link in a dynamic link that is a TDLS link and an n-STR to prevent or mitigate an STR condition.

[0116]

[0140] 16 illustrates example operations 1600 for wireless communication in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. The operations 1600 may be performed, for example, by an MLD (e.g., the non-AP MLD 304).

[0117]

[0141] The operations 1600 may begin at 1602, where a first MLD (e.g., a non-AP MLD 304) may communicate with a second MLD (e.g., an AP MLD 302) via a dynamic link including multiple links between first access points (e.g., APs 306, 308) associated with the second MLD and first wireless stations (e.g., STAs 310, 312) associated with the first MLD. At 1604, the first MLD may send a first instruction to one or more of the first access points to remove links in a dynamic link set between one or more of the first access points and one or more of the first wireless stations. At 1606, the first MLD, after transmitting the first instruction, may communicate with the second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station associated with the first MLD, the direct link being inoperative for the first MLD while one or more of the first wireless stations are communicating.

[0118]

[0142] In an aspect, the first MLD may re-enable links that were dropped from dynamic link sets with access points when the direct links become inoperable. For example, the first MLD may transmit a second instruction to one or more of the first access points to add links between one or more of the first wireless stations and one or more of the second wireless stations when the direct links are inoperable. After transmitting the second instruction, the first MLD may communicate with one or more of the first access points via one or more of the first wireless stations.

[0119]

[0143] In some aspects, the first MLD may communicate with the second MLD via the updated dynamic link set while the direct link is operational. For example, the first MLD may communicate with the second access point associated with the second MLD via a fourth wireless station associated with the first MLD on another link in the dynamic link set while communicating with the second wireless station via a third wireless station. The first access point may include the second access point, and the first wireless station may include the fourth wireless station.

[0120]

[0144] Communication with the second wireless station via the third wireless station may occur when the first wireless station is not communicating. Communication with one or more of the first access points via one or more of the first wireless stations may occur when the third wireless station is not communicating.

[0121]

[0145] 17 is a signaling flow diagram illustrating example signaling for disabling / removing a link to prevent an STR condition according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In an aspect, a dynamic link set may be formed between a first wireless station 120a (e.g., STA1, STA2) and first and second access points 110a, 110b associated with an AP MLD 302. STA1 of the first wireless station 120a may be in an n-STR with the second wireless station 120b, and STA2 of the first wireless station 120a may be in an STR with the second wireless station 120b.

[0122]

[0146] At 1702, STA1 of the first wireless station 120a in the dynamic link set may transmit a first instruction to disable or remove the link between the first wireless station 120a and the first access point 110a. At 1704, the second wireless station 120b may communicate with the third wireless station 120c via the direct link. In some cases, at 1706, STA2 of the first wireless station 120a may receive DL data from the second access point 110b associated with the AP MLD 302 in the dynamic link set while the TDLS link is operational. In some aspects, at 1708, the second wireless station 120b may transmit a TDLS teardown frame to the third wireless station 120c to disable the direct link. At 1710, STA1 of the first wireless station 120a (in the dynamic link set) may transmit a first instruction to enable or add a link between STA1 of the first wireless station 120a and the first access point 110a after the direct link becomes inoperable. At 1712, STA1 of the first wireless station 120a may receive DL data from the first access point 110a, and at 1714, STA2 of the first wireless station 120a may receive DL data from the second access point 110b.

[0123]

[0147] In some cases, during the TDLS discovery and setup process, when an intermediate AP associates with an AP MLD, the discovery request frame (relayed via the AP MLD) may be received on an incorrect link by the receiving non-AP MLD. For example, assume that a wireless station (e.g., a legacy STA or an MLD-associated STA) transmits a discovery request frame on the 5 GHz band, and the AP MLD relays the discovery request frame to the non-AP MLD on the 2.4 GHz band or the 6 GHz band. Such a scenario may be referred to as a request / response crossover in the AP MLD. Similar to the crossover scenario, the initiator / responder non-AP MLD may transmit the TDLS request / response on a link different from the desired link for direct link communication. Such a scenario may be referred to as a link mismatch scenario. It may be unclear to the non-AP MLD which band is intended for the TDLS link between the wireless station and the non-AP MLD, resulting in a failure to set up the TDLS link between the initiator STA and the non-AP MLD.

[0124]

[0148] Some aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for identifying / selecting one or more links between TDLS peer STAs during the TDLS discovery and setup process. An initiating MLD may indicate that the MLD supports TDLS over multiple links and include a Multilink IE in a discovery request frame to identify a specific link for the TDLS session. In aspects, the Multilink IE or its absence in the discovery request frame may indicate whether the initiator is an MLD or a legacy STA. That is, the absence of a Multilink IE in the discovery request frame may indicate that the initiator STA is a legacy STA. If the recipient is a legacy STA, the legacy STA may ignore the Multilink IE and send a discovery response frame directly to the initiator on the same link on which the STA received the request.

[0125]

[0149] If the TDLS initiator is a legacy STA, the legacy STA may identify a link for direct link communication in the discovery request frame. For example, the BSSID field in the link identifier IE may identify the link, or the link identifier IE may include a separate field that identifies the link for direct link communication. The MLD STA may send a discovery response frame directly to the initiator STA on the requested link.

[0126]

[0150] The techniques described herein for identifying / selecting a TDLS link may enable TDLS communication between MLDs and / or between MLDs and legacy STAs, for example, when a response / request crosses over in an AP MLD to a non-AP MLD, or when a response / request is sent by an initiator / responder on a link different from the requested / desired link.

[0127]

[0151] 18 illustrates example operations 1800 for wireless communication in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. The operations 1800 may be performed, for example, by a wireless station (e.g., the STA 120a or the non-AP MLD 304).

[0128]

[0152] The operations 1800 may begin at 1802, where a first wireless station (e.g., STA_3 in FIG. 5B) may transmit a request to a second wireless station (e.g., STA_1 of MLD_S in FIG. 5B) via an access point (e.g., MLD_A in 5B) to discover a peer wireless station (e.g., the second wireless station) for direct link communication between the first wireless station and the second wireless station (e.g., STA_1 of MLD_S in FIG. 5B), the request indicating a link for communication between the first wireless station and the second wireless station. At 1804, the first wireless station may communicate directly with the second wireless station via the link indicated in the request.

[0129]

[0153] In some aspects, the second wireless station may respond to the request via the link indicated in the request. For example, the first wireless station may receive a response from the second wireless station responding to the request via the link indicated in the request. The response may include a TDLS discovery request frame.

[0130]

[0154] In an aspect, the request may include a TDLS discovery request frame. The request may indicate the link via a link identifier associated with the link. That is, a specific value that may represent the link as a link identifier may be associated with the link, and the request may include the link identifier. In an aspect, the request may include a field indicating the link (e.g., a Link Identifier IE as shown in FIG. 6). The BSSID field may include (or be set to) a value indicating the link, and the value may be different from one of the BSSIDs in the wireless network or may be the same as one of the BSSIDs in the wireless network. For example, the BSSID field may be set to the BSSID of the corresponding associated AP of the AP MLD operating on the link over which the TDLS direct link is established. In an aspect, the Link Identifier IE may include a separate field (separate from the field shown in FIG. 6) that indicates / identifies the link. For example, the Link Identifier IE may include a Link Identifier field that provides a unique value associated with the link between the TDLS peer STAs.

[0131]

[0155] In some aspects, the second wireless station may be associated with an MLD (e.g., MLD_S in FIG. 5B). That is, the second wireless station may be an STA entity associated with the MLD. The link indication in the request may enable the second wireless station to set up a direct link on the requested link if an intermediate AP relays the request on a link different from the requested link.

[0132]

[0156] As discussed above, various aspects for identifying / selecting TDLS links may be applied to MLD. An initiator STA of MLD may include a Multilink IE (e.g., as shown in FIG. 19) in a discovery request frame to identify the links required for direct link communication.

[0133]

[0157] In some aspects, if the initiator and responder in a TDLS discovery / setup process are MLDs and the discovery request includes a multilink IE, the responder MLD may send a single discovery response frame. The multilink IE in the request may enable the responder MLD to set up a link directly on the requested link if an intermediate AP relays the request on a link different from the requested link. In aspects, the discovery response frame from the responder MLD may have an indication of the requested link. For example, the BSSID field in the link identifier element may identify the requested link, or a separate field in the link identifier element may identify the requested link.

[0134]

[0158] For example, with respect to operation 400, a first MLD may receive, via an access point, a request to set up a direct link (e.g., the request to set up may include a setup request frame) or a request to discover a peer wireless station (e.g., the first MLD) (e.g., the request to discover may include a discovery request frame), from a first wireless station (which may be a legacy STA or a STA associated with the MLD), where the request may indicate a first link for communication between the first wireless station and a second wireless station. The request may indicate the first link via a link identifier associated with the first link. For example, a BSSID field in a link identifier element of the request may include (or be set to) a value indicating the first link, where the value may be the link identifier. In some aspects, a multilink element (e.g., shown in FIG. 19) indicates one or more links, e.g., a link ID field, including the first link in the request. The multilink element may indicate capability information associated with the first link. An example of the capability information may be whether the link is an n-STR or an STR. Capability information may be included as one or more fields within a per-STA profile subelement.

[0135]

[0159] In aspects, after receiving the discovery request / responder MLD, the initiator / responder MLD may send a TDLS setup request or discovery response frame on the requested link. For example, with respect to operation 400, the first MLD may send a response to the request to the first wireless station via the first link indicated in the request. Communication with the first wireless station may include the first MLD communicating with the first wireless station via the first link indicated in the request. In some aspects, the response to the discovery / setup request may indicate a desired / requested link for direct link communication. The response may include an indication of the first link or a second link different from the first link. A BSSID field in a link identifier element of the request frame may identify the requested link or a different / separate link. For example, the BSSID field in the link identifier element of the response may include (or be set to) a value indicating the first link or the second link. As an example, the BSSID field may be set to the MAC address of an AP on a channel or band associated with the requested link. That is, a particular AP may be communicating on the same channel or band as the requested / desired link for direct link communication, and the MAC address of that particular AP may be used in the BSSID field in the link identifier element to represent the desired / requested link.

[0136]

[0160] In some cases, the MLD may receive the request from the access point over a link different from the link indicated in the request. For example, receiving the request may include receiving the request from the access point over a second link that may be different or separate from the first link. For example, the second link may be on a channel or band different from the channel or band associated with the first link, or the second link may involve a different AP from which the request from the initiator STA was received. In other words, the first link may be associated with a particular channel or band in a frequency domain. The initiator STA may send a request to the first AP over the first channel / band associated with the first link, and the second AP may relay the request over the second channel / band associated with the second link. In some aspects, if the responder MLD is not operating on the requested link or receives the request over a link different from the requested link, the responder MLD may not respond to the discovery request frame. For example, the first MLD may ignore the request based on the request being received on a second link, e.g., a different link, a different channel, or a different band than the first link requested.

[0137]

[0161] In some aspects, the initiator MLD may receive a setup response over a link different from the requested one, and various indications of the requested link may enable the initiator MLD to complete the direct link setup. For example, with respect to operation 400, a first MLD may receive, via an access point, a response (e.g., a setup response frame) from a first wireless station responding to a request to set up a direct link, the request indicating a first link for communication between the first wireless station and one or more second wireless stations, and the response being received over a second link that may be different from the first link. The indication of the first link may include a BSSID field in a link identifier element or a link ID in a multilink element. The first MLD may identify the first link in the response, and communication with the first wireless station may include the first MLD communicating with the first wireless station over the first link indicated in the response.

[0138]

[0162] In some aspects, the initiator / responder MLD may transmit a setup request / response on a link different from the desired / requested link, and various indications of the requested link may enable the receiving peer MLD to complete the direct link setup. For example, with respect to operation 400, the first MLD may transmit a request (e.g., a setup request frame) or a response to the request (e.g., a setup response frame) to set up a direct link to the first wireless station via the access point, where the request or response indicates a first link for communication between the first wireless station and one or more second wireless stations, and the request or response may be transmitted via the second link. The indication in the response or request may enable the receiving peer MLD to identify the desired / requested link for direct link communication. The indication of the first link may include a BSSID field in a link identifier element or a link ID in a multilink element. Communication with the first wireless station may include the first MLD communicating with the first wireless station via the first link indicated in the response or request.

[0139]

[0163] In some aspects, the initiator non-AP MLD may send two or more discovery request frames with the BSSID field in the link identifier element set to the BSSID of the AP on each link with an operational link. As an example, the initiator non-AP MLD may transmit two or more TDLS discovery request frames, each having a different BSSID value in the BSSID field link identifier element (e.g., one of the BSSIDs corresponding to the AP of the AP MLD used to establish the link). Sending multiple discovery request frames to separate links may enable the initiating non-AP MLD to find at least one link in common with the responding STA / MLD and establish a TDLS session with that common link. For example, with respect to operation 400, a first MLD may transmit, via an access point, a first request to one of the third wireless stations associated with the second MLD to discover peer wireless stations for a direct link, the first request indicating a first link for communication between one of the third wireless stations and one of the second wireless stations associated with the first MLD. After sending the first request, the first MLD may wait a certain duration and determine that the duration has elapsed without receiving a response to the first request. The first MLD may transmit, via the access point, a second request to another of the third wireless stations associated with the second MLD to discover peer wireless stations for a direct link, the second request indicating a second link for communication between the other of the third wireless stations and another of the second wireless stations associated with the first MLD. At 406, communicating with the first wireless station may include the first MLD communicating with the first wireless station over the second link.

[0140]

[0164] In some aspects, a responder MLD may send multiple discovery responses to a request for a single link. For example, if the responder MLD is operating on a requested link, it may send a discovery response frame on that link and an unsolicited discovery response on other links that may or may not already be set up for multilink communication. Links that are already set up may be referred to as overlapping links. Assume that MLD1 and MLD2 have performed multilink (ML) setup on different sets of links, such that MLD1 and MLD2 perform ML setup for the 5 and 6 GHz bands and MLD2 has a 2.4 GHz band for ML communication. In response to a discovery request frame on the 5 GHz band, MLD2 may send a discovery response frame on the 5 GHz band and an unsolicited response on the 2.4 and 6 GHz bands. The initiator STA / MLD (e.g., MLD1) may select one or more links (including overlapping links) based on certain criteria and send a TDLS setup frame using the link selection. In the above example, because MLD1 is inoperable on the 2.4 GHz band, MLD1 selects a link from among the 5 and 6 GHz bands and does not receive that particular unsolicited discovery response frame. In an aspect, the criteria for link selection may be based on the signal quality associated with the discovery response frame, which may include the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), signal-to-noise-plus-distortion ratio (SNDR), and / or received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of the discovery response frame. The initiator STA may select two or more overlapping links for performing multi-link TDLS.

[0141]

[0165] As an example of a responder MLD sending multiple discovery responses, with respect to operation 400, a first MLD may send a first response responding to the request directly to a first wireless station associated with a second MLD via a first link indicated in the request. The first MLD may send a second response responding to the request directly to one or more third wireless stations associated with the second MLD via a second link. The first MLD may communicate with one or more third wireless stations via the second link indicated in the second response, and communication with the first wireless station may include the first MLD communicating with the first wireless station via the first link indicated in the first response.

[0142]

[0166] As an example of an initiator MLD receiving multiple discovery responses, with respect to operation 400, the first MLD may receive a discovery response frame from a third wireless station via one or more of the multiple links. The first MLD may select a link from among the multiple links between the second wireless station and the third wireless station. The link selection may be based on signal quality of the discovery response frame, where the signal quality may include an SNR, SINR, SNDR, or RSSI of the discovery response frame. The first MLD may transmit a request to one or more of the third wireless stations to set up a direct link on the selected link. In an aspect, the selected link may include one or more of the multiple links.

[0143]

[0167] With respect to operations 400, various aspects described herein may be performed at 402 in which a first MLD receives or transmits a discovery request / response frame or a setup request / response frame.

[0144]

[0168] 19 is a diagram illustrating an example multilink information element format according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As shown, the multilink information element may include a link identifier (ID) field associated with a per-STA profile subelement. In an aspect, the per-STA subelements may be populated for all or some of the STAs associated with the MLD, and each per-STA subelement may identify a link for communication (e.g., direct link communication) via a link identifier field, which may be set to a unique value for the particular link. The link ID field may be used in a discovery request frame to indicate one or more requested links for direct link communication.

[0145]

[0169] 20 is a signaling flow diagram illustrating example signaling of a discovery request crossover according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In 2002, STA3 of the second MLD 304b (e.g., non-AP MLD) may transmit a discovery request frame to the AP 110a of the AP MLD 302, where the discovery request frame indicates a link for communication between the second wireless station 120b and STA3. For example, the discovery request frame may include a multilink element or a link identifier element that identifies a link for direct link communication as described herein. In 2004, the AP 110b may relay the discovery request frame to the first wireless station 120a of the first MLD 304a. In 2006, the first MLD 304a may identify a requested link in a discovery request frame for direct link communication with one of the third wireless stations 120c (e.g., STA3), and the second wireless station 120b of the first MLD 304a may transmit a discovery response frame to STA3 of the third wireless station 120c via the requested link indicated in the discovery request. In 2008, the second wireless station 120b may communicate directly with STA3 via the requested link.

[0146]

[0170] In some cases, in 2010, the first wireless station 120a may also transmit a discovery response frame to STA4 of the third wireless station 120c to indicate that multiple links may be set up for a direct link. The unsolicited discovery response frame in 2010 may be sent over an overlapping link set up for multi-link communication. That is, multi-link may already be set up between the first wireless station 120a and the AP MLD 302 when the first wireless station 120a sends the discovery response frame in 2010. In 2012, the first wireless station 120a may communicate directly with STA4 over the link indicated in the discovery response frame in 2010. In some cases, the communications in 2008 and 2012 may be simultaneous with each other and / or aggregated to facilitate desired throughput and latency between the MLDs 304a and 304b.

[0147]

[0171] While the example shown in FIG. 20 is described herein with respect to establishing a direct link between MLDs 304a and 304b and crossover of discovery request frames for ease of understanding, aspects of the present disclosure may also apply to establishing a direct link between an MLD and a legacy station, and to handling crossover of other TDLS frames (e.g., discovery response frames, setup request frames, or setup response frames) at an AP, or link misalignment between MLD peers. Various aspects described herein with respect to handling crossover of discovery request frames may also apply to crossover / misalignment of discovery response frames, setup request frames, or setup response frames. For example, each of these frames may include an indication of a requested / desired link for direct link communication if the frame is relayed to a peer STA of the MLD on a link different from the requested / desired link. The indication may include, for example, a BSSID field in a link identifier element or a link ID field in a multilink element.

[0148]

[0172] Although various aspects are described in terms of an MLD communicating with, transmitting frames to, or receiving frames from an STA / AP for ease of understanding, such aspects of the present disclosure may include an STA / AP entity (e.g., STA 310, 312) associated with the MLD communicating with, transmitting frames to, or receiving frames from the STA / AP.

[0149]

[0173] 21 illustrates a communications device (e.g., a non-AP MLD or STA) 2100 that may include various components (e.g., corresponding to means-plus-function components) configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as those illustrated in FIGS. 4, 10, 13, 15, 16, and 18. The communications device 2100 includes a processing system 2102 coupled to a transceiver 2108 (e.g., a transmitter and / or a receiver). The transceiver 2108 is configured to transmit and receive signals for the communications device 2100 via an antenna 2110, such as various signals as described herein. The processing system 2102 may be configured to perform processing functions for the communications device 2100, including processing signals to be received and / or transmitted by the communications device 2100.

[0150]

[0174] The processing system 2102 includes a processor 2104 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 2112 via a bus 2106. In some aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 2112 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the processor 2104, cause the processor 2104 to perform the operations shown in FIGS. 4, 10, 13, 15, 16, and 18, or other operations to perform various techniques described herein for handling a TDLS in an MLO state. In some aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 2112 stores code 2114 for outputting for transmission, code 2116 for acquiring, and / or code 2118 for communicating. In some aspects, the processing system 2102 has circuitry 2122 configured to implement the code stored in the computer-readable medium / memory 2112. In some aspects, the circuit 2122 is coupled to the processor 2104 and / or the computer-readable medium / memory 2112 via the bus 2106. For example, the circuit 2122 includes a circuit 2124 for outputting for transmission, a circuit 2126 for acquiring, and / or a circuit 2128 for communicating.

[0151]

[0175] 22 shows a communications device (e.g., AP MLD or AP) 2200 that may include various components (e.g., corresponding to means-plus-function components) configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as those shown in FIGS. 8 and 11. The communications device 2200 includes a processing system 2202 coupled to a transceiver 2208 (e.g., a transmitter and / or a receiver). The transceiver 2208 is configured to transmit and receive signals for the communications device 2200 via an antenna 2210, such as various signals as described herein. The processing system 2202 may be configured to perform processing functions for the communications device 2200, including processing signals to be received and / or transmitted by the communications device 2200.

[0152]

[0176] The processing system 2202 includes a processor 2204 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 2212 via a bus 2206. In some aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 2212 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the processor 2204, cause the processor 2204 to perform the operations shown in FIGS. 8 and 11 or other operations to perform various techniques described herein for handling a TDLS in an MLO state. In some aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 2212 stores code 2214 for acquiring, code 2216 for outputting for transmission, and / or code 2218 for relaying. In some aspects, the processing system 2202 has circuitry 2222 configured to implement the code stored in the computer-readable medium / memory 2212. In some aspects, the circuitry 2222 is coupled to the processor 2204 and / or the computer-readable medium / memory 2212 via the bus 2206. For example, the circuit 2222 includes a circuit 2224 for acquiring, a circuit 2226 for outputting for transmission, and / or a circuit 2228 for relaying.

[0153] Example Aspects

[0177] In addition to the various aspects described above, certain combinations of aspects are within the scope of the present disclosure, some of which are detailed below.

[0154]

[0178] Aspect 1: A method of wireless communication by a first multi-link device (MLD), the method including: transmitting, via a direct link between the first wireless station and one or more second wireless stations associated with the first MLD, a data frame to the first wireless station, the data frame including a transmitter address field set to an address of the first MLD, the address being one of a plurality of addresses associated with the first MLD, the second wireless station being associated with the first MLD for multi-link operation; and communicating with the first wireless station via the direct link.

[0155]

[0179] Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, wherein the address of the first MLD includes a multilink logical medium access control (MAC) address, and the plurality of addresses includes the multilink logical MAC address and a MAC address associated with each of the second wireless stations.

[0156]

[0180] Aspect 3: The method of aspect 1 or 2, further comprising: transmitting, via the access point, a request to the first wireless station to discover peer wireless stations for a direct link, the request including a link identifier element having a direct link initiator address set as the address of the MLD.

[0157]

[0181] Aspect 4: The method of any one of aspects 1 to 3, further comprising: transmitting, via the access point, a request to set up a direct link to the first wireless station, the request including a link identifier element having a direct link initiator address set as an address of the first MLD.

[0158]

[0182] Aspect 5: The method of any one of aspects 1 to 4, further comprising: transmitting a response to the first wireless station in response to the request to discover peer wireless stations for a direct link, the response including a link identifier element having a direct link responder address set as the address of the MLD.

[0159]

[0183] Aspect 6: The method of any one of aspects 1 to 5, further comprising: transmitting, via the access point, a response to the first wireless station responsive to the request to set up the direct link, the response including a link identifier element having a direct link responder address set as the address of the MLD.

[0160]

[0184] Aspect 7: The method of any one of aspects 1 to 6, further comprising transmitting a discovery response to the first wireless station, the discovery response including a transmitter address field set to an address of the first MLD.

[0161]

[0185] Aspect 8: The method of aspect 7, further including receiving, via the access point, a request from a first wireless station to discover a peer wireless station for a direct link, wherein transmitting a discovery response responds to the request.

[0162]

[0186] Aspect 9: The method of any one of aspects 1 to 8, wherein communicating with the first wireless station over the direct link includes receiving, from the first wireless station over the direct link, a frame including a receiver address field set to an address of the first MLD.

[0163]

[0187] Aspect 10: The method of any one of aspects 1 to 9, further comprising: based on the direct link being operable, transmitting a first frame to the wireless node via one of the second wireless stations in a direction away from the first wireless station, and wherein communication with the first wireless station includes transmitting a second frame to the first wireless station via another one of the second wireless stations in a direction toward the first wireless station.

[0164]

[0188] Aspect 11: The method of any one of aspects 1 to 10, further including generating an encryption key based at least in part on the address of the first MLD and sending an indication of the encryption key to the first wireless station, wherein communicating with the first wireless station includes communicating encrypted frames with the first wireless station based on the encryption key.

[0165]

[0189] Aspect 12: The method of any one of aspects 1 to 11, wherein the direct link is a tunneled direct link.

[0166]

[0190] Aspect 13: The method of any one of aspects 1 to 12, wherein the data frame includes a MAC header that includes a transmitter address field.

[0167]

[0191] Aspect 14: The method of any one of aspects 1 to 13, wherein the first wireless station is associated with a second MLD for multi-link communication with the first MLD, and the second MLD further has two or more third wireless stations, including the first wireless station, associated with the first MLD for multi-link communication with the first MLD.

[0168]

[0192] Aspect 15: The method of aspect 14, wherein the direct link includes a plurality of tunneled direct link sessions, each of the plurality of tunneled direct link sessions being associated with a separate link between one of the second wireless stations and one of the third wireless stations.

[0169]

[0193] Aspect 16: The method of aspect 14, wherein the direct link comprises a single tunneled direct link session, and wherein multiple links between the second wireless station and the third wireless station are associated with the single tunneled direct link session.

[0170]

[0194] Aspect 17: The method of any one of aspects 1 to 16, further comprising: sending an instruction to the first wireless station to set up the direct link as a multi-link direct link, wherein communicating with the first wireless station over the direct link comprises communicating with the first wireless station over one or more links of the multi-link direct link based on the instruction.

[0171]

[0195] Aspect 18: The method of aspect 17, wherein the instruction includes at least one of a Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID) field containing a value indicating to set up the direct link as a multilink direct link, or a multilink element in the direct link discovery frame or the direct link setup frame.

[0172]

[0196] Aspect 19: The method of aspect 18, wherein the value includes a link identifier associated with one or more links.

[0173]

[0197] Aspect 20: The method of aspect 18, wherein the multilink element includes a first indication having an identifier of a direct link in a station profile subelement associated with at least one of the second wireless stations, or a second indication of one or more capabilities of the second wireless station associated with a link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station.

[0174]

[0198] Aspect 21: The method of any one of aspects 1 to 20, further including receiving, via the access point, a request from a first wireless station to set up a direct link or a request to discover a peer wireless station for a direct link, the request indicating a first link for communication between the first wireless station and one or more second wireless stations.

[0175]

[0199] Aspect 22: The method of aspect 21, wherein the request indicates the first link via a link identifier associated with the first link.

[0176]

[0200] Aspect 23: The method of aspect 21 or 22, wherein a Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID) field in a link identifier element of the request includes a value that indicates the first link.

[0177]

[0201] Aspect 24: The method of aspect 21 or 22, wherein the multilink element indicates the first link in the request.

[0178]

[0202] Aspect 25: The method of aspect 24, wherein the multilink element further indicates capability information associated with the first link.

[0179]

[0203] Aspect 26: The method of aspect 21, further comprising: transmitting a response to the request to the first wireless station over the first link indicated in the request, the response responding to the request, and wherein communicating with the first wireless station comprises communicating with the first wireless station over the first link indicated in the request.

[0180]

[0204] Aspect 27: The method of aspect 26, wherein the response includes an indication of the first link.

[0181]

[0205] Aspect 28: The method of aspect 27, wherein a BSSID field in a link identifier element of the response includes a value indicating the first link.

[0182]

[0206] Aspect 29: The method of any one of aspects 21 to 28, wherein receiving the request includes receiving the request from an access point over the second link.

[0183]

[0207] Aspect 30: The method of aspect 29, further comprising: ignoring the request based on the first link being inoperable and based on the request being received on the second link.

[0184]

[0208] Aspect 31: The method of any one of aspects 1 to 30, further comprising receiving, via the access point, a response from the first wireless station responsive to the request to set up a direct link, the request indicating a first link for communication between the first wireless station and one or more second wireless stations, the response being received via the second link, and communication with the first wireless station comprising communicating with the first wireless station via the first link indicated in the response.

[0185]

[0209] Aspect 32: The method of any one of aspects 1 to 31, further comprising: transmitting, via the access point, a request to set up a direct link or a response responsive to the request to the first wireless station, wherein the request or response indicates a first link for communication between the first wireless station and one or more second wireless stations, the request or response being transmitted via the second link, and communication with the first wireless station comprising communicating with the first wireless station via the first link indicated in the response or request.

[0186]

[0210] Aspect 33: The method of aspect 21, further including: directly transmitting a first response to the request to a first wireless station associated with the second MLD via a first link indicated in the request; directly transmitting a second response to the request to one or more third wireless stations associated with the second MLD via a second link; and communicating with the one or more third wireless stations via the second link, wherein communicating with the first wireless station includes communicating with the first wireless station via the first link indicated in the request.

[0187]

[0211] Aspect 34: The method of aspect 14, further including: selecting at least one link from among a plurality of links between a second wireless station associated with the first MLD and a third wireless station associated with the second MLD; and transmitting a request to one or more of the third wireless stations associated with the second MLD to set up a direct link on the selected at least one link.

[0188]

[0212] Aspect 35: The method of aspect 34, further comprising receiving a discovery response frame from a third wireless station associated with the second MLD via one or more of the plurality of links, wherein selection of the at least one link is based on a signal quality associated with the discovery response frame.

[0189]

[0213] Embodiment 36: The method of embodiment 34 or 35, wherein the selected at least one link includes two or more of the plurality of links.

[0190]

[0214] Aspect 37: The method of aspect 14, further including: transmitting, via the access point, a first request to discover peer wireless stations for a direct link to one of the third wireless stations associated with the second MLD, the first request indicating a first link for communication between the one of the third wireless stations and one of the second wireless stations associated with the first MLD; determining that a duration has elapsed without receiving a response to the first request; and transmitting, via the access point, based on the determination, a second request to discover peer wireless stations for a direct link to another one of the third wireless stations associated with the second MLD, the second request indicating a second link for communication between the other one of the third wireless stations and another one of the second wireless stations associated with the first MLD.

[0191]

[0215] Aspect 38: A method of wireless communication by a multi-link device (MLD), the method including: communicating with a first wireless station via a direct link between the first wireless station and a second wireless station, the direct link being inoperative for the MLD while the second wireless station is associated with the MLD and a third wireless station associated with the MLD is communicating; receiving a request to send (RTS) frame from an access point requesting to send data to the third wireless station associated with the MLD; and taking one or more actions in response to the RTS frame.

[0192]

[0216] Aspect 39: The method of aspect 38, wherein taking one or more actions includes transmitting a clear to send (CTS) frame to the access point indicating that the access point is free to transmit data to the MLD, and receiving data from the access point via the third wireless station based on the transmission of the CTS frame.

[0193]

[0217] Aspect 40: The method of aspect 38, wherein taking one or more actions includes ignoring the RTS frame if the second wireless station is communicating with the first wireless station.

[0194]

[0218] Aspect 41: The method of aspect 39 or 40, further comprising, prior to transmission from the access point to the MLD, transmitting a first instruction to the access point to enable transmission of the RTS frame.

[0195]

[0219] Aspect 42: The method of any one of aspects 38 to 41, further comprising transmitting a second instruction to the access point to disable transmission of the RTS frame prior to transmission from the access point to the MLD.

[0196]

[0220] Aspect 43: The method of aspect 41 or 42, wherein the first or second indication is transmitted via a control field of a MAC frame.

[0197]

[0221] Aspect 44: The method of aspect 43, wherein the MAC frame comprises a public action frame.

[0198]

[0222] Aspect 45: A method of wireless communication by an access point, the method including, prior to a transmission from the access point to a multi-link device (MLD), receiving a first indication from the MLD to enable transmission of a request to send (RTS) frame, transmitting an RTS frame to the MLD based on the first indication, requesting one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD to send data, and transmitting data to the one or more wireless stations if a clear to send (CTS) frame is received by the access point from the MLD.

[0199]

[0223] Aspect 46: The method of aspect 45, further comprising receiving a second instruction from the MLD to disable transmission of the RTS frame prior to transmission from the access point to the MLD.

[0200]

[0224] Aspect 47: The method of aspect 45 or 46, wherein the first or second indication is received via a control field of a MAC frame.

[0201]

[0225] Aspect 48: The method of aspect 47, wherein the MAC frame comprises a public action frame.

[0202]

[0226] Aspect 49: A method of wireless communication by a multi-link device (MLD), the method including: transmitting a first indication to an access point that a first wireless station associated with the MLD is in a power save mode; and, after transmitting the first indication, communicating with a second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station, wherein the direct link is inoperative for the MLD while the third wireless station is associated with the MLD and the first wireless station is communicating.

[0203]

[0227] Aspect 50: The method of aspect 49, further comprising, after terminating communication with the second wireless station, sending a second indication to the access point that the first wireless station is in an active mode.

[0204]

[0228] Aspect 51: The method of aspect 50, further comprising, after transmitting the second instruction, communicating with the access point via the first wireless station.

[0205]

[0229] Aspect 52: The method of any one of aspects 49 to 51, wherein communication with the second wireless station via the third wireless station occurs when the first wireless station is not communicating, or communication with the access point via the first wireless station occurs when the third wireless station is not communicating.

[0206]

[0230] Aspect 53: A method of wireless communication by a multi-link device (MLD), the method including: transmitting an instruction to an access point to disable a link to a first wireless station associated with the MLD; and, after transmitting the instruction, communicating with a second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station, wherein the third wireless station is associated with the MLD and the direct link is inoperable for the MLD while the first wireless station is communicating.

[0207]

[0231] Aspect 54: The method of aspect 53, wherein communication with the second wireless station via the third wireless station occurs when the first wireless station is not communicating.

[0208]

[0232] Aspect 55: The method of aspect 53 or 54, wherein the instruction is transmitted via a control field of a medium access control (MAC) frame.

[0209]

[0233] Aspect 56: The method of aspect 55, wherein the MAC frame comprises a public action frame.

[0210]

[0234] Aspect 57: A method of wireless communication by a first multi-link device (MLD), the method including: communicating with the second MLD via a dynamic link set including a plurality of links between a first access point associated with the second MLD and a first wireless station associated with the first MLD; transmitting a first instruction to one or more of the first access points to remove links in the dynamic link set between one or more of the first access points and one or more of the first wireless stations; and after transmitting the first instruction, communicating with the second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station associated with the first MLD, wherein the direct link is inoperable for the first MLD while the one or more of the first wireless stations are communicating.

[0211]

[0235] Aspect 58: The method of aspect 57, further including, when the direct link is inoperable, sending a second instruction to one or more of the first access points to add a link between one or more of the first wireless stations and one or more of the second wireless stations.

[0212]

[0236] Aspect 59: The method of aspect 58, further including, after transmitting the second instruction, communicating with one or more of the first access points via one or more of the first wireless stations, and while communicating with the second wireless stations, communicating with a second access point associated with the second MLD via a fourth wireless station associated with the first MLD on another link in the dynamic link set, wherein the first access point comprises the second access point and the first wireless station comprises the fourth wireless station.

[0213]

[0237] Aspect 60: The method of any one of aspects 57 to 59, wherein communication with the second wireless station via the third wireless station occurs when the first wireless station is not communicating, or communication with one or more of the first access points via one or more of the first wireless stations occurs when the third wireless station is not communicating.

[0214]

[0238] Aspect 61: A method of wireless communication by a first multi-link device (MLD), the method including: receiving, via a first access point associated with the first MLD, one or more first frames from the second MLD related to establishing a direct link between the second MLD and a first wireless station, the first wireless station not supporting multi-link operation; and relaying, via the first access point, the one or more first frames to the first wireless station, the one or more first frames including a source address field set to an address of the second wireless station associated with the second MLD.

[0215]

[0239] Aspect 62: The method of aspect 61, further comprising: mapping an address of the second MLD to an address of the second wireless station based on the first wireless station not supporting multi-link operation, wherein transmission of the one or more first frames is based on the mapping between the address of the second MLD and the address of the second wireless station.

[0216]

[0240] Aspect 63: The method of aspect 62, further including receiving, via the access point, one or more second frames from the first wireless station related to establishing a direct link; and relaying the one or more second frames to the second MLD, wherein the one or more second frames include a destination address field set to an address of the second wireless station.

[0217]

[0241] Aspect 64: The method of aspect 63, further including: receiving, via a second access point associated with the first MLD, one or more third frames from a third wireless station associated with the second MLD related to establishing a direct link between the second MLD and the first wireless station, the one or more first frames including a transmitter address field set to an address of the third wireless station; and relaying, via the first access point, the one or more third frames to the first wireless station, the one or more third frames including a source address field set to an address of the second wireless station, wherein the receiving of the one or more first frames includes receiving the one or more first frames from the second wireless station associated with the second MLD.

[0218]

[0242] Aspect 65: A method of wireless communication by a first wireless station, the method including: transmitting, via an access point, a request to the second wireless station to discover a second wireless station for direct link communication between the first wireless station and the second wireless station, the request indicating a link for communication between the first wireless station and the second wireless station; and communicating directly with the second wireless station via the link indicated in the request.

[0219]

[0243] Aspect 66: The method of aspect 65, further comprising receiving a response from the second wireless station responding to the request via the link indicated in the request.

[0220]

[0244] Aspect 67: The method of aspect 65 or 66, wherein the request includes a discovery request frame.

[0221]

[0245] Aspect 68: The method of any one of aspects 65 to 67, wherein a second wireless station is associated with the multi-link device.

[0222]

[0246] Aspect 69: The method of aspects 65 to 68, wherein the request indicates the link via a link identifier associated with the link.

[0223]

[0247] Aspect 70: The method of any one of aspects 65 to 69, wherein a Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID) field in a link identifier element of the request includes a value indicative of the link.

[0224]

[0248] Aspect 71: A first multi-link device (MLD), the first multi-link device including a transceiver configured to: transmit a data frame to the first wireless station via a direct link between the first wireless station and one or more second wireless stations associated with the first MLD, the data frame including a transmitter address field set to an address of the first MLD, the address being one of a plurality of addresses associated with the first MLD; and communicate with the first wireless station via the direct link, the second wireless station being associated with the first MLD for multi-link operation.

[0225]

[0249] Aspect 72: A multi-link device (MLD), comprising: a transceiver configured to: communicate with a first wireless station via a direct link between the first wireless station and a second wireless station, wherein the direct link is inoperative for the MLD while the second wireless station is associated with the MLD and a third wireless station associated with the MLD is communicating; receive a request to send (RTS) frame from an access point requesting to send data to the third wireless station associated with the MLD; and take one or more actions in response to the RTS frame.

[0226]

[0250] Aspect 73: A multi-link device (MLD) including a transceiver configured to: transmit a first indication to an access point that a first wireless station associated with the MLD is in a power save mode; and, after transmitting the first indication, communicate with a second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station, wherein the direct link is inoperative for the MLD while the third wireless station is associated with the MLD and the first wireless station is communicating.

[0227]

[0251] Aspect 74: A multi-link device (MLD) including a transceiver configured to: transmit an instruction to an access point to disable a link to a first wireless station associated with the MLD; and, after transmitting the instruction, communicate with a second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station, wherein the third wireless station is associated with the MLD and the direct link is inoperable for the MLD while the first wireless station is communicating.

[0228]

[0252] Aspect 75: A first multi-link device (MLD), comprising: a transceiver configured to: communicate with a second MLD via a dynamic link set including a plurality of links between a first access point associated with the second MLD and a first wireless station associated with the first MLD; transmit a first instruction to one or more of the first access points to remove links in the dynamic link set between one or more of the first access points and one or more of the first wireless stations; and, after transmitting the first instruction, communicate with the second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station associated with the first MLD, wherein the direct link is inoperable for the first MLD while the one or more of the first wireless stations are communicating.

[0229]

[0253] Aspect 76: A first multi-link device (MLD) including: a receiver configured to receive, from a second MLD via a first access point associated with the first MLD, one or more first frames related to establishing a direct link between the second MLD and a first wireless station, wherein the first wireless station does not support multi-link operation; and a processing system configured to relay, via the first access point, the one or more first frames to the first wireless station, wherein the one or more first frames include a source address field set to an address of a second wireless station associated with the second MLD.

[0230]

[0254] Aspect 77: A first wireless station, the first wireless station including a transceiver configured to: transmit, via an access point, a request to a second wireless station to discover a second wireless station for direct link communication between the first wireless station and the second wireless station, the request indicating a link for communication between the first wireless station and the second wireless station; and communicate directly with the second wireless station via the link indicated in the request.

[0231]

[0255] Aspect 78: A first multi-link device (MLD), comprising: means for transmitting a data frame to a first wireless station via a direct link between the first wireless station and one or more second wireless stations associated with the first MLD, the data frame including a transmitter address field set to an address of the first MLD, the address being one of a plurality of addresses associated with the first MLD, the second wireless station being associated with the first MLD for multi-link operation; and means for communicating with the first wireless station via the direct link.

[0232]

[0256] Aspect 79: A multi-link device (MLD), comprising: means for communicating with a first wireless station via a direct link between the first wireless station and a second wireless station, wherein the direct link is inoperative for the MLD while the second wireless station is associated with the MLD and a third wireless station associated with the MLD is communicating; means for receiving a request to send (RTS) frame from an access point requesting to send data to the third wireless station associated with the MLD; and means for taking one or more actions in response to the RTS frame.

[0233]

[0257] Aspect 80: A multi-link device (MLD), comprising: means for transmitting a first indication to an access point that a first wireless station associated with the MLD is in a power save mode; and means for communicating with a second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station after transmitting the first indication, wherein the direct link is inoperative for the MLD while the third wireless station is associated with the MLD and the first wireless station is communicating.

[0234]

[0258] Aspect 81: A multi-link device (MLD), comprising: means for transmitting an instruction to an access point to disable a link for a first wireless station associated with the MLD; and means for communicating with a second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station after transmitting the instruction, wherein the third wireless station is associated with the MLD and the direct link is inoperable for the MLD while the first wireless station is communicating.

[0235]

[0259] Aspect 82: A first multi-link device (MLD), comprising: means for communicating with a second MLD via a dynamic link set including a plurality of links between a first access point associated with the second MLD and a first wireless station associated with the first MLD; means for transmitting a first instruction to one or more of the first access points to remove links in the dynamic link set between one or more of the first access points and one or more of the first wireless stations; and means for communicating with the second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station associated with the first MLD after transmitting the first instruction, wherein the direct link is inoperable for the first MLD while the one or more of the first wireless stations are communicating.

[0236]

[0260] Aspect 83: A first multi-link device (MLD), comprising: means for receiving from a second MLD via a first access point associated with the first MLD one or more first frames related to establishing a direct link between the second MLD and a first wireless station, the first wireless station not supporting multi-link operation; and means for relaying, via the first access point, the one or more first frames to the first wireless station, the one or more first frames including a source address field set to an address of a second wireless station associated with the second MLD.

[0237]

[0261] Aspect 84: A first wireless station, comprising: means for transmitting, via an access point, a request to a second wireless station to discover a second wireless station for direct link communication between the first wireless station and the second wireless station, the request indicating a link for communication between the first wireless station and the second wireless station; and means for directly communicating with the second wireless station via the link indicated in the request.

[0238]

[0262] Aspect 85: An apparatus for wireless communication by a first multi-link device (MLD), the apparatus including: an interface configured to output a data frame including a transmitter address field set to an address of the first MLD, the address being one of a plurality of addresses associated with the first MLD, for transmission to the first wireless station over a direct link between the first wireless station and one or more second wireless stations associated with the first MLD, the second wireless station being associated with the first MLD for multi-link operation; and a processing system configured to communicate with the first wireless station over the direct link.

[0239]

[0263] Aspect 86: An apparatus for wireless communication with a multi-link device (MLD), comprising: a processing system configured to communicate with a first wireless station via a direct link between the first wireless station and a second wireless station, wherein the direct link is inoperative for the MLD while the second wireless station is associated with the MLD and a third wireless station associated with the MLD is communicating; and an interface configured to obtain a request to send (RTS) frame from an access point requesting to send data to the third wireless station associated with the MLD, wherein the processing system is further configured to take one or more actions in response to the RTS frame.

[0240]

[0264] Aspect 87: An apparatus for wireless communication through a multi-link device (MLD), the apparatus including: an interface configured to output, for transmission to an access point, a first indication that a first wireless station associated with the MLD is in a power save mode; and a processing system configured to, after transmission of the first indication, communicate with a second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station, wherein the third wireless station is associated with the MLD and the direct link is inoperable for the MLD while the first wireless station is communicating.

[0241]

[0265] Aspect 88: An apparatus for wireless communication through a multi-link device (MLD), the apparatus including: an interface configured to output, for transmission to an access point, an instruction to disable a link to a first wireless station associated with the MLD; and a processing system configured to, after transmission of the instruction, communicate with a second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station, wherein the third wireless station is associated with the MLD and the direct link is inoperable for the MLD while the first wireless station is communicating.

[0242]

[0266] Aspect 89: A first multi-link device (MLD), comprising: a processing system configured to communicate with a second MLD via a dynamic link set including a plurality of links between a first access point associated with the second MLD and a first wireless station associated with the first MLD; and an interface configured to output a first instruction to remove links in the dynamic link set between one or more of the first access points and one or more of the first wireless stations for transmission to the one or more of the first access points, wherein the processing system is further configured to, after transmitting the first instruction, communicate with the second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station associated with the first MLD, wherein the direct link is inoperable for the first MLD while the one or more of the first wireless stations are communicating.

[0243]

[0267] Aspect 90: A first multi-link device (MLD) including: an interface configured to obtain, from a second MLD via a first access point associated with the first MLD, one or more first frames related to establishing a direct link between the second MLD and a first wireless station, wherein the first wireless station does not support multi-link operation; and a processing system configured to relay, via the first access point, the one or more first frames to the first wireless station, wherein the one or more first frames include a source address field set to an address of a second wireless station associated with the second MLD.

[0244]

[0268] Aspect 91: A first wireless station including: an interface configured to output a request to discover a second wireless station for direct link communication between the first wireless station and the second wireless station, for transmission to the second wireless station via an access point, the request indicating a link for communication between the first wireless station and the second wireless station; and a processing system configured to communicate directly with the second wireless station via the link indicated in the request.

[0245]

[0269] Aspect 92: A computer-readable medium for wireless communication by a first multi-link device (MLD), the computer-readable medium comprising: code executable to output a data frame including a transmitter address field set to an address of the first MLD, the address being one of a plurality of addresses associated with the first MLD, for transmission to the first wireless station over a direct link between the first wireless station and one or more second wireless stations associated with the first MLD, the second wireless station being associated with the first MLD for multi-link operation; and code executable to communicate with the first wireless station over the direct link.

[0246]

[0270] Aspect 93: A computer-readable medium for wireless communication by a multi-link device (MLD), comprising: code executable for communicating with a first wireless station via a direct link between the first wireless station and a second wireless station, wherein the direct link is inoperable for the MLD while the second wireless station is associated with the MLD and a third wireless station associated with the MLD is communicating; code executable for obtaining a request to send (RTS) frame from an access point requesting to send data to the third wireless station associated with the MLD; and code executable for taking one or more actions in response to the RTS frame.

[0247]

[0271] Aspect 94: A computer-readable medium for wireless communication by a multi-link device (MLD), comprising: executable code for outputting, for transmission to an access point, a first indication that a first wireless station associated with the MLD is in a power save mode; executable code for, after transmission of the first indication, communicating with the second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station, wherein the third wireless station is associated with the MLD and the direct link is inoperable for the MLD while the first wireless station is communicating.

[0248]

[0272] Aspect 95: A computer-readable medium for wireless communication by a multi-link device (MLD), comprising: executable code for outputting, for transmission to an access point, an instruction to disable a link to a first wireless station associated with the MLD; and executable code for, after transmitting the instruction, communicating with the second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station, wherein the direct link is inoperable for the MLD while the third wireless station is associated with the MLD and the first wireless station is communicating.

[0249]

[0273] Aspect 96: A computer-readable medium for wireless communication by a first multi-link device (MLD), comprising: code executable to communicate with the second MLD via a dynamic link set including a plurality of links between a first access point associated with the second MLD and a first wireless station associated with the first MLD; code executable to output a first instruction to remove links in the dynamic link set between one or more of the first access points and one or more of the first wireless stations, for transmission to one or more of the first access points; and code executable to communicate with the second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station associated with the first MLD, after transmission of the first instruction, wherein the direct link is inoperable for the first MLD while the one or more of the first wireless stations are communicating.

[0250]

[0274] Aspect 97: A computer-readable medium for wireless communication by a first multi-link device (MLD), the computer-readable medium comprising: code executable to obtain from the second MLD, via a first access point associated with the first MLD, one or more first frames related to establishing a direct link between a second MLD and a first wireless station, the first wireless station not supporting multi-link operation; and code executable to relay, via the first access point, the one or more first frames to the first wireless station, the one or more first frames including a source address field set to an address of a second wireless station associated with the second MLD.

[0251]

[0275] Aspect 98: A computer-readable medium for wireless communication by a first wireless station, the computer-readable medium comprising: code executable to output a request to discover a second wireless station for direct link communication between the first wireless station and the second wireless station, for transmission to the second wireless station via an access point, the request indicating a link for communication between the first wireless station and the second wireless station; and code executable to communicate directly with the second wireless station via the link indicated in the request.

[0252]

[0276] Aspect 99: A first multi-link device (MLD) including: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to: transmit a data frame to the first wireless station via a direct link between the first wireless station and at least one of a plurality of second wireless stations associated with the first MLD, the data frame including a transmitter address field set to an address of the first MLD, the address being one of a plurality of addresses associated with the first MLD, the second wireless station being associated with the first MLD for multi-link operation; and communicate with the first wireless station via the direct link.

[0253]

[0277] Aspect 100: The first MLD of aspect 99, wherein the address of the first MLD includes a multilink logical medium access control (MAC) address, and the plurality of addresses includes the multilink logical MAC address and a MAC address associated with each of the second wireless stations.

[0254]

[0278] Aspect 101: The first MLD of any one of aspects 99 or 100, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to: transmit, via the access point, a request associated with a direct link to the first wireless station, the request including a link identifier element having a direct link initiator address set as an address of the first MLD.

[0255]

[0279] Aspect 102: The first MLD of any one of aspects 99 to 101, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to: transmit a response associated with the direct link to the first wireless station, the response including a link identifier element having a direct link responder address set as an address of the first MLD.

[0256]

[0280] Aspect 103: The first MLD of any one of aspects 99 to 102, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to transmit a response associated with the direct link to the first wireless station, the response including a transmitter address field set to an address of the first MLD.

[0257]

[0281] Aspect 104: The first MLD of any one of aspects 99 to 103, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to receive, via the direct link, a frame from the first wireless station, the frame including a receiver address field set to an address of the first MLD.

[0258]

[0282] Aspect 105: The first MLD of any one of aspects 99 to 104, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to: stop transmissions to the first wireless station via the second wireless stations, except for at least one of the second wireless stations, based on the direct link being operational.

[0259]

[0283] Aspect 106: The first MLD of any one of aspects 99 to 105, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to generate an encryption key based at least in part on an address of the first MLD, send an indication of the encryption key to the first wireless station, and communicate encrypted frames with the first wireless station based on the encryption key.

[0260]

[0284] Aspect 107: The first MLD of aspect 106, wherein the processor and the memory are further configured to generate an encryption key further based on at least one of an address of the access point MLD or an address of the access point.

[0261]

[0285] Aspect 108: The first MLD according to any one of aspects 99 to 107, wherein the direct link is a tunneled direct link, and the data frame includes a MAC header including a transmitter address field.

[0262]

[0286] Aspect 109: The first MLD of aspect 108, wherein the first wireless station is associated with a second MLD for multi-link communication with the first MLD, and the second MLD further has two or more third wireless stations, including the first wireless station, associated with the second MLD for multi-link communication with the first MLD.

[0263]

[0287] Aspect 110: The first MLD of aspect 109, wherein the direct link includes a plurality of tunneled direct link sessions, each of the plurality of tunneled direct link sessions being associated with a separate link between one of the second wireless stations and one of the third wireless stations.

[0264]

[0288] Aspect 111: The first MLD of aspect 109, wherein the direct link includes a single tunneled direct link session, and wherein multiple links between the second wireless station and the third wireless station are associated with the single tunneled direct link session.

[0265]

[0289] Aspect 112: The first MLD of any one of aspects 99 to 111, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to: send an instruction to the first wireless station to set up the direct link as a multilink direct link, the instruction including a basic service set identifier (BSSID) field or one of a multilink element in a direct link discovery frame or a direct link setup frame including a value indicating to set up the direct link as a multilink direct link; and communicate with the first wireless station via one or more links of the multilink direct link based on the instruction.

[0266]

[0290] Aspect 113: The first MLD according to aspect 112, wherein the value includes a link identifier associated with one or more links.

[0267]

[0291] Aspect 114: The first MLD of any one of aspects 112 or 113, wherein the first wireless station is associated with a second MLD for multilink communication with the first MLD, and the second MLD further has two or more third wireless stations including the first wireless station associated with the second MLD for multilink communication with the first MLD, and the multilink element includes a first indication having an identifier of a direct link in a station profile subelement associated with at least one of the second wireless stations, or a second indication of one or more capabilities of the second wireless station associated with a link between the second wireless station and the third wireless station.

[0268]

[0292] Aspect 115: The first MLD of any one of aspects 99 to 114, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to: receive, via the access point, a request from a first wireless station associated with a direct link, the request indicating a first link for communication between the first wireless station and at least one of the second wireless stations, the request indicating the link via a link identifier element having a Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID) field including a value indicating the first link.

[0269]

[0293] Aspect 116: The first MLD of any one of aspects 99 to 115, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to: transmit from the first wireless station a plurality of requests associated with the direct link, each of the requests having a different value for a BSSID field in a link identifier element.

[0270]

[0294] Aspect 117: The first MLD of aspect 115, wherein the multilink element indicates one or more links including the first link in the request.

[0271]

[0295] Embodiment 118: The first MLD of embodiment 117, wherein the multilink element further indicates capability information associated with the first link.

[0272]

[0296] Aspect 119: The first MLD of any one of aspects 115 to 118, wherein the first wireless station is associated with a second MLD for multilink communication with the first MLD, and the second MLD further has two or more third wireless stations including the first wireless station associated with the first MLD for multilink communication with the first MLD, and the processor and memory are further configured to: send a first response to the request directly to the first wireless station associated with the second MLD via the first link indicated in the request, send a second response to the request directly to one or more of the third wireless stations associated with the second MLD via the second link, communicate with the one or more third wireless stations via the second link, and communicate with the first wireless station via the first link indicated in the request.

[0273]

[0297] Aspect 120: The first MLD of any one of aspects 99 to 119, wherein the first wireless station is associated with a second MLD for multi-link communication with the first MLD, and the second MLD further has two or more third wireless stations including the first wireless station associated with the second MLD for multi-link communication with the first MLD, and the processor and memory are further configured to: select at least one link from among a plurality of links between the second wireless station associated with the first MLD and the third wireless station associated with the second MLD, and transmit a request to one or more of the third wireless stations associated with the second MLD to set up a direct link on the at least one link.

[0274]

[0298] Aspect 121: The first MLD of aspect 120, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to receive a discovery response frame from a third wireless station associated with the second MLD via one or more of the plurality of links, wherein selection of at least one link is based on a signal quality associated with the discovery response frame.

[0275]

[0299] Embodiment 122: The first MLD according to any one of embodiments 120 or 121, wherein the selected at least one link includes two or more of the plurality of links.

[0276]

[0300] Aspect 123: The first wireless station is associated with a second MLD for multi-link communication with the first MLD, and the second MLD further has two or more third wireless stations including the first wireless station associated with the second MLD for multi-link communication with the first MLD, and the processor and memory are configured to transmit, via the access point, a first request to one of the third wireless stations associated with the second MLD to discover a peer wireless station for a direct link, the first request being for communication between one of the third wireless stations and one of the second wireless stations associated with the first MLD. 123. The first MLD of aspects 99-122, further configured to: transmit a request to discover a peer wireless station for a direct link, the request indicating a first link for communication between the other one of the third wireless stations associated with the first MLD; determine that a duration has elapsed without receiving a response to the first request; and transmit, via the access point based on the determination, a second request to discover a peer wireless station for a direct link to another one of the third wireless stations associated with the second MLD, the second request indicating a second link for communication between the other one of the third wireless stations and another one of the second wireless stations associated with the first MLD.

[0277]

[0301] Aspect 124: A method of wireless communication by a first multi-link device (MLD), the method including: transmitting, via a direct link between the first wireless station and at least one of a plurality of second wireless stations associated with the first MLD, a data frame to the first wireless station, the data frame including a transmitter address field set to an address of the first MLD, the address being one of a plurality of addresses associated with the first MLD, the second wireless station being associated with the first MLD for multi-link operation; and communicating with the first wireless station via the direct link.

[0278]

[0302] Aspect 125: The method of aspect 124, wherein the address of the first MLD includes a multilink logical medium access control (MAC) address, and the plurality of addresses includes the multilink logical MAC address and a MAC address associated with each of the second wireless stations.

[0279]

[0303] Aspect 126: The method of any one of aspects 124 or 125, further comprising: transmitting, via the access point, a request to be associated with a direct link to the first wireless station, the request including a link identifier element having a direct link initiator address set as the address of the first MLD.

[0280]

[0304] Aspect 127: The method of any one of aspects 124 to 126, further comprising: transmitting a response associated with the direct link to the first wireless station, the response including a link identifier element having a direct link responder address set as an address of the first MLD.

[0281]

[0305] Aspect 128: The method of any one of aspects 124 to 127, further comprising: based on the direct link being operable, ceasing transmission to the first wireless station via the second wireless stations, except for at least one of the second wireless stations.

[0282]

[0306] Aspect 129: A multi-link device (MLD) including: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to: establish a direct link between a first wireless station and a second wireless station associated with the MLD; and communicate with the first wireless station via the direct link, wherein the direct link is inoperative for the MLD while a third wireless station associated with the MLD is communicating.

[0283]

[0307] Aspect 130: The MLD of aspect 129, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to transmit an indication of a state associated with the MLD or one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD to an access point (AP) MLD with which the MLD has performed an association.

[0284]

[0308] Aspect 131: The MLD of any one of aspects 129 or 130, wherein the third wireless station is inoperative while the direct link is communicating.

[0285]

[0309] Aspect 132: The MLD of any one of aspects 129 to 131, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to: receive, in response to the indication of the state, a first frame from an access point associated with the AP MLD requesting that the third wireless station associated with the MLD send data; and take one or more actions in response to the first frame.

[0286]

[0310] Aspect 133: The MLD of any one of aspects 129 to 132, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to: transmit a second frame to the access point associated with the AP MLD indicating that the access point associated with the AP MLD is free to transmit data to the MLD; and receive data from the access point associated with the AP MLD via the third wireless station based on the transmission of the second frame.

[0287]

[0311] Aspect 134: The MLD of any one of aspects 132 or 133, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to receive a first frame via a third wireless station on a channel over which an access point associated with the AP MLD is communicating with the third wireless station, and transmit a second frame via the third wireless station on the channel.

[0288]

[0312] Aspect 135: The MLD of any one of aspects 132 to 134, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to ignore the first frame if the second wireless station is communicating with the first wireless station.

[0289]

[0313] Aspect 136: The MLD of any one of aspects 132 to 135, wherein the state indicates enabling transmission of the first frame prior to transmission from the AP MLD to a third wireless station associated with the MLD.

[0290]

[0314] Aspect 137: The MLD of any one of aspects 132 to 136, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to transmit an update to the access point or AP MLD to indicate disabling transmission of the first frame prior to transmission from the AP MLD to a third wireless station associated with the MLD.

[0291]

[0315] Aspect 138: The MLD according to any one of aspects 129 to 137, wherein the instruction is transmitted via a control field of a Medium Access Control (MAC) header of the frame, the management frame, or the control frame.

[0292]

[0316] Aspect 139: An access point including: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to: receive from a multi-link device (MLD) an indication of a state associated with the MLD or one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD; and based on the state, transmit a first frame to the MLD requesting one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD to send data; and transmit the data to the one or more wireless stations if a second frame granting permission to send the data is received by the access point from the MLD.

[0293]

[0317] Aspect 140: The access point of aspect 139, wherein the MLD performs an association with an access point (AP) MLD with which the access point is associated, and the state indicates enabling transmission of a first frame prior to transmission from the AP MLD to one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD.

[0294]

[0318] Aspect 141: The access point of any one of aspects 139 or 140, wherein the MLD performs an association with an AP MLD to which the access point is associated, and the processor and memory are further configured to receive an update to a state from the MLD indicating disabling transmission of the first frame prior to transmission from the AP MLD to one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD.

[0295]

[0319] Aspect 142: The access point of aspect 141, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to transmit a first frame to one or more wireless stations on a channel over which the access point associated with the AP MLD is in communication with the one or more wireless stations, and receive a second frame from the one or more wireless stations on the channel.

[0296]

[0320] Aspect 143: The access point of any one of aspects 139 to 142, wherein the indication is received via a control field of a Medium Access Control (MAC) header of the frame, the management frame, or the control frame.

[0297]

[0321] Aspect 144: A multi-link device (MLD) including: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to: transmit a first instruction to an access point or access point (AP) MLD associated with a first wireless station associated with the MLD; and, after transmitting the first instruction, communicate with the second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station, wherein the third wireless station is associated with the MLD and the direct link is inoperable for the MLD while the first wireless station is communicating.

[0298]

[0322] Aspect 145: The MLD of aspect 144, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to, after termination of communication with the second wireless station, send a second indication to the access point or AP MLD that the first wireless station is in an active mode.

[0299]

[0323] Aspect 146: The MLD of aspect 145, wherein the processor and memory are further configured to communicate with the access point via the first wireless station after sending the second instruction.

[0300]

[0324] Embodiment 147: An MLD according to any one of embodiments 144 to 146.

[0301]

[0325] Communication with the second wireless station via the third wireless station occurs when the first wireless station is not communicating, or communication with the access point via the first wireless station occurs when the third wireless station is not communicating.

[0302]

[0326] Aspect 148: The MLD described in any one of aspects 144 to 147, wherein the first instruction includes at least one of an instruction that the first wireless station is in a power saving mode, an instruction to disable a link to the first wireless station, or an instruction to remove a second link in a dynamic link set configured for the first wireless station.

[0303]

[0327] Aspect 149: The MLD according to any one of aspects 144 to 148, wherein the first instruction is transmitted via a control field of a Medium Access Control (MAC) header of the frame, the management frame, or the control frame.

[0304]

[0328] Aspect 150: A method of wireless communication by a multi-link device (MLD), the method including: establishing a direct link between a first wireless station and a second wireless station associated with the MLD; and communicating with the first wireless station via the direct link, wherein the direct link is inoperative for the MLD while a third wireless station associated with the MLD is communicating.

[0305]

[0329] Aspect 151: The method of aspect 150, further comprising transmitting an indication of a state associated with the MLD or one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD to an access point (AP) MLD with which the MLD has performed an association.

[0306]

[0330] Aspect 152: The method of aspect 151, wherein the third wireless station is inoperative while the direct link is communicating.

[0307]

[0331] Aspect 153: The method of any one of aspects 151 or 152, further including: receiving, in response to the indication of the state, a first frame from an access point associated with the AP MLD requesting that a third wireless station associated with the MLD send data; and taking one or more actions in response to the first frame.

[0308]

[0332] Aspect 154: The method of aspect 153, further including: transmitting a second frame to the access point associated with the MLD indicating that the access point is free to transmit data to the MLD; and receiving data from the access point associated with the MLD via the third wireless station based on the transmission of the second frame.

[0309]

[0333] Aspect 155: The method of aspect 154, further including receiving a first frame via a third wireless station on a channel on which an access point associated with the AP MLD is in communication with the third wireless station, and transmitting a second frame via the third wireless station on the channel.

[0310]

[0334] Aspect 156: The method of aspect 154 or 155, wherein the processor and memory further include ignoring the first frame if the second wireless station is communicating with the first wireless station.

[0311]

[0335] Aspect 157: The method of any one of aspects 154 to 156, wherein the state indicates allowing transmission of the first frame before transmission from the AP MLD to a third wireless station associated with the MLD.

[0312]

[0336] Aspect 158: The method of any one of aspects 154 to 157, further comprising transmitting an update to the access point or AP MLD to indicate disabling transmission of the first frame prior to transmission from the AP MLD to a third wireless station associated with the MLD.

[0313]

[0337] Aspect 159: An apparatus, comprising: a memory containing executable instructions; and one or more processors configured to execute the executable instructions and cause the apparatus to perform a method according to any one of aspects 1 to 70, 124 to 128, or 150 to 158.

[0314]

[0338] Embodiment 160: An apparatus comprising means for carrying out the method of any one of embodiments 1 to 70, 124 to 128, or 150 to 158.

[0315]

[0339] Aspect 161: A computer-readable medium that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, causes the device to perform the method of any one of aspects 1 to 70, 124 to 128, or 150 to 158.

[0316]

[0340] Aspect 162: A computer program product embodied on a computer-readable storage medium comprising code for performing the method of any one of aspects 1 to 70, 124 to 128, or 150 to 158.

[0317]

[0341] The techniques described herein provide various advantages for direct link communication in multi-link applications. For example, various techniques for handling TDLS in an MLO state may enable an MLD to set up a TDLS session with a legacy STA or another MLD, which may achieve desired latency and / or throughput between TDLS peer STAs.

[0318]

[0342] The above description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various embodiments described herein. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments. Accordingly, the claims are not intended to be limited to the embodiments set forth herein but are to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the claim language, and references to elements in the singular do not mean "one and only one," unless expressly stated otherwise, but rather "one or more." Unless expressly stated otherwise, the term "some" refers to one or more. All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various embodiments described throughout this disclosure that are known or later become known to those skilled in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be made public, regardless of whether such disclosures are expressly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase "means for," or, in the case of a method claim, unless the element is recited using the phrase "step for."

[0319]

[0343] The various operations of the methods described above may be performed by any suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions. The means may include various hardware and / or software components and / or modules, including, but not limited to, circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or processors. In general, where there are operations illustrated in figures, those operations may have corresponding counterpart means-plus-function components.

[0320]

[0344] The means for receiving may include a transceiver, a receiver, or at least one antenna, and at least one receive processor, as shown in Figure 2. The means for transmitting, the means for sending, or the means for outputting may include a transceiver, a transmitter, or at least one antenna, and at least one transmit processor, as shown in Figure 2. The means for communicating, the means for generating, the means for taking one or more actions, the means for selecting, the means for determining, the means for ignoring, the means for mapping, and the means for relaying may include a processing system that may include one or more processors, such as processors 260m, 270m, 288m, and / or 290m of STA 120m and / or processors 210, 220, 240, and / or 242 of AP 110, as shown in Figure 2.

[0321]

[0345] In some cases, a device may have an interface (means for outputting) for outputting frames for transmission rather than actually transmitting the frames. For example, a processor may output frames to a radio frequency (RF) front end for transmission via a bus interface. Similarly, a device may have an interface (means for acquiring) for acquiring frames received from another device rather than actually receiving the frames. For example, a processor may acquire (or receive) frames from an RF front end for reception via a bus interface.

[0322]

[0346] As used herein, the term "determining" encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, "determining" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, database, or another data structure), ascertaining, etc. Also, "determining" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), etc. Also, "determining" may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, etc.

[0323]

[0347] As used herein, a phrase referring to "at least one of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including a single member. As an example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to encompass a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, and abc, as well as combinations including multiples of one or more members (aa, aabb, aabbcc, bb, bbcc, and / or cc).

[0324]

[0348] The various example logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with this disclosure may be implemented or performed using a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0325]

[0349] The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the present disclosure may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in any form of storage medium known in the art. Some examples of storage media that may be used include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, etc. A software module may comprise a single instruction, or many instructions, and may be distributed across several different code segments, among different programs, and across multiple storage media. A storage medium may be coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral to the processor.

[0326]

[0350] The methods disclosed herein include one or more steps or actions for achieving the described method. Method steps and / or actions may be interchanged with one another without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions is specified, the order and / or use of specific steps and / or actions may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims.

[0327]

[0351] The described functions may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented as hardware, an exemplary hardware configuration may comprise a processing system within a wireless node. The processing system may be implemented using a bus architecture. The bus may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, depending on the particular application of the processing system and overall design constraints. The bus may link various circuits together, including a processor, a machine-readable medium, and a bus interface. The bus interface may be used to connect a network adapter to the processing system via the bus, among other things. The network adapter may be used to implement PHY layer signal processing functions. In the case of wireless station 120 (see FIG. 1 ), a user interface (e.g., keypad, display, mouse, joystick, etc.) may also be connected to the bus. The bus may also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further.

[0328]

[0352] The processor may be responsible for managing the bus and general processing, including executing software stored on a machine-readable medium. The processor may be implemented using one or more general-purpose and / or special-purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuitry capable of executing software. Software should be interpreted broadly to mean instructions, data, or any combination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. The machine-readable medium may include, by way of example, RAM (random access memory), flash memory, ROM (read-only memory), PROM (programmable read-only memory), EPROM (erasable programmable read-only memory), EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory), registers, magnetic disk, optical disk, hard drive, or any other suitable storage medium, or any combination thereof. The machine-readable medium may be embodied in a computer program product. The computer program product may comprise packaging materials.

[0329]

[0353] In a hardware implementation, the machine-readable medium may be part of a processing system separate from the processor. However, as one skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the machine-readable medium, or any portion thereof, may be external to the processing system. By way of example, the machine-readable medium may include a transmission line, a carrier wave modulated by data, and / or a computer product separate from the wireless node, all of which may be accessed by the processor via a bus interface. Alternatively, or in addition, the machine-readable medium, or any portion thereof, may be integrated into the processor, such as may a cache and / or general-purpose register file.

[0330]

[0354] The processing system may be configured as a general-purpose processing system having one or more microprocessors providing processor functionality and external memory providing at least a portion of the machine-readable medium, all coupled together with other support circuitry via an external bus architecture. Alternatively, the processing system may be implemented using an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) having the processor, bus interface, user interface (in the case of an access terminal), support circuitry, and at least a portion of the machine-readable medium integrated into a single chip, or using one or more FPGAs (field-programmable gate arrays), PLDs (programmable logic devices), controllers, state machines, gate logic, discrete hardware components, or any other suitable circuitry or combination of circuitry capable of performing the various functions described throughout this disclosure. Those skilled in the art will recognize how to best implement the described functionality for the processing system depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0331]

[0355] The machine-readable medium may comprise several software modules. The software modules include instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processing system to perform various functions. The software modules may include a transmitting module and a receiving module. Each software module may reside in a single storage device or may be distributed across multiple storage devices. As an example, a software module may be loaded into RAM from a hard drive when a trigger event occurs. During execution of a software module, the processor may load some of the instructions into a cache to increase access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into a general-purpose register file for execution by the processor. When referring below to the functionality of a software module, it will be understood that such functionality is implemented by the processor upon executing instructions from that software module.

[0332]

[0356] If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared (IR), radio, and microwave, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Thus, in some aspects, computer-readable medium may comprise non-transitory computer-readable medium (e.g., tangible media). Additionally, in other aspects, computer-readable medium may comprise transitory computer-readable medium (e.g., a signal). Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable medium.

[0333]

[0357] Accordingly, some aspects may include a computer program product for performing the operations presented herein. For example, such a computer program product may comprise a computer-readable medium having stored thereon (and / or encoded thereon) instructions executable by one or more processors to perform the operations described herein. In some aspects, the computer program product may include packaging materials.

[0334]

[0358] Furthermore, it should be appreciated that modules and / or other suitable means for performing the methods and techniques described herein may be downloaded and / or otherwise obtained by a wireless station and / or access point, where applicable. For example, such a device may be coupled to a server to facilitate the transfer of means for performing the methods described herein. Alternatively, the various methods described herein may be provided via storage means (e.g., RAM, ROM, physical storage medium such as a compact disc (CD) or floppy disk, etc.) such that the wireless station and / or access point may obtain the various methods upon coupling or providing the storage means to the device. Moreover, any other suitable technique for providing the methods and techniques described herein to a device may be utilized.

[0335]

[0359] It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the precise configuration and components illustrated above. Various modifications, changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation and details of the methods and apparatus described above without departing from the scope of the claims. The inventions described in the claims of the present application as originally filed are set forth below. [C1] A multi-link device (MLD), comprising: Memory and a processor coupled to the memory; wherein the processor and the memory establishing a direct link between a first wireless station and a second wireless station associated with the MLD; communicating with the first wireless station via the direct link, wherein the direct link is inoperative for the MLD while a third wireless station associated with the MLD is communicating; A multi-link device (MLD) configured to: [C2] The MLD of C1, wherein the processor and the memory are further configured to transmit an indication of a state associated with the MLD or one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD to an access point (AP) MLD with which the MLD has performed an association. [C3] The MLD of C1, wherein the third wireless station is inoperable while the direct link is communicating. [C4] the processor and the memory receiving a first frame from an access point associated with the AP MLD requesting to send data to the third wireless station associated with the MLD in response to the indication of the condition; taking one or more actions in response to the first frame; The MLD of C2, further configured to: [C5] the processor and the memory transmitting a second frame to the access points associated with the AP MLD indicating that the access points associated with the AP MLD are free to transmit data to the MLD; receiving, via the third wireless station, data from the access point associated with the AP MLD based on the transmission of the second frame; The MLD of C4, further configured as follows: [C6] the processor and the memory receiving the first frame via a third wireless station on a channel on which the access point associated with the AP MLD is communicating with the third wireless station; transmitting the second through the third wireless station on the channel The MLD of C4, further configured as follows: [C7] The MLD of C4, wherein the processor and the memory are further configured to ignore the first frame if the second wireless station is communicating with the first wireless station. [C8] 5. The MLD of claim 4, wherein the state indicates allowing transmission of the first frame prior to transmission from the AP MLD to the third wireless associated with the MLD. [C9] 5. The MLD of claim 4, wherein the processor and the memory are further configured to transmit an update to the state to the access point or the AP MLD indicating disabling transmission of the first frame prior to transmission from the AP MLD to the third wireless station associated with the MLD. [C10] The MLD of C2, wherein the indication is transmitted via a control field in a Medium Access Control (MAC) header of a frame, a management frame, or a control frame. [C11] an access point, Memory and a processor coupled to the memory; wherein the processor and the memory receiving from a multi-link device (MLD) an indication of a state associated with or one or more wireless stations associated with said MLD; transmitting a first frame to the MLD requesting that the one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD send data based on the state; transmitting the data to the one or more wireless stations if a second frame granting permission to send the data is received by the access point from the MLD; The access point is further configured to: [C12] The access point of C11, wherein the MLD is performing an association with an access point (AP) MLD to which the access point is associated, and the state indicates that transmission of the first frame is enabled prior to transmission from the AP MLD to the one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD. [C13] 12. The access point of claim 11, wherein the MLD is performing an association with an AP MLD to which the access point is associated, and the processor and the memory are further configured to receive an update to the state from the MLD indicating disabling transmission of the first frame prior to transmission from the AP MLD to the one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD. [C14] the processor and the memory transmitting the first frame to one or more wireless stations on a channel on which the access point associated with the AP MLD is communicating with the one or more wireless stations; receiving the second signal from the one or more wireless stations over the channel; 14. The access point of claim 13, further configured: [C15] The access point of C11, wherein the indication is received via a control field of a Medium Access Control (MAC) header of a frame, a management frame, or a control frame. [C16] A multi-link device (MLD), comprising: Memory and a processor coupled to the memory; wherein the processor and the memory transmitting a first indication to an access point or access point (AP) MLD associated with a first wireless station associated with the MLD; After transmitting the first instruction, communicating with the second wireless station via a direct link between the second wireless station and a third wireless station, the third wireless station being associated with the MLD, wherein the direct link is inoperative with respect to the MLD while the first wireless station is communicating. A multi-link device (MLD) configured to: [C17] the processor and the memory After terminating the communication with the second wireless station, transmitting a second indication to the access point or the AP MLD that the first wireless station is in an active mode. The MLD of C16, further comprising: [C18] the processor and the memory communicating with the access point via the first wireless station after said transmitting the second instruction. The MLD of C17, further comprising: [C19] the communication with the second wireless station via the third wireless station occurs when the first wireless station is not communicating; or The communication with the access point via the first wireless station occurs when the third wireless station is not communicating. MLD as described in C16. [C20] The first instruction: an indication that the first wireless station is in a power save mode; instructions to disable the first link to the first wireless station; or instructions for removing a second link in a dynamic link established on the first wireless station; The MLD according to C16, comprising at least one of: [C21] The MLD of C16, wherein the first indication is transmitted via a control field of a Medium Access Control (MAC) header of a frame, a management frame, or a control frame. [C22] 1. A method of wireless communication by a multi-link device (MLD), comprising: establishing a direct link between a first wireless station and a second wireless station associated with the MLD; communicating with the first wireless station via the direct link, wherein the direct link is inoperative for the MLD while a third wireless station associated with the MLD is communicating; A method comprising: [C23] The method of C22, further comprising transmitting an indication of a state associated with the MLD or one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD to an access point (AP) MLD with which the MLD has performed an association. [C24] The method of C23, wherein the third wireless station is inoperable while the direct link is communicating. [C25] receiving a first frame from an access point associated with the AP MLD requesting to send data to the third wireless station associated with the MLD in response to the indication of the condition; taking one or more actions in response to the first frame; The method of C23, further comprising: [C26] transmitting a second frame to the access point associated with the MLD indicating that the access point is free to transmit data to the MLD; receiving, via the third wireless station, data from the access point associated with the MLD based on the transmission of the second frame; The method of C25, further comprising: [C27] receiving the first frame via a third wireless station on a channel on which the access point associated with the AP MLD is communicating with the third wireless station; transmitting the second signal via the third wireless station over the channel; The method of C26, further comprising: [C28] The method of C26, further comprising ignoring the first frame if the second wireless station is communicating with the first wireless station. [C29] The method of C26, wherein the state indicates allowing transmission of the first frame prior to transmission from the AP MLD to the third wireless station associated with the MLD. [C30] 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: transmitting an update to the state to the access point or the AP MLD indicating disabling transmission of the first frame prior to transmission from the AP MLD to the third wireless station associated with the MLD.

Claims

1. A multi-link device (MLD), comprising: one or more memories; one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories; wherein the one or more processors and the one or more memories are configured to provide the MLD with: establishing a communications link between a first wireless station not associated with the MLD and a second wireless station associated with the MLD; communicating with the first wireless station via the communication link via the second wireless station, wherein the communication link is a non-simultaneous transmit-receive (n-STR) link that is inoperative for the MLD while a third wireless station associated with the MLD communicates via another communication link, and the communication link is between non-access point (AP) stations including the first wireless station and the second wireless station; transmitting an indication of a state associated with the MLD or one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD to an access point (AP) MLD with which the MLD has performed association, wherein the state corresponds to a constraint due to the communication link being the n-STR link and the third wireless station communicating, and the state is configured to enable transmission from the AP MLD of a first frame requesting to send data; receiving the first frame requesting transmission of data in response to the indication of the condition; A multi-link device (MLD) configured to:

2. The MLD of claim 1 , wherein the third wireless station is inoperative while the communication link is not idle.

3. The one or more processors and the one or more memories are configured to: receiving the first frame from the access point associated with the AP MLD requesting to send data to the third wireless station associated with the MLD in response to the indication of the condition; taking one or more actions in response to the first frame; The MLD according to claim 1 , configured to cause

4. The one or more processors and the one or more memories are configured to: transmitting a second frame to the access points associated with the AP MLD indicating that the access points associated with the AP MLD are free to transmit data to the MLD; receiving, via the third wireless station, data from the access point associated with the AP MLD based on the transmission of the second frame; The MLD of claim 3 , further configured to:

5. The one or more processors and the one or more memories are configured to: receiving the first frame via a third wireless station on a channel on which the access point associated with the AP MLD is communicating with the third wireless station; transmitting the second frame via the third wireless station over the channel; and The MLD of claim 4 , further configured to:

6. 4. The MLD of claim 3, wherein the one or more processors and the one or more memories are further configured to cause the MLD to ignore the first frame when the second wireless station is communicating with the first wireless station.

7. 4. The MLD of claim 3, wherein the state indicates allowing transmission of the first frame before another transmission from the AP MLD to the third wireless station associated with the MLD.

8. 4. The MLD of claim 3, wherein the one or more processors and the one or more memories are further configured to cause the MLD to transmit an update to the state to the access point associated with the AP MLD indicating disabling the transmission of the first frame prior to another transmission from the AP MLD to the third wireless station associated with the MLD.

9. The MLD of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors and the one or more memories are configured to cause the MLD to transmit the instruction via a control field in a medium access control (MAC) header of a frame, a management frame, or a control frame.

10. an access point, one or more memories; one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories; and wherein the one or more processors and the one or more memories are configured to the access point: receiving from a multi-link device (MLD) an indication of a state associated with or one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD, wherein the MLD is a non-simultaneous transmit / receive (n-STR) MLD; transmitting a first frame to the MLD requesting that the one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD send data based on the state, wherein the state indicates allowing transmission of the first frame before another transmission from an access point (AP) MLD to the one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD, the state corresponding to a constraint due to the MLD being the n-STR MLD and another wireless station associated with the MLD communicating; transmitting the data to the one or more wireless stations when the access point receives a second frame from the MLD granting permission to send the data; an access point configured to cause

11. The access point of claim 10 , wherein the MLD is performing an association with an APMLD to which the access point is associated.

12. 11. The access point of claim 10, wherein the MLD is performing an association with an AP MLD to which the access point is associated, and the one or more processors and the one or more memories are further configured to cause the access point to receive an update to the state from the MLD indicating disabling the transmission of the first frame prior to transmission from the AP MLD to the one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD.

13. The one or more processors and the one or more memories are configured to the access point: transmitting the first frame to the one or more wireless stations on a channel on which the access point associated with the AP MLD is communicating with the one or more wireless stations; receiving the second frame from the one or more wireless stations over the channel; The access point of claim 12 , further configured to:

14. The access point of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors and the one or more memories are further configured to cause the access point to receive the instruction via a control field in a Medium Access Control (MAC) header of a frame, a management frame, or a control frame.

15. 1. A method of wireless communication by a multi-link device (MLD), comprising: establishing a communication link between a first wireless station not associated with the MLD and a second wireless station associated with the MLD, wherein the communication link is between non-access point (AP) stations including the first wireless station and the second wireless station; communicating with the first wireless station via the communication link via the second wireless station, wherein the communication link is a non-simultaneous transmit-receive (n-STR) link that is inoperable for the MLD while a third wireless station associated with the MLD communicates via another communication link; transmitting an indication of a state associated with the MLD or one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD to an access point (AP) MLD with which the MLD has performed association, wherein the state corresponds to a constraint due to the communication link being the n-STR and the third wireless station communicating, and the state is configured to enable transmission from the AP MLD of a first frame requesting to send data. receiving the first frame requesting transmission of data in response to transmitting the indication of the state; A method comprising:

16. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the third wireless station is inoperative while the communication link is not idle.

17. the first frame is received from an access point associated with the AP MLD requesting that data be sent to the third wireless station associated with the MLD in response to the indication of the state; The method of claim 15 , further comprising taking one or more actions in response to the first frame.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising: transmitting a second frame to the access point associated with the AP MLD, the second frame indicating that the access point associated with the AP MLD is free to transmit data to the MLD; receiving, via the third wireless station, data from the access point associated with the AP MLD based on the transmission of the second frame; 20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

19. receiving the first frame via a third wireless station on a channel on which the access point associated with the AP MLD is communicating with the third wireless station; transmitting the second frame via the third wireless station over the channel; and 20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

20. 20. The method of claim 18, further comprising ignoring the first frame when the second wireless station is communicating with the first wireless station.

21. 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the state indicates enabling the transmission of the first frame prior to transmission from the AP MLD to the third wireless station associated with the MLD.

22. 20. The method of claim 18, further comprising transmitting an update to the state to the access point associated with the AP MLD indicating disabling the transmission of the first frame prior to transmission from the AP MLD to the third wireless station associated with the MLD.

23. The MLD of claim 1, wherein a request to send (RTS) and clear to send (CTS) exchange between the MLD and the AP MLD is disabled prior to receiving the indication of the state, the indication of the state is configured to enable the RTS and CTS exchange, and in response to the RTS and CTS exchange being enabled, the first frame requesting to send data is received.

24. The MLD of claim 23, wherein, to transmit the indication of the state, the one or more processors and the one or more memories are configured to cause the MLD to transmit a frame including fields configured to enable the RTS and CTS exchange.

25. A method of wireless communication by an access point, comprising: receiving from a multi-link device (MLD) an indication of a state associated with or one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD, wherein the MLD is a non-simultaneous transmit / receive (n-STR) MLD; transmitting a first frame to the MLD requesting that the one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD send data based on the state, wherein the state indicates allowing transmission of the first frame before another transmission from an access point (AP) MLD to the one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD, the state corresponding to a constraint due to the MLD being the n-STR MLD and another wireless station associated with the MLD communicating; transmitting the data to the one or more wireless stations when the access point receives a second frame from the MLD granting permission to send the data; A method comprising:

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the MLD performs an association with an AP MLD to which the access point is associated.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the MLD is performing an association with an AP MLD to which the access point is associated, the method further comprising receiving an update to the state from the MLD indicating disabling the transmission of the first frame prior to transmission from the AP MLD to the one or more wireless stations associated with the MLD.

28. Transmitting the first frame to the one or more wireless stations on a channel over which the access point associated with the AP MLD is communicating with the one or more wireless stations; receiving the second frame from the one or more wireless stations over the channel; 28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

29. The method of claim 25, further comprising receiving the instruction via a control field in a Medium Access Control (MAC) header of a frame, a management frame, or a control frame.

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