Selection and efficient switching of roles for nodes in a wireless network

Abstract

This disclosure provides methods, components, devices and systems for selection and efficient switching of roles for nodes in a wireless network. Some aspects more specifically relate to establishing bi-directional peer connections between neighbor wireless nodes that can accommodate dynamic role switches within a wireless network. A wireless node may create multiple logical station (STA) entities to establish bi-directional connections with multiple neighbor wireless nodes. For example, the wireless node may be associated with an access point (AP) functionality and a STA functionality and may create multiple logical STA entities associated with the STA functionality. As such, the wireless node may establish a first set of wireless links associated with an AP functionality and a second set of wireless links associated with a STA functionality, with each wireless link of the second set of wireless links corresponding to a respective logical STA entity associated with the STA functionality.

Description

SELECTION AND EFFICIENT SWITCHING OF ROLES FOR NODES IN A WIRELESS NETWORKCROSS REFERENCE

[0001] The present Application for Patent claims priority to India Patent Application No. 202321062091 by NAGARAJAN et al., entitled “SELECTION AND EFFICIENT SWITCHING OF ROLES FOR NODES IN A WIRELESS NETWORK,” filed September 15, 2023, assigned to the assignee hereof, and expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] This disclosure relates to wireless communication and, more specifically, to selection and efficient switching of roles for nodes in a wireless network.DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED TECHNOLOGY

[0003] A wireless local area network (WLAN) may be formed by one or more wireless access points (APs) that provide a shared wireless communication medium for use by multiple client devices also referred to as wireless stations (STAs). The basic building block of a WLAN conforming to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards is a Basic Service Set (BSS), which is managed by an AP. Each BSS is identified by a Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID) that is advertised by the AP. An AP periodically broadcasts beacon frames to enable any STAs within wireless range of the AP to establish or maintain a communication link with the WLAN.

[0004] Some communication devices may communicate with one or more other communication devices within a wireless network, such as a wireless mesh network, which may refer to a communication system or network in which any communication device may communicate with one or more other communication devices in accordance with a relative proximity of the communication devices. In some deployments, at least some communication devices within a wireless network may change locations relatively frequently, resulting in relatively frequent topology changes as paths or conditionsbetween communication devices may change in accordance with the mobility of the communication devices.SUMMARY

[0005] The systems, methods, and devices of this disclosure each have several innovative aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for the desirable attributes disclosed herein.

[0006] One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a first wireless node. The first wireless node may include a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code. The processing system may be configured to cause the first wireless node to establish a set of multiple wireless links between the first wireless node and one or more other wireless nodes of a wireless network, the set of multiple wireless links including a first set of multiple wireless links associated with a first functionality of the first wireless node and a second set of multiple wireless links associated with a second functionality of the first wireless node, select, from a subset of the set of multiple wireless links associated with communication between the first wireless node and a second wireless node, a wireless link in accordance with an assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality for the communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node, and communicate a frame via the wireless link in association with the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality.

[0007] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communication performable by or at a first wireless node. The method may include establishing a set of multiple wireless links between the first wireless node and one or more other wireless nodes of a wireless network, the set of multiple wireless links including a first set of multiple wireless links associated with a first functionality of the first wireless node and a second set of multiple wireless links associated with a second functionality of the first wireless node, selecting, from a subset of the set of multiple wireless links associated with communication between the first wireless node and a second wireless node, a wireless link in accordance with an assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionalityor the second functionality for the communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node, and communicating a frame via the wireless link in association with the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality.

[0008] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a first wireless node. The first wireless node may include means for establishing a set of multiple wireless links between the first wireless node and one or more other wireless nodes of a wireless network, the set of multiple wireless links including a first set of multiple wireless links associated with a first functionality of the first wireless node and a second set of multiple wireless links associated with a second functionality of the first wireless node, means for selecting, from a subset of the set of multiple wireless links associated with communication between the first wireless node and a second wireless node, a wireless link in accordance with an assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality for the communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node, and means for communicating a frame via the wireless link in association with the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality.

[0009] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a first wireless node. The code may include instructions executable by one or more processors, individually or collectively, to establish a set of multiple wireless links between the first wireless node and one or more other wireless nodes of a wireless network, the set of multiple wireless links including a first set of multiple wireless links associated with a first functionality of the first wireless node and a second set of multiple wireless links associated with a second functionality of the first wireless node, select, from a subset of the set of multiple wireless links associated with communication between the first wireless node and a second wireless node, a wireless link in accordance with an assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality for the communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node, and communicate a frame via the wireless link in associationwith the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality.

[0010] Some examples of the method, first wireless nodes, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for selecting a second wireless link from the subset associated with the communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node in accordance with a second assignment of the first wireless node to a different one of the first functionality or the second functionality and communicating a second frame via the second wireless link in association with the second assignment to the different one of the first functionality or the second functionality.

[0011] Some examples of the method, first wireless nodes, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from a control entity, information indicative of a metric reporting configuration associated with wireless nodes of the wireless network, transmitting, to the control entity, a report indicating a first metric associated with the first wireless node in accordance with the metric reporting configuration, and receiving, from the control entity, an indication of the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality in accordance with the first metric.

[0012] Some examples of the method, first wireless nodes, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for selecting, independently at the first wireless node, the first functionality or the second functionality, the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality being in association with independent selection at the first wireless node.

[0013] Some examples of the method, first wireless nodes, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for measuring a packet error rate (PER) of previous communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node, the independent selection at the first wireless node being associated with the packet error rate.

[0014] Some examples of the method, first wireless nodes, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving information indicative of a metric reporting configuration associated with wireless nodes of the wireless network, transmitting, to the second wireless node, a first report indicating a first metric associated with the first wireless node in accordance with the metric reporting configuration, and receiving, from the second wireless node, a second report indicating a second metric associated with the second wireless node in accordance with the metric reporting configuration, the independent selection at the first wireless node being associated with a comparison of the first metric and the second metric.

[0015] Some examples of the method, first wireless nodes, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for selecting the first functionality or the second functionality in accordance with the comparison between the first metric and the second metric and one or more thresholds.

[0016] In some examples of the method, first wireless nodes, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the one or more thresholds may be associated with a buffer region around a point at which the first metric and the second metric may be equal, the buffer region being associated with an absence of functionality switches between the first wireless node and the second wireless node.

[0017] Details of one or more implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the description, the drawings and the claims. Note that the relative dimensions of the following figures may not be drawn to scale.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 shows a pictorial diagram of an example wireless communication network.

[0019] Figure 2 shows an example wireless communication network that illustrates how multiple wireless nodes may communicate with each other in accordance with different functionalities or roles to establish a wireless network.

[0020] Figure 3 shows example wireless networks that illustrate a transition from a network with single link station (STA) functionality to a network with multiple STA virtual access points (VAPs), each respective STA VAP facilitating a respective wireless link to a neighbor wireless node.

[0021] Figure 4 shows an example wireless network that illustrates a network with bi-directional peer connections via multiple STA VAPs, each respective STA VAP facilitating a respective wireless link to a neighbor wireless node.

[0022] Figure 5 shows an example process flow that illustrates signaling between neighbor wireless nodes associated with selection and efficient switching of roles.

[0023] Figure 6 shows an example communication timeline that illustrates periodic and event-based measurement report exchanges between neighbor wireless nodes.

[0024] Figure 7 shows an example interference measurement diagram that illustrates how one or more thresholds associated with an interference difference between two neighbor wireless nodes may influence how role switches occur between the two neighbor wireless nodes.

[0025] Figure 8 shows an example interference measurement diagram that illustrates how one or more thresholds associated with an interference difference between two neighbor wireless nodes and a delay between generation / transmission and reception of a measurement report may influence how role switches occur between the two neighbor wireless nodes.

[0026] Figure 9 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device including one or more components that, individually or collectively, support selection and efficient switching of roles for nodes in a wireless network.

[0027] Figures 10 and 11 show flowcharts illustrating example processes performable by or at a first wireless node that support selection and efficient switching of roles for nodes in a wireless network.

[0028] Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The following description is directed to some particular examples for the purposes of describing innovative aspects of this disclosure. However, a person having ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in a multitude of different ways. Some or all of the described examples may be implemented in any device, system or network that is capable of transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals according to one or more of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards, the IEEE 802.15 standards, the Bluetooth® standards as defined by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), or the Long Term Evolution (LTE), 3G, 4G or 5G (New Radio (NR)) standards promulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), among others. The described examples can be implemented in any device, system or network that is capable of transmitting and receiving RF signals according to one or more of the following technologies or techniques: code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), singlecarrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), spatial division multiple access (SDMA), rate-splitting multiple access (RSMA), multi-user shared access (MUSA), single-user (SU) multipleinput multiple-output (MIMO) and multi-user (MU)-MIMO (MU-MIMO). The described examples also can be implemented using other wireless communication protocols or RF signals suitable for use in one or more of a wireless personal area network (WPAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless wide area network (WWAN), a wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN), or an internet of things (IOT) network.

[0030] Various aspects relate generally to wireless communication in a wireless network (such as a wireless mesh network), including to establishing bi-directional peer connections between multiple neighboring wireless nodes that can accommodate dynamic and flexible role switches within the wireless network. Some aspects more specifically relate to mechanisms according to which each wireless node of a wirelessnetwork may create (such as configure, select, communicate via, or otherwise use) multiple logical station (STA) entities to establish bi-directional connections with multiple neighbor wireless nodes. For example, in some deployment scenarios, each wireless node may be associated with an access point (AP) functionality and a STA functionality (which may be equivalently referred to as an AP role and a STA role, respectively) and, in some implementations, each wireless node may create, configure, select, communicate via, or otherwise use multiple STA virtual APs (VAPs) (which may be understood as logical STA entities) associated with the STA functionality of that wireless node. As such, a wireless node may establish a first set of wireless links associated with an AP functionality and may establish a second set of wireless links associated with a STA functionality, with each wireless link of the second set of wireless links corresponding to a respective STA VAP associated with the STA functionality.

[0031] In some aspects, a quantity of STA VAPs (and, likewise, a quantity of the second set of wireless links) may be associated with a quantity of neighbor wireless nodes with which a wireless node establishes a peer connection. For example, a quantity of STA VAPs created by a wireless node may be equal to (or otherwise correlated with) a quantity of neighbor wireless nodes with which the wireless node establishes a peer connection. For further example, the wireless node may establish a respective wireless link pair with each of the neighbor wireless nodes, each respective wireless link pair including a wireless link from the first set of wireless links associated with the AP functionality and a wireless link from the second set of wireless links associated with the STA functionality. Additionally, for a given wireless link pair between two wireless nodes, a first wireless link may be associated with an AP-STA interface and a second wireless link may be associated with a STA-AP interface (such that the two wireless links may be associated with alternative functionality / role assignments at each of the two wireless nodes). As such, the two wireless nodes may dynamically select at least one wireless link of the two wireless links for communication between the two wireless nodes in association with a changing of roles within the wireless network, a measurement and reporting of a metric, a type of transmission intended to be performed, or any combination thereof.

[0032] Particular aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to realize one or more of the following potential advantages. In some examples, by enabling a wireless node to establish bi-directional peer connections (such as wireless links, including a first wireless link associated with a STA-AP interface and a second wireless link associated with an AP-STA interface) with one or more neighbor wireless nodes and enabling the wireless node to dynamically select at least one of the bi-directional connections dynamically whenever roles of the wireless nodes change, the wireless node and an associated wireless network may experience more efficient switching of roles (such as WLAN roles) between wireless nodes. In other words, some example algorithms may support a selection of WLAN roles of wireless nodes and an efficient switching of the roles over time. Further, the implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be scalable to large quantities of wireless nodes and dense topologies with a minimal increase in a memory footprint. Moreover, although described here in an example of WLAN functionalities / roles (such as APs and STAs), the described techniques may be extended to any generic set of two or more distinct functionalities / roles of which wireless nodes of a wireless network may be capable. Additionally, some example implementations may be especially efficient in the context of drone mesh use cases, but may be equally applicable to any other use case in which functionality / role switches may either be relatively frequent or assistive to network performance. In accordance with supporting greater efficiency in role switches and general applicability to a variety of use cases, some aspects may be further implemented to facilitate greater adoption of wireless networks, including wireless mesh networks, and to realize higher data rates, greater spectral efficiency, higher reliability, and greater system capacity, among other benefits.

[0033] Figure 1 shows a pictorial diagram of an example wireless communication network 100. According to some aspects, the wireless communication network 100 can be an example of a wireless local area network (WLAN) such as a Wi-Fi network. For example, the wireless communication network 100 can be a network implementing at least one of the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocol standards (such as defined by the IEEE 802.11-2020 specification or amendments thereof including, but not limited to, 802.1 lay, 802.1 lax, 802.11 az, 802.11ba, 802.11bd, 802.1 Ibe, 802.1 Ibf, and 802.1 Ibn). In some other examples, the wirelesscommunication network 100 can be an example of a cellular radio access network (RAN), such as a 5G or 6G RAN that implements one or more cellular protocols such as those specified in one or more 3GPP standards. In some other examples, the wireless communication network 100 can include a WLAN that functions in an interoperable or converged manner with one or more cellular RANs to provide greater or enhanced network coverage to wireless communication devices within the wireless communication network 100 or to enable such devices to connect to a cellular network’s core, such as to access the network management capabilities and functionality offered by the cellular network core.

[0034] The wireless communication network 100 may include numerous wireless communication devices including at least one wireless AP 102 and any quantity of wireless STAs 104. While only one AP 102 is shown in Figure 1, the wireless communication network 100 can include multiple APs 102. The AP 102 can be or represent various different types of network entities including, but not limited to, a home networking AP, an enterprise-level AP, a single-frequency AP, a dual-band simultaneous (DBS) AP, a tri -band simultaneous (TBS) AP, a standalone AP, a non- standalone AP, a software-enabled AP (soft AP), and a multi-link AP (also referred to as an AP multi-link device (MLD)), as well as cellular (such as 3GPP, 4G LTE, 5G or 6G) base stations or other cellular network nodes such as a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a gNB, a transmission reception point (TRP) or another type of device or equipment included in a radio access network (RAN), including Open-RAN (O-RAN) network entities, such as a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU) or a radio unit (RU).

[0035] Each of the STAs 104 also may be referred to as a mobile station (MS), a mobile device, a mobile handset, a wireless handset, an access terminal (AT), a user equipment (UE), a subscriber station (SS), or a subscriber unit, among other examples. The STAs 104 may represent various devices such as mobile phones, other handheld or wearable communication devices, netbooks, notebook computers, tablet computers, laptops, Chromebooks, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR) or extended reality (XR) wireless headsets or other peripheral devices, wireless earbuds, other wearable devices, display devices (such as TVs, computer monitors or video gaming consoles), video game controllers, navigation systems, music or otheraudio or stereo devices, remote control devices, printers, kitchen appliances (including smart refrigerators) or other household appliances, key fobs (such as for passive keyless entry and start (PKES) systems), Internet of Things (loT) devices, and vehicles, among other examples.

[0036] A single AP 102 and an associated set of STAs 104 may be referred to as a basic service set (BSS), which is managed by the respective AP 102. Figure 1 additionally shows an example coverage area 108 of the AP 102, which may represent a basic service area (BSA) of the wireless communication network 100. The BSS may be identified by STAs 104 and other devices by a service set identifier (SSID), as well as a basic service set identifier (BSSID), which may be a medium access control (MAC) address of the AP 102. The AP 102 may periodically broadcast beacon frames (“beacons”) including the BSSID to enable any STAs 104 within wireless range of the AP 102 to “associate” or re-associate with the AP 102 to establish a respective communication link 106 (hereinafter also referred to as a “Wi-Fi link”), or to maintain a communication link 106, with the AP 102. For example, the beacons can include an identification or indication of a primary channel used by the respective AP 102 as well as a timing synchronization function (TSF) for establishing or maintaining timing synchronization with the AP 102. The AP 102 may provide access to external networks to various STAs 104 in the wireless communication network 100 via respective communication links 106.

[0037] To establish a communication link 106 with an AP 102, each of the STAs 104 is configured to perform passive or active scanning operations (“scans”) on frequency channels in one or more frequency bands (such as the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, 45 GHz, or 60 GHz bands). To perform passive scanning, a STA 104 listens for beacons, which are transmitted by respective APs 102 at periodic time intervals referred to as target beacon transmission times (TBTTs). To perform active scanning, a STA 104 generates and sequentially transmits probe requests on each channel to be scanned and listens for probe responses from APs 102. Each STA 104 may identify, determine, ascertain, or select an AP 102 with which to associate in accordance with the scanning information obtained through the passive or active scans, and to perform authentication and association operations to establish a communication link 106 with the selected AP102. The selected AP 102 assigns an association identifier (AID) to the STA 104 at the culmination of the association operations, which the AP 102 uses to track the STA 104.

[0038] As a result of the increasing ubiquity of wireless networks, a STA 104 may have the opportunity to select one of many BSSs within range of the STA 104 or to select among multiple APs 102 that together form an extended service set (ESS) including multiple connected BSSs. For example, the wireless communication network 100 may be connected to a wired or wireless distribution system that may enable multiple APs 102 to be connected in such an ESS. As such, a STA 104 can be covered by more than one AP 102 and can associate with different APs 102 at different times for different transmissions. Additionally, after association with an AP 102, a STA 104 also may periodically scan its surroundings to find a more suitable AP 102 with which to associate. For example, a STA 104 that is moving relative to its associated AP 102 may perform a “roaming” scan to find another AP 102 having more desirable network characteristics such as a greater received signal strength indicator (RSSI) or a reduced traffic load.

[0039] In some examples, STAs 104 may form networks without APs 102 or other equipment other than the STAs 104 themselves. One example of such a network is an ad hoc network (or wireless ad hoc network). Ad hoc networks may alternatively be referred to as mesh networks or peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. In some examples, ad hoc networks may be implemented within a larger network such as the wireless communication network 100. In such examples, while the STAs 104 may be capable of communicating with each other through the AP 102 using communication links 106, STAs 104 also can communicate directly with each other via direct wireless communication links 110. Additionally, two STAs 104 may communicate via a direct communication link 110 regardless of whether both STAs 104 are associated with and served by the same AP 102. In such an ad hoc system, one or more of the STAs 104 may assume the role filled by the AP 102 in a BSS. Such a STA 104 may be referred to as a group owner (GO) and may coordinate transmissions within the ad hoc network. Examples of direct wireless communication links 110 include Wi-Fi Direct connections, connections established by using a Wi-Fi Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) link, and other P2P group connections.

[0040] In some networks, the AP 102 or the STAs 104, or both, may support applications associated with high throughput or low-latency requirements, or may provide lossless audio to one or more other devices. For example, the AP 102 or the STAs 104 may support applications and use cases associated with ultra-low-latency (ULL), such as ULL gaming, or streaming lossless audio and video to one or more personal audio devices (such as peripheral devices) or AR / VR / MR / XR headset devices. In scenarios in which a user uses two or more peripheral devices, the AP 102 or the STAs 104 may support an extended personal audio network enabling communication with the two or more peripheral devices. Additionally, the AP 102 and STAs 104 may support additional ULL applications such as cloud-based applications (such as VR cloud gaming) that have ULL and high throughput requirements.

[0041] As indicated above, in some implementations, the AP 102 and the STAs 104 may function and communicate (via the respective communication links 106) according to one or more of the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocol standards. These standards define the WLAN radio and baseband protocols for the physical (PHY) and MAC layers. The AP 102 and STAs 104 transmit and receive wireless communications (hereinafter also referred to as “Wi-Fi communications” or “wireless packets”) to and from one another in the form of PHY protocol data units (PPDUs).

[0042] Each PPDU is a composite structure that includes a PHY preamble and a payload that is in the form of a PHY service data unit (PSDU). The information provided in the preamble may be used by a receiving device to decode the subsequent data in the PSDU. In instances in which a PPDU is transmitted over a bonded or wideband channel, the preamble fields may be duplicated and transmitted in each of multiple component channels. The PHY preamble may include both a legacy portion (or “legacy preamble”) and a non-legacy portion (or “non-legacy preamble”). The legacy preamble may be used for packet detection, automatic gain control and channel estimation, among other uses. The legacy preamble also may generally be used to maintain compatibility with legacy devices. The format of, coding of, and information provided in the non-legacy portion of the preamble is associated with the particular IEEE 802.11 wireless communication protocol to be used to transmit the payload.

[0043] The APs 102 and STAs 104 in the wireless communication network 100 may transmit PPDUs over an unlicensed spectrum, which may be a portion of spectrum that includes frequency bands traditionally used by Wi-Fi technology, such as the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, 45 GHz, and 60 GHz bands. Some examples of the APs 102 and STAs 104 described herein also may communicate in other frequency bands that may support licensed or unlicensed communications. For example, the APs 102 or STAs 104, or both, also may be capable of communicating over licensed operating bands, where multiple operators may have respective licenses to operate in the same or overlapping frequency ranges. Such licensed operating bands may map to or be associated with frequency range designations of FR1 (410 MHz - 7.125 GHz), FR2 (24.25 GHz - 52.6 GHz), FR3 (7.125 GHz - 24.25 GHz), FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz - 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz - 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz - 300 GHz).

[0044] Each of the frequency bands may include multiple sub-bands and frequency channels (also referred to as subchannels). For example, PPDUs conforming to the IEEE 802.1 In, 802.1 lac, 802.1 lax, 802.11be and 802.11bn standard amendments may be transmitted over one or more of the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, or 6 GHz bands, each of which is divided into multiple 20 MHz channels. As such, these PPDUs are transmitted over a physical channel having a minimum bandwidth of 20 MHz, but larger channels can be formed through channel bonding. For example, PPDUs may be transmitted over physical channels having bandwidths of 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, 240 MHz, 320 MHz, 480 MHz, or 640 MHz by bonding together multiple 20 MHz channels.

[0045] Retransmission protocols, such as hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), also may offer performance gains. A HARQ protocol may support various HARQ signaling between transmitting and receiving wireless communication devices (such as the AP 102 and the STAs 104 described with reference to Figure 1) as well as signaling between the PHY and MAC layers to improve the retransmission operations in a WLAN. HARQ uses a combination of error detection and error correction. For example, a HARQ transmission may include error checking bits that are added to data to be transmitted using an error-detecting (ED) code, such as a cyclic redundancy check (CRC). The error checking bits may be used by the receiving device to determine if it has properly decoded the received HARQ transmission. In some examples, the original data (information bits) to be transmitted may be encoded with a forward error correction(FEC) code, such as using a low-density parity check (LDPC) coding scheme that systematically encodes the information bits to produce parity bits. The transmitting device may transmit both the original information bits as well as the parity bits in the HARQ transmission to the receiving device. The receiving device may be able to use the parity bits to correct errors in the information bits, thus avoiding a retransmission.

[0046] Implementing a HARQ protocol in a WLAN may improve reliability of data communicated from a transmitting device to a receiving device. The HARQ protocol may support the establishment of a HARQ session between the two devices. Once a HARQ session is established, if a receiving device cannot properly decode (and cannot correct the errors) a first HARQ transmission received from the transmitting device, the receiving device may transmit a HARQ feedback message to the transmitting device (such as a negative acknowledgement (NACK)) that indicates at least part of the first HARQ transmission was not properly decoded. Such a HARQ feedback message may be different than the traditional Block ACK feedback message type associated with conventional ARQ. In response to receiving the HARQ feedback message, the transmitting device may transmit a second HARQ transmission to the receiving device to communicate at least part of further assist the receiving device in decoding the first HARQ transmission. For example, the transmitting device may include some or all of the original information bits, some or all of the original parity bits, as well as other, different parity bits in the second HARQ transmission. The combined HARQ transmissions may be processed for decoding and error correction such that the complete signal associated with the HARQ transmissions can be obtained.

[0047] In some examples, the receiving device may be enabled to control whether to continue the HARQ process or revert to a non-HARQ retransmission scheme (such as an automatic repeat request (ARQ) protocol). Such switching may reduce feedback overhead and increase the flexibility for retransmissions by allowing devices to dynamically switch between ARQ and HARQ protocols during frame exchanges. Some implementations also may allow multiplexing of communications that employ ARQ with those that employ HARQ.

[0048] APs and STAs (such as the AP 102 and the STAs 104 described with reference to Figure 1) that include multiple antennas may support various diversity schemes. For example, spatial diversity may be used by one or both of a transmittingdevice (such as either an AP 102 or a STA 104) or a receiving device (such as either an AP 102 or a STA 104) to increase the robustness of a transmission. For example, to implement a transmit diversity scheme, a transmitting device may transmit the same data redundantly over two or more antennas.

[0049] APs 102 and STAs 104 that include multiple antennas also may support space-time block coding (STBC). With STBC, a transmitting device also transmits multiple copies of a data stream across multiple antennas to exploit the various received versions of the data to increase the likelihood of decoding the correct data. More specifically, the data stream to be transmitted is encoded in blocks, which are distributed among the spaced antennas and across time. Generally, STBC can be used when the number NTxof transmit antennas exceeds the number Nssof spatial streams. The Nssspatial streams may be mapped to a number NSTSof space-time streams, which are then mapped to NTxtransmit chains.

[0050] APs 102 and STAs 104 that include multiple antennas also may support spatial multiplexing, which may be used to increase the spectral efficiency and the resultant throughput of a transmission. To implement spatial multiplexing, the transmitting device divides the data stream into a number Nssof separate, independent spatial streams. The spatial streams are then separately encoded and transmitted in parallel via the multiple NTxtransmit antennas.

[0051] APs 102 and STAs 104 that include multiple antennas also may support beamforming. Beamforming generally refers to the steering of the energy of a transmission in the direction of a target receiver. Beamforming may be used both in an SU context, for example, to improve a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), as well as in a multiuser (MU) context, for example, to enable MU-MIMO transmissions (also referred to as spatial division multiple access (SDMA)). In the MU-MIMO context, beamforming may additionally or alternatively involve the nulling out of energy in the directions of other receiving devices. To perform SU beamforming or MU-MIMO, a transmitting device, referred to as the beamformer, transmits a signal from each of multiple antennas. The beamformer configures the amplitudes and phase shifts between the signals transmitted from the different antennas such that the signals add constructively along particular directions towards the intended receiver (referred to as the beamformee) oradd destructively in other directions towards other devices to mitigate interference in a MU-MIMO context. The manner in which the beamformer configures the amplitudes and phase shifts depends on channel state information (CSI) associated with the wireless channels over which the beamformer intends to communicate with the beamformee.

[0052] To obtain the CSI necessary for beamforming, the beamformer may perform a channel sounding procedure with the beamformee. For example, the beamformer may transmit one or more sounding signals (such as in the form of a null data packet (NDP)) to the beamformee. An NDP is a PPDU without any data field. The beamformee may then perform measurements for each of the NTxx NRxsub-channels corresponding to all of the transmit antenna and receive antenna pairs associated with the sounding signal. The beamformee generates a feedback matrix associated with the channel measurements and, typically, compresses the feedback matrix before transmitting the feedback to the beamformer. The beamformer may then generate a precoding (or “steering”) matrix for the beamformee associated with the feedback and use the steering matrix to precode the data streams to configure the amplitudes and phase shifts for subsequent transmissions to the beamformee. The beamformer may use the steering matrix to determine (such as identify, detect, ascertain, calculate, or compute) how to transmit a signal on each of its antennas to perform beamforming. For example, the steering matrix may be indicative of a phase shift, power level, etc. to use to transmit a respective signal on each of the beamformer’s antennas.

[0053] When performing beamforming, the transmitting beamforming array gain is logarithmically proportional to the ratio of NTxto Nss. As such, it is generally desirable, within other constraints, to increase the number NTxof transmit antennas when performing beamforming to increase the gain. It is also possible to more accurately direct transmissions or nulls by increasing the number of transmit antennas. This is especially advantageous in MU transmission contexts in which it is particularly important to reduce inter-user interference.

[0054] To increase an AP 102’s spatial multiplexing capability, an AP 102 may need to support an increased number (such as quantity) of spatial streams (such as up to 16 spatial streams). However, supporting additional spatial streams may result in increased CSI feedback overhead. Implicit CSI acquisition techniques may avoid CSIfeedback overhead by taking advantage of the assumption that the UL and DL channels have reciprocal impulse responses (that is, that there is channel reciprocity). For example, the CSI feedback overhead may be reduced using an implicit channel sounding procedure such as an implicit beamforming report (BFR) technique (such as where STAs 104 transmit NDP sounding packets in the UL while the AP 102 measures the channel) because no BFRs are sent. Once the AP 102 receives the NDPs, it may implicitly assess the channels for each of the STAs 104 and use the channel assessments to configure steering matrices. To mitigate hardware mismatches that could break the channel reciprocity on the UL and DL (such as the baseband-to-RF and RF-to-baseband chains not being reciprocal), the AP 102 may implement a calibration method to compensate for the mismatch between the UL and the DL channels. For example, the AP 102 may select a reference antenna, transmit a pilot signal from each of its antennas, and estimate baseband-to-RF gain for each of the non-reference antennas relative to the reference antenna.

[0055] In some examples, multiple APs 102 may simultaneously transmit signaling or communications to a single STA 104 utilizing a distributed MU-MIMO scheme. Examples of such a distributed MU-MIMO transmission include coordinated beamforming (CBF) and joint transmission (JT). With CBF, signals (such as data streams) for a given STA 104 may be transmitted by only a single AP 102. However, the coverage areas of neighboring APs may overlap, and signals transmitted by a given AP 102 may reach the STAs in OBSSs associated with neighboring APs as OBSS signals. CBF allows multiple neighboring APs to transmit simultaneously while minimizing or avoiding interference, which may result in more opportunities for spatial reuse. More specifically, using CBF techniques, an AP 102 may beamform signals to in-BSS STAs 104 while forming nulls in the directions of STAs in OBSSs such that any signals received at an OBSS STA are of sufficiently low power to limit the interference at the STA. To accomplish this, an inter-BSS coordination set may be defined between the neighboring APs, which contains identifiers of all APs and STAs participating in CBF transmissions.

[0056] With JT, signals for a given STA 104 may be transmitted by multiple coordinated APs 102. For the multiple APs 102 to concurrently transmit data to a STA 104, the multiple APs 102 may all need a copy of the data to be transmitted to the STA104. Accordingly, the APs 102 may need to exchange the data among each other for transmission to a STA 104. With JT, the combination of antennas of the multiple APs 102 transmitting to one or more STAs 104 may be considered as one large antenna array (which may be represented as a virtual antenna array) used for beamforming and transmitting signals. In combination with MU-MIMO techniques, the multiple antennas of the multiple APs 102 may be able to transmit data via multiple spatial streams. Accordingly, each STA 104 may receive data via one or more of the multiple spatial streams.

[0057] In some implementations, the AP 102 and STAs 104 can support various multi-user communications; that is, concurrent transmissions from one device to each of multiple devices (such as multiple simultaneous downlink communications from an AP 102 to corresponding STAs 104), or concurrent transmissions from multiple devices to a single device (such as multiple simultaneous uplink transmissions from corresponding STAs 104 to an AP 102). As an example, in addition to MU-MIMO, the AP 102 and STAs 104 may support OFDMA. OFDMA is in some aspects a multi-user version of OFDM.

[0058] In OFDMA schemes, the available frequency spectrum of the wireless channel may be divided into multiple resource units (RUs) each including multiple frequency subcarriers (also referred to as “tones”). Different RUs may be allocated or assigned by an AP 102 to different STAs 104 at particular times. The sizes and distributions of the RUs may be referred to as an RU allocation. In some examples, RUs may be allocated in 2 MHz intervals, and as such, the smallest RU may include 26 tones consisting of 24 data tones and 2 pilot tones. Consequently, in a 20 MHz channel, up to 9 RUs (such as 2 MHz, 26-tone RUs) may be allocated (because some tones are reserved for other purposes). Similarly, in a 160 MHz channel, up to 74 RUs may be allocated. Other tone RUs also may be allocated, such as 52 tone, 106 tone, 242 tone, 484 tone and 996 tone RUs. Adjacent RUs may be separated by a null subcarrier (such as a DC subcarrier), for example, to reduce interference between adjacent RUs, to reduce receiver DC offset, and to avoid transmit center frequency leakage.

[0059] For UL MU transmissions, an AP 102 can transmit a trigger frame to initiate and synchronize an UL OFDMA or UL MU-MIMO transmission from multiple STAs 104 to the AP 102. Such trigger frames may thus enable multiple STAs 104 to send ULtraffic to the AP 102 concurrently in time. A trigger frame may address one or more STAs 104 through respective association identifiers (AIDs), and may assign each AID (and thus each STA 104) one or more RUs that can be used to send UL traffic to the AP 102. The AP also may designate one or more random access (RA) RUs that unscheduled STAs 104 may contend for.

[0060] In some wireless communications systems, an AP 102 may allocate or assign multiple RUs to a single STA104 in an OFDMA transmission (hereinafter also referred to as “multi-RU aggregation”). Multi-RU aggregation, which facilitates puncturing and scheduling flexibility, may ultimately reduce latency. As increasing bandwidth is supported by emerging standards (such as the IEEE 802.1 Ibe standard amendment supporting 320 MHz and the IEEE 802.1 Ibn standard amendment supporting 480 MHz and 640 MHz), various multiple RU (multi-RU) combinations may exist. Values indicating the various multi-RU combinations may be provided by a suitable standard specification (such as one or more of the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocol standards including the 802.1 Ibe standard amendment).

[0061] As Wi-Fi is not the only technology operating in the 6 GHz band, the use of multiple RUs in conjunction with channel puncturing may enable the use of large bandwidths such that high throughput is possible while avoiding transmitting on frequencies that are locally unauthorized due to incumbent operation. Puncturing may be used in conjunction with multi-RU transmissions to enable wide channels to be established using non-contiguous spectrum blocks. In such examples, the portion of the bandwidth between two RUs allocated to a particular STA 104 may be punctured. Accordingly, spectrum efficiency and flexibility may be increased.

[0062] As described previously, STA-specific RU allocation information may be included in a signaling field (such as the EHT-SIG field for an EHT PPDU) of the PPDU’s preamble. Preamble puncturing may enable wider bandwidth transmissions for increased throughput and spectral efficiency in the presence of interference from incumbent technologies and other wireless communication devices. Because RUs may be individually allocated in a MU PPDU, use of the MU PPDU format may indicate preamble puncturing for SU transmissions. While puncturing in the IEEE 802.1 lax standard amendment was limited to OFDMA transmissions, the IEEE 802.1 Ibe standard amendment extended puncturing to SU transmissions. In some examples, theRU allocation information in the common field of EHT-SIG can be used to individually allocate RUs to the single user, thereby avoiding the punctured channels. In some other examples, U-SIG may be used to indicate SU preamble puncturing. For example, the SU preamble puncturing may be indicated by a value of the EHT-SIG compression field in U-SIG.

[0063] In some aspects, the wireless communication network 100, or a subset or portion thereof, may be an example of or operate as a wireless mesh network. Although described in the example of a Wi-Fi network, the wireless communication network 100 may be an example of a Wi-Fi mesh network or any other type of wireless (mesh) network. For example, one or more APs 102 or one or more STAs 104, or any combination thereof, may operate or function as wireless nodes within any generic wireless (mesh) network. A wireless node may refer to or be understood as any wireless communication device that is capable of wireless communication in addition to, or as an alternative to, wired communication. As such, a wireless node is not a device strictly without a wired connection, but rather a device that is at least capable of wireless communication. A wireless node may be an edge node (which may be equivalently referred to as a sink device) or a non-edge node (which may be equivalently referred to as an end device or a source device), although a wireless node may operate as either an edge node or a non-edge node over time. For example, a wireless node may sometimes operate as an edge node and may at other times operate as a non-edge node.

[0064] A wireless network may include a variety of wireless nodes (such as wireless communication devices) that are capable of obtaining, exchanging, and processing data. These wireless nodes may, in some implementations, be referred to as non-edge nodes, end devices, edge nodes, cloud edges, cloud entities, storage nodes, processing nodes, controller nodes, or the like. The terms “non-edge node” and “edge node” may be relative terms that define or are associated with a relationship between two wireless nodes with respect to one or more of device or node capability, task execution, or proximity to a core network or core processing entity (such as proximity to a wired connection to the Internet). For example, a non-edge node may refer to a wireless node with relatively fewer processing resources or reduced processing capabilities, and an edge node may refer to a wireless node with relatively more processing resources or greater processing capabilities. Additionally, or alternatively, a non-edge node mayrefer to a wireless node that solicits or requests a processing task, and an edge node may refer to a wireless node that executes a processing task. Wireless nodes such as APs 102, STAs 104, user equipments (UEs), drones (including terrestrial drones, aerial drones, underwater drones, or any combination thereof), routers, mobile devices (smartphones), cars, laptops, gaming consoles, extended reality (XR) glasses or headsets, augmented reality (AR) devices, virtual reality (VR) headsets, thermostats, sensors, loT devices, and other consumer devices may serve as edge nodes, non-edge nodes, or both at different times.

[0065] Some device types (such as drones) are receiving increasing market interest, which is driving demands for greater connectivity and a network (such as a mesh network) delivered with low latency in multi-hop mesh networks, fast adaptation to varying topologies, low (including zero) downtime path change, and an ability to multicast or broadcast data (such as drone or other non-edge node generated data) to multiple sink devices (such as multiple edge nodes), among others. Wi-Fi (mesh) networks are common in some deployment scenarios and applications due to ease of availability, low cost, and convenience of having an independent network (as opposed to being dependent on an infrastructure such as cellular). In some other deployment scenarios, cellular (mesh) networks are relatively more common. Some mesh deployments may be for home, carrier, enterprise, or any combination thereof, including services associated with wireless distribution or upstream mesh associated with a mesh protocol, such as the 802.11s protocol.

[0066] In some wireless networks, such as the wireless communication network 100, relationships (such as functionalities or roles) may be defined between any two connected wireless nodes such that one of the wireless nodes acts (such as functions, operates, or communicates) as a primary wireless node that controls a set of functions of the other wireless node, which may be understood and referred to as a secondary wireless node. For example, a primary wireless node may schedule and allocate resources for data transfer (such as transmission and / or reception of data messages, frames, or packets). In some aspects, assigning the role of primary or secondary may be associated with a capability of a wireless node or any other criteria associated with a specific deployment scenario and corresponding constraints and / or expectations. In the context of Wi-Fi (mesh) networks, a primary wireless node may be understood as beingan AP 102 or otherwise having AP functionality and a secondary wireless node may be understood as being a STA 104 or otherwise having STA functionality.

[0067] Further, in a drone network, including a drone mesh network, functionality (such as role) assignments of AP 102 and STA 104 to each pair of connected wireless nodes may be useful to achieve various objectives, such as OFDMA transmissions between two wireless nodes. For example, two communicating devices (such as two neighbor wireless nodes) may use OFDMA to mitigate the impact of interference and increase reliability in high interference scenarios. For example, in a scenario in which two wireless nodes connected to each other experience different interference floors causing an imbalance in link budgets (which may be a scenario in which an SNR being greater than a signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) causes a link to be uplink limited), using a triggered transmission with smaller resource units (RUs) may reduce the impact of interference or otherwise increase the reliability of communication. Such scenarios may be common in some drone network deployments, as drones (such as aerial drones) operating at higher altitudes may see interference from multiple clear channel assessment (CCA) domains, which may result in a floor of uncorrelated Wi-Fi interference. Further, in some aspects, uplink OFDMA may increase reliability by reducing a likelihood of packet misses due to packet detection errors.

[0068] In some implementations, various wireless nodes of the wireless communication network 100 may support one or more configuration- or signaling-based mechanisms according to which the wireless nodes may efficiently switch functionalities (such as WLAN roles, such as a role or functionality taken by or attributed to an AP 102 and a role or functionality taken by or attributed to a STA 104) in accordance with one or more conditions and capabilities. Additionally, or alternatively, various wireless nodes of the wireless communication network 100 may support one or more configuration- or signaling-based mechanisms according to which the wireless nodes may identify (such as select, ascertain, receive an indication of, or otherwise determine) the functionality (such as the WLAN role) of each wireless node. In accordance with such configuration- or signaling-based mechanisms, wireless nodes of a wireless network may more flexibly and dynamically switch between functionalities, which may enable more suitable and timely use of triggered orscheduled (OFDMA) transmissions by a wireless node that might benefit the most from triggering or scheduling transmissions.

[0069] Further, although some example implementations of the subject matter described herein may be in the context of Wi-Fi networks, the described techniques may be applied to any generic wireless network in which primary and secondary functionalities (roles) are leveraged to facilitate communication and data transfer. Similarly, although some example implementations of the subject matter described herein may be especially useful for specified use cases, including drone use cases, the described techniques may be applied to any use case involving dynamically changing environments in which a type (such as a functionality or role) of a wireless node may change (such as from AP 102 to STA 104, and vice versa) dynamically over time. Additionally, the terms “functionalities” and “roles” may be used interchangeably herein, and, in examples in which wireless nodes have two different functionalities or roles, these terms may refer or relate to any concept of primary and secondary, controller and controlled, scheduler and scheduled, master and slave, or the like. The terms “functionalities” and “roles” also may be understood as “wireless functionalities” and “wireless roles” in accordance with their association with an interface between two wireless nodes.

[0070] Figure 2 shows an example wireless communication network 200 that illustrates how multiple wireless nodes may communicate with each other in accordance with different functionalities or roles to establish a wireless network. The wireless communication network 200 may implement or be implemented to realize aspects of the wireless communication network 100. For example, the wireless communication network 200 illustrates communication between a wireless node 202, a wireless node 204-a, a wireless node 204-b, and a wireless node 204-c, each of which may be an example of corresponding devices as illustrated by and described with reference to Figure 1. For example, the wireless node 202, the wireless node 204-a, the wireless node 204-b, and the wireless node 204-c may be examples of APs 102, STAs 104, UEs, drones (including terrestrial drones, aerial drones, underwater drones, or any combination thereof), routers, mobile devices, cars, laptops, gaming consoles, XR glasses or headsets, AR devices, VR headsets, thermostats, sensors, loT devices, other consumer or industrial devices, or any combination thereof.

[0071] The wireless node 202 may be an example of or may be assigned a role of a root AP 102, which may be an example of a wireless distribution system (WDS) enabled AP 102 that is absent of a STA VAP. The wireless node 204-a, the wireless node 204-b, and the wireless node 204-c may be examples of repeater nodes (such as a Repeater- A, a Repeater-B, and a Repeater-C, respectively, as illustrated in the example of the wireless communication network 200). The repeater nodes in the wireless communication network 200 may have an AP functionality and, in some systems, a single STA VAP. Further, in some aspect, the repeater nodes that are connected to each other may have an AP-STA relationship between them. For example, the wireless node 204-a may have a STA interface 206-a via which the wireless node 204-a communicates with the wireless node 202 (the root AP 102) and an AP interface 208-a via which the wireless node 204-a communicates with a STA interface 206-c of the wireless node 204-c. Similarly, the wireless node 204-b may have a STA interface 206-b via which the wireless node 204-b communicates with the wireless node 202 (the root AP).

[0072] In some deployment scenarios, the wireless node 202 and the repeater nodes may further connect with one or more STAs 104 via respective AP interfaces. As illustrated in the example of the wireless communication network 200, the wireless node 202 may have a connection to a STA 104-a, the wireless node 204-a may have a connection to a STA 104-c via the AP interface 208-a, the wireless node 204-b may have a connection to a STA 104-b via an AP interface 208-b, and the wireless node 204-c may have a connection to a STA 104-d via an AP interface 208-c. Although referred to as STAs 104 in the example illustration of Figure 2, the STAs 104 also may be examples of wireless nodes of the wireless communication network 200.

[0073] In some aspects, the wireless communication network 200 may be an example of a WDS, which may be a system that enables interconnection of APs to form a mesh network. WDS may support 4-address communication, and a routing table may be maintained at each wireless node to reach other wireless nodes in the wireless communication network 200. Although described in some examples in the context of a Wi-Fi network (such as a Wi-Fi mesh network), the wireless communication network 200 may be an example of any type of wireless network (such as any type of wireless mesh network), such as any network in which wireless nodes may function in one ormore of multiple roles and in which relatively frequent switching between roles may occur.

[0074] In some networks, such as the wireless communication network 200, a root AP 102 (such as the wireless node 202) may establish a connection with another wireless node (such as the wireless node 204-a) via an AP-STA connection or interface. In other words, the wireless node 202 establishing an AP-STA connection or interface with the wireless node 204-a may be understood as the wireless node 202 operating (such as communicating) in accordance with an AP functionality and the wireless node 204-a operating (such as communicating) in accordance with a STA functionality. As such, an “AP-STA” connection or interface may define a relationship between two respective wireless nodes. Likewise, a “STA-AP” connection or interface may define the inverse relationship between the two respective wireless nodes.

[0075] Elsewhere in such networks, a first (edge) wireless node and a second (nonedge) wireless node may initially have an AP-STA connection (such that the edge wireless node initially operates in accordance with an AP functionality and the non-edge wireless node initially operates in accordance with a STA functionality). If the role or functionality types of the first wireless node and the second wireless node are to be switched, there may be a cascading effect in the network, which may result in multiple connections being tom down and new connections being made in replacement. In examples in which a network is able to perform such a tearing down and replacement of connections as a result of a role switch between two wireless nodes, the tearing down and replacement of connections may be costly and data disruption time may be high (such as long in duration), which may be prohibitive for some deployment scenarios or application types. In some other examples, a network might not be able to fully perform such a tearing down and replacement of connections. In other words, in such examples, there may be some role assignment conflicts that are not possible to resolve. For example, because a STA interface of a wireless node may be limited to a single connection or a single link, it is possible that the cascading effect of a role switch through a network may result in an expectation for a root AP 102 (such as the wireless node 202) to assume the role of a STA 104, which may not be possible (as a root AP 102 may not have a STA interface). As such, techniques for more efficient, flexible, and dynamic role switches between wireless nodes that are implementable acrossvarious network topologies (such as without causing role assignment conflicts that are not possible to resolve) may be desired.

[0076] Accordingly, in some implementations, each wireless node of a wireless network may establish a bi-directional peer connection (including a STA-AP connection or interface and an AP-STA connection or interface, which may be referred to herein as a wireless link pair) and may create multiple STA VAPs to establish the bi-directional connection with multiple neighbor wireless nodes. In accordance with creating multiple STA VAPs, a wireless node may have greater flexibility in managing how role switches are propagated through a network, as the wireless node may potentially maintain multiple links associated with a STA functionality (such as one link per STA VAP), whereas the STA functionality may be limited to a single link in systems that do not support multiple STA VAPs at each wireless node. In some aspects, for example, a wireless node may create a quantity of STA VAPs equal to, or equal to up to an upper limit, a quantity of neighbor wireless nodes with which the wireless node has a connection. Additional details relating to such an establishment of bi-directional peer connections with multiple neighbor wireless nodes are illustrated by and described with reference to Figures 3 and 4.

[0077] Figure 3 shows example wireless networks 300 and 301 that illustrate a transition from a network with single link STA functionality to a network with multiple STA VAPs, each respective STA VAP facilitating a respective wireless link to a neighbor wireless node. The wireless networks 300 and 301 may implement or be implemented to realize aspects of the wireless communication networks 100 and 200. The wireless networks 300 and 301 illustrate communication between a wireless node 302-a, a wireless node 302-b, a wireless node 302-c, and a wireless node 302-d, each of which may be an example of a corresponding device as illustrated by and described with reference to Figures 1 and 2.

[0078] As illustrated in the example of the wireless network 300, the wireless node 302-a may establish an AP-STA connection 304-a with the wireless node 302-b and the wireless node 302-a may establish an AP-STA connection 304-c with the wireless node 302-c. As such, the wireless node 302-a may operate in accordance with an AP functionality and each of the wireless node 302-b and the wireless node 302-c may operate in accordance with a STA functionality. In accordance with the wireless node302-b operating in accordance with the STA functionality for communication with the wireless node 302-a, and in examples in which the wireless node 302-b has a single link STA functionality, the wireless node 302-b may be constrained to an AP functionality for communication with the wireless node 302-d. As such, the wireless node 302-b may establish an AP-STA connection 304-b with the wireless node 302-d.

[0079] As illustrated in the example of the wireless network 301, each of the wireless nodes may establish (such as configure, create, use, communicate via, or employ) multiple STA VAPs, which may be equivalently referred to as logical STA entities, and may establish connections with neighbor wireless nodes via the multiple STA VAPs. For example, the wireless node 302-a may establish an AP-STA connection 306-a with the wireless node 302-b, a STA2-AP connection 306-e with the wireless node 302-d, and a STA1-AP connection 306-c with the wireless node 302-c. As such, the wireless node 302-a may operate in accordance with an AP functionality for communication with the wireless node 302-b, but may operate in accordance with a STA functionality (via two different STA VAPs, namely STA1 and STA2) for communication with the wireless node 302-d and the wireless node 302-c.

[0080] For further example, the wireless node 302-b may establish an AP-STA connection 306-f with the wireless node 302-c and may establish an AP-STA1 connection 306-b with the wireless node 302-d. As such, the wireless node 302-b may operate in accordance with a STA functionality for communication with the wireless node 302-a, but may operate in accordance with an AP functionality for communication with the wireless node 302-c and the wireless node 302-d. For further example, the wireless node 302-c may establish an AP-STA2 connection 306-d with the wireless node 302-d. As such, the wireless node 302-c may operate in accordance with an AP functionality for communication with the wireless node 302-a and the wireless node 302-d, but may operate in accordance with a STA functionality for communication with the wireless node 302-b. Likewise, the wireless node 302-d may operate in accordance with an AP functionality for communication with the wireless node 302-a, but may operate in accordance with a STA functionality (via two different STA VAPs, namely STA1 and STA2) for communication with the wireless node 302-b and the wireless node 302-c.

[0081] In accordance with supporting multiple STA VAPs, a wireless node may be able to more fully connect with neighbor wireless nodes and provide a wireless network greater flexibility to handle role / functionality switches. Further, in some implementations, wireless nodes may support bi-directional peer connections, such as connections including both a STA-AP connection and an AP-STA connection with each of one or multiple neighbor nodes. Such bi-directional peer connections may further flexibility and efficiency in accommodating role switches. Additional details relating to such bi-directional peer connections are illustrated by and described with reference to Figure 4.

[0082] Figure 4 shows an example of a wireless network 400 that illustrates a network with bi-directional peer connections via multiple STA VAPs, each respective STA VAP facilitating a respective wireless link to a neighbor wireless node. The wireless network 400 may implement or be implemented to realize aspects of the wireless communication networks 100 and 200 and the wireless networks 300 and 301. The wireless network 400 illustrates communication between a wireless node 402-a, a wireless node 402-b, a wireless node 402-c, and a wireless node 402-d, each of which may be an example of a corresponding device as illustrated by and described with reference to Figures 1-3.

[0083] As illustrated in the example of the wireless network 400, each of the wireless nodes may establish (such as configure, create, use, communicate via, or employ) multiple STA VAPs, which may be equivalently referred to as logical STA entities, and may establish bi-directional connections with neighbor wireless nodes via the multiple STA VAPs. As such, at a given wireless node, that wireless node may establish a set of wireless links (such as connections or interfaces) for communication with one or multiple neighbor wireless nodes, with the set of wireless links including a first subset of wireless links associated with an AP functionality (or, generally, a first functionality) and a second subset of wireless links associated with a STA functionality (or, generally, a second functionality).

[0084] In other words, the first subset of wireless links may correspond to AP-STA connections (which may be equivalently referred to as AP-STA interfaces) and the second subset of wireless links may correspond to STA-AP connections (which may be equivalently referred to as STA-AP interfaces). Further, in accordance with eachwireless node creating multiple STA VAPs (such as multiple logical STA entities), each respective STA-AP connection may be associated with a respective STA VAP at that wireless node. In an example in which a wireless node creates three STA VAPs (namely, STA1, STA2, and STA3), the second subset of wireless links may correspond to a STA1-AP connection, a STA2-AP connection, and a STA3-AP connection.Further, the bi-directional connection between each pair of neighbor wireless nodes may include an AP-STA connection and a STA-AP connection, such that the set of wireless links established by a wireless node may include a quantity (one or multiple) of wireless link pairs, each wireless link pair including a wireless link from the first subset of wireless links and a wireless link from the second subset of wireless links. In some aspects, a quantity of STA VAPs at a wireless node may correlate with, may be equal to, or may be equal to up to an upper limit (which may be associated with a device capability) a quantity of neighbor wireless nodes with which the wireless node is connected.

[0085] For example, the wireless node 402-a and the wireless node 402-b may establish an AP-STA1 connection 404-a and a STA1-AP connection 404-b, with the AP-STA1 connection 404-a and the STA1-AP connection 404-b being a wireless link pair (a bi-directional connection) between the wireless node 402-a and the wireless node 402-b. For further example, the wireless node 402-a and the wireless node 402-d may establish a STA2-AP connection 404-c and an AP-STA1 connection 404-d, with the STA2-AP connection 404-c and the AP-STA1 connection 404-d being a wireless link pair (a bi-directional connection) between the wireless node 402-a and the wireless node 402-d. For further example, the wireless node 402-a and the wireless node 402-c may establish a STA3-AP connection 404-e and an AP-STA1 connection 404-f, with the STA3-AP connection 404-e and the AP-STA1 connection 404-f being a wireless link pair (a bi-directional connection) between the wireless node 402-a and the wireless node 402-c.

[0086] For further example, the wireless node 402-b and the wireless node 402-c may establish an AP-STA2 connection 404-g and a STA2-AP connection 404-h, with the AP-STA2 connection 404-g and the STA2-AP connection 404-h being a wireless link pair (a bi-directional connection) between the wireless node 402-b and the wireless node 402-c. The wireless node 402-b and the wireless node 402-d may establish an AP-STA2 connection 404-i and a STA3-AP connection 404-j, with the AP-STA2 connection 404-i and the STA3-AP connection 404-j being a wireless link pair (a bidirectional connection) between the wireless node 402-b and the wireless node 402-d. For further example, the wireless node 402-c and the wireless node 402-d may establish an AP-STA3 connection 404-k and a STA3-AP connection 404-1, with the AP-STA3 connection 404-k and the STA3-AP connection 404-1 being a wireless link pair (a bidirectional connection) between the wireless node 402-c and the wireless node 402-d.

[0087] As such, each wireless node of the wireless network 400 may be able to efficiently switch between roles or functionalities via a dynamic selection of one or more links whenever roles of the wireless nodes change. In other words, each wireless node may select one or more links for communication in accordance with the role for that wireless node (or for that set of wireless nodes). For example, the wireless node 402-a and the wireless node 402-b may select to use the AP-STA1 connection 404-a in examples in which the wireless node 402-a and the wireless node 402-b select to assign the role of AP to the wireless node 402-a and the role of STA to the wireless node 402-b. Alternatively, even if the wireless node 402-a and the wireless node 402-b select to use the STA1-AP connection 404-b, the wireless node 402-a may still select (without a restriction imposed by single link STA functionality) to use the STA2-AP connection 404-c for communication with the wireless node 402-d or the STA3-AP connection 404-e for communication with the wireless node 402-c, or both, as each of such links (such as connections or interfaces) are associated with a different STA VAP at the wireless node 402-a.

[0088] Further, such bi-directional connections between neighbor wireless nodes of the wireless network 400 may differ from other systems associated with multi-link operation in accordance with the flexibility of switching between AP functionality and STA functionality, while devices of such other systems may be constrained to either AP functionality or STA functionality (and not both). Moreover, some other systems may leverage multi-link operation for the purpose of transmitting same data across the different links and using a common sequence number (SN) across the different links. Such transmission of same data across the different links of such other systems may relate to how, for a given direction of communication, devices of such other systems may use one type of transmission, such as one of an uplink transmission type or adownlink transmission type. Differently, in accordance with the described bidirectional connections, a given direction of communication from one wireless node to another wireless node may use either or both of an uplink transmission type and a downlink transmission type. Further, in accordance with supporting roles of both AP and STA within a single wireless node, implementations of the subject matter described herein may include use of separate (different) MAC sequence numbering across different wireless links of a bi-directional connection. Further, some other systems may leverage multi-link operation for aggregating links and establishing primary and secondary links, while implementations of the subject matter described herein may, additionally, or alternatively, use multiple wireless links for different types of traffic (such as one for uplink traffic, which may be used for latency tolerant traffic types, and one for downlink traffic, which may be used for latency sensitive or otherwise low- latency traffic types).

[0089] Figure 5 shows an example process flow 500 that illustrates signaling between neighbor wireless nodes associated with selection and efficient switching of roles. The process flow 500 may implement or be implemented to realize aspects of the wireless communication networks 100 and 200 and the wireless networks 300, 301, and 400. For example, the process flow 500 illustrates communication between a wireless node 502-a, a wireless node 502-b, and optionally a control entity 504. The wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b may be examples of corresponding devices as illustrated and described herein, including with reference to Figures 1-4. The control entity 504 may be an example of another wireless node (such as a central node) in a wireless network (such as a wireless mesh network) or may be a server device running a functionality / role assignment algorithm outside of the wireless network.

[0090] In the following description of the process flow 500, the operations may be performed (such as reported or provided) in a different order than the order shown, or the operations may be performed in different orders or at different times. For example, specific operations may be left out of the process flow 500, or other operations may be added to the process flow 500. Further, although some operations or signaling may be shown to occur at different times for explanatory purposes, these operations may actually occur at the same time.

[0091] At 506, the wireless node 502-a may establish a set of wireless links, the set of wireless links including a first subset of wireless links associated with a first functionality of the wireless node 502-a (such as an AP functionality) and a second subset of wireless links associated with a second functionality of the wireless node 502-a (such as a STA functionality). The first subset of wireless links may include one or multiple links and the second subset of wireless links may include one or multiple links. In examples in which the second subset of wireless links include multiple links, each wireless link of the second subset of wireless links may correspond to a different STA VAP (such as a different logical STA entity) associated with the STA functionality. The set of wireless links may include one or multiple wireless link pairs, including a wireless link pair associated with a bi-directional connection between the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b. Such a wireless link pair may include a first wireless link associated with an AP-STA connection and a second wireless link associated with a STA-AP connection. The wireless node 502-a may select at least one of the AP-STA connection or the STA-AP connection for communication between the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b in accordance with a functionality / role assignment at each of the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b.

[0092] In some implementations, each pair of wireless nodes (such as the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b) may be assigned a functionality or role (such as a WLAN role) in accordance with one or more metrics reported by one or more wireless nodes in the wireless network. In some aspect, the specific metric used may be associated with a functionality and use case associated with the wireless network. Example metrics in accordance with which node functionalities or roles may be assigned include interference levels measured by the wireless nodes (which may be relevant for deployment scenarios leveraging OFDMA, among others), capability indications associated with power save mechanisms (such as a target-wake-time (TWT) mechanism or a TWT capability), remaining battery power, a quantity of clients served, an amount of data to be relayed to each of a set of clients, or any combination thereof. The quantity of clients served and the amount of data to be relayed to each of the clients may be relevant for deployment scenarios leveraging MU-MIMO, among others. The selection of functionalities or roles of the wireless nodes may be taken (such asperformed) centrally at the control entity 504 or may be performed in a distributed nature at each wireless node.

[0093] In implementations in which the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b support a centralized selection or assignment of functionalities or roles, the control entity 504 may instruct the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b to generate and report the metric in accordance with a configuration (such as a metric reporting configuration). For example, at 508, the control entity 504 may transmit information indicative of a reporting configuration to the wireless node 502-a and, at 510, the control entity 504 may transmit information indicative of the reporting configuration to the wireless node 502-b. The control entity 504 may transmit the information indicative of the reporting configuration via multiple unicast frames or via one or more broadcast frames.

[0094] At 512, the wireless node 502-a may generate and transmit a first report to the control entity 504 in accordance with the reporting configuration and, at 514, the wireless node 502-b may generate and transmit a second report to the control entity 504 in accordance with the reporting configuration. In accordance with the reporting configuration, the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b may transmit the first and second reports (which may be examples of measurement reports) periodically or on an event-based basis, or both. An example of an event-based measurement report may include a measurement report transmitted if a change in an interference level is greater than a threshold. The wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b may transmit the first and second reports via unicast messages or via broadcast messages (such as via a beacon frame or another management frame), or both.

[0095] The control entity 504 may receive the first and second reports (and potentially various other reports from various other wireless nodes in the wireless network) and may perform the functionality or role selection and communicate (such as transmit indications of) the selected roles for each wireless node. For example, at 516, the control entity 504 may transmit an indication of a functionality assignment for the wireless node 502-a and, at 518, the control entity 504 may transmit an indication of a functionality assignment for the wireless node 502-b. The control entity 504 may communicate the selected roles for each wireless via separate unicast messages (each addressed to an intended receiver node) or via one or more broadcast messages, or viaany combination thereof. In examples in which the control entity 504 communicates the selected roles via one or more broadcast messages, each of the broadcast messages, or the multiple broadcast messages collectively, may convey or indicate a table, with each row in the table indicating a functionality assignment for a corresponding wireless node (which may be identified by an identifier, such as a MAC identifier, in the table). Further, in some implementations, the control entity 504 may assign a role or functionality implicitly at each of the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b by assigning a wireless link to be used for communication between the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b. As such, the functionality assignments transmitted by the control entity 504 may include an indication of the wireless link to be used, instead of or in addition to explicit functionality or role assignments for each wireless node.

[0096] Additionally, or alternatively, the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b support a de-centralized (such as distributed) selection or assignment of functionalities or roles. For example, each wireless node of each pair of associated wireless nodes (such as each of the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b) may independently (such as autonomously) select a functionality or role for communication with each other. The wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b may independently select functionalities or roles with or without exchanging (such as transmitting or receiving, or both) signaling. In some implementations, for instance, the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b may perform the selection of roles without (or in addition to) metric reports between the wireless nodes, and may instead perform the selection of roles in accordance with information each wireless node infers. For example, each of the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b may measure a packet error rate (PER) of previous communication between the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b and may perform the role selection in accordance with the measured PER. Additionally, or alternatively, each of the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b may use the measured PER to infer (such as select, estimate, calculate, or otherwise determine) an interference level at the other of the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b and may perform the role selection in accordance with the inferred (such as the selected, estimated, calculated, or otherwise determined) interference level.

[0097] In some other implementations, each wireless node of each pair of associated wireless nodes may exchange signaling (such as metric reports) between each other and perform the role selection in accordance with the signaling. In such implementations, each of the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b may generate and report a metric in accordance with a configuration (such as the reporting configuration received from the control entity 504 or another configuration, such as a self-selected or pre- loaded configuration). For example, at 520, the wireless node 502-a may generate and transmit a first report (such as a first metric report or a first measurement report) to the wireless node 502-b and, at 522, the wireless node 502-b may generate and transmit a second report (such as a second metric report or a second measurement report) to the wireless node 502-a. The wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b may exchange the first and second reports via unicast messages, multicast messages, broadcast messages, or any combination thereof. Additional details relating to such a de-centralized (such as distributed) selection or assignment of functionalities or roles are illustrated by and described with reference to Figure 6.

[0098] In accordance with reports being exchanged by both of the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b, or in accordance with inferred information at each of the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b, each of the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b may perform a selection of a functionality or role independently. In accordance with the centralized selection or the distributed selection of functionalities or roles, the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b may select a wireless link for communication between the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b at 524-a and 524-b, respectively. In other words, the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b may select a wireless link in accordance with respective functionality assignments at each of the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b. In some aspects, each of the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b may select a wireless link from a subset of a set of multiple wireless links associated with communication between the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b. Such a subset may include a STA-AP link and an AP-STA link (such as a first wireless link associated with a first STA-AP relationship between the two wireless nodes and a second wireless link associated with a second STA-AP relationship between the two wireless nodes). As described herein, a “subset” may be less than thewhole set of multiple wireless links or may be the whole set of multiple wireless links. As described herein, a “subset” and a “set” refer to non-empty sets of one or more, such that both a “subset” and a “set” include at least one member. In other words, a “subset” may be less than or equal to a full set and includes at least one member.

[0099] In addition to, or as an alternative to, selecting a wireless link in accordance with a functionality assignment performed in accordance with a metric (either in a centralized or distributed manner), the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b (such as each wireless node) may select a type of transmission (such as a downlink OFDMA transmission, an uplink OFDMA transmission, or an SU transmission) to use to transmit data to a receiver and may select a wireless link (such as an AP-STA interface or a STA-AP interface) depending on the selected type of transmission. For example, there may be scenarios in which both AP and STA interfaces may be used simultaneously (such as for OFDMA or MU-MIMO) and one or more wireless nodes may select a wireless link in accordance with a selected type of transmission in such scenarios.

[0100] As an example, a wireless node (such as the wireless node 502-a or the wireless node 502-b) may select to transmit via an AP-STA interface for downlink OFDMA or an SU data transfer. As another example, a wireless node (such as the wireless node 502-a or the wireless node 502-b) may select to transmit via a STA-AP interface for an uplink OFDMA data transfer. In some aspects, the decision on the type of transmission may be performed in accordance with a rule table (such as a set of conditions) defined and tuned for a specific deployment scenario.

[0101] For instance, in examples in which the wireless node 502-a is a data source and the wireless node 502-b is a data destination, the wireless node 502-a may select an SU or downlink OFDMA transmission type in accordance with the wireless node 502-b experiencing relatively lower interference or in accordance with the wireless node 502-a having one or more users to schedule, or both, which may trigger or cause the wireless node 502-a to select an AP-STA interface. Alternatively, if the wireless node 502-b experiences relatively higher interference than the wireless node 502-a or if an interference difference between the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b is greater than a threshold, the wireless node 502-a may select an uplink OFDMA transmission type, which may trigger or cause the wireless node 502-a to select a STA-AP interface. In some aspects, the decision of the type of transmission may be performed in accordance with (such as assisted by) one or more measurement reports (such as measurement reports conveying interference information at each wireless node). An example rule table is illustrated by Table 1, shown below.Table 1: Example Deployment Scenario- or Use Case-specific Rule Table

[0102] In some aspects, each wireless node may apply such a rule-based selection for each of the peers with which that wireless node is communicating. In some aspects, the rule may be customized for each access category (AC). For example, low latency traffic may be given relatively higher priority and sent as a downlink OFDMA transmission type (instead of waiting for a trigger from the other wireless node and, for instance, regardless of relative interference levels). Further, in some implementations, the interface (such as connection or link) may be selected for each transmission and the retransmission (MAC level) may happen via the same interface via which an original packet (such as frame or message) was transmitted.

[0103] In some implementations, one or more thresholds may be set (such as indicated via a reporting configuration or pre-loaded) such that the selection of functionalities or roles by independent wireless nodes avoids creating a conflict (in scenarios in which at least one wireless node is unable to operate both AP and STA interfaces simultaneously). Additional details relating to such thresholds and a corresponding buffer region are illustrated by and described with reference to Figures 7 and 8. In some scenarios, a conflict between expected functionality or role assignments may still arise because of, for example, an age (such as a recency or staleness) of a measurement report used by a wireless node for the selection of a functionality or role.In such scenarios, at 526, at least one of the wireless node 502-a or the wireless node 502-b may transmit a change request frame (such as a role or functionality change request) as part of a conflict resolution procedure. The change request frame may be a unicast management frame. Additional details relating to such a conflict resolution procedure are illustrated by and described with reference to Figure 8.

[0104] At 528, the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b may communicate (such as transmit and / or receive) a frame (such as a packet or message) via the selected wireless link and in association with respective functionality assignments at each of the wireless node 502-a and the wireless node 502-b or a type of the transmission, or both. For example, in examples in which the wireless node 502-a is the data source and the wireless node 502-b is the data destination, the frame may be communicated via an SU or downlink OFDMA transmission type in accordance with the selected wireless link corresponding to an AP-STA interface. Alternatively, the frame may be communicated via an uplink OFDMA transmission type in accordance with the selected wireless link corresponding to a STA-AP interface. As such, for a given bi-directional traffic initiated with downlink and uplink OFDMA data transfers, if a topology of a wireless network is changed, wireless nodes of the wireless network may dynamically change roles in accordance with the type of traffic expected to be communicated. In implementations in which a destination (such as receiver) node uses both AP and STA interfaces simultaneously, the destination node may use a mesh SN to reorder packets (such as frames or messages) received via different interfaces at the destination node. As used herein, “communicating” may refer to transmitting, receiving, or both.

[0105] Figure 6 shows an example communication timeline 600 that illustrates periodic and event-based measurement report exchanges between neighbor wireless nodes. The communication timeline 600 may implement or be implemented to realize aspects of the wireless communication networks 100 and 200, the wireless networks 300, 301, and 400, and the process flow 500. For example, the communication timeline 600 illustrates communication between a wireless node 602-a and a wireless node 602-b, which may be examples of corresponding devices described herein, including with reference to Figures 1-5. In some implementations, the communication timeline600 illustrates an exchanging of measurement reports in accordance with a decentralized or distributed functionality or role selection procedure.

[0106] For example, in accordance with a configuration (such as a reporting configuration), each of the wireless node 602-a and the wireless node 602 -b may generate and report a metric, with the measurement reports being exchanged by both wireless nodes as unicast messages, multicast messages, broadcast messages, or any combination thereof, and with each wireless node performing a selection of a functionality or role independently. In accordance with such a de-centralized or distributed selection procedure, the wireless node 602-a may generate and transmit a measurement report 604-a, a measurement report 604-b, and a measurement report 604-c in a periodic manner. In some aspects, each of the measurement report 604-a, the measurement report 604-b, and the measurement report 604-c may include an interference metric, such as an interference measurement at the wireless node 602-a. The wireless node 602-b may receive the measurement report 604-a, the measurement report 604-b, and the measurement report 604-c and identify the interference measurements at the wireless node 602-a accordingly.

[0107] Similarly, the wireless node 602-b may generate and transmit a measurement report 606-a, a measurement report 606-b, and a measurement report 606-c in a periodic manner. In some aspects, each of the measurement report 606-a, the measurement report 606-b, and the measurement report 606-c may include an interference metric, such as an interference measurement at the wireless node 602-b. The wireless node 602-a may receive the measurement report 606-a, the measurement report 606-b, and the measurement report 606-c and identify the interference measurements at the wireless node 602-b accordingly. Additionally, or alternatively, the wireless node 602-b may transmit a measurement report 608 on an event-based basis. In other words, the measurement report 608 may be an example of an event-based measurement report. In some implementations, the wireless node 602-b may transmit the measurement report 608 in accordance with a change in an interference level being greater than a threshold.

[0108] In accordance with exchanging the periodic and / or event-based measurement reports, each of the wireless node 602-a and the wireless node 602-b may independently select a functionality or role for communication between the wireless node 602-a and the wireless node 602-b. In some implementations, the wireless node 602-a and thewireless node 602-b may support one or more thresholds that trigger functionality or role switches at both of the wireless node 602-a and the wireless node 602-b, as illustrated by and described in more detail with reference to Figure 7.

[0109] Figure 7 shows an example interference measurement diagram 700 that illustrates how one or more thresholds associated with an interference difference 702 between two neighbor wireless nodes may influence how role switches occur between the two neighbor wireless nodes. For example, the interference measurement diagram 700 may illustrate how functionality or role switches at two connected wireless nodes, such as a node A and a node B, may depend on an interference difference 702 between the two connected nodes, and how a buffer region 704 associated with (such as defined by) one or more thresholds may influence or control when functionality or switches can be made. In some aspects, one or both of the node A and the node B may calculate the interference difference 702 in accordance with an interference measurement at that node and a most recent interference measurement report received from the other node. In other words, the interference measurement diagram 700 shows the interference difference 702 between the node A and the node B over time.

[0110] For example, in accordance with the interference difference 702 being above the buffer region 704 and indicating that node A is experiencing a relatively greater amount of interference, the node A and the node B may select or assign the node A to the role of AP. As such, the node A and the node B may select a wireless link associated with an AP-STA interface, with the node A operating in accordance with the AP functionality and the node B operating in accordance with the STA functionality. At 706 (Tl), one or both of the node A and the node B may calculate that the interference difference 702 enters the buffer region 704 (as defined by, for example, an upper bound threshold associated with the buffer region 704). The buffer region 704 may be equivalently referred to as a region of conflict because, within this region, differences in expectation of role assignment may sometimes occur, such as due to an age or staleness of a measurement report used by one of the nodes to calculate the interference difference 702.[OHl] At 708 (T2), one or both of the node A and the node B may calculate that the interference difference 702 crosses a point at which interference at node A and interference at node B are equal. In some implementations, the node A and the node Bmay refrain from triggering or initiating a role switch until the interference difference 702 exits the buffer region 704 and indicates that node B is experiencing higher levels of interference than node A. For example, at 710 (T3), one or both of the node A and the node B may calculate that the interference difference 702 exits the buffer region (as defined by, for example, a lower bound threshold associated with the buffer region 704) and indicates that node B is experiencing higher levels of interference than node A. As such, at 710, the node A and the node B may switch roles such that node B is assigned the role of AP (either autonomously or in accordance with an exchange of role change request frames between the two nodes). As such, the node A and the node B may select a different wireless link associated with a STA-AP interface, with the node A operating in accordance with the STA functionality and the node B operating in accordance with the AP functionality.

[0112] In some implementations, a size of the buffer region 704 (such as a placement of the upper bound threshold and the lower bound threshold) may be defined in accordance with a specific deployment scenario. For example, some deployment scenarios may be associated with a relatively larger buffer region 704 and other deployment scenarios may be associated with a relatively smaller buffer region 704. The upper bound threshold (in terms of magnitude or difference from zero) may be the same as or different than the lower bound threshold. Within the buffer region 704, the node A and the node B may refrain from any role switches. For example, the node B may remain in the role of AP after T3, although the interference difference 702 indicates that the node A has a relatively higher interference than the node B for some time period, but not higher than the upper bound threshold associated with the buffer region 704. As such, the buffer region 704 may protect against too frequent of role switches that could be unnecessarily disruptive to the wireless network.

[0113] Figure 8 shows an example interference measurement diagram 800 that illustrates how one or more thresholds associated with an interference difference between two neighbor wireless nodes and a delay between generation / transmission and reception of a measurement report may influence how role switches occur between the two neighbor wireless nodes. For example, the interference measurement diagram 800 may illustrate how functionality or role switches at two connected wireless nodes, such as a node A and a node B, may depend on an interference measurement 802 (in decibels(dBs)) at the node A and an interference measurement 804 (in dBs) at the node B, a delay between generation / transmission and reception of a measurement report, and a buffer region 816 (which may be an example of the buffer region 704 as illustrated by and described with reference to Figure 7).

[0114] For example, at 806 (Tl), the node B may generate and transmit a measurement report 810 (which may indicate an interference measurement at node B) and, at 808 (T2), the node A may receive the measurement report 810. As such, there may be a difference in the time of generation of the measurement report 810 and the time of usage of the measurement report 810 (which may be understood as an aging of the measurement report 810), and such a time difference may result in conflicts between expected functionality or role assignments between the node A and the node B in some environments (such as dynamic environments in which interference levels may frequently change).

[0115] For example, and as illustrated by the difference between an interference difference 812 calculated at the node A and an interference difference 814 calculated at the node B, the interference difference 812 as calculated by the node A may lag the interference difference 814 as calculated by the node B. As such, at 818 (T3), the node B may calculate the interference difference 814 such that node B may expect to take over the role of AP, while the node A may calculate the interference difference 812 that still indicates that the node A is expected to stay in the role of AP. In other words, the interference difference 814 calculated by the node B exits the buffer region 816 and indicates that the node B has a higher interference level, while the interference difference 812 calculated by the node A has not yet exited the buffer region 816 in favor of the node B being the AP. As illustrated in the example of the interference measurement diagram 800, the node A may not expect to select the node B as the AP until 820 (T4), such that a conflict may arise between the node A and the node B for a time duration between T3 and T4.

[0116] In some implementations, the node A and the node B may resolve such a conflict by providing higher precedence for an existing role or functionality over a new role or functionality. For example, because the node A was initially the AP, the node A may expect to remain as the AP until the interference difference 812 calculated by the node A indicates otherwise. In some implementations, the node B may transmit achange request frame (such as a role change request frame, which may be a unicast management frame) to request the node A to switch to the STA role at 818 (or at any other point between T3 and T4) and, in accordance with the node A calculating the interference difference 812 that conflicts with the change request frame and currently being in the role of the AP, the node A (the receiver of the change request frame) may reject the change request. The node A may implicitly reject the change request frame by not switching roles, or may explicitly reject the change request frame by transmitting a reject indication to the node B.

[0117] Figure 9 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device 900 including one or more components that, individually or collectively, support selection and efficient switching of roles for nodes in a wireless network. In some examples, the wireless communication device 900 is configured to perform the processes 1000 and 1100 described with reference to Figures 10 and 11, respectively. The wireless communication device 900 may include one or more chips, SoCs, chipsets, packages, components or devices that individually or collectively constitute or include a processing system. The processing system may interface with other components of the wireless communication device 900, and may generally process information (such as inputs or signals) received from such other components and output information (such as outputs or signals) to such other components. In some aspects, an example chip may include a processing system, a first interface to output or transmit information and a second interface to receive or obtain information. For example, the first interface may refer to an interface between the processing system of the chip and a transmission component, such that the wireless communication device 900 may transmit the information output from the chip. In such an example, the second interface may refer to an interface between the processing system of the chip and a reception component, such that the wireless communication device 900 may receive information that is then passed to the processing system. In some such examples, the first interface also may obtain information, such as from the transmission component, and the second interface also may output information, such as to the reception component.

[0118] The processing system of the wireless communication device 900 includes processor (or “processing”) circuitry in the form of one or multiple processors, microprocessors, processing units (such as central processing units (CPUs), graphicsprocessing units (GPUs) or digital signal processors (DSPs)), processing blocks, application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLDs) (such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)), or other discrete gate or transistor logic or circuitry (all of which may be generally referred to herein individually as “processors” or collectively as “the processor” or “the processor circuitry”). One or more of the processors may be individually or collectively configurable or configured to perform various functions or operations described herein. The processing system may further include memory circuitry in the form of one or more memory devices, memory blocks, memory elements or other discrete gate or transistor logic or circuitry, each of which may include tangible storage media such as random-access memory (RAM) or ROM, or combinations thereof (all of which may be generally referred to herein individually as “memories” or collectively as “the memory” or “the memory circuitry”). One or more of the memories may be coupled with one or more of the processors and may individually or collectively store processor-executable code that, when executed by one or more of the processors, may configure one or more of the processors to perform various functions or operations described herein. Additionally, or alternatively, in some examples, one or more of the processors may be preconfigured to perform various functions or operations described herein without requiring configuration by software. The processing system may further include or be coupled with one or more modems (such as a Wi-Fi (such as IEEE compliant) modem or a cellular (such as 3GPP 4G LTE, 5G or 6G compliant) modem). In some implementations, one or more processors of the processing system include or implement one or more of the modems. The processing system may further include or be coupled with multiple radios (collectively “the radio”), multiple RF chains or multiple transceivers, each of which may in turn be coupled with one or more of multiple antennas. In some implementations, one or more processors of the processing system include or implement one or more of the radios, RF chains or transceivers.

[0119] In some examples, the wireless communication device 900 can configurable or configured for use in a wireless node, such as any of the wireless nodes described with reference to Figures 1-8. In some other examples, the wireless communication device 900 can be an AP or STA that includes such a processing system and other components including multiple antennas. The wireless communication device 900 iscapable of transmitting and receiving wireless communications in the form of, for example, wireless packets. For example, the wireless communication device 900 can be configurable or configured to transmit and receive packets in the form of physical layer PPDUs and MPDUs conforming to one or more of the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocol standards. In some other examples, the wireless communication device 900 can be configurable or configured to transmit and receive signals and communications conforming to one or more 3 GPP specifications including those for 5G NR or 6G. In some examples, the wireless communication device 900 also includes or can be coupled with one or more application processors which may be further coupled with one or more other memories. In some examples, the wireless communication device 900 further includes a user interface (UI) (such as a touchscreen or keypad) and a display, which may be integrated with the UI to form a touchscreen display that is coupled with the processing system. In some examples, the wireless communication device 900 may further include one or more sensors such as, for example, one or more inertial sensors, accelerometers, temperature sensors, pressure sensors, or altitude sensors, that are coupled with the processing system. In some examples, the wireless communication device 900 further includes at least one external network interface coupled with the processing system that enables communication with a core network or backhaul network that enables the wireless communication device 900 to gain access to external networks including the Internet.

[0120] The wireless communication device 900 includes a link establishment component 925, a link selection component 930, a communication component 935, and a metric reporting component 940. Portions of one or more of the link establishment component 925, the link selection component 930, the communication component 935, and the metric reporting component 940 may be implemented at least in part in hardware or firmware. For example, one or more of the link establishment component 925, the link selection component 930, the communication component 935, and the metric reporting component 940 may be implemented at least in part by at least a processor or a modem. In some examples, portions of one or more of the link establishment component 925, the link selection component 930, the communication component 935, and the metric reporting component 940 may be implemented at leastin part by a processor and software in the form of processor-executable code stored in memory.

[0121] The wireless communication device 900 may support wireless communication performable in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The link establishment component 925 is configurable or configured to establish a set of multiple wireless links between the first wireless node and one or more other wireless nodes of a wireless network (such as a wireless mesh network), the set of multiple wireless links including a first set of multiple wireless links associated with a first functionality of the first wireless node and a second set of multiple wireless links associated with a second functionality of the first wireless node. The link selection component 930 is configurable or configured to select, from a subset of the set of multiple wireless links associated with communication between the first wireless node and a second wireless node, a wireless link in accordance with an assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality for the communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node. The communication component 935 is configurable or configured to communicate a frame via the wireless link in association with the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality.

[0122] In some examples, the link selection component 930 is configurable or configured to select a second wireless link from the subset associated with the communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node in accordance with a second assignment of the first wireless node to a different one of the first functionality or the second functionality. In some examples, the communication component 935 is configurable or configured to communicate a second frame via the second wireless link in association with the second assignment to the different one of the first functionality or the second functionality.

[0123] In some examples, the second assignment be associated with switching the first wireless node from the first functionality to the second functionality, or from the second functionality to the first functionality.

[0124] In some examples, the metric reporting component 940 is configurable or configured to receive, from a control entity, information indicative of a metric reportingconfiguration associated with wireless nodes of the wireless network. In some examples, the metric reporting component 940 is configurable or configured to transmit, to the control entity, a report indicating a first metric associated with the first wireless node in accordance with the metric reporting configuration. In some examples, the link selection component 930 is configurable or configured to receive, from the control entity, an indication of the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality in accordance with the first metric.

[0125] In some examples, the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality may be further in accordance with a comparison between the first metric and one or more other metrics associated with the one or more other wireless nodes of the wireless network.

[0126] In some examples, the link selection component 930 is configurable or configured to select, independently at the first wireless node, the first functionality or the second functionality, the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality being in association with independent selection at the first wireless node.

[0127] In some examples, the communication component 935 is configurable or configured to measure a packet error rate of previous communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node, the independent selection at the first wireless node being associated with the packet error rate.

[0128] In some examples, the metric reporting component 940 is configurable or configured to receive information indicative of a metric reporting configuration associated with wireless nodes of the wireless network. In some examples, the metric reporting component 940 is configurable or configured to transmit, to the second wireless node, a first report indicating a first metric associated with the first wireless node in accordance with the metric reporting configuration. In some examples, the metric reporting component 940 is configurable or configured to receive, from the second wireless node, a second report indicating a second metric associated with the second wireless node in accordance with the metric reporting configuration, the independent selection at the first wireless node being associated with a comparison of the first metric and the second metric.

[0129] In some examples, the link selection component 930 is configurable or configured to select the first functionality or the second functionality in accordance with the comparison between the first metric and the second metric and one or more thresholds.

[0130] In some examples, the one or more thresholds be associated with a buffer region around a point at which the first metric and the second metric are equal, the buffer region being associated with an absence of functionality switches between the first wireless node and the second wireless node.

[0131] In some examples, the link selection component 930 is configurable or configured to communicating, with the second wireless node, a change request frame in accordance with a conflict between an expect assignment of functionalities at the first wireless node and the second wireless node. In some examples, the link selection component 930 is configurable or configured to select the first functionality or the second functionality in accordance with the change request frame and a precedence of a previous functionality.

[0132] In some examples, the link selection component 930 is configurable or configured to select the wireless link, and the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality, in accordance with a type of transmission to be performed by the first wireless node. In some examples, the communication component 935 is configurable or configured to transmit the frame via the wireless link in association with both the type of transmission and the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality.

[0133] In some examples, the link selection component 930 is configurable or configured to select the type of transmission in accordance with a set of conditions, the set of conditions being associated with a deployment scenario of the wireless network, interference levels at wireless nodes of the wireless network, an access category associated with data to be carried by the frame, or any combination thereof.

[0134] In some examples, the communication component 935 is configurable or configured to perform a retransmission of the frame via the wireless link, retransmissions being performed via a same wireless link of the set of multiple wireless links via which an original transmission was performed.

[0135] In some examples, the wireless link be associated with the first functionality at the first wireless node and the second functionality at the second wireless node in accordance with the type of transmission being a downlink transmission (such as downlink OFDMA transmission) or an SU transmission.

[0136] In some examples, the wireless link be associated with the second functionality at the first wireless node and the first functionality at the second wireless node in accordance with the type of transmission being an uplink transmission (such as an uplink OFDMA transmission).

[0137] In some examples, the first wireless node be capable of simultaneously operating in accordance with the first functionality and the second functionality.

[0138] In some examples, the subset of the set of multiple wireless links include a first wireless link of the first set of multiple wireless links associated with the first functionality of the first wireless node and a second wireless link of the second set of multiple wireless links associated with the second functionality.

[0139] In some examples, the set of multiple wireless links include a set of multiple subsets of wireless links, each respective subset of the set of multiple subsets of wireless links including a respective link pair of a first respective wireless link of the first set of multiple wireless links and a second respective wireless link of the second set of multiple wireless links.

[0140] In some examples, the first functionality be associated with an AP entity of the first wireless node and the second functionality is associated with a STA entity of the first wireless node, the STA entity being associated with a set of multiple logical STA entities, and each respective wireless link of the second set of multiple wireless links corresponding to a respective logical STA entity of the set of multiple logical STA entities.

[0141] Figure 10 shows a flowchart illustrating an example process 1000 performable by or at a first wireless node that supports selection and efficient switching of roles for nodes in a wireless network. The operations of the process 1000 may be implemented by a first wireless node or its components as described herein. For example, the process 1000 may be performed by a wireless communication device, suchas the wireless communication device 900 described with reference to Figure 9, operating as or within a wireless AP or a wireless STA. In some examples, the process 1000 may be performed by a wireless AP or a wireless STA, such as one of the APs 102 or the STAs 104 described with reference to Figure 1.

[0142] In some examples, in block 1005, the first wireless node may establish a set of multiple wireless links between the first wireless node and one or more other wireless nodes of a wireless network, the set of multiple wireless links including a first set of multiple wireless links associated with a first functionality of the first wireless node and a second set of multiple wireless links associated with a second functionality of the first wireless node. The operations of block 1005 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of block 1005 may be performed by a link establishment component 925 as described with reference to Figure 9.

[0143] In some examples, in block 1010, the first wireless node may select, from a subset of the set of multiple wireless links associated with communication between the first wireless node and a second wireless node, a wireless link in accordance with an assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality for the communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node. The operations of block 1010 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of block 1010 may be performed by a link selection component 930 as described with reference to Figure 9.

[0144] In some examples, in block 1015, the first wireless node may communicate a frame via the wireless link in association with the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality. The operations of block 1015 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of block 1015 may be performed by a communication component 935 as described with reference to Figure 9.

[0145] Figure 11 shows a flowchart illustrating an example process 1100 performable by or at a first wireless node that supports selection and efficient switching of roles for nodes in a wireless network. The operations of the process 1100 may beimplemented by a first wireless node or its components as described herein. For example, the process 1100 may be performed by a wireless communication device, such as the wireless communication device 900 described with reference to Figure 9, operating as or within a wireless AP or a wireless STA. In some examples, the process 1100 may be performed by a wireless AP or a wireless STA, such as one of the APs 102 or the STAs 104 described with reference to Figure 1.

[0146] In some examples, in block 1105, the first wireless node may establish a set of multiple wireless links between the first wireless node and one or more other wireless nodes of a wireless network, the set of multiple wireless links including a first set of multiple wireless links associated with a first functionality of the first wireless node and a second set of multiple wireless links associated with a second functionality of the first wireless node. The operations of block 1105 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of block 1105 may be performed by a link establishment component 925 as described with reference to Figure 9.

[0147] In some examples, in block 1110, the first wireless node may select, from a subset of the set of multiple wireless links associated with communication between the first wireless node and a second wireless node, a wireless link in accordance with an assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality for the communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node. The operations of block 1110 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of block 1110 may be performed by a link selection component 930 as described with reference to Figure 9.

[0148] In some examples, in block 1115, the first wireless node may communicate a frame via the wireless link in association with the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality. The operations of block 1115 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of block 1115 may be performed by a communication component 935 as described with reference to Figure 9.

[0149] In some examples, in block 1120, the first wireless node may select a second wireless link from the subset associated with the communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node in accordance with a second assignment of the first wireless node to a different one of the first functionality or the second functionality. The operations of block 1120 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of block 1120 may be performed by a link selection component 930 as described with reference to Figure 9.

[0150] In some examples, in block 1125, the first wireless node may communicate a second frame via the second wireless link in association with the second assignment to the different one of the first functionality or the second functionality. The operations of block 1125 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of block 1125 may be performed by a communication component 935 as described with reference to Figure 9.

[0151] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0152] Clause 1 : A method for wireless communication performable by or at a first wireless node, including: establishing a plurality of wireless links between the first wireless node and one or more other wireless nodes of a wireless network, the plurality of wireless links including a first plurality of wireless links associated with a first functionality of the first wireless node and a second plurality of wireless links associated with a second functionality of the first wireless node; selecting, from a subset of the plurality of wireless links associated with communication between the first wireless node and a second wireless node, a wireless link in accordance with an assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality for the communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node; and communicating a frame via the wireless link in association with the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality.

[0153] Clause 2: The method of clause 1, further including: selecting a second wireless link from the subset associated with the communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node in accordance with a second assignment of the first wireless node to a different one of the first functionality or the secondfunctionality; and communicating a second frame via the second wireless link in association with the second assignment to the different one of the first functionality or the second functionality.

[0154] Clause 3: The method of clause 2, where the second assignment is associated with switching the first wireless node from the first functionality to the second functionality, or from the second functionality to the first functionality.

[0155] Clause 4: The method of any of clauses 1-3, further including: receiving, from a control entity, information indicative of a metric reporting configuration associated with wireless nodes of the wireless network; transmitting, to the control entity, a report indicating a first metric associated with the first wireless node in accordance with the metric reporting configuration; and receiving, from the control entity, an indication of the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality in accordance with the first metric.

[0156] Clause 5: The method of clause 4, where the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality is further in accordance with a comparison between the first metric and one or more other metrics associated with the one or more other wireless nodes of the wireless network.

[0157] Clause 6: The method of any of clauses 1-5, further including: selecting, independently at the first wireless node, the first functionality or the second functionality, the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality being in association with independent selection at the first wireless node.

[0158] Clause 7: The method of clause 6, further including: measuring a PER of previous communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node, the independent selection at the first wireless node being associated with the packet error rate.

[0159] Clause 8: The method of any of clauses 6-7, further including: receiving information indicative of a metric reporting configuration associated with wireless nodes of the wireless network; transmitting, to the second wireless node, a first report indicating a first metric associated with the first wireless node in accordance with themetric reporting configuration; and receiving, from the second wireless node, a second report indicating a second metric associated with the second wireless node in accordance with the metric reporting configuration, the independent selection at the first wireless node being associated with a comparison of the first metric and the second metric.

[0160] Clause 9: The method of clause 8, further including: selecting the first functionality or the second functionality in accordance with the comparison between the first metric and the second metric and one or more thresholds.

[0161] Clause 10: The method of clause 9, where the one or more thresholds are associated with a buffer region around a point at which the first metric and the second metric are equal, the buffer region being associated with an absence of functionality switches between the first wireless node and the second wireless node.

[0162] Clause 11 : The method of any of clauses 8-10, further including: communicating, with the second wireless node, a change request frame in accordance with a conflict between an expected assignment of functionalities at the first wireless node and the second wireless node; and selecting the first functionality or the second functionality in accordance with the change request frame and a precedence of a previous functionality.

[0163] Clause 12: The method of any of clauses 1-11, further including: selecting the wireless link, and the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality, in accordance with a type of transmission to be performed by the first wireless node; and transmitting the frame via the wireless link in association with both the type of transmission and the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality.

[0164] Clause 13: The method of clause 12, further including: selecting the type of transmission in accordance with a set of conditions, the set of conditions being associated with a deployment scenario of the wireless network, interference levels at wireless nodes of the wireless network, an access category associated with data to be carried by the frame, or any combination thereof.

[0165] Clause 14: The method of any of clauses 12-13, further including: performing a retransmission of the frame via the wireless link, retransmissions being performed via a same wireless link of the plurality of wireless links via which an original transmission was performed.

[0166] Clause 15: The method of any of clauses 12-14, where the wireless link is associated with the first functionality at the first wireless node and the second functionality at the second wireless node in accordance with the type of transmission being a downlink OFDMA transmission or an SU transmission.

[0167] Clause 16: The method of any of clauses 12-15, where the wireless link is associated with the second functionality at the first wireless node and the first functionality at the second wireless node in accordance with the type of transmission being an uplink OFDMA transmission.

[0168] Clause 17: The method of any of clauses 12-16, where the first wireless node is capable of simultaneously operating in accordance with the first functionality and the second functionality.

[0169] Clause 18: The method of any of clauses 1-17, where the subset of the plurality of wireless links includes a first wireless link of the first plurality of wireless links associated with the first functionality of the first wireless node and a second wireless link of the second plurality of wireless links associated with the second functionality.

[0170] Clause 19: The method of any of clauses 1-18, where the plurality of wireless links includes a plurality of subsets of wireless links, each respective subset of the plurality of subsets of wireless links including a respective link pair of a first respective wireless link of the first plurality of wireless links and a second respective wireless link of the second plurality of wireless links.

[0171] Clause 20: The method of any of clauses 1-19, where the first functionality is associated with an AP entity of the first wireless node and the second functionality is associated with a STA entity of the first wireless node, the STA entity being associated with a plurality of logical STA entities, and each respective wireless link of the secondplurality of wireless links corresponding to a respective logical STA entity of the plurality of logical STA entities.

[0172] Clause 21 : A first wireless node, including a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code, the processing system configured to cause the first wireless node to perform a method of any of clauses 1-20.

[0173] Clause 22: A first wireless node, including one or more memories storing processor-executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to (such as configured to or configurable to) execute the code to cause the first wireless node to perform a method of any of clauses 1-20.

[0174] Clause 23 : A first wireless node, including at least one means for performing a method of any of clauses 1-20.

[0175] Clause 24: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a first wireless node, the code including instructions executable by one or more processors, individually or collectively, to perform a method of any of clauses 1-20.

[0176] As used herein, the term “determine” or “determining” encompasses a wide variety of actions and, therefore, “determining” can include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, estimating, investigating, looking up (such as via looking up in a table, a database, or another data structure), inferring, ascertaining, or measuring, among other possibilities. Also, “determining” can include receiving (such as receiving information), accessing (such as accessing data stored in memory) or transmitting (such as transmitting information), among other possibilities. Also, “determining” can include resolving, selecting, obtaining, choosing, establishing and other such similar actions.

[0177] As used herein, a phrase referring to “at least one of’ or “one or more of’ a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c. As used herein, “or” is intended to be interpreted in the inclusive sense, unless otherwise explicitly indicated. For example, “a or b” may include a only, b only, or acombination of a and b. Furthermore, as used herein, a phrase referring to “a” or “an” element refers to one or more of such elements acting individually or collectively to perform the recited function(s). Additionally, a “set” refers to one or more items, and a “subset” refers to less than a whole set, but non-empty.

[0178] As used herein, “based on” is intended to be interpreted in the inclusive sense, unless otherwise explicitly indicated. For example, “based on” may be used interchangeably with “based at least in part on,” “associated with,” “in association with,” or “in accordance with” unless otherwise explicitly indicated. Specifically, unless a phrase refers to “based on only ‘a,’” or the equivalent in context, whatever it is that is “based on ‘a,’” or “based at least in part on ‘a,’” may be based on “a” alone or based on a combination of “a” and one or more other factors, conditions, or information.

[0179] The various illustrative components, logic, logical blocks, modules, circuits, operations, and algorithm processes described in connection with the examples disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, firmware, software, or combinations of hardware, firmware, or software, including the structures disclosed in this specification and the structural equivalents thereof. The interchangeability of hardware, firmware and software has been described generally, in terms of functionality, and illustrated in the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits and processes described above. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware, firmware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0180] Various modifications to the examples described in this disclosure may be readily apparent to persons having ordinary skill in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other examples without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the examples shown herein, but are to be accorded the widest scope consistent with this disclosure, the principles and the novel features disclosed herein.

[0181] Additionally, various features that are described in this specification in the context of separate examples also can be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation also can be implemented in multiple examples separately or inany suitable subcombination. As such, although features may be described above as acting in particular combinations, and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.

[0182] Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. Further, the drawings may schematically depict one or more example processes in the form of a flowchart or flow diagram. However, other operations that are not depicted can be incorporated in the example processes that are schematically illustrated. For example, one or more additional operations can be performed before, after, simultaneously, or between any of the illustrated operations. In some circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.Moreover, the separation of various system components in the examples described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all examples, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A first wireless node, comprising: a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code, the processing system configured to cause the first wireless node to: establish a plurality of wireless links between the first wireless node and one or more other wireless nodes of a wireless network, the plurality of wireless links including a first plurality of wireless links associated with a first functionality of the first wireless node and a second plurality of wireless links associated with a second functionality of the first wireless node; select, from a subset of the plurality of wireless links associated with communication between the first wireless node and a second wireless node, a wireless link in accordance with an assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality for the communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node; and communicate a frame via the wireless link in association with the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality.

2. The first wireless node of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless node to: select a second wireless link from the subset associated with the communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node in accordance with a second assignment of the first wireless node to a different one of the first functionality or the second functionality; and communicate a second frame via the second wireless link in association with the second assignment to the different one of the first functionality or the second functionality.

3. The first wireless node of claim 2, wherein the second assignment is associated with switching the first wireless node from the first functionality to the second functionality, or from the second functionality to the first functionality.

4. The first wireless node of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless node to: receive, from a control entity, information indicative of a metric reporting configuration associated with wireless nodes of the wireless network; transmit, to the control entity, a report indicating a first metric associated with the first wireless node in accordance with the metric reporting configuration; and receive, from the control entity, an indication of the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality in accordance with the first metric.

5. The first wireless node of claim 4, wherein the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality is further in accordance with a comparison between the first metric and one or more other metrics associated with the one or more other wireless nodes of the wireless network.

6. The first wireless node of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless node to: select, independently at the first wireless node, the first functionality or the second functionality, the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality being in association with independent selection at the first wireless node.

7. The first wireless node of claim 6, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless node to: measure a packet error rate of previous communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node, the independent selection at the first wireless node being associated with the packet error rate.

8. The first wireless node of claim 6, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless node to: receive information indicative of a metric reporting configuration associated with wireless nodes of the wireless network;transmit, to the second wireless node, a first report indicating a first metric associated with the first wireless node in accordance with the metric reporting configuration; and receive, from the second wireless node, a second report indicating a second metric associated with the second wireless node in accordance with the metric reporting configuration, the independent selection at the first wireless node being associated with a comparison of the first metric and the second metric.

9. The first wireless node of claim 8, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless node to: select the first functionality or the second functionality in accordance with the comparison between the first metric and the second metric and one or more thresholds.

10. The first wireless node of claim 9, wherein the one or more thresholds are associated with a buffer region around a point at which the first metric and the second metric are equal, the buffer region being associated with an absence of functionality switches between the first wireless node and the second wireless node.

11. The first wireless node of claim 8, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless node to: communicate, with the second wireless node, a change request frame in accordance with a conflict between an expect assignment of functionalities at the first wireless node and the second wireless node; and select the first functionality or the second functionality in accordance with the change request frame and a precedence of a previous functionality.

12. The first wireless node of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless node to: select the wireless link, and the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality, in accordance with a type of transmission to be performed by the first wireless node; andtransmit the frame via the wireless link in association with both the type of transmission and the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality.

13. The first wireless node of claim 12, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless node to: select the type of transmission in accordance with a set of conditions, the set of conditions being associated with a deployment scenario of the wireless network, interference levels at wireless nodes of the wireless network, an access category associated with data to be carried by the frame, or any combination thereof.

14. The first wireless node of claim 12, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless node to: perform a retransmission of the frame via the wireless link, retransmissions being performed via a same wireless link of the plurality of wireless links via which an original transmission was performed.

15. The first wireless node of claim 12, wherein the wireless link is associated with the first functionality at the first wireless node and the second functionality at the second wireless node in accordance with the type of transmission being a downlink orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) transmission or a single-user (SU) transmission.

16. The first wireless node of claim 12, wherein the wireless link is associated with the second functionality at the first wireless node and the first functionality at the second wireless node in accordance with the type of transmission being an uplink orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) transmission.

17. The first wireless node of claim 12, wherein the first wireless node is capable of simultaneously operating in accordance with the first functionality and the second functionality.

18. The first wireless node of claim 1, wherein the subset of the plurality of wireless links includes:a first wireless link of the first plurality of wireless links associated with the first functionality of the first wireless node; and a second wireless link of the second plurality of wireless links associated with the second functionality.

19. The first wireless node of claim 1, wherein the plurality of wireless links includes a plurality of subsets of wireless links, each respective subset of the plurality of subsets of wireless links including a respective link pair of a first respective wireless link of the first plurality of wireless links and a second respective wireless link of the second plurality of wireless links.

20. The first wireless node of claim 1, wherein the first functionality is associated with an access point (AP) entity of the first wireless node and the second functionality is associated with a station (STA) entity of the first wireless node, the STA entity being associated with a plurality of logical STA entities, and each respective wireless link of the second plurality of wireless links corresponding to a respective logical STA entity of the plurality of logical STA entities.

21. A method for wireless communication performable by a first wireless node, comprising: establishing a plurality of wireless links between the first wireless node and one or more other wireless nodes of a wireless network, the plurality of wireless links including a first plurality of wireless links associated with a first functionality of the first wireless node and a second plurality of wireless links associated with a second functionality of the first wireless node; selecting, from a subset of the plurality of wireless links associated with communication between the first wireless node and a second wireless node, a wireless link in accordance with an assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality for the communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node; and communicating a frame via the wireless link in association with the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising: selecting a second wireless link from the subset associated with the communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node in accordance with a second assignment of the first wireless node to a different one of the first functionality or the second functionality; and communicating a second frame via the second wireless link in association with the second assignment to the different one of the first functionality or the second functionality.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the second assignment is associated with switching the first wireless node from the first functionality to the second functionality, or from the second functionality to the first functionality.

24. The method of claim 21, further comprising: receiving, from a control entity, information indicative of a metric reporting configuration associated with wireless nodes of the wireless network; transmitting, to the control entity, a report indicating a first metric associated with the first wireless node in accordance with the metric reporting configuration; and receiving, from the control entity, an indication of the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality in accordance with the first metric.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality is further in accordance with a comparison between the first metric and one or more other metrics associated with the one or more other wireless nodes of the wireless network.

26. The method of claim 21, further comprising: selecting, independently at the first wireless node, the first functionality or the second functionality, the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality being in association with independent selection at the first wireless node.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:receiving information indicative of a metric reporting configuration associated with wireless nodes of the wireless network; transmitting, to the second wireless node, a first report indicating a first metric associated with the first wireless node in accordance with the metric reporting configuration; and receiving, from the second wireless node, a second report indicating a second metric associated with the second wireless node in accordance with the metric reporting configuration, the independent selection at the first wireless node being associated with a comparison of the first metric and the second metric.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising: selecting the first functionality or the second functionality in accordance with the comparison between the first metric and the second metric and one or more thresholds.

29. A first wireless node, comprising: means for establishing a plurality of wireless links between the first wireless node and one or more other wireless nodes of a wireless network, the plurality of wireless links including a first plurality of wireless links associated with a first functionality of the first wireless node and a second plurality of wireless links associated with a second functionality of the first wireless node; means for selecting, from a subset of the plurality of wireless links associated with communication between the first wireless node and a second wireless node, a wireless link in accordance with an assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality for the communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node; and means for communicating a frame via the wireless link in association with the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication performable by a first wireless node, the code comprising instructions executable by one or more processors to:establish a plurality of wireless links between the first wireless node and one or more other wireless nodes of a wireless network, the plurality of wireless links including a first plurality of wireless links associated with a first functionality of the first wireless node and a second plurality of wireless links associated with a second functionality of the first wireless node; select, from a subset of the plurality of wireless links associated with communication between the first wireless node and a second wireless node, a wireless link in accordance with an assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality for the communication between the first wireless node and the second wireless node; and communicate a frame via the wireless link in association with the assignment of the first wireless node to the first functionality or the second functionality.

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