Method and apparatus for QOS operation considering IDC in wireless LAN system

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an improved wireless LAN system. The present disclosure presents a method and an apparatus for operation considering IDC in order to improve the reliability of traffic in an improved wireless LAN system. Specifically, the present disclosure presents parameters and detailed operational procedures for performing hopping-based IDC operation. In addition, the present disclosure presents a method and an apparatus for QoS operation considering IDC.

Description

QOS operation method and device considering IDC in wireless LAN system

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a wireless local area network (WLAN) system. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to a method and device for operating QoS (Quality of Service) considering in-device coexistence (IDC) in a WLAN system.

[0002] Wireless LAN (WLAN) systems are evolving for various purposes, such as improving transmission rates, increasing bandwidth, enhancing reliability, reducing errors, and reducing latency. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) publishes the 802.11 standard specification for WLAN systems, and the technology described in the 802.11 standard specification can be called WiFi (or Wi-Fi, Wireless Fidelity).

[0003] Wi-Fi technology has evolved over several generations of the 802.11 standard. For example, the 802.11ac standard addresses improvements for very high throughput (VHT), the 802.11ax standard addresses improvements for high efficiency (HE), and the 802.11be standard addresses improvements for extreme high throughput (EHT).

[0004] Meanwhile, technologies to provide a more improved wireless communication environment in wireless LAN systems are being discussed, and various technologies are being proposed and researched in response to the demand to further increase the reliability of wireless LAN systems.

[0005] This disclosure proposes an operating method and device for a device that considers IDC to ensure traffic reliability in a wireless LAN system. In particular, this disclosure proposes procedures for a device to request and respond to the allocation of a QoS flow considering IDC. Furthermore, this disclosure proposes a frame structure for the allocation operation of a QoS flow considering IDC.

[0006] Furthermore, the present disclosure proposes a method and apparatus for hopping-based IDC operation of a device to ensure traffic reliability in a wireless LAN system. In particular, the present disclosure proposes a process for a device to transmit and receive requests, responses, and notifications for hopping-based IDC operation, and the resulting hopping-based IDC operation. Furthermore, the present disclosure proposes an element format and frame structure for hopping-based IDC operation.

[0007] The technical objectives to be achieved in the present disclosure are not limited to those mentioned above, and other technical tasks not mentioned can be considered by a person having ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present invention pertains from the embodiments of the present invention described below.

[0008] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed by a station (STA) of a wireless local area network (WLAN) system may include the steps of: transmitting, to an access point (AP), an ADDTS (add traffic stream) request frame including an IDC (in-device coexistence) related element for a TS (traffic stream); and receiving, from the AP, an ADDTS response frame for notifying whether the IDC related element is applied to the TS in response to the ADDTS request frame including the IDC related element.

[0009] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed by an access point (AP) of a wireless local area network (WLAN) system may include the steps of: receiving, from a station (STA), an add traffic stream (ADDTS) request frame including an in-device coexistence (IDC) related element for a traffic stream (TS); and transmitting, to the STA, an ADDTS response frame for notifying whether the IDC related element is applied to the TS in response to the ADDTS request frame including the IDC related element.

[0010] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a station (STA) of a wireless local area network (WLAN) system includes a transceiver and at least one processor connected to the transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to transmit, to an access point (AP), an ADDTS (add traffic stream) request frame including an IDC (in-device coexistence) related element for a TS (traffic stream), and receive, from the AP, an ADDTS response frame for notifying whether the IDC related element is applied to the TS in response to the ADDTS request frame including the IDC related element.

[0011] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, an access point (AP) of a wireless local area network (WLAN) system may include a transceiver and at least one processor connected to the transceiver, wherein the at least one processor may be configured to receive, from a station (STA), an add traffic stream (ADDTS) request frame including an in-device coexistence (IDC) related element for a traffic stream (TS), and transmit, to the STA, an ADDTS response frame for notifying whether the IDC related element is applied to the TS in response to the ADDTS request frame including the IDC related element.

[0012] A method performed by a station (STA) according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes the steps of: transmitting a first frame to an access point (AP) for requesting a hopping-based in-device coexistence (IDC) period; receiving a second frame from the AP for responding to the first frame; and operating in the hopping-based IDC period based on the first frame and the second frame, wherein the first frame may include at least one of a hopping mode field or an IDC information field for determining the hopping-based IDC period.

[0013] A method performed by an access point (AP) according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes the steps of: receiving, from a station (STA), a first frame for requesting a hopping-based in-device coexistence (IDC) period; transmitting, to the STA, a second frame for responding to the first frame; and operating in the hopping-based IDC period based on the first frame and the second frame, wherein the first frame may include at least one of a hopping mode field or an IDC information field for determining the hopping-based IDC period.

[0014] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a STA includes a transceiver; and at least one processor connected to the transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: transmit a first frame to an access point (AP) for requesting a hopping-based in-device coexistence (IDC) period, receive a second frame from the AP for responding to the first frame, and operate in the hopping-based IDC period based on the first frame and the second frame, wherein the first frame may include at least one of a hopping mode field or an IDC information field for determining the hopping-based IDC period.

[0015] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, an AP comprises a transceiver; and at least one processor connected to the transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive a first frame from a station (STA) for requesting a hopping-based in-device coexistence (IDC) period, transmit a second frame to the STA for responding to the first frame, and operate in the hopping-based IDC period based on the first frame and the second frame, wherein the first frame may include at least one of a hopping mode field or an IDC information field for determining the hopping-based IDC period.

[0016] According to the various embodiments proposed in this disclosure, the reliability of traffic transmission and reception in a wireless LAN system can be improved. Furthermore, resource waste can be reduced through efficient scheduling of non-AP (access point) STAs (stations) within a basic service set (BSS) based on coexistence information. Furthermore, by simplifying the procedures for improving reliability, the efficiency of device operation can also be improved.

[0017] FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration of a device for wireless communication according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary structure of a wireless LAN system related to the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 3 illustrates a link setup process related to the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 4 illustrates a backoff operation related to the present disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 5 illustrates a frame transmission operation based on CSMA / CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance) in connection with the present disclosure.

[0022] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary format of a frame used in a wireless LAN system related to the present disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary format of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) of a wireless LAN system related to the present disclosure.

[0024] FIG. 8 illustrates another exemplary format of a PPDU of a wireless LAN system related to the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 9 is a drawing for explaining an IDC related to the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart for IDC quiet operation related to the present disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a frame format for IDC quiet operation in connection with the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 12a illustrates another example of a frame format for IDC quiet operation in connection with the present disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 12b illustrates another example of a frame format for IDC quiet operation in connection with the present disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 12c illustrates another example of a frame format for IDC quiet operation in connection with the present disclosure.

[0031] FIG. 12d illustrates another example of a frame format for IDC quiet operation in connection with the present disclosure.

[0032] FIG. 12e illustrates another example of a frame format for IDC quiet operation in connection with the present disclosure.

[0033] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a hopping operation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0034] FIG. 14a illustrates an example of an element for hopping-based IDC operation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0035] FIG. 14b illustrates an example of an element for hopping-based IDC operation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] FIG. 14c illustrates an example of an element for hopping-based IDC operation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0037] FIG. 15 illustrates an example of an element for hopping-based IDC operation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0038] FIG. 16 illustrates an example of an element for hopping-based IDC operation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0039] FIG. 17 illustrates an example of elements and formats for hopping-based IDC operation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0040] FIG. 18 illustrates another example of a field format for hopping-based IDC operation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0041] FIG. 19 illustrates another example of a field format for hopping-based IDC operation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0042] FIG. 20 illustrates a flowchart for hopping-based IDC operation of a device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0043] FIG. 21 illustrates a flowchart for hopping-based IDC operation of a device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0044] FIG. 22 illustrates a flowchart for hopping-based IDC operation of a device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0045] FIG. 23 illustrates a flowchart for hopping-based IDC operation of a device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0046] FIG. 24 illustrates a flowchart for hopping-based IDC operation of a device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0047] FIG. 25 illustrates a flowchart for hopping-based IDC operation of a device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0048] FIG. 26 illustrates the flow of signals in ADDTS (add traffic stream) request and response operations of a wireless LAN system related to the present disclosure.

[0049] Fig. 27 illustrates the configuration of an action field of an ADDTS request frame of a wireless LAN system related to the present disclosure.

[0050] FIG. 28 illustrates an unscheduled automatic power save delivery (U-APSD) Coexistence element format related to the present disclosure.

[0051] FIG. 29 illustrates an example of resource utilization using in-Device coexistence (IDC) information according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0052] FIG. 30a illustrates an example of the format of an IDC element according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0053] FIG. 30b illustrates another example of the format of an IDC element according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0054] FIG. 31a illustrates an example of a new ADDTS request frame and action field for providing IDC information according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0055] FIG. 31b illustrates an example of an IDC element included in an ADDTS request frame according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0056] FIG. 31c illustrates an example of application of an IDC element according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0057] FIG. 31d illustrates the flow of signals in an ADDTS request and response operation including IDC information according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0058] FIG. 31e illustrates an example of an ADDTS related primitive according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0059] FIG. 32 illustrates an example of IDC information transmission via a multi-band element format according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0060] FIG. 33a illustrates an example of an action field for an IDC setup request and an action field for a response according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0061] FIG. 33b illustrates an example of an action field for an IDC setup request and an action field for a response according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0062] FIG. 34 illustrates a flowchart of operations for setting up a TS (traffic stream) related to IDC information according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0063] FIG. 35 illustrates a flowchart of operations for TS setup related to IDC information according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0064] FIG. 36 illustrates a flowchart of operations for TS setup related to IDC information according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0065] FIG. 37 illustrates a flowchart of operations for TS setup related to IDC information according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0066] FIG. 38 illustrates a flowchart of a TS setup related to IDC information according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0067] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. It should be noted that, where possible, identical components are represented by identical reference numerals throughout the attached drawings. Furthermore, detailed descriptions of well-known functions and configurations that may obscure the gist of the present disclosure will be omitted.

[0068] In describing the embodiments in this specification, descriptions of technical details that are well known in the technical field to which the present disclosure pertains and are not directly related to the present disclosure will be omitted. This is to avoid obscuring the gist of the present disclosure by omitting unnecessary explanations and to convey the gist more clearly.

[0069] For the same reason, some components in the attached drawings are exaggerated, omitted, or schematically depicted. Furthermore, the dimensions of each component do not entirely reflect its actual size.

[0070] The advantages and features of the present disclosure, and methods for achieving them, will become clearer with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below and may be implemented in various different forms. These embodiments are provided solely to ensure that the disclosure is complete and to fully inform those skilled in the art of the scope of the disclosure, and the present disclosure is defined solely by the scope of the claims.

[0071] At this time, it will be understood that each block of the flowchart drawings and combinations of the flowchart drawings can be performed by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be installed in a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing equipment, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing equipment create a means for performing the functions described in the flowchart block(s). These computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer-available or computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to implement the functions in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-available or computer-readable memory can also produce a manufactured item that includes an instruction means for performing the functions described in the flowchart block(s). Since the computer program instructions may be installed on a computer or other programmable data processing device, a series of operational steps may be performed on the computer or other programmable data processing device to create a computer-executable process, and the instructions that cause the computer or other programmable data processing device to perform the steps for performing the functions described in the flowchart block(s) may also provide steps for performing the functions described in the flowchart block(s).

[0072] Additionally, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code that contains one or more executable instructions for performing a specific logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementation examples, the functions described in the blocks may occur out of order. For example, two blocks depicted in succession may actually be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in reverse order, depending on their respective functions.

[0073] Here, the term '~ unit' used in the present embodiment means a software or hardware component such as an FPGA or ASIC, and the '~ unit' performs certain roles. However, the '~ unit' is not limited to software or hardware. The '~ unit' may be configured to be on an addressable storage medium and may be configured to play one or more processors. Accordingly, as an example, the '~ unit' includes components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components, and task components, processes, functions, properties, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. The functions provided within the components and '~ units' may be combined into a smaller number of components and '~ units' or further separated into additional components and '~ units'. Additionally, components and '~parts' may be implemented to regenerate one or more CPUs within a device or secure multimedia card.

[0074] In the present disclosure, when a component is said to be "connected," "coupled," or "connected" to another component, this may include not only a direct connection but also an indirect connection in which another component exists between them. Furthermore, the terms "comprises" or "has" in the present disclosure specify the presence of the mentioned features, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0075] In this disclosure, terms such as "first," "second," etc. are used only to distinguish one component from another, are not used to limit the components, and do not limit the order or importance of components unless specifically stated otherwise. Accordingly, within the scope of this disclosure, a first component in one embodiment may be referred to as a second component in another embodiment, and similarly, a second component in one embodiment may be referred to as a first component in another embodiment.

[0076] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and is not intended to limit the scope of the claims. As used in the description of the embodiments and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The term "and / or" as used herein may refer to any one of the associated enumerated items, or is meant to refer to and encompass any and all possible combinations of two or more of them. Furthermore, the use of " / " between words in this disclosure has the same meaning as "and / or" unless otherwise stated.

[0077] The examples of the present disclosure can be applied to various wireless communication systems. For example, the examples of the present disclosure can be applied to a wireless LAN system. For example, the examples of the present disclosure can be applied to a wireless LAN system based on the IEEE 802.11a / g / n / ac / ax / be standards. Furthermore, the examples of the present disclosure can be applied to a wireless LAN system based on the newly discussed IEEE 802.11bn (or UHR (ultra high reliability)) standards. Furthermore, the examples of the present disclosure can be applied to a next-generation wireless LAN system based on a new standards document that improves upon the IEEE 802.11bn.

[0078] Additionally, examples of the present disclosure may be applied to cellular wireless communication systems. For example, examples of the present disclosure may be applied to cellular wireless communication systems based on Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), and New Radio (NR) technologies based on 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard documents.

[0079] FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration of a device for wireless communication according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0080] The first device (100) and the second device (200) of FIG. 1 may be replaced with various terms such as terminal, wireless device, WTRU (Wireless Transmit and Receive Unit), UE (User Equipment), MS (Mobile Station), UT (user terminal), MSS (Mobile Subscriber Station), MSS (Mobile Subscriber Unit), SS (Subscriber Station), AMS (Advanced Mobile Station), WT (Wireless terminal), client terminal, or simply user.

[0081] In addition, the first device (100) and the second device (200) may be replaced with various terms such as access point (AP), base station (BS), fixed station, Node B, base transceiver system (BTS), network, artificial intelligence (AI) system, road side unit (RSU), repeater, router, relay, gateway, etc.

[0082] The devices (100, 200) illustrated in FIG. 1 may also be referred to as stations (STAs). For example, the devices (100, 200) illustrated in FIG. 1 may be referred to by various terms such as transmitting device, receiving device, transmitting STA, and receiving STA. For example, the STAs (110, 200) may perform an AP (access point) role or a non-AP role. That is, in the present disclosure, the STAs (110, 200) may perform the functions of an AP and / or a non-AP. When the STAs (110, 200) perform an AP function, they may simply be referred to as APs, and when the STAs (110, 200) perform a non-AP function, they may simply be referred to as STAs. In addition, in the present disclosure, the APs may also be referred to as AP STAs.

[0083] Referring to FIG. 1, the first device (100) and the second device (200) can transmit and / or receive wireless signals through various wireless LAN technologies (e.g., technologies based on the IEEE 802.11 standard document). The first device (100) and the second device (200) can include interfaces for a medium access control (MAC) layer and a physical (PHY) layer that follow the regulations of the IEEE 802.11 standard document.

[0084] In addition, the first device (100) and the second device (200) may additionally support various wireless communication technologies other than wireless LAN technology (for example, technologies based on 3GPP LTE, LTE-A, or NR standard documents). In addition, the devices of the present disclosure may be implemented as various devices such as mobile phones, vehicles, personal computers, AR (Augmented Reality) equipment, VR (Virtual Reality) equipment, etc. In addition, the STA of the present specification may support various communication services such as voice calls, video calls, data communications, autonomous driving, MTC (Machine-Type Communication), M2M (Machine-to-Machine), D2D (Device-to-Device), and IoT (Internet-of-Things).

[0085] A first device (100) includes one or more processors (102) and one or more memories (104), and may further include one or more transceivers (or transceivers) (106) and / or one or more antennas (108). The processor (102) controls the memories (104) and / or the transceivers (106), and may be configured to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. For example, the processor (102) may process information in the memories (104) to generate first information and / or a first signal, and then transmit a wireless signal including the first information and / or the first signal via the transceivers (106). In addition, the processor (102) may receive a wireless signal including second information and / or a second signal through the transceiver (106), and then store information obtained through signal processing of the second information and / or the second signal in the memory (104). The memory (104) may be connected to the processor (102) and may store various information related to the operation of the processor (102). For example, the memory (104) may perform some or all of the processes controlled by the processor (102), or may store software code including instructions for performing the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. Here, the processor (102) and the memory (104) may be part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to implement a wireless LAN technology (e.g., a technology based on the IEEE 802.11 document). A transceiver (106) may be connected to the processor (102) and may transmit and / or receive wireless signals via one or more antennas (108). The transceiver (106) may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The transceiver (106) may be used interchangeably with an RF (Radio Frequency) unit.

[0086] The second device (200) includes one or more processors (202) and one or more memories (204), and may further include one or more transceivers (or transceiver units) (206) and / or one or more antennas (208). The processor (202) controls the memories (204) and / or the transceivers (206), and may be configured to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. For example, the processor (202) may process information in the memories (204) to generate third information and / or a third signal, and then transmit a wireless signal including the third information and / or the third signal via the transceivers (206). In addition, the processor (202) may receive a wireless signal including the fourth information and / or the fourth signal through the transceiver (206), and then store information obtained through signal processing of the fourth information and / or the fourth signal in the memory (204). The memory (204) may be connected to the processor (202) and may store various information related to the operation of the processor (202). For example, the memory (204) may perform some or all of the processes controlled by the processor (202), or store software code including instructions for performing the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. Here, the processor (202) and the memory (204) may be part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to implement a wireless LAN technology (e.g., a technology based on the IEEE 802.11 document). A transceiver (206) may be connected to the processor (202) and may transmit and / or receive wireless signals via one or more antennas (208). The transceiver (206) may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The transceiver (206) may be used interchangeably with an RF unit.

[0087] Hereinafter, hardware elements of the device (100, 200) will be described in more detail. Although not limited to the following, operations of one or more protocol layers may be implemented by one or more processors (102, 202). For example, one or more processors (102, 202) may implement operations of one or more layers (e.g., functional layers such as PHY, MAC). One or more processors (102, 202) may generate one or more Protocol Data Units (PDUs) and / or one or more Service Data Units (SDUs) according to the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. One or more processors (102, 202) may generate messages, control information, data, or information according to the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. One or more processors (102, 202) can generate signals (e.g., baseband signals) including PDUs, SDUs, messages, control information, data, traffic or information according to the functions, procedures, proposals and / or methods disclosed in this disclosure, and provide the signals to one or more transceivers (106, 206). One or more processors (102, 202) can receive signals (e.g., baseband signals) from one or more transceivers (106, 206) and obtain PDUs, SDUs, messages, control information, data, traffic or information according to the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in this disclosure.

[0088] One or more memories (104, 204) may be coupled to one or more processors (102, 202) and may store various forms of data, signals, messages, information, programs, codes, instructions, and / or commands. The one or more memories (104, 204) may be configured as read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electronically EPROM (EEPROM), flash memory, hard drives, registers, cache memory, computer readable storage media, and / or combinations thereof. The one or more memories (104, 204) may be located internally and / or externally to the one or more processors (102, 202). Additionally, the one or more memories (104, 204) may be coupled to the one or more processors (102, 202) via various technologies, such as wired or wireless connections.

[0089] One or more transceivers (106, 206) can transmit user data, control information, data, traffic, wireless signals, and / or channels, etc., as described in the methods and / or flowcharts of the present disclosure, to one or more other devices. One or more transceivers (106, 206) can receive user data, control information, data, traffic, wireless signals, and / or channels, etc., as described in the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or flowcharts of the present disclosure, from one or more other devices. For example, one or more transceivers (106, 206) can be coupled to one or more processors (102, 202) and can transmit and receive wireless signals. For example, one or more processors (102, 202) can control one or more transceivers (106, 206) to transmit user data, control information, traffic, wireless signals, and / or channels, etc., to one or more other devices. Additionally, one or more processors (102, 202) may control one or more transceivers (106, 206) to receive user data, control information, traffic, wireless signals, and / or channels from one or more other devices. Additionally, one or more transceivers (106, 206) may be coupled to one or more antennas (108, 208), and one or more transceivers (106, 206) may be configured to transmit and receive user data, control information, traffic, wireless signals, and / or channels, etc., as described in the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure, via one or more antennas (108, 208). In the present disclosure, one or more antennas (108, 208) may be multiple physical antennas or multiple logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports).One or more transceivers (106, 206) may convert received user data, control information, wireless signals / channels, etc. from RF band signals to baseband signals in order to process the received user data, control information, wireless signals / channels, etc. using one or more processors (102, 202). One or more transceivers (106, 206) may convert processed user data, control information, wireless signals / channels, etc. from baseband signals to RF band signals using one or more processors (102, 202). For this purpose, one or more transceivers (106, 206) may include an (analog) oscillator and / or a filter.

[0090] In one example, one of the devices (100, 200) may perform the intended operation of an AP, and the other of the devices (100, 200) may perform the intended operation of a non-AP STA. In another example, the transceiver (106, 206) of FIG. 1 may perform transmission and / or reception operations of signals (e.g., packets or PPDUs (physical layer protocol data units) according to IEEE 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax / be / bn, etc.).

[0091] Additionally, in the present disclosure, the operations of various STAs generating transmission / reception signals or performing data processing or calculations in advance for transmission / reception signals can be performed in the processor (102, 202) of FIG. 1. For example, an example of an operation of generating a transmission / reception signal or performing data processing or operation in advance for a transmission / reception signal is an operation of determining / obtaining / configuring / computing / decoding / encoding bit information of a field included in a PPDU (e.g., SIG (signal), STF (short training field), LTF (long training field), Data, etc.), 2) determining / configuring / obtaining time resources or frequency resources (e.g., subcarrier resources) used for a field included in a PPDU (e.g., SIG, STF, LTF, Data, etc.), 3) determining / configuring / obtaining a specific sequence (e.g., pilot sequence, STF / LTF sequence, extra sequence applied to SIG) used for a field included in a PPDU (e.g., SIG, STF, LTF, Data, etc.), 4) power control operation and / or power saving operation applied to an STA, 5) ACK (acknowledgement) signal It may include operations related to decision / acquisition / configuration / computation / decoding / encoding, etc. In addition, in the example below, various information (e.g., information related to fields / subfields / control fields / parameters / power, etc.) used by various STAs for decision / acquisition / configuration / computation / decoding / encoding of transmission / reception signals may be stored in the memory (104, 204) of FIG. 1.

[0092] Hereinafter, downlink (DL) refers to a link for communication from an AP STA to a non-AP STA, and downlink PPDUs / packets / signals, etc. can be transmitted and received through the downlink. In downlink communication, the transmitter may be part of an AP STA, and the receiver may be part of a non-AP STA. Uplink (UL) refers to a link for communication from a non-AP STA to an AP STA, and uplink PPDUs / packets / signals, etc. can be transmitted and received through the uplink. In uplink communication, the transmitter may be part of a non-AP STA, and the receiver may be part of an AP STA.

[0093] An exemplary structure of a wireless LAN system related to the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0094] A wireless LAN system may have a structure composed of multiple components. The wireless LAN system can support transparent STA mobility to the upper layer through the interaction of the multiple components. A Basic Service Set (BSS) corresponds to a basic building block of a wireless LAN. FIG. 2 illustrates, by way of example, the existence of two BSSs (BSS 1 and BSS 2), and the inclusion of two STAs as members of each BSS (STA 1 and STA 2 are included in BSS 1, and STA 3 and STA 4 are included in BSS 2). The oval representing a BSS in FIG. 2 can also be understood as representing a coverage area in which STAs included in the corresponding BSS maintain communication. This area can be referred to as a Basic Service Area (BSA). When an STA moves outside of the BSA, it cannot directly communicate with other STAs within the BSA.

[0095] If we do not consider the distributed system (DS) illustrated in Fig. 2, the most basic type of BSS in a wireless LAN is an Independent BSS (IBSS). For example, an IBSS can have a minimal form consisting of only two STAs. For example, assuming other components are omitted, BSS 1 consisting of only STA 1 and STA 2, or BSS 2 consisting of only STA 3 and STA 4, can be representative examples of an IBSS, respectively. Such a configuration is possible when the STAs can communicate directly without an AP. Furthermore, this type of WLAN is not planned in advance but can be configured when a local area network (LAN) is required, and can also be called an ad-hoc network. Since an IBSS does not include an AP, there is no centralized management entity. That is, in an IBSS, STAs are managed in a distributed manner. In IBSS, all STAs can be mobile STAs, and access to the DS is not permitted, forming a self-contained network.

[0096] An STA's membership in a BSS can dynamically change, for example, when an STA is turned on or off, or when an STA enters or leaves a BSS area. To become a member of a BSS, an STA can join the BSS using a synchronization process. To access all services in the BSS infrastructure, an STA must be associated with the BSS. This association can be dynamically established and may involve the use of a Distribution System Service (DSS).

[0097] In a wireless LAN, the direct STA-to-STA distance may be limited by PHY performance. While this distance limit may be sufficient in some cases, communication between STAs over longer distances may be required in other cases. To support extended coverage, a DS can be configured.

[0098] DS refers to a structure in which BSSs are interconnected. Specifically, a BSS may exist as an extended component of a network composed of multiple BSSs, as illustrated in Figure 2. DS is a logical concept and can be specified by the characteristics of the distributed system medium (DSM, DS medium). In this regard, the Wireless Medium (WM) and DSM can be logically distinguished. Each logical medium is used for a different purpose and by different components. These media are neither limited to being identical nor limited to being different. This logical difference between multiple media explains the flexibility of the WLAN architecture (DS architecture or other network architectures). In other words, the WLAN architecture can be implemented in various ways, and the physical characteristics of each implementation can independently specify the WLAN architecture.

[0099] A DS can support mobile devices by providing seamless integration of multiple BSSs and the logical services necessary to handle addresses to destinations. Additionally, a DS may further include a component called a portal, which acts as a bridge for connecting wireless LANs to other networks (e.g., IEEE 802.X).

[0100] An AP enables non-AP STAs associated with it to access the DS through the WM. An AP may refer to an entity that also has the functionality of an STA, and data movement between the BSS and the DS may be performed through the AP. For example, STA 2 and STA 3 illustrated in FIG. 2 have the functionality of an STA and provide the function of allowing associated non-AP STAs (STA 1 and STA 4) to access the DS. In addition, since all APs are basically STAs, all APs are addressable entities. The address used by an AP for communication on the WM and the address used by an AP for communication on the DSM do not necessarily have to be the same. A BSS consisting of an AP and one or more STAs may be referred to as an infrastructure BSS.

[0101] Data transmitted from one of the STA(s) associated with an AP to the STA address of that AP may always be received on an uncontrolled port and processed by an IEEE 802.1X port access entity. In addition, if the controlled port is authenticated, the transmitted data (or frame) may be forwarded to the DS.

[0102] In addition to the structure of the DS described above, an extended service set (ESS) may be established to provide wider coverage.

[0103] An ESS is a network of arbitrary size and complexity, and may correspond to a set of BSSs connected to a DS. However, an ESS does not include a DS. An ESS network is characterized by appearing as an IBSS at the LLC (Logical Link Control) layer. STAs included in an ESS can communicate with each other, and mobile STAs can move from one BSS to another (i.e., within the same ESS) transparently to the LLC. APs included in an ESS may have the same SSID (service set identifier). The SSID is distinct from the BSS ID (BSS SSID), which is the identifier of the BSS.

[0104] In a wireless LAN system, no assumptions are made about the relative physical locations of BSSs, and all of the following configurations are possible: BSSs can be partially overlapping, which is commonly used to provide continuous coverage. BSSs can also be physically disconnected, and there is no logical distance restriction between them. BSSs can also be physically co-located, which can be used to provide redundancy. Furthermore, one or more IBSS or ESS networks can physically co-exist in the same space as one (or more) ESS networks. This can occur in cases where an ad-hoc network operates in the same location as an ESS network, where physically overlapping wireless networks are configured by different organizations, or where two or more different access and security policies are required at the same location.

[0105] Figure 3 illustrates a link setup process related to the present disclosure.

[0106] For an STA to establish a link to a network and transmit and receive data, it must discover the network via an AP, perform authentication, establish an association, and establish security. The link setup process can also be referred to as the session initiation process or session setup process. Furthermore, the discovery, authentication, association, and security setup processes of the link setup process can be collectively referred to as the association process.

[0107] At step 310, the STA may perform a network discovery operation. This network discovery operation may include scanning operations by the STA. That is, to access a network, the STA must search for available networks. Before joining a wireless network, the STA must identify compatible networks. The process of identifying networks in a specific area is called scanning.

[0108] Scanning methods include active scanning and passive scanning. Figure 3 illustrates a network discovery operation that includes an active scanning process as an example. In active scanning, an STA performing scanning transmits a probe request frame to discover any APs in the vicinity while moving between channels and waits for a response. The responder transmits a probe response frame in response to the STA that transmitted the probe request frame. Here, the responder may be the STA that last transmitted a beacon frame in the BSS of the channel being scanned. In the BSS, the AP transmits the beacon frame, so the AP becomes the responder. In the IBSS, the STAs within the IBSS take turns transmitting beacon frames, so the responder is not fixed. For example, an STA that transmits a probe request frame on channel 1 and receives a probe response frame on channel 1 can store BSS-related information included in the received probe response frame and move to the next channel (e.g., channel 2) to perform scanning (i.e., transmitting and receiving probe requests / responses on channel 2) in the same manner.

[0109] Although not shown in Figure 3, the scanning operation can also be performed in a passive scanning manner. In passive scanning, the STA performing the scanning moves between channels and waits for a beacon frame. A beacon frame is one of the management frames defined in IEEE 802.11. It announces the existence of a wireless network and is periodically transmitted so that the STA performing the scanning can find the wireless network and participate in the wireless network. In the BSS, the AP performs the role of periodically transmitting the beacon frame, and in the IBSS, the STAs within the IBSS take turns transmitting the beacon frame. When the STA performing the scanning receives a beacon frame, it stores the information about the BSS included in the beacon frame and moves to another channel, recording the beacon frame information on each channel. The STA receiving the beacon frame stores the BSS-related information included in the received beacon frame and moves to the next channel to perform scanning on the next channel in the same manner. Comparing active scanning and passive scanning, active scanning has the advantage of lower delay and power consumption than passive scanning.

[0110] After the STA discovers the network, an authentication process may be performed at step 320. This authentication process may be referred to as the first authentication process to clearly distinguish it from the security setup operation of step 340 described below.

[0111] The authentication process involves the STA sending an authentication request frame to the AP, and the AP responding by sending an authentication response frame to the STA. The authentication request frame and the authorization response frame used in the authentication process belong to management frames.

[0112] The authentication frame may include information such as an authentication algorithm number, an authentication transaction sequence number, a status code, a challenge text, a Robust Security Network (RSN), and a Finite Cyclic Group. These are just some examples of information that may be included in an authentication request / response frame, and may be replaced with other information or include additional information.

[0113] An STA can transmit an authentication request frame to an AP. The AP can determine whether to grant authentication to the STA based on the information contained in the received authentication request frame. The AP can provide the result of the authentication process to the STA via an authentication response frame.

[0114] After the STA is successfully authenticated, an association process may be performed at step 330. The association process includes a process in which the STA transmits an association request frame to the AP, and in response, the AP transmits an association response frame to the STA.

[0115] The association request frame may include information about various capabilities, a beacon listen interval, a service set identifier (SSID), supported rates, supported channels, a robust security network (RSN), a mobility domain, supported operating classes, a Traffic Indication Map Broadcast request, interworking service capabilities, etc. For example, the association response frame may include information about various capabilities, a status code, an Association ID (AID), supported rates, an Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) parameter set, a Received Channel Power Indicator (RCPI), a Received Signal to Noise Indicator (RSNI), a mobility domain, a timeout interval (e.g., an association comeback time), overlapping BSS scan parameters, a TIM broadcast response, a Quality of Service (QoS) map, etc. These are just some examples of information that may be included in a combined request / response frame, and the combined request / response frame may further include additional information.

[0116] After the STA successfully joins the network via the AP, a security setup process may be performed at step 340. The security setup process of step 340 may include an authentication process via a Robust Security Network Association (RSNA) request / response. Furthermore, if the authentication process of step 320 is referred to as the first authentication process, the security setup process of step 340 may also be referred to simply as the authentication process.

[0117] The security setup process of step 340 may include, for example, a process of establishing a private key through a four-way handshaking using an Extensible Authentication Protocol over LAN (EAPOL) frame. Furthermore, the security setup process may be performed according to a security method not defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard.

[0118] Figure 4 illustrates a backoff operation related to the present disclosure.

[0119] In wireless LAN systems, the basic MAC access mechanism is Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA / CA). CSMA / CA, also known as the Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) of the IEEE 802.11 MAC, essentially employs a "listen before talk" access mechanism. According to this type of access mechanism, the AP and / or STA performs Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) to sense the wireless channel or medium for a predetermined time period (e.g., DIFS (DCF Inter-Frame Space)) before starting transmission. If the sensing result determines that the medium is in an idle state, the AP and / or STA starts transmitting frames through the medium. On the other hand, if the medium is detected to be occupied or busy, the AP and / or STA may not start its own transmission, but may wait for a predetermined delay period (e.g., a random backoff period) for medium access before attempting to transmit frames. By applying the random backoff period, multiple STAs may attempt to transmit frames after waiting for different periods of time, thereby minimizing collisions.

[0120] Additionally, the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol provides a Hybrid Coordination Function (HCF). HCF is based on the DCF and Point Coordination Function (PCF). PCF is a polling-based synchronous access method, which refers to a method in which all receiving APs and / or STAs periodically poll to ensure that they can receive data frames. HCF also includes Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) and HCF Controlled Channel Access (HCCA). EDCA is a contention-based access method in which a provider provides data frames to multiple users, while HCCA uses a non-contention-based channel access method using a polling mechanism. In addition, HCF includes a medium access mechanism to improve the Quality of Service (QoS) of a wireless LAN, and can transmit QoS data in both a Contention Period (CP) and a Contention Free Period (CFP).

[0121] Referring to Fig. 4, an operation based on a random backoff period is described. When an occupied / busy medium changes to an idle state, multiple STAs may attempt to transmit data (or frames). To minimize collisions, each STA may select a random backoff count, wait for the corresponding slot time, and then attempt transmission. The random backoff count has a pseudo-random integer value and may be determined as one of the values ​​in the range of 0 to CW. Here, CW is a contention window parameter value. The CW parameter is initially given a value of CWmin, but in case of a transmission failure (e.g., if an ACK for a transmitted frame is not received), the STA may increase the CW by a factor of two. When the CW parameter value reaches CWmax, the STA may attempt data transmission while maintaining the CWmax value until the data transmission is successful, and if the data transmission is successful, the CW is reset to the CWmin value. The values ​​of CW, CWmin and CWmax can be set to 2n-1 (n=0, 1, 2, ...).

[0122] Once the random backoff process begins, the STA continues to monitor the medium while counting down the backoff slots according to the determined backoff count value. If the medium is monitored as occupied, the countdown stops and waits. When the medium becomes idle, the remaining countdown resumes.

[0123] In the example of FIG. 4, when a packet to be transmitted reaches the MAC of STA3, STA3 can immediately transmit the frame if it confirms that the medium is idle for DIFS. The remaining STAs monitor the medium for occupied / busy states and wait. In the meantime, data to be transmitted may also occur in each of STA1, STA2, and STA5, and each STA can count down the backoff slot according to the random backoff count value selected by each STA after waiting for DIFS if it confirms that the medium is idle. Assume that STA2 selects the smallest backoff count value and STA1 selects the largest backoff count value. In other words, this example shows a case where the remaining backoff time of STA5 is shorter than the remaining backoff time of STA1 when STA2 finishes the backoff count and starts frame transmission. STA1 and STA5 briefly stop counting down and wait while STA2 occupies the medium. When STA2's occupation ends and the medium becomes idle again, STA1 and STA5 wait for DIFS and then resume the backoff count that was stopped. That is, STA1 and STA5 can start frame transmission after counting down the remaining backoff slots equal to the remaining backoff time. Since STA5's remaining backoff time is shorter than STA1's, STA5 starts frame transmission. While STA2 occupies the medium, STA4 may also have data to transmit. When the medium becomes idle, STA4 waits for DIFS, counts down according to a random backoff count value selected by it, and then starts frame transmission. In the example of FIG. 4, the remaining backoff time of STA5 coincidentally matches the random backoff count value of STA4, in which case a collision may occur between STA4 and STA5. If a collision occurs, neither STA4 nor STA5 will receive an ACK, resulting in a failure in data transmission.In this case, STA4 and STA5 can select a random backoff count value and perform a countdown after doubling the CW value. STA1 waits while the medium is occupied by transmissions from STA4 and STA5, and when the medium becomes idle, it waits for DIFS and can start transmitting frames after the remaining backoff time elapses.

[0124] As shown in the example of Fig. 4, a data frame is a frame used for transmitting data to an upper layer, and can be transmitted after a backoff performed after DIFS elapses from when the medium becomes idle. Additionally, a management frame is a frame used for exchanging management information without being transmitted to an upper layer, and is transmitted after a backoff performed after an IFS such as DIFS or PIFS (Point coordination function IFS) elapses. A management frame may include a beacon, an association request / response, a re-association request / response, a probe request / response, an authentication request / response, etc. as a subtype frame. A control frame is a frame used to control access to the medium. Control frames can include RTS (Request-To-Send), CTS (Clear-To-Send), ACK (Acknowledgment), PS-Poll (Power Save-Poll), Block ACK (B-ACK or BlockAck), Block ACK Request (BlockACKReq), NDP announcement (null data packet announcement), Trigger, etc. as subtype frames. If the control frame is not a response frame to the previous frame, it is transmitted after a backoff performed after the DIFS (Direct Inverse Frame Stop) has elapsed, and if it is a response frame to the previous frame, it is transmitted without a backoff performed after the SIFS (short IFS) has elapsed. The type and subtype of a frame can be identified by the type field and subtype field in the frame control (FC) field.

[0125] A QoS (Quality of Service) STA can transmit a frame after a backoff performed after the AIFS (arbitration IFS) for the access category (AC) to which the frame belongs, i.e., AIFS[i] (where i is a value determined by the AC), has elapsed. Here, the frames for which AIFS[i] can be used can be data frames, management frames, and also control frames that are not response frames.

[0126] FIG. 5 illustrates a frame transmission operation based on CSMA / CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance) in connection with the present disclosure.

[0127] As mentioned above, the CSMA / CA mechanism includes virtual carrier sensing in addition to physical carrier sensing, in which STAs directly sense the medium. Virtual carrier sensing is intended to address potential issues in medium access, such as the hidden node problem. For virtual carrier sensing, the MAC of an STA can utilize a Network Allocation Vector (NAV). The NAV is a value that an STA that is currently using or has the right to use the medium indicates to other STAs the remaining time until the medium becomes available. Therefore, the value set as NAV corresponds to the period during which the STA transmitting the frame is scheduled to use the medium, and an STA that receives the NAV value is prohibited from accessing the medium during that period. For example, the NAV can be set based on the value of the "duration" field in the MAC header of the frame.

[0128] In the example of FIG. 5, STA1 wants to transmit data to STA2, and STA3 is in a position to overhear part or all of the frames transmitted and received between STA1 and STA2.

[0129] In order to reduce the possibility of collisions in transmissions of multiple STAs in a CSMA / CA-based frame transmission operation, a mechanism using RTS / CTS frames may be applied. In the example of FIG. 5, while STA1 is transmitting, STA3 may determine that the medium is idle based on carrier sensing. That is, STA1 may correspond to a hidden node for STA3. Alternatively, in the example of FIG. 5, while STA2 is transmitting, STA3 may determine that the medium is idle based on carrier sensing. That is, STA2 may correspond to a hidden node for STA3. By exchanging RTS / CTS frames before performing data transmission and reception between STA1 and STA2, STAs outside the transmission range of either STA1 or STA2, or STAs outside the carrier sensing range for transmissions from STA1 or STA3, may not attempt to occupy the channel during data transmission and reception between STA1 and STA2.

[0130] Specifically, STA1 can determine whether a channel is occupied through carrier sensing. In terms of physical carrier sensing, STA1 can determine channel occupancy idleness based on the energy level or signal correlation detected in the channel. Furthermore, in terms of virtual carrier sensing, STA1 can determine the channel occupancy status using the NAV timer.

[0131] STA1 can transmit an RTS frame to STA2 after performing a backoff if the channel is idle during the DIFS. STA2 can transmit a CTS frame, which is a response to the RTS frame, to STA1 after an SIFS if it receives the RTS frame.

[0132] If STA3 cannot overhear a CTS frame from STA2 but can overhear an RTS frame from STA1, STA3 can use the duration information contained in the RTS frame to set a NAV timer for the subsequent consecutively transmitted frame transmission period (e.g., SIFS + CTS frame + SIFS + data frame + SIFS + ACK frame). Alternatively, if STA3 cannot overhear an RTS frame from STA1 but can overhear a CTS frame from STA2, STA3 can use the duration information contained in the CTS frame to set a NAV timer for the subsequent consecutively transmitted frame transmission period (e.g., SIFS + data frame + SIFS + ACK frame). That is, if STA3 can overhear one or more of the RTS or CTS frames from one or more of STA1 or STA2, it can set a NAV accordingly. If STA3 receives a new frame before the NAV timer expires, it can update the NAV timer using the duration information contained in the new frame. STA3 does not attempt channel access until the NAV timer expires.

[0133] If STA1 receives a CTS frame from STA2, it can transmit a data frame to STA2 after SIFS from the time when the CTS frame is completely received. If STA2 successfully receives the data frame, it can transmit an ACK frame in response to the data frame to STA1 after SIFS. STA3 can determine whether the channel is in use through carrier sensing if the NAV timer expires. If STA3 determines that the channel is not in use by another terminal during the DIFS after the NAV timer expires, it can attempt channel access after a contention window (CW) based on a random backoff has elapsed.

[0134] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary format of a frame used in a wireless LAN system related to the present disclosure.

[0135] Based on an instruction or primitive (meaning a set of instructions or parameters) from the MAC layer, the PHY layer can prepare an MPDU (MAC PDU) to be transmitted. When the PHY layer receives a command requesting the start of transmission from the MAC layer, the PHY layer can switch to transmission mode and transmit the information (e.g., data) provided by the MAC layer in the form of a frame. In addition, when the PHY layer detects a valid preamble of the received frame, it can monitor the header of the preamble and send a command to the MAC layer notifying the start of reception by the PHY layer.

[0136] In this way, information transmission / reception in a wireless LAN system is done in the form of frames, and for this purpose, the PHY layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) frame format is defined.

[0137] A basic PPDU frame may include a short training field (STF), a long training field (LTF), a SIGNAL (SIG) field, and a data field. The most basic (e.g., non-HT (high throughput)) PPDU frame format may consist of only L-STF (Legacy-STF), L-LTF (Legacy-LTF), a SIG field, and a data field. In addition, depending on the type of PPDU frame format (e.g., HT-mixed format PPDU, HT-greenfield format PPDU, VHT (very high throughput) PPDU, etc.), additional (or different types of) STF, LTF, and SIG fields may be included between the SIG field and the data field. Specific types of frame formats are described later in FIG. 7.

[0138] STF is a signal for signal detection, AGC (automatic gain control), diversity selection, precise time synchronization, etc., and LTF is a signal for channel estimation, frequency error estimation, etc. STF and LTF are signals for synchronization and channel estimation of the OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) physical layer.

[0139] The SIG field may include a RATE field and a LENGTH field, among others. The RATE field may include information about the modulation and coding rate of the data. The LENGTH field may include information about the length of the data. Additionally, the SIG field may include a parity bit, a SIG TAIL bit, among others.

[0140] The data field may include a SERVICE field, a physical layer service data unit (PSDU), a PPDU TAIL bit, and, if necessary, padding bits. Some bits of the SERVICE field may be used to synchronize the descrambler at the receiving end. The PSDU corresponds to a MAC PDU defined at the MAC layer and may contain data generated / used by upper layers. The PPDU TAIL bit may be used to return the encoder to a 0 state. The padding bit may be used to adjust the length of the data field to a predetermined unit.

[0141] MAC PDUs are defined according to various MAC frame formats, and a basic MAC frame consists of a MAC header, a frame body, and a frame check sequence (FCS). A MAC frame is composed of MAC PDUs and can be transmitted / received through the PSDU in the data portion of the PPDU frame format.

[0142] The MAC header includes a frame control field, a duration / ID field, an address field, etc. The frame control field may include control information necessary for frame transmission / reception. The duration / ID field may be set to the time for transmitting the corresponding frame, etc. The specific contents of the Sequence Control, QoS Control, and HT Control subfields of the MAC header are omitted.

[0143] Although not shown in FIG. 6, the null data packet (NDP) frame format refers to a frame format that does not include a data packet. That is, the NDP frame refers to a frame format that includes the PLCP (physical layer convergence procedure) header portion (i.e., STF, LTF, and SIG fields) of the general PPDU frame format, but does not include the remaining portion (i.e., data field). The NDP frame may also be referred to as a short frame format.

[0144] FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary format of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) of a wireless LAN system related to the present disclosure.

[0145] Standards such as IEEE 802.11a / g / n / ac / ax / be use various PPDU formats. The basic PPDU format (IEEE 802.11a / g format) includes L-LTF, L-STF, L-SIG, and Data fields. The basic PPDU format can also be referred to as the non-HT PPDU format.

[0146] The HT PPDU format (IEEE 802.11n format) additionally includes HT-SIG, HT-STF, and HT-LFT(s) fields in addition to the basic PPDU format. The HT PPDU format illustrated in Fig. 7 may be referred to as an HT-mixed format. Although not illustrated, an HT-greenfield format PPDU may be defined, which corresponds to a format that does not include L-STF, L-LTF, and L-SIG, and is composed of HT-GF-STF, HT-LTF1, HT-SIG, one or more HT-LTF, and Data fields.

[0147] The VHT PPDU format (IEEE 802.11ac format) includes VHT SIG-A, VHT-STF, VHT-LTF, and VHT-SIG-B fields in addition to the basic PPDU format.

[0148] The HE PPDU format (IEEE 802.11ax format) additionally includes RL-SIG (Repeated L-SIG), HE-SIG-A, HE-SIG-B, HE-STF, HE-LTF(s), and PE (Packet Extension) fields in addition to the basic PPDU format. Depending on specific examples of the HE PPDU format, some fields may be excluded or their lengths may vary. For example, the HE-SIG-B field is included in the HE PPDU format for multi-users (MUs), but the HE PPDU format for single-users (SUs) does not include the HE-SIG-B. In addition, the HE trigger-based (TB) PPDU format does not include the HE-SIG-B, and the length of the HE-STF field may vary to 8 μs. The HE ER (Extended Range) SU PPDU format does not include the HE-SIG-B field, and the length of the HE-SIG-A field can vary up to 16 μs.

[0149] FIG. 8 illustrates another exemplary format of a PPDU of a wireless LAN system related to the present disclosure.

[0150] The EHT PPDU format (IEEE 802.11be format) of FIG. 8 may include an EHT MU PPDU format and an EHT TB PPDU format. The EHT MU PPDU format corresponds to a PPDU that carries one or more data (or PSDU) for one or more users. The EHT MU PPDU can be used for both SU transmission and MU transmission, and the EHT MU PPDU may correspond to a PPDU for one receiving STA or multiple receiving STAs. The EHT TB PPDU omits the EHT-SIG compared to the EHT MU PPDU. An STA that receives a trigger for UL MU transmission (e.g., a trigger frame or an RTS frame) can perform UL transmission based on the EHT TB PPDU format.

[0151] The EHT PPDU format includes RL-SIG, U-SIG (Universal SIG), EHT-SIG, EHT-STF, EHT-LTF(s), and PE fields in addition to the basic PPDU format. Depending on the specific examples of the EHT PPDU format, some fields may be excluded or their lengths may vary. For example, depending on the EHT MU PPDU format and EHT TB PPDU format described above, some fields of the EHT PPDU format may or may not be included, or the lengths of specific fields may vary.

[0152] Figure 9 is a drawing for explaining an IDC related to the present disclosure.

[0153] As devices evolve, they (including non-AP STAs and APs) support a variety of different radio access technologies (RATs). Furthermore, as devices become increasingly smaller, antennas and transceivers supporting multiple RATs are mounted adjacent to each other within the device. Alternatively, a single radio frequency (RF) chain within the device may be shared among different RATs. In particular, when different RATs occupy adjacent frequency bands, there is a growing need for seamless coexistence (i.e., in-device coexistence, or IDC) among different RATs within the device. This IDC must be considered across various RATs, such as wireless LAN (WLAN), Bluetooth (BT), Bluetooth low-energy (BLE), peer-to-peer (P2P), ultra-wideband (UWB), licensed assisted access (LAA), and NR unlicensed (NR-U).

[0154] Recently, various discussions have been held to improve or resolve these IDCs. Examples include methods that support transmission and reception of wireless access technologies other than WLAN systems by utilizing schedulable time intervals such as TWT (target wakeup time), APSU (automatic power save delivery), and U-APSD (unscheduled APSD), and methods that support transmission and reception of other wireless access technologies by utilizing unscheduled time intervals such as AM (active mode) / PS (power saving) mode transition or flexible TWT. These methods correspond to methods that utilize available or unavailable time.

[0155] Alternatively, as illustrated in Fig. 9, a method of indicating target availability or target unavailability within a specific control frame, such as an initial control frame (ICF), an initial control response (ICR), or a response control frame (RCF), is also being discussed. According to this method, by indicating the unavailability (or availability) of an IDC target wireless access technology (i.e., a wireless access technology other than a wireless LAN system) during the transmission and reception of a control frame, a device can operate or not operate at a specific point in time after transmitting and receiving a data frame.

[0156] However, the various methods for improving IDC described above fall short in precisely and efficiently controlling it. The 802.11bn standard document specifically addresses improving reliability, and therefore, it is necessary to introduce a method for controlling IDC through specific yet simple procedures. Furthermore, various discussions are underway regarding IDC control when supporting the multi-link device (MLD) function based on the 802.11be standard.

[0157] FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart for IDC quiet operation related to the present disclosure.

[0158] Hereinafter, IDC quiet operation may mean an operation in which a non-AP STA suspends, minimizes, or restricts its WLAN operation for a predetermined time period in order to operate a wireless access technology other than WLAN. The other wireless access technology may include Bluetooth, BLE, UWB, LAA, NR-U, or P2P link other than WLAN, and may also include other technologies that utilize wireless resources or wireless channels in addition to the described wireless access technology. According to an embodiment, an IDC quiet operation may include a feature for one or more actions that a device can perform within a specific time period that is periodic or aperiodic (or instantaneous). Hereinafter, a specific time period in which an IDC quiet operation is performed may be referred to as an IDC quiet period or quiet period. For example, an IDC quiet operation of a non-AP STA may include operating by suspending, minimizing, or restricting WLAN within the IDC quiet period. As another example, an STA's IDC quiet operation may include not scheduling or minimizing the scheduling of non-AP STA's WLAN within the IDC quiet period.

[0159] As explained, a given time period during which IDC quiet operation is performed may be referred to as an IDC quiet period (or quiet period), and this quiet period may include periodic time periods or aperiodic and instantaneous time periods. Within the IDC quiet period, non-AP STAs' WLAN scheduling may not be performed to allow other wireless access technologies to operate, and limited transmission and reception may be performed for non-AP STAs. For example, to avoid interference with other wireless access technologies within the quiet period, traffic may be transmitted and received with a reduced bandwidth for the WLAN, traffic may be transmitted and received through a reduced number of spatial streams (NSS) when sharing an RF (radio frequency) chain with other wireless access technologies, or only transmission or reception of the WLAN may be performed.

[0160] A non-AP STA can request that the AP suspend or limit its wireless LAN operations for IDC quiet operation. A non-AP STA that sends such a request is referred to as an IDC quiet requesting STA. An AP that receives a request from a non-AP STA and, accordingly, supports the non-AP STA's IDC quiet operation is referred to as an IDC quiet responding AP.

[0161] According to one embodiment, specific frames exchanged according to an IDC quiet operation within an IDC quiet period may be identified by a service specific identifier. In addition, an IDC quiet responding AP may trigger NAV configuration of surrounding STAs at specific time intervals using an action frame, such as an IDC quiet operation notification frame, which will be described later. According to another embodiment, an IDC quiet responding AP may trigger NAV configuration of surrounding STAs at specific time intervals using a control frame, such as a CTS-to-self, instead of an action frame, which may be intended to restrict operations within the quiet period for legacy STAs that cannot receive or interpret IDC quiet notification frames.

[0162] To explain in detail with the example shown in FIG. 10, the IDC quiet requesting STA transmits a first frame for an IDC quiet request to the IDC quiet responding AP (1010). In response, the IDC quiet responding AP transmits a second frame for an IDC quiet response to the IDC quiet requesting STA (1020). The IDC quiet responding AP may also transmit a third frame for an IDC quiet operation notification to non-AP STAs other than the IDC requesting STA for NAV configuration during the quiet period (1030). Although not shown, the IDC quiet responding AP may also transmit a control frame such as a CTS-to-self instead of a quiet notification frame.

[0163] According to one embodiment, the first frame for the IDC quiet request transmitted by the IDC quiet requesting STA to the IDC quiet responding AP may mean a frame that explicitly or implicitly indicates the meaning of the IDC quiet request, and such a frame may be a management frame, an action frame, or a control frame. Alternatively, the first frame for the IDC quiet request transmitted by the IDC quiet responding STA to the IDC quiet responding AP may mean a frame including an element for the IDC quiet request, and may mean a MAC header including an element for the IDC quiet request. For the convenience of explanation hereinbelow, a transmission object according to at least one of the various forms described above may be referred to as an IDC quiet request frame or a first frame for the IDC quiet request.

[0164] According to one embodiment, the second frame for the IDC quiet response transmitted from the IDC quiet responding AP to the IDC quiet requesting STA may mean a frame that explicitly or implicitly indicates the meaning of the IDC quiet response, and such a frame may be a management frame, an action frame, or a control frame. Alternatively, the second frame for the IDC quiet response transmitted from the IDC quiet responding AP to the IDC quiet requesting STA may mean a frame including an element for the IDC quiet response, and may mean a MAC header including an element for the IDC quiet response. For the convenience of explanation hereinbelow, a transmission object according to at least one of the various forms described above may be referred to as an IDC quiet response frame or a second frame for the IDC quiet response.

[0165] According to one embodiment, the third frame for IDC quiet notification transmitted from an IDC quiet responding AP to an IDC quiet requesting STA may mean a frame that explicitly or implicitly indicates the meaning of the IDC quiet notification, and such a frame may be a management frame, an action frame, or a control frame. Alternatively, the third frame for IDC quiet notification transmitted from an IDC quiet responding AP to an IDC quiet requesting STA may mean a frame including an element for IDC quiet notification, and may mean a MAC header including an element for IDC quiet notification. For the convenience of explanation hereinbelow, a transmission object according to at least one of the various forms described above may be referred to as an IDC quiet notification frame or a third frame for IDC quiet notification.

[0166] In one embodiment, an IDC quiet requesting STA may immediately suspend or break a specific quiet period by transmitting a PS-poll frame or a QoS null frame upon receiving an IDC quiet response frame and determining that a quiet period is not necessary. In addition, the IDC quiet requesting STA may perform a suspend or resume of an action frame to control an IDC quiet operation in a predetermined time interval including two or more continuous quiet periods.

[0167] Meanwhile, in FIG. 10, each of the first frame for an IDC quiet request transmitted from an IDC quiet requesting STA to an IDC quiet responding AP, the second frame for an IDC quiet response transmitted from the IDC quiet responding AP to the IDC quiet requesting STA, and the third frame for an IDC quiet notification transmitted from the IDC quiet responding AP to the IDC quiet requesting STA may be a predetermined action frame or a control frame. Various examples of the types and formats of the frames will be described separately below.

[0168] In this way, the first frame for the IDC quiet request, the second frame for the IDC quiet response, and the third frame for the IDC quiet notification may be frames that extend existing action frames and / or control frames. Alternatively, the first frame for the IDC quiet request, the second frame for the IDC quiet response, and the third frame for the IDC quiet notification may be frames that add new elements or fields for the IDC quiet operation to the existing action frames and / or control frames. According to one embodiment, the first frame for the IDC quiet request, the second frame for the IDC quiet response, and the third frame for the IDC quiet notification may mean action frames and / or control frames that further include one or more fields or subfields included in the elements for the IDC quiet operation proposed in the present disclosure below. Specific embodiments of the elements or fields added for the first frame for the IDC quiet request, the second frame for the IDC quiet response, and the third frame for the IDC quiet notification are described below with reference to FIGS. 12A to 12E.

[0169] FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a frame format for IDC quiet operation in connection with the present disclosure.

[0170] Below, the frame format for IDC quiet operation is described. According to one embodiment, one of the UHR action fields can be assigned for IDC quiet operation. Fig. 11(a) illustrates the structure of the IDC quiet operation frame body, and Fig. 11(b) illustrates the structure of the UHR or protected UHR action field of order 2 in the IDC quiet operation frame body.

[0171] In the embodiment of Fig. 11(a), the value of the category field may be 40 for UHR or 41 for protected UHR, but these values ​​are merely examples and are not limited thereto. In the embodiment of Fig. 11(b), the UHR action field or protected UHR action may have a value of 0 to indicate the IDC quiet operation action field, but of course, it may have a value other than 0.

[0172] Meanwhile, the structure of the format illustrated in FIG. 11, the field names, the values ​​indicated by the fields, the number of fields to which meaningful values ​​are assigned, the order of the fields, the number of octets or bits, whether fields are included in the format, etc. are merely examples, and may of course be changed differently from the illustrated and described embodiment. Hereinafter, FIGS. 12a to 12e describe the IDC quiet operation element of the IDC quiet operation frame of FIG. 11(a).

[0173] FIGS. 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, and 12e illustrate further examples of frame formats for IDC quiet operation in connection with the present disclosure.

[0174] Figures 12a and 12b illustrate an example of a frame format for an IDC quiet operation related to the present disclosure. The IDC quiet operation action frame may correspond to an Action No ACK frame among the UHR or protected UHR action fields. Figure 12a illustrates the structure of an IDC quiet operation element included in the IDC quiet operation action frame.

[0175] In Fig. 12a, the element ID field contains 1 octet and can have a value of 255, and the element ID extension field contains 1 octet and can have a value of any one of 136 to 255. In Fig. 12a, the IDC quiet operation element can contain a control field of 1 octet, and this control field can indicate a value for specifying a subtype of the IDC quiet operation element.

[0176] Specifically, with the example illustrated in FIG. 12b, the control field may include a value (e.g., 0) indicating a frame for an IDC quiet operation request transmitted by an IDC quiet requesting STA, a value (e.g., 1) indicating a frame for an IDC quiet operation response transmitted by an IDC quiet responding AP, or a value (e.g., 2) indicating a frame for an IDC quiet operation notification transmitted by an IDC quiet responding AP, but the frames or meanings indicated by these values ​​are merely examples and are not limited thereto. According to one embodiment, two or more least significant bits (LSBs) included in the above-described control field may indicate a subtype of an IDC quiet operation element, and these two or more LSBs may be referred to as an IDC quiet operation subtype field.

[0177] The IDC quiet content field illustrated in FIG. 12a is a field with a variable length and may include specific information and / or parameters related to the IDC quiet operation-related frame indicated by the value included in the control field described above. Specific details regarding the IDC quiet content field are described in detail with reference to FIGS. 12c, 12d, and 12e.

[0178] FIG. 12C illustrates an example of an IDC quiet operation request element related to the present disclosure. Specifically, FIG. 12C illustrates an example of an IDC quiet content field of an IDC quiet operation element included in an IDC quiet operation request frame (i.e., a frame for an IDC quiet operation request). The fields included in the IDC quiet content field are described in detail below.

[0179] The dialog token field contains one octet and can identify a response subtype corresponding to a request subtype. The request mode field contains one octet and can indicate addition, removal, suspension, resumption, and reconfiguration of an IDC quiet operation. For example, a value of 0 in the request mode field can correspond to the addition of a subsequent quiet period, 1 to the removal of a subsequent quiet period, 2 to the suspension of a subsequent quiet period, 3 to the resumption of a subsequent quiet period, and 4 to the reconfiguration of a subsequent quiet period, respectively. When the value of the request mode field is any of 1-3, one or more of the subsequent fields may not be included in the content field or may have no meaning.

[0180] The radio mode field contains one octet and can define a transmit mode or a receive mode during the quiet period. For example, a value of 0 in the radio mode field can be used for unavailability, a value of 1 can be used for Tx only mode, a value of 2 can be used for Rx only mode, a value of 3 can be used for both Tx and Tx mode, and the remaining values ​​can be reserved. In addition, according to one embodiment, a value of 0xFF can be used to block not only the unavailability of the IDC quiet requesting STA but also all transmissions of other STAs within the same channel during the quiet period.

[0181] The Quiet Mode field contains 1 octet and may indicate the range of the IDC quiet operation. A value of 0 in the Quiet Mode field may correspond to that the IDC quiet operation applies only to the IDC quiet requesting STA, a value of 1 may correspond to that the AP requests to block transmissions from other associated STAs during the quiet period, and a value of 2 may correspond to that the AP requests to block transmissions from associated STAs of adjacent BSSs during the quiet period.

[0182] The period offset field may contain one or two octets. The period offset field may be set to the offset (expressed in time units (TU)) of the first quiet period from the target beacon transmission time (TBTT), or to the offset (expressed in TU) from the beginning of the first quiet period from the frame containing this element. In the latter case, the start position of the preamble of the PPDU containing this element may be the reference time for the value of the period offset field.

[0183] The period duration field contains one octet and can be set to the duration of the quiet period. For example, the period interval field can be expressed in units of 32 μs.

[0184] The period interval field contains one or two octets and may be set to the requested interval between the start of two consecutive quiet periods, expressed in TUs.

[0185] The repetition count field contains 1 octet and can be set to the number of requested quiet periods. For example, if the value of the repetition count field is 0, it can indicate that the configured quiet period operates only once (one time operation). According to one embodiment, if the value of the repetition count field is 0xFF (i.e., 255) or another specific value, it can indicate that the configured quiet period is maintained continuously. In other words, it can mean that the configured quiet period is not repeated only a specific number of times, but is continuously repeated without ending (i.e., never ending).

[0186] The channel field contains one or two octets and can indicate which subchannels are available for use during the quiet period. For example, assuming the primary 20 MHz is set as the lowest channel number, 0x0003 (1 bit corresponds to a 20 MHz subchannel, so 2 octets for 320 MHz) could indicate that the possible subchannel set is known as the primary 40 MHz channel. Conversely, this field can also be used to indicate which subchannels are unavailable during the quiet period.

[0187] The number of spatial streams (NSS) field contains 1 octet and may indicate the maximum number of spatial streams that can be used during a quiet period.

[0188] The service specific identifier field contains one octet and may identify the type of heterogeneous technology (i.e., another radio access technology) or P2P connection that will be used during the quiet period.

[0189] FIG. 12d illustrates an example of an IDC quiet operation response element according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Specifically, FIG. 12d illustrates an example of an IDC quiet content field of an IDC quiet operation element included in an IDC quiet operation response frame (i.e., a frame for an IDC quiet operation response). The fields included in the IDC quiet content field are described in detail below, and descriptions of fields that are identical to those in FIG. 12c are omitted.

[0190] The status code field contains 1 octet and can indicate the status value of the requested operation. For example, the status code field can indicate SUCCESS with a value of 0, REJECT with a value of 1, and COUNTER with a value of 2 to 8. When the status code field has a value of 2 to 8 to indicate COUNTER, a retry can be requested by changing at least one of the mode, offset, duration, interval, count, channel, and / or NSS of the quiet period, respectively. The values ​​9 to 255 of the status code field can be reserved values.

[0191] In one embodiment, when the status code field is set to mean COUNTER, the IDC quiet responding AP may suggest values ​​to the IDC quiet requesting STA by setting the values ​​of certain fields to recommended values. The IDC quiet requesting STA that receives the IDC quiet response element can recognize the suggestion of the IDC quiet responding AP, and the IDC quiet requesting STA can modify the values ​​of the previous request and send a new request.

[0192] FIG. 12E illustrates an example of an IDC quiet operation notification element according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Specifically, FIG. 12E illustrates an example of an IDC quiet content field of an IDC quiet operation element included in an IDC quiet operation notification frame (i.e., a frame for an IDC quiet operation notification). The fields included in the IDC quiet content field are described in detail below, and descriptions of fields that are identical to those in FIG. 12C and FIG. 12D are omitted.

[0193] When a request by an IDC quiet requesting STA is accepted and transmission prohibition is required for surrounding STAs or one or more associated STAs, the IDC quiet responding AP may signal this request by transmitting a broadcast frame or unicast frame containing an IDC quiet operation notification element.

[0194] An IDC quiet responding AP may transmit a frame for an IDC quiet operation notification in advance of the arrival (or start) of the associated quiet period. Neighboring STAs that receive the IDC quiet operation notification element may stop decrementing their backoff counters or may not participate in contention by setting a NAV. Specifically, neighboring STAs that receive the IDC quiet operation notification element may stop decrementing their backoff counters or may not participate in contention by setting a NAV within the quiet period indicated by the IDC quiet operation notification.

[0195] Additionally, according to one embodiment, an IDC quiet requesting STA or an IDC quiet responding AP may initiate a transmission opportunity (TXOP) at the moment an approved quiet period is reached to trigger NAV configuration of nearby STAs.

[0196] Non-AP STAs that support IDC quiet operation by deciding to remain quiet during the quiet period may stop decrementing the backoff counter at the start of the quiet period and resume decrementing the backoff counter when the quiet period ends.

[0197] According to one embodiment, a mobile AP may broadcast an IDC quiet operation notification element including the fields illustrated in FIG. 12e by including it in a beacon frame or a probe response frame. That is, the mobile AP may broadcast the IDC quiet operation notification element without exchanging the IDC quiet operation request element or the IDC quiet operation response element described above. This is to indicate that the mobile AP cannot operate as an AP (i.e., is unavailable) during the quiet period due to reasons such as power consumption, heat generation, or mobility.

[0198] Although the above describes that the mobile AP is not operable (i.e., unavailable) during the quiet period, in another embodiment, the mobile AP may operate by limiting (or changing) some modes, operations, or functions during the quiet period. For example, the mobile AP may operate by limiting or changing at least one of the bandwidth, transmit / receive mode, or NSS during the quiet period, and for this purpose, the mobile AP may transmit an IDC quiet operation element indicating related information in a beacon frame or a probe response frame.

[0199] The structure of the format illustrated in FIGS. 12a to 12e, the field names, the values ​​indicated by the fields, the number of fields to which meaningful values ​​are assigned, the order of the fields, the number of octets or bits, whether fields are included in the format, etc. are merely examples and may, of course, be changed differently from the illustrated and described embodiment.

[0200] Meanwhile, based on the embodiments described in FIGS. 12 to 12e, the procedure of an IDC quiet requesting STA for IDC quiet operation and the procedure of an IDC quiet responding AP can be described as follows.

[0201] An IDC quiet requesting STA transmits a frame for an IDC quiet request, and the control field of the IDC quiet operation element included in the frame for the IDC quiet request may indicate an IDC quiet operation request subtype. The frame for the IDC quiet request may include at least the duration, interval, and type fields among the information described above for the IDC quiet operation. For example, the frame for the IDC quiet request may be an action frame of a specific type.

[0202] Meanwhile, the above described example in which an IDC quiet requesting STA transmits a single IDC quiet operation element, it is also possible for an IDC quiet requesting STA to transmit multiple IDC quiet operation elements. In this case, the IDC quiet requesting STA can transmit the IDC quiet operation elements generated for each of the multiple quiet periods by including them in a frame for the IDC quiet request.

[0203] Next, the IDC quiet requesting STA receives a frame for an IDC quiet response, and the control field of the IDC quiet operation element included in the frame for the IDC quiet response can indicate an IDC quiet operation response subtype. When the IDC quiet requesting STA receives a frame for an IDC quiet response in which the dialog token of the frame for the IDC quiet response matches the request token and the status code is set to a value indicating SUCCESS, the quiet operation requested by the IDC quiet requesting STA is confirmed.

[0204] An IDC quiet responding AP receives an IDC quiet operation element of the IDC quiet operation request subtype from an IDC quiet requesting STA, and can transmit a frame for an IDC quiet response to the IDC quiet requesting STA in a unicast manner or in a broadcast manner.

[0205] If the status code of the frame for the IDC quiet response is SUCCESS, the AP approves the request. The AP schedules a quiet period based on the approved request. The transmitted IDC quiet response frame may include a copy of the dialogue token from the IDC quiet requesting STA. Additionally, the IDC quiet operation procedure may be terminated if the number of quiet periods exceeds the value of the repetition count field.

[0206] If the status code of the frame for the IDC quiet response is REJECT, the AP indicates that the request cannot be fulfilled.

[0207] If the status code of the frame for the IDC quiet response is COUNTERED, the AP counters the request with the recommended (or proposed) values, and the current request is rejected. When the IDC quiet requesting STA receives the counter-proposal from the IDC quiet responding AP, the IDC quiet requesting STA can send a frame for a new IDC quiet request to set up a new request.

[0208] An IDC quiet responding AP may transmit a frame for IDC quiet operation notification at the beginning of a quiet period or prior to the quiet period. Alternatively, the IDC quiet responding AP may transmit a control frame (e.g., a CTS-to-self frame) at the beginning of a quiet period or prior to the quiet period. In one embodiment, the IDC quiet responding AP may transmit a control frame to restrict operations within the quiet period for legacy STAs that do not support the function of receiving or interpreting frames for IDC quiet notification.

[0209] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a hopping operation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0210] As described above, IDC quiet operation refers to the operation of suspending, minimizing, or limiting WLAN operations for the sake of other RAT operations, ensuring smooth coexistence of WLAN and other RATs (i.e., IDC) on a device. Therefore, IDC quiet operation must be implemented with consideration of the traffic characteristics of other RATs.

[0211] For example, UWB ranging operations are performed aperiodic, based on event-based triggering. For example, UWB ranging operations can be performed intermittently for short periods of time to measure the distance when a device is in proximity to another device.

[0212] Additionally, the ranging operation of UWB may be performed based on hopping. A specific example of time hopping during hopping is illustrated in FIG. 13. The ranging operation may be performed across repeated ranging blocks, each of which may include multiple ranging rounds. A device may perform ranging for UWB in a ranging round included in a specific ranging block. Time hopping may refer to an operation in which the position of a ranging round (or ranging round index) changes for each consecutive ranging block. Hopping may be a concept that includes not only time hopping but also channel hopping, and channel hopping may refer to an operation in which the channel on which ranging is performed changes for each ranging block or ranging round. Hereinafter, hopping may be understood as a concept including at least one of time hopping and channel hopping.

[0213] As described above, in the case of ranging that applies hopping, the point in time at which the device performs ranging becomes aperiodic. In this case, among the parameters for IDC quiet operation described above, the parameters that assume the periodicity of the IDC quiet period may not be sufficient to express the IDC quiet operation. Specifically, UWB hopping can be divided into three modes: a no hopping mode in which hopping is not performed, a continuous hopping mode in which hopping is continuously performed regardless of the channel conditions, and an adaptive hopping mode in which hopping is performed according to the channel conditions (e.g., whether packet transmission or reception is successful). Therefore, if the IDC quiet operation described above is performed by reflecting these hopping characteristics, not only can the degree or period in which WLAN operation is stopped, minimized, or restricted be reduced, but also the efficiency of the IDC quiet operation can be increased, which can increase the communication capacity for multiple devices.

[0214] Hereinafter, embodiments for aperiodic IDC quiet operation are specifically described. As an example of aperiodic IDC quiet operation, an IDC quiet operation that reflects the above-described hopping characteristics may be referred to as a hopping-based IDC quiet operation or a hopping-based IDC operation.

[0215] For hopping-based IDC operation, non-AP STAs and APs must share the hopping characteristics or patterns applicable to the IDC quiet period. The hopping pattern can be determined based on a hopping sequence, and examples of hopping sequences for determining the hopping pattern can be defined according to Equations 1 and 2 below.

[0216] [Mathematical Formula 1]

[0217] Round Index (i, Key, N) = ((((i+key) & 0xFFFF) 2 mod (2 16 -15)) N ) >> 16

[0218] Mathematical expression 1 represents a default hopping sequence, and Mathematical expression 1 defines the index of a ranging round in which ranging is to be performed in a specific ranging block according to a hopping pattern. In Mathematical expression 1, i is a ranging block index, N is the number of ranging rounds per ranging block, and key is a device-specific value predetermined for the hopping pattern.

[0219] [Equation 2]

[0220] Round Index (i, Key, N) = (((AES (i, key) & 0xFFFF)) N ) >> 16

[0221] Mathematical expression 2 represents the AES (advanced encryption standard) function used for the hopping sequence, and mathematical expression 2 defines the index of the ranging round in which ranging is to be performed in a specific ranging block according to the hopping pattern. In mathematical expression 2, i is the ranging block index, N is the number of ranging rounds per ranging block, key is a device-specific value predetermined for the hopping pattern, and & is the and operator.

[0222] A non-AP STA and an AP can specify a ranging block in which ranging is to be performed and a ranging round in the ranging block based on Equation 1 and / or Equation 2. Parameters required to specify a hopping pattern defined by the ranging block and the ranging round may include at least one of a starting point of the ranging block, an index of the ranging block, a length of the ranging block, a length of the ranging round (expressed relative to the length of the ranging block or as an absolute value), a type of sequence, or a key value.

[0223] When a hopping pattern is determined according to the above-described procedures and parameters, an IDC quiet requesting STA and an IDC quiet responding AP can determine an IDC quiet period according to the hopping pattern and perform an IDC quiet operation within the corresponding IDC quiet period. When an IDC operation based on a hopping pattern is performed according to the proposed embodiment, the IDC quiet period is determined according to a pattern that takes into account the characteristics of other RATs in the device, so that the IDC quiet period in which the operation of the WLAN is stopped, minimized, or limited can be optimized.

[0224] The following FIGS. 14a, 14b, 14c, 15, and 16 illustrate examples of the structure of frames and / or elements for hopping-based IDC operation according to embodiments proposed in the present disclosure.

[0225] FIGS. 14a, 14b, and 14c illustrate examples of elements for hopping-based IDC operation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0226] The element structures illustrated in FIGS. 14a, 14b, and 14c may be examples of IDC-related elements of a frame for an IDC quiet operation request. According to one embodiment, the element structure illustrated in FIG. 14a may correspond to a modified example of an IDC quiet content field included in an IDC-related element of an IDC quiet operation request frame as described above in FIG. 12c.

[0227] Hereinafter, the element structure illustrated in FIG. 14a will be described in detail. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 14a, a detailed description of the overlapping content with the fields described in FIG. 12c will be omitted. In the illustrated embodiment, the IDC quiet content field of the element for the IDC quiet operation request illustrated in FIG. 14a may include a dialog token field, a request mode field, a wireless mode field, a quiet mode field, a number of spatial streams field, a hopping mode field (1410), and an IDC information field (1420).

[0228] The hopping mode field (1410) includes 1 octet and may define the type of parameters / information / fields included in the IDC information field (1420) for a hopping pattern applied to a hopping-based IDC operation. For example, when the value of the hopping mode field (1410) is 0, the IDC information field (1420) may indicate that it includes parameters / information / fields for an IDC operation to which hopping is not applied. When the value of the hopping mode field (1410) is 1, the IDC information field (1420) may indicate that it includes a hopping control field and a hopping list field for a hopping-based IDC operation. When the value of the hopping mode field (1410) is 2, the IDC information (1420) field may indicate that the hopping-based IDC operation includes a field for the starting point of the ranging block, a field for the index of the ranging block, a field for the length of the ranging block, a field for the length of the ranging round (relative to the length of the ranging block), a field for the type of sequence, and a field for the key value.

[0229] The IDC information field (1420) contains a variable number of octets and includes parameters / information / fields for a hopping pattern to be applied to hopping-based IDC operations. According to the above-described embodiment, the structure and types of fields included in the IDC information field (1420) may vary depending on the value of the hopping mode field (1410).

[0230] Fig. 14a illustrates an embodiment in which the value of the hopping mode field (1410) is 0. In Fig. 14a, when the value of the hopping mode field (1410) is 0, the IDC information field (1420) includes fields (1430) for an IDC operation to which hopping is not applied, and the fields (1430) for an IDC operation to which hopping is not applied may include the interval offset field, interval duration field, interval interval field, repetition count field, and channel field described above in Fig. 12c (1230). When the value of the hopping mode field (1410) is 0, the IDC quiet operation performed in the IDC quiet period may be performed without considering the hopping pattern, and the fields included in the IDC information field (1420) may follow the definition of the fields described in Fig. 12c.

[0231] Fig. 14b illustrates an embodiment in which the value of the hopping mode field (1410) is 1. In Fig. 14b, in which the value of the hopping mode field (1410) is 1, the IDC information field (1420) may include a hopping control field (1440) and a hopping list (1444) field for determining a hopping pattern for hopping-based IDC operation.

[0232] The hopping control field (1440) includes 1 octet and includes fields for specifying information included in the hopping list field (1444). The hopping control field (1440) includes a 1-bit period offset type field (1441) and a 1-bit hopping channel presence field (1442), and 6 bits may be reserved.

[0233] When the value of the interval offset type field (1441) is 0, the value of the hopping offset field (1446) may represent the position where the hopping pattern starts in the IDC quiet period for hopping-based IDC operation as a difference from the TBTT (e.g., in TU units). When the value of the interval offset type field (1441) is 1, the value of the hopping offset field (1446) may represent the position where the hopping pattern starts in the IDC quiet period for hopping-based IDC operation as a difference from the frame included in the element (e.g., in TU units). In the latter case, the start position of the preamble of the PPDU including the element may be a reference time for the value of the interval offset field.

[0234] The hopping channel presence field (1442) may indicate whether the hopping channel field (1447) is included in the hopping list field (1444). If the value of the hopping channel presence field (1442) is 0, the hopping channel field (1447) may not be included in the hopping list field (1444), and if the value of the hopping channel presence field (1442) is 1, the hopping channel field (1447) may be included in the hopping list field (1444). Alternatively, the relationship between the value of the hopping channel presence field (1442) and the presence or absence of the hopping channel field (1447) may be reversed.

[0235] The hopping list length field (1443) may indicate the length of the hopping list field (1444). When the IDC information (1420) field includes information on multiple hopping patterns, the value of the hopping list length field (1444) may mean the number of hopping patterns indicated by the hopping list field (1444).

[0236] The hopping list field (1444) includes parameters for indicating a hopping pattern. The period duration (1445) field included in the hopping list field (1444) includes 1 or 2 octets and may indicate the duration of the hopping pattern (or the duration of the IDC quiet period). For example, the period duration field may be expressed in units of 32 μs. The period offset field (1446) included in the hopping list field (1444) includes 1 or 2 octets and may indicate the difference between the position where the hopping pattern starts and a predetermined reference time. The value of the period offset field (1446) may indicate the difference from the reference time determined according to the value of the period offset type field (1441) described above.

[0237] The hopping channel field (1447) can indicate a channel to which a hopping pattern is applied.

[0238] Fig. 14c illustrates an embodiment in which the value of the hopping mode field (1410) is 2. In Fig. 14c, in the case in which the value of the hopping mode field (1410) is 2, the IDC information field (1420) may include a hopping sequence field (1450), a hopping key field (1452), a period index field (1454), a period offset field (1456), a period interval field (1458), and a period duration field (1460) for a hopping pattern for hopping-based IDC operation.

[0239] The hopping sequence field (1450) includes 1 octet and may indicate the type of sequence for determining a hopping pattern. The type of sequence may include not only the sequences defined in Equations 1 and 2 above, but also other sequences. Alternatively, the hopping sequence field (1450) may indicate the type of hopping pattern as any one of no hopping mode, continuous hopping mode, and adaptive hopping mode.

[0240] The hopping key field (1452) contains 4 octets and may represent a value specifically assigned to the device to determine a hopping pattern through a sequence.

[0241] The interval index field (1454) may include 2 octets and may indicate an index of a ranging block (i.e., an i value). The interval offset field (1456) may include 1 octet or 2 octets and may indicate a starting position of a ranging block. The interval interval field (1458) may include 1 octet or 2 octets and may indicate the length of a ranging block. As an example, the length of a ranging block may be defined as the value of 96 ms * the interval interval field (1458). The interval duration field (1460) may include 1 octet or 2 octets and may indicate the length of a ranging round (or the ratio between the length of a ranging round and the length of a ranging block). As an example, the interval duration field (1460) may be expressed in units of 32 μs.

[0242] It can be instructed to include a field for the starting point of the ranging block, a field for the index of the ranging block, a field for the length of the ranging block, a field for the length of the ranging round (relative to the length of the ranging block), a field for the type of sequence, and a field for the key value.

[0243] FIG. 15 illustrates an example of an element for hopping-based IDC operation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0244] The element structure illustrated in FIG. 15 may be an example of an IDC-related element of a frame for an IDC quiet operation response. According to one embodiment, the element structure illustrated in FIG. 15 may correspond to a modified example of an IDC quiet content field included in an IDC-related element of an IDC quiet operation request frame as described above in FIG. 12d.

[0245] Hereinafter, the element structure illustrated in FIG. 15 will be described in detail. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 15, a detailed description of the overlapping content with the fields described in FIG. 12d above will be omitted. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the embodiments described in FIG. 14 above can be applied identically or similarly to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 15 (for example, an embodiment in which the field structure and type included in the IDC information field change depending on the value of the hopping mode field, etc.).

[0246] An element included in an IDC quiet operation response frame may include an IDC quiet content field according to the format structure illustrated in FIG. 15. In FIG. 15, a status code field includes 1 octet and may indicate a status value of a requested operation. For example, if the value of the status code field is 0, it may indicate SUCCESS, if the value of the status code field is 1, it may indicate REJECT, and if the value of the status code field is a value from 2 to 8, it may indicate COUNTER. If the value of the status code field is 2 to 8, indicating COUNTER may mean a request for a retry in which at least one of the parameters or fields included in the content field for a hopping-based IDC operation (e.g., a hopping mode field, an IDC information field, etc.) is changed. The values ​​9 to 255 of the status code field may be reserved values.

[0247] In one embodiment, if the value of the status code field indicates COUNTER, the IDC quiet responding AP may suggest values ​​to the IDC quiet requesting STA by setting the values ​​of certain fields to recommended values. The IDC quiet requesting STA that receives the IDC quiet response element can recognize the suggestion of the IDC quiet responding AP, and the IDC quiet requesting STA can modify or change the values ​​of the previous request and send a new request.

[0248] FIG. 16 illustrates an example of an element for hopping-based IDC operation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0249] The element structure illustrated in FIG. 16 may be an example of an IDC-related element of a frame for an IDC quiet operation notification. According to one embodiment, the element structure illustrated in FIG. 16 may correspond to a modified example of an IDC quiet content field included in an IDC-related element of an IDC quiet operation notification frame as described above in FIG. 12e.

[0250] Hereinafter, the element structure illustrated in FIG. 16 will be described in detail. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 15, a detailed description of the overlapping content with the fields described in FIG. 12e will be omitted. In addition, it goes without saying that the embodiments described in FIG. 14 above can be applied identically or similarly to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 16 (for example, an embodiment in which the field structure and type included in the IDC information field change depending on the value of the hopping mode field, etc.).

[0251] An element included in an IDC quiet operation notification frame may include an IDC quiet content field according to the format structure illustrated in FIG. 16. When a request for a hopping-based IDC operation by an IDC quiet requesting STA is accepted and transmission prohibition is requested for surrounding STAs or one or more associated STAs, the IDC quiet responding AP may notify this request by transmitting a broadcast frame or unicast frame including an IDC quiet operation notification element.

[0252] An IDC quiet responding AP may transmit a frame for an IDC quiet operation notification in advance of the arrival (or start) of the associated quiet period. Neighboring STAs that receive the IDC quiet operation notification element may stop decrementing their backoff counters or may not participate in contention by setting a NAV. Specifically, neighboring STAs that receive the IDC quiet operation notification element may stop decrementing their backoff counters or may not participate in contention by setting a NAV within the quiet period indicated by the IDC quiet operation notification.

[0253] Additionally, according to one embodiment, an IDC quiet requesting STA or an IDC quiet responding AP may initiate a transmission opportunity (TXOP) at the moment an approved quiet period is reached to trigger NAV configuration of nearby STAs.

[0254] Non-AP STAs that perform IDC quiet operations by deciding to maintain a quiet state during the IDC quiet period may stop decreasing the backoff counter at the start of the IDC quiet period and resume decreasing the backoff counter again when the IDC quiet period ends.

[0255] According to one embodiment, a mobile AP may broadcast an element of an IDC quiet operation notification frame including the fields illustrated in FIG. 16 by including the element in a beacon frame or a probe response frame. That is, the mobile AP may broadcast an element of an IDC quiet operation notification frame without exchanging an element of an IDC quiet operation request frame or an element of an IDC quiet operation response frame as described above. This is to indicate that the mobile AP cannot operate as an AP (i.e., is unavailable) during the quiet period due to reasons such as power consumption, heat generation, or mobility.

[0256] Although the above describes that the mobile AP is not operable (i.e., unavailable) during the quiet period, in another embodiment, the mobile AP may operate by limiting (or changing) some modes, operations, or functions during the quiet period. For example, the mobile AP may operate by limiting or changing at least one of the bandwidth, transmit / receive mode, or NSS during the quiet period, and for this purpose, the mobile AP may transmit an IDC quiet operation element indicating related information in a beacon frame or a probe response frame.

[0257] The structure of the format, field names, values ​​indicated by fields, number of fields assigned with meaningful values, order of fields, number of octets or bits, inclusion of fields in the format, etc., shown in FIGS. 14a, 14b, 14c, 15 and 16 above are merely examples and may, of course, be changed differently from the illustrated and described embodiment.

[0258] FIG. 17 illustrates an example of elements and formats for hopping-based IDC operation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0259] FIG. 17 illustrates another example of elements and formats for hopping-based IDC operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 17 describes a new action frame format proposed for hopping-based IDC operation according to the embodiments described above.

[0260] According to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 17, an action frame among HE action frames, in which an action type is assigned to a QTP (quite time period) action field, may be utilized for the embodiment described above. According to this embodiment, a control subfield ((a) of FIG. 17) in a QTP element of a QTP action frame may include values ​​for indicating three subtypes for a hopping-based IDC operation, namely, an IDC quiet operation request, an IDC quiet operation response, and an IDC quiet operation notification. That is, the control subfield within the QTP element of the QTP action frame can be additionally encoded with three LSBs, for example, QTP subtype field values ​​0 to 2 in the control subfield can be additionally allocated for QTP setup, QTP request, and QTP response, and QTP subtype field values ​​3 to 5 (or 4 to 6) in the control subfield can be additionally allocated for IDC quiet operation request, IDC quiet operation response, and IDC quiet operation notification (Fig. 17 (b)).

[0261] According to the present embodiment, depending on the value of the QTP subtype field, the format of the subsequent quiet time content field may vary to correspond to the QTP subtype field. For example, when the QTP subtype field includes a value indicating an IDC quiet operation request, the quiet time content field may have the content field format of the IDC quiet request element described in FIGS. 14a, 14b, and 14c; when the QTP subtype field includes a value indicating an IDC quiet operation response, the quiet time content field may have the content field format of the IDC quiet response element described in FIG. 15; and when the QTP subtype field includes a value indicating an IDC quiet operation notification, the quiet time content field may have the content field format of the IDC quiet notification element described in FIG. 16.

[0262] Meanwhile, the structure of the format illustrated in FIG. 17, the field names, the values ​​indicated by the fields, the number of fields to which meaningful values ​​are assigned, the order of the fields, the number of octets or bits, whether fields are included in the format, etc. are merely examples and may, of course, be changed differently from the illustrated and described embodiment.

[0263] FIG. 18 illustrates another example of a field format for hopping-based IDC operation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0264] FIG. 18 illustrates another example of a field format for hopping-based IDC operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 18 describes a new action frame format proposed for hopping-based IDC operation according to the embodiments described above.

[0265] According to an embodiment illustrated in FIG. 18, a general purpose action frame for various types of communication between an STA and an AP may be utilized as an action frame for a hopping-based IDC operation. According to one embodiment, two or more values ​​among the reserved values ​​of the action field values ​​46 to 255 of the public action frame may be assigned for the hopping-based IDC operation. For example, the value 46 may be assigned for an IDC quiet request frame, the value 47 may be assigned for an IDC quiet response frame, and the value 48 may be assigned for an IDC quiet notification frame, respectively. However, these values ​​are merely examples, and it is to be understood that other values ​​may be assigned for each frame.

[0266] According to the embodiment of FIG. 18, when a public action frame is used for a hopping-based IDC operation, a dialog token field may be included in the IDC quiet operation request element and the IDC quiet operation response element, respectively ((a) and (b) of FIG. 18), and a status code field may be included in the IDC quiet operation response element ((b) of FIG. 18). According to one embodiment, various embodiments described in the format of the content field of the IDC quiet operation request element described in FIGS. 14a, 14b, and 14c can be applied to the public action frame of FIG. 18(a), various embodiments described in the format of the content field of the IDC quiet operation response element described in FIG. 15 can be applied to the public action frame of FIG. 18(b), and various embodiments described in the format of the content field of the IDC quiet operation notification element described in FIG. 16 can be applied to the public action frame of FIG. 18(c).

[0267] Meanwhile, the structure of the format illustrated in FIG. 18, the field names, the values ​​indicated by the fields, the number of fields to which meaningful values ​​are assigned, the order of the fields, the number of octets or bits, whether fields are included in the format, etc. are merely examples and may, of course, be changed differently from the illustrated and described embodiment.

[0268] FIG. 19 illustrates another example of a field format for hopping-based IDC operation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0269] FIG. 19 illustrates another example of a field format for hopping-based IDC operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 19 describes a new action frame format proposed for hopping-based IDC operation according to the embodiments described above.

[0270] According to an embodiment illustrated in FIG. 19, one or more action frames defined for QoS purposes may be utilized as action frames for hopping-based IDC operations. According to one embodiment, two or more values ​​among the reserved values ​​of action field values ​​7 to 255 of the QoS action frame may be assigned for hopping-based IDC operations. For example, the value 7 may be assigned for an IDC quiet request frame, the value 8 may be assigned for an IDC quiet response frame, and the value 9 may be assigned for an IDC quiet notification frame, respectively. However, these values ​​are merely examples, and it is to be understood that other values ​​may be assigned for each frame.

[0271] According to the embodiment of FIG. 19, when a QoS action frame is used for hopping-based IDC operation, a dialog token field may be included in the IDC quiet operation request element and the IDC quiet operation response element, respectively ((a) and (b) of FIG. 19), and a status code field may be included in the IDC quiet operation response element ((b) of FIG. 19). According to one embodiment, various embodiments described in the format of the content field of the IDC quiet operation request element described in FIGS. 14a, 14b, and 14c can be applied to the QoS action frame of FIG. 19 (a), various embodiments described in the format of the content field of the IDC quiet operation response element described in FIG. 15 can be applied to the QoS action frame of FIG. 19 (b), and various embodiments described in the format of the content field of the IDC quiet operation notification element described in FIG. 16 can be applied to the QoS action frame of FIG. 19 (c).

[0272] Meanwhile, the structure of the format illustrated in FIG. 19, the field names, the values ​​indicated by the fields, the number of fields to which meaningful values ​​are assigned, the order of the fields, the number of octets or bits, whether fields are included in the format, etc. are merely examples and may, of course, be changed differently from the illustrated and described embodiment.

[0273] FIG. 20 illustrates a flowchart for hopping-based IDC operation of a device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0274] FIG. 20 illustrates the operation of the IDC quiet requesting STA proposed in the present disclosure, and some or all of the various embodiments related to the IDC quiet requesting STA described above can be applied identically or similarly to FIG. 20.

[0275] According to the embodiment of FIG. 20, a non-AP STA (i.e., an IDC quiet requesting STA) transmits an IDC quiet request frame (i.e., a frame for an IDC quiet request or a frame including elements related to an IDC quiet request) to an AP (i.e., an IDC quiet responding AP) (2010). Various types, formats, fields, elements, and / or values ​​of the IDC quiet request frame transmitted by the non-AP STA may be applied identically or similarly to the embodiments described above.

[0276] According to one embodiment, the IDC quiet request frame transmitted by a non-AP STA to an AP may include parameters for hopping-based IDC operation. For example, the IDC quiet request frame may include parameters and fields for determining a hopping pattern according to the embodiments described in FIGS. 14a, 14b, and 14c in relation to hopping-based IDC operation.

[0277] A non-AP STA (i.e., an IDC quiet requesting STA) receives an IDC quiet response frame (i.e., a frame for an IDC quiet response or a frame including elements related to an IDC quiet response) from an AP (i.e., an IDC quiet responding AP) (2020). According to an embodiment, various types, formats, fields, elements, and / or values ​​of the IDC quiet response frame received by the non-AP STA may be applied identically or similarly to the embodiments described above. According to an embodiment, a status code field of the IDC quiet response frame may include a value indicating SUCCESS for a request for a hopping-based IDC operation.

[0278] According to one embodiment, the IDC quiet response frame received by the non-AP STA from the AP may include parameters for hopping-based IDC operation. For example, the IDC quiet response frame may include parameters and fields related to hopping pattern determination according to the embodiments described in FIG. 15 in relation to hopping-based IDC operation.

[0279] A non-AP STA (i.e., an IDC quiet requesting STA) receives an IDC quiet notification frame (i.e., a frame for IDC quiet notification or a frame including elements related to IDC quiet notification) from an AP (i.e., an IDC quiet responding AP) (2030). According to an embodiment, various types, formats, fields, elements, and / or values ​​of the IDC quiet notification frame received by the non-AP STA may be applied identically or similarly to the embodiments described above. According to an embodiment, the process of the non-AP receiving the IDC quiet notification frame from the AP may be omitted, and may be replaced with a process of receiving a frame in a different format instead of the IDC quiet notification frame.

[0280] According to one embodiment, the IDC quiet notification frame received by the non-AP STA from the AP may include parameters for hopping-based IDC operation. For example, the IDC quiet request frame may include parameters and fields related to hopping pattern determination according to the embodiments described in FIG. 16 in relation to hopping-based IDC operation.

[0281] A non-AP STA may operate according to an accepted quiet period based on an IDC quiet notification frame received from an AP (2040). For example, a non-AP STA may not receive scheduling from an AP (or may not expect scheduling by an AP) or may perform limited operations (e.g., may transmit and / or receive only with limited parameters or capabilities) within an IDC quiet period corresponding to a hopping pattern based on parameters (or values) approved according to steps 2010 to 2030 described above.

[0282] Meanwhile, the above has described one embodiment of the operation of an IDC quiet requesting STA and an IDC quiet responding AP based on the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 20, but it is obvious that the operation of the IDC quiet requesting STA and the IDC quiet responding AP may vary depending on other embodiments described above.

[0283] FIG. 21 illustrates a flowchart for hopping-based IDC operation of a device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0284] FIG. 21 illustrates the operation of the IDC quiet requesting STA proposed in the present disclosure, and some or all of the various embodiments related to the IDC quiet requesting STA described above can be applied identically or similarly to FIG. 21.

[0285] According to the embodiment of FIG. 21, a non-AP STA (i.e., an IDC quiet requesting STA) transmits an IDC quiet request frame (i.e., a frame for an IDC quiet request or a frame including elements related to an IDC quiet request) to an AP (i.e., an IDC quiet responding AP) (2110). Various types, formats, fields, elements, and / or values ​​of the IDC quiet request frame transmitted by the non-AP STA may be applied identically or similarly to the embodiments described above.

[0286] According to one embodiment, the IDC quiet request frame transmitted by a non-AP STA to an AP may include parameters for hopping-based IDC operation. For example, the IDC quiet request frame may include parameters and fields for determining a hopping pattern according to the embodiments described in FIGS. 14a, 14b, and 14c in relation to hopping-based IDC operation.

[0287] A non-AP STA (i.e., an IDC quiet requesting STA) receives an IDC quiet response frame (i.e., a frame for an IDC quiet response or a frame including elements related to an IDC quiet response) from an AP (i.e., an IDC quiet responding AP) (2120). According to an embodiment, various types, formats, fields, elements, and / or values ​​of the IDC quiet response frame received by the non-AP STA may be applied identically or similarly to the embodiments described above. According to an embodiment, a status code field of the IDC quiet response frame may include a value for indicating REJECT for a request for a hopping-based IDC operation.

[0288] According to one embodiment, the IDC quiet response frame received by the non-AP STA from the AP may include parameters for hopping-based IDC operation. For example, the IDC quiet response frame may include parameters and fields related to hopping pattern determination according to the embodiments described in FIG. 15 in relation to hopping-based IDC operation.

[0289] A non-AP STA (i.e., an IDC quiet requesting STA) that has received an IDC quiet response frame can operate without (or without considering) hopping-based IDC because the quiet period it requested from the AP (i.e., the IDC quiet responding AP) has not been granted (2130).

[0290] Meanwhile, in the above, one embodiment of the operation of the IDC quiet requesting STA and the IDC quiet responding AP has been described based on the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 21, but it is obvious that the operation of the IDC quiet requesting STA and the IDC quiet responding AP may vary depending on other embodiments described above.

[0291] FIG. 22 illustrates a flowchart for hopping-based IDC operation of a device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0292] FIG. 22 illustrates the operation of the IDC quiet requesting STA proposed in the present disclosure, and some or all of the various embodiments related to the IDC quiet requesting STA described above can be applied identically or similarly to FIG. 22.

[0293] According to the embodiment of FIG. 22, a non-AP STA (i.e., an IDC quiet requesting STA) transmits an IDC quiet request frame (i.e., a frame for an IDC quiet request or a frame including elements related to an IDC quiet request) to an AP (i.e., an IDC quiet responding AP) (2210). Various types, formats, fields, elements, and / or values ​​of the IDC quiet request frame transmitted by the non-AP STA may be applied identically or similarly to the embodiments described above.

[0294] According to one embodiment, the IDC quiet request frame transmitted by a non-AP STA to an AP may include parameters for hopping-based IDC operation. For example, the IDC quiet request frame may include parameters and fields for determining a hopping pattern according to the embodiments described in FIGS. 14a, 14b, and 14c in relation to hopping-based IDC operation.

[0295] A non-AP STA (i.e., an IDC quiet requesting STA) receives an IDC quiet response frame (i.e., a frame for an IDC quiet response or a frame including elements related to an IDC quiet response) from an AP (i.e., an IDC quiet responding AP) (2220). According to an embodiment, various types, formats, fields, elements, and / or values ​​of the IDC quiet response frame received by the non-AP STA may be applied identically or similarly to the embodiments described above. According to an embodiment, a status code field of the IDC quiet response frame may include a value for indicating COUNTERED for a hopping-based IDC operation. When the status code field is indicated as COUNTERED, the IDC quiet response frame may additionally include values ​​counter-proposed by the AP.

[0296] According to one embodiment, the IDC quiet response frame received by the non-AP STA from the AP may include parameters for hopping-based IDC operation. For example, the IDC quiet response frame may include parameters and fields related to hopping pattern determination according to the embodiments described in FIG. 15 in relation to hopping-based IDC operation.

[0297] A non-AP STA (i.e., an IDC quiet requesting STA) transmits a new IDC quiet request frame (i.e., a frame for a new IDC quiet request or a frame including new IDC quiet request related elements) to an AP (i.e., an IDC quiet responding AP) (2230). The new IDC quiet request frame transmitted by the non-AP STA may include parameters different from those of at least some fields included in the IDC quiet request frame transmitted previously in step 2210, or may include values ​​different from those of at least some fields. For example, the IDC quiet request frame transmitted by the non-AP STA in step 2230 may include parameters and / or values ​​counter-proposed by the AP included in the IDC quiet response frame received in step 2220.

[0298] According to one embodiment, another IDC quiet request frame transmitted by a non-AP STA to an AP may include parameters for hopping-based IDC operation, and these parameters may have different values ​​than the parameters previously transmitted by the non-AP STA to the AP. For example, the IDC quiet request frame may include parameters and fields for determining a hopping pattern according to the embodiments described in FIGS. 14a, 14b, and 14c in relation to hopping-based IDC operation.

[0299] Meanwhile, in the above, one embodiment of the operation of the IDC quiet requesting STA and the IDC quiet responding AP has been described based on the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 22, but it is obvious that the operation of the IDC quiet requesting STA and the IDC quiet responding AP may vary depending on other embodiments described above.

[0300] FIG. 23 illustrates a flowchart for hopping-based IDC operation of a device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0301] FIG. 23 illustrates the operation of the IDC quiet responding AP proposed in the present disclosure, and some or all of the various embodiments related to the IDC quiet responding AP described above can be applied identically or similarly to FIG. 23.

[0302] According to the embodiment of FIG. 23, an AP (i.e., an IDC quiet responding AP) receives an IDC quiet request frame (i.e., a frame for an IDC quiet request or a frame including elements related to an IDC quiet request) from a non-AP STA (i.e., an IDC quiet requesting STA) (2310). Various types, formats, fields, elements, and / or values ​​of the IDC quiet request frame received by the AP may be applied identically or similarly to the embodiments described above.

[0303] According to one embodiment, the IDC quiet request frame received by the AP from the non-AP STA may include parameters for hopping-based IDC operation. For example, the IDC quiet request frame may include parameters and fields for determining a hopping pattern according to the embodiments described in FIGS. 14a, 14b, and 14c in relation to hopping-based IDC operation.

[0304] An AP (i.e., an IDC quiet responding AP) transmits an IDC quiet response frame (i.e., a frame for an IDC quiet response or a frame including elements related to an IDC quiet response) to a Non-AP STA (i.e., an IDC quiet requesting STA) (2320). According to an embodiment, various types, formats, fields, elements, and / or values ​​of the IDC quiet response frame transmitted by the AP may be applied identically or similarly to the embodiments described above. According to an embodiment, a status code field of the IDC quiet response frame may include a value indicating SUCCESS for a request for a hopping-based IDC operation.

[0305] According to one embodiment, the IDC quiet response frame transmitted by the AP to the non-AP STA may include parameters for hopping-based IDC operation. For example, the IDC quiet response frame may include parameters and fields related to hopping pattern determination according to the embodiments described in FIG. 15 in relation to hopping-based IDC operation.

[0306] An AP (i.e., an IDC quiet responding AP) transmits an IDC quiet notification frame (i.e., a frame for IDC quiet notification or a frame including elements related to IDC quiet notification) to a non-AP STA (i.e., an IDC quiet requesting STA) (2330). According to an embodiment, various types, formats, fields, elements, and / or values ​​of the IDC quiet notification frame transmitted by the AP may be applied in the same or similar manner as those of the embodiments described above. According to an embodiment, the process of the AP transmitting the IDC quiet notification frame to the non-AP STA may be omitted, and may be replaced with a process of transmitting a frame in a different format instead of the IDC quiet notification frame.

[0307] According to one embodiment, the IDC quiet notification frame transmitted by the AP to the non-AP STA may include parameters for hopping-based IDC operation. For example, the IDC quiet request frame may include parameters and fields related to hopping pattern determination according to the embodiments described in FIG. 16 in relation to hopping-based IDC operation.

[0308] An AP (i.e., an IDC quiet responding AP) may operate according to an accepted quiet period based on an IDC quiet notification frame transmitted to a non-AP STA (i.e., an IDC quiet requesting STA) (2340). For example, the AP may not schedule a non-AP STA or may perform limited operations with a non-AP STA (e.g., may perform transmission and / or reception with only limited parameters or capabilities) within the IDC quiet period corresponding to a hopping pattern based on parameters (or values) approved according to steps 2310 to 2330 described above.

[0309] Meanwhile, in the above, one embodiment of the operation of the IDC quiet requesting STA and the IDC quiet responding AP has been described based on the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 23, but it is obvious that the operation of the IDC quiet requesting STA and the IDC quiet responding AP may vary depending on other embodiments described above.

[0310] FIG. 24 illustrates a flowchart for hopping-based IDC operation of a device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0311] FIG. 24 illustrates the operation of the IDC quiet responding AP proposed in the present disclosure, and some or all of the various embodiments related to the IDC quiet responding AP described above can be applied identically or similarly to FIG. 24.

[0312] According to the embodiment of FIG. 24, an AP (i.e., an IDC quiet responding AP) receives an IDC quiet request frame (i.e., a frame for an IDC quiet request or a frame including elements related to an IDC quiet request) from a non-AP STA (i.e., an IDC quiet requesting STA) (2410). Various types, formats, fields, elements, and / or values ​​of the IDC quiet request frame received by the AP may be applied identically or similarly to the embodiments described above.

[0313] According to one embodiment, the IDC quiet request frame received by the AP from the non-AP STA may include parameters for hopping-based IDC operation. For example, the IDC quiet request frame may include parameters and fields for determining a hopping pattern according to the embodiments described in FIGS. 14a, 14b, and 14c in relation to hopping-based IDC operation.

[0314] An AP (i.e., an IDC quiet responding AP) transmits an IDC quiet response frame (i.e., a frame for an IDC quiet response or a frame including elements related to an IDC quiet response) to a Non-AP STA (i.e., an IDC quiet requesting STA) (2420). According to an embodiment, various types, formats, fields, elements, and / or values ​​of the IDC quiet response frame transmitted by the AP may be applied identically or similarly to the embodiments described above. According to an embodiment, a status code field of the IDC quiet response frame may include a value for indicating REJECT for a request for a hopping-based IDC operation.

[0315] According to one embodiment, the IDC quiet response frame transmitted by the AP to the non-AP STA may include parameters for hopping-based IDC operation. For example, the IDC quiet response frame may include parameters and fields related to hopping pattern determination according to the embodiments described in FIG. 15 in relation to hopping-based IDC operation.

[0316] An AP that transmits an IDC quiet response frame (i.e., an IDC quiet responding AP) can operate without (or without considering) hopping-based IDC because the quiet period requested by a non-AP STA (i.e., an IDC quiet requesting STA) was not granted (2430).

[0317] Meanwhile, in the above, one embodiment of the operation of the IDC quiet requesting STA and the IDC quiet responding AP has been described based on the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 24, but it is obvious that the operation of the IDC quiet requesting STA and the IDC quiet responding AP may vary depending on other embodiments described above.

[0318] FIG. 25 illustrates a flowchart for hopping-based IDC operation of a device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0319] FIG. 25 illustrates the operation of the IDC quiet responding AP proposed in the present disclosure, and some or all of the various embodiments related to the IDC quiet responding AP described above can be applied identically or similarly to FIG. 25.

[0320] According to the embodiment of FIG. 25, an AP (i.e., an IDC quiet responding AP) receives an IDC quiet request frame (i.e., a frame for an IDC quiet request or a frame including elements related to an IDC quiet request) from a non-AP STA (i.e., an IDC quiet requesting STA) (2510). Various types, formats, fields, elements, and / or values ​​of the IDC quiet request frame transmitted by the non-AP STA may be applied identically or similarly to the embodiments described above.

[0321] According to one embodiment, the IDC quiet request frame received by the AP from the non-AP STA may include parameters for hopping-based IDC operation. For example, the IDC quiet request frame may include parameters and fields for determining a hopping pattern according to the embodiments described in FIGS. 14a, 14b, and 14c in relation to hopping-based IDC operation.

[0322] An AP (i.e., an IDC quiet responding AP) transmits an IDC quiet response frame (i.e., a frame for an IDC quiet response or a frame including elements related to an IDC quiet response) to a Non-AP STA (i.e., an IDC quiet requesting STA) (2520). According to an embodiment, various types, formats, fields, elements, and / or values ​​of the IDC quiet response frame transmitted by the AP may be applied identically or similarly to the embodiments described above. According to an embodiment, a status code field of the IDC quiet response frame may include a value for indicating COUNTERED for a hopping-based IDC operation. When the status code field is indicated as COUNTERED, the IDC quiet response frame may additionally include values ​​counter-proposed by the AP.

[0323] According to one embodiment, the IDC quiet response frame transmitted by the AP to the non-AP STA may include parameters for hopping-based IDC operation. For example, the IDC quiet response frame may include parameters and fields related to hopping pattern determination according to the embodiments described in FIG. 15 in relation to hopping-based IDC operation.

[0324] An AP (i.e., an IDC quiet responding AP) receives a new IDC quiet request frame (i.e., a frame for a new IDC quiet request or a frame including elements related to a new IDC quiet request) from a non-AP STA (i.e., an IDC quiet requesting STA) (2530). The new IDC quiet request frame received by the AP may include parameters different from those of at least some fields included in the IDC quiet request frame received previously in step 2510, or may include values ​​different from those of at least some fields. For example, the IDC quiet request frame received by the AP in step 2530 may include parameters and / or values ​​counter-proposed by the AP included in the IDC quiet response frame transmitted in step 2520.

[0325] Meanwhile, in the above, one embodiment of the operation of the IDC quiet requesting STA and the IDC quiet responding AP has been described based on the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 25, but it is obvious that the operation of the IDC quiet requesting STA and the IDC quiet responding AP may vary depending on other embodiments described above.

[0326] FIG. 26 illustrates the flow of signals in ADDTS (add traffic stream) request and response operations of a wireless LAN system related to the present disclosure.

[0327] Referring to FIG. 26, when a QoS requirement for a specific TS (traffic stream) occurs, a non-AP STA may request (e.g., an ADDTS request) to the AP to configure (or setup) a TS that takes the QoS requirement into account. The AP, upon receiving a request for a specific TS configuration from an STA, may configure a TS that takes the STA's QoS requirement into account in response (e.g., an ADDTS response) to the STA, or may reject the configuration of the TS requested by the STA.

[0328] More specifically, at step 2610, the non-AP STA SME (sublayer management entity) may transmit a primitive (e.g., MLME (MAC layer management entity)-ADDTS.request) to the non-AP STA MAC (or non-AP STA MAC entity). The primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.request) may include information about QoS requirements for a specific TS of the non-AP STA.

[0329] At step 2620, a non-AP STA MAC entity that has received a primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.request) may transmit an ADDTS Request frame to a hybrid coordinator (HC) STA MAC (or HC STA MAC entity). At this time, the ADDTS Request frame may refer to a frame format including information for requesting the configuration of a TS.

[0330] At step 2630, the HC STA MAC entity may generate a primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.indication) to be transmitted to the HC STA SME within the AP based on the information included in the ADDTS request frame. Accordingly, the primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.indication) may include information for requesting the configuration of the TS received from the non-AP STA MAC entity. Then, the HC STA MAC entity may transmit the primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.indication) to the HC STA SME.

[0331] At step 2640, the HC STA SME may determine (or identify) whether to set up TS based on information contained in a primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.indication) received from the HC STA MAC entity. Then, the HC STA SME may transmit a primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.response) containing a response to the TS set-up request to the HC STA MAC entity.

[0332] At step 2650, the HC STA MAC entity may transmit an ADDTS Response frame containing a response to the TS setup request to the non-AP STA MAC entity. At this time, the response to the TS setup request contained in the ADDTS Response frame may include a SUCCESS status code that grants, accepts, or permits the requested TS, or a REJECT status code that denies, rejects, or disallows the setup of the requested TS.

[0333] In step 2660, the non-AP STA MAC entity may send a primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.confirm) to the non-AP STA SME in response to the primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.request) of step 2610. The primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.confirm) may include a response to the TS setup request included in the ADDTS response frame.

[0334] The operations for ADDTS request and response between the non-AP STA and the AP described above (e.g., step 2610 to step 2660) may be repeatedly performed until the non-AP STA requests configuration of a specific TS and the request for configuration of a specific TS is accepted. For example, if the AP does not accept the QoS requirements for the requested TS, it may reject the TS configuration request. Accordingly, the non-AP STA may again request the AP to configure a TS that reflects new QoS requirements that are lower than the QoS requirements for the rejected TS configuration request.

[0335] Meanwhile, the operations for ADDTS requests and responses between non-AP STAs and APs are not limited to the examples above. The ADDTS request and response procedures in the above-described embodiments may involve some or all of the operations being combined or modified. Alternatively, at least one operation may be deleted or a new procedure may be added to organically combine with the above-described operations.

[0336] Additionally, the operation of configuring (or setting up) a TS by considering QoS requirements below may be used interchangeably with the operation of configuring (setting up, or allocating) QoS or QoS flow for a TS, and may mean the same operation.

[0337] Additionally, the ADDTS request frame or ADDTS response frame below may include an IDC element, and the IDC element may indicate parameters that constitute an In-Device Coexistence element to be newly defined in the action field.

[0338] Figure 27 illustrates the configuration of an action field of an ADDTS request frame of a wireless LAN system related to the present disclosure.

[0339] Referring to Figure 27, an example of an action field that an ADDTS request frame may have is illustrated. The action field is included in a management frame defined in IEEE 802.11 and can be used to provide information about a mechanism for extended management actions. The following describes in detail the multiple elements included in the action field.

[0340] The category element may contain a value indicating "QoS". QoS may mean that QoS-related actions, such as ADDTS, are required.

[0341] The QoS Action element may contain a value indicating "ADDTS Request". A format containing "QoS" in the above-described Category element and "ADDTS Request" in the QoS Action element may indicate a frame for requesting an ADDTS operation.

[0342] The dialog token element can identify a response subtype corresponding to a request subtype. Therefore, when a non-AP STA and an AP transmit and receive ADDTS request frames and ADDTS response frames, it can be used to identify the transmitted and received frames.

[0343] The TSPEC (traffic specification) element may contain information regarding the QoS requirements of non-AP STAs. For example, the TSPEC element may include a set of parameters that define the QoS characteristics and expectations of a traffic flow.

[0344] The TCLAS (transmission class or traffic classification) element may contain a set of parameters necessary to identify various types of PDUs (protocol data packets) or received MSDUs (MAC service data units) belonging to a specific TS.

[0345] The TCLAS Processing element may contain sub-elements to indicate how to process TCLAS elements.

[0346] The U-APSD (unscheduled automatic power save delivery) Coexistence element may be an element used to indicate a transmission period requested by a non-AP STA to the AP for use of the U-APSD service period. The transmission period information allows the AP to transmit frames during the service period, thereby increasing the likelihood that the non-AP STA will receive the frames when not subject to interference. Therefore, the U-APSD Coexistence element can reduce the problem of the AP transmitting frames that cannot be received by the non-AP STA outside the service period. Below, FIG. 28 specifically describes the configuration of the U-APSD Coexistence element for transmitting information about Coexistence to the AP.

[0347] The Expedited Bandwidth Request element is transmitted from a non-AP STA to the AP in an ADDTS request frame containing a TSPEC element and may be an element for providing usage information regarding a bandwidth request. For example, the Expedited Bandwidth Request element may request that the AP apply a policy of preferentially accepting emergency bandwidth requests, thereby providing priority access to QoS and emergency services to the non-AP STA.

[0348] The Intra-Access Category Priority element may be an element that provides information about the relative priority of a stream.

[0349] The Higher layer Stream ID element may be an element for identifying a stream of a higher layer protocol. Furthermore, the Higher layer Stream ID element may be used to bind messages exchanged to complete a procedure (e.g., message exchange in a TS setup procedure initiated by an AP).

[0350] A multi-band element may be an element that indicates that a non-AP STA transmitting the multi-band element is within a multi-band device capable of operating in a frequency band other than the frequency band, operating class, or channel in which the element is transmitted.

[0351] The U-PID (upper layer protocol identification) element may be an element that contains information about the LLC (logical link control) header that includes the protocol stack of the packet.

[0352] The Multiple MAC Sublayers element may include parameters indicating the STA MAC address and interface address.

[0353] The optional elements described above (e.g., TCLAS element or Multiple MAC Sublayers element) may be omitted from the action field when a non-AP STA makes an ADDTS request, as needed.

[0354] The structure of the action field illustrated in Fig. 27, the element names, the values ​​indicated by the elements, the number of elements assigned meaningful values, the order of the elements, whether elements are included in the action field, etc. are merely examples and may, of course, be changed differently from the illustrated and described embodiment.

[0355] Meanwhile, as devices evolve, devices (including non-AP STAs and APs) support a variety of different radio access technologies (RATs). Furthermore, as devices become increasingly smaller, antennas and transceivers for supporting multiple RATs are mounted adjacently within the device. Alternatively, a single radio frequency (RF) chain may be shared among different RATs within the device. In particular, when different RATs occupy adjacent frequency bands, there is a growing need for seamless coexistence (i.e., in-device coexistence (IDC)) of different RATs within the device. This IDC can be considered among various RATs, such as wireless LAN (WLAN), Bluetooth (BT), Bluetooth low-energy (BLE), peer-to-peer (P2P), ultra-wideband (UWB), licensed assisted access (LAA), and NR unlicensed (NR-U). Therefore, non-AP STAs can inform the AP of not only QoS requirements but also communication constraints that the non-AP STA encounters. For example, during the QoS negotiation process, non-AP STAs can transmit information about QoS requirements and communication constraints that the non-AP STA encounters (e.g., IDC information) to the AP. Therefore, a method for non-AP STAs to transmit IDC information to the AP may be considered.

[0356] FIG. 28 illustrates the configuration of a U-APSD Coexistence element format related to the present disclosure.

[0357] Referring to FIG. 28, a method for a non-AP STA to transmit coexistence information to an AP using a U-APSD Coexistence element format is described. More specifically, the U-APSD Coexistence element format may include an Element ID field, a Length field, a TSF (timing synchronization function) 0 Offset field, and an Interval / Duration field. In addition, the U-APSD Coexistence element format may further include an Optional Subelements field as needed. Meanwhile, the fields constituting the above-described U-APSD Coexistence element format are not limited to the meaning of "field" defined in IEEE 802.11, and may include fields in a general sense. For example, the fields constituting a specific element format may mean a field for indicating a corresponding value or a field related to the corresponding value.

[0358] The Element ID field contains 1 octet and can have a value of 142. Of course, the value of the Element ID field is not limited to the above example.

[0359] The Length field contains 1 octet and may contain information about the length of information transmitted via the U-APSD Coexistence element format.

[0360] The TSF 0 Offset field contains 8 octets and can be set to a certain amount of time (e.g., microseconds) after a reference time (e.g., TSF 0) at which a non-AP STA recognizes that interference due to coexistence has begun. In this case, the reference time can mean a clock at which the timers of non-AP STAs within a BSS are synchronized based on the AP timer.

[0361] The Interval / Duration field may contain 4 octets and may be defined as follows. If the TSF 0 Offset field is 0, it may mean that the non-AP STA is in a wake-up state for the duration (e.g., number of microseconds) indicated by the Interval / Duration field during the U-APSD service period in which the AP transmits a frame to the non-AP STA. On the other hand, if the TSF 0 Offset field is not 0, it may mean that the non-AP STA experiences a continuous interference burst (e.g., coexistence) from the specific time indicated by the TSF 0 Offset field to the non-AP STA at every time interval (e.g., number of microseconds) indicated by the Interval / Duration field. Therefore, when a non-AP STA informs the AP of coexistence information (or co-existence information), the AP can know how long the non-AP STA will be able to communicate due to coexistence, or if there is periodic coexistence, at what interval (or period) the non-AP STA will be in a state where communication is impossible.

[0362] However, the method of transmitting coexistence information to the AP using the U-APSD field described above can only be applied to each U-APSD service period for non-AP STAs in power save mode. Therefore, it may be difficult for the AP to determine information about coexistence events for non-AP STAs in active mode. Furthermore, even if a non-AP STA transmits coexistence information to the AP using the method described above, the AP may only obtain information about how long communication will be possible after the non-AP STA wakes up, and thus the usability of the coexistence information for scheduling non-AP STAs within the BSS may not be sufficient. In addition, the AP may have difficulty considering cases where non-AP STAs communicate with limited capabilities (e.g., cases where non-AP STAs can only transmit or receive). Therefore, the following describes a method for a non-AP STA to convey more specific information about coexistence to the AP (e.g., information about the duration of coexistence or the capabilities of the non-AP STA).

[0363] Meanwhile, the structure of the format illustrated in FIG. 28, the field names, the values ​​indicated by the fields, the number of fields to which meaningful values ​​are assigned, the order of the fields, the number of octets or bits, whether fields are included in the format, etc. are merely examples, and may of course be changed differently from the illustrated and described embodiment.

[0364] FIG. 29 illustrates an example of resource utilization through in-Device coexistence (IDC) information according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0365] Referring to FIG. 29, since the above-described QoS negotiation procedure may have limitations in allowing the AP to obtain specific information about a coexistence event in a non-AT STA in active mode, an example of resource utilization by transmitting more specific IDC information to the AP is described.

[0366] Referring to (a) of FIG. 29, the AP can only know the time (T) from when the non-AP STA wakes up (t_s) until the time when communication becomes unavailable due to a coexistence event, according to the above-described method (e.g., the embodiment of FIG. 28). However, if the non-AP STA additionally notifies the AP of the duration (T_d) of the coexistence event, the AP can identify that the non-AP STA is unavailable for communication during T_d or can communicate only within limited capabilities (e.g., can communicate only in a specific bandwidth, or the number of spatial streams is reduced).

[0367] Referring to (b) of FIG. 29, if the AP receives information about the duration T_d of the coexistence event, the AP may be able to schedule resources after the coexistence event ends based on the communication time (T) of the non-AP STA and T_d. For example, within the delay bound of the QoS flow for a specific TS, the AP may schedule time resources after the coexistence event ends not only for the non-AP STA where the coexistence event occurred but also for other non-AP STAs within the BSS. Therefore, by the non-AP STA additionally transmitting information about the duration T_d of the coexistence event to the AP, efficient scheduling of non-AP STAs within the BSS in terms of time resources may be possible. In addition, although not illustrated in (b) of FIG. 29, even if communication is only possible in some bandwidths due to the limited capabilities of a non-AP STA where a coexistence event has occurred, the AP may be able to schedule only in the bandwidth where the non-AP STA can communicate, or schedule other non-AP STAs in the bandwidth where communication is not possible, thereby enabling efficient scheduling in terms of frequency resources. In addition, as the range of resource operation of the AP expands, the number of QoS flows that the AP can support may also increase. Furthermore, when the AP determines the QoS requirements, it may also consider coexistence information, thereby making a clear decision on the ADDTS request of the non-AP STA.

[0368] Hereinafter, a method for exchanging IDC information for a QoS facility is described. In one embodiment, the IDC information may be included in an action frame format (e.g., a QoS action frame format) to exchange information regarding a coexistence event of a non-AP STA and information regarding expected AP operations related to a TS between a non-AP QoS STA and a QoS AP. For example, the IDC information may include information regarding a period associated with an operation to support IDC (e.g., including a period or trigger condition of a coexistence event) and information regarding whether a non-AP QoS STA is unable to communicate or has limited capabilities during the aforementioned period. Meanwhile, if the AP receives IDC information from a non-AP STA within a scheduled IDC period, the AP may identify that the coexistence event has ended.

[0369] An STA that provides IDC information (e.g., an IDC informing STA) may be a non-AP QoS STA that requests a TS operation with IDC information to an associated QoS AP, which is referred to as an AP that receives IDC information (e.g., an IDC informed AP). Therefore, in the following embodiments, an IDC informing STA may be referred to in the same sense as a non-AP STA that transmits IDC information, and an IDC informed AP may be referred to in the same sense as an AP that receives IDC information.

[0370] The response of the IDC informing STA to the request of the IDC informing STA may be one of the following:

[0371] In one embodiment, if frame transmission considering IDC information transmitted by the IDC informing STA is supported, the IDC informing STA may approve the request of the IDC informing STA, and at this time, the status code (SC) may be set to SUCCESS.

[0372] In one embodiment, if the IDC informing STA does not support frame transmission considering the IDC information transmitted by the IDC informing STA, the IDC informing STA may reject the entire request of the IDC informing STA (e.g., the TS addition request and the IDC information consideration request), and the status code may be set to REJECT (or REJECTED). In this case, the DC informing STA may attempt to move to another supportable AP or adjust the application to adjust the QoS requirements.

[0373] In one embodiment, even if the IDC informing STA supports frame transmission considering the IDC information transmitted, the IDC informing STA may only accept basic requests excluding the IDC element (e.g., TS configuration considering only QoS requirements), in which case the status code may be set to SUCCESS_WITHOUT_IDC.

[0374] FIG. 30a illustrates an example of the format of an IDC element according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0375] Referring to FIG. 30a, the configuration of an IDC element for QoS purposes is described. More specifically, when the TSF 0 Offset field is not 0 (e.g., when an IDC event occurs periodically), the IDC element may include a TSF 0 Offset field, an IDC Interval field, an IDC Duration field, an IDC Count field, a Direction field, a Channel field, a Number of Spatial Streams field, a Service Specific Identifier field, and a TSID field. In addition, the IDC element may further include a TSID field as needed. However, the configuration of the IDC element in FIG. 30a may include fields that overlap with the configuration of the U-APSD Coexistence element format of FIG. 28 described above, and a description of the overlapping fields may be omitted. Meanwhile, the fields that constitute the IDC element format described above are not limited to the meaning of "field" defined in IEEE 802.11, and may include fields in a general sense. For example, fields that constitute a particular element format may mean fields representing corresponding values ​​or fields related to corresponding values.

[0376] The TSF 0 Offset field contains 8 octets and may be set to a certain amount of time (e.g., microseconds) after a reference time (e.g., TSF 0) at which the IDC informing STA recognizes that interference due to the IDC has started. However, in the embodiment of FIG. 30a, the TSF 0 Offset field may be set to a value other than 0.

[0377] The IDC Interval field contains 4 octets and, if the TSF 0 Offset field is not 0, the IDC informing STA may indicate that consecutive interference bursts (e.g., IDC events) will occur to the IDC informing STA at specific time intervals (e.g., number of microseconds) from the time indicated by the TSF 0 Offset field.

[0378] The IDC Duration field contains one octet and can indicate that the IDC event continues for a specific duration (e.g., a number of microseconds). For example, the unit of the duration can be 32 μs. However, the unit of the duration can vary depending on the configuration of the WLAN system and the characteristics of the devices (e.g., the IDC informing STA and the IDC informed STA), and is not limited to the above examples.

[0379] The IDC Count field contains one octet and can indicate the number of times an IDC event occurs. In one embodiment, if the IDC Count field is 0, it can mean that the IDC event is repeated an unlimited number of times until a separate instruction is given by the IDC informing IDC.

[0380] The Direction field contains 1 octet and can indicate communication capability during an IDC event. For example, if the Direction field is 0, the IDC informing STA can indicate that communication is not possible. For example, if the Direction field is 1, it can indicate Tx-only mode. For example, if the Direction field is 2, it can indicate Rx-only mode. For example, if the Direction field is 3, it can indicate Tx and Rx mode. In addition, if the Direction field is a value other than 0 to 3, it can indicate reserved. Of course, the value of the Direction field described above and the content indicated by each field value are only one example and are not limited to the above example.

[0381] The Channel field contains one or two octets and can indicate a sub-channel that is available during the IDC period (e.g., the period during which an IDC event lasts).

[0382] The Number of Spatial Streams field can indicate the maximum number of spatial streams that can be used during the IDC interval.

[0383] The Service Specific Identifier field contains one octet and may indicate the type of heterogeneous technology or peer-to-peer (P2P) link to be used during the Quiet Period. In this case, the Quiet Period may mean a predetermined time period during which the IDC informing STA suspends or restricts its WLAN operation for the operation of a wireless access technology other than WLAN. In addition, the Service Specific Identifier field may include information on whether the IDC configuration is essential (essentiality, necessarily). If the IDC configuration is indicated as essential, the IDC informed AP may have to select between SUCCESS or REJECT in response to the ADDTS request of the IDC informing STA. In one embodiment, if the TS is of high importance (e.g., traffic for which violation of QoS requirements cannot be tolerated), the IDC informing STA may specify that the IDC configuration is essential in the Service Specific Identifier field so that the IDC informed AP does not respond with SUCCESS_WITHOUT_IDC to the ADDTS request. In one embodiment, an explicit bit may be assigned within the Service Specific Identifier field to indicate whether an IDC configuration is mandatory. In one embodiment, the mandatory nature of the Service Specific Identifier field may be implicitly or implicitly indicated by defining the mandatory nature of the IDs to be used within the Service Specific Identifier field.Meanwhile, if the IDC informing STA receives a REJECT for a QoS flow that has requested mandatory consideration of IDC in the Service Specific Identifier field, the DC informing STA may attempt to move to another supportable AP or may adjust the application to adjust the QoS requirements.

[0384] The TSID field may contain the IDs of the TSs to which IDC information is applied. Accordingly, the TSID field may contain various octets depending on the number of IDs of the TSs to be included.

[0385] Meanwhile, the structure of the format illustrated in FIG. 30a, the field names, the values ​​indicated by the fields, the number of fields to which meaningful values ​​are assigned, the order of the fields, the number of octets or bits, whether fields are included in the format, etc. are merely examples, and may of course be changed differently from the illustrated and described embodiment.

[0386] FIG. 30b illustrates another example of the format of an IDC element according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0387] Referring to FIG. 30b, the configuration of an IDC element for QoS purposes is described. More specifically, when the TSF 0 Offset field is 0 (e.g., when an IDC event occurs aperiodically), the IDC element may include a TSF 0 Offset field, an IDC Interval field, an IDC Duration field, an IDC Count field, a Direction field, a Channel field, a Number of Spatial Streams field, a Service Specific Identifier field, and a TSID field. In this case, when the TSF 0 Offset field is 0, it may mean that the IDC event occurs aperiodically, and therefore, the IDC Interval field may be omitted or indicated as 0. In addition, the IDC element may further include a TSID field as needed. However, the configuration of the IDC element in FIG. 30b may include fields that overlap with the configuration of the IDC element in FIG. 30a described above, and a description of the overlapping fields may be omitted. Meanwhile, the fields constituting the above-described IDC element format are not limited to the meaning of "field" as defined in IEEE 802.11, and may include fields in a general sense. For example, the fields constituting a specific element format may mean fields representing a corresponding value or fields related to a corresponding value.

[0388] At this time, the case where the IDC event occurs aperiodically may include the case where the IDC event occurs at the end of reception of each packet. For example, this may be the case where the IDC informing STA uses another transmission technology (e.g., Bluetooth transmission operation) after completing reception of a specific packet from the IDC informed AP. At this time, the end point of packet reception may be immediately after transmitting an ACK (acknowledgment) for a packet with a More Data field of 0. Meanwhile, the More Data field may be a field included in the frame control field format among the MAC frame formats.

[0389] Meanwhile, the IDC informing STA can determine the values ​​contained in the Channel field and the Number of spatial streams field within the maximum capability. If the importance of the traffic stream is higher than that of the IDC, the IDC informing STA can configure the IDC information to notify that it can use the maximum transmission capability rather than the limited capability during the IDC section (e.g., Tx and RX modes that allow both transmission and reception, or use the entire bandwidth allocated to the IDC informing STA).

[0390] Meanwhile, the structure of the format illustrated in FIG. 30b, the field names, the values ​​indicated by the fields, the number of fields to which meaningful values ​​are assigned, the order of the fields, the number of octets or bits, whether fields are included in the format, etc. are merely examples, and may of course be changed differently from the illustrated and described embodiment.

[0391] FIG. 31a illustrates an example of a new ADDTS request frame and action field for providing IDC information according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0392] Referring to FIG. 31a, the configuration of the IDC element format included in the QoS action field (a) and the basic configuration of the action frame format of the ADDTS request frame (b) are described.

[0393] In (a) of Fig. 31a, the IDC element format included in the QoS action field may include an Element ID field, a Length field, an Element ID extension field, an IDC Control field, a TSF 0 Offset field, an IDC Interval field, an IDC Duration field, an IDC Count field, a Direction field, a Channel field, a Number of Spatial Streams field, and a Service Specific Identifier field. In addition, the IDC element format may further include a TSID field as needed. The IDC element format included in the QoS action field in (a) may include fields that overlap with the IDC element format of Fig. 30a or Fig. 30b described above, and a description of the overlapping fields may be omitted. Meanwhile, the fields constituting the IDC element format described above are not limited to the meaning of "field" defined in IEEE 802.11, and may include fields in a general sense. For example, fields that constitute a particular element format may mean fields representing corresponding values ​​or fields related to corresponding values.

[0394] Referring back to (a) of FIG. 31A, the Element ID field contains 1 octet and can have a value of 255. Of course, the value of the Element ID field is not limited to the above example. The Length field contains 1 octet and can include information about the length of information transmitted via the U-APSD Coexistence element format. The Element ID extension field contains 1 octet and can have any one of the reserved values. The IDC Control field contains 1 octet and can include values ​​related to IDC control, such as indicating the presence or absence of fields optionally included in the IDC element.

[0395] Referring to (b) of Fig. 31a, the action field in the ADDTS request frame may include 14 fields. At this time, the first to 13th fields of the action field may be configured identically or similarly to the fields of the action field illustrated in Fig. 27. However, the action field of (b) may further include an In-Device Coexistence field. Meanwhile, in the action field of the ADDTS request frame of (b), the Category field is indicated as QoS and the QoS Action field is indicated as ADDTS Request, so the action field may refer to the QoS action field. Accordingly, the In-Device Coexistence field included in the action field of (b) may include the IDC element of the QoS action field of (a).

[0396] FIG. 31b illustrates an example of an IDC element included in an ADDTS request frame according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0397] Referring to FIG. 31b, the transmission and reception operations of ADDTS request and response frames between the IDC informing STA MAC entity and the IDC informed AP MAC entity are described. At this time, the format of the IDC element included in the ADDTS request and response frames may include at least one of the fields constituting the IDC element format of FIG. 31a described above.

[0398] At step 3110, the IDC informing STA MAC entity may transmit an ADDTS request frame including an IDC element to the IDC informed AP MAC entity. For example, the IDC informing STA may request TS A setup considering QoS requirements through the ADDTS request. At this time, by transmitting the IDC element together, the IDC element may be requested to be also considered during TS A setup. In one embodiment, the format of the IDC element included in the ADDTS request frame may be as follows. When the IDC event occurs aperiodically, the TSF 0 Offset field may be 0, and the IDC Duration field may be a specific duration (T) of the IDC event. At this time, the IDC Count field may be 1, which is the number of times the IDC event occurs. In addition, the Direction field may be 0, indicating that the IDC informing STA is in a state where communication is not possible. The Channel field can be 0 to indicate that there are no available subchannels during the duration T of the IDC event. The Number of Spatial Streams field can be 0 to indicate that there are no available spatial streams during the duration T of the IDC event. Meanwhile, the Service Specific Identifier field includes BT and Necessary, and BT can indicate that the IDC event is due to Bluetooth communication of the IDC informing STA. In addition, Necessary can indicate that the IDC informed STA can only respond to the ADDTS request with SUCCESS or REJECT.

[0399] In step 3120, the IDC informed AP MAC entity that receives the ADDTS request frame including the IDC element may transmit an ADDTS response frame including the IDC element to the IDC informing STA MAC entity. At this time, if the IDC informed AP allows the ADDTS request, the ADDTS response may include SUCCESS based on the IDC element included in the ADDTS request frame in step 3110. In addition, the IDC element included in the ADDTS response frame may include the same information as the IDC element included in the ADDTS request frame in step 3110. At this time, the fact that the IDC element included in the ADDTS response frame includes the same information as the IDC element included in the ADDTS request frame may be to notify that information about the IDC has been applied.

[0400] Meanwhile, the operations for ADDTS requests and responses between the IDC informing STA MAC entity and the IDC informed AP MAC entity are not limited to the above examples. The ADDTS request and response procedures in the above-described embodiments may involve some or all of the operations being combined or modified. Alternatively, at least one operation may be deleted or a new procedure may be added to organically combine with the above-described operations.

[0401] FIG. 31c illustrates an example of application of an IDC element according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0402] Referring to FIG. 31c, an example of an IDC event indicated by an IDC element included in the ADDTS request frame of FIG. 31b described above is described. More specifically, the IDC informing STA can receive packets of TS A from the IDC informed AP, and transmit feedback (ACK) regarding packet reception to the IDC informed AP upon receiving each packet. At this time, the IDC informing STA can receive a packet in which the More Data field of the frame control field is 0, and the IDC informing STA may not be able to communicate due to an IDC event (Bluetooth communication) during a time duration of T from the time when the transmission of the ACK for the packet in which the More Data field is 0 is completed. In addition, the IDC event is an aperiodic IDC event scheduled to occur only once, and there may not be any available subchannels and spatial streams during the duration in which the IDC event continues. In addition, the IDC informed STA may only be able to respond to the ADDTS request with SUCCESS or REJECT.

[0403] FIG. 31d illustrates the flow of signals in an ADDTS request and response operation including IDC information according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0404] Referring to FIG. 31d, when a QoS requirement for a specific TS occurs, the IDC informing STA may request (e.g., an ADDTS request) the IDC informed AP to set up a TS that takes into account the QoS requirement and IDC element. The IDC informed AP, which has received a request for setting up a specific TS from the IDC informing STA, may, in response (e.g., an ADDTS response), set up a TS for the IDC informing STA that takes into account the QoS requirement and IDC element of the IDC informing STA, reject the setting of the TS requested by the IDC informing STA, or set up a TS that does not take IDC into account.

[0405] More specifically, at step 3101, the IDC informing STA SME may transmit a primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.request) to the IDC informing STA MAC entity. The primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.request) may include information about QoS requirements for a specific TS of the IDC informing STA and an IDC element.

[0406] In step 3102, the IDC informing STA MAC entity that received the primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.request) may transmit an ADDTS request frame to the IDC informed AP MAC entity. At this time, the ADDTS request frame may refer to a frame format that includes information for requesting the configuration of TS.

[0407] In step 3103, the IDC informed AP MAC entity may generate a primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.indication) to be transmitted to the IDC informed AP SME within the IDC informed AP based on the information included in the ADDTS request frame. Accordingly, the primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.indication) of step 3103 may include information for requesting the configuration of the TS received from the IDC informing STA MAC entity. In addition, the IDC informed AP MAC entity may transmit the primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.indication) to the IDC informed AP SME.

[0408] At step 3104, the IDC informed AP SME can determine (or identify) whether to set up TS based on the information contained in the primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.indication) received from the IDC informed AP MAC entity. Then, the IDC informed AP SME can transmit a primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.response) containing a response to the TS set-up request to the IDC informed AP MAC.

[0409] At step 3105, the IDC informed AP MAC entity may transmit an ADDTS response frame containing a response to the TS setup request to the IDC informing STA MAC entity. At this time, the response to the TS setup request included in the ADDTS response frame may include a status code of SUCCESS, REJECT, or SUCCESS_WITHOUT_ID for the requested TS.

[0410] In step 3106, the IDC informing STA MAC entity may send a primitive (e.g., MLME ADDTS.confirm) to the IDC informing STA SME in response to the primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.request) of step 3101. The primitive (e.g., MLME ADDTS.confirm) may include a response to the TS setup request included in the ADDTS response frame.

[0411] Meanwhile, the operations for ADDTS requests and responses between the IDC informing STA and the IDC informed AP are not limited to the above examples. The ADDTS request and response procedures in the above-described embodiments may involve some or all of the operations being combined or modified. Alternatively, at least one operation may be deleted or a new procedure may be added to organically combine the above-described operations.

[0412] FIG. 31e illustrates an example of ADDTS related primitives according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0413] Referring to FIG. 31e, an example of a specific configuration of a primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.request) of step 3101 of FIG. 31d described above is described. In order to support parameterized QoS transmission of MSDUs to which TS requested by an IDC informing STA belongs, the primitive (e.g., MLME-ADDTS.request) may need to include IDC information.

[0414] FIG. 32 illustrates an example of IDC information transmission via a multi-band element format according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0415] Referring to FIG. 32, a method for transmitting IDC information even in multi-band operation is described. More specifically, an IDC informing STA transmitting a multi-band element is within a multi-band device that can operate in a frequency band other than the frequency band, operating class, or channel in which the multi-band element is transmitted, and the IDC informing STA can request that the IDC information be considered when configuring a TS in a frequency band other than that indicated by the multi-band element. Meanwhile, the fields constituting each format in (a) to (c) of FIG. 32 below are not limited to the meaning of "field" as defined in IEEE 802.11, and may include fields in a general sense. For example, the fields constituting a specific format may mean a field for indicating a corresponding value or a field related to a corresponding value.

[0416] Figure 32 (a) may be an example of a multi-band control field format. An IDC informing STA may transmit a multi-band control field format to an IDC informed AP, and may indicate the presence of IDC information using a Reserved field containing 1 octet of the multi-band control field format.

[0417] Fig. 32(b) may be an example of a multi-band element format. In this case, the multi-band element may refer to the multi-band element in Fig. 31(a) described above. The TSF Offset field included in the multi-band element format may indicate an offset from a frequency band (e.g., Band A) in which the multi-band element is transmitted to another frequency band (e.g., Band B) indicated by the multi-band element format. In addition, the IDC Information field may be included as the last field of the multi-band element format. In addition, the IDC Information field that may be included in the multi-band element format may include the same information as the information included in the In-Device Coexistence element in Fig. 31(b) described above. Therefore, when the IDC Information field is included in the multi-band element format, the In-Device Coexistence element may be omitted in Fig. 31(b).

[0418] Figure 32 (c) may be a configuration of an IDC Information field within a multi-band element. The IDC Information field may be configured identically or similarly to the configuration of the IDC element of Figure 30a or Figure 30b described above. However, the Offset value indicated by the TSF 0 Offset field within the IDC Information field of (c) may be set based on the TSF 0 of the PBSS (personal BSS) or infrastructure BSS to which the IDC informing STA transmitting the multi-band element format belongs. In addition, when determining the start time of the IDC, the IDC informed AP may need to consider all of the TSF Offset, TSF 0 Offset, and IDC Interval values.

[0419] Meanwhile, the structure of the format illustrated in FIG. 32, the field names, the values ​​indicated by the fields, the number of fields to which meaningful values ​​are assigned, the order of the fields, the number of octets or bits, whether fields are included in the format, etc. are merely examples, and may of course be changed differently from the illustrated and described embodiment.

[0420] FIG. 33a illustrates an example of an action field for an IDC setup request and an action field for a response according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0421] Referring to FIG. 33a, an IDC informing STA may transmit an IDC Configuration Request including IDC information to an IDC informed AP for application to multiple TSs. Hereinafter, the IDC Configuration Request transmitted by the IDC informing STA to the IDC informed AP may mean a frame that explicitly or implicitly indicates the meaning of the IDC Configuration Request, and such a frame may be a management frame, an action frame, or a control frame. Alternatively, the IDC Configuration Request transmitted by the IDC informing STA to the IDC informed AP may mean a frame including an element for the IDC Configuration Request, and may mean a MAC header including an element for the IDC Configuration Request. For the convenience of explanation, a transmission object according to at least one of the various forms described above may be referred to as an IDC Configuration Request frame.

[0422] Referring to (a) of Fig. 33a, the configuration of various QoS action fields is described. At this time, a new QoS action field value indicating an IDC Configuration Request frame (e.g., a frame for an IDC Configuration Request or a frame including elements related to an IDC Configuration Request) and an IDC Configuration Response can be defined. For example, when the value of the QoS action field is 0, it can include the same configuration as the ADDTS request frame of Fig. 31a (b) described above. As another example, the QoS action field can indicate an IDC Configuration Request. Accordingly, when the QoS action field is 7, an IDC Configuration Request frame for application to multiple TSs can be transmitted. Meanwhile, if the QoS action field is 8, the IDC informing STA may receive an IDC Configuration Response frame (e.g., a frame for IDC Configuration Response or a frame including elements related to IDC Configuration Response) as a response to the IDC Configuration Request from the IDC informed AP.

[0423] Referring to (b) of FIG. 33, at step 3310, the IDC informing STA MAC entity can transmit an IDC Configuration Request frame to the IDC informed AP MAC entity. At this time, the IDC Configuration Request frame can include IDC information to be applied to multiple TSs. The IDC informing STA can apply a common IDC event that occurs periodically to multiple TSs with a single transmission through the IDC Configuration Request frame. At step 3320, the IDC informing STA MAC entity can receive an IDC Configuration Response frame from the IDC informed AP MAC entity.

[0424] Meanwhile, the operations for IDC Configuration requests and responses between the IDC informing STA and the IDC informed AP are not limited to the above examples. The IDC Configuration request and response procedures in the above-described embodiments may involve some or all of the operations being combined or modified. Alternatively, at least one operation may be deleted or a new procedure may be added to organically combine with the above-described operations.

[0425] FIG. 33b illustrates an example of an action field for an IDC setup request and an action field for a response according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0426] Referring to Fig. 33b (a), the IDC element included in the IDC Configuration Request frame may be configured identically or similarly to the configuration of the IDC element of Fig. 30a or 30b described above. In one embodiment, when the IDC element includes a TSID field, the IDC information transmitted through the IDC Configuration Request frame may be considered only for at least one TS indicated by the TSID field. Accordingly, the IDC informing STA may individually designate a TS to which IDC information for a common IDC event is to be reflected using the TSID field. In one embodiment, when the TSID field does not exist or the TSID field value is 0, the IDC information for an IDC event common to all TSs may be applied. In this case, if there is a TS among the TSs to which IDC information is applied through an ADDTS request frame, the IDC information included in the IDC Configuration Request frame may not be applied to the corresponding TS. For example, in the TS, IDC information applied through the ADDTS request frame may be applied with priority over IDC information included in the IDC Configuration Request frame.

[0427] Referring to FIG. 33(b), the configuration of the action field of the IDC Configuration Request frame when the QoS action field value is 7 is described. For example, the action field of the IDC Configuration Request frame may include an IDC Information field instead of a TSPEC field including information about QoS requirements, unlike the action field of the ADDTS request frame (e.g., FIG. 27 described above). Meanwhile, the IDC Information of the IDC Configuration Response frame when the QoS action field value is 8 may include the same information as the IDC Information included in the action field of the IDC Configuration Request frame. In addition, since the IDC Configuration Request is a method for setting or updating IDC information for already set QoS flows, the response of the IDC informed AP to the IDC Configuration Request may include SUCCESS or REJECT.

[0428] FIG. 34 illustrates a flowchart of operations for TS setup related to IDC information according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0429] Referring to FIG. 34, the operation of the IDC Informing STA proposed in the present disclosure is illustrated, and some or all of the various embodiments related to the IDC Informing STA described above can be applied identically or similarly to FIG. 34.

[0430] According to the embodiment of FIG. 34, in step 3410, a non-AP STA (hereinafter, IDC informing STA) may transmit an ADDTS request frame including an IDC element to an AP (hereinafter, IDC informed AP). For example, the IDC informing STA may request QoS flow setup for TS through the ADDTS request. At this time, by transmitting the IDC element together, it may request that the IDC element also be considered when setting up the QoS flow. In one embodiment, the configuration of the IDC element included in the ADDTS request frame may be as follows. When an IDC event occurs aperiodically, the TSF 0 Offset field is 0, and a specific duration (T) of the IDC event may be indicated through the IDC Duration field. Accordingly, the IDC Count field may be indicated as 1, which is the number of times the IDC event occurs. Meanwhile, if an IDC event occurs periodically, the TSF 0 Offset field may be a non-zero value, and the IDC Interval field may indicate the interval between occurrences of the IDC event. Accordingly, the IDC Count field may be indicated as a value greater than or equal to 0 or 2, which is the number of times the IDC event occurs. In addition, the remaining fields (e.g., the Direction field, the Channel field, the Number of Spatial Streams field, and the Service Specific Identifier field) may indicate individual values ​​depending on the IDC event.

[0431] In step 3420, the IDC informing STA may receive an ADDTS response frame including an IDC element from the IDC informed AP. At this time, if the IDC informed AP allows the ADDTS request, the ADDTS response may include SUCCESS based on the IDC element included in the ADDTS request frame in step 3410. In addition, the IDC element included in the ADDTS response frame may include the same information as the IDC element included in the ADDTS request frame in step 3410. At this time, the fact that the IDC element included in the ADDTS response frame includes the same information as the IDC element included in the ADDTS request frame may be to notify that information about the IDC has been applied.

[0432] At step 3430, a TS considering IDC information (e.g., coexistence information) may be set for the IDC informing STA that has received an ADDTS response (SUCCESS) from the IDC informing STA.

[0433] Meanwhile, in the above, one embodiment of the operation of the IDC Informing STA and the IDC Informed AP has been described based on the flow chart illustrated in FIG. 34, but it is obvious that the operation of the IDC Informing STA and the IDC Informed AP may vary depending on other embodiments described above.

[0434] FIG. 35 illustrates a flowchart of operations for TS setup related to IDC information according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0435] Referring to FIG. 35, the operation of the IDC Informing STA proposed in the present disclosure is illustrated, and some or all of the various embodiments related to the IDC Informing STA described above can be applied identically or similarly to FIG. 35.

[0436] According to the embodiment of FIG. 35, in step 3510, a non-AP STA (hereinafter, referred to as an IDC informing STA) may transmit an ADDTS request frame including an IDC element to an AP (hereinafter, referred to as an IDC informed AP). For example, the IDC informing STA may request QoS flow setup for a TS through the ADDTS request. At this time, by transmitting the IDC element together, the STA may request that the IDC element also be considered when setting up the QoS flow. In one embodiment, the configuration of the IDC element included in the ADDTS request frame may be as follows. When an IDC event occurs aperiodically, the TSF 0 Offset field is 0, and a specific duration (T) of the IDC event may be indicated through the IDC Duration field. Accordingly, the IDC Count field may be indicated as 1, which is the number of times the IDC event occurs. Meanwhile, if an IDC event occurs periodically, the TSF 0 Offset field may be a non-zero value, and the IDC Interval field may indicate the interval between occurrences of the IDC event. Accordingly, the IDC Count field may be indicated as a value greater than or equal to 0 or 2, which is the number of times the IDC event occurs. In addition, the remaining fields (e.g., the Direction field, the Channel field, the Number of Spatial Streams field, and the Service Specific Identifier field) may indicate individual values ​​depending on the IDC event.

[0437] In step 3520, the IDC informing STA may receive an ADDTS response frame containing an IDC element from the IDC informed AP. At this time, if the IDC informed AP does not permit the ADDTS request, the ADDTS response may include REJECT based on the IDC element included in the ADDTS request frame in step 3510. Additionally, the IDC element included in the ADDTS response frame may include the same information as the IDC element included in the ADDTS request frame in step 3510.

[0438] At step 3530, for an IDC informing STA that has received an ADDTS response (REJECT) from an IDC informing STA, the TS requested through the ADDTS request frame may not be set.

[0439] Meanwhile, in the above, one embodiment of the operation of the IDC Informing STA and the IDC Informed AP has been described based on the flow chart illustrated in FIG. 35, but it is obvious that the operation of the IDC Informing STA and the IDC Informed AP may vary depending on other embodiments described above.

[0440] FIG. 36 illustrates a flowchart of operations for TS setup related to IDC information according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0441] Referring to FIG. 36, the operation of the IDC Informing STA proposed in the present disclosure is illustrated, and some or all of the various embodiments related to the IDC Informing STA described above can be applied identically or similarly to FIG. 36.

[0442] According to the embodiment of FIG. 36, in step 3610, a non-AP STA (hereinafter, IDC informing STA) may transmit an ADDTS request frame including an IDC element to an AP (hereinafter, IDC informed AP). For example, the IDC informing STA may request QoS flow setup for TS through the ADDTS request. At this time, by transmitting the IDC element together, it may request that the IDC element also be considered when setting up the QoS flow. In one embodiment, the configuration of the IDC element included in the ADDTS request frame may be as follows. When an IDC event occurs aperiodically, the TSF 0 Offset field is 0, and a specific duration (T) of the IDC event may be indicated through the IDC Duration field. Accordingly, the IDC Count field may be indicated as 1, which is the number of times the IDC event occurs. Meanwhile, if an IDC event occurs periodically, the TSF 0 Offset field may be a non-zero value, and the IDC Interval field may indicate the interval between occurrences of the IDC event. Accordingly, the IDC Count field may be indicated as a value greater than or equal to 0 or 2, which is the number of times the IDC event occurs. In addition, the remaining fields (e.g., the Direction field, the Channel field, the Number of Spatial Streams field, and the Service Specific Identifier field) may indicate individual values ​​depending on the IDC event.

[0443] In step 3620, the IDC informing STA may receive an ADDTS response frame containing an IDC element from the IDC informed AP. At this time, if the IDC informed AP does not consider IDC for the ADDTS request and only allows QoS requirements, the ADDTS response may include SUCCESS_WITHOUT_IDC based on the IDC element included in the ADDTS request frame in step 3610. In addition, the IDC element included in the ADDTS response frame may include the same information as the IDC element included in the ADDTS request frame in step 3610.

[0444] At step 3630, a TS that does not consider IDC information (e.g., coexistence information) may be set for the IDC informing STA that has received an ADDTS response (SUCCESS_WITHOUT_IDC) from the IDC informing STA.

[0445] Meanwhile, in the embodiment of FIG. 36, an example is given where the ADDTS response is SUCCESS_WITHOUT_IDC, but if the value of the Number of Spatial Stream field included in the action field of the ADDTS request frame is indicated as Necessary, the IDC informed AP cannot respond with SUCCESS_WITHOUT_IDC, and thus steps 3620 and 3630 described above cannot be performed.

[0446] In the above, one embodiment of the operation of the IDC Informing STA and the IDC Informed AP has been described based on the flow chart illustrated in FIG. 36, but it is obvious that the operation of the IDC Informing STA and the IDC Informed AP may vary depending on other embodiments described above.

[0447] FIG. 37 illustrates a flowchart of operations for TS setup related to IDC information according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0448] Referring to FIG. 37, the operation of the IDC Informing STA proposed in the present disclosure is illustrated, and some or all of the various embodiments related to the IDC Informing STA described above can be applied identically or similarly to FIG. 37.

[0449] According to the embodiment of FIG. 37, in step 3710, a non-AP STA (hereinafter, referred to as an IDC informing STA) may transmit an ADDTS request frame including an IDC element to an AP (hereinafter, referred to as an IDC informed AP). Meanwhile, a Multi-band element of an action field included in the ADDTS request frame may include information indicating that the ADDTS request frame requests TS configuration for a frequency band (e.g., Band A) different from the frequency band (e.g., Band A) in which the ADDTS request frame was transmitted. Accordingly, the IDC informing STA may transmit a Multi-band element format including information on an IDC event in Band B to the IDC informed AP. In addition, the Multi-band element may include IDC information (e.g., coexistence information).

[0450] In step 3720, the IDC informing STA may receive an ADDTS response frame containing an IDC element from the IDC informed AP. If the IDC informed AP accepts the ADDTS request, the ADDTS response may include SUCCESS based on the IDC element received in step 3710.

[0451] At step 3730, a TS in Band B may be set considering IDC information (e.g., coexistence information) for the IDC informing STA that has received an ADDTS response (SUCCESS) from the IDC informing STA. Meanwhile, if the ADDTS response at step 3720 is REJECT or SUCCESS_WITHOUT_IDC, a TS in Band B may not be set or a TS that does not consider the IDC may be set.

[0452] In the above, one embodiment of the operation of the IDC Informing STA and the IDC Informed AP has been described based on the flow chart illustrated in FIG. 37, but it is obvious that the operation of the IDC Informing STA and the IDC Informed AP may vary depending on other embodiments described above.

[0453] FIG. 38 illustrates a flowchart of operations for TS setup related to IDC information according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0454] Referring to FIG. 38, the operation of the IDC Informing STA proposed in the present disclosure is illustrated, and some or all of the various embodiments related to the IDC Informing STA described above can be applied identically or similarly to FIG. 38.

[0455] According to the embodiment of FIG. 38, in step 3810, a non-AP STA (hereinafter, referred to as an IDC informing STA) may transmit an IDC Configuration Request frame (i.e., a frame for an IDC configuration Request or a frame including elements related to an IDC configuration Request) to an AP (hereinafter, referred to as an IDC informed AP). At this time, the IDC Configuration Request frame may include IDC information to be applied to multiple TSs. The IDC informing STA may apply a common IDC event that occurs periodically to multiple TSs with a single transmission through the IDC Configuration Request frame. In one embodiment, when the IDC element includes a TSID field, the IDC information through the IDC Configuration Request may be applied to only at least one TS through the TSID field.

[0456] At step 3820, the IDC informing STA may receive an IDC Configuration Response frame (e.g., a frame for an IDC Configuration Response or a frame including elements related to an IDC Configuration Response) from the IDC informed AP. The IDC informed AP's response to the IDC Configuration Request may include SUCCESS. Accordingly, IDC information (e.g., coexistence information) may be applied to multiple TSs associated with the IDC informing STA. In addition, the IDC information may be individually applied through the IDC Configuration Request to other TSs, except for the TS to which the IDC information has been applied by the ADDTS request frame, depending on the value indicated by the TSID field of the IDC element. Meanwhile, the IDC informed AP's response to the IDC Configuration Request may include REJECT. In this case, the IDC information may not be applied to multiple TSs associated with the IDC informing STA.

[0457] In the above, one embodiment of the operation of the IDC Informing STA and the IDC Informed AP has been described based on the flow chart illustrated in FIG. 38, but it is obvious that the operation of the IDC Informing STA and the IDC Informed AP may vary depending on other embodiments described above.

[0458] Meanwhile, the present specification and drawings disclose preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, and although specific terms are used, they are used only in a general sense to easily explain the technical contents of the present disclosure and to help understand the disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0459] Furthermore, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, in addition to the embodiments described in this disclosure, other modifications based on the technical concepts of this disclosure are possible. For example, some or all of the contents of one embodiment described above may be combined with some or all of one or more other embodiments, and such combinations are also included in the embodiments proposed in this disclosure.

Claims

1. A method performed by a STA (station) of a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, A step of transmitting an ADDTS (add traffic stream) request frame including an IDC (in-device coexistence) related element for a TS (traffic stream) to an AP (access point); and A step of receiving, from the AP, an ADDTS response frame for notifying whether the IDC-related element is applied to the TS in response to the ADDTS request frame including the IDC-related element, The QoS (quality of service) flow for the above TS is based on the IDC related elements, and A method wherein the above IDC related element includes at least one field containing information about an IDC event.

2. In paragraph 1, The status code field included in the above ADDTS response frame indicates one of SUCCESS, REJECT, or SUCCESS_WITHOUT_IDC, If the above status code field indicates SUCCESS, traffic for the TS is transmitted or received considering the IDC related elements, If the above status code field indicates REJECT, the above TS is not set, A method in which, if the above status code field indicates SUCCESS_WITHOUT_IDC, traffic for the TS is transmitted or received without considering the IDC related elements.

3. In paragraph 1, The above ADDTS request frame further includes a multi-band element, A method wherein the multi-band related element includes information about a TSF (timing synchronization function) offset between the first band through which the ADDTS request frame is transmitted and the second band in which an IDC exists, and an IDC related element for the second band.

4. In paragraph 1, The above method, A step of transmitting an IDC setup request to the above AP; and Further comprising the step of receiving an IDC setup response to the IDC setup request from the AP, The above IDC setup request includes common IDC related elements for multiple TSs associated with the AP, A method wherein the above common IDC related element is not applied to the TS to which the above IDC related element is applied.

5. In a method performed by an AP (access point) of a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, A step of receiving an ADDTS (add traffic stream) request frame including an IDC (in-device coexistence) related element for a TS (traffic stream) from a STA (station); A step of determining whether to set a QoS (quality of service) flow for the TS based on the IDC-related elements; and A step of transmitting, to the STA, an ADDTS response frame for notifying whether the IDC-related element is applied to the TS in response to the ADDTS request frame including the IDC-related element, A method wherein the above IDC related element includes at least one field containing information about an IDC event.

6. In paragraph 5, The status code field included in the above ADDTS response frame indicates one of SUCCESS, REJECT, or SUCCESS_WITHOUT_IDC, If the above status code field indicates SUCCESS, traffic for the TS is transmitted or received considering the IDC related elements, If the above status code field indicates REJECT, the above TS is not set, A method in which, if the above status code field indicates SUCCESS_WITHOUT_IDC, traffic for the TS is transmitted or received without considering the IDC related elements.

7. In paragraph 5, The above ADDTS request frame further includes a multi-band element, A method wherein the multi-band related element includes information about a TSF (timing synchronization function) offset between the first band through which the ADDTS request frame is transmitted and the second band in which an IDC exists, and an IDC related element for the second band.

8. In paragraph 5, The above method, A step of receiving an IDC setup request from the STA; and Further comprising a step of transmitting an IDC setup response to the IDC setup request to the STA, The above IDC setup request includes common IDC related elements for multiple TSs associated with the AP, A method wherein the above common IDC related element is not applied to the TS to which the above IDC related element is applied.

9. In the STA (station) of a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, transceiver; and At least one processor connected to the transceiver, At least one processor of the above: To the AP (access point), transmit an ADDTS (add traffic stream) request frame containing an IDC (in-device coexistence) related element for the TS (traffic stream), and From the AP, in response to the ADDTS request frame including the IDC-related element, an ADDTS response frame is set to be received to inform whether the IDC-related element is applied to the TS, The QoS (quality of service) flow for the above TS is based on the IDC related elements, and The above IDC related element includes at least one field containing information about an IDC event.

10. In paragraph 9, The status code field included in the above ADDTS response frame indicates one of SUCCESS, REJECT, or SUCCESS_WITHOUT_IDC, If the above status code field indicates SUCCESS, traffic for the TS is transmitted or received considering the IDC related elements, If the above status code field indicates REJECT, the above TS is not set, If the above status code field indicates SUCCESS_WITHOUT_IDC, the traffic for the TS is transmitted or received without considering the IDC related elements.

11. In paragraph 9, The above ADDTS request frame further includes a multi-band element, The above multi-band related element is an STA that includes information about a TSF (timing synchronization function) offset between a first band through which the ADDTS request frame is transmitted and a second band in which an IDC exists, and an IDC related element for the second band.

12. In paragraph 9, At least one processor of the above: To the above AP, send an IDC setup request, and Further configured to receive an IDC setup response to the IDC setup request from the AP, The above IDC setup request includes common IDC related elements for multiple TSs associated with the AP, STA, wherein the above common IDC related elements are not applied to the TS to which the above IDC related elements are applied.

13. In the AP (access point) of a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, transceiver; and At least one processor connected to the transceiver, At least one processor of the above: Receive an ADDTS (add traffic stream) request frame containing an IDC (in-device coexistence) related element for a TS (traffic stream) from an STA (station), Based on the above IDC related elements, determine whether to set up a QoS (quality of service) flow for the TS, and The STA is configured to transmit an ADDTS response frame to notify whether the IDC-related element is applied to the TS in response to the ADDTS request frame including the IDC-related element. The above IDC related element includes at least one field containing information about an IDC event.

14. In paragraph 13, The status code field included in the above ADDTS response frame indicates one of SUCCESS, REJECT, or SUCCESS_WITHOUT_IDC, If the above status code field indicates SUCCESS, traffic for the TS is transmitted or received considering the IDC related elements, If the above status code field indicates REJECT, the above TS is not set, If the above status code field indicates SUCCESS_WITHOUT_IDC, traffic for the above TS is transmitted or received without considering the IDC related elements.

15. In paragraph 13, The above ADDTS request frame further includes a multi-band element, The above multi-band related element is an AP that includes information about a TSF (timing synchronization function) offset between a first band through which the ADDTS request frame is transmitted and a second band in which an IDC exists, and an IDC related element for the second band.

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