Transmission / reception of response frame in dynamic power saving operation in wireless LAN system

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to transmission / reception of a response frame in a dynamic power saving operation in a wireless LAN system. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed by a first STA configured to operate in a wireless LAN system may comprise the steps of: activating a dynamic power saving (DPS) mode; receiving an initiating frame from a second STA in a listening state of the DPS mode; switching from the listening state to a frame exchange state on the basis of receiving the initiating frame; after switching to the frame exchange state, transmitting a multi-STA block acknowledgement (BA) frame to the second STA as a response frame to the initiating frame; and receiving data from the second STA in the frame exchange state, wherein the multi-STA BA frame has a BA information field including an information subfield per association identifier (AID) traffic identifier (TID) related to the first STA, and the information subfield per AID TID has an AID TID information subfield set to have a specific value on the basis that the multi-STA BA frame is related to a DPS operation.

Description

Transmission and reception of response frames in dynamic power saving operations in wireless LAN systems

[0001] The present disclosure relates to transmission and reception of response frames in a dynamic power saving operation in a wireless LAN system.

[0002] Next-generation Wi-Fi (e.g., IEEE 802.11be and / or later) aims to support ultra-high reliability when transmitting signals to STAs. To this end, various technologies are being considered to support high throughput, low latency, and extended range. For example, in WLAN systems, both APs and non-AP STAs may operate on batteries, necessitating efficient power-saving techniques.

[0003] The present disclosure provides a method and device for transmitting and receiving a response frame in a dynamic power saving operation in a wireless LAN system.

[0004] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed by a first STA configured to operate in a wireless LAN system includes the steps of: activating a dynamic power saving (DPS) mode; receiving an initiating frame from a second STA in a listening state of the DPS mode; switching from the listening state to the frame exchange state based on receiving the initiating frame; transmitting a multi-STA (multi-STA) block acknowledgment (BA) frame to the second STA as a response frame to the initiating frame after switching to the frame exchange state; and receiving data from the second STA in the frame exchange state, wherein a BA information field of the multi-STA BA frame includes a per AID (association identifier) ​​TID (traffic identifier) ​​information subfield associated with the first STA, and an AID TID information subfield of the per AID TID information subfield is set to a specific value based on that the multi-STA BA frame is associated with a DPS operation.

[0005] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed by a second STA configured to operate in a wireless LAN system comprises the steps of: transmitting a frame for activating a dynamic power saving (DPS) mode of the first STA to the first STA; transmitting an initiating frame to the first STA in a listening state of the DPS mode, wherein a state of the first STA is switched from the listening state to the frame exchange state based on the initiating frame; receiving a multi-STA block acknowledgment (BA) frame as a response frame to the initiating frame from the first STA; And a step of transmitting data to the first STA in a frame exchange state of the first STA, wherein the BA information field of the multi-STA BA frame includes an AID (association identifier) ​​TID (traffic identifier) ​​per AID TID information subfield related to the first STA, and the AID TID information subfield of the AID TID per information subfield is set to a specific value based on whether the multi-STA BA frame is related to a DPS operation.

[0006] In various embodiments, devices for implementing the above-described methods are provided.

[0007] The present disclosure may have various advantageous effects.

[0008] For example, ICR / response frames can be transmitted and received by utilizing multiple STA BA frames for ICF / initiation frames related to DPS operation.

[0009] The beneficial effects that can be achieved through specific embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the beneficial effects listed above. For example, various technical effects may be understood and / or derived from the present disclosure by those skilled in the art. Therefore, the specific effects of the present disclosure are not limited to those explicitly described herein, but may include various effects that can be understood or derived from the technical features of the present disclosure.

[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a transmitting device and / or a receiving device of the present disclosure.

[0011] Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of a wireless local area network (WLAN).

[0012] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating a general link setup process.

[0013] Figure 4 illustrates an embodiment of multi-link (ML).

[0014] FIG. 5 illustrates a modified example of a transmitting device and / or a receiving device of the present disclosure.

[0015] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a PPDU (physical protocol data unit or physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit) transmitted / received by an STA of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 7 shows the operation according to UL-MU.

[0017] Figure 8 shows an example of a header of a MAC frame.

[0018] Figure 9 shows the frame format of the BlockAck frame.

[0019] Figure 10 shows the format of the BA control field.

[0020] Figure 11 shows the format of the BA information field of a multi-STA BlockAck frame.

[0021] Figure 12 shows the format of the AID TID information subfield.

[0022] Figure 13 shows the format of the AID TID specific information subfield when the AID11 subfield is not 2045.

[0023] Figure 14 shows the format of the block Ack start sequence control subfield.

[0024] Figure 15 shows an example of EMLSR operation.

[0025] FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a method performed by a first STA for transmitting a response frame in a fluid power saving operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 17 illustrates an example of a method performed by a second STA for receiving a response frame in a fluid power saving operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 18 illustrates an example of DPS operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 19 illustrates an example of transmission of a multi-STA BA frame utilizing specific values ​​of the AID TID information subfield according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 20 illustrates an example of including DPS information in a multi-STA BA frame by utilizing a specific value of the AID TID information subfield according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 21 illustrates an example of utilizing a BA bitmap subfield using a fragment number subfield according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] FIG. 22 illustrates an example of transmission of a multi-STA BA frame utilizing a specific value of the fragment number subfield according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0032] In this disclosure, “A or B” can mean “only A,” “only B,” or “both A and B.” In other words, “A or B” in this disclosure can be interpreted as “A and / or B.” For example, “A, B or C” in this disclosure can mean “only A,” “only B,” “only C,” or “any combination of A, B, and C.”

[0033] As used herein, a slash ( / ) or a comma can mean "and / or." For example, "A / B" can mean "A and / or B." Accordingly, "A / B" can mean "only A," "only B," or "both A and B." For example, "A, B, C" can mean "A, B, or C."

[0034] In the present disclosure, “at least one of A and B” may mean “only A,” “only B,” or “both A and B.” Additionally, in the present disclosure, the expressions “at least one of A or B” or “at least one of A and / or B” may be interpreted identically to “at least one of A and B.”

[0035] In addition, parentheses used in the present disclosure may mean “for example.” Specifically, when “control information (UHR-Signal field)” is indicated, the “UHR-Signal field” may be suggested as an example of “control information.” In other words, the “control information” of the present disclosure is not limited to the “UHR-Signal field,” and the “UHR-Signal field” may be suggested as an example of “control information.” In addition, even when indicated as “control information (UHR-Signal field),” the “UHR-Signal field” may be suggested as an example of “control information.”

[0036] Additionally, as used herein, “a / an” can mean “at least one” or “one or more.” Additionally, terms ending in “(s)” can mean “at least one” or “one or more.”

[0037] Additionally, the expressions “based on” or “on the basis of” or “according to” used in this disclosure mean “based at least in part on” and do not mean “based solely on.”

[0038] Technical features individually described in one drawing in this disclosure may be implemented individually or simultaneously.

[0039] The following examples of the present disclosure can be applied to various wireless communication systems. For example, the following examples of the present disclosure can be applied to a wireless local area network (WLAN) system. For example, the present disclosure can be applied to the IEEE 802.11a / g / n / ac / ax / be / bn standards. Furthermore, the examples of the present disclosure can be applied to the Ultra High Reliability (UHR) standard or a next-generation wireless LAN standard that enhances IEEE 802.11bn. Furthermore, the examples of the present disclosure can be applied to a mobile communication system. For example, the examples of the present disclosure can be applied to a mobile communication system based on the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard and its evolution based on the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard.

[0040] In order to explain the technical features of the present disclosure, technical features to which the present disclosure can be applied are described below.

[0041] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a transmitting device and / or a receiving device of the present disclosure.

[0042] An example of FIG. 1 can perform various technical features described below. FIG. 1 relates to at least one STA (station). For example, the STA (110, 120) of the present disclosure may also be referred to by various names such as a mobile terminal, a wireless device, a Wireless Transmit / Receive Unit (WTRU), a User Equipment (UE), a Mobile Station (MS), a Mobile Subscriber Unit, or simply a user. The STA (110, 120) of the present disclosure may also be referred to by various names such as a network, a base station, a Node-B, an access point (AP), a repeater, a router, a relay, etc. The STA (110, 120) of the present disclosure may also be referred to by various names such as a receiving apparatus, a transmitting apparatus, a receiving STA, a transmitting STA, a receiving device, a transmitting device, etc.

[0043] For example, STA (110, 120) may perform the role of an AP (access point) or a non-AP role. That is, STA (110, 120) of the present disclosure may perform the functions of an AP and / or a non-AP. In the present disclosure, an AP may also be indicated as an AP STA.

[0044] The STA (110, 120) of the present disclosure can support various communication standards other than the IEEE 802.11 standard. For example, it can support communication standards according to the 3GPP standard (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR standard). In addition, the STA of the present disclosure can be implemented in various devices such as a mobile phone, a vehicle, a personal computer, etc. In addition, the STA of the present disclosure can support communication for various communication services such as voice calls, video calls, data communications, and autonomous driving (Self-Driving, Autonomous-Driving).

[0045] In the present disclosure, STA (110, 120) may include a medium access control (MAC) and a physical layer interface for a wireless medium that follow the provisions of the IEEE 802.11 standard.

[0046] Based on the sub-drawing (a) of Fig. 1, STA (110, 120) is described as follows.

[0047] The first STA (110) may include a processor (111), a memory (112), and a transceiver (113). The illustrated processor, memory, and transceiver may each be implemented as separate chips, or at least two blocks / functions may be implemented through a single chip.

[0048] The transceiver (113) of the first STA performs signal transmission and reception operations. Specifically, it can transmit and receive IEEE 802.11 packets (e.g., IEEE 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax / be, etc.).

[0049] For example, the first STA (110) can perform the intended operation of the AP. For example, the processor (111) of the AP can receive a signal through the transceiver (113), process the received signal, generate a transmission signal, and perform control for signal transmission. The memory (112) of the AP can store a signal received through the transceiver (113) (i.e., a reception signal) and store a signal to be transmitted through the transceiver (i.e., a transmission signal).

[0050] For example, the second STA (120) can perform the intended operation of a non-AP STA. For example, the transceiver (123) of the non-AP performs signal transmission and reception operations. Specifically, it can transmit and receive IEEE 802.11 packets (e.g., IEEE 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax / be, etc.).

[0051] For example, the processor (121) of the Non-AP STA can receive a signal through the transceiver (123), process the received signal, generate a transmission signal, and perform control for signal transmission. The memory (122) of the Non-AP STA can store a signal received through the transceiver (123) (i.e., a reception signal) and store a signal to be transmitted through the transceiver (i.e., a transmission signal).

[0052] For example, in the specification below, the operation of a device indicated as AP may be performed in the first STA (110) or the second STA (120). For example, if the first STA (110) is an AP, the operation of the device indicated as AP may be controlled by the processor (111) of the first STA (110), and a related signal may be transmitted or received through a transceiver (113) controlled by the processor (111) of the first STA (110). In addition, control information related to the operation of the AP or a transmission / reception signal of the AP may be stored in the memory (112) of the first STA (110). In addition, when the second STA (110) is an AP, the operation of the device indicated as an AP is controlled by the processor (121) of the second STA (120), and a related signal can be transmitted or received through a transceiver (123) controlled by the processor (121) of the second STA (120). In addition, control information related to the operation of the AP or the transmission / reception signal of the AP can be stored in the memory (122) of the second STA (110).

[0053] For example, in the specification below, the operation of a device indicated as a non-AP (or User-STA) may be performed in the STA (110) or the second STA (120). For example, if the second STA (120) is a non-AP, the operation of the device indicated as a non-AP may be controlled by the processor (121) of the second STA (120), and a related signal may be transmitted or received through a transceiver (123) controlled by the processor (121) of the second STA (120). In addition, control information related to the operation of the non-AP or the transmission / reception signal of the AP may be stored in the memory (122) of the second STA (120). For example, if the first STA (110) is a non-AP, the operation of a device indicated as a non-AP is controlled by the processor (111) of the first STA (110), and a related signal may be transmitted or received through a transceiver (113) controlled by the processor (111) of the first STA (120). In addition, control information related to the operation of the non-AP or the transmission / reception signal of the AP may be stored in the memory (112) of the first STA (110).

[0054] In the following specification, devices called (transmitting / receiving) STA, first STA, second STA, STA1, STA2, AP, first AP, second AP, AP1, AP2, (transmitting / receiving) Terminal, (transmitting / receiving) device, (transmitting / receiving) apparatus, network, etc. may refer to the STA (110, 120) of FIG. 1. For example, devices indicated as (transmitting / receiving) STA, first STA, second STA, STA1, STA2, AP, first AP, second AP, AP1, AP2, (transmitting / receiving) Terminal, (transmitting / receiving) device, (transmitting / receiving) apparatus, network, etc. without specific drawing symbols may also refer to the STA (110, 120) of FIG. 1. For example, in the example below, the operation of various STAs transmitting and receiving signals (e.g., PPPDU) may be performed by the transceiver (113, 123) of FIG. 1. In addition, in the example below, the operation of various STAs generating transmission and reception signals or performing data processing or calculations in advance for transmission and reception signals may be performed by the processor (111, 121) of FIG. 1.For example, an example of an operation for generating a transmission / reception signal or performing data processing or operation in advance for a transmission / reception signal may include 1) an operation for determining / obtaining / configuring / computing / decoding / encoding bit information of a subfield (SIG, STF, LTF, Data) field included in a PPDU, 2) an operation for determining / configuring / obtaining time resources or frequency resources (e.g., subcarrier resources) used for a subfield (SIG, STF, LTF, Data) field included in a PPDU, 3) an operation for determining / configuring / obtaining a specific sequence (e.g., a pilot sequence, an STF / LTF sequence, an extra sequence applied to SIG) used for a subfield (SIG, STF, LTF, Data) field included in a PPDU, 4) a power control operation and / or a power saving operation applied to an STA, 5) an operation related to determining / obtaining / configuring / computing / decoding / encoding an ACK signal, etc. Additionally, in the examples below, various information (e.g., information related to fields / subfields / control fields / parameters / power, etc.) used by various STAs for determining / acquiring / configuring / computing / decoding / encoding transmission / reception signals can be stored in the memory (112, 122) of FIG. 1.

[0055] The device / STA of the sub-drawing (a) of FIG. 1 described above can be modified as in the sub-drawing (b) of FIG. 1. Hereinafter, the STA (110, 120) of the present disclosure will be described based on the sub-drawing (b) of FIG. 1.

[0056] For example, the transceiver (113, 123) illustrated in sub-drawing (b) of FIG. 1 may perform the same function as the transceiver illustrated in sub-drawing (a) of FIG. 1 described above. For example, the processing chip (114, 124) illustrated in sub-drawing (b) of FIG. 1 may include a processor (111, 121) and a memory (112, 122). The processor (111, 121) and the memory (112, 122) illustrated in sub-drawing (b) of FIG. 1 may perform the same function as the processor (111, 121) and the memory (112, 122) illustrated in sub-drawing (a) of FIG. 1 described above.

[0057] The mobile terminal, wireless device, Wireless Transmit / Receive Unit (WTRU), User Equipment (UE), Mobile Station (MS), Mobile Subscriber Unit, user, user STA, network, Base Station, Node-B, Access Point (AP), repeater, router, relay, receiving device, transmitting device, receiving STA, transmitting STA, receiving Device, transmitting Device, receiving Apparatus, and / or transmitting Apparatus described below may refer to the STA (110, 120) illustrated in the sub-drawings (a) / (b) of FIG. 1, or may refer to the processing chip (114, 124) illustrated in the sub-drawing (b) of FIG. 1. That is, the technical feature of the present disclosure may be performed in the STA (110, 120) illustrated in the sub-drawings (a) / (b) of FIG. 1, or may be performed only in the processing chip (114, 124) illustrated in the sub-drawings (b) of FIG. 1. For example, the technical feature that the transmitting STA transmits a control signal may be understood as a technical feature that the control signal generated in the processor (111, 121) illustrated in the sub-drawings (a) / (b) of FIG. 1 is transmitted through the transceiver (113, 123) illustrated in the sub-drawings (a) / (b) of FIG. 1. Alternatively, the technical feature that the transmitting STA transmits a control signal may be understood as a technical feature that the control signal to be transmitted to the transceiver (113, 123) is generated in the processing chip (114, 124) illustrated in the sub-drawings (b) of FIG. 1.

[0058] For example, the technical feature of a receiving STA receiving a control signal can be understood as a technical feature of a control signal being received by a transceiver (113, 123) illustrated in sub-drawing (a) of FIG. 1. Alternatively, the technical feature of a receiving STA receiving a control signal can be understood as a technical feature of a control signal received by a transceiver (113, 123) illustrated in sub-drawing (a) of FIG. 1 being acquired by a processor (111, 121) illustrated in sub-drawing (a) of FIG. 1. Alternatively, the technical feature of a receiving STA receiving a control signal can be understood as a technical feature of a control signal received by a transceiver (113, 123) illustrated in sub-drawing (b) of FIG. 1 being acquired by a processing chip (114, 124) illustrated in sub-drawing (b) of FIG.

[0059] Referring to the sub-drawing (b) of FIG. 1, software code (115, 125) may be included in the memory (112, 122). The software code (115, 125) may include instructions that control the operation of the processor (111, 121). The software code (115, 125) may be included in various programming languages.

[0060] The processor (111, 121) or processing chip (114, 124) illustrated in FIG. 1 may include an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), another chipset, a logic circuit, and / or a data processing device. The processor may be an application processor (AP). For example, the processor (111, 121) or processing chip (114, 124) illustrated in FIG. 1 may include at least one of a digital signal processor (DSP), a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), and a modem (modulator and demodulator). For example, the processor (111, 121) or processing chip (114, 124) illustrated in FIG. 1 may be a SNAPDRAGON® series processor manufactured by Qualcomm®, an EXYNOS® series processor manufactured by Samsung®, an A series processor manufactured by Apple®, a HELIO® series processor manufactured by MediaTek®, an ATOM® series processor manufactured by INTEL®, or an enhanced processor thereof.

[0061] In the present disclosure, uplink may mean a link for communication from a non-AP STA to an AP STA, and uplink PPDU / packet / signal, etc. may be transmitted through the uplink. In addition, in the present disclosure, downlink may mean a link for communication from an AP STA to a non-AP STA, and downlink PPDU / packet / signal, etc. may be transmitted through the downlink.

[0062] Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of a wireless local area network (WLAN).

[0063] The upper part of Figure 2 shows the structure of the infrastructure BSS (basic service set) of IEEE (institute of electrical and electronic engineers) 802.11.

[0064] Referring to the top of FIG. 2, the wireless LAN system may include one or more infrastructure BSSs (200, 205) (hereinafter, BSS). The BSSs (200, 205) are a collection of APs and STAs, such as an access point (AP) 225 and a station (STA1, 200-1), that have successfully synchronized and can communicate with each other, and are not a concept that designates a specific area. The BSS (205) may also include one or more STAs (205-1, 205-2) that can be associated with one AP (230).

[0065] A BSS may include at least one STA, an AP (225, 230) providing a distribution service, and a distribution system (DS, 210) connecting multiple APs.

[0066] A distributed system (210) can connect multiple BSSs (200, 205) to implement an extended service set (ESS, 240). An ESS (240) can be used as a term to indicate a network formed by connecting one or more APs through the distributed system (210). APs included in a single ESS (240) can have the same SSID (service set identification).

[0067] The portal (portal, 220) can act as a bridge to connect a wireless LAN network (IEEE 802.11) to another network (e.g., 802.X).

[0068] In a BSS such as the upper part of Fig. 2, a network between APs (225, 230) and a network between APs (225, 230) and STAs (200-1, 205-1, 205-2) can be implemented. However, it may also be possible to establish a network and perform communication between STAs without an AP (225, 230). A network that establishes a network and performs communication between STAs without an AP (225, 230) is defined as an ad-hoc network or an independent basic service set (IBSS).

[0069] The bottom of Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram showing IBSS.

[0070] Referring to the bottom of Fig. 2, the IBSS is a BSS that operates in ad-hoc mode. Since the IBSS does not include an AP, there is no centralized management entity. That is, in the IBSS, the STAs (250-1, 250-2, 250-3, 255-4, 255-5) are managed in a distributed manner. In the IBSS, all STAs (250-1, 250-2, 250-3, 255-4, 255-5) can be mobile STAs, and access to the distributed system is not permitted, forming a self-contained network.

[0071] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating a general link setup process.

[0072] In step S310, the STA may perform a network discovery operation. This network discovery operation may include scanning by the STA. That is, for the STA to access the network, it must find a network it can join. Before joining a wireless network, the STA must identify compatible networks. The process of identifying networks in a specific area is called scanning. Scanning methods include active scanning and passive scanning.

[0073] 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 which APs exist in the vicinity while moving between channels and waits for a response. A responder transmits a probe response frame to the STA that transmitted the probe request frame in response to 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 a BSS, the AP transmits the beacon frame, so the AP becomes the responder. In an IBSS, the STAs within the IBSS take turns transmitting beacon frames, so the responder is not constant. 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.

[0074] Although not shown in the example of FIG. 3, the scanning operation can also be performed in a passive scanning manner. An STA performing scanning based on passive scanning can wait for a beacon frame while moving between channels. A beacon frame is one of the management frames in IEEE 802.11. It announces the presence of a wireless network and is periodically transmitted so that the scanning STA can find the wireless network and participate in the wireless network. In the BSS, the AP periodically transmits the beacon frame, and in the IBSS, the STAs within the IBSS take turns transmitting the beacon frame. When the scanning STA 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. An STA that receives a beacon frame can store the BSS-related information included in the received beacon frame, move to the next channel, and perform scanning on the next channel in the same manner.

[0075] An STA that discovers a network can perform an authentication process through step S320. This authentication process may be referred to as the first authentication process to clearly distinguish it from the security setup operation of step S340 described below. The authentication process of S320 may include a process in which the STA transmits an authentication request frame to the AP, and the AP responds by transmitting an authentication response frame to the STA. The authentication frame used for the authentication request / response corresponds to a management frame.

[0076] 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.

[0077] 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.

[0078] A successfully authenticated STA may perform an association process based on step S330. The association process includes a process in which the STA transmits an association request frame to the AP, and the AP transmits an association response frame to the STA in response. For example, the association request frame may include information related to various capabilities, such as a beacon listen interval, a service set identifier (SSID), supported rates, supported channels, RSN, mobility domain, supported operating classes, a Traffic Indication Map Broadcast request, and interworking service capabilities. For example, the association response frame may contain information related to various capabilities, status codes, Association ID (AID), supported rates, Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) parameter sets, Received Channel Power Indicator (RCPI), Received Signal to Noise Indicator (RSNI), mobility domains, timeout interval (association comeback time), overlapping BSS scan parameters, TIM broadcast response, QoS maps, etc.

[0079] In step S340, the STA may perform a security setup process. The security setup process of step S340 may include, for example, a process of setting up a private key through a four-way handshaking using an Extensible Authentication Protocol over LAN (EAPOL) frame.

[0080] Figure 4 illustrates an example of multi-link (ML).

[0081] As illustrated in FIG. 4, multiple multi-link devices (MLDs) can communicate over a remote link. The MLDs can be categorized into AP MLDs including multiple AP STAs and non-AP MLDs including multiple non-AP STAs. That is, the AP MLD can include affiliated APs (i.e., AP STAs), and the non-AP MLD can include affiliated STAs (i.e., non-AP STAs, or user-STAs).

[0082] A multilink may include a first link and a second link, and different channels / subchannels / frequency resources may be allocated to the first and second links. The first and second multilinks may be identified through a link ID of 4 bits (or other n bits). The first and second links may be configured in the same 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, or 6 GHz band. Alternatively, the first link and the second link may be configured in different bands.

[0083] The AP MLD of FIG. 4 includes three affiliated APs. In the example of FIG. 4, AP1 may operate in the 2.4 GHz band, AP2 may operate in the 5 GHz band, and AP3 may operate in the 6 GHz band. In the example of FIG. 4, the first link in which AP1 and non-AP1 operate may be defined as a channel / subchannel / frequency resource within the 2.4 GHz band. Furthermore, in the example of FIG. 4, the second link in which AP2 and non-AP2 operate may be defined as a channel / subchannel / frequency resource within the 5 GHz band. Furthermore, in the example of FIG. 4, the third link in which AP3 and non-AP3 operate may be defined as a channel / subchannel / frequency resource within the 6 GHz band.

[0084] In the example of FIG. 4, AP1 may initiate a multi-link setup procedure (ML setup procedure) by transmitting an Association Request frame to non-AP STA1. In the example of FIG. 4, non-AP STA1 may transmit an Association Response frame in response to the Association Request frame. Each AP (e.g., AP1 / 2 / 3) illustrated in FIG. 4 may be identical to the AP illustrated in FIG. 1 and / or FIG. 2, and each non-AP (e.g., non-AP1 / 2 / 3) illustrated in FIG. 4 may be identical to the STA (i.e., user-STA or non-AP STA) illustrated in FIG. 1 and / or FIG. 2.

[0085] The specific features of the present disclosure are not limited to the specific features of FIG. 4. That is, the number of links can be defined in various ways, and multiple links can be defined in various ways within at least one band.

[0086] FIG. 5 illustrates a modified example of a transmitting device and / or a receiving device of the present disclosure.

[0087] The devices (e.g., AP STA, non-AP STA) illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4 may be modified as illustrated in FIG. 5. The transceiver (530) of FIG. 5 may be identical to the transceivers (113, 123) of FIG. 1. The transceiver (530) of FIG. 5 may include a receiver and a transmitter.

[0088] The processor (510) of FIG. 5 may be identical to the processor (111, 121) of FIG. 1. Alternatively, the processor (510) of FIG. 5 may be identical to the processing chip (114, 124) of FIG. 1.

[0089] The memory (150) of FIG. 5 may be the same as the memory (112, 122) of FIG. 1. Alternatively, the memory (150) of FIG. 5 may be a separate external memory different from the memory (112, 122) of FIG. 1.

[0090] Referring to FIG. 5, a power management module (511) manages power to a processor (510) and / or a transceiver (530). A battery (512) supplies power to the power management module (511). A display (513) outputs results processed by the processor (510). A keypad (514) receives input to be used by the processor (510). The keypad (514) may be displayed on the display (513). A SIM card (515) may be an integrated circuit used to securely store an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) and an associated key used to identify and authenticate a subscriber in a mobile phone device, such as a mobile phone or computer.

[0091] Referring to FIG. 5, the speaker (540) can output sound-related results processed by the processor (510). The microphone (541) can receive sound-related input to be used by the processor (510).

[0092] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a PPDU (physical protocol data unit or physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit) transmitted / received by an STA of the present disclosure.

[0093] The STA (e.g., AP STA, non-AP STA, AP MLD, non-AP MLD) of the present disclosure can transmit and / or receive the PPDU of FIG. 6. The PPDU described in the present disclosure may have, for example, the structure of FIG. 6. In addition, the PPDU described in the present disclosure may be called by various names such as a transmission PPDU, a reception PPDU, a first type PPDU, or an Nth type PPDU, etc. The PPDU described in the present disclosure can be used in a WLAN system defined according to IEEE 802.11bn and / or a next-generation WLAN system that improves upon IEEE 802.11bn.

[0094] The PPDU of FIG. 6 may be related to various PPDU types used in a UHR system. For example, the example of FIG. 6 may be used for at least one of a single-user (SU) mode / type / transmission, a multi-user (MU) mode / type / transmission, and a null data packet (NDP) mode / type / transmission related to channel sounding. For example, if the example of FIG. 6 is related to NDP, the Data field illustrated may be omitted. If the PPDU of FIG. 6 is used for a trigger-based (TB) mode, the UHR-SIG of FIG. 6 may be omitted. In other words, an STA that has received a trigger frame for UL-MU (Uplink-MU) communication may transmit a PPDU with the UHR-SIG omitted in the example of FIG. 6.

[0095] In FIG. 6, L-STF or UHR-LTF may be called a preamble or physical preamble, and may be generated / transmitted / received / acquired / decoded in the physical layer (included in the transmitting / receiving STA).

[0096] Each block illustrated in Fig. 6 may be called a field / subfield / signal, etc. The names of these fields / subfields / signals may be, as illustrated in Fig. 6, L-STF (legacy short training field), L-LTF (legacy long training field), L-SIG (legacy signal), RL-SIG (repeated L-SIG), U-SIG (Universal Signal), UHR-SIG (UHR-signal), etc.

[0097] The subcarrier spacing of the L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, RL-SIG, U-SIG, and UHR-SIG fields in FIG. 6 may be set to 312.5 kHz, and the subcarrier spacing of the UHR-STF, UHR-LTF, and Data fields may be set to 78.125 kHz. That is, the tone index (or subcarrier index) of the L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, RL-SIG, U-SIG, and UHR-SIG fields may be expressed in units of 312.5 kHz, and the tone index (or subcarrier index) of the UHR-STF, UHR-LTF, and Data fields may be expressed in units of 78.125 kHz.

[0098] In the PPDU of Fig. 6, L-LTF and L-STF may be identical to conventional fields (e.g., non-HT LTF and non-HT STF defined in conventional WLAN standards).

[0099] The L-SIG field of FIG. 6 may include, for example, 24 bits of bit information. For example, the 24 bits of information may include a 4 bit Rate field, a 1 bit Reserved bit, a 12 bit Length field, a 1 bit Parity bit, and a 6 bit Tail bit. For example, the 12 bit Length field may include information about the length or time duration of the PPDU. For example, the value of the 12 bit Length field may be determined based on the type of the PPDU. For example, if the PPDU is a non-HT (non-High Throughput), HT (High Throughput), VHT (Very High Throughput) PPDU, or an EHT (extremely high throughput) PPDU or UHR PPDU, the value of the Length field may be determined as a multiple of 3. For example, if the PPDU is a HE PPDU, the value of the Length field may be determined as "a multiple of 3 + 1" or "a multiple of 3 + 2". In other words, for non-HT, HT, VHT PPDU, EHT PPDU, UHR PPDU, the value of the Length field can be determined as a multiple of 3, and for HE (High-Efficiency) PPDU, the value of the Length field can be determined as "a multiple of 3 + 1" or "a multiple of 3 + 2". In other words, the Length field in an UHR PPDU is set to a value satisfying the condition that the remainder is zero when LENGTH is divided by 3.

[0100] For example, (non-AP and AP) STAs can apply BCC encoding based on a code rate of 1 / 2 to the 24 bits of information in the L-SIG field. Then, the transmitting STA can obtain 48 BCC coded bits. BPSK modulation can be applied to the 48 coded bits to generate 48 BPSK symbols. The transmitting STA can map the 48 BPSK symbols to positions excluding the pilot subcarriers {subcarrier index -21, -7, +7, +21} and the DC subcarrier {subcarrier index 0}. As a result, the 48 BPSK symbols can be mapped to subcarrier indices -26 to -22, -20 to -8, -6 to -1, +1 to +6, +8 to +20, and +22 to +26. The transmitting STA can additionally map the signal {-1, -1, -1, 1} to the subcarrier indices {-28, -27, +27, +28}. The above signal can be used for channel estimation for the frequency domain corresponding to {-28, -27, +27, +28}.

[0101] For example, (non-AP and AP) STA can generate RL-SIG, which is generated in the same manner as L-SIG. BPSK modulation can be applied to RL-SIG. Receiving (non-AP and AP) STA can determine whether the received PPDU is a HE PPDU, EHT PPDU, or UHR PPDU based on the presence of RL-SIG. In other words, if RL-SIG is present, receiving (non-AP and AP) STA can determine whether the received PPDU is one of HE PPDU, EHT PPDU, or UHR PPDU. In other words, if RL-SIG is not present, receiving (non-AP and AP) STA can determine whether the received PPDU is one of non-HT PPDU, HT PPDU, or VHT PPDU. In other words, the RL-SIG field is a repeat of the L-SIG field and is used to differentiate an UHR PPDU from a non-HT PPDU, HT PPDU, and VHT PPDU.

[0102] After the RL-SIG in Fig. 6, a U-SIG (Universal SIG) may be inserted. The U-SIG may be called by various names such as the first SIG field, the first SIG, the first type SIG, the control signal, the control signal field, the first (type) control signal, the common control field, and the common control signal.

[0103] A U-SIG can contain N bits of information and can include information for identifying the type of EHT PPDU. For example, a U-SIG can be formed based on two symbols (e.g., two consecutive OFDM symbols). Each symbol (e.g., an OFDM symbol) for a U-SIG can have a duration of 4 microseconds. Each symbol of a U-SIG can be used to transmit 26 bits of information. For example, each symbol of a U-SIG can be transmitted and received based on 52 data tones and 4 pilot tones.

[0104] For example, A bit information (e.g., 52 uncoded bits) can be transmitted through U-SIG, and the first symbol of U-SIG can transmit the first X bits of information (e.g., 26 uncoded bits) out of the total A bit information, and the second symbol of U-SIG can transmit the remaining Y bits of information (e.g., 26 uncoded bits) out of the total A bit information. For example, the transmitting STA can obtain 26 uncoded bits included in each U-SIG symbol. The transmitting STA can perform convolutional encoding (i.e., BCC encoding) based on a rate of R=1 / 2 to generate 52 coded bits, and perform interleaving on the 52 coded bits. The transmitting STA can perform BPSK modulation on the interleaved 52 coded bits to generate 52 BPSK symbols allocated to each U-SIG symbol. A single U-SIG symbol can be transmitted based on 56 tones (subcarriers) from subcarrier index -28 to subcarrier index +28, excluding DC index 0. The 52 BPSK symbols generated by the transmitting STA can be transmitted based on the remaining tones (subcarriers) excluding the pilot tones -21, -7, +7, and +21.

[0105] For example, A bit information (e.g., 52 uncoded bits) transmitted by U-SIG may include a CRC field (e.g., a 4-bit long field) and a tail field (e.g., a 6-bit long field). The CRC field and the tail field may be transmitted through the second symbol of the U-SIG. The CRC field may be generated based on 26 bits allocated to the first symbol of the U-SIG and the remaining 16 bits excluding the CRC / tail field within the second symbol, and may be generated based on a conventional CRC calculation algorithm. In addition, the tail field may be used to terminate the trellis of the convolutional decoder and may be set to, for example, "000000".

[0106] The A bit information (e.g., 52 uncoded bits) transmitted by the U-SIG (or U-SIG field) can be divided into version-independent bits and version-dependent bits. For example, the size of the version-independent bits can be fixed or variable. For example, the version-independent bits can be assigned only to the first symbol of the U-SIG, or the version-independent bits can be assigned to both the first symbol and the second symbol of the U-SIG. For example, the version-independent bits and the version-dependent bits can be called by various names, such as the first control bit and the second control bit.

[0107] For example, the version-independent bits of the U-SIG may include a 3-bit PHY version identifier. For example, the 3-bit PHY version identifier may include information related to the PHY version of the transmitted and received PPDU. For example, a first value (e.g., a value of 000) of the 3-bit PHY version identifier may indicate that the transmitted and received PPDU is an EHT PPDU. In addition, a second value (e.g., a value of 001) of the 3-bit PHY version identifier may indicate that the transmitted and received PPDU is an UHR PPDU.

[0108] In other words, when the (AP / non-AP) STA transmits an EHT PPDU, it can set the 3-bit PHY version identifier to the first value. In other words, the receiving (AP / non-AP) STA can determine that the received PPDU is an EHT PPDU based on the PHY version identifier having the first value, and can determine that the received PPDU is an UHR PPDU based on the PHY version identifier having the second value.

[0109] For example, the version-independent bits of U-SIG may include a 1-bit UL / DL flag field. The first value of the 1-bit UL / DL flag field relates to UL communication, and the second value of the UL / DL flag field relates to DL communication.

[0110] For example, the version-independent bits of U-SIG may include information about the length of a transmission opportunity (TXOP) and information about the BSS color ID.

[0111] For example, if a UHR PPDU is classified into various types (e.g., a type related to SU transmission (performed based on UL or DL), a type related to DL transmission, a type related to NDP transmission, a type related to DL non-MU-MIMO, a type related to DL MU-MIMO, a type related to Multi-AP operation, a type related to CO-BF (Coordinated beamforming), SR (Spatial Reuse), a type related to C-OFDMA (Coordinated OFDMA), a type related to CO-TDMA (Coordinated TDMA)), information about the type of the EHT PPDU (e.g., 2-bit or 3-bit information) can be included in the version-dependent bits of the U-SIG.

[0112] For example, a U-SIG may include information about 1) a bandwidth field including information about a bandwidth, 2) a field including information about a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) technique applied to the UHR-SIG, 3) an indication field including information about whether a dual subcarrier modulation (DCM) technique is applied to the UHR-SIG, 4) a field including information about the number of symbols used for the UHR-SIG, 5) a field including information about whether the UHR-SIG is generated over the entire band, 6) a field including information about the type of UHR-LTF / STF, and 7) a field indicating the length of the UHR-LTF and the CP length.

[0113] Preamble puncturing may be applied to the PPDU of FIG. 6. Preamble puncturing refers to applying puncturing to a portion of the entire bandwidth of the PPDU (e.g., the secondary 20 MHz band). For example, when an 80 MHz PPDU is transmitted, the STA may apply puncturing to the secondary 20 MHz band within the 80 MHz band, and transmit the PPDU only through the primary 20 MHz band and the secondary 40 MHz band.

[0114] For example, the pattern of preamble puncturing can be preset. For example, when the first puncturing pattern is applied, puncturing can be applied only to the secondary 20 MHz band within the 80 MHz band. For example, when the second puncturing pattern is applied, puncturing can be applied only to one of the two secondary 20 MHz bands included in the secondary 40 MHz band within the 80 MHz band. For example, when the third puncturing pattern is applied, puncturing can be applied only to the secondary 20 MHz band included in the primary 80 MHz band within the 160 MHz band (or 80+80 MHz band). For example, when the fourth puncturing pattern is applied, a primary 40 MHz band included in the primary 80 MHz band within the 160 MHz band (or 80+80 MHz band) may be present, and puncturing may be applied to at least one 20 MHz channel that does not belong to the primary 40 MHz band.

[0115] Information regarding preamble puncturing applied to the PPDU may be included in the U-SIG and / or UHR-SIG. For example, the first field of the U-SIG may include information regarding the contiguous bandwidth of the PPDU, and the second field of the U-SIG may include information regarding preamble puncturing applied to the PPDU.

[0116] For example, U-SIG and UHR-SIG may include information regarding preamble puncturing based on the following method. If the bandwidth of the PPDU exceeds 80 MHz, the U-SIG may be individually configured in units of 80 MHz. For example, if the bandwidth of the PPDU is 160 MHz, the PPDU may include a first U-SIG for the first 80 MHz band and a second U-SIG for the second 80 MHz band. In this case, the first field of the first U-SIG may include information regarding the 160 MHz bandwidth, and the second field of the first U-SIG may include information regarding preamble puncturing applied to the first 80 MHz band (i.e., information regarding the preamble puncturing pattern). Additionally, the first field of the second U-SIG may include information about a 160 MHz bandwidth, and the second field of the second U-SIG may include information about preamble puncturing applied to the second 80 MHz band (i.e., information about a preamble puncturing pattern). Meanwhile, the UHR-SIG consecutive to the first U-SIG may include information about preamble puncturing applied to the second 80 MHz band (i.e., information about a preamble puncturing pattern), and the UHR-SIG consecutive to the second U-SIG may include information about preamble puncturing applied to the first 80 MHz band (i.e., information about a preamble puncturing pattern).

[0117] Additionally or alternatively, U-SIG and UHR-SIG may include information regarding preamble puncturing based on the following methods. U-SIG may include information regarding preamble puncturing for all bands (i.e., information regarding preamble puncturing patterns). That is, UHR-SIG may not include information regarding preamble puncturing, and only U-SIG may include information regarding preamble puncturing (i.e., information regarding preamble puncturing patterns).

[0118] U-SIGs can be configured in 20 MHz units. For example, if an 80 MHz PPDU is configured, U-SIGs can be duplicated. That is, four identical U-SIGs can be included within an 80 MHz PPDU. PPDUs exceeding the 80 MHz bandwidth can contain different U-SIGs.

[0119] The UHR-SIG of FIG. 6 may include control information for a receiving STA. The UHR-SIG may be transmitted via at least one symbol, and each symbol may have a length of 4 us. Information regarding the number of symbols used for the UHR-SIG may be included in the U-SIG.

[0120] UHR-SIG provides additional signals to the U-SIG field to enable STAs to interpret / decode UHR PPDUs. The UHR-SIG field may contain U-SIG overflow bits that are common to all users. The UHR-SIG field also contains resource allocation information, allowing STAs to look up resources used in fields containing data fields / UHR-STF / UHR-LTF (i.e., UHR modulated fields of an UHR PPDU).

[0121] The frequency resources of the UHR-LTF, UHR-STF, and data fields illustrated in FIG. 6 can be determined based on RUs (resource units) defined by multiple subcarriers / tones. That is, the UHR-LTF, UHR-STF, and data fields of the present disclosure can be transmitted / received through RUs (resource units) defined by multiple subcarriers / tones.

[0122] Figure 7 illustrates an operation according to UL-MU. As illustrated, a transmitting STA (e.g., AP) can acquire a TXOP (725) by performing channel access through contending (i.e., backoff operation) and transmit a trigger frame (730). That is, the transmitting STA (e.g., AP) can transmit a PPDU including a trigger frame (730). When a PPDU including a trigger frame is received, a TB (trigger-based) PPDU is transmitted after a delay of SIFS.

[0123] TB PPDUs (741, 742) are transmitted at the same time and can be transmitted from multiple STAs (e.g., User STAs) whose AIDs are indicated in the Trigger frame (730). The ACK frame (750) for the TB PPDU can be implemented in various forms. For example, the ACK frame (750) for the TB PPDU can be implemented in the form of a BA (block ACK).

[0124] In FIG. 7, transmission(s) of a Trigger Frame (730), a TB PPDU (741, 742) and / or an ACK frame (750) may be performed within a TXOP (725).

[0125] Below, the structure and types / subtypes of MAC frames are described.

[0126] Fig. 8 illustrates an example of a header of a MAC frame. As illustrated, the MAC frame may include a frame control field / information of 2 octets in length, a duration field / information of 2 octets in length, a RA (Receiver Address) field / information of 6 octets in length, and a TA (Transmitter Address) field / information of 6 octets in length. As illustrated in Fig. 8, the four fields may be consecutive to each other. The MAC header of Fig. 8 may be modified in various ways, and a new field may be inserted between the four illustrated fields, or at least one of the illustrated fields may be omitted.

[0127] The MAC header illustrated in Fig. 8 may be positioned at the very front of the MAC frame. That is, the MAC frame may include a MAC header as illustrated in Fig. 8 and MAC body fields / information subsequent to the MAC header. The MAC frame including the MAC header of Fig. 8 is inserted / included in the data field of the PPDU (e.g., UHR PPDU) illustrated in Fig. 5.

[0128] The MAC frames included in the data field of the PPDU of the present disclosure can be classified into various types. For example, the MAC frames of the present disclosure can be classified into a control frame, a management frame, and a data frame.

[0129] For example, the management frame includes Association Request, Association Response, Reassociation Request, Reassociation Response, Probe Request, Probe Response, Beacon, Disassociation, Authentication, and Deauthentication frames / signals defined in conventional WLAN. For the management frame, the values ​​of the type fields (B3 and B2) in FIG. 8 are set to 00. In addition, the values ​​of the subtype fields (B7, B6, B5, B4) in FIG. 8 are as follows: Association Request (0000), Association Response (0001), Reassociation Request (0010), Reassociation Response (0011), Probe Request (0100), Probe Response (0101), Beacon (1000), Disassociation (1010), Authentication (1011), Deauthentication (1100).

[0130] For example, the control frame includes Trigger Beamforming Report Poll, NDP Announcement (NDPA), Control Frame Extension, Control Wrapper, Block Ack Request (BlockAckReq), Block Ack (BlockAck), PS-Poll, RTS, CTS, Ack, and CF-End frames / signals defined in conventional WLAN. For the control frame, the values ​​of the type fields (B3 and B2) in FIG. 8 are set to 01. Also, the values ​​of the subtype fields (B7, B6, B5, B4) of FIG. 8 are as follows: Trigger (0010), Beamforming Report Poll (0100), NDP Announcement (0101), Control Frame Extension (0110), Control Wrapper (0111), BlockAckReq (1000), BlockAck (1001), PS-Poll (1010), RTS (1011), CTS (1100), Ack (1101), CF-End (1110).

[0131] For example, the data frame includes (QoS) Data, (QoS) Null, etc. defined in conventional WLAN. For the management frame, the value of the type field (B3 and B2) of Fig. 8 is set to 10.

[0132] The MAC frame / signal used in the present disclosure can be identified through the type field / information and subtype field / information described above. For example, the “trigger frame” of the present disclosure can mean a MAC frame in which the type bits B3 and B2 bits in the frame control field of the MAC header are set to 01, and the subtype bits B7, B6, B5, and B4 bits in the frame control field are also set to 0010. Various MAC frames described in the present disclosure are inserted / included in the data field of various PPDUs (e.g., HE / VHT / HE / EHT / UHR PPDUs).

[0133] Below, block ACK (acknowledgement) (or block ack) is explained.

[0134] The block ACK mechanism improves channel efficiency by integrating multiple ACKs into a single frame. In this disclosure, an STA with data to transmit using the block ACK mechanism is referred to as an originator, and the recipient of that data is referred to as a receiver.

[0135] The block ACK mechanism is initiated using an ADDBA (add block acknowledgment) request / response frame exchange or an unsolicited block ACK extension mechanism, except for the GLK-GCR block ACK. After initialization, blocks of QoS data frames can be transmitted from the sender to the receiver. A block can be initiated by winning a polled TXOP, SP, or EDCA contention. The number of frames in a block is limited, and the amount of state that the receiver must maintain is limited. The MPDUs within a block of frames are acknowledged by a block ACK (or BlockAck / BA) frame and requested by a block ACK request (or BlockAckReq / BAR) frame. For the GLK-GCR block ACK, the block ACK mechanism is initiated when a GLK STA associates with a GLK AP. The MPDUs within a block of data frames addressed to a SYNRA address are acknowledged by a BlockAck frame, which is requested by a BlockAckReq frame.

[0136] The block ack mechanism does not require TS configuration. However, a QoS STA using the TS feature can indicate its intent to use the block ack mechanism so that the scheduler can consider it when allocating TXOPs. The block ack mechanism is also used in the GCR service. ACKs for frames belonging to the same TID but transmitted over multiple TXOPs / SPs can also be combined into a single BlockAck frame. This mechanism provides the sender with flexibility in transmitting data frames. The sender can segment frame blocks into TXOPs / SPs, separate data transmission from block ACK exchanges, and interleave MPDU blocks that carry some or all of the MSDUs or A-MSDUs for different TIDs or RAs.

[0137] Non-AP S1G STAs can negotiate asymmetric BA with S1G APs. Non-S1G STAs must not send NDP BlockAck frames and must not initiate asymmetric BA. S1G APs with dot11AsymmetricBlockAckActivated set to false do not support asymmetric BA. In an asymmetric BA operation, a responding S1G STA may use a lower MCS to immediately send a BlockAck frame. The intended receiving STA measures the degree of asymmetry between the AP and the STA and implicitly indicates this value to the originating AP during the block ACK setup phase. This asymmetry is expressed as the difference in MCS values ​​between the AP and the STA, referred to as MCSDifference. After an asymmetric BA agreement is established, the originating AP uses CSDifference to calculate the Duration field of the PV0 frame included in the A-MPDU that derives the BlockAck frame.

[0138] An S1G STA that sets the STA Type Support subfield of the transmitted S1G Capabilities element to 0 or 2 must support the HT-immediate block ACK extension. An S1G STA that sets the A-MPDU Support field of the S1G Capabilities element to 1 must support the HT-immediate block ACK extension.

[0139] When connected between MLDs, a block ACK consensus is established between the two MLDs and follows the block ACK procedure rules for multi-link operation. When connected between STAs, a block ACK consensus is established between the two STAs and follows the rules for setting and modifying block ACK parameters.

[0140] After establishing an immediate block ack agreement, accessing the medium, and establishing protection, the sender can transmit A-MPDUs, if necessary. Using the GCR block ack retransmission policy, the RA field of undelivered frames becomes the receiver's private address. The RA field of GCR frames delivered using the GCR block ack retransmission policy is set to the GCR hidden address. The RA field of data frames delivered using the GLK-GCR block ack retransmission policy is set to SYNRA. The sender requests acknowledgment for outstanding QoS data frames by sending a BlockAckReq frame.

[0141] The multi-TID BlockAck variant MUST be used for all BlockAck frames associated with HT-immediate agreements transmitted within a PSMP sequence, and MUST NOT be used otherwise. For non-HE STAs, the multi-TID BlockAckReq variant MUST be used for all BlockAckReq frames associated with HT-immediate agreements transmitted within a PSMP sequence, and MUST NOT be used otherwise. The multi-TID BlockAckReq variant can be used to request multi-STA BlockAck frames for multi-TID A-MPDUs between HE STAs.

[0142] When the compressed BlockAckReq variant is used in conjunction with HT-immediate agreement in a DMG BSS, all BlockAck and BlockAckReq frames transmitted as part of the HT-immediate agreement must use the compressed BlockAck and compressed BlockAckReq variants.

[0143] When the extended compressed BlockAckReq variant is used in conjunction with HT-immediate agreement in a DMG BSS, all BlockAck and BlockAckReq frames transmitted as part of the HT-immediate agreement must use the extended compressed BlockAck and extended compressed BlockAckReq variants.

[0144] The GCR BlockAck and GCR BlockAckReq variants are used for GCR block ack consensus. The GLKGCR BlockAck and GLK-GCR BlockAckReq variants are used for GLK-GCR block ack consensus.

[0145] An S1G receiver of a block ack agreement negotiated and approved by NDP ADDBA must acknowledge the MPDUs within the A-MPDU using NDP BlockAck frames instead of BlockAck frames during HT-immediate block ack agreement.

[0146] An S1G receiver of a block ack agreement negotiated and approved by BAT ADDBA must acknowledge the MPDUs within the A-MPDU using a BAT frame instead of a BlockAck frame during an HT-immediate block ack agreement. Otherwise, an S1G receiver of an approved block ack agreement must not use a BAT frame.

[0147] An S1G receiver of a block ack agreement negotiated and approved by ADDBA must use the BlockAck frame to acknowledge the MPDUs within the A-MPDU during the HT-immediate block ack agreement.

[0148] The S1G receiver of a negotiated and approved block ack agreement for an ADDBA request / NDP ADDBA response or NDP ADDBA request / ADDBA response must use the NDP BlockAck or BlockAck frame, depending on the response frame type generated by the S1G sender. The response types are as follows:

[0149] - NDP BlockAck frame if the RXVECTOR parameter RESPONSE_INDICATION of the derived PPDU containing the BlockAckReq or A-MPDU is equal to the NDP response;

[0150] - BlockAck frame if the RXVECTOR parameter RESPONSE_INDICATION of the derived PPDU containing BlockAckReq or A-MPDU is equal to a normal response;

[0151] - A PPDU containing a BlockAck frame when the RXVECTOR parameter RESPONSE_INDICATION of the induced PPDU is equal to Long Response.

[0152] Figure 9 shows the frame format of the BlockAck frame.

[0153] Referring to FIG. 9, the BlockAck frame may include a frame control field, a duration field, an RA field, a TA field, a BA control field, a BA information field, and / or an FCS field.

[0154] The value of the period field is related to the period of the NAV timer set by the STA whose address of the recipient STA is not the same as its own MAC address.

[0155] The RA field of a BlockAck frame that is not a multi-STA BlockAck variant is set to the TA field of the request frame or the address of the receiving STA whose data frame is being acknowledged.

[0156] The TA field is the address of the STA transmitting the BlockAck frame.

[0157] The format of the BA control field is as shown in Fig. 10.

[0158] Figure 10 shows the format of the BA control field.

[0159] Referring to FIG. 10, the BA control field may include a BA type subfield, a No Memory Kept subfield, a memory configuration tag subfield, a management Ack subfield, and / or a TID_INFO subfield.

[0160] The BA Type subfield of the BA Control field indicates a BlockAck frame variant. The BlockAck frame variant encoding is as shown in Table 1 below:

[0161] BA Type BlockAck Frame Variant 0 Reserved 1 Extended Compressed 2 Compressed 3 Multiple TID 4-5 Reserved 6 GCR 7 EDMG Multiple TID 8 EDMG Compressed 9 Reserved 10 GLK-GCR 11 Multiple STA 12-15 Reserved

[0162] In this disclosure, references to the BlockAck frame without any limitation apply to all BlockAck frame variations unless specific exceptions are specified. The GCR BlockAck frame is used in response to a GCR BlockAckReq frame, and the GLK-GCR BlockAck frame is used in response to a GLK-GCR BlockAckReq frame.

[0163] An EDMG STA sets the No Memory Kept subfield to 1 to indicate that the free memory space indicated in the last RBUFCAP subfield may not be maintained at the start of the next frame exchange sequence. Otherwise, if set to 0, the free memory space indicated in the RBUFCAP subfield is maintained by the receiver for the next frame exchange sequence for that TID. The No Memory Kept subfield is reserved when transmitting from an STA other than the EDMG STA.

[0164] For EDMG STAs, the Memory Settings Tag subfield indicates one of two memory settings indicated in the Memory Settings Tag field of the recipient's EDMG Flow Control Extension Settings element. For other types of STAs, this subfield is reserved.

[0165] The Management Ack subfield is set to 1 to indicate that a frame of type Management and a non-Action No Ack subtype has been acknowledged. This subfield is reserved if the BlockAck variant used is not the EDMG Multi-TID BlockAck variant.

[0166] The meaning of the TID_INFO subfield of the BA Control field depends on the BlockAck frame variant type. The meaning of the BA Information field depends on the BlockAck frame variant type.

[0167] Below, among the BlockAck frame variants, the multi-STA BlockAck frame variant is described.

[0168] Multi-STA BlockAck frames are supported when UL MU or multi-TID A-MPDU operation is supported and acknowledging MPDUs contained in HE TB PPDU or multi-STA multi-TID, multi-STA single TID, or single STA multi-TID A-MPDU.

[0169] A HE AP transmitting a multi-STA BlockAck frame in which the per AID TID information field is addressed to more than one STA sets the RA field to the broadcast address. A HE AP transmitting a multi-STA BlockAck frame in which all per AID TID information fields are addressed to a single receiving STA and is transmitted in response to a HE TB PPDU sets the RA field of the multi-STA BlockAck frame to the receiving STA address or broadcast address. A HE AP transmitting a multi-STA BlockAck frame in which all per AID TID information fields are addressed to a single receiving STA and is not transmitted in response to a HE TB PPDU sets the RA field of the multi-STA BlockAck frame to the receiving STA address.

[0170] A non-AP HE STA sets the RA field to the TA field of the request frame or the address of the receiving STA to which the data or management frame was acknowledged.

[0171] The TID_INFO subfield of the BA control field of a multi-STA BlockAck frame is reserved.

[0172] The BA information field of a multi-STA BlockAck frame may have a format as shown in FIG. 11.

[0173] Figure 11 shows the format of the BA information field of a multi-STA BlockAck frame.

[0174] Referring to FIG. 11, the BA information field of the multi-STA BlockAck frame includes one or more AID TID-specific information subfields. The AID TID-specific information subfield may include an AID TID information subfield, and the AID TID information subfield may have a format as shown in FIG. 12.

[0175] Figure 12 shows the format of the AID TID information subfield.

[0176] Referring to FIG. 12, the AID TID information subfield may include an AID11 subfield, an Ack type subfield, and / or a TID subfield.

[0177] The AID11 subfield conveys the least significant 11 bits of the AID of the non-AP STA for which the AID TID-specific information subfield will be used. The format of the AID TID-specific information subfield depends on the value of the AID11 subfield. If a multi-STA BlockAck frame is transmitted to the AP, the AID11 subfield is set to 0. The value 2045 in the AID11 subfield is used as an identifier for all unconnected STAs. When the AID11 subfield is set to 2045, the Ack Type subfield and the TID subfield are set to 0 and 15, respectively.

[0178] Multiple AID TID-specific information subfields may exist in a multi-STA BlockAck frame, with the same value in the AID11 subfield but different values ​​in the TID subfield.

[0179] If the AID11 subfield of the AID TID information subfield is not 2045, the AID TID specific information subfield may have a format as in FIG. 13.

[0180] Figure 13 shows the format of the AID TID specific information subfield when the AID11 subfield is not 2045.

[0181] Referring to FIG. 13, when the AID11 subfield is not 2045, the AID TID-specific information subfield of the multi-STA BlockAck frame may include an AID TID information subfield, a Block Ack start sequence control subfield, and / or a BlockAck bitmap subfield. The context and presence of each optional subfield within the AID TID-specific information subfield of the multi-STA BlockAck frame are as shown in :

[0182] Ack Type Subfield Values ​​TID Subfield Values ​​Presence of the Block Ack Start Sequence Control subfield and the Block Ack Bitmap subfield Context of the AID TID-specific Information subfield in a multi-STA BlockAck frame 00-7 Present Block Ack Context: Sent in the ACK for a QoS data frame that triggered a BlockAck frame response or for a BlockAckReq frame. 10-7 Not present Ack Context: Sent in the ACK for a QoS data or QoS Null frame that requests an Ack frame response. 0 or 18-13 N / A Reserved 014 N / A Reserved 114 Not present All Ack Context: Sent in the ACK for an A-MPDU that contains an MPDU that triggered an immediate response, and all MPDUs contained in the A-MPDU were successfully received. 015 N / A Reserved 115 Not present Management / PS-Poll Frame Ack Context:

[0183] Since HE STA does not use HCCA, TID values ​​8 through 15 are not used in QoS data frames. Figure 14 shows the format of the Block Ack Start Sequence Control subfield.

[0184] Referring to FIG. 14, the Block Ack Start Sequence Control subfield may include a fragment number subfield and a starting sequence number subfield. The starting sequence number subfield contains the sequence number of the first MSDU or A-MSDU transmitted by this multi-STA BA frame. When the Ack type subfield is 0, the fragment number subfield encoding for the multi-STA BlockAck frame variant indicates the length of the BlockAck bitmap subfield as shown in .

[0185] Fragment Number Subfield Fragmentation level 3 (ON / OFF) Block Ack Bitmap Subfield Length (octets) Maximum number of MSDUs / A-MSDUs that can be acknowledged B3B2-B1B0000OFF8640101612802032256030432001ON81601116320213264031481AnyAnyReservedReserved

[0186] When B0 of the fragment number subfield of the Block Ack Start Sequence Control subfield is 0, the BA Information field of the multi-STA BlockAck frame contains an 8-octet, 16-octet, 32-octet, or 4-octet Block Ack Bitmap subfield according to B2-B1 of the fragment number subfield as shown in Table 3, indicating the reception status of up to 64, 128, 256, or 32 MSDUs (or their fragments) and / or A-MSDUs (or their fragments), respectively. Each bit that is 1 in the Block Ack Bitmap subfield sequentially acknowledges the reception of a single MSDU (or its fragment) or A-MSDU (or its fragment). The first bit of the Block Ack Bitmap subfield corresponds to an MSDU or A-MSDU with a sequence number that matches the value of the Start Sequence Number subfield of the Block Ack Start Sequence Control subfield. When B0 of the Fragment Number subfield of the Block Ack Start Sequence Control subfield is 1, the Block Ack Bitmap subfield of the BA Information field of the multi-STA BlockAck frame indicates the reception status of up to 16, 32, 64, or 8 MSDUs and / or A-MSDUs, depending on B2-B1 of the Fragment Number subfield, as shown in Table 3. When bit position n of the Block Ack Bitmap subfield is 1, reception of an MPDU with a sequence number value SN and a fragment number value FN is acknowledged, where n = 4 × (SN - SSN) + FN, where SSN is the value of the Start Sequence Number subfield of the Block Ack Start Sequence Control subfield, and the operation on the sequence number is performed modulo 4096. A bit position n of the Block Ack Bitmap subfield that is 0 indicates that no MPDU was received.

[0187] If B0 of the fragment number subfield is 1, the block Ack bitmap subfield is divided into (block Ack bitmap subfield length) / 4 sub-bitmaps, each of which indicates the reception status for four fragments of each MSDU or A-MSDU as shown in Table 3. For A-MSDUs, only the first bit of the sub-bitmap is used if fragmentation is not allowed in the A-MSDU.

[0188] Below, the power saving mode is described.

[0189] A non-AP STA can be in one of two power management modes:

[0190] - Active mode: STAs receive and transmit frames whenever they are awake. Non-HE STAs remain awake. HE STAs remain awake unless they are unavailable. Unavailable STAs cannot receive PPDUs.

[0191] - Power saving (PS) mode: The STA enters the awake state to receive or transmit frames. Otherwise, the STA remains in the doze state.

[0192] An STA in PS mode can be in one of two power states:

[0193] - awake state: STA is fully powered.

[0194] - Doze state: STA cannot transmit or receive non-WUR PPDUs and consumes very low power.

[0195] An STA that changes its power management mode while connected to an AP must notify the AP of this fact using the Power Management subfield within the Frame Control field of the transmitted frame. The STA must maintain its current power management mode until it notifies the AP of the power management mode change through a frame exchange sequence that includes the AP's acknowledgment. The power management mode does not change during a single frame exchange sequence. That is, the Power Management subfield is the same for all MPDUs in an A-MPDU.

[0196] I. Non-AP STA Power Management Mode

[0197] A non-AP STA shall be in active mode upon (re)association. However, if (re)association is performed using an on-channel tunneling procedure, the non-AP STA shall be considered to be in power-saving mode and in power-saving mode upon (re)association to a BSS identified by the BSSID, band ID, and channel number fields contained in the multi-band element transmitted in the on-channel tunnel request frame carrying the (re)association request frame.

[0198] An STA that transmits a frame to an AP that is not connected and expects a response must remain awake until it receives that response or the procedure times out.

[0199] To change the power management mode, an STA must notify the AP by completing a successful frame exchange initiated by the STA. This frame exchange sequence includes a management frame, extension frame, or data frame from the STA and an Ack or BlockAck frame from the AP. The Power Management subfield in the Frame Control field of the frame transmitted by the STA in this exchange indicates the power management mode that the STA should adopt upon successfully completing the frame exchange sequence, unless the Power Management subfield is reserved. A non-AP STA must not use a frame exchange sequence that does not receive an Ack or BlockAck frame from the AP, or use a BlockAckReq frame to change the power management mode. The Power Management subfield is ignored in the AP-initiated frame exchange sequence.

[0200] A non-S1G STA that transitions from doze to awake to transmit must perform CCA until a frame capable of setting a NAV is detected or the period specified by the NAVSyncDelay of the MLME-JOIN.request primitive has elapsed. An S1G STA that transitions from doze to awake to transmit must perform CCA until a frame capable of setting a RID or NAV is detected or the period specified by the NAVSyncDelay of the MLME-JOIN.request primitive has elapsed.

[0201] To change the power management mode, an STA coordinated by the MM-SME must notify the AP through a successful frame exchange sequence initiated by the STA. In this exchange, the power management subfield in the frame control field of the frame transmitted by the STA indicates the power management mode that the STA should adopt upon successful completion of the frame exchange sequence, as announced in the MMS element coordinated by the MM-SME and transmitted by the STA. To change the power management mode of a coordinated STA, a frame can be transmitted using an MMSL within the MMSL cluster established with the AP.

[0202] A non-AP S1G STA requests the PS mode type (TIM mode or non-TIM mode) through a (re)association request frame transmitted to the S1G AP.

[0203] A non-AP S1G STA requests operation in non-TIM mode by setting the Non-TIM Support field in the S1G Capabilities element of the (re)connection request frame to 1.

[0204] A non-AP S1G STA requests operation in TIM mode by setting the Non-TIM Support field in the S1G Capabilities element of the (re)connection request frame to 0.

[0205] A non-AP S1G STA checks the PS mode type (TIM mode or non-TIM mode) in the (re)association response frame received from the S1G AP.

[0206] When the S1G AP sets the non-TIM support field in the S1G operation element of the (re)association response frame to 1, the non-AP S1G STA sets dot11NonTIMModeActivated to true and operates in non-TIM mode after association, and is called a non-TIM STA.

[0207] When the S1G AP sets the non-TIM support field in the S1G operation element of the (re)association response frame to 0, the non-AP S1G STA sets dot11NonTIMModeActivated to false and operates in TIM mode after association, and is called a TIM STA.

[0208] Non-AP S1G STAs must operate in the negotiated PS mode during the connection, unless a PS mode transition is negotiated or a temporary PS mode transition occurs. STAs must update the ListenInterval parameter value used in the primitive call with the AID Response Interval field in the AID Response element of the (re)connection response frame.

[0209] An S1G STA in TIM mode receives a selected beacon frame (based on the ListenInterval parameter of the MLME-ASSOCIATE.request or MLME-REASSOCIATE.request primitive) and transmits a PS-Poll frame to the AP if the TIM element of the most recent beacon frame indicates that a BU individually addressed to that STA is buffered.

[0210] An S1G STA in non-TIM mode shall transmit at least one individually addressed PS-Poll or Trigger frame to its associated AP per receive interval and may not receive selected S1G Beacon frames (based on the ListenInterval parameter of the MLME-ASSOCIATE.request or MLME-REASSOCIATE.request primitive) unless it follows the TWT or NDP paging procedure. An S1G STA in non-TIM mode may transmit (NDP) PS-Poll frames to an S1G AP regardless of whether the S1G AP has instructed it to buffer individually addressed BUs.

[0211] II. AP Power Management

[0212] APs with dot11APPMActivated set to false or absent must operate in active mode. APs with dot11APPMActivated set to true can operate in the following power management modes:

[0213] - Active mode; and

[0214] - Power saving mode.

[0215] An AP in active mode must be awake and able to receive frames at any time.

[0216] In power saving mode, an AP with dot11APPMActivated set to true can be in one of two power states:

[0217] - awake state; and

[0218] - doze state.

[0219] An AP with dot11APPMActivated set to true can indicate that it is operating in power-saving mode in two ways:

[0220] - Set the AP PM bit to 1 in the frame control field of the S1G beacon frame, or

[0221] - Include one or more RPS elements in the S1G beacon frame indicating AP PM RAW (i.e., RAW assignment type is Simplex RAW and RAW type option is 0).

[0222] The AP shall operate in the active mode during the beacon interval or short beacon interval when the AP PM subfield of the S1G beacon frame transmitted in the TBTT or TSBTT is 0. Similarly, the AP shall operate in the active mode during one or more RAWs defined by the RPS element whose RAW assignment type is Normal RAW, Sounding RAW, Triggering Frame RAW, or Simplex RAW with RAW Type Option 1 or 2.

[0223] An AP transmitting an S1G beacon frame with the AP PM subfield set to 1 may be in doze at any time until the next TBTT or TSBTT, but must be in awake for one of the following time intervals:

[0224] - any RAW or PRAW interval set (except RAW defined by any RPS element whose RAW allocation type is Simplex RAW and whose RAW type option is 0); and

[0225] - All TWT SPs negotiated in accordance with TWT.

[0226] An AP must not remain in a doze state for a period exceeding the dot11MaxAwayDuration value. The AP must set dot11MaxAwayDuration to the lowest value obtained from the Max Away Duration field contained in the most recently received MAD element from the associated STA.

[0227] Regardless of power management mode and power state, APs must generate beacons to maintain network synchronization.

[0228] An STA that is the intended recipient of a frame transmitted by an AP with the PM Mode subfield set to 0 must consider the AP to be in active mode.

[0229] An AP that has previously transmitted a frame to one or a group of STAs with the PM bit set to 0 must transmit a frame with the PM bit set to the same set of STAs before changing its operating mode to power-save mode.

[0230] An STA that is the intended recipient of a frame in which the PM mode subfield is 1 must consider the AP to be in power-saving mode.

[0231] Meanwhile, APs generally remain active at all times to provide high throughput and fast service to connected STAs, and can exchange frames using the highest possible bandwidth and a large number of spatial streams.

[0232] In the present disclosure, "frame exchange (FE)" may include frame transmission and / or reception operations between STAs. The STAs may be APs or non-AP STAs. Here, the frames may include various types of frames (e.g., data frames, control frames, management frames).

[0233] Because APs can be powered continuously, the need for power reduction may be relatively small for APs. However, the actual power consumption of APs is substantial, which can increase network maintenance costs. Furthermore, battery-operated APs (e.g., mobile APs) require battery life considerations. Consequently, power consumption of APs needs to be reduced. Furthermore, considering the introduction of multi-link operation in IEEE 802.11be and multi-AP cooperative networks in IEEE 802.11bn, the number of links and / or STAs operated by each multi-link device (MLD) may increase, further increasing AP power consumption. Therefore, a new method / device for reducing AP power needs to be designed, and a unified framework applicable to all STAs may also be considered.

[0234] For example, power saving scheme(s) for reducing power of AP / STA may include enhanced multi-link single radio (EMLSR) operation. EMLSR operation allows a non-AP STA belonging to a non-AP MLD with multiple receive chains to participate in frame exchange on the link on which an initial control frame included in a non-HT (duplicated) PPDU transmitted by an AP belonging to an AP MLD was received when the non-AP STA is in a listening state on one or more EMLSR links.

[0235] Figure 15 shows an example of EMLSR operation.

[0236] EMLSR was introduced in IEEE 802.11be to enable efficient multi-link operation of a single radio non-AP MLD. A non-AP MLD operating in EMLSR mode can perform a listening operation on an awake EMLSR link(s). The listening operation at this time may include reception of an initial control frame (ICF) for frame exchange(s) initiated from the AP MLD and / or CCA. That is, a non-AP MLD can perform a listening operation on one or more links using multiple receive chains of a single radio and exchange frames with an AP on a link where an ICF is received.

[0237] During this listening operation, the STA can reduce its power consumption by receiving (RXing) PPDUs with restricted settings (e.g., non-HT (duplicate) PPDU, 20 MHz-only, 1 spatial stream) and / or performing CCA for the restricted bandwidth. That is, the operating characteristics such as the listening operation of EMLSR can be utilized in one of the power saving modes (e.g., awake, doze state). Specifically, the characteristics of the EMLSR operation as shown in FIG. 15 can be applied to individual links to reduce the power consumed by each link during the listening state. An AP / STA operating in power saving (PS) mode on one or more links can have low capability / configuration in the listening state, and can switch to a capability / configuration that can utilize a wide bandwidth and a large number of spatial streams for fast frame exchange. These PSs are also similar to dynamic spatial multiplexing (SM) PSs and can be classified as dynamic PSs because they do not achieve power savings based on scheduled time.

[0238] In the present disclosure, a dynamic PS may mean a PS in which the PS mode / state is changed based on detection of a specific event and / or transmission / reception of a specific frame.

[0239] For example, when an STA operating as a dynamic PS (e.g., an AP / non-AP STA) detects an ICF transmission event (e.g., detects that there is data to transmit / receive) in the listening state and / or receives an ICF, the STA may transition to a frame exchange state and perform frame exchange in the frame exchange state. For example, when the STA receives an ICF in the listening state, the STA may transition from the listening state to a frame exchange state to perform CCA / backoff for a wide bandwidth and transmit an initial control response (ICR) based on normal capabilities / settings. When the frame exchange is completed (e.g., when an ACK frame is transmitted / received), the STA may transition back to the listening state.

[0240] In the present disclosure, a listening state may refer to a state in which an STA (e.g., an AP / non-AP STA) operates with limited capabilities / configurations, receives ICFs based on the limited capabilities / configurations, and / or performs CCA / backoff (i.e., listening operations) for a limited bandwidth. The listening state may also be referred to as a low capability mode (LCM).

[0241] In the present disclosure, a frame exchange state may refer to a state in which an STA (e.g., an AP / non-AP STA) operates with normal capabilities / configurations and performs frame exchange based on the normal capabilities / configurations. For example, the frame exchange state may include an awake state. The frame exchange state may be referred to as a high capability mode (HCM).

[0242] Meanwhile, an STA performing a DPS operation must, upon receiving an ICF or initiating frame from a peer STA, switch to an appropriate capability / setting and then transmit a response frame for the received frame. For example, an ICF / initiating frame that a peer STA can transmit in DPS may include at least one of a BSRP TF, an MU-RTS TF, a BAR, or an RTS frame. In addition, a response frame for each ICF / initiating frame needs to be defined / designed. The present disclosure proposes a design of a response frame transmitted by an STA performing a DPS operation when an ICF / initiating frame is received.

[0243] Accordingly, the present disclosure describes a response frame and / or information that may be included in the response frame when an STA performing a DPS operation receives an ICF / initiation frame. For example, the response frame may be referred to as an initial control response frame (ICR). For example, the response frame / ICR may include multiple STA BA frames.

[0244] In the present disclosure, an STA that performs a DPS operation and / or has the DPS mode enabled may be referred to as a DPS-STA. Additionally, an STA that supports a DPS operation of a peer STA and / or allows / supports a peer STA to enter the DPS mode may be referred to as a DPS-supporting STA.

[0245] In this disclosure, the terms “field” and “subfield” may be used interchangeably.

[0246] The specific designations (names) proposed in this disclosure may be changed and are not limited thereto.

[0247] FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a method performed by a first STA for transmitting a response frame in a fluid power saving operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0248] Referring to FIG. 16, in step S1601, the first STA can activate the DPS mode.

[0249] In step S1603, the first STA can receive an initiating frame from the second STA in a listening state in the DPS mode.

[0250] In step S1605, the first STA may switch from a listening state to a frame exchange state based on receiving an initiation frame.

[0251] In step S1607, the first STA may, after transitioning to a frame exchange state, transmit a multi-STA BA frame to the second STA as a response frame to the initiation frame. The BA information field of the multi-STA BA frame may include an AID TID-specific information subfield related to the first STA. The AID TID information subfield of the AID TID-specific information subfield may be set to a specific value based on whether the multi-STA BA frame is related to a DPS operation.

[0252] In step S1609, the first STA can receive data from the second STA in a frame exchange state.

[0253] According to various embodiments, the AID TID information subfield may include an AID11 subfield, an Ack (acknowledgement) type subfield, and a TID (traffic identifier) ​​subfield. A specific value may include at least one of a value of the AID11 subfield, a value of the Ack type subfield, or a value of the TID subfield.

[0254] According to various embodiments, the value of the AID11 subfield may not be 2045.

[0255] According to various embodiments, the value of the Ack Type subfield may be 0 and the value of the TID subfield may be 13.

[0256] According to various embodiments, the AID TID specific information subfield, in which the AID TID information subfield is set to a specific value, may include DPS information.

[0257] According to various embodiments, the DPS information may include at least one of information about an operating bandwidth, information about a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), information about a number of spatial streams (NSS), information about whether an ICF is required, or information about a DPS transition delay.

[0258] According to various embodiments, the BA bitmap subfield of the AID TID specific information subfield may include DPS information or may be replaced with a subfield including DPS information.

[0259] According to various embodiments, the subfield containing DPS information may be a DPS control information subfield or a feedback subfield.

[0260] According to various embodiments, the size of the BA bitmap subfield may be the size of the DPS information.

[0261] According to various embodiments, the BA Start Sequence Control subfield of the AID TID-specific information subfield may include a Feedback Type subfield. The Feedback Type subfield may be set to a specific value based on whether the AID TID-specific information subfield includes DPS information.

[0262] According to various embodiments, the BA Start Sequence Control subfield of the AID TID-specific information subfield may include a fragment number subfield. The fragment number subfield may be set to a value related to the length of the subfield containing the DPS information.

[0263] FIG. 17 illustrates an example of a method performed by a second STA for receiving a response frame in a fluid power saving operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0264] Referring to FIG. 17, in step S1701, the second STA may transmit a frame to the first STA for activating the DPS mode of the first STA.

[0265] In step S1703, the second STA may transmit an initiating frame to the first STA in the listening state of the DPS mode. The state of the first STA may be switched from the listening state to the frame exchange state based on the initiating frame.

[0266] In step S1705, the second STA may receive a multi-STA BA frame from the first STA as a response frame to the initiation frame. The BA information field of the multi-STA BA frame may include an AID TID-specific information subfield related to the first STA. The AID TID information subfield of the AID TID-specific information subfield may be set to a specific value based on whether the multi-STA BA frame is related to a DPS operation.

[0267] In step S1707, the second STA can transmit data to the first STA in a frame exchange state of the first STA.

[0268] According to various embodiments, the AID TID information subfield may include an AID11 subfield, an Ack (acknowledgement) type subfield, and a TID (traffic identifier) ​​subfield. A specific value may include at least one of a value of the AID11 subfield, a value of the Ack type subfield, or a value of the TID subfield.

[0269] According to various embodiments, the AID TID specific information subfield, in which the AID TID information subfield is set to a specific value, may include DPS information.

[0270] According to various embodiments, the BA bitmap subfield of the AID TID-specific information subfield may include DPS information or may be replaced with a subfield including DPS information. The subfield including DPS information may be a DPS control information subfield or a feedback subfield.

[0271] According to various embodiments, the BA Start Sequence Control subfield of the AID TID-specific information subfield may include a Feedback Type subfield. The Feedback Type subfield may be set to a specific value based on whether the AID TID-specific information subfield includes DPS information.

[0272] Below, a specific embodiment of transmitting and receiving a response frame in a fluid power saving operation is described.

[0273] The present disclosure proposes a design of a response frame transmitted when an STA in a power saving state (e.g., dynamic / scheduled / (unscheduled power saving)) receives an ICF.

[0274] FIG. 18 illustrates an example of DPS operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0275] Referring to FIG. 18, a DPS-STA with DPS mode enabled can perform listening operations based on low capabilities (e.g., non-HT (duplicate) PPDU, 20 MHz, 1 spatial stream) in a listening state (or low capability state / mode). For example, a DPS-STA can receive an ICF / initiation frame from a DPS-capable STA based on low capabilities in a listening state.

[0276] The ICF / Initiation frame transmitted by the transmitting STA may include an intermediate FCS (frame check sequence) to provide the time required for a DPS-STA in a listening state (or low capability state / mode) to transition to a frame exchange state (or high capability state / mode).

[0277] The ICF / Initiation frame may include operating parameters and / or capability information for DPS operation. Accordingly, the DPS-STA may transmit an ICR based on the information that may be included in the received ICF / Initiation frame, and the ICR may (or may not) include operating parameters and / or capability information for DPS operation.

[0278] In response to receiving an ICF / Initiation frame, the DPS-STA may transition from a listening state to a frame exchange state (or, high capability state / mode) and transmit an ICR to the DPS-capable STA in the frame exchange state. The DPS-capable STA receiving the ICR may identify that the DPS-STA has transitioned to the frame exchange state and transmit a data frame to the DPS-STA based on its high capability (e.g., bandwidth of 20 MHz or more, one or more spatial streams). The DPS-STA may receive a data frame from the DPS-capable STA based on its high capability in the frame exchange state and transmit a BA frame to the DPS-capable STA in response to the data frame.

[0279] After transmitting a BA frame (or in response to transmitting a BA frame), the DPS-STA may transition from a frame exchange state to a listening state. In the listening state, the DPS-STA may perform listening operations based on its low capability.

[0280] The ICF transmitted by a DPS-enabled STA may be a DPS TB ICF that solicits the transmission of a TB PPDU (i.e., an ICF that solicits a TB response for DPS purposes). For example, the DPS TB ICF may include a BSRP trigger frame.

[0281] Additionally or alternatively, the ICF transmitted by a DPS-capable STA may be a DPS NTB ICF that induces transmission of a non-TB PPDU (i.e., an ICF that induces a non-TB response for DPS purposes). For example, the DPS NTB ICF may include a BSRP (GI = 3) trigger frame (i.e., B20-B21 values ​​in the Common Information field are set to 3).

[0282] A DPS-enabled STA may receive a DPS TB ICF and / or a DPS NTB ICF and forward a multi-STA BA frame proposed in the present disclosure as a response frame thereto.

[0283] Additionally or alternatively, a DPS-STA may respond to an ICF addressed to it from a peer STA using the frame(s) described below, even if the ICF does not contain DPS operation-related information. Additionally or alternatively, a DPS-STA may respond using the frame(s) derived from the received ICF, even if the ICR / ICF does not contain DPS operation-related information.

[0284] Information that may be included in a multi-STA BA frame as an ICR for the DPS operation proposed in the present disclosure and / or the format of the multi-STA BA frame may be defined / designed as described below:

[0285] 1. Content / information for DPS operation (or DPS information)

[0286] For example, information (or DPS information) based on one or more combinations of the following may be included in a multi-STA BA frame for additional power savings and / or efficient DPS operation of the DPS-STA:

[0287] A. Operating BW (or LC Mode Bandwidth): Information about the (maximum) bandwidth preferred / desired by the DPS-STA for the next higher capability state, and / or the (maximum) bandwidth restricted for the lower capability state.

[0288] For example, the operating BW (or LC mode bandwidth) may indicate / include operating BW information at which the DPS-STA prefers / desires to operate in the next higher capability state, and / or maximum PPDU bandwidth information of an ICF (or initiation frame) transmitted by the DPS-enabled STA in the next higher capability state.

[0289] Specifically, the operating BW information that the DPS-STA prefers / desires to operate in the next higher capability state may be less than or equal to the operating BW of the current DPS-STA and / or the PPDU BW of the ICR.

[0290] Additionally or alternatively, the operating BW information that the DPS-STA prefers / desires to operate in the next higher capability state may be greater than or equal to the operating BW of the current DPS-STA and / or the PPDU BW of the ICR.

[0291] For example, the operating BW (or LC mode bandwidth) may indicate / include operating BW information at which the DPS-STA intends to operate in the subsequent low capability state (or listening state).

[0292] Specifically, the operating BW information that the DPS-STA prefers / desires to operate in a low capability state may be less than or equal to the operating BW for the current low capability state of the DPS-STA.

[0293] Additionally or alternatively, the operating BW information that the DPS-STA prefers / desires to operate in the low capability state may be greater than or equal to the operating BW for the current low capability state of the DPS-STA.

[0294] In some implementations, a new field, such as a channel width field within the control field of the EHT operation information field, may be defined to indicate the operating BW (or LC mode bandwidth) for DPS operation.

[0295] For example, examples of values ​​for the operating BW (or LC mode bandwidth) for DPS operation may be as follows:

[0296] - 0: 20 MHz bandwidth indication

[0297] - 1: 40 MHz bandwidth indication

[0298] - Set to 2: Indicates 80 MHz bandwidth

[0299] - 3: 160 MHz bandwidth indication

[0300] - 4: 320 MHz bandwidth indication

[0301] - The remaining values ​​5 through 7 can be reserved.

[0302] For example, the operating BW (or LC mode bandwidth) may indicate / include BW field information within the SIG-A field.

[0303] B. MCS (or LC mode MCS): The DPS-STA's preferred / desired (maximum) MCS information for the next higher capability state and / or the maximum MCS information it restricts for the lower capability state.

[0304] For example, the MCS (or LC mode MCS) may indicate / include the minimum or maximum available MCS value that the DPS-STA prefers / desirs for frame exchange in the next higher capability state.

[0305] For example, the MCS (or LC mode MCS) may indicate / include the minimum or maximum MCS value for frames that the DPS-STA can receive in a subsequent low capability state.

[0306] For example, a new field, such as the information in the Supported HE-MCS And NSS Set field within the HE Capabilities element, can be defined to indicate the MCS (or LC mode MCS) for DPS operation.

[0307] For example, similar to the UL EHT-MCS field (4 bits) in the User Information field of the Basic trigger frame, a new field may be defined to indicate the MCS for high or low capability states (e.g., ).

[0308] C. NSS (or LC mode Nss): The (maximum) NSS information preferred / desired by the DPS-STA for the next higher capability state and / or the maximum NSS value to limit for lower capability states.

[0309] Additionally or alternatively, the NSS (or LC mode Nss) may indicate / include the Tx / Rx NSS values ​​or the number of Tx / RX antennas in a high capability state or a low capability state of the transmitting STA.

[0310] For example, NSS (or LC mode Nss) may indicate / include the minimum or maximum number of available spatial streams that a DPS-STA prefers / desires for frame exchange in the next higher capability state.

[0311] For example, NSS (or LC mode Nss) may indicate / include the number of spatial streams available to the DPS-STA in a subsequent low capacity state.

[0312] For example, Rx HE-MCS Map in the Supported HE-MCS And NSS Set field in the HE Capabilities element A new field, such as Max HE-MCS FornSS field information within the 80 MHz field, can be defined to indicate NSS (or LC mode Nss) for DPS operation.

[0313] For example, Tx HE-MCS Map in the Supported HE-MCS And NSS Set field in the HE Capabilities element A new field, such as Max HE-MCS FornSS field information within the 80 MHz field, can be defined to indicate NSS (or LC mode Nss) for DPS operation.

[0314] D. ICF required: Indicates whether the DPS-activated STA requires ICF transmission.

[0315] For example, ICF Required = 1 may indicate that a corresponding STA in a low capability state needs to be guided by ICF within a TXOP in order to perform frame exchange in a high capability state within a TXOP.

[0316] For example, ICF Required = 0 may indicate that the corresponding STA in a low capability state does not need to be guided by ICF within the TXOP to perform frame exchange within the TXOP.

[0317] For example, a power-sensitive STA and / or an STA requiring additional power savings may indicate that it does not wish to transition to a higher capability state by setting the ICF request to 0, and perform subsequent frame exchanges based on operating parameters corresponding to a lower capability state (e.g., LC mode bandwidth / MCS / Nss).

[0318] E. DPS Transition Timeout (or Delay): Indicates the minimum time required for a DPS-enabled STA to transition from a high-power state to a low-power state.

[0319] For example, when an STA that has transitioned from a low-capability state to a high-capability state by receiving an ICF and / or initiation frame does not receive any additional PPDUs / frames during a timeout period, the STA may enter the low-capability state.

[0320] For example, a power-sensitive STA and / or an STA requiring additional power savings may transmit an ICR in response with a DPS transition timeout value set to a value less than the previously indicated DPS transition timeout value, and then transition to a lower capacity state more quickly than before if no additional frames are received.

[0321] For example, an STA with a reduced power consumption burden than before can transmit an ICR in response with a DPS transition timeout value set to a longer value than the previously indicated DPS transition timeout value, and then wait a longer time before transitioning to a lower capacity state even if no additional frames are received.

[0322] Specifically, the encoding of the DPS transition timeout field may be as follows:

[0323] - Transition timeout field value 0: Transition timeout = 0 TUs

[0324] - Transition Timeout Field Value 1: Transition Timeout = 128

[0325] - Transition Timeout Field Value 2: Transition Timeout = 256

[0326] - Transition Timeout Field Value 3: Transition Timeout = 512

[0327] - Transition Timeout field value 4: Transition Timeout = 1 TUs

[0328] - Transition Timeout field value 5: Transition Timeout = 2 TUs

[0329] - Transition Timeout field value 6: Transition Timeout = 4 TUs

[0330] - Transition Timeout field value 7: Transition Timeout = 8 TUs

[0331] - Transition Timeout field value 8: Transition Timeout = 16 TUs

[0332] - Transition Timeout field value 9: Transition Timeout = 32 TUs

[0333] - Transition Timeout field value 10: Transition Timeout = 64 TUs

[0334] 2. How to include DPS information in a multi-STA BA frame

[0335] Since a multi-STA BA frame is a frame that can be transmitted to one or more (associated) STAs and / or unassociated STAs, various methods for transmitting a multi-STA BA frame may exist. Accordingly, at least one of the following methods may be applied to transmit a multi-STA BA frame to an ICR in a DPS operation, and information for the DPS operation (or DPS information) may be included in the multi-STA BA frame.

[0336] (1) How to utilize specific values ​​in the AID TID information subfield

[0337] In some implementations, for a multi-STA BA frame to be utilized as an ICR in a DPS operation, at least one of the AID11 subfield, the Ack type subfield, or the TID subfield within the AID TID information subfield may be set to a specific value. The format of the AID TID information subfield is illustrated in FIG. 12.

[0338] For example, when a non-AP STA transmits a multi-STA BA frame to the AP for ICR in DPS operation, the value of the AID11 subfield may be set to a specific value other than 0 (e.g., a reserved value such as 1, 2008). That is, an AP that receives a multi-STA BA frame with a specific AID for DPS operation from a non-AP STA may recognize that the multi-STA BA frame is a multi-STA BA frame transmitted for the purpose of DPS operation and / or includes information for DPS operation (or DPS information). Additionally or alternatively, when it is determined based on the AID11 subfield that the multi-STA BA frame is a frame for DPS, the Ack Type subfield and / or the TID subfield may i) be reserved, ii) include information for DPS (or DPS information), and / or iii) be set to any existing values.

[0339] Additionally, when an AP transmits a multi-STA BA frame to one STA for the purpose of ICR in DPS, the AID11 subfield (or AID12 subfield) may include the AID value of the target STA.

[0340] Additionally or alternatively, reserved values ​​for combinations of Ack Type subfield and TID subfield values ​​when the value of the AID11 subfield is not 2045 may be utilized to indicate that DPS operation is indicated and / or that information for DPS operation is included in a multi-STA BA frame. Table 4 below shows the context according to combinations of Ack Type subfield and TID subfield values ​​when the value of the AID11 subfield is not 2045.

[0341] Ack Type subfield valuesTID subfield valuesPresence of BA starting sequence control subfield and BA bitmap subfieldsContext of a per AID TID Info subfield in a Multi-STA BA frame00-7PresentBlock acknowledgment context:Sent as an acknowledgment to QoS Data frames that solicit a BA frame response or to a BAReq frame.10-7Not presentAcknowledgment context:Sent as an acknowledgment to a QoS Data or QoS Null frame that solicits an Ack frame response.0 or 18-13N / AReserved014N / AReserved114Not presentAll ack context:Sent as an acknowledgment to an A-MPDU that contains an MPDU that solicits an immediate response and all MPDUs contained in the A-MPDU are received successfully.015N / AReserved115Not presentManagement / PS-Poll frame acknowledgment context:Sent as an acknowledgment to a Management or PS-Poll frame.NOTE - As HE STAs do not use HCCA, TID values from 8 to 15 are not used in QoS Data frames.

[0342] For example, to indicate a multi-STA BA frame for DPS operation, the Ack Type subfield may be set to 0, and the TID subfield may be set to one of the values ​​8 to 15. In other words, the values ​​of each Ack Type subfield and TID subfield may be set to a value in which the combination of the Ack Type subfield and the TID subfield in Table 4 has a reserved value. Additionally, when utilizing the reserved value for the combination of the Ack Type subfield and the TID subfield value, the BA Start Sequence Control subfield and / or the BA Bitmap subfield in the AID TID Per Information subfield may be replaced with a subfield containing DPS information. For example, the DPS Control Information (or DPS Information) subfield as in Table 5 may be included in the AID TID Per Information subfield instead of the BA Start Sequence Control subfield and / or the BA Bitmap subfield.

[0343] Operating BW (LC mode bandwidth) MCS (LC mode MCS) NSS (LC mode Nss) ICF requirement DPS transition delay Number of reserved bits: 344186

[0344] In the present disclosure, the DPS control information subfield may be considered a feedback subfield including DPS information. At this time, the size of the BA start sequence control subfield and / or the BA bitmap subfield may be the size of the DPS control information subfield itself. That is, the size of the BA start sequence control subfield and / or the BA bitmap subfield may be the size of the DPS information.

[0345] FIG. 19 illustrates an example of transmission of a multi-STA BA frame utilizing specific values ​​of the AID TID information subfield according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Unless otherwise specified, the description of FIG. 18 applies equally to FIG. 19.

[0346] Referring to FIG. 19, a multi-STA BA frame may be transmitted to the ICR in a DPS operation by utilizing a specific value of the AID TID information subfield. A DPS-STA that receives an ICF for a DPS operation from a DPS-supporting STA may switch a DPS mode and / or state (e.g., from a lower capability state to a higher capability state) and then transmit a multi-STA BA frame as a response to the ICF in the higher capability state. The multi-STA BA frame at this time may (or may not) include information for the DPS operation (or DPS information). If the multi-STA BA frame includes information for the DPS operation, the multi-STA BA frame may include a DPS control information (or DPS information) subfield. A specific value of the AID TID information subfield in the multi-STA BA frame may be utilized to indicate that the multi-STA BA frame was transmitted for the purpose of a DPS operation or to indicate that it includes information for a DPS operation. For example, one of the reserved values ​​of the AID11 subfield (e.g., 2008) may be utilized to indicate that the multi-STA BA frame was transmitted for the purpose of a DPS operation or contained information for a DPS operation. Additionally or alternatively, the Ack Type subfield and / or the TID subfield may be set to specific values ​​(e.g., 0 and 8, respectively) to indicate that the multi-STA BA frame was transmitted for the purpose of a DPS operation or contained information for a DPS operation.

[0347] Meanwhile, one or more AID TID-specific information subfields for the role of the existing multi-STA BA frame (e.g., AID TID-specific information-(1) and AID TID-specific information-(2) in FIG. 19) may be transmitted together in the multi-STA BA frame for DPS. In this case, AID TID-specific information-(1) and AID TID-specific information-(2) may include BA information for TID 0 and TID 1 of the DPS-supporting STA.

[0348] FIG. 20 illustrates an example of including DPS information in a multi-STA BA frame by utilizing a specific value of the AID TID information subfield according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0349] Referring to FIG. 20, by setting AID11 = 2008, Ack type = 0, and TID = 13, it can be indicated that the corresponding multi-STA BA frame includes feedback information (or DPS information). At this time, the BA bitmap subfield may include a feedback type subfield for distinguishing the type of feedback information and corresponding feedback information. As another example, the BA start sequence control subfield may include a feedback type subfield for distinguishing the type of feedback information, and the BA bitmap subfield may include corresponding feedback information.

[0350] Additionally or alternatively, the combined size of the BA Start Sequence Control subfield (2 octets) and the BA Bitmap subfield (e.g., 4 or 8 octets) may be utilized to contain information for DPS operation (or DPS information). shows the encoding of the Fragment Number subfield, which indicates the length of the BA Bitmap field when the Ack Type subfield is 0.

[0351] Fragment Number subfieldFragmentation level 3 (ON / OFF_Block Ack bitmap subfield length (octets)Maximum number of MSDUs / A-MSDUs that can be acknowledged000OFF8640101612802032256030432001ON81601116320213264031481AnyAnyReservedReservedNOTE - A Multi-STA BlockAck frame with B0 of the Fragment Number subfield set to 1 cannot be sent to an HE STA, unless the HE Capabilities element received from the HE STA has the Dynamic Fragmentation Support subfield equal to 3.

[0352] For example, when B3 = 0, B2-B1 = 3, B0 = 0 in the fragment number subfield, the BA bitmap subfield has a length of 4 octets, and DPS operation related information may be indicated using the 4 octets, and / or a DPS control information subfield having a length of 4 octets may be defined. Additionally or alternatively, the remaining bits except for the bits required for information for the DPS operation may be reserved. Fig. 21 illustrates an example of utilizing the BA bitmap subfield using the fragment number subfield according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The description of Fig. 18 applies equally to Fig. 21 unless otherwise specified.

[0353] Referring to FIG. 21, a 4-octet BA bitmap subfield may be replaced with a DPS control information subfield, or the BA bitmap subfield may include information related to the DPS operation. When a multi-STA BA frame utilizing a specific value of the AID TID information subfield is transmitted to the ICR in a DPS operation, a DPS control information subfield having a specific size (e.g., 4 octets) may be included in the multi-STA BA frame through the fragment number subfield. A DPS-STA that receives an ICF for a DPS operation from a DPS-supporting STA may switch a DPS mode or state (e.g., switch from a lower capability state to a higher capability state) and then transmit a multi-STA BA frame as a response to the ICF in the higher capability state. The multi-STA BA frame at this time may (or may not) include information for the DPS operation. When information for the DPS operation is included in the multi-STA BA frame, the multi-STA BA frame may include a DPS control information subfield. Specific values ​​of the AID TID Information subfield may be utilized to indicate that the multi-STA BA frame was transmitted for the purpose of a DPS operation or that it contains information for a DPS operation. For example, one of the reserved values ​​of the AID11 subfield (e.g., 2008) may be utilized to indicate that the multi-STA BA frame was transmitted for the purpose of a DPS operation or that it contains information for a DPS operation. Additionally or alternatively, the Ack Type subfield and the TID subfield may be set to specific values ​​(e.g., 0 and 8, respectively) to indicate that the multi-STA BA frame was transmitted for the purpose of a DPS operation or that it contains information for a DPS operation.

[0354] For example, as shown in FIG. 21, the presence or absence of the BA start sequence control subfield can be determined by setting the Ack type subfield to 0, and the size of the BA bitmap subfield (or DPS control information subfield) can be determined by setting the fragment number subfield to a specific value (e.g., B3=0, B2-B1=3, B0=0). Accordingly, fields set to a specific size (e.g., BA bitmap subfield) can be utilized to include information for DPS operation and / or DPS control information subfields instead of existing information.

[0355] Meanwhile, one or more AID TID-specific information subfields for the role of the existing multi-STA BA frame (e.g., AID TID-specific information-(1) and AID TID-specific information-(2) in FIG. 21) may be transmitted together in the multi-STA BA frame for DPS. In this case, AID TID-specific information-(1) and AID TID-specific information-(2) may include BA information for TID 0 and TID 1 of the DPS-supporting STA.

[0356] (2) Method of utilizing a specific value of the fragment number subfield within the BA start sequence control subfield

[0357] In some implementations, multiple STA BA frames may be used as ICRs in a DPS by utilizing specific values ​​in the Fragment Number subfield that may be included in the BA Start Sequence Control subfield within the AID TID Specific Information subfield. The format of the AID TID Specific Information subfield is illustrated in FIG. 13.

[0358] For example, a reserved value that is not currently used in the fragment number subfield (e.g., B3 = 1, B2-B1 = any, B0 = any in ) can be used for the DPS operation. That is, when a specific reserved value in the fragment number subfield (e.g., B3 = 1, B2-B1 = 0, B0 = 0) is used, a DPS control information subfield for the DPS operation may be included instead of the BA bitmap subfield, and / or information for the DPS operation (or, DPS information) may be included in the BA bitmap subfield. In this case, the size of the BA bitmap subfield may be the size of the DPS control information subfield itself. Additionally or alternatively, the size of the existing BA bitmap subfield may be used. When the size of the existing BA bitmap subfield is used, the remaining bits except for the information for the DPS operation and / or the DPS control information subfield may be reserved.

[0359] Additionally or alternatively, a method of utilizing a specific value of the fragment number subfield within the BA start sequence control subfield may be used in conjunction with a method of utilizing a specific value of the AID TID information subfield described above.

[0360] FIG. 22 illustrates an example of transmission of a multi-STA BA frame utilizing a specific value of the fragment number subfield according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0361] Referring to FIG. 22, a multi-STA BA frame may be transmitted to the ICR in a DPS operation by utilizing a specific value of the fragment number subfield. A DPS-STA that receives an ICF for a DPS operation from a DPS-supporting STA may switch a DPS mode and / or state (e.g., switch from a lower capability state to a higher capability state) and then transmit a multi-STA BA frame as a response to the ICF in the higher capability state. The multi-STA BA frame at this time may (or may not) include information for the DPS operation (or DPS information). When a multi-STA BA frame including information for the DPS operation is transmitted as a response to the ICF, the multi-STA BA frame may include a DPS control information subfield including information for the DPS operation. A specific value of the fragment number subfield may be utilized to indicate that it was transmitted for the purpose of a DPS operation or to indicate that it includes information for a DPS operation. For example, if reserved specific values ​​(e.g., B3 = 1, B2-B1 = 0, B0 = 0) are used, the DPS control information subfield for DPS operation may be included instead of the BA bitmap subfield, and / or the BA bitmap subfield may contain information for DPS operation.

[0362] Meanwhile, one or more AID TID-specific information subfields for the role of the existing multi-STA BA frame (e.g., AID TID-specific information-(1) and AID TID-specific information-(2) in FIG. 22) may be transmitted together in the multi-STA BA frame for DPS. In this case, AID TID-specific information-(1) and AID TID-specific information-(2) may include BA information for TID 0 and TID 1 of the DPS-supporting STA.

[0363] (3) Method of utilizing at least some bits of the reserved field within the BA control field.

[0364] In some implementations, the reserved field in the BA control field within a BA frame (or a multi-STA BA frame) may be utilized to allow the BA frame to be used as an ICR in the DPS. The format of the BA control field is as illustrated in FIG. 10.

[0365] For example, one of the reserved bits (e.g., B0 and / or B5-B8) within the BA control field may be used to indicate the presence of information for DPS operation and / or a DPS control information subfield.

[0366] Additionally or alternatively, a non-DMG STA may utilize at least one of the unused fields No Memory Kept, Memory Configuration Tag, and Management Ack to indicate the presence of information for DPS operation and / or the presence of a DPS control information subfield.

[0367] Additionally or alternatively, specific values ​​of the TID_INFO field may be used. For example, in the case of a multi-STA BA frame, since the values ​​of the TID_INFO field are reserved, specific values ​​among the reserved values ​​may be used to indicate the presence of information for DPS operation and / or the DPS control information subfield.

[0368] In various embodiments of the present disclosure, the information for DPS operation and / or the DPS control information subfield may be located following the BA information field when the BA information field is present in the BA frame (e.g., a multi-STA BA frame). Additionally or alternatively, when the information for DPS operation and / or the DPS control information subfield is included in the BA frame, the BA information field may not be included in the BA frame. When the BA information field is not included, a method for indicating the presence of the information for DPS operation and / or the DPS control information subfield may be utilized to indicate the presence of the BA information field.

[0369] The present disclosure proposes a design of a response frame transmitted when an STA in a power saving state (e.g., dynamic / scheduled / (unscheduled power saving)) receives an ICF. Specifically, a multi-STA BA frame can be used as an ICR for DPS. A DPS-STA can transmit information for DPS operation in response to the ICF via a multi-STA BA frame / BA frame in various ways (e.g., by utilizing a specific value of an AID TID information subfield, by utilizing a specific value of a fragment number subfield in a BA start sequence control subfield, by utilizing at least some bits of a reserved field in a BA control field). Alternatively, a DPS-STA can transmit a multi-STA BA or BA frame that does not include information for DPS operation in response to an ICF transmitted for DPS operation.

[0370] The technical features of the present disclosure described above can be applied to various devices and methods. For example, the technical features of the present disclosure described above can be performed / supported by the devices of FIG. 1 and / or FIG. 5. For example, the technical features of the present disclosure described above can be applied only to a portion of FIG. 1 and / or FIG. 5. For example, the technical features of the present disclosure described above can be implemented based on the processing chip (114, 124) of FIG. 1, or based on the processor (111, 121) and memory (112, 122) of FIG. 1, or based on the processor (510) and memory (520) of FIG. 5.

[0371] For example, the processor (121) and / or the processing chip (124) of FIG. 1 may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory (122) to perform operations performed by the first STA in the present disclosure. The operations include: activating a dynamic power saving (DPS) mode; receiving an initiating frame from a second STA in a listening state of the DPS mode; switching from the listening state to the frame exchange state based on receiving the initiating frame; and transmitting a multi-STA block acknowledgment (BA) frame to the second STA as a response frame to the initiating frame after switching to the frame exchange state. And an operation of receiving data from the second STA in the frame exchange state, wherein the BA information field of the multi-STA BA frame includes an AID (association identifier) ​​TID (traffic identifier) ​​per AID TID information subfield related to the first STA, and the AID TID information subfield of the AID TID per information subfield is set to a specific value based on the multi-STA BA frame being related to a DPS operation.

[0372] For example, the processor (111), the processing chip (114) of FIG. 1, and / or the processor (510) of FIG. 5 may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory (112, 520) to perform operations performed by the second STA in the present disclosure. The operations include: transmitting a frame to the first STA for activating a dynamic power saving (DPS) mode of the first STA; transmitting an initiating frame to the first STA in a listening state of the DPS mode, wherein a state of the first STA is switched from the listening state to the frame exchange state based on the initiating frame; receiving a multi-STA block acknowledgment (BA) frame as a response frame to the initiating frame from the first STA; And an operation of transmitting data to the first STA in a frame exchange state of the first STA, wherein the BA information field of the multi-STA BA frame includes an AID (association identifier) ​​TID (traffic identifier) ​​per AID TID information subfield related to the first STA, and the AID TID information subfield of the AID TID per information subfield is set to a specific value based on whether the multi-STA BA frame is related to a DPS operation.

[0373] The technical features of the present disclosure can be implemented based on a computer-readable medium (CRM). For example, the CRM proposed by the present disclosure is at least one computer-readable recording medium containing instructions that are executed by at least one processor.

[0374] For example, the CRM may be the memory (122) of FIG. 1 and / or a separate external memory / storage medium / disk. The CRM may store commands that perform operations performed by the first STA in the present disclosure based on being executed by a processor (e.g., the processor (121) and / or the processing chip (124) of FIG. 1). The operations include: activating a dynamic power saving (DPS) mode; receiving an initiating frame from a second STA in a listening state of the DPS mode; switching from the listening state to the frame exchange state based on receiving the initiating frame; and transmitting a multi-STA block acknowledgment (BA) frame to the second STA as a response frame to the initiating frame after switching to the frame exchange state. And an operation of receiving data from the second STA in the frame exchange state, wherein the BA information field of the multi-STA BA frame includes an AID (association identifier) ​​TID (traffic identifier) ​​per AID TID information subfield related to the first STA, and the AID TID information subfield of the AID TID per information subfield is set to a specific value based on the multi-STA BA frame being related to a DPS operation.

[0375] For example, the CRM may be the memory (112) of FIG. 1, the memory (520) of FIG. 5, and / or a separate external memory / storage medium / disk. The CRM may store commands that perform operations performed by the second STA in the present disclosure based on being executed by a processor (e.g., the processor (111), the processing chip (114) of FIG. 1, and / or the processor (510) of FIG. 5). The operations include: transmitting a frame for activating a dynamic power saving (DPS) mode of the first STA to the first STA; transmitting an initiating frame to the first STA in a listening state of the DPS mode, wherein the state of the first STA is switched from the listening state to the frame exchange state based on the initiating frame; receiving a multi-STA block acknowledgment (BA) frame as a response frame to the initiating frame from the first STA; And an operation of transmitting data to the first STA in a frame exchange state of the first STA, wherein the BA information field of the multi-STA BA frame includes an AID (association identifier) ​​TID (traffic identifier) ​​per AID TID information subfield related to the first STA, and the AID TID information subfield of the AID TID per information subfield is set to a specific value based on whether the multi-STA BA frame is related to a DPS operation.

[0376] The technical features of the present disclosure described above are applicable to various applications and business models. For example, the technical features described above can be applied to wireless communication in devices that support artificial intelligence (AI).

[0377] Artificial intelligence (AI) is the study of artificial intelligence or the methodologies for creating it, while machine learning (ML) defines various problems in the field of AI and studies the methodologies for solving them. Machine learning is also defined as an algorithm that improves performance on a task through consistent experience.

[0378] An artificial neural network (ANN) is a model used in machine learning. It can refer to a model with problem-solving capabilities, consisting of artificial neurons (nodes) formed by the connection of synapses to form a network. An ANN can be defined by the connection patterns between neurons in different layers, the learning process that updates model parameters, and the activation function that generates output values.

[0379] An artificial neural network may include an input layer, an output layer, and optionally one or more hidden layers. Each layer contains one or more neurons, and the artificial neural network may include synapses connecting neurons. In an artificial neural network, each neuron can output a function value of an activation function based on input signals, weights, and biases received through the synapses.

[0380] Model parameters are parameters determined through learning, including synaptic connection weights and neuron biases. Hyperparameters are parameters that must be set before learning in machine learning algorithms, including the learning rate, number of iterations, mini-batch size, and initialization function.

[0381] The goal of artificial neural network training can be seen as determining model parameters that minimize a loss function. The loss function can be used as an indicator for determining optimal model parameters during the artificial neural network training process.

[0382] Machine learning can be classified into supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and reinforcement learning depending on the learning method.

[0383] Supervised learning refers to a method for training an artificial neural network when given labels for the training data. The labels can refer to the correct answer (or output value) that the artificial neural network must infer when the training data is input to the artificial neural network. Unsupervised learning can refer to a method for training an artificial neural network when the training data is not given labels. Reinforcement learning can refer to a learning method in which an agent defined within a given environment is trained to select actions or action sequences that maximize the cumulative reward in each state.

[0384] Machine learning implemented with a deep neural network (DNN) containing multiple hidden layers among artificial neural networks is also called deep learning, and deep learning is a subset of machine learning. Hereinafter, the term "machine learning" is used to encompass deep learning.

[0385] Additionally, the above-described technical features can be applied to wireless communication of robots.

[0386] A robot can be defined as a machine that automatically performs or operates a given task based on its own capabilities. Specifically, a robot capable of perceiving its environment, making independent judgments, and performing actions can be called an intelligent robot.

[0387] Robots can be categorized into industrial, medical, household, and military applications based on their intended use or field. Robots are equipped with actuators or motors, enabling them to perform various physical actions, such as moving robot joints. Furthermore, mobile robots incorporate wheels, brakes, and propellers into their actuators, enabling them to move on the ground or fly in the air.

[0388] Additionally, the above-described technical features can be applied to devices that support extended reality.

[0389] Extended reality is a general term for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). VR technology presents real-world objects and backgrounds as CG images only, AR technology presents virtual CG images over images of real objects, and MR technology is a computer graphics technology that blends and combines virtual objects with the real world.

[0390] MR technology is similar to AR in that it presents both real and virtual objects simultaneously. However, while AR uses virtual objects to complement real objects, MR uses virtual and real objects on an equal footing.

[0391] XR technology can be applied to HMD (Head-Mount Display), HUD (Head-Up Display), mobile phones, tablet PCs, laptops, desktops, TVs, digital signage, etc., and devices to which XR technology is applied can be called XR devices.

[0392] The present disclosure may have various advantageous effects.

[0393] For example, ICR / response frames can be transmitted and received by utilizing multiple STA BA frames for ICF / initiation frames related to DPS operation.

[0394] The beneficial effects that can be achieved through specific embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the beneficial effects listed above. For example, various technical effects may be understood and / or derived from the present disclosure by those skilled in the art. Therefore, the specific effects of the present disclosure are not limited to those explicitly described herein, but may include various effects that can be understood or derived from the technical features of the present disclosure.

[0395] The claims set forth in this disclosure may be combined in various ways. For example, the technical features of the method claims of this disclosure may be combined and implemented as a device, and the technical features of the device claims of this disclosure may be combined and implemented as a method. Furthermore, the technical features of the method claims of this disclosure and the technical features of the device claims of this disclosure may be combined and implemented as a device, and the technical features of the method claims of this disclosure and the technical features of the device claims of this disclosure may be combined and implemented as a method.

Claims

1. A step in which the first STA (station) activates a dynamic power saving (DPS) mode; A step in which the first STA receives an initiating frame from the second STA in a listening state of the DPS mode; A step of switching from the listening state to the frame exchange state based on the first STA receiving the initiation frame; After switching to the frame exchange state, the first STA transmits a multi-STA BA (block acknowledgment) frame to the second STA as a response frame to the initiation frame; and A step in which the first STA receives data from the second STA in the frame exchange state, The BA information field of the above multi-STA BA frame includes an AID (association identifier) ​​TID (traffic identifier) ​​per AID TID information subfield related to the first STA, A method in which the AID TID information subfield of the above AID TID-specific information subfield is set to a specific value based on whether the above multi-STA BA frame is related to a DPS operation.

2. In claim 1, the AID TID information subfield includes an AID11 subfield, an Ack (acknowledgement) type subfield, and a TID (traffic identifier) ​​subfield, A method wherein the specific value comprises at least one of a value of the AID11 subfield, a value of the Ack type subfield, or a value of the TID subfield.

3. In claim 2, the value of the AID11 subfield is not 2045.

4. A method according to claim 2, wherein the value of the Ack type subfield is 0 and the value of the TID subfield is 13.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the AID TID information subfield set to the specific value includes DPS information.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein the DPS information includes at least one of information on an operating bandwidth, information on a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), information on a number of spatial streams (NSS), information on whether an ICF is required, or information on a DPS switching delay.

7. In claim 5, a method in which the BA bitmap subfield of the AID TID-specific information subfield includes the DPS information or is replaced with a subfield including the DPS information.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the subfield including the DPS information is a DPS control information subfield or a feedback subfield.

9. In claim 7, the size of the BA bitmap subfield is the size of the DPS information.

10. In claim 5, the BA start sequence control subfield of the AID TID star information subfield includes a feedback type subfield, A method in which the above feedback type subfield is set to a specific value based on whether the above AID TID specific information subfield includes the above DPS information.

11. In claim 5, the BA start sequence control subfield of the AID TID-specific information subfield includes a fragment number subfield, A method in which the above fragment number subfield is set to a value related to the length of the subfield containing the DPS information.

12. At the first STA (station), Transmitter and receiver; memory; and At least one processor functionally coupled with the transceiver and the memory, The memory stores instructions for performing operations based on being executed by the at least one processor, the operations being: Action to enable dynamic power saving (DPS) mode; An operation of receiving an initiating frame from a second STA in a listening state of the above DPS mode; An operation of switching from the listening state to the frame exchange state based on receiving the above initiation frame; After switching to the above frame exchange state, an operation of transmitting a multi-STA BA (block acknowledgment) frame as a response frame to the initiation frame to the second STA; and Including an operation of receiving data from the second STA in the above frame exchange state, The BA information field of the above multi-STA BA frame includes an AID (association identifier) ​​TID (traffic identifier) ​​per AID TID information subfield related to the first STA, The AID TID information subfield of the above AID TID-specific information subfield is set to a specific value based on whether the multi-STA BA frame is related to a DPS operation.

13. In the device, at least one processor; and At least one memory functionally coupled with at least one processor, The at least one memory stores instructions that perform operations based on being executed by the at least one processor, the operations being: Action to enable dynamic power saving (DPS) mode; An operation of receiving an initiating frame from a second STA (station) in a listening state of the above DPS mode; An operation of switching from the listening state to the frame exchange state based on receiving the above initiation frame; After switching to the above frame exchange state, an operation of transmitting a multi-STA BA (block acknowledgment) frame as a response frame to the initiation frame to the second STA; and Including an operation of receiving data from the second STA in the above frame exchange state, The BA information field of the above multi-STA BA frame includes an AID (association identifier) ​​TID (traffic identifier) ​​per AID TID information subfield related to the first STA, A device in which the AID TID information subfield of the above AID TID-specific information subfield is set to a specific value based on whether the above multi-STA BA frame is related to a DPS operation.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium (CRM) storing program code that implements instructions that perform operations based on being executed by at least one processor, wherein the operations are: Action to enable dynamic power saving (DPS) mode; An operation of receiving an initiating frame from a second STA (station) in a listening state of the above DPS mode; An operation of switching from the listening state to the frame exchange state based on receiving the above initiation frame; After switching to the above frame exchange state, an operation of transmitting a multi-STA BA (block acknowledgment) frame as a response frame to the initiation frame to the second STA; and Including an operation of receiving data from the second STA in the above frame exchange state, The BA information field of the above multi-STA BA frame includes an AID (association identifier) ​​TID (traffic identifier) ​​per AID TID information subfield related to the first STA, The AID TID information subfield of the above AID TID-specific information subfield is a CRM that is set to a specific value based on whether the above multi-STA BA frame is related to a DPS operation.

15. A step in which a second STA (station) transmits a frame to the first STA for activating a dynamic power saving (DPS) mode of the first STA; A step in which the second STA transmits an initiating frame to the first STA in a listening state of the DPS mode, The state of the first STA is switched from the listening state to the frame exchange state based on the initiation frame; A step in which the second STA receives a multi-STA BA (block acknowledgment) frame as a response frame to the initiation frame from the first STA; and A step in which the second STA transmits data to the first STA in a frame exchange state of the first STA, The BA information field of the above multi-STA BA frame includes an AID (association identifier) ​​TID (traffic identifier) ​​per AID TID information subfield related to the first STA, A method in which the AID TID information subfield of the above AID TID-specific information subfield is set to a specific value based on whether the above multi-STA BA frame is related to a DPS operation.

16. In claim 15, the AID TID information subfield includes an AID11 subfield, an Ack (acknowledgement) type subfield, and a TID (traffic identifier) ​​subfield, A method wherein the specific value comprises at least one of a value of the AID11 subfield, a value of the Ack type subfield, or a value of the TID subfield.

17. A method according to claim 15, wherein the AID TID information subfield is set to the specific value and the AID TID-specific information subfield includes DPS information.

18. In claim 17, the BA bitmap subfield of the AID TID-specific information subfield includes the DPS information or is replaced with a subfield including the DPS information, A method in which a subfield containing the above DPS information is a DPS control information subfield or a feedback subfield.

19. In claim 17, the BA start sequence control subfield of the AID TID star information subfield includes a feedback type subfield, A method in which the above feedback type subfield is set to a specific value based on whether the above AID TID specific information subfield includes the above DPS information.

20. In the second STA (station), Transmitter and receiver; memory; and At least one processor functionally coupled with the transceiver and the memory, The memory stores instructions for performing operations based on being executed by the at least one processor, the operations being: An operation of transmitting a frame to a first STA for activating a dynamic power saving (DPS) mode of the first STA; An operation of transmitting an initiating frame to the first STA in a listening state of the DPS mode, The state of the first STA is switched from the listening state to the frame exchange state based on the initiation frame; An operation of receiving a multi-STA BA (block acknowledgment) frame as a response frame to the initiation frame from the first STA; and Including an operation of transmitting data to the first STA in a frame exchange state of the first STA, The BA information field of the above multi-STA BA frame includes an AID (association identifier) ​​TID (traffic identifier) ​​per AID TID information subfield related to the first STA, The AID TID information subfield of the above AID TID-specific information subfield is set to a specific value based on whether the multi-STA BA frame is related to a DPS operation.

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