Systems and methods for performing data link management in multi-link WLAN sensing

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed to perform data link management in multi-link WLAN sensing. The method may be carried out by a networking device. The method includes operating a first data connection and a second data connection. The method further includes obtaining a determination to initiate an unassociated sensing measurement session with an unassociated access point. Further, the method includes obtaining at least one initial TTLM and determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification to accommodate the unassociated sensing measurement session and at least one of the uplink data traffic and the downlink data traffic. Thereafter, the method includes transmitting a TTLM request frame containing at least one modified TTLM and receiving a TTLM response frame from the associated access point. The method also includes reconfiguring the networking device according to the at least one modified TTLM to initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session and maintain the first data connection.

Description

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PERFORMING DATA LINK MANAGEMENT IN MULTI-LINK WLAN SENSINGTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for wireless local area network (WLAN) sensing. In particular, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for performing data link management in multi-link WLAN sensing.BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0002] Motion detection systems have been used to detect movement, for example, of objects in a room or an outdoor area. In some example motion detection systems, infrared or optical sensors are used to detect movement of objects in the sensor’s field of view. Motion detection systems have been used in security systems, automated control systems, and other types of systems. A WLAN sensing system (which may be referred to as a Wi-Fi sensing system or a wireless sensing system) is one recent addition to motion detection systems. The Wi-Fi sensing system may be a network of Wi-Fi-enabled devices that may be a part of an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 network. For example, the WiFi sensing system may be configured to detect features of interest in a sensing space. The sensing space may refer to any physical space in which the Wi-Fi sensing system may operate, such as a place of residence, a place of work, a shopping mall, a sports hall or sports stadium, a garden, or any other physical space. Features of interest may include motion of objects and motion tracking, presence detection, intrusion detection, gesture recognition, fall detection, breathing rate detection, and other applications.

[0003] Further, the motion is determined in the sensing space by a sensing algorithm / technique on a device detecting perturbation in the local environment based on analysis of sensing measurements (channel state information) over time. Further, a sensing transmission is sent from a sensing transmitter. Furthermore, a sensing receiver performs a sensing measurement at the Physical (PHY)ZMedia Access Control layer (MAC) layer and passes this sensing measurement up to the sensing agent or sensing algorithm at a higher layer to detect motion.

[0004] Furthermore, a basic service set (BSS) is a set of an Access Point Station (AP STA) and non-AP STAs associated together at the PHY / MAC layer to form a wireless network. The BSS comprises a single device acting as an access point (AP or AP STA) and one or more devices connected to and controlled by the AP (non-AP STA, or simply STA where the accesspoint is AP). A BSS is identified in IEEE 802.11 by a BSS identifier (BSSID). Further, an extended services set (ESS) is a set of STAs that includes a set of APs and forms a single logical service set. The ESS is a group of two or more BSSs and is logically identified by a service set identifier (SSID) representing the overall wireless network. The ESS allows client devices to roam between different BSSs while maintaining connectivity to the network.BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0005] The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for establishing a Wi-Fi sensing network. In particular, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for performing data link management in multi-link WLAN sensing.

[0006] Methods are provided to perform sensing measurements. In an example, a method for performing data link management in multi-link WLAN sensing is described. The method may be carried out by a networking device including a transmitting antenna, a receiving antenna, a first radio, a second radio, and at least one processor configured to execute instructions. The networking device operates as a station. The method includes operating a first data connection with an associated access point with the first radio. Further, the method includes operating a second data connection with the associated access point with the second radio. The method further includes obtaining a determination to initiate an unassociated sensing measurement session with an unassociated access point. Further, the method includes obtaining at least one initial Traffic ID to Link Mapping (TTLM) providing a link configuration for at least one of uplink data traffic and downlink data traffic transmitted between the networking device and the associated access point. The method further includes determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification to accommodate the unassociated sensing measurement session and at least one of the uplink data traffic and the downlink data traffic. Thereafter, the method includes transmitting a TTLM request frame containing at least one modified TTLM responsive to determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification. Further, the method includes receiving a TTLM response frame from the associated access point. The method also includes reconfiguring the networking device according to the at least one modified TTLM before initiating the unassociated sensing measurement session while maintaining the first data connection.

[0007] In some embodiments, at least one of the uplink data traffic and the downlink data traffic is transmitted over at least the second data connection prior to the reconfiguring.

[0008] In some embodiments, the at least one initial TTLM includes a mapping between Traffic ID values and at least one of the first data connection and the second data connection.

[0009] In some embodiments, determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification includes one or more of a determination that any portion of the downlink data traffic from the associated access point is mapped to the second data connection, and a determination that any portion of the uplink data traffic to the associated access point is mapped only to the second data connection.

[0010] In some embodiments, the method includes generating the modified TTLM responsive to determining that the TTLM requires modification.

[0011] In some embodiments, generating the modified TTLM includes remapping the downlink data traffic that is mapped to only the second data connection to only the first data connection.

[0012] In some embodiments, generating the modified TTLM includes remapping the uplink data traffic that is mapped only to the second data connection to the first data connection.

[0013] In some embodiments, generating the modified TTLM includes remapping the downlink data traffic that is mapped to both the first data connection and the second data connection to only the first data connection.

[0014] In some embodiments, the method includes rerouting the uplink data traffic that is mapped to both the first data connection and the second data connection to only the first data connection.

[0015] In some embodiments, reconfiguring the networking device includes dropping the second data connection. Further, the method includes initiating the unassociated sensing measurement session with the unassociated access point with the second radio on a same frequency as the second data connection.

[0016] In some embodiments, reconfiguring the networking device includes dropping the second data connection. Further, the method includes retuning the second radio to initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session with the unassociated access point on a different frequency as the second data connection.

[0017] In some embodiments, the method includes ending the unassociated sensing measurement session. Further, the method includes reestablishing the second data connection.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example wireless communication system.

[0019] FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are diagrams showing example wireless signals communicated between wireless communication devices.

[0020] FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are plots showing examples of channel responses computed from the wireless signals communicated between wireless communication devices in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B.

[0021] FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are diagrams showing example channel responses associated with motion of an object in distinct regions of a space.

[0022] FIG. 4C and FIG. 4D are plots showing the example channel responses of FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B overlaid on an example channel response associated with no motion occurring in the space.

[0023] FIG. 5 depicts an implementation of some of an architecture of a system to perform data link management in multi-link Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) sensing, according to some embodiments.

[0024] FIG. 6 depicts an example of a WLAN sensing procedure, according to some embodiments.

[0025] FIG. 7A depicts an example of a Sensing Measurement Setup Request frame Action field format, according to some embodiments.

[0026] FIG. 7B illustrates an example of a Sensing Measurement Parameters element, according to some embodiments.

[0027] FIG. 7C illustrates an example of a format of a Sensing Measurement Parameters field, according to some embodiments.

[0028] FIG. 7D depicts an example of a Sensing Measurement Setup Response frame Action field format, according to some embodiments.

[0029] FIG. 8A depicts one-to-many and many-to-one aspects of an example of a WLAN sensing procedure, according to some embodiments.

[0030] FIG. 8B depicts pairwise aspects of an example of a WLAN sensing procedure, according to some embodiments.

[0031] FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B depict an example of message flows of a trigger-based (TB) sensing measurement exchange of a WLAN sensing procedure that consists of a sensing measurement setup phase, a Null Data Physical layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) Announcement (NDPA) sounding and reporting phase, a trigger-frame (TF) sounding phase, and a sensing measurement setup termination phase, according to some embodiments.

[0032] FIG. 10A depicts an example of phases of a TB sensing measurement exchange, according to some embodiments.

[0033] FIG. 10B indicates valid combinations of phases of a TB sensing measurement exchange, according to some embodiments.

[0034] FIG. 11 depicts an example of a TB sensing measurement exchange including a polling phase, anNDPA sounding phase, aTF sounding phase and a reporting phase, according to some embodiments.

[0035] FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B depict a message flow of a non-TB sensing measurement exchange of a WLAN sensing procedure that consists of a sensing measurement setup phase, an NDPA sounding phase with sensing initiator to sensing responder (SI2SR) sounding and reporting, an NDPA sounding phase with sensing responder to sensing initiator (SR2SI) sounding, an NDPA sounding phase with both SI2SR sounding and reporting and SR2SI sounding, and a sensing measurement setup termination phase, according to some embodiments.

[0036] FIG. 13 depicts an example of a single non-TB sensing measurement exchange consisting of a measurement sounding phase and a reporting phase, according to some embodiments.

[0037] FIG. 14A and FIG. 14B depict an example of an Action field format of a Sensing Measurement Report frame Action field and a Sensing Measurement Report Container field format, according to some embodiments.

[0038] FIG. 15A to FIG. 151 depict a hierarchy of fields within a Sensing Trigger frame, according to some embodiments.

[0039] FIG. 16 depicts an exemplary Multi -Link Operation (MLO) of two Multi -Link Devices (MLDs), according to some embodiments.

[0040] FIG. 17 depicts an exemplary Overlapping Basic Service Set (OBSS), according to some embodiments.

[0041] FIG. 18 depicts exemplary multiple BSSs with MLO, according to some embodiments.

[0042] FIG. 19 depicts an exemplary sequence diagram for initiating an OBSS sensing measurement session, according to some embodiments.

[0043] FIG. 20 depicts an exemplary sequence diagram for initiating an unassociated sensing measurement session, according to some embodiments.

[0044] FIG. 21 depicts an exemplary pictorial depiction of wireless links established by a non-Access Point (non-AP) Multi-Link Device (MLD) for performing data communication with a first Access Point (AP) MLD, according to some embodiments.

[0045] FIG. 22 depicts an exemplary pictorial depiction of wireless links established by the non-AP MLD during the OBSS or unassociated sensing measurement session forperforming data communication with the first AP MLD and sensing measurements with a second AP, according to some embodiments.

[0046] FIG. 23 depicts an exemplary pictorial depiction of wireless links established by the non-AP MLD during the OBSS or unassociated sensing measurement session for performing data communication with the first AP MLD and sensing measurements with the second AP, according to some other embodiments.

[0047] FIG. 24 depicts an exemplary sequence diagram for performing data link management in multi-link WLAN sensing, according to some embodiments.

[0048] FIG. 25 depicts an exemplary flowchart for obtaining and applying TID-to-Link Mapping (TTLM) modifications, according to some embodiments.

[0049] FIG. 26A and FIG. 26B depict an exemplary flowchart carried out by a networking device to perform data link management in multi-link WLAN sensing, according to some embodiments.

[0050] FIG. 27 depicts an exemplary flowchart for reconfiguring the networking device, according to some embodiments.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0051] Wireless sensing enables a device to obtain sensing measurements of transmission channel(s) between two or more devices. With the execution of a wireless sensing procedure, it is possible for a device to obtain sensing measurements useful for detecting and tracking changes in the environment. In some aspects of what is described herein, a wireless sensing system may be used for a variety of wireless sensing applications by processing wireless signals (e.g., radio frequency (RF) signals) transmitted through a space between wireless communication devices. Example wireless sensing applications include motion detection, which can include the following: detecting motion of objects in the space, motion tracking, breathing detection, breathing monitoring, presence detection, gesture detection, gesture recognition, human detection (moving and stationary human detection), human tracking, fall detection, speed estimation, intrusion detection, walking detection, step counting, respiration rate detection, apnea estimation, posture change detection, activity recognition, gait rate classification, gesture decoding, sign language recognition, hand tracking, heart rate estimation, breathing rate estimation, room occupancy detection, human dynamics monitoring, and other types of motion detection applications. Other examples of wireless sensing applications include object recognition, speaking recognition, keystroke detection and recognition, tamper detection, touch detection, attack detection, user authentication, driverfatigue detection, traffic monitoring, smoking detection, school safety issue detection, human counting, human recognition, bike localization, human queue estimation, Wi-Fi imaging, and other types of wireless sensing applications. For instance, the wireless sensing system may operate as a motion detection system to detect the existence and location of motion based on Wi-Fi signals or other types of wireless signals. As described in more detail below, a wireless sensing system may be configured to control measurement rates, wireless connections, and device participation, for example, to improve system operation or to achieve other technical advantages. The system improvements and technical advantages achieved when the wireless sensing system is used for motion detection are also achieved in examples where the wireless sensing system is used for another type of wireless sensing application.

[0052] In some example wireless sensing systems, a wireless signal includes a component (e.g., a synchronization preamble in a Wi-Fi PHY frame, or another type of component) that wireless devices can use to estimate a channel response or other channel information, and the wireless sensing system can detect motion (or another characteristic depending on the wireless sensing application) by analyzing changes in the channel information collected over time. In some examples, a wireless sensing system can operate similarly to a bistatic radar system, where a Wi-Fi access point (AP) assumes the receiver role, and each Wi-Fi device (station (STA), node, or peer) connected to the AP assumes the transmitter role. The wireless sensing system may trigger a connected device to generate a transmission and produce a channel response measurement at a receiver device. This triggering process can be repeated periodically to obtain a sequence of time-variant measurements. A wireless sensing algorithm or a wireless sensing application may then receive the generated time-series of channel response measurements (e.g., computed by Wi-Fi receivers) as input, and through a correlation or fdtering process, may then make a determination (e.g., determine if there is motion or no motion within the environment represented by the channel response, for example, based on changes or patterns in the channel estimations). In examples where the wireless sensing system detects motion, it may also be possible to identify a location of the motion within the environment based on motion detection results among a number of wireless devices.

[0053] Accordingly, wireless signals received at each of the wireless communication devices in a wireless communication network may be analyzed to determine channel information for the various communication links (between respective pairs of wireless communication devices) in the network. The channel information may be representative of a physical medium that applies a transfer function to wireless signals that traverse a space. In some instances, the channel information includes a channel response. Channel responses cancharacterize a physical communication path, representing the combined effect of, for example, scattering, fading, and power decay within the space between the transmitter and receiver. In some instances, the channel information includes beamforming state information (e.g., a feedback matrix, a steering matrix, channel state information, etc.) provided by a beamforming system. Beamforming is a signal processing technique often used in multi-antenna (multiple- input / multiple-output (MIMO)) radio systems for directional signal transmission or reception. Beamforming can be achieved by operating elements in an antenna array in such a way that signals at some angles experience constructive interference while others experience destructive interference.

[0054] The channel information for each of the communication links may be analyzed (e.g., by a hub device or other device in a wireless communication network, or by a sensing transmitter, sensing receiver, or sensing initiator communicably coupled to the network) to, for example, detect whether motion has occurred in the space, to determine a relative location of the detected motion, or both. In some aspects, the channel information for each of the communication links may be analyzed to detect whether an object is present or absent, e.g., when no motion is detected in the space.

[0055] In some cases, a wireless sensing system can control a node measurement rate. For instance, a Wi-Fi motion system may configure variable measurement rates (e.g., channel estimation / environment measurement / sampling rates) based on criteria given by a current wireless sensing application (e.g., motion detection). In some implementations, when no motion is present or no motion is detected for a period of time, for example, the wireless sensing system can reduce the rate at which the environment is measured, such that the connected device will be triggered or caused to make sensing transmissions or sensing measurements less frequently. In some implementations, when motion is present, for example, the wireless sensing system can increase the triggering rate or sensing transmissions rate or sensing measurement rate to produce a time-series of measurements with finer time resolution. Controlling a variable sensing measurement rate can allow energy conservation (through the device triggering), reduce processing (less data to correlate or filter), and improve resolution during specified times.

[0056] In some cases, a wireless sensing system can perform band steering or client steering of nodes throughout a wireless network, for example, in a Wi-Fi multi -AP or extended service set (ESS) topology, multiple coordinating wireless APs each provide a basic service set (BSS) which may occupy different frequency bands and allow devices to transparently move from one participating AP to another (e.g., mesh). For instance, within a home mesh network,Wi-Fi devices can connect to any of the APs, but typically select one with good signal strength. The coverage footprints of the mesh APs typically overlap, often putting each device within communication range of more than one AP. If the AP supports multi-bands (e.g., 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz), the wireless sensing system may keep a device connected to the same physical AP but instruct it to use a different frequency band to obtain more diverse information to help improve the accuracy or results of the wireless sensing algorithm (e.g., motion detection algorithm). In some implementations, the wireless sensing system can change a device from being connected to one mesh AP to being connected to another mesh AP. Such device steering can be performed, for example, during wireless sensing (e.g., motion detection), based on criteria detected in a specific area to improve detection coverage, or to better localize motion within an area.

[0057] In some cases, beamforming may be performed between wireless communication devices based on some knowledge of the communication channel (e.g., through feedback properties generated by a receiver), which can be used to generate one or more steering properties (e.g., a steering matrix) that are applied by a transmitter device to shape the transmitted beam / signal in a particular direction or directions. Thus, changes to the steering or feedback properties used in the beamforming process indicate changes, which may be caused by moving objects, in the space accessed by the wireless communication system. For example, motion may be detected by substantial changes in the communication channel, e.g., as indicated by a channel response, or steering or feedback properties, or any combination thereof, over a period of time.

[0058] In some implementations, for example, a steering matrix may be generated at a transmitter device (beamformer) based on a feedback matrix provided by a receiver device (beamformee) based on channel sounding. Because the steering and feedback matrices are related to propagation characteristics of the channel, these matrices change as objects move within the channel. Changes in the channel characteristics are accordingly reflected in these matrices, and by analyzing the matrices, motion can be detected, and different characteristics of the detected motion can be determined. In some implementations, a spatial map may be generated based on one or more beamforming matrices. The spatial map may indicate a general direction of an object in a space relative to a wireless communication device. In some cases, many beamforming matrices (e.g., feedback matrices or steering matrices) may be generated to represent a multitude of directions that an object may be located relative to a wireless communication device. These many beamforming matrices may be used to generate the spatial map. The spatial map may be used to detect the presence of motion in the space or to detect a location of the detected motion.

[0059] In some instances, a motion detection system can control a variable device measurement rate in a motion detection process. For example, a feedback control system for a multi-node wireless motion detection system may adaptively change the sample rate based on environmental conditions. In some cases, such controls can improve the operation of the motion detection system or provide other technical advantages. For example, the measurement rate may be controlled in a manner that optimizes or otherwise improves air-time usage versus detection ability suitable for a wide range of different environments and different motion detection applications. The measurement rate may be controlled in a manner that reduces redundant measurement data to be processed, thereby reducing processor load / power requirements. In some cases, the measurement rate is controlled in a manner that is adaptive, for instance, an adaptive sample can be controlled individually for each participating device. An adaptive sample rate can be used with a tuning control loop for different use cases, or device characteristics.

[0060] In some cases, a wireless sensing system can allow devices to dynamically indicate and communicate their wireless sensing capability or wireless sensing willingness to the wireless sensing system. For example, there may be times when a device does not want to be periodically interrupted or triggered to transmit a wireless signal that would allow the AP to produce a channel measurement. For instance, if a device is sleeping, frequently waking the device up to transmit or receive wireless sensing signals could consume resources (e.g., causing a cell phone battery to discharge faster). These and other events could make a device willing or not willing to participate in wireless sensing system operations. In some cases, a cell phone running on its battery may not want to participate, but when the cell phone is plugged into a charger, it may be willing to participate. Accordingly, if the cell phone is unplugged, it may indicate to the wireless sensing system to exclude the cell phone from participating; whereas if the cell phone is plugged in, it may indicate to the wireless sensing system to include the cell phone in wireless sensing system operations. In some cases, if a device is under load (e.g., a device streaming audio or video) or is busy performing a primary function, the device may not want to participate; whereas when the same device’s load is reduced and participating will not interfere with a primary function, the device may indicate to the wireless sensing system that it is willing to participate.

[0061] Example wireless sensing systems are described below in the context of motion detection (detecting motion of objects in a space, motion tracking, breathing detection, breathing monitoring, presence detection, gesture detection, gesture recognition, human detection (moving and stationary human detection), human tracking, fall detection, speedestimation, intrusion detection, walking detection, step counting, respiration rate detection, apnea estimation, posture change detection, activity recognition, gait rate classification, gesture decoding, sign language recognition, hand tracking, heart rate estimation, breathing rate estimation, room occupancy detection, human dynamics monitoring, and other types of motion detection applications). However, the operation, system improvements, and technical advantages achieved when the wireless sensing system is operating as a motion detection system are also applicable in examples where the wireless sensing system is used for another type of wireless sensing application.

[0062] In various embodiments of the disclosure, non-limiting definitions of one or more terms that will be used in the description are provided below.

[0063] A networking device is a device used in the WLAN network. For example, a multi- AP device or a STA device may be a networking device.

[0064] A wireless access point (WAP) or simply an access point (AP) is a networking device in a WLAN network that allows other networking devices in a WLAN network to connect to a wired network. In examples, an AP creates a wireless local area network.

[0065] A station (STA) is any device that is connected to a WLAN network, and which contains 802.11 compliant MAC and PHY interfaces to the wireless medium. A STA may be a laptop, desktop, smartphone, or a smart appliance. A STA may be fixed, mobile or portable. A STA that does not take on the role of an AP may be referred to as a non-AP STA.

[0066] A term “sensing space” may refer to any physical space in which a WLAN sensing system may operate.

[0067] A term “sensing area” may refer to a part or subset of a sensing space. For example, if a sensing space represents a house, then an individual room may be a sensing area within that sensing space.

[0068] A term “sensing procedure” may refer to a procedure that allows a high-efficiency (HE) STA or extremely high throughput (EHT) STA to perform sensing. A sensing procedure may be initiated with the establishment of a sensing measurement session, which may be followed by zero or more sensing measurement exchanges, and may be terminated either implicitly or explicitly with a sensing measurement session termination.

[0069] A term “sensing capabilities exchange” may refer to the beginning part of a sensing procedure, during which the sensing capabilities may be exchanged between the sensing STAs. A term “sensing capabilities exchange” may also be referred to as “sensing session setup” or “session setup”.

[0070] A term “sensing measurement session” may refer to a set of sensing measurement exchanges that use operational parameters agreed to between a sensing initiator and sensing responder and is identified by a Measurement Session ID. The term “sensing measurement session” may also be referred to as “sensing session” or “sensing measurement setup” or “measurement setup”. The term “Measurement Session ID” may also be referred to as “Measurement Setup ID”.

[0071] A term “sensing measurement exchange” may refer to part of a sensing procedure, during which sensing measurements are performed.

[0072] A term “sensing initiator” may refer to an HE STA or EHT STA that initiates a sensing procedure by transmitting a Sensing Measurement Request frame, or a Directional Multi-Gigabit (DMG) STA that initiates a DMG sensing procedure by transmitting a DMG Sensing Measurement Request frame.

[0073] A term “sensing responder” may refer to an HE STA or EHT STA that participates in a sensing procedure by responding to a sensing initiator, or a DMG STA that participates in a DMG sensing procedure by responding to a sensing initiator.

[0074] A term “sensing transmitter” may refer to a STA that transmits PPDUs used for measurements in a sensing procedure or a DMG sensing procedure.

[0075] A term “sensing receiver” may refer to a STA that is the intended recipient of PPDUs sent by a sensing transmitter to obtain sensing measurements in either a sensing procedure or a DMG sensing procedure.

[0076] A term “Proxy AP Client Device” (or “PACD”) may refer to a client device that can act as a proxy AP and initiate the forming of a WLAN sensing network among the client devices in the ESS.

[0077] A term “client device” (or “CD”) refers to a piece of software or hardware that requests and receives information or resources from a server. A client device is typically used to access data, services, or applications provided by servers over a network, such as the internet. For example, client devices include smartphones, laptops, desktop computers, and other devices that may connect to the network and communicate with servers. A CD may be a networking device, non-AP STA or Multi-AP device with a sensing agent (or sensing algorithm) on it.

[0078] A term “sensing link” may refer to a link that traverses a sensing area of interest between two networking devices in a Wi-Fi network.

[0079] A term “normal client device” (or “NCD”) may refer to a client device which is not the proxy AP client device in an ESS.

[0080] A term “sensing pulse packet” may refer to a packet sent from the client device to its associated AP to indicate the client device capability and status for sensing.

[0081] A term “BeaconSNR” may refer to the signal -to-noise ratio of the received Beacon frames, in dB. This may be time-averaged over recent history by a vendor-specific smoothing function (as defined in Table 6-7 — ESS Link Parameter Set of Draft P802.1 lREVme_D5.0).

[0082] A term “DataFrameSNR” may refer to the signal-to-noise ratio of the received Data frames, in dB. This may be time-averaged over recent history by a vendor-specific smoothing function (as defined in Table 6-7 — ESS Link Parameter Set of Draft P802.1 lREVme_D5.0).

[0083] A term “PACD capability” may refer to a capability to indicate if a client device could be a PACD.

[0084] A term “PACD capable device” may refer to a client device whose PACD capability value=l.

[0085] A term “current PACD status” may refer to a status to indicate if the client device is the current PACD.

[0086] A term “interference profile” may refer to the average noise plus interference power indicator. A medium access control (MAC) indication of the average noise plus interference power measured on a channel that meets the two simultaneous conditions: 1) the STA is not transmitting a frame, and 2) the STA is not receiving a frame addressed to it (as defined in 3.1 Definitions of Draft P802.11REVme_D5.0).

[0087] A term “current selected AP” may refer to an AP with most associated client devices in the ESS.

[0088] A term “median value indicator” may refer to an indicator to indicate the location of a value in a list of values which are in an order from the smallest value to the largest value.

[0089] A term “current associated NCD” may refer to a normal client device associated with the current selected AP. A current associated NCD may be a normal client device associated with the current selected AP before PACD selection or a normal client device switched to the current selected AP before PACD selection for sensing.

[0090] A term “transmission opportunity (TXOP)” may refer to a negotiated interval of time during which a particular quality of service (QoS) station (e.g., a STA, an AP, or either a STA or an AP, for example, in the role of a sensing initiator, a sensing responder, a sensing transmitter or a sensing receiver) may have the right to initiate a frame exchange onto a wireless medium. A QoS access category (AC) of the transmission opportunity may be requested as part of a service or session negotiation.

[0091] A term “Quality of Service (QoS) access category (AC)” may refer to an identifier for a frame which classifies a priority of transmission that the frame requires. In an example, four QoS access categories are defined namely AC VI: Video, AC_VO: Voice, AC_BE: Best- Effort, and AC BK: Background. Further, each QoS access category may have different TXOP parameters defined for it.

[0092] A term “interframe space (IFS)” may refer to the time interval between certain adjacent PPDU (+SigExt (signal extension)). A STA shall determine that the medium is idle through the use of the Carrier Sense (CS) function for the interval specified. Different IFSs are defined to provide priority levels for access to the wireless medium. Timings for IFSs are referenced from the occurrence of the PHY interface primitives PHY-TXEND. confirm, PHY- TXSTART. confirm, PHY-RXSTART.indication, and PHY-RXEND. indication. One of the defined IFSs is a “short interframe space (SIFS)”. In an example, a short interframe space may be approximately 10 ps. In another example, a short interframe space may be approximately 16 ps.

[0093] A term “PHY-layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU)” may refer to a data unit that includes preamble and data fields. The preamble field may include transmission vector format information and the data field may include payload and higher layer headers.

[0094] A term “null data PPDU (NDP)” may refer to a PPDU that does not include a data field. In an example, a null data PPDU may be used for a sensing transmission, where a MAC header of the NDP includes information required for a sensing receiver to make a sensing measurement on the sensing transmission.

[0095] A term “transmission parameters” may refer to a set of IEEE 802.11 PHY transmitter configuration parameters which are defined as a part of a transmission vector (TXVECTOR) corresponding to a specific PHY and which may be configurable for each PHY - layer PPDU transmission or each NDP transmission.

[0096] A term “resource unit (RU)” may refer to an allocation of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) channels which may be used to cany a modulated signal. An RU may include a variable number of carriers depending on the mode of the modem.

[0097] A term “tone” may refer to an individual subcarrier in an OFDM signal. A tone may be represented in the frequency domain. In the frequency domain, a tone may also be referred to as a subcarrier.

[0098] A term “time domain pulse” may refer to a complex number that represents amplitude and phase of discretized energy in the time domain. When frequency domain channel state information values are obtained for each tone from a baseband receiver, time domainpulses may be obtained by performing an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) on the channel state information values.

[0099] A term “sensing goal” may refer to a goal of a sensing activity at a time. A sensing goal is not static and may change at any time. In an example, a sensing goal may require sensing measurements of a specific type, a specific format, or a specific precision, resolution, or accuracy to be available to a sensing algorithm.

[0100] A term “wireless local area network (WLAN) sensing session” or “Wi-Fi sensing session” may refer to a period during which objects in a physical space may be probed, detected and / or characterized. In an example, during a WLAN sensing session, several devices participate in, and thereby contribute to the generation of sensing measurements. A WLAN sensing session may be referred to as a “measurement campaign”.

[0101] A term “non-sensing message” may refer to a message which is not primarily related to sensing. In an example, non-sensing messages may include data, management, and control messages.

[0102] A term “sensing measurement” may refer to a measurement of a state of a wireless channel between a transmitter device (for example, a sensing transmitter) and a receiver device (for example, a sensing receiver) derived from a sensing transmission. In an example, sensing measurement may also be referred to as channel response measurement.

[0103] A term “sensing algorithm” may refer to a computational algorithm that achieves a sensing goal. A sensing algorithm may be executed on any device in a Wi-Fi sensing system.

[0104] Wireless network management (WNM) may provide information on network conditions and may also provide a means to obtain and exchange WLAN sensing information.

[0105] A sensing receiver is a STA that receives sensing transmissions (for example, PPDUs or any other transmission including a data transmission which may be opportunistically used as a sensing transmission) sent by a sensing transmitter and performs sensing measurements as part of a WLAN sensing procedure. An AP is an example of a sensing receiver. In some examples, a STA may also be a sensing receiver.

[0106] A sensing transmitter is a STA that transmits a sensing transmission (for example, PPDUs or any other transmission) used for sensing measurements (for example, channel state information) in a WLAN sensing procedure. In an example, a STA is an example of a sensing transmitter. In some examples, an AP may be a sensing transmitter for WLAN sensing purposes, for example where a STA acts as a sensing receiver.

[0107] A sensing initiator is a STA that initiates a WLAN sensing procedure. The role of sensing initiator may be taken on by a sensing receiver, a sensing transmitter, or a separate device which includes a sensing algorithm (for example, a remote processing device).

[0108] A sensing responder is a STA that participates in a WLAN sensing procedure initiated by a sensing initiator. The role of sensing responder may be taken on by a sensing receiver or a sensing transmitter. In examples, multiple sensing responders may take part in a WLAN sensing session.

[0109] A sensing by proxy (SBP) initiator is defined as anon-AP STA acting as a sensing initiator that transmits an SBP Request frame. In examples, sensing by proxy enables a non- AP STA to obtain sensing measurements of the channel between an AP and one or more non- AP STAs or between a receiving antenna and a transmitting antenna of an AP. With the execution of the SBP procedure, it is possible for a non-AP STA to obtain sensing measurements necessary for detecting and tracking changes in the environment. An SBP responder is an AP that receives or is the intended recipient of an SBP Request frame.

[0110] A term “sensing transmission” may refer to a transmission made from a sensing transmitter to a sensing receiver which may be used to make a sensing measurement. In an example, a sensing transmission may also be referred to as a wireless sensing signal or a wireless signal.

[0111] A term “sensing trigger message” may refer to a message sent from a sensing initiator to a sensing transmitter to initiate or trigger one or more sensing transmissions.

[0112] A term “sensing response message” may refer to a message which is included within a sensing transmission from a sensing transmitter to a sensing receiver. A sensing transmission that includes a sensing response message may be used by a sensing receiver to perform a sensing measurement.

[0113] A term “sensing response announcement” may refer to a message that is included within a sensing transmission from a sensing transmitter to a sensing receiver that announces that a sensing response NDP will follow within a short interframe space (SIFS). An example of a sensing response announcement is an NDP announcement, or NDP A. In examples, a sensing response NDP may be transmitted using a requested transmission configuration.

[0114] A term “sensing response NDP” may refer to a response transmitted by a sensing transmitter and used for a sensing measurement at a sensing receiver. In examples, a sensing response NDP may be used when a requested transmission configuration is incompatible with transmission parameters required for successful non-sensing message reception. A sensing response NDP may be announced by a sensing response announcement. In an example, asensing response NDP may be implemented with a null data PPDU. In some examples, a sensing response NDP may be implemented with a frame that does not contain any data.

[0115] A term “channel representation information (CRI)” or “channel impulse response (CIR)” may refer to properties of a communications channel, such as how wireless signals propagate from a sensing transmitter to a sensing receiver along multiple paths, which are known or measured by a technique of channel estimation. For example, CRI may refer to one or more sensing measurements made on one or more sensing transmissions during a sampling instance which together represent the state of the channel at the sampling instance between two devices.

[0116] A term “channel state information (CSI)” may refer to an example of CRI which is represented in the frequency domain. CSI indicates the properties of a communications channel which is measured by channel estimation in subcarrier-level granularity. CSI is typically a matrix of complex values representing the amplitude attenuation and phase shift of signals, which provides an estimation of a communications channel. A CSI of a subcarrier may be represented as an in-phase (real) component (I) and a quadrature (imaginary) component (Q).

[0117] A term “time-domain channel representation information (TD-CRI)” or “channel impulse response (CIR)” in time-domain may refer to an example of CRI which is represented in the time domain. TD-CRI may be generated by applying an inverse transform, such as an Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) or an IFFT, to CSI. TD-CRI or CIR of a time domain pulse may be represented as an in-phase (real) component (I) and a quadrature (imaginary) component (Q).

[0118] A term “full time-domain channel representation information (full TD-CRI)” may refer to a series of complex pairs of time domain pulses which are created by performing an IFFT on CSI values, for example, CSI calculated by a baseband receiver.

[0119] A term “filtered time-domain channel representation information (fdtered TD- CRI)” may refer to a reduced series of complex pairs of time domain pulses created by applying an algorithm to a full TD-CRI. The algorithm may select some time domain pulses and reject others. The fdtered TD-CRI may contain information that relates a selected time domain pulse to the corresponding time domain pulse in the full TD-CRI.

[0120] A term “reconstructed fdtered time-domain channel representation information (reconstructed fdtered TD-CRI)” may refer to a version of a full TD-CRI created from a fdtered TD-CRI.

[0121] A term “channel representation information transmission message” may refer to a message sent by a sensing receiver that has performed a sensing measurement on a sensingtransmission, in which the sensing receiver sends CRI to a sensing initiator which may be a sensing transmitter which contains a sensing algorithm or a remote processing device which contains a sensing algorithm.

[0122] A term “reconstructed CSI (R-CSI)” may refer to a representation of original CSI values as measured by the baseband receiver that is reconstructed from a time domain channel representation information (TD-CRI). In an example, R-CSI may be calculated by taking original CSI values (frequency domain), performing an IFFT to translate those values into the time domain, selecting a number of time domain pulses, zeroing or nulling time domain values that do not include a selected time domain pulse, and performing a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The resulting frequency domain complex values are the R-CSI.

[0123] A term “feature of interest” may refer to an item or state of an item in a sensing space which is positively detected and / or identified by a sensing algorithm.

[0124] A term “sensing imprint” may refer to a steady state or semi-static representation of the propagation channel between a sensing transmitter and a sensing receiver in the sensing space calculated by the sensing receiver in the form of a time domain channel impulse response.

[0125] A term “requested transmission configuration” may refer to transmission parameters a sensing transmitter is requested to use when sending a sensing transmission.

[0126] A term “delivered transmission configuration” may refer to transmission parameters applied by a sensing transmitter to a sensing transmission.

[0127] A term “imprint delta” may refer to a single dimension matrix of complex values which represent the difference between a time domain channel impulse response generated by converting a CSI measurement to the time domain using an IFFT, and a stored sensing imprint.

[0128] A term “measurement imprint delta threshold” may refer to a minimum difference between a TD-CRI value and the corresponding sensing imprint value for which a sensing receiver or a sensing algorithm considers that there is a change in the propagation channel propagation characteristics.

[0129] A term “measurement imprint delta count” may refer to a number of times which a measurement imprint delta threshold is exceeded before a sensing receiver or a sensing algorithm considers that there is a change in propagation channel propagation characteristics.

[0130] A term “imprint delta derivative period” may refer to a period during which imprint delta derivatives must remain below an imprint delta derivative threshold before a sensing receiver or a sensing algorithm may determine that a new sensing imprint needs to be calculated.

[0131] A term “imprint delta derivative” may refer to a rate of change of the imprint delta over one or more tones and over one or more frames.

[0132] A term “imprint delta derivative threshold” may refer to a minimum value of the imprint delta derivative for which a sensing receiver or a sensing algorithm considers that there is ongoing movement or motion in the sensing space. If the imprint delta derivative drops below the imprint delta derivative threshold, a sensing receiver or a sensing algorithm may determine that a new sensing imprint needs to be calculated.

[0133] A term “steady-state imprint delta threshold” may refer to a maximum difference between a TD-CRI value and a corresponding sensing imprint value for which a sensing receiver or a sensing algorithm considers that the TD-CRI has not returned to its steady-state (e.g., a stored sensing imprint).

[0134] A term “sensing imprint average count” may refer to a number of sensing measurements which may be averaged to generate a sensing imprint.

[0135] A term “steering matrix configuration” may refer to a matrix of complex values representing real and complex phases required to pre-condition one or more antennas of a radio frequency (RF) transmission signal chain for each transmit signal. Application of a steering matrix configuration (for example, by a spatial mapper) enables beamforming and beamsteering.

[0136] A term “spatial mapper” may refer to a signal processing element that adjusts the amplitude and phase of a signal input to an RF transmission chain in a sensing transmitter. A spatial mapper may include elements to process the signal to each RF chain implemented. The operation carried out may be called spatial mapping. The output of a spatial mapper is one or more spatial streams.

[0137] A mesh network or a wireless mesh network may refer to a communications network (e.g., WLAN) made up of radio nodes (e.g., mesh stations or mesh STAs, mesh clients, or Multi-AP devices, etc.) organized in a mesh topology. In examples, the mesh network may also be referred to as “Mesh”.

[0138] A sensing controller is a controller that facilitates and coordinates WLAN sensing related connections and activities.

[0139] A Multi-AP device may refer to a physical device of a mesh network that may act as both a station and an AP or a device that has a Backhaul STA module for backhaul link connection and a Fronthaul AP module for fronthaul link connection.

[0140] A term “Multi-AP Network” or “Multi-AP Network Deployment”, or “Mesh BSS” may refer to a collection of interconnected physical devices.

[0141] A term “mesh root node” may refer to a multi- AP device with a Multi- AP controller in a mesh network. In examples, a backhaul of the mesh root node is connected to a wide area network (WAN).

[0142] A term “leaf node” may refer to a multi- AP device without a Multi -AP controller in the mesh network. The leaf node may connect to the mesh root node directly or via other leaf nodes.

[0143] A term “hop” in a mesh network may refer to a backhaul connection between two multi-AP devices.

[0144] A term “mesh network configuration option (MNCO)” may refer to a possible way to configure backhaul links in the mesh network.

[0145] A term “sensing preferred MNCO” may refer to an MNCO that is best suited or adequately suited to sensing according to one or more established criteria. In examples, a sensing preferred MNCO must also be adequately suited for data communications.

[0146] A term “preferred sensing link” may refer to a link that traverses a sensing area of interest between two multi-AP devices in a mesh network. In an example, the preferred sensing link may be determined by a sensing algorithm or a sensing controller to be the best sensing link by some criteria.

[0147] A term “sensing PPDU” may refer to a customized data packet with one or more training fields on which sensing measurements can be made and a header and data field portion which contain Motion Information elements to be shared with other networked devices in the Wi-Fi network.

[0148] A term “Out-of-BSS (OBSS)” may be used by IEEE P802.11bf to describe communications between STAs which are not part of a BSS (and may or may not be part of an ESS). In the case of WLAN sensing, OBSS may describe sensing messages and sensing transmissions made between STAs which are not part of a BSS but which may generate useful sensing measurements. A STA which is not part of a BSS and which is participating in WLAN sensing may be referred to as an unassociated STA.

[0149] A term “Basic Service Set (BSS)” may refer to a collection of an AP STA and non- AP STAs which are associated together at the PHY / MAC layer to form a wireless network. The BSS includes a single STA acting as an AP (or AP STA) and one or more STAs (non-AP STA, or simply STA where the access point is referred to as AP) connected to and controlled by the AP device. A BSS is identified in IEEE 802.11 by a BSSID.

[0150] A term “Basic Service Area (BSA)” may refer to an area including the members of the BSS. The BSA may also include members of other BSSs.

[0151] A term “Overlapping Basic Service Set (OBSS)” may refer to a BSS operating on the same channel as the station’s BSS and within (either partly or wholly) its basic service area.

[0152] A term “Traffic Category (TC)” may refer to a label for medium access control service data units that have a distinct user priority (UP), as viewed by higher layer entities, relative to other MAC Service Data Units (MSDUs) provided for delivery over the same link. The TCs are meaningful only to MAC entities that support quality of service within the MAC data service. The MAC entities determine the UP for MSDUs belonging to a particular traffic category using the priority value provided with those MSDUs at the MAC service access point.

[0153] A term “Traffic Classification (TCLAS)” may refer to a specification of one of multiple types of matching filter to classify protocol data units or medium access control service data units as belonging to a particular traffic stream. Depending on the type of classification, the filter is applied within the MAC sublayer management entity, above the MAC, or within the MAC itself.

[0154] A term “Traffic Identifier (TID)” may refer to any identifier used by higher layer entities to distinguish between medium access control service data units and MAC entities that support quality of service within the MAC data service. There are 16 possible TID values; eight identify traffic categories, and the other eight identify parameterized traffic streams. The TID is assigned to an MSDU in the layers above the MAC.

[0155] A term “Traffic Specification (TSPEC)” may refer to quality-of-service characteristics of a data flow to and from a QoS station.

[0156] A term “Traffic Stream (TS)” may refer to a set of medium access control service data units to be delivered subject to the quality-of-service parameter values provided to the MAC in a particular traffic specification. TSs are meaningful only to MAC entities that support QoS within the MAC data service. These MAC entities determine the TSPEC applicable for delivery of MSDUs belonging to a particular TS using the priority parameter provided with those MSDUs at the MAC service access point.

[0157] A term “Traffic Stream Identifier (TSID)” may refer to any of the identifiers usable by higher layer entities to distinguish medium access control service data units to MAC entities for parameterized quality of service (i.e., the traffic stream with a particular traffic specification) within the MAC data service. The TSID is assigned to an MSDU in the layers above the MAC.

[0158] A term “Unassociated Sensing Measurement Session” may refer to a sensing measurement session established between an AP and a Non-AP STA that is not currently associated with the AP.

[0159] A term “User Priority (UP)” may refer to a value associated with a medium access control service data unit that indicates how the MSDU is to be handled. The UP is assigned to an MSDU in the layers above the MAC.

[0160] For purposes of reading the description of the various embodiments below, the following descriptions of the sections of the specifications and their respective contents may be helpful:

[0161] Section A describes a wireless communications system, wireless transmissions and sensing measurements which may be useful for practicing embodiments described herein.

[0162] Section B describes systems and methods that are useful for a wireless sensing system configured to send sensing transmissions and make sensing measurements.

[0163] Section C describes embodiments of systems and methods that are useful to perform data link management in multi-link WLAN sensing.A. Wireless communications system, wireless transmissions and sensing measurements

[0164] FIG. 1 illustrates wireless communication system 100. Wireless communication system 100 includes three wireless communication devices: first wireless communication device 102A, second wireless communication device 102B, and third wireless communication device 102C. Wireless communication system 100 may include additional wireless communication devices and other components (e.g., additional wireless communication devices, one or more network servers, network routers, network switches, cables, or other communication links, etc.).

[0165] Wireless communication devices 102A, 102B, 102C can operate in a wireless network, for example, according to a wireless network standard or another type of wireless communication protocol. For example, the wireless network may be configured to operate as a wireless local area network (WLAN), a personal area network (PAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), or another type of wireless network. Examples of WLANs include networks configured to operate according to one or more of the 802.11 family of standards developed by IEEE (e.g., Wi-Fi networks), and others. Examples of PANs include networks that operate according to short-range communication standards (e.g., Bluetooth®, Near Field Communication (NFC), ZigBee), millimeter wave communications, and others.

[0166] In some implementations, wireless communication devices 102A, 102B, 102C may be configured to communicate in a cellular network, for example, according to a cellular network standard. Examples of cellular networks include networks configured according to 2Gstandards such as Global System for Mobile (GSM) and Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) or Enhanced General Packet Radio Service (EGPRS); 3G standards such as code division multiple access (CDMA), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA); 4G standards such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A); 5G standards, and others.

[0167] In the example shown in FIG. 1, wireless communication devices 102A, 102B, 102C can be or may include standard wireless network components. For example, wireless communication devices 102A, 102B, 102C may be commercially-available Wi-Fi APs or another type of wireless access point (WAP) performing one or more operations as described herein that are embedded as instructions (e.g., software or firmware) in the modem of the WAP. In some cases, wireless communication devices 102A, 102B, 102C may be nodes of a wireless mesh network, such as, for example, a commercially-available mesh network system (e.g., Plume Wi-Fi, Google Wi-Fi, Qualcomm Wi-Fi SON, etc.). In some cases, wireless communication devices 102A, 102B, 102C acting as nodes of a mesh network system may adhere to a mesh networking standard such as Wi-Fi Alliance Easy Mesh or IEEE P802.1 Is. In some cases, another type of standard or conventional Wi-Fi transmitter device may be used. In some instances, one or more of wireless communication devices 102A, 102B, 102C may be implemented as WAPs in a mesh network, while other wireless communication device(s) 102A, 102B, 102C are implemented as leaf devices (e.g., mobile devices, smart devices, etc.) that access the mesh network through one of the WAPs. In some cases, one or more of wireless communication devices 102A, 102B, 102C is a mobile device (e.g., a smartphone, a smart watch, a tablet, a laptop computer, etc.), a wireless-enabled device (e.g., a smart thermostat, a Wi-Fi enabled camera, a smart TV), or another type of device that communicates in a wireless network. In some cases, one or more of wireless communication devices 102A, 102B, 102C may be Multi-Link Devices (MLDs). In some embodiments, MLDs refer to systems or components that can establish and manage multiple communication links or connections simultaneously.

[0168] Wireless communication devices 102A, 102B, 102C may be implemented without Wi-Fi components; for example, other types of standard or non-standard wireless communication may be used for motion detection. In some cases, wireless communication devices 102A, 102B, 102C can be, or they may be part of, a dedicated motion detection system. For example, a dedicated motion detection system can include a hub device and one or morebeacon devices (as remote sensor devices), and wireless communication devices 102A, 102B, 102C can be either a hub device or a beacon device in the motion detection system.

[0169] As shown in FIG. 1, wireless communication device 102C includes modem 112, processor 114, memory 116, and power unit 118; any of wireless communication devices 102A, 102B, 102C in wireless communication system 100 may include the same, additional, or different components, and the components may be configured to operate as shown in FIG. 1 or in another manner. In some implementations, modem 112, processor 114, memory 116, and power unit 118 of a wireless communication device are housed together in a common housing or other assembly. In some implementations, one or more of the components of a wireless communication device can be housed separately, for example, in a separate housing or other assembly.

[0170] Modem 112 can communicate (receive, transmit, or both) wireless signals. For example, modem 112 may be configured to communicate RF signals formatted according to a wireless communication standard (e.g., Wi-Fi or Bluetooth). Modem 112 may be implemented as the example wireless network modem 112 shown in FIG. 1, or may be implemented in another manner, for example, with other types of components or subsystems. In some implementations, modem 112 includes a radio subsystem and a baseband subsystem. In some cases, the baseband subsystem and radio subsystem can be implemented on a common chip or chipset, or they may be implemented in a card or another type of assembled device. The baseband subsystem can be coupled to the radio subsystem, for example, by leads, pins, wires, or other types of connections.

[0171] In some cases, a radio subsystem in modem 112 can include one or more antennas and RF circuitry. The RF circuitry can include, for example, circuitry that filters, amplifies, or otherwise conditions analog signals, circuitry that up-converts baseband signals to RF signals, circuitry that down-converts RF signals to baseband signals, etc. Such circuitry may include, for example, filters, amplifiers, mixers, a local oscillator, etc. The radio subsystem can be configured to communicate radio frequency wireless signals on the wireless communication channels. As an example, the radio subsystem may include a radio chip, an RF front end, and one or more antennas. A radio subsystem may include additional or different components. In some implementations, the radio subsystem can be or may include the radio electronics (e.g., RF front end, radio chip, or analogous components) from a conventional modem, for example, from a Wi-Fi modem, pico base station modem, etc. In some implementations, the antenna includes multiple antennas.

[0172] In some cases, a baseband subsystem in modem 112 can include, for example, digital electronics configured to process digital baseband data. As an example, the baseband subsystem may include a baseband chip. A baseband subsystem may include additional or different components. In some cases, the baseband subsystem may include a digital signal processor (DSP) device or another type of processor device. In some cases, the baseband system includes digital processing logic to operate the radio subsystem, to communicate wireless network traffic through the radio subsystem, to detect motion based on motion detection signals received through the radio subsystem or to perform other types of processes. For instance, the baseband subsystem may include one or more chips, chipsets, or other types of devices that are configured to encode signals and deliver the encoded signals to the radio subsystem for transmission, or to identify and analyze data encoded in signals from the radio subsystem (e.g., by decoding the signals according to a wireless communication standard, by processing the signals according to a motion detection process, or otherwise).

[0173] In some instances, the radio subsystem in modem 112 receives baseband signals from the baseband subsystem, up-converts the baseband signals to RF signals, and wirelessly transmits the RF signals (e.g., through an antenna). In some instances, the radio subsystem in modem 112 wirelessly receives RF signals (e.g., through an antenna), down-converts the RF to baseband signals, and sends the baseband signals to the baseband subsystem. The signals exchanged between the radio subsystem and the baseband subsystem may be digital or analog signals. In some examples, the baseband subsystem includes conversion circuitry (e.g., a digital-to-analog converter, an analog-to-digital converter) and exchanges analog signals with the radio subsystem. In some examples, the radio subsystem includes conversion circuitry (e.g., a digital-to-analog converter, an analog-to-digital converter) and exchanges digital signals with the baseband subsystem.

[0174] In some cases, the baseband subsystem of modem 112 can communicate wireless network traffic (e.g., data packets) in the wireless communication network through the radio subsystem on one or more network traffic channels. The baseband subsystem of modem 112 may also transmit or receive (or both) signals (e.g., motion probe signals or motion detection signals) through the radio subsystem on a dedicated wireless communication channel. In some instances, the baseband subsystem generates motion probe signals for transmission, for example, to probe a space for motion. In some instances, the baseband subsystem processes the received motion detection signals (signals based on motion probe signals transmitted through a space), for example, to detect motion of an object in the space.

[0175] Processor 114 can execute instructions, for example, to generate output data based on data inputs. The instructions can include programs, codes, scripts, or other types of data stored in memory 116. Additionally, or alternatively, the instructions can be encoded as preprogrammed or re-programmable logic circuits, logic gates, or other types of hardware or firmware components. Processor 114 may be or may include a general-purpose microprocessor, a specialized co-processor, or another type of data processing apparatus. In some cases, processor 114 performs high level operation of the wireless communication device 102C. For example, processor 114 may be configured to execute or interpret software, scripts, programs, functions, executables, or other instructions stored in memory 116. In some implementations, processor 114 may be included in modem 112.

[0176] Memory 116 can include computer-readable storage media, for example, a volatile memory device, a non-volatile memory device, or both. Memory 116 can include one or more read-only memory devices, random-access memory devices, buffer memory devices, or a combination of these and other types of memory devices. In some instances, one or more components of the memory can be integrated or otherwise associated with another component of wireless communication device 102C. Memory 116 may store instructions that are executable by processor 114. For example, the instructions may include instructions for timealigning signals using an interference buffer and a motion detection buffer, such as through one or more of the operations of the example processes herein disclosed.

[0177] Power unit 118 provides power to the other components of wireless communication device 102C. For example, the other components may operate based on electrical power provided by power unit 118 through a voltage bus or other connection. In some implementations, power unit 118 includes a battery or a battery system, for example, a rechargeable battery. In some implementations, power unit 118 includes an adapter (e.g., an alternating current (AC) adapter) that receives an external power signal (from an external source) and converts the external power signal to an internal power signal conditioned for a component of wireless communication device 102C. Power unit 118 may include other components or may operate in another manner.

[0178] In the example shown in FIG. 1, wireless communication devices 102A, 102B transmit wireless signals (e.g., according to a wireless network standard, a motion detection protocol, or otherwise). For instance, wireless communication devices 102A, 102B may broadcast wireless motion probe signals (e.g., reference signals, beacon signals, status signals, etc.), or they may send wireless signals addressed to other devices (e.g., a user equipment, a client device, a server, etc.), and the other devices (not shown) as well as wirelesscommunication device 102C may receive the wireless signals transmitted by wireless communication devices 102A, 102B. In some cases, the wireless signals transmitted by wireless communication devices 102A, 102B are repeated periodically, for example, according to a wireless communication standard or otherwise.

[0179] In the example shown, wireless communication device 102C processes the wireless signals from wireless communication devices 102A, 102B to detect motion of an object in a space accessed by the wireless signals, to determine a location of the detected motion, or both. For example, wireless communication device 102C may perform one or more operations of the example processes described below with respect to FIG. 21 to FIG. 22, or another type of process for detecting motion or determining a location of detected motion. The space accessed by the wireless signals can be an indoor or outdoor space, which may include, for example, one or more fully or partially enclosed areas, an open area without enclosure, etc. The space can be or can include an interior of a room, multiple rooms, a building, or the like. In some cases, the wireless communication system 100 can be modified, for instance, such that wireless communication device 102C can transmit wireless signals and wireless communication devices 102A, 102B can process the wireless signals from wireless communication device 102C to detect motion or determine a location of detected motion.

[0180] The wireless signals used for motion detection can include, for example, a beacon signal (e.g., Bluetooth Beacons, Wi-Fi Beacons, other wireless beacon signals), another standard signal generated for other purposes according to a wireless network standard, or nonstandard signals (e.g., random signals, reference signals, etc.) generated for motion detection or other purposes. In examples, motion detection may be carried out by analyzing one or more training fields carried by the wireless signals or by analyzing other data carried by the signal. In some examples data may be added for the express purpose of motion detection or the data used may nominally be for another purpose and may be reused or repurposed for motion detection. In some examples, the wireless signals propagate through an object (e.g., a wall) before or after interacting with a moving object, which may allow the moving object's movement to be detected without an optical line-of-sight between the moving object and the transmission or receiving hardware. Based on the received signals, wireless communication device 102C may generate motion detection data. In some instances, wireless communication device 102C may communicate the motion detection data to another device or system, such as a security system, which may include a control center for monitoring movement within a space, such as a room, building, outdoor area, etc.

[0181] In some implementations, wireless communication devices 102 A, 102B can be modified to transmit motion probe signals (which may include, e.g., a reference signal, beacon signal, or another signal used to probe a space for motion) on a separate wireless communication channel (e.g., a frequency channel or coded channel) from wireless network traffic signals. For example, the modulation applied to the payload of a motion probe signal and the type of data or data structure in the payload may be known by wireless communication device 102C, which may reduce the amount of processing that wireless communication device 102C performs for motion sensing. The header may include additional information such as, for example, an indication of whether motion was detected by another device in wireless communication system 100, an indication of the modulation type, an identification of the device transmitting the signal, etc.

[0182] In the example shown in FIG. 1, wireless communication system 100 is a wireless mesh network, with wireless communication links between each of wireless communication devices 102. In the example shown, the wireless communication link between wireless communication device 102C and wireless communication device 102A can be used to probe motion detection field 110A, the wireless communication link between wireless communication device 102C and wireless communication device 102B can be used to probe motion detection field HOB, and the wireless communication link between wireless communication device 102A and wireless communication device 102B can be used to probe motion detection field HOC. In some instances, each wireless communication device 102 detects motion in motion detection fields 110 accessed by that device by processing received signals that are based on wireless signals transmitted by wireless communication devices 102 through motion detection fields 110. For example, when person 106 shown in FIG. 1 moves in motion detection field 110A and motion detection field 1 IOC, wireless communication devices 102 may detect the motion based on signals they receive that are based on wireless signals transmitted through respective motion detection fields 110. For instance, wireless communication device 102A can detect motion of person 106 in motion detection fields 110A, HOC, wireless communication device 102B can detect motion of person 106 in motion detection field HOC, and wireless communication device 102C can detect motion of person 106 in motion detection field 110A.

[0183] In some instances, motion detection fields 110 can include, for example, air, solid materials, liquids, or another medium through which wireless electromagnetic signals may propagate. In the example shown in FIG. 1, motion detection field 110A provides a wireless communication channel between wireless communication device 102A and wirelesscommunication device 102C, motion detection field HOB provides a wireless communication channel between wireless communication device 102B and wireless communication device 102C, and motion detection field HOC provides a wireless communication channel between wireless communication device 102A and wireless communication device 102B. In some aspects of operation, wireless signals transmitted on a wireless communication channel (separate from or shared with the wireless communication channel for network traffic) are used to detect movement of an object in a space. The objects can be any type of static or moveable object and can be living or inanimate. For example, the object can be a human (e.g., person 106 shown in FIG. 1), an animal, an inorganic object, or another device, apparatus, or assembly, an object that defines all or part of the boundary of a space (e.g., a wall, door, window, etc.), or another type of object. In some implementations, motion information from the wireless communication devices may be analyzed to determine a location of the detected motion. For example, as described further below, one of wireless communication devices 102 (or another device communicably coupled to wireless communications devices 102) may determine that the detected motion is near a particular wireless communication device.

[0184] FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are diagrams showing example wireless signals communicated between wireless communication devices 204A, 204B, 204C. Wireless communication devices 204A, 204B, 204C can be, for example, wireless communication devices 102A, 102B, 102C shown in FIG. 1, or other types of wireless communication devices. Wireless communication devices 204A, 204B, 204C transmit wireless signals through space 200. Space 200 can be completely or partially enclosed or open at one or more boundaries. In an example, space 200 may be a sensing space. Space 200 can be or can include an interior of a room, multiple rooms, a building, an indoor area, outdoor area, or the like. First wall 202A, second wall 202B, and third wall 202C at least partially enclose space 200 in the example shown.

[0185] In the example shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, wireless communication device 204A is operable to transmit wireless signals repeatedly (e.g., periodically, intermittently, at scheduled, unscheduled or random intervals, etc.). Wireless communication devices 204B, 204C are operable to receive signals based on those transmitted by wireless communication device 204A. Wireless communication devices 204B and 204C each have a modem (e.g., modem 112 shown in FIG. 1) that is configured to process received signals to detect motion of an object in space 200.

[0186] As shown, an object is in first position 214A in FIG. 2 A, and the object has moved to second position 214B in FIG. 2B. In FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, the moving object in space 200is represented as a human, but the moving object can be another type of object. For example, the moving object can be an animal, an inorganic object (e.g., a system, device, apparatus, or assembly), an object that defines all or part of the boundary of space 200 (e.g., a wall, door, window, etc.), or another type of object.

[0187] As shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, multiple example paths of the wireless signals transmitted from wireless communication device 204A are illustrated by dashed lines. Along first signal path 216, the wireless signal is transmitted from wireless communication device 204A and reflected off first wall 202A toward wireless communication device 204B. Along second signal path 218, the wireless signal is transmitted from wireless communication device 204A and reflected off second wall 202B and first wall 202A toward wireless communication device 204C. Along third signal path 220, the wireless signal is transmitted from wireless communication device 204A and reflected off second wall 202B toward wireless communication device 204C. Along fourth signal path 222, the wireless signal is transmitted from wireless communication device 204A and reflected off third wall 202C toward wireless communication device 204B.

[0188] In FIG. 2A, along fifth signal path 224A, the wireless signal is transmitted from wireless communication device 204A and reflected off the object at first position 214A toward wireless communication device 204C. Between FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, a surface of the object moves from first position 214A to second position 214B in space 200 (e.g., some distance away from first position 214A). In FIG. 2B, along sixth signal path 224B, the wireless signal is transmitted from wireless communication device 204 A and reflected off the object at second position 214B toward wireless communication device 204C. Sixth signal path 224B depicted in FIG. 2B is longer than fifth signal path 224A depicted in FIG. 2A due to the movement of the object from first position 214A to second position 214B. In some examples, a signal path can be added, removed, or otherwise modified due to movement of an object in a space.

[0189] The example wireless signals shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B may experience attenuation, frequency shifts, phase shifts, or other effects through their respective paths and may have portions that propagate in another direction, for example, through the first, second and third walls 202A, 202B, and 202C. In some examples, the wireless signals are radio frequency (RF) signals. The wireless signals may include other types of signals.

[0190] In the example shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, wireless communication device 204A can repeatedly transmit a wireless signal. In particular, FIG. 2A shows the wireless signal being transmitted from wireless communication device 204A at a first time, and FIG. 2B shows the same wireless signal being transmitted from wireless communication device 204A at asecond, later time. The transmited signal can be transmitted continuously, periodically, at random or intermitent times or the like, or a combination thereof. The transmitted signal can have a number of frequency components in a frequency bandwidth. The transmited signal can be transmitted from wireless communication device 204A in an omnidirectional manner, in a directional manner or otherwise. In the example shown, the wireless signals traverse multiple respective paths in space 200, and the signal along each path may become atenuated due to path losses, scatering, reflection, or the like and may have a phase or frequency offset.

[0191] As shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, the signals from first to sixth paths 216, 218, 220, 222, 224A, and 224B combine at wireless communication device 204C and wireless communication device 204B to form received signals. Because of the effects of the multiple paths in space 200 on the transmited signal, space 200 may be represented as a transfer function (e.g., a filter) in which the transmited signal is input, and the received signal is output. When an object moves in space 200, the atenuation or phase offset affected upon a signal in a signal path can change, and hence, the transfer function of space 200 can change. Assuming the same wireless signal is transmited from wireless communication device 204A, if the transfer function of space 200 changes, the output of that transfer function - the received signal - will also change. A change in the received signal can be used to detect movement of an object.

[0192] Mathematically, a transmited signal (t) transmited from the first wireless communication device 204A may be described according to Equation (1): / (t) = S”=-oo Cne^"t.... (l)

[0193] where )nrepresents the frequency of the wth frequency component of the transmited signal, cnrepresents the complex coefficient of the wth frequency component, and t represents time. With the f(t) being transmited from the first wireless communication device 204 A, an output signal rk(t) from a path, k. may be described according to Equation (2):

[0194] where an krepresents an atenuation factor (or channel response; e.g., due to scatering, reflection, and path losses) for the / ith frequency component along k. and <pn krepresents the phase of the signal for the / ith frequency component along k. Then, the received signal, R, at a wireless communication device can be described as the summation of all output signals rk(t) from all paths to the wireless communication device, which is shown in Equation (3).R = Ik ■■■ ■ (3)

[0195] Substituting Equation (2) into Equation (3) renders the following Equation (4).

[0196] R at a wireless communication device can then be analyzed. R at a wireless communication device can be transformed to the frequency domain, for example, using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) or another type of algorithm. The transformed signal can represent R as a series of n complex values, one for each of the respective frequency components (at the n frequencies <n„). For a frequency component at frequency a>n. a complex value, Hn. may be represented as follows in Equation (5).Hn Sfc ^-n^n,k^^n,k• • • • 0)

[0197] Hnfor a given a>nindicates a relative magnitude and phase offset of the received signal at a)n. When an object moves in the space, Hnchanges due to an kof the space changing. Accordingly, a change detected in the channel response can be indicative of movement of an object within the communication channel. In some instances, noise, interference, or other phenomena can influence the channel response detected by the receiver, and the motion detection system can reduce or isolate such influences to improve the accuracy and quality of motion detection capabilities. In some implementations, the overall channel response can be represented as follows in Equation (6). hch Sfc Sn= — oo <X-n,k■ ■ ■ ■ (6)

[0198] In some instances, the channel response, hch, for a space can be determined, for example, based on the mathematical theory of estimation. For instance, a reference signal, Rref, can be modified with candidate hcfl, and then a maximum likelihood approach can be used to select the candidate channel which gives the best match to the received signal (RrcVd)- Insome cases, an estimated received signal (RrcVd) is obtained from the convolution of Rref with the candidate hch, and then the channel coefficients of hchare varied to minimize the squared error of RrCvd- This can be mathematically illustrated as follows in Equation (7):

[0199] with the optimization criterion as in Equation (8). mill f hCh1

[0200] The minimizing, or optimizing, process can utilize an adaptive filtering technique, such as least mean squares (LMS), recursive least squares (RLS), batch least squares (BLS), etc. The channel response can be a finite impulse response (FIR) filter, infinite impulse response (IIR) filter, or the like. As shown in the equation above, the received signal can be considered as a convolution of the reference signal and the channel response. The convolutionoperation means that the channel coefficients possess a degree of correlation with each of the delayed replicas of the reference signal. The convolution operation, as shown in the equation above, therefore shows that the received signal appears at different delay points, each delayed replica being weighted by the channel coefficient.

[0201] FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are plots showing examples of channel responses 360, 370 computed from the wireless signals communicated between wireless communication devices 204A, 204B, 204C in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B. FIG. 3 A and FIG. 3B also show frequency domain representation 350 of an initial wireless signal transmitted by wireless communication device 204 A. In the examples shown, channel response 360 in FIG. 3A represents the signals received by wireless communication device 204B when there is no motion in space 200, and channel response 370 in FIG. 3B represents the signals received by wireless communication device 204B in FIG. 2B after the object has moved in space 200.

[0202] In the example shown in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, for illustration purposes, wireless communication device 204A transmits a signal that has a flat frequency profile (the magnitude of each frequency component, , fa and3is the same), as shown in frequency domain representation 350. Because of the interaction of the signal with space 200 (and the objects therein), the signals received at wireless communication device 204B that are based on the signal sent from wireless communication device 204A are different from the transmitted signal. In this example, where the transmitted signal has a flat frequency profile, the received signal represents the channel response of space 200. As shown in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, channel responses 360, 370 are different from frequency domain representation 350 of the transmitted signal. When motion occurs in space 200, a variation in the channel response will also occur. For example, as shown in FIG. 3B, channel response 370 that is associated with motion of object in space 200 varies from channel response 360 in FIG. 3A that is associated with no motion in space 200.

[0203] Furthermore, as an object moves within space 200, the channel response may vary from channel response 370. In some cases, space 200 can be divided into distinct regions and the channel responses associated with each region may share one or more characteristics (e.g., shape), as described below. Thus, motion of an object within different distinct regions can be distinguished, and the location of detected motion can be determined based on an analysis of channel responses.

[0204] FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are diagrams showing example channel responses 401, 403 associated with motion of object 406 in distinct regions 408, 412 of space 400. In the examples shown, space 400 is a building, and space 400 is divided into a plurality of distinct regions -first region 408, second region 410, third region 412, fourth region 414, and fifth region 416. Space 400 may include additional or fewer regions, in some instances. As shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, the regions within space 400 may be defined by walls between rooms. In addition, the regions may be defined by ceilings between floors of a building. For example, space 400 may include additional floors with additional rooms. In addition, in some instances, the plurality of regions of a space can be or can include a number of floors in a multistory building, a number of rooms in the building, or a number of rooms on a particular floor of the building. In the example shown in FIG. 4A, an object located in first region 408 is represented as person 406, but the moving object can be another type of object, such as an animal or an inorganic object.

[0205] In the example shown, wireless communication device 402A is located in fourth region 414 of space 400, wireless communication device 402B is located in second region 410 of space 400, and wireless communication device 402C is located in fifth region 416 of space 400. Wireless communication devices 402 can operate in the same or similar manner as wireless communication devices 102 of FIG. 1. For instance, wireless communication devices 402 may be configured to transmit and receive wireless signals and detect whether motion has occurred in space 400 based on the received signals. As an example, wireless communication devices 402 may periodically or repeatedly transmit motion probe signals through space 400, and receive signals based on the motion probe signals. Wireless communication devices 402 can analyze the received signals to detect whether an object has moved in space 400, such as, for example, by analyzing channel responses associated with space 400 based on the received signals. In addition, in some implementations, wireless communication devices 402 can analyze the received signals to identify a location of detected motion within space 400. For example, wireless communication devices 402 can analyze characteristics of the channel response to determine whether the channel responses share the same or similar characteristics to channel responses known to be associated with first to fifth regions 408, 410, 412, 414, 416 of space 400.

[0206] In the examples shown, one (or more) of wireless communication devices 402 repeatedly transmits a motion probe signal (e.g., a reference signal) through space 400. The motion probe signals may have a flat frequency profile in some instances, wherein the magnitude of , fa and3is the same or nearly the same. For example, the motion probe signals may have a frequency response similar to frequency domain representation 350 shown in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B. The motion probe signals may have a different frequency profile in some instances. Because of the interaction of the reference signal with space 400 (and theobjects therein), the signals received at another wireless communication device 402 that are based on the motion probe signal transmitted from the other wireless communication device 402 are different from the transmitted reference signal.

[0207] Based on the received signals, wireless communication devices 402 can determine a channel response for space 400. When motion occurs in distinct regions within the space, distinct characteristics may be seen in the channel responses. For example, while the channel responses may differ slightly for motion within the same region of space 400, the channel responses associated with motion in distinct regions may generally share the same shape or other characteristics. For instance, channel response 401 of FIG. 4A represents an example channel response associated with motion of object 406 in first region 408 of space 400, while channel response 403 of FIG. 4B represents an example channel response associated with motion of object 406 in third region 412 of space 400. Channel responses 401, 403 are associated with signals received by the same wireless communication device 402 in space 400.

[0208] FIG. 4C and FIG. 4D are plots showing channel responses 401, 403 of FIG. 4 A and FIG. 4B overlaid on channel response 460 associated with no motion occurring in space 400. In the example shown, wireless communication device 402 transmits a motion probe signal that has a flat frequency profile as shown in frequency domain representation 450. When motion occurs in space 400, a variation in the channel response will occur relative to channel response 460 associated with no motion, and thus, motion of an object in space 400 can be detected by analyzing variations in the channel responses. In addition, a relative location of the detected motion within space 400 can be identified. For example, the shape of channel responses associated with motion can be compared with reference information (e.g., using a trained artificial intelligence (Al) model) to categorize the motion as having occurred within a distinct region of space 400.

[0209] When there is no motion in space 400 (e.g., when object 406 is not present), wireless communication device 402 may compute channel response 460 associated with no motion. Slight variations may occur in the channel response due to a number of factors; however, multiple channel responses 460 associated with different periods of time may share one or more characteristics. In the example shown, channel response 460 associated with no motion has a decreasing frequency profile (the magnitude of each of , fa and3is less than the previous). The profile of channel response 460 may differ in some instances (e.g., based on different room layouts or placement of wireless communication devices 402).

[0210] When motion occurs in space 400, a variation in the channel response will occur. For instance, in the examples shown in FIG. 4C and FIG. 4D, channel response 401 associatedwith motion of object 406 in first region 408 differs from channel response 460 associated with no motion and channel response 403 associated with motion of object 406 in third region 412 differs from channel response 460 associated with no motion. Channel response 401 has a concave-parabolic frequency profile (the magnitude of the middle frequency component, f2, is less than the outer frequency components and fy), while channel response 403 has a convex- asymptotic frequency profile (the magnitude of the middle frequency component, f2, is greater than the outer frequency components,and f3). The profiles of channel responses 401, 403 may differ in some instances (e.g., based on different room layouts or placement of the wireless communication devices 402).

[0211] Analyzing channel responses may be considered similar to analyzing a digital filter.A channel response may be formed through the reflections of objects in a space as well as reflections created by a moving or static human. When a reflector (e.g., a human) moves, it changes the channel response. This may translate to a change in equivalent taps of a digital filter, which can be thought of as having poles and zeros (poles amplify the frequency components of a channel response and appear as peaks or high points in the response, while zeros attenuate the frequency components of a channel response and appear as troughs, low points, or nulls in the response). A changing digital filter can be characterized by the locations of its peaks and troughs, and a channel response may be characterized similarly by its peaks and troughs. For example, in some implementations, analyzing nulls and peaks in the frequency components of a channel response (e.g., by marking their location on the frequency axis and their magnitude), motion can be detected.

[0212] In some implementations, a time series aggregation can be used to detect motion. A time series aggregation may be performed by observing the features of a channel response over a moving window and aggregating the windowed result by using statistical measures (e.g., mean, variance, principal components, etc.). During instances of motion, the characteristic digital-filter features would be displaced in location and flip-flop between some values due to the continuous change in the scattering scene. That is, an equivalent digital filter exhibits a range of values for its peaks and nulls (due to the motion). By looking at this range of values, unique profiles (in examples profiles may also be referred to as signatures) may be identified for distinct regions within a space.

[0213] In some implementations, an artificial intelligence (Al) model may be used to process data. Al models may be of a variety of types, for example linear regression models, logistic regression models, linear discriminant analysis models, decision tree models, naiveBayes models, / / -nearest neighbors models, learning vector quantization models, support vector machines, bagging and random forest models, and deep neural networks. In general, all Al models aim to learn a function which provides the most precise correlation between input values and output values and are trained using historic sets of inputs and outputs that are known to be correlated. In examples, artificial intelligence may also be referred to as machine learning.

[0214] In some implementations, the profiles of the channel responses associated with motion in distinct regions of space 400 can be learned. For example, machine learning may be used to categorize channel response characteristics with motion of an object within distinct regions of a space. In some cases, a user associated with wireless communication devices 402 (e.g., an owner or other occupier of space 400) can assist with the learning process. For instance, referring to the examples shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, the user can move in each of first to fifth regions 408, 410, 412, 414, 416 during a learning phase and may indicate (e.g., through a user interface on a mobile computing device) that he / she is moving in one of the particular regions in space 400. For example, while the user is moving through first region 408 (e.g., as shown in FIG. 4A) the user may indicate on a mobile computing device that he / she is in first region 408 (and may name the region as “bedroom”, “living room”, “kitchen”, or another type of room of a building, as appropriate). Channel responses may be obtained as the user moves through the region, and the channel responses may be “tagged” with the user's indicated location (region). The user may repeat the same process for the other regions of space 400. The term “tagged” as used herein may refer to marking and identifying channel responses with the user's indicated location or any other information.

[0215] The tagged channel responses can then be processed (e.g., by machine learning software) to identify unique characteristics of the channel responses associated with motion in the distinct regions. Once identified, the identified unique characteristics may be used to determine a location of detected motion for newly computed channel responses. For example, an Al model may be trained using the tagged channel responses, and once trained, newly computed channel responses can be input to the Al model, and the Al model can output a location of the detected motion. For example, in some cases, mean, range, and absolute values are input to an Al model. In some instances, magnitude and phase of the complex channel response itself may be input as well. These values allow the Al model to design arbitrary frontend filters to pick out the features that are most relevant to making accurate predictions with respect to motion in distinct regions of space. In some implementations, the Al model is trained by performing a stochastic gradient descent. For instance, channel response variations that are most active during a certain zone may be monitored during the training, and the specificchannel variations may be weighted heavily (by training and adapting the weights in the first layer to correlate with those shapes, trends, etc.). The weighted channel variations may be used to create a metric that activates when a user is present in a certain region.

[0216] For extracted features like channel response nulls and peaks, a time-series (of the nulls / peaks) may be created using an aggregation within a moving window, taking a snapshot of a few features in the past and present, and using that aggregated value as input to the network. Thus, the network, while adapting its weights, will be trying to aggregate values in a certain region to cluster them, which can be done by creating logistic classifier-based decision surfaces. The decision surfaces divide different clusters and subsequent layers can form categories based on a single cluster or a combination of clusters.

[0217] In some implementations, an Al model includes two or more layers of inference. The first layer acts as a logistic classifier which can divide different concentrations of values into separate clusters, while the second layer combines some of these clusters to create a category for a distinct region. Additionally, subsequent layers can help in extending the distinct regions over more than two categories of clusters. For example, a fully-connected Al model may include an input layer corresponding to the number of features tracked, a middle layer corresponding to the number of effective clusters (through iterating between choices), and a final layer corresponding to different regions. Where complete channel response information is input to the Al model, the first layer may act as a shape filter that can correlate certain shapes. Thus, the first layer may lock to a certain shape, the second layer may generate a measure of variation happening in those shapes, and the third and subsequent layers may create a combination of those variations and map them to different regions within the space. The output of different layers may then be combined through a fusing layer.B. Wi-Fi sensing system example methods and apparatus

[0218] Section B describes systems and methods that are useful for a wireless sensing system configured to establish a Wi-Fi sensing network and make sensing measurements.

[0219] FIG. 5 depicts an implementation of some of the architecture of a system 500 to perform data link management in multi-link WLAN sensing, according to some embodiments.

[0220] System 500 may include a plurality of client devices. The plurality of client devices may include multi-link client device 502 and additional client devices 504-(l-N). In an embodiment, a plurality of client devices 502, 504-(l-N) may be associated with an Extended Service Set (ESS). The ESS may be a collection of STAs that includes more than one AP device and forms a single, logical service set. The ESS may include more than one Basic Service Set(BSS) and may be identified logically by an SSID that describes the overall wireless network. In an embodiment, the ESS may include two or more BSSs. A BSS is a collection of AP STA and non-AP STAs which are associated together at the PHY / MAC layer to form a wireless network. A BSS may include a single STA acting as an Access Point (AP or AP STA) and one or more STAs (non-AP STA, or simply STA where the access point is AP) connected to and controlled by the AP device. A BSS may be identified in IEEE 802.11 by a BSSID. Further, AP may include multi-link AP device 506-1 (also called AL MLD 506-1) and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M). For example, system 500 may include multi-link client device 502, additional client devices 504-(l-N), multi-link AP device 506-1, multiple AP devices 506-(2-M), and network 512 enabling communication between the system components for information exchange. In an embodiment, multi-link client device 502 and multi-link AP device 506-1 may be MLDs. In an embodiment, one or more of multiple AP devices 506-(2-M) may be MLDs. In some embodiments, one or more of additional client devices 504-(l-N) may be MLDs. Further, each multi-link client device 502 and additional client devices 504-(l-N) may include sensing controller 510 or 544-(l-N), respectively. In an embodiment, sensing controllers 510 and 544-(l-N) may be controllers that facilitate and coordinate WLAN sensing-related connections and activities.

[0221] In an example implementation, additional client devices 504-(l-N) may include at least first additional client device 504-1 and second additional client device 504-2. System 500 may be an example or instance of a wireless communication system 100 and network 512 may be an example or instance of a wireless network or a cellular network, details of which are provided with reference to FIG. 1 and its accompanying description.

[0222] According to an embodiment, multi-link client device 502 may be configured to receive one or more sensing transmissions (for example, from one or more of additional client devices 504-(l-N), multi-link AP device 506-1, and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M)) and perform one or more measurements useful for WLAN sensing (for example, channel representation information (CRI) measurements). In an exemplary embodiment, the CRI measurements may include channel state information (CSI) or time domain channel representation information (TD-CRI). For example, these measurements may be known as sensing measurements. Sensing measurements may be processed to achieve a sensing goal of system 500. For example, any of multi-link client device 502, additional client devices 504-(l-N), multi-link AP device 506-1, and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M) may be any computing device, such as a desktop computer, a laptop, a tablet computer, a mobile device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or any other computing device. In some embodiments, one or more ofadditional client devices 504-(l-N) may take the role of sensing transmitter and / or sensing receiver. In an embodiment, sensing applications 522, 542-1 may be implemented in each of the plurality of client devices 502, 504-(l-N) for establishing the Wi-Fi sensing network. For ease of explanation and understanding, the descriptions provided above may be with reference to additional client device 504-1, however, the description is equally applicable to any of additional client devices 504-(l-N).

[0223] According to an implementation, multi-link client device 502 may be implemented by a device, such as wireless communication device 102 shown in FIG. 1. In some implementations, multi-link client device 502 may be implemented by a device, such as wireless communication device 204 shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B. Further, multi-link client device 502 may be implemented by a device, such as wireless communication device 402 shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B. In an implementation, multi-link client device 502 may coordinate and control communication among additional client devices 504-(l-N). According to an implementation, multi-link client device 502 may be enabled to control a sensing measurement session comprising one or more sensing measurement exchanges to ensure that required sensing transmissions are made at required times and to ensure an accurate determination of one or more sensing measurements. In some embodiments, multi-link client device 502 may process sensing measurements to achieve the sensing goal of system 500. In some embodiments, multi-link client device 502 may be configured to achieve the sensing goal of the system by using multi-link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M). In other embodiments, multi-link client device 502 may be configured to achieve the sensing goal without using multi-link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M). In some embodiments, multi-link client device 502 may be configured to transmit sensing measurements to one or more of additional client devices 504-(l-N), and one or more of additional client devices 504-(l-N) may be configured to process the sensing measurements to achieve a sensing result of system 500. In some embodiments, multi-link client device 502 may be configured to establish the Wi-Fi sensing network using multi-link AP device 506-1, multiple AP devices 506-(2-M), and additional client devices 504-(l-N).

[0224] In an embodiment, multi-link client device 502 may be a STA. In some embodiments, multi-link client device 502 may be a non-AP STA. In some embodiments, multi-link client device 502 may be configured to receive sensing measurements from one or more of additional client devices 504-(l-N), and multi-link client device 502 may be configured to establish a Wi-Fi sensing network for processing sensing measurements to achieve the sensing goal of system 500.

[0225] Referring again to FIG. 5, in some embodiments, additional client devices 504-(l- N) may be configured to send one or more sensing transmissions to multi-link client device 502 based on which one or more sensing measurements may be performed for WLAN sensing. In an embodiment, one or more of additional client devices 504-(l-N) may be a STA, a non- AP STA, or a combination thereof. In an embodiment, one or more of additional client devices 504-(l-N) may take the role of sensing initiator and / or sensing responder.

[0226] According to an implementation, one or more of additional client devices 504-(l- N) may be implemented by a device, such as wireless communication device 102 shown in FIG. 1. In some implementations, one or more of additional client devices 504-(l-N) may be implemented by a device, such as wireless communication device 204 shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B. Further, one or more additional client devices 504-(l-N) may be implemented by a device, such as wireless communication device 402 shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B. In some embodiments, any additional client devices 504-(l-N) may be any computing device, such as a desktop computer, a laptop, a tablet computer, a mobile device, a PDA, or any other computing device. In some implementations, communication between multi-link client device 502, one or more of additional client devices 504-(l-N), multi-link AP device 506-1, and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M) may occur via station management entity (SME) and MAC layer management entity (MLME) protocols.

[0227] In some embodiments, multi-link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506- (2-M) may be configured to facilitate the process of WLAN sensing, as explained in further paragraphs using FIG. 6 to FIG. 27. For example, multi-link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M) may provide the information associated with additional client devices 504- (1-N) to multi-link client device 502 to facilitate the process of WLAN sensing. Accordingly, multi-link client device 502 may perform WLAN sensing based on the received information associated with additional client devices 504-(l-N). According to some implementations, multi-link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M) may or may not include / execute a sensing algorithm. In an embodiment, a remote processing device (also referred as multi -link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M) may be a STA. According to an implementation, multi-link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2- M) may be implemented by a device, such as wireless communication device 102 shown in FIG. 1. In some implementations, multi-link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2- M) may be implemented by a device, such as wireless communication device 204 shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B. Further, multi-link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M) may be implemented by a device, such as wireless communication device 402 shown in FIG.4A and FIG. 4B. In some embodiments, one or more of multi-link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M) may be a hardware device that allows wireless devices to connect to a wired network using Wi-Fi. For example, multi-link AP devices 506-(l-M) may comprise wireless routers, wireless range extenders, WAPs, outdoor access points, and the like. In embodiments, multi -link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M) may fail to support IEEE P802.11bf. In other embodiments, multi-link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M) may not be capable of acting as a sensing controller that can manage sensing measurement sessions and a sensing algorithm. Accordingly, multi-link client device 502 may take the role of sensing initiator where a sensing algorithm determines a WLAN sensing session, and the sensing measurements required to fulfill the measurement campaign. In an example, multi-link client device 502 may communicate sensing measurement parameters and / or transmission parameters required to initiate a WLAN sensing session to additional client devices 504-(l-N) to coordinate and control sensing transmissions for performing sensing measurements.

[0228] Referring to FIG. 5 in more detail, multi-link client device 502 may include processor 508 and memory 514. For example, processor 508 and memory 514 of multi-link client device 502 may be processor 114 and memory 116, respectively, as shown in FIG. 1. In an embodiment, multi -link client device 502 may further include transmitting antenna(s) 516, receiving antenna(s) 518, and sensing agent 520. In an embodiment, sensing agent 520 may be a module that allows multi-link client device 502 to participate in WLAN sensing. Multi-link client device 502, which implements sensing agent 520, may implement techniques and technology defined by IEEE P802.11bf which is a standard that describes enhancements to a WLAN MAC and PHY layer for WLAN sensing. In some embodiments, an antenna may be used to both transmit and receive signals in a half-duplex format. When the antenna is transmitting, it may be referred to as transmitting antenna 516. Further, when the antenna is receiving, it may be referred to as receiving antenna 518. It is understood by a person of normal skill in the art that the same antenna may be transmitting antenna 516 in some instances and receiving antenna 518 in other instances. In the case of an antenna array, one or more antenna elements may be used to transmit or receive a signal, for example, in a beamforming environment. In some examples, a group of antenna elements used to transmit a composite signal may be referred to as transmitting antenna 516, and a group of antenna elements used to receive a composite signal may be referred to as receiving antenna 518. In some examples, each antenna is equipped with its transmission and receive paths, which may be switched toconnect to the antenna depending on whether the antenna is operating as transmitting antenna 516 or receiving antenna 518.

[0229] In an implementation, sensing agent 520 may be responsible for causing multi-link client device 502 to receive sensing transmissions and associated sensing measurement parameters and / or transmission parameters, to calculate sensing measurements. For example, sensing agent 520 may be responsible for processing sensing measurements to fulfdl a sensing goal. In some implementations, receiving sensing transmissions and optionally associated sensing measurement parameters and / or transmission parameters, and calculating sensing measurements may be carried out by sensing agent 520 running in the medium access control (MAC) layer of multi-link client device 502 and processing sensing measurements to fulfdl a sensing goal may be carried out by an algorithm running in the application layer of multi-link client device 502, for example sensing application 522. For example, sensing application 522 running in the application layer of multi-link client device 502 may be known as a WLAN sensing agent, a sensing application, or a sensing algorithm. For example, sensing application 522 may include and / or execute sensing agent 520. According to some implementations, sensing agent 520 may include and / or execute sensing application 522. In some implementations, sensing agent 520 running in the MAC layer of multi-link client device 502 and sensing application 522 running in the application layer of multi-link client device 502 may run separately on processor 508. In an implementation, sensing agent 520 may pass one or more of sensing measurement parameters, transmission parameters, or physical layer parameters (e.g., such as channel representation information, examples of which are CSI, CIR, and TD-CRI) between the MAC layer of multi-link client device 502 and the application layer of multi-link client device 502. For example, sensing agent 520 in the MAC layer or sensing application 522 in the application layer may operate on physical layer parameters, for example, to detect one or more features of interest. For example, sensing application 522 may form services or features, which may be presented to an end-user. According to an implementation, communication between the MAC layer of multi-link client device 502 and other layers or components of multi-link client device 502 (including the application layer) may take place based on communication interfaces, such as an MLME interface and a data interface. For example, sensing agent 520 may be configured to determine at least one of a number, a timing, an amplitude, and a phase of sensing transmissions and sensing measurements for the purpose of WLAN sensing. In some implementations, sensing agent 520 may be configured to transmit sensing measurements to additional client devices 504-(l-N) and / or remote processing devices (or multi-link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M)) for further processing. Inan implementation, sensing agent 520 may be configured to cause at least one transmitting antenna of transmitting antenna(s) 516 to transmit messages to one or more of additional client devices 504-(l-N) and / or to multi-link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M). Further, sensing agent 520 may be configured to receive, via at least one receiving antenna of receiving antenna(s) 518, messages from one or more of additional client devices 504-(l-N) or multi-link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M). In an example, sensing agent 520 may be configured to make sensing measurements based on sensing transmissions received from one or more of additional client devices 504-(l-N) and / or multi-link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M).

[0230] In some embodiments, multi-link client device 502 may include sensing measurement storage 524. In an implementation, sensing measurement storage 524 may store sensing measurements computed by multi-link client device 502 based on received sensing transmissions. Further, sensing measurement storage 524 may store sensing measurements received by multi-link client device 502 based on received messages. For example, sensing measurements stored in sensing measurement storage 524 may be periodically or dynamically updated as required. In an implementation, sensing measurement storage 524 may include any type or form of storage, such as a database or a file system, or may be coupled to memory 514. Details on information stored in sensing measurement storage 524 have been explained in further paragraphs using FIG. 17.

[0231] In an embodiment, multi-link client device 502 may also include TID-to-Link Mapping (TTLM) storage 526. For example, TTLM storage 526 may store information associated with a link configuration. The link configuration indicates over which link(s) data traffic with a particular Traffic ID (TID) may be sent for an MLD. Details on information stored in TTLM storage 526 have been explained in further paragraphs using FIG. 17.

[0232] Referring again to FIG. 5, additional client device 504-1 (which is an example of one or more of additional client devices 504-(l-N)) may include processor 532-1 and memory 534-1. For example, processor 532-1 and memory 534-1 of additional client device 504-1 may be processor 114 and memory 116, respectively, as shown in FIG. 1. In an embodiment, additional client device 504-1 may further include transmitting antenna(s) 536-1, receiving antenna(s) 538-1, and sensing agent 540-1.

[0233] Sensing agent 540-1 may be configured to cause at least one transmitting antenna of transmitting antenna(s) 536-1 and at least one receiving antenna of receiving antenna(s) 538- 1 to exchange messages with multi-link client device 502 or with multi-link AP device 506-1and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M). In some embodiments, an antenna may be used to both transmit and receive in a half-duplex format. When the antenna is transmitting, it may be referred to as transmitting antenna 536-1, and when the antenna is receiving, it may be referred to as receiving antenna 538-1. It is understood by a person of normal skill in the art that the same antenna may be transmitting antenna 536-1 in some instances and receiving antenna 538- 1 in other instances. In the case of an antenna array, one or more antenna elements may be used to transmit or receive a signal, for example, in a beamforming environment. In some examples, a group of antenna elements used to transmit a composite signal may be referred to as transmitting antenna 536-1, and a group of antenna elements used to receive a composite signal may be referred to as receiving antenna 538-1. In some examples, each antenna is equipped with its transmission and receive paths, which may be switched to connect to the antenna depending on whether the antenna is operating as transmitting antenna 536-1 or receiving antenna 538-1.

[0234] In an implementation, sensing agent 540-1 may be responsible for causing additional client device 504-1 to send sensing transmissions and, for example, receive associated sensing measurements from multi-link client device 502 and / or multi-link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M). For example, sensing agent 540-1 may be responsible for processing sensing measurements to fulfill a sensing goal. In some implementations, sensing agent 540-1 may run in the medium access control (MAC) layer of additional client device 504-1. Further, sensing measurements may be processed to fulfill a sensing goal which may be carried out by sensing application 542-1, which in examples may run in the application layer of additional client device 504-1. For example, sensing application 542-1 running in the application layer of additional client device 504-1 may be known as a WLAN sensing agent, a sensing application, or a sensing algorithm. For example, sensing application 542-1 may include and / or execute sensing agent 540-1. According to some implementations, sensing agent 540-1 may include and / or execute sensing application 542-1. In some implementations, sensing agent 540-1 may run in the MAC layer of additional client device 504-1, and sensing application 542-1 may run in the application layer of additional client device 504-1. In some implementations, sensing agent 540-1 of additional client device 504-1 and sensing application 542-1 may run separately on processor 532-1. In an implementation, sensing agent 540-1 may pass sensing measurement parameters, transmission parameters, or physical layer parameters between the MAC layer of additional client device 504-1 and the application layer of additional client device 504-1. For example, sensing agent 540-1 in the MAC layer or sensing application 542-1 in the application layer may control physical layerparameters, for example, physical layer parameters used to generate one or more sensing transmissions. In example, sensing application 542-1 may form services or features, which may be presented to an end user. According to an implementation, communication between the MAC layer of additional client device 504-1 and other layers or components of additional client device 504-1 (including the application layer) may take place based on communication interfaces, such as an MLME interface and a data interface. In examples, sensing agent 540-1 may be configured to determine a number or timing or an amplitude or a phase of sensing transmissions for the purpose of WLAN sensing. In some implementations, sensing agent 540- 1 may be configured to cause additional client device 504-1 to transmit sensing transmissions to multi-link client device 502 and / or multi-link AP device 506-1 and / or multiple AP devices 506-(2-M). In an implementation, sensing agent 540-1 may be configured to cause at least one transmitting antenna of transmitting antenna(s) 536-1 to transmit messages to multi-link client device 502 or to multi-link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M). Further, sensing agent 540-1 may be configured to receive, via at least one receiving antenna of receiving antenna(s) 538-1, messages from multi-link client device 502 or multi-link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M).

[0235] In some embodiments, additional client device 504-1 may include sensing measurement storage 546-1. In an implementation, sensing measurement storage 546-1 may store sensing measurements computed by additional client device 504-1 or received in a message by additional client device 504-1. In an implementation, sensing measurement storage 546-1 may store sensing measurements computed by multi-link client device 502 based on sensing transmissions sent by multi-link client device 502 to additional client device 504-1. Further, sensing measurement storage 546-1 may store sensing measurements computed by multi-link client device 502 based on sensing transmissions sent by additional client device 504- 1 to additional client device 504-2. For example, sensing measurements stored in sensing measurement storage 546-1 may be periodically updated or dynamically updated as required. In an implementation, sensing measurement storage 546-1 may include any type or form of storage, such as a database or a fde system, or may be coupled to memory 534-1.

[0236] In some embodiments, additional client device 504-1 may also include TTLM storage 530-1. For example, TTLM storage 530-1 may store information associated with a link configuration. The link configuration indicates over which link(s) data traffic with a particular Traffic ID (TID) may be sent for an MLD. Details on information stored in TTLM storage 530- 1 have been explained in further paragraphs using FIG. 17.

[0237] Referring to FIG. 5 in more detail, multi-link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M) may include processor 548-1 and memory 550-1. For example, processor 548-1 and memory 550-1 of multi-link AP device 506-1 and multiple AP devices 506-(2-M) may be processor 114 and memory 116, respectively, as shown in FIG. 1. In an embodiment, multi-link AP device 506-1 may further include transmitting antenna(s) 552-1 and receiving antenna(s) 554-1. In some embodiments, an antenna may be used to both transmit and receive signals in a half-duplex format. When the antenna is transmitting, it may be referred to as transmitting antenna 552-1, and when the antenna is receiving, it may be referred to as receiving antenna 554-1. It is understood by a person of normal skill in the art that the same antenna may be transmitting antenna 552-1 in some instances and receiving antenna 554-1 in other instances. In the case of an antenna array, one or more antenna elements may be used to transmit or receive a signal, for example, in a beamforming environment. In some examples, a group of antenna elements used to transmit a composite signal may be referred to as transmitting antenna 552-1, and a group of antenna elements used to receive a composite signal may be referred to as receiving antenna 554-1. In some examples, each antenna is equipped with its transmission and receive paths, which may be switched to connect to the antenna depending on whether the antenna is operating as transmitting antenna 552-1 or receiving antenna 554-1.

[0238] In some embodiments, multi-link AP device 506-1 may also include TTLM storage 528-1. For example, TTLM storage 528-1 may store information associated with a link configuration. The link configuration indicates over which link(s) data traffic with a particular Traffic ID (TID) may be sent for an MLD. Details on information stored in TTLM storage 528- 1 have been explained in further paragraphs using FIG. 17.

[0239] In an embodiment, multi-link AP device 506-1 may include a sensing agent and / or a sensing application (not shown). In an implementation, the sensing agent may be responsible for determining sensing measurement parameters and / or transmission parameters for one or more sensing measurement setups. For example, the sensing agent may receive sensing measurement parameters and / or transmission parameters for one or more sensing measurement setups from the sensing algorithm. In an example, the sensing agent may receive sensing measurements from one or more of plurality of client devices 502, 504-(l-N) and may process the sensing measurements to fulfill a sensing goal. In an example, the sensing agent may receive channel representation information (such as CSI or TD-CRI) from multi-link client device 502 and additional client devices to process the channel representation information for fulfilling a sensing goal. In some implementations, the sensing agent may receive sensingmeasurements or channel representation information and may provide the received sensing measurements or channel representation information to the sensing algorithm (or sensing application). Further, the sensing algorithm may receive the sensing measurements or channel representation information from the sensing agent and may process the information to fulfill a sensing goal. In other implementations, multi-link AP device 506-1 may fail to perform the functionalities or tasks associated with the sensing agent due to one or more errors.

[0240] In an embodiment, multi-link client device 502 acting as a sensing transmitter may perform a sensing transmission which is received by additional client devices 504-(l-N) acting as sensing receivers. Further, multi-link client device 502 may act as a sensing transmitter for a sensing measurement instance. Furthermore, multi-link client device 502 may act as a sensing receiver for the same sensing measurement instance.

[0241] In an embodiment, multi-link client device 502 is shown in FIG. 5. However, there may be multiple multi -link client devices (e.g., multi-link client devices 502-(l-P)) acting as a sensing transmitter for a sensing measurement instance and / or a sensing receiver for the same sensing measurement instance. Further, each of the plurality of client devices may use the systems and methods of the present disclosure to form the sensing network.

[0242] For ease of explanation and understanding, the descriptions provided above may be with reference to additional client device 504-1; however, the description is equally applicable to additional client devices 504-(2-N). For ease of explanation and understanding, the descriptions provided above may be with reference to multi-link client device 502; however, the description is equally applicable to a plurality of client devices.

[0243] For ease of explanation and understanding, the descriptions provided above may be with reference to multi-link AP device 506-1; however, the description is equally applicable to multiple AP devices 506-(2-M).

[0244] According to one or more implementations, communications in network 512 may be governed by one or more of the 802.11 family of standards developed by IEEE. Some example IEEE standards may include IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.11 ax, IEEE 802. lime, IEEE 802.11az and IEEE 802.11be. IEEE 802.11 and IEEE 802.11ax are fully ratified standards whilst IEEE 802. lime reflects an ongoing maintenance update to the IEEE 802.11 standard and IEEE 802.11 be defines the next generation of standard. IEEE 802.11 az is an extension of the IEEE 802.11 and IEEE 802.1 lax standards which adds new functionality. In some implementations, communications may be governed by other standards (other or additional IEEE standards or other types of standards). In some embodiments, parts of network 512 that are not required by system 500 to be governed by one or more of the 802.11 family of standardsmay be implemented by an instance of any type of network, including wireless networks or cellular networks. Further, IEEE 802.11 ax includes Orthogonal Frequency -Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), which allows multi-link client device 502 to simultaneously transmit data to all participating devices, such as additional client devices 504-(l-N), and vice versa using a single transmission opportunity (TXOP). The efficiency of OFDMA depends on how multilink client device 502 schedules channel resources (interchangeably referred to as Resource Units (RUs)) among additional client devices 504-(l-N) and configures transmission parameters. According to an implementation, system 500 may be an OFDMA-enabled system.

[0245] In a Wi-Fi system, both data transmissions and sensing transmissions may happen at different TXOPs. The Wi-Fi sensing system may utilize a TXOP that is not used for data transmissions, for Wi-Fi sensing. A TXOP used for data transmissions may be named as a data TXOP, while a TXOP used for sensing transmissions may be named as a sensing TXOP.

[0246] Referring back to FIG. 5, according to one or more implementations, WLAN sensing system 500 may participate in a sensing session. For example, a sensing session is an agreement between a sensing initiator and a sensing responder to participate in a WLAN sensing procedure (also known as a Wi-Fi sensing procedure). For example, sensing measurement parameters associated with a sensing session may be determined by a sensing initiator and may be exchanged between the sensing initiator and a sensing responder. For example, a sensing initiator may be multi-link client device 502 and sensing responder(s) may be one (or more) of the additional client devices. For example, a sensing initiator may be multilink client device 502 and a sensing responder may be additional client device 504-1. For example, a sensing initiator may be additional client device 504-1, and a sensing responder may be multi-link client device 502. For example, a networking device (e.g., multi-link client device 502, additional client device 504-1 or multi-link AP device 506-1) may participate in multiple sensing sessions either as a sensing initiator or as a sensing responder. For example, multi-link client device 502 may participate in multiple sensing sessions either as a sensing initiator or as a sensing responder. For example, multi-link AP device 506-1 may or may not participate in multiple sensing sessions as a sensing initiator or as a sensing responder.

[0247] FIG. 6 is reproduced from IEEE P802.1 Ibf and illustrates an example of a WLAN sensing procedure 600 (also known as Wi-Fi sensing procedure 600) according to some embodiments. For example, a WLAN sensing procedure allows a STA to perform WLAN sensing. For example, a WLAN sensing procedure enables a STA to obtain one or more sensing measurements of the wireless transmission channel between two or more STAs and or the wireless transmission channel between a receiving antenna and a transmitting antenna of aSTA. For example, a WLAN sensing procedure is composed of one or more of a sensing session setup, a sensing measurement setup, one or more sensing measurement exchanges, a sensing measurement setup termination, and a sensing session termination.

[0248] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of WLAN sensing procedure 600 with a sensing measurement session set up with a STA with MAC ADDR=A and Association Identifier (AID)=1 and is a reproduction of FIG. AD-1 of IEEE P802.11bfD3.0. For example, a sensing measurement session setup establishes a sensing session or a sensing procedure. For example, the sensing measurement session may be identified by the AID of the STA involved in the sensing measurement session. FIG. 6 illustrates a measurement session setup procedure for the STA with MAC ADDR=A, where the measurement session ID = 1.

[0249] For example, a sensing measurement session setup allows for a sensing initiator and a sensing responder to exchange and agree on operational attributes associated with a sensing measurement exchange. A sensing initiator may transmit a Sensing Measurement Setup Request frame to a sensing responder with which it intends to perform a sensing measurement session setup. An example of a Sensing Measurement Request frame Action field format 702 (which may also be referred to as a Sensing Measurement Setup Request frame Action field format) as described by IEEE P802. 1 Ibf D3.0 in FIG. 9-1198a is provided in FIG. 7A. As shown in the example illustrated in FIG. 7A, in embodiments, a Sensing Measurement Setup Request frame Action field format may include one or more of a Category field, a Public Action field, a Dialog Token field, a Sensing Comeback Info field, a Measurement Session ID Indication field, and a Sensing Measurement Parameters element. In examples, a Category value code is defined for a “Protected Sensing Frame”. In an embodiment, a Protected Sensing Action field is defined in the octet immediately after the Category field in order to differentiate Protected Sensing Frame formats from Public Sensing Frame formats.

[0250] FIG. 7B is reproduced from IEEE P802.11bf D3.0, FIG. 9-1001bc and illustrates an example, according to some embodiments, of a Sensing Measurement Parameters element format 704. For example, a Sensing Measurement Parameters element indicates operational attributes of a corresponding sensing measurement exchange. For example, the Sensing Measurement Parameters element comprises a Sensing Measurement Parameters field and a Sensing sub-elements field. FIG. 7C is reproduced from IEEE P802.11bf D3.0, FIG. 9-1001bd and illustrates an example of a format of the Sensing Measurement Parameters field format, according to some embodiments. In an example, a Sensing Measurement Parameters field comprises a Sensing Transmitter subfield. The Sensing Transmitter subfield may be set to 1 to indicate a sensing responder assumes a sensing transmitter role, such as additional client device504-1. In an example the sensing responder assumes a sensing transmitter role according to the Sensing Transmitter subfield for the Sensing Measurement Session ID Indication associated with the Sensing Measurement Parameters field. For example, the Sensing Measurement Parameters field comprises a Sensing Receiver subfield. The Sensing Receiver subfield may be set to 1 to indicate a sensing responder assumes a sensing receiver role, such as multi-link client device 502. In an example the sensing responder assumes a sensing receiver role according to the Sensing Receiver subfield for the Sensing Measurement Session ID Indication associated with the Sensing Measurement Parameters field.

[0251] Referring again to FIG. 7C, in examples, Sensing Measurement Parameters field format 706 includes a Sensing Measurement Report Requested subfield if the Sensing Receiver subfield indicates that the sensing responder should assume a sensing receiver role. For example, the Sensing Measurement Report Requested subfield may indicate whether or not a sensing responder sends Sensing Measurement Report frames in sensing measurement exchanges that result from the sensing measurement session setup.

[0252] For example, after the sensing responder receives the Sensing Measurement Setup Request frame, the sensing responder may transmit a Sensing Measurement Setup Response frame. An example of Sensing Measurement Response frame Action field format 708 (which may also be referred to as a Sensing Measurement Setup Response frame Action field format) is described by IEEE P802.1 Ibf D3.0, FIG. 9-1198d and is provided in FIG. 7D. For example, the sensing responder may use a Status Code field in the Sensing Measurement Setup Response frame to indicate whether the sensing responder accepts the requested sensing measurement setup parameters in the received Sensing Measurement Setup Request frame. In an embodiment, the Status Code field may be set to 0 indicating a successful sensing measurement setup, where the sensing responder accepts the operational attributes included in the Sensing Measurement Setup Request frame. In examples, the sensing responder may indicate in the Sensing Measurement Setup Response frame that the operational attributes included in the Sensing Measurement Setup Request frame sent by the sensing initiator are not accepted, for example by setting the Status Code field to a non-zero value. For example, the sensing responder may indicate in the Sensing Measurement Setup Response frame suggested sensing measurement parameters, for example, to indicate to the sensing initiator one or more operational attributes preferred by the sensing responder. For example, the sensing responder may indicate to the sensing initiator that suggested sensing measurement parameters are included in the Sensing Measurement Setup Response frame by setting the Status Code field to a non-zero value.

[0253] For example, the sensing initiator may assign a role to the sensing responder as part of the sensing measurement setup sent in the Sensing Measurement Setup Request frame. For example, the sensing initiator may indicate to a sensing responder that the sensing responder is to assume the role of a sensing receiver, such as multi-link client device 502, or the role of a sensing transmitter, such as additional client device 504-1, or the role of sensing receiver and sensing transmitter. In examples, the sensing initiator may indicate to the sensing responder whether the sensing responder sends sensing measurement report frames in sensing measurement exchanges. In an embodiment, the role assigned to the sensing responder and / or whether the sensing responder sends sensing measurement report frames persists until the sensing measurement setup is terminated.

[0254] Referring again to FIG. 6 and the measurement session with the STA with MAC ADDR=A and AID=1, the measurement session setup is followed by one or more sensing measurement exchanges and measurement reporting instances which may be performed based on the defined operational attribute set. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the one or more sensing measurement exchanges and measurement reporting instances for the STA with MAC ADDR=A may be assigned measurement exchange IDs; for example, a first measurement exchange may be assigned measurement exchange ID=1, and a second measurement exchange may be assigned measurement exchange ID=2. For example, a measurement exchange may be uniquely associated with a measurement session setup.

[0255] Referring again to FIG. 6, a second measurement session setup may be initiated for the STA with MAC ADDR=A, which may be identified as measurement session ID=2. Measurement session ID=2 may be associated with a second operational attribute set. For example, after the second sensing measurement session setup, any subsequent one or more sensing measurement exchanges may be performed based on either the first operational attribute set (measurement session ID=1) or the second operational attribute set (measurement session ID=2).

[0256] Referring again to FIG. 6, a measurement session set up with a STA with MAC ADDR=B and Unassociated STA Identifier (USID)=2 is illustrated. For example, the measurement session may be identified by the USID of the STA with MAC ADDR=B. FIG. 6 further illustrates a sensing measurement exchange for the STA with MAC ADDR=B. In the example, the operational attribute set for the measurement session for the STA with MAC ADDR=B is the same as the second operational attribute set established with the STA with MAC ADDR=A, and the same measurement session ID is used for both the STA with MAC ADDR=A and the STA with MAC ADDR=B. That is, a sensing measurement session ID(which may also be referred to as a sensing measurement session label) may apply to one or more STAs. In examples according to FIG. 6, subsequent sensing measurement exchanges associated with measurement session ID=2 may be associated with the STA with MAC ADDR=A, the STA with MAC ADDR=B, or with both the STA with MAC ADDR=A and the STA with MAC ADDR=B. Each sensing measurement exchange may have one-to-many (including one-to-one) announcements and / or triggering and may have either one-to-many or many-to-one (including one-to-one) sounding.

[0257] In examples, an operational attribute set of a measurement session may be terminated by performing a sensing measurement session termination procedure, for example as is shown in FIG. 6 for sensing measurement session ID=1 and the STA with MAC ADDR=A. In examples, the sensing measurement session ID of a terminated sensing measurement setup may be used for a subsequent sensing measurement session. This is shown in FIG. 6 where a sensing measurement session with ID=1 is established for the STA with MAC ADDR=B, after the termination of the sensing measurement session ID=1 with the STA with MAC ADDR=A. In some embodiments, a sensing measurement session may be terminated using a sensing measurement session termination procedure, as shown in FIG. 6.

[0258] FIG. 8A illustrates that measurement exchanges 802 between a sensing initiator and a sensing responder may be one-to-many or many-to-one. In examples, a measurement exchange and / or measurement reporting may have a one-to-one (single device to single device) announcement or triggering or may have a one-to-many (single device to multiple devices) announcement or triggering. In examples, a measurement exchange may have one-to-one, one- to-many, or many-to-one (many devices to a single device) sounding.

[0259] As previously described, a sensing session is an agreement between a sensing initiator and a sensing responder to participate in a WLAN (Wi-Fi) sensing procedure. In examples, a sensing session is pairwise and in examples, may be identified by a sensing measurement ID, MAC addresses of the sensing initiator and the sensing responder, by AID / USID values, or by any combination of these or other identifiers. FIG. 8B shows an example of a sensing procedure which includes pairwise exchanges or procedures 804 that may take place between a sensing initiator and a sensing responder, the sensing procedure may be related to a sensing measurement session. The example may include one or more of a sensing capabilities exchange, a sensing measurement session (a sensing measurement session setup), one or more sensing measurement exchanges, and a sensing measurement termination (a sensing measurement session termination).

[0260] In examples, a sensing measurement exchange of a WLAN sensing procedure may be a trigger-based (TB) sensing measurement exchange. FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B depict a message flow 900 of a sensing measurement session of a WLAN sensing procedure comprising a sensing measurement session setup procedure followed by one or more trigger-based (TB) sensing measurement exchanges that consist of either NDPA sounding or trigger frame (TF) sounding, followed by a sensing measurement session termination procedure, according to some examples. In examples, a TB sensing measurement exchange may be used where the sensing initiator is an AP, and one or more non-AP STAs are sensing responders. In examples, a TB sensing measurement exchange may include a polling phase, an NDPA sounding phase, a trigger frame (TF) sounding phase, and a reporting phase.

[0261] FIG. 10A is reproduced from IEEE P802.11bf D3.0, FIG. 1 l-102b and illustrates an example of a TB sensing measurement exchange 1002 including a polling phase, an NDPA sounding phase, a TF sounding phase, and a reporting phase. The table in FIG. 10B indicates valid combinations of phases 1004 of a TB sensing measurement exchange, in some examples.

[0262] FIG. 11 is reproduced from IEEE P802.1 Ibf D3.0, FIG. 1 l-102c and provides one example of a TB sensing measurement exchange 1100 with multi-link client device 502, additional client devices 504-(l-N)), multi-link AP device 506-1, or any combination thereof in the role of a sensing initiator and six STAs, referred to as STA 1, STA 2, STA 3, STA 4, STA 5 and STA 6 (such as multi-link client device 502 and additional client devices 504-(l- N), as discussed with reference to FIG. 5), all of which in the example are sensing responders. In an example, the client device (for example, any one of STA 4, STA 5 and STA 6) communicates with the sensing initiator to achieve the sensing goal. In the example, the TB sensing measurement exchange comprises a polling phase, an NDPA sounding phase, a TF sounding phase, and a reporting phase. In the example, STA 1, STA 2 and STA 3 act as sensing transmitters, such as additional client device 504-1, additional client device 504-2 and additional client device 504-3. In the example of FIG. 11, STA 4, STA 5, and STA 6 act as sensing receivers, such as multi-link client device 502. In examples, in the polling phase, the AP acting as the sensing initiator transmits a Sensing Polling Trigger frame to STA 1, STA 2, STA 3, STA 4, STA 5, and STA 6. In an embodiment, sensing transmitter STA 1 and sensing transmitter STA 2 respond to the Sensing Polling Trigger frame with an indication that the STA is available to participate in a sensing measurement exchange. In examples, the indication is a CTS-to-self (Clear to Send) frame. In the example, sensing transmitter STA 3 does not respond to the Sensing Polling Trigger frame sent by the sensing initiator, indicating that STA 3 will not participate in the sensing measurement exchange. In an embodiment, sensing receiver STA4 and sensing receiver STA 5 each respond to the Sensing Polling Trigger frame with an indication that the STA is available to participate in a sensing measurement exchange. In examples, the indication is a CTS-to-self frame. In the example, sensing receiver STA 6 does not respond to the Sensing Polling Trigger frame sent by the AP as the sensing initiator, indicating that STA 6 will not participate in the sensing measurement exchange.

[0263] Referring again to FIG. 11, in a NDPA sounding phase, the AP acting as sensing initiator assumes the role of sensing transmitter. In examples, the AP as sensing transmitter transmits a sensing transmission. In examples, the sensing transmission may be a broadcast transmission. In examples, the sensing transmission may be a unicast transmission to one or more STAs, for example to sensing receiver STA 4, sensing receiver STA 5 and / or to sensing receiver STA 6. In examples, a period of one or more SIFSs elapses between the AP as sensing transmitter sending the sensing NDPA frame and when the AP as sensing transmitter sends the one or more sensing transmissions. In examples, one or more of the sensing transmissions may be a full bandwidth NDP frame. In examples, one or more of the sensing transmissions may be a partial bandwidth NDP frame. In examples, one or more of the NDP frames may be an SI2SR NDP frame.

[0264] The sensing measurement exchange of FIG. 11 includes a TF Sounding phase. For example, in the TF Sounding phase, the AP as the sensing initiator sends a Sensing Sounding Trigger frame to sensing transmitter STA 1 and to sensing transmitter STA 2. For example, responsive to receiving the Sensing SR2SI Sounding Trigger frame, sensing transmitter STA 1 and sensing transmitter STA 2 send sensing transmissions to the AP. For example, the sensing transmissions may comprise NDP transmissions. In an example, one or more of the NDP transmissions to the AP may be SR2SI NDP transmissions (as shown in the example of FIG. 11). In examples, a period of one or more SIFSs elapses between sensing transmitter STA 1 receiving the Sensing SR2SI Sounding Trigger frame and transmitting a sensing transmission, and in examples a period of one or more SIFSs elapses between sensing transmitter STA 2 receiving the Sensing SR2SI Sounding Trigger frame and transmitting a sensing transmission. For example, the AP may assume the role of sensing receiver, and the AP may make sensing measurements on the sensing transmissions from sensing transmitter STA 1 and sensing transmitter STA 2.

[0265] For example, a sensing measurement exchange of a WLAN sensing procedure may be a non-trigger-based (non-TB) sensing measurement exchange. FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B depict a message flow 1200 of a sensing measurement session setup procedure followed by one or more non-TB sensing measurement exchanges of a WLAN sensing procedure thatconsist of one or more of downlink sounding or uplink sounding, according to some embodiments, followed by a sensing measurement session termination procedure, according to some examples. For example, a non-TB sensing measurement exchange may be used where the sensing initiator is a non-AP STA, and an AP is the sensing responder. Examples of uplink sounding are described by IEEE P802.11bf, an example of which is shown in FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B, the sensing initiator (non-AP STA) acting as a sensing transmitter (for example, additional client device 504-1) transmits a sensing announcement frame followed by a sensing transmission. For example, the sensing announcement frame may be an NDPA frame. For example, the sensing transmission may be an NDP frame (for example, a SI2SR NDP frame). For example, responsive to receiving the sensing transmission, the AP acting as a sensing receiver (for example, multi-link client device 502), may transmit to the sensing initiator (non- AP STA in the role of additional client device 504-1) a sensing measurement report, for example, one or more Sensing Measurement Report frames. An example of downlink sounding is shown in FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B, the sensing initiator (non-AP STA) acting as a sensing receiver transmits a sensing announcement frame. For example, the sensing announcement frame may be an NDPA frame. For example, responsive to receiving the sensing announcement frame, the AP acting as a sensing transmitter may transmit one or more sensing transmissions. For example, one or more of the sensing transmissions may be an NDP frame (for example, an SI2SR NDP frame). For example, the non-AP STA acting as a sensing receiver, responsive to receiving a sensing transmission, may make a sensing measurement on the sensing transmission. For example, the sensing measurement session may be terminated by the sensing initiator or the sensing responder transmitting a SENS Measurement Setup Termination frame. For example, the sensing responder or sensing initiator (respectively) may respond with an acknowledgment.

[0266] FIG. 13 is reproduced from IEEE P802.11bf D3.0, FIG. 1 l-102i and illustrates a detailed example of a non-TB sensing measurement exchange 1300, according to some embodiments. For example, STA 1 (such as additional client device 504-1) acting as sensing initiator and sensing transmitter, transmits a sensing announcement frame. For example, the sensing announcement frame may be a sensing NDPA frame. For example, one or more SIFSs may elapse followed by STA 1, acting as sensing initiator and sensing transmitter transmitting one or more sensing transmissions. For example, one or more of the sensing transmissions may be an NDP frame (for example, a SI2SR NDP frame). For example, STA 1, acting as sensing initiator and sensing receiver, may transmit a sensing announcement frame followed after a period of time by a SI2SR NDP frame. For example, the sensing announcement frame may bea sensing NDPA frame, and the period may be a SIFS. For example, one or more SIFSs may elapse followed by the AP, acting as sensing responder and sensing transmitter, transmitting one or more sensing transmissions. For example, the AP, acting as a sensing responder and sensing transmitter, does not transmit an NDPA frame and instead transmits a sensing transmission one SIFS after receiving the SI2SR NDP. For example, the sensing transmission may be an NDP frame (for example, an SR2SI NDP frame).

[0267] FIG. 14A is reproduced from IEEE P802.11bf D3.0, FIG. 9-1198f and illustrates an example of a Sensing Measurement Report frame Action field format 1402. In some examples, a Sensing Measurement Report frame may be transmitted to provide WLAN sensing measurements, for example to a sensing agent or a sensing algorithm of a sensing initiator. For example, a Sensing Measurement Report frame may comprise one or more Sensing Measurement Report Containers. FIG. 14B is reproduced from IEEE P802.11bf D3.0, FIG. 9- 189g and is an example of a Sensing Measurement Report Container field format. A Sensing Measurement Report Container may comprise a single sensing measurement report, in some embodiments.

[0268] Referring again to FIG. 14B, in embodiments a Sensing Measurement Report Container may include a Sensing Measurement Report Control field 1404. For example, the Sensing Measurement Report Control field 1404 may contain information necessary to interpret the Sensing Measurement Report field. For example, the Sensing Measurement Report Control field 1404 format may comprise one or more subfields. In an embodiment, one or more subfields of the Sensing Measurement Report Control field may include PHY layer parameters used by the sensing receiver when performing the sensing measurement, for example, receiver antenna beamforming or spatial layer information. For example, Sensing Measurement Report Control field 1404 definitions are shown in Table 9-127h from IEEE P802.11bf D3.0, which is reproduced in TABLE 1 below.TABLE 1Table 9-127h — Sensing Measurement Report Control field definition

[0269] In a sensing session, exchanges of transmissions between a sensing receiver (e.g., multi-link client device 502 or additional client devices 504-(l-N)) and one or more of a plurality of sensing transmitters (e.g., additional client devices 504-(l-N) or multi-link client device 502) may occur. For example, control of these transmissions may be with the MAC layer of the IEEE 802.11 stack. According to an implementation, a sensing receiver may secure a TXOP which may be allocated to one or more sensing transmissions by one or more of the plurality of sensing transmitters. According to an implementation, a sensing receiver may allocate channel resources (or RUs) within a TXOP to one or more of the plurality of sensing transmitters. For example, a sensing receiver may allocate the channel resources to the one or more of the plurality of sensing transmitters by allocating time and bandwidth within the TXOP to the one or more of the plurality of sensing transmitters.

[0270] According to an implementation, example 1500 of a hierarchy of fields within a sensing trigger message is shown in FIG. 15A to FIG. 151.

[0271] As described in FIG. 15 A and based upon a Trigger frame as described by IEEE P802.11, the Common Info field may contain information that is common to one or more of a plurality of sensing transmitters (e.g., additional client devices 504-(l-N), as shown in FIG. 5). According to some implementations, the requirement of an NDPA preceding an NDP may beoptional. This may be indicated to one or more of the plurality of sensing transmitters and may, for example, be encoded into a “Trigger Dependent Common Info” field if the requirement is common to the plurality of sensing transmitters, or into a “Trigger Dependent User Info” field if the requirement is specific to one or more sensing transmitters of the plurality of sensing transmitters. According to an example, the requirement for a sensing announcement (for example, an NDPA) preceding a sensing response NDP may be encoded by a single bit where 0 (bit clear) indicates that a sensing announcement is optional and 1 (bit set) indicates that a sensing announcement is required.

[0272] As described by FIG. 15B which is a reproduction of IEEE P802.11bf D3.0 FIG. 9-102a (Trigger Dependent Common Info field format of the Sensing Polling, SR2SI Sounding, Sensing Reporting, and Sensing Threshold-based Reporting Trigger frame), a Trigger Dependent Common Info field format may include the Sensing Trigger Subtype field with different values to indicate different Sensing Trigger frame variants. The Sensing Trigger frame variants may be used for Sensing Polling, SR2SI Sounding, Sensing Threshold-based Report, Sensing Reporting, or Sensing Responder to Sensing Responder (SR2SR) Sounding.

[0273] As adapted from IEEE P802.l l and IEEE P802.11bf and described in FIG. 15C, a Trigger Type (within B0..B3 of the “Common Info” field) may be defined as a sensing trigger message. For example, a sensing trigger message may have a Trigger Type subfield value of 8.

[0274] As described by IEEE P802.l l and reproduced in FIG. 15D the sensing trigger message may have an uplink bandwidth (UL BW) subfield value of 0, 1, 2, or 3 corresponding to bandwidths of 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, or 80+80 MHz (160 MHz), respectively.

[0275] As described in FIG. 15E and based upon a Trigger frame as described by IEEE P802.ll, the User Info field contains information that is specific to each of the plurality of sensing transmitters. For examples, the User Info field may include the AID or the USID of a sensing transmitter, an RU allocation for a sensing transmitter, the number of long training field (LTF) repetitions in a corresponding sensing transmission from a sensing transmitter, and other Trigger Dependent User Info.

[0276] As described in FIG. 15F and leveraging the definition of IEEE P802.ll, the AID12 subfield of the User Info field illustrated in FIG. 15D may be used to address a specific sensing transmitter of the plurality of sensing transmitters.

[0277] As described in FIG. 15G and FIG. 15H and leveraging the definition of IEEE P802.ll, the RU Allocation subfield is used to allocate resource units (RU) to each of the plurality of sensing transmitters 504-(l-N).

[0278] As described in FIG. 151, the Trigger Dependent User Info subfield may be used to request the transmission configuration and / or steering matrix configuration for one or more sensing transmitters of the plurality of sensing transmitters that the sensing trigger message is triggering.C. Systems and methods to form a wireless sensing network

[0279] The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods to form a wireless sensing network. In particular, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods that are useful to perform data link management in multi-link WLAN sensing.

[0280] A WLAN sensing system may be configured to detect features of interest in a sensing space. The WLAN sensing system may be a network of Wi-Fi-enabled devices that are part of an IEEE 802.11 network (sometimes referred to as a Basic Service Set (BSS) or Extended Service Set (ESS)). The features of interest may include motion of objects and motion tracking, presence detection, intrusion detection, gesture recognition, fall detection, breathing rate detection, and other applications. The sensing space may refer to any physical space in which the WLAN sensing system may operate and may include a place of abode, a place of work, a shopping mall, a sports hall or sports stadium, a garden, or any other physical space.

[0281] In the WLAN sensing network, there may be one or more nodes that are AP devices and one or more nodes that are non-AP devices. Further, the motion is determined in the sensing space by a sensing algorithm on a device detecting perturbation in the local environment based on analysis of sensing measurements (for example, CSI) over time. A sensing transmission is sent from a sensing transmitter. A baseband Wi-Fi receiver (e.g., a sensing receiver) calculates the sensing measurement as a channel state measurement (e.g., CSI) consisting of a real and imaginary part for each element, or an in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) part for each element, or an amplitude and phase part for each element. The CSI is passed via a Wi-Fi sensing agent to a sensing algorithm at a higher layer to detect motion.

[0282] Further, each link between a sensing transmitter and a sensing receiver is termed a sensing link. The sensing link may be under the control of a higher-layer sensing algorithm on the sensing transmitter, the sensing receiver, and / or a separate sensing initiator. The sensing transmitter or sensing receiver may also act as the sensing initiator. Any of these three entities may be a non-AP STA or an AP. In some embodiments, a particular node may act as a sensing transmitter at one time point and as a sensing receiver at another time point. A sensing measurement session is a time period during which one or more sensing transmissions and corresponding sensing measurements are made. Further, a sensing measurement sessionincludes at least one or more sensing transmitters and at least one or more sensing receivers. A sensing measurement session is under the control of a sensing initiator which may be a higher- layer (i.e., above the PHY and MAC layers) sensing algorithm. The sensing initiator sends sensing measurement configurations to sensing transmitter(s) and / or sensing receiver(s) to provide parameters and any other required information for performing the sensing measurements.

[0283] Furthermore, IEEE 802.1 Ibe adds Multi-Link Operation (MLO) to earlier versions of the IEEE 802.11 standard. A multi-link device (MLD) may be an AP MLD or may be a non- AP MLD. An AP MLD may be capable of establishing multiple wireless links with another MLD. These multiple links may be used to improve performance by increasing aggregate data throughput and selecting the currently optimal link (e.g., lowest traffic loading). An MLD may include multiple STA entities, with one STA for each wireless link. These multiple STAs may operate on different frequencies and / or in different frequency bands. For example, an AP MLD may contain three STA entities, with one STA operating in the 2.4 GHz frequency band, another STA operating in the 5 GHz frequency band, and yet another STA operating in the 6 GHz band. Similarly, anon-AP MLD may also contain multiple (e.g., three) STA entities, with each STA potentially operating on a different frequency and / or in a different frequency band (e.g., one STA operating in the 2.4 GHz frequency band, another STA operating in the 5 GHz frequency band, and yet another STA operating in the 6 GHz band). Details on MLO and MLDs have been explained in further paragraphs using FIG. 16.

[0284] FIG. 16 depicts an exemplary MLO 1600 of two MLDs, according to some embodiments of an ESS. MLO 1600 may include multiple BSSs. In an embodiment, the wireless sensing network may include first AP MLD 1602, a second AP (not shown), a first non-AP MLD (not shown), a second non-AP MLD (not shown), and non-AP MLD 1604. In an embodiment, an AP-MLD corresponds to a network architecture that involves an access point supporting multiple links to various devices, particularly in scenarios like the Internet of Things (loT) or wireless sensor networks (WSNs).

[0285] Referring to FIG. 16 in detail, the non-AP MLD may be associated with first AP MLD 1602. Further, first AP MLD 1602 comprises two Access Points (APs) i.e., AP 1602A and AP 1602B. Each of these two APs, AP 1602 A and AP 1602B, may operate on a different frequency (or in a different frequency band) and / or with a different channel width. For example, AP 1602 A may operate in the 2.4 GHz frequency band, and AP 1602B may operate in the 5 GHz frequency band. Similarly, non-AP MLD 1604 also comprises two STAs, i.e., STA 1604A and STA 1604B. STA 1604A may have an established wireless link or data link1606 with AP 1602A, and STA 1604B may have an established wireless link or data link 1608 with AP 1602B. Details on the system and method to select the common frequency channel have been explained in further paragraphs using FIG. 17 to FIG. 22.

[0286] FIG. 17 depicts an exemplary Overlapping Basic Service Set (OBSS) 1700, according to some embodiments. OBSS 1700 refers to data or signals that originate from sources outside of a specific Basic Service Set (BSS) in a wireless network. This can have implications for network performance, security, and the ability to process and interpret the data accurately. Such data or signals can disrupt communications within the established BSS. FIG. 17 explains the scenario of OBSS 1700 using two BSSs i.e., first BSS 1702A and second BSS 1702B.

[0287] Referring to FIG. 17 in detail, there are two access points i.e., first AP 1704 located in first BSS 1702A, and second AP 1706 located in second BSS 1702B. First AP 1704 and second AP 1706 may belong to the same multi-AP network with both first BSS 1702A and second BSS 1702B being part of the same ESS. Further, a Basic Service Area (BSA) of each of the first AP 1704 and second AP 1706 may be illustratively delineated by the dashed circles that are labeled as first BSS 1702A and second BSS 1702B, respectively. If first AP 1704 and second AP 1706 both operate on the same wireless channel frequency (such as frequency / A), then this may result in an OBSS situation in the overlap area that is conceptually represented by the intersection of the two dashed circles. Further, non-AP STA 1708 may have an established wireless data link 1710 with first AP 1704. Non-AP STA 1708 may also be located in the OBSS region. A non-AP STA may participate in a sensing measurement session with an AP with which it is not currently associated. This is termed an unassociated sensing measurement session and is described in more detail in Section 11.55.1.4.2 of IEEE 802.11bf / D4.0.

[0288] FIG. 18 depicts exemplary multiple BSSs with MLO 1800, according to some embodiments. In an implementation, FIG. 18 explains the scenario of OBSS using three BSSs i.e., first BSS 1802A and second BSS 1802B, and third BSS 1802C. FIG. 18 shows the OBSS scenario from FIG. 17 but with MLO between first AP MLD 1804A, 1804B, and non-AP MLD 1806.

[0289] Referring to FIG. 18 in detail, two established wireless data links i.e., first data link1808 and second data link 1810 are established between first AP MLD 1804A, 1804B, and non-AP MLD 1806. In an embodiment, first data link 1808 between first AP MLD 1804A and non-AP MLD 1806 may operate on a wireless channel frequency / A, and second data link 1810 between second AP MLD 1804B and non-AP MLD 1806 may operate on a wireless channelfrequency / B. Further, second AP device 1812 may be located in third BSS 1802C. In an embodiment, second AP device 1812 may also be an MLD. In another embodiment, second AP device 1812 may not be an MLD. Further, second AP device 1812 may operate on wireless channel frequency B, thus resulting in a continuation of the exemplary OBSS situation (as shown in FIG. 17). This information is also summarized in TABLE 2.

[0290] Further, second AP device 1812 may be constrained in the wireless channels that it may use to conduct a sensing measurement session. For example, second AP device and first AP MLD 1804B may be configured with a maximum operating channel width (such as 320 MHz) for the frequency band of operation and thus there may not be sufficient available bandwidth in that frequency band to shift to another wireless channel, or second AP device 1812 may be operating in a frequency band that has a limited number of wireless channels available (such as the 2.4 GHz band). There may be limited or no opportunity to switch to another wireless channel frequency without encountering increased interference from other neighboring BSSs (not shown in FIG. 18). Wireless channel frequency / B may be the preferred channel for conducting sensing measurements due to it being the wireless channel with the lowest level of interference that is available. Any interfering transmissions (e.g., from neighboring BSSs) may reduce the accuracy and / or periodicity of sensing measurements during a sensing measurement session, thus leading to lower-quality measurement data and results from the session.

[0291] Referring to FIG. 18 in detail, an unassociated sensing measurement session is shown with non-AP MLD 1806. In an embodiment, first data link 1808 may operate on the wireless channel frequency / A and second data link 1810 may operate on the wireless channel frequency / B. In this scenario, second AP device 1812 may be assumed to operate on a wireless channel frequency fc, which is different from both / A and f&, as summarized in TABLE 3.

[0292] FIG. 19 depicts an exemplary sequence diagram 1900 for initiating an OBSS sensing measurement session, according to some embodiments. In an implementation, non-AP MLD 1806 may obtain a determination (e.g., from the application layer of non-AP MLD 1806 or from a different device / sensing initiator) to initiate an OBSS sensing measurement session. The OBSS sensing measurement session may be initiated with second AP device 1812 on a wireless channel frequency that is also used by one of the non-AP MLD’s data links with the first AP MLD. For example, the OBSS sensing measurement session may be initiated with second AP device 1812 on a wireless channel defined by frequency f&. In an embodiment, non- AP MLD 1806 may also obtain a determination to simultaneously maintain full data connectivity with the first AP MLD during the OBSS sensing measurement session. Exemplary sequence diagram 1900 depicts the interact! ons / messaging steps between non-AP MLD 1806 and second AP device 1812 to initiate the OBSS sensing measurement session.

[0293] Referring to FIG. 19 in detail, at step 1902, non-AP MLD 1806 may initiate the OBSS sensing measurement session. The OBSS sensing measurement session may be initiated by sending a sensing measurement query frame to second AP device 1812, at step 1904. At step 1906, second AP device 1812 may coordinate the OBSS sensing measurement session. Further, at step 1908, second AP device 1812 may respond by sending a sensing measurement request frame. At step 1910, non-AP MLD 1806 may accept the sensing measurement request frame. Furthermore, at step 1912, non-AP MLD 1806 may accept the sensing measurement request frame by responding with a sensing measurement response frame. This results in an OBSS sensing situation, since first AP device (not shown) also uses wireless channel frequency JB. In an embodiment, non-AP MLD 1806 (which has all of its data links associated with first AP MLD 1602) may initiate the OBSS sensing measurement session with second AP device 1812 on wireless channel frequency while still maintaining full data connectivity with first AP MLD 1602, as discussed in FIG. 21 to FIG. 27. The channel of interest to the sensing application is between non-AP MLD 1806 and second AP device 1812.

[0294] FIG. 20 depicts exemplary sequence diagram 2000 for initiating an unassociated sensing measurement session, according to some embodiments. In an implementation, non-AP MLD 1806 may obtain a determination (e.g., from the application layer of non-AP MLD 1806 or from a different device / sensing initiator) to initiate an unassociated sensing measurement session with second AP device 1812 on a different wireless channel frequency that may require retuning the radio of the affiliated STA of non-AP MLD 1806 that is currently operating on one of the non-AP MLD’s data links with the first AP MLD. For example, non-AP MLD 1806 may obtain a determination (e.g., from the application layer of the non-AP MLD 1806 or a different device / sensing initiator) to initiate an unassociated sensing measurement session with second AP device 1812 using the affiliated STA or radio that is currently operating second data link 1810 on the wireless channel defined by frequency JB. This may require retuning the radio to the wireless channel defined by frequency fc, which may impact second data link 1810. In an embodiment, non-AP MLD 1806 may also obtain a determination to simultaneously maintain full data connectivity with the first AP MLD during the unassociated sensing measurement session. Exemplary sequence diagram 2000 depicts the interactions / messaging steps between non-AP MLD 1806 and second AP device 1812 to initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session.

[0295] Referring to FIG. 20 in detail, non-AP MLD 1806 may initiate an unassociated sensing measurement session with second AP device 1812, at step 2002. The unassociated sensing measurement session may be initiated by sending a sensing measurement query frame to second AP device 1812, at step 2004. At step 2006, second AP device 1812 may coordinate the unassociated sensing measurement session. Further, at step 2008, second AP device 1812 may respond by sending a sensing measurement request frame. At step 2010, non-AP MLD 1806 may accept the sensing measurement request frame. Furthermore, at step 2012, non-AP MLD 1806 may accept the sensing measurement request frame by responding with a sensing measurement response frame. In an embodiment, non-AP MLD 1806 (which has all of its data links associated with first AP MLD 1602) may initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session with second AP device 1812 on wireless channel frequency fawhile still maintaining full data connectivity with first AP MLD 1602, as discussed in FIG. 21 to FIG. 27.

[0296] FIG. 21 depicts exemplary pictorial depiction of wireless links established by non- AP MLD 2102 for performing data communication with first AP MLD 2104, according to some embodiments. In an embodiment, non-AP MLD 2102 and first AP MLD 2104 may have wireless data link connections as originally shown in FIG. 18.

[0297] Referring to FIG. 21 in detail, first data link 2106 may operate on a wireless channel frequency / A and may carry Traffic A between non-AP MLD 2102 and first AP MLD 2104. Similarly, second data link 2108 may operate on a wireless channel frequency fa and may carry Traffic B between non-AP MLD 2102 and first AP MLD 2104. As shown, AP 2104A of first AP MLD 2104 may be connected with STA 2102 A of non-AP MLD 2102 via first data link 2106. Further, AP 2104B of first AP MLD 2104 may be connected with STA 2102B of non- AP MLD 2102 via second data link 2108. Furthermore, second AP device 2110 with STA 2110A operating on wireless channel frequency fa for the OBSS scenario or operating on wireless channel frequency fa for the unassociated scenario is also shown in FIG. 21. In an embodiment, second AP device 2110 may be an AP MLD. In another embodiment, second AP device 2110 may not be an AP MLD. In FIG. 21, second AP device 2110 is shown as not being an AP MLD. Further, TABLE 2 (OBSS scenario) and TABLE 3 (unassociated scenario) show relevant exemplary configuration parameters.

[0298] Further, Traffic A may represent packets from one or more traffic categories and may be represented as MAC Service Data Units (MSDUs) with Traffic ID (TID), TIDA. In an embodiment, MSDUs may be a form of data container that provides a data transport service to higher layers between a transmitter MAC and a receiver MAC. For example, an Internet Protocol (IP) packet from a higher layer at a transmitting device may be presented in the form of an MSDU to the transmitter MAC, and the receiver MAC may then subsequently present that received IP packet in the form of an MSDU to a higher layer at a receiving device. In an embodiment, the MSDU provided to a MAC by a higher layer may have an associated Traffic Stream Identifier (TSID) or TID that indicates the traffic category and / or QoS level to which that MSDU belongs. This information (e.g., the TID) allows the MAC to appropriately prioritize MSDUs for transmission.

[0299] Further, an MLD may have multiple active links configured. Each TID may be mapped to one or more of these links. For example, an MSDU with a particular TID value may be sent over any link to which that TID value may have been mapped. A specific TID value may be mapped to one or multiple links. In the event of a TID value being mapped to multiple links, an MSDU with that same TID value may be sent over any of those mapped links. Different TID values may be mapped to the same or different links. For example, MSDUs with a first TID value may be sent over a first link, while MSDUs with a second different TID value may be sent over a second different link. In another example configuration, MSDUs with either the first TID value or the second different TID value may both be sent over the same link.Section 35.3.7.2 (TTLM) of IEEE P802.11be / D5.0 contains detailed specification information about TTLM functionality.

[0300] TID-to-Link mapping (TTLM) (transmit side) and Link Merging (receive side) for individual addressed Data frames are shown from a MAC data plane architecture (MLO) view in FIG. 5-2a in Section 5.1.5.1 of IEEE P802.11be / D5.0.

[0301] Further, TIDA may represent a single TID value or may represent a set of multiple different TID values. In turn, a TID may include one or more Traffic Stream Identifiers (TSIDs) and / or one or more User Priority values (UPs) (Section 11.4.3 of IEEE P802.1 lREVme / D5.0). In an embodiment, a STA that supports Quality of Service (QoS) may support multiple traffic categories. For example, traffic categories may include, but are not limited to, voice, video, best effort, background, and the like. Similarly, Traffic B may also represent packets from one or more traffic categories and may be exemplarily represented as MSDUs with Traffic ID, TIDB. TIDB may represent a single TID value or may represent a set of multiple different TID values. In an embodiment, TIDA and TIDB may comprise different TID values or there may be a partial or complete overlap between the TID values represented by TIDA and TIDB.

[0302] In an embodiment, MSDUs or packets from a particular traffic category may be included in Traffic A (if the corresponding TID is part of TIDA) and / or Traffic B (if the corresponding TID is part of TIDB). In an exemplary embodiment, TID values may range from 0 to 7 or from 0 to 15. Further, TABLE 4 shows various examples of the assignment or mapping of specific TID values to the exemplary TIDA and TIDB sets that represent Link A and Link B, respectively. In an embodiment, a specific MLO configuration may have more than two exemplary links (e.g., three links). In these examples, TID-to-link mappings (TTLMs) for both downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) directions are identical. In an embodiment, the DL TTLM and UL TTLM may be different from each other in other configurations.

[0303] As shown in TABLE 4, Example 1 shows an exemplary TID mapping where each TID value is mapped to both links. Any MSDU with any TID value may be sent over either Link A or Link B. This represents the default mapping mode where ‘all TIDs are mapped to all setup links for downlink (DL) and uplink (UL), and all setup links are enabled’ (Section 35.3.7.2.2 of IEEE P802.11be / D5.0). The default mapping mode applies if a TTLM may not be in place or if a TTLM negotiation may be unsuccessful. Further, Example 2 in TABLE 4 shows an exemplary TID mapping where each TID value is mapped to one specific link. Any MSDUs with TID values in the range from 0 to 3 may be sent over Link A, and any MSDUs with TID values in the range from 4 to 7 may be sent over Link B.

[0304] Further, Example 3 in TABLE 4 shows an exemplary TID mapping where there may be a partial overlap between the two TID sets. Any MSDUs with TID values in the range from 0 to 1 may be sent over Link A, and any MSDUs with TID values in the range from 4 to 7 may be sent over Link B. Any MSDUs with TID values in the range from 2 to 3 may be sent over either Link A or Link B. Furthermore, Example 4 in TABLE 4 shows an exemplary TID mapping where all TID values in the range from 0 to 7 may be mapped to Link A, and no TID values may be mapped to Link B. All MSDUs may be sent over Link A, while Link B may remain idle or disabled.

[0305] FIG. 22 depicts exemplary pictorial depiction 2200 of wireless links established by non-AP MLD 2202 during the OBSS sensing measurement session or unassociated sensing measurement session for performing data communication with first AP MLD 2204 and sensing measurements with a second AP device 2206, according to some embodiments.

[0306] Referring to FIG. 22 in detail, first AP MLD 2204 may include AP 2204 A and AP 2204B. Further, second AP device 2206 may include AP 2206A. As shown, AP 2206A of second AP device 2206 may be connected with STA 2202B of non-AP MLD 2202 via OBSS sensing link 2208A or unassociated sensing link 2208B. Further, AP 2204A of first AP MLD 2204 may be connected with STA 2202A of non-AP MLD 2202 via first data link 2210. In an embodiment, a wireless link reconfiguration for the duration of the OBSS or unassociated sensing measurement session initiated by non-AP MLD 2202 is shown. Non-AP MLD 2202 may have temporarily dropped or suspended a second data link (not shown), such that non-AP MLD 2202 may establish OBSS sensing link 2208A on the same wireless channel frequency / i>, (for the OBSS scenario) or unassociated sensing link 2208B on a different wireless channel frequency fc (for the unassociated scenario). Traffic A may normally be carried on first data link 2210, and Traffic B may normally be carried on the second data link (not shown). To avoid the suspension or blocking of packet transmission and reception related to the Traffic B group,the transmission, and reception of all packet traffic belonging to Traffic B may be temporarily shifted from the second data link (not shown) to first data link 2210. First data link 2210 may carry all packets in both Traffic A and Traffic B for the duration of the sensing measurement session with second AP device 2206.

[0307] FIG. 23 depicts exemplary pictorial depiction 2300 of wireless links established by non-AP MLD 2302 during the OBSS sensing measurement session or unassociated sensing measurement session for performing data communication with first AP MLD 2304 and sensing measurements with second AP device 2306, according to some other embodiments. FIG. 23 shows a different view of the same link configuration as shown in FIG. 22. As shown, first AP MLD 2304 may be located in first BSS 2308A. Further, second AP device 2306 may be located in second BSS 2308B. As shown, non-AP MLD 2302 has first data link 2310 with first AP MLD 2304 and sensing link 2312 with second AP device 2306.

[0308] Following the conclusion of the OBSS sensing measurement session or unassociated sensing measurement session, non-AP MLD 2302 may drop or tear down sensing link 2312 and may re-establish, reactivate, or begin reusing a second data link (not shown) with the second AP in first AP MLD 2304 on the wireless channel frequency fe, to revert to the original wireless link configuration shown in FIG. 18 and FIG. 21.

[0309] As shown exemplarily in FIG. 22, any data traffic or MSDUs in the Traffic B group that is normally carried on a data link may be suspended for sensing purposes (e.g., second data link) and the data traffic or MSDUs may be required to temporarily reroute onto a different data link (e.g., first data link 2310). One or more TID values that are in use for traffic classification purposes may fall into one of the categories shown in TABLE 5, which also provides a recommended course of action for each TID that falls into a particular category. Each category is subdivided into DL and UL subcategories. In an embodiment, the occurrence of TID category 1 is theoretically implausible in practical applications, as it is mandated that at any given moment, a TID must be associated with a minimum of one setup link in both the DL and UL configurations (Section 35.3.7.2.1 of IEEE P802.11be / D5.0). In TABLE 5, an ‘x’ indicates that a TTLM modification is not required and aindicates that a TTLM modification is required.

[0310] Further, if any TID falls into TID Categories 3-DL, 3-UL, or 4-DL in TABLE 5, then it may be necessary to modify the current TTLM(s) so that traffic corresponding to that TID may be sent over a non-affected data link. The alternative may result in any trafficcorresponding to that TID being stalled for the duration of the sensing measurement session, which may be undesirable. Conversely, if no TID falls into Categories 3-DL, 3-UL, or 4-DL in TABLE 5, then it may not be necessary to modify the current TTLM(s) and the other actions listed in TABLE 5 may be sufficient to facilitate any necessary data traffic rerouting. Section 35.3.7.2 (TID-To-Link Mapping (TTLM)) of IEEE P802.11be / D5.0 provides a detailed specification of TTLM functionality. In an embodiment, Section 35.3.7.2.3 (Negotiation of TTLM) specifies the process for modifying a TTLM.

[0311] FIG. 24 depicts an exemplary sequence diagram 2400 for performing data link management in multi-link WLAN sensing, according to some embodiments. In an embodiment, non-AP MLD 2402 may be connected to associated AP MLD 2404 and to second AP device 2406. For example, non-AP MLD 2402 may be multi-link client device 502 (i.e., networking device), associated AP MLD 2404 may be multi-link AP device 506-1, and second AP device 2406 may be one of multiple AP devices 506-(2-M), as shown in FIG. 5.

[0312] In an embodiment, non-AP MLD 2402 (i.e., the networking device operating as the STA) may be configured to operate a first data connection with associated AP MLD 2404 (i.e., AP device) with a first radio. Further, non-AP MLD 2402 may be configured to operate a second data connection with associated AP MLD 2404 with a second radio. In an embodiment, associated AP MLD 2404 may be the primary AP to which non-AP MLD 2402 is connected. Further, associated AP MLD 2404 may support multi-link communication and may be responsible for managing and coordinating the traffic sent to and received from non- AP MLD 2402 across multiple links. In an embodiment, second AP device 2406 may be an MLD. In another embodiment, second AP device 2406 may not be an MLD.

[0313] Further, non-AP MLD 2402 may be configured to obtain a determination to initiate an unassociated sensing measurement session with an unassociated AP (e.g., second AP device 2406). At block 2408, non-AP MLD 2402 determines that a TTLM modification is required. The TTLM modification process begins at step 2410 and concludes at step 2414. In an embodiment, at least one processor of non-AP MLD 2402 may be configured to generate the modified TTLM responsive to determining that the TTLM requires modification.

[0314] At step 2410, a new TTLM is created. If non-AP MLD 2402 (i.e., the networking device) determines that a current TTLM is required to be modified before the OBSS sensing measurement session or unassociated sensing measurement session can be initiated, non-AP MLD 2402 may create a new TTLM. The process of creating the new TTLM (at step 2410) ensures that data communication remains efficient and uninterrupted during the sensingmeasurement session. Non-AP MLD 2402 creates the new TTLM to ensure that no TID is mapped to the affected data link on DL and no TID is exclusively mapped to the affected data link on UL.

[0315] In an embodiment, non-AP MLD 2402 may obtain at least one TTLM providing a link configuration for at least one of uplink data traffic and downlink data traffic transmitted between the networking device and the associated access point. In an embodiment, the at least one initial TTLM includes a mapping between Traffic ID values and at least one of the first data connection and the second data connection. Further, non-AP MLD 2402 may determine that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification to accommodate the unassociated sensing measurement session and at least one of the uplink data traffic and the downlink data traffic. In determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification, non-AP MLD 2402 may determine that any portion of the downlink data traffic from associated AP MLD 2404 is mapped to the second data connection. Non-AP MLD 2402 may also determine that any portion of the uplink data traffic to associated AP MLD 2404 is mapped only to the second data connection.

[0316] In an embodiment, non-AP MLD 2402 may generate the modified TTLM by remapping the downlink data traffic that is mapped to only the second data connection to only the first data connection. Further, non-AP MLD 2402 may generate the modified TTLM by remapping the uplink data traffic that is mapped only to the second data connection to the first data connection. Furthermore, non-AP MLD 2402 may be configured to generate the modified TTLM by remapping the downlink data traffic that is mapped to both the first data connection and the second data connection to only the first data connection.

[0317] At step 2412, non-AP MLD 2402 may transmit a TTLM request frame to associated AP MLD 2404. In an embodiment, the TTLM request frame may include at least one modified TTLM responsive to determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification. In an embodiment, the new TTLM for both the DL and UL may be sent to associated AP MLD 2404 either separately or combined in a TTLM Request frame. The TTLM request frame format is described in more detail in Section 9.6.35.2 of IEEE P802.11be / D5.0. The TTLM request frame may include one or two TTLM elements, with this element being defined in Section 9.4.2.314 of IEEE P802.11be / D5.0. Further, one TTLM element is included if the same TTLM is requested for both the uplink and downlink, and two TTLM elements are included if different TTLMs are requested for each of the uplink and downlink.

[0318] At step 2414, associated AP MLD 2404 may transmit a TTLM response frame to non-AP MLD 2402. In an embodiment, non-AP MLD 2402 may receive the TTLM responseframe from associated AP MLD 2404. In an embodiment, associated AP MLD 2404 may accept the proposed TTLM(s) sent by non-AP MLD 2402, at step 2412. The acceptance allows the process to continue with the remaining actions outlined in FIG. 24. The agreed-upon TTLM modifications ensure that data traffic is properly managed and does not interfere with the upcoming sensing measurement session, enabling efficient communication between non-AP MLD 2402 and associated AP MLD 2404 throughout the process. The TTLM response frame format is described in more detail in Section 9.6.35.3 of IEEE P802.11be / D5.0. In an embodiment, the TTLM response frame may contain zero, one, or two TTLM elements.

[0319] In an embodiment, if associated AP MLD 2404 accepts the requested TTLM(s) in the received TTLM request frame, then associated AP MLD 2404 may send a TTLM response frame with a status code field set to “SUCCESS (0)”. The TTLM response frame may not include any TTLM elements in the TTLM response frame. Further, if associated AP MLD 2404 rejects proposed TTLM(s) in the received TTLM request frame, then associated AP MLD 2404 may send a TTLM response frame with the status code field set to “DENIED TID TO LINK MAPPING (133)”. The TTLM response frame may not include any TTLM elements in the TTLM response frame. Furthermore, if associated AP MLD 2404 rejects the proposed TTLM(s) in a received TTLM frame but has a counter suggestion for a TTLM(s), then associated AP MLD 2404 may send a TTLM response frame with the status code field set to “PREFERRED TID TO LINK MAPPING SUGGESTED (134)”. The TTLM response frame may include either one or two TTLM elements in the TTLM response frame. The TTLM response frame may include one TTLM element if the same TTLM is suggested for both the uplink and downlink. The TTLM response frame may include two TTLM elements if different TTLMs are suggested for each of the uplink and downlink. The functionality is described in more detail in Section 35.3.7.2.3 of IEEE P802.11be / D5.0.

[0320] At step 2416, an OBSS sensing measurement session or unassociated sensing measurement session is started. After the new TTLM(s) have been applied, the OBSS sensing measurement session or unassociated sensing measurement session may commence as described in FIG. 19 for the OBSS scenario and FIG. 20 for the unassociated scenario. In an embodiment, non-AP MLD 2402 may reconfigure according to the at least one modified TTLM before initiating the unassociated sensing measurement session while maintaining the first data connection. During the OBSS sensing measurement session or unassociated sensing measurement session, non-AP MLD 2402 may continue sending all data traffic to its associated AP MLD 2404, while also establishing a sensing link with second AP device 2406. In an embodiment, at least one of the uplink data traffic and the downlink data traffic is transmittedover at least the second data connection prior to the reconfiguring. In an embodiment, non-AP MLD 2402 may reroute the uplink data traffic that is mapped to both the first data connection and the second data connection to only the first data connection.

[0321] In an embodiment, non-AP MLD 2402 may be reconfigured by dropping the second data connection and initiating an unassociated sensing measurement session with the unassociated access point with the second radio on the same frequency as the second data connection. For example, non-AP MLD 2402 may drop the second connection with associated AP MLD 2404. Further, the non-AP MLD 2402 may initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session with second AP device 2406 with the second radio on the same frequency as the second data connection.

[0322] In another embodiment, non-AP MLD 2402 may be reconfigured by dropping the second data connection and retuning the second radio to initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session with the unassociated access point on a different frequency than the second data connection. For example, non-AP MLD 2402 may drop the second data connection with associated AP MLD 2404 and retune the second radio to initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session with second AP device 2406 on a different frequency as the second data connection.

[0323] Step 2418 includes facilitating the exchange of the data traffic between non-AP MLD 2402 and associated AP MLD 2404. For example, non-AP MLD 2402 may continue to transmit data traffic to its associated AP MLD 2404 ensuring that ongoing communications are maintained without interruption. Further, at step 2420, non-AP MLD 2402 may establish a sensing link with the second AP 2406. This dual operation allows non-AP MLD 2402 to effectively manage data traffic while conducting the necessary sensing measurements.

[0324] Furthermore, at step 2422, the OBSS sensing measurement session or unassociated sensing measurement session is concluded. In an embodiment, non-AP MLD 2402 may conclude the OBSS or unassociated sensing measurement session. For example, non-AP MLD 2402 may conclude the unassociated sensing measurement session and reestablish the second data connection.

[0325] After the OBSS or unassociated sensing measurement session concludes, non-AP MLD 2402 may retain the TTLM that was applied for the duration of the session or may revert to the previous TTLM (at step 2424). Reverting to the previous TTLM may be preferable in many situations but may not be mandatory. For example, there may be situations where it may be desirable to retain the TTLM that was used during the sensing measurement session. For example, if non-AP MLD 2402 may expect to conduct additional sensing measurementsessions with the second AP in the future, non-AP MLD 2402 may determine to keep the current TTLM to avoid further TTLM renegotiation. Conversely, non-AP MLD 2402 may renegotiate the TTLM with associated AP MLD 2404 every time that non-AP MLD 2402 obtains a determination to initiate a new OBSS or unassociated sensing measurement session. By implementing these instructions, the networking device may dynamically adapt to varying network conditions and user requirements, ensuring that data traffic is prioritized while still allowing for necessary sensing measurements. The current TTLM may be sufficiently flexible to allow dynamic reallocation of traffic away from an affected data link, at least in the uplink direction, in the event of an OBSS or unassociated sensing link being established again.

[0326] Further, at step 2426, non-AP MLD 2402 may transmit a TTLM request frame to AP MLD 2404. If non-AP MLD 2402 reverts to the previous TTLM at step 2424, then non- AP MLD 2402 may be configured to transmit the TTLM request frame to associated AP MLD 2404. For example, non-AP MLD 2402 may be configured to transmit one TTLM for each of the DL and UL to associated AP MLD 2404 in a TTLM request frame. In another example, non-AP MLD 2402 may be configured to transmit a single TTLM that applies to both the DL and UL to associated AP MLD 2404 in a TTLM request frame.

[0327] Furthermore, at step 2428, AP MLD 2404 transmits a TTLM response to non-AP MLD 2402. In an embodiment, associated AP MLD 2404 may be configured to transmit a TTLM response with a TTLM response frame. In an embodiment, associated AP MLD 2404 may accept the proposed TTLM(s). This acceptance allows for the continuation of the process without interruptions.

[0328] In another embodiment, non-AP MLD 2402 and associated AP MLD 2404 may engage in negotiations to establish a new TTLM that differs from both the previous and current TTLMs. This may be beneficial in situations where the existing mappings do not adequately support the current network conditions or traffic requirements. By negotiating a new TTLM, non-AP MLD 2402 and associated AP MLD 2404 may ensure that data traffic is optimally managed, enhancing the overall efficiency of the wireless communication.

[0329] In an embodiment, if non-AP MLD 2402 may anticipate the performance of multiple periodic, ongoing OBSS or unassociated sensing measurement session(s) with second AP device 2406 over a period of time, non-AP MLD 2402 and associated AP MLD 2404 may pre-negotiate two or more TTLMs to be used during this overall time period. A first TTLM may be used during time periods when an OBSS or unassociated sensing link between non-AP MLD 2402 and second AP device 2406 is established, and a second TTLM may be used during time periods when the sensing link is not in effect. Each of the first TTLM and second TTLMmay comprise two separate TTLMs for each of the downlink and uplink directions, or else may comprise one common TTLM for both the downlink and uplink directions. This may enable fast dynamic switching between the first TTLM and the second TTLM as required for OBSS or unassociated sensing purposes. The dynamic switching may include a frame exchange between non-AP MLD 2402 and associated AP MLD 2404. For example, a new pair of frames (TTLM switch request and TTLM switch response, or TTLM select request and TTLM select response) may be defined to either explicitly or implicitly indicate and acknowledge, respectively, a fast dynamic switch within a set of two or more TTLMs that may be prenegotiated and mutually agreed to in advance. In another embodiment, non-AP MLD 2402 and associated AP MLD 2404 may negotiate and agree on, in advance, a time schedule according to which switches within a set of two or more pre-negotiated TTLMs may be made. Further, implementing a TTLM switch using the aforementioned approach may result in reduced elapsed time in practical applications compared to the traditional TTLM request and TTLM response frame exchange sequence. The latter method often necessitates additional processing time at the MAC layers of both non-AP MLD 2402 and associated AP MLD 2404. By streamlining the switching process, the proposed method enhances efficiency and minimizes latency, thereby improving overall networking device performance during dynamic network conditions. This optimization is particularly beneficial in environments where rapid adjustments to traffic mapping are essential for maintaining Quality of Service (QoS) and ensuring uninterrupted data communication.

[0330] FIG. 25 depicts exemplary flowchart 2500 for obtaining and applying TTLM modifications, according to some embodiments. Exemplary flowchart 2500 may be used by the non-AP MLD to adjust or modify its current TTLM(s) before the OBSS sensing management session or unassociated sensing management session. In an implementation, exemplary flowchart 2500 may be carried out by the networking device (for example, multi-link client device 502 and non-AP MLD 2402)) operating as the station and participating in the sensing measurement session. In an embodiment, multi-link AP device 506-1 and associated AP MLD 2404 are examples of the associated AP device. In an embodiment, second AP device 2406 and one of access point devices 506-(2-M) are examples of the unassociated AP device.

[0331] In a brief overview of an implementation of flowchart 2500, at step 2502, the non- AP MLD may determine if a change in an existing TTLM is required. At step 2504, the non- AP MLD may generate new TTLM(s). At step 2506, the non-AP MLD may send a TTLM request frame to the associated AP MLD. At step 2508, the non-AP MLD may receive a TTLM response frame from the associated AP MLD. At step 2510, the non-AP MLD may determinethe status code value in the received TTLM response frame. At step 2512, based on the status code value, the non-AP MLD may apply the suggested TTLM(s). At step 2514, based on the status code value, the non-AP MLD may abort the remaining sensing measurement procedure. At step 2516, based on the status code value, the non-AP MLD may apply the new TTLM(s). At step 2518, the non-AP MLD may execute the remaining sensing measurement procedure.

[0332] Step 2502 includes assessing if a TTLM change is required. If the non-AP MLD determines that a TTLM change is not required set at step 2502, then control shifts to step 2518. Step 2518 includes executing the remaining sensing measurement procedure.

[0333] If the non-AP MLD determines that a TTLM change is required at step 2502, step 2504 is performed. Step 2504 includes generating or determining new TTLM(s). For example, when the non-AP MLD generates new TTLM(s), the generated new TTLM(s) may be sent to the associated AP MLD in a TTLM request frame.

[0334] Step 2506 includes sending a TTLM request frame to the associated AP MLD (e.g., associated AP MLD 2404). For example, non-AP MLD 2402 may be configured to send the TTLM(s) to associated AP MLD 2404 in a TTLM request frame.

[0335] Step 2508 includes receiving a TTLM response frame from the associated AP MLD. For example, non-AP MLD 2402 may be configured to receive a TTLM response frame from associated AP MLD 2404.

[0336] Step 2510 includes assessing the status code value from the received response frame. In an embodiment, the non-AP MLD may be configured to determine the status code value from the received TTLM response frame. The status code value may correspond to “SUGGESTED”, “DENIED”, or “SUCCESS”.

[0337] If the non-AP MLD determines that the status code value is set to “SUGGESTED” at step 2510, then step 2512 is executed. Step 2512 includes applying suggested TTLM(s). In an embodiment, if the status code is set to “PREFERRED TID TO LINK MAPPING SUGGESTED (134)” (depicted as “SUGGESTED” in FIG. 25), the suggested TTLM(s) provided by associated AP MLD 2404 may be applied by non-AP MLD 2402. The process may then shift to step 2502 to confirm that the new TTLM(s) are acceptable and do not necessitate any further modifications before initiating the OBSS or unassociated sensing measurement session.

[0338] If the non-AP MLD determines that the status code value is set to “DENIED” at step 2510, then step 2514 is executed. Step 2514 includes aborting the remaining sensing measurement procedure. In an embodiment, if the status code value is set to “DENIED TID TO LINK MAPPING (133)” (depicted as “DENIED” in FIG. 25), the OBSSor unassociated sensing measurement session may be aborted. In another embodiment, non-AP MLD 2402 may consider suspending any data traffic that is exclusively assigned to the affected link and then proceeding with the sensing measurement session. This allows the OBSS or unassociated sensing measurement session to continue while minimizing the impact on data transmission.

[0339] If the network device determines that the status code value is set to “SUCCESS” at step 2510, then step 2516 is executed. Step 2516 includes applying the new TTLM(s). If the status code is set to “SUCCESS (0)” (depicted as “SUCCESS” in FIG. 25), then the new TTLM(s) that the non-AP MLD 2402 generated may be applied and the OBSS or unassociated sensing measurement session may be initiated. This successful acknowledgment indicates that the proposed mappings have been accepted by the associated AP MLD 2404, allowing non-AP MLD 2402 to proceed with the updated configurations. Applying the new TTLM(s) ensures that data traffic is efficiently managed according to the latest requirements, optimizing network performance.

[0340] Step 2518 includes executing the remaining sensing measurement procedure. In an embodiment, the OBSS sensing measurement session or unassociated sensing measurement session may be initiated. For instance, with the necessary TTLM modifications in place and the sensing link established, non-AP MLD 2402 may now commence the sensing measurement process.

[0341] In an exemplary embodiment, non-AP MLD 2402 may require an appropriate sensing agent / software (e.g., sensing agent 520) to initiate the OBSS sensing measurement session or unassociated sensing measurement session by sending the initial sensing measurement query frame as shown earlier in FIG. 19 (OBSS scenario) or FIG. 20 (unassociated scenario). The present disclosure may be easily implemented in EasyMesh networks, where backhaul connections are formed between gateway / extenders i.e., one side acts as an AP and the other side acts as a client device. However, the sensing agent may be running on both sides of the EasyMesh connection. In an embodiment, Wi-Fi EasyMesh is based on the Wi-Fi Alliance’s Multi-Access Point specification for creating Wi-Fi mesh networks from products originating from different vendors. It addresses the problem of Wi-Fi systems that cover large areas where several routers serve as multiple access points, working together to form a larger unified network.

[0342] While the above steps shown in FIG. 25 are described in a particular sequence, the steps may occur in variations to the sequence in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. Further, details related to various steps of FIG. 25 which are already coveredin the description related to FIG. 1 to FIG. 24 are not discussed again in detail here for the sake of brevity.

[0343] In operation, the system ensures that no data traffic is stalled while a sensing link is configured during an OBSS sensing measurement session or unassociated sensing measurement session. To ensure that no data traffic is stalled, all data traffic (i.e., DL and UL) to and from the non-AP MLD with the first AP MLD is routed over one of the non-affected data link(s). The affected data link is the data link that normally operates on the same wireless channel frequency as the OBSS sensing link with a different second AP device or the data link that is normally operated by the radio that was retuned for the unassociated sensing link. The non-affected data link is any established data link that is not the affected data link (e.g., which operates on a different wireless channel frequency as the OBSS sensing link). In an example, there is at least one non-affected data link since there must be at least two established data links for MLO.

[0344] Further, the TTLM may provide a link configuration that indicates over which link(s) data traffic with a particular TID may be sent for an MLD. Each valid TID value may be mapped to one or more data links. The TTLM may be customized for a particular MLD. Furthermore, there may be one common TTLM for both the DL and UL directions, or there may be a different TTLM for each of the DL and UL directions. The non-AP MLD may determine if the current TTLM(s) need to be modified. TTLM modification may be required if either of the following two conditions is satisfied, i.e., if any TID is mapped to the affected data link on the DL and if any TID is mapped only to the affected data link on the UL. In an embodiment, the system may ensure that the first AP MLD may not send any DL traffic to the non-AP MLD on the affected data link. The system may also ensure that all UL traffic is allowed to be sent over at least one non-affected data link.

[0345] Furthermore, if the current TTLM requires modification, then the non-AP MLD may negotiate a new TTLM with the first AP MLD. This new TTLM may be derived to ensure that neither of the above two listed conditions may be satisfied. Further, a new TTLM may be negotiated by the non-AP MLD sending a TTLM request frame to the first AP MLD and then receiving a satisfactory TTLM response frame back from the first AP MLD. The non-AP MLD may then initiate an OBSS or unassociated sensing measurement session with the second AP device. During the duration of the sensing measurement session, there may be no DL traffic from the first AP MLD on the affected data link and the non-AP MLD may route any UL traffic to a non-affected data link with the first AP MLD. After the OBSS or unassociated sensing measurement session has concluded, the non-AP MLD may revert to the original TTLM (thismay require another TTLM negotiation and exchange of TTLM request and TTLM response frames with the first AP MLD), maintain the current TTLM, or negotiate or apply a new TTLM.

[0346] FIG. 26A and FIG. 26B depict an exemplary flowchart / method carried out by a networking device to perform data link management in multi-link WLAN sensing, according to some embodiments. In an implementation, flowchart 2600 may be carried out by the networking device (for example, multi-link client device 502 and non-AP MLD 2402)) operating as the station and participating in the sensing measurement session. In an embodiment, the multi-link access point device 506-1 and associated AP MLD 2404 are examples of the associated access point. In an embodiment, second AP device 2406 and one of access point devices 506-(2-M) are examples of the unassociated AP device.

[0347] In a brief overview of an implementation of flowchart 2600, at step 2602, the networking device operates a first data connection with the associated access point with a first radio. At step 2604, the networking device operates a second data connection with the associated access point with a second radio. At step 2606, the networking device obtains a determination to initiate an unassociated sensing measurement session with the unassociated AP device. At 2608, the networking device obtains at least one TTLM providing a link configuration for uplink data traffic and / or downlink data traffic transmitted between the networking device and associated access point. At step 2610, the networking device determines that at least one initial TTLM requires modification to accommodate an unassociated sensing measurement session and at least one of uplink data traffic and downlink data traffic. At step 2612, the networking device transmits a TTLM request frame containing at least one modified TTLM responsive to determining that at least one initial TTLM requires modification. At step 2614, the networking device receives a TTLM response frame from the associated access point. At 2616, the networking device reconfigures according to at least one modified TTLM to initiate an unassociated sensing measurement session and maintain the first data connection.

[0348] Step 2602 includes operating the first data connection with the associated access point with the first radio. According to some embodiments, the station may operate the first data connection with an associated access point with the first radio.

[0349] Step 2604 includes operating the second data connection with the associated access point with the second radio. According to some embodiments, the station may operate the second data connection with the associated access point with the second radio.

[0350] Step 2606 includes obtaining the determination to initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session with the unassociated AP device. According to some embodiments, thestation may obtain the determination to initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session with the unassociated AP device.

[0351] Step 2608 includes obtaining the at least one initial TTLM providing a link configuration for uplink data traffic and / or downlink data traffic transmitted between the networking device and the associated access point. According to some embodiments, the station may obtain at least one initial TTLM providing a link configuration for uplink data traffic and / or downlink data traffic transmitted between the networking device and the associated access point. In an embodiment, the at least one initial TTLM includes a mapping between Traffic ID values and at least one of the first data connection and the second data connection. For example, the mapping is essential for efficiently managing data traffic within the network, as it determines how different types of traffic are allocated across the available connections.

[0352] Step 2610 includes determining that at least one initial TTLM requires modification to accommodate the unassociated sensing measurement session and at least one of the uplink data traffic and the downlink data traffic. According to some embodiments, the station may determine that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification to accommodate the unassociated sensing measurement session and at least one of the uplink data traffic and the downlink data traffic. In an embodiment, based on the determination that the TTLM modification is required, the station may generate the modified TTLM.

[0353] For determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification, the networking device determines that any portion of the downlink data traffic from the associated access point is mapped to the second data connection. The networking device may also determine that any portion of the uplink data traffic to the associated access point is mapped only to the second data connection.

[0354] Step 2612 includes transmitting the TTLM request frame containing at least one modified TTLM responsive to determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification. According to some embodiments, the station may transmit the TTLM request frame containing at least one modified TTLM responsive to determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification.

[0355] In an embodiment, the method includes generating the modified TTLM responsive to determining that the TTLM requires modification. For generating the modified TTLM, the method includes remapping the downlink data traffic that is mapped to only the second data connection to only the first data connection. The adjustment ensures that all relevant data traffic is efficiently managed through the first data connection. In another embodiment, for generatingthe modified TTLM, the method includes remapping the uplink data traffic that is mapped only to the second data connection to the first data connection. In yet another embodiment, generating the modified TTLM includes remapping the downlink data traffic that is mapped to both the first data connection and the second data connection to only the first data connection.

[0356] Step 2614 includes receiving the TTLM response frame from the associated access point. According to some embodiments, the station may receive the TTLM response frame from the associated access point.

[0357] Step 2616 includes reconfiguring the networking device according to the at least one modified TTLM to initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session and maintain the first data connection. According to some embodiments, the station may reconfigure the networking device according to the at least one modified TTLM to initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session and maintain the first data connection.

[0358] In an embodiment, at least one of the uplink data traffic and the downlink data traffic is transmitted over at least the second data connection prior to the reconfiguring.

[0359] In an embodiment, the station may be further configured to reroute the uplink data traffic that is mapped to both the first data connection and the second data connection to only the first data connection.

[0360] In an embodiment, the station may be configured to end the unassociated sensing measurement session and reestablish the second data connection. Once the sensing objectives are achieved, the station may proceed to end the unassociated sensing measurement session. Following this, the station may reestablish the second data connection with its original associated access point on the previously used frequency.

[0361] While the above steps shown in FIG. 26 are described in a particular sequence, the steps may occur in variations to the sequence in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. Further, details related to various steps of FIG. 26 which are already covered in the description related to FIG. 1 to FIG. 25 are not discussed again in detail here for the sake of brevity.

[0362] FIG. 27 depicts an exemplary flowchart 2700 for reconfiguring the networking device, according to some embodiments. In an implementation, flowchart 2700 may be carried out by the networking device (for example, multi-link client device 502 and non-AP MLD 2402) operating as the station and participating in the sensing measurement session. In an embodiment, multi -link access point device 506-1 and associated AP MLD 2404 are examples of the associated access point. In an embodiment, second AP device 2406, and one of access point devices 506-(2-M) are examples of the unassociated AP device.

[0363] In a brief overview of an implementation of flowchart 2700, at step 2702, the networking device drops a second data connection. In an embodiment, at step 2704, the networking device initiates an unassociated sensing measurement session with an unassociated AP device with a second radio on the same frequency as the second data connection. In another embodiment, at step 2706, the networking device retunes the second radio to initiate an unassociated sensing measurement session with the unassociated AP device on a different frequency than the second data connection.

[0364] Step 2702 includes dropping the second data connection. In an embodiment, dropping the second data connection is essential for reallocating resources and optimizing the device's performance, particularly when initiating an unassociated sensing measurement session. By dropping the second connection, the network device can effectively manage data traffic and ensure that the remaining connections are utilized efficiently,

[0365] In an embodiment, step 2704 includes initiating an unassociated (or OBSS) sensing measurement session with the unassociated AP device with the second radio on the same frequency as the second data connection. In an embodiment, the station may be configured to initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session with the unassociated AP device with the second radio on the same frequency as the second data connection. For example, if the station may have an active second data connection operating on channel frequency with the associated AP device, and that connection needs to be dropped to accommodate the unassociated sensing measurement session, the station may initiate the sensing session with the unassociated AP device using the second radio on the same frequency.

[0366] In another embodiment, step 2706 includes retuning the second radio to initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session with the unassociated AP device on a different frequency than the second data connection. In an embodiment, the station may be configured to retune the second radio to initiate an unassociated sensing measurement session with the unassociated AP device on a different frequency than the second data connection. For example, the station may have an active second data connection operating on frequencywith the associated access point. If the station determines that there is a need to perform the unassociated sensing measurement session, the station may retune the second radio to a different frequency, such as fc, to connect with the unassociated AP device.

[0367] The present disclosure has multiple advantages. In an embodiment, the non-AP MLD that has multiple (at least two) data links established with the first AP MLD may obtain a determination (e.g., from the application layer of the non-AP MLD or a different device / sensing initiator) to initiate the OBSS sensing measurement session with the second APdevice while simultaneously maintaining the other established data links with the first AP MLD. In an embodiment, the second AP may or may not be an AP MLD. The second AP device operates on the same wireless channel frequency as one of the data links, In a similar scenario, the non-AP MLD that has multiple (at least two) data links established with the first AP MLD may obtain a determination to temporarily repurpose the radio that operates one of the data links to initiate an unassociated sensing measurement session with the second AP device, while simultaneously maintaining the other established data links with the first AP MLD. The second AP device operates on a different wireless channel frequency as compared to the data links. This has the undesirable effect of blocking any data transfer between the non- AP MLD and the first AP MLD over the affected data link for the duration of the OBS S sensing measurement session or unassociated sensing measurement session.

[0368] Further, the TTLM provides a link configuration that indicates over which link(s) data traffic with a particular TID may be sent for an MLD. The current TTLM for the non-AP MLD may be such that no changes need to be made to ensure that no data is stalled during the OBSS sensing measurement session or unassociated sensing measurement session. For example, the current TTLM may already be configured such that no downlink traffic may be allowed on the affected data link and any uplink traffic from the non-AP MLD may be allowed to be transmitted on another non-affected link. As a result, all data transfer across all valid TID values may continue while the non-AP MLD establishes a sensing link with the second AP device. In most cases, the non-AP MLD may be required to determine appropriate modifications to the current TTLM and negotiate an appropriate new TTLM with the first AP MLD, so that all data transfer may continue while the non-AP MLD simultaneously establishes a sensing link with the second AP device.

[0369] Embodiment 1 is a method for Wi-Fi sensing carried out by a networking device including a transmitting antenna, a receiving antenna, a first radio, a second radio, and at least one processor configured to execute instructions, the networking device operating as a station and the method comprising: operating a first data connection with an associated access point with the first radio; operating a second data connection with the associated access point with the second radio; obtaining a determination to initiate an unassociated sensing measurement session with an unassociated access point; obtaining at least one initial Traffic ID to Link Mapping (TTLM) providing a link configuration for uplink data traffic and downlink data traffic transmitted between the networking device and the associated access point; determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification to accommodate the unassociated sensing measurement session and at least one of the uplink data traffic and the downlink datatraffic; transmitting a TTLM request frame containing at least one modified TTLM responsive to determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification; receiving a TTLM response frame from the associated access point; and reconfiguring the networking device according to the at least one modified TTLM to initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session and maintain the first data connection.

[0370] Embodiment 2 is the method of embodiment 1, wherein at least one of the uplink data traffic and the downlink data traffic is transmitted over at least the second data connection prior to the reconfiguring.

[0371] Embodiment 3 is the method of embodiment 1 or embodiment 2, wherein the at least one initial TTLM includes a mapping between Traffic ID values and at least one of the first data connection and the second data connection.

[0372] Embodiment 4 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-3, wherein determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification includes one or more of: determining that any portion of the downlink data traffic from the associated access point is mapped to the second data connection, and determining that any portion of the uplink data traffic to the associated access point is mapped only to the second data connection.

[0373] Embodiment 5 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-4, further comprising generating the modified TTLM responsive to determining that the TTLM requires modification.

[0374] Embodiment 6 is the method of embodiment 5, wherein generating the modified TTLM includes: remapping the downlink data traffic that is mapped to only the second data connection to only the first data connection.

[0375] Embodiment 7 is the method of embodiment 5 or embodiment 6, wherein generating the modified TTLM includes: remapping the uplink data traffic that is mapped only to the second data connection to the first data connection.

[0376] Embodiment 8 is the method of embodiment 5, wherein generating the modified TTLM includes: remapping the downlink data traffic that is mapped to both the first data connection and the second data connection to only the first data connection.

[0377] Embodiment 9 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-8, further comprising rerouting the uplink data traffic that is mapped to both the first data connection and the second data connection to only the first data connection.

[0378] Embodiment 10 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-9, wherein reconfiguring the networking device includes: dropping the second data connection; andinitiating the unassociated sensing measurement session with the unassociated access point with the second radio on a same frequency as the second data connection.

[0379] Embodiment 11 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-10, wherein reconfiguring the networking device includes: dropping the second data connection; and retuning the second radio to initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session with the unassociated access point on a different frequency as the second data connection.

[0380] Embodiment 12 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-11, further comprising: ending the unassociated sensing measurement session, and reestablishing the second data connection.

[0381] Embodiment 13 is a system for Wi-Fi sensing carried out by a networking device including a transmitting antenna, a receiving antenna, a first radio, a second radio and at least one processor configured to execute instructions for: operating a first data connection with an associated access point with the first radio; operating a second data connection with the associated access point with the second radio; obtaining a determination to initiate an unassociated sensing measurement session with an unassociated access point; obtaining at least one initial Traffic ID to Link Mapping (TTLM) providing a link configuration for uplink data traffic and downlink data traffic transmitted between the networking device and the associated access point; determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification to accommodate the unassociated sensing measurement session and at least one of the uplink data traffic and the downlink data traffic; transmitting a TTLM request frame containing at least one modified TTLM responsive to determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification; receiving a TTLM response frame from the associated access point; and reconfiguring the networking device according to the at least one modified TTLM to initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session and maintain the first data connection.

[0382] Embodiment 14 is the system of embodiment 13, wherein at least one of the uplink data traffic and the downlink data traffic is transmitted over at least the second data connection prior to the reconfiguring.

[0383] Embodiment 15 is the system of embodiment 13 or embodiment 14, wherein the at least one initial TTLM includes a mapping between Traffic ID values and at least one of the first data connection and the second data connection.

[0384] Embodiment 16 is the system of any one of embodiments 13-15, wherein determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification is performed by one or more of: determining that any portion of the downlink data traffic from the associated accesspoint is mapped to the second data connection, and determining that any portion of the uplink data traffic to the associated access point is mapped only to the second data connection.

[0385] Embodiment 17 is the system of any one of embodiments 13-16, wherein the at least one processor further includes instructions for generating the modified TTLM responsive to determining that the TTLM requires modification.

[0386] Embodiment 18 is the system of embodiment 17, wherein generating the modified TTLM is performed by: remapping the downlink data traffic that is mapped to only the second data connection to only the first data connection.

[0387] Embodiment 19 is the system of embodiment 17 or embodiment 18, wherein generating the modified TTLM is performed by: remapping the uplink data traffic that is mapped only to the second data connection to the first data connection.

[0388] Embodiment 20 is the system of embodiment 17, wherein generating the modified TTLM is performed by: remapping the downlink data traffic that is mapped to both the first data connection and the second data connection to only the first data connection.

[0389] Embodiment 21 is the system of any one of embodiments 13-20, wherein the at least one processor further includes instructions for rerouting the uplink data traffic that is mapped to both the first data connection and the second data connection to only the first data connection.

[0390] Embodiment 22 is the system of any one of embodiments 13-21, wherein reconfiguring the networking device is performed by: dropping the second data connection; and initiating the unassociated sensing measurement session with the unassociated access point with the second radio on a same frequency as the second data connection.

[0391] Embodiment 23 is the system of any one of embodiments 13-24, wherein reconfiguring the networking device is performed by: dropping the second data connection; and retuning the second radio to initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session with the unassociated access point on a different frequency as the second data connection.

[0392] Embodiment 24 is the system of any one of embodiments 13-23, wherein the at least one processor further includes instructions for: ending the unassociated sensing measurement session, and reestablishing the second data connection.

[0393] While various embodiments of the methods and systems have been described, these embodiments are illustrative and in no way limit the scope of the described methods or systems. Those having skill in the relevant art can effect changes to the form and details of the described methods and systems without departing from the broadest scope of the described methods and systems. Thus, the scope of the methods and systems described herein should not be limited byany of the illustrative embodiments and should be defined in accordance with the accompanying claims and their equivalents.

Claims

ClaimsWe claim:

1. A method for Wi-Fi sensing carried out by a networking device including a transmitting antenna, a receiving antenna, a first radio, a second radio, and at least one processor configured to execute instructions, the networking device operating as a station and the method comprising: operating a first data connection with an associated access point with the first radio; operating a second data connection with the associated access point with the second radio; obtaining a determination to initiate an unassociated sensing measurement session with an unassociated access point; obtaining at least one initial Traffic ID to Link Mapping (TTLM) providing a link configuration for uplink data traffic and downlink data traffic transmitted between the networking device and the associated access point; determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification to accommodate the unassociated sensing measurement session and at least one of the uplink data traffic and the downlink data traffic; transmitting a TTLM request frame containing at least one modified TTLM responsive to determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification; receiving a TTLM response frame from the associated access point; and reconfiguring the networking device according to the at least one modified TTLM to initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session and maintain the first data connection.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the uplink data traffic and the downlink data traffic is transmitted over at least the second data connection prior to the reconfiguring.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one initial TTLM includes a mapping between Traffic ID values and at least one of the first data connection and the second data connection.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification includes one or more of: determining that any portion of the downlink data traffic from the associated access point is mapped to the second data connection, anddetermining that any portion of the uplink data traffic to the associated access point is mapped only to the second data connection.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating the modified TTLM responsive to determining that the TTLM requires modification.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein generating the modified TTLM includes: remapping the downlink data traffic that is mapped to only the second data connection to only the first data connection.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein generating the modified TTLM includes: remapping the uplink data traffic that is mapped only to the second data connection to the first data connection.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein generating the modified TTLM includes: remapping the downlink data traffic that is mapped to both the first data connection and the second data connection to only the first data connection.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising rerouting the uplink data traffic that is mapped to both the first data connection and the second data connection to only the first data connection.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein reconfiguring the networking device includes: dropping the second data connection; and initiating the unassociated sensing measurement session with the unassociated access point with the second radio on a same frequency as the second data connection.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein reconfiguring the networking device includes: dropping the second data connection; and retuning the second radio to initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session with the unassociated access point on a different frequency as the second data connection.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: ending the unassociated sensing measurement session, andreestablishing the second data connection.

13. A system for Wi-Fi sensing carried out by a networking device including a transmitting antenna, a receiving antenna, a first radio, a second radio and at least one processor configured to execute instructions for: operating a first data connection with an associated access point with the first radio; operating a second data connection with the associated access point with the second radio; obtaining a determination to initiate an unassociated sensing measurement session with an unassociated access point; obtaining at least one initial Traffic ID to Link Mapping (TTLM) providing a link configuration for uplink data traffic and downlink data traffic transmitted between the networking device and the associated access point; determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification to accommodate the unassociated sensing measurement session and at least one of the uplink data traffic and the downlink data traffic; transmitting a TTLM request frame containing at least one modified TTLM responsive to determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification; receiving a TTLM response frame from the associated access point; and reconfiguring the networking device according to the at least one modified TTLM to initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session and maintain the first data connection.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein at least one of the uplink data traffic and the downlink data traffic is transmitted over at least the second data connection prior to the reconfiguring.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one initial TTLM includes a mapping between Traffic ID values and at least one of the first data connection and the second data connection.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein determining that the at least one initial TTLM requires modification is performed by one or more of: determining that any portion of the downlink data traffic from the associated access point is mapped to the second data connection, anddetermining that any portion of the uplink data traffic to the associated access point is mapped only to the second data connection.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor further includes instructions for generating the modified TTLM responsive to determining that the TTLM requires modification.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein generating the modified TTLM is performed by: remapping the downlink data traffic that is mapped to only the second data connection to only the first data connection.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein generating the modified TTLM is performed by: remapping the uplink data traffic that is mapped only to the second data connection to the first data connection.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein generating the modified TTLM is performed by: remapping the downlink data traffic that is mapped to both the first data connection and the second data connection to only the first data connection.

21. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor further includes instructions for rerouting the uplink data traffic that is mapped to both the first data connection and the second data connection to only the first data connection.

22. The system of claim 13, wherein reconfiguring the networking device is performed by: dropping the second data connection; and initiating the unassociated sensing measurement session with the unassociated access point with the second radio on a same frequency as the second data connection.

23. The system of claim 13, wherein reconfiguring the networking device is performed by: dropping the second data connection; and retuning the second radio to initiate the unassociated sensing measurement session with the unassociated access point on a different frequency as the second data connection.

24. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor further includes instructions for: ending the unassociated sensing measurement session, and reestablishing the second data connection.

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