Roaming techniques for unestablished access points within a common mobility domain

Abstract

This disclosure provides methods, components, devices and systems for roaming techniques for unestablished access points (APs) within a common mobility domain. Some aspects more specifically relate to a wireless device roaming from a serving AP to a target AP that are both associated with the common mobility domain. In some examples, the wireless device may transmit a request message to the target AP triggering the target AP to confirm association of the wireless device with a serving AP and to request information associated with the wireless device. The target AP may further transmit a confirmation request message to the serving AP and receive a confirmation response message indicating whether the wireless device is associated with the serving AP, the information associated with the wireless device, or both. Following, the target AP may transmit a response message for the wireless device to transmit a roaming request message to the target AP.

Description

Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO1ROAMING TECHNIQUES FOR UNESTABLISHED ACCESS POINTS WITHIN A COMMON MOBILITY DOMAINCROSS REFERENCE

[0001] The present Application for Patent claims priority to Indian Patent Application No. 202441067745 by CHISCI et al., entitled “ROAMING TECHNIQUES FOR UNESTABLISHED ACCESS POINTS WITHIN A COMMON MOBILITY DOMAIN,” filed September 7, 2024, assigned to the assignee hereof, and expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] This disclosure relates generally to wireless communication and, more specifically, to roaming techniques for unestablished access points (APs) within a common mobility domain to enable wireless devices to relatively seamlessly roam between APs within the common mobility domain.DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED TECHNOLOGY

[0003] Wireless communication networks may include various types of wireless communication devices including network entities (such as wireless access points (AP) or base stations (BS)), client devices (such as wireless stations (STAs) or user equipment (UEs)), and other wireless nodes. These wireless communication devices may communicate with one another via a variety of technologies and wireless communication protocols, including wireless local area network (WLAN) or Wi-Fibased protocols or cellular (such as 4G, 5G, or 6G)-based protocols. The wireless communication networks may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (such as time, frequency, and spatial resources). To enable features or provide improved performance, the wireless communication devices may employ technologies such as orthogonal frequency divisional multiple access (OFDMA), multi-user Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MU- MIMO), spatial multiplexing, and beamforming. For greater inter-operability, the wireless communication networks may support backwards compatibility (such as supporting legacy wireless communication devices) as well as forward compatibilityAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO2(such as supporting communication with wireless communication devices compatible with next-generation wireless communication standards).SUMMARY

[0004] The systems, methods, and devices of this disclosure each have several innovative aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for the desirable attributes disclosed herein.

[0005] One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communications by a first wireless device. The method may include transmitting, to a target access point (AP), a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, the trigger request message being transmitted to the target AP based on the serving AP and the target AP being associated with a same mobility domain and receiving, from the target AP, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

[0006] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a first wireless device for wireless communications. The first wireless device may include a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code. The processing system may be configured to cause the first wireless device to transmit, to a target AP, a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, the trigger request message being transmitted to the target AP based on the serving AP and the target AP being associated with a same mobility domain and receive, from the target AP, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO3

[0007] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in another first wireless device for wireless communications. The first wireless device may include means for transmitting, to a target AP, a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, the trigger request message being transmitted to the target AP based on the serving AP and the target AP being associated with a same mobility domain and means for receiving, from the target AP, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

[0008] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications. The code may include instructions executable by one or more processors to transmit, to a target AP, a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, the trigger request message being transmitted to the target AP based on the serving AP and the target AP being associated with a same mobility domain and receive, from the target AP, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

[0009] Some examples of the method, first wireless devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, via a field of the trigger request message, an indication to trigger the target AP to confirm the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to request the data communication context information.

[0010] In some examples of the method, first wireless devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, transmitting the trigger request message may include operations, features, means, or instructions for triggering the target AP toAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO4 obtain one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device via the data communication context information.

[0011] In some examples of the method, first wireless devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, transmitting the trigger request message may include operations, features, means, or instructions for triggering the target AP to initiate a security key generation procedure in response to reception of the data communication context information to generate one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device, receiving, from the target AP prior to the trigger response message, a key generation request message, and transmitting, to the target AP, a key generation response message based on the key generation request message.

[0012] Some examples of the method, first wireless devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, via the trigger request message, a dialog token to associate the trigger request message with the first wireless device, where the trigger response message may be based on the dialog token.

[0013] In some examples of the method, first wireless devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the trigger request message may be a multi-link probe request message, and the trigger response message may be a multi-link probe response message.

[0014] Some examples of the method, first wireless devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for computing a message integrity code, where the trigger response message includes the message integrity code.

[0015] In some examples of the method, first wireless devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, transmitting the trigger request message may include operations, features, means, or instructions for triggering the target AP to initiate a reassociation procedure between the serving AP and the first wireless device based on a disconnection between the first wireless device and the serving AP.

[0016] One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communications by a target AP. The methodAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO5 may include receiving, from a first wireless device, a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP that is associated with a same mobility domain as the target AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, transmitting, to the serving AP, a confirmation request message to request confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to request the data communication context information based on the trigger request message, receiving, from the serving AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message indicating whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both, and transmitting, to the first wireless device, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

[0017] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a target AP for wireless communications. The target AP may include a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code. The processing system may be configured to cause the target AP to receive, from a first wireless device, a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP that is associated with a same mobility domain as the target AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, transmit, to the serving AP, a confirmation request message to request confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to request the data communication context information based on the trigger request message, receive, from the serving AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message indicating whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both, and transmit, to the first wireless device, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO6

[0018] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in another target AP for wireless communications. The target AP may include means for receiving, from a first wireless device, a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP that is associated with a same mobility domain as the target AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, means for transmitting, to the serving AP, a confirmation request message to request confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to request the data communication context information based on the trigger request message, means for receiving, from the serving AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message indicating whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both, and means for transmitting, to the first wireless device, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

[0019] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications. The code may include instructions executable by one or more processors to receive, from a first wireless device, a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP that is associated with a same mobility domain as the target AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, transmit, to the serving AP, a confirmation request message to request confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to request the data communication context information based on the trigger request message, receive, from the serving AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message indicating whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both, and transmit, to the first wireless device, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wirelessAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO7 device with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

[0020] Some examples of the method, target APs, and non-transitory computer- readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for obtaining, in response to reception of the confirmation response message, one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device.

[0021] Some examples of the method, target APs, and non-transitory computer- readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, via the trigger request message, a dialog token that may be associated with the first wireless device for inclusion in the trigger response message and transmitting, to the first wireless device via the trigger response message, the dialog token based on the trigger request message from the first wireless device including the dialog token.

[0022] In some examples of the method, target APs, and non-transitory computer- readable medium described herein, the serving AP and the target AP being associated with the same mobility domain may be based on a seamless mobility domain (SMD) multi-link device (MLD) AP including both the serving AP and the target AP.

[0023] One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communications by a serving AP. The method may include receiving, from a target AP, a confirmation request message that requests confirmation of an association of a first wireless device with the serving AP and that requests data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, where the serving AP and the target AP are associated with a same mobility domain and transmitting, to the target AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message that indicates whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

[0024] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a serving AP for wireless communications. The serving AP may include a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code. The processing system may be configured to cause the serving AP toAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO8 receive, from a target AP, a confirmation request message that requests confirmation of an association of a first wireless device with the serving AP and that requests data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, where the serving AP and the target AP are associated with a same mobility domain and transmit, to the target AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message that indicates whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

[0025] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in another serving AP for wireless communications. The serving AP may include means for receiving, from a target AP, a confirmation request message that requests confirmation of an association of a first wireless device with the serving AP and that requests data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, where the serving AP and the target AP are associated with a same mobility domain and means for transmitting, to the target AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message that indicates whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

[0026] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications. The code may include instructions executable by one or more processors to receive, from a target AP, a confirmation request message that requests confirmation of an association of a first wireless device with the serving AP and that requests data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, where the serving AP and the target AP are associated with a same mobility domain and transmit, to the target AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message that indicates whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

[0027] In some examples of the method, serving APs, and non-transitory computer- readable medium described herein, transmitting the confirmation response message mayAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO9 include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, to the target AP, one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device via the confirmation response message.

[0028] In some examples of the method, serving APs, and non-transitory computer- readable medium described herein, receiving the confirmation request message may include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from the target AP, an indication of a network address of the first wireless device and transmitting, to the target AP via the confirmation response message, an indication of whether the first wireless device may be associated with the serving AP based on reception of the network address of the first wireless device.

[0029] Details of one or more implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, and enhancements will become apparent from the description, the drawings and the claims. Note that the relative dimensions of the following figures may not be drawn to scale.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] Figure 1 shows a pictorial diagram of an example wireless communication network.

[0031] Figure 2 shows a hierarchical format of an example PPDU usable for communications between a wireless AP and one or more wireless STAs.

[0032] Figure 3 shows an example of a signaling diagram that supports roaming techniques for unestablished access points (APs) within a common mobility domain.

[0033] Figure 4 shows an example of a process flow that supports roaming techniques for unestablished APs within a common mobility domain.

[0034] Figure 5 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device that supports roaming techniques for unestablished APs within a common mobility domain.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO10

[0035] Figure 6 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device that supports roaming techniques for unestablished APs within a common mobility domain.

[0036] Figure 7 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device that supports roaming techniques for unestablished APs within a common mobility domain.

[0037] Figure 8 shows a flowchart illustrating an example process performable by or at a first wireless device that supports roaming techniques for unestablished APs within a common mobility domain.

[0038] Figure 9 shows a flowchart illustrating an example process performable by or at a target AP that supports roaming techniques for unestablished APs within a common mobility domain.

[0039] Figure 10 shows a flowchart illustrating an example process performable by or at a serving AP that supports roaming techniques for unestablished APs within a common mobility domain.

[0040] Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] The following description is directed to some particular examples for the purposes of describing innovative aspects of this disclosure. However, a person having ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in a multitude of different ways. Some or all of the described examples may be implemented in any device, system or network that is capable of transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals according to one or more of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards, the IEEE 802.15 standards, the Bluetooth® standards as defined by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), or the Long Term Evolution (LTE), 3G, 4G, 5G (New Radio (NR)) or 6G standards promulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), among others.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO11

[0042] The described examples can be implemented in any suitable device, component, system or network that is capable of transmitting and receiving RF signals according to one or more of the following technologies or techniques: code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), spatial division multiple access (SDMA), rate-splitting multiple access (RSMA), multi-user shared access (MUSA), single-user (SU) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and multi-user (MU)-MIMO (MU-MIMO). The described examples also can be implemented using other wireless communication protocols or RF signals suitable for use in one or more of a wireless personal area network (WPAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless wide area network (WWAN), a wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN), a nonterrestrial network (NTN), or an internet of things (IOT) network.

[0043] In some wireless communication networks, a wireless communication device may roam between access points (APs). For example, a wireless communication device may move from the coverage area of a first AP to a second AP and the wireless communication device may have to establish a communication link with the second AP. In some implementations, the AP that a wireless communication device is currently connected to or most recently connected to may be referred to as a serving AP and the AP that the wireless communication device is attempting to establish communications with may be referred to as a serving AP. Further, in some implementations, the serving AP and the target AP may be associated with a common mobility domain based on a seamless mobility domain (SMD) multi-link device (MLD) (such as an SMD MLD) including both the serving AP and the target AP.

[0044] Various aspects relate generally to wireless devices roaming between APs. Some aspects more specifically relate to a first wireless device roaming from a serving AP to a target AP, where the serving AP and the target AP are associated with a common mobility domain. In some examples, by utilizing an SMD MLD, the first wireless device may be capable of relatively seamless roaming between the APs affiliated with the SMD MLD. For example, in some implementations, while operating with the serving AP, a first wireless device may lose connection with the serving AP and may have to relatively quickly roam to a target AP to reestablish connection withAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO12 the wireless network. To connect to the target AP, the first wireless device may initiate the connection by transmitting a trigger request message to the target AP that triggers the target AP to perform one or more actions.

[0045] For example, in response to receiving the trigger request message, the target AP may transmit a confirmation request message to the serving AP. In the confirmation request message, the target AP may request confirmation of an association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device from the serving AP. In response, the target AP may receive a confirmation response message that indicates whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, indicates the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both. For example, if the confirmation response message indicates that the first wireless device is unassociated with the serving AP, the confirmation response message may be unable to provide the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device within the confirmation response message. Further, in response to receiving the confirmation response message, the target AP may transmit a trigger response message to the first wireless device. The trigger response message may indicate whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both. In some implementations, if the trigger response message indicates that the target AP successfully confirmed the association and successfully acquired the data communication context information, the first wireless device may be capable of initiating a roaming sequence with the target AP by transmitting an encrypted roaming request message.

[0046] Particular aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to realize one or more of the following potential enhancements. In some examples, by having a target AP and a serving AP being affiliated with an SMD MLD, the described techniques can be used to enable a first wireless device to relatively quickly connect to the target AP regardless if encrypted frames have been previously exchanged between the first wireless device and the target AP. For example, the trigger request message may trigger the target AP to receive one or more security keys from the serving AP or to generate the one or more security keys to enable encrypted and secureAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO13 communications between the first wireless device and the target AP. In some implementations, when acquiring the data communication context information from the serving AP, the target AP may be capable of acquiring the one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device, contextual information associated with the first wireless device, or both, to enable efficient and secure communications between the first wireless device and the target AP. In some other implementations, the target AP may communicate with the first wireless device to generate the one or more security keys.

[0047] In some implementations, to further enhance the security of communications, the first wireless device may include a dialog token within the trigger request message for the target AP to include within the trigger response message. Thus, if the first wireless device receives a trigger response message from a respective target AP that refrains from including the dialog token, the first wireless device may refrain from initiating the roaming sequence with the respective target AP. Additionally, or alternatively, the first wireless device may include an encrypted token within the trigger request message such that the target AP is expected to include a decrypted version of the encrypted token within the trigger response message for the first wireless device to initiate the roaming sequence. Therefore, the subject matter described in this disclosure can enable a first wireless device to connect with a target AP that is associated with the same SMD MLD as the serving AP of the wireless device regardless if the first wireless device has previously exchanged encrypted frames with the target AP.

[0048] Figure 1 shows a pictorial diagram of an example wireless communication network 100. According to some aspects, the wireless communication network 100 can be an example of a wireless local area network (WLAN) such as a Wi-Fi network. For example, the wireless communication network 100 can be a network implementing at least one of the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocol standards, such as defined by the IEEE 802.11-2020 specification or amendments thereof (including, but not limited to, 802.1 lay, 802.1 lax (also referred to as Wi-Fi 6), 802.11 az, 802.11ba, 802.1 Ibc, 802.1 Ibd, 802.1 Ibe (also referred to as Wi-Fi 7), 802.1 Ibf, and 802.1 Ibn (also referred to as Wi-Fi 8)) or other WLAN or Wi-Fi standards, such as that associated with the Integrated Millimeter Wave (IMMW) study group. In some other examples, the wireless communication network 100 can be an example of a cellular radio accessAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO14 network (RAN), such as a 5G or 6G RAN that implements one or more cellular protocols such as those specified in one or more 3GPP standards. In some other examples, the wireless communication network 100 can include a WLAN that functions in an interoperable or converged manner with one or more cellular RANs to provide greater or enhanced network coverage to wireless communication devices within the wireless communication network 100 or to enable such devices to connect to a cellular network’s core, such as to access the network management capabilities and functionality offered by the cellular network core. In some other examples, the wireless communication network 100 can include a WLAN that functions in an interoperable or converged manner with one or more personal area networks, such as a network implementing Bluetooth or other wireless technologies, to provide greater or enhanced network coverage or to provide or enable other capabilities, functionality, applications or services.

[0049] The wireless communication network 100 may include numerous wireless communication devices including a wireless access point (AP) 102 and any number of wireless stations (STAs) 104. While only one AP 102 is shown in Figure 1, the wireless communication network 100 can include multiple APs 102 (such as in an extended service set (ESS) deployment, enterprise network or AP mesh network), or may not include any AP at all (such as in an independent basic service set (IBSS) such as a peer- to-peer (P2P) network or other ad hoc network). The AP 102 can be or represent various different types of network entities including, but not limited to, a home networking AP, an enterprise-level AP, a single-frequency AP, a dual-band simultaneous (DBS) AP, a tri -band simultaneous (TBS) AP, a standalone AP, a non- standalone AP, a software-enabled AP (soft AP), and a multi-link AP (also referred to as an AP multi-link device (MLD)), as well as cellular (such as 3GPP, 4G LTE, 5G or 6G) base stations or other cellular network nodes such as a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a gNB, a transmission reception point (TRP) or another type of device or equipment included in a radio access network (RAN), including Open-RAN (O-RAN) network entities, such as a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU) or a radio unit (RU).

[0050] Each of the STAs 104 also may be referred to as a mobile station (MS), a mobile device, a mobile handset, a wireless handset, an access terminal (AT), a userAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO15 equipment (UE), a subscriber station (SS), or a subscriber unit, among other examples. The STAs 104 may represent various devices such as mobile phones, other handheld or wearable communication devices, netbooks, notebook computers, tablet computers, laptops, Chromebooks, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR) or extended reality (XR) wireless headsets or other peripheral devices, wireless earbuds, other wearable devices, display devices (such as TVs, computer monitors or video gaming consoles), video game controllers, navigation systems, music or other audio or stereo devices, remote control devices, printers, kitchen appliances (including smart refrigerators) or other household appliances, key fobs (such as for passive keyless entry and start (PKES) systems), Internet of Things (loT) devices, and vehicles, among other examples.

[0051] A single AP 102 and an associated set of STAs 104 may be referred to as an infrastructure basic service set (BSS), which is managed by the respective AP 102. Figure 1 additionally shows an example coverage area 108 of the AP 102, which may represent a basic service area (BSA) of the wireless communication network 100. The BSS may be identified by STAs 104 and other devices by a service set identifier (SSID), as well as a basic service set identifier (BSSID), which may be a medium access control (MAC) address of the AP 102. The AP 102 may periodically broadcast beacon frames (“beacons”) including the BSSID to enable any STAs 104 within wireless range of the AP 102 to “associate” or re-associate with the AP 102 to establish a respective communication link 106 (hereinafter also referred to as a “Wi-Fi link”), or to maintain a communication link 106, with the AP 102. For example, the beacons can include an identification or indication of a primary channel used by the respective AP 102 as well as a timing synchronization function (TSF) for establishing or maintaining timing synchronization with the AP 102. The AP 102 may provide access to external networks to various STAs 104 in the wireless communication network 100 via respective communication links 106.

[0052] To establish a communication link 106 with an AP 102, each of the STAs 104 is configured to perform passive or active scanning operations (“scans”) on frequency channels in one or more frequency bands (such as the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, 45 GHz, or 60 GHz bands). To perform passive scanning, a STA 104 listens for beacons, which are transmitted by respective APs 102 at periodic time intervals referredAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO16 to as target beacon transmission times (TBTTs). To perform active scanning, a STA 104 generates and sequentially transmits probe requests on each channel to be scanned and listens for probe responses from APs 102. Each STA 104 may identify, determine, ascertain, or select an AP 102 with which to associate in accordance with the scanning information obtained through the passive or active scans, and to perform authentication and association operations to establish a communication link 106 with the selected AP 102. The selected AP 102 assigns an association identifier (AID) to the STA 104 at the culmination of the association operations, which the AP 102 uses to track the STA 104.

[0053] As a result of the increasing ubiquity of wireless networks, a STA 104 may have the opportunity to select one of many BSSs within range of the STA 104 or to select among multiple APs 102 that together form an ESS including multiple connected BSSs. For example, the wireless communication network 100 may be connected to a wired or wireless distribution system that may enable multiple APs 102 to be connected in such an ESS. As such, a STA 104 can be covered by more than one AP 102 and can associate with different APs 102 at different times for different transmissions.Additionally, after association with an AP 102, a STA 104 also may periodically scan its surroundings to find a more suitable AP 102 with which to associate. For example, a STA 104 that is moving relative to its associated AP 102 may perform a “roaming” scan to find another AP 102 having more desirable network characteristics such as a greater received signal strength indicator (RSSI) or a reduced traffic load.

[0054] In some examples, STAs 104 may form networks without APs 102 or other equipment other than the STAs 104 themselves. One example of such a network is an ad hoc network (or wireless ad hoc network). Ad hoc networks may alternatively be referred to as mesh networks or P2P networks. In some examples, ad hoc networks may be implemented within a larger network such as the wireless communication network 100. In such examples, while the STAs 104 may be capable of communicating with each other through the AP 102 using communication links 106, STAs 104 also can communicate directly with each other via direct wireless communication links 110.Additionally, two STAs 104 may communicate via a direct wireless communication link 110 regardless of whether both STAs 104 are associated with and served by the same AP 102. In such an ad hoc system, one or more of the STAs 104 may assume the role filled by the AP 102 in a BSS. Such a STA 104 may be referred to as a group ownerAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO17(GO) and may coordinate transmissions within the ad hoc network. Examples of direct wireless communication links 110 include Wi-Fi Direct connections, connections established by using a Wi-Fi Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) link, and other P2P group connections.

[0055] In some networks, the AP 102 or the STAs 104, or both, may support applications associated with high throughput or low-latency requirements, or may provide lossless audio to one or more other devices. For example, the AP 102 or the STAs 104 may support applications and use cases associated with ultra-low-latency (ULL), such as ULL gaming, or streaming lossless audio and video to one or more personal audio devices (such as peripheral devices) or AR / VR / MR / XR headset devices. In scenarios in which a user uses two or more peripheral devices, the AP 102 or the STAs 104 may support an extended personal audio network enabling communication with the two or more peripheral devices. Additionally, the AP 102 and STAs 104 may support additional ULL applications such as cloud-based applications (such as VR cloud gaming) that have ULL and high throughput requirements.

[0056] As indicated above, in some implementations, the AP 102 and the STAs 104 may function and communicate (via the respective communication links 106) according to one or more of the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocol standards. These standards define the WLAN radio and baseband protocols for the physical (PHY) and MAC layers. The AP 102 and STAs 104 transmit and receive wireless communications (hereinafter also referred to as “Wi-Fi communications” or “wireless packets”) to and from one another in the form of PHY protocol data units (PPDUs).

[0057] Each PPDU is a composite structure that includes a PHY preamble and a payload that is in the form of a PHY service data unit (PSDU). The information provided in the preamble may be used by a receiving device to decode the subsequent data in the PSDU. In instances in which a PPDU is transmitted over a bonded or wideband channel, the preamble fields may be duplicated and transmitted in each of multiple component channels. The PHY preamble may include both a legacy portion (or “legacy preamble”) and a non-legacy portion (or “non-legacy preamble”). The legacy preamble may be used for packet detection, automatic gain control and channel estimation, among other uses. The legacy preamble also may generally be used toAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO18 maintain compatibility with legacy devices. The format of, coding of, and information provided in the non-legacy portion of the preamble is associated with the particular IEEE 802.11 wireless communication protocol to be used to transmit the payload.

[0058] The APs 102 and STAs 104 in the wireless communication network 100 may transmit PPDUs over an unlicensed spectrum, which may be a portion of spectrum that includes frequency bands traditionally used by Wi-Fi technology, such as the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, 45 GHz, and 60 GHz bands. Some examples of the APs 102 and STAs 104 described herein also may communicate in other frequency bands that may support licensed or unlicensed communications. For example, the APs 102 or STAs 104, or both, also may be capable of communicating over licensed operating bands, where multiple operators may have respective licenses to operate in the same or overlapping frequency ranges. Such licensed operating bands may map to or be associated with frequency range designations of FR1 (410 MHz - 7.125 GHz), FR2 (24.25 GHz - 52.6 GHz), FR3 (7.125 GHz - 24.25 GHz), FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz - 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz - 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz - 300 GHz).

[0059] Each of the frequency bands may include multiple sub-bands and frequency channels (also referred to as subchannels). The terms “channel” and “subchannel” may be used interchangeably herein, as each may refer to a portion of frequency spectrum within a frequency band (such as a 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, or 160 MHz portion of frequency spectrum) via which communication between two or more wireless communication devices can occur. For example, PPDUs conforming to the IEEE 802.1 In, 802.1 lac, 802.1 lax, 802.11be and 802.11bn standard amendments may be transmitted over one or more of the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, or 6 GHz bands, each of which is divided into multiple 20 MHz channels. As such, these PPDUs are transmitted over a physical channel having a minimum bandwidth of 20 MHz, but larger channels can be formed through channel bonding. For example, PPDUs may be transmitted over physical channels having bandwidths of 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, 240 MHz, 320 MHz, 480 MHz, or 640 MHz by bonding together multiple 20 MHz channels.

[0060] An AP 102 may determine or select an operating or operational bandwidth for the STAs 104 in its BSS and select a range of channels within a band to provide that operating bandwidth. For example, the AP 102 may select sixteen 20 MHz channels that collectively span an operating bandwidth of 320 MHz. Within the operatingAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO19 bandwidth, the AP 102 may typically select a single primary 20 MHz channel on which the AP 102 and the STAs 104 in its BSS monitor for contention-based access schemes. In some examples, the AP 102 or the STAs 104 may be capable of monitoring only a single primary 20 MHz channel for packet detection (such as for detecting preambles of PPDUs). Conventionally, any transmission by an AP 102 or a STA 104 within a BSS must involve transmission on the primary 20 MHz channel. As such, in conventional systems, the transmitting device must contend on and win a TXOP on the primary channel to transmit anything at all. However, some APs 102 and STAs 104 supporting ultra-high reliability (UHR) communications or communication according to the IEEE 802.1 Ibn standard amendment can be configured to operate, monitor, contend and communicate using multiple primary 20 MHz channels. Such monitoring of multiple primary 20 MHz channels may be sequential such that responsive to determining, ascertaining or detecting that a first primary 20 MHz channel is not available, a wireless communication device may switch to monitoring and contending using a second primary 20 MHz channel. Additionally, or alternatively, a wireless communication device may be configured to monitor multiple primary 20 MHz channels in parallel. In some examples, a first primary 20 MHz channel may be referred to as a main primary (M-Primary) channel and one or more additional, second primary channels may each be referred to as an opportunistic primary (O-Primary) channel. For example, if a wireless communication device measures, identifies, ascertains, detects, or otherwise determines that the M-Primary channel is busy or occupied (such as due to an overlapping BSS (OBSS) transmission), the wireless communication device may switch to monitoring and contending on an O-Primary channel. In some examples, the M-Primary channel may be used for beaconing and serving legacy client devices and an O-Primary channel may be specifically used by non-legacy (such as UHR- or IEEE 802.1 Ibn-compatible) devices for opportunistic access to spectrum that may be otherwise under-utilized.

[0061] In some implementations of the wireless communication network 100, a first wireless device (such as a STA 104) may roam from a serving AP 102 to a target AP 102. Further, both the serving AP 102 and the target AP 102 may be a part of the same seamless mobility domain (SMD) multi-link device (SMD). In some examples, by utilizing the SMD MLD, the first wireless device may be capable of relatively seamless roaming between the APs 102 affiliated with the SMD MLD. For example, in someAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO20 implementations, while operating with the serving AP 102, a first wireless device may lose connection with the serving AP 102 and may have to relatively quickly roam to a target AP 102 to reestablish connection with the wireless network. To connect to the target AP 102, the first wireless device may initiate the connection by transmitting a trigger request message to the target AP 102 that triggers the target AP 102 to perform one or more actions.

[0062] For example, in response to receiving the trigger request message, the target AP 102 may transmit a confirmation request message to the serving AP 102. In the confirmation request message, the target AP 102 may request confirmation of an association of the first wireless device with the serving AP 102 and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device from the serving AP 102. In response, the target AP 102 may receive a confirmation response message that indicates whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP 102, indicates the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both. For example, if the confirmation response message indicates that the first wireless device is unassociated with the serving AP 102, the confirmation response message may be unable to provide the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device within the confirmation response message. Further, in response to receiving the confirmation response message, the target AP 102 may transmit a trigger response message to the first wireless device.

[0063] In some examples, the trigger response message may indicate whether the target AP 102 confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP 102, whether the target AP 102 acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both. For example, the target AP 102 may indicate via the trigger response message that the target AP 102 successfully confirmed the association and successfully acquired the data communication context information. Therefore, the first wireless device may be capable of initiating a roaming sequence with the target AP 102 by transmitting an encrypted roaming request message. Thus, by having a target AP 102 and a serving AP 102 being affiliated with an SMD MLD, the described techniques can be used to enable a first wireless device to relatively quickly connect to the target AP 102 regardless if encrypted frames have been previously exchanged between the first wireless device and the target AP 102. Further descriptionsAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO21 of the techniques of the present disclosure may be described elsewhere herein, such as with reference to Figures 2-4.

[0064] Figure 2 shows a hierarchical format of an example PPDU usable for communications between a wireless AP and one or more wireless STAs. For example, the AP and STAs may be examples of the AP 102 and the STAs 104 described with reference to Figure 1. As described, each PPDU 200 includes a PHY preamble 202 and a PSDU 204. Each PSDU 204 may represent (or “carry”) one or more MAC protocol data units (MPDUs) 216. For example, each PSDU 204 may carry an aggregated MPDU (A-MPDU) 206 that includes an aggregation of multiple A-MPDU subframes 208. Each A-MPDU subframe 208 may include an MPDU frame 210 that includes a MAC delimiter 212 and a MAC header 214 prior to the accompanying MPDU 216, which includes the data portion (“payload” or “frame body”) of the MPDU frame 210. Each MPDU frame 210 also may include a frame check sequence (FCS) field 218 for error detection (such as the FCS field 218 may include a cyclic redundancy check (CRC)) and padding bits 220. The MPDU 216 may carry one or more MAC service data units (MSDUs) 230. For example, the MPDU 216 may carry an aggregated MSDU (A-MSDU) 222 including multiple A-MSDU subframes 224. Each A-MSDU subframe 224 may be associated with an MSDU frame 226 and may contain a corresponding MSDU 230 preceded by a subframe header 228 and, in some examples, followed by padding bits 232.

[0065] Referring back to the MPDU frame 210, the MAC delimiter 212 may serve as a marker of the start of the associated MPDU 216 and indicate the length of the associated MPDU 216. The MAC header 214 may include multiple fields containing information that defines or indicates characteristics or attributes of data encapsulated within the frame body. The MAC header 214 includes a duration field indicating a duration extending from the end of the PPDU until at least the end of an acknowledgement (ACK) or Block ACK (BA) of the PPDU that is to be transmitted by the receiving wireless communication device. The use of the duration field serves to reserve the wireless medium for the indicated duration and enables the receiving device to establish its network allocation vector (NAV). The MAC header 214 also includes one or more fields indicating addresses for the data encapsulated within the frame body. For example, the MAC header 214 may include a combination of a source address, aAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO22 transmitter address, a receiver address or a destination address. The MAC header 214 may further include a frame control field containing control information. The frame control field may specify a frame type, for example, a data frame, a control frame, or a management frame.

[0066] In some wireless communication systems, wireless communication between an AP 102 and an associated STA 104 can be secured. For example, either an AP 102 or a STA 104 may establish a security key for securing wireless communication between itself and the other device and may encrypt the contents of the data and management frames using the security key. In some examples, the control frame and fields within the MAC header of the data or management frames, or both, also may be secured either via encryption or via an integrity check (such as by generating a message integrity check (MIC) for one or more relevant fields.

[0067] Some APs and STAs, such as, for example, the AP 102 and STAs 104 described with reference to Figure 1, are capable of multi-link operation (MLO). For example, the AP 102 and STAs 104 may support MLO as defined in one or both of the IEEE 802.1 Ibe and 802.1 Ibn standard amendments. An MLO-capable device may be referred to as a MLD. In some examples, MLO supports establishing multiple different communication links (such as a first link on the 2.4 GHz band, a second link on the 5 GHz band, and the third link on the 6 GHz band) between MLDs. Each communication link may support one or more sets of channels or logical entities. For example, an AP MLD may set, for each of the communication links, a respective operating bandwidth, one or more respective primary channels, and various BSS configuration parameters. An MLD may include a single upper MAC entity, and can include, for example, three independent lower MAC entities and three associated independent PHY entities for respective links in the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands. This architecture may enable a single association process and security context. An AP MLD may include multiple APs 102 each configured to communicate on a respective communication link with a respective one of multiple STAs 104 of a non-AP MLD (also referred to as a “STA MLD”).

[0068] To support MLO techniques, an AP MLD and a STA MLD may exchange MLO capability information (such as supported aggregation types or supported frequency bands, among other information). In some examples, the exchange ofAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO23 information may occur via a beacon frame, a probe request frame, a probe response frame, an association request frame, an association response frame, another management frame, a dedicated action frame, or an operating mode indicator (OMI), among other examples. In some examples, an AP MLD may designate a specific channel of one link in one of the bands as an anchor channel on which it transmits beacons and other control or management frames periodically. In such examples, the AP MLD also may transmit shorter beacons (such as ones which may contain less information) on other links for discovery or other purposes.

[0069] In some implementations, a format of management frames (such as format of PVO management frames) may indicate that in probe request frames, an address 3 field can be a wildcard BSSID. For example, the field of the probe request frame can be used for acquiring information, synchronization, scanning, or any combination thereof. If the address 3 field is not the wildcard BSSID, for a non-mesh STA 104, the field may be for the BSSID of the BSS of the one or more intended recipients, or for a mesh STA 104, the MAC address of the intended recipient. In some further implementations, a probe request frame format may indicate that a ML probe request is a probe request frame that includes a probe request ML element. For example, the probe request ML element may be used by a non-AP STA 104 affiliated with a non-AP MLD to discover APs 102 affiliated with an AP MLD. Moreover, a ML probe request may allow a non-AP STA 104 affiliated with a non-AP MLD to request an AP 102 affiliated with an AP MLD to include a complete or partial set of capabilities, parameters, and operation elements of the one or more APs 102 affiliated with the targeted AP MLD in the response frame.

[0070] MLDs may exchange packets on one or more of the communications links dynamically and, in some instances, concurrently. MLDs also may independently contend for access on each of the communication links, which achieves latency reduction by enabling the MLD to transmit its packets on the first communication link that becomes available. For example, “alternating multi-link” may refer to an MLO mode in which an MLD may listen on two or more different high-performance links and associated channels concurrently. In an alternating multi-link mode of operation, an MLD may alternate between use of two links to transmit portions of its traffic.Specifically, an MLD with buffered traffic may use the first link on which it wins contention and obtains a TXOP to transmit the traffic. While such an MLD may inAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO24 some examples be capable of transmitting or receiving on only one communication link at any given time, having access opportunities via two different links enables the MLD to avoid congestion, reduce latency, and maintain throughput.

[0071] Multi-link aggregation (MLA) (which also may be referred to as carrier aggregation (CA)) is another MLO mode in which an MLD may simultaneously transmit or receive traffic to or from another MLD via multiple communication links in parallel such that utilization of available resources may be increased to achieve higher throughput. That is, during at least some duration of time, transmissions or portions of transmissions may occur over two or more communication links in parallel at the same time. In some examples, the parallel communication links may support synchronized transmissions. In some other examples, or during some other durations of time, transmissions over the communication links may be parallel, but not be synchronized or concurrent. Additionally, in some examples or durations of time, two or more of the communication links may be used for communications between MLDs in the same direction (such as all uplink or all downlink), while in some other examples or durations of time, two or more of the communication links may be used for communications in different directions (such as one or more communication links may support uplink communications and one or more communication links may support downlink communications). In such examples, at least one of the MLDs may operate in a full duplex mode.

[0072] MLA may be packet-based or flow-based. For packet-based aggregation, frames of a single traffic flow (such as all traffic associated with a given traffic identifier (TID)) may be transmitted concurrently across multiple communication links. For flow-based aggregation, each traffic flow (such as all traffic associated with a given TID) may be transmitted using a single respective one of multiple communication links. As an example, a single STA MLD may access a web browser while streaming a video in parallel. Per the above example, the traffic associated with the web browser access may be communicated over a first communication link while the traffic associated with the video stream may be communicated over a second communication link in parallel (such that at least some of the data may be transmitted on the first channel concurrently with data transmitted on the second channel). In some other examples, MLA may be implemented with a hybrid of flow-based and packet-based aggregation. For example,Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO25 an MLD may employ flow-based aggregation in situations in which multiple traffic flows are created and may employ packet-based aggregation in other situations. Switching among the MLA techniques or modes may additionally, or alternatively, be associated with other metrics (such as a time of day, traffic load within the network, or battery power for a wireless communication device, among other factors or considerations).

[0073] Other MLO techniques may be associated with traffic steering and QoS characterization, which may achieve latency reduction and other QoS enhancements by mapping traffic flows having different latency or other requirements to different links. For example, traffic with low latency requirements may be mapped to communication links operating in the 6 GHz band and more latency -tolerant flows may be mapped to communication links operating in the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz bands. Such an operation, referred to as TID-to-Link mapping (TTLM), may enable two MLDs to negotiate mapping of certain traffic flows in the DL direction or the UL direction or both directions to one or more set of communication links set up between them. In some examples, an AP MLD may advertise a global TTLM that applies to all associated non- AP MLDs. A communication link that has no TIDs mapped to it in either direction is referred to as a disabled link. An enabled link has at least one TID mapped to it in at least one direction.

[0074] In some examples, an MLD may include multiple radios and each communication link associated with the MLD may be associated with a respective radio of the MLD. Each radio may include one or more of its own transmit / receive (Tx / Rx) chains, include or be coupled with one or more of its own physical antennas or shared antennas, and include signal processing components, among other components. An MLD with multiple radios that may be used concurrently for MLO may be referred to as a multi-link multi-radio (MLMR) MLD. Some MLMR MLDs may further be capable of an enhanced MLMR (eMLMR) mode of operation, in which the MLD may be capable of dynamically switching radio resources (such as antennas or RF frontends) between multiple communication links (such as switching from using radio resources for one communication link to using the radio resources for another communication link) to enable higher transmission and reception using higher capacity on a given communication link. In this eMLMR mode of operation, MLDs may be able to moveAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO26Tx / Rx radio resources from one communication link to another link, thereby increasing the spatial stream capability of the other communication link. For example, if a non-AP MLD includes four or more STAs, the STAs associated with the eMLMR links may “pool” their antennas so that each of the STAs can utilize the antennas of other STAs when transmitting or receiving on one of the eMLMR links.

[0075] Other MLDs may have more limited capabilities and not include multiple radios. An MLD with only a single radio that is shared for multiple communication links may be referred to as a multi-link single radio (MLSR) MLD. Control frames may be exchanged between MLDs before initiating data or management frame exchanges between the MLDs in cases in which at least one of the MLDs is operating as an MLSR MLD. Because an MLD operating in the MLSR mode is limited to a single radio, it cannot use multiple communication links simultaneously and may instead listen to (such as monitor), transmit or receive on only a single communication link at any given time. An MLSR MLD may instead switch between different bands in a TDM manner. In contrast, some MLSR MLDs may further be capable of an enhanced MLSR (eMLSR) mode of operation, in which the MLD can concurrently listen on multiple links for specific types of packets, such as buffer status report poll (BSRP) frames or multi-user (MU) request-to-send (RTS) (MU-RTS) frames. Although an MLD operating in the eMLSR mode can still transmit or receive on only one of the links at any given time, it may be able to dynamically switch between bands, resulting in improvements in both latency and throughput. For example, when the STAs of a non-AP MLD may detect a BSRP frame on their respective communication links, the non-AP MLD may tune all of its antennas to the communication link on which the BSRP frame is detected. By contrast, a non-AP MLD operating in the MLSR mode can only listen to, and transmit or receive on, one communication link at any given time.

[0076] An MLD that is capable of simultaneous transmission and reception on multiple communication links may be referred to as a simultaneous transmission and reception (STR) device. In a STR-capable MLD, a radio associated with a communication link can independently transmit or receive frames on that communication link without interfering with, or without being interfered with by, the operation of another radio associated with another communication link of the MLD. For example, an MLD with a suitable filter may simultaneously transmit on a 2.4 GHzAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO27 band and receive on a 5 GHz band, or vice versa, or simultaneously transmit on the 5 GHz band and receive on the 6 GHz band, or vice versa, and as such, be considered a STR device for the respective paired communication links. Such an STR-capable MLD may generally be an AP MLD or a higher-end STA MLD having a higher performance filter. An MLD that is not capable of simultaneous transmission and reception on multiple communication links may be referred to as a non-STR (NSTR) device. A radio associated with a given communication link in an NSTR device may experience interference when there is a transmission on another communication link of the NSTR device. For example, an MLD with a standard filter may not be able to simultaneously transmit on a 5 GHz band and receive on a 6 GHz band, or vice versa, and as such, may be considered a NSTR device for those two communication links.

[0077] In some wireless communication systems, an MLD may include multiple non-collocated entities. For example, an AP MLD may include non-collocated AP devices and a STA MLD may include non-collocated STA devices. In examples in which an AP MLD includes multiple non-collocated AP devices, a single mobility domain (SMD) entity may refer to a logical entity that controls the associated noncollocated APs. A non-AP STA (such as a non-MLD non-AP STA or a non-AP MLD that includes one or more associated non-AP STAs) may associate with the SMD entity via one of its constituent APs and may seamlessly roam (such as without requiring reassociation) between the APs associated with the SMD entity. The SMD entity also may maintain other context (such as security and Block ACK) for non-AP STAs associated with it.

[0078] The afore-mentioned and related MLO techniques may provide multiple benefits to a wireless communication network 100. For example, MLO may improve user perceived throughput (UPT) (such as by quickly flushing per-user transmit queues). Similarly, MLO may improve throughput by improving utilization of available channels and may increase spectral utilization (such as increasing the bandwidth-time product). Further, MLO may enable smooth transitions between multi-band radios (such as where each radio may be associated with a given RF band) or enable a framework to set up separation of control channels and data channels. Other benefits of MLO include reducing the “on” time of a modem, which may benefit a wireless communication device in terms of power consumption. Another benefit of MLO is the increasedAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO28 multiplexing opportunities in the case of a single BSS. For example, MLA may increase the number of users per multiplexed transmission served by the multi-link AP MLD.

[0079] In some environments, locations, or conditions, a regulatory body may impose a power spectral density (PSD) limit for one or more communication channels or for an entire band (such as the 6 GHz band). A PSD is a measure of transmit power as a function of a unit bandwidth (such as per 1 MHz). The total transmit power of a transmission is consequently the product of the PSD and the total bandwidth by which the transmission is sent. Unlike the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has established PSD limits for low power devices when operating in the 6 GHz band. The FCC has defined three power classes for operation in the 6 GHz band: standard power, low power indoor, and very low power. Some APs 102 and STAs 104 that operate in the 6 GHz band may conform to the low power indoor (LPI) power class, which limits the transmit power of APs 102 and STAs 104 to 5 decibel-milliwatts per megahertz (dBm / MHz) and -1 dBm / MHz, respectively. In other words, transmit power in the 6 GHz band is PSD-limited on a per-MHz basis.

[0080] Such PSD limits can undesirably reduce transmission ranges, reduce packet detection capabilities, and reduce channel estimation capabilities of APs 102 and STAs 104. In some examples in which transmissions are subject to a PSD limit, the AP 102 or the STAs 104 of a wireless communication network 100 may transmit over a greater transmission bandwidth to allow for an increase in the total transmit power, which may increase an SNR and extend coverage of the wireless communication devices. For example, to overcome or extend the PSD limit and improve SNR for low power devices operating in PSD-limited bands, 802.1 Ibe introduced a duplicate (DUP) mode for a transmission, by which data in a payload portion of a PPDU is modulated for transmission over a “base” frequency sub-band, such as a first RU of an OFDMA transmission, and copied over (such as duplicated) to another frequency sub-band, such as a second RU of the OFDMA transmission. In DUP mode, two copies of the data are to be transmitted, and, for each of the duplicate RUs, using dual carrier modulation (DCM), which also has the effect of copying the data such that two copies of the data are carried by each of the duplicate RUs, so that, for example, four copies of the data areAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO29 transmitted. While the data rate for transmission of each copy of the user data using the DUP mode may be the same as a data rate for a transmission using a “normal” mode, the transmit power for the transmission using the DUP mode may be essentially multiplied by the number of copies of the data being transmitted, at the expense of requiring an increased bandwidth. As such, using the DUP mode may extend range but reduce spectrum efficiency.

[0081] In some other examples in which transmissions are subject to a PSD limit, a distributed tone mapping operation may be used to increase the bandwidth via which a STA 104 transmits an uplink communication to the AP 102. As used herein, the term “distributed transmission” refers to a PPDU transmission on noncontiguous tones (or subcarriers) of a wireless channel. In contrast, the term “contiguous transmission” refers to a PPDU transmission on contiguous tones. As used herein, a logical RU represents a number of tones or subcarriers that are allocated to a given STA 104 for transmission of a PPDU. As used herein, the term “regular RU” (or rRU) refers to any RU or MRU tone plan that is not distributed, such as a configuration supported by 802.1 Ibe or earlier versions of the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocol standards. As used herein, the term “distributed RU” (or dRU) refers to the tones distributed across a set of noncontiguous subcarrier indices to which a logical RU is mapped. The term “distributed tone plan” refers to the set of noncontiguous subcarrier indices associated with a dRU. The channel or portion of a channel within which the distributed tones are interspersed is referred to as a spreading bandwidth, which may be, for example, 40 MHz, 80 MHz or more. The use of dRUs may be limited to uplink communications because benefits to addressing PSD limits may only be present for uplink communications.

[0082] In some implementations, to reduce the time associated with re-associating and re-authentication wireless devices (such as STAs 104) to enable relatively fast roaming (such as seamless roaming) of a wireless device between APs 102, an AP MLD may be utilized. For example, collocated APs 102 (such as two or more APs 102 within a single AP 102 device) may be affiliated with an AP MLD (such as a logical entity) that can handle upper MAC functionalities based on including an upper MAC entity such as association and authentication for a wireless device. Therefore, when a wireless device roams from one AP 102 to another AP 102, the wireless device would beAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO30 expected to associate and authenticate with an AP MLD and negotiate context (such as Block Ack, subcarrier spacing (SCS), target wakeup time (TWT), and the like) with the AP MLD. However, such association, authentication, and context negotiation may result in a discontinuous service that can result in a generation of an additional sequence number (SN) and packet number (PN), packet loss, and the like.

[0083] To ensure more flexibility operations, different sets of collocated APs 102 (such as APs 102 in multiple AP 102 devices) may be affiliated with an SMD MLD logical entity that can handle the association and authentication for the wireless device in addition to the upper MAC functionalities. In some implementations, the upper MAC functionalities that an AP MLD may be capable of performing may include authentication, association, and reassociation between an SMD MLD and a non-AP MLD (such as a wireless device or STA 104) where there may be an AID per AP MLD. The upper MAC functionalities also may include security associations (such as a pairwise master key (PMK) security association (PMKSA), a pairwise transient key (PTK) security association (PTKSA), or both) and distribution of a group temporal key (GTK), an integrity group temporal key (IGTK), a beacon integrity group temporal key (BIGTK), or any combination thereof. Further, the upper MAC functionalities may include SN an PN assignment for frames to be encrypted by the PTK for individually addressed frames and the SN assignment for group addressed MSDUs 230. Moreover, the upper MAC functionalities may include power save buffering of individually addressed frames, encryption / decryption using PTK for individually addressed frames, BA scoreboarding for individually addressed frames, or any combination thereof. Additionally, or alternatively, the upper MAC functionalities may include merging reception of MPDUs 230 from two or more links, reordering of packets (such as to ensure in-order delivery per each BA session), MLD level management information exchange via the MLD lower MAC sublayer, enabling the affiliated STAs 104 to select enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) parameters, or any combination thereof.

[0084] In some examples, the upper MAC functionalities may include a selection of the MLD lower MAC entity of transmission. In some examples, a lower MAC entity may be a STA 104 or a non-AP MLD and can be capable of handling the lower MAC functionalities. For example, the lower MAC functionalities may include link specific control information exchange and indication transmissions (such as RTS or clear to sendAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO31(CTS) transmissions, acknowledgment transmissions, neighborhood discovery protocol transmissions, or any combination thereof). The lower MAC functionalities also may include power save state and modes, MAC address filtering for frame reception, BA scoreboarding for individually addressed frames, or any combination thereof.

[0085] Therefore, when a wireless device roams between APs 102 affiliated with an SMD MLD. the wireless device may be capable of avoiding performing additional association and authentication procedures during roaming. Moreover, by utilizing an SMD MLD, context for data transmission (such as MAC addresses, SN / PN, BA, security keys like PTK / PMK, SCS, TWT, or any combination thereof) may be transferred between AP 102 devices over a backhaul connection to ensure data delivery continuity in a seamless manner. Additionally, or alternatively, the SMD MLD may be capable of using MLO signaling for adding links, removing links, or both.

[0086] In some implementations of the present disclosure, a first wireless device (such as a STA 104) may be capable of roaming from a serving AP 102 to a target AP 102 based on both the serving AP 102 and the target AP 102 being associated with the same SMD MLD. For example, in some implementations, while operating with the serving AP 102, a first wireless device may lose connection with the serving AP 102 and may have to relatively quickly roam to a target AP 102 to reestablish connection with the wireless network. To connect to the target AP 102, the first wireless device may initiate the connection by transmitting a trigger request message to the target AP 102 that triggers the target AP 102 to perform one or more actions. In response to receiving the trigger request message, the target AP 102 may transmit a confirmation request message to the serving AP 102 and the target AP 102 may receive a confirmation response message that indicates whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP 102, indicates data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both. The target AP 102 may further transmit a trigger response message to the first wireless device indicating whether the target AP 102 confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP 102, whether the target AP 102 acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

[0087] If the target AP 102 indicates, via the trigger response message, that the target AP 102 successfully confirmed the association and successfully acquired the dataAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO32 communication context information, the first wireless device may be capable of initiating a roaming sequence with the target AP 102 by transmitting an encrypted roaming request message. In some implementations, the techniques described herein may enable the trigger request message to be included within a probe request frame and the trigger response message to be included within a probe response frame. For example, the first wireless device may use reuse a field or use an additional of a probe request frame to trigger the target AP 102 and the target AP 102 may reuse a field or use an additional field of a probe response frame to confirm the association, confirm the data communication context information acquisition, or both that were triggered via the probe request frame. Thus, by having a target AP 102 and a serving AP 102 being affiliated with an SMD MLD, the described techniques can be used to enable a first wireless device to relatively quickly connect to the target AP 102 regardless if encrypted frames have been previously exchanged between the first wireless device and the target AP 102. Further descriptions of the techniques of the present disclosure may be described elsewhere herein, such as with reference to Figures 3-4.

[0088] Figure 3 shows an example of a signaling diagram 300 that supports roaming techniques for unestablished APs within a common mobility domain. In some examples, the signaling diagram 300 may implement or be implemented by the wireless communication network 100. For example, the signaling diagram 300 may include a wireless device 104-a, an AP 102-a, and an AP 102-b, which may represent examples of corresponding devices described herein with reference to Figure 1. Further, the AP 102-a may be associated with a coverage area 302 and the AP 102-b may be associated with a coverage area 304. Moreover, the AP 102-a may communicate the AP 102-b via a communication link 306, the AP 102-a may communicate with the wireless device 104-a via a communication link 308-a, the AP 102-b may communicate with the wireless device 104-a via a communication link 308-b, the AP 102-a may communicate with a distributed system 310 via a communication link 312-a, and the AP 102-b may communicate with the distributed system 310 via a communication link 312-b. In some implementations, the communication link 306, the communication link 308-a, the communication link 308-b, the communication link 312-a, and the communication link 312-b may be examples of a Uu link, a sidelink, a backhaul link, a D2D link or some other type of communication link described herein with reference to Figure 1.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO33

[0089] As described herein, seamless roaming techniques may enable relatively faster roaming of a non-AP device (such as a non-AP MLD or a non-AP STA 104) between APs 102 (such as AP MLDs including one or more affiliated APs or AP STAs of a SMD), and may reduce time associated with re-association and re-authentication for roaming. APs 102 of the SMD (such as an AP 102-a, which may be a serving AP 102 and an AP 102-b, which may be a target AP 102, -d) may operate cooperatively by transmitting signaling over the air or over the distributed system 310. In some examples, the signaling diagram 300 may include a higher level logical entity (such as the SMD) spanning multiple non-collocated AP MLDs. Accordingly, the non-AP device (such as the wireless device 104-a) may associate with and maintain association and authentication context with the AP MLDs of the SMD.

[0090] In some implementations, the AP 102-a and the AP 102-b may be associated with a same mobility domain. Further, the AP 102-a and the AP 102-b may be associated with the same mobility domain based on a SMD MLD 314 including both the AP 102-a and the AP 102-b. Moreover, in some cases, the communication link 306 connecting the AP 102-a and the AP 102-b affiliated with the SMD MLD 314 may be a secure backhaul communication link. In some implementations, for security purposes (such as for PMKSA, PTKSA, or both), an authenticator for the AP 102-a and the AP 102-b may use a network address (such as a MAC address) associated with the SMD MLD 314. For example, a PTK can be reused for communications between wireless devices (such as the wireless device 104-a) and any APs 102 (such as the AP 102-a or the AP 102-b) affiliated with the SMD MLD 314.

[0091] Further, in some implementations, when associating with the SMD MLD 314, the wireless device 104-a may transmit corresponding roaming request and response messages that can be multi-link (ML) link reconfiguration messages. Moreover, to enable relatively seamless and efficient roaming between the AP 102-a and the AP 102-b, the SMD MLD 314 may configure a MAC serving access point (such as the MAC-SAP 316) to move with the wireless device 104-a. For example, as illustrated by the arrows next to the wireless device 104-a, the wireless device 104-a may move between the coverage area 302 of the AP 102-a and the coverage area 304 of the AP 102-b and the MAC- SAP 316 may move from the AP 102-a to the AP 102-b. In some examples, having the MAC-SAP 316 move between the AP 102-a and the APAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO34102-b with the movement of the wireless device 104-a may enable the SMD MLD 314 the capability of preventing the wireless device 104-a from having to reassociate, reauthenticate, and renegotiate context with APs 102. Thus, having the MAC-SAP 316 move between APs 102 may enable the SMD MLD 314 to ensure that roaming between the AP 102-a and the AP 102-b may be relatively seamless and efficient for the wireless device 104-a.

[0092] In some implementations, the wireless device 104-a may initiate roaming through a corresponding serving AP (such as the AP 102-a). For example, since the wireless device 104-a and the AP 102-a may already have one or more security keys (such as encryption keys) established, the wireless device 104-a can exchange protected frames (such as encrypted frames) with the AP 102-a for roaming. In some examples, by using encrypted frames for roaming, the wireless device 104-a and the AP 102-a may ensure a level of security for the roaming and such techniques may aid in preventing cyber-attacks. Thus, when initiating roaming, the wireless device 104-a may transmit a roaming request message to the AP 102-a requesting roaming with the AP 102-b. In response, the AP 102-a may exchange messages with the AP 102-b via the communication link 306 to transfer data communication context information associated with the wireless device 104-a. Further, communications between the AP 102-a and the AP 102-b may initiate a distributed system 310 data path mapping change to move the MAC-SAP 316 from the AP 102-a to the AP 102-b. Moreover, once roaming is completed, due to the encryption key (such as in accordance with the PTKSA) being transferred to the AP 102-b as part of the data communication context information associated with the wireless device 104-a, the wireless device 104-a and the AP 102-b may be capable of exchanging protected frames to enable data flows to be served relatively seamlessly.

[0093] In some other implementations, to enhance the initiation of the wireless device 104-a roaming between the AP 102-a and the AP 102-b, a roaming preparation phase may be implemented to increase the efficiency of the initiation and roaming. For example, as a first step of the roaming preparation phase, the wireless device 104-a may transmit a protected roaming preparation request message to the AP 102-a (the AP 102 that is the serving AP and currently connected to the wireless device 104-a). The AP 102-a may further communicate with the AP 102-b (the target AP 102) via backhaulAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO35 messaging on the communication link 306 to determine the capability of the AP 102-b to serve the wireless device 104-a. For example, the AP 102-a may communicate with the AP 102-b via the communication link 306 to identify whether the AP 102-b is able to serve the wireless device 104-a, and if so, what impact would such the wireless devices 104 currently being served by the AP 102-b. In some examples, such determination of impact may be based on checking the quality of service (QoS) expectations of the wireless devices 104 currently being served by the AP 102-b. For example, the QoS expectations of the wireless devices 104 currently being served by the AP 102-b may be associated with low latency and high reliability expectations (such as ultra reliability low latency communications (URLLC) expectations). Thus, adding the wireless device 104-a to the list of wireless devices 104 being served by the AP 102-b may negatively impact the QoS expectations of the wireless devices 104 currently being served by the AP 102-b

[0094] In some implementations, the AP 102-a also may initiate a transfer of data communication context information (such as the MAC address and security keys (PTKs) associated with the wireless device 104-a) to some APs 102 (such as the AP 102-b). In such cases, the AP 102-b may be expected to provision resources for the potential roaming of the wireless device 104-a and the AP 102-b may be expected to accept any roaming request message from the wireless device 104-a. Therefore, following such communications between the AP 102-a and the AP 102-b, the AP 102-a may report the results of the operations performed to the wireless device 104-a and establish expectations for subsequent roaming request messages from the wireless device 104-a. For example, the AP 102-a may indicate to the wireless device 104-a that the AP 102-b is capable of serving the wireless device 104-a with minimal impact to the QoS of the wireless devices 104 currently being served by the AP 102-b. Additionally, or alternatively, the benefits of implementing the roaming preparation may be leveraged within a specific time window. For example, a timer (such as a T resource hold timer) may be set with an expiration time for the roaming preparation phase. Thus, the wireless device 104-a may refrain from expecting a successful roaming request if the timer expires prior to receiving a roaming preparation response message. In another example, a preparation timer (such as T prep) may be configured with a minimum preparation time on the network side. That is, the wireless device 104-a should refrainAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO36 from transmitting a roaming request message until expiration of the timer to allow the AP 102-a and the AP 102-b to have time for communications prior to the wireless device 104-a connecting to the AP 102-b.

[0095] In some examples, the wireless device 104-a may have to quickly roam to the AP 102-b based on losing connectivity with the AP 102-a. For example, the wireless device 104-a may operate in accordance with a power saving mode and may move out of the coverage area 302 of the AP 102-a while in a sleep state of the power saving mode. Therefore, when the wireless device 104-a enters an awake state of the power saving mode, the wireless device 104-a may be disconnected from the wireless network and may have to quickly roam to the AP 102-b to reestablish connection with the wireless network. In some implementations, prior to becoming disconnected or when the wireless device 104-a becomes disconnected from the wireless network, the wireless device 104-a may perform one or more channel scans to identify various target APs 102 (such as the AP 102-b) that the wireless device 104-a can roam to. In some other implementations, the AP 102-a may configure the wireless device 104-a with a list of target APs 102 that the wireless device 104-a can roam to. In some examples, based on the channel scans, the configured list of target APs 102, or both, the wireless device 104-a may identify a target AP 102 (such as the AP 102-b) to roam to after disconnection from the AP 102-a. In some examples, the wireless device 104-a may identify to roam to the AP 102-b based on an RS SI of the AP 102-b.

[0096] Further, in some cases, since the wireless device 104-a is disconnected from the AP 102-a, the wireless device 104-a may have to rely on frame exchanges with the AP 102-b to establish a connection with the AP 102-b. In some implementations, if the wireless device 104-a can identify a suitable target AP 102 that the wireless device 104-a has already exchanged protected frames with (such as frames encrypted with a PTK), the wireless device 104-a may be capable of initiating the roaming sequence with an encrypted roaming request message. For example, if the wireless device 104-a had performed a roaming preparation procedure, the PTK may be available at a respective target AP 102 and the wireless device 104-a may be capable of transmitting an encrypted roaming request message to the respective target AP 102 within a validity window (such as prior to expiration of the T resource hold timer). In some other implementations, if the wireless device 104-a has not communicated or exchangedAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO37 protected frames with a respective target AP 102 (such as the AP 102-b), the wireless device 104-a may be unable to directly initiate a roaming sequence with the respective target AP 102.

[0097] Thus, in accordance with the techniques described herein, the wireless device 104-a may transmit a trigger request message 318 to the AP 102-b to trigger the AP 102-b to perform one or more actions associated with communicating with the AP 102-a via the communication link 306. In some implementations, the trigger request message 318 may trigger the AP 102-b to transmit backhaul messages to the AP 102-a via the communication link 306 to confirm an association of the wireless device 104-a with the AP 102-a and to retrieve data communication context information associated with the wireless device 104-a from the AP 102-a. In some examples, the wireless device 104-a may transmit the trigger request message 318 over-the-air to the AP 102-b and the trigger request message 318 may include a network address of the AP 102-a such that the AP 102-b can communicate with the AP 102-a. Moreover, the wireless device 104-a may transmit the trigger request message 318 as an unencrypted message such that the AP 102-b can decode the trigger request message 318 without any security keys associated with the wireless device 104-a.

[0098] In some implementations, the wireless device 104-a may transmit the trigger request message 318 to the AP 102-b via a ML probe request message. In some examples, the wireless device 104-a may include the trigger for the AP 102-b to confirm association of the wireless device 104-a with the AP 102-a and to request the data communication context information associated with the wireless device 104-a via bit of the ML probe request message. For example, the wireless device 104-a may use one or more reserved bits within the ML probe request message to trigger the AP 102-b to message the AP 102-a. In some other cases, the wireless device 104-a may include the trigger for the AP 102-b within an additional field of the ML probe request message. For example, the wireless device 104-a may include the trigger within a link preparation field that is added to the formatting of the ML probe request message. Further, an additional type subfield encoding may be used within the ML probe request message to indicate the trigger to the AP 102-b. Additionally, or alternatively, the wireless device 104-a may reuse one or more fields of the ML probe request message to indicate the trigger to the AP 102-b.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO38

[0099] Based on receiving the trigger request message 318, the AP 102-b may transmit a confirmation request message 320 to the AP 102-a. In the confirmation request message 320, the AP 102-b may request confirmation of the association of the wireless device 104-a with the AP 102-b and request the data communication context information of the wireless device 104-a. Further, the AP 102-b may receive a confirmation response message 322 from the AP 102-a in response to the confirmation request message 320. The confirmation response message 322 may indicate whether the wireless device 104-a is associated with the AP 102-a, indicate the data communication context information associated with the wireless device 104-a, or both. For example, if the confirmation response message 322 indicates that the wireless device 104-a is unassociated with the AP 102-a, the AP 102-a may be unable to indicate the data communication context information associated with the AP 102-a to the AP 102-b via the confirmation response message 322. Additionally, or alternatively, the data communication context information associated with the wireless device 104-a may include static context information (such as security context information alone) or may include the full context information of the wireless device 104-a. In such cases where the wireless device 104-a is attempting to quickly roam with the AP 102-b, the data communication context information may include the full context information to aid the AP 102-b in establishing a connection with the wireless device 104-a relatively quickly.

[0100] In some examples, the confirmation response message 322 may indicate that the wireless device 104-a is unassociated with the AP 102-a based on the disconnection of the wireless device 104-a from the AP 102-a. For example, when the wireless device 104-a disconnects from the AP 102-a, the AP 102-a may erase the security keys and data communication context information associated with the wireless device 104-a. Thus, the AP 102-a may indicate, to the AP 102-b via the confirmation response message 322, that the wireless device 104-a is unassociated and unauthenticated with the AP 102-a. In such cases, the AP 102-b may consider the trigger request message 318 as a reassociation request from the wireless device 104-a and the trigger request message 318 may trigger the AP 102-b to initiate a reassociation procedure. In some additional cases, the wireless device 104-a may deassociated, deauthenticated, or both, from AP device 102-a before the wireless device 104-a sends the trigger request message 318 (such as Message 1) to AP 102-b. In some additional cases, the AP 102-bAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO39 may be unable to find or otherwise obtain data communication context information, one or more keys, or both, when interacting with AP 102-a. As a backup procedure for when the wireless device 104-a deassociated, deauthenticated, or both, or when the AP 102-b may be unable to find or otherwise obtain data communication context information, one or more keys, or both, AP device 102-b may consider the trigger request message 318 as the first message to initiate a new association of the wireless device 104-a.

[0101] After receiving the confirmation response message 322, the AP 102-b may transmit a trigger response message 324 to the wireless device 104-a. The trigger response message 324 may indicate whether the AP 102-b confirmed the association of the wireless device 104-a with the AP 102-b, whether the AP 102-b acquired the data communication context information associated with the wireless device 104-a, or both. Moreover, the wireless device 104-a may expect that the AP 102-b will transmit the trigger response message 324 via an encrypted message using one or more security keys associated with the wireless device 104-a obtained by the AP 102-b. Additionally, or alternatively, the AP 102-b may transmit the trigger response message 324 via a ML probe response message that is associated with a ML probe request message used by the wireless device 104-a to transmit the trigger request message 318. Further, similar to the ML probe request message, the AP 102-b may indicate whether the confirmation of the association, whether the data communication context information was acquired, or both, via one or more reused bits or reused fields or via an additional field of the ML probe response message.

[0102] Therefore, if the trigger response message 324 indicates that the AP 102-b successfully confirmed the association of the wireless device 104-a with the AP 102-a and successfully acquired the data communication context information associated with the wireless device 104-a, the wireless device 104-a may be capable of initiating a roaming sequence. Further, based on the AP 102-b successfully acquiring the data communication context information associated with the wireless device 104-a, the AP 102-b may have access to one or more security keys (such as encryption keys) associated with the wireless device 104-a. For example, that the AP 102-a has transferred or made available to the AP 102-b via the confirmation response messageAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO40322. Therefore, the wireless device 104-a may be capable of transmitting an encrypted roaming request message to the AP 102-b to ensure that the roaming sequence is secure.

[0103] In some examples, to enable the wireless device 104-a the capability of transmitting the roaming request message to the AP 102-b via an encrypted message, the AP 102-a may obtain one or more securing keys associated with the wireless device 104-a. In some implementations, the AP 102-b may directly receive the one or more security keys associated with the wireless device 104-a. For example, the AP 102-b may receive the one or more security keys associated with the wireless device 104-a via the data communication context information from the AP 102-a that the AP 102-b receives via the confirmation response message 322.

[0104] In some other implementations, the AP 102-b may obtain the one or more security keys by generating the one or more security keys via a security key generation procedure that is triggered in response to receiving the confirmation response message 322. In some examples, the confirmation response message 322 may refrain from indicating the one or more security keys associated with the wireless device 104-a. For example, the context information pulled from the AP 102-a may be static context information without PTKSA or full context information that refrains from including the one or more security keys. Further, in some cases, the AP 102-b acquiring the data communication context information associated with the wireless device 104-a may include pulling or obtaining the PMKSA from the AP 102-a or refraining from obtaining the PMKSA from the AP 102-a.

[0105] Based on the confirmation response message 322 refraining from including the one or more security keys within the data communication context information associated with the wireless device 104-a, the AP 102-b may be triggered to transmit a key generation request message to the wireless device 104-a. In response to receiving the key generation request message from the AP 102-b, the wireless device 104-a may transmit a key generation response message that includes an indication of one or more security keys that are generated at the wireless device 104-a. In some examples, the wireless device 104-a may generate the one or more security keys and transmit the key generation response message to the AP 102-b based on the AP 102-b may confirming the association of the wireless device 104-a with the AP 102-a via the key generation request message. In some other cases, if the AP 102-b indicates that the wireless deviceAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO41104-a is unassociated with the AP 102-a, the wireless device 104-a may transmit the key generation response message denying the request to generate the one or more security keys.

[0106] In some examples, the wireless device 104-a may generate the one or more security keys based on performing a PTKSA generation procedure that follows similar steps to a fast BSS transition (FT) procedure. A FT procedure seeks to reduce the length of time that connectivity is lost between a wireless device (such as the wireless device 104-a or a STA 104) and the distributed system 310 during a BSS transition. In some examples, the FT protocols may be part of a reassociation procedure and may only apply to respective wireless devices 104 transitions between APs 102 within the same mobility domain within the same ESS (such as the AP 102-a and the AP 102-b). Further, for a respective wireless device 104 (such as the wireless device 104-a) to move from a current AP 102 (such as the AP 102-a) to a target AP 102 (such as the AP 102-b) the message exchanges between the wireless device 104-a and the AP 102-b may be either over-the-air or over-the-distribution system (such as the distributed system 310). Further, during the FT procedure, the wireless device 104-a may attempt to authenticate and associate with the AP 102-b in order to establish a secure connection where the wireless device 104-a can provide security keys to the AP 102-b. Therefore, after completion of the security key generation procedure, the wireless device 104-a may expect that the trigger response message 324 will include the PTKSA generated via the security key generation procedure. In some examples, the wireless device 104-a may receive an trigger response message 324 that is unexpected (such as a trigger response message 324 in response to a trigger from a rouge wireless device 104 impersonating the wireless device 104-a) that refrains from including the generated PTKSA. As such, in order to keep the wireless network secure, the wireless device 104-a may discard and refrain from decoding or otherwise processing of the trigger response message 324 based on a lack of inclusion of the generated PTKSA.

[0107] In some implementations, additional techniques for keeping the wireless network secure may include having the AP 102-a check whether the wireless device 104-a is associated with the AP 102-a in response to receiving the confirmation request message 320. For example, in response to receiving the confirmation request message 320, the AP 102-a may identify whether a network address (such as a MAC address) ofAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO42 the wireless device 104-a, that is included in the confirmation request message 320, is within a list of network addresses of wireless devices associated with the AP 102-a. However, in some cases, merely matching the MAC address of the wireless device 104-a with a MAC address of a respective wireless device 104 associated with the AP 102-a may be insufficient for checking the association of the wireless device 104-a with the AP 102-a. In some examples, a rouge wireless device 104 controlled by a malicious actor may be capable of obtaining and copying the MAC address of the wireless device 104-a such that the rouge wireless device 104 can impersonate the wireless device 104-a.

[0108] For example, since the trigger request message 318 is unencrypted and may include the MAC address of the wireless device 104-a, the rouge wireless device 104 may be capable of intercepting the trigger request message 318. Thus, the rouge wireless device 104 can obtain the MAC address of the wireless device 104-a for impersonation attacks. For example, a rouge wireless device 104 may be capable of transmitting messages to the AP 102-b and the AP 102-b may then communicate with the wireless device 104-a in response to the messages from the rouge wireless device 104. Thus, the AP 102-b may trigger behaviors and changes at the wireless device 104-a that the rouge wireless device 104 requested rather than the wireless device 104-a resulting in an increased risk of security breaches and a decrease in the reliability and trustworthiness of the wireless network.

[0109] Therefore, in accordance with the techniques of the present disclosure, to prevent such impersonation attacks, in some implementations, the wireless device 104-a may add a dialog token (such as a word, a sentence, or a bit sequence) within the trigger request message 318 (such as within the ML probe request message). By including the dialog token within the trigger request message 318, the wireless device 104-a may expect that the AP 102-b will include the dialog token in the trigger response message 324 (such as within the ML probe response message). In some examples, if the trigger response message 324 includes the correct dialog token, the wireless device 104-a may confirm and verify that the trigger response message 324 is associated with the trigger request message 318 that the wireless device 104-a transmitted and the wireless device 104-a may decode the trigger response message 324 accordingly. In some other examples, if the dialog token in the trigger response message 324 is outdated, unknown,Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO43 missing, or the like, the wireless device 104-a may discard the trigger response message 324 and refrain from decoding or otherwise processing the trigger response message 324. Moreover, in some cases, the dialog token may be included within a header of a message such that the wireless device 104-a is capable of refraining from decoding the entirety of a respective message until the dialog token is verified.

[0110] In some other implementations, the wireless device 104-a may include some cyphered (encrypted) text within the trigger request message 318. For example, the wireless device 104-a may include an encrypted dialog token within the trigger request message 318. Thus, after receiving the trigger request message 318, the AP 102-b may have to use the one or more security keys obtained in response to receiving the confirmation response message 322 to attempt to decrypt and decode the encrypted dialog token. In some examples, the AP 102-b may perform a decryption procedure to attempt to decrypt an encrypted token that includes a respective dialog token. Once decrypted, the AP 102-b may include the decrypted dialog token within the trigger response message 324 for the wireless device 104-a to verify. Additionally, or alternatively, in some cases, the wireless device 104-a may randomly generate the dialog token for inclusion in the trigger request message 318. For example, the wireless device 104-a may generate a random word or bit sequence for each transmission such that the dialog token is unable to be guessed by a rouge wireless device 104 for an impersonation attack. In some other cases, the wireless device 104-a may use a prenegotiated value or word that is negotiated between the wireless device 104-a and a respective AP 102 during association.[OHl] In another implementation, the wireless device 104-a may compute a message integrity code (MIC) for inclusion within the trigger request message 318. The MIC may be a value generated by a cryptographic function. If input data to the cryptographic function is changed a new value cannot be correctly computed without knowledge of the cryptographic key(s) used by the cryptographic function. For example, the wireless device may generate the MIC based on a temporal key (TK) (such as a TK a part of the PTKSA). Based on the wireless device 104-a including the MIC in the trigger request message 318, the AP 102-b may use the MIC communicate with the AP 102-a for checking whether the wireless device 104-a is associated with the AP 102-a. In some other implementations, the wireless device 104-a may encrypt the MICAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO44 within the trigger request message 318 utilizing a pre-shared secret and a random challenge. For example, the APs 102 a part of the SMD MLD 314 (such as the AP 102- a) may have a pre-shared secret (such as a group key) that is also shared to the authenticated wireless devices 104 of the wireless network (such as the wireless device 104-a). Further, the wireless device 104-a may use the pre-shared secret and the random challenge (such as a random number or a time synchronization function (TSF) of a beacon), that is advertised locally by each AP 102, to compute a MIC (such as a signature or hash function). Thus, the wireless device 104-a may then add the MIC to the trigger request message 318 for the AP 102-b to decrypt and validate. Such implementations may further enable the AP 102-b the capability of refraining from retrieving a PTK from the AP 102-b to validate the trigger request message 318. Additionally, or alternatively, while such techniques may be at risk to insider attacks due to each authenticated wireless device 104 having the pre-shared secret and the random challenge, the techniques may not be prone to relay attacks due to the random challenge being periodically updated.

[0112] Thus, in accordance with the techniques of the present disclosure, the wireless device 104-a may be capable of communicating with the AP 102-b to trigger the AP 102-b to communicate with the AP 102-a that the wireless device 104-a has become disconnected from to enable the wireless device 104-a to roam within the coverage area 304 of the AP 102-b. In some examples, such communications between the wireless device 104-a and the AP 102-b prior to roaming can be unsecure due to transmission of unencrypted messages, however the techniques described herein describes a wireless device 104-a implementing one or more security procedures (such as utilizing dialog tokens and security keys) to ensure a secure wireless network. Further descriptions of the techniques described herein may be described elsewhere herein, such as with reference to Figure 4.

[0113] Figure 4 shows an example of a process flow 400 that supports roaming techniques for unestablished APs within a common mobility domain. In some examples, the process flow 400 may implement or be implemented by the wireless communication network 100, the signaling diagram 300, or both. For example, the process flow 400 may include a wireless device 104-b, an AP 102-c, and an AP 102-d, which may be examples of devices described herein with reference to Figures 1 and 3.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO45

[0114] In the following description of the process flow 400, the operations between the wireless device 104-b, the AP 102-c, and the AP 102-d may be performed in different orders or at different times. Some operations also may be left out of the process flow 400, or other operations may be added. Although the wireless device 104-b, the AP 102-c, and the AP 102-d are shown performing the operations of the process flow 400, some aspects of some operations also may be performed by one or more other wireless devices.

[0115] At 405, a first wireless device (such as the wireless device 104-b) may transmit, to a target AP (such as the AP 102-d) a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP (such as the AP 102-c) and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device. Further, the first wireless device may transmit the trigger request message to the target AP based on the serving AP and the target AP being associated with a same mobility domain. In some examples, the serving AP and the target AP being associated with the same mobility domain may be based on an SMD MLD AP including both the serving AP and the target AP. In some examples, the first wireless device may transmit, to the target AP via the trigger request message, an indication of a network address of the serving AP to enable the target AP to confirm the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to enable the target AP to request the data communication context information from the serving AP. In some implementations, the first wireless device may transmit, via a field of the trigger request message, an indication to trigger the target AP to confirm the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to request the data communication context information. Further, in some examples, the first wireless device may trigger the target AP, via trigger request message, to obtain one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device via the data communication context information.

[0116] In some examples, the first wireless device may transmit, to the target AP via the trigger request message, a dialog token to associated the trigger request message with the first wireless device. In some other cases, the first wireless device may transmit, to the target AP via the trigger request message, an encrypted token that includes the dialog token. In some implementations, the target AP may perform a decryption procedure on the encrypted token using one or more securing tokensAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO46 resulting in the target AP obtaining a decrypted token. Further, in some examples, the first wireless device may transmit, to the target AP, a roaming request message that includes the trigger request message. Moreover, in some cases, the trigger request message may be a ML probe request message. Additionally, or alternatively, the trigger request message may be an unencrypted message.

[0117] At 410, the target AP may transmit, to the serving AP and based on receiving the trigger request message, a confirmation request message to request confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to request the data communication context information. In some examples, the target AP may transmit the confirmation request message to the serving AP based on reception of the network address of the serving AP within the trigger request message. Further, in some examples, the target AP may transmit, to the serving AP, an indication of a network address of the first wireless device.

[0118] At 415, the target AP may receive, from the serving AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message indicating whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both. In some implementations, in response to receiving the confirmation response message, the target AP may obtain one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device. For example, in some cases, the target AP may receive, from the serving AP, the one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device within the data communication context information. In some examples, the target AP also may receive, from the serving AP via the confirmation response message, an indication of whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP based on transmission of the network address of the first wireless device to the serving AP. In some examples, the indication of whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP is included within the confirmation response message may be based on whether the network address of the first wireless device is within a list of network addresses that are associated with the serving AP. Moreover, the target AP may obtain the one or more security tokens used in the decryption procedure to obtain the decrypted token based on receiving the confirmation request message.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO47

[0119] At 425, the target AP may transmit, to the first wireless device and prior to a trigger response message, a key generation request message of a security key generation procedure 420 associated with generation of the one or more security keys. For example, at 405, the first wireless device may trigger the target AP to initiate the security key generation procedure 420 in response to reception of the data communication context information, via the confirmation response message, to generate one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device. In some examples, the target AP also may transmit, via the key generation request message, an indication of whether the serving AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP.

[0120] At 430, the first wireless device may transmit, to the target AP, a key generation response message based on receiving the key generation request message. In some examples, if the key generation request message indicates confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, the first wireless device may transmit, via the key generation response message an indication of the one or more security keys based on the key generation request message indicating the confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP.

[0121] At 435, the target AP may transmit, to the first wireless device, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both. In some examples, the first wireless device may receive the trigger response message based on transmission of the indication of the one or more security keys to the target AP during the security key generation procedure 420. In some other cases, the transmission of the trigger response message may be based on the target AP receiving the one or more security keys within the data communication context information via the confirmation response message from the serving AP. In some implementations, the target AP may transmit, to the first wireless device via the trigger response message, the dialog token based on the trigger request message from the first wireless device including the dialog token. In some other implementations, the target AP may transmit, to the first wireless device via the trigger response message, a decrypted token based on performance of the decryption procedure on the encrypted token that includes the dialogAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO48 token being included in the trigger request message. For example, the trigger response message may include unencrypted information associated with the encrypted token. In some examples, the trigger response message may be a ML probe response message. Further, in some examples, the trigger response message may be encrypted based on the target AP obtaining the one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device. Thus, at 440, in response to receiving the trigger response message, the first wireless device may transmit, to the target AP, a roaming request message.

[0122] Figure 5 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device 500 that supports roaming techniques for unestablished APs within a common mobility domain. In some examples, the wireless communication device 500 is configured to perform the process 800 described with reference to Figure 8. The wireless communication device 500 may include one or more chips, SoCs, chipsets, packages, components or devices that individually or collectively constitute or include a processing system. The processing system may interface with other components of the wireless communication device 500, and may generally process information (such as inputs or signals) received from such other components and output information (such as outputs or signals) to such other components. In some aspects, an example chip may include a processing system, a first interface to output or transmit information and a second interface to receive or obtain information. For example, the first interface may refer to an interface between the processing system of the chip and a transmission component, such that the wireless communication device 500 may transmit the information output from the chip. In such an example, the second interface may refer to an interface between the processing system of the chip and a reception component, such that the wireless communication device 500 may receive information that is then passed to the processing system. In some such examples, the first interface also may obtain information, such as from the transmission component, and the second interface also may output information, such as to the reception component.

[0123] The processing system of the wireless communication device 500 includes processor (or “processing”) circuitry in the form of one or multiple processors, microprocessors, processing units (such as central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), neural processing units (NPUs) (also referred to as neural network processors or deep learning processors (DLPs)), or digital signal processorsAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO49(DSPs)), processing blocks, application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLDs) (such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)), or other discrete gate or transistor logic or circuitry (all of which may be generally referred to herein individually as “processors” or collectively as “the processor” or “the processor circuitry”). One or more of the processors may be individually or collectively configurable or configured to perform various functions or operations described herein. The processing system may further include memory circuitry in the form of one or more memory devices, memory blocks, memory elements or other discrete gate or transistor logic or circuitry, each of which may include tangible storage media such as randomaccess memory (RAM) or read-only memory (ROM), or combinations thereof (all of which may be generally referred to herein individually as “memories” or collectively as “the memory” or “the memory circuitry”). One or more of the memories may be coupled with one or more of the processors and may individually or collectively store processor-executable code that, when executed by one or more of the processors, may configure one or more of the processors to perform various functions or operations described herein. Additionally, or alternatively, in some examples, one or more of the processors may be preconfigured to perform various functions or operations described herein without requiring configuration by software. The processing system may further include or be coupled with one or more modems (such as a Wi-Fi (such as IEEE compliant) modem or a cellular (such as 3GPP 4G LTE, 5G or 6G compliant) modem). In some implementations, one or more processors of the processing system include or implement one or more of the modems. The processing system may further include or be coupled with multiple radios (collectively “the radio”), multiple RF chains or multiple transceivers, each of which may in turn be coupled with one or more of multiple antennas. In some implementations, one or more processors of the processing system include or implement one or more of the radios, RF chains or transceivers.

[0124] In some examples, the wireless communication device 500 can be configurable or configured for use in a STA, such as the STA 104 described with reference to Figure 1. In some other examples, the wireless communication device 500 can be a STA that includes such a processing system and other components including multiple antennas. The wireless communication device 500 is capable of transmitting and receiving wireless communications in the form of, for example, wireless packets.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO50For example, the wireless communication device 500 can be configurable or configured to transmit and receive packets in the form of physical layer PPDUs and MPDUs conforming to one or more of the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocol standards. In some other examples, the wireless communication device 500 can be configurable or configured to transmit and receive signals and communications conforming to one or more 3GPP specifications including those for 5G NR or 6G. In some examples, the wireless communication device 500 also includes or can be coupled with one or more application processors which may be further coupled with one or more other memories. In some examples, the wireless communication device 500 further includes a user interface (UI) (such as a touchscreen or keypad) and a display, which may be integrated with the UI to form a touchscreen display that is coupled with the processing system. In some examples, the wireless communication device 500 may further include one or more sensors such as, for example, one or more inertial sensors, accelerometers, temperature sensors, pressure sensors, or altitude sensors, that are coupled with the processing system.

[0125] The wireless communication device 500 includes a trigger request message transmitter 525, a trigger response message receiver 530, a roaming request message transmitter 535, a key generation request message receiver 540, and a key generation response message transmitter 545. Portions of one or more of the trigger request message transmitter 525, the trigger response message receiver 530, the roaming request message transmitter 535, the key generation request message receiver 540, and the key generation response message transmitter 545 may be implemented at least in part in hardware or firmware. For example, one or more of the trigger request message transmitter 525, the trigger response message receiver 530, the roaming request message transmitter 535, the key generation request message receiver 540, and the key generation response message transmitter 545 may be implemented at least in part by at least a processor or a modem. In some examples, portions of one or more of the trigger request message transmitter 525, the trigger response message receiver 530, the roaming request message transmitter 535, the key generation request message receiver 540, the key generation response message transmitter 545, and the MIC computation component 550 may be implemented at least in part by a processor and software in the form of processor-executable code stored in memory.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO51

[0126] The wireless communication device 500 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The trigger request message transmitter 525 is configurable or configured to transmit, to a target access point (AP), a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, the trigger request message being transmitted to the target AP based on the serving AP and the target AP being associated with a same mobility domain. The trigger response message receiver 530 is configurable or configured to receive, from the target AP, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

[0127] In some examples, the roaming request message transmitter 535 is configurable or configured to transmit, to the target AP, a roaming request message in response to reception of the trigger response message.

[0128] In some examples, the trigger request message transmitter 525 is configurable or configured to transmit, to the target AP via the trigger request message, an indication of a network address of the serving AP to enable the target AP to confirm the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to enable the target AP to request the data communication context information from the serving AP.

[0129] In some examples, the trigger request message transmitter 525 is configurable or configured to transmit, via a field of the trigger request message, an indication to trigger the target AP to confirm the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to request the data communication context information.

[0130] In some examples, to support transmitting the trigger request message, the trigger request message transmitter 525 is configurable or configured to trigger the target AP to obtain one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device via the data communication context information.

[0131] In some examples, to support transmitting the trigger request message, the trigger request message transmitter 525 is configurable or configured to trigger the target AP to initiate a security key generation procedure in response to reception of theAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO52 data communication context information to generate one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device. In some examples, to support transmitting the trigger request message, the key generation request message receiver 540 is configurable or configured to receive, from the target AP prior to the trigger response message, a key generation request message. In some examples, to support transmitting the trigger request message, the key generation response message transmitter 545 is configurable or configured to transmit, to the target AP, a key generation response message based on the key generation request message.

[0132] In some examples, the key generation request message indicates confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, and the key generation response message transmitter 545 is configurable or configured to transmit, via the key generation response message, an indication of the one or more security keys based on the key generation request message indicating the confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, where reception of the trigger response message is based on transmission of the indication of the one or more security keys to the target AP.

[0133] In some examples, the trigger request message transmitter 525 is configurable or configured to transmit, via the trigger request message, a dialog token to associate the trigger request message with the first wireless device, where the trigger response message is based on the dialog token.

[0134] In some examples, to support transmitting the dialog token, the trigger request message transmitter 525 is configurable or configured to transmit, via the trigger request message, an encrypted token including the dialog token, where the trigger response message includes unencrypted information associated with the encrypted token.

[0135] In some examples, to support transmitting the trigger request message, the trigger request message transmitter 525 is configurable or configured to transmit, to the target AP, a roaming request message that includes the trigger request message.

[0136] In some examples, the trigger request message is a multi-link probe request message, and the trigger response message is a multi-link probe response message.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO53

[0137] In some examples, the trigger request message is unencrypted and the trigger response message is encrypted.

[0138] In some examples, the MIC computation component 550 is configurable or configured to compute a message integrity code, where the trigger response message includes the message integrity code.

[0139] In some examples, to support computing the message integrity code, the MIC computation component 550 is configurable or configured to compute the message integrity code in accordance with a group security key and a random challenge, both the group security key and the random challenge being associated with both the serving AP and the target AP, where the message integrity code is encrypted based on the group security key and the random challenge.

[0140] In some examples, to support transmitting the trigger request message, the trigger request message transmitter 525 is configurable or configured to trigger the target AP to initiate a reassociation procedure between the serving AP and the first wireless device based on a disconnection between the first wireless device and the serving AP.

[0141] Figure 6 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device 600 that supports roaming techniques for unestablished APs within a common mobility domain. In some examples, the wireless communication device 600 is configured to perform the process 900 described with reference to Figure 9. The wireless communication device 600 may include one or more chips, SoCs, chipsets, packages, components or devices that individually or collectively constitute or include a processing system. The processing system may interface with other components of the wireless communication device 600, and may generally process information (such as inputs or signals) received from such other components and output information (such as outputs or signals) to such other components. In some aspects, an example chip may include a processing system, a first interface to output or transmit information and a second interface to receive or obtain information. For example, the first interface may refer to an interface between the processing system of the chip and a transmission component, such that the wireless communication device 600 may transmit the information output from the chip. In such an example, the second interface may refer toAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO54 an interface between the processing system of the chip and a reception component, such that the wireless communication device 600 may receive information that is then passed to the processing system. In some such examples, the first interface also may obtain information, such as from the transmission component, and the second interface also may output information, such as to the reception component.

[0142] The processing system of the wireless communication device 600 includes processor (or “processing”) circuitry in the form of one or multiple processors, microprocessors, processing units (such as central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), neural processing units (NPUs) (also referred to as neural network processors or deep learning processors (DLPs)), or digital signal processors (DSPs)), processing blocks, application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLDs) (such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)), or other discrete gate or transistor logic or circuitry (all of which may be generally referred to herein individually as “processors” or collectively as “the processor” or “the processor circuitry”). One or more of the processors may be individually or collectively configurable or configured to perform various functions or operations described herein. The processing system may further include memory circuitry in the form of one or more memory devices, memory blocks, memory elements or other discrete gate or transistor logic or circuitry, each of which may include tangible storage media such as randomaccess memory (RAM) or read-only memory (ROM), or combinations thereof (all of which may be generally referred to herein individually as “memories” or collectively as “the memory” or “the memory circuitry”). One or more of the memories may be coupled with one or more of the processors and may individually or collectively store processor-executable code that, when executed by one or more of the processors, may configure one or more of the processors to perform various functions or operations described herein. Additionally, or alternatively, in some examples, one or more of the processors may be preconfigured to perform various functions or operations described herein without requiring configuration by software. The processing system may further include or be coupled with one or more modems (such as a Wi-Fi (such as IEEE compliant) modem or a cellular (such as 3GPP 4G LTE, 5G or 6G compliant) modem). In some implementations, one or more processors of the processing system include or implement one or more of the modems. The processing system may further include orAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO55 be coupled with multiple radios (collectively “the radio”), multiple RF chains or multiple transceivers, each of which may in turn be coupled with one or more of multiple antennas. In some implementations, one or more processors of the processing system include or implement one or more of the radios, RF chains or transceivers.

[0143] In some examples, the wireless communication device 600 can be configurable or configured for use in an AP, such as the AP 102 described with reference to Figure 1. In some other examples, the wireless communication device 600 can be an AP that includes such a processing system and other components including multiple antennas. The wireless communication device 600 is capable of transmitting and receiving wireless communications in the form of, for example, wireless packets. For example, the wireless communication device 600 can be configurable or configured to transmit and receive packets in the form of physical layer PPDUs and MPDUs conforming to one or more of the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocol standards. In some other examples, the wireless communication device 600 can be configurable or configured to transmit and receive signals and communications conforming to one or more 3GPP specifications including those for 5G NR or 6G. In some examples, the wireless communication device 600 also includes or can be coupled with one or more application processors which may be further coupled with one or more other memories. In some examples, the wireless communication device 600 further includes at least one external network interface coupled with the processing system that enables communication with a core network or backhaul network that enables the wireless communication device 600 to gain access to external networks including the Internet.

[0144] The wireless communication device 600 includes a trigger request message receiver 625, a confirmation request message transmitter 630, a confirmation response message receiver 635, a trigger response message transmitter 640, a security key acquisition component 645, a roaming request message receiver 650, a key generation request message transmitter 655, a key generation response message receiver 660, and a token decryption component 665. Portions of one or more of the trigger request message receiver 625, the confirmation request message transmitter 630, the confirmation response message receiver 635, the trigger response message transmitter 640, the security key acquisition component 645, the roaming request message receiverAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO56650, the key generation request message transmitter 655, the key generation response message receiver 660, and the token decryption component 665 may be implemented at least in part in hardware or firmware. For example, one or more of the trigger request message receiver 625, the confirmation request message transmitter 630, the confirmation response message receiver 635, the trigger response message transmitter 640, the security key acquisition component 645, the roaming request message receiver 650, the key generation request message transmitter 655, the key generation response message receiver 660, and the token decryption component 665 may be implemented at least in part by at least a processor or a modem. In some examples, portions of one or more of the trigger request message receiver 625, the confirmation request message transmitter 630, the confirmation response message receiver 635, the trigger response message transmitter 640, the security key acquisition component 645, the roaming request message receiver 650, the key generation request message transmitter 655, the key generation response message receiver 660, and the token decryption component 665 may be implemented at least in part by a processor and software in the form of processor-executable code stored in memory.

[0145] The wireless communication device 600 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The trigger request message receiver 625 is configurable or configured to receive, from a first wireless device, a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP that is associated with a same mobility domain as the target AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device. The confirmation request message transmitter 630 is configurable or configured to transmit, to the serving AP, a confirmation request message to request confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to request the data communication context information based on the trigger request message. The confirmation response message receiver 635 is configurable or configured to receive, from the serving AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message indicating whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both. The trigger response message transmitter 640 is configurable or configured to transmit, to the first wirelessAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO57 device, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

[0146] In some examples, the trigger request message receiver 625 is configurable or configured to receive, via the trigger request message, an indication of a network address of the serving AP, where transmission of the confirmation request message is based on reception of the network address of the serving AP.

[0147] In some examples, the security key acquisition component 645 is configurable or configured to obtain, in response to reception of the confirmation response message, one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device.

[0148] In some examples, to support obtaining the one or more security keys, the security key acquisition component 645 is configurable or configured to receive, from the serving AP, the one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device within the data communication context information, where transmission of the trigger response message is based on reception of the one or more security keys.

[0149] In some examples, to support obtaining the one or more security keys, the key generation request message transmitter 655 is configurable or configured to transmit, to the first wireless device, a key generation request message of a security key generation procedure associated with generation of the one or more security keys. In some examples, to support obtaining the one or more security keys, the key generation response message receiver 660 is configurable or configured to receive, from the first wireless device, a key generation response message based on reception of the key generation request message.

[0150] In some examples, to support transmitting the key generation request message, the key generation request message transmitter 655 is configurable or configured to transmit, via the key generation request message, an indication of whether the serving AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP. In some examples, to support transmitting the key generation request message, the key generation response message receiver 660 is configurable or configured to receive, via the key generation response message, the one or more security keys based on theAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO58 indication including an indication that the serving AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, where transmission of the trigger response message is based on reception of the one or more security keys via the key generation response message.

[0151] In some examples, the trigger request message is unencrypted and the trigger response message is encrypted based on the one or more security keys being obtained.

[0152] In some examples, transmitting, to the serving AP, an indication of a network address of the first wireless device. In some examples, receiving, from the serving AP via the confirmation response message, an indication of whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP based on transmission of the network address of the first wireless device to the serving AP.

[0153] In some examples, the trigger request message receiver 625 is configurable or configured to receive, via the trigger request message, a dialog token that is associated with the first wireless device for inclusion in the trigger response message. In some examples, the trigger response message transmitter 640 is configurable or configured to transmit, to the first wireless device via the trigger response message, the dialog token based on the trigger request message from the first wireless device including the dialog token.

[0154] In some examples, to support receiving the dialog token, the trigger request message receiver 625 is configurable or configured to receive, from the first wireless device via the trigger request message, an encrypted token including the dialog token. In some examples, to support receiving the dialog token, the token decryption component 665 is configurable or configured to perform a decryption procedure on the encrypted token using one or more security tokens resulting in obtaining a decrypted token, where the one or more security tokens are obtained based on the confirmation request message. In some examples, to support receiving the dialog token, the trigger response message transmitter 640 is configurable or configured to transmit, to the first wireless device via the trigger response message, the decrypted token based on performance of the decryption procedure on the encrypted token.

[0155] In some examples, to support receiving the trigger request message, the trigger request message receiver 625 is configurable or configured to receive, from theAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO59 first wireless device, a roaming request message that includes the trigger request message.

[0156] In some examples, the trigger response message indicates a confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, and the roaming request message receiver 650 is configurable or configured to receive, from the first wireless device and in response to the trigger response message, a roaming request message.

[0157] In some examples, the trigger request message is a multi-link probe request message, and the trigger response message is a multi-link probe response message.

[0158] In some examples, the serving AP and the target AP being associated with the same mobility domain is based on a seamless mobility domain (SMD) multi-link device (MLD) AP including both the serving AP and the target AP.

[0159] Figure 7 shows a block diagram of an wireless communication device 720 that supports roaming techniques for unestablished APs within a common mobility domain. The wireless communication device 720 may be an example of aspects of an AP as described with reference to Figures 2 through 4. The AP 720, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of roaming techniques for unestablished APs within a common mobility domain as described herein. For example, the AP 720 may include a confirmation request message receiver 725 a confirmation response message transmitter 730, or any combination thereof. Each of these components, or components or subcomponents thereof (such as one or more processors, one or more memories), may communicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (such as via one or more buses).

[0160] The wireless communication device 700 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The confirmation request message receiver 725 is configurable or configured to receive, from a target AP, a confirmation request message that requests confirmation of an association of a first wireless device with the serving AP and that requests data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, where the serving AP and the target AP are associated with a same mobility domain. The confirmation response message transmitter 730 is configurable or configured to transmit, to the target AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message thatAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO60 indicates whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

[0161] In some examples, to support transmitting the confirmation response message, the confirmation response message transmitter 730 is configurable or configured to transmit, to the target AP, one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device via the confirmation response message.

[0162] In some examples, to support receiving the confirmation request message, the confirmation request message receiver 725 is configurable or configured to receive, from the target AP, an indication of a network address of the first wireless device. In some examples, to support receiving the confirmation request message, the confirmation response message transmitter 730 is configurable or configured to transmit, to the target AP via the confirmation response message, an indication of whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP based on reception of the network address of the first wireless device.

[0163] In some examples, the indication of whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP is included within the confirmation response message is based on whether the network address of the first wireless device is within a list of network addresses that are associated with the serving AP.

[0164] In some examples, the serving AP and the target AP being associated with the same mobility domain is based on a seamless mobility domain (SMD) multi-link device (MLD) AP including both the serving AP and the target AP.

[0165] Figure 8 shows a flowchart illustrating an example process 800 performable by or at a first wireless device that supports roaming techniques for unestablished APs within a common mobility domain. The operations of the process 800 may be implemented by a first wireless device or its components as described herein. For example, the process 800 may be performed by a wireless communication device, such as the wireless communication device 500 described with reference to Figure 5, operating as or within a wireless STA. In some examples, the process 800 may be performed by a wireless STA, such as one of the STAs 104 described with reference to Figure 1.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO61

[0166] In some examples, in 805, the first wireless device may transmit, to a target AP, a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, the trigger request message being transmitted to the target AP based on the serving AP and the target AP being associated with a same mobility domain. The operations of 805 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 805 may be performed by a trigger request message transmitter 525 as described with reference to Figure 5.

[0167] In some examples, in 810, the first wireless device may receive, from the target AP, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both. The operations of 810 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 810 may be performed by a trigger response message receiver 530 as described with reference to Figure 5.

[0168] Figure 9 shows a flowchart illustrating an example process 900 performable by or at a target AP that supports roaming techniques for unestablished APs within a common mobility domain. The operations of the process 900 may be implemented by a target AP or its components as described herein. For example, the process 900 may be performed by a wireless communication device, such as the wireless communication device 600 described with reference to Figure 6, operating as or within a wireless AP. In some examples, the process 900 may be performed by a wireless AP, such as one of the APs 102 described with reference to Figure 1.

[0169] In some examples, in 905, the target AP may receive, from a first wireless device, a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP that is associated with a same mobility domain as the target AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device. The operations of 905 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 905 may be performed by a trigger request message receiver 625 as described with reference to Figure 6.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO62

[0170] In some examples, in 910, the target AP may transmit, to the serving AP, a confirmation request message to request confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to request the data communication context information based on the trigger request message. The operations of 910 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 910 may be performed by a confirmation request message transmitter 630 as described with reference to Figure 6.

[0171] In some examples, in 915, the target AP may receive, from the serving AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message indicating whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both. The operations of 915 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 915 may be performed by a confirmation response message receiver 635 as described with reference to Figure 6.

[0172] In some examples, in 920, the target AP may transmit, to the first wireless device, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both. The operations of 920 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 920 may be performed by a trigger response message transmitter 640 as described with reference to Figure 6.

[0173] Figure 10 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1000 that supports roaming techniques for unestablished APs within a common mobility domain. The operations of the method 1000 may be implemented by an AP or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1000 may be performed by an AP as described with reference to Figures 2 through 4 and 7. In some examples, an AP may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the AP to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the AP may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO63

[0174] At 1005, the method may include receiving, from a target AP, a confirmation request message that requests confirmation of an association of a first wireless device with the serving AP and that requests data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, where the serving AP and the target AP are associated with a same mobility domain. The operations of 1005 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1005 may be performed by a confirmation request message receiver 725 as described with reference to Figure 7.

[0175] At 1010, the method may include transmitting, to the target AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message that indicates whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both. The operations of 1010 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1010 may be performed by a confirmation response message transmitter 730 as described with reference to Figure 7.

[0176] The following provides an overview of aspects of the present disclosure:

[0177] Aspect 1 : A method for wireless communications by a first wireless device, comprising: transmitting, to a target AP, a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, the trigger request message being transmitted to the target AP based at least in part on the serving AP and the target AP being associated with a same mobility domain; and receiving, from the target AP, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

[0178] Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, further comprising: transmitting, to the target AP, a roaming request message in response to reception of the trigger response message.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO64

[0179] Aspect 3: The method of any of aspects 1 through 2, further comprising: transmitting, to the target AP via the trigger request message, an indication of a network address of the serving AP to enable the target AP to confirm the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to enable the target AP to request the data communication context information from the serving AP.

[0180] Aspect 4: The method of any of aspects 1 through 3, further comprising: transmitting, via a field of the trigger request message, an indication to trigger the target AP to confirm the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to request the data communication context information.

[0181] Aspect 5: The method of any of aspects 1 through 4, wherein transmitting the trigger request message comprises: triggering the target AP to obtain one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device via the data communication context information.

[0182] Aspect 6: The method of any of aspects 1 through 4, wherein transmitting the trigger request message comprises: triggering the target AP to initiate a security key generation procedure in response to reception of the data communication context information to generate one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device; receiving, from the target AP prior to the trigger response message, a key generation request message; and transmitting, to the target AP, a key generation response message based at least in part on the key generation request message.

[0183] Aspect 7: The method of aspect 6, wherein the key generation request message indicates confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, the method further comprising: transmitting, via the key generation response message, an indication of the one or more security keys based at least in part on the key generation request message indicating the confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, wherein reception of the trigger response message is based at least in part on transmission of the indication of the one or more security keys to the target AP.

[0184] Aspect 8: The method of any of aspects 1 through 7, further comprising: transmitting, via the trigger request message, a dialog token to associate the triggerAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO65 request message with the first wireless device, wherein the trigger response message is based at least in part on the dialog token.

[0185] Aspect 9: The method of aspect 8, wherein transmitting the dialog token comprises: transmitting, via the trigger request message, an encrypted token comprising the dialog token, wherein the trigger response message comprises unencrypted information associated with the encrypted token.

[0186] Aspect 10: The method of any of aspects 1 and 3 through 9, wherein transmitting the trigger request message comprises: transmitting, to the target AP, a roaming request message that comprises the trigger request message.

[0187] Aspect 11 : The method of any of aspects 1 through 10, wherein the trigger request message is a multi-link probe request message, and the trigger response message is a multi-link probe response message.

[0188] Aspect 12: The method of any of aspects 1 through 11, wherein the trigger request message is unencrypted and the trigger response message is encrypted.

[0189] Aspect 13: The method of any of aspects 1 through 12, further comprising: computing a message integrity code, wherein the trigger response message comprises the message integrity code.

[0190] Aspect 14: The method of aspect 13, wherein computing the message integrity code comprises: computing the message integrity code in accordance with a group security key and a random challenge, both the group security key and the random challenge being associated with both the serving AP and the target AP, wherein the message integrity code is encrypted based at least in part on the group security key and the random challenge.

[0191] Aspect 15: The method of any of aspects 1 through 14, wherein transmitting the trigger request message comprises: triggering the target AP to initiate a reassociation procedure between the serving AP and the first wireless device based at least in part on a disconnection between the first wireless device and the serving AP.

[0192] Aspect 16: A method for wireless communications by a target AP, comprising: receiving, from a first wireless device, a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP that isAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO66 associated with a same mobility domain as the target AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device; transmitting, to the serving AP, a confirmation request message to request confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to request the data communication context information based at least in part on the trigger request message; receiving, from the serving AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message indicating whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both; and transmitting, to the first wireless device, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

[0193] Aspect 17: The method of aspect 16, further comprising: receiving, via the trigger request message, an indication of a network address of the serving AP, wherein transmission of the confirmation request message is based at least in part on reception of the network address of the serving AP.

[0194] Aspect 18: The method of any of aspects 16 through 17, further comprising: obtaining, in response to reception of the confirmation response message, one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device.

[0195] Aspect 19: The method of aspect 18, wherein obtaining the one or more security keys comprises: receiving, from the serving AP, the one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device within the data communication context information, wherein transmission of the trigger response message is based at least in part on reception of the one or more security keys.

[0196] Aspect 20: The method of aspect 18, wherein obtaining the one or more security keys comprises: transmitting, to the first wireless device, a key generation request message of a security key generation procedure associated with generation of the one or more security keys; and receiving, from the first wireless device, a key generation response message based at least in part on reception of the key generation request message.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO67

[0197] Aspect 21 : The method of aspect 20, wherein transmitting the key generation request message comprises: transmitting, via the key generation request message, an indication of whether the serving AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP; and receiving, via the key generation response message, the one or more security keys based at least in part on the indication comprising an indication that the serving AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, wherein transmission of the trigger response message is based at least in part on reception of the one or more security keys via the key generation response message.

[0198] Aspect 22: The method of any of aspects 18 through 21, wherein the trigger request message is unencrypted and the trigger response message is encrypted based at least in part on the one or more security keys being obtained.

[0199] Aspect 23: The method of any of aspects 16 through 22, wherein transmitting the confirmation request message transmitting, to the serving AP, an indication of a network address of the first wireless device; and receiving, from the serving AP via the confirmation response message, an indication of whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP based at least in part on transmission of the network address of the first wireless device to the serving AP.

[0200] Aspect 24: The method of any of aspects 16 through 23, further comprising: receiving, via the trigger request message, a dialog token that is associated with the first wireless device for inclusion in the trigger response message; and transmitting, to the first wireless device via the trigger response message, the dialog token based at least in part on the trigger request message from the first wireless device including the dialog token.

[0201] Aspect 25: The method of aspect 24, wherein receiving the dialog token comprises: receiving, from the first wireless device via the trigger request message, an encrypted token comprising the dialog token; performing a decryption procedure on the encrypted token using one or more security tokens resulting in obtaining a decrypted token, wherein the one or more security tokens are obtained based at least in part on the confirmation request message; and transmitting, to the first wireless device via theAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO68 trigger response message, the decrypted token based at least in part on performance of the decryption procedure on the encrypted token.

[0202] Aspect 26: The method of aspect 16, wherein receiving the trigger request message comprises: receiving, from the first wireless device, a roaming request message that comprises the trigger request message.

[0203] Aspect 27: The method of any of aspects 16 through 26, wherein the trigger response message indicates a confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, the method further comprising: receiving, from the first wireless device and in response to the trigger response message, a roaming request message.

[0204] Aspect 28: The method of any of aspects 16 through 27, wherein the trigger request message is a multi-link probe request message, and the trigger response message is a multi-link probe response message.

[0205] Aspect 29: The method of any of aspects 16 through 28, wherein the serving AP and the target AP being associated with the same mobility domain is based at least in part on a seamless mobility domain (SMD) multi-link device (MLD) AP comprising both the serving AP and the target AP.

[0206] Aspect 30: A method for wireless communications by a serving AP, comprising: receiving, from a target AP, a confirmation request message that requests confirmation of an association of a first wireless device with the serving AP and that requests data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, where the serving AP and the target AP are associated with a same mobility domain; and transmitting, to the target AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message that indicates whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

[0207] Aspect 31 : The method of aspect 30, wherein transmitting the confirmation response message comprises: transmitting, to the target AP, one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device via the confirmation response message.

[0208] Aspect 32: The method of any of aspects 30 through 31, wherein receiving the confirmation request message comprises: receiving, from the target AP, anAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO69 indication of a network address of the first wireless device, and transmitting, to the target AP via the confirmation response message, an indication of whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP based at least in part on reception of the network address of the first wireless device.

[0209] Aspect 33 : The method of aspect 32, wherein the indication of whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP is included within the confirmation response message is based at least in part on whether the network address of the first wireless device is within a list of network addresses that are associated with the serving AP.

[0210] Aspect 34: The method of any of aspects 30 through 33, wherein the serving AP and the target AP being associated with the same mobility domain is based at least in part on a seamless mobility domain (SMD) multi-link device (MLD) AP comprising both the serving AP and the target AP.

[0211] Aspect 35: A first wireless device for wireless communications, comprising one or more memories storing processor-executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the first wireless device to perform a method of any of aspects 1 through 15.

[0212] Aspect 36: A first wireless device for wireless communications, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 1 through 15.

[0213] Aspect 37: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications, the code comprising instructions executable by one or more processors to perform a method of any of aspects 1 through 15.

[0214] Aspect 38: A target AP for wireless communications, comprising one or more memories storing processor-executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the target AP to perform a method of any of aspects 16 through 29.

[0215] Aspect 39: A target AP for wireless communications, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 16 through 29.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO70

[0216] Aspect 40: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications, the code comprising instructions executable by one or more processors to perform a method of any of aspects 16 through 29.

[0217] Aspect 41 : A serving AP for wireless communications, comprising one or more memories storing processor-executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the serving AP to perform a method of any of aspects 30 through 34.

[0218] Aspect 42: A serving AP for wireless communications, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 30 through 34.

[0219] Aspect 43 : A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications, the code comprising instructions executable by one or more processors to perform a method of any of aspects 30 through 34.

[0220] As used herein, the term “determine” or “determining” encompasses a wide variety of actions and, therefore, “determining” can include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, estimating, investigating, looking up (such as via looking up in a table, a database, or another data structure), inferring, ascertaining, or measuring, among other possibilities. Also, “determining” can include receiving (such as receiving information), accessing (such as accessing data stored in memory) or transmitting (such as transmitting information), among other possibilities. Additionally, “determining” can include resolving, selecting, obtaining, choosing, establishing and other such similar actions.

[0221] As used herein, a phrase referring to “at least one of’ or “one or more of’ a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c. As used herein, “or” is intended to be interpreted in the inclusive sense, unless otherwise explicitly indicated. For example, “a or b” may include a only, b only, or a combination of a and b. Furthermore, as used herein, a phrase referring to “a” or “an” element refers to one or more of such elements acting individually or collectively to perform the recited function(s). Additionally, a “set” refers to one or more items, and a “subset” refers to less than a whole set, but non-empty.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO71

[0222] As used herein, “based on” is intended to be interpreted in the inclusive sense, unless otherwise explicitly indicated. For example, “based on” may be used interchangeably with “based at least in part on,” “associated with,” “in association with,” or “in accordance with” unless otherwise explicitly indicated. Specifically, unless a phrase refers to “based on only ‘a,’” or the equivalent in context, whatever it is that is “based on ‘a,’” or “based at least in part on ‘a,’” may be based on “a” alone or based on a combination of “a” and one or more other factors, conditions, or information.

[0223] The various illustrative components, logic, logical blocks, modules, circuits, operations, and algorithm processes described in connection with the examples disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, firmware, software, or combinations of hardware, firmware, or software, including the structures disclosed in this specification and the structural equivalents thereof. The interchangeability of hardware, firmware and software has been described generally, in terms of functionality, and illustrated in the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits and processes described above. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware, firmware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0224] Various modifications to the examples described in this disclosure may be readily apparent to persons having ordinary skill in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other examples without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the examples shown herein, but are to be accorded the widest scope consistent with this disclosure, the principles and the novel features disclosed herein.

[0225] Additionally, various features that are described in this specification in the context of separate examples also can be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation also can be implemented in multiple examples separately or in any suitable subcombination. As such, although features may be described above as acting in particular combinations, and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO72

[0226] Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. Further, the drawings may schematically depict one or more example processes in the form of a flowchart or flow diagram. However, other operations that are not depicted can be incorporated in the example processes that are schematically illustrated. For example, one or more additional operations can be performed before, after, simultaneously, or between any of the illustrated operations. In some circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.Moreover, the separation of various system components in the examples described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all examples, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)

Claims

Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO73CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A first wireless device, comprising: a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code, the processing system configured to cause the first wireless device to: transmit, to a target access point (AP), a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, the trigger request message being transmitted to the target AP based at least in part on the serving AP and the target AP being associated with a same mobility domain; and receive, from the target AP, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

2. The first wireless device of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless device to: transmit, to the target AP, a roaming request message in response to reception of the trigger response message.

3. The first wireless device of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless device to: transmit, to the target AP via the trigger request message, an indication of a network address of the serving AP to enable the target AP to confirm the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to enable the target AP to request the data communication context information from the serving AP.

4. The first wireless device of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless device to:Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO74 transmit, via a field of the trigger request message, an indication to trigger the target AP to confirm the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to request the data communication context information.

5. The first wireless device of claim 1, wherein, to transmit the trigger request message, the processing system is configured to cause the first wireless device to: trigger the target AP to obtain one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device via the data communication context information.

6. The first wireless device of claim 1, wherein, to transmit the trigger request message, the processing system is configured to cause the first wireless device to: trigger the target AP to initiate a security key generation procedure in response to reception of the data communication context information to generate one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device; receive, from the target AP prior to the trigger response message, a key generation request message; and transmit, to the target AP, a key generation response message based at least in part on the key generation request message.

7. The first wireless device of claim 6, wherein the key generation request message indicates confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, and the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless device to: transmit, via the key generation response message, an indication of the one or more security keys based at least in part on the key generation request message indicating the confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, wherein reception of the trigger response message is based at least in part on transmission of the indication of the one or more security keys to the target AP.

8. The first wireless device of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless device to:Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO75 transmit, via the trigger request message, a dialog token to associate the trigger request message with the first wireless device, wherein the trigger response message includes the dialog token.

9. The first wireless device of claim 8, wherein, to transmit the dialog token, the processing system is configured to cause the first wireless device to: transmit, via the trigger request message, an encrypted token comprising the dialog token, wherein the trigger response message comprises unencrypted information associated with the encrypted token.

10. The first wireless device of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless device to: compute a message integrity code, wherein the trigger response message comprises the message integrity code.

11. The first wireless device of claim 10, wherein, to compute the message integrity code, the processing system is configured to cause the first wireless device to: compute the message integrity code in accordance with a group security key and a random challenge, both the group security key and the random challenge being associated with both the serving AP and the target AP, wherein the message integrity code is encrypted based at least in part on the group security key and the random challenge.

12. The first wireless device of claim 1, wherein, to transmit the trigger request message, the processing system is configured to cause the first wireless device to: trigger the target AP to initiate a reassociation procedure between the serving AP and the first wireless device based at least in part on a disconnection between the first wireless device and the serving AP.

13. The first wireless device of claim 1, wherein, to transmit the trigger request message, the processing system is configured to cause the first wireless device to:Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO76 transmit, to the target AP, a roaming request message that comprises the trigger request message.

14. The first wireless device of claim 1, wherein the trigger request message is a multi-link probe request message, and the trigger response message is a multi-link probe response message.

15. The first wireless device of claim 1, wherein the trigger request message is unencrypted and the trigger response message is encrypted.

16. A target access point (AP), comprising: a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code, the processing system configured to cause the target AP to: receive, from a first wireless device, a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP that is associated with a same mobility domain as the target AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device; transmit, to the serving AP, a confirmation request message to request confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to request the data communication context information based at least in part on the trigger request message; receive, from the serving AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message indicating whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both; and transmit, to the first wireless device, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

17. The target AP of claim 16, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the target AP to:Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO77 receive, via the trigger request message, an indication of a network address of the serving AP, wherein transmission of the confirmation request message is based at least in part on reception of the network address of the serving AP.

18. The target AP of claim 16, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the target AP to: obtain, in response to reception of the confirmation response message, one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device.

19. The target AP of claim 18, wherein, to obtain the one or more security keys, the processing system is configured to cause the target AP to: receive, from the serving AP, the one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device within the data communication context information, wherein transmission of the trigger response message is based at least in part on reception of the one or more security keys.

20. The target AP of claim 18, wherein, to obtain the one or more security keys, the processing system is configured to cause the target AP to: transmit, to the first wireless device, a key generation request message of a security key generation procedure associated with generation of the one or more security keys; and receive, from the first wireless device, a key generation response message based at least in part on reception of the key generation request message.

21. The target AP of claim 20, wherein, to transmit the key generation request message, the processing system is configured to cause the target AP to: transmit, via the key generation request message, an indication of whether the serving AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP; and receive, via the key generation response message, the one or more security keys based at least in part on the indication comprising an indication that the serving AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, whereinAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO78 transmission of the trigger response message is based at least in part on reception of the one or more security keys via the key generation response message.

22. The target AP of claim 18, wherein the trigger request message is unencrypted and the trigger response message is encrypted based at least in part on the one or more security keys being obtained.

23. The target AP of claim 16, wherein: transmitting, to the serving AP, an indication of a network address of the first wireless device; and receiving, from the serving AP via the confirmation response message, an indication of whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP based at least in part on transmission of the network address of the first wireless device to the serving AP.

24. The target AP of claim 16, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the target AP to: receive, via the trigger request message, a dialog token that is associated with the first wireless device for inclusion in the trigger response message; and transmit, to the first wireless device via the trigger response message, the dialog token based at least in part on the trigger request message from the first wireless device including the dialog token.

25. The target AP of claim 24, wherein, to receive the dialog token, the processing system is configured to cause the target AP to: receive, from the first wireless device via the trigger request message, an encrypted token comprising the dialog token; perform a decryption procedure on the encrypted token using one or more security tokens resulting in obtaining a decrypted token, wherein the one or more security tokens are obtained based at least in part on the confirmation request message; and transmit, to the first wireless device via the trigger response message, the decrypted token based at least in part on performance of the decryption procedure on the encrypted token.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO7926. The target AP of claim 16, wherein, to receive the trigger request message, the processing system is configured to cause the target AP to: receive, from the first wireless device, a roaming request message that comprises the trigger request message.

27. The target AP of claim 16, wherein the trigger response message indicates a confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, and the processing system is further configured to cause the target AP to: receive, from the first wireless device and in response to the trigger response message, a roaming request message.

28. The target AP of claim 16, wherein the trigger request message is a multi-link probe request message, and the trigger response message is a multi-link probe response message.

29. The target AP of claim 16, wherein the serving AP and the target AP being associated with the same mobility domain is based at least in part on a seamless mobility domain (SMD) multi-link device (MLD) AP comprising both the serving AP and the target AP.

30. A serving access point (AP), comprising: a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code, the processing system configured to cause the serving AP to: receive, from a target AP, a confirmation request message that requests confirmation of an association of a first wireless device with the serving AP and that requests data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, where the serving AP and the target AP are associated with a same mobility domain; and transmit, to the target AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message that indicates whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO8031. The serving AP of claim 30, wherein, to transmit the confirmation response message, the processing system is configured to cause the serving AP to: transmit, to the target AP, one or more security keys associated with the first wireless device via the confirmation response message.

32. The serving AP of claim 30, wherein, to receive the confirmation request message, the processing system is configured to cause the serving AP to: receive, from the target AP, an indication of a network address of the first wireless device, and transmit, to the target AP via the confirmation response message, an indication of whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP based at least in part on reception of the network address of the first wireless device.

33. The serving AP of claim 32, wherein the indication of whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP is included within the confirmation response message is based at least in part on whether the network address of the first wireless device is within a list of network addresses that are associated with the serving AP.

34. The serving AP of claim 30, wherein the serving AP and the target AP being associated with the same mobility domain is based at least in part on a seamless mobility domain (SMD) multi-link device (MLD) AP comprising both the serving AP and the target AP.

35. A method for wireless communications by a first wireless device, comprising: transmitting, to a target access point (AP), a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, the trigger request message being transmitted to the target AP based at least in part on the serving AP and the target AP being associated with a same mobility domain; andAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO81 receiving, from the target AP, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

36. A method for wireless communications by a target access point (AP), comprising: receiving, from a first wireless device, a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP that is associated with a same mobility domain as the target AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device; transmitting, to the serving AP, a confirmation request message to request confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to request the data communication context information based at least in part on the trigger request message; receiving, from the serving AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message indicating whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both; and transmitting, to the first wireless device, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

37. A method for wireless communications by a serving access point (AP), comprising: receiving, from a target AP, a confirmation request message that requests confirmation of an association of a first wireless device with the serving AP and that requests data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, where the serving AP and the target AP are associated with a same mobility domain; and transmitting, to the target AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message that indicates whether the first wirelessAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO82 device is associated with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

38. A first wireless device for wireless communications, comprising: means for transmitting, to a target access point (AP), a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, the trigger request message being transmitted to the target AP based at least in part on the serving AP and the target AP being associated with a same mobility domain; and means for receiving, from the target AP, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

39. A target access point (AP) for wireless communications, comprising: means for receiving, from a first wireless device, a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP that is associated with a same mobility domain as the target AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device; means for transmitting, to the serving AP, a confirmation request message to request confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to request the data communication context information based at least in part on the trigger request message; means for receiving, from the serving AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message indicating whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both; and means for transmitting, to the first wireless device, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO8340. A serving access point (AP) for wireless communications, comprising: means for receiving, from a target AP, a confirmation request message that requests confirmation of an association of a first wireless device with the serving AP and that requests data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, where the serving AP and the target AP are associated with a same mobility domain; and means for transmitting, to the target AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message that indicates whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

41. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications, the code comprising instructions executable by one or more processors to: transmit, to a target access point (AP), a trigger request message to trigger the target AP to confirm association of a first wireless device with a serving AP and to request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, the trigger request message being transmitted to the target AP based at least in part on the serving AP and the target AP being associated with a same mobility domain; and receive, from the target AP, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

42. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications, the code comprising instructions executable by one or more processors to: receive, from a first wireless device, a trigger request message to trigger a target access point (AP) to confirm association of the first wireless device with a serving AP that is associated with a same mobility domain as the target AP and toAttorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)Qualcomm Docket No. 2407287WO84 request data communication context information associated with the first wireless device; transmit, to the serving AP, a confirmation request message to request confirmation of the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP and to request the data communication context information based at least in part on the trigger request message; receive, from the serving AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message indicating whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both; and transmit, to the first wireless device, a trigger response message indicating whether the target AP confirmed the association of the first wireless device with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.

43. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications, the code comprising instructions executable by one or more processors to: receive, from a target AP, a confirmation request message that requests confirmation of an association of a first wireless device with a serving access point (AP) and that requests data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, where the serving AP and the target AP are associated with a same mobility domain; and transmit, to the target AP in response to the confirmation request message, a confirmation response message that indicates whether the first wireless device is associated with the serving AP, whether the target AP acquired the data communication context information associated with the first wireless device, or both.Attorney Docket No. PW804IN.WO (83043. TBD)

Images