Channel access in coordinated spatial reuse

Abstract

This disclosure provides methods, components, devices and systems for channel access in coordinated spatial reuse. Some aspects more specifically relate to a shared access point (AP) ignoring the network allocation vectors (NAVs) indicated by transmissions from the sharing AP and the other shared APs during a shared transmission opportunity (TXOP). In some examples, the shared AP may ignore the NAVs indicated by transmissions from the sharing AP and the other shared APs during the shared TXOP in association with the control message transmitted by the sharing AP indicating that the TXOP is designated for spatial reuse also may indicate a transmit power backoff. Various aspects relate to the application of the transmit power backoff and the transmission schedule indicated by the control message for the duration of the shared TXOP by a shared AP. Various aspects relate to handling transmission by a shared AP during overlapping shared TXOPs.

Description

CHANNEL ACCESS IN COORDINATED SPATIAL REUSETECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] This disclosure relates generally to wireless communication and, more specifically, to channel access in coordinated spatial reuse.DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED TECHNOLOGY

[0002] 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 compatibility (such as supporting communication with wireless communication devices compatible with next-generation wireless communication standards).SUMMARY

[0003] 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.

[0004] One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communications by a first access point (AP). The method may include receiving, from a second AP, a control message that indicatesa transmission opportunity (TXOP) designated for spatial reuse, the control message including a transmission schedule for the second AP and one or more shared APs during the TXOP, the one or more shared APs including the first AP, and the control message indicating to ignore a network allocation vector (NAV) update associated with the second AP or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP; and transmitting a data message during the TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule and in accordance with the control message indicating to ignore the NAV update associated with the first AP or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP.

[0005] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in an apparatus for wireless communications at a first AP. The apparatus may include a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code. The processing system may be configured to cause the apparatus to receive, from a second AP, a control message that indicates a TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the control message including a transmission schedule for the second AP and one or more shared APs during the TXOP, the one or more shared APs including the first AP, and the control message indicating to ignore a NAV update associated with the second AP or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP; and transmit a data message during the TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule and in accordance with the control message indicating to ignore the NAV update associated with the first AP or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP.

[0006] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a first AP for wireless communications. The first AP may include means for receiving, from a second AP, a control message that indicates a TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the control message including a transmission schedule for the second AP and one or more shared APs during the TXOP, the one or more shared APs including the first AP, and the control message indicating to ignore a NAV update associated with the second AP or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP; and means for transmitting a data message during the TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule and in accordance with the control message indicating to ignore the NAV update associated with the first AP or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP.

[0007] 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 second AP, a control message that indicates a TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the control message including a transmission schedule for the second AP and one or more shared APs during the TXOP, the one or more shared APs including the first AP, and the control message indicating to ignore a NAV update associated with the second AP or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP; and transmit a data message during the TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule and in accordance with the control message indicating to ignore the NAV update associated with the first AP or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP.

[0008] Some examples of the method, first APs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for obtaining, after a start time for transmission scheduled for the first AP by the transmission schedule, data for transmission, the data message including the data and being transmitted after the start time and within the transmission schedule.

[0009] Some examples of the method, first APs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for detecting, prior to reception of the control message, a transmission that indicates a second NAV update corresponding to a period that extends into the TXOP, and transmission of the data message being after the period.

[0010] Some examples of the method, first APs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for performing each transmission within the TXOP in accordance with a maximum transmission power level indicated by the control message.

[0011] Some examples of the method, first APs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from a third AP, a second control message that indicates a second TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the second TXOP overlapping in time with the TXOP, the second control message including a second transmission schedule for the first AP during the second TXOP, the control message indicating a first maximumtransmission power level, the second control message indicating a second maximum transmission power level, transmission of the data message during the TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule being in association with the transmission schedule ending after the second transmission schedule, and the transmission of the data message may be in accordance with a lower of the first maximum transmission power level and the second maximum transmission power level in association with the second TXOP overlapping in time with the TXOP.

[0012] Some examples of the method, first APs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from a third AP and after reception of the control message, a second control message that indicates a second TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the second TXOP overlapping in time with the TXOP, the second control message including a second transmission schedule for the first AP during the second TXOP, the control message indicating a first maximum transmission power level, the second control message indicating a second maximum transmission power level, transmission of the data message may be in accordance with a lower of the first maximum transmission power level and the second maximum transmission power level in accordance with the transmission being during the TXOP and the second TXOP and transmitting a second data message after the TXOP and during the second TXOP in accordance with the second maximum transmission power level.

[0013] A method for wireless communications by a first AP is described. The method may include transmitting a control message that indicates a TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the control message including a transmission schedule for the first AP and one or more shared APs during the TXOP, and the control message indicating for the one or more shared APs to ignore a NAV update associated with the first AP any other of the one or more shared APs during the TXOP and transmitting a data message during the TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule.

[0014] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in an apparatus for wireless communications at a first AP. The apparatus may include a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code. The processing system may be configured to causethe apparatus to transmit a control message that indicates a TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the control message including a transmission schedule for the first AP and one or more shared APs during the TXOP, and the control message indicating for the one or more shared APs to ignore a NAV update associated with the first AP any other of the one or more shared APs during the TXOP and transmit a data message during the TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule.

[0015] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a first AP for wireless communications. The first AP may include means for transmitting a control message that indicates a TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the control message including a transmission schedule for the first AP and one or more shared APs during the TXOP, and the control message indicating for the one or more shared APs to ignore a NAV update associated with the first AP any other of the one or more shared APs during the TXOP and means for transmitting a data message during the TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule.

[0016] 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 a control message that indicates a TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the control message including a transmission schedule for the first AP and one or more shared APs during the TXOP, and the control message indicating for the one or more shared APs to ignore a NAV update associated with the first AP any other of the one or more shared APs during the TXOP and transmit a data message during the TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule.

[0017] Some examples of the method, first APs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for performing a contention-based access procedure to control the TXOP, where transmission of the control message may be in association with the control of the TXOP.

[0018] In some examples of the method, first APs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the control message indicates a respective maximum transmission power level for each of the one or more shared APs for the TXOP.

[0019] Details of one or more implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the description, the drawings and the claims. Note that the relative dimensions of the following figures may not be drawn to scale.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1 shows a pictorial diagram of an example wireless communication network.

[0021] Figure 2 shows an example protocol data unit (PDU) usable for communications between a wireless access point (AP) and one or more wireless stations (STAs).

[0022] Figure 3 shows an example physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU) usable for communications between a wireless AP and one or more wireless STAs.

[0023] Figure 4 shows a hierarchical format of an example PPDU usable for communications between a wireless AP and one or more wireless STAs.

[0024] Figure 5 shows an example of a transmission timing diagram that illustrates application of clear channel assessment and network allocation vector deferral that supports channel access in coordinated spatial reuse.

[0025] Figure 6 shows an example of a signaling diagram that illustrates APs participating in coordinated spatial reuse that supports channel access in coordinated spatial reuse.

[0026] Figure 7 shows an example of a timing diagram that illustrates communication by a shared AP within a shared transmission opportunity (TXOP) after missing a first time for transmission within the shared TXOP that supports channel access in coordinated spatial reuse.

[0027] Figure 8 shows an example of a timing diagram that illustrates communication by a shared AP within a shared TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule for the shared TXOP that supports channel access in coordinated spatial reuse.

[0028] Figure 9 shows an example of a timing diagram that illustrates communication by a shared AP within multiple overlapping shared TXOPs that supports channel access in coordinated spatial reuse.

[0029] Figure 10 shows an example of a timing diagram that illustrates communication by a shared AP within multiple overlapping shared TXOPs that supports channel access in coordinated spatial reuse.

[0030] Figure 11 shows an example of a process flow that supports communication between a shared AP and a client device and a sharing and a client device within a shared TXOP that supports channel access in coordinated spatial reuse.

[0031] Figure 12 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device that supports channel access in coordinated spatial reuse.

[0032] Figures 13 and 14 show flowcharts illustrating example processes performable by or at a first AP that supports channel access in coordinated spatial reuse.

[0033] Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] 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.

[0035] 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 divisionmultiple 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.

[0036] In some wireless communication networks, access points (APs) may support spatial reuse. Spatial reuse may refer to wireless devices such as APs and client devices in different basic service sets (BSSs) communicating in the same service period or transmission opportunity (TXOP). In coordinated spatial reuse, an AP that wins control of the channel medium for a TXOP may transmit a coordinated spatial reuse (CSR) trigger frame (CSR-TF) that indicates one or more other APs that may transmit during the TXOP. The AP that transmits the CSR-TF may be referred to as the sharing AP, and the one or more other APs may be referred to as shared APs. The CSR-TF may indicate a transmission schedule for the sharing AP and the one or more other shared APs. For example, the transmission schedule may indicate when the sharing AP and the one or more shared APs may communicate (such as transmit or receive) physical protocol data units (PPDUs) with client devices within the TXOP. The CSR-TF also may indicate a power backoff level for each of the one or more shared APs within the TXOP to reduce interference caused by the shared APs during the TXOP. If an AP detects an other overlapping BSS (OBSS) packet, the AP may defer transmission for the duration of the network allocation vector (NAV) indicated by the OBSS packet to avoid simultaneous transmission with the OBSS device.

[0037] Various aspects relate generally to the shared AP ignoring the NAVs indicated by transmissions from the sharing AP and the other shared APs during a shared TXOP. Some aspects more specifically relate to the shared AP ignoring the NAVs indicated by transmissions from the sharing AP and the other shared APs for the duration of the shared TXOP in association with the control message (such as the CSR-TF) indicating that the TXOP is designated for spatial reuse and indicating the APs sharing the TXOP. In some examples, the control message (such as the CSR-TF) indicating that the TXOP is designated for spatial reuse also may indicate a transmit power backoff. Various aspects relate to the application of the transmit power backoff and the transmission schedule indicated by the control message for the duration of the shared TXOP by a shared AP. Accordingly, various aspects further relate to refraining, by a shared AP, from beginning a new CSR operation within an ongoing shared TXOP. Various aspects also relate to handling multiple CSR schedules indicated by separate control messages from separate sharing APs that are hidden from each other. For example, a shared AP may be positioned such that the shared AP receives CSR-TFs from multiple sharing APs that schedule overlapping shared TXOPs (such as in cases where the multiple sharing APs may be out of range of each other). In such cases, the different CSR-TFs may indicate different maximum transmission power levels for the shared AP. In some examples, the shared AP may transmit during the overlapping TXOPs in accordance with the lowest maximum transmission power levels. In some examples, the shared AP may transmit during the overlapping portion of the overlapping TXOPs in accordance with the lowest maximum transmission power levels, and may use the corresponding maximum transmission power levels for transmissions during the non-overlapping portions of the overlapping TXOPs

[0038] Particular aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to realize one or more of the following potential advantages. In some examples, by ignoring the NAVs indicated by the sharing APs and the other shared APs during the shared TXOP, the described techniques can be used to allow a shared AP to begin transmission within the shared TXOP later than scheduled by the control message that designated the TXOP for spatial reuse. For example, the shared AP may not have data to transmit at the first time designated for transmission by the control message, and data to transmit may arrive at the shared AP at a later time within the TXOP. As another example, a shared AP may defer transmission until after the first time designated for transmission by the control message due to a NAV detected prior to the shared TXOP. Ignoring the NAVs indicated by the sharing APs and the other shared APs during the shared TXOP may enable the shared AP to transmit data within the shared TXOP after missing the initial time designated for transmission by the controlmessage without waiting until the end of the shared TXOP, thereby decreasing latency. Additionally or alternatively, by a shared AP applying the transmit power backoff and the transmission schedule indicated by the control signaling for the duration of the shared TXOP, even in the case where a shared AP finishes transmission within the shared TXOP early, the shared TXOP may not initiate transmissions that interfere with the sharing AP or the other shared APs within the shared TXOP. Additionally or alternatively, by transmitting during an overlapping portion of the overlapping TXOPs in accordance with the lowest maximum transmission power levels, the shared AP may not cause interference above an acceptable level at either sharing AP, or the other shared APs of the overlapping shared TXOPs.

[0039] 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. Hay, 802.1 lax (also referred to as Wi-Fi 6), 802.11az, 802.11ba, 802.11bc, 802.11bd, 802.11be (also referred to as Wi-Fi 7), 802.11bf, and 802.11bn (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 access network (RAN), such as a 5G or 6G RAN that implements one or more cellular protocols such as those specified in one or more 3GPP standards. In some other examples, the wireless communication network 100 can include a WLAN that functions in an interoperable or converged manner with one or more cellular RANs to provide greater or enhanced network coverage to wireless communication devices within the wireless communication network 100 or to enable such devices to connect to a cellular network’s core, such as to access the network management capabilities and functionality offered by the cellular network core. 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 enhancednetwork coverage or to provide or enable other capabilities, functionality, applications or services.

[0040] The wireless communication network 100 may include numerous wireless communication devices including a wireless 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 (for example, in an extended service set (ESS) deployment, enterprise network or AP mesh network), or may not include any AP at all (for example, 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).

[0041] Each of the STAs 104 also may be referred to as a mobile station (MS), a mobile device, a mobile handset, a wireless handset, an access terminal (AT), a user equipment (UE), a subscriber station (SS), or a subscriber unit, among other examples. The STAs 104 may represent various devices such as mobile phones, other handheld or wearable communication devices, netbooks, notebook computers, tablet computers, laptops, Chromebooks, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR) or extended reality (XR) wireless headsets or other peripheral devices, wireless earbuds, other wearable devices, display devices (for example, 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 (for example, for passive keyless entry and start (PKES) systems), Internet of Things (loT) devices, and vehicles, among other examples.

[0042] A single AP 102 and an associated set of STAs 104 may be referred to as an infrastructure 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.

[0043] 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 (for example, the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, 45 GHz, or 60 GHz bands). To perform passive scanning, a STA 104 listens for beacons, which are transmitted by respective APs 102 at periodic time intervals referred to as target beacon transmission times (TBTTs). To perform active scanning, a STA 104 generates and sequentially transmits probe requests on each channel to be scanned and listens for probe responses from APs 102. Each STA 104 may identify, determine, ascertain, or select an AP 102 with which to associate in accordance with the scanning information obtained through the passive or active scans, and to perform authentication and association operations to establish a communication link 106 with the selected 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.

[0044] 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 connectedBSSs. 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 ST A 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.

[0045] 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 owner (GO) and may coordinate transmissions within the ad hoc network. Examples of direct wireless communication links 110 include Wi-Fi Direct connections, connections established by using a Wi-Fi Tunneled Direct Eink Setup (TDLS) link, and other P2P group connections.

[0046] 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 (UEL), 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 theSTAs 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.

[0047] 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).

[0048] Each PPDU is a composite structure that includes a PHY preamble and a pay load that is in the form of a PHY service data unit (PSDU). The information provided in the preamble may be used by a receiving device to decode the subsequent data in the PSDU. In instances in which a PPDU is transmitted over a bonded or wideband channel, the preamble fields may be duplicated and transmitted in each of multiple component channels. The PHY preamble may include both a legacy portion (or “legacy preamble”) and a non-legacy portion (or “non-legacy preamble”). The legacy preamble may be used for packet detection, automatic gain control and channel estimation, among other uses. The legacy preamble also may generally be used to maintain compatibility with legacy devices. The format of, coding of, and information provided in the non-legacy portion of the preamble is associated with the particular IEEE 802.11 wireless communication protocol to be used to transmit the payload.

[0049] 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, wheremultiple 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).

[0050] 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 (for example, 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.

[0051] 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 operating 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 (for example, 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, contendand 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 (for example, UHR- or IEEE 802.11bn-compatible) devices for opportunistic access to spectrum that may be otherwise under-utilized.

[0052] Figure 2 shows an example protocol data unit (PDU) 200 usable for wireless communication 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. The PDU 200 can be configured as a PPDU. As shown, the PDU 200 includes a PHY preamble 202 and a PHY pay load 204. For example, the preamble 202 may include a legacy portion that itself includes a legacy short training field (L-STF) 206, which may consist of two symbols, a legacy long training field (L-LTF) 208, which may consist of two symbols, and a legacy signal field (L-SIG) 210, which may consist of two symbols. The legacy portion of the preamble 202 may be configured according to the IEEE 802.11a wireless communication protocol standard. The preamble 202 also may include a non-legacy portion including one or more non-legacy fields 212, for example, conforming to one or more of the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocol standards.

[0053] The L-STF 206 generally enables a receiving device (such as an AP 102 or a STA 104) to perform coarse timing and frequency tracking and automatic gain control(AGC). The L-LTF 208 generally enables the receiving device to perform fine timing and frequency tracking and also to perform an initial estimate of the wireless channel. The L-SIG 210 generally enables the receiving device to determine (for example, obtain, select, identify, detect, ascertain, calculate, or compute) a duration of the PDU and to use the determined duration to avoid transmitting on top of the PDU. The legacy portion of the preamble, including the L-STF 206, the L-LTF 208 and the L-SIG 210, may be modulated according to a binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation scheme. The payload 204 may be modulated according to a BPSK modulation scheme, a quadrature BPSK (Q-BPSK) modulation scheme, a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) modulation scheme, or another appropriate modulation scheme. The pay load 204 may include a PSDU including a data field (DATA) 214 that, in turn, may carry higher layer data, for example, in the form of MAC protocol data units (MPDUs) or an aggregated MPDU (A-MPDU).

[0054] Figure 3 shows an example physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU) 350 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 shown, the PPDU 350 includes a PHY preamble, that includes a legacy portion 352 and a non-legacy portion 354, and a payload 356 that includes a data field 374. The legacy portion 352 of the preamble includes an L-STF 358, an L-LTF 360, and an L-SIG 362. The non-legacy portion 354 of the preamble includes a repetition of L-SIG (RL-SIG) 364, a universal signal field 366 (referred to herein as “U-SIG 366”) and a UHR signal field 368 (referred to herein as “UHR-SIG 368”). The presence of RL-SIG 364 and U-SIG 366 may indicate to UHR or later version-compliant STAs 104 that the PPDU 350 is a UHR PPDU or a PPDU conforming to any later (post-UHR) version of a new wireless communication protocol conforming to a future IEEE 802.11 wireless communication protocol standard. One or both of U-SIG 366 and UHR-SIG 368 may be structured as, and carry version-dependent information for, other wireless communication protocol versions associated with amendments to the IEEE family of standards beyond UHR. For example, U-SIG 366 may be used by a receiving device (such as an AP 102 or a STA 104) to interpret bits in one or more of UHR-SIG 368 or the data field 374. U-SIG 366 may include one or more universal, version-independent fields and one or more version-dependent fields. Information in the universal fields may include, for example, a version identifier (starting from the IEEE 802.11be amendment and beyond) and channel occupancy and coexistence information (such as a punctured channel indication). The version-dependent fields may include format information fields used for interpreting other fields of U-SIG 366 and UHR-SIG 368 and additional information fields or single user (SU)-specific fields that may be useful to intended recipients. In some implementations, the version-dependent fields may include at least a PPDU format field to indicate a general PPDU format for the PPDU 350 (such as a triggerbased (TB), a single-user (SU), or a multi-user (MU) PPDU format). Like L-STF 358, L-LTF 360, and L-SIG 362, the information in U-SIG 366 and UHR-SIG 368 may be duplicated and transmitted in each of the component 20 MHz channels in instances involving the use of a bonded channel.

[0055] The non-legacy portion 354 further includes an additional short training field 370 (referred to herein as “UHR-STF 370,” although it may be structured as, and carry version-dependent information for, other wireless communication protocol versions beyond UHR) and one or more additional long training fields 372 (referred to herein as “UHR-LTFs 372,” although they may be structured as, and carry version-dependent information for, other wireless communication protocol versions beyond UHR). UHR-STF 370 may be used for timing and frequency tracking and AGC, and UHR-LTF 372 may be used for more refined channel estimation.

[0056] UHR-SIG 368 may be used by an AP 102 to identify and inform one or multiple STAs 104 that the AP 102 has scheduled uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) resources for them. UHR-SIG 368 may be decoded by each compatible STA 104 served by the AP 102. UHR-SIG 368 also may generally be used by the receiving device to interpret bits in the data field 374. For example, UHR-SIG 368 may include resource unit (RU) allocation information, spatial stream configuration information, and per-user (for example, STA-specific) signaling information. Each UHR-SIG 368 may include a common field and at least one user-specific field. In the context of OFDMA, the common field can indicate RU distributions to multiple STAs 104, indicate the RU assignments in the frequency domain, indicate which RUs are allocated for MU-MIMO transmissions and which RUs correspond to OFDMA transmissions, and the number of users in allocations, among other examples. The user-specific fields are assigned toparticular STAs 104 and carry STA-specific scheduling information such as userspecific MCS values and user-specific RU allocation information. Such information enables the respective STAs 104 to identify and decode corresponding RUs in the associated data field 374.

[0057] In some wireless communications systems, a STA 104 or an AP 102 may transmit the PPDU 350 over bandwidths larger than the 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, and 320 MHz bandwidths supported by previous generations of IEEE-compliant wireless communication systems. For example, the PPDU 350 may support 480 MHz or 640 MHz bandwidth communications. By increasing the channel bandwidth of the PPDU 350 to 480 MHz or 640 MHz, more data may be transmitted because more or larger RUs are available based on the larger bandwidth, and accordingly, higher peak throughput or increased capacity may be achieved. Parameters for assembling and transmitting the 480 MHz or 640 MHz PPDUs may be defined to account for the larger bandwidths. For example, parameters or designs such as the tone plans, resource unit allocation indications, spatial reuse fields, UHR-STFs 370, UHR-LTFs 372, pilot signal locations, phase shifts, and spectral masks may be optimized or otherwise selected in accordance with the 480 MHz or 640 MHz bandwidths. In some examples, the spatial reuse fields may enable multiple BSSs to operate on the same 480 MHz or 640 MHz bandwidth channels.

[0058] In some examples, UHR-capable STAs 104 and APs 102 may support unequal modulation techniques (also referred to as unequal quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM)) with joint encoding across multiple streams for MIMO communications. For example, while different data streams may be transmitted using different spatial streams, or different resource units (RUs), or both, different spatial streams or RUs may be associated with different levels of quality (such as a different signal to noise ratios (SNRs)), and it may be advantageous to use different (unequal) MCSs for different spatial streams or RUs.

[0059] To support unequal modulation, an AP 102 may transmit signaling that indicates unequal MCSs across spatial streams or RUs to multiple STAs 104. For example, the AP 102 may transmit an MCS configuration message, which may be an example of a PHY preamble included in control signaling for PHY layer configuration,to indicate the unequal MCSs. In some examples, an MCS field of the MCS configuration message may include entries for unequal QAM schemes across multiple spatial streams, where the multiple spatial streams may be encoding with the same code rate.

[0060] In some wireless communication systems, wireless communication devices may support low density parity check (LDPC) coding for forward error correcting purposes to increase the likelihood of accurate data transmission. In some examples, UHR-capable STAs 104 and APs 102 may be capable of selecting among multiple LDPC codeword lengths, including 648 bits, 1296 bits and 1944 bits (defined in legacy IEEE 802.11 wireless communications protocol standards), as well as even longer (extended) codeword lengths, which may increase as operating bandwidths increase, higher modulation orders are introduced, or more spatial streams are available. Using longer LDPC codewords may achieve lower block error rates in some channels, such as channels associated with additive white Gaussian noise. Longer LDPC codewords also may enable more reliable communications in channels with lower SNRs. To facilitate the use of multiple LDPC codeword lengths, a STA 104 and an AP 102 may each include multiple LDPC encoders and multiple LDPC decoders. In some examples, such a STA 104 or AP 102 may connect, aggregate or otherwise utilize multiple encoders to implement a larger single encoder capable of encoding a longer codeword, or similarly, utilize multiple decoders to implement a larger single decoder capable of decoding a longer codeword, which may increase performance gains associated with larger block sizes without substantially increasing the hardware cost or complexity. In some examples, to generate an extended LDPC codeword, a STA 104 or an AP 102 may implement one or more lifting operations to extend a shorter codeword, with each lifting operation extending the previously lifted codeword. A “lifting” operation enables LDPC codes to be implemented using parallel encoding or decoding implementations while also reducing the complexity typically associated with large LDPC codewords. In some examples, a STA 104 or an AP 102 may use mixed codeword lengths for a given transmission. For example, the STA 104 or the AP 102 may encode input bits into one or more codewords having a first, longer codeword length (more than 1944 bits) and one or more codewords having a second, shorter codeword length (1944 bits or less). In such examples, the STA 104 or the AP 102 may perform shortening or puncturing onthe codewords having the longer codeword length, or on the codewords having the shorter codeword length, or both.

[0061] To support increased range or rate-over-range, a STA 104 and an AP 102 may support extended long range (ELR) PPDU formats. The use of an ELR PPDU format can enable the achievement of a target data rate while maintaining an existing coverage range, reduce an uplink / downlink power imbalance (due to, for example, one or more regulations or hardware differences at the uplink and downlink devices), or extend a coverage range while maintaining a similar, or slightly lower, data rate as compared with other PPDU formats. In some examples, an ELR PPDU may be transmitted over a narrow bandwidth, which may have a lower noise floor and thus higher SNR, thereby extending the coverage range. The reliability of the transmission of an ELR PPDU also may be increased as a result of using various optimized coding rates, coded bit repetition schemes, or duplication schemes, which may provide for improved decodability and fewer retransmissions. In some examples, the U-SIG 366 of an ELR PPDU 350 may include a first indication (for example, a codepoint of a PHY version identifier subfield within a version-independent portion of the U-SIG 366 or a value of an ELR subfield within a version-dependent portion of the U-SIG 366) that the PPDU 350 is associated with an ELR format. The U-SIG 366 of an ELR PPDU 350 may include a second indication (for example, a STA identifier subfield within the version-dependent portion of the U-SIG 366) of an intended receiver of the PPDU. In some examples, an ELR PPDU 350 may include an ELR-signature (ELR-SIG) field that includes an uplink / downlink indicator subfield, a length subfield, a coding indicator subfield, and a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) subfield.

[0062] Figure 4 shows a hierarchical format of an example PPDU usable for communications between a wireless AP and one or more wireless ST As. 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 400 includes a PHY preamble 402 and a PSDU 404. Each PSDU 404 may represent (or “carry”) one or more MAC protocol data units (MPDUs) 416. For example, each PSDU 404 may carry an aggregated MPDU (A-MPDU) 406 that includes an aggregation of multiple A-MPDU subframes 408. Each A-MPDU subframe 408 may include an MPDU frame 410 that includes a MAC delimiter 412 and a MAC header 414 prior to the accompanying MPDU 416,which includes the data portion (“payload” or “frame body”) of the MPDU frame 410. Each MPDU frame 410 also may include a frame check sequence (FCS) field 418 for error detection (for example, the FCS field 418 may include a cyclic redundancy check (CRC)) and padding bits 420. The MPDU 416 may carry one or more MAC service data units (MSDUs) 430. For example, the MPDU 416 may carry an aggregated MSDU (A-MSDU) 422 including multiple A-MSDU subframes 424. Each A-MSDU subframe 424 may be associated with an MSDU frame 426 and may contain a corresponding MSDU 430 preceded by a subframe header 428 and, in some examples, followed by padding bits 432.

[0063] Referring back to the MPDU frame 410, the MAC delimiter 412 may serve as a marker of the start of the associated MPDU 416 and indicate the length of the associated MPDU 416. The MAC header 414 may include multiple fields containing information that defines or indicates characteristics or attributes of data encapsulated within the frame body. The MAC header 414 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 NAV. The MAC header 414 also includes one or more fields indicating addresses for the data encapsulated within the frame body. For example, the MAC header 414 may include a combination of a source address, a transmitter address, a receiver address or a destination address. The MAC header 414 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.

[0064] 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 (for example, by generating a message integrity check (MIC) for one or more relevant fields.

[0065] Access to the shared wireless medium is generally governed by a distributed coordination function (DCF). With a DCF, there is generally no centralized master device allocating time and frequency resources of the shared wireless medium. On the contrary, before a wireless communication device, such as an AP 102 or a STA 104, is permitted to transmit data, it may wait for a particular time and contend for access to the wireless medium. The DCF is implemented through the use of time intervals (including the slot time (or “slot interval”) and the inter-frame space (IFS). IFS provides priority access for control frames used for proper network operation. Transmissions may begin at slot boundaries. Different varieties of IFS exist including the short IFS (SIFS), the distributed IFS (DIFS), the extended IFS (EIFS), and the arbitration IFS (AIFS). The values for the slot time and IFS may be provided by a suitable standard specification, such as one or more of the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocol standards.

[0066] In some examples, the wireless communication device (such as the AP 102 or the STA 104) may implement the DCF through the use of carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) with collision avoidance (CA) (CSMA / CA) techniques. According to such techniques, before transmitting data, the wireless communication device may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) and may determine (for example, identify, detect, ascertain, calculate, or compute) that the relevant wireless channel is idle. The CCA includes both physical (PHY -level) carrier sensing and virtual (MAC-level) carrier sensing. Physical carrier sensing is accomplished via a measurement of the received signal strength of a valid frame, which is compared to a threshold to determine (for example, identify, detect, ascertain, calculate, or compute) whether the channel is busy. For example, if the received signal strength of a detected preamble is above a threshold, the medium is considered busy. Physical carrier sensing also includes energy detection. Energy detection involves measuring the total energy the wireless communication device receives regardless of whether the received signal represents a valid frame. If the total energy detected is above a threshold, the medium is considered busy.

[0067] Virtual carrier sensing is accomplished via the use of a NAV, which effectively serves as a time duration that elapses before the wireless communication device may contend for access even in the absence of a detected symbol or even if the detected energy is below the relevant threshold. The NAV is reset each time a validframe is received that is not addressed to the wireless communication device. When the NAV reaches 0, the wireless communication device performs the physical carrier sensing. If the channel remains idle for the appropriate IFS, the wireless communication device initiates a backoff timer, which represents a duration of time that the device senses the medium to be idle before it is permitted to transmit. If the channel remains idle until the backoff timer expires, the wireless communication device becomes the holder (or “owner”) of a TXOP and may begin transmitting. The TXOP is the duration of time the wireless communication device can transmit frames over the channel after it has “won” contention for the wireless medium. The TXOP duration may be indicated in the U-SIG field of a PPDU. If, on the other hand, one or more of the carrier sense mechanisms indicate that the channel is busy, a MAC controller within the wireless communication device will not permit transmission.

[0068] Each time the wireless communication device generates a new PPDU for transmission in a new TXOP, it randomly selects a new backoff timer duration. The available distribution of the numbers that may be randomly selected for the backoff timer is referred to as the contention window (CW). There are different CW and TXOP durations for each of the four access categories (ACs): voice (AC_VO), video (AC_VI), background (AC_BK), and best effort (AC_BE). This enables particular types of traffic to be prioritized in the network.

[0069] In some other examples, the wireless communication device (for example, the AP 102 or the STA 104) may contend for access to the wireless medium of a WLAN in accordance with an enhanced distributed channel access (EDC A) procedure. A random channel access mechanism such as EDCA may afford high-priority traffic a greater likelihood of gaining medium access than low-priority traffic. The wireless communication device using EDCA may classify data into different access categories. Each AC may be associated with a different priority level and may be assigned a different range of random backoffs (RBOs) so that higher priority data is more likely to win a TXOP than lower priority data (such as by assigning lower RBOs to higher priority data and assigning higher RBOs to lower priority data). Although EDCA increases the likelihood that low-latency data traffic will gain access to a shared wireless medium during a given contention period, unpredictable outcomes of mediumaccess contention operations may prevent low-latency applications from achieving certain levels of throughput or satisfying certain latency requirements.

[0070] Some APs and STAs (for example, the AP 102 and the STAs 104 described with reference to Figure 1) may implement spatial reuse techniques. For example, APs 102 and STAs 104 configured for communications using the protocols defined in the IEEE 802.1 lax or 802.11be standard amendments may be configured with a BSS color. APs 102 associated with different BSSs may be associated with different BSS colors. A BSS color is a numerical identifier of an AP 102’s respective BSS (such as a 6 bit field carried by the SIG field). Each STA 104 may learn its own BSS color upon association with the respective AP 102. BSS color information is communicated at both the PHY and MAC sublayers. If an AP 102 or a STA 104 detects, obtains, selects, or identifies, a wireless packet from another wireless communication device while contending for access, the AP 102 or the STA 104 may apply different contention parameters in accordance with whether the wireless packet is transmitted by, or transmitted to, another wireless communication device (such another AP 102 or STA 104) within its BSS or from a wireless communication device from an overlapping BSS (OBSS), as determined, identified, ascertained, or calculated by a BSS color indication in a preamble of the wireless packet. For example, if the BSS color associated with the wireless packet is the same as the BSS color of the AP 102 or STA 104, the AP 102 or STA 104 may use a first RSSI detection threshold when performing a CCA on the wireless channel. However, if the BSS color associated with the wireless packet is different than the BSS color of the AP 102 or STA 104, the AP 102 or STA 104 may use a second RSSI detection threshold in lieu of using the first RSSI detection threshold when performing the CCA on the wireless channel, the second RSSI detection threshold being greater than the first RSSI detection threshold. In this way, the criteria for winning contention are relaxed when interfering transmissions are associated with an OBSS.

[0071] Some APs and STAs (for example, the AP 102 and the STAs 104 described with reference to Figure 1) may implement techniques for spatial reuse that involve participation in a coordinated communication scheme. According to such techniques, an AP 102 may contend for access to a wireless medium to obtain control of the medium for a TXOP. The AP that wins the contention (hereinafter also referred to as a“sharing AP”) may select one or more other APs (hereinafter also referred to as “shared APs”) to share resources of the TXOP. The sharing and shared APs may be located in proximity to one another such that at least some of their wireless coverage areas at least partially overlap. Some examples may specifically involve coordinated AP TDMA or OFDMA techniques for sharing the time or frequency resources of a TXOP. To share its time or frequency resources, the sharing AP may partition the TXOP into multiple time segments or frequency segments each including respective time or frequency resources representing a portion of the TXOP. The sharing AP may allocate the time or frequency segments to itself or to one or more of the shared APs. For example, each shared AP may utilize a partial TXOP assigned by the sharing AP for its uplink or downlink communications with its associated STAs.

[0072] In some examples of such TDMA techniques, each portion of a plurality of portions of the TXOP includes a set of time resources that do not overlap with any time resources of any other portion of the plurality of portions of the TXOP. In such examples, the scheduling information may include an indication of time resources, of multiple time resources of the TXOP, associated with each portion of the TXOP. For example, the scheduling information may include an indication of a time segment of the TXOP such as an indication of one or more slots or sets of symbol periods associated with each portion of the TXOP such as for multi-user TDMA.

[0073] In some examples of OFDMA techniques, each portion of the plurality of portions of the TXOP includes a set of frequency resources that do not overlap with any frequency resources of any other portion of the plurality of portions. In such examples, the scheduling information may include an indication of frequency resources, of multiple frequency resources of the TXOP, associated with each portion of the TXOP. For example, the scheduling information may include an indication of a bandwidth portion of the wireless channel such as an indication of one or more subchannels or resource units associated with each portion of the TXOP such as for multi-user OFDMA.

[0074] In this manner, the sharing AP’s acquisition of the TXOP enables communication between one or more additional shared APs and their respective BSSs, subject to appropriate power control and link adaptation. For example, the sharing APmay limit the transmit powers of the selected shared APs such that interference from the selected APs does not prevent STAs associated with the TXOP owner from successfully decoding packets transmitted by the sharing AP. Such techniques may be used to reduce latency because the other APs may not need to wait to win contention for a TXOP to be able to transmit and receive data according to conventional CSMA / CA or enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) techniques. Additionally, by enabling a group of APs 102 associated with different BSSs to participate in a coordinated AP transmission session, during which the group of APs may share at least a portion of a single TXOP obtained by any one of the participating APs, such techniques may increase throughput across the BSSs associated with the participating APs and also may achieve improvements in throughput fairness. Furthermore, with appropriate selection of the shared APs and the scheduling of their respective time or frequency resources, medium utilization may be maximized or otherwise increased while packet loss resulting from OBSS interference is minimized or otherwise reduced. Various implementations may achieve these and other advantages without requiring that the sharing AP or the shared APs be aware of the STAs 104 associated with other BSSs, without requiring a preassigned or dedicated master AP or preassigned groups of APs, and without requiring backhaul coordination between the APs participating in the TXOP.

[0075] In some examples in which the signal strengths or levels of interference associated with the selected APs are relatively low (such as less than a given value), or when the decoding error rates of the selected APs are relatively low (such as less than a threshold), the start times of the communications among the different BSSs may be synchronous. Conversely, when the signal strengths or levels of interference associated with the selected APs are relatively high (such as greater than the given value), or when the decoding error rates of the selected APs are relatively high (such as greater than the threshold), the start times may be offset from one another by a time period associated with decoding the preamble of a wireless packet and determining, from the decoded preamble, whether the wireless packet is an intra-BSS packet or is an OBSS packet. For example, the time period between the transmission of an intra-BSS packet and the transmission of an OBSS packet may allow a respective AP (or its associated STAs) to decode the preamble of the wireless packet and obtain the BSS color value carried in thewireless packet to determine whether the wireless packet is an intra-BSS packet or an OBSS packet. In this manner, each of the participating APs and their associated STAs may be able to receive and decode intra-BSS packets in the presence of OBSS interference.

[0076] In some examples, the sharing AP may perform polling of a set of unmanaged or non-co-managed APs that support coordinated reuse to identify candidates for future spatial reuse opportunities. For example, the sharing AP may transmit one or more spatial reuse poll frames as part of determining one or more spatial reuse criteria and selecting one or more other APs to be shared APs. According to the polling, the sharing AP may receive responses from one or more of the polled APs. In some specific examples, the sharing AP may transmit a coordinated AP TXOP indication (CTI) frame to other APs that indicates time and frequency of resources of the TXOP that can be shared. The sharing AP may select one or more candidate APs upon receiving a coordinated AP TXOP request (CTR) frame from a respective candidate AP that indicates a desire by the respective AP to participate in the TXOP. The poll responses or CTR frames may include a power indication, for example, a receive (RX) power or RSSI measured by the respective AP. In some other examples, the sharing AP may directly measure potential interference of a service supported (such as UL transmission) at one or more APs, and select the shared APs based on the measured potential interference. The sharing AP generally selects the APs to participate in coordinated spatial reuse such that it still protects its own transmissions (which may be referred to as primary transmissions) to and from the STAs in its BSS. The selected APs may be allocated resources during the TXOP as described above.

[0077] 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 (for example, 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 lowpower. 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.

[0078] 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, 802.11be introduced a duplicate (DUP) mode for a transmission, by which data in a pay load 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 (for example, 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 are 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.

[0079] 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 RUrepresents a number of tones or subcarriers that are allocated to a given ST A 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.

[0080] Some processes, methods, operations, techniques or other aspects described herein may be implemented, at least in part, using an artificial intelligence (Al) program, such as a program that includes a machine learning (ML) or artificial neural network (ANN) model, hereinafter referred to generally as an AI / ML model. One or more AI / ML models may be implemented in wireless communication devices (for example, APs 102 and STAs 104) to enhance various aspects associated with wireless communication. For example, an AI / ML model may be trained to identify patterns or relationships in data observed in a wireless communication network 100. An AI / ML model may support operational decisions implemented by one or more wireless communication devices relating to aspects described herein that are associated with wireless communications networks or services. For example, an AI / ML model may be utilized for supporting or improving aspects such as reducing signaling overhead (such as by CSI feedback compression, etc.), enhancing roaming or other mobility operations, multi-AP coordination, and generally facilitating network management or optimizing network connections or characteristics to, for example, increase throughput or capacity, reduce latency or otherwise enhance user experience.

[0081] Figure 5 shows an example of a timing diagram 500 that illustrates application of CCA and NAV deferral that supports channel access in coordinated spatial reuse. The timing diagram 500 may implement or may be implemented by aspects of the wireless communication network 100. For example, the timing diagram500 may include an AP 502-a and an AP 502-b, which may be examples of APs 102 as described with reference to Figure 1.

[0082] As described herein, Wi-Fi may be a contention-based access technology. Access to the medium by a wireless node such as an AP 502 in a WLAN may be gained after CCA followed by EDCA. CCA may define an energy detect (ED) threshold which may be used by a wireless node such as an AP 502 to identify whether the medium is busy. If the total RF energy in the medium exceeds the ED threshold, the wireless node may sense the medium as busy, and may defer attempting to access the medium until after the sensed RF energy is below the ED threshold. For example, by deferring, the wireless node may not transmit or occupy the medium. Wireless nodes also may implement NAV deferral. NAV is a virtual carrier sensing mechanism used by wireless nodes in Wi-Fi. If a wireless node such as an AP 502 decodes an OBSS packet, the wireless node may defer attempting to access the medium for the duration of the NAV indicated by the packet. Both CCA deferral and NAV deferral may contribute to the CSMA / CA protocol, which may regulate the medium access. CCA deferral and NAV deferral may maintain efficient use of the medium via preventing simultaneous transmission that may lead to data collisions, overlapping transmissions, and high interference between BSSs.

[0083] For example, as shown in the timing diagram 500, at time tO the AP 502-a and the AP 502-b may both sense RF energy below the ED threshold and may initiate respective random back offs (RBOs) to attempt access to the medium. The RBO 512-a for the AP 502-a may be shorter than the RBO 512-b for the AP 502-b, and accordingly, the AP 502-a may begin transmission of data 516-a (such as transmission of one or more PPDUs with one or more client devices) at time tl . For example, the RBO 512-a may end at time tl, and the RBO 512-b may end at time t2. The AP 502-a may transmit data within a TXOP 520. At time tl, though the AP 502-b may detect the RF energy of the medium below the ED threshold, a packet transmitted in the data 516-a may indicate a NAV 514. For example, the NAV 514 may be included in a preamble of a PPDU. The AP 502-b may decode the packet and determine the NAV 514 indicated by the packet. For example, the NAV 514 may indicate the duration of the TXOP 520 (such as until time t3). The AP 502-b may defer transmission in accordance with the NAV 514 (such as until after the TXOP 520 at time t3).

[0084] Figure 6 shows an example of a signaling diagram 600 that illustrates APs participating in coordinated spatial reuse that supports channel access in coordinated spatial reuse. The signaling diagram 600 may implement or may be implemented by aspects of the wireless communication network 100 or the timing diagram 500. For example, the signaling diagram 600 may include an AP 602-a and an AP 602-b, which may be examples of APs 102 as described with reference to Figure 1 or APs 502 as described with reference to Figure 5. The signaling diagram 600 may include a STA 604-a and a STA 604-b, which may be examples of STAs 104 as described with reference to Figure 1. For example, the STA 604-a may be within a coverage area 608-a of the AP 602-a and the STA 604-b may be within a coverage area 608-b of the AP 602-b. The AP 602-a and the STA 604-a may communicate via a wireless communication link 610-a and may be associated with a BSS 606-a, and the AP 602-b and the STA 604-b may communicate via a wireless communication link 610-b and may be associated with a BSS 606-b. In some examples, the AP 602-a may communicate with the AP 602-b via a communication link 630.

[0085] The AP 602-a may be a sharing AP as described herein. For example, the AP 602-a and the AP 602-b may implement CSR. As described herein, CSR may be used to regulate and allow controlled simultaneous transmission in a multi-BSS deployment. CSR may allow the TXOP owner (the AP 602 that wins the medium contention) to share the medium with other APs 602, but with a controlled transmission power such that interference caused by the other APs 602 (referred to as shared APs) at the STAs 604 of the sharing AP 602 is below a tolerable level. As described herein, the AP 602 that owns the medium may be referred to as the shared AP 602 (such as the AP 602-a in the signaling diagram 600), and the other APs 602 reusing the medium with the shared AP 602 may be referred to as shared APs (such as the AP 602-b). In some examples, each STA 604 (such as the STA 604-a) of the sharing AP 602 (the AP 602-a) may report RSSIs of the beacons transmitted by the neighboring APs 602. For example, the AP 602-b may transmit a beacon which may be measured by the STA 604-a. The STA 604-a may report the RSSI of the beacon transmitted by the AP 602-b to the AP 602-a (such as via the wireless communication link 610-a). The sharing AP 602 (such as the AP 602-a) may calculate the transmit power backoff to be applied by the shared APs 602 during the shared TXOP. For example, the transmit power backoff may becalculated by the sharing AP based on accounting for the tolerable interference at the ST As 604 of the sharing AP 602.

[0086] A sharing AP may transmit (such as may broadcast) a CSR-TF 614. For example, as shown in the timing diagram 650, the AP 602-a may defer for an RBO 612-a and the AP 602 -b may defer for an RBO 612-b. The AP 602-a may win control of the medium for the TXOP as the RBO 612-a may end before the RBO 612-b. The AP 602-a may transmit the CSR-TF 614 at the beginning of the shared TXOP 620. The CSR-TF 614 may include a list of the shared APs 602 (such as the AP 602-b). The CSR-TF 614 may include the transmit power backoff values for each of the scheduled shared APs 602. The CSR-TF 614 may include a transmission schedule for the shared TXOP 620. For example, the AP 602-a may schedule the AP 602-b (and also may schedule other shared APs during the shared TXOP 620). The AP 602-b and any other shared APs 602 may receive the CSR-TF 614. The scheduled APs (such as the AP 602-a, the AP 602-b and any other shared APs 602) may occupy the medium as per the schedule indicated in the CSR-TF 614. For example, the AP 602-a may transmit data 616-a (such as one or more PPDUs) to the STA 604-a, and the AP 602-b may transmit data 616-b (such as one or more PPDUs) to the STA 604-a. The shared APs 602 (including the AP 602-b) may strictly follow the transmission schedule indicated by the CSR-TF 614 to avoid any incorrect latching.

[0087] After the shared TXOP 620, to avoid interference between the BSSs 606, the APs 602 may transmit block acknowledgment request (BAR) frames 618 to solicit block acknowledgments (BAs) from the respective STAs 604. For example, the AP 602-a may transmit a BAR frame 618-a that may solicit a BA 622-a from the STA 604-a for the data 616-a. Similarly, the AP 602-b may transmit a BAR frame 618-b that may solicit a BA 622-b from the STA 604-b for the data 616-b.

[0088] Figure 7 shows an example of a timing diagram 700 that illustrates communication by a shared AP within a shared TXOP) after missing a first time for transmission within the shared TXOP that supports channel access in coordinated spatial reuse. The timing diagram 700 may implement or may be implemented by aspects of the wireless communication network 100, the timing diagram 500, or the signaling diagram 600. For example, the timing diagram 700 may include an AP 702-a,an AP 702 -b, and an AP 702-c, which may be examples of APs 102 as described with reference to Figure 1, APs 502 as described with reference to Figure 5, or APs 602 as described with reference to Figure 6.

[0089] The AP 702-a may implement CSR as described herein. The AP 702-a may be a sharing AP 702 for a shared TXOP 720. The AP 702-a may transmit (such as may broadcast) a CSR-TF 714 to indicate the shared TXOP 720 to the AP 702 -b and the AP 702-c. Accordingly, the AP 702-b and the AP 702-c may be shared APs 702 for the shared TXOP 720. For example, as shown in the timing diagram 700, the AP 702-a may apply an RBO 712-a, the AP 702-b may apply an RBO 712-b, and the AP 702-c may apply an RBO 712-c. The AP 702-a may win control of the medium for the shared TXOP 720 as the RBO 712-a may end before the RBO 712-b and the RBO 712-c. The CSR-TF 714 may schedule the AP 702-b and the AP 702-c for spatial reuse during the shared TXOP 720. For example, the CSR-TF 714 may indicate to begin transmission of data at time tl.

[0090] As shown in the timing diagram 700, the AP 702-a and the AP 702-b may occupy the medium as per the schedule indicated by the CSR-TF 714. For example, the AP 702-a may begin transmission of data 716-a to one or more client wireless communication devices (such as STAs) at tl and the AP 702-b may begin transmission of data 716-b to one or more client wireless communication devices (such as STAs) at time tl. In some examples, however, the AP 702-c may not occupy the medium as per the schedule indicated by the CSR-TF 714 (for example, may not begin transmission at time tl as indicated by the CSR-TF 714).

[0091] For example, in a first case (shown as case 1 in the timing diagram 700), the AP 702-c may not have data for transmission at time tl. As another example, in a second case (shown as case 2 in the timing diagram 700), the NAV status of the AP 702-c may be busy at time tl due to a packet decoded from another BSS prior to the shared TXOP 720 (such as from a fourth AP or other wireless node). Absent rules for ignoring the NAVs from the AP 702-a and the AP 702-b, the AP 702-c may update the NAV based on the transmission of data 716-a and / or the transmission of data 716-b from the AP 702-a and the AP 702-b. Accordingly, if in case 1 data arrives at time t3 for transmission, or in case 2 the prior NAV ends at time t2, the AP 702-c may treat themedium as busy for the duration of the shared TXOP 720 due to the NAVs indicated by the packets in the data 716-a and the data 716-b. Accordingly, absent rules for ignoring NAV updates from the sharing AP 702 and other shared APs 702, the AP 702-c may defer transmission until after the shared TXOP 720 in the case the AP 702-c did not begin transmission at the initial time tl indicated by the CSR-TF 714.

[0092] Accordingly, an AP 702 such as the AP 702-c that is part of a CSR schedule (such as indicated by the CSR-TF 714 broadcast by the AP 702-a) may ignore a NAV update if the device that transmitted the packet including the NAV update is a sharing AP or a shared AP for a shared TXOP (the transmitting device is part of the CSR schedule indicated by the corresponding CSR-TF) and the transmission start and end associated with the NAV update begins and ends within the CSR schedule indicated by the corresponding CSR-TF.

[0093] For example, as shown in the timing diagram 700, the AP 702-c may ignore the NAV updates indicated by the transmission of data 716-a by the AP 702-a and the transmission of data 716-b by the AP 702-b. Accordingly, in case 1, when data arrives at time t3, the AP 702-c may begin transmission of data 716-c within the shared TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule indicated by the CSR-TF. Similarly, in case 2, after the end of the NAV deferral period 722 at time t2, the AP 702-c may begin transmission of data 716-c within the shared TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule indicated by the CSR-TF 714.

[0094] Figure 8 shows an example of a timing diagram 800 that illustrates communication by a shared AP within a shared TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule for the shared TXOP that supports channel access in coordinated spatial reuse. The timing diagram 800 may implement or may be implemented by aspects of the wireless communication network 100, the timing diagram 500, the signaling diagram 600, or the timing diagram 700. For example, the timing diagram 800 may include an AP 802-a, an AP 802-b, and an AP 802-c, which may be examples of APs 102 as described with reference to Figure 1, APs 502 as described with reference to Figure 5, APs 602 as described with reference to Figure 6, or APs 702 as described with reference to Figure 7.

[0095] The AP 802-a may implement CSR as described herein. The AP 802-a may be a sharing AP 802 for a shared TXOP 820. The AP 802-a may transmit (such as may broadcast) a CSR-TF 814 to indicate the shared TXOP 820 to the AP 802 -b and the AP 802-c. Accordingly, the AP 802-b and the AP 802-c may be shared APs 802 for the shared TXOP 820. For example, as shown in the timing diagram 800, the AP 802-a may apply an RBO 812-a, the AP 802-b may apply an RBO 812-b, and the AP 802-c may apply an RBO 812-c. The AP 802-a may win control of the medium for the shared TXOP 820 as the RBO 812-a may end before the RBO 812-b and the RBO 812-c. The CSR-TF 814 may schedule the AP 802-b and the AP 802-c for spatial reuse during the shared TXOP 820. For example, the CSR-TF 814 may indicate to begin transmission of data at time tl.

[0096] As shown in the timing diagram 800, the AP 802-a, the AP 802-b, and the AP 802-c may occupy the medium as per the schedule indicated by the CSR-TF 814. For example, the AP 802-a may begin transmission of data 816-a to one or more client wireless communication devices (such as STAs) at time tl, the AP 802-b may begin transmission of data 816-b to one or more client wireless communication devices (such as STAs) at time tl, and the AP 802-c may begin transmission of data 816-c to one or more client wireless communication devices (such as STAs) at time tl. In some examples, however, the AP 802-c may complete transmission of data 816-c at time t2 prior to the end of the shared TXOP 820. In such examples, if additional data arrives at the AP 802-c at time t3, absent rules for following the schedule in the CSR-TF 814 for the duration of the shared TXOP 820, the AP 802-c may begin contention at time t3 and / or may begin a parallel CSR operation. For example, the ongoing transmissions of the data 816-a and the data 816-b by the AP 802-a and the AP 802-b may be below the ED threshold for the AP 802-c, and the AP 802-c may not update the NAV for the transmissions of the data 816-a and the data 816-b by the AP 802-a and the AP 802-b as the transmissions of the data 816-a and the data 816-b by the AP 802-a and the AP 802-b are part of the same CSR schedule (as indicated by the CSR-TF 814) as the AP 802-c.

[0097] Accordingly, to prevent a shared AP such as the AP 802-c from beginning a shared TXOP within an ongoing shared TXOP, if a scheduled shared AP such as the AP 802-c completes transmission of data 816-c early in the shared TXOP 820, for theremaining duration of the shared TXOP 820, the scheduled shared AP may restrict the transmit power to the level indicated by the CSR-TF 814 for any further transmission within the shared TXOP and may not start a new shared TXOP by performing medium contention. For example, if data arrives at time t3, the AP 802-c may transmit the data 816-d (such as via one or more PPDUs to client wireless communication devices) using the transmit power backoff indicated by the CSR-TF 814 and in accordance with the schedule indicated by the CSR-TF 814.

[0098] Figure 9 shows an example of a timing diagram 900 that illustrates communication by a shared AP within multiple overlapping shared TXOPs that supports channel access in coordinated spatial reuse. The timing diagram 900 may implement or may be implemented by aspects of the wireless communication network 100, the timing diagram 500, the signaling diagram 600, the timing diagram 700, or the timing diagram 800. For example, the timing diagram 900 may include an AP 902-a, an AP 902-b, and an AP 902-c, which may be examples of APs 102 as described with reference to Figure 1, APs 502 as described with reference to Figure 5, APs 602 as described with reference to Figure 6, APs 702 as described with reference to Figure 7, or APs 802 as described with reference to Figure 8.

[0099] The AP 902-a, the AP 902-b, and the AP 902-c may each be below the ED threshold with respect to each other. The AP 902-a and the AP 902-b may be out of sync (such as hidden with respect to each other). For example, the AP 902-a and the AP 902-b may be physically positioned at opposite ends of a building while the AP 902-c may be physically positioned between the AP 902-a and the AP 902-b. Thus, each of the AP 902-a and the AP 902-b may detect transmissions by the AP 902-c, but the AP 902-a may not detect transmissions by the AP 902-b, and the AP 902-b may not detect transmissions by the AP 902-a. In such cases, the AP 902-a and the AP 902-b may contend for access to the medium independently. Upon winning access to the medium, both the AP 902-a and the AP 902-b may schedule the AP 902-c.

[0100] For example, the AP 902-a may perform an RBO 912-a and the AP 902-c may perform an RBO 912-c. The AP 902-a may win control of the medium, and may transmit a CSR-TF 914-a that indicates a shared TXOP 920-a during which the AP 902-c may transmit data. The AP 902-a may transmit data 916-a in accordance with thetransmission schedule indicated by the CSR-TF 914-a. The CSR-TF 914-a may indicate a first transmit power backoff for the AP 902-c to apply during the shared TXOP 920-a. As the AP 902-b is out of range / hidden to the AP 902-a, the AP 902-a may not share the shared TXOP 920-a with the AP 902-b. The CSR-TF 914-a may indicate a transmission schedule that may indicate the AP 902-c may begin transmission at time tl. In some examples, the AP 902-c may not have data to transmit at time tl, and thus may not begin transmission at time tl.

[0101] In some examples, after time tl, as the AP 902-c did not begin transmission at time tl (and thus did not transmit a packet including a NAV update which would cause the AP 902-b to defer) the AP 902-b may perform an RBO 912-b and may win control of the medium. The AP 902-b may transmit a CSR-TF 914-b that indicates a shared TXOP 920-b during which the AP 902-c may transmit data. The CSR-TF 914-b may indicate a second transmit power backoff for the AP 902-c to apply during the shared TXOP 920-b. As the AP 902-a is out of range / hidden to the AP 902-b, the AP 902-b may not share the shared TXOP 920-b with the AP 902-a. The CSR-TF 914-b may indicate a second transmission schedule that may indicate the AP 902-c may begin transmission at time t4. The AP 902-b may transmit data 916-b in accordance with the transmission schedule indicated by the CSR-TF 914-b. As the shared TXOP 920-a may overlap in time with the shared TXOP 920-b, absent rules for overlapping shared TXOPs 920, whether for the AP 902-c to transmit data during the overlapping shared TXOPs 920 using the first transmit power backoff or the second transmit power backoff may be ambiguous. For example, if data arrives at time t3 for transmission at the AP 902-c, whether to transmit the data 916-c in accordance with the first transmit power backoff or the second transmit power backoff may be ambiguous. For example, if the second transmit power backoff is lower than the first transmit power backoff (such as if the CSR-TF 914-b indicates that the AP 902-c may transmit at a higher power level than the CSR-TF 914-a indicates), and if the AP 902-c follows the later received CSR-TF 914, the transmission of data 916-c may cause higher than tolerable interference at the BSS of the AP 902-a during the shared TXOP 920-a.

[0102] Accordingly, in some examples, in the case where an AP 902-c receives more than one CSR schedule (such as receives two CSR-TFs 914 that schedule the AP 902-c), the AP 902-c may use the greatest transmit power backoff indicated by theCSR-TFs 914 (for example, may use the lowest indicated allowable maximum transmission power) and may use the transmission schedule from the CSR-TF 914 that indicates a later ending shared TXOP 920. For example, the AP 902-c may transmit the data 916-c using the transmission schedule indicated by the CSR-TF 914-b as the shared TXOP 920-b scheduled by the CSR-TF 914-b may terminate after the shared TXOP 920-a scheduled by the CSR-TF 914-a.

[0103] Use of the lowest indicated allowable maximum transmission power (such as the greatest indicated transmit power backoff) for the duration of the shared TXOP that ends later in the case of overlapping shared TXOPs may be less implementationally complex than switching transmit power backoff (such as described with reference to Figure 10). In the example of Figure 9, however, the AP 902-c may form a single PPDU (for example, the data 916-c may be transmitted in a single PPDU) that may extend beyond the shared TXOP 920-a. If the AP 902-a begins another transmission after the end of the shared TXOP 920-a, the AP 902-c may not receive that transmission from the AP 902-a, which may cause the AP 902-a and the AP 902-c to go out of sync and to be unable to participate in CSR with each other. Additionally, if the greatest transmit power backoff indicated by the CSR-TFs 914 is the transmit power backoff indicated by the CSR-TF 914-a, for the duration of the shared TXOP 920-b that extends beyond the shared TXOP 920-a, the AP 902-c may transmit the data 916-c at a transmission power less than is tolerable to the BSS of the AP 902 -b, which may reduce throughput and / or communication efficiency.

[0104] Figure 10 shows an example of a timing diagram 1000 timing diagram that illustrates communication by a shared AP within multiple overlapping shared TXOPs that supports channel access in coordinated spatial reuse. The timing diagram 1000 may implement or may be implemented by aspects of the wireless communication network 100, the timing diagram 500, the signaling diagram 600, the timing diagram 700, the timing diagram 800, or the timing diagram 900. For example, the timing diagram 1000 may include an AP 1002-a, an AP 1002 -b, and an AP 1002-c, which may be examples of APs 102 as described with reference to Figure 1, APs 502 as described with reference to Figure 5, APs 602 as described with reference to Figure 6, APs 702 as described with reference to Figure 7, APs 802 as described with reference to Figure 8, or APs 902 as described with reference to Figure 9.

[0105] Similarly to the timing diagram 900, in the timing diagram 1000, the AP 1002-a, the AP 1002-b, and the AP 1002-c may each be below the ED threshold with respect to each other. The AP 1002-a and the AP 1002-b may be out of sync (such as hidden with respect to each other). The AP 1002-a may perform an RBO 1012-a and the AP 1002-c may perform an RBO 1012-c. The AP 1002-a may win control of the medium, and may transmit a CSR-TF 1014-a that indicates a shared TXOP 1020-a during which the AP 1002-c may transmit data. The AP 1002-a may transmit data 1016-a in accordance with the transmission schedule indicated by the CSR-TF 1014-a. The CSR-TF 1014-a may indicate a first transmit power backoff for the AP 1002-c to apply during the shared TXOP 1020-a. As the AP 1002-b is out of range / hidden to the AP 1002-a, the AP 1002-a may not share the shared TXOP 1020-a with the AP 1002-b. The CSR-TF 1014-a may indicate a transmission schedule that may indicate the AP 1002-c may begin transmission at time tl. In some examples, the AP 1002-c may not have data to transmit at time tl, and thus may not begin transmission at time tl.

[0106] In some examples, after time tl, as the AP 1002-c did not begin transmission at time tl (and thus did not transmit a packet including a NAV update which would cause the AP 1002-b to defer) the AP 1002-b may perform an RBO 1012-b and may win control of the medium. The AP 1002-b may transmit a CSR-TF 1014-b that indicates a shared TXOP 1020-b during which the AP 1002-c may transmit data. The AP 1002-b may transmit data 1016-b in accordance with the transmission schedule indicated by the CSR-TF 1014-a. The CSR-TF 1014-b may indicate a second transmit power backoff for the AP 1002-c to apply during the shared TXOP 1020-b. As the AP 1002-a is out of range / hidden to the AP 1002-b, the AP 1002-b may not share the shared TXOP 1020-b with the AP 1002-a. The CSR-TF 1014-b may indicate a second transmission schedule that may indicate the AP 1002-c may begin transmission at time t4.

[0107] In some examples, when the AP 1002-c receives more than one overlapping CSR schedule (for example, receives CSR-TFs 1014 indicating overlapping shared TXOPs 1020), the AP 1002-c may use the greatest transmit power backoff indicated by the CSR-TFs 1014 (for example, may use the lowest indicated allowable maximum transmission power) for the overlapping portion of the shared TXOPs 1020 (for example, between time t4 and time t5). Once the shared TXOP from a given sharingAP expires, the AP 1002-c may use the greatest transmit power backoff indicated by the remaining CSR-TFs 1014 (such as may use the lowest indicated allowable maximum transmission power). For example, in the case where two shared TXOPs 1020 overlapped, after the end of the shared TXOP 1020-a, the AP 1002-c may use the transmit power backoff indicated by the CSR-TF 1014-b that scheduled the shared TXOP 1020-b. For example, the AP 1002-c may transmit data 1016-c (for example as a first PPDU) during the overlapping portion of the shared TXOP 1020-a and the shared TXOP 1020-b using the greatest transmit power backoff indicated by the CSR-TF 1014-a and the CSR-TF 1014-b. After the end of the shared TXOP 1020-a at time t5, the AP 1002-c may transmit data 1016-c (for example as a first PPDU) during the remainder of the shared TXOP 1020-b using the transmit power backoff indicated by the CSR-TF 1014-b. Such an implementation may enable the AP 1002-c to remain in sync with the AP 1002-a (such as by ending transmission of the data 1016-c at the end of the shared TXOP 1020-a and beginning a new PPDU for the transmission of the data 1016-d for the duration of the shared TXOP 1020-b).

[0108] Figure 11 shows an example of a process flow 1100 that supports communication between a shared AP and a client device and a sharing and a client device within a shared TXOP that supports channel access in coordinated spatial reuse. The process flow 1100 may include an AP 1102-a and an AP 1102-b, which may be examples of APs 102 as described with reference to Figure 1, APs 502 as described with reference to Figure 5, APs 602 as described with reference to Figure 6, APs 702 as described with reference to Figure 7, APs 802 as described with reference to Figure 8, APs 902 as described with reference to Figure 9, or APs 1002 as described with reference to Figure 10. The process flow 1100 also may include a client wireless communication device 1104-a and a client wireless communication device 1104-b, which may be examples of STAs 104 as described with reference to Figure 1 or STAs 604 as described with reference to Figure 6. In the following description of the process flow 1100, the communications between the AP 1102-a, the AP 1102-b, the client wireless communication device 1104-a, and the client wireless communication device 1104-b may be transmitted in a different order than the example order shown, or the operations performed by the AP 1102-a, the AP 1102-b, the client wireless communication device 1104-a, and the client wireless communication device 1104-bmay be performed in different orders or at different times. Some operations also may be omitted from the process flow 1100, and other operations may be added to the process flow 1100.

[0109] At 1106, the AP 1102-a may transmit, and the AP 1102-b may receive, a control message that indicates a TXOP designated for spatial reuse. The control message may include a transmission schedule for the AP 1102-a and one or more shared APs during the TXOP, the one or more shared APs including the AP 1102-b. The control message may indicate to ignore a NAV update associated with the AP 1102-a or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP. For example, transmission of the control message indicating that the TXOP is designated for spatial reuse may implicitly indicate to the AP 1102-b to ignore any NAV update from the sharing AP or any of the shared APs associated with transmission within the shared TXOP. In some examples, the control message may include a field explicitly indicating to ignore any NAV update from the sharing AP (for example, the AP 1102-a) or any of the shared APs associated with transmission within the shared TXOP. In some examples, the control message may be a CSR-TF.

[0110] At 1108, the AP 1102-b may transmit a data message to the client wireless communication device 1104-b during the TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule and in accordance with the control message indicating to ignore the NAV update associated with the AP 1102-a or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP. In some examples, the data message may be a PPDU.

[0111] In some examples, the AP 1102-b may obtain, after a transmission start time scheduled for the AP 1102-b by the transmission schedule, data for transmission to the client wireless communication device 1104-b, the data message including the data and being transmitted after the start time and within the transmission schedule.

[0112] In some examples, the AP 1102-b may detect, prior to reception of the control message at 1106, a transmission that indicates a second NAV update corresponding to a period that extends into the TXOP, and transmission of the data message at 1108 may be after the period.

[0113] In some examples, the AP 1102-b may detect, during the TXOP and from the AP 1102-a or one of the one or more shared APs, a transmission that indicates the NAV update. In such examples, transmission of the data message may be during a period corresponding to the NAV update in accordance with the control message indicating to ignore any NAV update associated with the AP 1102-a or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP.

[0114] In some examples, the AP 1102-b may perform each transmission within the TXOP in accordance with a maximum transmission power level indicated by the control message.

[0115] In some examples, the AP 1102-b may receive, from a third AP, a second control message that indicates a second TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the second TXOP overlapping in time with the TXOP, the second control message including a second transmission schedule for the AP 1102-b during the second TXOP, the control message indicating a first maximum transmission power level, and the second control message indicating a second maximum transmission power level. In such examples, transmission of the data message during the TXOP may be in accordance with the transmission schedule in association with the transmission schedule ending after the second transmission schedule, and the transmission of the data message may be in accordance with a lower of the first maximum transmission power level and the second maximum transmission power level in association with the second TXOP overlapping in time with the TXOP.

[0116] In some examples, the AP 1102-b may receive, from a third AP and after reception of the control message, a second control message that indicates a second TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the second TXOP overlapping in time with the TXOP, the second control message including a second transmission schedule for the AP 1102-b during the second TXOP, the control message indicating a first maximum transmission power level, the second control message indicating a second maximum transmission power level. In such examples, transmission of the data message may be in accordance with a lower of the first maximum transmission power level and the second maximum transmission power level in accordance with the transmission being during the TXOP and the second TXOP. In such examples, the AP 1102-b maytransmit, to the client wireless communication device 1104-b or a second client wireless communication device, a second data message after the TXOP and during the second TXOP in accordance with the second maximum transmission power level.

[0117] At 1110, the AP 1102-a may transmit a data message to the client wireless communication device 1104-a during the TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule. In some examples, the data message may be a PPDU.

[0118] In some examples, the AP 1102-a may perform a contention-based access procedure to control the TXOP, and transmission of the control message may be in association with the control of the TXOP.

[0119] In some examples, the control message may indicate a respective maximum transmission power level for each of the one or more shared APs for the TXOP. In some examples, the AP 1102-a may receive, from one or more client wireless communication devices, beacon transmission power level reports for the one or more shared APs for the TXOP, and the respective maximum transmission power level for each of the one or more shared APs may be in association with the beacon transmission power level reports.

[0120] In some examples, the AP 1102-a may detect, during the TXOP and from one of the one or more shared APs, a transmission that indicates a NAV update, transmission of the data message being during a period corresponding to the NAV update in accordance with the control message indicating to ignore any NAV update associated with the AP 1102-a or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP.

[0121] Figure 12 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device 1200 that supports channel access in coordinated spatial reuse. In some examples, the wireless communication device 1200 is configured to perform the processes 1300 and 1400 described with reference to Figures 13 and 14, respectively. The wireless communication device 1200 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 1200, and may generally process information (such as inputs or signals) received from such other components and outputinformation (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 1200 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 1200 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.

[0122] The processing system of the wireless communication device 1200 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. In some implementations, one or more of the multiple memories maybe configured to store processor-executable code that, when executed, may configure one or more of the multiple processors to perform various functions described herein (as part of a processing system). In some other implementations, the processing system may be pre-configured to perform various functions 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 (for example, IEEE compliant) modem or a cellular (for example, 3 GPP 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.

[0123] In some examples, the wireless communication device 1200 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 1200 can be an AP that includes such a processing system and other components including multiple antennas. The wireless communication device 1200 is capable of transmitting and receiving wireless communications in the form of, for example, wireless packets. For example, the wireless communication device 1200 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 1200 can be configurable or configured to transmit and receive signals and communications conforming to one or more 3 GPP specifications including those for 5G NR or 6G. In some examples, the wireless communication device 1200 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 1200 further includes at least one external network interface coupled with the processing system that enables communication with a core network orbackhaul network that enables the wireless communication device 1200 to gain access to external networks including the Internet.

[0124] The wireless communication device 1200 includes a shared TXOP indication manager 1225, a data transmission manager 1230, a data buffer manager 1235, a NAV manager 1240, a transmission power level manager 1245, a contention-based access manager 1250, and a beacon transmission power level report manager 1255. Portions of one or more of the shared TXOP indication manager 1225, the data transmission manager 1230, the data buffer manager 1235, the NAV manager 1240, the transmission power level manager 1245, the contention-based access manager 1250, and the beacon transmission power level report manager 1255 may be implemented at least in part in hardware or firmware. For example, one or more of the shared TXOP indication manager 1225, the data transmission manager 1230, the data buffer manager 1235, the NAV manager 1240, the transmission power level manager 1245, the contention-based access manager 1250, and the beacon transmission power level report manager 1255 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 shared TXOP indication manager 1225, the data transmission manager 1230, the data buffer manager 1235, the NAV manager 1240, the transmission power level manager 1245, the contention-based access manager 1250, and the beacon transmission power level report manager 1255 may be implemented at least in part by a processor and software in the form of processorexecutable code stored in memory.

[0125] The wireless communication device 1200 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The shared TXOP indication manager 1225 is configurable or configured to receive, from a second AP, a control message that indicates a TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the control message including a transmission schedule for the second AP and one or more shared APs during the TXOP, the one or more shared APs including the first AP, and the control message indicating to ignore a NAV update associated with the second AP or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP. The data transmission manager 1230 is configurable or configured to transmit a data message during the TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule and in accordance with the control message indicating to ignorethe NAV update associated with the first AP or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP.

[0126] In some examples, the data buffer manager 1235 is configurable or configured to obtain, after a start time for transmission scheduled for the first AP by the transmission schedule, data for transmission, the data message including the data and being transmitted after the start time and within the transmission schedule.

[0127] In some examples, the NAV manager 1240 is configurable or configured to detect, prior to reception of the control message, a transmission that indicates a second NAV update corresponding to a period that extends into the TXOP, and transmission of the data message being after the period.

[0128] In some examples, the NAV manager 1240 is configurable or configured to detect, during the TXOP and from the second AP or one of the one or more shared APs, a transmission that indicates the NAV update, transmission of the data message being during a period corresponding to the NAV update in accordance with the control message indicating to ignore any NAV update associated with the second AP or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP.

[0129] In some examples, the transmission power level manager 1245 is configurable or configured to perform each transmission within the TXOP in accordance with a maximum transmission power level indicated by the control message.

[0130] In some examples, the shared TXOP indication manager 1225 is configurable or configured to receive, from a third AP, a second control message that indicates a second TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the second TXOP overlapping in time with the TXOP, the second control message including a second transmission schedule for the first AP during the second TXOP, the control message indicating a first maximum transmission power level, the second control message indicating a second maximum transmission power level, transmission of the data message during the TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule being in association with the transmission schedule ending after the second transmission schedule, and the transmission of the data message is in accordance with a lower of the first maximum transmission power leveland the second maximum transmission power level in association with the second TXOP overlapping in time with the TXOP.

[0131] In some examples, the shared TXOP indication manager 1225 is configurable or configured to receive, from a third AP and after reception of the control message, a second control message that indicates a second TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the second TXOP overlapping in time with the TXOP, the second control message including a second transmission schedule for the first AP during the second TXOP, the control message indicating a first maximum transmission power level, the second control message indicating a second maximum transmission power level, transmission of the data message is in accordance with a lower of the first maximum transmission power level and the second maximum transmission power level in accordance with the transmission being during the TXOP and the second TXOP. In some examples, the data transmission manager 1230 is configurable or configured to transmit a second data message after the TXOP and during the second TXOP in accordance with the second maximum transmission power level.

[0132] In some examples, the control message is a CSR-TF.

[0133] In some examples, the data message is a PPDU.

[0134] In some examples, data transmission manager 1230 is configurable or configured to transmit the data message to a client wireless communication device.

[0135] Additionally, or alternatively, the wireless communication device 1200 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, the shared TXOP indication manager 1225 is configurable or configured to transmit a control message that indicates a TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the control message including a transmission schedule for the first AP and one or more shared APs during the TXOP, and the control message indicating for the one or more shared APs to ignore a NAV update associated with the first AP any other of the one or more shared APs during the TXOP. In some examples, the data transmission manager 1230 is configurable or configured to transmit a data message during the TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule.

[0136] In some examples, the contention-based access manager 1250 is configurable or configured to perform a contention-based access procedure to control the TXOP, where transmission of the control message is in association with the control of the TXOP.

[0137] In some examples, the control message indicates a respective maximum transmission power level for each of the one or more shared APs for the TXOP.

[0138] In some examples, the beacon transmission power level report manager 1255 is configurable or configured to receive, from one or more client wireless communication devices, beacon transmission power level reports for the one or more shared APs for the TXOP, the respective maximum transmission power level for each of the one or more shared APs being in association with the beacon transmission power level reports.

[0139] In some examples, the NAV manager 1240 is configurable or configured to detect, during the TXOP and from one of the one or more shared APs, a transmission that indicates a NAV update, transmission of the data message being during a period corresponding to the NAV update in accordance with the control message indicating to ignore any NAV update associated with the first AP or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP.

[0140] In some examples, the control message is a CSR-TF.

[0141] In some examples, the data message is a PPDU.

[0142] In some examples, data transmission manager 1230 is configurable or configured to transmit the data message to a client wireless communication device.

[0143] Figure 13 shows a flowchart illustrating an example process 1300 performable by or at a first AP that supports channel access in coordinated spatial reuse. The operations of the process 1300 may be implemented by a first AP or its components as described herein. For example, the process 1300 may be performed by a wireless communication device, such as the wireless communication device 1200 described with reference to Figure 12, operating as or within a wireless AP. In some examples, the process 1300 may be performed by a wireless AP, such as one of the APs 102 described with reference to Figure 1.

[0144] In some examples, in 1305, the first AP may receive, from a second AP, a control message that indicates a TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the control message including a transmission schedule for the second AP and one or more shared APs during the TXOP, the one or more shared APs including the first AP, and the control message indicating to ignore a NAV update associated with the second AP or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP; and. The operations of 1305 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 1305 may be performed by a shared TXOP indication manager 1225 as described with reference to Figure 12.

[0145] In some examples, in 1310, the first AP may transmit a data message during the TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule and in accordance with the control message indicating to ignore the NAV update associated with the first AP or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP. For example, the first AP may transmit the data message to a client wireless communication device. The operations of 1310 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 1310 may be performed by a data transmission manager 1230 as described with reference to Figure 12.

[0146] Figure 14 shows a flowchart illustrating an example process 1400 performable by or at a first AP that supports channel access in coordinated spatial reuse. The operations of the process 1400 may be implemented by a first AP or its components as described herein. For example, the process 1400 may be performed by a wireless communication device, such as the wireless communication device 1200 described with reference to Figure 12, operating as or within a wireless AP. In some examples, the process 1400 may be performed by a wireless AP, such as one of the APs 102 described with reference to Figure 1.

[0147] In some examples, in 1405, the first AP may transmit a control message that indicates a TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the control message including a transmission schedule for the first AP and one or more shared APs during the TXOP, and the control message indicating for the one or more shared APs to ignore a NAV update associated with the first AP any other of the one or more shared APs during the TXOP. The operations of 1405 may be performed in accordance with examples asdisclosed herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 1405 may be performed by a shared TXOP indication manager 1225 as described with reference to Figure 12.

[0148] In some examples, in 1410, the first AP may transmit a data message during the TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule. For example, the first AP may transmit the data message to a client wireless communication device. The operations of 1410 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 1410 may be performed by a data transmission manager 1230 as described with reference to Figure 12.

[0149] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0150] Aspect 1: A method for wireless communications at a first AP, including: receiving, from a second AP, a control message that indicates a TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the control message including a transmission schedule for the second AP and one or more shared APs during the TXOP, the one or more shared APs including the first AP, and the control message indicating to ignore a NAV update associated with the second AP or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP; and transmitting a data message during the TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule and in accordance with the control message indicating to ignore the NAV update associated with the first AP or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP.

[0151] Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, further including: obtaining, after a start time for transmission scheduled for the first AP by the transmission schedule, data for transmission, the data message including the data and being transmitted after the start time and within the transmission schedule.

[0152] Aspect 3: The method of any of aspects 1-2, further including: detecting, prior to reception of the control message, a transmission that indicates a second NAV update corresponding to a period that extends into the TXOP, and transmission of the data message being after the period.

[0153] Aspect 4: The method of any of aspects 1-3, further including: detecting, during the TXOP and from the second AP or one of the one or more shared APs, a transmission that indicates the NAV update, transmission of the data message beingduring a period corresponding to the NAV update in accordance with the control message indicating to ignore any NAV update associated with the second AP or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP.

[0154] Aspect 5: The method of any of aspects 1-4, further including: performing each transmission within the TXOP in accordance with a maximum transmission power level indicated by the control message.

[0155] Aspect 6: The method of any of aspects 1-5, further including: receiving, from a third AP, a second control message that indicates a second TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the second TXOP overlapping in time with the TXOP, the second control message including a second transmission schedule for the first AP during the second TXOP, the control message indicating a first maximum transmission power level, the second control message indicating a second maximum transmission power level, transmission of the data message during the TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule being in association with the transmission schedule ending after the second transmission schedule, and the transmission of the data message is in accordance with a lower of the first maximum transmission power level and the second maximum transmission power level in association with the second TXOP overlapping in time with the TXOP.

[0156] Aspect 7: The method of any of aspects 1-5, further including: receiving, from a third AP and after reception of the control message, a second control message that indicates a second TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the second TXOP overlapping in time with the TXOP, the second control message including a second transmission schedule for the first AP during the second TXOP, the control message indicating a first maximum transmission power level, the second control message indicating a second maximum transmission power level, transmission of the data message is in accordance with a lower of the first maximum transmission power level and the second maximum transmission power level in accordance with the transmission being during the TXOP and the second TXOP; and transmitting, a second data message after the TXOP and during the second TXOP in accordance with the second maximum transmission power level.

[0157] Aspect 8: The method of any of aspects 1-7, where the control message is a CSR-TF.

[0158] Aspect 9: The method of any of aspects 1-8, where the data message is a PPDU.

[0159] Aspect 9: The method of any of aspects 1-9, further including: transmitting the data message to a client wireless communication device.

[0160] Aspect 11: A method for wireless communications at a first AP, including: transmitting a control message that indicates a TXOP designated for spatial reuse, the control message including a transmission schedule for the first AP and one or more shared APs during the TXOP, and the control message indicating for the one or more shared APs to ignore a NAV update associated with the first AP any other of the one or more shared APs during the TXOP; and transmitting a data message during the TXOP in accordance with the transmission schedule.

[0161] Aspect 12: The method of aspect 11, further including: performing a contention-based access procedure to control the TXOP, where transmission of the control message is in association with the control of the TXOP.

[0162] Aspect 13: The method of any of aspects 11-12, where the control message indicates a respective maximum transmission power level for each of the one or more shared APs for the TXOP.

[0163] Aspect 14: The method of aspect 13, further including: receiving, from one or more client wireless communication devices, beacon transmission power level reports for the one or more shared APs for the TXOP, the respective maximum transmission power level for each of the one or more shared APs being in association with the beacon transmission power level reports.

[0164] Aspect 15: The method of any of aspects 11-14, further including: detecting, during the TXOP and from one of the one or more shared APs, a transmission that indicates a NAV update, transmission of the data message being during a period corresponding to the NAV update in accordance with the control message indicating to ignore any NAV update associated with the first AP or the one or more shared APs during the TXOP.

[0165] Aspect 16: The method of any of aspects 11-15, where the control message is a CSR-TF.

[0166] Aspect 17: The method of any of aspects 11-16, where the data message is a PPDU.

[0167] Aspect 18: The method of any of aspects 11-17, further including: transmitting the data message to a client wireless communication device.

[0168] Aspect 19: An apparatus for wireless communications at a first AP, including a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code, the processing system configured to cause the apparatus to perform a method of any of aspects 1-10.

[0169] Aspect 20: A first AP for wireless communications, including at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 1-10.

[0170] Aspect 21: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications, the code including instructions executable by one or more processors to perform a method of any of aspects 1-10.

[0171] Aspect 22: An apparatus for wireless communications at a first AP, including a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code, the processing system configured to cause the apparatus to perform a method of any of aspects 11-18.

[0172] Aspect 23: A first AP for wireless communications, including at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 11-18.

[0173] Aspect 24: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications, the code including instructions executable by one or more processors to perform a method of any of aspects 11-18.

[0174] The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the disclosure and appended claims. Forexample, due to the nature of software, functions described herein may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.

[0175] As used herein, the term “determine” or “determining” encompasses a wide variety of actions and, therefore, “determining” can include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (such as via looking up in a table, a database or another data structure), inferring, ascertaining, measuring, and the like. Also, “determining” can include receiving (such as receiving information), accessing (such as accessing data stored in memory), transmitting (such as transmitting information) and the like. Also, “determining” can include resolving, selecting, obtaining, choosing, establishing and other such similar actions.

[0176] 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.

[0177] As used herein, “based on” is intended to be interpreted in the inclusive sense, unless otherwise explicitly indicated. For example, “based on” shall be construed in the same manner as the phrases “based at least in part on,” “associated 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.

[0178] The various illustrative components, logic, logical blocks, modules, circuits, operations, and algorithm processes described in connection with the examplesdisclosed 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.

[0179] 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.

[0180] 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.

[0181] 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. Insome circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.Moreover, the separation of various system components in the examples described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all examples, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for wireless communication at a first access point, comprising:a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code, the processing system configured to cause the apparatus to:receive, from a second access point, a control message that indicates a transmission opportunity designated for spatial reuse, the control message comprising a transmission schedule for the second access point and one or more shared access points during the transmission opportunity, the one or more shared access points including the first access point, and the control message indicating to ignore a network allocation vector update associated with the second access point or the one or more shared access points during the transmission opportunity; andtransmit a data message during the transmission opportunity in accordance with the transmission schedule and in accordance with the control message indicating to ignore the network allocation vector update associated with the first access point or the one or more shared access points during the transmission opportunity.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:obtain, after a start time for transmission scheduled for the first access point by the transmission schedule, data for transmission, the data message comprising the data and being transmitted after the start time and within the transmission schedule.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:detect, prior to reception of the control message, a transmission that indicates a second network allocation vector update corresponding to a period that extends into the transmission opportunity, and transmission of the data message being after the period.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:detect, during the transmission opportunity and from the second access point or one of the one or more shared access points, a transmission that indicates the network allocation vector update, transmission of the data message being during a period corresponding to the network allocation vector update in accordance with the control message indicating to ignore any network allocation vector update associated with the second access point or the one or more shared access points during the transmission opportunity.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:perform each transmission within the transmission opportunity in accordance with a maximum transmission power level indicated by the control message.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:receive, from a third access point, a second control message that indicates a second transmission opportunity designated for spatial reuse, the second transmission opportunity overlapping in time with the transmission opportunity, the second control message comprising a second transmission schedule for the first access point during the second transmission opportunity, the control message indicating a first maximum transmission power level, the second control message indicating a second maximum transmission power level, transmission of the data message during the transmission opportunity in accordance with the transmission schedule being in association with the transmission schedule ending after the second transmission schedule, and the transmission of the data message is in accordance with a lower of the first maximum transmission power level and the second maximum transmission power level in association with the second transmission opportunity overlapping in time with the transmission opportunity.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:receive, from a third access point and after reception of the control message, a second control message that indicates a second transmission opportunity designated for spatial reuse, the second transmission opportunity overlapping in time with the transmission opportunity, the second control message comprising a second transmission schedule for the first access point during the second transmission opportunity, the control message indicating a first maximum transmission power level, the second control message indicating a second maximum transmission power level, transmission of the data message is in accordance with a lower of the first maximum transmission power level and the second maximum transmission power level in accordance with the transmission being during the transmission opportunity and the second transmission opportunity; andtransmit a second data message after the transmission opportunity and during the second transmission opportunity in accordance with the second maximum transmission power level.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control message is a coordinated spatial reuse trigger frame.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data message is a physical layer protocol data unit.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:transmit the the data message to a client wireless communication device.

11. A method for wireless communications at a first access point, comprising:receiving, from a second access point, a control message that indicates a transmission opportunity designated for spatial reuse, the control message comprising a transmission schedule for the second access point and one or more shared access points during the transmission opportunity, the one or more shared access points including the first access point, and the control message indicating to ignore a network allocation vector update associated with the second access point or the one or more shared access points during the transmission opportunity; andtransmitting a data message during the transmission opportunity in accordance with the transmission schedule and in accordance with the control message indicating to ignore the network allocation vector update associated with the first access point or the one or more shared access points during the transmission opportunity.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:obtaining, after a start time for transmission scheduled for the first access point by the transmission schedule, data for transmission, the data message comprising the data and being transmitted after the start time and within the transmission schedule.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:detecting, prior to reception of the control message, a transmission that indicates a second network allocation vector update corresponding to a period that extends into the transmission opportunity, and transmission of the data message being after the period.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:detecting, during the transmission opportunity and from the second access point or one of the one or more shared access points, a transmission that indicates the network allocation vector update, transmission of the data message being during a period corresponding to the network allocation vector update in accordance with the control message indicating to ignore any network allocation vector update associated with the second access point or the one or more shared access points during the transmission opportunity.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:performing each transmission within the transmission opportunity in accordance with a maximum transmission power level indicated by the control message.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising:receiving, from a third access point, a second control message that indicates a second transmission opportunity designated for spatial reuse, the second transmission opportunity overlapping in time with the transmission opportunity, the second control message comprising a second transmission schedule for the first accesspoint during the second transmission opportunity, the control message indicating a first maximum transmission power level, the second control message indicating a second maximum transmission power level, transmission of the data message during the transmission opportunity in accordance with the transmission schedule being in association with the transmission schedule ending after the second transmission schedule, and the transmission of the data message is in accordance with a lower of the first maximum transmission power level and the second maximum transmission power level in association with the second transmission opportunity overlapping in time with the transmission opportunity.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:receiving, from a third access point and after reception of the control message, a second control message that indicates a second transmission opportunity designated for spatial reuse, the second transmission opportunity overlapping in time with the transmission opportunity, the second control message comprising a second transmission schedule for the first access point during the second transmission opportunity, the control message indicating a first maximum transmission power level, the second control message indicating a second maximum transmission power level, transmission of the data message is in accordance with a lower of the first maximum transmission power level and the second maximum transmission power level in accordance with the transmission being during the transmission opportunity and the second transmission opportunity; andtransmitting a second data message after the transmission opportunity and during the second transmission opportunity in accordance with the second maximum transmission power level.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the control message is a coordinated spatial reuse trigger frame.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein the data message is a physical layer protocol data unit.

20. An apparatus for wireless communication at a first access point, comprising:means for receiving, from a second access point, a control message that indicates a transmission opportunity designated for spatial reuse, the control message comprising a transmission schedule for the second access point and one or more shared access points during the transmission opportunity, the one or more shared access points including the first access point, and the control message indicating to ignore a network allocation vector update associated with the second access point or the one or more shared access points during the transmission opportunity; andmeans for transmitting a data message during the transmission opportunity in accordance with the transmission schedule and in accordance with the control message indicating to ignore the network allocation vector update associated with the first access point or the one or more shared access points during the transmission opportunity.

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