Multi-Link Reconfiguration Using Status Codes to Reduce Setup Attempts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multi-link communication setups face inefficiencies due to the lack of clear indication of why individual links are not accepted during the association process, leading to unnecessary attempts and increased power consumption.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a multi-link communication setup method where the association response frames include specific status code fields to indicate why a link is not accepted, allowing the non-AP MLD to prioritize successful link attempts and reduce unnecessary attempts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the non-AP MLD sends association request frames on each link to attempt multi-link setup, then the probability of successful link establishment is improved, but the setup time and power consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The AP MLD performs preliminary evaluation of multiple links and pre-determines the optimal link for association before the non-AP MLD attempts connection. The AP MLD sends association response frames indicating which link should be used, allowing the non-AP MLD to directly attempt association on the pre-selected optimal link rather than trying all links, thus reducing setup time while maintaining high success rate
Solution Approach 2:
The AP MLD provides feedback in the association response frame about the status of other links and which link is most suitable for association. This feedback mechanism guides the non-AP MLD to make informed decisions about which link to attempt first, avoiding unnecessary attempts on unsuitable links and reducing both time and power consumption
2Reliability
If the non-AP MLD attempts association on multiple links without knowing the rejection reason, then the chance of successful connection is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The AP MLD sends association response frames that include specific status codes indicating why certain links are rejected and which links are suitable. This feedback allows the non-AP MLD to avoid wasting power on links that will definitely be rejected, while still maintaining high connection success rate by focusing attempts on recommended links
3Reliability
If the AP MLD evaluates all links comprehensively, then the quality of link selection is improved, but the response time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The AP MLD extracts and highlights only the most important information in the association response frame - specifically which link is most suitable for association and the key reasons for rejection of other links. This extracted critical information allows the non-AP MLD to make quick decisions without needing to analyze all possible links comprehensively, thus maintaining fast response time while ensuring high-quality link selection
Data Source
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AI summary
This application relates to a multi-link communication setup method and a related apparatus. The method includes: A non-AP MLD sends an association request frame on a first link, to request multi-link setup. An AP MLD returns an association response frame on the first link, to notify whether multi-link setup succeeds. The AP MLD sets a second status code field of a multi-link element of the association response frame to a newly defined value, to indicate that a cause why a link is not accepted is that the first link is not accepted. According to embodiments of this application, efficiency of multi-link setup can be improved. This application is applied to a WLAN system that supports a next generation Wi-Fi protocol of 802.11ax, for example, 802.11be, Wi-Fi 7, or EHT, and other 802.11 series protocols; and for another example, a next generation protocol of 802. 11be: Wi-Fi 8. This application may further be applied to an ultra wide band-based wireless personal area network system or a sensing system.