WO2022020735A1

WO2022020735A1 - Scheduling in a basic service set

Info

Publication number: WO2022020735A1
Application number: PCT/US2021/043004
Authority: WO
Inventors: Laurent Cariou; Danny Alexander; Daniel F. BRAVO; Ehud Reshef; Dibakar Das
Original assignee: Intel Corporation
Priority date: 2020-07-23
Filing date: 2021-07-23
Publication date: 2022-01-27
Also published as: EP4186310A4; EP4186310A1; CN115769655A; JP2023534899A

Abstract

Methods, apparatuses, and computer readable media for scheduling in a basic service set (BSS) are disclosed. Apparatuses of a station (STA) are disclosed, where the apparatuses comprise processing circuitry configured to decode a first frame from an access point (AP), the first frame including an indication of service periods, and during a service period of the service periods, decode a trigger frame, the trigger frame indicating an uplink (UL) resource allocation for the STA to transmit an indication of a buffer status of the STA to the AP. The processing circuitry is further configured to encode a second frame, the second frame comprising an indication of the buffer status of the STA, configure the STA to transmit the second frame, in accordance with the UL resource allocation, and decode a third frame, the third frame including an indication of a doze state duration for the STA.

Description

SCHEDULING IN A BASIC SERVICE SET

PRIORITY CLAIM

[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority to United States

Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 63/055,520, tiled July 23, 2020, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] Embodiments relate to devices operating in accordance with wireless local area networks (WLANs) and Wi-Fi networks including networks operating in accordance with different versions or generations of the IEEE 802.11 family of standards. Some embodiments relate to scheduling in a basic service set (BSS) using sendee periods and providing doze times to stations.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Efficient use of the resources of a wireless local-area network

(WLAN) is important to provide bandwidth and acceptable response times to the users of the WLAN. However, often there are many devices trying to share the same resources and some devices may he limited by the communication protocol they use or by their hardware bandwidth. Moreover, wireless devices may need to operate with both newer protocols and with legacy device protocols, and wireless devices may need to operate with more than one frequency band.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0004] The present, disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements and in which:

[0005] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a radio architecture in accordance with some embodiments,

[0006] FIG. 2 illustrates a front-end module circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodiments; [0007] FIG. 3 illustrates a radio IC circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0008] FIG. 4 illustrates a baseband processing circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG.] in accordance with some embodiments, [0009] FIG. 5 illustrates a WLAN in accordance with some embodiments;

[0010] FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine upon which any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies) discussed herein may perform; [0011] FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an example wireless device upon which any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies or operations) discussed herein may perform;

[0012] FIG. 8 illustrates scheduling in a basic service set (BSS), in accordance with some embodiments, [0013] FIG. 9 illustrates an opportunistic power save (OPS) element, in accordance with some embodiments.

[0014] FIG. 10 illustrates an OPS element, in accordance with some embodiments.

[0015] FIG. 11 illustrates scheduling in a BSS, in accordance with some embodiments.

[0016] FIG. 12 illustrates a method for scheduling in BSSs, in accordance with some embodiments; and

[0017] FIG. 13 illustrates a method for scheduling in BSSs, in accordance with some embodiments.

[0018] The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrate specific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments. Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims. [0019] Some embodiments relate to methods, computer readable media, and apparatus for ordering or scheduling location measurement reports, traffic indication maps (TIMs), and other information during SPs. Some embodiments relate to methods, computer readable media, and apparatus for extending TIMs. Some embodiments relate to methods, computer readable media, and apparatus for defining SPs during beacon intervals (BI), which may be based on TWTs. [0020] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a radio architecture 100 in accordance with some embodiments. Radio architecture 100 may include radio front-end module (FEM) circuitry 104, radio IC circuitry 106 and baseband processing circuitry 108. Radio architecture 100 as shown includes both Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) functionality and Bluetooth (BT) functionality although embodiments are not so limited. In this disclosure, “WLAN” and “Wi-Fi” are used interchangeably.

[0021] FEM circuitry 104 may include a WLAN or Wi-Fi FEM circuitry

104A and a Bluetooth (BT) FEM circuitry 104B. The WLAN FEM circuitry 104 A may include a receive signal path comprising circuitry' configured to operate on WLAN RF signals received from one or more antennas 101, to amplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the WLAN radio IC circuitry 106A for further processing. The BT FEM circuitry 104B may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on BT RF signals received from one or more antennas 101, to amplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the BT radio IC circuitry 106B for further processing. FEM circuitry 104A may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify WLAN signals provided by the radio IC circuitry 106 A for wireless transmission by one or more of the antennas 101 . In addition, FEM circuitry 104B may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify BT signals provided by the radio IC circuitry 106B for wireless transmission by the one or more antennas.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, although FEM 104A and FEM 104B are shown as being distinct from one another, embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scope the use of an FEM (not shown) that includes a transmit path and/or a receive path for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more FEM circuitries where at least some of the FEM circuitries share transmit and/or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

[0022] Radio IC circuitry 106 as shown may include WLAN radio IC circuitry 106A and BT radio IC circuitry 106B. The WLAN radio IC circuitry 106A may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry' to down- convert. WLAN RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 104 A and provide baseband signals to WLAN baseband processing circuitry_' 108 A. BT radio IC circuitry 106B may in turn include a receive signal path which may include circuitry- to down-convert BT RF signals received from the FEM circuitry- 104B and provide baseband signals to BT baseband processing circuitry 108B.

WLAN radio IC circuitry- 106A may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert WLAN baseband signals provided by the WLAN baseband processing circuitry 108 A and provide WLAN RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 104 A for subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 101. BT radio IC circuitry 106B may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry' to up-convert BT baseband signals provided by the BT baseband processing circuitry 108B and provide BT RF output signals to the FEM circuitry' 104B for subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 101. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, although radio IC circuitries 106 A and I06B are shown as being distinct from one another, embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scope the use of a radio IC circuitry (not shown) that includes a transmit signal path and/or a receive signal path for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more radio IC circuitries where at least some of the radio IC circuitries share transmit and/or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

[0023] Baseband processing circuity 108 may include a WLAN baseband processing circuitry 108A and a BT baseband processing circuitry 108B. The WLAN baseband processing circuitry 108 A may include a memory', such as, for example, a set of RAM arrays in a Fast Fourier Transform or Inverse Fast Fourier Transform block (not. shown) of the WLAN baseband processing circuitry- 108 A. Each of the WLAN baseband circuitry' 108 A and the BT baseband circuitry 108B may further include one or more processors and control logic to process the signals received from the corresponding WLAN or BT receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry 106, and to also generate corresponding WLAN or BT baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry 106, Each of the baseband processing circuitries 108A and 108B may further include physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry, and may further interface with application processor 111 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the radio IC circuitry' 106.

[0024] Referring still to FIG. I, according to the shown embodiment,

WLAN-BT coexistence circuitry 113 may include logic providing an interface between the WLAN baseband circuitry 108A and the BT baseband circuitry 108B to enable use cases requiring WLAN and BT coexistence. In addition, a switch 103 may be provided between the WLAN FEM circuitry 104 A and the BT FEM circuitry 104B to allow switching between the WLAN and BT radios according to application needs. In addition, although the antennas 101 are depicted as being respectively connected to the WLAN FEM circuitry 104A and the BT FEM circuitry 104B, embodiments include within their scope the sharing of one or more antennas as between the WLAN and BT FEMs, or the provision of more than one antenna connected to each of FEM 104 A or 104B.

[0025] In some embodiments, the front-end module circuitry_' 104, the radio IC circuitry 106, and baseband processing circuitry 108 may be provided on a single radio card, such as wireless radio card 102. In some other embodiments, the one or more antennas 101, the FEM circuitry 104 and the radio IC circuitry 106 may be provided on a single radio card. In some other embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 106 and the baseband processing circuitry 108 may be provided on a single chip or IC, such as IC 112.

[0026] In some embodiments, the wireless radio card 102 may include a

WLAN radio card and may be configured for Wi-Fi communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some of these embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured to receive and transmit orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication signals over a muiticarrier communication channel. The OFDM or OFDMA signals may comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers. [0027] In some of these multicarrier embodiments, radio architecture 100 may be part of a Wi-Fi communication station (STA) such as a wireless access point (AP), a base station or a mobile device including a Wi-Fi device. In some of these embodiments, radio architecture 100 may be configured to transmit and receive signals in accordance with specific communication standards and/or protocols, such as any of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards including, IEEE 802.1 in-2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE 802.11-2016, IEEE 802.1 lac, and/or IEEE 802.11 ax standards and/or proposed specifications for WLANs, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. Radio architecture 100 may also be suitable to transmit and/or receive communications in accordance with other techniques and standards. [0028] In some embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured for high-efficiency (HE) Wi-Fi (HEW) communications in accordance with the IEEE 802.1 lax standard. In these embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured to communicate in accordance with an OFDMA technique, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0029] In some other embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured to transmit and receive signals transmitted using one or more other modulation techniques such as spread spectrum modulation (e.g., direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) and/or frequency hopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA)), time-division multiplexing (TDM) modulation, and/or frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) modulation, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0030] In some embodiments, as further shown in FIG. 1, the BT baseband circuitry 108B may be compliant with a Bluetooth (BT) connectivity standard such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth 4.0 or Bluetooth 5.0, or any other iteration of the Bluetooth Standard. In embodiments that include BT functionality as shown for example in Fig. 1, the radio architecture 100 may be configured to establish a BT synchronous connection oriented (SCO) link and/or a BT low energy (BT LE) link. In some of the embodiments that include functionality, the radio architecture 100 may be configured to establish an extended SCO (eSCO) link for BT communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some of these embodiments that include a BT functionality, the radio architecture may be configured to engage in a BT Asynchronous Connection-Less (ACL) communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1, the functions of a BT radio card and WLAN radio card may be combined on a single wireless radio card, such as single wireless radio card 102, although embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scope discrete WLAN and BT radio cards

[0031] In some embodiments, the radio-architecture 100 may include other radio cards, such as a cellular radio card configured for cellular (e.g., 3 GPP such as LTE, LTE-Advanced or 5G communications).

[0032] In some IEEE 802.11 embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may he configured for communication over various channel bandwidths including bandwidths having center frequencies of about 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and bandwidths of about 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 4 MHz, 5MHz, 8 MHz, 10 MHz, 16 MHz, 20 MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz (with contiguous bandwidths) or 80+80MHz (160MHz) (with non-contiguous bandwidths). In some embodiments, a 320 MHz channel bandwidth may be used. The scope of the embodiments is not limited with respect to the above center frequencies however.

[0033] FIG. 2 illustrates FEM circuitry 200 in accordance with some embodiments. The FEM circuitry 200 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the WLAN and/or BT FEM circuitry 104A/104B (FIG. 1), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

[0034] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 200 may include a

TX/RX swItch 202 to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry 200 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 200 may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) 206 to amplify received RF signals 203 and provide the amplified received RF signals 207 as an output, (e.g., to the radio IC circuitry 106 (FIG. 1)). The transmit signal path of the circuitry 200 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals 209 (e.g., provided by the radio IC circuitry 106), and one or more filters 212, such as band-pass filters (BPFs), low-pass filters (LPFs) or other types of filters, to generate RF signals 215 for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the antennas 101 (FIG.

1)).

[0035] In some dual -mode embodiments for Wi-Fi communication, the

FEM circuitry' 200 may be configured to operate in either the 2.4 GHz frequency spectrum or the 5 GHz frequency spectrum. In these embodiments, the receive signal path of the FEM circuitry' 200 may include a receive signal path duplexer 204 to separate the signals from each spectrum as well as provide a separate LNA 206 for each spectrum as shown. In these embodiments, the transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 200 may also include a power amplifier 210 and a filter 212, such as a BPF, a LPF or another type of filter for each frequency spectrum and a transmit signal path duplexer 214 to provide the signals of one of the different spectrums onto a single transmit path for subsequent transmission by the one or more of the antennas 101 (FIG. 1). In some embodiments, BT communications may utilize the 2.4 GHZ signal paths and may utilize the same FEM circuitry 200 as the one used for WLAN communications.

[0036] FIG. 3 illustrates radio integrated circuit (IC) circuitry 300 in accordance with some embodiments. The radio IC circuitry' 300 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the WLAN or BT radio IC circuitry 106A/106B (FIG. 1), although other circuitry' configurations may also be suitable.

[0037] In some embodiments, the radio IC circuitry' 300 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry 300 may include at least mixer circuitry' 302, such as, for example, down-conversion mixer circuitry, amplifier circuitry 306 and filter circuitry' 308. The transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry' 300 may include at least filter circuitry 312 and mixer circuitry' 314, such as, for example, up- conversion mixer circuitry'. Radio IC circuitry 300 may also include synthesizer circuitry' 304 for synthesizing a frequency 305 for use by the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314. The mixer circuitry 302 and/or 314 may each, according to some embodiments, be configured to provide direct conversion functionality. The latter type of circuitry' presents a much simpler architecture as compared with standard super-heterodyne mixer circuitries, and any flicker noise brought about by the same may be alleviated for example through the use of OFDM modulation. Fig. 3 illustrates only a simplified version of a radio IC circuitry, and may include, although not shown, embodiments where each of the depicted circuitries may include more than one component. For instance, mixer circuitry 320 and/or 314 may each include one or more mixers, and filter circuitries 308 and/or 312 may each include one or more filters, such as one or more BPFs and/or LPFs according to application needs. For example, when mixer circuitries are of the direct-conversion type, they may each include two or more mixers.

[0038] In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 302 may be configured to down-convert RF signals 207 received from the FEM circuitry 104 (FIG. 1) based on the synthesized frequency 305 provided by synthesizer circuitry 304, The amplifier circuitry 306 may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 308 may include a LPF configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output, baseband signals 307. Output baseband signals 307 may be provided to the baseband processing circuitry 108 (FIG. 1) for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 307 may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not. a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 302 may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0039] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry' 314 may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals 311 based on the synthesized frequency 305 provided by the synthesizer circuitry' 304 to generate RF output signals 209 for the FEM circuitry 104. The baseband signals 311 may be provided by the baseband processing circuitry' 108 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 312. The filter circuitry 312 may include a LPF or a BPF, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0040] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry' 302 and the mixer circuitry 314 may each include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and/or up-conversion respectively with the help of synthesizer 304. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314 may each include two or more mixers each configured for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314 may be arranged for direct down- conversion and/or direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry_' 314 may be configured for super- heterodyne operation, although this is not a requirement,

[0041] Mixer circuitry 302 may comprise, according to one embodiment: quadrature passive mixers (e.g,, for the in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) paths). In such an embodiment, RF input signal 207 from Fig. 3 may be down- converted to provide I and Q baseband output signals to be sent to the baseband processor

[0042] Quadrature passive mixers may be driven by zero and ninety- degree time-varying LG switching signals provided by a quadrature circuitry which may be configured to receive a LQ frequency (fro) from a local oscillator or a synthesizer, such as LO frequency 305 of synthesizer 304 (FIG. 3). In some embodiments, the LO frequency may be the carrier frequency, while in other embodiments, the LO frequency may be a fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the zero and ninety-degree time-varying switching signals may be generated by the synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments Is not limited in this respect.

[0043] In some embodiments, the LO signals may differ in duty cycle

(the percentage of one period in which the LO signal is high) and/or offset (the difference between start points of the period). In some embodiments, the LO signals may have a 25% duty cycle and a 50% offset. In some embodiments, each branch of the mixer circuitry' (e.g., the in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) path) may operate at a 25% duty cycle, which may result in a significant reduction is power consumption.

[0044] The RF input signal 207 (FIG. 2) may comprise a balanced signal, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The I and Q baseband output signals may be provided to low-nose amplifier, such as amplifier circuitry' 306 (FIG. 3) or to filter circuitry' 308 (FIG. 3).

[0045] In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 307 and the input baseband signals 311 may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals 307 and the input baseband signals 311 may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the radio IC circuitry' may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital -to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry'.

[0046] In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, or for other spectrums not mentioned here, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0047] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 304 may be a fractional -N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+l synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 304 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. According to some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry' 304 may include digital synthesizer circuitry'. An advantage of using a digital synthesizer circuitry is that, although it may still include some analog components, its footprint may he scaled down much more than the footprint of an analog synthesizer circuitry. In some embodiments, frequency input into synthesizer circuity 304 may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. A divider control input may further be provided by either the baseband processing circuitry 108 (FIG. 1) or the application processor 111 (FIG, 1) depending on the desired output frequency 305. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table (e.g., within a Wi-Fi card) based on a channel number and a channel center frequency as determined or indicated by the application processor 111.

[0048] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry' 304 may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency 305, while in other embodiments, the output frequency 305 may be a fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrier frequency).

In some embodiments, the output frequency 305 may be a LO frequency (fLo). [0049] FIG. 4 illustrates a functional block diagram of baseband processing circuitry 400 in accordance with some embodiments. The baseband processing circuitry 400 is one example of circuitry' that may be suitable for use as the baseband processing circuitry 108 (FIG. 1), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable. The baseband processing circuitry 400 may include a receive baseband processor (RX BBP) 402 for processing receive baseband signals 309 provided by the radio IC circuitry' 106 (FIG. 1) and a transmit baseband processor (TX BBP) 404 for generating transmit baseband signals 311 for the radio IC circuitry' 106. The baseband processing circuitry' 400 may also include control logic 406 for coordinating the operations of the baseband processing circuitry 400.

[0050] In some embodiments (e.g., when analog baseband signals are exchanged between the baseband processing circuitry' 400 and the radio IC circuitry 106), the baseband processing circuitry 400 may include ADC 410 to convert, analog baseband signals received from the radio IC circuitry 106 to digital baseband signals for processing by the RX BBP 402. In these embodiments, the baseband processing circuitry 400 may also include DAC 412 to convert digital baseband signals from the TX BBP 404 to analog baseband signals.

[0051] In some embodiments that communicate OFDM signals or

OFDMA signals, such as through baseband processor 108A, the transmit baseband processor 404 may be configured to generate OFDM or OFDMA signals as appropriate for transmission by performing an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT). The receive baseband processor 402 may be configured to process received OFDM signals or OFDMA signals by performing an FFT. In some embodiments, the receive baseband processor 402 may be configured to detect the presence of an OFDM signal or OFDMA signal by performing an autocorrelation, to detect a preamble, such as a short preamble, and by performing a cross-correlation, to detect a long preamble. The preambles may be part of a predetermined frame structure for Wi-Fi communication.

[0052] Referring to FIG. I, in some embodiments, the antennas 101

(FIG. 1) may each comprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result. Antennas 101 may each include a set of phased-array antennas, although embodiments are not so limited.

[0053] Although the radio-architecture 100 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at. least, the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[0054] FIG. 5 illustrates a WLAN 500 in accordance with some embodiments. The WLAN 500 may comprise a basis service set (BSS) that may include an access point (AP) 502, a plurality of stations (STAs) 504, and a plurality of legacy devices 506. in some embodiments, the STAs 504 and/or AP 502 are configured to operate in accordance with IEEE 802.11be extremely high throughput (EHT). In some embodiments, the STAs 504 and/or AP 520 are configured to operate in accordance with IEEE 802.11az. In some embodiments, IEEE 802.11EHT may be termed Next Generation 802.11.

[0055] The ,AP 502 may be an AP using the IEEE 802.11 to transmit and receive. The AP 502 may be a base station . The AP 502 may use other communications protocols as well as the IEEE 802.11 protocol. The EHT protocol may be termed a different name in accordance with some embodiments. The IEEE 802.11 protocol may include using orthogonal frequency division multiple-access (OFDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), and/or code division multiple access (CDMA). The IEEE 802.11 protocol may include a multiple access technique. For example, the IEEE 802.11 protocol may include space-division multiple access (SDMA) and/or multiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO). There may be more than one AP 502 that is part of an extended sendee set (ESS). A controller (not illustrated) may store information that is common to the more than one APs 502 and may control more than one BSS, e.g., assign primary channels, colors, etc. AP 502 may be connected to the internet.

[0056] The legacy devices 506 may operate in accordance with one or more of IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ad/af/ah/aj/ay/ax, or another legacy wireless communication standard. The legacy devices 506 may be STAs or IEEE STAs. The STAs 504 may be wireless transmit and receive devices such as cellular telephone, portable electronic wireless communication devices, smart telephone, handheld wireless device, wireless glasses, wireless watch, wireless personal device, tablet, or another device that may be transmitting and receiving using the IEEE 802.11 protocol such as IEEE 802.1 Ibe or another wireless protocol. [0057] The AP 502 may communicate with legacy devices 506 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques. In example embodiments, the AP 502 may also be configured to communicate with STAs 504 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques.

[0058] In some embodiments, a HE or EHT frames may be configurable to have the same bandwidth as a channel. The HE or EHT frame may be a physical Laver Convergence Procedure (PL CP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU). In some embodiments, PPDU may be an abbreviation for physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU). In some embodiments, there may be different types of PPDUs that may have different fields and different physical layers and/or different media access control (MAC) layers. For example, a single user (SU) PPDU, multiple-user (MU) PPDU, extended-range (ER) SU PPDU, and/or trigger-based (TB) PPDU. In some embodiments EHT may be the same or similar as HE PPDUs.

[0059] The bandwidth of a channel may be 20MHz, 40MHz, or 80MHz,

bandwidths. In some embodiments, the bandwidth of a channel less than 20 and

10MHz, or a combination thereof or another bandwidth that is less or equal to the available bandwidth may also be used. In some embodiments the bandwidth of the channels may be based on a number of active data subcarriers. In some embodiments the bandwidth of the channels is based on 26, 52, 106, 242, 484, 996, or 2x996 active data subcarriers or tones that are spaced by 20 MHz. In some embodiments the bandwidth of the channels is 256 tones spaced by 20 MHz. In some embodiments the channels are multiple of 26 tones or a multiple of 20 MHz. In some embodiments a 20 MHz channel may comprise 242 active data subcarriers or tones, which may determine the size of a Fast Fourier Transform (TFT). An allocation of a bandwidth or a number of tones or sub- carriers may be termed a resource unit (RU) allocation in accordance with some embodiments.

[0060] In some embodiments, the 26-subcarrier RU and 52-subcarrier

RU are used in the 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz OFDM A HE PPDU formats. In some embodiments, the 106-subcarrier RU is used in the 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz OFDM A and MU-MIMO HE PPDU formats. In some embodiments, the 242-subcarrier RU is used in the 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz OFDM A and MU- MIMO HE PPDU formats. In some embodiments, the 484-subcarrier RU is used in the 80 MHz, 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz OF DMA and MU-MIMO HE PPDU formats. In some embodiments, the 996-subcarrier RU is used in the 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz OF DM A and MU-MIMO HE PPDU formats.

[0061] A HE or EHT frame may be configured for transmitting a number of spatial streams, which may be in accordance with MU-MIMO and may be in accordance with OFDMA. In other embodiments, the AP 502, STA 504, and/or legacy device 506 may also implement different technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA) 2000, CDMA 2000 1X, CDMA 2000 Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DQ), Interim Standard 2000 (1S-2000). Interim Standard 95 (1S-95), Interim Standard 856 (1S-856), Long Term Evolution (LIE), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), BlueTooth®, low-power BlueTooth®, or other technologies. [0062] In accordance with some IEEE 802,11 embodiments, e.g, IEEE

802.1 lEHT/ax embodiments, a HE AP 502 may operate as a master station which may be arranged to contend for a wireless medium (e.g., during a contention period) to receive exclusive control of the medium for a transmission opportunity (TXOP). The AP 502 may transmit an EHT/HE trigger frame transmission, which may include a schedule for simultaneous UL/DL transmissions from STAs 504. The AP 502 may transmit a time duration of the TXOP and sub-channel information. During the TXOP, STAs 504 may communicate with the AP 502 in accordance with a non-contention based multiple access technique such as OFDMA or MU-MIMO. This is unlike conventional WLAN communications in which devices communicate in accordance with a contention-based communication technique, rather than a multiple access technique. During the HE or EHT control period, the AP 502 may communicate with stations 504 using one or more HE or EHT frames. During the TXOP, the HE STAs 504 may operate on a sub-channel smaller than the operating range of the AP 502. During the TXOP, legacy stations refrain from communicating. The legacy stations may need to receive the communication from the HE AP 502 to defer from communicating.

[0063] In accordance with some embodiments, during the TXOP the

STAs 504 may contend for the wireless medium with the legacy devices 506 being excluded from contending for the wireless medium during the master-sync transmission. In some embodiments the trigger frame may indicate an UL-MU- MIMQ and/or UL OFDMA TXOP. In some embodiments, the trigger frame may include a DL UL -MU-MIMO and/or DL OFDMA with a schedule indicated in a preamble portion of trigger frame.

[0064] In some embodiments, the multiple-access technique used during the HE or EHT TXOP may be a scheduled OFDMA technique, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique may be a time-division multiple access (TDMA) technique or a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) technique. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique may be a space-division multiple access (SDMA) technique. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique may be a Code division multiple access (CDMA). [0065] The AP 502 may also communicate with legacy stations 506 and/or STAs 504 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques. In some embodiments, the AP 502 may also be configurable to communicate with STAs 504 outside the TXOP in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 or IEEE 802.1 IEHT/ax communication techniques, although this is not a requirement.

[0066] In some embodiments the STA 504 may be a “group owner”

(GO) for peer-to-peer modes of operation. A wireless device may be a STA 504 or a HE AP 502.

[0067] In some embodiments, the STA 504 and/or AP 502 may be configured to operate in accordance with IEEE 802.1 lmc. In example embodiments, the radio architecture of FIG. 1 is confi gured to implement the STA 504 and/or the AP 502. In example embodiments, the front-end module circuitry of FIG. 2 is configured to implement the STA 504 and/or the AP 502.

In example embodiments, the radio IC circuitry of FIG. 3 is configured to implement the STA 504 and/or the AP 502. In example embodiments, the base- band processing circuitry of FIG. 4 is configured to implement the STA 504 and/or the AP 502.

[0068] In example embodiments, the STAs 504, AP 502, an apparatus of the STA 504, and/or an apparatus of the AP 502 may include one or more of the following: the radio architecture of FIG. 1, the front-end module circuitry of FIG. 2, the radio IC circuitry of FIG. 3, and/or the base-band processing circuitry of FIG, 4.

[0069] In example embodiments, the radio architecture of FIG. 1, the front-end module circuitry of FIG. 2, the radio IC circuitry of FIG. 3, and/or the base-band processing circuitry' of FIG. 4 may be configured to perform the methods and operations/functions herein described in conjunction with FIGS. 1- 11

[0070] In example embodiments, the STAs 504 and/or the AP 502 are configured to perform the methods and operations/functions described herein in conjunction with FIGS. 1-11. In example embodiments, an apparatus of the STA 504 and/or an apparatus of the AP 502 are configured to perform the methods and functions described herein in conjunction with FIGS. 1-11. The term Wi-Fi may refer to one or more of the IEEE 802, 11 communication standards, AP and 8TA may refer to EHT access point and/or EHT station as well as legacy devices 506.

[0071] In some embodiments, a ST A 504 is an EHT 8TA. In some embodiments, an AP 502 is a EHT AP. In some embodiments, a HE STA or HE AP is a legacy device 506. In some embodiments, when a STA 504 is not operating as an AP, it may be referred to as a non-AP STA or non-AP. In some embodiments, STA 504 may be referred to as either an AP STA or a non-AP. [0072] In some embodiments, a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) may be a physical layer conformance procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU). In some embodiments, the AP 502 and STAs 504 may communicate in accordance with one of the IEEE 802,11 standards, IEEE P802.1 lbe™/Dl.l, June 2021, IEEE P802.1 l-REVmdTM/D3.4, March 2020, and IEEE P802.1 lax are incorporated herein by reference.

[0073] FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine 600 upon which any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies) discussed herein may perform. In alternative embodiments, the machine 600 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 600 may operate in the capacity of a server machine, a client machine, or both in server-client network environments. In an example, the machine 600 may act as a peer machine in peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment. The machine 600 may be a HE AP 502, EVT station 504, personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable communications device, a mobile telephone, a smart phone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), other computer cluster configurations. [0074] Machine (e.g., computer system) 600 may include a hardware processor 602 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory 604 and a static memory 606, some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interlink (e.g., bus) 608.

[0075] Specific examples of main memory 604 include Random Access

Memory (RAM), and semiconductor memory devices, which may include, in some embodiments, storage locations in semiconductors such as registers. Specific examples of static memory_' 606 include non-volatile memory_', such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory_' (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices, magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; RAM; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

[0076] The machine 600 may further include a display device 610, an input device 612 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 614 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display device 610, input device 612 and UI navigation device 614 may be a touch screen display. The machine 600 may additionally include a mass storage (e.g., drive unit) 616, a signal generation device 618 (e.g., a speaker), a network interface device 620, and one or more sensors 621, such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or other sensor. The machine 600 may include an output controller 628, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., mfrared(IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.). In some embodiments the processor 602 and/or instructions 624 may comprise processing circuitry and/or transceiver circuitry. [0077] The storage device 616 may include a machine readable medium

622 on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 624 (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. The instructions 624 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 604, within static memory 606, or within the hardware processor 602 during execution thereof by the machine 600. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor 602, the main memory 604, the static memory 606, or the storage device 616 may constitute machine readable media.

[0078] Specific examples of machine readable media may include: nonvolatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., EPROM or EEPROM) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; RAM; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

[0079] While the machine readable medium 622 is illustrated as a single medium, the term "machine readable medium" may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) configured to store the one or more instructions 624.

[0080] An apparatus of the machine 600 may be one or more of a hardware processor 602 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory' 604 and a static memory' 606, sensors 621, network interface device 620, antennas 660, a display device 610, an input device 612, a UI navigation device 614, a mass storage 616, instructions 624, a signal generation device 618, and an output controller 628. The apparatus may be configured to perform one or more of the methods and/or operations disclosed herein. The apparatus may be intended as a component of the machine 600 to perform one or more of the methods and/or operations disclosed herein, and/or to perform a portion of one or more of the methods and/or operations disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the apparatus may include a pin or other means to receive power. In some embodiments, the apparatus may include power conditioning hardware.

[0081] The term “machine readable medium” may include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the machine 600 and that cause the machine 600 to perform any one or more of the techniques of the present, disclosure, or that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures used by or associated with such instructions. Non- limiting machine readable medium examples may include solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media. Specific examples of machine readable media may include: non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; Random Access Memory' (RAM); and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

In some examples, machine readable media may include non-transitory machine- readable media. In some examples, machine readable media may include machine readable media that is not a. transitory propagating signal.

[0082] The instructions 624 may further be transmited or received over a communications network 626 using a transmission medium via the network interface device 620 utilizing any one of a number of transfer protocols (e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP), transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks may include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet data network (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellular networks), Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless data networks (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, IEEE 802.16 family of standards known as WiMax®), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) family of standards, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) family of standards, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, among others.

[0083] In an example, the network interface device 620 may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or phone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communications network 626. In an example, the network interface device 620 may include one or more antennas 660 to wirelessly communicate using at least one of single-input multiple-output (SIMO), multiple-input multiple-output (MHMO ), or multiple-input single-output (MISO) techniques. In some examples, the network interface device 620 may wirelessly communicate using Multiple User Mi MO techniques. The term “transmission medium” shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machine 600, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of such software.

[0084] Examples, as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic or a number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangible entities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example, circuits may be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to external entities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. In an example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardware processors may be configured by firmware or software (e.g., instructions, an application portion, or an application) as a module that operates to perform specified operations. In an example, the software may reside on a machine readable medium. In an example, the software, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causes the hardware to perform the specified operations.

[0085] Accordingly, the term “module” is understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specifically configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily) configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or to perform part or all of any operation described herein. Considering examples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of the modules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example, where the modules comprise a general-purpose hardware processor configured using software, the general-purpose hardware processor may be configured as respective different modules at different times. Software may accordingly configure a hardware processor, for example, to constitute a particular module at one instance of time and to constitute a different module at a different instance of time.

[0086] Some embodiments may he implemented fully or partially in software and/or firmware. This software and/or firmware may take the form of instructions contained in or on a non -transitory computer-readable storage medium. Those instructions may then be read and executed by one or more processors to enable performance of the operations described herein. The instructions may be in any suitable form, such as but not limited to source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, and the like. Such a computer-readable medium may include any tangible n on- transitory medium for storing information in a form readable by one or more computers, such as but not limited to read only memory (ROM); random access memory' (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory, etc.

[0087] FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an example wireless device

700 upon which any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies or operations) discussed herein may perform. The wireless device 700 may be a HE device or HE wireless device. The wireless device 700 may be a HE STA 504, HE AP 502, and/or a HE STA or HE AP. A HE STA 504, HE AP 502, and/or a HE AP or HE STA may include some or all of the components shown in FIGS. 1-7. The wireless device 700 may be an example machine 600 as disclosed in conjunction with FIG. 6.

[0088] The wireless device 700 may include processing circuitry 708.

The processing circuitry 708 may include a transceiver 702, physical layer circuitry (PHY circuitry') 704, and MAC layer circuitry (MAC circuitry) 706, one or more of which may enable transmission and reception of signals to and from other wireless devices 700 (e.g., HE AP 502, HE STA 504, and/or legacy devices 506) using one or more antennas 712. As an example, the PHY circuitry 704 may perform various encoding and decoding functions that may include formation of baseband signals for transmission and decoding of received signals. As another example, the transceiver 702 may perform various transmission and reception functions such as conversion of signals between a baseband range and a Radio Frequency (RF) range.

[0089] Accordingly, the PHY circuitry' 704 and the transceiver 702 may be separate components or may be part of a combined component, e.g,, processing circuitry' 708. In addition, some of the described functionality related to transmission and reception of signals may be performed by a combination that may include one, any or ail of the PHY circuitry 704 the transceiver 702, M AC circuitry' 706, memory 710, and other components or layers. The MAC circuitry' 706 may control access to the wireless medium. The wireless device 700 may also include memory 710 arranged to perform the operations described herein, e.g., some of the operations described herein may be performed by instructions stored in the memory 710.

[0090] The antennas 712 (some embodiments may include only one antenna) may comprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas 712 may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result.

[0091] One or more of the memory' 710, the transceiver 702, the PHY circuitry 704, the MAC circuitry 706, the antennas 712, and/or the processing circuitry 708 may be coupled with one another. Moreover, although memory 710, the transceiver 702, the PHY circuitry 704, the M AC circuitry 706, the antennas 712 are illustrated as separate components, one or more of memory 710, the transceiver 702, the PHY circuitry' 704, the MAC circuitry 706, the antennas 712 may be integrated in an electronic package or chip.

[0092] in some embodiments, the wireless device 700 may be a mobile device as described in conjunction with FIG. 6. In some embodiments the wireless device 700 may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more wireless communication standards as described herein (e.g., as described in conjunction with FIGS. 1-6, IEEE 802.11). In some embodiments, the wireless device 700 may include one or more of the components as described in conjunction with FIG, 6 (e.g., display device 610, input device 612, etc.) Although the wireless device 700 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[0093] In some embodiments, an apparatus of or used by the wireless device 700 may include various components of the wireless device 700 as shown in FIG. 7 and/or components from FIGS. 1-6. Accordingly, techniques and operations described herein that refer to the wireless device 700 may be applicable to an apparatus for a wireless device 700 (e.g., HE AP 502 and/or HE STA 504), in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the wireless device 700 is configured to decode and/or encode signals, packets, and/or frames as described herein, e.g,, PPDUs.

[0094] In some embodiments, the MAC circuitry 706 may be arranged to contend for a wireless medium during a contention period to receive control of the medium for a HE TXOP and encode or decode an HE PPDU. In some embodiments, the MAC circuitry 706 may be arranged to contend for the wireless medium based on channel contention settings, a transmitting power level, and a clear channel assessment level (e.g., an energy detect level).

[0095] The PHY circuitry' 704 may be arranged to transmit signals in accordance with one or more communication standards described herein. For example, the PHY circuitry 704 may be configured to transmit a HE PPDU. The PHY circuitry' 704 may include circuitry' for modulation/demodulation, upconversion/downconversion, filtering, amplification, etc. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 708 may include one or more processors. The processing circuitry 708 may be configured to perform functions based on instructions being stored in a RAM or ROM, or based on special purpose circuitry. The processing circuitry 708 may include a processor such as a general purpose processor or special purpose processor. The processing circuitry' 708 may implement one or more functions associated with antennas 712, the transceiver 702, the PHY circuitry 704, the MAC circuitry 706, and/or the memory' 710. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry' 708 may be configured to perform one or more of the functions/operations and/or methods described herein.

[0096] In rnmWave technology, communication between a station (e.g., the HE stations 504 of FIG. 5 or wireless device 700) and an access point (e.g., the HE AP 502 of FIG. 5 or wireless device 700) may use associated effective wireless channels that are highly directionally dependent. To accommodate the directionality, beamforming techniques may be utilized to radiate energy in a certain direction with certain beam width to communicate between two devices. The directed propagation concentrates transmitted energy toward a target device in order to compensate for significant energy loss in the channel between the trvo communicating devices. Using directed transmission may extend the range of the millimeter-wave communication versus utilizing the same transmitted energy in omni -directi onal propagati on .

[0097] The use of enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) based contention remains popular in BSSs 500 with STAs 504 and APs 502, which limits the QoS performance gains achieved with legacy networks. Additionally, with no unified definition for scheduled operation client devices, e.g., STAs 504, have a difficult time optimizing for low power consumption as well as achieving consistent performance between different APs 502 which utilize different vendor chipsets.

[0098] A technical problem is how to more efficiently use the wireless spectrum to schedule STAs in IEEE 802.11 and continue to provide Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. Another technical problem is how to lower the power used by wirelessly devices reliant on batteries.

[0099] Some embodiments address the efficiency problem by providing an ordered sequence of frame exchanges which improves high density congested network QoS performance while addressing dynamic variations in data traffic.

In congested networks with many contending STAs a fully scheduled mode STAs 504 are prevented from using enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA), which permits the AP 502 to more efficiently manage the BSS 500 (which can be across Multi-links in IEEE 802.1 lbe) and provide the QoS requirements of multiple associated STAs 504 in the BSS 500 compared to EDCA mechanisms used by STAs 504.

[00100] Some embodiments provide ordered sequence of frame exchanges which improve high density congested network QoS performance through scheduled mode operation while considering dynamic variations in traffic. Some embodiments address the power usage problem by providing a unified sequence that allows manufactures of STAs 504 to design for a balanced performance vs power consumption trade-off while not significantly affecting the overall network capacity or efficiency. Some embodiments address the power usage problem by improving the amount of time the wireless devices such as STAs can enter a lower power mode.

[00101] Some embodiments improve the QoS and power save (PS) performance of the STAs 504 in a BSS 500 even with dynamic traffic conditions. The periodic service periods, e.g., service period N 836, which begins with a polling phase, e.g., poll phase 828, which allows STAs 504 to lower their power consumption by allowing the STAs 504 the flexibility to determine which and how⁷ many service periods (SPs) to participate in.

[00102] FIG. 8 illustrates scheduling in a basic service set (BSS) 800, in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in a FIG. 8 is transmitter 802, time 804, channel 806, beacon interval 838, and service period N 836, The transmitter 802 indicates whether an AP 502, STA 504, or both transmit in the phase. Time 804 progresses left to right. The channel 806 indicates that the transmissions are occurring within a channel or channels of the wireless spectrum within a band, e.g., 2.4/5/6 GHz, Channel 806 values may be 640 MHz, 320 MHz, 160 MHz, 80MHz, 80 · 80MHz, and so forth. The beacon interval 838 has been divided up into one or more service periods, e.g,, service period N 836,

[00103] The AP 504 is configured to divide the target beacon transmission time (TBTT) into one or more service periods, e.g., service period N 836, within which the ordered set of phased operations as disclosed in FIG. 8 and herein are performed.

[00104] The poll phase 828 includes BCAS^'T TIM frame 808, null data packet (NDP) feedback report poll (NFRP) trigger frame (TF) 810, NDP response 812, buffer status report poll (BSRP) TF 814, and BSRP response 816. One or more of these is optional or may be substituted for a different transmission. In the poll phase 828, the AP 502 announces the presence of downlink (DL) data and polls the STAs 504 for uplink (UL) resource needs such as a STA 504 has data to send to the AP 502 with an indication of QoS needs. The poll phase 828 may use different transmissions for the AP 502 to indicate the DL data and to determine the UL resource needs of the ST As 504.

[00105] The AP 502 signals with a BCAST TIM frame 808 the presence of DL data for the STAs 504. The BCAST TIM frame 808 may be a base TIM frame. Upon decoding the BCAST TIM frame 808, a STA 504 may be configured to go to sleep, e.g., Doze, if there is no DL data for them (or they intend to ignore the DL data) and if the STA 504 has no UL data, and if no other condition requires the STA 504 to be awake.

[00106] In some embodiments, the STAs 504 are notified of the presence of DL data in a different way. For example, a modified NFRP TF is used where the NFRP TF is modified to include an indication of DL data for STAs 504 in different portions of the LTFs of the NFRP TF transmitted to the STAs 504. In some embodiments the modified NFRP TF is followed by a detailed TIM element for each of the STAs 504 that has DL data pending, STAs 504 would then know early whether they have DL data and so could sleep or Doze if they have no other reason to remain active, e.g., there is no UL data for the AP 502 and no other requirement to not sleep, so they could sleep.

[00107] The poll phase 828 continues with NFRP TF 810, which is a broadcast frame that polls multiple STAs 504 about whether they have any UL data. Another packet or element would be used to poll the STAs 504.

[00108] In one embodiment the NFRP TF 810 includes feedback type subfield encoding for the STAs 504 to indicate a type of data as well as a request for an UL resource. For example, a value may indicate that the STA 504 has only low latency traffic for UL. In some embodiments, the value indicates whether the STA 504 have UL resource for TIDs for which the AP 502 is soliciting presence of UL data.

[00109] In one embodiment the NDP response 812 enables STAs 504 to respond to the NFRP TF 810 to report the presence of UL traffic as well as to indicate whether they would like to be scheduled in SP N 836. For example, the feedback type subfield may include values that, indicate whether the STA 504 has data and whether the STA 504 would like to be scheduled in the SP N 836. [00110] In some embodiments, the set of association IDs (AIDs) assigned by AP 502 to EHT STAs, e.g., STA 504, is contiguous and orthogonal to that assigned to legacy STAs, so that the AP 502 can indicate only the EHT STAs in the M RP TF 810. In embodiments the NFRP IF 810 and NDP response 812 is not performed if the number of STAs 504 for which UL resources to be allocated is small.

[00111] The poll phase 828 continues with one or more broadcast frames that solicit detailed queue size for UL packets at a ST A 504, e.g., detailed UL resource requests from the STAs 504. The AP 504 then determines the required UL resources to be allocated in the data phase 834 of the SP n 836.

[00112] In some embodiments, a BSRP TF 814 is used to determine detail UL resource requests from the STAs 504, e.g., UL buffer status. In one embodiment the transmission of BSRP TF 814 or BSRP-like frames are not performed if the AP 502 does not intend to use the information present by such polling in the resource allocation phase 830. For example, the AP 502 may allocate UL resource by transmitting a basic TF (that indicates one or more STAs 504) with a default UL Length field (and that allocates a channel and spatial stream to the STAs 504) in subsequent data phase 834 or at least in the very first basic TF to a given STA 504 following the resource allocation phase 830. BSRP response 816 is the STAs 504 responding with detailed information regarding their UL resource requests or requirements. The BSRP responses 816 are trigger based (TB) PPDUs, in accordance with some embodiments. The BSRP responses 816 include UL BSR reports from the STAs 504, in accordance with some embodiments.

[00113] In the resource allocation phase 830, the AP 502 transmits one or more frames to inform the STAs 504 about whether they are going to be allocated resource, e.g., UL/DL, in the SP n 836, STAs 504 that are not allocated resources may go to a doze state for the remainder of the SP n 836. [00114] In embodiments the AP 502 transmits a BCAST OPS frame 818 that includes an OPS Duration field set to the end of the SP n 836. The granularity of the time in the OPS frame may be changed from Inis to a different value. FIG. 9 is disclosed in conjunction with FIG. 8. FIG. 9 illustrates an opportunistic power save (OPS) element 900, in accordance with some embodiments. The OPS element 900 includes an element ID 1002 field, length 1004 field, element ID extension 1006 field, an OPS duration 1008 field, and a granularity of OPS duration 1010 Held. OPS element 900 may be included in the BCA8T OPS frame 818. Legacy devices 506 will not be able to decode OPS element 900 properly. The granularity of OPS duration 1010 field may be set so that a value may be indicated that extends to the end of the SP n 836. In some embodiments the granularity of OPS duration 1010 field may be set for finer granularity than milliseconds.

[00115] In one embodiment the AP 502 transmits a BCAST OPS frame 818 with the OPS Duration 1008 field set to a time before the end of the SP n 836. Additional, BCAST OPS frames or OPS frames may be transmitted during the SP n 836, The STAs 504 may use the information in the OPS frames as follows. STAs 504 that are not yet scheduled only go to a doze state for the duration in the OPS frame in which they were not scheduled. STAs that have been scheduled earlier in the SP n 836, may go to a doze state for rest of the SP n 838 if not scheduled in an OPS frame. Another frame may be transmitted other than the BCAST OPS frame 818. The BCAST OPS frame 818 is BCAST to indicate to all STAs 504 not indicated that they are scheduled that that they can enter power save until end of the OPS duration, in accordance with some embodiments.

[00116] In one embodiment the AP 502 may transmit an enhanced or EHT version of OPS frame that informs the STAs 504 about whether they will be scheduled for a time window identified by its start and end time. For example, the OPS element 900 or another element or frame may include a field that indicates whether they will be scheduled in the SP n 836 and, optionally, one or more fields that indicate a start and end time within the SP n 836 when the STA 504 is scheduled, will be scheduled, or potentially will be scheduled. If the OPS element 900, 1000 is included in an OPS frame or a fast initial link set- up (FILS) Discovery frame, the OPS Duration field indicates the OPS period duration, during which a STA can go to doze state if it is explicitly not scheduled during that period.

[00117] The AP 502 can only signal allocation for a period of a certain duration following the transmission of the OPS frame, in accordance with some embodiments. The AP 502 may aggregate multiple such OPS frames in a single

A-MPDU. [00118] The sounding phase 832 may perform sounding 820 with the STAs 504 are scheduled to receive a DL and/or UL resource allocation by the AP 502. The sounding phase 832 is optional. The data phase 834 includes one or more UL/DL pay TXQP 822, 824, 826. For example, the AP 502 transmits a TF that includes DL and/or UL resource allocations for the scheduled STAs 504 and the STAs 504 respond by decoding the DL data and simultaneously transmitted UL data to the AP 502. In some embodiments, the AP 502 may transmit data directly to one ST A 504 only and may allocate UL resources for only one STA 504 to transmit resources to the AP 502.

[00119] FIG. 10 illustrates an OPS element 1000, in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, OPS element 900, 1000 are EHT OPS elements. Illustrated in FIG, 10 is element ID 1002 field, length 1004 field, element ID extension 1006 field, OPS duration 1008 field, and OPS start offset 1010 field.

[00120] The OPS start offset 1010 field specifies the start-offset from the time of transmission of the OPS frame until the STAs 504 indicated in the corresponding TIM element in the frame are not scheduled.

[00121] FIG. 11 illustrates scheduling in a BSS 1100, in accordance with some embodiments. The STAs 504 are effectively scheduled within specific time periods within the SP n 1136 by the use of OPS element 1000. For example, STAs 1,2, which are STAs 504, are scheduled using a OPS frame while STAs 3-4, which are STAs 504, are scheduled using a OPS frame 1000 aggregated together.

[00122] In one embodiment the allocation can be done by a FILS frame containing TIM element. In one embodiment for reliability the AP 502 transmits unicast TWT Info frames in an SU or MU PPDU to signal when a particular STA is going to be scheduled inside the SP n 1136, STAs 504 that are not scheduled may go to a doze state following the reception of this frame, other STAs 504 may go to a doze state until the scheduled time.

[00123] In embodiments the SP n 836, 1136 are a broadcast target wake- up time (TWT) SP. The TWT element corresponding to this SP includes a field signaling the presence of ordered phases. For example, one of the Reserved bits in the Broadcast TWT Info subfield is used to signal the presence of ordered phases. The SP n 836, 1136 is indicated by one or more fields in a transmission to the STAs 504. The one or more fields may indicate a time and duration of the SPs such as a time relative to the beginning of a beacon interval. The duration of an SP may be fixed. The STAs 504 are configured not to perform contention- based access to the wireless spectrum during a SP. In some embodiments, there is an SP element that defines the start time and duration of SPs. In some embodiments a beacon interval is broken up into segments by a duration and SPs are regularly spaced within the segments such as every' fourth segment. In some embodiments, the AP 502 transmits a PPDU prior to an SP or at the start of an SP with an indication of a duration of the PPDU that extends to the end of the SP so that legacy device 506 will defer, e.g., not contend for the wireless medium, during the SP.

[00124] One of the Reserved values in the Broadcast TWT recommendation field can be used to signal the presence of ordered phases or SPs. Moreover, the TWT element may also signal the presence of individual components in the SP n 1136 such as whether there will sounding 820, BCAST TIM frame 808, BSRP TF 814, and so forth.

[00125] In embodiments the SP n 1136 is created a periodically or in an ad-hoc fashion. For example, the AP 502 may not use SPs, which may be termed ordered SP such as SP n 1136, for several beacon intervals and then restart using the ordered SPs. A frames in the poll phase 828 or another phase includes additional signaling indicating the ordered SP operation such as the end of the current ordered SP, a time when a new ordered SP is scheduled after the SP n 1136, and so forth.

[00126] For example, the TIM frame may contain signaling to indicate ordered SP as well the end of the SP n 836, 1136. The OPS frame may contain signaling to indicate the end ordered SP n 836, 1136 and when the beginning of the next ordered SP is. The UL/DL payload TXOP for STA-1, 2 1122, UL/DL payload TXOP for STA-3, 4 and UL/DL payload TXOP 1126 may be performed with trigger frames that includes UL and DL data, in accordance with some embodiments. The STAs 504 are configured to not contend for the wireless spectrum, e.g., a channel 806 during the SP n 836, 1136, in accordance with some embodiments. [00127] FIG. 12 illustrates a method 1200 for scheduling in BSSs, in accordance with some embodiments. The method 1200 begins at operation 1202 with decode a first frame from an access point (AP), the first frame comprising an indication of service periods. For example, ST As 504 of FIGS. 8 and 11 may receive a frame prior to the start of service period N 836, 1136, indicating servi ec periods. The frame may include a target wake-up time (TWT) element. [00128] The method 1200 continues at operation 1204 with during a service period of the service periods, decode a trigger frame, the trigger frame indicating an TIL resource allocation for the STA to transmit an indication of a buffer status of the STA to the AP. For example, STAs 504 of FIGS. 8 and 11 may decode BSRP TF 814 or NFRP TF 810.

[00129] The method 1200 continues at operation 1206 with encoding a second frame, the second frame including an indication of the buffer status of the STA For example, STAs 504 of FIGS. 8 and 11 may encode NDP response 812 or BSRP response 816.

[00130] The method 1200 continues at operation 1208 with configuring the STA to transmit the second frame, in accordance with the UL resource allocation. For example, an apparatus of the STAs 504 of FIGS. 8 and 11 may configure the STAs 504 to transmit the NDP response 812 or BSRP response 816.

[00131] The method 1200 continues at operation 1210 with decoding a third frame, the third frame including an indication of a doze state duration for the STA. For example, the STAs 504 of FIGS. 8 and 11 may decode an BCAST OPS frame 818.

[00132] The method 1200 may include one or more additional operations. One or more operations of the method 1200 may be optional. The method 1200 may be performed by an apparatus of an AP 502, an AP 502, an apparatus of a STA (non-AP STA) 504, or a STA 504 (non-AP STA).

[00133] FIG. 13 illustrates a method 1300 for scheduling in BSSs, in accordance with some embodiments. The method 1300 begins at operation 1302 with encoding a first frame for STAs, the first frame comprising an indication of sendee periods. For example, the APs 502 of FIGS. 8 and 11 may encode a frame prior to the start of the SP N 836, 1136. The frame may include a target wake-up time (TWT) element.

[00134] The method 1300 continues at operation 1304 with during a service period of the service periods, encode a trigger frame, the trigger frame indicating uplink (UL) resource allocations for the STAs to transmit indications of buffer statuses of the STAs to the AP, the UL resource allocation indicating orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDM A) and multi-user (MU) multi-input (Ml) multi-output (MX))(MU-MIMO). The method 1300 continues at operation 1306 with configuring the AP to transmit the trigger frame. For example, the APs 502 of FIGS. 8 and 11 may encode NFRP TF 810 or BSRP TF 814 and an apparatus of the APs 502 may configure the APs to transmit the NFRP TF 810 or BSRP TF 814.

[00135] The method 1300 continues at operation 1308 with decoding second frames, the second frames comprising indications of the buffer statuses of the STAs. For example, the APs 502 of FIGS. 8 and 11 may decode NDP response 812 and BSRP response 816.

[00136] The method 1300 continues at operation 1310 with encoding a third frame, the third frame including indications of doze state durations for the STAs. For example, the APs 502 of FIGS. 8 and 11 may encode and transmit BCAST OPS frame 818.

[00137] The method 1300 may include one or more additional operations. One or more operations of the method 1300 may be optional. The method 1300 may be performed by an apparatus of an AP 502, an AP 502, an apparatus of a 8TA 504 (non-AP STA), or a ST A 504 (non-AP STA).

[00138] The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b) requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scope or meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for a station (ST A), the apparatus comprising: memory; and, processing circuitry coupled to the memory', the processing circuitry configured to: decode a first frame from an access point (AP), the first frame comprising an indication of service periods; during a service period of the service periods, decode a trigger frame, the trigger frame indicating an uplink (UL) resource allocation for the ST A to transmit an indication of a buffer status of the STA to the AP; encode a second frame, the second frame comprising an indication of the buffer status of the STA; configure the STA to transmit the second frame, in accordance with the UL resource allocation; and decode a third frame, the third frame comprising an indication of a doze state duration for the STA.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the indication of the buffer status of the STA is a quality of service (QoS) control field or a buffer status report (BSR) control subfield.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the trigger frame is a BSR trigger frame.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the UL resource allocation is a first UL resource allocation, and wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: after the duration, decode a basic trigger frame, the basic trigger frame comprising downlink (DL.fi data for the STA and comprising a second UL resource allocation for the STA to transmit UL data to the AP; and encode a trigger based (TB) physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU), the TB PPDU comprising the UL data.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the third frame comprises an opportunistic power save (OPS) element, the OPS element comprising an OPS start offset field or a granularity of OPS duration field.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: decode fourth frame, the fourth frame comprising a traffic indication map (TIM) element, the TIM element indicating availability of data for the STA.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 where in the fourth frame has a destination address indicating a broadcast address.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the UL resource allocation is a first UL resource allocation, and wherein the processing circuity is further configured to: decode a null data packet (NDP) feedback report poll (NFRP) TF, the NFRP TF comprising a second UL resource allocation for the STA to indicate a buffer status or resource request of the STA; encode in a NDP a response to the NFRP TF; and configure the STA to transmit the NDP in accordance with the second UL resource allocation.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the buffer status or resource request is an indication of whether the STA has low latency buffered data.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the fourth frame and the NFRP TF are decoded before the trigger frame, and wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: if the TIM element indicates there is no data for the STA and the STA has no low latency buffered data, enter a doze state until an end of the servic e pe riod.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the doze state duration indicates the during the doze state duration the AP does not address frames to the ST A and that during the doze state duration the STA is to retrain from performing contention based access to the wireless medium.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: enter a doze state for the duration.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first frame comprises a target wake-up time (TWT) element, the TWT element comprising a field the indication of the service periods,

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the field is the broadcast TWT recommendation field.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: refrain from performing content-based access to the wireless medium during the service periods on an operating band.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the STA is configured to operate in accordance with Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE) 802.11be, wherein the STA is a non-AP STA, and wherein the apparatus further comprises: transceiver circuitry coupled to the memory, and, antennas coupled to the transceiver circuitry.

17. A n on-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of an apparatus for a station (STA), the instructions to configure the one or more processors to: decode a first frame from an access point (AP), the first frame comprising an indication of service periods; during a sendee period of the service periods, decode a trigger frame, the trigger frame indicating an uplink (UL) resource allocation for the ST A to transmit an indication of a buffer status of the STA to the AP; encode a second frame, the second frame comprising an indication of the buffer status of the STA; configure the STA to transmit the second frame, in accordance with the UL resource allocation; and decode a third frame, the third frame comprising an indication of a doze state duration for the STA.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 wherein the UL resource allocation is a first UL resource allocation, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: after the duration, decode a basic trigger frame, the basic trigger frame comprising downlink (DL) data for the STA and comprising a second UL resource allocation for the STA to transmit UL data to the AP; and encode a trigger based (TB) physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU), the TB PPDU comprising the UL data.

19. An apparatus for an access point (AP), the apparatus comprising: memory; and, processing circuitry coupled to the memory', the processing circuitry' configured to: encode a first frame for stations (STAs), the first frame comprising an indication of service periods; during a service period of the service periods, encode a trigger frame, the trigger frame indicating uplink (UL) resource allocations for the STAs to transmit indications of buffer statuses of the STAs to the AP, the UL resource allocation indicating orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) and multi-user (MU) multi-input (MI) multi-output (MQ)(MU-MIMQ) ; configure the AP to transmit the trigger frame; decode second frames, the second frames comprising indications of the buffer statuses of the STAs; and encode a third frame, the third frame comprising indications of doze state durations for the ST As.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the UL resource allocation is a first UL resource allocation, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: after the duration, decode a basic trigger frame, the basic trigger frame comprising downlink (DL) data for the ST A and comprising a second UL resource allocation for the STA to transmit UL data to the AP; and encode a trigger based (TB) physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit

(PPDU), the TB PPDU comprising the UL data.