IP Library Granted Patent US 12684613
Granted Patent B2
US 12684613 · App. 18/344,011 · Granted Jul 14, 2026

Back-to-back transmissions via a multi-hop relay path using flow-specific resource reservation

Inventors: Srinivas Katar (Fremont, CA); Xiaolong Huang (Santee, CA); Gyanranjan Hazarika (Milpitas, CA); Manish Shukla (Milpitas, CA); Sandip Homchaudhuri (San Jose, CA)
Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
H04W74/006H04B7/155H04W74/0808
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12684613
App. No.
18/344,011
Granted
Jul 14, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

This disclosure provides methods, components, devices and systems for back-to-back transmissions via a multi-hop relay path using flow-specific resource reservation. Some aspects more specifically relate to flow-specific transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing and/or orthogonal channel reservation in combination with a flow-specific sequence of time slots. In implementations in which flow-specific TXOP sharing is employed in combination with a flow-specific sequence of time slots, one or more wireless communication devices may determine whether a shared TXOP supersedes the flow-specific sequence of time slots in accordance with whether the shared TXOP is associated with a same flow as the sequence of time slots. In implementations in which orthogonal channel reservation is employed in combination with a flow-specific sequence of time slots, each wireless communication device of a multi-hop relay path may receive an indication of or otherwise be configured with a frequency channel via which to transmit.

Claims (64)

1 . A first wireless communication device, comprising:

one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and

one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to:

receive information associated with a sequence of time slots, wherein the sequence of time slots corresponds to a traffic flow associated with a multi-hop relay path;

transmit, during a transmission opportunity of the first wireless communication device, data associated with the traffic flow; and

transmit a frame indicating a sharing of the transmission opportunity with a second wireless communication device of the multi-hop relay path and indicating, in accordance with the transmission opportunity at least partially overlapping with the sequence of time slots, an identifier corresponding to the traffic flow.

2 . The first wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to:

receive a channel access priority mapping associated with the sequence of time slots, wherein the channel access priority mapping indicates that each respective wireless communication device of the multi-hop relay path has channel access priority during a respective time slot of the sequence of time slots, and wherein the sharing of the transmission opportunity supersedes the channel access priority mapping in accordance with the frame indicating the identifier corresponding to the traffic flow.

3 . The first wireless communication device of claim 2 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to:

transmit the frame to the second wireless communication device in accordance with the multi-hop relay path, wherein, in accordance with the channel access priority mapping associated with the sequence of time slots, the first wireless communication device is scheduled for a first time slot of the sequence of time slots and the second wireless communication device is scheduled for a second time slot of the sequence of time slots immediately subsequent to the first time slot.

4 . The first wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to:

transmit the frame to indicate, to the second wireless communication device, that the data associated with the traffic flow is to be relayed in accordance with the multi-hop relay path during the transmission opportunity.

5 . The first wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to:

receive, from the second wireless communication device during the transmission opportunity, a trigger frame soliciting the data associated with the traffic flow, wherein transmitting the data is in association with receiving the trigger frame.

6 . The first wireless communication device of claim 5 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to:

transmit, to a third wireless communication device, a second trigger frame soliciting the data associated with the traffic flow; and

receive the data associated with the traffic flow from the third wireless communication device in association with transmitting the second trigger frame, wherein transmitting the frame indicating the sharing of the transmission opportunity with the second wireless communication device is in association with receiving the data from the third wireless communication device.

7 . The first wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to:

receive the information associated with the sequence of time slots from a controller of the multi-hop relay path.

8 . The first wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein one or more channel access rules associated with the sequence of time slots are inapplicable during the transmission opportunity shared by the first wireless communication device in accordance with the frame indicating the identifier corresponding to the traffic flow and the sequence of time slots also corresponding to the traffic flow.

9 . The first wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the information associated with the sequence of time slots indicates a frequency channel mapping associated with the multi-hop relay path, the frequency channel mapping indicating that each respective wireless communication device of the multi-hop relay path uses a respective frequency channel of a plurality of frequency channels.

10 . The first wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the frame is an allocation request frame or a trigger frame.

11 . The first wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the frame indicates the identifier corresponding to the traffic flow via an information element.

12 . The first wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the sequence of time slots is associated with a sequence of flow-specific back-to-back time domain multiple access slot reservations.

13 . A first wireless communication device, comprising:

one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and

one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to:

receive information associated with a sequence of time slots, wherein the sequence of time slots corresponds to a traffic flow associated with a multi-hop relay path;

receive a frame indicating a sharing of a transmission opportunity with the first wireless communication device and indicating an identifier corresponding to the traffic flow; and

communicate, during the transmission opportunity, data associate with the traffic flow in accordance with the frame indicating the identifier corresponding to the traffic flow.

14 . The first wireless communication device of claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to:

receive a channel access priority mapping associated with the sequence of time slots, wherein the channel access priority mapping indicates that each respective wireless communication device of the multi-hop relay path has channel access priority during a respective time slot of the sequence of time slots, and wherein the sharing of the transmission opportunity supersedes the channel access priority mapping in accordance with the frame indicating the identifier corresponding to the traffic flow.

15 . The first wireless communication device of claim 14 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to:

receive the frame from a second wireless communication device in accordance with the multi-hop relay path, wherein, in accordance with the channel access priority mapping associated with the sequence of time slots, the first wireless communication device is scheduled for a first time slot of the sequence of time slots and the second wireless communication device is scheduled for a second time slot of the sequence of time slots immediately prior to the first time slot.

16 . The first wireless communication device of claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to:

receive the data associated with the traffic flow from a second wireless communication device; and

transmit the data during the transmission opportunity in association with a relaying of the data from the second wireless communication device to a third wireless communication device.

17 . The first wireless communication device of claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to:

transmit, in association with receiving the frame indicating the sharing of the transmission opportunity, a trigger frame soliciting the data associated with the traffic flow; and

receive the data in association with transmitting the trigger frame.

18 . The first wireless communication device of claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to:

receive the information associated with the sequence of time slots from a controller of the multi-hop relay path.

19 . The first wireless communication device of claim 13 , wherein one or more channel access rules associated with the sequence of time slots are inapplicable during the transmission opportunity in accordance with the frame indicating the identifier corresponding to the traffic flow and the sequence of time slots also corresponding to the traffic flow.

20 . The first wireless communication device of claim 13 , wherein the information associated with the sequence of time slots indicates a frequency channel mapping associated with the multi-hop relay path, the frequency channel mapping indicating that each respective wireless communication device of the multi-hop relay path uses a respective frequency channel of a plurality of frequency channels.

21 . A first wireless communication device, comprising:

one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and

one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to:

receive information indicating a sequence of time slots and indicating a frequency channel mapping, wherein the sequence of time slots corresponds to a traffic flow associated with a multi-hop relay path, and wherein the frequency channel mapping is associated with the multi-hop relay path and indicates that each respective wireless communication device of the multi-hop relay path uses a respective frequency channel of a plurality of frequency channels;

receive a channel access priority mapping associated with the sequence of time slots, wherein the channel access priority mapping indicates that each respective wireless communication device of the multi-hop relay path has channel access priority during a respective time slot of the sequence of time slots, and wherein the channel access priority mapping indicates a relatively highest channel access priority for the first wireless communication device for a first time slot and indicates a relatively highest channel access priority for a second wireless communication device for a second time slot of the sequence of time slots; and

transmit, via a first frequency channel during the first time slot of the sequence of time slots in accordance with the frequency channel mapping and the channel access priority mapping, data associated with the traffic flow.

22 . The first wireless communication device of claim 21 , wherein the frequency channel mapping indicates the first frequency channel for the first wireless communication device and a second frequency channel for the second wireless communication device.

23 . The first wireless communication device of claim 21 , wherein the frequency channel mapping indicates that the first wireless communication device uses the first frequency channel and the second wireless communication device uses a second frequency channel, wherein the first frequency channel and the second frequency channel are different channels in accordance with the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device being at least two hops away from each other in accordance with the multi-hop relay path.

24 . The first wireless communication device of claim 21 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to:

receive the information associated with the sequence of time slots from a controller of the multi-hop relay path.

25 . The first wireless communication device of claim 21 , wherein the frequency channel mapping is associated with multi-primary channel operation along the multi-hop relay path.

26 . The first wireless communication device of claim 21 , wherein the frequency channel mapping indicates different multi-primary channels for different hops of the multi-hop relay path.

27 . A method for wireless communication by a first wireless communication device, comprising:

receiving information associated with a sequence of time slots, wherein the sequence of time slots corresponds to a traffic flow associated with a multi-hop relay path;

transmitting, during a transmission opportunity of the first wireless communication device, data associated with the traffic flow; and

transmitting a frame indicating a sharing of the transmission opportunity with a second wireless communication device of the multi-hop relay path and indicating, in accordance with the transmission opportunity at least partially overlapping with the sequence of time slots, an identifier corresponding to the traffic flow.

28 . The method of claim 27 , further comprising:

receiving a channel access priority mapping associated with the sequence of time slots, wherein the channel access priority mapping indicates that each respective wireless communication device of the multi-hop relay path has channel access priority during a respective time slot of the sequence of time slots, and wherein the sharing of the transmission opportunity supersedes the channel access priority mapping in accordance with the frame indicating the identifier corresponding to the traffic flow.

29 . The method of claim 28 , further comprising:

transmitting the frame to the second wireless communication device in accordance with the multi-hop relay path, wherein, in accordance with the channel access priority mapping associated with the sequence of time slots, the first wireless communication device is scheduled for a first time slot of the sequence of time slots and the second wireless communication device is scheduled for a second time slot of the sequence of time slots immediately subsequent to the first time slot.