IP Library Granted Patent US 12695580
Granted Patent B2
US 12695580 · App. 18/476,192 · Granted Jul 28, 2026

Preemption for low latency application by using null tones or dedicated resource unit (RU) for suspend request feedback

Inventors: Juan Fang (Portland, OR); Danny Alexander (Neve Efraim Monoson, IL); Laurent Cariou (Milizac, FR); Qinghua Li (San Ramon, CA); Robert Stacey (Portland, OR)
Assignee: Intel Corporation
H04L5/0064H04L5/0053
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12695580
App. No.
18/476,192
Granted
Jul 28, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

This disclosure describes systems, methods, and devices related to low latency preemption. A device may establish time gaps between consecutive physical layer (PHY) convergence protocol data units (PPDUs) to facilitate preemption opportunity for low latency (LL) transmission. The device may detect a suspend/resource request (SR) transmitted over predefined null tones, wherein the SR is received from a station device (STA). The device may determine if a current transmit opportunity (TXOP) is preemptable and communicate this status through a control frame. The device may set a suspend request (SR) feedback report support subfield within an ultra high reliability (UHR) capabilities element based on a capability to support the SR feedback report.

Claims (32)

1 . A device, the device comprising processing circuitry coupled to storage, the processing circuitry configured to:

establish time gaps between consecutive physical layer (PHY) convergence protocol data units (PPDUs) to facilitate preemption opportunity for low latency (LL) transmission;

detect a suspend/resource request (SR) transmitted over predefined null tones, wherein the SR is received from a station device (STA);

determine if a current transmit opportunity (TXOP) is preemptable and communicate this status through a control frame; and

set a suspend request (SR) feedback report support subfield within an ultra high reliability (UHR) capabilities element based on a capability to support the SR feedback report.

2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the predefined null tones are predefined and known to both an AP and STAs.

3 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to include an SR feedback report parameter set element in one or more of Beacon frames, Probe Response frames, and (Re) Association Response frames.

4 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to indicate which STAs are permitted to transmit the SR over the predefined null tones.

5 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to set a maximum PPDU length limitation for transmitting data.

6 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to use power differentiation at a receiver side for SR detection based on values set in two continuous null tones.

7 . The device of claim 1 , wherein upon detection of the SR over the predefined null tones, an AP suspends a following downlink (DL) PPDU transmission and triggers an LL station device (STA) to provide feedback on buffer status or triggers the LL STA to send an uplink LL packet.

8 . The device of claim 1 , wherein multiple null tone sets across a frequency domain are available for SR transmission, and each set is encoded by a P-matrix over multiple orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in a time domain.

9 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to transmit an LL packet in a next downlink (DL) PPDU if the LL packet is intended for an LL STA during a transmission of a next DL PPDU.

10 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions which when executed by one or more processors result in performing operations comprising:

establishing time gaps between consecutive physical layer (PHY) convergence protocol data units (PPDUs) to facilitate preemption opportunity for low latency (LL) transmission;

detecting a suspend/resource request (SR) transmitted over predefined null tones, wherein the SR is received from a station device (STA);

determining if a current transmit opportunity (TXOP) is preemptable and communicate this status through a control frame; and

setting a suspend request (SR) feedback report support subfield within an ultra high reliability (UHR) capabilities element based on a capability to support the SR feedback report.

11 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the predefined null tones are predefined and known to both an AP and STAs.

12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise including an SR feedback report parameter set element in one or more of Beacon frames, Probe Response frames, and (Re) Association Response frames.

13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise indicating which STAs are permitted to transmit the SR over the predefined null tones.

14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise setting a maximum PPDU length limitation for transmitting data.

15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise using power differentiation at a receiver side for SR detection based on values set in two continuous null tones.

16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein upon detection of the SR over the predefined null tones, an AP suspends a following downlink (DL) PPDU transmission and triggers an LL station device (STA) to provide feedback on buffer status or triggers the LL STA to send an uplink LL packet.

17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein multiple null tone sets across a frequency domain are available for SR transmission, and each set is encoded by a P-matrix over multiple orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in a time domain.

18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise transmitting an LL packet in a next downlink (DL) PPDU if the LL packet is intended for an LL STA during a transmission of a next DL PPDU.

19 . A method comprising:

establish time gaps between consecutive physical layer (PHY) convergence protocol data units (PPDUs) to facilitate preemption opportunity for low latency (LL) transmission;

detect a suspend/resource request (SR) transmitted over predefined null tones, wherein the SR is received from a station device (STA);

determine if a current transmit opportunity (TXOP) is preemptable and communicate this status through a control frame; and

set a suspend request (SR) feedback report support subfield within an ultra high reliability (UHR) capabilities element based on a capability to support the SR feedback report.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the predefined null tones are predefined and known to both an AP and STAs.