Acknowledgment management techniques for uplink multi-user transmissions
Acknowledgment management techniques for UL MU transmissions are described. In various embodiments, an AP may observe a limit with respect to a number of TIDs for which corresponding A-MPDUs are to be acknowledged in a given immediate/compressed multi-user (MU) block ACK (BA). In some embodiments, the AP may indicate such a TID limit in a broadcast transmission, such as a beacon or management frame. In various other embodiments, the AP may indicate such a TID limit in a response for a capability request, such as a Probe Response, or in a specific allocation frame, such as a trigger frame, for all STAs participating in UL MU transmissions. In various embodiments, a single TID limit may be indicated that is understood to apply to each STA. In some other embodiments, the AP may indicate a respective TID limit for each of multiple STAs. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
1. An apparatus, comprising:
a memory; and
logic for a station (STA), at least a portion of the logic comprised in circuitry coupled to the memory, the logic to:
receive a frame comprising two or more traffic identifier (TID) acknowledgment limits from an access point (AP);
identify, from the frame, a TID acknowledgment limit for the STA from the two or more TID acknowledgment limits in the frame, wherein the TID acknowledgment limit indicates a number of TIDs that can be aggregated by the STA in a block acknowledgement for an aggregate medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (A-MPDU) for which the STA can request immediate acknowledgment;
generate a set of A-MPDUs for transmission to the AP during an uplink (UL) transmission interval in response to the frame;
select, from among the set of A-MPDUs, one or more A-MPDUs for which to request immediate acknowledgment, the one or more selected A-MPDUs collectively associated with a number of TIDs that does not exceed the TID acknowledgment limit; and
set a respective acknowledgment policy field of each of the one or more selected A-MPDUs to indicate that immediate acknowledgment is requested.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising communication of a subsequent indication of the TID acknowledgement limit in a beacon frame received from the AP.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising communication of a subsequent indication of the TID acknowledgment limit in a management frame received from the AP.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising communication of a subsequent indication of the TID acknowledgment limit in a Probe Response frame received from the AP.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , the TID acknowledgment limit to comprise a STA-specific limit.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , the TID acknowledgment limit to comprise a non-STA-specific limit.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , comprising at least one radio frequency (RF) transceiver.
8. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a set of instructions that, in response to being executed by a processor of a station (STA), cause the processor to perform operations, the operations to:
receive a frame comprising two or more traffic identifier (TID) acknowledgment limits from an access point (AP);
identify, from the frame, a TID acknowledgment limit for the STA from the two or more TID acknowledgment limits in the frame, wherein the TID acknowledgment limit indicates a number of TIDs that can be aggregated by the STA in a block acknowledgment for an aggregate medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (A-MPDU) for which the STA can request immediate acknowledgment;
generate a set of A-MPDUs for transmission to the AP during an uplink (UL) transmission interval in response to the frame;
select, from among the set of A-MPDUs, one or more A-MPDUs for which to request immediate acknowledgment, the one or more selected A-MPDUs collectively associated with a number of TIDs that does not exceed the TID acknowledgment limit; and
set a respective acknowledgment policy field of each of the one or more selected A-MPDUs to indicate that immediate acknowledgment is requested.
9. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise communication of a subsequent indication of the TID acknowledgment limit in a beacon frame received from the AP.
10. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise communication of a subsequent indication of the TID acknowledgment limit in a management frame received from the AP.
11. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise communication of a subsequent indication of the TID acknowledgment limit in a Probe Response frame received from the AP.
12. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , the TID acknowledgment limit to comprise a STA-specific limit.
13. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , the TID acknowledgment limit to comprise a non-STA-specific limit.
14. A method, comprising:
receiving a frame comprising two or more traffic identifier (TID) acknowledgment limits from an access point (AP);
identify, from the frame, a TID acknowledgment limit for the STA from the two or more TID acknowledgment limits in the frame, wherein the TID acknowledgment limit indicates a number of TIDs that can be aggregated by the STA in a block acknowledgment for an aggregate medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (A-MPDU) for which the STA can request immediate acknowledgment;
generating a set of A-MPDUs for transmission to the AP during an uplink (UL) transmission interval in response to the frame;
selecting, from among the set of A-MPDUs, one or more A-MPDUs for which to request immediate acknowledgment, the one or more selected A-MPDUs collectively associated with a number of TIDs that does not exceed the TID acknowledgment limit; and
setting a respective acknowledgment policy field of each of the one or more selected A-MPDUs to indicate that immediate acknowledgment is requested.
15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising communication of a subsequent indication of the TID acknowledgment limit in a beacon frame received from the AP.
16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising communication of a subsequent indication of the TID acknowledgment limit in a management frame received from the AP.
17. The method of claim 14 , further comprising communication of a subsequent indication of the TID acknowledgment limit in a Probe Response frame received from the AP.
18. The method of claim 14 , the TID acknowledgment limit to comprise a STA-specific limit.
19. The method of claim 14 , the TID acknowledgment limit to comprise a non-STA-specific limit.