Apparatus, methods, and computer-readable medium for communication in a wireless local area network

1. A station (STA) for wireless communication, the STA comprising:

at least one transceiver; and

one or more processors configured to:

receive at least one uplink (UL) transmission request (ULTR), the at least one ULTR configured to trigger UL transmission within a period of time after receiving the at least one ULTR, the at least one ULTR comprising (1) an indication indicating whether to perform carrier sensing prior to initiating UL transmission, the carrier sensing comprising at least physical carrier sensing or virtual carrier sensing, (2) a portion including a plurality of user-specific fields indicating a description of resource allocation for UL transmission, (3) a portion UL transmission, and (4) a multi-user (MU) block acknowledgement (BA) request configured to solicit an acknowledgement (ACK) message from a plurality of STAs, the MU BA request being for the STA and at least one other STA of the plurality of STAs;

determine whether to perform the carrier sensing prior to initiating UL transmission in response to receiving the at least one ULTR, the determining whether to perform the carrier sensing prior to initiating UL transmission comprising not performing at least the virtual carrier sensing if the indication in the at least one ULTR indicates no requirement to perform the carrier sensing prior to UL transmission in response to the at least one ULTR and performing at least the physical carrier sensing if the indication in the at least one ULTR indicates a requirement to perform the carrier sensing prior to UL transmission in response to the at least one ULTR; and

after receiving the at least one ULTR, transmit an UL transmission comprising an ACK message indicating whether a signal was successfully received by the STA.

2. The STA of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors is/are further configured to at least: (1) determine not to perform the carrier sensing if a length of a duration of UL transmission is less than a threshold value; or (2) in response to receiving the at least one ULTR, consider a network allocation vector (NAV) unless the NAV was set by a frame originating from an apparatus from which the at least one ULTR was transmitted.

3. The STA of claim 1 , wherein the at least one ULTR further comprises a field comprising a plurality of bits, wherein the one or more processors is/are further configured to use a subset of the plurality of bits included in the field of the at least one ULTR to determine a number of units of a resource allocated to the STA.

4. The STA of claim 3 , wherein a first range of possible values for the subset of the plurality of bits included in the field of the at least one ULTR is associated with a resource size or a number of resources that is different from another resource size or number of resources associated with a second range of possible values for the subset of the plurality of bits included in the field of the at least one ULTR.

5. The STA of claim 4 , wherein the at least one ULTR further comprises information for identifying one or more STAs for UL transmission, wherein the one or more processors is/are further configured to receive a frame originating from an apparatus, wherein the received frame includes information indicating a duration of time used for updating a network allocation vector (NAV) of the STA, and wherein the one or more processors is/are further configured to override an existing duration of time of the NAV with the received information indicating the duration of time used for updating the NAV.

6. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code or instructions that, when executed, at least cause or enable a station (STA) to:

receive at least one uplink (UL) transmission request (ULTR), the at least one ULTR configured to trigger UL transmission within a period of time after receiving the at least one ULTR, the at least one ULTR comprising (1) an indication indicating whether to perform carrier sensing prior to initiating UL transmission, the carrier sensing comprising at least physical carrier sensing or virtual carrier sensing, (2) a portion including a plurality of user-specific fields indicating a description of resource allocation for UL transmission, (3) a portion including a field common to one or more STAs and indicating a duration of at least a portion of UL transmission, and (4) a multi-user (MU) block acknowledgement (BA) request configured to solicit an acknowledgement (ACK) message from a plurality of STAs, the MU BA request being for the STA and at least one other STA of the plurality of STAs;

determine whether to perform the carrier sensing prior to initiating UL transmission in response to receiving the at least one ULTR, the determining whether to perform the carrier sensing prior to initiating UL transmission comprising not performing at least the virtual carrier sensing if the indication in the at least one ULTR indicates no requirement to perform the carrier sensing prior to UL transmission in response to the at least one ULTR and performing at least the physical carrier sensing if the indication in the at least one ULTR indicates a requirement to perform the carrier sensing prior to UL transmission in response to the at least one ULTR; and

after receiving the at least one ULTR, transmit an UL transmission comprising an ACK message indicating whether a signal was successfully received by the STA.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6 , further comprising code or instructions that, when executed, at least cause or enable to STA to at least: (1) determine not to perform the carrier sensing if a length or a duration of UL transmission is less than a threshold value; or (2) in response to receiving the at least one ULTR, consider a network allocation vector (NAV) unless the NAV was set by a frame originating from an apparatus from which the at least one ULTR was transmitted.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6 , wherein the at least one ULTR further comprises a field comprising a plurality of bits, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises code or instructions that, when executed, at least cause or enable the STA to use a subset of the plurality of bits included in the field of the at least one ULTR to determine a number of units of a resource allocated to the STA.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein a first range of possible values for the subset of the plurality of bits included in the field of the at least one ULTR is associated with a resource size or a number of resources that is different from another resource size or number of resources associated with a second range of possible values for the subset of the plurality of bits included in the field of the at least one ULTR.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the at least one ULTR further comprises information for identifying one or more STAs for UL transmission, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises code or instructions that, when executed, at least cause or enable the STA to receive a frame originating from an apparatus, wherein the received frame includes information indicating a duration of time used for updating a network allocation vector (NAV) of the STA, and wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises code or instructions that, when executed, at least cause or enable the STA to override an existing duration of time of the NAV with the received information indicating the duration of time used for updating the NAV.

11. An access point (AP) for wireless communication, the AP comprising:

at least one transceiver; and

one or more processors configured to:

transmit at least one uplink (UL) transmission request (ULTR), the at least one ULTR configured to trigger UL transmissions within a period of time after transmission of the at least one ULTR, the at least one ULTR comprising (1) an indication indicating whether carrier sensing is required prior to initiating UL transmission, the carrier sensing comprising at least physical carrier sensing or virtual carrier sensing, (2) a portion including a plurality of user-specific fields indicating a description of resource allocation for UL transmission, (3) a portion including a field common to one or more stations (STAs) and indicating a duration of at least a portion of UL transmission, and (4) a multi-user (MU) block acknowledgement (BA) request configured to solicit an acknowledgement (ACK) message from a plurality of STAs, wherein whether the carrier sensing is required prior to initiating UL transmission comprises no requirement for at least the virtual carrier sensing if the indication in the at least one ULTR indicates no requirement to perform the carrier sensing prior to UL transmission in response to the at least one ULTR and a requirement for at least the physical carrier sensing if the indication in the at least one ULTR indicates a requirement to perform the carrier sensing prior to UL transmission in response to the at least one ULTR; and

after transmitting the at least one ULTR, receive at least one UL transmission comprising one or more ACK messages originating from one or more STAs and indicating whether at least one signal was successfully received by the one or more STAs.

12. The AP of claim 11 , wherein whether the carrier sensing is required comprises no requirement for the carrier sensing if a length or a duration of UL transmission is less than a threshold value.

13. The AP of claim 11 , wherein whether the carrier sensing is required comprises a requirement to consider a network allocation vector (NAV) unless the NAV was set by a frame originating from an apparatus from which the at least one ULTR was transmitted.

14. The AP of claim 11 , wherein the at least one ULTR further comprises a field comprising a plurality of bits, wherein a subset of the plurality of bits included in the field of the at least one ULTR is usable to determine a number of units of a resource allocated to the STA.

15. The AP of claim 14 , wherein a first range of possible values for the subset of the plurality of bits included in the field of the at least one ULTR is associated with a resource size or a number of resources that is different from another resource size or number of resources associated with a second range of possible values for the subset of the plurality of bits included in the field of the at least one ULTR.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code or instructions that, when executed, at least cause or enable an access point (AP) to:

transmit at least one uplink (UL) transmission request (ULTR), the at least one ULTR configured to trigger UL transmission within a period of time after transmission of the at least one ULTR, the at least one ULTR comprising (1) an indication indicating whether carrier sensing is required prior to initiating UL transmission, the carrier sensing comprising at least physical carrier sensing or virtual carrier sensing, (2) a portion including a plurality of user-specific fields indicating a description of resource allocation for UL transmission, (3) a portion including a field common to one or more stations (STAs) and indicating a duration of at least a portion of UL transmission, and (4) a multi-user (MU) block acknowledgement (BA) request configured to solicit an acknowledgement (ACK) message from a plurality of STAs, wherein whether the carrier sensing is required prior to initiating UL transmission comprises no requirement for at least the virtual carrier sensing if the indication in the at least one ULTR indicates no requirement to perform the carrier sensing prior to UL transmission in response to the at least one ULTR and a requirement for at least the physical carrier sensing if the indication in the at least one ULTR indicates a requirement to perform the carrier sensing prior to UL transmission in response to the at least one ULTR; and

after transmitting the at least one ULTR, receive at least one UL transmission comprising one or more ACK messages originating from one or more STAs and indicating whether at least one signal was successfully received by the one or more STAs.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein whether the carrier sensing is required comprises no requirement for the carrier sensing if a length of a duration of UL transmission is less than a threshold value.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein whether the carrier sensing is required comprises a requirement to consider a network allocation vector (NAV) unless the NAV was set by a frame originating from an apparatus from which the at least one ULTR was transmitted.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the at least one ULTR further comprises a plurality of bits, wherein a subset of the plurality of bits included in the field of the at least one ULTR is usable to determine a number or units of a resource allocated to the STA.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein a first range of possible values for the subset of the plurality of bits included in the field of the at least one ULTR is associated with a resource size or a number of resources that is different from another resource size or number of resources associated with a second range of possible values for the subset of the plurality of bits included in the field of the at least one ULTR.