Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) in a wireless local area network (WLAN)

1. A method performed by an apparatus of a first wireless local area network (WLAN) device for implementing a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) protocol, comprising:

transmitting a first HARQ frame to a second WLAN device;

determining whether a first feedback message is received from the second WLAN device;

responsive to receiving the first feedback message, determining whether the first feedback message includes HARQ acknowledgement information or non-HARQ acknowledgment information; and

transmitting a second frame to the second WLAN device, the second frame being a second HARQ frame if the first feedback message includes the HARQ acknowledgement information or an automatic repeat request (ARQ) frame if the first feedback message includes the non-HARQ acknowledgement information.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first feedback message is a HARQ Block Acknowledgement (H-BA) message, the H-BA message including the HARQ acknowledgment information, and the HARQ acknowledgement information including one or more bitmaps.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the one or more bitmaps of the H-BA message include at least one of:

one or more codeword-level bitmaps; and

one or more media access control protocol data units (MPDU)-level bitmaps.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein:

the one or more codeword-level bitmaps provide a receive status of codewords associated with the first HARQ frame; and

the one or more MPDU-level bitmaps provide a receive status of MPDUs.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein codewords of each of the one or more codeword-level bitmaps are identified by one or more starting codeword indexes.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the one or more codeword-level bitmaps identify one or more groups of codewords.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein transmitting the second frame to the second WLAN device is based, at least in part, on the one or more bitmaps included in the H-BA message.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first feedback message is an H-BA message having a multi-station Block ACK (M-BA) frame format, the M-BA frame format including a first indicator to indicate the first feedback message is the H-BA message.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the M-BA frame format includes a BA information field, the BA information field including at least the first indicator and one or more codeword-level bitmaps of the H-BA message.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first feedback message obtained from the second WLAN device is a C-BA message, the C-BA message including one or more MPDU-level bitmaps.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first feedback message obtained from the second WLAN device is a negative ACK (N-ACK) message, the N-ACK message indicating a reception failure of the first HARQ frame.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the N-ACK message has an M-BA frame format, the M-BA frame format including

a second indicator to indicate the first feedback message is the N-ACK message, or

a bitmap having bits set to zero to indicate the first feedback message is the N-ACK message.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to determining the first feedback message is not obtained from the second WLAN device,

retransmitting the first HARQ frame to the second WLAN device,

transmitting a different HARQ frame to the second WLAN device, or

transmitting a HARQ Block ACK request (H-BAR) message to the second WLAN device.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to determining the first feedback message is not obtained from the second WLAN device within a time period after transmission of the first HARQ frame,

transmitting an H-BAR message to the second WLAN device, the H-BAR message including an H-BA request or a HARQ reset request.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

in response to the H-BAR message including the H-BA request, obtaining an H-BA message from the second WLAN device.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

in response to the H-BAR message including the HARQ reset request, obtaining an ACK message from the second WLAN device, the ACK message acknowledging completion of a HARQ reset.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein transmitting the H-BAR message to the second WLAN device includes transmitting a multi-user (MU) BAR trigger frame that includes the H-BAR message.

18. A method performed by an apparatus of a second wireless local area network (WLAN) device for implementing a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) protocol, comprising:

receiving a first HARQ frame from a first WLAN device;

determining whether to generate a first feedback message associated with the first HARQ frame;

responsive to determining to generate the first feedback message transmitting the first feedback message to the first WLAN device, the first feedback message including HARQ acknowledgement information or non-HARQ acknowledgement information associated with the first HARQ frame; and

receiving a second frame from the first WLAN device, the second frame being a second HARQ frame if the first feedback message included the HARQ acknowledgement information or an automatic repeat request (ARQ) frame if the first feedback message included the non-HARQ acknowledgement information.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the first feedback message is a HARQ Block Acknowledgement (H-BA) message, the H-BA message including the HARQ acknowledgement information.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

determining to generate the H-BA message based, at least in part, on

determining at least a portion of codewords associated with the first HARQ frame were successfully received and a remaining portion of the codewords were unsuccessfully received, and

determining to enable the HARQ protocol.

21. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

determining to disable the HARQ protocol based, at least in part, on the first HARQ frame;

determining to generate the first feedback message that includes the non-HARQ acknowledgement information in response to determining to disable the HARQ protocol; and

responsive to determining to generate the first feedback message that includes the non-HARQ acknowledgement information, transmitting the first feedback message including the non-HARQ acknowledgement information to the first WLAN device.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the first feedback message that includes the non-HARQ acknowledgement information is a compressed Block ACK (C-BA) message, the C-BA message including one or more MPDU-level bitmaps.

23. The method of claim 21 , wherein the first feedback message that includes the non-HARQ acknowledgement information is a negative ACK (N-ACK) message, the N-ACK message indicating a reception failure of the first HARQ frame.

24. An apparatus of a first wireless local area network (WLAN) device for implementing a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) protocol, comprising:

one or more interfaces configured to:

output a first HARQ frame for transmission to a second WLAN device; and

one or more processors configured to:

determine whether a first feedback message is obtained from the second WLAN device; and

responsive to obtainment of the first feedback message, determine whether the first feedback message includes HARQ acknowledgement information or non-HARQ acknowledgment information; and

the one or more interfaces configured to:

output a second frame for transmission to the second WLAN device, the second frame being a second HARQ frame if the first feedback message includes the HARQ acknowledgement information or an automatic repeat request (ARQ) frame if the first feedback message includes the non-HARQ acknowledgement information.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the first feedback message is a HARQ Block Acknowledgement (H-BA) message, the H-BA message including the HARQ acknowledgment information, and the HARQ acknowledgement information including one or more bitmaps.

26. The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein the one or more bitmaps of the H-BA message include at least one of:

one or more codeword-level bitmaps; and

one or more media access control protocol data units (MPDU)-level bitmaps.

27. An apparatus of a second wireless local area network (WLAN) device for implementing a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) protocol, comprising:

one or more interfaces configured to:

obtain a first HARQ frame from a first WLAN device; and

one or more processors configured to:

determine whether to generate a first feedback message associated with the first HARQ frame; and

the one or more interfaces configured to:

output the first feedback message for transmission to the first WLAN device, the first feedback message including HARQ acknowledgement information or non-HARQ acknowledgement information associated with the first HARQ frame; and

obtain a second frame from the first WLAN device, the second frame being a second HARQ frame if the first feedback message included the HARQ acknowledgement information or an automatic repeat request (ARQ) frame if the first feedback message included the non-HARQ acknowledgement information.

28. The apparatus of claim 27 , wherein the first feedback message is an H-BA message having a multi-station Block ACK (M-BA) frame format, the M-BA frame format including a first indicator to indicate the first feedback message is the H-BA message.

29. The apparatus of claim 28 , wherein the M-BA frame format includes a BA information field, the BA information field including at least the first indicator and one or more codeword-level bitmaps of the H-BA message.