Method and apparatus used in WLANs
The application relates to a method and apparatus used in Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). The apparatus includes: a Radio Frequency (RF) interface; and processor circuitry coupled with the RF interface and configured to: determine Buffered Unit (BU) information, which indicates presence or absence of BUs for a set of non-Access Point (AP) Multi-link Devices (MLDs) on an AP MLD; encapsulate the BU information for the set of non-AP MLDs in a Multilink (ML) Traffic Indication Map (TIM) information element; and provide the ML TIM information element to the RF interface for broadcasting, wherein the ML TIM information element comprises a series of TIM segments and each TIM segment contains the BU information, which indicates the presence or absence of BUs for a subset of non-AP MLDs on a corresponding AP within the AP MLD.
1. An apparatus, comprising:
a Radio Frequency (RF) interface; and
processor circuitry coupled with the RF interface and configured to:
determine Buffered Unit (BU) information, which indicates presence or absence of BUs for a set of non-Access Point (AP) Multi-link Devices (MLDs) on an AP MLD;
encapsulate the BU information for the set of non-AP MLDs in a Multilink (ML) Traffic Indication Map (TIM) information element; and
provide the ML TIM information element to the RF interface for broadcasting, wherein
the ML TIM information element comprises a series of TIM segments and each TIM segment contains the BU information, which indicates the presence or absence of BUs for a subset of non-AP MLDs on a corresponding AP within the AP MLD.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the TIM segment comprises:
a First Association Identifier (AID) field identifying a first non-AP STA MLD, whose BU information is contained in the TIM segment,
a Last AID field identifying a last non-AP MLD, whose BU information is contained in the TIM segment, and
a Link Identifier (ID) Advertisement field containing the BU information per link for each non-AP MLD in the range identified by the First AID field and the Last AID field.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the First AID field contains an AID value assigned by the corresponding AP to a non-AP Station (STA), whose BU information is contained in the Link ID Advertisement field, within the first non-AP MLD.
4. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the First AID field contains a Multi-link AID value assigned by the corresponding AP to a non-AP Station (STA), whose BU information is contained in the Link ID Advertisement field, within the first non-AP MLD during association or multilink setup with the first non-AP MLD.
5. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the Last AID field contains an AID value assigned by the corresponding AP to a non-AP Station (STA), whose BU information is contained in the Link ID Advertisement field, within the last non-AP MLD.
6. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the Last AID field contains a Multi-link AID value assigned to by the AP MLD to a non-AP Station (STA), whose BU information is contained in the Link ID Advertisement field, within the last non-AP MLD during association or multilink setup with the last non-AP MLD.
7. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the Last AID field contains the number of non-AP MLDs in the range identified by the First AID field and the Last AID field.
8. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein for each non-AP MLD in the range identified by the First AID field and the Last AID field, the Link ID Advertisement field contains an index of a link in which the corresponding AP intends to deliver BUs to the non-AP MLD.
9. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the Link ID Advertisement field contains a bitmap of links in which the corresponding AP intends to deliver BUs to non-AP MLDs in the range identified by the First AID field and the Last AID field.
10. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the TIM segment further comprises a Maximum Number of Links field indicating a maximum number of links that are assigned to a non-AP MLD in the range identified by the First AID field and the Last AID field.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the TIM segment comprises:
a Link ID field identifying a link in which the corresponding AP delivers the BU information for the subset of non-AP MLDs;
a First AID field identifying a first non-AP MLD, whose BU information is contained in the TIM segment,
a Last AID field identifying a last non-AP MLD, whose BU information is contained in the TIM segment, and
a Bitmap Present field indicating presence or absence of a TIM Segment Bitmap field.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein when the ML TIM information element is contained in a beacon frame that comprises BU signaling for non-AP Stations (STAs), the Bitmap Present field is set to 0 and the TIM segment does not comprise the TIM Segment Bitmap field, and wherein
when the ML TIM information element is contained in a beacon frame that does not comprise the BU signaling for the non-AP STAs, the Bitmap Present field is set to 1 and the TIM segment further comprises the TIM Segment Bitmap field, and wherein
the TIM Segment Bitmap field contains a bitmap indicating the BU information for the subset of non-AP MLDs in the range identified by the First AID field and the Last AID field.
13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the Link ID field contains a (Operating Class, Channel Number, BSSID) tuple, a (Operating Class, Channel Number) tuple, or an index of the link in which the corresponding AP delivers the BU information for the subset of non-AP MLDs.
14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the First AID field contains an AID value assigned by the corresponding AP to a non-AP STA, whose BU information is contained in the TIM segment, within the first non-AP MLD.
15. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the First AID field contains a Multi-link AID value assigned to by the corresponding AP to a non-AP STA, whose BU information is contained in the TIM segment, within the first non-AP MLD during association or multilink setup with the first non-AP MLD.
16. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the First AID field contains a Multi-link AID value assigned by the corresponding AP to the first non-AP MLD for a link, in which the corresponding AP intents to deliver BUs to the first non-AP MLD.
17. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the Last AID field contains an AID value assigned by the corresponding AP to a non-AP STA, whose BU information is contained in the TIM segment, within the Last non-AP MLD.
18. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the Last AID field contains a Multi-link AID value assigned by the corresponding AP to a non-AP STA, whose BU information is contained in the TIM segment, within the last non-AP MLD during association or multilink setup with the last non-AP MLD.
19. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the Last AID field contains a Multi-link AID value assigned by the corresponding AP during association or multilink setup with the last non-AP MLD to the last non-AP MLD for a link, in which the corresponding AP intends to deliver BUs to the last non-AP MLD.
20. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the Last AID field contains the number of non-AP MLDs starting from the one identified by the First AID field.
21. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein when a TIM information element is used by the corresponding AP to indicate the BU information for a legacy Station (STA), the first AID field contains an offset relative to the Bitmap Offset value in the TIM element.
22. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the TIM segment comprises:
a First Association Identifier (AID) field identifying a first non-AP MLD, whose BU information is contained in the TIM segment, and
a Last AID field identifying a last non-AP MLD, whose BU information is contained in the TIM segment.
23. A computer readable storage medium storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
determine Buffered Unit (BU) information, which indicates presence or absence of BUs for a set of non-Access Point (AP) Multi-link Devices (MLDs) on an AP MLD;
encapsulate the BU information for the set of non-AP MLDs in a Multilink (ML) Traffic Indication Map (TIM) information element; and
provide the ML TIM information element to a Radio Frequency (RF) interface for broadcasting, wherein
the ML TIM information element comprises a series of TIM segments and each TIM segment contains the BU information, which indicates the presence or absence of BUs for a subset of non-AP MLDs on a corresponding AP within the AP MLD.
24. The computer readable storage medium of claim 23 , wherein the TIM segment comprises:
a First Association Identifier (AID) field identifying a first non-AP STA MLD, whose BU information is contained in the TIM segment,
a Last AID field identifying a last non-AP MLD, whose BU information is contained in the TIM segment, and
a Link Identifier (ID) Advertisement field containing the BU information per link for each non-AP MLD in the range identified by the First AID field and the Last AID field.
25. The computer readable storage medium of claim 23 , wherein the TIM segment comprises:
a Link ID field identifying a link in which the corresponding AP delivers the BU information for the subset of non-AP MLDs;
a First AID field identifying a first non-AP MLD, whose BU information is contained in the TIM segment,
a Last AID field identifying a last non-AP MLD, whose BU information is contained in the TIM segment, and
a Bitmap Present field indicating presence or absence of a TIM Segment Bitmap field.