Scheduling wireless stations within a target wake time service period

1. A method for wireless communication by a wireless communication device operating as an access point (AP), comprising:

establishing a restricted target wake time (TWT) session on a wireless channel, the restricted TWT session including at least one restricted TWT service period (SP) for peer-to-peer (P2P) communications;

admitting a group of wireless stations (STAs) associated with P2P communications as members of the restricted TWT session;

obtaining a transmission opportunity (TXOP) on the wireless channel during the at least one restricted TWT SP; and

transmitting, on the wireless channel, a protection frame identifying one or more STAs of the group of STAs belonging to the restricted TWT session that are permitted to transmit or receive P2P communications on the wireless channel during the TXOP, the protection frame indicating to devices other than the one or more identified STAs that the wireless channel is unavailable for at least a portion of the TXOP.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more identified STAs includes less than all of the STAs in the group of STAs belonging to the restricted TWT session.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining that at least two of the identified STAs are associated with a P2P link; and

allocating time or frequency resources to the at least two STAs during at least the portion of the TXOP.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the P2P link comprises a tunneled direct-link setup (TDLS) link on the wireless channel.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the protection frame comprises a clear-to-send (CTS) frame or a CTS-to-self frame indicating that the other receiving devices are to set their respective network allocation vectors (NAVs) to a time period that is smaller than the TXOP.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the time period covers a transmission airtime of a scheduling frame transmitted by the AP plus one of a point coordination function (PCF) interframe space (PIFS) duration, an extended interframe space (EIFS) duration, or an acknowledgement (ACK) time-out period.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the protection frame indicates that each STA of the group of STAs belonging to the restricted TWT session and not identified by the protection frame is to enter a power-save (PS) mode based on reception of the protection frame.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the protection frame indicates a period of time during which each STA of the group of STAs belonging to the restricted TWT session and not identified by the protection frame is to remain in the PS mode.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the protection frame comprises a trigger frame including an association identifier (AID) of each STA of the one or more identified STAs.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting one or more scheduling frames on the wireless channel during the TXOP, each scheduling frame configured to schedule a respective STA identified by the protection frame for P2P transmissions on the wireless channel during a respective scheduled opportunity within the TXOP.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein each scheduling frame indicates that receiving devices other than the respective STA are to set their respective Network Allocation Vectors (NAVs) to a duration of the respective scheduled opportunity.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein each scheduling frame comprises a trigger frame including a Per User Info field indicating a transmission schedule of the respective STA, and wherein the Per User Info field further indicates an allowed duration of P2P transmissions to or from the respective STA.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

receiving a request for scheduled resources during the at least one restricted TWT SP from at least one of the identified STAs; and

transmitting the scheduling frame for the at least one identified STA based on the received request.

14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

sensing the wireless channel during a respective scheduled opportunity; and

recovering the TXOP from the respective STA based on detecting an absence of P2P transmissions during the respective scheduled opportunity.

15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

receiving a frame from one or more of the STAs identified by the protection frame based on a respective scheduling frame;

determining whether a duration of a network allocation vector (NAV) included in the received frame is less than a NAV duration indicated by the respective scheduling frame; and

scheduling transmission of a next scheduling frame of the one or more scheduling frames in response to determining that the NAV duration included in the received frame is less than the NAV duration indicated by the respective scheduling frame.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein a timing of the transmission of the next scheduling frame is based on an end of the NAV duration included in the received frame.

17. A wireless communication device comprising:

at least one modem;

at least one processor communicatively coupled with the at least one modem; and

at least one memory communicatively coupled with the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor in conjunction with the at least one modem, is configured to:

establish a restricted target wake time (TWT) session on a wireless channel, the restricted TWT session including at least one restricted TWT service period (SP) for peer-to-peer (P2P) communications;

admit a group of wireless stations (STAs) associated with P2P communications as members of the restricted TWT session;

obtain a transmission opportunity (TXOP) on the wireless channel during the at least one restricted TWT SP; and

transmit, on the wireless channel, a protection frame identifying one or more STAs of the group of STAs belonging to the restricted TWT session that are permitted to transmit or receive P2P communications on the wireless channel during the TXOP, the protection frame indicating to receiving devices other than the one or more identified STAs that the wireless channel is unavailable for at least a portion of the TXOP.

18. The wireless communication device of claim 17 , wherein the one or more identified STAs includes less than all of the STAs in the group of STAs belonging to the restricted TWT session.

19. The wireless communication device of claim 17 , wherein execution of the processor-readable code is further configured to:

determine that at least two of the identified STAs are associated with a P2P link;

and allocate time or frequency resources to the at least two STAs during at least the portion of the TXOP.

20. The wireless communication device of claim 19 , wherein the P2P link comprises a tunneled direct-link setup (TDLS) link on the wireless channel.

21. The wireless communication device of claim 17 , wherein the protection frame comprises a clear-to-send (CTS) frame or a CTS-to-self frame indicating that the other receiving devices are to set their respective network allocation vectors (NAVs) to a time period that is smaller than the TXOP.

22. The wireless communication device of claim 17 , wherein the protection frame indicates that each STA of the group of STAs belonging to the restricted TWT session and not identified by the protection frame is to enter a power-save (PS) mode based on reception of the protection frame.

23. The wireless communication device of claim 22 , wherein the protection frame indicates a period of time during which each STA of the group of STAs belonging to the restricted TWT session and not identified by the protection frame is to remain in the PS mode.

24. The wireless communication device of claim 17 , wherein execution of the processor-readable code is further configured to:

transmit one or more scheduling frames on the wireless channel during the TXOP, each scheduling frame configured to schedule a respective STA identified by the protection frame for P2P transmissions on the wireless channel during a respective scheduled opportunity within the TXOP.

25. The wireless communication device of claim 24 , wherein each scheduling frame indicates that receiving devices other than the respective STA are to set their respective Network Allocation Vectors (NAVs) to a duration of the respective scheduled opportunity.

26. The wireless communication device of claim 24 , wherein each scheduling frame comprises a trigger frame including a Per User Info field indicating a transmission schedule of the respective STA.

27. The wireless communication device of claim 26 , wherein the Per User Info field further indicates an allowed duration of P2P transmissions to or from the respective STA.

28. The wireless communication device of claim 24 , wherein execution of the processor-readable code is further configured to:

receive a request for scheduled resources during the at least one restricted TWT SP from at least one of the identified STAs; and

transmit the scheduling frame for the at least one identified STA based on the received request.

29. The wireless communication device of claim 24 , wherein execution of the processor-readable code is further configured to:

sense the wireless channel during a respective scheduled opportunity; and

recover the TXOP from the respective STA based on detecting an absence of P2P transmissions during the respective scheduled opportunity.

30. The wireless communication device of claim 24 , wherein execution of the processor-readable code is further configured to:

receive a frame from one or more of the STAs identified by the protection frame based on a respective scheduling frame;

determine whether a duration of a network allocation vector (NAV) included in the received frame is less than a NAV duration indicated by the respective scheduling frame; and

schedule transmission of a next scheduling frame of the one or more scheduling frames in response to determining that the NAV duration included in the received frame is less than the NAV duration indicated by the respective scheduling frame.