Multi-link aggregation
A multi-link device (MLD) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system is proposed. The MLD may include an access point (AP) MLD. The AP MLD may receive receiving, from a non-simultaneous transmit and receive (Non-STR) station (STA) MLD, a multilink aggregation request signal through a first link. The multilink aggregation request signal may include first information related to a second link for which aggregation is requested and second information related to a transmission opportunity (TXOP) to be set in the second link. The AP MLD may obtain the TXOP based on the second information in the second link. The AP MLD may transmit, to the Non-STR STA MLD, a first multilink aggregation response signal through the first link and a second multilink aggregation response signal through the second link.
1 . A method performed by an access point (AP) multilink device (MLD) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, comprising:
receiving, by a first AP affiliated with the AP MLD, a management frame including a multilink aggregation request signal through a first link from a first non-access point (non-AP) station (STA) affiliated with a non-AP MLD,
wherein the first AP operates in the first link, a second AP is further affiliated with the AP MLD, the second AP operates in a second link, and the first non-AP STA operates in the first link,
wherein the multilink aggregation request signal includes first information related to the second link for which aggregation is requested and second information related to a transmission opportunity (TXOP) to be set in the second link,
wherein the management frame further includes non-simultaneous transmission and reception (NSTR) information related to whether the first link and the second link form an NSTR link pair in the non-AP MLD, and
wherein the management frame further includes link information related to a maximum number of links to be supported by the non-AP MLD;
obtaining, by the first AP affiliated with the AP MLD, the TXOP based on the second information;
transmitting, by the first AP affiliated with the AP MLD, a first multilink aggregation response signal through the first link; and
receiving, by the first AP affiliated with the AP MLD, a first physical protocol data unit (PPDU) including first data through the first link.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining the TXOP comprises:
obtaining the TXOP regardless of the remaining backoff count BC, which is a BC remaining in the second link.
3 . The method of claim 2 ,
wherein a BC initially set in a channel access operation performed by the AP MLD after in the second link after the TXOP has elapsed is determined as a sum of a selected BC within a contention window (CW) and the remaining BC.
4 . The method of claim 2 ,
wherein a BC initially set in a channel access operation performed by the AP MLD after in the second link after the TXOP has elapsed is determined as a sum of a selected BC within twice a minimum contention window (CW) and the remaining BC.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first PPDU includes a legacy signal (L-SIG) field, a repeated L-SIG (RL-SIG) field being contiguous to the L-SIG field, and a first signal field being contiguous to the RL-SIG field,
wherein the L-SIG field includes a length field, and a value of the length field is set to satisfy a condition that a remainder is zero (0) when the value of the length field is divided by three (3), and
wherein the first SIG field includes first bit information related to a PPDU type, second bit information related to an identifier of a basic service set (BSS), third bit information indicating duration information related to a transmission opportunity (TXOP), fourth bit information related to whether the first PPDU is sent in uplink (UL) or in downlink (DL), fifth bit information related to a bandwidth, and sixth bit information having a length of 3 bits and indicating a physical (PHY) version of the first PPDU.
6 . An access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, comprising:
a transceiver configured to transmit and/or receive a wireless signal; and
a processor coupled to the transceiver,
wherein the processor is configured to:
receive, by a first AP affiliated with the AP MLD, a management frame including a multilink aggregation request signal through a first link from a first non-access point (non-AP) station (STA) affiliated with a non-AP MLD,
wherein the first AP operates in the first link, a second AP is further affiliated with the AP MLD, the second AP operates in a second link, and the first non-AP STA operates in the first link,
wherein the multilink aggregation request signal includes first information related to the second link for which aggregation is requested and second information related to a transmission opportunity (TXOP) to be set in the second link,
wherein the management frame further includes non-simultaneous transmission and reception (NSTR) information related to whether the first link and the second link form an NSTR link pair in the non-AP MLD, and
wherein the management frame further includes link information related to a maximum number of links to be supported by the non-AP MLD;
obtain, by the first AP affiliated with the AP MLD, the TXOP based on the second information;
transmit, by the first AP affiliated with the AP MLD, a first multilink aggregation response signal through the first link; and
receive, by the first AP affiliated with the AP MLD, a first physical protocol data unit (PPDU) including first data through the first link.
7 . The AP MLD of claim 6 , wherein the TXOP is obtained regardless of the remaining backoff count BC, which is a BC remaining in the second link.
8 . The AP MLD of claim 7 , wherein a BC initially set in a channel access operation performed by the AP MLD after in the second link after the TXOP has elapsed is determined as a sum of a selected BC within a contention window (CW) and the remaining BC.
9 . The AP MLD of claim 7 ,
wherein a BC initially set in a channel access operation performed by the AP MLD after in the second link after the TXOP has elapsed is determined as a sum of a selected BC within twice a minimum contention window (CW) and the remaining BC.
10 . The AP MLD of claim 6 , wherein the first PPDU includes a legacy signal (L-SIG) field, a repeated L-SIG (RL-SIG) field being contiguous to the L-SIG field, and a first signal field being contiguous to the RL-SIG field,
wherein the L-SIG field includes a length field, and a value of the length field is set to satisfy a condition that a remainder is zero (0) when the value of the length field is divided by three (3), and
wherein the first SIG field includes first bit information related to a PPDU type, second bit information related to an identifier of a basic service set (BSS), third bit information indicating duration information related to a transmission opportunity (TXOP), fourth bit information related to whether the first PPDU is sent in uplink (UL) or in downlink (DL), fifth bit information related to a bandwidth, and sixth bit information having a length of 3 bits and indicating a physical (PHY) version of the first PPDU.
11 . A method performed by a non-access point (non-AP) multilink device (MLD) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, comprising:
transmitting, by a first non-AP station (STA) affiliated with the non-AP MLD, a management frame including a multilink aggregation request signal through a first link to a first access point (AP) affiliated with an AP MLD,
wherein the first non-AP STA operates in the first link, a second non-AP STA is further affiliated with the non-AP MLD, the second non-AP STA operates in a second link, and the first AP operates in the first link,
wherein the multilink aggregation request signal includes first information related to the second link for which aggregation is requested and second information related to a transmission opportunity (TXOP) to be set in the second link,
wherein the management frame further includes non-simultaneous transmission and reception (NSTR) information related to whether the first link and the second link form an NSTR link pair in the non-AP MLD, and
wherein the management frame further includes link information related to a maximum number of links to be supported by the non-AP MLD;
receiving, by the first non-AP STA affiliated with the non-AP MLD, a first multilink aggregation response signal through the first link; and
transmitting, by the first non-AP STA affiliated with the non-AP MLD, a first physical protocol data unit (PPDU) including first data through the first link.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the first PPDU includes a legacy signal (L-SIG) field, a repeated L-SIG (RL-SIG) field being contiguous to the L-SIG field, and a first signal field being contiguous to the RL-SIG field,
wherein the L-SIG field includes a length field, and a value of the length field is set to satisfy a condition that a remainder is zero (0) when the value of the length field is divided by three (3), and
wherein the first SIG field includes first bit information related to a PPDU type, second bit information related to an identifier of a basic service set (BSS), third bit information indicating duration information related to a transmission opportunity (TXOP), fourth bit information related to whether the first PPDU is sent in uplink (UL) or in downlink (DL), fifth bit information related to a bandwidth, and sixth bit information having a length of 3 bits and indicating a physical (PHY) version of the first PPDU.