SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF POWER MANAGEMENT IN SINGLE RADIO MULTI-LINK DEVICES

1 . A first wireless multi-link device (MLD) comprising a transceiver configured to:

transmit a first frame to a first station (STA) of a second wireless MLD over a first link of a plurality of links after waiting for a first amount of time during which the first STA switches from a listening mode over the first link to a frame exchange mode over the first link;

determine whether the first STA is in a power save mode or an active mode; and

in response to determining that the first STA is in a power save mode, transmit a second frame to a second STA of the second wireless MLD over a second link of the plurality of links without waiting for an amount of time during which the second STA switches from a listening mode over the second link to a frame exchange mode over the second link.

2 . The first wireless MLD of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is configured to perform frame exchange with the second wireless MLD over only one of the plurality of links at any time instance.

3 . The first wireless MLD of claim 1 , wherein:

the second wireless MLD comprises a plurality of STAs each associated with a respective link of the plurality of links, the plurality of STAs including the first STA and the second STA, and

the transceiver is configured to:

determine that each of the plurality of STAs except the second STA is in a power save mode; and

transmit a third frame to the second STA over the second link without waiting for an amount of time during which the second STA switches from the listening mode over the second link to the frame exchange mode over the second link.

4 . The first wireless MLD of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is configured to:

before transmitting the first frame, generate a fourth frame including a first trigger frame and a padding portion corresponding to the first amount of time, and transmit the first frame to the first STA.

5 . The first wireless MLD of claim 4 , wherein the first trigger frame includes one of a multi-user request to send (MU-RTS) frame or a buffer status report poll (BSRP) frame.

6 . The first wireless MLD of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is configured to:

after transmitting the first frame, receive a fifth frame from the first STA after waiting for a second amount of time during which the first STA performs a transition from the listening mode over the first link to the frame exchange mode over the first link; and

determine, according to a medium access control (MAC) header of the fifth frame, whether the first STA is in a power save mode or an active mode.

7 . The first wireless MLD of claim 1 , wherein in response to determining that the first STA is in a power save mode, the transceiver is configured to:

receive a second trigger frame from the first STA; and

in response to the second trigger, generate a sixth frame including a sixth trigger frame and a padding portion corresponding to the first amount of time, and transmit the sixth frame to the first STA.

8 . The first wireless MLD of claim 7 , wherein:

the second trigger frame is one of a power save poll (PS-Poll) frame or an unscheduled automatic power save delivery (U-APSD) trigger frame, and

the sixth trigger frame includes one of a multi-user request to send (MU-RTS) frame or a buffer status report poll (BSRP) frame.

9 . The first wireless MLD of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is configured to:

perform, after waiting for the first amount of time, a frame exchange with the first STA, and

wait, upon completion of a frame exchange, for an amount of time during which the first STA and the second STA switch to the listening mode.

10 . The first wireless MLD of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is configured to:

in response to determining that the first STA is in the power save mode and in a doze state, start a first frame exchange with the second STA over the second link, and

upon completion of the first frame exchange, start a second frame exchange with the second STA without waiting for an amount of time during which the first STA and the second STA switch to the listening mode.

11 . A method comprising:

transmitting, by a first wireless multi-link device (MLD), a first frame to a first station (STA) of a second wireless MLD over a first link of a plurality of links after waiting for a first amount of time during which the first STA switches from a listening mode over the first link to a frame exchange mode over the first link;

determining, by the first wireless MLD, whether the first STA is in a power save mode or an active mode; and

in response to determining that the first STA is in a power save mode, transmitting, by the first wireless MLD, a second frame to a second STA of the second wireless MLD over a second link of the plurality of links without waiting for an amount of time during which the second STA switches from a listening mode over the second link to a frame exchange mode over the second link.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the first wireless MLD performs frame exchange with the second wireless MLD over only one of the plurality of links at any time instance.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein

the second wireless MLD comprises a plurality of STAs each associated with a respective link of the plurality of links, the plurality of STAs including the first STA and the second STA, and

the method further comprises:

determining that each of the plurality of STAs except the second STA is in a power save mode; and

transmitting a third frame to the second STA over the second link without waiting for an amount of time during which the second STA switches from the listening mode over the second link to the frame exchange mode over the second link.

14 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

before transmitting the first frame, generating a fourth frame including a first trigger frame and a padding portion corresponding to the first amount of time, and transmitting the first frame to the first STA.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the first trigger frame includes one of a multi-user request to send (MU-RTS) frame or a buffer status report poll (BSRP) frame.

16 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

after transmitting the first frame, receiving a fifth frame from the first STA after waiting for a second amount of time during which the first STA performs a transition from the listening mode over the first link to the frame exchange mode over the first link; and

determining, according to a medium access control (MAC) header of the fifth frame, whether the first STA is in a power save mode or an active mode.

17 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

in response to determining that the first STA is in a power save mode and in an awake state:

receiving a second trigger frame from the first STA; and

in response to the second trigger, generating a sixth frame including a sixth trigger frame and a padding portion corresponding to the first amount of time, and transmitting the sixth frame to the first STA.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein

the second trigger frame is one of a power save poll (PS-Poll) frame or an unscheduled automatic power save delivery (U-APSD) trigger frame, and

the sixth trigger frame includes one of a multi-user request to send (MU-RTS) frame or a buffer status report poll (BSRP) frame.

19 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

performing, after waiting for the first amount of time, a frame exchange with the first STA, and

waiting, upon completion of a frame exchange, for an amount of time during which the first STA and the second STA switch to the listening mode.

20 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

in response to determining that the first STA is in the power save mode and in a doze state, starting a first frame exchange with the second STA over the second link, and

upon completion of the first frame exchange, starting a second frame exchange with the second STA without waiting for an amount of time during which the first STA and the second STA switch to the listening mode.