IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,652,717
Granted Patent B2
US 12,652,717 · App. 18/513,509 · Granted Jun 9, 2026

Wireless communication method using multi-link, and wireless communication terminal using same

Inventors: Sanghyun Kim (Gyeonggi-do, KR); Geonjung Ko (Gyeonggi-do, KR); Juhyung Son (Gyeonggi-do, KR); Jinsam Kwak (Gyeonggi-do, KR)
Assignee: WILUS INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY INC.
H04W76/15H04W8/24
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,652,717
App. No.
18/513,509
Filed
Nov 18, 2023
Granted
Jun 9, 2026
Kind
B2
Examiner
DUONG, DUC T
Art Unit
2467
USPC
370/328
Abstract

Disclosed are: a method by which a first multi-link device (MLD) comprising a plurality of stations operating in a plurality of links, respectively, transmits and receives a frame in a wireless communication system; and a device. Particularly, the first MLD according to the present invention can transmit a request frame to a second station from among a plurality of second stations included in a second MLD operating in at least one link, respectively, through a first station from among the plurality of first stations included in the first multi-link device, and receive a response frame as a response to the request frame from the second station through the first station. At this time, the request frame can comprise information about other stations included in the first MLD, and the response frame can comprise information about other stations included in the second MLD.

Claims (57)

1 . A first multi-link device (MLD) comprising:

a first plurality of stations operating on a plurality of links, respectively; and

a processor configured to:

transmit a request frame to a second station among a second plurality of stations included in a second MLD, which operate one or more links, respectively, via a first station among the first plurality of stations included in the first MLD,

wherein the first station and the second station operate in a particular band; and

receive a response frame from the second station via the first station as a response for the request frame,

wherein the second station transmits the response frame including a capability element and an operation element of the second station for the particular band, except for at least one of a capability element or an operation element of the second station in a particular legacy format for other bands, and

wherein the response frame comprises multi-link information for associating a first at least one station of the first plurality of stations other than the first station with a second at least one station of the second plurality of stations other than the second station.

2 . The MLD of claim 1 ,

wherein the multi-link information includes at least one or capability elements or operation elements of a legacy format for each of the second at least one station corresponding to each of the other bands.

3 . The MLD of claim 2 ,

wherein each of the at least one of the capability elements or the operation elements of the second at least one station is at least one of a high throughput (HT) capability element, a very high throughput (VHT) capability element, an HT operation element, a VHT operation element, or a high efficiency (HE) operation element comprising VHT operation information.

4 . The MLD of claim 1 ,

wherein the particular band is 6 GHz, and

wherein the other bands are at least one of 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz.

5 . The MLD of claim 1 , wherein:

wherein the request frame includes a multi-link element including a Per-STA profile subelement corresponding to each of the second at least one station, and

wherein the Per-STA profile subelement includes a complete profile subfield indicating whether to request all information for a corresponding station among the second at least one station.

6 . The MLD of claim 5 ,

wherein the multi-link information of the response frame includes at least one of a capability element or an operation element of a station corresponding to the complete profile subfield indicating a request for all of the information among the second at least one station when the complete profile subfield indicates the request for all of the information.

7 . The MLD of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to perform a multi-link setup procedure to establish a link between the first at least one station and the second at least one station based on the multi-link information.

8 . The MLD of claim 1 ,

wherein the request frame includes a multi-link element including at least one Per-STA profile sub-element corresponding to each of the first at least one station, and

wherein each of the at least one Per-STA profile sub-element of the multi-link element includes at least one of a capability element or an operation element of a legacy format for a corresponding specific station among the first at least one station.

9 . The MLD of claim 8 ,

wherein the corresponding specific station is a station operating in at least one band among the other bands, and

wherein the first station transmits the request frame including a capability element and an operation element of the first station for the particular band, except for at least one of a capability element or an operation element of the first station in a particular legacy format for the other bands.

10 . The MLD of claim 1 ,

wherein the response frame is one of an association request frame, an association response frame, or a multi-link (ML) probe response frame.

11 . A method performed by a first multi-link device (MLD) comprising a plurality of stations operating in a plurality of links in a wireless communication system, respectively, the method comprising:

transmitting a request frame to a second station among a second plurality of stations included in a second MLD, which operate one or more links, respectively, via a first station among the first plurality of stations included in the first MLD,

wherein the first station and the second station operate in a particular frequency band; and

receiving a response frame from the second station via the first station as a response for the request frame,

wherein the second station transmits the radio frame including a capability element and an operation element of the second station for the particular band, except for at least one of a capability element or an operation element of the second station for other bands, and

wherein the radio frame comprises multi-link information for associating a first one or more stations of the first plurality of stations other than the first station with a second at least one station of the second plurality of stations, other than the second station.

12 . The method of claim 11 ,

wherein the multi-link information includes at least one of capability elements or operation elements of a legacy format for each of the second at least one station corresponding to each of the other bands.

13 . The method of claim 12 ,

wherein each of the at least one of the capability elements or the operation elements of the second at least one station is at least one of a high throughput (HT) capability element, a very high throughput (VHT) capability element, an HT operation element, a VHT operation element, or a high efficiency (HE) operation element comprising VHT operation information.

14 . The method of claim 11 ,

wherein the particular band is 6 GHz, and

wherein the other bands are at least one 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz.

15 . The method of claim 11 ,

wherein the request frame includes a multi-link element including a Per-STA profile subelement corresponding to each of the second at least one station, and

wherein the Per-STA profile subelement includes a complete profile subfield indicating whether to request all information for a corresponding station among the second at least one station.

16 . The method of claim 15 ,

wherein the multi-link information of the response frame includes at least one of a capability element or an operation element of a station corresponding to the complete profile subfield indicating a request for all of the information among the second at least one station when the complete profile subfield indicates the request for all of the information.

17 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

performing a multi-link setup procedure to establish a link between the second MLD and the first at least one station and the second at least one station based on the multi-link information.

18 . The method of claim 11 ,

wherein the response frame is one of an association request frame, an association response frame, or a multi-link (ML) probe response frame.

19 . The method of claim 11 ,

wherein the request frame includes a multi-link element including at least one Per-STA profile sub-element corresponding to each of the first at least one station, and

wherein each of the at least one Per-STA profile sub-element of the multi-link element includes at least one of a capability element or an operation element of a legacy format for a corresponding specific station among the first at least one station.

20 . The method of claim 19 ,

wherein the corresponding specific station is a station operating in at least one band among the other bands, and

wherein the first station transmits the request frame including a capability element and an operation element of the first station for the particular band, except for at least one of a capability element or an operation element of the first station in a particular legacy format for the other bands.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 14, 2026
From: KIM, SANGHYUN; KO, GEONJUNG; SON, JUHYUNG; KWAK, JINSAM
To: WILUS INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY INC.
Reel/Frame 073474/0320 →
Priority Claims (2)
KR 10-2021-0064178 · May 18, 2021 · national
KR 10-2021-0081938 · Jun 23, 2021 · national
Continuity (2)
Continuation PCTKR2022007143 · May 18, 2022
Related Publication 20240163948A1 · May 16, 2024
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