Beacon interval with boundary time points (BTPS) to improve latency for time sensitive traffic (TST) in extremely high throughout (EHT) WLANS

1. An apparatus of a non-access point (AP) station (STA), the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry; and memory, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

decode a beacon frame received from an AP STA, the beacon frame indicating one or more boundary time points (BTPs) within a beacon interval (BI);

obtain a transmission opportunity (TXOP) for a transmission to the AP STA, the TXOP bounded by the one or more BTPs; and

encode a PPDU for transmission to the AP STA during the TXOP,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to either start or resume any backoff for channel access after any one or more of the BTPs in accordance with an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) channel access procedure,

wherein for time-sensitive traffic (TST), the processing circuitry is configured to either start or resume any backoff after any one or more of the BTPs for channel access using a higher access category to access the medium, and

wherein a least some of the BTPs are aligned with target-wake up time (TWT) service periods (SPs) and indicated in a broadcast TWT element of the beacon frame.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein when the AP STA is an EHT AP with multi-link capability, and when the non-AP STA is an EHT STA with multi-link capability,

the processing circuitry is configured to decode beacon frames received on multiple links, the beacon frames indicating one or more BTPs,

wherein when the BTPs are synchronized by the AP STA on the multiple links, the processing circuitry is configured to synchronize contention for EDCA channel access on the multiple links.

3. An apparatus of a non-access point (AP) station (STA), the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry; and memory, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

decode a beacon frame received from an AP STA, the beacon frame indicating one or more boundary time points (BTPs) within a beacon interval (BI);

obtain a transmission opportunity (TXOP) for a transmission to the AP STA, the TXOP bounded by the one or more BTPs; and

encode a PPDU for transmission to the AP STA during the TXOP,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to either start or resume any backoff for channel access after any one or more of the BTPs in accordance with an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) channel access procedure,

wherein the beacon frame includes a BTP field to indicate locations of the one or more BTPs, the BTP field including an offset from a start of the beacon interval to indicate a first of the BTPs, wherein the field further includes a periodicity flag when the BTP is periodic.

4. An apparatus of a non-access point (AP) station (STA), the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry; and memory, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

decode a beacon frame received from an AP STA, the beacon frame indicating one or more boundary time points (BTPs) within a beacon interval (BI);

obtain a transmission opportunity (TXOP) for a transmission to the AP STA, the TXOP bounded by the one or more BTPs; and

encode a PPDU for transmission to the AP STA during the TXOP,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to either start or resume any backoff for channel access after any one or more of the BTPs in accordance with an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) channel access procedure,

wherein the one or more BTPs are signaled as part of a broadcast target wake-up time (TWT) field using a reserved bit indicating a start of a service period (SP) that is associated with one of the BTPs.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the TXOP is to either end prior to any one of the one or more BTPs or start after any one of the one or more BTPs.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the AP STA and non-AP STA are part of a BSS, and wherein any TXOPs within a BSS channel are bounded by the one or more BTPs.

7. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the processing circuitry comprises a baseband processor.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by processing circuitry of a non-access point (AP) station (STA), wherein the processing circuitry is configured by the instructions to:

decode a beacon frame received from an AP STA, the beacon frame indicating one or more boundary time points (BTPs) within a beacon interval (BI),

obtain a transmission opportunity (TXOP) for a transmission to the AP STA, the TXOP bounded by the one or more BTPs, and

encode a PPDU for transmission to the AP STA during the TXOP,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to either start or resume any backoff for channel access after any one or more of the BTPs in accordance with an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) channel access procedure,

wherein for time-sensitive traffic (TST), the processing circuitry is configured to either start or resume any backoff after any one or more of the BTPs for channel access using a higher access category to access the medium, and

wherein a least some of the BTPs are aligned with target-wake up time (TWT) service periods (SPs) and indicated in a broadcast TWT element (or field) of the beacon frame.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein when the AP STA is an EHT AP with multi-link capability, and when the non-AP STA is an EHT STA with multi-link capability,

the processing circuitry is configured to decode beacon frames received on multiple links, the beacon frames indicating one or more BTPs,

wherein when the BTPs are synchronized by the AP STA on the multiple links, the processing circuitry is configured to synchronize contention for EDCA channel access on the multiple links.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the beacon frame includes a BTP field to indicate locations of the one or more BTPs, the BTP field including an offset from a start of the beacon interval to indicate a first of the BTPs, wherein the field further includes a periodicity flag when the BTP is periodic.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the one or more BTPs are signaled as part of a broadcast target wake-up time (TWT) field using a reserved bit indicating a start of a service period (SP) that is associated with one of the BTPs.

12. An apparatus of an access point (AP) station (STA), the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry; and memory, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

encode a beacon frame for transmission within a beacon interval (BI), the beacon frame indicating one or more boundary time points (BTPs), wherein non-AP STAs associated with the AP STA are restricted from obtaining a transmission opportunity (TXOP) extending beyond any of the BTPs;

obtain TXOP for a transmission to a non-AP STA; and

encode a PPDU for transmission to the non-AP STA during the TXOP,

wherein when TXOP acquisition by the AP STA is bounded by the one or more BTPs, the processing circuitry is further configured to either start or resume any backoff for channel access after any one or more of the BTPs in accordance with an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) channel access procedure, and

wherein the processing circuitry is configured to encode the beacon frame to include a BTP field to indicate locations of the one or more BTPs, the BTP field including an offset from a start of the beacon interval to indicate a first of the BTPs, wherein the field further includes a periodicity flag when the BTP is periodic.