Signaling for multi-link transmission
In a wireless local area network system, a multi-link device (MLD) may transmit a multi-link element including a number-of-links field and a link present field indicating whether the number-of-links field exists. The multi-link element further includes a multi-link control field, a common information field, and a link information field. The number-of-links field may be included in the multi-link control field.
1. A method in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, the method comprising:
generating, by a station (STA) affiliated with a multi-link device (MLD), an Association Request frame including a multi-link element,
wherein the multi-link element includes a multi-link control field, and a common information field which is contiguous to the multi-link control field,
wherein the multi-link control field includes a first present field related to presence/absence of a link information field, and the first present field has a length of 1 bit,
wherein the link information field has a length of 4 bits and is related to a number of stations affiliated with the MLD that support simultaneous transmission or reception of frames on respective links,
wherein the common information field includes the link information field based on the first present field,
wherein the common information field further includes a Medium Access Control (MAC) address field related to the MLD;
transmitting, by the STA, the Association Request frame; and
receiving, by the STA, an Association Response frame.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the link information field indicates a maximum number of stations affiliated with the MLD that support simultaneous transmission or reception on respective links.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting a reduced neighbor report (RNR) element, wherein the RNR element includes a target beacon transmission time (TBTT) information field, and the TBTT information field includes an MLD ID subfield identifying the MLD and a Link identifier (ID) subfield identifying a link of the MLD.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the MLD operates in a plurality of links, wherein each of the plurality of links is configured based on at least one of 2.4 GHz band, 5 GHz band, and/or 6 GHz band.
5. A method in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, the method comprising:
generating a multi-link element,
wherein the multi-link element includes a multi-link control field, a common information field, and a link information field,
wherein the multi-link control field has a length of two octets,
wherein the multi-link control field includes a first present field having a length of 1 bit,
wherein the first present field is related to presence of a sub-field in the common information field,
wherein the sub-field is related to a number of links,
transmitting the multi-link element; and
transmitting a reduced neighbor report (RNR) element,
wherein the RNR element includes a target beacon transmission time (TBTT) information field, and the TBTT information field includes an Access Point Multi-link Device (AP MLD) ID subfield identifying an AP MLD and a Link ID subfield identifying a link of an AP within the AP MLD.
6. The method of claim 5 ,
wherein the link information field includes a per-STA control field,
wherein the per-STA control field includes a second present field related to presence of a traffic identifier to link (TID-to-link) mapping field,
wherein the link information field further includes the TID-to-link mapping field based on the second present field,
wherein the TID-to-link mapping field includes information related to a TID assigned to each link.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the sub-field includes information related to a number of links through which the AP MLD is able to simultaneously perform physical protocol data unit (PPDU) exchange.
8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the sub-field being related to the number of links has a length of 4 bits.
9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the first present field is set to one when the sub-field being related to the number of links is present in the common information field.
10. A method in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, the method comprising:
receiving a multi-link element,
wherein the multi-link element includes a multi-link control field, a common information field, and a link information field,
wherein the multi-link control field has a length of two octets,
wherein the multi-link control field includes a first present field having a length of 1 bit,
wherein the first present field is related to presence of a sub-field in the common information field,
wherein the sub-field is related to a number of links; and
receiving a reduced neighbor report (RNR) element,
wherein the RNR element includes a target beacon transmission time (TBTT) information field, and the TBTT information field includes an Access Point Multi-link Device (AP MLD) ID subfield identifying an AP MLD and a Link ID subfield identifying a link of an AP within the AP MLD.
11. The method of claim 10 ,
wherein the link information field includes a per-STA control field,
wherein the per-STA control field includes a second present field related to presence of a traffic identifier to link (TID-to-link) mapping field,
wherein the link information field further includes the TID-to-link mapping field based on the second present field,
wherein the TID-to-link mapping field includes information related to a TID assigned to each link.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the sub-field includes information related to a number of links through which the AP MLD is able to simultaneously perform physical protocol data unit (PPDU) exchange.
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the sub-field being related to the number of links has a length of 4 bits.
14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first present field is set to one when the sub-field being related to the number of links is present in the common information field.