CN117999818A

CN117999818A - System, apparatus and method for enhancing broadcast services in a wireless local area network

Info

Publication number: CN117999818A
Application number: CN202280064491.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王晓飞; 娄汉卿; 杨瑞
Original assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings Inc
Current assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings Inc
Priority date: 2021-08-18
Filing date: 2022-08-18
Publication date: 2024-05-07

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for enhancing broadcast services in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) are disclosed herein. The embodiments provide systems, apparatuses, and methods that ensure that a mobile transceiver (STA) receiving a broadcast stream receives the stream in a continuous and seamless manner as the STA moves from an area covered by a first AP into an area covered by a second AP. Further embodiments provide systems, apparatuses, and methods by which an access point obtains channel sounding information from one or more sensor devices including Transceiver Stations (STAs) to provide enhanced broadcast channel condition services to STAs operating within the coverage area of the AP.

Description

System, apparatus and method for enhancing broadcast services in a wireless local area network

Cross Reference to Related Applications

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 63/234,615 filed on 8 months of 2021 and U.S. provisional application No. 63/331,028 filed on 14 months of 2022, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Background

Wireless networks include mobile stations, portable stations, and fixed Stations (STAs) with increasingly diverse capabilities and using profile files. For example, in an internet of things (IoT) environment, a wireless internet Access Point (AP) may serve a large number of small limited energy sensor STAs. Such sensor devices typically relay relatively small amounts of various sensed environmental parameters to a remote receiver via a wireless uplink to the AP. Meanwhile, the AP may also serve internet access to STAs including wireless laptops, PDAs, mobile phones, etc. These devices can be equipped with multiple transceivers configured for wireless communications ：900MHz(802.11ah)、2.4GHz(802.11b/g/n/ax)、3.6GHz(802.11y)、4.9GHz-5 GHz(802.11j-WLAN)、5GHz(802.11a/h/j/n/ac/ax)、5.9GHz(802.11p)、6GHz(802.11ax) and 60GHz (802.11 ad/ay) in one or more radio frequency bands corresponding to one or more IEEE 802.11 standards.

An AP typically provides a wide range of services to wireless STAs operating within the broadcast range of the AP. For example, the AP may broadcast media content streams to laptop computers, PDAs, and smart phone STAs within its broadcast range. The AP may also broadcast channel conditions to STAs attempting to connect to the AP as well as STAs already associated with the AP. It is therefore important that the AP be able to determine the channel conditions under which it broadcasts. It is also important that an AP be able to support STAs to receive broadcast streams when the STA transitions from an area covered by the AP to an area covered by a different AP. Accordingly, there is a need for an AP to provide enhanced broadcast services to STAs operating in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN).

Disclosure of Invention

Apparatus and methods for enhancing broadcast services in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) are disclosed herein. The embodiments provide systems, apparatuses, and methods that ensure that a mobile transceiver (STA) receiving a broadcast stream receives the stream in a continuous and seamless manner as the STA moves from an area covered by a first AP into an area covered by a second AP. Further embodiments provide systems, apparatuses, and methods by which an access point device obtains channel sounding information from one or more sensor devices including Transceiver Stations (STAs) to provide enhanced broadcast channel condition services to STAs operating within the AP coverage area.

Drawings

A more detailed understanding of the description may be derived from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1A is a system diagram illustrating an exemplary communication system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented;

Fig. 1B is a system diagram illustrating an exemplary wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) that may be used within the communication system shown in fig. 1A according to one embodiment;

Fig. 1C is a system diagram illustrating an exemplary Radio Access Network (RAN) and an exemplary Core Network (CN) that may be used within the communication system shown in fig. 1A according to one embodiment;

Fig. 1D is a system diagram illustrating another exemplary RAN and another exemplary CN that may be used in the communication system shown in fig. 1A according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2A illustrates an example enhanced broadcast services (EBCS) neighboring AP subelement;

FIG. 2B illustrates an exemplary EBCS neighboring AP subfield;

FIG. 2C is a signal flow diagram of a process for transmitting EBCS information using FILS discovery frames;

fig. 3 is a signal flow diagram of cooperative interactions assumed by a sensing initiator STA and a sensing responder STA for measuring a channel;

fig. 4 is a signal flow diagram of cooperative interactions taken by a sensing initiator AP and a sensing responder STA for measuring channels in a multi-user (MU) scenario;

FIG. 5 is a signal flow diagram for channel sensing;

fig. 6 is a signal flow diagram of an exemplary sensing measurement procedure using MU-RTS/CTS and RTS/CTS exchanges; and

Fig. 7 is a signal flow diagram of an exemplary sensing measurement procedure using MU-RTS/CTS and RTS/CTS exchanges.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1A is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary communication system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. Communication system 100 may be a multiple-access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messages, broadcasts, etc., to a plurality of wireless users. Communication system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, communication system 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail unique word discrete fourier transform spread OFDM (ZT-UW-DFT-S-OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block filter OFDM, filter Bank Multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.

As shown in fig. 1A, the communication system 100 may include wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, a Radio Access Network (RAN) 104, a Core Network (CN) 106, a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 108, the internet 110, and other networks 112, although it should be understood that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and/or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and/or communicate in a wireless environment. For example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, any of which may be referred to as a Station (STA), may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals, and may include User Equipment (UE), mobile stations, fixed or mobile subscriber units, subscription-based units, pagers, cellular telephones, personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), smartphones, laptop computers, netbooks, personal computers, wireless sensors, hot spot or Mi-Fi devices, internet of things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearable devices, head Mounted Displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., tele-surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or automated processing chain environment), consumer electronic devices, devices operating on a commercial and/or industrial wireless network, and the like. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d may be interchangeably referred to as a UE.

Communication system 100 may also include base station 114a and/or base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the CN 106, the internet 110, and/or the other networks 112. As an example, the base stations 114a, 114B may be Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs), node bs, evolved node bs (enbs), home node bs, home evolved node bs, next generation node bs, such as gNode B (gNB), new air interface (NR) node bs, site controllers, access Points (APs), wireless routers, and the like. Although the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it should be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and/or network elements.

Base station 114a may be part of RAN 104 that may also include other base stations and/or network elements (not shown), such as Base Station Controllers (BSCs), radio Network Controllers (RNCs), relay nodes, and the like. Base station 114a and/or base station 114b may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). These frequencies may be in a licensed spectrum, an unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide coverage of wireless services to a particular geographic area, which may be relatively fixed or may change over time. The cell may be further divided into cell sectors. For example, a cell associated with base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in an embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one for each sector of a cell. In an embodiment, the base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology and may utilize multiple transceivers for each sector of a cell. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit and/or receive signals in a desired spatial direction.

The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over an air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio Frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, millimeter wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable Radio Access Technology (RAT).

More specifically, as noted above, communication system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, or the like. For example, the base station 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in the RAN 104 may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) terrestrial radio access (UTRA), which may use Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) to establish the air interface 116.WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and/or evolved HSPA (hspa+). HSPA may include high speed Downlink (DL) packet access (HSDPA) and/or high speed Uplink (UL) packet access (HSUPA).

In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as evolved UMTS terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA), which may use Long Term Evolution (LTE) and/or LTE-advanced (LTE-a) and/or LTE-advanced Pro (LTE-a Pro) to establish the air interface 116.

In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as NR radio access, which may use NR to establish the air interface 116.

In embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement LTE radio access and NR radio access together, e.g., using a Dual Connectivity (DC) principle. Thus, the air interface utilized by the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and/or transmissions sent to/from multiple types of base stations (e.g., enbs and gnbs).

In other embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., wireless fidelity (WiFi)), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000 1X, CDMA EV-DO, tentative standard 2000 (IS-2000), tentative standard 95 (IS-95), tentative standard 856 (IS-856), global system for mobile communications (GSM), enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like.

The base station 114B in fig. 1A may be, for example, a wireless router, home node B, home evolved node B, or access point, and may utilize any suitable RAT to facilitate wireless connections in local areas such as business, home, vehicle, campus, industrial facility, air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), road, etc. In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN). In yet another embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-a Pro, NR, etc.) to establish a pico cell or femto cell. As shown in fig. 1A, the base station 114b may have a direct connection with the internet 110. Thus, the base station 114b may not need to access the internet 110 via the CN 106.

The RAN 104 may communicate with a CN 106, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, application, and/or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102 d. The data may have different quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as different throughput requirements, delay requirements, error tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, mobility requirements, and the like. The CN 106 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location based services, prepaid calls, internet connections, video distribution, etc., and/or perform advanced security functions such as user authentication. Although not shown in fig. 1A, it should be appreciated that RAN 104 and/or CN 106 may communicate directly or indirectly with other RANs that employ the same RAT as RAN 104 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104 that may utilize NR radio technology, the CN 106 may also communicate with another RAN (not shown) that employs GSM, UMTS, CDMA 2000, wiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi radio technology.

The CN 106 may also act as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the internet 110, and/or other networks 112.PSTN 108 may include circuit-switched telephone networks that provide Plain Old Telephone Services (POTS). The internet 110 may include a global system for interconnecting computer networks and devices using common communication protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), user Datagram Protocol (UDP), and/or Internet Protocol (IP) in the TCP/IP internet protocol suite. Network 112 may include wired and/or wireless communication networks owned and/or operated by other service providers. For example, the network 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 or a different RAT.

Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communication system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities (e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links). For example, the WTRU 102c shown in fig. 1A may be configured to communicate with a base station 114a, which may employ a cellular-based radio technology, and with a base station 114b, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

Fig. 1B is a system diagram illustrating an exemplary WTRU 102. As shown in fig. 1B, the WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit/receive element 122, a speaker/microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display/touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a Global Positioning System (GPS) chipset 136, and/or other peripheral devices 138, etc. It should be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), any other type of Integrated Circuit (IC), a state machine, or the like. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input/output processing, and/or any other functions that enable the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to a transceiver 120, which may be coupled to a transmit/receive element 122. Although fig. 1B depicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it should be understood that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

The transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signals to and receive signals from a base station (e.g., base station 114 a) over the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and/or receive RF signals. In one embodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be an emitter/detector configured to emit and/or receive, for example, IR, UV, or visible light signals. In yet another embodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and/or receive RF and optical signals. It should be appreciated that the transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and/or receive any combination of wireless signals.

Although the transmit/receive element 122 is depicted as a single element in fig. 1B, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit/receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit/receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate signals to be transmitted by the transmit/receive element 122 and demodulate signals received by the transmit/receive element 122. As noted above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. For example, therefore, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers to enable the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs (such as NR and IEEE 802.11).

The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to and may receive user input data from a speaker/microphone 124, a keypad 126, and/or a display/touchpad 128, such as a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) display unit or an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display unit. The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker/microphone 124, the keypad 126, and/or the display/touchpad 128. Further, the processor 118 may access information from and store data in any type of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory 130 and/or the removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include Random Access Memory (RAM), read Only Memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. Removable memory 132 may include a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a Secure Digital (SD) memory card, and the like. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from a memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or home computer (not shown), and store data in the memory.

The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134 and may be configured to distribute and/or control power to other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry battery packs (e.g., nickel cadmium (NiCd), nickel zinc (NiZn), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium ion (Li-ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, and the like.

The processor 118 may also be coupled to a GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to or in lieu of information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information from base stations (e.g., base stations 114a, 114 b) over the air interface 116 and/or determine its location based on the timing of signals received from two or more nearby base stations. It should be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by any suitable location determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

The processor 118 may also be coupled to other peripheral devices 138, which may include one or more software modules and/or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality, and/or wired or wireless connections. For example, the number of the cells to be processed, peripheral devices 138 may include accelerometers, electronic compasses, satellite transceivers, digital cameras (for photographs and/or video), universal Serial Bus (USB) ports, vibrating devices, television transceivers, hands-free headsets, wireless communications devices, and the like,Modules, frequency Modulation (FM) radio units, digital music players, media players, video game player modules, internet browsers, virtual reality and/or augmented reality (VR/AR) devices, activity trackers, and the like. The peripheral device 138 may include one or more sensors. The sensor may be one or more of the following: gyroscopes, accelerometers, hall effect sensors, magnetometers, orientation sensors, proximity sensors, temperature sensors, time sensors; geographic position sensors, altimeters, light sensors, touch sensors, magnetometers, barometers, gesture sensors, biometric sensors, humidity sensors, and the like.

WTRU 102 may include a full duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all signals (e.g., associated with a particular subframe for UL (e.g., for transmission) and DL (e.g., for reception)) may be concurrent and/or simultaneous. The full duplex radio station may include an interference management unit for reducing and/or substantially eliminating self-interference via hardware (e.g., choke) or via signal processing by a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or via processor 118). In an embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for which some or all signals are transmitted and received (e.g., associated with a particular subframe for UL (e.g., for transmitting) or DL (e.g., for receiving).

Fig. 1C is a system diagram illustrating a RAN 104 and a CN 106 according to one embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116 using an E-UTRA radio technology. RAN 104 may also communicate with CN 106.

RAN 104 may include enode bs 160a, 160B, 160c, but it should be understood that RAN 104 may include any number of enode bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The enode bs 160a, 160B, 160c may each include one or more transceivers to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102B, 102c over the air interface 116. In an embodiment, the evolved node bs 160a, 160B, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the enode B160 a may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to and/or receive wireless signals from the WTRU 102a, for example.

Each of the evolved node bs 160a, 160B, 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in UL and/or DL, and the like. As shown in fig. 1C, the enode bs 160a, 160B, 160C may communicate with each other over an X2 interface.

The CN 106 shown in fig. 1C may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, a Serving Gateway (SGW) 164, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (PGW) 166. Although the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it should be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and/or operated by entities other than the CN operator.

The MME 162 may be connected to each of the evolved node bs 162a, 162B, 162c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may function as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating the user of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, bearer activation/deactivation, selecting a particular serving gateway during initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like. MME 162 may provide control plane functionality for switching between RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) employing other radio technologies such as GSM and/or WCDMA.

SGW 164 may be connected to each of the evolved node bs 160a, 160B, 160c in RAN 104 via an S1 interface. The SGW 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to/from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102 c. The SGW 164 may perform other functions such as anchoring user planes during inter-enode B handover, triggering paging when DL data is available to the WTRUs 102a, 102B, 102c, managing and storing the contexts of the WTRUs 102a, 102B, 102c, etc.

The SGW 164 may be connected to a PGW 166 that may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to a packet switched network, such as the internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to a circuit-switched network (such as the PSTN 108) to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and legacy landline communication devices. For example, the CN 106 may include or may communicate with an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and/or wireless networks owned and/or operated by other service providers.

Although the WTRU is depicted in fig. 1A-1D as a wireless terminal, it is contemplated that in some representative embodiments such a terminal may use a wired communication interface with a communication network (e.g., temporarily or permanently).

In representative embodiments, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

A WLAN in an infrastructure Basic Service Set (BSS) mode may have an Access Point (AP) for the BSS and one or more Stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have access or interface to a Distribution System (DS) or another type of wired/wireless network that carries traffic to and/or from the BSS. Traffic originating outside the BSS and directed to the STA may arrive through the AP and may be delivered to the STA. Traffic originating from the STA and leading to a destination outside the BSS may be sent to the AP to be delivered to the respective destination. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP, for example, where the source STA may send traffic to the AP and the AP may pass the traffic to the destination STA. Traffic between STAs within a BSS may be considered and/or referred to as point-to-point traffic. Point-to-point traffic may be sent between (e.g., directly between) the source and destination STAs using Direct Link Setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use 802.11e DLS or 802.11z Tunnel DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an Independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have an AP, and STAs (e.g., all STAs) within or using the IBSS may communicate directly with each other. The IBSS communication mode may sometimes be referred to herein as an "ad hoc" communication mode.

When using the 802.11ac infrastructure mode of operation or similar modes of operation, the AP may transmit beacons on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel may be a fixed width (e.g., 20MHz wide bandwidth) or a dynamically set width. The primary channel may be an operating channel of the BSS and may be used by STAs to establish a connection with the AP. In certain representative implementations, carrier sense multiple access/collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) may be implemented, for example, in an 802.11 system. For CSMA/CA, STAs (e.g., each STA), including the AP, may listen to the primary channel. If the primary channel is listened to/detected by a particular STA and/or determined to be busy, the particular STA may backoff. One STA (e.g., only one station) may transmit at any given time in a given BSS.

High Throughput (HT) STAs may communicate using 40MHz wide channels, for example, via a combination of a primary 20MHz channel with an adjacent or non-adjacent 20MHz channel to form a 40MHz wide channel.

Very High Throughput (VHT) STAs may support channels that are 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, and/or 160MHz wide. 40MHz and/or 80MHz channels may be formed by combining consecutive 20MHz channels. The 160MHz channel may be formed by combining 8 consecutive 20MHz channels, or by combining two non-consecutive 80MHz channels (this may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration). For the 80+80 configuration, after channel coding, the data may pass through a segment parser that may split the data into two streams. An Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) process and a time domain process may be performed on each stream separately. These streams may be mapped to two 80MHz channels and data may be transmitted by the transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the operations described above for the 80+80 configuration may be reversed and the combined data may be sent to a Medium Access Control (MAC).

The 802.11af and 802.11ah support modes of operation below 1 GHz. Channel operating bandwidth and carrier are reduced in 802.11af and 802.11ah relative to those used in 802.11n and 802.11 ac. The 802.11af supports 5MHz, 10MHz, and 20MHz bandwidths in the television white space (TVWS) spectrum, and the 802.11ah supports 1MHz, 2MHz, 4MHz, 8MHz, and 16MHz bandwidths using non-TVWS spectrum. According to representative embodiments, 802.11ah may support meter type control/Machine Type Communication (MTC), such as MTC devices in macro coverage areas. MTC devices may have certain capabilities, such as limited capabilities, including supporting (e.g., supporting only) certain bandwidths and/or limited bandwidths. MTC devices may include batteries with battery lives above a threshold (e.g., to maintain very long battery lives).

WLAN systems that can support multiple channels, and channel bandwidths such as 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11af, and 802.11ah, include channels that can be designated as primary channels. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the maximum common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be set and/or limited by STAs from all STAs operating in the BSS (which support a minimum bandwidth mode of operation). In the example of 802.11ah, for STAs (e.g., MTC-type devices) that support (e.g., only) 1MHz mode, the primary channel may be 1MHz wide, even though the AP and other STAs in the BSS support 2MHz, 4MHz, 8MHz, 16MHz, and/or other channel bandwidth modes of operation. The carrier sense and/or Network Allocation Vector (NAV) settings may depend on the state of the primary channel. If the primary channel is busy, for example, because the STA is transmitting to the AP (only supporting 1MHz mode of operation), all available frequency bands may be considered busy even if most available frequency bands remain idle.

The available frequency band for 802.11ah in the united states is 902MHz to 928MHz. In korea, the available frequency band is 917.5MHz to 923.5MHz. In Japan, the available frequency band is 916.5MHz to 927.5MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802.11ah is 6MHz to 26MHz, depending on the country code.

Fig. 1D is a system diagram illustrating a RAN 104 and a CN 106 according to one embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ NR radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. RAN 104 may also communicate with CN 106.

RAN 104 may include gnbs 180a, 180b, 180c, although it will be appreciated that RAN 104 may include any number of gnbs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. Each of the gnbs 180a, 180b, 180c may include one or more transceivers to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In an implementation, the gnbs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, gnbs 180a, 108b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and/or receive signals from gnbs 180a, 180b, 180 c. Thus, the gNB 180a may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to and/or receive wireless signals from the WTRU 102a, for example. In an embodiment, the gnbs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement carrier aggregation techniques. For example, the gNB 180a may transmit multiple component carriers to the WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on the unlicensed spectrum while the remaining component carriers may be on the licensed spectrum. In embodiments, the gnbs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement coordinated multipoint (CoMP) techniques. For example, WTRU 102a may receive coordinated transmissions from gNB 180a and gNB 180b (and/or gNB 180 c).

The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gnbs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with the scalable parameter sets. For example, the OFDM symbol interval and/or OFDM subcarrier interval may vary from one transmission to another, from one cell to another, and/or from one portion of the wireless transmission spectrum to another. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gnbs 180a, 180b, 180c using various or scalable length subframes or Transmission Time Intervals (TTIs) (e.g., including different numbers of OFDM symbols and/or continuously varying absolute time lengths).

The gnbs 180a, 180b, 180c may be configured to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in an independent configuration and/or in a non-independent configuration. In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102B, 102c may communicate with the gnbs 180a, 180B, 180c while also not accessing other RANs (e.g., such as the enode bs 160a, 160B, 160 c). In an independent configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may use one or more of the gnbs 180a, 180b, 180c as mobility anchor points. In an independent configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may use signals in unlicensed frequency bands to communicate with the gnbs 180a, 180b, 180 c. In a non-standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102B, 102c may communicate or connect with the gnbs 180a, 180B, 180c, while also communicating or connecting with other RANs (such as the enode bs 160a, 160B, 160 c). For example, the WTRUs 102a, 102B, 102c may implement DC principles to communicate with one or more gnbs 180a, 180B, 180c and one or more enodebs 160a, 160B, 160c substantially simultaneously. In a non-standalone configuration, the enode bs 160a, 160B, 160c may serve as mobility anchors for the WTRUs 102a, 102B, 102c, and the gnbs 180a, 180B, 180c may provide additional coverage and/or throughput for serving the WTRUs 102a, 102B, 102 c.

Each of the gnbs 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in UL and/or DL, support of network slices, interworking between DC, NR, and E-UTRA, routing of user plane data towards User Plane Functions (UPFs) 184a, 184b, routing of control plane information towards access and mobility management functions (AMFs) 182a, 182b, and so on. As shown in fig. 1D, gnbs 180a, 180b, 180c may communicate with each other through an Xn interface.

The CN 106 shown in fig. 1D may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one Session Management Function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and possibly a Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. Although the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it should be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and/or operated by entities other than the CN operator.

The AMFs 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gnbs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 104 via an N2 interface and may function as control nodes. For example, the AMFs 182a, 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, support for network slices (e.g., handling of different Protocol Data Unit (PDU) sessions with different requirements), selection of a particular SMF 183a, 183b, management of registration areas, termination of non-access stratum (NAS) signaling, mobility management, etc. The AMFs 182a, 182b may use network slices to customize CN support for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c based on the type of service used by the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102 c. For example, different network slices may be established for different use cases, such as services relying on ultra-high reliability low latency (URLLC) access, services relying on enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) access, services for MTC access, and so on. The AMFs 182a, 182b may provide control plane functionality for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) employing other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-a Pro, and/or non-3 GPP access technologies, such as WiFi.

The SMFs 183a, 183b may be connected to AMFs 182a, 182b in the CN 106 via an N11 interface. The SMFs 183a, 183b may also be connected to UPFs 184a, 184b in the CN 106 via an N4 interface. SMFs 183a, 183b may select and control UPFs 184a, 184b and configure traffic routing through UPFs 184a, 184b. The SMFs 183a, 183b may perform other functions such as managing and assigning UE IP addresses, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, providing DL data notifications, etc. The PDU session type may be IP-based, non-IP-based, ethernet-based, etc.

The UPFs 184a, 184b may be connected to one or more of the gnbs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 104 via an N3 interface, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to a packet-switched network, such as the internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. UPFs 184, 184b may perform other functions such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multi-host PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering DL packets, providing mobility anchoring, and the like.

The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may include or may communicate with an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and/or wireless networks owned and/or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may connect to the DNs 185a, 185b through the UPFs 184a, 184b via an N3 interface to the UPFs 184a, 184b and an N6 interface between the UPFs 184a, 184b and the local DNs 185a, 185b.

In view of fig. 1A-1D and the corresponding descriptions of fig. 1A-1D, one or more or all of the functions described herein with reference to one or more of the following may be performed by one or more emulation devices (not shown): the WTRUs 102a-d, base stations 114a-B, evolved node bs 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNB 180a-c, AMFs 182a-B, UPFs 184a-B, SMFs 183a-B, DN 185a-B, and/or any other devices described herein. The emulated device may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more or all of the functions described herein. For example, the emulation device may be used to test other devices and/or analog network and/or WTRU functions.

The simulation device may be designed to conduct one or more tests of other devices in a laboratory environment and/or an operator network environment. For example, the one or more emulation devices can perform one or more or all of the functions while being fully or partially implemented and/or deployed as part of a wired and/or wireless communication network in order to test other devices within the communication network. The one or more emulation devices can perform one or more functions or all functions while being temporarily implemented/deployed as part of a wired and/or wireless communication network. The emulation device can be directly coupled to another device for testing purposes and/or perform testing using over-the-air wireless communications.

The one or more emulation devices can perform one or more functions while not being implemented/deployed as part of a wired and/or wireless communication network. For example, the simulation device may be used in a test laboratory and/or a test scenario in a non-deployed (e.g., test) wired and/or wireless communication network in order to enable testing of one or more components. The one or more simulation devices may be test equipment. Direct RF coupling and/or wireless communication via RF circuitry (e.g., which may include one or more antennas) may be used by the emulation device to transmit and/or receive data.

An enhanced broadcast service (eBCS or EBCS), as used herein, is any broadcast service that enhances the transmission and reception of broadcast data in an infrastructure BSS where there is an association between an AP (broadcast transmitter) and one or more STA clients (broadcast receivers) and where there is no association between an AP server and an AP client.

Channel sensing, as used herein, is a mechanism to detect channel occupancy or predict future traffic in wireless networks using carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA). For example, in virtual channel sensing techniques, a timer mechanism based on the duration of a previous frame transmission is used in order to predict future traffic in the channel. The Network Allocation Vector (NAV) is used as a counter with a count down of 0. The maximum NAV duration is the transmission time required for a frame, which is the time when the channel will be busy. At the beginning of the frame transmission, the NAV value is set to its maximum value. A non-zero value indicates that the channel is busy and, therefore, the STAs do not contend for the wireless medium. When the NAV value decrements to zero, this indicates that the channel may be idle, and the STA may then contend for the wireless medium.

A sensing process, as used herein, is a series of steps or actions that a wireless device performs channel sensing for the purpose of these steps or actions.

A sensing session, as used herein, is a temporary and coordinated exchange of signals or information between two or more devices to perform channel sensing. The sensing session may also be defined by an operating parameter associated with the sensing session. The sensing session may include any one or more of the following: setup, measurement, reporting and/or termination. Thus, STAs implementing sensing according to the disclosed embodiments are configured to perform one or more of the following sensing functions: setup, measurement, reporting and/or termination.

The sensing initiator is the STA that initiates the sensing session.

The sensing respondent is a STA participating in a sensing session initiated by the sensing initiator.

The sensing transmitter is a STA that transmits a Protocol Packet Data Unit (PPDU) corresponding to a sensing measurement or sensing session.

The sensing receiver is a STA that receives the PPDU transmitted by the sensing transmitter and performs sensing measurements as part of a sensing session.

In the above definition, a STA may assume more than one role in a sensing session. For example, in a given session, a first STA may act as a sensing transmitter as well as a sensing receiver. In another session, the first STA may act as a sensing transmitter and the second STA may act as a sensing transmitter. Not all STAs in the BSS have to participate in each sensing session. In some examples, no STA will act as a sensing transmitter or a sensing receiver.

In some embodiments, the EBCS AP broadcasts a data stream on the downlink to non-AP STAs. In some embodiments, the AP provides broadcast services (i.e., data streams) to associated STAs as well as unassociated STAs. In some embodiments, an AP provides broadcast services to up to 300 non-AP STAs. The non-AP STA may be a low cost non-AP STA that can only receive AP broadcast data streams but cannot transmit directly to the AP.

The embodiments described herein may be found in a variety of applications. For example, the AP broadcasts a video stream to STAs in a stadium. In another exemplary application, the AP broadcasts a security information stream to the vehicle. In some embodiments, the AP broadcasts data provided by the sensor to the AP on the uplink. Other applications include broadcasting of museum information, multilingual broadcasting, and activity producer information and content broadcasting.

The AP may automatically provide EBCS data flows or may provide specific EBCS traffic flows on a routine or scheduled basis depending on a broadcast schedule or configuration. For some data streams, STAs in the coverage area of the AP need not be associated with the AP to receive broadcast data streams from the AP. For some data streams, the STA does not need to register with the AP or request the AP to receive the broadcast data stream. Thus, in a scenario where the AP has also broadcast a data stream to unassociated STAs and/or unregistered STAs, the AP may not have a record of all STAs receiving its broadcast data stream. In those instances, the STA need not request an EBCS data stream to receive it. In other cases, the AP provides one or more EBCS traffic flows only when one or more STAs request or register.

In some cases, one or more EBCS data streams are always provided, depending on the operator's configuration, while other EBCS data streams are provided upon request from the STA. For EBCS data streams transmitted by an AP upon request or registration of the STA, mobility support may be required for STAs that are currently receiving EBCS data streams and are predicted to move out of the broadcast coverage of the current AP. This scenario presents a problem as to how to provide an efficient mechanism to ensure that EBCS traffic flows can continue seamlessly when exiting the coverage area of a first AP and entering the coverage area of a second AP.

The EBCS AP may provide broadcast data streams to STAs associated with the EBCS AP or not associated with the EBCS AP. Information for an EBCS broadcast service provided by an AP may be contained in an EBCS information (Info) frame, which may be broadcast by the AP. The discovery method disclosed herein may be used by STAs to discover EBCS services provided by the AP by effectively discovering the timing of EBCS information frames.

In some implementations, a WLAN sensing protocol (e.g., 802.11 bf) may support sensing operations by a large number (e.g., thousands) of non-AP STAs including legacy STAs (e.g., devices prior to 802.11 bf) that have certain sensing capabilities. The sensing operation may include various sensing phases including a setup phase, a measurement phase, a reporting phase, and/or a termination phase.

In one embodiment, a seamless transition of the reception of EBCS traffic streams by the STA from the first AP to the second AP occurs. The STA receives the EBCS traffic stream from the first AP. The STA is mobile and is leaving the area covered by the first AP and entering the area covered by the one or more second APs. The first AP (which is an EBCS AP) may provide information about other EBCS APs that provide the same EBCS data stream that one or more EBCS STAs are currently consuming, or about one or more EBCS data streams that an EBCS AP is currently providing. The first AP may transmit at least one of a beacon, a short beacon, a probe response, a Fast Initial Link Setup (FILS) discovery frame, and/or other management, control, or data frames including an indication of one or more second APs that provide EBCS data flows that are the same or similar to those provided by the first AP.

In one embodiment, the first AP provides an indication of one or more second EBCS APs providing similar or identical EBCS data flows in adjacent reporting elements or reduced adjacent reporting elements or newly designed elements. For example, the STA may send a request for a neighbor report to the first AP. The first AP transmits a neighbor report or a reduced neighbor report that contains information about neighbor APs that are known candidates for the first STA or other STA to receive the same EBCS data stream as provided by the first AP. The information may include whether the first STA is required to associate with one or more second APs to receive the same EBCS data stream from the one or more second APs.

In one embodiment, the first AP provides an indication of one or more second EBCS APs providing the same or similar EBCS data flow by constructing EBCS neighbor AP sub-elements that may be included in neighbor report elements, reduced neighbor report elements, or in newly designed EBCS neighbor elements, or in any other new design element. The EBCS neighboring AP subelements may then be transmitted to, for example, a STA.

Referring to fig. 2a, ebcs neighboring AP subelement 200 includes one or more of the following fields or subfields: a subelement ID field 210, a length field 220, and a content ID indication field 230. The subelement ID field 210 can be used to indicate that the subelement is an EBCS neighboring AP subelement. The subelement ID field may contain some number of bits that encode the value of the subelement that indicates to the decoder that the subelement is an EBCS neighboring AP subelement. The length field 220 may be used to indicate the length of the subelement. The length field may contain some number of bits that encode a decoder value that indicates the length of the subelement. The content ID indication field 230 may be used to indicate one or more content identifiers associated with one or more EBCS data streams or content provided by the AP. This field may be a bitmap to indicate one or more content IDs of the EEPS data stream that the AP is currently broadcasting. This field may provide an explicit indication of each content ID associated with the EEPS traffic flow currently provided by the current AP.

The EBCS neighboring AP sub-element may be included in one or more elements, such as a neighboring report element or a reduced neighboring report element, which may be used to indicate one or more neighboring APs such that an indication of the ID of the AP may be omitted in the EBCS neighboring AP sub-element.

In another embodiment, the first AP generates neighboring AP information. The first AP may generate a Target Beacon Transmission Time (TBTT) information subfield or a BSS parameter subfield to be included in the neighbor report element or to reduce the neighbor report element or in a newly designed element. In any event, the first AP inserts one or more indicator bits and sets these bits to "true" or "false" (which may correspond to a value of 1 or 0, respectively, or vice versa) to indicate that the AP associated with the neighboring AP information field may support one or more of the data streams or content supported by the first AP.

In another embodiment, one or more indicator bits may be set to "true" or "1" to indicate that an AP associated with neighboring AP information supports one or more or all of the active EBCS data streams or content currently provided by the transmitting AP. In another embodiment, one or more indicator bits may be set to "true" or "1" to indicate that the AP associated with the neighboring AP information supports one or more or all EBCS data streams or content currently provided by the transmitting AP, or all EBCS data streams or content that needs to be registered or requested. Such an indication may be included in a reduce neighbor report element or any other element. In one example, the indication is not set to the transmitting AP for any co-located or co-hosted AP or any untransmitted Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID).

Fig. 2B shows EBCS neighboring AP element 250. The EBCS neighboring AP element may include one or more of the following fields. Although shown in fig. 2B as including all fields, this is for illustration only, and any combination of the fields shown may exist in EBCS neighboring AP element 250. Element ID 260 is used to indicate that the element is an EBCS neighboring AP element. Element ID 260 may contain some number of bits that indicate to the decoder that the element is an EBCS neighboring AP element 250. Length 262 is used to indicate the length of the element. Length 262 may contain some number of bits that encode a decoder value that indicates the length of EBCS neighboring AP element 250. The AP ID 264 indicates an AP ID, such as the MAC address of the AP, or the BSSID, or the MAC address of the AP MLD. AP ID 264 may contain some number of bits that encode a value indicating the decoder of the mentioned identifier. The operational class 266 and the operational channel 268 are indicative of the operational class and the operational channel, respectively, of the AP. The operation class 266 and operation channel 268 fields may contain some number of bits that encode values indicating the operation class of the AP and the decoder of the operation channel, respectively. Content ID indication 270 indicates one or more content IDs associated with one or more EBCS data streams transmitted by the AP. This field may also be implemented as a bitmap to indicate one or more content IDs of EBCS data streams provided by the currently transmitting AP. Alternatively, the field includes an explicit indication of each content ID. Alternatively, this field is a bitmap indicating which EBCS traffic flows provided by the current AP are supported.

Note that any of the information described above may exist in sub-elements or elements. Any one or more subfields or information provided thereby may be included in any existing or new element, subelement, control, management, data frame, and/or PHY and MAC header, or any combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the STA may receive the reduced neighbor report and determine to receive the EBCS flow from another AP discovered by the reduced neighbor report received in the beacon frame of the associated AP.

As described above, when a STA is consuming an EBCS traffic stream from a first AP, the STA may desire to continue consuming the EBCS traffic stream if the STA roams to another AP. An EBCS AP/BSS transition procedure is required. In one embodiment, the EBCS AP/BSS transition procedure may begin with the EBCS AP broadcasting one or more EBCS data streams. The AP indicates available EBCS data streams in one or more frames, such as beacons, short beacons, EBCS information frames, and/or FILS discovery frames. For example, the AP may transmit a periodic EBCS information frame and include information in the frame about which EBCS traffic flows the AP is providing or transmitting. The EBCS AP may include information about one or more EBCS neighbor APs in one or more elements or frames, including but not limited to neighbor report elements or reduced neighbor report elements, or may transmit new EBCS neighbor AP elements, frames, or other data structures. For example, EBCS neighbor AP elements may be included in the neighbor report element to indicate the ability of an AP to provide all traffic flows, or all active EBCS traffic flows, or any other content provided by the currently transmitting AP, or to indicate that an AP has all or all active EBCS traffic flows provided by the first AP and/or the ability of a STA to register or request the content of the current second AP may or may not be needed.

The EBCS non-AP STA may consume EBCS data streams or content that require the EBCS non-AP STA to register with the AP or transmit a request via an EBCS content request frame. An EBCS non-AP STA may receive a frame from an EBCS AP that is a transmitter of or capable of providing EBCS traffic streams or content that includes one or more indicators of one or more EBCS neighboring APs. Such information may be included in neighbor report elements, reduced neighbor report elements, or EBCS neighbor AP elements. The EBCS non-AP STA may use the received information regarding EBCS neighbor APs to register one or more EBCS data streams or content provided by the one or more indicated EBCS neighbor APs. The EBCS non-AP STA may register one or more EBCS data streams or content provided by the neighboring AP using an EBCS traffic stream or content request ANQP element. Alternatively, the EBCS non-AP STA may use the information received from the EBCS neighboring APs to request one or more EBCS data streams or content from one or more indicated EBCS neighboring APs, e.g., using EBCS traffic streams or content request frames.

When a registration request made using an EBCS traffic flow or content request ANQP element or an EBCS request made using an EBCS request including an EBCS traffic flow/content request frame is unsuccessful, the EBCS AP may respond with an ANQP element or an EBCS traffic flow/content response frame with an EBCS request status bit set to a value indicating "failed". In some implementations, an EBCS AP may include EBCS neighbor AP information in a response frame, which may be included in a neighbor report element, a reduced neighbor report element, an EBCS AP element, which may identify EBCS neighbor APs that provide the same EBCS traffic flow or content as requested by an EBCS STA. The EBCS non-AP STA may use the received information regarding EBCS neighbor APs to register one or more EBCS traffic streams or content transmitted or provided by one or more indicated EBCS neighbor APs. To do so, the non-AP STA may use a frame containing an EBCS traffic flow or content request ANQP element, or the EBCS non-AP STA may use information received on the EBCS neighboring APs to request one or more EBCS traffic flows or content from one or more indicated EBCS neighboring APs using the EBCS traffic flow or content request frame.

To terminate one or more EBCS traffic flows or content, an EBCS AP may transmit one or more termination notification frames indicating that the AP is terminating the transmission of EBCS traffic flows or content. In some embodiments, the EBCS AP includes EBCS neighbor AP information in the termination notification frame. For example, in the event that the EBCS AP will not extend the transmission of EBCS traffic streams or content (regardless of any EBCS non-AP STA requesting an extended EBCS traffic stream), the EBCS AP sets the negotiation method field to "not negotiate". EBCS neighbor AP information may be inserted into the neighbor report element, the reduced neighbor report element, or the EBCS neighbor AP element, which may be included in an EBCS termination notification, indicating that the EBCS neighbor AP provides the same EBCS traffic flow or transmitting what the EBCS AP will terminate. The EBCS non-AP STA then uses the received information about EBCS neighboring APs to register one or more EBCS traffic streams or content. The registration may be implemented using frames containing EBCS traffic flows or content request ANQP elements. Alternatively, the EBCS non-AP STA may use information received on the EBCS neighboring APs to request one or more EBCS traffic streams or content from one or more indicated EBCS neighboring APs. The requested EBCS traffic stream or content may be the same as or similar to the EBCS traffic stream or content currently being consumed by the STA.

Exemplary techniques for efficiently discovering enhanced broadcast services (EBCS) are described in the following embodiments. In one embodiment, a Fast Initial Link Setup (FILS) discovery frame may be used to discover EBCS services and EBCS traffic flows. For example, referring to fig. 2C, signal flow diagram 2500 illustrates first EBCS AP 2510 transmitting EBCS traffic stream 2540 to at least one EBCS STA 2520 that receives EBCS traffic stream 2542. In an embodiment, the second EBCS AP 2530 transmits a FILS discovery frame 2544 that includes an indication that the second EBCS AP 2530 is an EBCS AP and/or an indication that the AP provides EBCS broadcast services. For example, a FILS discovery frame transmitted by an EBCS AP may contain one or more EBCS related fields, such as, but not limited to: an EBCS capability indication, an EBCS information frame transmission field, and/or an EBCS information frame transmission (Tx) countdown field, which will be described in more detail below.

In some embodiments, the EBCS information frame transmission field and/or EBCS information frame TX countdown field included in FILS discovery frame 2544 may be one or two bytes in length. The values indicated in the EBCS information frame transmission field and/or the EBCS information frame TX countdown field may be in any one or more of the following units: the number of Target Beacon Transmission Times (TBTTs), the number of beacon intervals, the number of time units (e.g., TUs), and/or the duration (e.g., in microseconds, milliseconds, or other units of time). The EBCS information frame transmission field and/or EBCS information frame TX countdown field indicates information to the EBCS STA 2520 regarding subsequent transmissions of EBCS information frames by the second EBCS AP 2530, thereby helping the EBS STA 2520 receive subsequent EBCS information frames.

In some embodiments, FILS discovery frame 2544 may include EBCS information frame transmission field presence bits or EBCS information frame Tx countdown presence bits. The EBCS information frame transmission field present bit or the EBCS information frame Tx countdown present bit set to the encoding value of 1 indicates that the current FILS discovery frame carrying the bit may contain an EBCS information frame transmission field and/or an EBCS information frame Tx countdown field, respectively. Alternatively, the encoded value 0 may also indicate the same information.

In some implementations, the FILS discovery frame 2544 transmitted by the EBCS AP 2530 includes EBCS parameter elements. Table 1 shows FILS discovery frame format including EBCS parameter elements.

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TABLE 1 FILS discovery frame Format including EBCS parameter element

The EBCS parameter element may contain an EBCS information frame TX countdown field, which may indicate the time remaining until the next transmission of an EBCS information frame by the AP. The value indicated in the EBCS information frame TX countdown field may be in accordance with any one or more of the following units: the number of TBTTs, the number of beacon intervals, the number of time units (e.g., TUs), and/or the duration (e.g., expressed in microseconds, milliseconds, or other time units), as described above.

Still referring to fig. 2C, an EBCS AP with EBCS enabled (such as the second EBCS AP 2530) transmitting the FILS discovery frame 2544 may include EBCS parameter elements in its transmitted FILS discovery frame 2544. In embodiments where the AP is not in multiple BSSID sets and EBCS is enabled, the AP may include EBCS parameter elements in its transmitted FILS discovery frame. In embodiments where an AP in a plurality of BSSID sets corresponding to transmitted BSSIDs and EBCS has been enabled, the AP may include EBCS parameter elements in its transmitted FILS discovery frame.

In other embodiments, an AP or STA transmitting a FILS discovery frame and having a dot11EBCSSupportActivated equal to true may include EBCS parameter elements in its transmitted FILS discovery frame. In other embodiments, an AP that is not in multiple BSSID sets and has a dot11EBCSSupportActivated equal to true may include EBCS parameter elements in its transmitted FILS discovery frame. Among the multiple BSSID sets, an AP corresponding to the transmitted BSSID and having a dot11EBCSSupportActivated equal to true may include EBCS parameter elements in its transmitted FILS discovery frame. In either case, the transmitted FILS discovery frame includes an EBCS information frame TX countdown field in the EBCS parameter element.

In another embodiment, an AP or STA transmitting a FILS discovery frame and dot11EBCSSupportActivated is equal to true and whose dot11EBCSContentList is greater than 0 in length may include EBCS parameter elements in its transmitted FILS discovery frame. In one implementation, an AP that is not in multiple BSSID sets and has a dot11EBCSSupportActivated equal to true and a dot11EBCSContentList length greater than 0 may include EBCS parameter elements in its transmitted FILS discovery frame. Among the plurality of BSSID sets, an AP corresponding to the transmitted BSSID and having a dot11EBCSSupportActivated equal to true and a dot11EBCSContentList length greater than 0 may include EBCS parameter elements in its transmitted FILS discovery frame. In either case, the transmitted FILS discovery frame includes an EBCS information frame TX countdown field in the EBCS parameter element.

Still referring to fig. 2C, once the EBCS STA 2520 receives the FILS discovery frame 2544 from the second EBCS AP 2530, the EBCS STA 2520 may receive the EBCS information frame 2548 transmitted 2550 by the second EBCS AP 2530, optionally using the information contained in the FILS discovery frame 2544, and in particular using the information contained in the EBCS parameter elements carried therein (such as the EBCS information frame TX countdown field). Using the information contained in EBCS information frame 2550, EBCS STA 2520 may then receive the desired EBCS traffic stream 2552 transmitted 2554 by the second EBCS AP 2530. In this embodiment, the EBCS traffic stream 2554 transmitted by the second EBCS AP 2530 does not need to be associated with the EBCS STA 2520 in order to receive the transmitted EBCS traffic stream 2554.

However, in some embodiments, EBCS STA 2520 must be associated with second EBCS AP 2530 to receive EBCS traffic stream 2554. In this case, the EBCS STA 2520 may request an EBCS data stream using the above-described method. To facilitate this, an EGS AP providing one or more EGS traffic flows that need to be associated may include Robust Security Network (RSN) information in a FILS Discovery (FD) RSN information subfield in a FILS discovery information field of a FILS discovery frame. Thus, if the received FILS discovery frame contains an EBCS parameter element, the beacon interval of the EBCS STA 2520 that received the FILS discovery frame containing the EBCS parameter element during which the next EBCS information frame 2550 expected to be transmitted by the second EBCS AP 2530 may be determined.

The EBCS STA 2520 that receives the FILS discovery frame 2544 containing the EBCS parameter elements (which includes the RSN information in the FILS discovery RSN information subfield) may use the RSN information to perform FILS authentication/association 2560 with the second EBCS AP 2530 (e.g., using the FILS authentication protocol). If the EBCS STA 2520 has determined that the second EBCS AP 2530 provides one or more desired EBCS traffic flows that need to be associated, the EBCS STA 200 will do so. EBCS STA 2520 may determine that the AP provides one or more desired EBCS traffic flows that need to be associated based on parameters such as SSID, short SSID, or by other means.

In other related embodiments, a method of enhancing a broadcast service by performing a channel sensing method will now be described. An AP typically broadcasts beacon signals conveying information to STAs operating within its broadcast range. A wireless network may include a large number (e.g., thousands) of non-AP STAs. non-AP STAs may include a wide variety of sensors operating in an internet of things (IoT) environment in which the sensors wirelessly transmit data they sense to APs within their transmission range. Many of these sensors are adapted to sense environmental phenomena useful for characterizing the channel in which the non-AP STA and the AP operate. Embodiments of the systems, apparatuses, and methods disclosed and described herein provide an enhanced channel sounding beacon service that provides channel information based on data provided by one or more of these sensor devices, thereby improving the ability of STAs to broadcast accurate reports of channel conditions in their operating areas.

In some embodiments, a method includes establishing at least one Service Period (SP) during which at least one channel sounding procedure is performed. For example, in some embodiments, a method comprises: a first SP is established and one or more channel sounding setup actions are performed within the first SP, then a second SP is established and at least one channel measurement action is performed within the second SP, then a third SP is established and at least one channel measurement reporting action is performed within the third SP, then a fourth SP is established and at least one channel sounding termination action is performed within the fourth SP.

In some embodiments, the act of measuring includes obtaining Channel State Information (CSI) associated with the channel. For example, the sensing initiator performs one or more actions to collect CSI, or to collect changes in CSI in a particular sensing environment. The actions may include initiating transmission of one or more trigger frames to the non-AP sensor STA to solicit uplink data from the non-AP sensor STA.

Fig. 3 illustrates a signal flow of a sensing process 300 according to one embodiment. In this process, the sensing initiator AP 310 communicates wirelessly with the first sensing responder STA 320 and the second sensing responder STA 330. The sensing initiator AP 310 transmits a transmission request (RTS 1) 342 to the first sensing responder STA 320. In response to the RTS 342, the first sensing responder STA 320 transmits a Physical Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) carrying a Clear To Send (CTS) 344 signal. The sensing initiator AP 310 performs channel measurements 346 while the sensing responder STA 320 transmits PDDU carrying CTS 344. In some embodiments, the PPDU carrying CTS 344 includes a training field used by the sensing initiator AP 310 to measure CSI. In some embodiments, the training field is used to measure CSI at another receiver in the vicinity of the sensing initiator AP 310. The process may then be repeated for the second sensing responder STA 330 with another RTS 348 and another PPDU carrying CTS 350, where the sensing initiator AP 310 may measure the channel 352.

Thus, rather than being used to prepare for transmission of data, embodiments use RTS/CTS frames to measure channels in a novel manner. Thus, the length of the RTS transmitted by the sense initiator AP may be set to a very small value. In some embodiments, the first RTS may have a length sufficient to cover a time for only one RTS/CTS transmission or for multiple RTS/CTS transmissions during which one or more additional STAs perform the action of setting the NAV so that interference is avoided during the measurement time. This is illustrated in fig. 3 by NAV timer 360. The NAV timer 360 residing in each sensing responder STA is updated upon receipt of each received message. In some embodiments, CTS and RTS are then transmitted so that the length of all remaining RTS/CTS transmissions is set based on the time remaining in the countdown from the initial setting, so that NAV settings from other devices may be set accordingly. Note that the "other message" block shown in fig. 3 may be used to signal additional actions such as terminating sensing.

For some embodiments where the responding STA is an 802.11bf compliant sensing device, a flag is used, such as a 1-bit indicator provided in the service field of the data field of the RTS. The bit indicates that the RTS is sent as part of the sensing process. Thus, the responding STA will not expect to subsequently receive data from the RTS transmitter (in this case the sensing initiator). In some embodiments, the sensing initiator and sensing responder are devices with High Efficiency (HE) or Extremely High Throughput (EHT) capabilities. In such embodiments, the channel measurement actions may be performed using a MU-RTS/CTS mechanism, where multi-user (MU) transmissions are utilized. Fig. 4 shows an embodiment of the method.

Referring to fig. 4, a signal flow 400 according to one embodiment includes a sensing initiator AP 410 having HE or EHT capabilities and thus MU capabilities, first and second sensing responders STAs 420 and 430 both having HE and MU capabilities, and a legacy third sensing responders STA 440 not having HE or MU capabilities. It should be noted that MU-capable devices are described herein as HE or EHT-capable devices, but this is not meant to be limiting. The embodiments described herein encompass any MU-capable device that meets future standards. The sensing initiator AP 410 sends a MU-RTS trigger 450 to the first sensing responder STA 420 and the second sensing responder STA 430 to solicit the HE STA to send a CTS in a MU coordinated transmission on the resources indicated in the MU-RTS trigger 450. Together with the second sensing responder STA transmitting the second PPDUY carrying the CTS 454, the first sensing responder STA 420 transmits a first PPDU carrying the CTS 452 in the MU resources indicated by the MU-RTS trigger 450. The sensing initiator AP 410 then performs channel measurements 456 using training fields in the PPDUs that carry the first CTS and the second CTS (452 and 454). In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 4, both HE STAs and legacy STAs exist in the WLAN. Thus, to measure the channel associated with the legacy STA, the sense initiator AP 410 uses the legacy RTS transmission 462 to solicit a PPDU carrying CTS 460 from the third legacy sense responder STA 440. In one embodiment, the legacy RTS transmission 462 from the third legacy sensing responder STA 440 and the PPDU carrying the CTS260 occur with the same transmission opportunity as the other transmissions described. The method of setting NAV or length information in the solicitation MU-RTS trigger frame and in the RTS frame, the NAV timer at each STA, and the use of "other messages" shown and described above with reference to fig. 3 may also be applied herein to the method shown in fig. 4.

In another embodiment, a Target Wake Time (TWT) sensing method will now be described. Referring to fig. 5, the AP 510 has two associated STAs, STA1 520 and STA2 530, and the AP 510 establishes a channel sensing session using a TWT procedure. First, the AP 510 announces its ability to perform TWT-based sensing within a TWT Service Period (SP) (not shown in the figure). The announcement is made using any of a beacon frame, a probe response frame, a (re) association response frame, or other suitable type of management or control frame. Similarly, the non-AP STA or the sensing responder STA uses one of a probe request frame, (re) association request frame, or other type of management frame or control frame (also not shown in the figure) to announce its ability to perform TWT-based sensing within the SP.

As shown in fig. 5, non-AP STA 520 may negotiate with AP 510 and acquire TWT membership by sending TWT request frame 540 to AP 510 and receiving TWT response frame 542 from AP 510. The non-AP STA 510, now in TWT operation, enters an awake state before transmitting a beacon frame 544 carrying a broadcast TWT IE 546. STA 520 determines broadcast sensing TWT SP 570 based on the information in broadcast TWT IE 546. The AP indicates in the TWT IE 550 the broadcast TWT start time, the TWT wake duration, the interval between broadcast TWT service periods, and support for trigger-based TWT procedures.

Broadcast TWT IE 546 may also include setup information for the scheduled sensing procedure. For example, in some embodiments, the information includes identification of the sensing initiator and sensing responder, indication of the type of sensing measurement, such as CQI, CSI, SINR, path loss, time of arrival (TOA), angle of arrival (AOA), angle of departure (AOD). The broadcast TWT IE 546 may also indicate parameters of a sensing procedure to be performed in a broadcast sensing TWT service period, e.g., multi-antenna settings, channel bandwidth settings, sensing measurement resolution, etc. The IE may also indicate the periodicity of the broadcast sensing TWT service period and a TWT sensing channel, which may or may not include a primary channel.

Next, the AP 510 transmits a trigger frame 548 (which may be a basic trigger frame) to STAs that wake up in their respective TWTs. STAs (STA 1 and STA 2 530) scheduled for the TWT respond with their awake states and indications of preparation to participate in the sensing process. For example, STA 1520 and STA 2 530 each transmit QoS null frames 550 (or PS poll frames or NDP packets). In some embodiments, during the probe exchange 580 phase of the sensing TWT SP 570, the AP and STA exchange frames, such as NDPA frames, NDP trigger frames, BFRP trigger frames, BF report frames, or any other frames suitable for the particular sensing procedure. In some embodiments, the sensing broadcast TWT ID may be used to uniquely identify the sensing TWT SP. The STA may return to a sleep state after the scheduled TWT.

In some embodiments, the AP advertises TWT SP parameters and AP update information in beacon frames. The non-AP STA transmits a TWT response frame to negotiate TWT SP parameters. In some embodiments, the AP terminates the periodically occurring sensing TWT SP by transmitting a broadcast TWT IE indicating the termination of the sensing TWT.

In another embodiment, referring to fig. 6, similar to the process described above with reference to fig. 4, signal flow 600 includes a sensing initiator AP 610 transmitting a MU-RTS (trigger) frame 650 to solicit STAs capable of transmitting trigger-based (TB) PPDUs (i.e., a first sensing STA-responder STA 620 with MU capability, a second sensing responder STA 630 with MU capability, and a legacy sensing responder STA 640). The MU-capable first sensing responder STA 620 and the MU-capable second sensing responder STA 630 each transmit a respective PPDU carrying CTS 652, 654. The sensing initiator AP uses PDDU received carrying CTS 652, 654 to measure each channel (i.e., a first channel between the sensing initiator AP 610 and the MU-capable first sensing responder STA 620, and a second channel between the sensing initiator AP 610 and the MU-capable second sensing responder STA 630, or a combined channel between the sensing initiator AP 610 and the MU-capable sensing responder STAs 620 and 630). The sensing initiator AP 610 may then transmit one or more legacy RTS frames 658 to solicit PPDUs carrying CTS frames 660 from at least one sensing responder STA 640 that is MU-free. The sensing initiator AP 610 may perform channel measurements using PPDUs carrying CTS frames 660 transmitted by at least one non-MU capable (i.e., legacy) sensing responder STA 640. In some embodiments, the sensing initiator AP 610 may send a MU-RTS trigger frame 650, where the duration field in the Medium Access Control (MAC) header is set to (N x 2+ 1) aSIFSTime + (N + 1) aCTSTime + N x aRTSTime, where aSIFSTime is the duration of the short inter-frame space (SIFS), aCTSTime is the time to transmit the CTS frame, aRTSTIME is the time to transmit the RTS frame, and N is the number of legacy RTS/CTS exchanges following the current MU-RTS/CTS exchange. The MU-RTS trigger frame 650 may be used to solicit one or more CTS frames from STAs (e.g., HE STAs, EHT STAs, and/or future generations of STAs) that may interpret the MU-RTS frames (i.e., e.g., 620, 630). The STAs 620, 630 may respond by transmitting CTS frames 652, 654 on the resources allocated by the MU-RTS trigger frame 650, and the STAs 620, 630 may set the duration field of the CTS frames 652, 654 to N x 2 x asifstime+n x atcstime+n x aartstime.

In another embodiment, referring to fig. 7, similar to the example described above with reference to fig. 6, signal stream 700 includes a PPDU carrying CTS 754, 756 transmitted by a first MU-capable sensing responder STA 720 and a second MU-capable sensing responder STA 730, triggered by a sensing initiator AP 710 transmitting a MU-RTS trigger 752. The MU-RTS trigger 752 and CTS 754, 756 exchange may be followed by one or more conventional RTS/CTS exchanges 760 within the same TXOP and/or in different TXOPs. One or more legacy RTS/CTS exchanges 760 may be initiated by the sensing initiator AP 710 to solicit PPDUs carrying CTS frames 764 transmitted by legacy STAs 740 that may or may not understand MU-RTS frames. When the sensing responder STA 740 transmits a CTS frame 764, the sensing initiator AP 710 may measure the channel 766. For each RTS frame 762, if there are M RTS/CTS exchanges following the current RTS/CTS exchange, the duration field in the MAC header may be set to (M x 2+ 1) asifstime+ (M + 1) aCTSTime + (M-1) aRTSTime.

In the embodiments described with reference to fig. 6 and 7, based on the duration information contained in MU-RTS frames, (legacy) RTS frames, and/or (legacy) CTS frames, other STAs listening to the medium and reading the duration information from those frames may set and/or update their NAV timers so that they may defer access to the medium and save power for the indicated duration.

In another embodiment, the MU-RTS/CTS exchange may be followed by one or more MU-RTS/CTS exchanges, which may be followed by one or more RTS/CTS exchanges within the same TXOP and/or in different TXOPs.

In the example process described above, the sensing initiator (e.g., AP) may also first initiate one or more legacy RTS/CTS exchanges prior to transmitting one or more MU-RTS frames to solicit CTS frames from multiple STAs capable of interpreting MU-RTS frames.

In other implementations, where any of the processes described above are referenced, the MU-RTS/CTS exchange may be replaced by a Buffer Status Report Poll (BSRP)/Buffer Status Report (BSR) exchange such that the sensing initiator AP may measure channels on non-overlapping sub-channels of the channels when the sensing responder STA transmits BSR frames. In this embodiment, the duration field setting in the BSRP frame may be calculated by (n×2+1) ×asifstime+n× aCTSTime +n× aRTSTime + aBSRTime, where aBSRTime is the time to transmit the BSR frame and N is the number of legacy RTS/CTS exchanges after the current BSRP/BSR exchange. The BSRP frame may be used to solicit one or more BSR frames from STAs (e.g., HE STAs, EHT STAs, and/or future generations of STAs) that are capable of interpreting the BSRP frame. The HE/EHT/next-generation STA may respond to the BSRP frame by transmitting the BSRP frame on the resources allocated by the BSRP frame and set the duration field of the CTS frame to N x2 x asifstime+n x atcstime+n x amstime.

The BSRP/BSR exchange may be followed by N (N > =0) RTS/CTS exchanges within the same TXOP and/or in different TXOPs. The RTS/CTS exchange may be initiated by the sensing initiator to solicit CTS frames transmitted by STAs that may or may not be able to understand the MU-RTS frame. The sensing initiator AP may measure the channel when the CTS frame is transmitted by the sensing responder STA. For each RTS frame, if there are M RTS/CTS exchanges following the current RTS/CTS exchange, the duration field in the MAC header may be set to (M x 2+ 1) asifstime+ (M + 1) aCTSTime + (M-1) aRTSTime. In any of the examples described herein, SIFS may be used as an example, however other inter-frame intervals or durations may be used instead of SIFS.

In another embodiment, the MU-RTS frame (or sensing trigger frame) described in the above embodiments may include a new class of user information field or a sensing user information field. For example, the sensing user information field may include a Resource Unit (RU) allocation for a sensing response STA that does not occupy the primary channel, which may be used by the sensing initiating AP to measure a particular RU or sub-channel. The sensing MU-RTS or sensing trigger frame may include a user information field that may be used to solicit a CTS frame from legacy STAs on subchannels occupying the primary channel, and may include a user information field that may be used to solicit a CTS or other sensing frame from STAs, such as 802.11bf STAs (or future generations of STAs), on subchannels not occupying the primary channel.

A legacy STA that receives a sensing MU-RTS frame or a sensing trigger frame that includes a new class of user information fields may respond with a (legacy) CTS frame on a subchannel that occupies a primary channel, and a STA that receives a sensing MU-RTS frame or a sensing trigger frame that includes a new class of user information fields, such as an 802.11bf STA, may respond with a CTS frame or other type of sensing frame on a subchannel that does not occupy a primary channel as indicated by the received sensing MU-RTS or sensing trigger frame.

In another embodiment, the new sense report poll frame may be an enhanced version of the trigger frame, such as a BFRP frame or NFRP frame. The sense report poll frame may contain a threshold field, for example in a common information field or other portion of the sense report poll frame. The sensing report poll frame may allocate one or more random access RUs (e.g., using one or more user information fields) in its frame body. If the channel measurement performed by the sensing responder STA has exceeded the value indicated in the threshold field included in the received sensing report poll frame, the sensing responder STA that has made the channel measurement may respond to the sensing report poll frame by transmitting channel measurement information and/or CSI on one or more of the allocated random access RUs.

Although the features and elements of the present invention are described in the preferred embodiments in particular combinations, each feature or element can be used alone without the other features and elements of the preferred embodiments or in various combinations with or without other features and elements of the present invention. While the solutions described herein conform to one or more 802.11 specific protocols, it should be understood that the solutions described herein are not limited to implementations in 802.11 networks and are applicable to implementations in other wireless systems as well. Although SIFS is used in the design and procedure examples to represent various inter-frame intervals, all other inter-frame intervals, such as RIFS, AIFS, DIFS or other agreed time intervals, can be applied to the same solution.

Although the features and elements are described above in particular combinations, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with other features and elements. Furthermore, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in one or both of non-transitory computer readable media for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer readable media include electronic signals (transmitted over a wired or wireless connection) and computer readable storage media. Examples of computer readable storage media include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), registers, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media (such as internal hard disks and removable disks), magneto-optical media, and optical media (such as CD-ROM disks and Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs)). A processor associated with the software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for a WTRU, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, or any host computer.

Claims

1. A Station (STA), the STA comprising:

A receiver configured to receive a Fast Initial Link Setup (FILS) discovery frame from an Access Point (AP) to which the STA is not associated, wherein the FILS discovery frame includes an enhanced broadcast service (EBCS) parameter element including information about EBCS information frames transmitted by the AP; and

The receiver is further configured to receive an EBCS information frame transmitted by the AP based on the information about the EBCS information frame transmitted by the AP.

2. The STA of claim 1, wherein the information about EBCS information frames transmitted by the AP is an EBCS information frame Transmission (TX) countdown field indicating a number of Target Beacon Transmission Times (TBTTs) until the next transmission of an EBCS information frame by the AP.

3. The STA of claim 1, wherein the information about EBCS information frames transmitted by the AP is information about timing of next transmission of EBCS information frames by the AP.

4. The STA of claim 1, wherein the EBCS parameter element further comprises information associated with a transmitted EBCS traffic stream transmitted by the AP.

5. The STA of claim 1, wherein the FILS discovery frame further comprises Robust Security Network (RSN) information, and the STA further comprises:

A transmitter configured to perform FILS authentication with the AP using RSN information received in the FILS discovery frame.

6. The STA of claim 1, wherein the AP is a member of a multi-BSSID set.

7. The STA of claim 1, wherein the FILS discovery frame is received from the AP while the AP is providing at least one EBCS traffic flow.

8. A method for use in a Station (STA), the method comprising:

receiving a Fast Initial Link Setup (FILS) discovery frame from an Access Point (AP) to which the STA is not associated, wherein the FILS discovery frame includes an enhanced broadcast services (EBCS) parameter element including information about an EBCS information frame transmitted by the AP; and

An EBCS information frame transmitted by the AP is received based on the information about the EBCS information frame transmitted by the AP.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the information about EBCS information frames transmitted by the AP is an EBCS information frame Transmission (TX) countdown field indicating a number of Target Beacon Transmission Times (TBTTs) until the next transmission of an EBCS information frame by the AP.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the information about EBCS information frames transmitted by the AP is information about timing of next transmission of EBCS information frames by the AP.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the EBCS parameter element further comprises information associated with a transmitted EBCS traffic stream transmitted by the AP.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the FILS discovery frame further comprises Robust Secure Network (RSN) information, the method further comprising:

FILS authentication is performed with the AP using RSN information received in the FILS discovery frame.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the AP is a member of a set of multiple BSSIDs.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the FILS discovery frame is received from the AP while the AP is providing at least one EBCS traffic flow.

15. An Access Point (AP), the AP comprising:

a transmitter configured to transmit a Fast Initial Link Setup (FILS) discovery frame, the FILS discovery frame including EBCS parameter elements including information about an EBCS information frame to be transmitted by the AP; and

The transmitter is further configured to transmit an EBCS information frame to enable the STA to discover information about EBCS traffic streams transmitted by the AP.

16. The AP of claim 15, wherein the information about EBCS information frames that the AP will transmit is an EBCS information frame Transmission (TX) countdown field indicating a number of Target Beacon Transmission Times (TBTTs) until the next transmission of an EBCS information frame by the AP.

17. The AP of claim 15, wherein the EBCS parameter element is included in the FILS discovery frame because the AP is transmitting the EBCS data stream.

18. The AP of claim 15, wherein the AP is a member of a set of multiple Basic Service Set Identifiers (BSSIDs).

19. The AP of claim 15, wherein the FILS discovery frame further includes an RSN information element when the EBCS data stream being transmitted by the AP requires STA association.

20. The AP of claim 19, further comprising:

Performing FILS authentication procedure with the STA based on the RSN information element included in the FILS discovery frame.

21. A Station (STA), the STA comprising:

a receiver configured to receive an enhanced broadcast services (EBCS) data stream from a first Access Point (AP);

The receiver is further configured to receive a Fast Initial Link Setup (FILS) discovery frame from a second AP, wherein the FILS discovery frame includes an enhanced broadcast services (EBCS) parameter element including information about an EBCS information frame transmitted by the second AP; and

The receiver is further configured to receive an EBCS information frame transmitted by the second AP based on the information about the EBCS information frame transmitted by the second AP.

22. The STA of claim 21, wherein the information about EBCS information frames transmitted by the second AP is an EBCS information frame Transmission (TX) countdown field indicating a number of Target Beacon Transmission Times (TBTTs) until a next EBCS information frame transmission by the second AP.

23. The STA of claim 21, wherein the information about EBCS information frames transmitted by the second AP is information about timing of next transmissions of EBCS information frames by the second AP.