Multiple access point (AP) association

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12568541-B2
Application number	US-202218063005-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 7, 2022
Priority date	Dec 7, 2022
Publication date	Mar 3, 2026
Grant date	Mar 3, 2026

Abstract

This disclosure provides methods, components, devices and systems for multiple access point (AP) association with a single station (STA) to provide a seamless transition (e.g., little to no service interruption during an active link transfer). Some aspects more specifically relate to a multi-link entity (MLE) and multiple AP members of the MLE, and their communications with the STA.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A multi-link entity (MLE) being associated with a plurality of access points (APs) including a first AP and a second AP configured for wireless communication, comprising:
at least one transceiver; at least one memory comprising instructions; and one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to cause the MLE to:
transmit, via the at least one transceiver, one or more communication parameters associated with each of the first AP and the second AP;
receive, via the at least one transceiver and a station (STA), a request to associate with the MLE and the first AP; and
establish, via the at least one transceiver:
an active link between the STA and the first AP, and
an inactive link between the STA and the second AP.

2 . The MLE of claim 1 , wherein the first AP is physically separated from the second AP.

3 . The MLE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more communication parameters are transmitted via information signaling comprising one or more of a reduced neighbor report (RNR) IE, a neighbor report IE, a multi-link IE, and a multi-AP IE.

4 . The MLE of claim 3 , wherein the information signaling is transmitted via a management frame, and wherein the management frame is one of a beacon frame, a probe response frame, association response, basic service set (BSS) transition management, and a link reconfiguration frame.

5 . The MLE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more communication parameters comprise at least one of: a bandwidth of one or more of the first AP and the second AP, a transmit power limitation of one or more of the first AP and the second AP, an operating channel of one or more of the first AP and the second AP, a link identifier of one or more of the first AP and the second AP, or an indication that the first AP and the second AP are physically separated members of the MLE.

6 . The MLE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the MLE to:
transmit, via the at least one transceiver and to the second AP, an indication of the establishment of the active link between the first AP and the STA, wherein the indication is configured to notify the second AP whether to refrain from establishing another active link with the STA.

7 . The MLE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the MLE to:
transmit, via the at least one transceiver and to the second AP, an indication of one or more operational parameters and metrics of the STA.

8 . The MLE of claim 7 , wherein the operational parameters and metrics include one or more of a primary channel used by the STA, communication capabilities of the STA, an operational status of the STA, an association status between the STA and the MLE, and at least one STA credential.

9 . The MLE of claim 1 , wherein the active link is a first active link, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the MLE to:
receive, via the at least one transceiver and from the STA, an indication that the inactive link is activated as a second active link, wherein the MLE is configured to simultaneously maintain the first active link and the second active link until an indication to terminate the first active link is received, via the at least one transceiver, from the STA or the second AP.

10 . The MLE of claim 1 , wherein the first AP comprises the at least one transceiver, the at least one memory, and the one or more processors.

11 . A first access point (AP), comprising:
at least one transceiver; at least one memory comprising instructions; and one or more processors configured to execute the instructions and cause the first access point to:
transmit, via the at least one transceiver, one or more communication parameters associated with each of the first access point and a second AP, wherein both of the first access point and the second AP are members of a first multi-link entity (MLE);
receive, via the at least one transceiver and from a station (STA), a request to associate with the MLE and the first access point; and
establish, via the at least one transceiver, an active link between the STA and the first access point.

12 . The first access point of claim 11 , wherein the one or more communication parameters comprise at least one of: a bandwidth of the first access point and the second AP, a transmit power limitation of the first access point and the second AP, an operating channel of the first access point and the second AP, a link identifier of the first access point and the second AP, or an indication that the first access point and the second AP are physically separated members of the MLE.

13 . The first access point of claim 12 , wherein the one or more communication parameters are transmitted via information signaling comprising one or more of a reduced neighbor report (RNR) information element (IE), a neighbor report IE, a multi-link IE, and a multi-AP IE.

14 . The first access point of claim 13 , wherein the information signaling is transmitted via a management frame, and wherein the management frame is one of a beacon frame, a probe response frame, an association response frame, a basic service set (BSS) transition management frame, and a link reconfiguration frame.

15 . The first access point of claim 11 , wherein the active link is a first active link, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the first access point to:
receive, from the STA or the second AP, an indication that an inactive link between the STA and the second AP has activated as a second active link, wherein the first access point is configured to maintain the first active link until an indication to terminate the first active link is received, via the at least one transceiver, from the STA or the second AP.

16 . The first access point of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the first access point to:
transmit, via the at least one transceiver and to the second AP, an indication of the established active link between the first access point and the STA, wherein the indication is configured to notify the second AP to refrain from establishing another active link with the STA.

17 . The first access point of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the first access point to:
transmit, via the at least one transceiver and to the second AP, an indication of one or more operational parameters and metrics of the STA.

18 . The first access point of claim 17 , wherein the STA operational parameters and metrics include one or more of a primary channel used by the STA, communication capabilities of the STA, an operational status of the STA, an association status between the STA and the first access point, and at least one STA credential.

19 . A station, comprising:
at least one transceiver; at least one memory comprising instructions; and one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to cause the station to:
receive, via the at least one transceiver and from a first access point (AP) of a multi-link entity (MLE), one or more communication parameters associated with each of the first AP and a second AP of the MLE;
transmit, via the at least one transceiver and to the first AP, a request to associate with the first AP and the MLE; and
establish, via the at least one transceiver:
an active link between the station and the first AP, and
an inactive link between the station and the second AP.

20 . The s

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Asterjadhi Alfred
• Ho Sai Yiu Duncan
• Cherian George
• Patil Abhishek Pramod
• Ajami Abdel Karim
• Sun Yanjun
• Naik Gaurang

Classifications

• H04W76/18

  Management of setup rejection or failure · CPC title

• H04W36/00692

  using simultaneous multiple data streams, e.g. cooperative multipoint [CoMP], carrier aggregation [CA] or multiple input multiple output [MIMO] (allocation of physical resources in CoMP or in CA H04L5/0035) · CPC title

• H04W36/083

  wherein at least one of the access points is a moving node · CPC title

• H04W92/18

  between terminal devices · CPC title

• H04W76/16

  Involving different core network technologies, e.g. a packet-switched [PS] bearer in combination with a circuit-switched [CS] bearer · CPC title