US 12,113,609 B2
Multi-link device (MLD) configured for multi-band operation using single MAC service access point (SAP)
Laurent Cariou, Milizac (FR); Yaron Alpert, Hod Hasharoni (IL); Bahareh Sadeghi, Portland, OR (US); and Robert Stacey, Portland, OR (US)
Assigned to Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed by Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed on May 25, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/824,540.
Application 17/824,540 is a continuation of application No. 16/847,231, filed on Apr. 13, 2020, abandoned.
Application 16/847,231 is a continuation of application No. 15/470,390, filed on Mar. 27, 2017, granted, now 10,659,540.
Prior Publication US 2022/0303356 A1, Sep. 22, 2022
Int. Cl. H04J 11/00 (2006.01); H04L 1/00 (2006.01); H04L 1/1607 (2023.01); H04L 1/1867 (2023.01); H04L 5/00 (2006.01); H04L 27/26 (2006.01); H04L 41/0246 (2022.01); H04L 45/60 (2022.01); H04L 67/147 (2022.01); H04L 67/51 (2022.01); H04Q 11/00 (2006.01); H04Q 11/04 (2006.01); H04W 52/50 (2009.01); H04W 74/0816 (2024.01); H04L 9/40 (2022.01); H04W 74/0808 (2024.01); H04W 84/12 (2009.01); H04W 88/06 (2009.01); H04W 88/10 (2009.01)
CPC H04J 11/0053 (2013.01) [H04L 1/0028 (2013.01); H04L 1/1621 (2013.01); H04L 1/1874 (2013.01); H04L 5/001 (2013.01); H04L 27/2602 (2013.01); H04L 41/0246 (2013.01); H04L 45/60 (2013.01); H04L 67/147 (2013.01); H04L 67/51 (2022.05); H04Q 11/00 (2013.01); H04Q 11/0428 (2013.01); H04W 52/50 (2013.01); H04W 74/0816 (2013.01); H04L 63/20 (2013.01); H04W 74/0808 (2013.01); H04W 84/12 (2013.01); H04W 88/06 (2013.01); H04W 88/10 (2013.01)] 6 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus for a multi-link device (MLD) configured for communicating over multiple links, each of the multiple links associated with a WLAN channel, the MLD being a multi-band capable device configured for simultaneously operating over more than one of a plurality of frequency bands,
the MLD comprising:
a multi-band upper Media Access Controller (MAC) layer;
a plurality of lower MAC layers; and
a plurality of physical layers (PHYs), each PHY of the plurality associated with one of the lower MAC layers,
wherein each of the PHYs is configured for communication across one or more of the frequency bands including at least a 2.4 GHz band and a 5 GHz band,
wherein the multi-band upper MAC layer is configured to communicate with the lower MAC layers using a single MAC Service Access Point (SAP) for multi-link communication including simultaneous communication across the frequency bands,
wherein the multi-band upper MAC layer is configured to route packets from a buffer to one or more of the lower MAC layers associated with one of the links at least based on link availability for transmission by the associated PHY,
wherein the packets arrive at the single MAC SAP and are assigned multi-band sequence numbers before being placed in the buffer,
wherein each of the plurality of lower MAC layers further include an Enhanced Distributed Channel Access functional block for managing channel access,
wherein the multi-band upper MAC layer is configured to communicate with the lower MAC layers using the single MAC SAP for multi-link communication over different frequency bands,
wherein the buffer is a shared buffer,
wherein the multi-band upper MAC layer is configured to encode signalling for transmission by one of the PHYs on a first frequency band via an associated one of the lower MAC layers that is currently associated with a channel of the first frequency band,
wherein the MLD is capable of communicating over the multiple links including simultaneous operation on the plurality of frequency bands including a second frequency band, the second frequency band of a channel associated with another of the lower MAC layers, the single MAC SAP for use in multi-band communication, and
wherein each of the lower MAC layers is configurable for communicating over two or more of the links using different WLAN channels within one of the frequency bands.