CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/466,203, filed on March 2, 2017, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in full.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] This disclosure generally relates to systems, methods, and devices for wireless communications and, more particularly, access point (AP) grouping and identification.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Efficient use of the resources of a wireless local area network (WLAN) is important to provide bandwidth and acceptable response times to the users of the WLAN. However, often there are many devices trying to share the same resources, and some devices may be limited by the communication protocol they use or by their hardware bandwidth.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not limitation by the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements and in which:

[0005] FIG. 1 depicts a network diagram illustrating an example network environment of an access point (AP) grouping and identification system, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0006] FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative schematic diagram for an AP grouping and identification system, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0007] FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative schematic diagram for an AP grouping and identification system, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0008] FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative schematic diagram for an AP grouping and identification system, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure. [0009] FIG. 5A depicts a flow diagram of an illustrative process for an illustrative AP grouping and identification system, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0010] FIG. 5B depicts a flow diagram of an illustrative process for an illustrative AP grouping and identification system, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0011] FIG. 6 depicts a functional diagram of an example communication station that may be suitable for use as a user device, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0012] FIG. 7 depicts a block diagram of an example machine upon which any of one or more techniques (e.g., methods) may be performed, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION

[0013] The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrate specific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments. Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims.

[0014] In the past two decades, the IEEE 802.11 WLAN networks have experienced tremendous growth with the proliferation of Wi-Fi devices as a major Internet access scheme for mobile computing and electronic devices. Since the early deployment of IEEE 802.11 devices in both enterprise and public networks, there have only been proprietary solutions to provide coordination among access points (APs). However, such coordination is transparent to client devices, meaning that a client device, also called a station (STA), establishes a physical layer connection with only one AP at a time. That is, the STA is able to communicate with only one AP at a time for a particular communication session.

[0015] For next generation Wi-Fi, also known as 802.11 Next Big Thing (NBT), AP coordination is seen as a major item. With 802.1 lax, operations in a dense environment have improved by allowing multiplexing of traffic for or from multiple STAs in frequency and space dimension, with uplink (UL) and/or downlink (DL) Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) multi-user (MU) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO); by allowing the AP to be more in control of the channel access within its basic service set (BSS), by scheduling STAs in DL and in UL; and by allowing some level of spatial reuse between neighboring cells. During data communication between a transmitting device and a receiving device, the transmitting device may select a number of spatial streams that may be used for transmitting data to the receiving device.

[0016] Media access control (MAC) addresses may be used but may be too large. IEEE 802.11 defines association ID (AID) value, which may be an identifier that is uniquely assigned to an STA by its serving AP to identify the STA in an efficient way in physical layer (PHY) headers or MAC frames. There are approximately 2,008 possible AIDs per BSS. STAs belonging to different APs can therefore have the same value of AID. There is currently no identifier for the AP or the BSS that can be used in the PHY header or MAC frames that is able to discriminate information for two STAs having the same AID but belonging to different BSSs.

[0017] Example embodiments described herein provide certain systems, methods, and devices for enhancing the performance of wireless devices using AP grouping and identification for AP coordination between multiple access points in various wireless networks, including, but not limited to, next generation Wi-Fi (e.g., Wi-Fi NBT), or any other wireless standards based on 5G 3GPP technologies.

[0018] In one embodiment, an AP grouping and identification system may extend all of the multiuser operations so that they are not confined to a single basic service set (BSS) and an STA serviced by only one AP. For example, an AP grouping and identification system may allow an AP to trigger multiple STAs from different BSSs as opposed to only STAs that are serviced by the AP and that are within a single BSS. Today, each AP has a MAC address which is the BSSID, and the STAs have their own MAC addresses. So, in all the frames, these are used when identifying an AP or an STA.

[0019] The service set identifier (SSID) is used for a group of APs that share a same management domain. However, that information is not present in MAC frames that go over the air that identify an SSID or an AP in multiuser operations in UL/DL communication. In a DL MU MPDU, sent from the AP to the STA, the MAC address is not enough to identify the STA. Instead, an AP grouping and identification system may utilize a different mechanism to identify devices during UL/DL communications in multiuser operations such as MU-MIMO spanning over multiple APs and multiple BSSs.

[0020] In multiuser transmission, the AP sends a trigger frame with a transmit (TX) address set to the AP's MAC address. The trigger frame also includes all of the AIDs for the STAs that are serviced by the AP. [0021] In one embodiment, an AP grouping and identification system may facilitate the use of multiple BSSs instead of being confined within a single BSS.

[0022] In one embodiment, an AP grouping and identification system may facilitate the coordination between APs to schedule multiple STAs from different BSSs at the same time such that the scheduling of the STAs does not interfere with each other. The APs may or schedule at different time or with different frequency resources with STAs from different BSSs that would otherwise interfere.

[0023] In one embodiment, an AP grouping and identification system may facilitate tighter coordination between a group of APs to allow an AP (e.g., API) to trigger its own transmissions toward its associated STAs (e.g., API 's STAs) and the transmissions from other APs (e.g., AP2) to their associated STAs (e.g., AP2's STAs) simultaneously.

[0024] In one embodiment, an AP grouping and identification system may facilitate joint processing between multiple APs so that multiple APs (e.g., API and AP2) transmit simultaneously to either one or multiple STAs associated with one of the APs (e.g., API 's STA) or multiple STAs associated with multiple APs.

[0025] In one embodiment, in order for these mechanisms to work, it may be important that the STAs from a BSS are capable of receiving frames from another BSS (a trigger frame for instance, or a data DL physical layer convergence protocol data unit (PPDU), which is addressed to STAs from multiple BSSs) and that, within these frames, the STAs are capable of identifying the signaling information (in physical layer (PHY) and/or in MAC) for them and the signaling information for STAs from other BSSs.

[0026] In one embodiment, an AP grouping and identification system may be configured to signal and identify information for multiple STAs associated with multiple APs, in a PHY header or MAC frame.

[0027] In one embodiment, an AP grouping and identification system may be able to define groups of APs, and inform the STAs associated with these APs about the definition of these groups. It should be noted that these groups could be used to enable coordination and joint processing between the APs from the group. Further, the AP grouping and identification system may define a short identifier for each AP within that group, which may be used to identify signaling information for or from this AP, and which may be coupled with the AID in order to identify signaling information for or from an STA associated with this AP. This can be the BSS color or a new access point identification (APID). For example, the AP grouping and identification system may define a short identifier for the group of APs (e.g., AP_GroupID, or ESS/group color).

[0028] In one embodiment, an AP grouping and identification system may define groups of APs. The APs belonging to a group are all assigned a specific and common BSSID, in addition to their unique BSSID.

[0029] Each AP therefore may have at least two BSSIDs, one unique BSSID (BSSID_unique), and one common BSSID (BSSID_group, or AP_group ID). This identifier may be the identifier of the group of APs. A short identifier of this common BSSID can also be defined, like an AP_groupID color (partial AP_groupID). Further, each STA associated with an AP from that group is assigned an AID, which is related to the BSSID_unique from its associated AP, and another AID_group, which is related to the BSSID_group from the group of APs. The classical AID is unique within the BSS, while the AID_group is unique within the group of APs (within the group color). Further, the common BSSID (AP_groupID) or the short identifier of this common BSSID coupled with the AID_group provides the ability to uniquely identify an STA.

[0030] In one embodiment, the AP grouping and identification system may enable all multi-AP coordination techniques. It may allow a simple and efficient identification of STAs and APs within a group of coordinated APs, much better than using MAC addresses.

[0031] The above descriptions are for purposes of illustration and are not meant to be limiting. Numerous other examples, configurations, processes, etc., may exist, some of which are described in detail below. Example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures.

[0032] FIG. 1 is a network diagram illustrating an example network environment of location determination, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Wireless network 100 may include one or more user devices 120 and one or more responding device(s) (e.g., AP(s) 102), which may communicate in accordance with IEEE 802.11 communication standards. The user device(s) 120 may be mobile devices that are non- stationary (e.g., not having fixed locations) or may be stationary devices.

[0033] In some embodiments, the user devices 120 and the AP(s) 102 may include one or more computer systems similar to that of the functional diagram of FIG. 6 and/or the example machine/system of FIG. 7.

[0034] One or more illustrative user device(s) 120 and/or AP(s) 102 may be operable by one or more user(s) 110. It should be noted that any addressable unit may be a station (STA). An STA may take on multiple distinct characteristics, each of which shape its function. For example, a single addressable unit might simultaneously be a portable STA, a quality-of- service (QoS) STA, a dependent STA, and a hidden STA. The one or more illustrative user device(s) 120 and the AP(s) 102 may be STAs. The one or more illustrative user device(s) 120 and/or AP(s) 102 may operate as a personal basic service set (PBSS) control point/access point (PCP/AP). The user device(s) 120 (e.g., 124, 126, or 128) and/or AP(s) 102 may include any suitable processor-driven device including, but not limited to, a mobile device or a non-mobile, e.g., a static, device. For example, user device(s) 120 and/or AP(s) 102 may include, a user equipment (UE), a station (STA), an access point (AP), a software enabled AP (SoftAP), a personal computer (PC), a wearable wireless device (e.g., bracelet, watch, glasses, ring, etc.), a desktop computer, a mobile computer, a laptop computer, an ultrabook™ computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a server computer, a handheld computer, a handheld device, an internet of things (IoT) device, a sensor device, a PDA device, a handheld PDA device, an on-board device, an off-board device, a hybrid device (e.g., combining cellular phone functionalities with PDA device functionalities), a consumer device, a vehicular device, a non-vehicular device, a mobile or portable device, a non-mobile or non-portable device, a mobile phone, a cellular telephone, a PCS device, a PDA device which incorporates a wireless communication device, a mobile or portable GPS device, a DVB device, a relatively small computing device, a non-desktop computer, a "carry small live large" (CSLL) device, an ultra mobile device (UMD), an ultra mobile PC (UMPC), a mobile internet device (MID), an "origami" device or computing device, a device that supports dynamically composable computing (DCC), a context-aware device, a video device, an audio device, an A/V device, a set-top-box (STB), a blu-ray disc (BD) player, a BD recorder, a digital video disc (DVD) player, a high definition (HD) DVD player, a DVD recorder, a HD DVD recorder, a personal video recorder (PVR), a broadcast HD receiver, a video source, an audio source, a video sink, an audio sink, a stereo tuner, a broadcast radio receiver, a flat panel display, a personal media player (PMP), a digital video camera (DVC), a digital audio player, a speaker, an audio receiver, an audio amplifier, a gaming device, a data source, a data sink, a digital still camera (DSC), a media player, a smartphone, a television, a music player, or the like. Other devices, including smart devices such as lamps, climate control, car components, household components, appliances, etc. may also be included in this list. [0035] As used herein, the term "Internet of Things (IoT) device" is used to refer to any object (e.g., an appliance, a sensor, etc.) that has an addressable interface (e.g., an Internet protocol (IP) address, a Bluetooth identifier (ID), a near-field communication (NFC) ID, etc.) and can transmit information to one or more other devices over a wired or wireless connection. An IoT device may have a passive communication interface, such as a quick response (QR) code, a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag, an NFC tag, or the like, or an active communication interface, such as a modem, a transceiver, a transmitter-receiver, or the like. An IoT device can have a particular set of attributes (e.g., a device state or status, such as whether the IoT device is on or off, open or closed, idle or active, available for task execution or busy, and so on, a cooling or heating function, an environmental monitoring or recording function, a light-emitting function, a sound-emitting function, etc.) that can be embedded in and/or controlled/monitored by a central processing unit (CPU), microprocessor, ASIC, or the like, and configured for connection to an IoT network such as a local ad-hoc network or the Internet. For example, IoT devices may include, but are not limited to, refrigerators, toasters, ovens, microwaves, freezers, dishwashers, dishes, hand tools, clothes washers, clothes dryers, furnaces, air conditioners, thermostats, televisions, light fixtures, vacuum cleaners, sprinklers, electricity meters, gas meters, etc., so long as the devices are equipped with an addressable communications interface for communicating with the IoT network. IoT devices may also include cell phones, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc. Accordingly, the IoT network may be comprised of a combination of "legacy" Internet-accessible devices (e.g., laptop or desktop computers, cell phones, etc.) in addition to devices that do not typically have Internet-connectivity (e.g., dishwashers, etc.).

[0036] The user device(s) 120 and/or AP(s) 102 may also include mesh stations in, for example, a mesh network, in accordance with one or more IEEE 802.11 standards and/or 3GPP standards.

[0037] Any of the user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128), and AP(s) 102 may be configured to communicate with each other via one or more communications networks 130 and/or 135 wirelessly or wired. The user device(s) 120 may also communicate peer-to-peer or directly with each other with or without the AP(s) 102. Any of the communications networks 130 and/or 135 may include, but not limited to, any one of a combination of different types of suitable communications networks such as, for example, broadcasting networks, cable networks, public networks (e.g., the Internet), private networks, wireless networks, cellular networks, or any other suitable private and/or public networks. Further, any of the communications networks 130 and/or 135 may have any suitable communication range associated therewith and may include, for example, global networks (e.g., the Internet), metropolitan area networks (MANs), wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), or personal area networks (PANs). In addition, any of the communications networks 130 and/or 135 may include any type of medium over which network traffic may be carried including, but not limited to, coaxial cable, twisted-pair wire, optical fiber, a hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) medium, microwave terrestrial transceivers, radio frequency communication mediums, white space communication mediums, ultra-high frequency communication mediums, satellite communication mediums, or any combination thereof.

[0038] Any of the user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and AP(s) 102 may include one or more communications antennas. The one or more communications antennas may be any suitable type of antennas corresponding to the communications protocols used by the user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126 and 128), and AP(s) 102. Some non-limiting examples of suitable communications antennas include Wi-Fi antennas, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards compatible antennas, directional antennas, non-directional antennas, dipole antennas, folded dipole antennas, patch antennas, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, omnidirectional antennas, quasi-omnidirectional antennas, or the like. The one or more communications antennas may be communicatively coupled to a radio component to transmit and/or receive signals, such as communications signals to and/or from the user devices 120 and/or AP(s) 102.

[0039] Any of the user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128), and AP(s) 102 may be configured to perform directional transmission and/or directional reception in conjunction with wirelessly communicating in a wireless network. Any of the user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128), and AP(s) 102 may be configured to perform such directional transmission and/or reception using a set of multiple antenna arrays (e.g., DMG antenna arrays or the like). Each of the multiple antenna arrays may be used for transmission and/or reception in a particular respective direction or range of directions. Any of the user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128), and AP(s) 102 may be configured to perform any given directional transmission towards one or more defined transmit sectors. Any of the user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128), and AP(s) 102 may be configured to perform any given directional reception from one or more defined receive sectors.

[0040] MIMO beamforming in a wireless network may be accomplished using RF beamforming and/or digital beamforming. In some embodiments, in performing a given MIMO transmission, user devices 120 and/or AP(s) 102 may be configured to use all or a subset of its one or more communications antennas to perform MIMO beamforming.

[0041] Any of the user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128), and AP(s) 102 may include any suitable radio and/or transceiver for transmitting and or receiving radio frequency (RF) signals in the bandwidth and/or channels corresponding to the communications protocols utilized by any of the user device(s) 120 and AP(s) 102 to communicate with each other. The radio components may include hardware and/or software to modulate and/or demodulate communications signals according to pre-established transmission protocols. The radio components may further have hardware and/or software instructions to communicate via one or more Wi-Fi and/or Wi-Fi direct protocols, as standardized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards. In certain example embodiments, the radio component, in cooperation with the communications antennas, may be configured to communicate via 2.4 GHz channels (e.g., 802.11b, 802. llg, 802.11η, 802.11ax), 5 GHz channels (e.g., 802.11η, 802.11ac, 802.1 lax), or 60 GHZ channels (e.g., 802. Had). In some embodiments, non-Wi-Fi protocols may be used for communications between devices, such as Bluetooth, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), Ultra- High Frequency (UHF) (e.g., IEEE 802. Uaf, IEEE 802.22), white band frequency (e.g., white spaces), or other packetized radio communications. The radio component may include any known receiver and baseband suitable for communicating via the communications protocols. The radio component may further include a low noise amplifier (LNA), additional signal amplifiers, an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter, one or more buffers, and digital baseband.

[0042] When one or more AP (e.g., AP(s) 102) establish communication 140 with one or more user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, and/or 128), the AP(s) 102 may communicate in a downlink direction and the user devices 120 may communicate with one or more AP(s) 102 in an uplink direction by sending data frames in either direction. The user devices 120 may also communicate peer-to-peer or directly with each other with or without the AP 102. The communication 140 may be multiuser communication between an AP and one or more user devices. The one or more user devices may belong to the same or different BSS.

[0043] It is understood that the above descriptions are for purposes of illustration and are not meant to be limiting.

[0044] FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative schematic diagram for an AP grouping and identification system, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0045] Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown four APs (e.g., API, AP2, AP3, and AP4) that are coordinated. Each of these APs may be servicing one or more STAs. For example, API may have a BSSID (e.g., BSSID1) that is associated with it and that identifies the API. Similarly, AP2, AP3, and AP4 are associated with BSSID2, BSSID3, and BSSID4, respectively. Further, API may be associated with STA1, STA2, and STA3. Each of the APs may have a coverage area. For example, API may have a coverage area 201, AP2 may have a coverage area 202, AP3 may have a coverage area 203, and AP4 may have a coverage area 204.

[0046] Association identifications (AIDs) of STAs may be assigned by their servicing AP. For example, STA1 may be assigned AID1 by API, and similarly STA2 and STA3 may be assigned AID2 and AID3, respectively, by API. The other APs may also be associated with one or more STAs. For example, AP2 may be assigned a BSSID2, AP3 may be assigned a BSSID3, and AP4 may be assigned a BSSID4. Further, AP2 may be servicing STA4 and STA5. AP3 may be servicing STA6, STA7, and STA8. AP4 may be servicing STA9, STA10, and STA11. Further, each of these STAs may be assigned an AID by its respective AP. For example, STA4 may be assigned an AID2 and STA5 may be assigned an AID3, by their AP2. Similarly, STA6 may be assigned AID1, STA7 may be assigned AID2, and STA8 may be assigned AID3 by their AP3. In addition, STA9 may be assigned AID1, STA10 may be assigned AID2, and STA11 may be assigned AID3 by their AP4. It should be understood that the AID values assigned by an AP may overlap with the AID values assigned to another AP.

[0047] In one embodiment, BSSs do not coordinate AID assignment so there can be AID overlap between APs. Each group of APs can have an MAC address (AP_group_ID) and a group of STAs that are identified by a both the BSSID of their associated AP and the AID assigned by their AP. [0048] In 802.1 lax, the concept of BSS color was defined, which is a compressed AP/BSSID identifier. In HE PHY headers, an STA can be identified by having the BSS color field that matches the BSS color of its associated AP and/or by having the AID field that matches the AID assigned to it by its associated AP. In HE frames, like trigger frames, an STA can be identified by having the BSSID in the TA or RA field in the MAC header and/or by having the AID field in the MAC frame that matches the AID assigned to it by its associated AP. Since an STA is associated with a single AP through a single unique BSSID, an STA can be only identified with the couples (BSSID, AID) and (BSS color, AID), when not using the STA's MAC address.

[0049] In one embodiment, in order to transmit frames that carry information to multiple STAs belonging to different APs an AP grouping and identification system may use the couples (BSSID, AID) or (BSS color, AID) to identify the STAs.

[0050] In one embodiment, an AP grouping and identification system may define a group of APs. For example, an AP Group 1 211 may include three APs (e.g., API, AP3 and AP4). An AP Group2 212 may include three APs (e.g., API, AP3, and AP2).

[0051] STAs in AP Group 1 211, may be addressed by a combination of their AIDs assigned by their servicing APs and a BSSID of their servicing APs. The STAs may keep their AIDs assigned by their own APs but they would identify themselves by a combination of BSSID and AID, which results in a unique way to identify an STA within a group of APs. For example, STA6 is shown to be associated with AP3 and has been assigned an AID value (e.g., AID1), and STA1 which is associated with APlhas been assigned the same AID value (e.g., AID1). In this case, in order to uniquely identify STA6 or STA1, an AP of the AP Group 1, would need to use the combination of BSSID and AID in its frames when communicating with either of STA6 and/or STA1. For example, API may be associated with a BSSID1, AP3 may be associated with a BSSID3, and AP4 may be associated with a BSSID4. Therefore, if for example, AP3 wants to trigger STA1, the AP3 may include the AID1 and the BSSID1 in its frames. When the STA1 receives the trigger frame from the AP3, it may decode the trigger frame and identify this pair of information (e.g., BSSID1 and AID1) and determine that this trigger frame is intended for it. The APs in each group (e.g., AP Group 1) share the BSSIDs and the AIDs assigned to their respective serviced STAs with each other so that they can use the specific BSSID and AID combination when communicating with a specific STA, even when the STA is from a different BSS and even if the AID is the same value as another STA from a different BSS. This also applies when using a combination of a BSS color with an AID to identify an STA in a frame (e.g., a trigger frame).

[0052] If done within a PHY header, that means that the signaling design many need to change so that each per-STA information field not only contains an AID subfield, but also a BSS color subfield. If done within an MAC frame like the trigger frame, that means the signaling design may need to change so that each per-STA information field not only contains an AID subfield, but also a BSS color subfield. In the case of an MAC frame, the transmitter address (TA) field of the MAC header is equal to a specific unique common BSSID (which is effectively a sort of AP_groupID) that is known by the STA as being for it (in addition to the classical unique BSSID of the AP to which it is associated).

[0053] It is understood that the above descriptions are for purposes of illustration and are not meant to be limiting.

[0054] FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative schematic diagram for an AP grouping and identification system, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0055] Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown four APs (e.g., API, AP2, AP3, and AP4) that are coordinated. Each of these APs may be servicing one or more STAs. For example, API may have a BSSID (e.g., BSSID1) that is associated with it and that identifies the API. Similarly, AP2, AP3, and AP4 are associated with BSSID2, BSSID3, and BSSID4, respectively. Further, API may be associated with STA1, STA2, and STA3. Each of the APs may have a coverage area. For example, API may have a coverage area 301, AP2 may have a coverage area 302, AP3 may have a coverage area 303, and AP4 may have a coverage area 304.

[0056] Association identifications (AIDs) may be assigned by their servicing APs. For example, STA1 may be assigned AID1 by API, and similarly STA2 and STA3 may be assigned AID2 and AID3, respectively, by API. The other APs may also be associated with one or more STAs. For example, AP2 may be assigned a BSSID2, AP3 may be assigned a BSSID3, and AP4 may be assigned a BSSID4. Further, AP2 may be servicing STA4 and STA5. AP3 may be servicing STA6, STA7, and STA8,and AP4 may be servicing STA9, STA 10, and STA11. Further, each of these STAs may be assigned an AID by their respective AP. For example, STA4 may be assigned an AID2 and STA5 may be assigned an AID3, by their AP2. Similarly, STA6 may be assigned AID1, STA7 may be assigned AID2, and STA8 may be assigned AID3 by their AP3. In addition, STA9 may be assigned AID1, STA10 may be assigned AID2, and STA11 may be assigned AID3 by their AP4. It should be understood that the AID values assigned by an AP may overlap with AID values assigned to another AP.

[0057] In one embodiment, an AP grouping and identification system may define a group of APs. For example, an AP Group 1 311 may include three APs (e.g., API, AP3 and AP4). An AP Group 2 312 may include three APs (e.g., API, AP2, and AP3).

[0058] In the example of FIG. 3, it is shown that BSSs do not coordinate AID assignments so there can be AID overlap between APs. Each group of APs can have an MAC address (AP_group_ID) and a group of STAs that are identified by a specifically defined AID (referred to as an AID_group) and which is different from the one they get from their associated APs.

[0059] In one embodiment, an AP grouping and identification system may define a new identification that may be used within each AP group. In essence, a new ID (e.g., a new BSSID) may be defined that identifies the group of APs. The STAs would have to associate using that new ID. The STAs would then get a group AID (for the group of APs) for that new ID. The group AID would then be uniquely assigned to a specific STA and would prevent situations where two STAs may have the same AID value assigned to them by their respective APs. This new ID would then be used to uniquely identify an STA.

[0060] In one embodiment, an AP grouping and identification system may use the couples (AP_groupID, AID_group) or (AP_groupID color, AID_group) to identify the STAs (as defined previously, in this embodiment, the AID_group is uniquely assigned to the STA among all STAs within the group of APs (AP_groupID)). For example, an AP Group 1 311 may include three APs (e.g., API, AP3 and AP4). STAs in this AP Group 1 311, may be addressed by a combination of AP_groupID and AID_group. For example, STA6 is shown to be associated with AP3 and has been assigned an AID value (e.g., AID_group_2), which indicates a unique value within the AID_group list of values. This AID_group_2 would only be assigned to STA6 in this AP Group 1 311. In this case, in order to uniquely identify STA6, an AP of the AP Group 1 311, would need to use the combination of AP_groupID and AID_group_2 in its frames when communicating with STA6.

[0061] Therefore, if for example, AP3 wants to trigger STA1, the AP3 may include the AP_groupID and AID_group_l in its frames. When the STA1 receives the trigger frame from the AP3, it may decode the trigger frame and identify this pair of information (e.g., AP_groupID and AID_group_l) and determine that this trigger frame is intended for it. The APs in each group (e.g., AP Group 1 311) share the AP_groupID and AID_group assigned to their respective serviced STAs with each other so that they can use the specific BSSID and AID combination when communicating with a specific STA, even when the STA is from a different BSS.

[0062] If done within a PHY header, that means that there is no need to change the signaling design used in 802.1 lax, which means that the BSS color field is set to the AP_groupID color and the per- STA information field contains the AID subfield, which is filed with the unique AID_group. If done within an MAC frame like a trigger frame, the signaling design may be preserved so that each per- STA information field only contains the AID subfield (set to the AID_group). In the case of an MAC frame, the TA field of the MAC header may be equal to the AP_groupID. It is understood that the above descriptions are for purposes of illustration and are not meant to be limiting.

[0063] FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative schematic diagram for an AP grouping and identification system, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0064] Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown four APs (e.g., API, AP2, AP3, and AP4) that are coordinated. Each of these APs may be servicing one or more STAs. For example, API may have a BSSID (e.g., BSSID1) that is associated with it and that identifies the API. Similarly, AP2, AP3, and AP4 are associated with BSSID2, BSSID3, and BSSID4, respectively. Further, API may be associated with STA1, STA2, and STA3. Each of the APs may have a coverage area. For example, API may have a coverage area 401, AP2 may have a coverage area 402, AP3 may have a coverage area 403, and AP4 may have a coverage area 404.

[0065] In one embodiment, an AP grouping and identification system may define a group of APs. For example, an AP Group 1 411 may include three APs (e.g., API, AP3 and AP4). An AP Group 2 412 may include three APs (e.g., API, AP2, and AP3).

[0066] In the example of FIG. 4, there is shown a BSS coordinate AID assignment so that all AIDs are unique among the group of APs. Each group of APs can have an MAC address (AP_group_ID) and can include a group of STAs that are identified by the AIDs they get from their associated APs, where the AIDs are unique among the group of APs.

[0067] In one embodiment, an AP grouping and identification system may use the couples (AP_groupID, AID) or (AP_groupID color, AID) to identify the STAs. In this solution, the AID is uniquely assigned to the STA among all STAs within the group of APs (AP_groupID)).

[0068] For example, an AP Group 1 411 may include three APs (e.g., API, AP3 and AP4). The STAs in this AP Group 1 411, may be addressed by a combination of a unique AID assigned by the BSS (so that all AIDs are unique) and an AP_groupID associated with the group of APs. The idea here is for the STAs to have a unique AID value but they would identify themselves by a combination of the AP_groupID and the unique AID, which results in a unique way to identify an STA within a group of APs. For example, STA6 is shown to be associated with AP3 and has been assigned a unique AID value (e.g., AID6), and STAl which is associated with API has been assigned the unique AID value (e.g., AIDl). In this case, in order to uniquely identify STA6 or STAl, an AP of the AP Group 1 411 would need to use the combination of AP_groupID and the unique AID in its frames when communicating with either of STA6 and/or STAl. Therefore, if for example, AP3 wants to trigger STAl, the AP3 may include the AIDl and the AP_groupID (e.g., AP Group 1 411) in its frames. When the STAl receives the trigger frame from the AP3, it may decode the trigger frame and identify this pair of information (e.g., AP Group 1 411 and AIDl) and determine that this trigger frame is intended for it from an AP that is not its own original servicing AP but instead an AP from an AP that is part of the AP group. The APs in each group (e.g., AP Group 1 411) share the assignment of AIDs with other APs so that each value of the AID assigned to an STA is different from another AID value of another STA within or outside a BSS. The AP would then use the combination when communicating with a specific STA, even when the STA is from a different BSS.

[0069] If done within a PHY header, that means that there is no need to change the signaling design used in 802.1 lax, which means that the BSS color field is set to the AP_groupID color and the per- STA information field contains the AID subfield, which is filed with the unique AID. If done within an MAC frame like the trigger frame, the signaling design may be preserved so that each per-STA information field only contains the AID subfield (set to the AID). In the case of a MAC frame, the TA field of the MAC header is equal to the AP_groupID.

[0070] For both options, an AP grouping and identification system may define a protocol in order to define the group of APs, assign the STAs to these groups, and assign identifiers to the groups and to the STAs belonging to the groups. [0071] In one embodiment, the APs may coordinate to form a group of APs, and each AP within the group is given the determined AP_groupID. For example, the APs that are coordinated (e.g., API, AP2, AP3, and AP4) can signal each other information associated with a group of APs. For example, the APs may share a common BSSID that identifies an AP group, share the AID assignment for their respective STAs, and share the AID assignment for all of the STAs that are identified to be associated with all of the coordinated APs. Each AP includes in its beacons and in its probe response and association response a new information element that carries the AP_groupID. There can be multiple group IDs with the same set of APs, and an AP can also be in a different set of APs. If only some STAs from one BSS can become members of the group, each AP sends an action frame unicasted to each STA that will enter the group. This frame can carry one or multiple AP_groupIDs and possibly the related short identifier (AP_groupID color, or group color) that the STA becomes a member of that group. Note that this can also be done in the pre-association exchange.

[0072] In one embodiment, the action frame for group management may also need to carry for each AP_groupID, a specific AID that is assigned to the STA for this AP_groupID. In addition to the groupID and the definition of the STAs that are members of the groups, each group has some characteristics, for instance on the mode of operation that will be applied to its STAs. For instance, one group can be defined for being scheduled with multi- AP synchronized DL PPDUs, while another one can be defined for being scheduled with spatial reuse. These management frames can therefore have another field that indicates the operating mode that will be applied (or preferably applied) to the STAs belonging to the group.

[0073] In one embodiment, an AP grouping and identification system may define groups of APs and assign STAs within each group, and may define the behavior of the STAs so that they are considered as being the destination of packets identified by the BSSID and the AP_groupID.

[0074] In one embodiment, an AP grouping and identification system may define groups of APs and assign STAs within each group; define a unique AID within each group; define the behavior of the STAs so that they are considered as being the destination of packets identified by the BSSID and the AP_groupID; and identify themselves by the related AID.

[0075] In one embodiment, an AP grouping and identification system may define groups of APs and assign STAs within each group; use the AIDs assigned by their associated APs within each group; define the behavior of the STAs so that they are considered as being the destination of packets identified by the BSSID and the AP_groupID; and identify themselves uniquely by the AID that has been assigned by their serving APs.

[0076] In one embodiment, an AP grouping and identification system may define groups of APs. The APs belonging to a group are all assigned a specific and common BSSID, in addition to their unique BSSID. Each AP therefore has at least two BSSIDs, one unique BSSID (BSSID_unique) and one common BSSID (BSSID_group, or AP_group ID). This identifier may be the identifier of the group of APs. Further, a short identifier of this common BSSID can also be defined, like an AP_groupID color (partial AP_groupID). Each STA associated with an AP from that group is only assigned an AID, which is related to the BSSID_unique from their associated AP, and not another AID_group, which is related to the BSSID_group from the group of APs. Within each AP_groupID, the AIDs from all STAs that are in the group must be unique for the mechanism to work. Since the AID that is assigned per BSS is kept the same, all the APs within the group must coordinate the assignment of AIDs during association so that the AID that is assigned to a new STA is unique among all APs in the group of APs. This can be done by having the AID assignment done in a controller of a master AP. Either on-the-fly (example: at time=0, STA1 tries to associate with API and gets AID=1, at time=5s, STA2 tries to associate with AP2 and gets AID=2, at time=10s, STA3 tries to associate with API and gets AID=3...), or by assigning long-term range of AIDs to specific APs. For example, AIDs 1 to 100 to API, AIDs 101 to 200 to AP2, etc. The classical AID may be unique within the BSS, while the AID_group is unique within the group of APs (within the group color with the AID_group may provide the ability to uniquely identify an STA.

[0077] It is understood that the above descriptions are for purposes of illustration and are not meant to be limiting.

[0078] FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of illustrative process 500 for an illustrative AP grouping and identification system, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0079] At block 502, a device (e.g., the user device(s) 120 and/or the AP(s) 102 of FIG. 1) may determine an access point group identification (ID) associated with the device and a second access point, wherein the device is associated with a first basic service set (BSS) and the second access point is associated with a second BSS. For example, an AP grouping and identification system may allow an AP to trigger multiple STAs from different BSSs as opposed to only STAs that are serviced by the AP and that are within a single BSS. Today, each AP has a MAC address which is the BSSID and the STAs have their own MAC addresses. Therefore, in all of the frames, these are used when identifying an AP or an STA.

[0080] The SSID is used for a group of APs that share a same management domain. However, that information is not present in MAC frames that go over the air that identify an SSID or an AP. In multiuser operations in UL/DL communication. In a DL MU MPDU, sent from the AP to the STA, the MAC address is not enough to identify the STA. Instead, an AP grouping and identification system may utilize a different mechanism to identify devices during UL/DL communications in multiuser operations such as MU-MIMO spanning over multiple APs and multiple BSSs.

[0081] In multiuser transmission, the AP sends a trigger frame with a transmit (TX) address set to the AP's MAC address. The trigger frame also includes all the AIDs for the STAs that are serviced by the AP.

[0082] At block 504, the device may determine a first station device associated with the device and a second station device associated with the second access point. For example, a user device 120 of FIG. 1 may be associated with a first AP and a second user device 120 of FIG. 1 may be associated with a second AP. Typically, an AP can only trigger or communicate with devices that are associated and/or serviced by it. In this example, the first AP may want to trigger the second user device 120, which is not typically reachable because it is not associated with the first AP.

[0083] At block 506, the device may broadcast the access point group ID, a first identification information associated with the first station device, and a second identification information associated with the second station device. For example, groups of APs may be defined. The user devices associated to these APs may be informed (e.g., one or more APs of the group of APs, or by a controller device responsible for the coordination of the APs) about the definition of these groups. It should be noted that these groups could be used to enable coordination and joint processing between the APs from the group. Further, a short identifier for each AP within that group maybe define, which can be used to identify signaling information for or from this AP, and which can be coupled with the AID in order to identify signaling information for or from a STA associated with this AP. This can be the BSS color or a new APID.

[0084] In another solution, an AP grouping and identification system may use the couples (AP_groupID, AID_group) or (AP_groupID color, AID_group) to identify the STAs (as defined previously, in this embodiment, the AID_group is uniquely assigned to the STA among all STAs within the group of APs (AP_groupID)).

[0085] In another solution, an AP grouping and identification system may use the couples (AP groupID, AID) or (AP_groupID color, AID) to identify the STAs. In this solution, the AID is uniquely assigned to the STA among all STAs within the group of APs (AP_groupID)).

[0086] At block 508, the device may initiate a multiuser communication between the device, the first station device and the second station device based on the access point group ID, the first identification information and the second identification information. For example, the multiuser communication may be between devices that are not confined to a single BSS but instead from different BSSs. In order for this to work, information associated with a group of APs that are part of a group of coordinated APs may be shared with the user devices that are serviced by different APs. In addition, identification information associated with each of these user devices may also need to be shared with the user devices and/or the APs.

[0087] It is understood that the above descriptions are for purposes of illustration and are not meant to be limiting.

[0088] FIG. 5B illustrates a flow diagram of illustrative process 550 for an AP grouping and identification system, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0089] At block 552, a device (e.g., the user device(s) 120 and/or the AP 102 of FIG. 1) may identify a frame received from a first access point, wherein the access point is associated with a first basic service set (BSS). For example, an AP grouping and identification system may allow an AP to trigger multiple STAs from different BSSs as opposed to only STAs that are serviced by the AP and that are within a single BSS. Today, each AP has a MAC address which is the BSSID and the STAs have their own MAC addresses. Therefore, in all of the frames, these are used when identifying an AP or an STA.

[0090] At block 554, the device may identify from the received frame an access point group identification (ID) and identification information associated with a station device, wherein the station device is associated with a second BSS. For example, one or more APs may include in their beacons and/or in probe response and association response a new information element that carries the AP_groupID. There can be multiple groups IDs with the same set of APs, and an AP can also be in different set of APs. If only some STAs from one BSS can become member of the group, each AP sends an action frame unicasted to each STA that will enter the group. This frame can carry one or multiple AP_groupID and possibly the related short identifier (AP_groupID color, or group color), that the STA becomes a member of that group. Note that this can also be done in the pre-association exchange

[0091] At block 556, the device may determine a request to initiate a multiuser communication with the access point. For example, a request for a multiuser communication may be between devices there are not confined to a single BSS but instead from different BSSs. In order for this to work, information associated with a group of APs there are part of a group of coordinated APs may be shared with the user devices that are serviced by different APs. In addition, identification information associated with each of these user devices may also need to be shared with the user devices and/or APs.

[0092] At block 558, the device may initiate a multiuser communication between the first access point based on the access point group ID and the identification information.

[0093] Its understood that the above descriptions are for purposes of illustration and are not meant to be limiting.

[0094] FIG. 6 shows a functional diagram of an exemplary communication station 600 in accordance with some embodiments. In one embodiment, FIG. 6 illustrates a functional block diagram of a communication station that may be suitable for use as an AP 102 (FIG. 1) or a user device 120 (FIG. 1) in accordance with some embodiments. The communication station 600 may also be suitable for use as a handheld device, a mobile device, a cellular telephone, a smartphone, a tablet, a netbook, a wireless terminal, a laptop computer, a wearable computer device, a femtocell, a high data rate (HDR) subscriber station, an access point, an access terminal, or other personal communication system (PCS) device.

[0095] The communication station 600 may include communications circuitry 602 and a transceiver 610 for transmitting and receiving signals to and from other communication stations using one or more antennas 601. The communications circuitry 602 may include circuitry that can operate the physical layer (PHY) communications and/or media access control (MAC) communications for controlling access to the wireless medium, and/or any other communications layers for transmitting and receiving signals. The communication station 600 may also include processing circuitry 606 and memory 608 arranged to perform the operations described herein. In some embodiments, the communications circuitry 602 and the processing circuitry 606 may be configured to perform operations detailed in FIGs. 1- 5. [0096] In accordance with some embodiments, the communications circuitry 602 may be arranged to contend for a wireless medium and configure frames or packets for communicating over the wireless medium. The communications circuitry 602 may be arranged to transmit and receive signals. The communications circuitry 602 may also include circuitry for modulation/demodulation, upconversion/downconversion, filtering, amplification, etc. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 606 of the communication station 600 may include one or more processors. In other embodiments, two or more antennas 601 may be coupled to the communications circuitry 602 arranged for sending and receiving signals. The memory 608 may store information for configuring the processing circuitry 606 to perform operations for configuring and transmitting message frames and performing the various operations described herein. The memory 608 may include any type of memory, including non-transitory memory, for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, the memory 608 may include a computer-readable storage device, read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memory devices and other storage devices and media.

[0097] In some embodiments, the communication station 600 may be part of a portable wireless communication device, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wireless communication capability, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, a smartphone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, an access point, a television, a medical device (e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor, etc.), a wearable computer device, or another device that may receive and/or transmit information wirelessly.

[0098] In some embodiments, the communication station 600 may include one or more antennas 601. The antennas 601 may include one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas, or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some embodiments, instead of two or more antennas, a single antenna with multiple apertures may be used. In these embodiments, each aperture may be considered a separate antenna. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectively separated for spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result between each of the antennas and the antennas of a transmitting station. [0099] In some embodiments, the communication station 600 may include one or more of a keyboard, a display, a non-volatile memory port, multiple antennas, a graphics processor, an application processor, speakers, and other mobile device elements. The display may be an LCD screen including a touch screen.

[0100] Although the communication station 600 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, two or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may include one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field- programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio- frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements of the communication station 600 may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[0101] Certain embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. Other embodiments may also be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device, which may be read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described herein. A computer-readable storage device may include any non-transitory memory mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a computer-readable storage device may include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memory devices, and other storage devices and media. In some embodiments, the communication station 600 may include one or more processors and may be configured with instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device memory.

[0102] FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an example of a machine 700 or system upon which any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies) discussed herein may be performed. In other embodiments, the machine 700 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 700 may operate in the capacity of a server machine, a client machine, or both in server-client network environments. In an example, the machine 700 may act as a peer machine in peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environments. The machine 700 may be a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a wearable computer device, a web appliance, a network router, a switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine, such as a base station. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term "machine" shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), or other computer cluster configurations.

[0103] Examples, as described herein, may include or may operate on logic or a number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangible entities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations when operating. A module includes hardware. In an example, the hardware may be specifically configured to carry out a specific operation (e.g., hardwired). In another example, the hardware may include configurable execution units (e.g., transistors, circuits, etc.) and a computer readable medium containing instructions where the instructions configure the execution units to carry out a specific operation when in operation. The configuring may occur under the direction of the executions units or a loading mechanism. Accordingly, the execution units are communicatively coupled to the computer-readable medium when the device is operating. In this example, the execution units may be a member of more than one module. For example, under operation, the execution units may be configured by a first set of instructions to implement a first module at one point in time and reconfigured by a second set of instructions to implement a second module at a second point in time.

[0104] The machine (e.g., computer system) 700 may include a hardware processor 702 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory 704 and a static memory 706, some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interlink (e.g., bus) 708. The machine 700 may further include a power management device 732, a graphics display device 710, an alphanumeric input device 712 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 714 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the graphics display device 710, alphanumeric input device 712, and UI navigation device 714 may be a touch screen display. The machine 700 may additionally include a storage device (i.e., drive unit) 716, a signal generation device 718 (e.g., a speaker), an AP grouping and identification device 719, a network interface device/transceiver 720 coupled to antenna(s) 730, and one or more sensors 728, such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, a compass, an accelerometer, or other sensor. The machine 700 may include an output controller 734, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate with or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, a card reader, etc.)).

[0105] The storage device 716 may include a machine readable medium 722 on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 724 (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. The instructions 724 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 704, within the static memory 706, or within the hardware processor 702 during execution thereof by the machine 700. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor 702, the main memory 704, the static memory 706, or the storage device 716 may constitute machine-readable media.

[0106] The AP grouping and identification device 719 may carry out or perform any of the operations and processes (e.g., processes 500 and 550) described and shown above. For example, the AP grouping and identification device 719 may facilitate the use of multiple BSSs instead of being confined within a single BSS.

[0107] The AP grouping and identification device 719 may facilitate the coordination between APs to schedule multiple STAs from different BSSs at the same time such that the scheduling of the STAs does not interfere with each other.

[0108] The AP grouping and identification device 719 may facilitate tighter coordination between a group of APs to allow an AP (e.g., API) to trigger its own transmissions toward its associated STAs (e.g., API's STAs) and the transmissions from other APs (e.g., AP2) to their associated STAs (e.g., AP2's STAs) simultaneously.

[0109] The AP grouping and identification device 719 may facilitate joint processing between multiple APs so that multiple APs (e.g., API and AP2) transmit simultaneously to either one or multiple STAs associated with one of the APs (e.g., API 's STA), or multiple STAs associated with multiple APs. In order for these mechanisms to work, it may be important that the STAs from a BSS are capable of receiving frames from another BSS (a trigger for instance, or a data DL PPDU which is addressed to STAs from multiple BSSs) and that, within these frames, STAs are capable of identifying the signaling information (in PHY and/or in MAC) for them and the signaling information for the STAs from other BSSs. [0110] The AP grouping and identification device 719 may be configured to signal and identify information for multiple STAs associated with multiple APs in a PHY header or MAC frame.

[0111] The AP grouping and identification device 719 may be able to define groups of APs, and inform the STAs associated with these APs about the definition of these groups. It should be noted that these groups can be used to enable coordination and joint processing between the APs from the group. Further, the AP grouping and identification system may define a short identifier for each AP within that group, which may be used to identify signaling information for or from this AP, and which may be coupled with the AID in order to identify signaling information for or from an STA associated with this AP. This can be the BSS color or a new APID. For example, the AP grouping and identification system may define a short identifier for the group of APs (e.g., AP_GroupID, or ESS/group color).

[0112] The AP grouping and identification device 719 may define groups of APs. The APs belonging to a group are all assigned a specific and common BSSID, in addition to their unique BSSIDs. Each AP therefore may have at least two BSSIDs, one unique BSSID (BSSID_unique) and one common BSSID (BSSID_group, or AP_group ID). This identifier may be the identifier of the group of APs. A short identifier of this common BSSID can also be defined, like an AP_groupID color (partial AP_groupID). Further, each STA associated with an AP from that group is assigned an AID, which is related to the BSSID_unique from its associated AP, and another AID_group, which is related to the BSSID_group from the group of APs. The classical AID is unique within the BSS, while the AID_group is unique within the group of APs (within the group color). Further, the common BSSID (AP_groupID) or the short identifier of this common BSSID coupled with the AID_group provides an ability to uniquely identify an STA.

[0113] The AP grouping and identification device 719 may define groups of APs. The APs belonging to a group are all assigned a specific and common BSSID, in addition to their unique BSSIDs. Each AP therefore has at least two BSSIDs, one unique BSSID (BSSID_unique) and one common BSSID (BSSID_group, or AP_group ID). This identifier may be the identifier of the group of APs. Further, a short identifier of this common BSSID can also be defined, like an AP_groupID color (partial AP_groupID). Each STA associated with an AP from that group is only assigned an AID, which is related to the BSSID_unique from its associated AP, and not another AID_group, which is related to the BSSID_group from the group of APs. Within each AP_groupID, the AIDs from all STAs that are in the group must be unique for the mechanism to work. Since the AID is assigned per BSS, all of the APs within the group must coordinate the assignment of AIDs during association so that the AID that is assigned to a new STA is unique among all APs in the group of APs. This can be done by having the AID assignment done in a controller of a master AP, either on-the- fly (example: at time=0, STA1 tries to association with API and gets AID=1, at time=5s, STA2 tries to associate with AP2 and gets AID=2, at time=10s, STA3 tries to associate with API and gets AID=3...), or by assigning a long-term range of AIDs to specific APs (for example, AIDs 1 to 100 to API, AIDs 101 to 200 to AP2, etc.). The classical AID may be unique within the BSS, while the AID_group is unique within the group of APs (within the group color). The common BSSID (AP_groupID) or the short identifier of this common BSSID coupled with the AID_group may provide the ability to uniquely identify an STA.

[0114] The AP grouping and identification device 719 may enable all multi-AP coordination techniques. It may allow a simple and efficient identification of STAs and APs within a group of coordinated APs, much better than using MAC addresses.

[0115] It is understood that the above are only a subset of what the AP grouping and identification device 719 may be configured to perform and that other functions included throughout this disclosure may also be performed by the AP grouping and identification device 719.

[0116] While the machine-readable medium 722 is illustrated as a single medium, the term "machine-readable medium" may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) configured to store the one or more instructions 724.

[0117] Various embodiments may be implemented fully or partially in software and/or firmware. This software and/or firmware may take the form of instructions contained in or on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Those instructions may then be read and executed by one or more processors to enable performance of the operations described herein. The instructions may be in any suitable form, such as but not limited to source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, and the like. Such a computer-readable medium may include any tangible non-transitory medium for storing information in a form readable by one or more computers, such as but not limited to read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; a flash memory, etc. [0118] The term "machine-readable medium" may include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the machine 700 and that cause the machine 700 to perform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, or that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying data structures used by or associated with such instructions. Non-limiting machine-readable medium examples may include solid-state memories and optical and magnetic media. In an example, a massed machine -readable medium includes a machine-readable medium with a plurality of particles having resting mass. Specific examples of massed machine-readable media may include non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or electrically erasable programmable readonly memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD- ROM disks.

[0119] The instructions 724 may further be transmitted or received over a communications network 726 using a transmission medium via the network interface device/transceiver 720 utilizing any one of a number of transfer protocols (e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP), transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communications networks may include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet data network (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellular networks), plain old telephone (POTS) networks, wireless data networks (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, IEEE 802.16 family of standards known as WiMax®), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, and peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, among others. In an example, the network interface device/transceiver 720 may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or phone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communications network 726. In an example, the network interface device/transceiver 720 may include a plurality of antennas to wirelessly communicate using at least one of single-input multiple-output (SIMO), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), or multiple-input single-output (MISO) techniques. The term "transmission medium" shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the machine 700 and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible media to facilitate communication of such software. The operations and processes described and shown above may be carried out or performed in any suitable order as desired in various implementations. Additionally, in certain implementations, at least a portion of the operations may be carried out in parallel. Furthermore, in certain implementations, less than or more than the operations described may be performed.

[0120] The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. The terms "computing device," "user device," "communication station," "station," "handheld device," "mobile device," "wireless device" and "user equipment" (UE) as used herein refers to a wireless communication device such as a cellular telephone, a smartphone, a tablet, a netbook, a wireless terminal, a laptop computer, a femtocell, a high data rate (HDR) subscriber station, an access point, a printer, a point of sale device, an access terminal, or other personal communication system (PCS) device. The device may be either mobile or stationary.

[0121] As used within this document, the term "communicate" is intended to include transmitting, or receiving, or both transmitting and receiving. This may be particularly useful in claims when describing the organization of data that is being transmitted by one device and received by another, but only the functionality of one of those devices is required to infringe the claim. Similarly, the bidirectional exchange of data between two devices (both devices transmit and receive during the exchange) may be described as "communicating," when only the functionality of one of those devices is being claimed. The term "communicating" as used herein with respect to a wireless communication signal includes transmitting the wireless communication signal and/or receiving the wireless communication signal. For example, a wireless communication unit, which is capable of communicating a wireless communication signal, may include a wireless transmitter to transmit the wireless communication signal to at least one other wireless communication unit, and/or a wireless communication receiver to receive the wireless communication signal from at least one other wireless communication unit.

[0122] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the use of the ordinal adjectives "first," "second," "third," etc., to describe a common object, merely indicates that different instances of like objects are being referred to and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner.

[0123] The term "access point" (AP) as used herein may be a fixed station. An access point may also be referred to as an access node, a base station, an evolved node B (eNodeB), or some other similar terminology known in the art. An access terminal may also be called a mobile station, user equipment (UE), a wireless communication device, or some other similar terminology known in the art. Embodiments disclosed herein generally pertain to wireless networks. Some embodiments may relate to wireless networks that operate in accordance with one of the IEEE 802.11 standards.

[0124] Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with various devices and systems, for example, a personal computer (PC), a desktop computer, a mobile computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a server computer, a handheld computer, a handheld device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) device, a handheld PDA device, an on- board device, an off-board device, a hybrid device, a vehicular device, a non-vehicular device, a mobile or portable device, a consumer device, a non-mobile or non-portable device, a wireless communication station, a wireless communication device, a wireless access point (AP), a wired or wireless router, a wired or wireless modem, a video device, an audio device, an audio- video (A/V) device, a wired or wireless network, a wireless area network, a wireless video area network (WVAN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a personal area network (PAN), a wireless PAN (WPAN), and the like.

[0125] Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with one way and/or two-way radio communication systems, cellular radio-telephone communication systems, a mobile phone, a cellular telephone, a wireless telephone, a personal communication system (PCS) device, a PDA device which incorporates a wireless communication device, a mobile or portable global positioning system (GPS) device, a device which incorporates a GPS receiver or transceiver or chip, a device which incorporates an RFID element or chip, a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) transceiver or device, a single input multiple output (SIMO) transceiver or device, a multiple input single output (MISO) transceiver or device, a single input single output (SISO) transceiver or device, a device having one or more internal antennas and/or external antennas, digital video broadcast (DVB) devices or systems, multi- standard radio devices or systems, a wired or wireless handheld device, e.g., a smartphone, a wireless application protocol (WAP) device, or the like.

[0126] Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with one or more types of wireless communication signals and/or systems following one or more wireless communication protocols, for example, radio frequency (RF), infrared (IR), frequency- division multiplexing (FDM), orthogonal FDM (OFDM), time-division multiplexing (TDM), time-division multiple access (TDMA), extended TDMA (E-TDMA), general packet radio service (GPRS), extended GPRS, code-division multiple access (CDMA), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), CDMA 2000, single-carrier CDMA, multi-carrier CDMA, multi-carrier modulation (MDM), discrete multi-tone (DMT), Bluetooth®, global positioning system (GPS), Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, ZigBee, ultra- wideband (UWB), global system for mobile communications (GSM), 2G, 2.5G, 3G, 3.5G, 4G, fifth generation (5G) mobile networks, 3GPP, long term evolution (LTE), LTE advanced, enhanced data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), or the like. Other embodiments may be used in various other devices, systems, and/or networks.

[0127] Example 1 may include a device comprising: memory and processing circuitry, configured to: determine an access point group identification (ID) associated with the device and a second access point, wherein the device may be associated with a first basic service set (BSS) and the second access point may be associated with a second BSS; determine a first station device associated with the device and a second station device associated with the second access point; broadcast the access point group ID, a first identification information associated with the first station device, and a second identification information associated with the second station device; and initiate a multiuser communication between the device, the first station device and the second station device based on the access point group ID, the first identification information and the second identification information.

[0128] Example 2 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other example herein, wherein to initiate a multiuser communication comprises the memory and the processing circuitry being further configured to: determine a multiuser frame comprising the access point group ID, the first identification information, and the second identification information; and cause to send the multiuser frame to the first station device and the second station device.

[0129] Example 3 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other example herein, wherein the access point group ID identifies a coordinated group of access points including the device and the second access point.

[0130] Example 4 may include the device of example 3 and/or some other example herein, wherein the coordinated group of access points may include the device and the second access point.

[0131] Example 5 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other example herein, wherein the first identification information may include at least one of an association identification (AID) assigned by the device to the first station device, an AID associated with the access point group ID assigned to the first station device, or an AID assigned by a group of coordinated access points to the first station device.

[0132] Example 6 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other example herein, wherein the memory and the processing circuitry are further configured to: assign a first association identification (AID) to the first station device; and assign a second AID to the second station device, wherein the first AID may be different from the second AID.

[0133] Example 7 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other example herein, further comprising a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals.

[0134] Example 8 may include the device of example 7 and/or some other example herein, further comprising an antenna coupled to the transceiver.

[0135] Example 9 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions which when executed by one or more processors result in performing operations comprising: identifying a frame received from a first access point, wherein the access point may be associated with a first basic service set (BSS); identifying from the received frame an access point group identification (ID) and identification information associated with a station device, wherein the station device may be associated with a second BSS; determining a request to initiate a multiuser communication with the access point; and initiating a multiuser communication based on the access point group ID and the identification information.

[0136] Example 10 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 9 and/or some other example herein, wherein the access point group ID may be associated with one or more access points including the device.

[0137] Example 11 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 9 and/or some other example herein, wherein the identification information may include at least one of an association identification (AID) assigned by the device to the station device, an AID associated with the access point group ID assigned to the station device, or an AID assigned by a group of coordinated access points to the station device.

[0138] Example 12 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 9 and/or some other example herein, wherein the identification information comprises a combination of an association identification (AID) assigned to the station device by a servicing access point and a basic service set identification (BSSID) of the first access point. [0139] Example 13 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 9 and/or some other example herein, wherein the identification information comprises a combination of an association identification (AID) associated with the access point group ID assigned to the station device and the access point group ID.

[0140] Example 14 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 9 and/or some other example herein, wherein the identification information comprises a combination of an association identification (AID) assigned by a group of coordinated access points to the station device and the access point group ID.

[0141] Example 15 may include a method comprising: determining, by one or more processors of a first access point, an access point group identification (ID) associated with the first access point and a second access point, wherein the first access point may be associated with a first basic service set (BSS) and the second access point may be associated with a second BSS; determining a first station device associated with the first access point and a second station device associated with the second access point; broadcasting the access point group ID, a first identification information associated with the first station device, and a second identification information associated with the second station device; and initiating a multiuser communication between the first access point, the first station device and the second station device based on the access point group ID, the first identification information and the second identification information.

[0142] Example 16 may include the method of example 15 and/or some other example herein, wherein initiating a multiuser communication further comprises: determining a multiuser frame comprising the access point group ID, the first identification information, and the second identification information; and causing to send the multiuser frame to the first station device and the second station device.

[0143] Example 17 may include the method of example 15 and/or some other example herein, wherein the access point group ID identifies a coordinated group of access points including the first access point and the second access point.

[0144] Example 18 may include the method of example 17 and/or some other example herein, wherein the group of coordinated access points may include the first access point and the second access point.

[0145] Example 19 may include the method of example 15 and/or some other example herein, wherein the first identification information may include at least one of an association identification (AID) assigned by the first access point to the first station device, an AID associated with the access point group ID assigned to the first station device, or an AID assigned by a group of coordinated access points to the first station device.

[0146] Example 20 may include the method of example 15 and/or some other example herein, further comprising: assigning a first association identification (AID) to the first station device; and assigning a second AID to the second station device, wherein the first AID may be different from the second AID.

[0147] Example 21 may include an apparatus comprising means for: identifying a frame received from a first access point, wherein the access point may be associated with a first basic service set (BSS); identifying from the received frame an access point group identification (ID) and identification information associated with a station device, wherein the station device may be associated with a second BSS; determining a request to initiate a multiuser communication with the access point; and initiating a multiuser communication based on the access point group ID and the identification information.

[0148] Example 22 may include the apparatus of example 21 and/or some other example herein, wherein the access point group ID may be associated with one or more access points including the apparatus.

[0149] Example 23 may include the apparatus of example 21 and/or some other example herein, wherein the identification information may include at least one of an association identification (AID) assigned by the apparatus to the station device, an AID associated with the access point group ID assigned to the station device, or an AID assigned by a group of coordinated access points to the station device.

[0150] Example 24 may include the apparatus of example 21 and/or some other example herein, wherein the identification information comprises a combination of an association identification (AID) assigned to the station device by a servicing access point and a basic service set identification (BSSID) of the apparatus.

[0151] Example 25 may include the apparatus of example 21 and/or some other example herein, wherein the identification information comprises a combination of an association identification (AID) associated with the access point group ID assigned to the station device and the access point group ID.

[0152] Example 26 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the electronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1-25, or any other method or process described herein.

[0153] Example 27 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, and/or circuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1-25, or any other method or process described herein.

[0154] Example 28 may include a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-25, or portions or parts thereof.

[0155] Example 29 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-25, or portions thereof.

[0156] Example 30 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0157] Example 31 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0158] Example 32 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0159] Embodiments according to the disclosure are in particular disclosed in the attached claims directed to a method, a storage medium, a device and a computer program product, wherein any feature mentioned in one claim category, e.g., method, can be claimed in another claim category, e.g., system, as well. The dependencies or references back in the attached claims are chosen for formal reasons only. However, any subject matter resulting from a deliberate reference back to any previous claims (in particular multiple dependencies) can be claimed as well, so that any combination of claims and the features thereof are disclosed and can be claimed regardless of the dependencies chosen in the attached claims. The subject-matter which can be claimed comprises not only the combinations of features as set out in the attached claims but also any other combination of features in the claims, wherein each feature mentioned in the claims can be combined with any other feature or combination of other features in the claims. Furthermore, any of the embodiments and features described or depicted herein can be claimed in a separate claim and/or in any combination with any embodiment or feature described or depicted herein or with any of the features of the attached claims. [0160] The foregoing description of one or more implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

[0161] Certain aspects of the disclosure are described above with reference to block and flow diagrams of systems, methods, apparatuses, and/or computer program products according to various implementations. It will be understood that one or more blocks of the block diagrams and flow diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and the flow diagrams, respectively, may be implemented by computer-executable program instructions. Likewise, some blocks of the block diagrams and flow diagrams may not necessarily need to be performed in the order presented, or may not necessarily need to be performed at all, according to some implementations.

[0162] These computer-executable program instructions may be loaded onto a special- purpose computer or other particular machine, a processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a particular machine, such that the instructions that execute on the computer, processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing one or more functions specified in the flow diagram block or blocks. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable storage media or memory that may direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage media produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that implement one or more functions specified in the flow diagram block or blocks. As an example, certain implementations may provide for a computer program product, comprising a computer- readable storage medium having a computer-readable program code or program instructions implemented therein, said computer-readable program code adapted to be executed to implement one or more functions specified in the flow diagram block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational elements or steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that the instructions that execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide elements or steps for implementing the functions specified in the flow diagram block or blocks. [0163] Accordingly, blocks of the block diagrams and flow diagrams support combinations of means for performing the specified functions, combinations of elements or steps for performing the specified functions and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flow diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flow diagrams, may be implemented by special-purpose, hardware-based computer systems that perform the specified functions, elements or steps, or combinations of special-purpose hardware and computer instructions.

[0164] Conditional language, such as, among others, "can," "could," "might," or "may," unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain implementations could include, while other implementations do not include, certain features, elements, and/or operations. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements, and/or operations are in any way required for one or more implementations or that one or more implementations necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features, elements, and/or operations are included or are to be performed in any particular implementation.

[0165] Many modifications and other implementations of the disclosure set forth herein will be apparent having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not to be limited to the specific implementations disclosed and that modifications and other implementations are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.